Chapter 11: Chapter 11

While Rohit did some browsing around himself, an associate startled him with her jovial greeting, common amongst retail store employees. “Looking for something in particular, sir?”

He turned around to see a woman appearing the same age as him, but maybe a little older. Her fair beauty threw him off for a brief moment, because he stuttered in responding before finally stating, “I’m just browsing, thanks,” with a sheepish smile.

“Well if you need any help, feel free to give me a holler, cutie! My name’s Colette!” With that said, she winked her hazel eye at him before adjusting her rectangular glasses. She turned heel and walked away on some stilettos which oddly didn’t make a sound on the tiles when she disappeared into the aisles, like she was haunting the empty store for customers.

Rohit then spotted Ingrid, who had an entire wardrobe of clothes in her arms, and raised his eyebrows. He proceeded to help her carry them so it wouldn’t fall.

“Ah, thanks,” she acknowledged.

“Looks like you’ve got a lot to choose from!” he replied wearily, as he was also thinking about where her clothes were going to fit in his tiny closet back home.

“It’s so hard though!” Ingrid lamented. “They all look really pretty!”

Even though Rohit was smiling on the outside, he was also thinking to himself who was going to pay for all this. He didn’t bother asking Ingrid if she had any money, but knew that was going to come up eventually.

So until she settled for something, the conversation about checking out wouldn’t be brought up.

He was hoping she managed to bag some cash while escaping the Valkyrjan Parliament, but if it really came down to it, he’d have to break the news to her. Doing this was completely unexpected on his end.

“Hello, may I help with something?” a familiar voice asked from behind the pair.

They turned around to see Colette with a brimming smile upon her face.

“Ah yes!” Ingrid stepped forward and looked at her nametag upon her white collar. “Co…lette,” she pronounced. “Colette?”

“That’s me!” she charismatically replied with a bright smile.

“Is there a changing room?”

The associate smirked. “Right this way, ma’am. Your boyfriend can wait right over there.”

As soon as she said that, Ingrid and Rohit’s eyes widened and their faces became flustered. But before they could get any sort of word in, the associate had dragged a frozen and embarrassed Ingrid to the dress room area.

She told Rohit to wait by the counter in the meantime, but the young man was confused. He didn’t know why the associate wanted to be alone with the vampire heiress. “It’s just a girl thing,” Colette plainly said with another wink in his direction. “So no peeking!”

While Rohit hung out by the counter in the center of the empty department store, he couldn’t help but wonder why it’d been empty on a Saturday afternoon. ‘I haven’t been to this mall in a while,’ he thought, ‘but I can’t ever remember a store not having a least a few customers inside, especially on the weekend…’

Meanwhile, Ingrid began changing into her new clothes. ‘Fascinating!’ the young woman ecstatically thought, admiring her figure in the solid sundress, sporting a dark, emerald color to go well with her hair and eyes. ‘These threads are totally my style!’

The associate lingered outside of the stall, leaning against the door with her arms crossed, and began conversing with the young woman. “It must be your birthday, anniversary, or something.”

Ingrid looked over her shoulder. “E-Excuse me?” she asked with confusion.

“It’s probably a special occasion that you two are out here shopping, am I right?”

The vampire heiress wrinkled her forehead in trying to come up with a plausible excuse to tell the clerk.

Not that it was any of her business anyway.

She then replied with a chuckle. “Just shopping for my seasonal wardrobe. You know how it goes.”

Colette mimicked that small laugh. “Indeed. When it comes to clothes and shopping, my thirst just never quenches…”

The vampire heiress detected a sudden shift in the air, as it seemed to get heavy.

“It’s been quite a while since I’ve had customers,” she continued, “so I apologize if I’m being too nosy.”

Ingrid flexed her cheek muscles.

Rohit browsed through some of the clothes and was shocked by the prices. “You can’t be serious,” he muttered in disbelief. “I could get a better looking shirt at the department store near my house.” He looked around, hoping he didn’t voice his opinion too loud. After the coast was clear, he decided to internally appraise the value of some of these clothes. He scanned the store and noticed it was dangerously quieter than when he initially entered.

The soft music that had been playing in the background ceased all at once, and the commotion outside seemed to die out too. It was like the mall suddenly became abandoned.

Colette continued conversing with Ingrid, who was growing suspicious, but she continued to listen from behind the door. “I must say, your boyfriend is quite the specimen.” She licked her lips. “All the men that I’ve seen around these parts don’t compare. You’re one lucky specimen yourself.”

“Elaborate,” Ingrid ordered.

She chuckled. “I said what I said. Now, if you’ll excuse me.” Colette proceeded to walk away, her heels still treading silently upon the ground. “I’ll go indulge myself a little. Don’t wait up.”

“Wait, who are you?” the vampire heiress snapped. “What do you want?”

When there was no answer from the other side, she tried unlocking the door, but discovered it wasn’t budging at all, for it had been enchanted with some kind of spell.

“Oh no…!” she panicked. “Rohit!” she yelled immediately, as she was viciously pushing against the stall. “Rohit!” Ingrid even used her shoulder to slam into it to no avail.

The spell wasn’t reversible by sheer strength no matter how hard she tried to break it down with all her might.

She couldn’t crawl under or over it it either, as the space was too narrow for her body to slip through. Ingrid wasn’t at her full strength either, as she hadn’t had a proper meal upon arriving in the Union. Her powers were middling at best, as she tried keeping it in reserve. When she needed it most in this moment, she exhibited more difficulty in drawing it out than she ever had before in her immortal life.

“Run, Rohit!” she yelled, hoping he would hear, but her voice didn’t connect to its receptor, as she appeared isolated in some kind of mirage erected by this mysterious store clerk.