Chapter 3
It was a nice place though very expensive. But of course Seth wouldn't know because he was rich. It wouldn't make a difference to him.
I walked out after him and followed him to the side of the road where he waved down a taxi. I wasn't quite used to walking in heels but after a while I managed to not stumble every so often.
A taxi stopped just in front of us. We got in and Seth muttered some words about the place we were going. I stared out the window at the city. The car started to move and soon the city was rushing past us before stopping again because of the traffic jam. I looked across the side of the road and there were the two men again. This time he had four other men with them. They are still searching for me. I looked down at my shoes and ducked my head slightly hoping they would not randomly search the cars.
'So... what are you friends like, do you go to school at all?' I asked him starting a conversation so I had an excuse to turn my head away from the window as we started to move again.
'It's is holidays currently and these friends are just people that I hang out with. They're fake of course. Just people who want to look rich and be rich and act like they are rich so they can hang out with the 'in' people.' He said looking out his window.
Seth sounded like someone that had a really bad life. His parents were never home, he had no true friends and he was always angry.
'Well at least you won't have to deal with them alone,' I said smiling.
He turned to me at the comment. A faint smile could be seen.
'Here we are,' he said turning his gaze towards my window.
I looked around and there was the mall, the city's most awesome looking place.
He paid the cab driver and got out of the car. I followed suit.
The heat was intense as we stepped out. It was the middle of the day. I was looking forward to entering into a nice cool shopping centre.
'I have already texted my friends, so they should be waiting just inside,' he said.
Great, I wonder what they are like.
The electric doors slid open for us. The shopping centre greeted us with a blast of cool air. I breathed in and out relieved that we got out of the humid air.
'Seth!'
I looked at where the voice had come from and near the escalators to go up were the five friends he was talking about. There were two boys that dressed in a similar fashion to Seth except with different looks. The three girls, on the other hand, were in the most revealing clothes I had seen. They wore mini-skirts that came way above their knees and they had low cuts tops on with high heels. Where did they think they were going, to a club? They all came fast walking, and stumbling towards us. I hid a smile as they approached.
'We thought you would never come man,' one of the guys said. He wore a sling bag over his shoulder.
'Who is this?' one of the girls asked eyeing me up and down. Her hair was cut straight and had a fringe.
'This is Serriarn . She is a friend from overseas.' He said casually.
I looked at Seth. He had a way with words that could seem to another person as if all that he said was the truth.
'Hello,' I said looking each one in the eye.
'Hi,' said the other guy who was wearing red flannelette over his white t-shirt.
All of the girls mumbled a hello or maybe it was something else that they said.
'This is Trent,' he pointed to the guy with the sling bag, 'Lily,' he pointed to the girl with the classic haircut,' Suzie,' he nodded towards the tallest of the three girls,' Mel,' the last of the girls,' and this is Rin,' he said as I looked towards the last of the guys, the only one who had said hello.
'What should we do now?' Lily asked looking at Seth. The question seemed as though it was for everyone to answer but it was obviously intended for Seth.
'Well we can get some lunch first then you can go shop,' he said looking at me,' if that is alright with you.'
I could feel the girl's eyes upon me. I realised why they were so uptight. I was a potential threat to them because I was closer than them to Seth. I laughed at their only goals in life
'Sure.'
Seth led the way through the shopping centre with Lily, Suzie and Mel surrounding him. I hung back and just followed. I was joined shortly by Rin and Trent.
'So where did you come from anyway?' Trent asked. Both their accents were more pronounced than Seth's.
'Um...Well my family moved around a lot so I have lived in many countries,' I lied.
'Serriarn? You have a very odd name,' Rin tried my name out.
I smiled, 'So I have been told.'
We continued on in silence until we came to a small cafe.
'You guys can go ahead and eat. I might just go and shop now,' I said as they entered the eatery. Seth eyed me out but then shrugged.
'We will meet you in about an hour's time. Is that long enough? Good. We will meet you in the front of the shopping centre, where we came in.'
I nodded.
I turned around and walked away.
I loved it here because of its huge shopping centre's where you could find anything and everything you ever wanted. There were so many fashion boutiques and stores but I was limited on what I could buy. I had only about two hundred dollars in all. I vaguely thought of how my family was going and how much money they had. Were they alright? Did Nancia have enough food?
At the end of the hour I had scoured all the floors and shops. I came to the bottom of the escalator where I had first saw Seth's friends with two dresses, a pair of shoes and some ¾ pants and a couple of tops. I had spent about one hundred and ten d0llars of my money, but I guess it was put to good use.
They were all waiting for me on a bench. From a distance Seth looked happy as he talked to Trent and Rin, though if you looked long enough you could see his smile falter occasionally. He spotted me first and stood up off the bench. A proper smile crossed his face.
'Did you buy what you wanted?' Mel asked me.
I nodded.
'Let's go to the movies now, there are some awesome new movies just released' Trent said.
'Sure.'
I followed the gang outside into the blistering heat of the day and stopped behind Seth on the side of the road. The traffic was rushing past. Mel and Trent ran across the road when a small gap presented itself. They were followed shortly by Lily and Rin.
Suzie, Seth and I were last to cross. Trent and Lily were waving frantically when there was a small pause among the traffic.
Seth stepped of the kerb and started to cross getting almost halfway across the road when a lot of honks could be heard turned my head towards the right side and saw that he judged the traffic wrong. The taxi was coming at full speed and was going to hit him. Suzie was screaming his name, and so were Trent and Lily.
Seth was transfixed by it. He was either frozen with terror or the realisation that he was going to be hit.
The taxi was coming getting closer to its target and it was catching a lot of attention too. I ran as fast as I could in heels towards Seth and grabbed the back of his shirt, yanking him backwards towards the side of the road. The taxi came within inches of hitting Seth and I.
I stumbled back as I let go of his shirt and he fell to the ground near Suzie's feet.
I could hear her fuss over him but I wasn't concentrating on Seth. People had stopped to stare creating a lot of attention towards us. I stood still as I passed my gaze over anyone that could seem a potential threat. I kept my gaze on two men dressed in khaki pants and different coloured shirts. They were both looking at me then at a piece of paper in their hand. I caught a glimpse of it as one of the men swung it around in a wide arc. It was me except I looked dirtier.
I swung around and crouched next to the still shocked Seth.
'What were you thinking?' I hissed angrily.
'What...' he started.
'Why are you getting angry at him? He could have been killed?' Suzie said angrily to me.
'Yeah, well he shouldn't have been standing out in the middle of the street in the first place. Maybe I should hit some sense into him but first he has to take me home.' I said. I looked over to where the men were. They were already moving towards us. Suzie got up and stood in front of Seth, protecting him.
'He is not going anywhere. He will come with me and you will not hit him otherwise I...'
'What are you going to do? Try and hit me. Go on then, give it your best shot,' I said to her. She was half a head taller than me but that didn't make any difference because my anger was had a greater source. All my hard work of being incognito was ruined now because of his stupid arrogance of thinking that he could pass the street whenever he wanted and at whatever speed.
She brought her hand up and swung it towards my face so as if she were to slap me. She was not going to give him up so I would have to leave without him. It would be better. My hand reached out instinctively.
'Don't dare even to touch me, otherwise you are getting yourself involved more than what you wanted.' I hissed into her ear as I held onto her wrist in mid air.
I looked around. Now there was a crowd around us and I could see the two men pushing through to try and reach us.
I flicked her hand away.
'I have to go Seth,' I said looking him in the eye. I turned around and headed in the opposite direction, pushing through the crowd. Once out of the crowd that had gotten bigger I started to run along the street. It was much harder with the wedges on but I wasn't going to run on a ground like this with bare feet.
How far was it too Seth's house from here? I tried to remember about the taxi trip. It didn't take that long and I didn't notice any turns. I decided to just keep running on the straight road. It took me about five minutes until I started to recognise things. I slowed to a walk and went to that same alley way. I stopped and rested for a moment bending over to catch my breath. The back of my neck prickled. I stood up straight and saw someone I did not want to.
'What the bloody hell are you doing here? I told you not to follow me.' I growled.
'I think I ought to get some explanations. You save my life and now you are angry at me...for what?' Seth demanded coming forward towards me. Anger was set hard on his face.
'What is your real intention for being here? You are hiding something.'
'You don't need to know! I can take care of my own problems and I don't want you or anyone else to get involved,' I said.
'Involved in what?'
I cursed at myself for saying that.
'I'm going now. Thanks for all that you have done but I shall be on my way now,' I said starting to walk towards him. He stepped in front of me, I tried to move left but he mirrored my movements.
'After all that I have done for you, now you abandon me? I told you things about me but you haven't revealed anything of yourself to me. I gave you a place to stay when you didn't have one. Tell me what is going on, what secrets are you hiding. Who are you really!' he said looking down at me.
I looked past him and sighed.
'It's too late. I told you to go but you would not listen, now you are trapped in a battle that is not even yours,' I said sadly.
He turned around and could see him stiffen.
'Who are they?'
'Serriarn, we need you to come with us now,' the first man said, he looked Asian.
I regained my posture. The last thing I was going to do was to get Seth safely out.
'Why do you need me, will you let my friend here go first so we may talk more privately,' I said pointing to Seth.
'No. I'm staying,' He said loudly.
'The boy can stay,' the second man said showing no emotion on his face,' he seems like he knows you so he could be of valuable to service to our employer.'
I elbowed him in the kidneys as I stepped up forward next to him.
'What if I don't want to meet your employer?' I said defiantly.
'We will use force,' the Asian man warned.
'Why does he need to meet with me?'
'He knows about you and your special...secret. Now come with us now or we will make you come with us.'
Seth looked at me. I walked forward a step. He grabbed my elbow.
'What are you doing?' he hissed.
'When I distract them you run. Got it?'
He looked confused.
'Fine,' I said and walked towards them. I hoped that Seth was going to run.
I stopped a couple of metres away from them, and I waited.
'Watch out! Look behind you!' I screamed pointing to the road behind them.
They turned around and I sprinted up to them and kicked the Asian man in between the legs he went down. The other man turned around and blocked the punch that I aimed at his head. He grabbed my hair and pulled. I struggled at first but thought better of it. I aimed a blow at his stomach, he released my hair and I laid into him with punches. He fell to the ground. I straightened and turned to see that Seth was gone. Good. Finally he listened. I heard some shuffling from behind me. I just turned around as the man was on his feet again and had already thrown a punch at me. A blur happened before me as I was knocked back out of the way. It was Seth. He blocked the punch and sent his own back with so much force that he sent the man flying back to the ground. He turned around and looked at me. It was too late now; he was too deeply involved to be ignored. I grabbed his hand and led him out of the alley way and ran right with him half stumbling behind me. I slowed down once we got far away from where we left them. I stopped and looked around.
'You can let go of my hand now.'
I dropped his hand.
'Oh. Sorry,' I said, I caught him smiling. My stomach growled.
'You need food,' he said.
'Well that is not the worst of our worries now eh?'
'Our worries?' he said.
'Well since you wouldn't run away when I told you to, you are now involved and so you will be on their suspect list too for helping me.'
'Hey. I wasn't just going to leave a good fight, and you needed my help anyway,' he said dismissively. I was going to start to argue back but I saw some suspicious men coming around the corner.
'We need to keep moving,' I said to Seth.
He nodded and we set off again.
