Capturing Destiny

Chapter Eleven

Fabric

Finally the night came, and locked up the house as tightly as I could and made my way into town, keeping to the shadows so I could move quickly without any one seeing. It took me less than a quarter of an hour to get to the first of my stops. It was a large department store, similar to others I had seen on my travels but never entered. The ground floor was horrible, filled with over-ripe vegetables that made me want to gag and the scent of meat that should have been bought much earlier in the day. I quickly made my way up the large staircases to the first floor and stopped in amazement.

There were clothes everywhere, coats, skirts, shirts, dresses and the fabrics, the smell of them was overwhelming, each had its own particular fragrance, cotton was fresh, it smelt green, while wool smelt warm but also woodsy, I assumed it was from the animals that had provided it. Silk was the best, it was rich, warming, and exotic, and I spent close to half an hour standing by a stall of dresses, inhaling deeply.

Eventually I managed to tear myself away and walk round the rest of the shop, admiring the variety of styles, cuts, everything I could ever have imagined. Unlike all the humans who wandered the store during the day I was able to see minute details of the clothing, see which ones had been made by an experienced hand and which had tiny flaws, unseen by even the careful eyes of those in charge of quality control. It was wonderful. I glanced at the large clock on the wall and was surprised to see it was already half four in the morning. I ran back downstairs, holding my breath as I ran through the food and grabbed a newspaper on my way out.

The run back barely registered and I quickly slipped back into the house just as the sun rose.

That was the first of many nights I spent exploring the shops of Seattle.

I soon realised there was no way I could survive being a part of the real world without finding some access to money. I went through a variety of options in my head but nothing seemed to work properly. I could try and get a job but that was risky, I might not be able to go if it was sunny and it would mean being a little bit too close to people than I would like. I could rob someone but it went against my nature, and it would probably bring a bit too much heat down on me. I could simply steal what I needed but it defeated the purpose of being here - I wanted to be able to shop during the day with everyone else, to interact with the sales girls.

Eventually I decided that, despite my reservations, I would have to steal it. I just had to find someone who would either not notice it, or not report it to the police. Suddenly an idea came to me, I could rob a robber, I could find someone who was making money off the backs of others and take it from them, whatever I had that I did not need I could donate, leave it for the poor family whose home I was currently using or any of the hundreds of other needy people out there.

I began searching the future for possibilities, starting with the men who had planned to rob the house I now stood in but I could not catch up with them, they were long gone so I moved on to other possibilities. Unfortunately there were little options, I could see robbers, killers, all the scum of society but I could not see how to get to any of them.

Eventually I came up with a workable plan. There was a man who fancied himself a gangster moving a large amount of money from one city to another. The only problem was how to move all the money without any one seeing me. I spent a couple of days scoping out the area, theorising what was the most likely plan to work, trying them out in my head but the majority ended up going down the tube. I was either seen or did not succeed.

I might have given up if I didn't keep seeing myself, shopping happily somewhere I had not seen before in the future, so instead I kept looking. Eventually I came up with a workable plan; instead of getting the truck while it left the city and would take it over in transit. It would mean leaving but that was an eventuality soon anyway, the family whose house I was living in would return in a couple of weeks.

The plan was simple, I would jump on top of the truck when it left, and lying flat on the roof would mean that I would not be seen by anyone. When we got to a quiet stretch of road I would jump of the roof and into the hood where I could simply throw the two men who were driving it out and continue on my way.

I packed my things quickly, borrowing a new, old bag from the family and quickly tidied up what was left lying around, my perfect memory allowing me to double check I had everything back in its place, even if it had originally been slightly off angle.

It was sad saying goodbye to the house; I had been there for a couple of months and it was the only place that I had considered home from what I could remember. I said goodbye to everything, each of the utensils in the kitchen, the recipe book that was the only thing I had even attempted to read so I said goodbye to it also, I folded all of the clothes and smelt them all carefully, determined to remember the sensations of each of the outfits I had worn. I spoke to each of the pieces of furniture, wishing them luck and hoping they would be enjoyed by the family when they returned.

Eventually I was done and I locked the doors and windows carefully so it would be safe while I was away.

A/N: I know this is moving quite quickly but just a warning that there are only about 5 chapters left. Let me know what you think and thanks again for anyone who has left a review/put me on your favourites list/alerts