Chapter 7

Nicole had given Egypt a list of materials to get for her first dress, also sending Jake along with her to show her all the shops.

The dress that she had been given seemed to have a magical radiance that drew every glance and wide-eyed envy it could. Making Egypt all the happier.

"What are you smirking at?" Jake asked as they walked through the market place.

"Everyone likes the dress." She whispered to him.

"That's because slaves usually cant afford something like that." He said glancing at the dress. Egypt gave him a little laugh that drew even more glances, creating unwanted whispers. Egypt's happiness suddenly faded.

Jake noticed the bright smile fade and looked around. They WERE getting a lot of looks.

"Why is it that most people are surprised when they see a slave laugh?" Egypt asked quietly, trying not to draw too much more attention than she already had.

"I'm not exactly sure. A lot of slaves that DO smile and laugh have been here a while and know that there's nothing they can do to escape.

"But wouldn't they be sad then?"

"Not necessarily."

The subject dropped and they walked in silence. After a few minutes they came upon a place called "The Handy-Dandy Hobby Shop". Egypt glanced inside the window and saw every color yarn and string ever made.

"I'm coming in with you this time but if they give you any trouble any other time, just ell me and I'll have a talk with them." Jake said.

"Why would they give me any trouble?"

Jake pointed at a sign in the left corner of the right window.

"No humans allowed, unless accompanied by: A vampire, blood-bonded human, or demon." Egypt read aloud, a flash of anger overwhelmed her, but she controlled it. Taking it out on Jake was the last thing she wanted to do.

"A lot of upper-class businesses are like that, probably because they're run and owned by interspecies."

"That is major bull." Egypt hissed, as she turned on her heels and walked in, not waiting for Jake.

"Good day milady. How may I help you?" The young man at the counter asked. She noticed that Jake was a distance away from her and considered he might be pretending to not be with her, probably to waiting to see what might happen.

Egypt looked at the young man. He was that of a totally different species and, oddly enough, he was green. Green skinned, red horns, and red eyes. Yet even with these scary features, he seemed to have a kindness about him that Egypt couldn't quite place.

"Excuse me for asking sir, but…what are you?" She asked as nicely as she could.

"Don't worry, tons of people ask me that. Guess it's kind of odd to see a green demon walking around a vampire town. I'm a Laurenamalla, or most just call me Lauren. (Yes Angel fans it's Lauren!) I…read people. Just by your voice I can tell who you are, what species, what your like, and the troubles your going through."

"Oh really, than tell me who I am." Egypt replied.

"You have to sing for me first."

"Sing!?" Jake and Egypt said in union.

Lauren's attention moved to Jake, having not noticed him enter before. "And you are?"

"Jake." He said, inching closer to the pair.

"Nice to meet you Jake and…" He hesitated and looked back at Egypt.

"Egypt." She smiled her best smile, still not sure how he would react when he found out she was a human.

"Well, nice to meet both of you. You came in here for a reason so…"

"OH!" Egypt laughed, "We need string and sewing stuff." She said, looking around.

Lauren moved from behind the counter.

"Well, what are you going to sew?"

"Dresses, I work for Nikki."

"YOU'RE THE NEW GIRL!" Lauren's eyes widened.

Egypt's smile faltered, "What about it?"

"You do not know how many people are talking about you!"

"What are you talking about?" Jake budded in.

"Because you fought so much to get away, and you beat up a few pretty badly, well if they wouldn't have healed right away, and than you're smiling and laughing."

"Jeez, word gets around fast doesn't it." Egypt acknowledged, stealing a glance at Jake.

"Yes it does, especially when you're high on the food chain." Lauren chuckled at his joke.

Egypt gave him a questioning look.

"Don't ask hun." He said waving his hand in the air. He moved over to a wall with different colors of string. "What color would you like sweetie?"

"I'm not sure. I was thinking about making a black dress with swirls of color all over it." She said, stepping next to him.

"Oh, that sounds gorgeous!" Lauren replied, clapping his hands, "You wait here, I've got the perfect thing!" Lauren hustled into a back room.

"Strange fellow isn't he?" Jake whispered to Egypt.

"Yeah, but he's strange in a really cool way." She barely finished her sentence when Lauren came back out, a huge box in his arms.

"This is all you'll need." He gave them a wide smile, and pulled out a big roll of white string.

"That!?" Jake scowled.

"This is the best string anybody can have!"

"Not to be rude or anything, but it's sort of…white." Egypt pointed out.

"You need to look deeper than the surface. Tell me a name of any color." Lauren almost practically sung.

"Orange." Egypt suggested.

The string turned orange.

"OH MY GOD!" Egypt squealed running over to Lauren.

"See, I knew you'd like it." Lauren winked. "Here, I've decided you can have it. Just think of it as a, welcome to the neighborhood cake."

Egypt smiled a true smile, "Thank you."

"I don't mean to push out luck but, why?" Jake asked, suspiciously.

"Because, you're the first slave I've seen that is happy on their first day."

"But why? I mean, so far I've been treated like a normal person, other than being slapped--"

"And I apologized for that!" Jake interrupted.

"I just don't understand." Egypt finished.

"Not many people end up with owners as nice as yours." Lauren said sadly.

"But who can be that mean?"

Just then the jingly bell on the door rang as it opened.

"There's your answer." Jake whispered.