On the poor side of town, nestled among the sun-faded fronts of industrial buildings and crumbling walls of dusty apartment complexes, there was a grocery store. It was a small grocery store, privately owned, and kept open from eight to five every day except Sunday, on which it was closed.
This independent grocery store was frequented by Aisling Angelina Forrester, along with her entourage, the Little Pack. Aisling was only fifteen years old, but she lead her Pack with enormous efficiency, and the small group rarely wanted for anything, although they were, in the strict definition of the word, homeless. Aisling's charges were aged fourteen, ten, seven, and six years old, and despite the fundamental differences in their personalities, they all meshed together extremely well.
The owners of the small grocery store saw the Little Pack Monday through Saturday, and always at the exact same time, and the reason was known well to every person who worked in the store. In the very back, next to the meat counter, there was a sort of deli where people purchased hot, ready-made foods and took them away in styrofoam containers. Since it was rare for a majority of the food to be sold, and the proprietors didn't want to throw it out, they declared that all of the food from the deli counter would be free within fifteen minutes of the store's closing time. And so, Aisling brought her Pack to the little store every day, excepting Sunday, at four forty-five in the afternoon, and there they feasted.
On a certain Tuesday during the month of November, the winds outside were already laced with frost as the Little Pack filed into the grocery store. They smiled and greeted the employees as they entered, just as they always did, and strode to the back of the store. From various bags they produced mismatched plates, which they handed to the proprietor, who stood behind the deli counter in a white apron. He grinned behind his long mustache as he scooped generous amounts of lasagna and spinach onto the childrens' plates and handed them over. They thanked him one by one as they took their plates, and then they sat on the floor in a sort of circle. In warm weather they sat out on the curb, but the greasy sweaters and scruffy coats they wore over their ragged clothes offered scant protection from the wind, so they stayed inside on days like this one.
The five chewed and swallowed contentedly for a while, but after a time the fourteen-year-old, a dark-complexioned boy named Joaquin, turned to Aisling and said,
"Joey was following me today."
Aisling, as well as the others, was instantly alert. "Did he bother you at all?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.
Joaquin shoveled some more lasagna into his mouth and shook his head as he chewed. He gulped hugely and said, "Nah, but he creeped me out a lot."
"How?" the seven-year-old girl, Vasilisa, asked Joaquin.
"Well. . ." Joaquin said as he moved his plate from his lap to the tile floor and crossed his arms over his chest, "While I was at the market, picking out the fruits, he kept popping up wherever I was. He would stand a few yards away, and stare at me. And, a few times, when I stared back at him, he would giggle and cover his mouth with his hand. It was kind of freaky."
Aisling wrinkled her forehead and pulled at a stray lock of her bedraggled hair, a sure sign that she was thinking. "It sounds like they're planning something."
"What do you think they'll do?" said the ten-year-old, looking frightened. He was called Patrick, but had gotten the nickname "Patches" because of the brown speckles that decorated his pale arms and face.
"Something nasty, probably. We'll have to be super careful on our way home." Aisling said.
The last child, the tiny girl who was alternately called Bella-Jane, Janie, and Bell-Bell, stayed silent and licked her plate clean. The rest of the assembly did the same. After their plates were as spotless as they could be made, considering their age and long usage, the five children replaced their plates and utensils in their respective bags, stood up and thanked the proprietor, then left the store in their customary order: Joaquin first, Vasilisa second, then Patrick, then Bella-Jane, and lastly Aisling.