YTZ#15:
The Fear Grips Again
My ongoing writings cited for future use as a graphic novel. Enjoy.
Start from the beginning.
What follows is a fictional account.
The Fear Grid, Part 4
“
After school hours were Purity’s favorite time. While she appreciated high school for what it was, it was for the social aspect and her friends that she lived. That’s why leaving school and heading to the mall was so much fun.“Hey Pure!” called Susan from second period as she passed Purity and Grace going through the main entrance at Serendipity Mall.
“Hey Susan!” Purity responded. “Any great sales in there?”
“Oh yes, you’ve got to check out Stacy’s,” Susan replied excitedly. “They’ve got half off sales all over the store!”
“Thanks,” said Purity.
“Alright, bye!” Susan yelled as she left the mall.
“See, Pure,” offered Grace. “Not everyone thinks you’re a freak after what happened today.”
Purity glared at her friend. “Grace, esslay alktay on the eakfray stuff, please! We are in public.”
“Right, right, sorry. But still, I mean, she didn’t even bring it up.”
“To my face, anyways,” Purity muttered. “She knows how to play two-face like the best of them.”
“Don’t be so cynical,” Grace chided her friend.
“Oh, I’m not, usually.” Purity’s face turned inward like a grimace. “It’s just that today, I don’t know. It’s been such a strange day.”
“Tell me about it,” Grace chuckled. “I actually asked out a boy, and he said yes!”
Purity nudged her friend part playfully, part seriously. “That’s not what I mean. I mean, well, I’m happy it worked out for you, Grace. But, there’s been some weird stuff happening to me. I don’t know what it’s about…”
“Hey, stop being so serious,” Grace scolded. “We’re at the mall! It’s your favorite place. Enjoy it for a minute or two.”
“You’re right. I’ll try.”
The two girls settled into their mall visit, first passing the busy and full food court. Several students waved as they passed, and so far it seemed Grace may be right. Mostly the students were moving on from her incident in history class.
Purity started to think that maybe it was mostly in her own head. That she was only focusing on it because it had happened to her. Even though it had been pretty disturbing.
Passing by the Mr. & Mrs Pretzel the girls snickered as they watched Old Man Ciderhouse yelling at the clerk. He was rarely sober and most assumed is drink of choice was hard cider due to the way his breath smelled. Unfortunately he tended to share that breath far too close and far too often with anyone that he could. The clerk was getting a nose full at the moment.
Along the way to Stacy’s there was Oliver Good’s Apparel, Rayvon’s Sunglasses and Paula’s Beauty Supply. These were some of the favorite hang outs for the students of Infinity High, but today Purity and Grace would skip right past them.
There’s nothing like fashionistas on a mission. And there was a big sale to chase.
At last they were at Stacy’s, the most prominent department store in the world, also known for hosting the Thanksgiving Day Parades.
Their eyes were instantly aglow as they walked in to see markdowns like a girl couldn’t believe. Half off here, thirty percent there. One sign even offered sixty percent off clearance items!
“There she is.”
Here it comes, Purity thought. More haters to rag on her earlier crazies.
“Oh, hey Amanda!”
Purity looked up to see a girl running up to a group of other girls. One of them was the voice she had heard, greeting her friend and telling her to join their shopping.
Close one, thought Purity. I really thought…
“Ah, if it ain’t old freak show,” called a boy’s voice.
Purity turned to see Gavin’s two friends from earlier.
“Yea,” chimed in the other boy. “It’s like, oh my god, there’s something on me! Oh my god, get it off, get it off!”
“Shut up,” said the first, seeming genuinely embarrassed by his friend.
“You wouldn’t know God if he stood right in front of you, Brad,” Grace accused suddenly.
“Oh ho, watch out!” said Brad, the second boy. “The bible thumper has a devil’s tongue after all! Haha!”
“Hardly,” Purity tried. “She barely said…”
“I got this, Purity,” Grace interjected. Then to Brad: “Just because you were raised to believe in nothing, doesn’t mean you can joke about my beliefs.”
“Whatever, you WASP.”
The two boys laughed and jabbed each other triumphantly.
“Do you even know what that means?” asked Grace.
“Uh, duh, yea he does,” said the first boy. “Why else would he have said it?”
“Good one,” Brad agreed.
“Stanley, clearly neither of you know what that means, or you wouldn’t call me that. I’m Catholic, first of all.” Grace was puffing angrily.
“Ooh, right, Catholic,” the boys jeered and waved their hands mockingly. They walked off laughing as if they’d won something.
“Ignore them, Grace, they’re just idiots.”
“Those idiots are friends with your date for the dance,” Grace groaned and walked off.
Purity hurried after her. “Hey, Grace, it’s not like asking Gavin out automatically makes me friends with those two. I don’t like them either.”
“Yea, and it’s not like you stood up for me either.”
“You told me not to!” Purity was beside herself. “You said you had it.”
“Well, I gave it a go,” Grace said. “But you just sat there and watched the whole thing. Just let them walk away like that.”
“Grace, come on, that’s not fair. Hey, you want me to chase them down and give them a piece of my mind? I will, you know.”
It seemed as though Grace were about to break down. She was a sensitive one. “No, sorry, I know I’m not being fair,” she managed. “I just don’t like how they were treating me.”
“Hey, I don’t like how they were treating you, either,” Purity agreed. “Or me for that matter. And I’m super glad that I had my awesome best friend to stand up for ME… even if maybe I didn’t return the favor.”
Grace smiled at Purity, then the girls hugged it out.
The two of them ended up having some fun shopping at Stacy’s and found some great steals. Both found their perfect dress and accessories for the dance.
There was one person in line in front of them while they waited to check out. Purity reached for her debit card.
“Oh no!” she cried out. “I’ve lost my backpack!”
“Wait, what?” Grace was surprised.
“I must have left it somewhere, I don’t have it!” Purity shrieked.
“No way! When did you have it last?”
“I think…” tried Purity. “I don’t know. I can’t remember…”
“Well, you brought it to the mall, right?”
“Pretty sure, I mean, I always carry it for school.”
“Did you have it when Gavin’s friends were bugging us?”
“I think. I mean, I was kind of distracted. But it’s not like something could have happened to it. It would have been on my shoulder.”
Grace tried again, “So you don’t remember maybe putting it down somewhere or something?”
“I don’t know, maybe,” Purity was becoming frantic. “Maybe when I was shopping. Maybe I put it down to look at something. Do you think someone might have stolen it by now?”
“Relax. If you left it in Stacy’s then it’s a good thing we’re still here. We can just look for it. I doubt anyone would have picked it up yet.”
“If you saw a backpack left in the open, would you take it?” Purity asked nervously.
“Yes,” Grace replied, “and I would bring it to the nearest clerk to turn in to lost and found. Hey, we’re next in line, why don’t we just ask the clerk?”
“Ok.”
The customer in front of them just walked off at that moment.
“Excuse me, ma’am,” Purity said as she sidled up to the counter. “You wouldn’t have happened to know if someone turned in a lost backpack, would you?”
The clerk seemed friendly enough and asked, “Well, I don’t know, what color is it?”
“It’s sky blue,” Purity answered, hopeful.
The clerk radioed her team about the backpack. As she did so, her fingers tapped incessantly on the counter. Purity became hyper focused on the sound. It was as if she could not hear or experience anything else. Even when the clerk began to speak again, the words were a garbled jumble of slow, drawn-out gibberish, like a special effect in a movie. All she could hear was that tap, tap, tapping of the woman’s fingers.
The fear gripped her again. She worried that she’d lost her bag and all her belongings, even her homework. She was afraid that Gavin’s friends might find it and go through all her stuff, even her private thoughts. Or just about anyone from Infinity High could have a field day looking through all her inner feelings scribbled in her notebooks. Purity just imagined how utterly humiliating that would be. Especially on top of what had already transpired that day.
The world went dark again, like that morning. The entire store and everything and everyone in it looked as though they were coated in some black, blue film that washed out all other color. Purity’s heart felt heavy and fearful, beating in her chest like a thunderstorm. She wanted to run, but felt almost glued in place, only moving as in slow motion. Very slow motion. She heard strange noises on the edge of perception, faint but terrifying. In her mouth she tasted something bitter, a metallic coldness. She thought she was losing her mind.
Then she saw that the Stacy’s clerk behind the counter was having a similar attack of some sort. The woman was backing away from her work, eyes wide open in terror, staring at something in the air above Purity’s head. Then the clerk screamed in horror, pulling the hair on her head violently before dashing from the store altogether. Everyone present watched in disbelief.
But Purity was far more concerned by what the woman had run from. With extreme trepidation, she looked overhead where the clerk had fixed her gaze, trying to see what was there above her head…
And she felt her friend Grace holding and squeezing her arms so tightly and shaking her body, saying, “Purity, Purity… hey, Pure! Wake up! Snap out of it! It’s just a bad dream! Come back to me!”
“
Please comment and share.
Thanks for reading.
Blessings to you,
Matthew