Drown Under Earth - Shadows of the Night 3

Chapter 18

Hi!

Time for the next one. I was having trouble writing this week so I really hope I can do more in the next few days. Still, I hope you like this chapter. Have a great week, and thank you all for reading! Let me know what you're thinking :-)

Lara

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Chapter 18

It was my duty to do grocery shopping on Wednesday. We had a killer on the loose, Alexander was hell-bent on making me his human servant for real, and I used two elements that weren't even my own to call. The fact that I had domestic duties almost made me feel human again.

Since I also needed new underwear, I decided to go the whole hog. I went to one of the big malls in the late afternoon. The last time I ventured into such a scary monstrosity I was desperate to find a birthday present for Laura. Entering the gates to the shopping palace in the late afternoon made me remember why I usually tried to avoid shopping there at all costs. Too many people.

After a heated debate with myself whether I would first go for the groceries or not, I finally decided to roam the clothing stores first. It would be more than uncomfortable to carry all the bags with me, while trying to figure out which lace pattern to pick for underwear.

I was already at the second store, ogling at a black lacy piece that was a bit out of my league in financial terms. That was when I caught sight of him. I was positive that the middle aged man had already been at the first store I visited. I stared at him. He turned around and grabbed the next best undies beside him, looking at the panties intently. I narrowed my eyes.

Tall and muscular in the way bouncers were built, his hair a blondish mess. The black parka he was wearing was one of the casual sort – unobtrusive and nondescript as much as his washed-out jeans. He looked the other way, left the panties and walked out of the shop.

I let out a breath I hadn't known I had been holding. Was I being paranoid? Apparently the news of Raphael Medici's prison break had upset me more than I was willing to admit to myself.

Get a grip, I thought, and went back to examining my current object of desire.

I bought the ridiculously expensive lingerie in addition to a pack of cotton black panties, trying to get over a tight feeling in my stomach. It told me that I had spent too much money to be happy with what I had just acquired.

The cotton panties I really needed. But the lacy thing? Why did I even buy the expensive stuff in the first place? I found myself at a loss. Was I planning to show myself in sexy lingerie to anybody in the near future?

I tried to push these dangerous and uncalled-for thoughts to the back of my mind, directing my steps to the grocery. Unfortunately I would have to walk through half of the mall to get there. Trying to wade through the mass of people rushing through the building was like literally striving against the stream. I scanned the mall for a relatively empty passage, some sort of empty space I could escape through. Maybe I could find a shortcut to the grocery store, and then I-

For a second I froze. Then I turned around, acting as if I hadn't seen him. The lingerie man in the black parka was leaning against a wall, about two shops behind me. I believed in coincidences once. When I became the head vampire's human servant, I lost some of that kind of naivety. Paranoid or not, better safe than sorry.

I scanned the bustling crowd around me. My eyes stilled on the signs above me. The restrooms were close by.

Perfect.