Running From Time

Chapter 9

"Do you wanna go see that movie we were gonna watch last night?" I asked Thalia and she nodded with a giggle. It was past noon and we had both only just got up. The double bed that we were sleeping in could be split into two single beds so we did that to make things less awkward. My headache that I had originally woken up with had diminished considerably and I was grateful for that. I couldn't say the same about Lydia though.

"Sure! But...my head is hurting a little." She said slightly sheepishly and I looked at her sympathetically. "And at some point, I need to help you 'unlock your power'." She said, making quotation marks with her fingers. I cocked my head to the side in confusion.

"What do you mean?" I asked and she shrugged.

"I've been ordered by the PeaceMakers to help you control this power of yours completely." I blinked twice.

"You told them?!" I hissed and she nodded a little guiltily.

"I had to, okay? I'm only trying to help your chance of survival against Serpius." I sighed and glanced to my left.

"How are you possibly gonna 'train' me?" I asked with a frown.

"I've been given advice from the PeaceMakers and we have studied both you and Serpius very carefully. I'm a bit of a whizz with computers so I managed to watch your every move through your security cameras." I looked at her with a shocked and slightly embarrassed expression.

"Well that would explain why you know so much about me." I said with a smirk and she snorted.

"Yeah. When I watched you I was actually very surprised. You're not just a dumb celebrity. You came across as very eccentric." I raised my eyebrows and smiled.

"Really? Cool." The warm feeling was inside me again. I grabbed some money from my bedside table and gestured for Thalia to follow me. As we walked side by side out of the hotel, I started to think about the kiss. Had I liked it? I looked down at Thalia and she smiled up at me. She was so unaware.

"What movie are we gonna see?" She asked as we entered the cinema. I looked at the film listings and grinned when I saw the last one.

"Insidious 3?" I asked and she laughed.

"Yeah, why not? I love horror movies anyway." I smiled and we bought our tickets. Before we entered the movie, Thalia had to go to the bathroom so I was left in the foyer of the cinema. I looked around at all of the overpriced food they were selling and my stomach rumbled. As I walked up to the counter to buy some popcorn, I spotted a dog behind me. It was on a leash, but it looked like it was going to attack someone at any moment. Its eyes rested on me suddenly and it growled. I turned towards it and stood my ground. From my experience of owning dogs, I knew that I had to show them who was boss. But this felt different somehow. The dog's bright blue eyes bore into my dark brown ones and I shook my head in slight confusion. I must be seeing things. The owner watched me with a slightly weird expression and I turned away, trying to ignore the horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. I paid for my popcorn and turned around to find Thalia. The dog was still staring at me and it was starting to creep me out. Suddenly, it launched itself forward and the owner yelped in surprise. It was heading straight for me. I jumped to the side and it went crashing into the counter from which I'd just bought my popcorn. Great. Now I'd just made it angrier. It turned to me and snarled. I turned tail and started to run towards the cinema screenings, hoping that it wouldn't follow me. I kept running until I reached a dead end and turned slowly, sweat dripping down from my forehead. To my horror, the dog appeared at the end of the corridor and snarled again, ready to launch itself forward. Just before it did, the owner suddenly appeared out of nowhere and grabbed it by the neck. He looked at me sheepishly before securing the leash around the dog's neck.