Take Me Home | ✔

Chapter Twenty-Two

   "I'm so sorry, so sorry," Marie kept apologizing, "I should've closed down way earlier, but I guess I needed the raise." She chuckled nervously, and led us into a side room, where she fumbled with her keys in the dark. 

    "Here, lemme," I offered her the light from the iPod, and after holding up the large ring of about thirty keys, she finally found the right one. 

 "Thanks," she smiled kindly, and stumbled into the room. Eli and I waited outside, and I took this opportunity to ask why he was freaking out. 

         "Hey, you've been freaking out since the car," I nudged him as casually as I could, "You alright?" 

      He only glanced at me before giving a sideward nod, "Just dandy." 

   "Then why are you so tense?" 

        "Are you always this annoying?" he snarked. He folds his arms across his chest and leans against the wall. Without even wanting to notice it, the effortless look was plastered all over him. 

   "It's one of my off-days," I waved a hand, letting slip a grin without meaning to, "You should see me on one of my good days. I can drive you crazy." 

     He scoffed, trying to hide his smirk. I saw it anyway, even through the dark. "Honestly, I'd take you up on that offer." 

      My eyes widened and I wasn't really sure what he'd meant, or rather if I wanted to acknowledge it, but Marie returned with two flashlights and a heavy looking yellow box. 

    "Oh, uh, I don't think we'll be staying for long," I managed. Marie had certainly stocked up. 

"Oh. You aren't?" Disappointment was something she freely showed. 

    "Yeah, we're kind of a schedule," Eli shrugged. 

     Marie's face fell, and I felt terrible wanting to leave her all alone in this Safeway, but why couldn't she just go home? 

 "I'm afraid none of us can leave," she drawled. 

    Eli and I shared a glance. His eyes were wide with fright and I knew we shared the same, chilling thought: was Marie a secret serial killer? 

    "Uh..." Eli's voice trails off, and he was about to say something, when Marie belly-laughs. A sharp piercing yet pleasant sound, much like bells, fills the room.

    "Oh, no, I'm not gonna trap you guys in here," the crinkles of her eyes tighten with her smile, "It's not like I'm a serial killer or anything! I swear it on my life. But since the electricity's out, the only way out is through those --" 

  She lifted her flashlight towards the metal slider sliding doors. 

                  "And they only open with electricity, something we don't have," Marie finished. 

    "That's not possible," I muttered under my breath, walking over to the doors. And like an idiot, I expected it to open magically when it sensed my movement. I expected the sensors to detect me, so I inevitably ran and slammed my face into the unmoving glass. 

     "Ow!" I instinctively raised a hand and rubbed my forehead. A sharp pain was at my temple, right where I crashed into the doors. Behind me, I could hear Eli chuckling without trying to hide it, and my cheeks grew warm and red hot with embarrassment.

 But I didn’t want to give up. The sheer notion of being trapped inside a black-out in a grocery store had never occurred to me, until now, when the doors wouldn’t open, no matter how hard I tried to move.