The Apprentice's Apprentice

Part 33

"I can't believe they already have the Halloween shit up," Zoe said, nodding at the Stitches storefront which already had decorations up. Cora thought the haunted tree decal wasn't bad but the terrible black netting and barely recognizable bats were pretty awful.

She shrugged. "Well it is almost October. And they can only keep the back to school stuff up for so long. They need something to base their latest sale around I guess. Besides, I like Halloween. It's better than having to listen to Christmas carols during that season. Seriously, when that starts in November I'm not going to be able to be anywhere near this place."

Zoe shuddered, dodging around a couple of old women stopped in the middle of the mall talking. "Okay, yeah, that's worse."

Cora and Zoe continued on towards the far end of the mall, moving through the thick Saturday crowds. All around them people were talking and hurrying, stopping and laughing, walking and showing off. The stores themselves were hubs of sounds, scents, and sensations. They passed the Bath and Body Works which assaulted their nostrils with conflicting smells and then the EB Games which was covered in flashing lights in honour of the latest first person shooter release.

"So what are you getting Moira?" Cora asked Zoe.

Her friend grimaced. "I have no idea. She's impossible to buy for, and it's her birthday, so I don't want to cop out and get her a gift certificate or something. I thought maybe a dress or something, but she's so fussy about what she likes that I don't think I'll be able to pick out what she'll like."

"What about a movie or something?"

"She Netflixes everything, so there's no point really. And she downloads her music so a CDs out too."

Cora drummed her fingers against her thighs as she tried to think of something else Moira might like. She wasn't much of a gamer, didn't like comics or anything nerdy that Cora could help with, and while she had a thing for trashy romance and sci-fi books, Cora knew that Zoe wouldn't know which ones she already had or had read. "Hmm...what about you making her something? Like a cake or her favourite dessert or whatever? You're good at baking."

"I did that last year."

"Damn," Cora replied. Then she remembered what she'd done for her grandparents last year for Christmas. "Well, what about making like a photo album of you two or something? It'd be easy enough to creep Facebook for pictures and you can get stuff like that printed at Walmart for pretty cheap. Then you just need to get an album to put them in. If you really wanted, you could try that whole scrapbooking thing. My mom does it and I'm sure she'd be happy to let you steal some of her stuff. I swear she likes you better than me sometimes."

Zoe grinned. "That's because she doesn't have to deal with me all the time the way she has to with you. If I was doing stuff to piss her off the way I do for my parents, I'm sure she wouldn't like me as much. Also, I'm just more awesome. But yeah, I'll definitely keep the album in mind as Plan B. It's a cute idea."

"You could also always just get a nice frame and put a photo of you two in it or something."

"Nah, that's a little too cheesy. The album's on the cute side of cheesy so it's okay. Anyway, will you wait here for a minute? I'm going to pop into the book store for a minute."

"Sure, I'll be here," Cora replied. She really didn't have much interest in books and the manga section in the store was pitiful and weighted heavily towards shoujo. She was really more of shonen girl. She watched Zoe eel her way through the crowd and into the store, disappearing in moments. It was nice to be here at the mall, even with all the people. Mostly Cora was glad to be having a magic-free day. The after school lessons were exhausting and she really needed a break from the whole shielding thing, especially since Selena went all out in trying to break them. She knew why the mage had to, but it didn't make the situation any more pleasant.

Cora turned her attention to the nearest store, a People's. She didn't have that much interest in the jewellery, especially since she wasn't likely going to be getting any for a long time, but she did have a bit of a soft spot for sparkly stuff. She eyed the sapphires and diamonds in the first window before sliding over to the one beside the door, this one having a display of rubies. She didn't see any of her birthstone, but thought they usually didn't display the amethysts out front.

"I want that one!" a female voice said, before its owner shoved Cora to the side. She turned to stare at the young woman who had herself wrapped around the arm of a portly man who looked old enough to be her father. With hair nearly the same shade as the gems in the window, a slim build barely hidden by the formfitting dress she wore and full lips, her whole appearance attracted attention.

The man smiled down at her and said, "Anything for you, love," before hurrying into the shop.

The woman tossed her head and only then turned to look at Cora. She stared back, taking in the stranger's widening green eyes. There was something about her, an air that was somehow familiar...

It was the hiss of "Mage," from the other woman that told her what that was.