Shopping

The ride to the mall had been utterly peaceful, and Rhea had spent the entire ride staring out the window, absorbed by the shifting scenery. She felt completely uninterested in the people around her currently.

When they safely arrived at the mall, a burst of cool, perfumed air met them at the entrance, scented faintly with flowers and leathers.

Rhea stood under the tall archway, her glasses catching the soft glow of the chandelier overhead. Around her, shoppers glided past in silk and polished shoes, their hollow laughter blending into the background noise like the ticking of a distant clock.

The sound annoyed Rhea for some inexplicable reason. Laughters meant to deceive. She had heard that sound too much from someone who had stabbed her deeply in the back, multiple times too, and without hesitation.

"Miss, shall we start with the clothes?" Linda asked, glancing back at Rhea, who hadn't moved from where she stood. She was still busy studying the place like it was some curious exhibit she had accidentally wandered into.

But in her defense, it was her first time entering a mall.

Nodding in silence, Rhea stepped into place behind Linda. The marble floors gleamed so perfectly that she could almost make out her reflection in them as she walked by— which was an odd, blurred ghost of herself.

Along the wide corridor, shops gleamed like glass treasures, each stuffed with things meant to dazzle; mannequins in curated outfits, high-heeled boots perched on silver stands, and handbags that cost more than people's houses. At least that was what it seemed to Rhea when she checked the price tag for each one.

However, she felt nothing.

Not awe, not excitement at seeing these things. Just the familiar, clinical emptiness that lived under her skin. Still, she knew the kind of reaction that was expected of her. She made her eyes widen slightly, parted her lips, and tilted her head like she was in genuine wonders— mimicking the fascination she'd seen girls her age perform, as naturally as breathing.

"You mean I can get all these?" She asked, turning to Linda who nodded in response.

"They're all so beautiful," she murmured, drifting from rack to rack, her gaze lingering on anything that caught her eye. "It makes me wonder…just how many sections are there?"

Linda, who was already a few steps ahead, explained calmly, "Given how huge the mall is, we won't be able to see everything in just a few hours. But you can pick whatever you like from this section, and then we'll move on to the next."

"Oh," Rhea said, blinking as she turned her attention back to the clothes. Taking Linda's words literally, she immediately began grabbing armfuls of garments, piling them high. "I'll take these… and these…oh, and all of these too! This one looks nice— I'll just take everything! That's allowed…right?"

Within minutes, Linda was nearly buried under the mountain of clothes Rhea had amassed. She wasn't even selecting at this point and was just grabbing whatever was within reach. Maybe she wasn't even selecting from the start.

"I think… you've chosen enough, Miss," Linda said weakly, sinking to the floor beneath the towering heap.

Rhea stared at her for a moment before breaking into laughter. She wasn't quite sure why she found it so funny, but there was something amusing about seeing Linda so overwhelmed by a pile of weightless fabric.

If she were to be honest, she wasn't sure why she was here in the first place. She had no real attachment to material things, though she could admit— there were a few items she found herself liking more than she expected.

Tucked between a boutique candle shop and a trending shoe store was something entirely different. The shop's glass display case gleamed with sharp objects like folding knives, throwing stars, stun guns and pepper spray. Even a heavy black baton was mounted proudly behind the glass like a trophy.

Drawn like a moth to a flame, Rhea approached the storefront and stepped inside. Linda, who was busy restacking the clothes, hadn't noticed when Rhea slipped away from view.

Inside the shop, the walls were lined with gears Rhea couldn't name, but immediately found fascinating. She beelined straight to the glass case where a compact pink taser sat innocently beside a selection of brass knuckles. Picking it up, she brushed her thumb over the trigger, and a tiny spark jumped to life with a satisfying crack.

The store clerk, who was a bearded man in a tactical vest, grinned as he watched her toy with the pink taser. "First time?" he asked.

Rhea didn't even spare him a glance before answering. "No," she said coolly.

Seconds later, Linda rushed in after realizing she had lost her, but her relief was short-lived when she saw what Rhea was holding. "Miss, what are you doing with that thing?" she immediately came to stand beside Rhea, looking around at the ominous shelves. "This isn't… this isn't the kind of place we're supposed to be shopping at."

"But I like it," Rhea insisted with an almost childlike expression, as she calmly pointed the taser at the air and clicked it again. She watched the electricity arc with a detached, curious stare.

"She's got a good eye," the clerk said approvingly as he swung a table cloth over his shoulder. "That model's actually reliable. Easy to conceal too.'

Linda looked horrified. "She's a teenager."

"Err! Wrong, I'll be eighteen in a couple of months," Rhea corrected mildly.

Linda simply clutched the shopping bag she had brought with her to her chest like it could do anything to shield her. "We are not buying a taser, Miss. You can seriously hurt yourself with that."

"Who said I was buying it so I could hurt myself with it?" Her lips quirked into a smirk, and the look in her eyes from those slightly transparent shades, made Linda's stomach twist. She had no idea what Rhea meant, and she wasn't sure she wanted to.

"But you can't just like weapons."

"Better than people," Rhea replied to Linda's weak attempts, and Linda had no good answer for that.

Knowing she could do nothing to convince Rhea out of buying it, she surrendered to the inevitable, letting Rhea do as she pleased. After stepping out of the shop, they stopped by other sections to get a few things. And Just when Linda thought the madness was finally over, Rhea casually dropped a pack of condoms into the shopping bag Linda was holding, quietly watching the color drain from her face.

She had done it purely for the pleasure of watching the poor woman have a heart attack.