Experienced purveyors of secrets knew the best way to keep secrets was to find the right place to hide them with as much visibility as possible. Faye, a peppy sophomore high school student from Sacramento, knew nothing of shadows, but she had secrets she needed to hide.
The access halls between shops inside Golden Capital Mall would have been spacious if not for the piles of crates and boxes used as extra inventory storage. Soft scratches hinted at rodents living within the maze of shadows and murky yellow light. Faye took extra care to move through the cavern and not get dust on her expensive dress from New York Fashion Week, which was held a month ago.
The puffy blue satin design of her dress complemented her auburn hair and pearl jewelry. Her new, green Fashion Week shoes clicked on the glossy concrete floor of the access halls and echoed throughout the maze of supplies and carts. The vibrant clicks of her fancy shoes was what gave her away after she snuck through an open door behind the food court restrooms.
Someone huffed nearby, then a whisper seemed cut-off.
“Shane?” Faye perked up from her compressed, semi-crouched state. “I’m here like you asked.”
A four-way intersection was dead ahead with the only obstacle being a mop handle across the floor. A boy’s voice let out the softest fragment of a syllable. Seconds later, his voice stifled what seemed like the start to a chuckle.
“I deleted all your texts.” Faye swayed with her steps and craned her neck in an attempt to spot Shane. “Can you delete the photos from your phone?” She approached the intersection. “Your girlfriend doesn’t need to know what we did.”
A figure in baggy, black workout gear jumped out from between stacks of crates at the corner and punched Faye in the solar plexus. The attacker roared in a girl’s voice as she delivered a kick to Faye’s face when she doubled-over from the punch. The hood to her sweater flopped down with her burst of maneuvers and revealed her blonde ponytail as she grabbed Faye by the scalp and slammed her head into the wall.
“Please! Kairis! I…” Faye attempted to raise her hands in front of her face but her attacker’s foot slammed her weak palms aside and connected with her cheek. She flopped to the ground, half unconscious.
“I think that’s enough, babe,” Shane said as he emerged with a half-dozen of their friends from hiding spots beyond the intersection. He spit on Faye’s face and restrained his girlfriend from further attacks. “You got her. Look at her, like a dying fish down there. Let’s just get pictures of this and trash her life.”
“Shut up!” Kairis spun around and shoved Shane’s hands off her shoulders. “You’re stupid enough to be seduced by this skank. I’ll decide when I’m done with her.” She pushed her boyfriend into a janitor cart and supplies spilled out the side, including a plunger.
“Good idea.” Kairis picked up the plunger with both hands like a baseball bat.
Faye blinked as her senses returned slowly. She was on the floor with Kairis above her and her arms coiled to deliver a home run swing with a plunger handle. She raised her scraped hands in defense and let out a pathetic squeak. She breathed harder in dread of when the strike would come and wished someone would step in to stop the attack.
“Please don’t!” Faye rolled to the side to attempt to shield herself with her shoulder. “I know you hate me and I’m sorry I slept with your boyfriend. I’ll never talk to him again. I swear. Kairis, I swear!”
Kairis grunted with the full force of all her might channeled into the weapon. The air rushed audibly around her arms and handle. But the strike never landed.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” Faye sobbed and curled her body into a fetal position. She shook and scrambled to move her arms, hands, and fingers in any possible position to prevent the incoming pain. It took her agonizing seconds to realize the attack ceased.
Faye dared to move her hands away from her head to peek at her attacker. Kairis stood over her with the plunger handle, but she was frozen in mid-swing. Shane was perfectly still in a mid-stand after having tripped backwards on the cart. The other friends were also still, all of their eyes wide and faces glowing with wild anger.
She blinked and realized no one but her stirred. Kairis above her didn’t even move with the most subtle sign of breaths.
The door in the corridor behind Faye burst open and a lithe figure rushed in with deliberate steps. The brightness of the mall lighting outside the access halls made the figure into a dark silhouette. It wasn’t a person at all with its antenna head quills and segmented body of armored plates.
“You’re alive,” the android said in a female voice. “Thank Heavens, dear child.”
The android sprinted toward Faye and as the bright doorway closed behind her, a body made of yellow, green, and black metal panels was revealed. Her head was nothing but a helmet-like case which featured a large sensor visor and had antenna quills instead of ears.
The android picked Faye up from the ground as if she was rescuing someone from a fire. She held the girl up across her arms and curled herself over the girl as a shield before she examined the frozen attacker.
***
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