Moving Closer - ALERT !

Beads of sweat appeared on Rachael's forehead and Amelia did not notice it.

Rachael looked at the time in her phone. It showed 12:45 p.m. They had reached the mall at 12:00. She had missed asking Ray what time they were starting. She had to alert him before they reached here but she did not want to text him in while Amelia was in close proximity.

Ray had told her that, he could open the ETM channel with additional encryption layers if she wanted to convey anything urgent and suspicious. But with so much hustle bustle in the mall there was no way she could calm her mind.

She finally decided to text him but not immediately. The friends then walked towards the escalator to go up to the second floor.

Once they reached second floor, they headed towards Madison-James outlet which was popular for its gown collection. The shop had only one piece of each gown which was unique in its own way. This had made the shop quite popular.

After searching for a while Rachael picked up a beautiful pine green gown for her which was simple yet elegant. She went to the fitting room to try out the gown she had picked. It looked perfect. Rachael then thought if she had the right bag and footwear to go with it and yes she had them. So she did not have to buy them again.

Amelia was looking for something in black and she was moving around the shop carefully looking at the collection of gowns to see if she liked something. Rachael told her to give her few minutes and then she would join her.

Rachael turned on her phone. She was yet to use the new phone. She opened the message app and quickly texted her brother.

"Car parked in third basement. Check your email urgent. Can't call due to huge crowd"

She then opened her email and sent a three liner email to Ray with the subject line "ALERT"

"Ray, the shop is only visible to us. Not for a normal person. The shop seems to be superficially set on top of an existing shop and it may be a bait. Stay vigilant and suppress your Aura to see the actual shop - Rachael"

She encrypted the mail and sent it to her brother. She then went towards where her friend was and she was still looking for her perfect gown.

"Hey Amelia, did you find anything suitable yet?"

"None so far" said Amelia as she shrugged her shoulders.

"Hmm, I'll try helping you out. Let me see, hmm you have beautiful curves. Do you mind turning around, may be I can get some idea."

"Sure, why not?" with that Amelia turned around in one full circle standing in the same spot.

Rachael did get an idea, she went towards one of the sales girl and asked her if they had any gowns with a peekaboo slit. She said there are none on the display.

Rachael insisted "Listen, we are ready to pay you the actual price without the discount. Can you check with the store manager if there are any new arrivals ? Please"

After some more attempts Rachael had finally convinced the girl to go and talk to her manager.

Rachael and Amelia saw the sales girl walk towards the billing counter where the store manager was seated. They then saw her talking to her manager and every now and then she was pointing her finger at them. It finally looked like the manager was convinced.

The girl walked back to where they were and without mentioning anything she just asked them to follow her.

Rachael was feeling proud of herself that without using any powers she had still managed to convince that girl, while Amelia winked at her friend.

They followed the girl towards the escalator.

Meanwhile back home, Ray heard the message beep on his phone. He checked the message and saw it was from Rachael . He wasn't expecting her message anytime soon. After having read it he deleted the message.

Ray had told Ethan that he would be getting his car serviced today and they had planned to start by 14:00 post lunch.

Ray went to his room to get ready and once he was in his room, he opened his email to check Rachael's mail. He was a little astonished to see what Rachael had found out. He knew that Rachael would not have entered the shop as her friend couldn't see it.

He was now thinking on how to tell Ethan about it, while he walked towards the washroom to take a shower. Rachael had forbidden him from telling anything to Ethan.

He decided to sneak into the shop all by himself when he got an opportunity without letting Ethan know of it. He had some idea brewing in the back of his head.

Once both the men finished their lunch they started to the mall.

While in the mall, Rachael and Amelia had followed the girl to the fifth floor.

Except for a portion of the fifth floor which looked like warehouse the rest of the floor was occupied with restaurants and cafeterias.

The girl lead them to one of the warehouse shop which belonged to Madison - James and asked them to wait outside the store. The girl went inside and spoke to someone in the shop while the two friends waited outside for her.

After a while, she finally approached them and asked them to come in and see the gown. The gown matched Rachael's description and was black in colour with a slight shimmer as per Amelia's requirement.

Amelia was excited and extremely happy looking at the gown and she hugged Rachael in gratitude.

"Oh Rachael ! You are the best. Now I know why everyone calls you fashionista. Thank you so much"

"Ha ha, no worries Amelia, any time."

There was no fitting room in the warehouse and just by the look of it Amelia knew it would fit her.

After packing and paying for the gown, they headed towards McDonalds to have something quick. It was two in the afternoon and both of them were very hungry by now. Rachael was yet to shop for her parents.

They ordered the McMeals and while they waited for their order they discussed on various topics majorly around fashion.

Amelia suggested that since they were anyways going down to shop further, she suggested to get a picture in front of the Peacock in the ground floor and Rachael agreed.

Once they finished eating their meal they came down to third floor, as Rachael wanted to pick a suit for her dad. After the suit it was now time to buy a dress for Rachael's mum. They went down to the second floor to pick a dress for her mom. Rachael picked a beautiful floral patterned dress for her mum.

After the shopping both the friends came down to the ground floor to take a picture in front of the peacock. There was still a queue but since it was lunch hour the line had gotten smaller.

They stood in the line and when it was their turn, they took 3 pictures. One together and a single picture each. Both of them then went to the same elevator which through which they had come inside the mall to head back home.

Rachael dropped her friend back at her cousin's place and then drove home.

The men on the other hand had reached the mall by 14:30. Once they reached the lower basement of the shopping mall, they gave the car for service which would easily take a few hours to be serviced.

While the car was being serviced, the men took the escalator to 3rd floor to shop for their party suite. Both of them went around a few shops before buying a party suite for each of them. Ray helped Ethan pick the right one for him.

They then moved to the shoe shop to get the right shoe for Ethan. Ray did not buy for himself as there he had plenty at home.

Both of them came back to the basement and they saw the car being still serviced. They said it will take another hour for them to finish.

While both the men stood chit chatting for about 20 minutes, Ray knew he had to go to that shop and find more about it but couldn't find the right opportunity. He had to use the same trick which his sister had used.

"Ethan, I was planning to go to the Church before going home, as I have some work with the Church administration. But before that I'll need to use the wash room. And also dad had asked me to get a wallet for him this morning and I almost forgot about it.

Give me some time I'll be back as soon as possible before they finish serving the car"

"Sure Ray, give me your bags I'll hold it for you. You need not carry them back again." offered Ethan.

"Thanks Ethan" said Ray before heading off to the elevator. As the doors of the elevator closed, Ray uttered a transformation spell which completely changed his face and his looks and the transformation was impeccable that no could recognise that it was Ray.

Once the elevator door opened in the third floor he walked out as completely different person.

He first went to the belts and wallets store and bought the wallet his dad had been asking Ray since a while now. He had always forgotten to buy it every time he had visited the mall and today he remembered it.

After buying the wallet he took the escalator to the first floor and headed straight to the "Mystic Vibes" shop