Chapter 11 - Situation at the mall

James called up his sister Janet and met up with her at Central mall. It was named Central Mall because it was built right in the middle of the city. James had been waiting for his sister at the entrance of the mall for a little bit of time, while he received occasional flirtatious glances from a few women. James was after all quite a handsome young man. His well-toned from the years of martial practice, coupled with his handsome and maturing face made many eyes fall to him.

Not long after, he saw his sister walking over with two other girls, one blonde-haired and the other Asian looking with short dark hair. Although his mother said his sister had come to the mall to get some things for school, it was secondary to her main objective. One of her friends had been dumped by her boyfriend and they had come to try and cheer her up at the mall. Janet beamed with happiness and waved at James when she saw him. She was happy her favorite person had decided to hang out with her. Granted, knowing her brother, there was a chance he was bored with nothing to do at home, but still, she would have the opportunity to spend some time with him before she left for school.

He looked at the blonde-haired young girl with slight surprise before looking back at his sister. "Hey bro. Sorry, did I make you wait long?" She quickly separated from her friends and got to James to try and have a private chat before the other girls got there. Knowing her brother, Janet quickly spoke "Sorry bro. It just happened so suddenly. We'll just get something to eat quickly and get our stuff for school then we'll be done. You won't leave your pretty and defenseless little sister and her vulnerable friends to predators at the mall, now would you?" Janet said with the best puppy eyes she could muster. She knew James would leave now that the situation had changed to her and her friends, so she quickly spoke up to get him to stay. It was probably the only chance she got to spend some time with her bro before she left for college again.

James rolled his eyes at her, already on to her plans. "Plus, I could introduce you to Kay. I saw how you were looking at her. Wink wink." Janet indicated to her blonde-haired girl with her head while winking obviously at her brother. "You brat. Don't do anything unnecessary." James flicked her forehead which made her cheer to herself. It meant her plan had succeeded.

By this time her friends had already reached caught up to them. "Hey guys. So, this is my brother James. He'll be our bodyguard for the duration of our time here. Don't worry. He'll shoo away all those nasty guys that'll try harass us." Janet reassured her friends confidently. Each lady was beautiful, and together they would definitely attract some unwanted attention, but with James around he would definitely be able to shoo them all away. James fought the urge to knock his sister on the head while he stared at her but ended up sighing in defeat.

"Fine. Let's get this over with." Normally, the usual thing to do would be to do a cursory introduction but they did not. The girls were there for their friend, so they just gave him a nod and walked in the mall with James following behind. James was beginning to regret having agreed to his sister's demand. He truly became a bodyguard; waiting for them to try out clothes, carrying bags for them, and his main job, shooing away guys that tried to be forceful with the ladies.

He could have completely ignored or not done any of that, but since he had decided to do this favor for his sister, he would not complain about it. Halfway through their 'tour', the Asian looking friend received a text, followed by a call, which made her excited. Not long, she completely bolted from them after saying a few words to them.

The two other ladies looked completely stunned at the situation. "Let me guess, she got back with her boyfriend?" James put things together after seeing the sudden excited nature of the young lady who was completely down and depressed a few moments ago.

"And totally bailed on us." The blonde-haired Kay completed his sentence while shaking her head with a laugh. They had dropped what they were doing and come to support their friend, but she completely left them the moment things turned better without even giving them a chance to say anything.

"Well, Jane. Since it's come to this, I'll leave you to spend some time with you brother." Seeing Janet about to protest she cut her off, "Don't worry about it. I'll see you back at school. Nice to finally meet you, big brother." Kay smiled at James before walking away after saying her goodbyes to her friend.

James stared at her departing figure in thought. "Are you sure you don't want me to make a proper introduction? Kay's one of our school belles, you know?" Janet asked her brother with an annoying smirk. "Stop speaking nonsense. Let's go get something to eat." James dragged his annoying sister away with him towards the food court. 'What an interesting woman.' James thought to himself. The reason he had been staring at the blonde-haired young lady for so long was because of the way she carried herself. She left almost zero holes for an attack. Even with that, he could tell she deliberately left a few holes to not draw too much attention from other artists or to be underestimated. A wolf in sheep's clothing, so to speak.

After the blonde-haired Kay left, the brother and sister found a table at the food court and ordered some drinks while waiting for their food. While chatting with each other, Janet suddenly turned pale without warning. She began to sweat profusely while hyperventilating with wide eyes, as if she had seen a ghost. Even in her condition, she tried hard not to draw too much attention to herself and her brother. "James. Blood. Everywhere." She spoke while staring at a distance away. What she was seeing was a bloody scene. Everyone around them seemed to be covered in blood and while most of it looked to be drawn towards a direction, especially hers. She was getting a terrible feeling of dread in that direction; As if a terrible monster was there, waiting and ready to devour them all.

James immediately turned to the direction with a frown. Not long after, the whole mall began to tremor slightly. People around them begun to drop to the floor. When the tremors began, Janet's condition looked to worsen. She looked like she might pass out at any moment. James waved his hand slightly and a dark glow, undetected by anyone wrapped itself around his sister. The necklace around her neck glowed slightly, almost in reaction to the dark glow before returning to its former state. Immediately after, everything cleared before her eyes. She no longer saw the bloody scene she was seeing earlier, and the pressure that had begun to mount suddenly disappeared.