9

"God damn it! I do look cute." I admitted to myself while turning around in the small dressing room to get a better look at my self in the mirror.

The stupid floral dress actually fitted my figure quite well, even though I definitely lacked the chest proportions to really fill out that area but thanks to the light pink cardigan it was easy to hide that.

I even had tried to style my shoulder length, blond hair but it just ended up looking like a bird had tried to make a nest out of it.

"Okay this isn't that bad but definitely don't let Preston know this!" I told myself, knowing full well that Preston would probably make me wear a dress again if he knew that i actually didn't minded it that much.

I sighed, gathered up the clothes I had previously worn and exited the changing room.

But I emidietley froze when I saw the state of my surroundings.

The store was completely trashed, old dusty clothes were thrown everywhere, toppled over clothes racks blocking most aisles. There was also a tone of glasschards from the smashed in front windows and debri from the crumbling sealing.

It took me a moment to realize that I had one of my visions but when I finally did I freaked out even more.

This time there had been no headache or any other symptoms I normally had but instead it had been a seamless transition between reality and this horrible, messed up world.

I took a few deep breath and then slowly made my way towards the front of the store.

It felt strange knowing that maybe this wasn't just my mind playing tricks on me but instead the future.

Now that I'm here it's probably a good idea to try to understand more about it and figure out what the hell is going on, i thought and looked around, keeping my eyes open for any sign of movement.

There wasn't much, the store mostly just looked like it had been abandoned for a long time but otherwise it didn't seem that much different from how it looked only a few moments ago.

I almost gave up on finding any clues when I spotted something.

Next to the cash register were some magazines and newspapers laying on the floor.

I moved closer hoping to find at least some answers in them but when I was almost close enough to make out the writing on them I saw from the corner of my eye something entering through the front door.

I quickly ducked down, hoping what ever it was hadn't noticed me.

I didn't know what it was but from what I could heard it seemed to walk on two legs and also sounded quite heavy.

I stayed hidden from a few minutes, listening to it's footsteps but then curiosity got the better of me and I slowly crawled closer, the stupid dress making it unbearably difficult to move around.

I quickly peeked around the corner to get a look at it.

I had expected almost anything at that point but definitely not some sort of ostrich. Well more like an ostrich on steroids and with a beak like a parrot but still.

This is nothing more then extremely overgrown chicken so no need to worry, I told myself, shook my head and then got up. I quickly dusted my dress off and then continued to go into the direction of the cash register.

But as soon as the strange bird saw me it let out a high pitched screech and scared me half to death with it.

I turned towards it and yelled back "Oh shut up you stupid turkey!"

For a moment it seemed taken aback by my response but then it screeched again and took a sudden leap towards me.

Thankful it wasn't fast enough so I had enough time to dodge it's attack by throwing myself on the floor.

Instead of biting into my head it bit into the wooden shelf behind me, breaking it easily with a loud snap. It emidietley made me realize that greatly underestimated how much damage this enormous beak could cause.

Before it had the chance to attempt to kick me with it's massive claws I quickly got up again and slowly backed away from it while lifting up my hands in defense.

"Wow! Listen I'm not food! I'm... sorry I called you stupid but Please calm down." I tried to persuade the beast but it seemed not to care one bit because the next thing I knew it turned his head towards me and got ready to snap at me a second time.

"Shit!" I yelled and ducked away from the oncoming attack.

I looked around in a panic, trying to find a way out or at least something I could use for defense.

Considering how easily it had bitten the shelf into pieces there wasn't really anything here that would help me against this massive pigeon and the only way out I could see was the open front door.

Even though it wasn't that closest and I definitely had my doubts about if I could out run this thing, I still gathered up all my courage, lifted up the dress so I wouldn't trip because of it and then darted towards the door.

Ofcourse the thing ran after me but luckily it stubble over some debri, giving me a little bit of a head Start.

But to my terror when I had almost reached the exit another one of those birds showed up, blocking my way out.

Quickly I darted down the aisle in the direction of the changing room, hoping that maybe I could at least hide there until I would be able to figure out how to get back.

While dodging yet another attack from the first beast I tried jumping over a clothing rack that had been laying on the floor but being not use to wearing a dress I accidentally stepped on it and fell flat on my face.

I quickly made a mental note to myself to never attempt running or jumping in a long dress ever again and got up again, just to see that one of the monster somehow had gotten in front of me, it's huge body blocking my way forward.

And when I glanced back I saw the other one was almost close enough for me to feel it breathing down my neck.

Seeing no other way out I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate just like Peter had done.

"Come on I want to go back!" I begged but seemingly nothing happened.

Just to make sure I opened my eyes for a split second just to see the beast in front of me had gotten way closer and was in the process of snapping at my head.

I screamed in terror thinking that this was the end.

For a moment it felt like I was falling into a bottomless pit until I heard someone yelling my my name.

When I finally dared to open my eyes I breathed a sigh of relief and tears formed in my eyes.

"Preston? Oh thank god!"

I whimpered and hugged him tightly.

My entire body was shaking and my heart was racing hundred miles an hour making me believe it would explode any minute.

Preston must have noticed how distressed I was because he put one arm around my shoulders and pulled me even closer against his muscular chest.

"What happened? Are you okay?" He whispered while rubbing my back.

"Am I okay?! I almost got eaten by a god damn chicken on steroids! Ofcourse I'm not okay!" I hissed back and took a step back from him, only to get pulled back into the hug a second later.

"Sorry. Don't worry okay? You are save now." He reassured me and then added "But we should probably talk about this with less people around."

Finally noticing the weird glances the other people in the store were giving us I nodded.

I still clang to Preston's arm when we walked towards the cash register, my eyes darting around the room, halfway expecting those things to pop out again at any minute but to my relive everything seemed to have gone back to normal.

Present then quickly paid the elderly woman behind the counter for the clothes and some other stuff he had in a shopping basket and then he rushed me outside were Peter was already waiting for us by the car.

Seeing him emidietley lightened my mood and I barely managed to hold in my laughter.

Because he was no longer wearing the asylum clothes consisting of a white tshirt, gray jogging pants and some white slippers but instead he had on a pair of old light blue jeans, a red flannel shirt with a white tank top underneath, paired with some cowboy boots and hat, that he used to hide his long hair under.

Even though I found it quite ridiculous looking I still had to admit that it didn't look bad on him, actually even quite the opposite.

Preston who seemingly hadn't seen Peter in those clothes before either, started to laugh and when we where close enough he jokingly asked him "Are you going to play a role in Brokeback Mountain two or what's up with those clothes?"

And there it was again, Peter's tiny, short lived smile that made him look so much more approachable and friendly then his usual blank expression.

"Well at least I don't look like a wanna be gangster rapper." 

Peter joked back, making me look properly at Preston.

Peter was definitely not off about his comment. He was still wearing the tshirt and pants from the asylum but had paired it with some cheap looking sneakers, a collage jacket and a baseball cap that he was wearing backwards.

"Anyway. The saleslady told me that there is a motel not far from here. We could stay there for a few days." Peter said while walking around the car to get into the drivers seat.

"Yeah sounds good to me, man." Preston yelled back. Then he turned to me and added with a soft smile "We should probably also explain some stuff to you and work on you powers. Right Felix?"

"Yeah." I nodded, feeling still a little bit shaky from what had happened.

Preston held the car door open for me but when I was about to get in I realized something.

"Wait a second! How are we even going to pay for a motel and also how did you pay for the new stuff? I for sure don't have any money and I doubt you two have any either."

"Well... I might have found some money in the glove compartment." He replied with a cheeky smile.

"Great. Eddy is gonna kill me." I groaned and finally let Preston help me into the pickup truck.