Chapter XVI: Purple Goner

Malls were normally a place where people of all ages and religions gathered with little to no chances of fighting between them.

Food, clothes, technology, and People. It was a place where everyone can be themselves, a safe haven to some for them to drown themselves in their respective hobbies and to hang out with their friends.

"Mhmm, this is just weird..." Sylvia whispered as she looked left and right for the bustling crowds of people that should have filled the hallways leading into the shops and from the food court.

There weren't any signs of life from several hallways across them. Only Dorotea's faint voice as she shouted what color of dress, she should buy could be heard yet even it was almost nonexistent.

She looked up at the skylights of the malls and stared at the setting sun that colored the darkening skies as nightfall was coming.

Still, even though if night had arrived. People would still be present inside the mall. In fact, people should have been walking faster just to get home.

Sylvia continued to think quietly, feeling creeped out from the lack of people as even the stores only had their lights open to show that they were still in service. There were no clerks nor customers present in any of the stalls they passed by.

"What's weird?" Carmella stopped and twirled around on her heel in an elegant manner that made Sylvia stop.

"Well, there's no one but us."

"Mhmm, I think it's just almost closing time."

"You think?"

"Yeah!"

"... Alright then" Sylvia slowly nodded and took a deep breath while following Carmella closely. She gradually calmed down as she heard the occasional sound of someone's shoes squeaking against the marble floor of the mall.

It came at intervals and almost felt like someone was running above and below them, but it was enough. They were signs that people were there with them and that was enough.

"What should we eat?"

"Mhmm, what do you eat Sylvia?"

"Well, I don't really care about that much..." she trailed off as she sat down on the empty row of tables and faced Carmella.

It was the first time that she became conscious of how beautiful Carmella truly was. With a body that boasted perfect proportions between her chests and hips while being slim enough to remain sexy and cute was nothing short of a feat.

Her baggy leggings added more to her appeal as it lets people's minds wander of her legs. Her crop top perfectly hugged her breasts and showed enough skin yet still looked elegant and not sleazy.

"... What would you suggest I eat?"

"Hmm, just a balanced meal would be fine." Carmella giggled as she sat down in front of her. "Why ask me though?"

"W-Well... You just look so good and all, that I... Want to look like that too."

"Aww, that's sweet. Thanks!" she giggled. "Me and Dorotea are actually models for this really big company."

"W-wait what!" Sylvia exclaimed and slammed the table. "YOU'RE THAT CARMELLA!?"

"Oh! You've heard of my works!?"

"We literally just walked past a cardboard cutout of you in one of the stores!"

"For the record, it was a small one." She waved off, "Dorotea is much more famous, she's in the bikini department."

"WHAT!?"

"Yep."

"Damn... I can't believe I'm friends with super models…" she muttered in disbelief and took a deep breath to calm her nerves.

"Oh, it's nothing really," Carmella whispered. "Frankly, it was gamma that skyrocketed my career in modelling"

"Hmm? The boss?"

"Yeah! I had a really rough start as a model." she giggled nervously. "If Gamma wasn't there then I'd have been forced to do some... Special service to become famous."

"... Service?" Sylvia mumbled with her face crumpling in disgust. "You don't mean what I think you mean right?"

"Let's just leave it at that for now."

"... A-Alright then, I'll go on ahead and order some food"

Carmella nodded and kept her eyes locked at Sylvia who gingerly stood up and began walking around the food court in an attempt to look for something to eat.

"Mhmm, she's a good one.." she whispered to herself as she failed to notice the corners of the entire room slowly beginning to turn darker.

The sound of someone hitting the metallic railings that stopped people from falling into the first floor echoed inside the opposite wing of the giant mall. There, no lights were turned on as nothing, but the light of silver wraith moon adorned the two people present amidst the dark.

"Damn... Why are we even needed here." Salvatore whispered to himself while tossing a coin into the air for fun.

"Well, we are supposed to keep an eye on Sylvia and the others. But Carmella said she eyed some suspicious individuals."

Dante whispered in a quiet voice while looking at the tied-up individuals beside their feet. They were still breathing yet were unconscious from how hard Salvatore handled them.

"... I hate missions like this, why couldn't we have just joined them and shopped for clothes." the raven-haired man sighed as he leaned back on the railings like Salvatore yet he still wore the maid dress from the cafe.

"Have you... Taken a liking to that dress?"

"It's not like I had a choice! I was dragged here from the cafe!"

"Still, it's been a year. Can't you ask gamma for a male uniform?"

"Now that's just crazy, you know he'll just say he wants to save money."

"Fair point, he is like that." Salvatore agreed as he fished out his phone that vibrated constantly inside the back pockets of his pants.

"Hello?" he muttered nonchalantly towards whoever was on the other line.

"SALVATORE!" Carmella's rang inside his ears forcing him to pull the phone away from them to stop his eardrums from exploding.

"Woah, chill out!"

"I CAN'T!"

"Tell her to eat ice cream."

"Dante told you to eat ice cream."

"This isn't the time for that!" she drastically panted. "There's a big problem!"

Salvatore raised an eyebrow at her words, "What problem?" he asked as he slowly straightened out his back and pressed the phone closer to hear Carmella's whispers.

"She's gone. Sylvia Porfirio is missing."