Page 30 of Escape from the Green

"Must be why you fit in here so well," he surmised as we turned off the main road to the paved space of a parking lot. "A castle?"

There was no stopping the snort at that as I looked up at the big red sign with a circle within another circle. "Target," I explained, shaking my head. "It is like a market, but indoor. Let me run in to grab you a shirt, and then you can change and come in as well. I promise it's safe. They even have guards here," I added when he eyed the windowless building with wariness. "Just wait... over there," I specified, waving toward the dumpsters. "I will be just a minute."

And I was, coming back out to give Drake a plain cotton tee that I perhaps got slightly too small. Whether that was an accident or on purpose, I wasn't even sure.

While he rolled up his coat, wrapped it in the plastic bag his shirt had come in, and stashed it where no one might steal it, I did the same - changing into appropriate shoes I had bought, and maneuvering into a short-sleeves shirt under my long-sleeved one before peeling the latter off.

"Ready?" I asked, sure he wasn't. Because there was no way to prepare for something such as a box store if you hadn't at least seen one on a show before.

"Of course."

He walked in with confidence that he slowly lost within seconds, blinking hard at the harsh overhead lighting, head swiveling around to try to take in everything at once.

"What is that smell?"

"The food court," I supplied, waving a hand.

"What else is here?" he asked, eyes bright with curiosity, body a little tense.

Because most of the markets in The Green were places of possible violence, places where Dark and Light converged, where terrible things could be around any corner.

We spent the next two hours there, Drake looking at everything from the packaged food to the children's toys, wondering aloud how they got all the humans into the televisions, bringing a few sideways looks from people who slowly backed away, something he didn't notice, but I couldn't help but smile at.

We walked up to the check-out with a notebook and pen for me and a bulky sweatshirt we had found in the clearance section for him, lucking out that it was natural, not synthetic, and a giant bag of almonds for his trip back.

I had to slap his hand away from the belt as he kept letting it run over his fingers, something the cashier made her eyes small at.

"Was that a lot of money?" he asked on our way out.

"No. Not really."

"At Tenray Square, a bag this size of almonds could cost you six months of labor," he said, shaking his hair.

"The human realm has its perks if you have human money. They even have fresh fruits and vegetables year round. Drive them from other places that are summertime while it is wintertime wherever you are."

"Interesting. Where do we go from here?" he asked, leading us over to grab our belongings from where we stashed them.

"Well, I guess we get a hotel room. Temporary lodging," I explained.

After asking someone then a couple mile hike, we ended up at our destination - a two-story sand-colored stone building.

Twenty minutes later - after producing some little card with my picture on it that claimed I was a Massachusetts resident, something my father had paid a lot of money to get produced - we were walking up to the elevator.

For all my trips to the human realm, it was something I still hadn't experienced myself. Mostly because the guards were afraid of them - whether they would admit to that or not.

"What is that room?" Drake asked, squinting. And, this time, even my head started to pound at the idea of being stuck inside the metal room.

But, I reminded myself, if I wanted to fit in with the humans, I would have to learn how to tolerate them sometime. Might as well start now.

"It's an elevator. And I suspect it is going to be unpleasant," I told him, looping my arm through his, dragging him forward into our uncertain fate.

The doors slid closed, making both our bodies tense.

Then there was a soaring sensation, making my belly drop, my hand curling further into Drake's arm.

"Let's not do that again," Drake suggested when the door slid open, and we all but ran out onto solid ground again.

"Stairs. We can use the stairs from now on. I just figured that was worth a try."