Sunday, November 3

After the strange event that transpired in the mall, she couldn't help but feel a vague sense of familiarity about that man. It was like she had seen his face somewhere, but she just couldn't pin it. Maybe he was a parent that she came across on school campus. That's probably not even it. The high school isn't even that big, so couldn't have seen him there. But it was something about that  smile of his that made her skin crawl. It was so unnerving. It almost reminded Iliana of the time when- No that couldn'y be him. It couldn't be.

Iliana was snapped from her thoughts when her infant let out a shrill noise that shouldn't even be possible for a being of his size. She looked down at him with a look of amused bewilderment and chuckled. "Now what is your problem, little guy. Huh?" Iliana asked as she leaned over to stroke his little cheek with her finger and put the pacifier in his mouth before returning to look at the rack of dresses in front of her. "What do you think I should wear to the dinner tonight, huh Zachy?" She asked with a spaced out tone.

She stood in a small clothing store with fashions ranging from casual to formal. At the momemt, Iliana was searching for a dress that would fit the semi-formal dinner that her future in laws were hosting. Quite honestly, even after countless dinners with them and family outings, even them giving her their blessing, she ws still was nervous around them. His parents had a strong reputation in the city. Councilmen and women, upheld the standards of a model citizen, meanwhile she was the average high school English teacher. She felt so under accomplished compared to them. She let out a small sigh as she parted the differnt articles of clothing to get a good look at them, but not one seemed to be fitting of the occassion. "Maybe I'm over thinking it?" Iliana had looked down at the baby who only waved his tiny fist in response.

"I think you would look great in this." A deep, cold voice sounded next to her. She jumped a bit, clearly startled and put some space between her and the stranger. She couldn't get a good look at him because he had angled himself away from her a bit which caused a feeling of unease rise in her. She grabbed the stroller and stepped back more. The man turned to face her and a look of confusion crossed her face. He looked like the man that she had seen in the mall except he looked younger. Way younger. Same golden hair that was slicked back and parted on the side and crystal blue eyes. Sunkissed skin and slightly rosy cheeks and a smile that would make most women fall at their knees. Not her though. She was happily engaged. He stood at a height of six feet and an inch and was dressed in jeans and a regular tshirt with a blac leather jacket on. He's what you would call the cliche bad boy type style. "I'm sorry, did I startle you? You look like you've seen a ghost." He chuckled a bit.

"I assume any woman in her right mind would be a little startled when I strange man appears next to her suggesting that she would look good in that." Iliana responded in a sharp tone as she looked at the dress in his hand. It was an emerald green color. Seemed like a silk slip dress that she would consider a shirt. She was more of the modest type. She hardly wore anything that she would consider revealing. Not that she looked down on anyone that dressed like that, it was just  personal preference based off of past events that made her feel very uncomfortable about showing any indecent amount of skin.

He stepped back with an amused smirk on his face. A look that almost made Iliana raise her hand out of pure reflex and smack the stupid smirk off of his face. "I'm sorry that I have offended you in any way. I was merely trying to  offer a bit of assistance." He chuckled a bit and placed the dress back on the rack and took a step back and looked her up and down. and stepped back with a raised brow. "Have I seen you before? You look familiar." He said softly. He seemed confused and bewildered as if he himself were seeing a ghost.

Iliana took another step back completely out of the aisle where people could see her. She felt very uncomfortable. "No, but oddly enough I've seen an older man who looked just like you before." She muttered, still a bit put off from that. "You look like his spitting image." She looked at the man.

He seemed to freeze at what she said and took a few steps back. He seemed stricken with fear as he looked around his eyes seemed to lock on something behind her and took a few more steps back. "I- um- I have to go." He quickly turned on his heel and left the aisle. Iliana turned and looked at where his gaze once was and saw nothing. She felt a cold shiver down her spine and the same skin crawling feeling as when she did at the mall. She didn't like it at all nor did the baby because he had started to make a fuss.

"Calm down little one. There's nothing to be afraid of." She spoke gently as she pushed the stroller away. She looked over her shoulder once again before making her way to another clothing aisle. She just felt so uneasy. "Darling! Look at what I found! It's a little button up and it matches mine!" Anton walked over. He had the brightest smile and he seemed so excited and happy that he could find something to match with his son. But his smile dropped a bit when he saw Iliana's distant and worried expression. "Lia?" He waved  his hand in front of her face.

The woman seemed to snap out of it and slowly set her gaze on him and then forced a small smile. "Oh nothing. I still don't know what to wear. Everything here seems a bit too... showy for my taste but I want to dress how I used to." She muttered as she looked back around at the store. He looked at her and placed a hand on her cheek and kissed her forehead. "Darling, I am here for you to start that process, okay? What was it that you used to wear, things more form fitting, yea? We can get the boxes out of the attic and
find that one pencil skirt that you had and we can pair it with a nice top? It could be an emerald color? A royal blue? A deep shade of purple? Either one would be fine to match the stripes in the shirt?" He asked as he held them up with a grin.

She bit the inside of her cheek and looked at the aisle from where she came from and nodded. "I have an idea." She said softly and turned to walk back towards the aisle again but she had bumped into a tall figure and she froze and felt that same weird feeling that caused her skin to crawl and she looked at the man and he glanced over his shoulder at her with a smile. The same smile she swore she saw the man wear at the mall.

She froze as her face was stricken with fear and the smell of smoke filled her nose and she started to heat up and hyperventilate.  She looked up to see the figure of a man standing over her with that same sinister smile as he reached out for her. She stumbled backwards onto her behind and scooted backwards and covered her mouth, coughing as the smoke filled her lungs. All she saw was fire all around her and past the dark figure laid a couple of lifeless bodies. Two seemed to be adults and the other was a young child. Her eyes teared up and the were filled with panic and fear. "Iliana!" She heared a distorted voice as she continued to scoot back and closed her eyes and shook her head. "Iliana!" He grabbed her shoulders and shook her. She kept shaking her head not wanting to look at the monster in front of her. "Iliana, open your eyes. You're okay." She heard a gentle voice speak to her and she slowly opened her eyes to see Anton kneeling in front of her. She had back herself into the clothing rack. Her heart was still racing and she was still trying to catch her breath. A few people had stopped to see what the odd lady was doing.

"Iliana, breathe. Breathe in through your nose and out your mouth. Whatever you're seeing isn't real. You're safe and here with me in a clothing store, darling. You're safe." He spoke gently as he held her face in his hands and she made eye contact with him and she relaxed. Her bottom lip trembled and she dropped her head and shook her head. "I saw it again.." She whispered.

Anton raised his brow with concern. "Saw what, Lia? What did you see?" He whispered as he wiped her tear with his thumb, trying to be as delicate as possible.

"I saw him. That man." She whispered as she looked back up at him.  He tensed up and sighed.

"Darling, we moved far away from him so that you wouldn't see him again, okay? You're safe. No one knows that we're here." He kissed her forehead.

"No, it can't be." She thought to herself trying to rationalize why the man wouldn't be anywhere near them. She had left him behind in Europe they had traveled abroad to the states to get away from him. She was shaking as she stared down at the ground.

"How about this, I'll buy everything and you go ahead and go to the car with the baby, alright?" He helped her  and placed his hands on her waist stroking her sides. She nodded and held her hands out for the keys. He placed them in her hand and then leaned over and kissed her cheek. "Just relax and I'll handle everything else, okay?" He said softly.

"Alright." She spoke softly and walked to the stroller. "Call me when you get to the car, Iliana." He said and she nodded.

~*~

"And then what else happend? Anything else weird?" The men asked. They were in a small office. One man sat behind the desk while the other stood behind it while leaning on the wall. Both wore simple suits with the white button ups and dress shoes. Seems like normal detectives.

Anton on the other hand looked like a wreck. He was hunched over in his chair. His elbows were resting on his thighs and his fingers were entangled in a mess he called hair. He was dressed in just a shirt and jeans. He looked as if he hadn't slept in days. His face was riddled with stubble. He was staring off at the ground. The man hadn't heard what the older detective had asked.

"Anton-" He spoke loudly to get the young man's attention. Anton snapped his head upwards and looked at the man that was sitting at the desk and sat up a bit. "I'm sorry, you said something?" He asked, now sitting up completely and slouched down in his seat.

"Has anything else happened since then?" The detective asked. "Any strange activity? Has she been acting differently?" He asked Anton as he tapped the pen to the notepad while clicking his tongue.

Anton shook his head. "For the most part, she had been acting normal. She never really went out so I never found that strange.  The only time she ever really left the house was to go to work." Anton explained.

"Anything else? What about the man. Tell me more about him." The detective sat back in his seat as he clicked his pen.