Sizeran Dilemma chapter 2

The Sizeran Dilemma chapter 2

             Alicila hurried, turning the street corner, ignoring her friend’s pleas.  “I’m sorry, Cassandra.  Someone has to do this.” She shook her head and looked down the street.  “Now then, the police station has to be around here someplace.  She looked back and forth at all the different shops.  “It’s been a long time since I have been in this part of town.  Nice to see some of these places are still in business.”

             As she looked down the street, she spotted a crowd outside a shop called Anter’s Mighty Mellons.  Alicila walked up to see what the commotion was all about as she tapped one of the men on the shoulder.  “Hey, what is going on?”

             He didn’t bother to turn around.  “We are giving this business owner a piece of our mind.”

             She raised an eyebrow.  “Why?  Did he do something wrong?”

             The man laughed.  “Of course.  The dirty rat sold expired meat.  How low down is that?”

             “I thought this was a fruit shop.  An expensive one at that.”

             He threw up his pale arms.  “It makes it all the more horrifying, right?  We have to drive the Dorien out.”

             “What?”

             A dark blue-skinned man with glowing green eyes walked to the window of the shop.  “What is going on here?”

             The crowd began to yell.  “Hey buddy, we want to talk to you about the poisoned meat you sold us.”

             He narrowed his eyes.  “Can’t you people read the sign?  “This is a fruit shop.  Now, unless you want to buy something, stop blocking the street.”

             “Hey, good idea.” They all moved, so they were blocking the entrance to his shop.

             The owner ran to the door.  “What do you punks think you are doing?” He tried the door, but they kept it shut.  “Hey, let me out.”

             “Sorry, why would we do that?  We are trying to help you, old buddy.” They laughed.

             Alicila took a few steps back.  “What is wrong with you, creeps.”

             The man who had responded to Alicila earlier snorted. 

“Hey, who are you anyways.” He walked towards her.  “Never seen you before.” He tugged at his torn grey shirt.

             “I live around here.  Ok.”

             He used his muscular arm to push her.  “Well, we don’t need a judgy price like you telling us what to do.” He pointed at the Dorien.  “We are just showing him how much we care.  How is that bad?”

             Alicila raised an eyebrow as the store owner banged his blue fists against the glass window.  “Yes, you really care, alright.”

             “See.  We just want everyone here to live a nice happy life.  For bad things like what he did not to happen again.  We are trying to help him out.  Because we care so much.”

             Alicila smiled.  “Ok.” She backed away.  “I just umm have something else to do, ok.” She turned around and began to walk away.

             “Hey!” She gulped. 

The young man walked up to her. 

Sweat beat down the back of her neck. 

“We are having a meeting later today.” 

He slid a note into her hand.  “You could learn more about us.  See that what we are doing is good.”

             Alicila sighed.  “I will think about it.” She turned her head.  “You are not going to hurt him?”

             He showed her a smile with pearly white teeth.  “Of course not.  Have a good rest of your day, my friend.” He patted her on the back.  “And hopefully, we will see you later tonight.”

             “Umm, maybe.” She ran down the street and took a quick look back.  She could no longer see the Dorien shop owner.  “I hope he is going to be ok.” She hurried her pace and turned the corner, the sun now blinding her eyes.  “Ughh.” 

She held her hand over her eyes as she walked forward.  “Oh, come on.” She increased the size of her hand to act like her own sun shield.  “That is better.”

             A young lady standing next to her on the street arched an eyebrow, and Alicila rolled her eyes.  “Have you never seen a Sizeran before?” The lady snorted and walked down the road.  Alicila laughed as she walked away.  “It was nice to have met you.  Maybe we should get together some time.” She shook her head.  “That went well.” She looked across the street to see the Terrondale County Station with a giant stone statue of a stone ball over the entrance.  “Finnaly.” 

She sighed.  “I can get some action done for Cassandra.”

             She shrank her hand back down and hurried across the street.  As she hurried up the stone steps, she watched a young pair of men walk out of the double doors of the station.  “See, I told you we wouldn’t stay long.”

             “Write their name down.  I want to pay them a visit later for wasting our time.”

             They laughed as they passed Alicila. “What is wrong with those creeps?” She shook her head.  “I need to stop being distracted and just focus.” She looked, turned around, and walked up the remaining steps and into the station.  Instead, she found only a handful of officers sitting around lazily at their desks. 

She walked up to the front and tapped on the small bell.  “Umm, hello?”

             A rather portly-looking man leaned forward.  “Can I help you miss?  Are you here about that missing cat call we got?”

             She raised an eyebrow.  “Wait, what?  No.”

             He crossed his arms.  “No?” He sighed. 

“I was really hoping you were.”

             Another officer nodded her head.  “Ya.  I can’t wait to go out and deal with that call.” She stretched her arms.  “I love kitties.”

             He slammed his hand onto the desk.  “I called that case.  Do you hear me?”

             “Ahhem.” Alicila tapped her foot on the ground as the officer.  “Can I tell you what is wrong, or are you just going to argue about cats?”

             He sighed and pulled out a pad of paper.  “Go ahead.  I am listening.”

             “I want to report the destruction of property.”

             The officer’s eyes widened.  “Well then.  That is a big one.  We talking. . .”

             Alicila put her hands on the wooden desk.  “An entire store broken into and destroyed.”

             The officer looked Alicila directly in the eyes. 

She could see the dullness of his brown eyes as he spoke.  “This is very serious.  When did this happen?”

             “Last night.” She looked up at the ceiling.  “Who tries to attack a store during the night?”

             “I don’t know, miss.  We will try and remedy the situation as soon as we get more info.” 

He looked up and tapped his pen on the side of the table.  “Where did this tragedy take place?”

             “Just a few blocks from here.  At Xander’s Humble Market.”

             “Xander. . .” The officer looked at his pad of paper.  “Isn’t he one of the Draonon?”

             Alicila nodded her head.  “Yes.  His life’s work was in that store.” She put her hands on the table.  “We need to ensure that we find whoever did this.”

             The officer snapped her hands with his pen.  “Please get back, miss.” Alicila jumped back.  “Thank you.” He sighed. 

“We will look into this when we can. 

We have a lot of cases that we have to shift, though.”

             “Like that cat case.” The lady officer smiled.  “You know that is important, right?”

             He laughed.  “Of course.”

             Alicila shook her head.  “You have got to be kidding me.  Why are you not just jumping on this?”

             He sat back in his chair.  “Hey, lady.  Try and relax.  It will work itself out.  Someone will do something.”

             “What?  You are supposed to be the ones doing something.” Alicila pulled at her hair.  “What is wrong with you.”

             He sat forward.  “Hey, calm down now.  You don’t want to have to take a breather in a cell, do you?”

             “For what?  Thinking you prioritize cats over helping my friend?” When the officer stood up, Alicila shook her hands.  “Ok, I’m sorry.  I’m sorry.”

             He sighed.  “That’s better.” He sat back down.  “Now go on, lady.  Get out. 

Don’t worry, we are working on it.” 

They laughed as she walked to the door. 

“Oh, and one more thing.” Alicila turned her head.  “Maybe get some better taste in friends.” The officers howled in laughter as she exited the building.