Jarod sat next to Sydney in the car, his eyes bouncing from building to street to pedestrians and back again.  There were so many things to see and he didn’t get to see much while driving last night.

“Jarod?  Jarod, are you listening to me?”  Sydney’s voice pulled him away from his sightseeing.

“Uh?  Oh, sorry Sydney.  I was watching all the people out there.  Everyone seems to be in such a hurry.”

“I’m sure they are, but this is important, too.  We can’t afford to stand-out and be noticeable.  So, money-handling skills are mandatory.”

Jarod let Sydney drone on about price tags and sales tax and the monetary values of both coin and paper monies.  Most of his attention was once again drawn outside the car, but not to the point that Sydney noticed.  Some of what Sydney was lecturing about was actually almost interesting.  Then Sydney turned the car into a parking lot and the sight of all those parked cars hit Jarod in the stomach.  There seemed to be thousands of cars around the massive building.

“How many people are here?” Jarod asked very quietly as Sydney drove up and down the aisles looking for a parking space.

Sydney looked over at Jarod, concerned.  There was a level of anxiety in Jarod’s voice that Sydney didn’t like.  Jarod’s breathing was becoming slightly erratic and a fine sheen of sweat was appearing on his forehead.

“How many people are in each car?” Jarod asked.

“I believe the average is two people per car for shopping trips to the mall.”

Jarod’s eyes widened as he mentally doubled the number of cars surrounding them. 

“And they are all inside that building?”

“Well, some are probably employees in the various stores and restaurants, but most are shoppers.”

Sydney was finally able to find a place to park, about midway back through the lot.  Turning off the car, he quickly turned to Jarod.  Jarod’s hands were tightly clenched and his muscles were trembling.  He was on the verge of a panic attack.

“It’s OK, Jarod.  Relax and take slow deep breaths.  Come on, close your eyes.  Concentrate on my voice.  You’re OK.”

Jarod was finally able to slow his breathing down, but he was afraid to open his eyes.  It was bad enough that his mind’s eye was showing him pictures of a massive hoard of people all advancing on him with various degrees of menace on their faces, or rather with Raines’ face superimposed over theirs; he didn’t want to see it for fact with his eyes open.  He gave a soft groan and leaned forward over his knees, only to feel Sydney start to rub his back.

“Too many people, Sydney.  Don’t make me go in there, please.  There’s too many people in there.”

“Tell me what’s wrong with the people, Jarod.  Are they going to hurt you?”

“They work for Mr. Raines.  He sent them to get us!  To hurt us!”

“Mr. Raines doesn’t know where we are, Jarod.  What else it wrong?  Slow down and think it through for me.”

Jarod pushed the Raines’ people away in his mind.  Being forced to think logically helped him to slow his breathing.  He was eventually able to sit upright in his seat.  A couple of deep breaths later, he was able to look over at Sydney.

“I’m OK, now.”

“Just sit still for another couple of minutes.  We’re in no hurry here.  Lean your head back and close your eyes again.  Relax and keep taking nice slow deep breaths.”

“Now, Jarod,” Sydney softly, almost hypnotically, said about a minute later, “I want you to remember how you felt the last time you were in the sensory tank.  Do you remember?”

Jarod nodded his head while a small smile formed.

“The next time you feel overwhelmed like you just were, I want you to remember the tank feeling.  And you can still use the Refuge code to let me know how you’re feeling.  OK?”

Again Jarod nodded, but still kept his eyes closed.  He was eventually able to open his eyes and then looked over at Sydney, a little embarrassed.

“I’m sorry, Sydney.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry for.  I was almost expecting you to have this reaction.  I’m just glad it was here in the car.  I would like to explore the fact that you associate Raines with pain and the unknown, though.  But not now.  We have shopping to do, if you feel up to it.”

Jarod released his seatbelt and left the car.  His muscles were still tense and twitching slightly.  Then his eyes were drawn to the nearest mall exit where two ladies were leaving.  They were carrying plastic bags and laughing together.  Jarod had never heard such a joyful sound as their laughter before and he was amazed at how the sound helped him to relax.  He caught Sydney watching him and ducked his head down shyly.

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Miss Parker was racing back to the Centre from Sydney’s house.  She was furious that she was being made to chase after the mad scientist and his pet lab rat and on a weekend at that.   She didn’t know what her father was thinking when he put her in charge of bring the two back.  She wasn’t a sweeper or a cleaner anymore.  And for Raines to demand how she was to search…her fuming was halted by the sound of a siren right behind her.  A quick look down at her speedometer showed that she was going about 30 miles an hour over the speed limit.  And a glance in the mirror showed the stop sign she blew through without slowing.  She gave a groan as she realized she was too far from the Centre to ignore the flashing lights behind her.

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Sydney and Jarod walked into the department store at one end of the mall.  Sydney knew it was more up-scale than the stores at the other end and that would, hopefully, keep some of the more rambunctious crowds away until Jarod acclimatized himself.  Sydney also knew that Jarod would most likely choose clothing like what he saw Sydney wearing and that would be found in the pricier department store.

Jarod studied the mannequins in the men’s department closely.  He saw the sweaters and turtlenecks that Sydney preferred in the cold weather and the ties and shirts he wore the rest of the time.  Then he saw a sign proclaiming active-wear and the different colors and types of clothing under it.  He had to explore that area more closely.

Sydney turned to show Jarod a couple of button-down shirts and was shocked to see no sign of Jarod.

“Jarod?” he called out while his heart pounded in fear.  “Where are you?  Jarod?”

When there was no answer, Sydney dropped the shirts back onto the table and started looking around the department.  Minutes later he hear the voice he was desperately searching for.

“Sydney!  Hey, Sydney!  Look at what I found.  Can I get them?”

Jarod popped out of the active-wear department with an armful of clothing.  Jeans, both blue and black, T-shirts and pull-overs filled his arms.  A black leather jacket was casually draped over one shoulder and a huge smile filled his face.

“Jarod!  Don’t do that again, understand?”  Sydney’s relief that Jarod was safe mixed with the heart-pounding fear Jarod’s disappearance caused.

“What did I do?”

Sydney took a deep breath.  He could see that Jarod truly didn’t understand what was wrong.  He could also see Jarod’s anxiety level rising again, this time because of Sydney’s alarm.  He rubbed the back of his neck as he took another deep breath.

“I didn’t know where you went, Jarod.  I turned around and you were gone.  It’s easy to get lost in a place this large, so stay with me and let me know if you want to go see something, OK?”

“I’m sorry,” Jarod mumbled to his shoe tops.

“It’s OK.  Now, why don’t you show me what you’ve found.”

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Broots was quietly grumbling to his keyboard and monitor.  Who could have guessed that someone as isolated as Jarod and the doctor were could have disappeared so completely.  The search program he was using wasn’t yielding any results.  He was just about to add yet another variation to the search parameter when then the little hairs on the back of his neck stood up.

“Well, Broots, where are they?” 

Miss Parker’s voice snarled right behind him.  Broots jumped in surprise and then groaned in pain as his knees hit the underside of  his desk.

“There’s no sign of them, yet.  The doctor’s bank accounts were emptied last night and his credit cards  haven’t been used.  I’ve also run checks on his driver’s license to see if he’s been either in an accident or ticketed.”

Miss Parker glared at him even more furiously when he mentioned tickets, but he didn’t understand why.

“Not acceptable.  There is no way a shrink and his pet lab rat can just disappear.  Find them!”

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Jarod and Sydney left the department store after compromising on their purchases.  Jarod got to keep a couple of the outfits he picked out and Sydney convinced Jarod he would need some of the nicer clothes that Sydney picked out.  Now Sydney wanted to wander the mall with Jarod in the hopes of getting Jarod accustomed to being around crowds of people.

Jarod kept his eyes on the store windows and did his best to ignore the press of people around him.  The contents of the stores made this easier for Jarod than he thought it would be.  There were so many different types of store, including the bookstore Sydney pulled him into.  On Sydney’s recommendation, Jarod picked out a couple of books in different genres to try.  The growling of their stomachs finally sent them into the mall’s food court.

Sydney led the way even though this was not his preferred choice of restaurants, but it was getting too late in the evening to leave and find someplace decent.  The smell of greasy fried food filled the air as they walked closer to the center of the mall.  Sydney scanned the food stops for the most nutritious and headed towards it.

Hearty appetites had both men almost inhaling their food, Sydney more so than Jarod.  Jarod tentatively tried some of the items before eating the ones he like.  It was what was left on Jarod’s plate at the end of the meal that ended the evening on a sour note.

“Come on, Jarod, finish eating so we can leave.”

“I am finished,” Jarod replied as his fork played with the food left on his plate.

“Those are good for you, so finish eating.”

“I’m not eating those.  They’re green and I’m not eating anything green ever again.”

“Jarod…”

“No!”

And in a move worthy of a two-year-old throwing a tantrum, Jarod dumped his plate over onto the table.  Sydney’s face tightened and his eyes narrowed in anger.

“Let’s go.  Now!”