A friend and I had just left the mall, sometime around midnight, before we realized we had left our bags inside. It was too late, however. The mall had already closed and the doors were locked. Desperate we would successfully pry the doors open ourselves with a crowbar. Two girls, who were ordering subway at the time at a window next to us, decided to follow us in.
Inside the mall was dark and eerie, the floors creaked with each step we took, and glowing eyes peered at us from the closed shops. We heard the pitter-pattering of feet above us as a dark figure bounced from floor to the ceiling. The two girls who followed us were constantly disruptive, pulling pranks on each other as we walked through the mall.
It was Halloween that night, and so we did not think much of the dark figure who was seemingly following us through the mall. It’s not unusual for the mall to put up moving decorations, we thought. But when we learnt the mall’s power was not on we realized the figure was no decoration. With this realization we began sprinting to the exist.
A few weeks later I find myself in a sewer, trudging through the murky water towards a light which I can see at the end of the tunnel. I arrive at the light and discover a small well-lit room, a group of people seated around a table discussing their plans to escape the mall. Even with a few members dead, they knew they could make it.