Mall Walker

Alex grumbled as she lumbered upright in her bed. Her eyes glanced to the empty space next to her, before she stood slowly, heading to the bathroom. Once inside, she checked at her phone, wanting to see the weather that day. Slight overcast, chance of rain in the afternoon. A typical Spring day. Alex nodded to herself, planning her day as she finished her morning routine. Moving to the sink, she jumped as her foot kicked into a small, metallic object, as it loudly skid and clinked its way across the tiled floor. She spotted the culprit of the noise, and smiled. A penny. The same penny that’s been on the floor for months now.

“Woah, woah, hold on, Alex.” she remembered Tom saying when she initially went to pick it up. “It’s lucky to find a penny. “Why not leave it there? It’s kinda like a, ‘In case of needing emergency luck’ thing, right?”

In her current state, she could recount plenty of times where she would want a little more luck: the morning she received the call, the day of the funeral, pretty much every damn day afterwards. But something in her refused to pick up the penny. So, wrapping up her morning routine, she threw on some jogging clothes, and left the house, heading for the bus stop. It was Sunday, and Alex had her routines.

The closest to peace Alex felt anymore was on her Sunday walks. Something about the mall aesthetic, the soft colors, the music lingering through the air, belted out by some outdated audio system, brought an aura of calm to her being. Sitting by the window on the bus, she wondered how much time she’d have left to do her Sunday walks- the mall barely had any foot traffic as is, besides the elderly. It’d only be a matter of time before the place is bought out, and bulldozed, she mused, as the Mellow Oaks Plaza rolled into view, it’s asphalt moat stretching around the building, waiting for droves of people who’ll never come. Sunday mornings were particularly quiet, as the regulars were off at church, basically giving Alex the place to herself.

Stepping through the front doors, she took a deep breath, taking in the faint scent of perfume,pretzels, and cleaning supplies. Right by the main entrance was a vitamin store, where she marked each lap in her head. Her plan was the same as always. 5 laps, break, 5 laps. Like clockwork, she began to move at a steady pace, focusing on her breathing, clearing her thoughts. Her footsteps echoed off the white tiles, the skylight above illuminating the rows of shuttered stores, and empty display cases. She fell into a rhythm, nodding occasionally as she passed someone by. Originally, she hated the mall, but Tom insisted it was a slice of nostalgia, as if “time forgot they existed”, as he would say.

Tears welled in her eyes, missing him now more in this moment then normal. Wiping the tears from her eyes, she paused for a moment. “Strange,” she thought. “I should’ve passed the vitamin shop by now. Maybe a took a turn I don’t usually do.” She shook her head at herself. Walking a bit further, she noticed one of the large mall maps in the middle of the hall. She moved close to scan the store names for the vitamin shop. After scanning the full map three times, she furrowed her brow. It’s not there. It must be an old map, probably too costly to update it with whatever shop manages to buy space for a few months. As she moved away from the map, however, her eyes read something that took her a moment to process, but when she did, she froze. “Welcome to Oceanside Mall!”

“Oceanside? What? Did this mall used to be called something else? No, that name doesn’t even make sense, we’re a landlocked state.” Alex tries to wrack her brain for a possible explanation. Maybe… I just find someone to ask directions. She decided. As she walked, however, a sense of dread began to fill her- beyond the closed shutters of empty mall spaces, and abandoned kiosks, no one else was there. She stopped walking for a moment, to listen in, to see if she can hear any far off speaking, or footsteps. The only noise she heard was her own breathing, and the faint sound of mall music drifting through the air. She quickened her pace a bit, hopeful to find someone, anyone. Turning the corner, her eyes went wide. Christmas decorations. She squinted to try to better focus from a distance, seeing what looked to be people by the decorations. “Hello?” Alex heard herself call out, breaking the eerie silence of the mall. The silence pushed back, as the people didn’t move. She inched closer, wondering why no one’s taken down the decorations by now. She cursed under her breath and laughed to herself upon getting close enough- they were mannequins, displaying various winter fashions. She took a seat on an elegant chair, probably designated for a mall Santa, to regain her bearings. Every direction she looked, stretched a corridor that turned before she could see the end of it, with no exit signs plain to see. Alex pulled out her phone, and noticed she was receiving no bars, as if she was miles into a secluded wood. There were too many weird things going on for Alex to remain calm at this point. Something was wrong. Looking up into the faces of the mannequins only seemed to confirm her feelings of unease: they were all looking in the same direction- the way she just came from. In this moment, two things became clear to her- the gentle mall music was getting louder, and someone, or something, was making it’s way down the corridor.

A sigh of relief escaped her lips. Finally, someone else. “Don’t know how I’ll explain to them I’m lost in a mall,” Alex thought to herself in a lightly chiding way. She hopped off the chair, and began to walk to the sound. As she walked closer, the music seemed to get louder, yet still retain an ethereal sense of being overhead, floating through the air. Alex froze when she spotted something far down the hall, it’s loud steps echoing off the tall mall walls. Immediately, it was clear that whatever was slinking down the row of shuttered shops, it wasn’t human. Huge, the shape was hunched forward, walking on all fours, it’s musclebound frame taking measured steps down the corridor. Later, Alex would reflect that it looked like a hairless werewolf- sleek, strong muscles, in a wiry, long frame. In the moment, however, Alex couldn’t process what she was looking at. Something was wrong with it’s face. Alex ducked behind an empty mall stall, peeking out to get a better look as it approached. Her breath hitched as she was able to see it clearer.

From the neck up, the creature had the face of that of a marble bust- like Michelangelo’s David, or Auguste’s Thinker. The skin was shimmering under the fluorescents, like it was made of polished stone, and not an inch of it’s face moved- the eyes didn’t blink, the mouth didn’t move. But it moved it’s head around as it padded its way closer, as if looking for something. Alex didn’t plan on sticking around, quietly making distance from the creature as she could, scampering between objects whenever it turned it’s “head” away. At it’s closest, Alex could confirm that the music that she thought was playing from some unseen overhead speaker, emanated from this creature’s body, like sweat from a pore. Even when it was a few feet away, the music still felt distant, out of reach, each elevator tune carrying it’s calm melody as the beast stalked forward. Alex held her breath as the beast paused, lifting it’s head for a moment to survey the area, before plodding forward. Minutes felt like decades, until she felt it was far enough away to begin moving again, deciding it’s probably best to try to retrace her steps, going into the direction the beast came from. Upon turning the corner of the corridor she was sure she came from, however, she was met with a new sight that had her blood run cold.

It was a car, in the middle of the mall atrium, the skylight above echoing with the pitter-patter of rain. But it wasn’t a brand new car like you would see in a mall giveaway. It was his car. Tom’s car. She recognized it immediately. It looked just like how it did the day she was called out to confirm it was his- the front of the car crunched inward, a bent, cracked windshield hiding the interior of the car from her view. She shuddered, a wave of nausea hitting her violently. She turned away quickly, shutting her eyes tight. She could feel her heart racing. “It’s not real. I need to keep moving.” She thought to herself. Opening her eyes again, she kept her sight straight ahead, leaving the mangled wreck only in her peripheral. Hurriedly, she rushed past the vehicle, stopping only when it sounded like a knock on the vehicle door, coming from the inside. By now, she was shaking, her nerves fried out. Every fiber of her being either wanted to rush to the car, or run forward and never stop running, but she couldn’t figure out which one it was. As she was locked in place from her fearful indecisiveness, she didn’t realize the overhead mall music had faded out, until a voice took it’s replacement instead, sounding exactly like a classic radio music jockey, coming from the mangled wreck.

“Alright folks, that was another classic song for you all. Well everyone, I know you’ve been waiting for our special giveaway at the top of the hour here. We’ll call up one of the lucky winners on our hotline, so if you hear your name called, and hear your phone ringing, pick up! You won’t want to miss what we have for you! Our first winner on the line today will be… Alex! Let’s go ahead and call her now.”

Alex’s phone demolished the silence of the empty mall around her, the ringtone loudly broadcasting her location. She fumbled to silence her phone. Galloping, rushed steps clattered down the hall, growing in intensity and volume with each second. Alex ducked around the side of the mangled wreck, holding her breath, hoping this thing didn’t know where she was. The faint music returned, claws scraping the tile as the beast lurched forward into the open space. Alex lifted her head just enough to see the thing searching, hunting for her. Alex calmed herself, noticing the rear view mirror on the passenger side hung loose by a few wires. Slowly pulling it off, she chucked the broken mirror down one of the mall hallways, buying herself some time when the beast scrambled after the noise. Moving away from the wreck, she didn’t spend too much time looking into the vehicle itself. She tried to ignore that it looked like something was in the driver’s seat, and worse, it seemed to move. There was nothing in there that she wanted to see-seeing it once was enough. She already saw it each time she had a nightmare.

After the coast was clear, Alex continued down one of the other corridors, hoping to retrace her steps, or maybe find something familiar. She kept telling herself that there had to be a way out. The further she moved down the hall, the less recognizable the names of the stores became. Familiar department stores were side by side to stores with weird names- “Al’s legal meatery”, “Shoe Empress”, “The Visage”. Inside were simple, mundane stores, betraying their strange titles. She was busy trying to decipher a sign in an unrecognizable language when she saw something move from the corner of her eye.

Alex spun her head around, seeing the top of someone’s head behind a store counter.

“Hey! Who’s there?” She quickly grabbed a metal bar from a clothes rack. “Come out!”

Arms raised in a non-threatening manner, an older woman stepped out from behind the counter, flecks of grey scattered through her short black hair. “Easy Miss. Don’t hurt me. I didn’t know if you were human, or…”

“Or not human? Like that thing walking around? Have you seen it?” Alex kept her newfound weapon at the ready.

The woman nodded. “It’s hard not to see it. Some sort of nightmare creature.” She eyed the weapon, then Alex. “I’m no threat, Miss. Just trying to find a way out of this godforsaken place.”

Alex visibly relaxed, but only slightly. “How long have you been here for?”

The woman shook her head. “My guess? About a day or so. You’re the first soul I’ve seen around here. I don’t think most people don’t live too long, wherever we are.”

Alex and the woman both tensed for a brief moment, the slow creep of soft mall music echoing in the halls. The noise faded away, allowing both of them to breathe again.

“So no way out then?” Alex finally spoke up, when she felt the coast was clear.

The woman shrugged, moved out of the store, and motioned for Alex to follow. “Not that I’ve seen, but I haven’t seen the same piece of mall twice, even if I doubled back.”

“Why are we even here? What happened?” Alex kept close to the woman as their steps echoed through the hall. Mannequins in various states and eras of clothing were scattered around them, dynamically posed. Alex kept her eyes on them, looking for any sign of movement.

“Look, Miss…”

“Alex.”

“Right. Alex. Martha.” She motions to herself briefly, before continuing her train of thought. “Why on God’s green Earth do you think I’d have a clue on why we’re here, wherever here even is? One moment mall, the next, this place. That’s it. I got nothing, no more then you do.”

Alex nodded, feeling foolish. “Right, sorry.”

Martha’s voice became softer. “It’s alright. Two’s better then one, right? I’m sure we’ll figure this out in no time.” For a moment, it sounded like Martha was talking more to herself, then to Alex.

Alex smiled, though the smile never made it to her worried eyes. “Sure.”

The hallway opened up to another atrium. Instead of a car ripped straight from Alex’s memories, in the middle of the open space sat a hospital room. It was if someone took everything from a hospital room- the furniture, flooring, lighting, get well cards, and flowers, and dropped it directly into the middle of a mall. There was a curtain surrounding what appeared to be a hospital bed. Behind the curtain, in the bed, the outline of a human shape sitting up was clear as day.

Alex didn’t recognize any of this, but the way Martha’s movements stopped suddenly, and the sharp gasp that fled her mouth, told Alex this scene wasn’t made for her. Alex grabbed onto Martha’s shoulder, and shook her head. “Martha…”

Martha seemed to relax slightly. “I know. This ain’t my first time seeing something in here for me. It’s still just a little… surprising, y’know? It’s just like I remember it.” There was a pang of sadness in her voice, seeing a piece of her life laid bare. “I hoped I wouldn’t see something like this.”

The two women began to move towards the corridor across the atrium, keeping their distance from the hospital scene. Just as the two had moved past the bed, there came a raspy voice from behind the curtain.

“Martha… Martha… Where…Are…You?” Each word punctuated by a pained heave of breath, like air was being forced into someone.

Martha froze, and stared back at the curtain. Alex grabbed her arm, trying to pull her along. “Martha, no-”

But something in Martha’s eyes showed a tiredness that is only built through years of regret, and grief. She shrugged Alex’s hand off her. “Gerald? I’m-… I’m sorry…” Martha moved toward the curtain.

Alex panicked. “Martha! Martha no! There’s nothing for you in there!” She hissed. She had no way of knowing for sure, but something in her told her that Martha was making a mistake. The slow sound of music wafted through the air, followed by the sound of animal nails on tile. Click. Click. Click.

Martha turned to Alex, and sighed, with a simple, broken smile. “Ain’t much out there for me anymore either.” Martha grabbed the curtain, and began to pull it away, to reveal what’s inside.

Alex ran. She ran across the atrium only stopping at the start of the hallway to look back. There was Martha, smiling stupidly, warmly, at whatever was in that hospital bed, tears streaming down her face. The ambiance of the music grew, and there it was- the beast with the statue head, hunched, facing Martha. It closed the gap quickly, skittering across the atrium with ferocity, muscles taught, yet face unchanged.

Alex flinched when this beast dug its nails into Martha. From afar, Alex could hear one gasp from Martha before she saw her body go stiff in the beast’s arms. It held her like this, for a moment, before he dropped Martha, as she clattered to the floor.

Clattered. The sound of plastic hitting tile. Alex could only stare on in horror as the thing that was once Martha, now some storefront mannequin, sat lifelessly on the floor. Faceless. Frozen.

Frantically, Alex sprinted down the corridor away from the scene, knowing she’d be next. Her eyes darted all around for a place to hide- but the emptied stores provided no cover, and the shuttered ones provided no way in. It felt hopeless, each turn down a corridor met with another stretch of a dead mall, the noise behind her increasing in volume, the music continued to drift all around her, the echoing sound of claws clearly at a galloping gait: Click-Clunk. Click-Clunk. CLICK-CLUNK.

Tired, she forced her legs to move, despite no energy left. Her chest was in pain, tears formed at the corners of her eyes, and she shut them hard, to focus all of her energy into moving forward. It was right behind her. She could hear it, the relentless noise of muscle and claws scratching against the tiled flooring. Something made contact with the back of her shirt. “No! PLEASE!” she screamed, throwing herself forward. She ran into something soft.

“Gah! Jesus lady, watch where you’re running! Goddamned mall walkers.” A man sprawled onto the floor next to Alex, his phone skidding across the floor. Alex quickly looked around, panicked, and found herself in front of the vitamin shop, the windowed exit doors of the mall sitting a few feet away, like a lighthouse at the end of endless ocean. Alex barely mumbled an apology as she scrambled to the exit, her breathing shuddered as she took in the warm air from stepping outside.

She could barely think straight on the way home, using muscle memory just to get back. She stepped into her home, barely keeping herself together. Shakily, she headed into the bathroom, to splash water on her face, take a hot shower, she wasn’t sure. In the mirror, she inspected herself,trying to make sense of just how much of what she went through was real. Glancing at the back of her shirt, she took it off, and immediately dropped it on the floor with a squeak of horror, when she noticed the large, claw shaped tears across the back. She crumpled to the floor of the bathroom, and sobbed. Through her tears, she noticed something glimmering on the tile, as her tears fell. The penny.

She picked it up, and clutched it to her chest desperately, her wails of fear and relief amplified by the small bathroom space.

Credit: Derek Llovet

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