Paul adjusted his hat and took a whiff of his cigarette as he walked around the shopping mall. He’d gotten a job here just a few weeks ago. He was more excited than he had been in his entire life. This mall was where some of the best memories of his life happened. And now he was working here. Paul felt some of that euphoria as he walked around the mall that night. It was quiet, except for the LED flickering lights and his echoey footsteps.
The quiet, empty corridors of the mall stood out like a gaping maw. Paul walked into shops and corners, expecting to find someone there hiding. But it was silent. He made his rounds around the mall, checking out various stores. The Macy’s was surprisingly weird at night. With the lights off, the corners of the store were dark and empty. Paul stopped to look at the mannequins. Their white, faceless bodies stood frozen. The clothes were darkened by shadows. In the dark corners of the store, one could mistake them for people. He took one or two looks at them as he walked by. Paul moved his flashlight up and down as he walked around the whole store. After checking, he left to continue his patrol across the mall.
He checked the rest of the stores shortly thereafter. They were all devoid of anyone. Before leaving JCPenney’s, Paul noted the cash register had not been properly closed. He got out his report and began writing down the necessary details.
Creak. Paul looked up for a moment, confused. There should be nobody here; it was after hours. After a moment, he went back to scribbling the report. Creak. Crash! Paul stopped again, waving his flashlight around. Something hard had fallen on the floor.
“Who’s there?” He shouted. His words echoed. Nobody answered. Paul carefully walked over to the overhead light. If there’s someone here, this’ll expose them right here and now. With a bright, blinding flash, the overhead lights flickered on. Paul took out his weapon and looked around for anyone. He walked with caution, looking from each side. Empty. Nobody there. Then Paul turned the corner to the mannequins and cursed under his breath.
One of them had fallen over. Sighing in exasperation, he picked it up and set it down again. Paul continued to search the store but found nothing. After a little while, he gave up. Probably my imagination. He turned the overhead light off and went back to his report.
Once he finished with his report, he walked out of the store. Paul headed towards the toy store on the second floor. His footsteps echoed as he walked swiftly up the stairs. Once reaching the toy store, Paul checked everything inside. It seemed to check out. He turned around to leave. Then he heard something on the first floor. It sounded like loud footsteps. Paul immediately rushed out to catch the perpetrator. He looked over the railing, scanning for anyone. There was nobody there except for one thing. A hat with flowers sat discarded in the middle of the floor. Like someone had thrown it off and walked away.
Paul shook his head. He’d had enough. This perpetrator was not going to fool him anymore. He raced to the security room, running through the back hallways. Once he arrived, he closed the security door. Then he looked over the security footage from everything.
He zoomed in on JCPenney’s. There was nothing. He zoomed in on the other places in the mall. Still nothing. Nothing except for the single flower hat on the first floor. He checked as far as he could. Paul scratched his head. Had he been imagining things? Was that hat there before he walked inside? Was that mannequin loose? Paul figured he needed a sweet to feel a little bit better. He stood up to go unlock the door.
Bang. Bang. Bang. Paul jumped back. How did they get back here? Had this person been following him? Then he slowly turned to the camera facing the security door.
A dark figure stood in front of the door, wearing a printed dress. It was trying to turn the handle to come in.
