The Darkness in Dominion Mall

Chapter 4

Renae’s startled shriek echoed throughout Dominion mall. Once everyone else had seen what made her shriek, they observed it in silence for a second or two. Even Reggie kept his mouth closed for some time as he stared at the figure.

“Alright guys.” Michael chuckled. “How’d you do it? Is there someone hiding behind the escalator, or did y’all lower it with string from the ceiling? Wires? What?”

“This isn’t us Michael.” Renae said as she continued to look at the mannequin.

Layne slowly let go of Jill’s hand and took small steps towards the mannequin. He had to be sure that it was the same one from before. Having watched too many movies, he kept his distance from it in case it or someone tried to attack.

‘Short and brown hair, a creepy grin, big eyes, a scratch mark on his chest.’ He thought to himself. “Yeah. Yeah that’s Jerry. Has to be.” It was the same mannequin, but two things were present that weren’t before.

On the mannequin’s forehead was some sort of symbol that appeared to be scratched in and darkened with some sort of black material to help it stand out. It was an upside-down, five-pointed star that was inside a pentagon and lined up edge to edge. In between the spaces of the star and pentagon were five small circles that all had a line in the middle that aligned with the center in the star. In the middle of the star was one large circle with a line that ran horizontal in the middle, like a goat’s eye. He knew that that wasn’t there before and didn’t like that he had no way of explaining it away.

The other thing he noticed was how Jerrys eyes seemed to reflect some light back at him. It wasn’t too much, even everyone else didn’t notice it until he pointed it out. At first, he thought it was just light reflecting off of a small shiny portion of his body. His thoughts were proven wrong when he waved his lantern side to side and he couldn’t make out any other light waves on Jerrys face.

“Maybe somebody put some kind of reflectors on Jerrys eyes?” Jill said to Layne.

“Who the f**k is Jerry?” Reggie asked in a confused tone.

“Him” Layne said as he pointed at the mannequin. “We named him that after talkin’ in front of him. It’s just a funny name Jill cooked up. I think we should leave. Like, right now.”

“I’m with Layne on this one.” Jonathan surprisingly said with a small worried tone.

“Yeah let’s go.” Reggie said as he walked up and kicked the mannequin over onto the floor. It made a loud, hollow thud that seemed to echo a lot longer than it was supposed to. The mannequin laid on the ground with its left arm broken off. “It’s probably just some ASSHOLES tryin’ to scare us!” He yelled to everyone and maybe the unknown perpetrator. “Yeah, lets hurry before they try anythin’ else.”

The gang turned to leave with their backs facing the fallen mannequin. Reggie was in the back but was slowly about to pass Layne. Although he was a foot shorter, he was somehow faster than Layne at walking quickly.

Suddenly, Reggie was pulled back and he let out a scream that pierced the silence. Layne turned to see Reggie screaming and panicking as he was being held up by his neck. He was kicking and screaming like a wild animal with its leg caught in a trap. His eyes were as wide as saucers. Reggie looked pale and on the verge of giving himself a heart attack.

Behind him, holding him up by an armlock, was Jerry. Not only did it get up, retrieve its arm, put it back on, and lift Reggie up off the ground, but it also had an angrier expression on its face. The small grin that was on it before was now gone.

Jonathan and Billie both ran to free Reggie by ripping the mannequins arms off. Reggie stumbled to the ground and screamed as he made a B-line towards the exit. He ran without looking back to make sure the others were following, which they were. Except Layne.

“Run Layne, Run!” Jill yelled. Layne was still frozen with fear, not sure if he had seen what he had just seen, but her voice brought him back.

He ran with Jill but didn’t fully turn around. Layne was preparing himself for the moment the mannequin would get up and charge. He didn’t let the mannequin out of his sights until it was out of the lanterns range. It was gone from his sight, shrouded by darkness.

They ran into the cinema, occasionally looking back into the mall to make sure they were safe. The sound of a rhythmic hit followed by a loud and frantic grunt from Reggie emitted from the room they came in from. He turned the corner to see all of his friends still by the door trying to open something up.

‘Why are they still here? We need to run!’

“What’s going on?!” Layne asked as he ran down the aisle with Jill.

“THE DAMNED WOOD IS NAILED BACK ONTO THE DOOR!” Reggie yelled with widened eyes as he tried to kick the board off. “SOMEBODY! LET US OUT!”

“What? But that’s imposs-” Layne said as he looked to see the piece of wood nailed back up.

He could tell it was nailed back in because of how it was hanging. Light came in through the bottom, which it wouldn’t since he propped it up earlier. Somehow, someone had either replaced the wood with new nails. That, or something else was going on entirely.

“Where’s the f*****g crowbar?! Ill smash our way out!” Jonathan asked as he motioned for Michael to retrieve it from the backpack.

Michael pulled the crowbar out and tossed it to Jonathan. Jonathan then got into a steady position and began to stab at the wood. Chunks began to slowly be beaten off and eventually a small hole was formed. He thought it was strange that there was no light being given off, but the little hole gave Layne a sense of hope that they would make it out.

Just as soon as that hope appeared, it was also taken. An unseen force on the other side of the door grabbed the crowbar and pulled it out of Jonathans hands and sent flying outside. As it left the hole, in the blink of an eye, the chunks of splintered wood that were once on the floor were now back on the board as if it had never left. Reggie felt the wood where the hole was and began to have a panic attack.

“No. No. NO! Nononono! Oh my god, no!” Reggie cried.

Renae pulled him away and did her best to try and console him.

“Don’t worry Reggie.” She said as she hugged him. “We’ll find a way out.”

“I could feel it.” He wept. “I could feel it wrap its arms around me. It didn’t feel like a human at all. It was too warm to be one!” Reggie said as tears streamed down his face.

Layne was terrified to see one of his oldest friends in the state he was in. If there was any doubt that this might have been a prank, Reggies reaction sold him on the genuine danger he felt. He had never once in his life see him cry with such intensity. Whatever could put him in a panic attack was enough to be a threat to anyone.

It wasn’t just Reggie though. All of his friends wore expressions ranging from immense concern to disturbed worry. The only thing keeping Layne from crying himself was the soft grasp of Jill’s hand on his.

He had to be strong, not just for himself, for Jill as well.

A familiar sound of glass being stepped on made Reggie stop his sobbing and force everyone to look towards its origin with their flashlights. Everyone was accounted for in the theatre and nowhere near a single piece of fallen glass. Yet, something was walking slowly towards them in the cinemas hall. The crunching wasn’t slowing down but was starting to increase as if it were beginning to sprint towards the group.

“Hide behind the seats!” Layne whispered loudly “Shut off the lights!”

The gang hid in front on the first rows seats with their lights off. They were shrouded in the darkest of darknesses and only heard the sound of the cracking glass. Not even the smallest ray of light was inside the cinema. Layne would need to rely on his ears for once.

Once it got to the entrance, the crunches stopped after it sounded like it slid to the entrance. It was quiet for a moment before a hollow tapping began to echo throughout the theater.

The tapping grew louder and louder as it got closer and closer to them. A small chuckle then began to ring out from the tapping. The chuckle grew louder and louder until it was a loud malign cackle. The laughter sounded off somehow. It was like it was mimicking what laughter was instead of actually laughing at something amusing.

The cackling echoed not just in the theater, but in Laynes very head. Layne covered his mouth to both suppress his urge to scream and his to hide heavy breathing. He wondered if everyone else had to do the same or were acting calmer than he was.

Just as suddenly as it started up, the cackling and the tapping ceased. Once the echoes stopped, they were left with only ear-piercing silence and one lingering question. Was the man still there in the room with them?

“Guys?” Jonathan whispered, finally breaking the silence. “Do you think he’s gone?”

“Maybe. I don’t hear anything.” Billie whispered back.

“He might still be here guys, stay quiet!” Reggie whispered loudly.

It was quiet for a moment before Layne finally whispered. “I’ll take a look, give me a second.”

He could feel Jill tug at his hand as if to say, “Don’t go.” Still, he stood and faced what he thought might be the back of the theater. It was too dark to really see anything. He could feel his eye strain as it tried to absorb the non-existent light. He felt the nob on the lantern and turned it clockwise.

Its slow illumination soon revealed the horror in front of him.

The mannequin stood still over the chair that was in front of Layne, with his hand stretching for Laynes neck. Its face changed, from being filled with rage earlier, to now being filled with what looked like delight. In its mouth, Layne could see sharpened teeth that were too real to belong to any type of mannequin. Its eyes appeared more human-like up close, with the only difference being that they were heavily blood shot and the pupil reflected back enough light to seemingly glow.

Layne screamed and instead of falling backwards, pulled Jill away from the creature. A second later, the rest of the group joined in in screaming.

“RUUUUN!” Jonathan screamed with intensity.

While the rest of the group easily ran away, Layne was petrified with an unimaginable fear that prohibited his movements. The mannequins gaze was locked with his and made him freeze with complete terror. Only by the constant pulls from both Jill and Jonathan broke him out of his state. Yet he didn’t remove his eyes from the mannequin.

He didn’t remove them because something crossed his mind that brought too many questions’ but no answer.

‘Why isn’t he moving?’

Even when he was pulled through the door, Layne could still tell that Jerry was in the same position as he was before; Hunched over the chair and reaching for nothing. The mannequin hadn’t moved an inch.

Jonathan slammed the door shut and wedged a piece of long debris to try and keep the door shut.

“Do you think that’ll hold it?” Jill asked as the three of them ran down the hall.

“I don’t know, I hope so. Let’s just get as far away as w-” Jonathan said before a loud pounding echoed throughout the hall.

The three of them stopped in their tracks to see, with their flashlights, the hinges of the door break off from the continuous strikes. After about six more hits that created large dents on the outside, the final strike threw the door across the hall and into the adjacent wall due to the force of the hit.

“Oh fuck.” Jill whispered.

Jill and Jonathan started to run but Layne stopped them.

“Wait! Look.”

“Look at what? We need to get the hell out of here Layne!” Jonathan said through gritted teeth.

“It isn’t followin’ us.”

“What do you mean?” Jill asked worriedly.

“That thing could have killed Reggie and I whenever it wanted to, but it didn’t. It had Reggie in its hands, but it didn’t do anything once everyone saw what was happening. Just now too! It could have grabbed me and killed me when I turned the light on, but it stopped once I saw he was in front of me.”

The others were starting to call their names from in the mall and Jonathan yelled to them in return. “WERE GOOD JUST HOLD ON A MINUTE!” He turned his attention to the door. “So, what you’re sayin’ is that you think it doesn’t move when someone sees it?”

“Maybe. Something like that. I’m not one hundred percent sure about it, but that’s what I think is going on.”

“…...Let’s test it out.” Jill said a little hesitantly. “Let’s turn the flashlights out for a second and quickly turn them back on. Keep the lantern on just in case.”

Layne and Jonathan looked at each other and nodded. Layne kept the lantern on and held it out in front of him to extend the range towards the door. Jonathan and Jill turned their lights off for a few seconds and waited before finally turning their flashlights’ on again.

Around the frame of the door was Jerry. He peered around the corner as if he was observing them. He had a grin on his face that stretched far wider than any human could physically do. It was as if he was trying to show off his teeth to the three of them. The sight reminded Layne of how a shark’s teeth are always shown. But where the sharks’ teeth are straight and symmetrical, Jerrys teeth were stained a yellow, rusty color and most of his teeth seemed to have been hastily and violently stabbed into it.

“Alright. Alright.” Jonathan said as he inhaled and nodded his head. “I’ll stay here and keep an eye on this asshole, the rest of you find a way out. I don’t care how we get out of here. Call the cops if you need to. I don’t care.”

The look on Jonathans face told Layne everything he needed to know. He had made up his mind and it didn’t matter how much begging or fighting would happen, there would be no changing it. There would be no debate. There would be no questions. There would only be action.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Layne asked.

“I’m sure. Out of all of us, I’ve got the best bet at taking that thing on in a fight. Now go! Before my batteries run out!” He said without looking at them.

Layne and Jill slowly walked away, giving their old friend a pat on the back. He ensured his friend that they would hopefully return with help. Hopefully being the key word.

It was only until they were running down the hall that Layne noticed that there was now a small amount of mist in the air. Not too much to cloud their vision, but enough to limit shorten the range of their flashlights a little. Most of it hung around the ground, making it difficult to spot the bottom. Was there some sort of gas leak somewhere or something? Layne didn’t know, and it scared him.

Once the two were out of the theater, he could see Reggie, Billie, Renae, and Michael, all on their phones talking to what sounded like the police. It might have been overdoing it for all of them at once, but Layne couldn’t complain.

‘All is better than none.’

Something else he noticed was the lack of sunlight in the distance. The sun had been setting but Layne couldn’t see the orange sky above him. Only the pitch black of total darkness.

“Okay thank you sir! Please hurry!” Renae said as she hung up the phone and looked at them with a confused look. “Where’s Jonathan?!”

Layne explained the situation to her and some of the others. Michael wasn’t listening as he appeared to be arguing with someone on his call and was taking longer than everyone else. He looked more pissed off than scared.

“Let’s try and find a way out. Just in case the police take longer than usual.” Billie said.

“All the exits are probably boarded up, except for one maybe.” Renae suggested.

“What’s that?”

“The roof. Maybe. I don’t remember seeing any ladders outside that led up to it. They were probably taken down, but they might not have bothered blocking the staircases inside the mall that lead up to the roof.”

“Let’s hope so.” Layne said. “That’s the only safe place right now. Did anyone see any stairways while we were looking around?”

“No, but I think there might have been some sort of offices behind the food courts restaurants. We can check there first. Who knows, maybe they had roof access?” Reggie said.

“Alright. It’s better than just staying here.”

“FINE. GOODBYE.” Michael said as he hung up the phone. He noticed everyone looking at him and explained. “Dads gonna pull some strings and send most of Blue Fields police department here to get us. f*****g asshole was more pissed than scared after I told him what was happening. Probably thought I was making the whole thing up.” He exhaled before finishing his small rant. “Let’s get going. To the roof, right?”

Layne nodded and began to lead the group towards the food court on the second floor. He walked at a brisk pace, making sure the others could easily keep up. Along the way he noticed something peculiar. Many of the stores that were once barren and gutted, now had signs on the outside and shelves full of merchandise on the inside. They still looked slightly dilapidated compared with the mall, but the fact that they were now there made him uneasy. He also saw, and felt, the once concreted floor was now tiled on the sides closest to the stores and carpeted in the middle. There were now benches down the middle every dozen yards’. Hanging from the ceiling now appeared to be tube shaped lighting fixtures, like large chandeliers. None of it made sense to Layne how and why those things were now there.

His thoughts, as well as the others’, were stopped by the sound of a deep, bellowing screech coming from behind them. They were maybe one hundred and twenty feet away from the cinema when it roared out for a few seconds. It sounded familiar. Too familiar.

“Jonathan!” Layne said as he started to run towards the theater.

A flashing light came from the entrance of the theater and stumbled onto the ground. Layne stopped dead in his tracks. The light got back up, still flickering up and down, as it ran towards the group. After a moment, he could hear panting and grunting. After that, he saw him. Jonathan.

There were three visible sets of scratches on him. One on his left leg that made him limp slightly. Another between his left shoulder and pectoral. The last one ran down the left side of his face that he had covered with his free hand. Blood poured out of the wounds at a rapid rate. It looked as if something with five fingers and razor-sharp nails dug into him good.

“Jonathan!” Layne yelled with concern.

“HIIIIIDE!” He yelled as he ran past the group and into a nearby shoe store.

There was a mad scramble to get into the shoe store. Most of the shoes had been tossed onto the ground and most of the shelves were toppled over. It made the ground uneven and slightly hard to navigate. Both Billie and Reggie tripped over something and fell to the ground, but quickly got up. Everyone followed Jonathan behind the L-shaped counter on the side of the store.

As they hid behind the counter, Reggie began to mutter to himself and look around.

“s**t s**t s**t. s**t!” He whispered.

“What is it?” Layne asked.

“I dropped my lantern when I fell!”

Since he was the last person to get behind the counter, Layne was at the end of the line and could see the lanterns light on the wall beside him. He turned to Reggie and told him he would retrieve it as quickly as he could. As Layne turned and was about to get up, he stopped when he saw it.

There was now a figure in the light. Jerry. It stood still for a moment, looking side to side, before moving closer to the wall. As its shadow got darker, he could hear the hollow tapping from before. The tapping was Jerrys feet making contact with the floor.

Layne motioned for everyone to be quiet and move up against the counter. They did, and Layne held onto Jill’s hand as tightly as possible. He needed her to be there with him.

He thought for a moment that he would get up and look at the monster to hold it in place. That way they could all escape. His doubts kept him in place as he looked at Jonatan. Staring at the mannequin didn’t work out for Jonathan, and he didn’t want to risk giving away their position. Even if it knew where they were. So, he sat in terrified silence while watching the shadow.

Jerry’s movements were jittery and forced. Layne could only describe it as similar to stop motion animation, how the movements are never perfect. He didn’t move fluidly like a normal person, his movements just appeared to go from motion to another with something missing in between. It let out and loud and audible inhale like it was smelling something. After letting out a prolonged exhale, Jerry spoke in a groggy and broken voice.

“What is this I smell? Something fresh not found in the depths of hell. What could it be? A small treat made to feed. If only this treat could be a flood. This treat I like to call, blood.” Jerry ended his rhymes with a laugh.

Jonathan and Reggie appeared to be shaking uncontrollably, probably because they were the most affected by the monster. They knew this thing more than any of them. If it could smell the blood, then that meant that it could easily find the group. Layne just knew it might.

Jerry began to hastily walk over towards the counter, his legs and arms snapping with each step. He stopped when he put his hands on the counter. The counter shook with such force that it seemed to almost be pushed by the mannequin. It let out a small giggle that then grew into the familiar cackling they heard earlier. He stopped suddenly when another voice boomed throughout the mall.

“RETURN TO MEEE.” The hollow voice hissed. The voice didn’t seem to come from one place, but rather in Laynes head. He noticed that everyone else had experienced the same voice as they had the same confused look that he had.

Jerrys shadow began to sink into the floor. He let out pain filled screams as it tried to free itself. The screams were nearly ear-piercing. Even Michael and Reggie, who were infamous for listening to their music loudly, had to cover their ears to keep them from hurting. Jerry scratched and dug its fingers into the floor until Layne couldn’t see his shadow anymore.

When he sat up to see where the mannequin went, the only thing Layne could see were scratch marks that pointed towards one smooth point in the floor.