Wolfe had walked three laps around the mall now. He wanted to make sure there was no one in the mall, it was happening tonight, no doubt about it.
A few skateboarders had given him trouble, but he was able to convince them to leave after explaining what happened to their friend, Jeremy or something. He knew that he couldn't tell them what the issue was, he couldn't tell anyone, that was what he and Heather agreed on, telling someone about what happened in the mall? They'd either write them off as crazy, or worse, call the people at the 'funny farm' to come and get them.
Unless they really were crazy, it made more sense than what was happening, just crazy hallucinations... But at the same time, why could some people smell copper in the mall? Were those people crazy too? It was true that not everyone could smell it, in fact, most people never noticed it at all. "Maybe we're all a little crazy..." Wolfe moved his hand down to his hip to find his gun was missing, though it had been there a few minutes earlier. "Every frickin' time..."
It happened without fail, on nights where the mall descended into Wolfe's own personal hell, his gun would disappear, any weapon he brought in would disappear, though he usually was allowed to keep his baton. "Hmph... 'allowed'"
He was told back when he was in the town that everyone sees it differently, something about it being a manifestation of your fears, doubts, regrets... He had also heard that children aren't affected, it made sense, how many cares or worries could a child have?
He began making his way to the coffee shop Heather worked at, she would likely be reading her magazine again. He was surprised how well she took it, she never let it bother her, even as the world burned away around them and they fell back into the grasp of insanity, she never betrayed any emotion, likely something that had developed from the fact that she was first exposed to that town's influence at eighteen. He stopped and thought now. She had escaped, she had confronted her past and her regrets, so why was she affected too? Was there something else it wanted from her? Or...?
"It's me. All this time I never thought to put everything together, the reason it happens here, so far from where it started. It's because it can't let go, and it can't let go because I can't let go... Heather did escape, that's why she moved away from her hometown, to get away from the memories. But... I didn't. That's why it's here now, because it wants me to come back, wants me to finish what it started..."
He arrived at the shop and sat down at one of the stools at the counter. Heather didn't bother looking up, still absorbed in her magazine. "Hey. You made it."
"Yep. Haven't I always?"
"You're late."
"I wanted to be sure there was no one else in here. Didn't want to take a chance with that girl... Veronica being in here."
"The one from the other night? Yeah, what did she want anyway?"
"She was spying on someone I know, you remember Timmy?"
"Hm... that kid you've mentioned, yeah... I-"
"Hm? What is it?"
"He was here. Well first I saw him at his house, he ordered pizza from the place I work, and they usually have me deliver. But then he stopped at the restaurant with a girl... Damn, she told me her name, but I can't seem to remember it..."
"What did she look like?"
"Hmm... red hair, green t-shirt, black jeans... seemed kinda nervous to be out and about... oh! She had pink eyes, I remember now! She's a customer of mine... I noticed the pink eyes because, well, how many people do you know with pink eyes? I would wager not many."
"Vicky."
"That was her name! I've never been good with names..."
"What were they doing?"
"Huh? It looked like they were on a date or something. He told me that he was taking her out since she's such a great babysitter, and I had no reason to question it... also I didn't care to."
"It goes a bit deeper than that. That boy's had a crush on that girl for years now, I'm actually kind of impressed he likes someone who's got six years on him but, if that's what he wants, more power to him."
"So they were actually on a romantic date? Like with the intention of kissing and..."
"I don't know about that. That's his business, he wants to become a father at fourteen, let him. I'm more concerned with the whole love triangle thing he has going on. That is destined to come and bite him in the ass."
"What? He likes some other girl too?"
"Yeah, worse yet, the girl he likes is Vicky's sister."
"... What an idiot..."
"That's what I thought."
"What's bothering you so much? The kid can take care of himself."
"He's treading on thin ice, I feel bad for him, that's all. It's kinda like watching someone being beaten just beyond your reach, you want to help them, but you can't."
"As mean as it may sound, he made his bed, now he has to lie in it, this is his battle, you can't fight it for him."
"Why did you move out here?"
"What? We already talked about this, I came out here to start fresh, to get away from my past, and what my past meant... For a while I thought I had come far enough, the nightmares stopped, and I was happy..."
"Until I came and took it away..."
"But then I started working here at this mall, and it was as if I never left, like it followed me all this way and only gave me a reprieve so I wouldn't be ready for when it finally came back... I guess you can never really escape your past, once it latches on, it stays with you until it outlasts you..."
"Yeah..."
"It isn't fair! I did what I had to, I confronted my past, and the people in it! I escaped! I was free... and now... I'm stuck here again... all because of something that was ordained long before I was born..."
Wolfe watched as Heather took a last look at the magazine and tossed it away, then began fiddling with a lock of hair that had fallen in front of her face. "This isn't my normal hair color you know. It was black before, but my father insisted on it, and after he was killed... I guess I keep dyeing it to keep the memory of him alive. I can't even get away by dying..."
"What?"
"Before... back when I first had to deal with... y'know... I tried to kill myself, I did kill myself. I climbed up on a rollercoaster in the amusement park... and I jumped. I thought I could get away from it by dying... but I just woke up in front of a weird red circle... or trigram... or something. I don't remember it exactly."
"You never told me this..."
"There was no reason to, it didn't work, so I never had any reason to bring it up. How fucked up is it that I tried to kill myself, and I couldn't even do that right?"
"You mean... it won't let us die?"
"Nope, you either get over your problem, or you relive your failure for eternity."
"What a comforting thought."
Wolfe looked down at the counter he sat at and noticed the copper smell, it was stronger now. He heard a noise that they had both become used to by now, yet everytime they heard it, they could feel their blood freeze. An air raid siren. The mall shook as the walls flaked and burned away, revealing rusty fences and grates, suspended over an impossibly dark abyss, chains corroded by years of exposure to blood hung from the ceiling, the stink of copper, of blood, was heavy in the air. There was no light in this place, yet things were somehow visible, shapes could be seen moving in the distance, their movements jerky and distorted and... wrong.
"What do you think happens if they kill us?"
"We wake up the next morning, only for it to happen again? The reason we fight is because neither of us is a fan of a gruesome death."
"But what are we fighting for other than that?"
The shuffling footsteps grew louder, the shapes were getting closer. Wolfe heard a distinct metal on metal grinding sound from somewhere farther in the mall.
"So what? You just wanna give up? After two years, you want to throw in the towel?"
"Is there any point in continuing? I told you, if we continue at this, we may live, but we're beginning to enjoy this, the killing. Admit it, the smell of blood may fill you with unease, but it also excites you."
"No! It doesn't! You think I enjoy this?!"
"Don't you? Deny all you want, but you like it. It gives you an excuse to be someone else, someone who takes what they want, kills who they want, and does what they want. Maybe it's an excuse to stop pretending..."
The scraping grew ever louder, the footsteps closer. There was a sound in his head, a piercing sound, his head began to hurt from it. "You don't..."
"Hm?"
"You don't get to give up. You can't give up..." Wolfe rubbed his forehead to try to relieve the headache.
"I'm tired of fighting Wolfe, there is no point anymore. My father fought, and look what happened to him, we moved away and it still followed us, and it killed him in the end. I was a fool to think I could get away. It was my fault to begin with, that's why they came after us, if I hadn't been around... he'd be alive today..."
The scraping noise was even closer now, the shuffling footsteps too. A pipe above cracked open and began to leak a viscous, red-black liquid.
"You can't blame yourself for this..."
"It is my fault, haven't you been listening?"
"Not this time."
"What?"
The shuffling stopped, as did the grinding and scraping, and the pipe's foul liquid stopped flowing. The piercing sound in Wolfe's head stopped and went silent.
"This... all of it, it's my fault, and I've been too blind to realize it. The past two years have been a waste... Because I was too much of a coward to own up to what happened..."
"What are you-?"
The shapes began moving back from where they came, the rusty grates and fences were covered over again by the mall, the smell of blood and copper and rust faded away, and everything was silent.
"I have to go."
"You just got here."
"I mean go back, back to where this started, or I, and by extension, you, will never find peace."
"But-"
"I have to. And... I might not come back this time. But you'll be able to have a normal life, like you wanted to."
They were in the mall again and all was quiet. Most of it was still dark, only a few lights were left on.
"Well, I'm going to bed." Wolfe stood and made for the exit of the shop.
"Wha- That's it? It gave up because of what you said?"
"I guess so." he waved to her, then stopped and turned around. "I need to ask you a favor."
"You can ask me tomorrow."
"I'll be gone by then. I need you to watch out for Timmy, he's come to rely on my counsel for a while now, and he might still need someone to be there for him."
"I can't. I don't know him, that's your problem." Heather crossed her arms and looked away.
"But I won't be here. I need you to do this, there's no one else I can ask. Here." he took off his badge and tossed it to Heather.
"This? No. Definitely not. I do not want this."
"Too bad. I'm appointing you acting Chief of Mall Security until I return, if I return."
"But I can't-"
"I already talked with the necessary people. They know to expect you if you show them the badge."
"What makes you think I'm gonna do this? Maybe I'll just throw the badge out and forget we even had this conversation."
"No. I don't think you will." Wolfe walked out of the shop and around the corner, out of sight.
"Hey! You can't just walk away from me!" Heather vaulted over the counter and ran out of the shop, then looked around; he was gone. "Damn it! You didn't give me the keys!"
No answer. He really was gone, and she was alone again.
She didn't like Wolfe, not like that, but he was a good guy to have around... and he was her friend.
She felt her eyes begin to water and wiped them. "Fine! Go! Leave, just like everyone else!" her voice echoed through the empty mall. "I bet he thinks he's 'doing me a favor', leaving like this..." she returned into the shop to find the large keyring on the counter. "Hmph." she grabbed it and headed for the mall exit.
Early the next day...
Heather stood in front of the door to the main offices of the Dimmsdale Mall. "Crap..." she knocked on the door.
"Come in!"
Heather walked in to find a short, fat bald man sitting behind a desk that was entirely too large for someone of his stature. "Hello there! My name is Junders Dimmadome! How may I help you Miss...?"
"Uh... Heather... I'm here to... Well..." she took the badge out of her pocket and placed it on the desk.
Junders took it and looked it over, his face was then overcome with a grave expression. "I see... Is... is Wolfe dead?"
"No. He had to go away, back to his hometown, family issues or something, I'm a close friend of his, he told me to give this to you."
"Ah... I always assumed he'd be dead if someone walked in here with that, please, take a seat."
Heather sat down and twiddled her thumbs. "What uh... what exactly was the arrangement?"
"He was never willing to tell me the specifics, all we agreed on was that he would keep the mall safe and in return, I would look the other way and convince others to look the other way in all of his dealings. Letting him live in the mall, treating delinquents as he saw fit, y'know mostly minor stuff."
"I see..."
"Now, you presenting this badge gives you full access to all of his personal effects, though I'm afraid there isn't much. It also gives you full right to take over in his position as Chief of Mall Security, no questions asked."
"Don't I need training?"
"Wolfe assured me that the person who presented this would be the right person for the job. Do you feel that you are?"
"No, not really. I run a coffee shop and work part time as a waitress at Giovanni's, I certainly don't have the qualifications to be a security officer... but I also need to follow through with what he requested of me."
"Very dedicated of you. So you'll take the job?"
"I guess so..."
"Splendid! I'll sleep a lot easier knowing I still have someone capable taking care of mall security... Did Wolfe happen to mention when he'd be returning?"
"Not for a while unfortunately."
"Ah well, I suppose it can't be helped. Are you willing to start today, or...?"
"I'd like a day to get used to the idea, if that's okay?"
"Of course, you take as much time as you need, this was kind of thrust upon you without warning."
"Thank you."
"The office next to mine is Wolfe's, and now yours, I suppose. He never really used it much, always wanting to sit out in the main area and watch the people go by... Well, best of luck to you Heather."
"Thanks... I'm gonna need all the luck I can get, I think." she stood and walked out of the office, then headed down the hall to the next door. "Chief of Mall Security Arlen Wolfe... Guess I'll need to get that changed..." she opened the door and stepped inside.
The office was populated by an unused looking desk, a file cabinet, and a locker with a simple lock on it. "Cozy..." she walked over to and sat at the desk. The room smelled of cigarettes and a slight other smell that she could only assume was Wolfe himself. She opened the top drawer to find a pack of cigarettes, a book of matches, and a key, likely for the lock on the locker. "Hm..." she took out a cigarette and lit one up, only to have a coughing fit immediately after inhaling. "Now... I remember why... I quit..." she put out the cigarette and tossed the rest of the pack in the trash, followed by the matches. "That's what lighters are for..." She eyed the key and grabbed it, then turned to the locker. "What secrets could be in here? Old photos? Confiscated items? A journal where he admits his love for a certain blonde?" She stuck the key in the lock and turned it. "Pfft, not likely."
Heather opened the locker to find that it was filled to the brim with weapons, mostly guns, she was definitely not an expert, but she recognized shotguns, automatic rifles, submachine guns, and more than a few high-caliber revolvers. "Why would you even have all this?!"
She could admit that having a weapon was good, mostly for self defense, but this was a little crazy. "I'm sure at least some of these were confiscated..." she looked down to see a red booklet lying on the floor of the locker. "Score! I found your journal Wolfey..." she grabbed it and plopped back down in the chair.
"Let's see... entry one... What? Never heard of putting dates in your journal? 'This town is nice, not as quiet as I'd like, but nice. Hopefully I can settle down here... Got a job working at the Dimmsdale mall as the chief of security, apparently the last one recently passed away at the "young age of one hundred and fifteen" yeah, real young...' Blah..." she flipped through several pages.
"Entry seven... 'Met some kid today, Timmy, seems like a good kid, a weird gray kid tried to frame him for stealing, too bad the mall has this great invention called the security camera... Broke the kid's hands...' Really?" she flipped several more pages.
"Entry thirteen... 'Had a few conversations with Timmy, seems he has a crush on his babysitter, from how he described her, I can't really blame him...' Meh..." Again she flipped several pages.
"Entry twenty-one... 'Should've known they'd be back, the mall turned last night, became the 'otherworld' the rust, the blood, the monsters... everything was there... Met a girl. Seems familiar, she handled herself well, said her name was Heather and that she had dealt with this before as well...' there were a few drops of blood on the paper. 'Damn monster got me... nothing serious, but I wish Dimmsdale sold Health Drinks, all I can find are Juice Drinks... I need to replenish my health, not my juice, dammit!' Hm... I remember that night... the first night I opened the coffee shop..."
Heather put her feet up on the desk and got more comfortable. "Entry twenty-two... 'Girl knows how to brew a cup of coffee, best I've ever had. That sounds sexual... Damn. Had to confiscate some weapons today, these people think they can just walk around with guns, and not carry a permit?' Boring..."
"Entry thirty-four... 'Living in the mall now, don't have to pay rent, and I can keep a closer eye on the monsters, make sure they don't escape the mall and hurt people, wish Heather didn't have to deal with this, seems even the kids have to fight in this day and age...' Huh..."
"Entry forty-two... 'Gonna start keeping a bestiary of sorts of the monsters, maybe learn something about them. First and most common are these little children sized freaks, some have claws, some have knives, damn things always aim for my shins. Pale skin, no hair and distorted faces, some are scrunched up, some are stretched out... Freaks...' I don't..."
"Second bestiary... 'Nurses. That's what they look like. Fucking hospital nurses, I hate hospitals! The uniform... old timey, leaves little to the imagination. But their faces... they aren't there, there is literally no face, just blank skin. Damn things always carry knives or scalpels... One actually had a gun! Where are these things getting guns?' Okay, those I remember..."
"Third bestiary... 'I fucking hate these things, these fat bastards, they must weigh over four hundred pounds! No head, just a stump that's been stitched up. Damn things hit like a truck and like to block me from going to certain parts of the mall. Kinda funny when you kill them, they deflate like a big balloon. Their skin is gray and rotted, you'll smell these fuckers before you see 'em.'"
"Bestiary four... 'I like dogs, dogs are great, loyal, friendly, and they love you unconditionally. These damn things are not dogs! A dog's head does not split open down the middle, and all the dogs I've seen have skin. These. Are not. Dogs. Wait until the head splits open, then fire down that gullet, they don't like that.'"
"Entry forty-three... 'I don't know what that damn scraping sound is, but I don't like it. Whatever it is, it's following me, I've kept it away from Heather, but it is always there now, always searching...' Scraping? I never heard any scraping..."
"Entry forty-seven... 'My last entry for the foreseeable future, maybe my last entry ever. Heather, I hope it's you reading this. If it isn't... GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE AND STOP READING MY JOURNAL YOU SHIT. Now then, there's much I wish I could tell you, I'm sorry for leaving like I did, but I have to. You don't deserve this life, I need to make things right. I'm sure you're mad at me for leaving you with my job, but I think you'll like the perks that come with it. As for the weapons, well, you should have no problem protecting yourself with an assortment like that. I hope my leaving calms things down around there. And I know you don't know Timmy, but part of what I have to do is guide him, I don't know who ordained it, but it's something I have to do, and I ask that in my absence, you fill the role, no one else can. I know I'm not your father, and I certainly can't fill the role but... I know you'll make me proud and do the right thing girl, you've always done me proud.'" Heather realized her eyes had begun to tear up again and wiped them. "How can I not do as you ask after that? Might as well have guilt-tripped me into it..." Heather closed the journal and put it in her backpack, then re-locked the locker and left the office.
She walked through the mall until she came to the bench that Wolfe always sat at and sat next to his spot. She took out the badge and turned it over a few times before polishing it and pinning it to her vest. "Chief of Security of the Dimmsdale Mall, Heather Mason... Has a nice ring to it..." she used her last name so infrequently that it sounded alien to her ears. "Maybe just Heather..."
A/N: So after that, you guys and gals know where I got the idea for Heather? This obviously means that we won't be seeing Wolfe for a while in Red or Black?. Does all this feel... out of place? Yes, very. But it's here and done, so you all get another taste of my insanity. Of course, this also means I'll likely have to give Heather a bigger role in the main story, so now you also know that I don't always think my decisions through, yay! Next whatever on Tuesday because long weekend.