Chapter 2

I stood up. Wiping my mouth, I looked down at the strange corpse.

"What the hell is this thing?" I muttered in disgust.

-creeeeaaakk-

Jerking to my feet, I whipped the handgun towards the noise.

(What the hell good is that gonna do? It's empty!)

I froze. Minutes passed, and nothing happened. False alarm.

Still skittish, I began to search the room. Hey, I found a handgun- who knows?

There was a display bench along the wall next to the cash register. Upon further inspection, I noticed two boxes of ammo where I'm sure some pretty, pretty sweaters might once have been.

"Yay." I whispered. With shaking hands, I reloaded the gun, and tucked the rest of the bullets (very gently!) into my vest.

Using the back exit, I ducked down the right corridor-

-Ooh! An elevator! I pushed the button-

-and got nothin'.

"Dammit." I snarled.

Directly across from it, I spotted a map of the mall stuck to the message board with shiny push-pins. Pissed, I snatched it off the wall. I glowered as I examined it. A red glow illuminated the paper.

Hey, wait a minute...

I looked at the sign above the door next to the elevator.

Exit. It said.

I felt myself start to blush as I opened the unlocked door. "I knew it was open. I totally did."

On the other side of the door was an interior stairwell. Not really thinking of anything else, I chose to ascend the stairwell to the second floor of the mall. I went through the door.

In the second floor corridor, I was surprised to see an odd, blue statue standing off to one side of the hallway. Curious, I began to walk up to it.

It was an odd shade of bluish-purple- like a bruise. It was loaded with deep red, and black veins. It had two spindly, almost wet looking legs. It also had a vaguely bullet-shaped torso that ended in a pointed tail. It also had no face whatsoever. I don't think it even had a mouth.

Inching up to it, I whispered. "Well, aren't you an ugly bastard?"

As I reached down to touch it, I heard an odd, groaning noise.

I yelped, and looked away.

Something slammed into me, and knocked me flat onto my ass.

Looking back, I saw that the creature was indeed alive. It was making that strange noise.

I skittered crab-like along the ground. I quickly got about eight feet away, and stopped.

The creature was staggering along at an almost snail-like pace. It was also fumbling... drunkenly down the hall.

(Holy shit!) I thought in amazement. (That thing's blind!)

I went westward down the hall, totally ignoring the creature.

Upon seeing a door to my right, I opened it just a crack so that I could peer inside.

It was a storage room. Inside, one of the monstrous dogs from my dream appeared to be chewing contentedly on something.

Shutting the door, I took a deep breath.

(Okay, Heather- there could be something good in there- you need to check it out!)

Shuddering, I pulled out the handgun that I found in the boutique, and opened the door.

The second that I crossed into the room, the dog stopped chewing. It didn't look up yet, though.

Never having been one to dilly-dally, I shot the dog six times. It staggered about for a minute or two, growled softly, and dropped dead.

Curious, I walked over to what it had been gnawing on. It was a piece of beef jerky. In fact, there was a whole pack of the stuff just sitting on the nearby crate.

Hmm... I bet this stuff might come in handy when other things pop up.

(Yes, "when". I'm not dumb, I know there's probably more of those things around!)

As I started to leave the room, something sparkled into my eye. Tracing the source of the light, it led me to something metal that was under the crate.

It turned out to be a key. I tried to reach for it- but no dice. It was too out of my reach.

Sighing, I made a little note on my map that there was a key in here. As I started to leave, I became aware of the fact that that weird symbol I'd seen in the bathroom was stuck to the wall here, and-

A child's voice echoed in my mind. "But, mommy- I want to stay with you!"

I smelled something burning... almost like cooking meat...

I came back to myself with a start. (What the hell...)

I could feel the start of a migraine forming right behind my eyes, and strangely, the pit of my stomach gave a miserable roll. Shaking it off, I left the room and continued my way down the corridor. I found another door, but much to my chagrin, it was locked.

This meant only one thing...

With a long-suffering sigh, I turned back to the hallway with the blind lawn-gnome from hell.

It was still staggering blindly up and down the hallway. For a moment, I actually felt a little sorry for the thing. (Boy, you really lost the evil coin-toss, huh?) I easily side-stepped it, and went through the door.

I found myself in a circular corridor. There were a few decent shops here. A bakery, a bookstore with a big, glass wall-

-and two of those large, cylindrical monsters.

They turned to my direction.

"Shit." I squeaked. I quickly looked for a way around them.

My gaze fell on the bookstore. It was the closest, and I could clearly see a backdoor inside. I lunged to it as fast as my legs could carry me.

As I jerked at the handle, the creatures began to lumber towards me.

The door I had entered through was blocked by one of them. (Why isn't this door opening?)

Then it hit me. It was locked.

My exit now effectively cut off, I began to run to each storefront, jerking and pulling each handle- only to find each door locked.

With a yip of fear, I slammed into the door of Helen's Bakery; fully expecting it to be locked too-

-and I fell into the shop. Still on an adrenaline high, I grabbed a display cart and shoved it against the door. I peered out the small window. The creatures were now seemingly wandering around aimlessly. It seemed as though when I left the room, they lost all interest in me. Sighing in relief, I slid to the floor and sat there for a few minutes, determined to catch my breath.

Oddly, the first thing that I noticed when I stood up was the amazingly clean, brand new set of tongs sparkling on the bakery counter. A closer look revealed a small scrap of plastic was still stuck to one side- as though it had just been opened... for me. But, why?

I stood there for a few minutes, contemplating it.

Then I remembered that damnable key. (Hmmm...) I picked up the tongs, and contemplated them for awhile. (What the hell- why not?)

Tucking them into the waistband of my skirt, I took a deep breath, pushed the cart aside, and ducked out the door at a full run.

The creatures- much to my unending relief- were gamboling on the other side like giant, evil puppies. They started towards me, but away from the exit door. Laughing, I bypassed the monsters, and made my way back to the storage room.

Smirking, I pulled out the tongs, got on my hands and knees, and scooped that key up from under the crate.

"Yahtzee!" I cried happily. Then I noticed the tag.

My Bestsellers. It declared.

That was obnoxious... but it was also the name of that bookstore on the way to Helen's Bakery. Dad had told me once that it had used to be a huge, chain store... til' Barnes and Noble was born anyway.

This little key only meant one thing. I had to get past the big uglies- again.

"Dammit." I grumped. Stomping past the rotten, ugly little lawn gnome- I shot it twice in the 'head'- just out of spite.

Sighing in irritation, I ducked into the open hallway. The cylinder creatures took one tentative sniff, and immediately began to shamble my way. They were on the other side of the level.

"Ha!" I taunted. "You can't catch me!"

Yeah, I have an immature streak- so?

Unlocking the bookstore's front entrance, I strolled smugly inside, and was startled by what I found...

: AUTHOR'S NOTES : Yeah, I know- this chapter was really kind of short and half-assed, but I haven't updated in about, oh- FOREVER- so I wanted to get the ball rolling again. FYI: Heather (in my fic anyway...) Is having a teenage 'denial of mortality' thing for the time being, hence the still being a smart-ass. I always thought- in the game- that the whole thing didn't really hit home for her until she got home to Harry. (Trying not to drop spoilers for those who don't know!)

Anyways- READ AND REVIEW- I crave it oh, so much... Sigh.

: SPECIAL THANKS : Literary Alchemist- who's getting probably more of these than he can shake a stick at. But hey- the dude is good at the motivating!