(I'm sorry for the hiatus... well, hard to exactly call a three-year gap a 'hiatus', but! Apologies nonetheless. I almost thought to completely abandon this, but it's not over yet! Expect much more soon - like, tonight or tomorrow kinda soon!)
Lotta led a group of three inklings back into the main store area, flipping the lights on and staring in awe at the pitch black void the night had become. "That's one scary storm... Are you squids sure you aren't going to wait around for it to slow down?"
The inkling boy with swept-back tentacles hung a jet squelcher up on a slatwall and said, "Yeah, we could wait around, but Jaron's mom said she's gonna make some shaved ice for us tonight. We said we'd be home earlier than this anyway."
"Are... you sure that's safe, River?" Lotta walked over to the windows and peered out at the square. Pools of dark water were creeping out of the storm drains, and the incessant sheets of rain sent up a spray as they pounded the top layer. "The drains aren't working. L-look, your parents would probably be much happier knowing you're safe than anything... why don't you call them and ask if they can make shaved ice another day?"
Jaron, an inkling boy with glasses and two short tentacles hanging on either side of his face, pulled out an arrow-shaped phone from the front pocket of his hoodie. "Alright, I'll try it." He tapped the screen with one hand as he held it with the other. He frowned, and then put it back into his pocket. "No service… Sorry, might be the rain."
"I'm gonna go home. We have umbrellas, and anyways, our parents're gonna worry if we don't get back soon." River pulled an umbrella out of the rack next to the door, shaking the opaque plastic material of any residual moisture. He held it out to the other inkling in their group - who'd, up until this point, been much too busy with her nose buried in a crisp paperback to pay the conversation much mind - and nudged her forehead with the handle. "Kara, we're leaving, so take this."
Kara's head bobbed a bit back on her shoulders, her face upturned to River's with an annoyed expression at first, her eyes narrowed and her lips pursed. That look softened after she noticed the umbrella, recognition crossing her face before she let out a sigh, taking it and stuffing her book into the colorful hempen bag slung over her shoulder. "-Oh. 'Kay."
"Okay... well, just be careful." Lotta wrung her hands while she watched the group shuffle to the door, umbrellas held at the ready. she wondered to herself - if they got hurt, would it be her fault...? But no, it wasn't good to think that way. She shook her head and turned away, looking for anything to divert her attention to in a vain attempt to keep her mind off such thoughts.
Flicker, click.
All at once, the impenetrable shadow of the storm outside found its way in. The fluorescent, ceiling-mounted tubes flickered off in an instant in the absence of power, descending the whole group into darkness and eliciting a sudden shout of terror from the poor part-time shopkeep. "-Aaah!" She jumped a short few inches in the air before landing back down on the carpet and bobbing there from the landing for a moment.
"A-are you squids okay? River? Jaron-?" Turning back to the door, she spied the vague silhouettes of the three huddled against the door, illuminated by the eerie, near-luminescent glow of the storm outside. It seemed as if they had shrunk back upon hearing her shout, but after the initial shock wore off, they began to ease up.
"Are you okay, ma'am?" A feminine voice called back, clear concern tinting her tone.
"I-… yeah." Lotta's own voice faltered as her gaze drifted about the room, attempting to make out the features of her pitch-black surroundings. "I really think you should maybe, y'know - u-uhm, think about staying until it's-?"
Click, click. A metallic noise rung out from the automatic doors as Jaron attempted to open them by the dim, sterile glow of his phone screen. He let out a sigh of his own, almost drowned out by the incessant pattering of rain on the store's roof. "It won't open, the power's off."
"Well, I have keys in the back for that, I think…?" Lotta shook her head, turning again to peer back at the dark void where the door to the back room stood. "But-… but, I hooked up the lil' zapfish to the generator earlier, and turned it on just in case, just like Sheldon's notes said to… D-did I do it wrong…?"
"Should we go and check? I'm getting kinda tired of this." River's voice called back, his tone rippling with uncertainty and increasing irritation as he took out his own phone and flicked on his flashlight. A soft white halo of light illuminated the back wall, centered on that door - casting the far recesses of the room into murky shadow as a consequence. "I just wanna go home… this sucks."
"Y-yeah, I guess we-"
Thump, thump - crash!
The group froze on the spot, stock-still and all now staring at that back door from the inexplicable noises muffled on the other side. "W-… we're the only ones here, right, Lotta…?" River's courageous facade fell away, the spotlight on the door trembling as he waited with bated breath for the answer. "That's S-sheldon, right-…?"
"N-… no… It's not…"
