We were gaping at each other for the longest time before either one of us stirred. I moved first, remembering the dog, and grabbed the garbage bin that had been knocked flying by the doors and put it bang in front of the doors, then added another one from the other side of the doors, this one much heavier. The monster seemed to have gone now, though I was sure I'd see it again, I guess I didn't wanna take any chances. Well, would you?
"You again." she said from behind me, "I thought you'd gotten lost in the fog. You ok? I saw some kind of weird animal outside, scared the hell out of me. It didn't get you, did it?" Well, at least she was concerned about me. Sweet kid, really. When she's not trying to kill a guy or steal his stuff, that is.
Turning, I saw her bringa knapsack out from under the table, her left hand rummaging inside, the other on the table itself. The ashtray smouldered next to her, a coffee cup with a spill down it further along the table. So she'd left me in the fog, been scared by one of those things, and come in here to have a coffee and a cigarette. Right. Suddenly it seemed a lot less likely that she was all that sweet, but I can play along as well as the next guy.
"Yeah, I'm ok," I said "one came after me, but I guess it was asleep before it noticed me or something. That was too close for comfort, though. At least you believe me now about the monsters, right? Right?" She looked at me thoughtfully, considering things slowly, then turned and took the cigarette from the ashtray and held it up, watching it smoulder. In those clear bright eyes I could see a thousand lives and deaths being considered, all the truth and deceit I could possibly think of being thought of and sorted by her. She tapped it out into the ashtray, and put it back in. Turning to me again she spoke.
"Ok. I believe you. Now what are we gonna do about it? The state this place is in...they only finished building it a couple years back, it hasn't even been open long enough to get as crappy as this. Makes me wonder if maybe it's not just a few things that've gone wrong. Maybe..." she considered the ashtray again, ran a slender finger up the spill on the coffee cup, "maybe it's the whole town that's been affected? Hah! Now maybe you'll think that I'm crazy" She brought the coffee cup up to her pretty little mouth, took a small sip, and gagged violently. Her face screwed up like she'd just been made to smell a sewer. "Ugh! How the hell did he drink that?" she gasped, pushing the cup as far away as she could reach.
"Look, nevermind the coffee, we have to figure out how to get the hell out of here." I was amazed. Of all the things to worry about right now, coffee? Hold on...
"Wait. Stop. How did who drink that?" I asked slowly. "There's no-one else here, and no signs of other people." I had forgotten about Lisa, or the person I thought was Lisa. I went up to the counter to look for other doors. There was only one, off to the right, and that was padlocked closed from the inside. I told Kate about the padlock and she went pale.
"You're sure that's the only door?" she asked quietly, like she was trying not to panic or something. Hell, yes, I was sure, I answered her, but I went to check it out anyway, going back into the kitchens, to check out as much of the place as I could access. No changes though, just two doors to the entire area; the entrance door I'd blocked, and the padlocked door I'd told her about. When I told her that, she just buried her face in her hands and groaned like she'd just had to admit two plus two made five.
"Come on Kate, first this mystery coffee, and now some guy who can't have been here? What the hell are you talking about?" I asked jokingly. She snapped her head round angrily.
"Mystery coffee? Guy who wasn't here! What, you think I'm nuts? You think I like a shopping mall complete with demon dogs and disappearing guys? The burger-flipper was bad enough, but the guy in the coat..."
"Woah! Stop there. Guy in a coat? Like, some big black thing?"
"Yeah, that's the one, he was sat right here. That's his cigarette and his cup, and just as you came in he vanished."
"So...? What did he want, what did he say?"
She chewed her lip a little, thinking again, choosing what to say very carefully. I wondered what she was gonna hide from me, still wonder what she was hiding. Then she decided, and told me that he'd been here to warn her about the town, that the school was very dangerous, and that he 'couldn't tell her' what was going on, why this town's so messed up. I have some idea now, but back then, on that first day here (if you can talk about days in this place) I just wanted straight answers and wasn't pleased at not getting any.
"Well, Katie," I started, "that sounds a lot like the bastard who messed up my hand. I wouldn't trust anything he says. Oh yeah, that's right, I've met him too. Said something about the mother of the god or something like that and stomped on my hand when I fell over" I waved my swollen hand, which was now turning an ugly purple. "If he's gonna beat on guys that need help, I wonder what he'd say to a lost little girl to get her to trust him? You might wanna think about that, Katie"
She did not like that. Reaching into the knapsack, she pulled out my gun and levelled it at me again.
"And you might wanna think about getting the hell outta here, Crawley. I don't know what the hell you're up to here, but I don't think I like it and I sure as hell don't trust you. I'm not dumb enough to give you your gun back, but I'm not that heartless that you don't get some help from me, so here.." She shifted her weight, and pulled something from her waist, threw it to me, and then threw a bottle from the knapsack to me, it said 'heth drk' on the side. The knife's sheath was still warm from her body's heat, "and the drink is a health drink" she added. "A drink for your health. Now get the hell outta here, and if you ever call me Katie again or get too close, I will shoot you. That's a promise"
I shifted the bin out of the way and left, the warmth of the sheath fading rapidly against the cold of the deserted mall. Once again I was alone and exposed. Once again I was lost. But that could change. I had seen a map of the place in the service stairwell, and there was probably a hallway with some offices somewhere nearby. If I could just get an idea of how this place was laid out I'd be able to find a few things to help me survive this place, and then I'd be able to get out of here. I set off for the second floor.