Chapter 1: Just Another Day
Date: January 1st, 2008
Time: 12:51 PM (EST)
Location: King Plaza Shopping Center, Brooklyn, NY
Weather Outside: 46.9 °F, No Precipitation, and Mostly Cloudy
Tlyer Mains- 1st Floor, Inside of “Subway”
“I hate New Years.”
The single, middle-aged security guard sat at the square table in the fast-food restaurant on a rickety wooden chair. The slightly overweight man with a black uniform and cap paid dreadful attention to the clock on the wall, watching the thin hand tick its way around the circle that everyone’s lives revolved around. Taking a bite out of the pastrami sandwich, the disgruntled man began muttering to himself in discontent. Tyler was soon going to enter his shift for the day, dreading the inevitability of it being filled with stopping hair-brained adolescents from pulling pranks and acting recklessly.
Every year Mains had worked during the holidays he had encountered some sort of “situation” on this day, and despite what his horoscope said for the New Year, nothing was going stop history from repeating itself. With the clock ticking closer towards 1 o’clock, his time for a comfortable afternoon was slowly dying. Maybe his hope for a better future was dying as well. A man dressed in a distinct black uniform and cap approached Tyler. His co-worker Alex, a tall and healthy young man of 25 years, took a seat across from Tyler and sat there with a look of comisery on his face, Tyler was no stranger to that expression; he had seen it from many people, even complete strangers. This 35-year-old man of average height, with dark brown hair and light eyes, was a walking…I mean sitting cliché of his occupation. Security was a terrible job to have, especially around public areas like THE Kings Plaza Mall.
Taking another bite out of his well-dressed lunch, Tyler glanced at the television screen in the restaurant. On it was a strange young man, somewhere around 20, who was about to perform a so-called paranormal feat. The young man was standing before a thick barrier of translucent tarp, and there were several figures behind it, all appearing motionless. A panel of judges, including the well-renowned James Randi, was sitting to the side of the young man, watching him as he was allegedly going to detect the auras of the individuals behind the tarp. Alongside the real people behind the barrier were several mannequins, all appearing like-life to the young man and the audience.
“What do you think of this kid?” Tyler asked his co-worker after finishing a bite.
“I’m pretty skeptical,” Alex replied. “I mean, how’s he going to see what doesn’t exist?”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Tyler stood up out of his seat. “Well, I got to go to work.”
“Good luck, man.” The young man replied as he fixated his eyes on the television screen.
Finished with his meal and ready to start the day’s work, Tyler tossed the wrapper away and walked out of the Subway. As if luck just turned against him, the security guard’s radio went off. A female voice came on, speaking in security lingo.
“A group of minors upstairs are acting recklessly in some of the department stores, over.”
“I’ll be right up, over.”
Looking to his right, Tyler walked over to the elevator and stepped inside, waiting for any other people to get in.
Corey Mikel- Inside of “Zeller Tuxedos”
“What do you mean they didn't buy it?” The black-haired businessman stood at the front of the counter, shouting into his cell phone. “If you don’t get that deal by Thursday, I’m going to give that promotion of yours over to Dean.”
After a moment of listening to the garbled noise on the other end, Corey’s blue eyes widened.
“What the hell did you just say?” The 27-year-old man was shocked at what his subordinate had just said to him. “You know what? You can shove your job up your ass,!”
Angrily pressing the “End” button on this cell phone, Corey placed his hands on the counter with a slightly bang, causing the cashier to be startled.
“Business trouble, Mr. Mikel?” The elderly man behind the register asked the infuriated businessman.
“I apologize, Fredrick.” Corey replied to the man. “I just have had a lot of stress lately. Now, what can you tell me about my suits?”
“Your tuxedos will be ready in a matter of hours, sir.” Fredrick answered with a voice of courtesy and serenity. “Don’t fret about little matter such as these, Mr. Mikel. They are nothing compared to the greater troubles in life.”
“I’ll keep that in mind when I fire that bitch this afternoon.” Corey replied with a sense of artificial humility and respect.
Grabbing his brown suitcase, Corey walked out of the tuxedo store and towards the elevator directly in front of the entrance. Placing the broken cell phone into his pocket, Corey decided to go on the upper level to get him a brand new cell phone.
Joni & Susanne Miller & Charlie Simmers- 1st Floor, Entrance of “Sears” Department Store
“So, where to next?” Charlie asked, holding a couple gift bags.
“Upstairs!” The little girl replied.
“Why upstairs?” Joni asked her little cousin in a sweet yet suspicious voice.
“Well, there is a Limited Too store up there.” Charlie replied, egging Susanne on.
“Yay! Let’s go there!” Susanne shouted in elation, jumping up and down.
“Great Charlie, you got her all fired up.” Joni mumbled quietly.
“She’s only 11, Joni.” Charlie countered with a tone of consideration. “Let her live as a princess while she still has time. Besides, she’s going back home to Memphis tomorrow. A little more quality time with her cousin won’t hurt her.”
“Ah, why not?” Joni submitted to her friend’s persuasion. “Want to take the elevator, Suzy?”
Without even verbally responding, the little girl dashed for the elevator, signaling an obvious answer. Trying to grab her cousin with busy hands but missing, Joni sighed as she and Charlie ran after the energetic little girl.
Brett Newman & Rick Lamar- 1st Floor, Inside of “GameStop”
“Dude, check this out.” Rick held up the thick game guide to catch Brett’s. “Maybe we should get this guide for Assassin’s Creed.”
“Nah, guides are for wussies,” Without even looking, away from the screen of the PS3, Brett was busy slicing away at soldiers in a Heavenly Sword demo. “Nariko is so awesome.”
“Hey, Brett, check this out.” Rick called his friend over in a tone that could only mean one thing. “Two hot chicks being how they should be: right in front of us and turned around so we can see what they got.”
Before Rick even finished his sentence, Brett was standing next to him staring at the goods of two young girls. One was a blonde with brown eyes and dressed in a punk-rocker style, while the other was a brunette with light brown eyes and dressed in more of a conservative style. Both were hot, alluring girls that were probably the same age as Brett and Rick.
“High school?” Brett inquired.
“Maybe.” Rick replied in agreement. “Hey, they look like they’re going in the elevator.”
“Sweet, let’s get over there, dude.” Brett instantly began walking out of GameStop and towards the elevator.
Rick and Brett both darted for the elevator, both of them entering right before the two girls but after a man in a very nice-looking business suit.
Numerous People- 1.5th Floor, The Elevator
“Wow, there’s a lot of people in this mall today.” Susanne said innocently as she grabbed hold of Charlie and Joni’s hands. “I’ll make sure you two don’t get lost.”
As everyone but Corey laughed at the little joke, Brett and Rick were feeling a bit uneasy at the idea of going for two girls with a little kid. After a quickly glance, they saw that the little girl looked a lot like the brunette.
“Crap.” Brett muttered under his breath. "They're related."
“Just act cool, man.” Rick replied. “You win some, you lose some.”
At those words, the lights of the elevator quickly flashed and shut off. The elevator came to a halt, keeping the group suspended between the two floors of the mall. As sighs and groans of disappointment came and went, Tyler jingled with the keys on his belt.
“Excuse me, coming through.” Tyler politely nudged the group apart, trying to find his way to the operable compartment in the elevator.
Opening it, the security guard gazed in bewilderment at the sight before him: the wires that powered the elevator were ripped, as if someone had cut them with something very sharp. Talking into his radio, Tyler began to speak with the security central.
“The elevator at the western entrance has been disabled somehow, over. I won’t be able to stop the trouble on the second floor. Requesting assistance to get these people out of this elevator soon.” Tyler finished talking into the radio, but then he spoke to the others, and a voice replied over the radio affirming his request. “Sorry people, the elevator just broke on us somehow, and in a couple minutes we’ll have to get you out of here.”
Alex- 1st Floor, Inside of “Subway”
Fixating his attention to the television, Alex watched carefully as the young man closed his eyes and focused. He moved his hands from left to right, pointing at each of the figures he thought were human. After he finished, he opened his eyes and turned around, looking at the judges, who were all pale.
“Oh my god…he got them all correct!” One of the male judges said in shock.
Cheering and applause rose in the room as the audience got out of their seats, and several people came to the stage and began to hug the young man. As they stood there in that moment of euphoria and elation, things took an odd turn. The ground shook under their feet, and the lights in the large room went out.
A shriek was heard, and as the lights came back on, the people were previously hugging the young man were now screaming in terror at the sight of his clothes on the ground, with his body having vanished. As the people began to run in fear and confusion as all hell broke in that studio loose, the screen cut to the familiar “Technical Difficulties” signal, with a single tone following its arrival.
Sitting there in a fear and confusion of their own, the people inside of that Subway restaurant were dead silent. The only thing that broke the gut wrenching silence was the sound of Alex’s security radio:
“All units, we have a suspected assault on the second floor, over.”
Possible Outcomes:
1. Alex runs up to the second floor to deal with the assault.
2. Alex, as well as other people in the Subway, begin to scream in fear.
3. Everyone dies. Lol, this is NOT an option.
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