Gates Ferry

Chapter 5- The Tour

Chapter 5 - The Tour

    The beginning of the mall, apart from the food court, was astonishing. There was floor after floor of consumer nourishment and flashy promotional ads that hung from ceilings and extended from the walls. Large kiosks littered the middle of the spacious hallways while fountains spewed water upwards in a series of radiant colors. It was nothing that Ryan had ever seen. His eyes had left the map and were now skipping around the mall like a child on Christmas. He dropped the map to the floor and ran in the direction of the twin glass elevators. “Wait! Wait for me, kid!” Rick yelled. He did not want to be liable for a lost delinquent on his watch, especially considering it was highly against the rules. Flueric noticed that Ryan had dropped the map to the floor out of utter excitement, so he bent down to take a look at what he circled. His mouth began to curl at each end. There were four different stores clearly marked, standing out from the others. The first was a gigantic department store that was filled with clothing, jewelry, and other fine products that would have a person leaving in ecstasy. The second place circled was a sexual gift shop containing a wide assortment of pleasurable toys and games that one would use with their partner. The next place was a large weapons store that sold everything from stun guns to assault rifles. The last place was very curious to Flueric, for it was a bank, and a very large one at that. Rick shrugged it off and began to chase after Ryan, who was already stabbing his finger into the elevator call buttons. Upon arriving at the elevator, Flueric had to take a breath. While his hands were on his knees, he panted, “Slow it down, kid……. I’m not in as good of shape as I used to be. You’ve gotta take it easy, I don’t need you breaking anything because it’ll come out of MY paycheck (which was not extraordinary)!”


    Ryan did not care the least bit about Rick’s stated predicament so he continued to jam his finger at the buttons. The elevator doors finally separated into the walls. Ryan ran inside with Rick closely behind. There was an eerie tune quietly floating throughout the interior speakers. It did not sound like a classically performed instrument that would normally play in an elevator; however, Ryan ignored it quickly. The two young men stood waiting while the elevator shot up to the fourth floor, one unable to stop pacing around and the other biting his nails. The elevator came to a swift halt and the doors retreated into the walls once more. Ryan sprinted out towards his first destination, the Gates Ferry Department Store. It was all the way at the opposite end of the mall. He ran as fast as his feet could carry him, causing very loud clanking echoes throughout the empty mall. Flueric kept a fast walking pace behind Ryan. He was already out of breath and could barely keep up. Ryan reached the gigantic entrance, but to his dismay it was closed. “What the hell, man?” Ryan yelled back towards Rick, who was still about 50 yards back. “Open this door! I don’t want to sit around and wait forever.” Rick finally reached the locked entrance and stopped for a second while holding his side. “I can’t do that…….I would get fired. I told you I’d give you the tour of the mall, not the insides of the stores. Give me a break. This is my career we are talking about.” Ryan’s face grew bright red. He became extremely angry and balled up his fists. Although Ryan was psychotic, he also had a high level of intelligence. He noticed that Flueric’s key ring was dangling from the clip on his belt this time. It must’ve been because he was so tired from fetching it from his pocket. “That’s fine, no problem,” Ryan lied. He looked down at his watch. It read six a.m., but Ryan had a better idea. “Wow, I can’t believe it’s already eight!” Rick looked shocked. “WHAT!? IT’S EIGHT??? I HAVEN’T GOTTEN ANYTHING DONE YET MY BOSS IS GONNA KILL ME. HE’S SUPPOSED TO BE HERE IN AN HOUR TO CHECK UP ON ME!” Ryan had a false look of sympathy painted upon his face. “Wow… that is not good. Well, I’ll tell you what. You have been such a good host to me that I couldn’t possibly NOT return the favor. I’ll help you clean up and get this place ready. With the two of us working, we’ll get it done in no time.” Rick huffed a sigh of relief. “That would mean so much to me, kid. I really appreciate it. If you wouldn’t mind, pick up all the trash on the floor on this level, and I’ll start at the bottom. We can meet in the middle once we both finish.” Rick fumbled around his large pant leg pockets and pulled out a large black trash bag. “You keep those things in your pockets?” Ryan asked. Rick looked at him with an expression that could have been depicted as, “C’mon man. I’ve got it bad enough as it is.” Ryan agreed to the plan and took the trash bag from Flueric’s hand. “Thanks again.” Rick said as he began to turn around towards the elevator. As soon as Rick began to walk away, Ryan crept up behind him to try and grab the keys. He stepped quietly, making sure not to draw any unwanted attention. He was so close to the keys that they were within reach, so he stuck his two fingers out and attempted to hook them inside of the ring. He tried to keep the same walking pace as Rick while prying the ring off of the hook, but it was very difficult to stay in concert. Ryan was not very athletic, so this wasn’t going to help make matters any better. After a few more steps, Ryan tripped, and the key ring fell to the floor. Ryan quickly stepped on top of it. “COUGH COUGH COUGH!!!” Ryan emitted to disguise the loud clink of the impact. Rick jumped at the sound, and turned around with a frightened look on his face. “What the hell, man? What are you doing?” Ryan quickly thought of an excuse in his head. “I think I’m gonna need another trash bag. You can never be too prepared, right?” Flueric nodded in agreement, and pulled two more bags out of his pocket. “You’re right, Ryan. One can never be too prepared, so here are two more. I am expecting all of these to be filled up by the time we are finished. This mall is filthy!” Rick turned around once more and began to hike towards the elevator. Ryan stood there and hoped he wouldn’t notice that his keys were missing. It was obvious that they were gone because there was no longer a loud clanking sound banging against his pant leg. It didn’t seem to alert Rick at all, however. It must have been due to all of the other ridiculous contraptions hanging from his pants including a flashlight, a dustpan and small dust broom, and a few other things Ryan couldn’t seem to identity. They were very odd looking. The elevator doors closed behind Flueric, and he began downward. “Phew!” Ryan let out. He immediately threw the trash bags to the ground and ran to the vast department store entrance. It was a very large glass barrier with two key locks that met symmetrically in the middle. The reason Ryan had chosen the four stores in particular was because they appealed to his liking the most, and also because they contained the most valuable merchandise. His plan was to rob these stores and get away without Rick noticing. It was a poorly conceptualized plan. Ryan was completely out of gas and had no way of formulating a proper exit strategy, but when he saw what he wanted he knew he had to have it. He sorted through the keys, each labeled with a small piece of marked masking tape. He finally came across a large black key that read ‘GFDS’. He figured the acronym had to stand for Gates Ferry Department Store, so he separated it from the others and inserted it into the first lock. It twisted to the left and clicked open. “Hell yes!” Ryan exclaimed quietly. He stuck the key into the second lock and twisted it to the right. This lock clicked as well. The barrier in between the two glass walls came loose, and Ryan pushed them apart. The inside was black. He hoped that there were sensors that would initiate the lights. Before he stepped through the entrance he remembered the trash bags. “How am I gonna get a shit load of stuff if I don’t have anything to carry it in?? Think, Ryan!” He ran back over to the bags and balled two of them up so they would fit inside his pocket. He opened up the other one and threw it over top of his shoulder. He headed back towards the department store, but stopped where the light ended. He was a coward, and always had been. He was afraid to walk in the dark by himself but his greed began to course through his veins and helped motivate him to move forward. He stuck one foot inside, and then the next. Nothing happened. He walked in a few more steps, but still nothing. He turned to look back, and everything seemed so far away. “One more step, and that’s it.” He put one more foot forward. He must have triggered a sensor because the massive department store lit up quicker than Ryan could put his foot back on the ground. The bright lights startled him, and he fell backwards, tripping over his feet. He hit the ground, landing on his back. “Fuck!” He let out in pain. As he sat up and began to regain his composure he looked around at the room he was in.


    As Ryan sat on the cold polished tile he was able to get a good view of his immaculate surroundings. There were banners, art, mannequins, clothing, jewelry, and of course the beloved cash registers. He smiled from ear to ear. The fact that all of this treasure was so easily accessible seemed unfair to him initially, but his ego kicked in and that thought changed drastically. The interior of this store was the epitome of everything Ryan desired. He had more materialistic opportunity in front of him than anyone could fathom. As Ryan sat on the floor to soak in his jackpot, he thought to himself, “I deserve this. It’s about damn time things started going my way. Everything happens for a reason…” He jumped to his feet and ran straight over to the first cash register he saw. He knew time was of the essence so he moved with a sense of urgency. The register was not turned on so it had to be pried open with a tool. Luckily for Ryan, he had a pocket knife that he carried with him on a regular basis. He pulled it out of his pocket and pressed a button releasing the switch blade out of its compartment. Ryan shoved the knife into the thin slit inside register drawer and began to pry back and forth. The drawer wasn’t budging, so he exerted more effort. After a long series of tinkering, the register shot open, “CHA-CHING.” Ryan wiped his brow, “Finally,” he let out in excitement. The contents of the drawer contained a mere twenty dollars and some change. “What the fuck? Those cheap bastards! I’m sure they have a safe around here somewhere, but I don’t have the time or the experience.  I’ll find another way to get my money’s worth.”


    As Ryan began to collect the bag from the floor, he was oblivious that a woman was watching him from the shadows. She stood in the far corner behind one of the mannequins. She was no normal woman, for she had piercing black eyes and wrinkled, decaying skin. It looked as if she had been stuck inside of an oven and burned for a while, and then taken out before she suffered fatal injuries. Her eyes preyed upon Ryan like a hawk. Ryan raced over to the cologne section. He shoved the display items and all of the boxes of expensive colognes and perfumes into the black bag. As Ryan moved from section to section of the store, the lady followed silently. She wore a black dress with no shoes. If one did not know, they would have mistaken her charred feet for black socks, but her legs were so burnt that it was difficult to tell the difference. She appeared so inhuman that when she froze still she would have easily been mistaken for one of the ordinary model statues. She moved so quickly in pursuit of Ryan that it almost appeared that she was floating. Ryan remained unaware that someone was lurking around him. He was so caught up in his lust for material that nothing distracted him. Ryan was on his way over to the clothing section while the stranger was so close behind that she could reach out and touch him. She was so tall, that if someone were facing Ryan it would seem like the woman was hovering over top of him. As she continued to follow the young man through the aisles of clothing she accidently bumped into one of the racks. It let out a loud ‘CLANK’. Ryan’s heart froze and he slowly turned around. There was nothing behind him. He quietly whispered to himself, “…………..What the fuck was that……” He stood frozen for a minute, and then recollected his composure. “Keep it together, Ry.” He calmed himself down and began to grab article after article of clothing off of the rack. The first bag was filled to the brim, so he tied it up and pulled out the second. He took belts, ties, jackets, pants, and everything else he could get his hands on. While he was busy with his venture, the woman stood frozen in a contorted pose on one of the mannequin stands close by. As Ryan moved, her black eyes followed. The aura of the woman’s presence sent a supernatural chill down his spine. He turned around again and gazed at the plastic mannequin dolls which all seemed very lifelike. He let the bags drop to the floor and he slowly walked up to them, inspecting and analyzing them one by one. Whoever created these must have wanted them to closely resemble real people, and they did a phenomenal job. Ryan finally got to the woman, and he looked her up and down. She seemed so lifelike, much more than the others. “Fuckin creepy…” Ryan said as he reached out with his index finger to touch his stalker.


    ‘BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP.’ The sound rang out around the dressed up replicas. Ryan jumped back and surveyed the room, attempting to see where the sound was coming from. His heart raced as he tried to figure out the source of the noise. Finally, he looked down at his wrist. His watch had an alarm set that went off daily to wake him up. He pressed the alarm button to disengage the sound, and then laughed to himself. “I am such an idiot,” He said to himself. He had completely forgotten about the very realistic and creepy statue that stood in front of him. He turned around and headed back to his bags filled with goodies. As he lifted his bags over his shoulder and headed for the exit, he stopped and thought to himself, “I have some extra time…..I could try a few of these on. I bet I’d look hella sexy!” He did a 180 and blissfully trudged towards the nearest fitting room. He passed by the mannequins once more, but this time the strange lady was missing. Ryan, however, did not notice. He was too busy trying to maintain his balance while dragging three very large bags. A large ‘Dressing Room’ sign hung from one of the far corners of the store. Upon reaching the sign, he gazed down into the hallway where the dressing rooms lined the walls. They weren’t normal rooms that had openings above and below the door, but these seemed more like guest rooms you’d find in a wealthy individual’s mansion. The hallway was at least 30 yards long with dozens of fitting accommodations.  Ryan dragged the bags to the first door and tried the handle. “Locked….damn it.” He tried the second, third, fourth, all of which were locked as well. He continued to drag the bags towards the end of the hallway. As Ryan’s back was to the entrance of the hallway, the haunting lady appeared underneath the giant fitting room sign. She stood completely stiff and erect, watching Ryan as he constantly repeated the process of checking each doorknob, and then progressing further. The light seemed to grow weaker the farther he went in. There was a very strange door in the midst of the hallway. Nothing in the physical sense, but it had a beckoning and intoxicating gesture about it. Ryan tried the handle. Unlike the others, this time it turned and the door opened.


    “Whoa…….” He couldn’t believe his eyes. The inside was absolutely gigantic. There was enough room to fit an entire family and their minivan inside. Ryan entered the room and closed the door behind him. The deadbolt silently locked itself without his knowing. The walls were lined with mirrors from the floor to the ceiling, and they rose twenty feet high. Ryan was almost ready to unpack and call the place home. He bent down and ripped a hole inside one of the large bags in order to retrieve some of the garments. There were so many different pieces of clothing to choose from that it was difficult to make a decision, so after sorting through the bag, he inevitably began to randomly toss items out onto the floor. He stood back up and began to strip down into his boxers. Before discovering his first outfit, he checked himself out and fixed his hair using his reflection as a guide. This had been an ongoing ritual for as long as Ryan could remember. He bent down once more to grab a pair of jeans and a nice sweater that caught his attention. As Ryan’s eyes studied the garments on the floor the mangled lady stood directly behind him. She bent over top of him and began to smell the back of his neck while her decrepit, boiled skin dangled from her body. Her thick leathery nostrils flared up violently as she took in the scent of the boy. Ryan began to pull the jeans up around his waist, and then shoved the sweater down over top of his head. He looked back into the mirror to model for himself, but this time the woman was no longer behind him. He paced back and forth in front of the mirror. He could have jogged a lap if he wanted to because the room was big enough for a track meet. Ryan stopped once more, and looked up and down at his body while smiling. All of a sudden the lights went out and the room was as black as night. “Shit!” Ryan began to panic. He had no idea what to do, so he immediately felt around the ice cold mirrors in an attempt to find the door. He made his way to the wooden door frame and found the handle. It wouldn’t budge. “How the hell is it locked?” Ryan jiggled at the handle. He was so terrified that his words cracked as he questioned his unfortunate predicament. His hands slid down into his pockets as he searched for his cell phone frantically in order to use the screen as a flashlight. First he checked the front pockets, then the back. It was gone. “I must’ve left it in the car….FUCK!” Ryan tried the handle once more, and then the lights came back on. The door which he was facing was now completely visible. He smiled and let out a huge sigh of relief, banging his head lightly against the door a couple of times. “Wow Ry…..you really are a pussy!” He remembered that he had a mirror show to get back to. He didn’t want to disappoint his reflective audience.  Ryan spun around to admire himself, but was stunned at what he found staring back at him. The demonic woman sat Indian style inside of the mirror, smiling at him with her yellow crooked teeth. Most of her skin had burnt away leaving visible traces of muscle and blood covered bone fragment. Her hair was thin and oily, and sat upon her head as a disgusting matted mess.  Ryan was frozen in terror. He was completely incapable of moving any part of his body. The image that lay in front of him would have been unfathomable to anybody. The only thing preventing him from exchanging stares with the wretched lady was the adrenaline that surged through his body. It was enough to send Ryan running back towards the door. He kicked at the frame viciously as he cried out, “FLUERIC!!! FLUERIC I NEED YOUR HELP!!! PLEASE!!!!!” It was no use. The demon reached her arms outwards and they began to extend into the dressing room. Ryan could hear the skin and bone cracking and tearing from behind him, but he refused to turn around. Her bony arms stretched further and further until her hands stopped at Ryan’s sides. They began to wrap tightly around his body. He immediately began to suffocate. All of the air was sucked dry from his lungs. It wouldn’t have mattered anyways, for the demons foul smelling hand covered his mouth, preventing him from screaming. The foul woman began to hiss loudly as her arms, along with Ryan’s body, began to retract back towards her. “Why? Why me? I don’t deserve this!” Ryan thoughts overwhelmed him. He was completely helpless and confused. Tears began to drip out of his eyes and down his face. As her arms reached the edge of the mirror, Ryan’s body stopped due to the physical barricade. He tried to kick and fight to escape her clutches, but his attempts were futile. She pulled his body, banging it against the glass forcefully. The mirror began to crack, along with the back or Ryan’s head. He began to see stars and was almost unconscious. With one more strong pull, the mirror shattered and Ryan was swept back into the darkness.