Fiction

The Girl in the Store

Finding a killer deal

Photo by Jon Ly on Unsplash

“I can’t believe you dragged me here,” I said.

“What? I needed a couple things,” she said.

“It couldn’t wait?”

“I didn’t want to miss the deals.”

“I should be in bed.”

“Oh quit whining, this is going to be fun.”

“Maybe for you, I’ll be elbowing soccer moms while you grab Ipads.”

“That’s why I brought you, I need a fullback babe.”

“I see.”

“Now, I’m going to go look at the clothes. Why don’t you go scout out the electronics.”

I did as I was told.

The place was a total madhouse. People were nearly pressed shoulder to shoulder, each step got harder as I neared the more expensive goods.

I actually saw a woman rip a toy from a young girl’s hands. The little girl was crying. I bent down to see if she was okay.

“Where’s your mom?”

“That was my mom,” she said.

I thought it best to side-step that situation and I moved through the store. It was funny, half the people moved through the big box location in mindless droves, while the other half, more wily and cunning, stalked their prey and pounced on stuffed Baby Yoda’s. I felt like I was in a nature documentary.

It was strange, even with all the people, the place was feeling colder.

The signs were all around me.

People were zipping up jackets, putting on coats, and even putting gloves on.

The lights were flickering too. I figured the fluorescent light just needed to be replaced, but it was all the lights. Even the ones in the display.

Things got really strange as the TV’s on display turned to snow.

I would have thought it was just electrical problems, if the metal shuttersdidn’t close over the doors.

That got people’s attention quickly.

Instead of forcing their way into the storm, suddenly people wanted out of the place, quickly.

They were pounding on the doors and soon it was apparent we weren’t getting out. The employees were trying to calm people down.

That went out of the window when spirit started appearing. They were laughing and cackling and people were running all over.

The phantoms terrorized everyone. They would possess people and then control the bodies to attack the others around them. Their spastic movements were so unsettling to watch.

People dropped in bloody piles as the ghosts had their way with them.

“Hey, over here,” I heard behind me.

“Oh my god,” I said when I saw her, “I’ve been looking all over for you.”

“It’s okay. Follow me,” she said.

She took me to a small storage room.

“Where did you find this?”

“Brian worker here remember?”

Oh right, her little brother had worked there until he passed away last year.

“That’s crazy out there,” I said.

“I know.”

“We need to find a way out.”

“None of the exits work. I’ve checked.”

“Well I don’t know how long we can stay here.”

“We’re safe.”

“How do you know?”

“I placed a line of juniper berries along the door. It will keep a witch’s magic out.”

“That…makes sense I guess,” I said as we heard more screams outside, “I wish I knew what that was all about.”

“Oh some witch has summoned spirits and now they’re wreaking havoc on this god forsaken store.”

“How do you know it was a witch?” I asked suddenly, more scared of being in here than out there with the spirits.

She laughed, “That’s easy. I’m the one who hired her.”