The first thing that i heard was my fathers voice, sounding in my head like he was right next to me.

  "Wake up, Alex." he said, a groan escaping me as he spoke the words i hated most.

  "What time is it?" I all but grunted, feeling the sun warm my face while the birds tweeted outside. i waited for him to reply but when i didn't i opened my eyes, quickly realizing i wasn't even at home. and my father wasn't anywhere to be seen. in fact the only thing that could be seen were the tops of dark green trees, sunlight peeking through them to shine directly in my face.

  With a start i jumped up, my mind racing to remember where i was at. as i did so i noticed that i was surrounded by small forest animals, a few of them scatter away from me when i moved. immediately i stopped moving and took in my surroundings, my fear from before evaporating as i saw where i was.

  I was in a small clearing in the middle of the tropical forest, everything around me full of life like i'd never seen it before. i saw animals in the dozens, some of them i recognized like the wolf and the rabbit but others i didn't. and still, some of them didn't look even look like an animal i would see normally. they were all looking at me, most of them looking relaxed but mildly curious. the entire scene was surreal and somehow calming, as if i was in heaven itself, the warm weather even matching it's looks.

  For a second i didn't know what to do but then the memories came back, recognition dawning on me as i remembered what had happened. and then different memories came to me, a sharp pain going through my head as they did. most of them seemed familiar but others were abstract, as if they were far apart from the life i'd lived. voices whispered in my head like i was living through them and for a moment i was disoriented, almost falling over right where i stood while my brain split in two. but then the feeling passed and the whispers faded until they were completely gone.

  I shook my head, the only thing coming to my mind being one simple question: What the fuck just happened?

  And that was just another question in a long list that was starting to pile up by the second, the top thing now being why there wasn't snow on the ground. it was january when i last remembered but it seemed to be spring, the sun warming me while animals of all types continued to watch my movements. so looking around i decided i was safe as long as i didn't disturb the animals, which didn't seem to be too hard, considering most of them were watching from a safe distance.

  Taking a few tenacious steps around the smaller creatures i began to make my way out of the clearing, the light green ground soft beneath my bare feet as i began looking around for a sign of anything recognizable. it still looked as magical and mysterious the farther out i began to look, the scene off in the distance being something out of a fairy tale. but as i took the first step out of the area the world abruptly changed around me, switching from day time to night time. my heart leapt into my throat, my body immediately thrumming with power that was ready to be released. i looked around as quickly as i could, trying to spot the danger, but when nothing happened i glanced down at my hands. they were shaking with a force that wasn't entirely normal, the air around them distorting from presumably the same thing.

  "Oh yeah..." I mumbled. "Forgot about that."

  Letting the energy dissipate (which wasn't as hard as it sounded, oddly enough) I turned around, trying to find the clearing from before. but behind me was just dark forest, the spot where i just was completely gone. i wasn't fazed by it though, a part of me expecting that already. it's not like i didn't just go through something crazier than that anyways. i mean, when else has somebody basically come back from the dead?

  Well, that's to say i was even alive. but i just brushed those thoughts aside, a chill going up my spine before i did that had nothing to do with a cool breeze. in fact, there wasn't a breeze at all, just stillness in air. whereas before i heard wildlife now heard absolutely nothing, dead silence surrounding me as i got my bearings. and while it took me a moment i recognized the area around me as the one i'd run to, basically the last spot i was in before i lost consciousness. with a sigh of relief i turned around, relaxing my body with without thinking about it.

  So while i moved i began to think of my next step, reaching up to adjust my glasses, my nose itching a little from the sudden temperature change. to my surprise, though, they weren't there. i was stunned for a moment, my vision almost perfect even though i'd worn glasses for the better part of 8 years. i felt elated for a moment but that feeling quickly passed, the seriousness of what was going on setting in. as much as i wanted to feel the happiness about being able to see normally i knew i didn't have the time, a part of me wanting to go back to my house and see if my family was okay.

  At first it seemed like a good idea, everything that has happened recently being a good indicator of that. but as that thought went through my head the head-splitting feeling came back with a vengeance, almost driving me to me to my knees. images played across my head of my fathers dead body in front of me, blood pouring out of his neck while i tried to stop the bleeding. next to me was my brothers body-less head, staring at me with a blank gaze, his soul having left a long time ago.

  The images kept coming for what felt like eternity, the people i cared about dying over and over in different ways without stopping. but soon they began to fade, my knees buckling under me as i began to sob into the ground. i had no idea what was going on with me but i knew, somehow, that what i was seeing was real. it wasn't just me simply seeing everything. i could feel it all too, the warm blood in my hands as it poured of my dad's open wound along with a hundred different feelings. with a short laugh i realized i knew what those images meant, sitting down and looking up at the night sky that peeked through the tops of the trees.

  I couldn't go home. something in me told me not to, the only result being one of the thousands of things i just saw. normally i would just ignore it all but i couldn't. a small part of me wanted to think this was all a crazy dream, like the ones i used to have when i was younger, but i knew it wasn't. it was all real and it was just as much of a blessing as it was a curse. so for awhile i sat there, looking up at the stars while i wallowed in my own self-pity. i couldn't even muster the strength to be angry, as pathetic as that sounded in my own ears.

  Even if the things that i saw never actually came to be, i knew that going there was a bad idea. something about me was...different. i could feel it now, my body somehow more interconnected to that well of energy inside of me before. before it felt like a tool you would use but now it felt like my soul itself, spreading throughout me as if it was the very blood that pumped through my veins.

  I brought my right hand up in front of me, my palm facing the sky as i drew on that very same energy, conjuring the image of a flame in my mind that appeared above my hand. instantly i felt a small amount of energy leave me, the very same flame i just thought of appearing exactly where i pictured it. with a small smile i stared at it, feeling a sense of reassurance from the simple action.

  At some point in your life you have to grow up and become an adult. so maybe this was that point in my life, the point where i had to decide whether to stay a child or become something more. so without thinking much pass that i clenched my hand shut and extinguished the flame, standing up with a sort of calm resolution in my mind. again that same feeling of my brain rewriting began to come across me but this time it was more of a buzzing in my head, something i could ignore without any issues whatsoever.

  So i trudged on through the dark forest, trying to find something i recognized that way i could figure out what the next direction i had to take. i assumed i was around the the road i'd crossed before so i headed east, off in the direction i assumed i'd come from, doing my best to make as little noise as possible on my way through the underbrush. soon i came across an opening and as i stepped through i saw where i was, the mall i'd grown up around a short ways off in the distance. i wasn't at the same place i thought i was but to me it was good enough. around me it wasn't too dark, the bright moon shining up above me, illuminating where it could touch.

  For a moment i felt relief but then an abrupt gust of wind passed by me, the smell of death itself following along. i tried to not throw up but i couldn't help it, nothing but stomach acid coming from my gut. with a groan i wiped the bile from my mouth and shook my head, trying to keep my mind straight as stomach pains began to gnaw at me. the smell of decay didn't help any but as i held my shirt up to my nose it faded until it was tolerable, my mind still spinning as i took in the sights around me.

  Off in the distance i could see a fire burn, dark smoke rising up above the tops of the buildings that were in front of me. the moons glow got stronger above me, my eyes looking up at it to see that the large space-rock was bigger than normal. its light shone on some of the world around me, as if it was showing me what my town had come to. and instead of seeing what might have been considered mild reassurance i saw nothing but destruction, buildings completely blown away as if a god came down and wiped them off the planet. and as i walked across the train tracks ahead me i got a better look of my surroundings, the smell of dead bodies getting even stronger as i moved, i began to think that might just have happened. the main street i just walked across was completely empty but what was on the other side made me stop, my mind grinding to halt while my eyes began to see everything around me.

  Where i was at would be considered a small strip mall off the side of the highway here in the center of coralville, the same road leading to the mall that lay a short distance away. stores covered both sides of the street, the right side consisting mostly of restaurants while the other side was everything in between. but what was shared between the two was the destruction and dead, bodies littering the concrete as far as i could see. immediately i realized this was where i was getting the smell from, a feeling of pure terror and anxiety beginning to rise up in me while i looked at the sight ahead, my feet beginning to carry me onward.

  Bodies were strewn about around me, some of them dried up from being burnt alive while others seemed to be recent, blood still slowly draining out of their necks. i continued to hold my shirt up to my face, trying to hold back the intense smell that was wafting in to my nose from my surroundings. a few cars were around me but most of them were scattered, flipped on their sides or obviously destroyed beyond the point of repair. it seemed like a horror movie as i continued to walk down the sidewalk, passing by the empty restaurants that were to my right.

  I'd never seen a dead body before (like this, at least) so i forced myself to move, choking down the bile that built up in my empty stomach and throat. but before i moved even halfway down the sidewalk i began to throw up again, almost nothing coming out of my mouth since there wasn't much to give. this just made it even worse, the smell now becoming a taste that made my stomach hurl even more. but as i lost control of my gut i felt my senses spark, throwing myself to the left without thinking about it.

  A small creature appeared where i was before, the monster looking a lot like the one i'd seen when this all started, it's details clear in the slight-darkness that surrounded me. as i hit the ground at a roll the demon jumped at me again, reaching out towards me with its deadly claws that looked to tear me apart. without hesitating i gathered some of my magical energy in my hand and mimicked the same action i did when i blew the car away, using only a little bit of that energy i felt deep inside of me.

  Unlike the car there was no rebound effect, the monster immediately being flown back and into a wall with a crunch. my heart was beating in my chest while power pulsated throughout my body, a drastically different feeling than i had before when i'd used that same energy. without getting a time to rest i heard a noise come from my right so i quickly stood up, looking for whatever else that was chasing me down while the my body buzzed with power.

  Directly ahead of me was another of those demon things circling around me, a snarl on it's face. at first i was going to just run at the monster, thinking that it was just two lone wolves. but then i noticed there wasn't just one but actually three or four others moving quickly on the edge of my vision. it was at this moment i felt my face go blank, a slight chill going down my spine as i stood up straight, knowing i was probably surrounded at this point i'd been in enough fights in my life i knew the feeling, my mind instantly kicking into overdrive.

  Without wasting a beat i took a boxers stance, slowly looking around me at the demons. there were more coming by the second, four more of them being newcomers while i recognized the seventh one as it peeled itself from the wall, its body looking a little worse for wear but with less damage dealt than i'd hoped. this one glared at me with hate-filled eyes, their red color shining brightly in the night. it was definitely the same creature that i'd seen before, all of them looking exactly the same. it was as if they were animals from a pack...not that it would surprise me at this point, all things considered.

  Normally i would've been terrified but i didn't feel that, my mind calm while i thought about what i needed to do to get out of this situation. so for a moment i just sat there, concentrating on my surroundings while i gathered my mana up inside of me. i wanted to try throwing a fireball or something like that at one of them but that was just a bad idea entirely, the first reason being i didn't think that i could hit any of them...yet. the second was that i only had a finite amount of magic and while going over that limit again was possible i didn't want to risk dying again, knowing that i probably wouldn't come back from it this time.

  so i stood there and watched them dart about like feral beasts, snapping at me with growls and hisses. but soon enough they slowed down and got quiet, moving at a more deliberate pace while leaning forward, their noses getting closer to the ground as they moved. the air around me seemed to still with their movements, the world becoming quieting until i heard nothing but my heartbeat.

  Bu-bump, bu-bump, bu-bump.

  And all at once they all came at me in unison, the one directly in front of me leaping at my face, it's claws outstretched. without hesitating i took a step forward and grabbed onto its body with both of my hands, the surprise evident on it's face as i threw it into one of it's companions. Id been in enough fights before I wasn't going to go down easy.

  As i flung the monster away from me i felt claws begin to scratch at my body, carving up my skin without restraint. i swung my elbow in a wide arc, my attackers dashing back while the rest of them began to surge forward. The one that clawed me tried to take a step backwards to get away but I didn't let it, moving forward to punch it in its face. I felt it's bone crunch underneath my fist, a howl of pain emanating from it's throat. It leapt backwards to get away and this time I let it, my mind set on my next action.

  It's now or nothing! i thought, one of the monsters that was going to attack me to my right and only a few feet away. i wasn't able to hit any of them before but i could now, the distance small enough i knew at least one of the small creatures couldn't dodge my attack. the image of a powerful fireball became clear within my mind, so with a twist of my wrist, my right palm facing toward my target, i let loose part of the power that i had gathered inside of me. instantly i felt a small rush of energy travel out of my dominant hand, a large ball of flame that was slightly bigger than my outstretched palm flying out faster than i thought it would.

  As the flame went flying it illuminated the area around me, my body feeling the heat as it collided with the demon i shot it at. its scream resounded out around me, it's fellow demons flinching as the flames consumed it. but other than that they paid it no mind, just as i didn't, the fight continuing as if that didn't just happen. one of the demons swung at me, trying to cut my leg but i stepped backwards to dodge it's attack, reaching down and grabbing its head so i could knee it in the face. i could feel its nose crunch under the force of my blow, blood covering my leg as if i'd opened an artery.

  Suddenly i felt a sharp pain go across my back, a claw digging into my side. with a yell of pain and anger i grabbed the aggressors wrist and pulled the claws out of my side, the small holes i now had leaking blood, not unlike the gashes i'd gotten already. i grunted as i pulled the demon closer to me, picking it up in a wrestling throw that had me sending it flying a few meters away.

  At this point they were all on top of me, their claws now beginning to rip in to me, my body a dull haze of pain. but instead i fought on, grabbing one of them that was on top of me and digging into my shoulders with both of my hands. I slammed it down on the ground in front of me, its eyes wide as i pushed my right hand down on its chest and screamed with a voice that resembled the one when i'd almost gotten my throat cut. i could feel my emotions swell up from deep inside of me while my self-control began to fade, my hand gripping the things chest even harder while my mind went blank.

  White fire began to spread from my palm and into the demons body, the creature shrieking while the flames began to eat it's body out from the inside. i didn't stop, though, unable to prevent myself from pushing my magic deeper and deeper into its body until all i could see was flames beginning to spread out from underneath me. soon that was all i could see or feel, fire erupting all around me while the world went numb.

  Without any warning i was suddenly standing in a prairie, a warm breeze brushing by right cheek. off in the distance were gigantic mountains, larger than any building i'd ever seen in my life, a sun equally as large setting behind the peaks of those mountains. as i watched the gorgeous scenery a shadow covered me, making me look up in what could only be pure awe as a group of what i assumed were dragon flew towards the mountains.

  But then it was all over, my mind swimming while the outburst of energy i'd unintentionally released made my body ache like i'd been hit by a car. with a groan i looked around, watching the few surviving demons scurrying away from the scorched land around me. for a moment I thought about standing up but decided against it, instead just rolling onto my back from above a burnt body to stare at the stars and get myself together, like i did before.

  Yet all i did was feel nothing but pure pain shooting through my body i understood this wasn't possible, every fiber of me being erupting as if my nerves were being ripped to shreds. my body shuddered and shook, foam covering my mouth as what i would call a seizure began to overtake me, my vision blinking in and out like a flashlight before darkness took me completely over...

  I had no idea how much later i woke up but when i did i had the mother of all headaches, something akin to a blacksmith pounding a sword into shape happening inside of my head. i tried to sit up but i couldn't for a moment, my muscles sore and hurting worse than i'd ever felt before. so instead i got my thoughts back together, the memories not hard to conjure up.

  As everything came back to me i began to shake my head, saliva still coating the side of my cheeks where it had dripped down. i didn't know what it was that i'd just had. at first i began to wonder if i was dying but i immediately threw that thought out, knowing that if i was i couldn't do anything about it. what i needed to do was stand up and get somewhere safe, the only other option being to wait around longer and risk getting maimed by those monsters again. and even through the disorientation i felt i knew that wasn't a good idea.

  So with a final push i moved to my right side, picking myself up with a painful grunt that made my head pound even harder for a second. looking around i saw the destruction i'd wrought, a medium sized black circle of scorched earth surrounding me. i had no idea what i'd done to that demon but it was obviously dead, every living thing that was in that circle burnt into black husks. i would've felt something at what i'd just done but i couldn't, every part of me hurting in ways i didn't know existed.

  I checked my body for the wounds I'd gotten before, finding most of them scabbing up already. I didn't question it how it was already healing so fast, knowing that would just be a waste of my time. This did give me a sort of reassurance that I wasn't going to die from blood loss, a sigh of relief escaping my lips. This made me wince in pain, my right hand gripping my left side where I felt the pain come from. There I found a bruise where my ribs were, making me think somehow I'd broken one of them. But there was nothing I could do about it so I just held that side tenderly, avoiding hurting it as much as possible.

  Ignoring my body's protests i moved forward, continuing my walk towards the mall. i had no idea what lay there but it was my best option for now, whether or not it was completely ransacked. all that meant was that nobody in their right mind would go there and that was just fine by me. with the world being so screwed up i didn't even want to think about what the survivors would be like in this situation, the image of a few shows id been watching coming to mind about something similar to this.

  It wasn't something i wanted to think about but i had to be realistic at this point. i was already halfway dead, basically limping down the street and looking like easy pickings. and while i wasn't going to go down without a fight i was positive i wasn't the only one with magic. and even if by some miracle i was, that didn't mean a good bullet to my head wouldn't do the trick. i couldn't fight off a feral cat right now, much less a human with a gun.

  As drained as i was i kept watching my surroundings as best as i could, finally coming up on the three-way street, a short grass hill on the other side leading up to the malls parking lot. more cars were littered around me but the bodies were less here than back where i'd gotten attacked, just skeletons laying halfway out of a van in the center of the intersection.

  How fucking long was i gone

  That thought just rolled around in my mind endlessly while i continued on, reaching the top of the small hill pretty quickly. ahead of me was part of the large parking space that surrounded the mall, a few dozen cars strewn in disarray from where i could see. but just like before there were no bodies, just more cars and and empty space. as things were that was more than just a little weird, the feeling that something was off starting to creep up on me more than it already had. 

  I kept moving forward though and did my best to ignore it, heading towards the front entrance of the building, that spot being the closest to me. When I'd reached the wall I began to use it as a crutch and for moment i thought that my headache was finally going away while i made my way towards the doors, my eyes being drawn to the movie posters that somehow still were relatively unscathed on the wall to my left. but then it came back, the pain sharper this time, the sound of voices whispering accompanying the ache.

  Grasping the side of my head i stumbled, my knees hitting the ground while i gasped from the agony. taking a deep breath i tried to force the pain back but before i could i saw something move ahead of me, my eyes moving to look upward without me thinking about it. as i did my vision distorted like from before, when i was caught in the demon's spell and I saw the eye.

  Everything around me twisted and turned into a world unrecognizable, the area looking almost the same but instead it was all blue and cold, as if it was frozen. directly in front of me stood what i thought was a group of people at first but as the whispers grew stronger and everything began to transition completely into this new world i began to notice that this wasn't true. they resembled people, sure. but the longer i looked at them the more quickly i realized this wasn't true.

  Their clothes were ragged and decayed, eyes empty and emotionless. they all stood in a group, standing shoulder to shoulder as if they had no sense of personal space. their faces were completely blank while they faced ahead, looking forward like they were watching the same exact thing. everything about them seemed...wrong, almost as if they didn't belong. the whispers in my head were now becoming voices, what was once unintelligible sounds now becoming words. and as this happened i also began to see that their lips were moving at a rapid pace, fast enough i knew now that they definitely were not human.

  Immediately the voices stopped and all of their heads turned towards me in unison, hundreds of eyes now concentrated on me and me alone. my throat closed up in what i thought was fear but suddenly my body frozen, as if the weight of their gazes held me down. while i began to panic internally the voices started up again, this time their sounds coming in much more clear than they had before. They sounded completely otherworldly, almost as if they were speaking directly into my mind.

  Look another one...

  He's bright...so bright...

  I feel him...

  You feel that?

  I do...

  As they spoke they began to surround me with supernatural speed, their voices becoming stronger and stronger until they were a garbled mess of noise that i couldn't comprehend. my head began to pound and cold sweat began to cover my body from head to toe, my heart beating faster than it should in my chest. they began to lean in close to me, their features warping while i watched to become closer to corpses than just living beings. and that's when i realized what they were: dead.

  The ghost's voices rose even higher as they got closer, their zombie-like faces staring hungrily at me like i was food. and as one of them grabbed my shoulder i understood that's exactly what i was to them, a scream rising out of my throat as cold, intense pain shot through my body. from where the one had grabbed me i felt my energy being sucked out, the ghost-man's features becoming slightly more life-like as it drained me. while he was continuing to do so the others had caught on and were now grabbing for me greedily, my throat becoming hoarse as i screamed in pain.

  I could feel myself begin to die, right then. i'd thought i'd known death before, when i'd been crushed by the demon, but as these ghosts began to drain me i knew that hadn't been even close. my body felt like it was being pulled apart in a hundred directions, pieces of my skin being ripped from me and devoured with wild abandon. and still they didn't stop, my screams becoming a whimper as they sucked me dry.

  As the world around me began to become dark and cold, my vision now centering on the ghost who first began to touch me, i felt myself begin to collapse face first onto the ground. and as i did i saw the ghost around me stand up, a look of wonderment on his face that reflected his new form, his body now resembling a regular humans. but that look quickly turned to confusion as light began to shoot out of its body, it's form disappearing while the world was covered in a bright light. my consciousness faded at the same time, light being the last thing i saw.

  For the second time in the past day or so i awoke on my back, feeling like complete and utter shit with my body feeling almost the same. this time i just didn't move at all, relishing in the fact i was still somewhat-alive. i could feel everything in me shriek in pain, my mind and body experiencing the worst hangover i'd ever experienced. the sun was now directly above me, blinding me even as i winced to close my eyes. i didn't have the strength to move any more than my arms so i moved them to block the sunlight.

  I lay like that for awhile and at the time i just didn't care if something tried to kill me. i felt dead already anyways so who cares? i was tired, more tired than i'd ever been. even the mana well inside of my was close to being gone. but before long i finally gathered up energy to move, groaning as i sat up to look around me. everything was the same from before i'd entered that surreal world where the ghosts were, the only difference being that it was now hotter than it had been before, my body warm from the sun shining on top of me.

  With another groan i moved to stand up, almost falling as my legs wobbled a bit. the headache that i had mixed with my aching body made it almost impossible to continue moving but i forced myself along, using the wall as a crutch to hold me while i made my way for what was originally the automatic doors. the aforementioned were still there (in a way) but it was all destroyed, glass laying around everywhere on the white floor. the metal that originally surrounded the frames of the doors were bent and warped, as if something (or someone) with superhuman strength came crashing through, tossing away whatever was in their path.

  As meticulously as i could i made my way through the debris, my feet stinging from the small shards of glass that i stepped on. but soon it was over with and i was inside of the theater entrance, what was once the concession stand to my left now nothing but ruin covering the entrance to that section. the ticket booth ahead of me was relatively unscathed besides the shattered protective glass while to my right was the ice rink, where people once skated merrily. but now it was just a concrete slab that was covered in dried streaks of blood, the protective glass that surrounded it much the same. everything was in complete disarray and even through my muddled state i was still in shock, the ruins of what was once a central hub of activity now looking like a relic of the past.

  As i walked along the outer edge of the rink, avoiding more of the broken glass that was strewn about while i began to take in everything i was seeing. my pace was slow so it was easy to see the details, like the fact that dark blood stains were literally everywhere. along the walls, the ceiling, the remaining glass that lay unbroken, along the ground, and it just kept going on. i had nothing to lean on while i walked so i moved slowly, almost at a snails pace.

  Directly ahead of me was where the second entrance was, the entire area caved in with sunlight streaming in through the giant hole that was there. that meant i'd picked the right entrance but as i kept moving towards the rest of the mall i began to think i'd picked the wrong place to go in the first place. while before it was bad now it was worse, skeletons littered ahead of me. i began to feel sick, the same cold feeling i'd felt from when the ghosts tried to kill me emanating from the bones. the voices began to come back too, my headache increasing in strength as i tried to take another step forward. but instead my legs gave out on me, my hands immediately reaching to catch my fall.

  I began to have a repeat from the same situation as before, the ghostly figures appearing before me. instead of not noticing me, however, they were staring directly at me. This time, though, they didn't try to devour me as they did before. they just looked, their faces irritated while their lips moved faster than before. i couldn't understand them at all this time, their anger just being the only thing that i could get out of them. i tried to shut them out but it failed, my head beginning to pound even worse, like i was about to have my brain explode inside my skull before i just couldn't take it any more.

  "SHUT UP!" I yelled, looking up at them as my own rage coming out with way more power than i intended. without realizing it the little bit of magic i held inside me bubbled over like lava, leaking into my words to make them more powerful. immediately after the words left my mouth the spirits did exactly as i said, their lips stopping mid-sentence. their faces turned from anger to surprise as fast as mine did, their bodies disappearing when it happened, as if they were running from me. when they disappeared the cold feeling left with them, the headache subsiding to something tolerable.

  Slowly i began to stand up, my legs barely responding to the simple request. but i knew that i needed to move and get something to eat while i could. wherever those ghosts went i was sure they wouldn't be gone long. so i started moving again, trying to move a little faster despite the increasing ache in my body. but i still didn't move fast enough to be able to ignore my surroundings, having to work my way around more skeletons that seemed to have been there for a long, long time.

  It was all i could do to not cry as i made my way through the food court, seeing the aged bones of people scattered across a linoleum floor, streaks of blood giving me an idea of how they had died. and they had died viciously, the tables that people used to sit at thrown around in disarray, a good chunk of them broken in pieces. i made my way carefully around a baby's stroller that lay on its side, doing my best to not look inside of it. this i could do, if only barely.

  As i walked i began to understand why those ghosts were here, the restaurants that lined the wall to my far right having even more bodies between me and them. I didn't even want to go over there, instead keeping my head forward as best as possible until i got to the part of the building where it split off. to my left was a long concourse that led to the rest of the shops while to my right was my current destination, the Target store. in front of me was a woman's clothing shop and next to it was a completely destroyed carousel, the entire thing black as if it had been set on fire. most of it lay on it's side, the animals that children rode on broken and scattered across the ground.

  This was even harder to look away from, my anxiety starting to penetrate through the fog of weariness i felt. i just ignored it though, having gotten used to feeling from having panic attacks for a few years now. it was hard but i taught myself to push it to the back of my mind until it went away. it was the only way i knew how to deal with it, the burden of the constant anxiety more than i could handle for far too long. but as i stepped over what seemed to be a couple clutching each other in death i lost it, collapsing into a wall in front of the store while tears began to stream down my face.

  What the hell happened? was my family even still alive? hell, was i the only one left? i didn't know the answers and it killed me, my emotions coming to the surface in the form of my crying. i couldn't hold it in anymore, far too many things happening in the past 24 hours for me to handle. so i just curled up in a ball, leaning up against a cold, blood stained wall while i lost myself in my sadness. this continued for who knows how long, my sense of time already screwed from everything else. but suddenly i felt a tap on my left shoulder, my mind numb from the release of emotions as i looked up.

  A child with blue eyes and blond hair stood there, no more than 4 years old, a bright smile on his soft face. he reached out his hand towards me, a small toy car resting in his palm. when i didn't immediately take it he gestured towards the object, that same smile on his face. with a tentative reach i took the toy from him, his smile growing even bigger than it was before. but then he seemed to hear something, his face turning right, towards the source of the sound. his expression went from happy to almost terrified, whatever it was that he was hearing certainly being the reason behind the change.

  Without even looking back at me the kid took off, running off towards the other side of the mall. i was going to reach out to stop him before he got too far but my instincts suddenly screamed at me, my eyes snapping to look where the kid was heading. the world around me seemed to slow as my heart skipped a beat, my mind grinding to halt while my eyes locked on another pair that stared at me from a few yards away.

  They glowed a dark red, darker than blood. the area around the two large orbs was surrounded by darkness, reality seeming to distort from where the shadows touched. instead of the extremely cold feeling i got from the ghosts i felt something akin to pure hatred along with a sense of wrongness, as if whatever that thing was didn't even belong in our dimension. a low, otherworldly growl came from the thing, as if it was giving a warning to me. i felt like a predatory animal had found me and now considered me prey, my body screaming at me to move even though i was stuck in fear.

  As i watched without being able to look away i began to see the outline of the things body through the darkness, as if the longer i looked at it the more clear it began to be. but before i could get a better look at the red-eyed monster the child reached the darkness, disappearing along with the creature and it's shadows. one moment they were both there and the next they were both gone, any signs of them having been there disappearing.

  What the fuck is going on?

  And why the hell is this happening to me? i'd only been awake for about a day or two and already my world was turned upside down while i continued to get attacked by things i didn't even think were possible. i was too tired to think about it even more than i already had, though, my stomach growling at me despite the rest of my body being racked by aches and pain. so i tucked the small, blue toy car into one of my pockets and tried to stand up, moving my confusion to the back of my mind.

  Using the wall to help give me more balance i slowly stood, straightening my legs out as best as i could so i could walk again. my legs almost buckled but i held myself up, wincing as a sharp pain shot through my body in response. when the feeling went back to a dull throb i started to move again, heading underneath the target sign and through the wide space that was the inner entrance to the store.

  Inside the small outlet was originally rows of shelves and cashier lines, nearly everything you could want contained within the area. But now it was just pure wreckage, most (if not all) of the shelving laying in disarray. With a small sigh I steadied myself, unable to use the walls as a brace anymore while I searched for food.

  It took awhile but soon enough I was back near the entrance id come in, sitting in the small area behind the ticket booth and scarfing down bags of chips that I'd found unopened. Taking a large gulp from a water bottle I took a second to get myself under control, trying not to eat everything I'd found in one sitting. And I'd found quite a lot, surprisingly having discovered there was a lot untouched in the store. Plenty of things were destroyed and underneath rubble but from what I could see the store hadn't been raided yet, a part of me thinking that the ghosts had something to do with it.

  As I munched on another bag of chips I thought about my next plan, knowing I was in bad shape and couldn't do much anyways. It was best for me to stay there for the time being, the ghosts basically going to to ignore me from what I could see. And hopefully they would keep the demons away from here if they tried to sniff me out, meaning all I had to worry about was that monster in the darkness.

  So I mulled over things while continuing to eat for awhile, swallowing the bottles of water I had sitting next to me. Before long I could feel my eyes been to get heavy, though, so I finished off another can of tuna I'd found and laid down on the cold linoleum, wishing I could've found something comfortable to sleep on. A blanket would have been nice, too, but before I could finish that train of thought I felt myself drift off into sleep, darkness overcoming me in what could only be described as bliss.

Stolen novel; please report.