I blinked as a square message appeared with vivid clarity in the center of my vision. The message read itself in a screaming chorus of a dozen discordant voices that made my skin crawl. A second later, the alarms in the mall went off in the loud droning of what sounded like air-raid sirens. The sound made a primal dread rise in me, a hollow chill spreading through my body that sent goosebumps rising on my skin. Briefly, the memory of every Anathema Emergence drill we’d done in school flashed through my head.

SYSTEM MESSAGE

Emergency shelters have been opened. Please make your way to the nearest shelter by following the arrows on the ground. Remain calm and proceed in an orderly fashion.

REMINDER: Once a shelter’s emergency shielding is enabled, it cannot be disabled without proper authorization. Do NOT manually activate unless under immediate threat of breach and the auto-engage systems fail!

Estimated time until Usurpation: 9:59

Everyone in the food court winced as the next message bloomed, the mall’s magitech warning system sending the message to every person’s head simultaneously. As the message read itself, I recoiled in horror as voices read the final number.

Ten minutes!? Arcadia was one of the seven most advanced island cities in the world created by the Zenith themselves. The early warning system was supposed to give a minimum of thirty minutes before an attack! I looked at Lily in shock as the warning alarms continued crying out only to find her earlier expression replaced with fear.

Below us, motes of ethereal green light formed into arrows along the floor beneath various groups of people, pointing towards promised safety.

There was a paralyzed few seconds of stillness in the food court where everyone seemed too shocked to move. Then, almost at the same time, people began to panic. Chairs were overturned, parents pulled their children close, and the entire food court erupted into chaos as everyone tried to follow the glowing arrows towards safety. I’d never been caught in an Anathema Usurpation before. Even in Arcadia, with all the fancy magitech shielding crystals, they still happened, but there was always plenty of prior warning.

Normally the area was easily evacuated, quarantined, and then cleaned up by MGs and the magical soldiers who dedicated themselves to killing Anathema. Some MGs even live streamed their fights. Sure, Usurpations weren’t a daily occurrence, but a half-dozen every month were to be expected.

But now I was in the middle of one, and for all the drills we’d done at school, none of it helped with the fear. It was so thick inside me I could feel it coiling through my rib cage and wrapping teeth around my heart. Every racing pulse pushed into those knife points, teasing my chest with sharp pin-pricks of terror. My lungs felt suddenly tight, and I struggled to make myself breathe.

"Maito!"

I snapped back to reality as Lily shook me, leaning in close with a serious look on her face.

"We have to move," she whispered over the cacophony, gripping my arm with surprising strength.

The world seemed to unfurl in slow motion — people running in all directions, children crying, spilled drinks, fallen food trays, the blaring alarm — it was all so much. But Lily was different. Amidst the panic, she looked sharp and focused.

"Why are you so calm?" I managed to blurt out with a trembling voice.

She looked at me, trying her best to look reassuring. "I've been through this before. We’re not in as much danger as they’d have you think. Just stay close, and do exactly as I say, okay?"

I looked up at her suspiciously, memories of the past clouding my judgment. Every time someone had offered to 'help' me, it was always with strings attached.

She seemed to pick up on my hesitation. "You don't trust me," she observed, her voice just loud enough for me to hear over the sirens.

The truth hung in the air like an accusation, and I couldn’t find the strength to refute it, not even with the chaos roaring around us. It was a fleeting moment, a bubble of silence between us amidst the cacophony. My shoulders hunched, I met her eyes, not hiding the weariness in my gaze.

"You’re right," I admitted, struggling to find my voice over the blaring alarms. "Um, don’t take this the wrong way, but I don’t know you."

Lily's face softened, and for a split second, I caught a flicker of understanding — or was it pity? — in her eyes. "Maito," she began, her voice steady, "I don't have time to convince you. But I swear to you, right now, in the face of all of this, I won’t let you down. That’s a promise. I genuinely want to help and make sure we get to safety. Trust me or don’t, but either way, we need to move."

I hesitated, my heart pounding loudly in my ears. The alarms, the shouts, the panicking crowd — it all faded into the background as I found myself at another crossroads. My gut clenched, fear and memories gnawing at me from all sides, but her determined gaze anchored me.

Taking a deep breath, I finally nodded. "Okay then. Lead the way."

She turned her head to look at the floor, and I suddenly realized a number of glowing arrows of light had bloomed beneath our feet along the ground. I quickly pushed myself up from my seat, grabbing my backpack and shouldering it as an afterthought.

Lily began pulling me along as we began running along the path the arrows created. It surprised me how quickly the food court had begun to empty out, but there were still people like us just getting to their feet and following their own arrows as they appeared.

The arrows were a form of magitech, made to help with evacuations. They were like an active GPS, creating a constantly updating path to the nearest available shelter. Each group of people got their own customized pathways in an attempt to avoid bottlenecks between fleeing people. So long as the arrows were green, we were on track to make it before the Usurpation took full effect. While it made it look like everyone was running around in a panic, it would hopefully stop people from getting trampled and shelters from overflowing.

We sprinted past stores, turning in seemingly random directions as we trusted the arrows with our lives. Lily could easily have outpaced me, but she stayed close, ensuring we kept together. As we rounded a corner, I stumbled on a discarded bag, but her grip on my arm steadied me, pulling me upright. She was strong, much stronger than her lean frame would suggest, and her surety gave me confidence.

We’ll be fine. Ten minutes isn’t much time, but the shelter isn’t far. At most it’ll take a few minutes to get there at full speed, even following this indirect path. Even if the shelter is at capacity, the stairs are nearby, and we could get to the ground floor’s mega shelter entrance. We’re fine. Everything’s going to be fine.

We continued running for a bit, when suddenly a distant, chilling wail stopped me both in my tracks. It was high-pitched, haunting, and unmistakably the cry of a young girl.

"What was that?" I gasped, slowing down to listen.

Lily paused, her eyes scanning the area. "I didn’t hear anything," she replied urgently. "What is it?"

I could hear the wailing again, clearer this time, piercing the chaos around us. It was coming from a corridor that branched off to the side. I couldn’t help it; my feet started moving in that direction. Someone was in distress, and the thought of leaving her behind felt wrong.

"Maito!" Lily shouted, chasing after me. "What are you doing?!"

"I heard a girl screaming for help," I shouted back, my voice breathless. "We can’t just leave her!"

Then another louder wail cried out, and Lily burst into motion down a path towards the sound. I followed after her blindly as we took a turn the arrows weren’t pointing to. Lily moved quickly, which was expected for a star athlete. Surprisingly, I didn’t fall too much behind. Getting dragged along as Katie’s bag holder for so long had kept me in decent shape in spite of my less than stellar nutrition.

As we approached, the wails grew louder, echoing off the cold marble walls. We turned another corner, finding a small alcove, and in it was a terrified little girl, roughly around elementary school age, clutching a torn stuffed animal. Lily slowed down as she got there, crouching down to the girl’s level. I caught up to her seconds later, huffing slightly.

"Hey there sweetie," Lily gave a reassuring smile. "What’s wrong? What are you doing here all alone?"

The girl sniffled and wiped snot from her nose, her lower lip quivering.

"Mommy and Daddy told us to wait on the bench with the nice store lady while they got food, but then the alien alarm went off! Everyone started running around and the lady ran too! Nobody would stop to help me!"

She looked to be on the verge of tears again, and Lily reached out her hand, offering it.

"That’s alright, how about we help you? We’ll take you to the shelter. Your mommy and daddy are probably waiting for you there. Come on, we can go together, and you can tell me all about the cute teddy bear you have."

The girl hesitated, looking between the two of us.

"What about Brian? Who's going to help Brian?"

"Brian?" Lily tilted her head. "Who's Brian?"

"He’s my brother!" she whimpered. "He was supposed to wait on the bench with me and the lady, but he wanted to go to the store with the footballs and baseballs! I told him not to go, but he snuck off and-"

"Shh, it’s alright honey," Lily reassured the girl, rubbing her shoulder gently. "Do you know where the store is? We can go get him together."

"We had to cross the place with all the food and the pretty fountain," she said, looking up at Lily as she shook slightly. "It was crowded, and Mommy wanted to eat somewhere quieter."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Quickly, I reached into my pocket, pulling at my phone. The internet was out, as it always was during an Usurpation, but I still had the third floor’s map pulled up. I scanned over it, looking for our location based on our path so far. I found us quickly, and then started looking through the different stores on the other side of the food court.

"Found it!" I said after a moment, and Lily looked up at me in surprise. "There’s a sporting goods store across the food court. That must be the one."

Lily gave me a wide grin, and I saw something warm but unfamiliar flash across her face.

"Nice job, Maito! Alright, sweetie, how about you come with us? We’ll pick up your brother, and-"

"Wait!" I interrupted without thinking, my heart leaping into my throat.

Lily turned and gave me a questioning look. I bit my lip as I studied the map again, thinking about what the "system message" had said. To my surprise, it popped back into my mind, showing the remaining time. Seven minutes, forty one seconds. Below our feet, I could see new arrows had formed, but the previous green had gained a yellowish hue.

As the alarm continued to wail, cold logic began to form in my head at a furious rate. Doubling back, finding the girl’s brother, then running to the shelter… there wouldn’t be enough time, not if we dragged the girl with us. She wouldn’t be able to keep up the pace.

Maybe one of us could make it to the store, find Brian, and then run to the shelter, but it would be cutting it close. The only way it was possible would be taking a straight-line route from location to location, relying on everyone else to already have cleared out.

Which meant…

The realization hit me as I considered our options. I ran it through my head once more, but came back to the same conclusion. Swallowing, my legs felt shaky as I forced myself to meet Lily’s searching look. There was only one option if we wanted to save both of the kids.

"We won’t make it if we take her with us," I finally breathed out. "She wouldn’t be able to keep up with the pace we’d have to go."

Lily’s eyes widened at my words as she glanced back at the girl. She seemed to think about it for a moment, then gave a simple nod to herself. Looking back to me, I could see the determination on her face.

"Alright, here’s what we’ll do," she said quickly, her voice a little breathless. "Maito, you'll take her over to the shelter, and I’ll go get her brother, Brian, from the sporting goods store. You know the way?"

I nodded, eyes still locked onto the arrows. "Yes, follow the arrows. They're still green-yellow, so there's a little time, but we need to be quick about it."

Lily crouched beside the girl, her voice taking on a gentle tone. "Hey, can you do me a favor? I need you to hold onto my friend’s hand really tightly, okay? He's going to take you to a safe place. I promise I'll bring your brother, Brian, right after. Can you do that for me?"

The little girl hesitated, her eyes darting from Lily to me, and then she slowly nodded. "Okay."

Lily turned to me, urgency flashing in her eyes. "As soon as you get to the shelter, keep her close, alright? And Maito..." she hesitated, biting her lip briefly, "Be careful."

I gulped. "You too."

She nodded and sprinted off in the direction of the sporting goods store. The little girl and I watched her go for a split second before I felt a tug on my shirt. "Is she going to bring back Brian?"

"I believe so," I replied, taking a deep breath to steady myself. Every instinct in me screamed to run after Lily, to make sure she was safe. That something was horribly wrong here. But right now, I have a responsibility to the little girl. We began jogging in the direction of the arrows, and I tried to keep our pace brisk but manageable for her small legs.

Every so often, I'd glance down at her, trying to gauge if she was okay. Her eyes were big, and she clung to my hand with a vice-like grip, her knuckles white. Her little teddy bear dangled from her other hand, occasionally bumping against her leg as we moved. I tried to offer her encouraging smiles whenever I could, though I wasn't sure if it helped.

I thought about Lily, the athlete running in a desperate bid to save a child she had never met. I thought about the promises she made, her determination, and it struck me — her intentions were genuine. In a world where I was accustomed to being used, pushed aside, or dismissed, Lily seemed different. Could I have been wrong about her? But then again, I had thought Katie was my friend too.

As we neared the shelter, the arrows beneath our feet turned a brighter green, signaling we were close.

"By the way," I ventured as we hurried along, "I never got your name. I'm Maito."

She looked up at me with big, teary eyes, but her voice was stronger than I expected. "I'm Lucy."

"Nice to meet you, Lucy. Let's get you to safety."

Giant advertisements for summer collections were lit up, casting an artificial glow over the gleaming marble floor, making the arrows even more distinct. These, combined with the sparse illumination from emergency lights, created an almost dreamlike setting.

Lucy's hand was warm in mine, and her grip grew firmer with each passing minute. The simple act of holding her hand felt like a lifeline. Not just for her, but for me too. For someone who had lived a life deprived of the basic comforts of human touch and kindness, this was something profoundly grounding.

We made our way past a gaming arcade, the electronic noises now silenced and replaced by the soft hum of backup generators. Next to it was a dessert cafe, the smell of freshly baked waffles now mixed with a hint of smoke and anxiety.

"Do you think my brother will be okay?" Lucy suddenly asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

I wanted to reassure her with absolute certainty, but my past experiences had taught me the bitter reality of empty promises. Instead, I chose my words carefully.

"Lily is very brave and strong. She's doing her best to find him. We have to trust her."

Lucy nodded, but I could see the worry in her eyes. It reminded me of how alone and lost I often felt. I squeezed her hand gently.

We quickly approached the east side, and signs for the shelter became more frequent. We could hear a muffled chorus of voices ahead of us, indicating that other mall-goers were gathering there too. After another turn, I spotted a large sign that read: "SAFE ZONE: Level 3 Shelter." Beneath it was an arrow pointing down a corridor that led to a series of reinforced doors. We’d made it with five minutes and forty-two seconds to spare.

"My children are still out there! Have you seen a little girl with a teddy bear and a boy? Both of them have blonde hair, and the boy has a blue shirt and cargo shorts!" the mother cried out hysterically as the security tried to calm her down.

Lucy's grip on my hand tightened, and she hesitated for a moment before her voice broke the heavy air. "Mommy? Daddy?"

The parents whipped around, their eyes widening with relief. The mother rushed forward, pulling Lucy into a tight embrace. "Oh, thank God! Lucy!" she sobbed, "Where’s Brian? Is he with you?"

Lucy's eyes filled with tears as she shook her head. "I waited like you told me, but then everyone started running, and the nice lady left me. I got scared, Mommy."

The father's face went pale. "What do you mean the lady left you? Where's your brother?"

"A girl… friend of mine named Lily went to get him from the sporting goods store," I quickly interjected. "She should be back any moment now."

The father's brow furrowed with panic, his eyes searching the surrounding area for any sign of his son as he approached. "Where’s Brian? Why isn't he with you?"

I took a deep breath, guilt gnawing at me. "We thought it'd be best to get Lucy to safety first. The Usurpation doesn’t give us a lot of time, and Lily is way faster than me so she could reach him first and circle back. We thought about it on the spot and realized we didn’t have enough time otherwise."

The mother clutched Lucy tightly, her eyes filled with fear and gratitude. "Thank you for bringing her to us," she murmured.

"But why would you split up? It's a damn Usurpation. What kind of a man lets a girl run off alone in a Usurpation like that!" His voice was rushed, filled with panic, and I could see the veins in his neck bulging and beads of sweat run down his chest.

Every fiber of my being tensed at his words. His tone, the hard look in his eyes, they were all too familiar. It was the same tone my own father would use when he berated me. The same eyes that watched me with disdain. My chest tightened and my mouth went dry.

My chest tightened and my mouth went dry as I slowly raised my arms loosely in front of me.

"I'm… I’m sorry," I began, my voice shaking as I bowed. "We did what we thought was best at the time. Lily is out there risking her life to save Brian right now."

The mother, sensing the tension, tried to mediate, placing her hand on her husband's arm. "Honey, they tried to help. Let's just wait for Brian."

He took a deep breath, the anger still evident but restrained for now. "We'll wait. But if anything happens to him..."

The threat lingered in the air for a brief second, and I wanted nothing more than to shrink away.

"... I wouldn’t know what to do with myself. Thank you for bringing our Lucy back to us. I’m sorry for snapping at you like that," the father added, his voice more subdued. "It's just... he's our son. We got really riled up in the last the last minute. I’m… I’m really, really sorry."

I blinked in surprise, not expecting that follow-up. I didn’t understand it, really. He was right, I thought, in his fear and panic for his son. The anger was warranted. It was my fault, wasn’t it? But this little shift, the subdued gratitude mixed with frustration, confused me.

The parents were reluctant to go inside the shelter, looking towards the entrance of the mall, still hopeful for Brian’s return. They stood there, and I stood to the side awkwardly as the mother wrapped her arms around Lucy and the father paced back and forth.

"We should go inside," the mother said, looking at me and then her husband. "Staying out here won’t make Brian and Lily come back to us any faster."

The father hesitated, his gaze lingering on the entrance. After what seemed like an eternity, he nodded, taking Lucy's hand, and together they walked into the shelter.

I followed behind, staying a good couple of yards behind while I allowed the weight of the situation to press down on me. Maybe I should have been the one to go. Maybe I had made another mistake, just like always. My own father would surely have expected nothing less. I should’ve been the one to take the risk, not Lily.

Besides, it only made more sense the more I thought about it. She was a star athlete, popular, well loved, and it seemed like she was genuinely a good person. Me? I was just the scrawny, creepy loser that barely kept his head above the water by following Katie around.

Suddenly, as I followed the family near the back of the line lost in my own thoughts, the lights abruptly went out.

EMERGENCY ALERT

Power supply compromised. Primary shielding station offline. SOS has been sent. Shelter in place until rescue arrives.

The arrows, our only guide to safety, vanished from sight, leaving the corridor in near darkness. Then, the lights inside the shelter flickered on, and the hallway I stood in was suddenly bathed in a flashing red light.

Then, the second message came.

EMERGENCY ALERT

Multiple Usurpation Rifts detected on the following floors:

Basement 1

Floor 1

Floor 2

Floor 3

Floor 4

Floor 5

Reality Distortion: Moderate

Localized Dream Level: Restless

Guardian Command alerted Successfully.

System going into low power mode. This will be the last message.

That's when it hit me. The feeling of being trapped, of being alone, it was familiar but heightened. But now, it wasn't just me. Lily was out there. And Brian. Two souls lost in the darkness, with monsters soon to spawn.

The father's words echoed in my head. "What kind of man lets a girl run off alone in a Usurpation like that?"

Despite the remorse he showed later, the sting of his words remained.

For years, I'd felt worthless, undeserving of love or friendship. Katie’s treatment only seemed to confirm this. But now, here was a chance. A chance to do something right, something brave. To not be the weak, pathetic boy everyone saw me as. Even if the father's words were partly right, even if I was partly to blame, I could still do something about it.

Without another thought, I turned and sprinted off into the dark mall as the people around me yelped in panic.