Darkness swallowed everything.
Not the comfortable darkness of night where eyes adjusted and shadows took shape. It was absolute, suffocating and complete darkness. The kind that made you question whether your eyes were even open.
There was not even a single ray of light anywhere.
Ishiki’s heart hammered against his ribs like it was trying to escape. His breath came too fast as he froze where he stood.
"Nobody move." Kaori’s shout echoed as if it was coming from all sides. "Stay exactly where you are."
’This is bad. This is very, very bad.’
The mechanical grinding of the security shutters had stopped. Now there was just... stillness.
Then he heard a very wet and heavy, breathing.
And almost at the same time a very steep shrill noise entered his ears, it was a little bit biting but not that discomforting.
"Xenons," Kenji suddenly alerted. "Two of them. One near the escalators, twenty meters in on the second floor. Another by the frozen food section, thirty meters in on the first floor."
’How can he tell distances in this darkness?’
"My skill," Kenji added, as if reading Ishiki’s thoughts. "It enhances hearing and listening. Somewhat like echolocation. Gladly there are only two of them here."
’Oh! so this shrill sound is because of his skill.’
The breathing sounds grew closer near Ishiki.
"They’re moving," Kenji warned, voice dropping even lower. "Both are converging on... wait! They are both going towards Ishiki’s position."
His heart skipped a beat as he gritted his teeth. ’What? Why me?’
"Ishiki, back away slowly," Kaori commanded. "Kenji, guide him."
"Three steps backward," Kenji said. "Then two steps right. There’s a pillar—"
Ishiki moved as instructed, hands outstretched, feeling blind and vulnerable. His foot found the pillar just as Kenji said it would.
The breathing grew louder by the second. And soon the footsteps of something climbing the stairs too joined in the eerie play.
’Crap! I will be surrounded this way. Why are they even after me?’
Then it hit him. The corpse he’d taken the car keys from. He had touched it. The scent of blood was probably around him.
And if Xenons used to be human, maybe they still hunted like humans, but with their animal instincts.
"Ishiki, I’m coming to you," Kaori said. "Stay still—"
"No don’t. Don’t move." Ishiki shouted back and then grew silent.
Behind him the breath was too close now. He could even smell the rotting stench from the Xenon’s mouth. Something wet fell to the ground just behind him.
Ishiki’s heart was beating abnormally, gripped by fear of the abominations and enhanced by the utter darkness that surrounded him.
And then he fell down and stood up in an instant, turning around almost immediately. The teeth clashed against each other, where his head had been. He just barely survived getting his head being chewed.
Ishiki stumbled backward, arms windmilling for balance—
And his foot found empty air.
’The stairs! I’m at the stairs! Shit.’
The other Xenon was coming up the stairs. His eyes widened and face turned to an ugly expression.
He fell backward, gravity pulling him down hard stone steps. His hand shot out desperately, fingers catching the glass railing halfway down. His body jerked to a halt, shoulder screaming in protest.
The breathing coming from both sides now, one was right above him and one was right below him. On the stairs.
’Damn it. What kind of situation is this?’
Then something heavy landed on his stomach, driving the air from his lungs with brutal force. His grip on the railing weakened. He slid down another step, fingers biting into the glass.
A fist the size of his head whistled past his face, missing by centimeters.
CRASH.
The glass railing beside him exploded into fragments with a sound like a chandelier hitting concrete. Shards rained down into the darkness below, tinkling as they fell. The Xenon tried to punch his face but failed.
His expression darkened despite the fear flooding his system. ’If that had hit my head—’
"ISHIKI!" Kaori’s shout echoed through the mall. "Are you alright?!"
He wanted to reply, but he didn’t. Instead he let go of the railing and jumped off the stairs through the gap created because of the glass breaking.
Not far—maybe six feet. He landed hard on the lower floor. His knees buckled, and he rolled, trying to absorb the impact. Something sharp bit into his shoulder. Broken glass, probably but he didn’t pay it any attention.
He forced himself up immediately, breathing hard through his nose, every instinct screaming at him to call out for help.
He ignored those instincts.
’They can’t help me if they can’t see. I’m on my own. I need to think.’
He moved slowly through the absolute darkness of the lower floor, hands outstretched, trying to remember the mall’s layout. There were steel racks all around him now, perfect for hiding.
Suddenly something fell from up and sent a shudder down the whole floor.
"GROWLLL!"
The Xenon who just jumped down from the upper floor growled and broke the silence. Just then, around the corner, he heard the scrape of metal against tile.
Ishiki froze, barely breathing. Suddenly—a metal rack crashed over, products spilling across the floor in a cascade of sound.
He couldn’t take it anymore.
"Who’s there?!" he shouted, voice cracking.
"SHRIEEEKKK!"
The Xenon’s scream split the air—Piercing and inhuman. Full of rage and hunger. So close that Ishiki felt the sound waves vibrate through his chest cavity, rattling his ribs, making his heart stutter.
’No. No no no—’
They were circling towards him. One from the right and another from the left. And he had nothing. No weapon. No way to fight back.
He gritted his teeth. ’I’m going to die? After everything—after surviving the trial and making it back to Earth. I’m going to die in a fucking shopping mall?’
The footsteps grew closer from both sides.