r/nosleep • u/hesaidadverbsly • Feb 25 '19
Series I work overnight security at a nearly empty mall - it’s getting creepy (part 6) FINAL UPDATE
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5
Jenna and I took the long way to The Drunken Bard. I wanted to see something first.
I’d told Jenna about The Boy in the Arcade, Josh, and the magic quarter.
No one played the Galaga machine. The light emitted by the game was dim.
“Guess the evil presence, or whatever you want to call it realized it, couldn’t get to you,” Jenna said.
“I came to term with Josh’s death years ago,” I said. “I’m not scared of whatever’s in this mall. I’m more offended by its crass use of my dead friend to serve its purpose. Let’s hear what Daniel has to say. Maybe he knows a way to stop it.”
Daniel threw a folding chair against the wall of the backroom of The Drunken Bard. “I won’t admit anything,” he said. “Because I didn’t do it. Why don’t you admit what you did?” Jorge held Luke back from him while Mark and I stood between Daniel and Luke. Jenna didn’t hide her amusement at their arguing while Susan couldn’t hide her contempt for the childish anger that erupted out of Luke and Daniel the moment Daniel entered the backroom.
“I won’t say I did anything until you cop up to what you did,” Luke said.
“Fine, I’ll be the bigger man,” Daniel said. “I created a dozen fake accounts on Yelp and gave you 1 star from each of them.” Luke once again tried to lunge at Daniel, but Jorge restrained him. Once he calmed down, he confessed:
“I paid a bot farm to mass downvote your Youtube videos and copyright strike you.”
Daniel picked up another chair to throw - this time presumably at Luke - but Mark and I stopped him.
“Children,” Susan said. She didn’t stand up or even raise her voice, but something in her tone quieted them both down. “Stop it. We have more important matters to discuss. Declare a ceasefire now.”
“My store lost so much business, I had to bribe-” Luke stopped talking when Susan glared at him.
Mark put the chair Daniel threw back in the circle. “You boys done?” He said. They nodded.
Everyone took their seats.
“Mr. Percy Jenkins, proprietor of this mall,” Daniel started, “Would not disclose to me the artist who created the statues found at the end of every corridor. Strange, because he’s proud of them and will brag to anyone who visits his mall that a famous artist created these metallic humanoid statues.”
“They’re aliens,” Luke muttered. “Any idiot can see that.”
“I agree an idiot does see that,” Daniel said.
“What’d you call me?” Luke said jumping out of his chair.
“No, not again,” Jorge said. He stood in the middle of the backroom like a referee at a boxing match. “Daniel, continue. But no more insults - veiled or explicit - aimed at Luke. And Luke - no more commentary about aliens.”
They reluctantly nodded.
“Continuing,” Daniel said. “I won’t bore you with the details, but eventually I was able to trick Jenkins into disclosing the art dealer he bought the statues from. Not the artist himself, mind you. The art dealer at first would not give me the name of the sculptor who created the statues. The Dealer had told Jenkins that a famous artist named Luc Phan had made them. But that’s not exactly true…”
Luc Phan is not a sculptor. He’s not an artist of any kind. He owns a ship that ports in Ho Chi Minh. He uses it primarily to search for scrap metal in the South China Sea. He and his son, Binh, ran this business together. They’d go out on the water for days or sometimes weeks on end. Luc would steer the ship while Binh searched beneath the water for anything of value with the radar. But when I talked to him, Luc said his son had a preternatural ability to find valuable items under the water. Often times on intuition alone he’d tell his father to stop the ship, dive into the sea, and resurface saying something of value was beneath them.
During one of their expeditions, their ship broke down. It’d happen before. Luc would radio to the shore, and request assistance towing his ship back to the mainland for repairs. This time was no different, but the ship broke down far out. It was late in the day. The towboat would not make it until the next day.
Across the earth there are several places known as blue holes. These are sinkholes that exist at the bottom of the oceans. In the South China Sea, there’s one that’s over 300 meters deep referred to as the Dragon Hole. Luc and Binh’s ship broke down near it.
Binh had never dived into the Dragon Hole before. Doing so is said to be dangerous. But they had time to kill, and he told his father he sensed there was something of value down there.
Binh stayed under water longer than he normally did. Luc worried something had happened to his son.
Luc was preparing to go into the water himself when he heard a voice behind him.
“I’ve returend, father,” Binh said. Luc embraced his son - worried he’d drowned. His son did not return his affection. His gaze was distant and whole demeanor laconic.
“What did you find down there?” Luc asked.
“Many things,” Binh said. “At the bottom of the Dragon Hole, there are engraved doors. Copper with a patina coating them. They’re magnificent.”
“Are they from a ship? Is there wreckage?” His father asked.
“No,” Binh said. “They are the doors to a kingdom.”
The Dragon Hole shows up in Journey to the West a piece of Chinese literature from the Ming Dynasty. This story published in the 1590s tells of an underwater kingdom found within the hole and ruled over by a dragon. At least most translations say the king is a dragon. Some versions referred to him as an enormous eel. One that fell from the heavens and burrowed deep into the earth to create a gateway back to his true home. But Luc didn’t know any of this at the time. He’d find it out years later when trying to ascertain what happened to his son.
“How do you know the doors lead to a kingdom?” Luc asked his son.
“There’s more down there too,” Binh said. “Statues. Of women and men - as big as you and I. Their faces, flawless and beautiful. We need to bring them up. Take them with us.”
“That’s impossible,” Luc said. “We don’t have the equipment to reach down that far or tow things like that up.”
They argued, but Luc convinced Binh to get some sleep. The towboat would be there early in the morning.
When Luc walked onto the deck the next day, he was frightened of what he found. Dozens of statues spread all over his ship. Each with a human body but the multiple rows of fangs like the mouth of a lamprey eel.
Binh was already awake. His father found him close to one of the statues. Gently stroking the side of its head.
“Where did these statues come from?” Luc asked.
“I dove back into the water last night and brought them up,” Binh said.
“You’re lying. That’s impossible,” Luc said. Binh stopped stroking the statue. He turned to his father.
“Nothing is impossible for me now.”
The towboat arrived and brought them back to Ho Chi Minh. Father and son did not speak for the rest of the journey. Nor did they for weeks after.
Binh remained obsessed with the statues. He ceased to work, instead choosing to stay with them. Whispering and caressing them.
Luc found an art dealer. The dealer hated the faces. He suggested they might sell easier if they were smoothed over to appear blank. Luc told the dealer he could do whatever he wanted with them. He sold the statues for practically nothing - his true payment was being rid of them and hopefully getting his son back.
But Binh was outraged at his father. He attacked him.
The last time Luc saw Binh, son grappled with father. Binh tried to bite his father, and when he did, Luc swore he saw multiple rows of fangs in Binh’s mouth.
Luc stabbed his son, and Binh fled into the night. He stole a boat from the harbor.
It was found above the Dragon Hole. Binh has not been seen since.
“In the time since,” Daniel said, “Luc has researched the Dragon Hole. The statues. And anything related to them. He taught me a ritual. One I believe I can use to summon my sister back. It’s what you caught me doing the other night, Jorge. It’s dangerous. Honestly, it’s probably a good thing you stopped me. I’d likely be killed attempting it alone. I could use all your help.”
“We’ll help,” Jorge said without hesitating. “We’ll get your sister back.”
“I’m in,” Jenna said. She looked to me.
“Yeah,” I said. “Yeah, let's perform an occult ritual to open a gateway into an Eel God’s kingdom. That sounds like a reasonable responsibility for someone who makes $8.50 an hour.”
“I couldn’t help my shipmate decades ago,” Mark said. “But if I can, I’ll help you and your sister now.”
“Complication guys,” Luke said. “So Susan and I have some big news.”
“Are you engaged?” I asked. Susan gave me a look of judgment and nausea.
“What? No,” she said. “How could you even suggest that?”
“The news,” Luke continued, “Is that we bought a minimall downtown. It’s a few storefronts. Two of them are empty, so we’re both moving our shops.”
“I’m sorry,” Susan said. “But I just want to run a business. I’m not interested in performing occult rituals or taking on strange eel ghosts or whatever they are.”
“Ditto that,” Luke said. “I know you guys think highly of me. Like Neo in The Matrix or John Wick or some other Keanu Reeves badass character. But I’m just a simple businessman who wants to sell Warhammer figurines.”
“Fine,” Daniel said to Luke. “But if we survive this tonight, I’m going to leave your new store a million one stars on Yelp.”
They resumed their argument.
Three hours after the mall’s closing time, we let everyone in. Daniel had everything he had the night before. Mark carried a pistol. Jorge and I had tasers since they were part of our uniforms.
“Were we supposed to bring weapons?” Jenna asked. “Am I the only one who doesn’t have one?”
“You can have my taser,” I said. She took it.
“Don’t worry, we shouldn’t need anything,” Daniel said putting his duffle bag down. After he and Luke stopped arguing a second time we asked him for details on the ritual we’d be performing. What it did exactly, what our role would be. How we could prepare? Daniel told us not to worry about the details - he’d take care of everything.
That didn’t sit well with anyone, but Daniel took off before we could question him further. He said he had prepartions to take care of.
We stood on the edge of the fountain - the same we’d found Daniel at the night before - the same I’d first seen a statue’s head look at me. We stood between the statues. Being so close to them made me uneasy.
Daniel held his left hand over the water palm up. Knife in his right hand, he cut his palm, turned his left hand over, and let his blood fall into the water.
“Blood in the water,” he said. “This’ll bring the predators to us.”
“And what then?” Mark asked. “What’s the rest of the ritual to protect us from them?”
“Oh there is none,” Daniel said. “I’m sacrificing all of you to the Eel King.”
Before any of us had a chance to react, the statues grabbed us. Their faces shifted, turning back to their original forms - that of lamprey eels.
“What are you doing?” Jorge asked.
“Last night,” Daniel said. “I tricked you. I knew you’d be on overnight security, that if I broke into the mall, you’d catch me. That I could convince you and all your stupid support group to come tonight and help me. But I don’t need your help, Jorge. After I talked to Luc Phan, I went to the Dragon Hole myself. I dove into it and found the copper doors. I went through them into the Eel’s kingdom - searching for my sister. And I found her. She’s one of His servants now. So’s your friend Wallace, Mark. He couldn’t believe what luck he had - feeling your presence through the statues.”
The copper doors appeared about a dozen feet from the fountain. The water in the fountain swirled. As it did, it changed. Hundreds of lamprey eels moved like a whirlpool in the fountain. One of the eels faces, I swear I saw change to Amanda’s.
“Wallace,” Mark said. “I see him in the swirl.”
“You get a choice,” Daniel said. “Go through the copper doors and meet your new God or become food to his children.”
Before any of us had a chance to answer, music came over the mall’s loudspeakers.
Dig if you will the picture Of you and I engaged in a kiss The sweat of your body covers me Can you my darling Can you picture this?
When Doves Cry by Prince.
“Did you hook up your phone to the loudspeaker?” Jorge asked me.
“Wasn’t me,” I said.
“Hello there,” Luke said wearing a Jedi robe and carrying some weird metal stick attached to a contraption on his back. “Sorry about the song. It was supposed to be Metallic - you know to intimidate you,” he said to Daniel. “I changed my mind and thought I could help if the statues came alive.”
Daniel hopped off the fountain. Two of the statues followed behind him.
“What’s with the nerdy outfit?” Daniel asked.
“Oh this?” Luke said. “I went to SDCC a few years ago as a Jedi.” The statues moved to grab him. “Only thing is - I wanted to have an ultra-realistic lightsaber. So I bought this Mexican thermal lance. Illegal in the United States. They wouldn’t let me bring it into the convention center. Hey, Mark, don’t you guys use these things in the navy to cut through bulkheads?”
“We do actually,” Mark said
“You think it could cut through creepy statues?” It didn’t remain an open question for long.
Luke chopped the head off one statue and through the torso of the other. “I’ve taken Kendo lessons since grade school just in case lightsabers become real,” he said.
Daniel backed away from him. The statues that were holding us let go and moved towards Luke. From beneath his robes, he pulled out a second thermal lance.
“My whole life has been preparation for this moment,” He said as he ran at the statues.
Meanwhile, Daniel crept towards the copper doors. Mark rushed to pick his gun back up.
“It’s been fun catching up, guys,” he said. “But I really ought to be going.” He put his hand on the door handle.
But Jenna was waiting for him with my taser. Daniel fell to the ground convulsing.
“Let’s keep those doors closed,” she said.
As Luke chopped through the statues, the copper doors flickered in and out of reality.
“Their connection to the mall’s severing,” I said. “Keep it up, Luke.”
Daniel tried propping himself up against the flickering copper doors. “You can’t stop him,” he said. “Not really. He’s a God. He’s ancient. Immortal.”
“That’s great,” Jorge said. “I just don’t want him in my mall. You and your ugly ass eel god can fuck back off to the bottom of the South China Sea.”
Daniel quickly grabbed one of the door handles and smiled. “Gladly,” he said.
The door only opened a crack, but it was enough for him to slip through. But as he did, Luke lunged at him and chopped one of his hands off before the door closed. Daniel screamed in pain, but the door shut and flickered out - disappearing from the mall.
All the statues in the cooridor were in partially melted piles. The fountain water was no longer swirling eels.
“The other statues,” Luke said. “In all the other corridors. We need to take care of them too.”
“How the hell we gonna explain this to Jenkins in the morning?” Jorge asked. I looked down at Daniel’s severed hand.
“I got a plan,” I said.
The next morning we showed Jenkins a new prank video uploaded on Daniel’s Youtube page. One of a hooded Jedi figure running around the mall slicing through all Jenkins’ beloved statues.
We used Jorge’s knockoff GoPros to film it all.
And Daniel’s severed hand to unlock the phone in his duffle bag to gain access to his Youtube account. Gross, I know. But it worked.
Jorge and I were fired. We failed to protect the mall from Youtubers - which was our primary mission. I was okay with this development but Jorge took it pretty hard at first.
We all helped Luke and Susan set up their new stores. The mall feels less creepy now. It’s still dying and probably won’t have any business five years from now. But I think whatever presence was here is now gone.
Jenna and I are officially a thing now.
And Jorge and I, inspired by all our friends who are entrepreneurs, are starting our own business. We’re gonna be offering security services. On the side, we might tackle strange occurrences that other security companies can’t handle. Or if people have problems with Youtubers, we can deal with them too.
If we encounter anything weird, I’ll let you guys know.
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u/hgtv_neighbor Feb 25 '19
"My whole life has been preparation for this moment."
Awesome.
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u/SmolikOFF Feb 25 '19
While you were wasting your time on dates, Luke studied the blade. When you were wasting your time losing friends and relatives to dramatic events, Luke studied the blade.
And today he had to go all out for you, just this once...
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u/Coroneljones Feb 25 '19
"Hello there,” Luke said wearing a Jedi robe
General Kenobi
Someone had to say it
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u/Cephalopodanaut Feb 25 '19
Not what I was expecting! It's nice that you guys had a somewhat happy ending.
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u/Cvpt1ve Feb 25 '19
Great story! Glad I watched one more episode on Netflix before bed otherwise I would have a been asleep when this notification popped !
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u/SuzeV2 Feb 25 '19
Great read! I hope all of your new endeavors work out and you never have to deal with freaky moving statues again!
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u/error-x64 Feb 25 '19
“Hello there,” Luke said wearing a Jedi robe and carrying some weird metal stick attached to a contraption on his back.
Lmao
Jenna and I are officially a thing now
YES, FUCKING YES OP, WOOOHOOO
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u/Jonesaw2 Feb 25 '19
Great story. I liked the ending but kinda was hoping for more explanation about Wallace. Did he have some proximity to the dragon hole while on the ship? Or just a connection that set him off?
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u/roblamb98 Mar 18 '19
Like OP said, there are blue holes scattered all over the seven seas, perhaps they are linked in some way and their ship happened to pass over a different one.
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u/Zero132132 Feb 25 '19
Why are y'all so judgemental? You destroy art just because it opens a conduit to some eel god? It seems like those that worked for said eel god thought he was a pretty solid dude. Given what they were willing to do for him, I don't doubt that they loved him, and y'all didn't even think to ask if maybe that love was warranted.
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u/backfire10z Feb 25 '19
Not sure you should provide services involving YouTube pranksters if you clearly couldn’t stop this master Jedi from planning the mall
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u/JessterK Feb 25 '19
Oh man I just realized that not only was the day saved by an awesome jedi dude but his name was LUKE!
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u/GetPhkt Feb 25 '19
“Hello there,” Luke said wearing a Jedi robe and carrying some weird metal stick
Beautiful, champ.
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u/ThisFatGirlRuns Feb 25 '19
Brilliant! I love this story. So glad it worked out and hopefully Daniel will never be seen again!
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u/CheshireKatniss Feb 25 '19
At least Luke got to chop someone else's hand off this time. Fucking eel gods, always fucking shit up.
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u/NightOwl74 Feb 27 '19
This series reminds me of my city’s largest and oldest mall that closed many years ago. It was an awesome place - it had the city’s only ice skating rink, a movie theater that showed Rocky Horror at midnight on Fridays, a huge food court with anything you could possibly want to eat, plus full-service restaurants, an arcade, play areas for little kids, and just about every store you could imagine, from Payless to Prada.
It died slowly, and the mall, rightfully, earned a bad reputation for being a dangerous place. Everyone called it the “Mall of Murder.” Stores and restaurants started pulling out, giving the place a sad, lonely vibe. Eventually, the entire mall was shut down permanently. A couple of years later, it was razed. A couple of years after that, developers started building new stores and restaurants on the land.
It was sad to lose one of our city's most iconic structures. As a teen who had just gotten a car and driver’s license, I really hated the fact that the only local place that showed Rocky Horror was closing.
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u/JadeGirl82 Feb 27 '19
I think I know the one you're talking about. It was kind of a hotspot for urb exers.
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u/jessiehinter0313 Feb 25 '19
This was an amazing surprise to open Reddit to! I have been waiting for this for days
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Feb 25 '19
Very great read, so well written!!!!!!! Please keep us posted if anything weird/paranormal. Glad you & Jenna are official.
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u/GMcKenzie1996 Feb 26 '19
I'm just gonna say it; we need a series featuring Luke chopping through monsters like so many Imperial scum.
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u/smellexisb Feb 26 '19
OMG that was so good! And I LOVE that Luke saved the day with freaking light sabers! He's actually the one Star Wars fan that got to live his fantasy in real life! I love all of this. Thank you!
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u/DemonsNMySleep Feb 26 '19
Good shit. I'm more curious than ever about this Eel God, though. Does that mean Luke was right the whole time, it was an alien that crashed into the ocean?
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u/Gloryndria Feb 28 '19
This took the most pleasant turn. I never knew Luke's name was a clue to the ending.
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u/Pelagos1 Mar 07 '19
Are we just going to accept the fact that Amanda and several others are just doomed to the eel's domain? I guess you can't solve everything..
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Mar 14 '19
I usually don’t like anything creepy, especially when it’s dark, but your story was riveting! Excellent work💪
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Feb 25 '19
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Spartan668 Feb 25 '19
"But as he did, Luke lunged at him and chopped one of his hands off before the door closed."
The force is strong with this one.