by Gabi Moore
She heard them fade into the distance as they walked to look at another display in front: recordable televisions. She watched Sean drool over the endless possibilities as a person could record their TV show and watch it later. As far as she could see, it was another way to make money off people with too much to spend. Besides, the video recording machine appeared to weigh a ton. Who would want something like that in their house?
“Are you finished?” Emily asked Sean. “Can we go look at something else for a change?”
“Sure, but let’s find out where the antenna turning things are, I want to tell dad how much they cost. You know, there’s a guy who lives down the street from us who actually installs antennas. Might be something for me to think about someday.”
Emily rolled her eyes and continued walking with him. They both crossed the wall of TV’s at the back of the store and halted.
A continuous row of the same elderly actor delivered the same line at the same time. The effect was mesmerizing and they stopped to look at the bank of televisions. But they didn’t notice no one else was in the store. For some reason, the other customers suddenly felt as if they needed to leave at the same time. The electronics store was void of anyone but them.
“I think we are the only people in this theater,” Lilly said to Dion as they seated themselves toward the middle of it. “I don’t see another person in here.”
“The sign did say it was closed for repairs,” Dion reminded her as he handed her a box of popcorn. “Sorry if there’s too much butter on this one, but I can’t stand it on mine.”
The curtains rolled open to reveal the blank white screen. Dion wondered why they still used curtains on movie theaters. The stage in front of it was almost nonexistent, just a few feet in length. There would be no scene changes that the curtains needed to conceal. It was one of those strange and odd things, which people linked to action, such as the teletype sounds on breaking news stories even though the mechanical teletype machines had faded into the past. Would future radio stations insert scratch sounds into audio tape to make it sound “real”?
In the background, he could hear the whirl of a movie projector starting. This meant someone had to be in the theater besides them because a movie projector implied a projectionist. Or did it? Nothing about this mall was as it seemed. He didn’t recall a movie theater listed in the fire element section, but the map was too damaged to check again.
The presentation went directly to the movie. Dion expected a few coming attractions, but no, the black and white titles started up right away. Too bad, Dion could only imagine what sort of features would accompany this one. There was a brief blip and the soundtrack started as the projectionist made the final adjustment.
After the credits, which looked similar to the last four movies this director made before 1940, the movie cut to the main action. There was a boardroom where several people debated the direction of a company until an elderly man ordered a younger son to leave. All was halted when another son offered to give his share in the company to someone else.
“Have we seen this one before?” Lilly asked Dion. She leaned up against Dion and tried to forget where they were.
“Another version, but I like the actor who is playing my uncle.” Dion leaned back and munched some more popcorn. This one was going to be interesting.
They watched as an intrepid reporter attempted to put together the story of Seth Bach and his attempts to steer his father’s company to new heights of glory. The skyscraper he wanted to build was the perfect stand-in for the mall.
Dion admitted the production was quality, even if it was somewhat dated due to its post WW2 setting. He didn’t care much for the two actors who portrayed his parents. And the child actor who played Dion’s role didn’t look like him at all.
Sean and Emily stood captivated by the wall of television. There had to be at least forty of them in the back of the store and they were tuned to the same channel. This seemed odd, as the TV’s showed different programs when they entered the store. However, every single one of them was now tuned to a show about a family that had problems. They had walked up to the TV bank as the show was in progress, so there was no way to know what was before them. Sean thought it looked familiar, but he didn’t recognize any of the actors or the setting. Emily was entrapped by it as well.
The show took place somewhere in the Midwest and involved several families. The action continued to flip between the two settings. One family consisted of two parents who were busy with a spunky girl child while the conservative dad fought to understand his liberated wife. The other family had several children with a super-religious wife and blue-collar husband. The laugh track was frequent and annoying. Sean couldn’t understand why the laugh track activated every time one of the kids said something profound.
There was a break for a commercial and Sean turned to Emily. “Have you ever seen this one before? I watch TV in the evening too, but don’t think this show is one my parents watch.”
“Never seen it before,” she said to him. “What are these commercials about? What the heck are they selling?”
The first one was for a new drug that removed painful memories and featured a mother who had abandoned her family. The second was for a midnight meal that mechanics could fix while working the graveyard shift. The third was for a local museum that never opened. As soon as the one for the museum faded, the show resumed. There was still nothing that identified the TV show, which had to be some kind of comedy on account of the laugh track.
The next opening scene featured the little girl who wanted to know when her mother was going to return. “Not anytime soon,” her father said to the sound of much hilarity. “Mom is out doing her thing and we’re not going to see her for some time. The scene shifted to the religious family in their Sunday best, probably on their way from church, although it appeared to be late in the evening. “And another thing,” the mother was howling to her bored son in the backseat, “you will show some respect to us in the future. When we get home you are going to show your father you’re a worthy son.” The father appeared to be equally bored, but did a better job to keep it hidden.
“I am so looking forward to getting out of this place,” the sounds of the son echoed in his thoughts. Funny how television could tell you what someone was thinking just by using voice-overs.
“It’s not the most effective way to trap someone,” Dion mentioned to Lilly as he finished his popcorn. “I can think of several ways which could do the job better.”
“What is the whole point of this movie?” Lilly asked him. “Does your uncle think you can be fixated on your life story? I don’t get it.”
“He’s trying to buy some time,” Dion explained. “With me out of the picture, it allows him to come up with another plan. For instance, he’s just found a way to isolate us from Sean and Emily. Now with Sean and Emily somewhere else…”
The look on Dion’s face changed as he realized the implications of what he’d just said. This meant Sean and Emily were vulnerable to whatever machinations his uncle had created. Neither one of them was an elemental worker and they’d be easy targets. A perfect way to get at Dion.
Dion shot up in his seat. “We have to get out of here!”
“What’s wrong? You seemed fine a minute ago.”
“I know why we were lured into this place. My uncle wants to get at Sean and Emily. He can’t do much to me, but they’re vulnerable.”
Tears flowed down Emily’s face as she watched the little girl on TV wander alone in the backyard of her parents’ house. There would be no more talks with her mother now or in the future. She felt so much alone and mouthed the dialogue with her. She stood transfixed by the wall of televisions, which were all tuned to the same humiliating comedy show.
Chapter 8
Sean started to ask Emily what troubled her when he turned to see a new scene on the TV’s.
Now the son was stuck in the living room of the house as his mother hurled invectives against him. She accused
him of a lack of respect to her and his father. He refused to say a word. His father wanted to know why he has no interest in sports, as he made a suggestion that Sean’s obsession with books was part of a deeper problem. Before them was another “progress report” from the junior high school which showed a lack of his interest in the subjects he was forced to study. The laugh track reverberated with guffaws every time the mother screamed another curse against the boy.
Sean stood in silence, his hands shaking as he watched his life story played out for the world to see. Emily was unable to help him as she was still in shock over the scene of her own life, which ripped out her heart.
And in the background of the store, a figure watched them frozen in place. It nodded in approval. It cost him a lot to have this drama performed, but it had played off nicely. He wondered about the film that played out in front of Dion. It should keep him busy for a while too. It was good to see a plan work out so well.
The theater door was locked when Dion reached it. He placed one hand on the bar to the set of glass doors and pushed. They refused to budge and he realized his uncle had done his work very well. Dion tried to force it some more, but the doors wouldn’t move. He banged on them a few times until Lilly came up behind him.
“I should have suspected this,” Dion said. “I don’t see anything around here we can force them open with.”
A thought came over Lilly. “Doesn’t there have to be someone in the projection booth at all times?”
Dion and Lilly found the stairs, which led to the booth in a few minutes and rushed up them two at a time. The door to the booth was open and they ran inside.
It was abandoned. The projector was playing on automatic and the film reel had a lot to go before it would reach the end. Dion looked at the reel and noticed it was still at the beginning, although they’d been inside the theater for a good thirty minutes. Something told him this wasn’t an ordinary projector and the reel would continue to run indefinitely if allowed.
“No one here,” he concluded. “They must’ve left earlier. Let’s see if we can find another way out.” They raced back down the stairs.
Dion rushed past the doors when he noticed something outside the theater. He stopped and grinned when he saw an old friend who could help him out.
The plastic bull connected to a coin box and was now repaired. Someone had placed it in the children’s play area outside the theater. This was the same bull which was used to house earth elementals and sent against him earlier in the quest. All he needed to do was find another earth elemental and send it back into the animatronic bull situated outside the theater.
Dion closed his eyes and concentrated. He found a few earth elementals moving around beneath the foundation of the mall. They weren’t inside the mall, but they could still make contact with him and be useful. They didn’t want much and Dion made a payment to them in advance. He could handle the remainder when the job was completed, he let them know. The elementals agreed and moved from the ground beneath the mall and into the plastic bull that sat unused on the platform next to the coin box. None of the children playing around it paid the bull much attention, but this was all about to change.
One mother watching her child in a plastic locomotive almost dropped her purse when the bull stepped off its platform and walked over to the door of the theater. The kids in the play area cheered it on, unaware of how it functioned.
The bull trotted over to the door and dropped its glossy head down to the level of the two handles on the other side. The door to the theater was not just one door, but two half doors which had handles on the mall side. The release bar was built to the inside of the theater for safety reasons. In an emergency, people were supposed to be able to push down on the bar and the door would release. Today, however, the bars didn’t function as they should.
As a small audience gathered around the plastic bull to watch it at work, Dion opened his eyes, the instructions to the earth elemental inside it now complete. He’s followed it up to the door to make sure it knew exactly what to do. The last thing he wanted to encounter was glass flying from the door if the bull charged.
The bull placed its horns down to the handles on the mall side and slid them into the grips. It reared back just enough to test them and then grunted. The next thing it did was to pull back hard on the handles and yank them back toward its synthetic neck. Plastic didn’t take such stress under normal circumstances, but the bull could hardly be considered normal.
There was a screeching sound as the aluminum door handles began to give way from the force generated by the bull. Dion stepped back and took Lilly with him as he waved people away from the door. The audience realized what was about to happen and moved back from the sound.
A loud pop came from one of the glass halves as the door began to move backwards and follow the motion of the bull. The glass cracked, but remained intact in the door. Both halves parted slightly as the metal frame yielded to the strength of the artificial bull when it forced its way back. The doors swung open as the plastic bull shot backwards.
It stopped a few feet from the door to make sure Dion and Lilly were safe as they emerged from the door. One of the door halves swung on its hinge as they passed it by. Dion watched the bull walk past the crowd of curious shoppers and stand back on the platform for the ride. It became still and assumed its previous position as the earth elemental left it and returned to the layer of soil beneath the ride in the children’s section.
Of course, every single kid in the mall near it lined up to ride the bull. They would be a little disappointed, but there was nothing he could do about that.
They found Emily and Sean a few minutes later. Dion somehow just knew they were going to be located inside the electronics store. There was a sign telling the public as to how the store would be closed for a few hours, but it opened when Dion put his hand on the door. Whatever he’d done to the other door had transferred to him and this one had no desire to be busted open.
Emily and Sean were in the back of the electronics store starring at an endless bank of televisions, all which showed static on the screens.
“What are they starring at?” Lilly asked him. “There’s nothing on the TV’s.”
“There doesn’t have to be,” Dion explained as he grabbed Sean by one shoulder and pulled him away. “It’s what they see in their minds. You lead Emily out; she won’t come unless someone takes her hand.”
A few minutes later, the four were sitting at a table next to a vending machine. Dion had brought both of them some coffee to drink. It took another few minutes, even with the coffee, for the effects of the TV’s to wear off, but they soon blinked their eyes and showed signs of recognition.
“Where were we?” Emily asked Dion. “A few minutes ago I was staring at a TV and then I don’t know what happened.”
“Same here,” Sean said. “I was doing the same thing and I don’t remember what happened afterward. Something about a terrible comedy show on that was so depressing.”
“Yeah,” Emily agreed. “Something like that too. What happened to us?”
“It sounds like a dirty little trick my uncle would pull,” Dion said. “He tried to do the same thing in a theater by showing a movie that was a veiled reference to my own life. I recognized what he was up to and left. The door was locked on the theater, but we were able to get it open. The door to the electronics store wasn’t locked to me. I walked in and found you two starring at some blank screens. He wanted to trap us in a reflection of our own fear. It didn’t work, so he’ll come up with something else.”
The rested for a while and watched the shoppers continue to file through the mall. A few minutes later, they watched a maintenance crew come and work on the door the plastic bull yanked open for Dion. The line to the bull ride died down when the kids realized it was never going to walk off the platform on its own.
“We need to go see Hobbs,” Dion said. “He’ll have what we need if we run into any other opposition in this part of the mall.”
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“It’s a long way back to his part of the mall,” Lilly said. “Do we still have time to reach out to him?”
“You have to know how to get there quickly,” Dion explained. “For instance, that door over there works anywhere in the mall. It’s one of the special passages which run all over this place.”
They walked over to the door from the table and let Dion open it since he seemed to have a good relationship with the hidden parts of the mall. The door opened to reveal another long passage, but there were a few cryptic symbols on the transom, which Dion recognized. He looked at them for a few minutes and looked back to his friends.
“This one will take us right to the exterior of Hobbs’ store.” Dion held open the door and they walked inside the dim passage.
Lilly heard the door shut and lock behind them. “How is it you can open this door and it locks on its own?” she asked him.
“It recognized me.”
It took them another five minutes to find the door that opened to the outside of Hobb’s store in the other part of the mall. Dion examined a few other doors and looked at the markings over them as they passed. None of them could recognize the writing or what the cyphers meant, but they didn’t want to waste time by asking Dion how he knew. As in everything else, Dion had a knack for finding his way around the mall.
Once the last door opened, they emerged to find themselves back in the section of the mall where Hobbs and his store of curiosities was located. He’d provided Dion with all kinds of things he needed on his quest. They didn’t worry he might have another tool Dion would need.
When the door opened, Sean stopped and looked at the girl sitting across from the door at a table in the hallway. She had to be in her twenties, but was very tiny. At first, he thought she was younger than him, but her voice gave her away. She held some small object in her hand and appeared to be talking into it. Her hair was short, cut almost in a pageboy style, but seemed to have a pattern he hadn’t notice before. She was fair of skin and had deep blue eyes, which she used to train on him.
