0:00

I turned off Hawthorne Boulevard and hit

0:02

the brakes. The SUV came to a

0:04

rocking stop a couple of feet from

0:07

the chain link gate that blocked the

0:09

entrance to the abandoned shopping mall. How

0:11

do we get in? I said, leaning

0:13

over the steering wheel and looking at

0:15

the evening sky. We were losing light.

0:18

I got it, Mitch said from the

0:20

back seat as he reached into his

0:22

big bag and retrieved a pair of

0:24

bolt cutters. I had been so preoccupied

0:26

with my own roiling anger and sickening

0:29

worry. that I had barely registered Mitch

0:31

bringing a large backpack with him. Don,

0:33

who sat in the front seat, raised his

0:35

eyebrows at me while Mitch got out of

0:37

the vehicle and jogged up to the locked

0:40

chain that held the gate closed. I knew

0:42

what he was thinking. Button down Don

0:44

was a stickler for the rules, and

0:46

cutting through a chain so we could

0:48

get into the abandoned mall, was breaking

0:50

the rules. A part of me wanted

0:52

to grab Don by the collar of

0:54

his baby blue dress shirt and scream

0:56

in his face. It's my fucking son!

0:59

I was still fuming from the phone

1:01

call with the police, and I wanted

1:03

to let that anger out. But I knew

1:05

Don only wanted to help in his

1:07

way. So I ignored his raised eyebrows and

1:09

looked out the windshield, strangling the

1:11

steering wheel, while Mitch cut through

1:14

the chain and got the gate

1:16

open. Once the SUV was through,

1:18

Mitch got back in, not bothering

1:20

to close the gate behind us.

1:22

I was old enough to remember

1:24

going to the mall before it

1:26

closed. So I knew that the

1:28

nearest pedestrian entrance was around the

1:30

corner. As I directed the vehicle

1:32

that way, the mall and the

1:34

parking garage came into view ahead.

1:37

I prayed that he'd run away,

1:39

like the cops seemed to believe,

1:41

and not that something else, something

1:43

awful, had happened to him. I

1:46

directed the SUV left, following the

1:48

road around the side of the

1:50

shopping mall. The empty parking structure

1:52

was on our right. little more

1:55

than a forest of evenly spaced

1:57

concrete pillars holding up the second

1:59

floor. evening sunlight, the shadows looked

2:02

as dark as midnight. The stories

2:04

centering on this mall all came

2:06

to mind. Urban legends. Everyone who

2:09

lived around here knew them, especially

2:11

the teenagers. Maybe Austin decided to

2:14

come here and see for himself.

2:16

He was at that age where

2:18

taking stupid risks was more exciting

2:21

than anything else. Although I didn't

2:23

believe a word of the ridiculous

2:26

stories about some dark monster in

2:28

this mall. I could imagine Austin

2:30

having fallen and broken a leg.

2:33

I could picture him on a

2:35

dirty concrete floor, crying for help.

2:37

His pain so immense he thought

2:39

he might pass out. The mental

2:42

images only served as an accelerant

2:44

for my anger. Not only anger

2:46

at Austin, although there was certainly

2:48

some of that, but anger at

2:51

myself for driving him away, and

2:53

at the police for not taking

2:55

my missing person report seriously. As

2:57

I pulled up next to a

2:59

pedestrian entrance to the mall, a

3:02

private security guard came rushing up

3:04

in his car, the yellow lights

3:06

on top flashing. I shut the SUV

3:08

down and got out, moving over

3:10

to the boarded up doors. Mitch got

3:13

out as well, but Don stayed where

3:15

he was. His brows still up

3:17

and his eyes wide. The security guard

3:19

came to a stop and lurched out

3:22

of his car. He wore an

3:24

ill-fitting uniform over a body that had

3:26

a two-to-one ratio fat to muscle. What

3:28

the hell are you all doing?

3:30

This is private property. My son might

3:33

be in there, I called out, trying

3:35

to pull open one of the doors.

3:37

It was locked and wouldn't budge. Mitch,

3:39

a man of average height, but

3:41

with the kind of rangy, thick

3:44

muscle that comes from a lifetime

3:46

of manual labor, headed straight for

3:48

the security guard. We need to get

3:50

in there and make sure. There's no

3:53

one in there the security guard said

3:55

coming out from behind his open door

3:57

and hitching his belt up. He was

3:59

a short guy, and his stomach

4:02

fat pushed his belt right

4:04

back down. I spun around and

4:06

stalked toward him. My son

4:08

could be hurt in there, damn

4:10

it. Have you been in there

4:12

lately? Mitch asked as the guy

4:15

stopped by his front bumper.

4:17

The two of them were about

4:19

six feet apart. The guard

4:21

hesitated. Listen, I would

4:23

have seen anyone trying to

4:25

get in, okay? Mitch took a

4:28

step toward the guy as I

4:30

stood nearby with clenched fists. When

4:32

was the last time you searched

4:34

the inside of the mall? Not for a

4:36

while. We're not supposed to go in

4:38

there. It's a safety thing. Exactly,

4:40

I shouted. He could be in there with

4:42

a broken leg or something. You have

4:44

to let us check it out. Isn't

4:47

it possible for someone to

4:49

sneak past you? Mitch asked him.

4:51

Maybe not probable, but possible.

4:53

Listen guys. I have my orders. You

4:55

can't go in there. If you don't leave,

4:57

I'll have to call the police." I was

5:00

about to open my mouth to beg this

5:02

man to look the other way, when

5:04

Mitch flashed towards him and whipped one

5:06

rock-hard fist at the guard's face.

5:08

The punch produced a whap and

5:10

knocked the guard's head sideways. He

5:12

stumbled and collapsed onto the hood

5:14

of his car. Mitch started forward

5:16

and caught the guy before he

5:18

slid off to the asphalt. He

5:20

eased him down while I stared

5:22

in shock. Don finally got out

5:25

of the SUV, shouting in a

5:27

high-pitched wine. What are you doing?

5:29

That's a salt. That's a salt.

5:31

Mitch ignored him, finding some flex

5:33

cuffs on the guard's belt, and

5:36

using them to secure his hands

5:38

behind his back. The hit

5:40

hadn't completely knocked the man out.

5:42

But he certainly wasn't all there.

5:45

Don rushed over to me and grabbed

5:47

my arm. Cal, this isn't right. Mitch

5:49

is going to be arrested. If we

5:51

don't get ahead of this right now.

5:53

I simply stared at Mitch, who had

5:55

a daughter Austin's age. He got the

5:57

guard secured and sitting up

6:00

against the car before he started

6:02

going through his pockets. If I

6:04

was honest with myself, I wasn't

6:06

all that surprised at Mitch's actions.

6:09

He had always been one to go

6:11

a little overboard with things. Most of

6:13

the time, it made me nervous. But

6:15

this time, I felt relieved. Ignoring Don,

6:18

I walked over. We're losing light. Does

6:20

he have keys? Got him. Mitch threw

6:22

the keys to me. And I went

6:24

about trying to find the right one

6:27

to unlock one of the three boarded-up

6:29

doors. Oh, Jesus Christ!" Don said, gripping

6:31

his head and walking in circles. Jesus

6:34

Christ! I listened to him pace as

6:36

I tried different keys. But when he

6:38

spoke again, I froze at his words.

6:40

I have to call the police. I

6:42

turned and stared at him, meeting his

6:45

gaze. I'm sorry, but I have to.

6:47

I can't go. Mitch was suddenly there,

6:49

gripping Don by his neck and shoving

6:51

him backward until he slammed into the

6:53

door, right next to the one I'd

6:56

been trying to open. I'd been trying

6:58

to open. You're not going to do

7:00

any such thing. You're going to come

7:02

and search for Austin with us, because

7:04

your friend asked you to. This is

7:06

important, and you're not going to fuck

7:08

it up. Once we're done, you can

7:11

do whatever you want, but not a

7:13

minute before." Mitch dug Don's phone out

7:15

of his pocket with one hand while

7:17

he spoke. When he was done speaking,

7:19

he made Don agree with a nod of

7:21

his head. Then he released him. After

7:23

looking between my two friends for

7:25

a long moment, I resumed going

7:27

through the keys. Soon, I found

7:29

the right one and unlocked the

7:31

door. The security guard was coming

7:33

back around, so Mitch went and

7:35

hauled him to his feet. Gripping

7:38

him by one arm, he guided

7:40

him to the door. The four

7:42

of us went inside the Hawthorne

7:44

Plaza shopping mall to start our search.

7:46

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at acorns.com/ICP. The entrance we'd chosen

9:05

led into what had once been

9:07

a department store. Now, it was

9:09

nothing more than a huge, empty

9:11

shell with concrete floors and metal

9:13

posts. The ceiling was mostly obscured

9:16

by the half-roton acoustic tiles that

9:18

had probably been there since the

9:20

80s. With no windows and the

9:22

doors behind us boarded up, the

9:24

place quickly became too dark to

9:26

navigate as the door closed behind

9:28

us. Pausing a few yards inside,

9:30

I pulled out my phone to

9:33

light the way. As I shined

9:35

my light around, I could see

9:37

that the walls had been tagged,

9:39

and there was some evidence that

9:41

people had been around. Broken beer

9:43

bottles and crushed cans littered the

9:45

floor here and there. Listen guys,

9:48

the security guard said, just let

9:50

me go and we can forget

9:52

all about this. I won't press

9:54

charges. What's your name? Mitch asked.

9:56

Roland. Okay, Roland. We're not going

9:58

to hurt you. I just want

10:00

your help navigating this place to

10:03

see if we can find my

10:05

buddy's son. That's it. I wouldn't

10:07

have had to take drastic action if

10:09

you had agreed to do this in

10:11

the first place. But if you want

10:13

to fight me the whole way, I'm

10:16

afraid I'll have to hit you again.

10:18

What will you do with me afterward?

10:20

What do you mean? You think I'm

10:22

going to kill you or something? Come

10:24

on, man. Get serious. I'll let you

10:26

go. You can do what you want

10:29

then. Austin! I called, swinging my

10:31

phone around as I started forward,

10:33

already growing impatient at our slow

10:35

progress. I saw movement as my

10:37

flashlight beam passed over something, and

10:40

I whipped the beam back, illuminating

10:42

a couple of thick cables hanging

10:44

down from the ceiling. One of

10:46

the cables was swinging gently. Must

10:48

be a breeze or something, I

10:51

told myself before moving ahead. There

10:53

was a lot of maw left

10:55

to search, hustling ahead of the

10:57

others. I was the first to

10:59

reach the non-functioning escalators that had

11:02

once allowed shoppers to go between

11:04

the two floors of the department

11:06

store. I looked toward the second

11:08

floor, shining the light up the

11:10

escalator. Austin! The sound of footsteps

11:12

erupted from the floor above.

11:14

Certain it was Austin. I darted

11:16

up the metal stairs, kicking pieces of

11:18

trash as I went. Don called after

11:21

me, but I ignored him. Huffing when

11:23

I reached the second floor, I peered

11:25

around. I peered around. I peered around.

11:27

looking for any sign of Austin. When

11:30

I saw no one and nothing but

11:32

more cables hanging from the ceiling, I

11:34

called his name again and again, jogging

11:36

deeper into the store. As I came

11:39

out of the store and into the

11:41

mall on the upper concourse, I approached

11:43

the overlook carefully because the railings

11:45

had been removed. Out here, the

11:48

fading daylight provided some illumination

11:50

through the mall's skylights, but

11:52

not much. I scanned the area

11:54

and called my son's name. Austin!

11:56

but I saw no one and

11:58

heard no reply. The nearby

12:00

escalators were set at an angle to

12:03

the store entrance, so I was looking at them

12:05

from the side. They were dirty and pretty much

12:07

every inch of them had been tagged, but

12:09

they were still usable as stairs. I

12:11

was about to start toward them when I

12:14

heard a shout from behind me. I

12:16

spun around at the sound of running

12:18

footsteps, shining my light into the store

12:20

and seeing the security guard running toward

12:22

me, screaming as he looked over his

12:25

shoulder. His screams and the terror implicit

12:27

in his body language put me on

12:29

edge. I appeared behind him to see

12:31

what he was running from. Roland, running

12:33

awkwardly with his hands, secured behind his

12:36

back, turned toward me, still screaming. He

12:38

squinted at the light I was shining

12:40

in his face, but he kept running,

12:42

and he kept screaming. Stop! I shouted,

12:45

glancing over my shoulder at the railless

12:47

drop-off down to the concrete below. The

12:49

guard shifted, angling away from me, but

12:52

still heading toward the drop-off. I was

12:54

no longer trying to see what he

12:56

was running from. Now, all my attention

12:59

was on keeping this man from falling

13:01

to the first floor. Stop! shouted, shifting

13:03

to get in front of him. There's

13:06

a ledge! That seemed to get through

13:08

to him, and he began to slow,

13:10

no longer running blindly forward, from

13:12

whatever had scared him so bad.

13:14

Then something strange happened. The darkness

13:16

immediately behind the security guard, the

13:19

shadow cast by my flashlight, seemed

13:21

to twitch and surge. Then it

13:23

was as if the darkness pushed

13:25

the man. His head whipped back

13:27

on his thick neck, as if

13:29

he'd been shoved in the upper

13:31

back. His legs kept moving in

13:33

an instinctive effort to keep from

13:35

falling on his face. But he

13:37

was coming too fast, to keep

13:39

his footing, and too fast for

13:41

me to catch him. Worryed he would

13:44

take us both over the ledge. I

13:46

jumped out of the way at the

13:48

last moment, turning to see the man

13:50

finally lose his footing. As he fell,

13:52

he turned to land on his left

13:55

shoulder, but he was too close to

13:57

the edge. disappearing from view a moment

13:59

later. I heard him hit the floor

14:01

below with a horrific slap. I

14:03

stared at the edge for a

14:05

moment in shock. Then I turned

14:07

to look into the store I

14:10

had been in about a minute

14:12

earlier. The only thing I saw

14:14

moving were a couple of heavy

14:16

black cables, swaying as they dangled

14:18

from the ceiling. Mitch? I called,

14:20

heading to my feet. Don? There

14:22

was no answer. I couldn't even

14:24

see Mitch's flashlight anymore. The store

14:26

was completely dark. Swallowing. I turned

14:28

my attention to the edge. I

14:30

carefully stepped over and peered down

14:32

to see the security guard lying

14:34

face down in a pool of

14:36

expanding blood. But there was something

14:38

strange about that blood. Some of

14:40

it was smeared, as if the

14:42

guard had been dragged backward a

14:44

foot or two. As I stared

14:46

down, trying to make sense of

14:49

this, Roland moved. Something was dragging

14:51

him by the legs. Something I

14:53

couldn't see, unless I wanted to

14:55

lean far out over the drop

14:57

and shine the light under me.

14:59

And that was the last thing

15:01

I wanted to do. The guard

15:03

shifted again, and I stepped back

15:05

from the edge, suddenly feeling terrified

15:07

and very alone. All the urban

15:09

legends about this place raced through

15:11

my head like a horror movie

15:13

on Fast Forward. What had brought

15:15

us here in the first place?

15:17

I tried to remember. It was

15:19

Mitch. Mitch said something about how

15:21

his daughter, Austin's friend, told him

15:23

that Austin was thinking about sneaking

15:25

into the abandoned mall. to see

15:28

what all the fuss was about.

15:30

At the time, and in the

15:32

midst of my panic, I latched

15:34

onto this possibility, having nothing else

15:36

to go off of. Now, as

15:38

I peered out across the fraction

15:40

of the mall I could see,

15:42

I hoped with all my heart

15:44

that Austin hadn't come here. Something

15:46

was happening in the small. Something

15:48

horrible. The shift in my priorities

15:50

nearly gave me whiplash. I wanted

15:52

to find my two friends and

15:54

get out of here. Spinning spinning

15:56

around. I rushed back into the

15:58

empty department store, shining my phone

16:00

flashlight. around, barely putting a dent

16:02

in the darkness. After I'd taken

16:04

several lunging steps into the store,

16:06

my light caught on the thick

16:09

black cables hanging down from the

16:11

ceiling. Again, they seemed to be

16:13

swaying in some non-existent breeze. I

16:15

stopped moving, eyes narrowing. I tried

16:17

to reconcile what I was seeing

16:19

with my memory. Hadn't the cables

16:21

been in a different spot when

16:23

I'd last seen them? Staying where

16:25

I was. I kept my light

16:27

on those dangling cables. The name came

16:29

out as a harsh whisper. Swallowing,

16:31

I tried again. Don? With a

16:33

shaky hand, I took the light off

16:36

the cables and swept it around

16:38

again. Illuminating more of the space

16:40

for my new position. I stopped

16:42

the light on a pile of

16:44

something on the floor about 50

16:47

feet away. A glint of reflection

16:49

made me realize that there was

16:51

some liquid around the pile. It

16:53

was impossible to tell what it

16:56

was from this distance. I took

16:58

a step closer. And as I

17:00

did, I think my subconscious realized

17:02

exactly what it was. My stomach

17:05

contracted and went cold. But I

17:07

still didn't know, not consciously. So

17:09

I took a step forward, and

17:11

the picture began clear. No! I

17:13

rasped, staring at the bottom half

17:15

of Don's body. A nest of

17:18

ruptured intestines had spilled out and

17:20

rested amid the pool of blood.

17:22

Stepping closer out of some misguided

17:24

instinct to help. prompted a cry

17:26

from the other side of the

17:29

store. Don't! It was Mitch. I

17:31

whipped my light toward him and

17:33

saw him sprinting at me out

17:35

of the shadows. Run! Something massive

17:37

shifted behind him. Something coming down

17:39

from the threadbare acoustic tile ceiling.

17:41

In the dim illumination from my

17:43

phone light, I could make out

17:45

what looked like the bottom half

17:47

of a human skull. Only instead

17:49

of being white, it was a

17:51

glistening maroon, as though it was

17:53

still covered in a fine layer

17:55

of exposed muscle. The enormity of

17:57

it struck me into a stupor.

18:00

The mouth, lined with teeth as

18:02

big as coffee mugs, was a

18:04

good three feet across. It gaped

18:06

as more of the thing came

18:08

down, revealing that it was a

18:10

massive human skull, complete with nostril

18:12

slits and eye sockets that weren't

18:14

quite empty. Strange blue sparks erupted

18:16

constantly in those sockets, looking like

18:18

pupils that stared at both Mitch

18:20

and me at the same time.

18:22

The cable's nearest me shifted, pulling

18:24

back up into the ceiling and

18:26

disappearing. I saw why a moment

18:28

later. As the skull fully emerged,

18:30

it must have been nine feet

18:32

tall. It started to move swiftly

18:34

toward a sprinting Mitch, closing the

18:36

distance easily. For a moment, I

18:38

couldn't see how it was moving.

18:40

It seemed to be floating. But

18:42

as it grew closer, I saw

18:44

that a writhing, whipping, crawling mass

18:46

of black cables propelled it like

18:48

an octopus. If an octopus had

18:50

dozens of tentacles that moved in

18:52

frantic frantic and frantic jerks out

18:54

from under him. He managed to

18:56

get his hands down to cushion

18:58

his fall, but the force was

19:00

so great that his head hit

19:02

the concrete anyway. Dazed, Mitch tried

19:04

weakly to crawl away from the

19:06

thing, but it wouldn't have mattered

19:08

even if he'd been all there.

19:10

The cables were too strong. They

19:12

whipped Mitch around as the jaw

19:14

opened wide. His upper body landed

19:16

inside the creature's mouth, an instant

19:18

before the jaw snapped together and

19:20

cut him in half with a

19:22

crunching snap. A wordless wretched scream

19:24

erupted from deep in my lungs.

19:26

seeming to knock me out of

19:28

my stupor. I turned and ran.

19:30

A cable whipped out and hit

19:32

my right foot, causing me to

19:34

stumble and drop my phone, but

19:36

I somehow managed to keep my

19:38

feet. I sprinted out of the

19:40

store toward the escalators, navigating by

19:42

what little light was still coming

19:45

through the skylights. I sprinted down

19:47

the escalator without looking back. When

19:49

I reached the bottom, I turned

19:51

and ran back toward the store,

19:53

only thinking about the security guard

19:55

when I slipped on his blood,

19:57

which was smeared across the concrete

19:59

floor. Going down hard. I bashed

20:01

my left elbow and hip it

20:03

to the floor. As I scrambled

20:05

up, I scanned the gloom for

20:07

any sign of the man's body,

20:09

finding none. The only sign he'd

20:11

ever been here was the blood

20:13

smeared across the floor. I ran

20:15

as fast and as hard as

20:17

I could toward where I knew

20:19

there was an exit. The same

20:21

door we had entered. It was

20:23

on the other side of the

20:25

unlocked boarded up door. I ran.

20:27

Not far into the store. The

20:29

darkness grew complete. But I still ran

20:31

until I crashed into a beam with

20:33

my right shoulder. The impact spun me

20:36

around and sent me to my knees.

20:38

But I got up again. This time,

20:40

I moved slower. My hands held straight

20:42

out in front of me to prevent

20:44

further collisions. Finally, I came to the

20:47

line of doors and tried to open

20:49

one. It was locked. So I moved

20:51

onto the next one and yanked. It

20:53

opened, allowing orange sodium sodium light to

20:55

spill into the store. There were the

20:58

vehicles. My SUV in the security guard

21:00

sedan parked right where we'd left

21:02

them. I took one step out,

21:04

but then a familiar voice from

21:06

behind stopped me. Dad? Straightening. I

21:09

looked over my shoulder and saw

21:11

Austin standing just outside the fan

21:13

of illumination coming through the door. He

21:15

wore the same clothes I'd last seen

21:17

him in. Skinny jeans, a baggy

21:20

black t-shirt, and sneakers. Austin!

21:22

Overwhelmed with emotion. I let go

21:24

of the door. Turned fully around.

21:26

Turn fully around. and rushed toward

21:28

him. The door swung shut behind me.

21:30

And in the last of the light,

21:32

as I stepped up to my son

21:34

to pull him into a hug, I

21:37

saw that his eyes had changed. Deep

21:39

in the pupils, little blue sparks constantly

21:41

erupted. Before I could do anything, Austin's

21:43

mouth opened, and a thick black cable

21:46

shut out, wrapping itself around my back

21:48

and yanking me forward. I collided with

21:50

my son, wrapping him in an awkward

21:52

forced hug. He felt cold and hard,

21:54

like clay left out in freezing temperatures.

21:57

And as I wrapped my arms around

21:59

his back... I felt dozens of

22:01

cables jutting from his body. As

22:04

the thick cable around me constricted,

22:06

cracking my ribs, I caught a

22:08

glimpse of that giant skull back

22:11

in the all-consuming darkness of the

22:13

store. It was smiling at first,

22:16

then its mouth opened wide to welcome

22:18

us. A rise in missing persons

22:20

cases was noted in the

22:22

area, surrounding the abandoned Hawthorne

22:24

Plaza shopping mall in early

22:26

to late 2024. Reports of

22:29

unusual activity at night from

22:31

civilians also appeared around that

22:33

time. Further investigations showed that

22:36

the mall had been the focal

22:38

point of various urban legends and

22:40

online rumors, primarily consisting of

22:42

a dark entity residing within

22:44

the structure. The foundation

22:46

became aware of anomalous activity at

22:48

the location after five people, including

22:51

a security guard and a minor,

22:53

went missing in the structure. The

22:56

SCP Foundation investigation is

22:58

ongoing.