The mall was dark, lit solely by a thin strip of emergency lighting that ran across the center of the ceiling. The glass of the light had yellowed from moisture, casting the underground complex in dull green lighting. When Noa had reached the bottom of the staircase, a musty smell hit her immediately. Gabriel was following closely behind her, gripping the Dalet tightly. The device was beeping rhythmically, the sound reverberating through the stale air. As Noa continued forward, she ran her hand along the tile wall. She couldn’t be sure– maybe it was her heartbeat– but she could swear she felt the walls rhythmically pulsating, as if she was walking through an artery.
“This thing doesn’t seem to be much use right now… the energy or something in this place is making it go haywire.” Gabriel flicked the Dalet off, and the beeping stopped. A low, nearly inaudible electrical humming was emanating from somewhere far off. He shivered slightly, which is when he noticed the temperature of the air. “Holy shit, they’re really cranking the aircon in here.”
He was right; Noa hadn’t noticed it before, but she was cold. She drew her arm across her body, clutching on to where the sleeve of her uniform ended. Her other hand remained on the wall, but the tiles were almost painfully cold to the touch. As they turned into the main shopping row, a low moan shook the mall, rattling the shutters of the shops around them. This time, the sound was closer, and they could tell that it came from somewhere up ahead. Noa pulled her Dalet off her belt and switched it on.
“Rossi, look at this!” Noa thrust the screen towards his face. Gabriel pulled his head back and grabbed it at the bottom to stabilize it from Noa’s shivering. The screen showed that there had been a drop in energy– no, more than that. There was no divine energy ahead at all. Dread gripped Gabriel instantly.
“What the fuck? That shouldn’t be possible.” His voice cracked, but he was too overcome with fear to notice. When he switched his Dalet back on, it showed the same. “Even a dentist's office would show a slight amount of energy. I don’t even know what would be able to cause this.” He was speaking rapidly now.
“Hey, you were the one who said we’re capable of handling this on our own, right? We haven’t even seen what it is yet.” Her voice was steely.
“I- you’re right.” He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, and Noa turned and continued forward. At the end of the row of shops, the hallway split in either direction. She followed the humming sound down towards the hallway to the right.
The aisles here were tighter, and it was clear that this area of the mall was even older than the rest. Dust pooled in the air below the emergency lighting, and the tiling on the walls was more worn down. As they moved forward, the humming melted away into another sound- a piano sonata. The sound was coming from a used phone store ahead- it was shuttered like the rest of the shops, but a small amount of light was shining through the gaps and onto the opposing wall. Noa crouched slightly and stepped towards the store as lightly as she could. When she was a meter away, she rolled her thumb over the dial on the side of her Dalet to “load” it with energy…
Her stomach dropped– she had completely forgotten that the Dalet could only draw in local divine energy. The fact had completely slipped her mind. Pung had taught her that the energy existed almost everywhere on the island, albeit it at a nearly unnoticeable level in some areas. The Dalet was able to draw on this to serve as a sort of weapon, or in a pinch, protection from anything that drew on the power from the Atziluth world. The idea that it would be totally lacking…
There was a shuffling sound from inside the shop. Whatever was moving momentarily eclipsed the light that was seeping through the shutters, and Noa could tell that whatever it was, it had moved towards the far side of the store. Gabriel clicked his tongue to get her attention.
He was a few feet behind her, with his back pushed up against the wall so that he could better cover her. Noa tilted her head questioningly, to which Gabriel pointed at the Dalet while shaking his head from side to side. He had come across the same realization as she did- the Dalet was essentially useless to them right now. He motioned to the far corner of the mall and stuck up his hand to the side of his head, miming a phone call. Looking up, she saw a sign for a staircase past the cellphone store. She nodded in agreement, but held a finger up and pointed at the store. Gabriel furiously shook his head, but Noa turned her back towards him and moved to peek into the store.
The store was painfully bright compared to the darkness of the mall, and she winced as she peered in. The store was small, and the drawers below the display cases were thrown open. There was a register in the back left corner of the room, with a radio sitting on the edge- the source of the music. Noa thought it was odd that the sound was perfectly clear this deep underground. There was a door behind the register that was ajar, but she was unable to see it the room beyond. Besides the mess, there was nothing unusual in the store. The sonata died down, and the low static of dead air was all that remained.
She took a small step to the side and put her hands on the bottom of the shutters. The mall was now so still that she could almost feel Gabriel shaking his head no violently behind her. She pulled up on the shudders slowly, and it rattled lightly. She pulled it up just enough to crouch underneath and move inside.
The display cases were mostly empty, save for one that had half a dozen flip phones sitting open. They were all powered on and attempting to connect to a cellular network. She continued to the back wall and towards the door, until she was nestled between the register and the wall.
She leaned towards the gap in the door to listen in on the room before she peeked inside. There was a light raking sound- like someone dragging their fingertips over their palm- and sporadic shhhp noise. Noa furrowed her brow. It sounded like someone sharply sucking in air through their mouth. She shut her eyes and held her breath, muting her other senses as much as she could. There was a faint beeping sound from the far end of the room; a computer of some kind?
Her mind began to race. She wanted to turn back, but she knew that if she was able to handle whatever was causing this on her own, she could demonstrate her worth to Koh. She paused- the only noise coming from the room was the soft beeping. Since when had the raking and gasping sounds stopped?
Crk.
The door had moved ever so slightly. Noa snapped open her eyes and looked up.
She looked through the sliver of the door to the ceiling of the backroom. Looking down at her was a gaunt, pallid face, enveloped in red light. Its eyes were dark and shallow, and its mouth was pulled into a tight o. It was towering- its head must have been brushing the ceiling of the room. Even through the dullness of its eyes, she could tell that his stare was virulent.
The man, if she could even call him that, leaned forward, moving towards the handle of the door. Noa jumped to her feet and pulled herself over the register, bringing the radio with her as she fell on the opposite side. The man stooped through the door, his eyes fixed on Noa. He must have been close to nine feet in height, and he was bowing with his shoulders slouched forward to fit into the room. He had filthy strips of cloth and denim strewn across its waist like a Roman pteruge that swung wildly with every step he took. Noa grabbed the radio and threw it as hard as she could, but it bounced off the man with a wet thud. She tried to run as it reached over the counter for her leg, but she slipped on a stack of papers that had been knocked off of the desk. Its ragged fingers had begun to wrap around her leg when it bellowed out in irritation and dropped its hand.
Noa turned her head to see Gabriel standing in the entrance of the shop, holding the shudders open with one hand. His other arm was outstretched, and Noa leaped up and grabbed it. He pulled her across the threshold and pulled down the metal barrier just as the man began to move towards the front of the store. It landed a blow through the shudders, denting it and sending Gabriel flying backwards.
“ROSSI!” Noa ran to Gabriel to help him, but he waved her away and pushed himself to one knee until he could steady himself against the wall. The shutters were shaking violently, and the metal began to groan as it pushed outwards.
“Come on, we have to go.” Gabriel rasped, still winded from the blow.
They moved as fast as they could down the corridor, following the signs towards the staircase. Behind them, the creature had punched a hole through the metal, was climbing through.
“Down here!” Noa yanked Gabriel back into a tight row of stores and peered out to see where the thing was. The creature was searching for them, walking down the main walkway slowly, peering around the sides of the shops and into any alley that they might have disappeared into.
Gabriel was muttering something that might have been a prayer under his breath as they weaved through more rows, eventually stopping to break the lock to another storefront with the edge of Noa’s Dalet. Pulling the shutters up just enough to crawl under, they closed it back behind them.
…
They were in a small general shop, and they sat behind the desk in the back, restlessly listening to the thing pace around the mall. When it passed them, Noa could hear the shhhp noise again. Her body involuntarily shuddered. When it had moved past them, she checked her phone to call for backup, but it was dead. She turned to Gabriel, who was twisting his hair between his fingers while he sulked.
“Hey, is your phone working? Mine’s dead, so I can’t call HQ.”
Gabriel reached into the front pocket of his shirt and threw his shattered phone on the ground. That’s why he’s so moody, Noa thought.
“So, how did you hurt that thing? It didn’t react at all when I threw something at it. It sounded like it was in pain.”
Gabriel, back to his usual self, gave a large sigh.
“I chucked my Dalet at it, but you’re wrong if you think he was hurt. It seemed more like frustration. Or annoyance. Maybe it reacted because Dalets are supposed to hold divine energy. Maybe there’s- I don’t know, a divine residue on it.”
“Why would you throw your Dalet, Rossi? Do you know what the Captain will do to you if you lost it?” Noa’s mouth fell open in disbelief.
“Probably give me a promotion for saving you.” Gabriel scoffed. “Why don’t you worry about yourself. You think Koh is going to want you for his team after this? As far as we know, that thing is going to leave this mall once and beat someone to death as soon as it gets tired of looking for us.”
Now, Noa was sulking too. He was right- she had squandered the opportunity to prove herself, and to make matters worse, she had put the public in danger.
“You’re right, Gabriel. I put your career in jeopardy, too. I’m sorry.”
Gabriel was silent for a second, staring at Noa in bemusement. He looked forward again and shrugged his shoulders.
“Whatever. At least I wouldn’t have to fix telephone poles all day in hundred-degree weather.”
Noa scoffed.
“Thank you for using your divine residue against that thing. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”
“Wait, I didn’t mean it like that- and you know what, you are welcome. You would’ve died without my quick thinking.”
…
In the distance, Noa could hear multiple phones ringing. She heard the uneven footsteps retreat, and then the mall fell quiet- a serene quiet. She closed her eyes and sighed in relief.