by Z Hanny
“Maybe we just overlooked them and walked right past them,” Jennifer reasoned. “I was more focused on the bookshelf.”
They moved the books aside, then pulled the shelf over to the other one and positioned it so that they would both remain sturdy. Jennifer turned to gather a few more things when she noticed something duck behind a row of shelves.
“You two,” Jennifer called to the others over. “I saw something over there. More like someone – maybe one of the mannequins made it up here with us?”
Jared went to investigate, bat held high and ready. When he turned to see the other side of the shelves, he yelped – a giant lizard stood facing him, mouth gaping. Laughter burst out from the other side of the floor and Jared knocked over the plastic lizard.
“This isn’t funny,” Jared muttered. He raised his voice to speak to who or what was hiding in the shadows. “Whatever this is. Just leave us alone. We don’t even want to be in this building anymore.”
“Neither do we.” The sound of a child’s voice behind Jared made him leap.
When he turned, he saw a small figure duck into the corner, buried in shadows and darkness. As he neared the figure it stood and darted off further along the wall. He considered chasing after it, but let it be.
“Please tell me you two heard that as well?” Jared asked, returning to where Jen and Blaine stood shoulder to shoulder. They were staring in the direction that the figure ran off in. “It was a little kid’s voice.”
“I heard it,” Jennifer said, “and yeah, a little boy.”
“That’s my brother, Thomas,” a different voice came from beside Jen, making her shout and press a hand to her chest.
After calming herself Jennifer asked unsteadily, “Who are you?”
There was only silence for a moment, but then the girl’s voice came again, this time close to Blaine: “Marilyn.”
The crew looked at one another. There was nothing malicious in the tone of the child’s voice. They relaxed noticeably. Jen decided to take the lead.
“Marilyn, why are you here, sweetheart?” she asked, gazing around as though she would see the source of the voice.
“Daddy’s building.” This time her voice came from nearby Jared. He flinched. She was circling them, probably in a curious way.
Jared, Blaine, and Jennifer looked at one another, waiting for the rest of it, but Marilyn spoke no further. Blaine got the others’ attention when he noticed that the stairway had opened up once again. Panic and relief washed through them – they'd be able to go upstairs, but whatever was beneath them would also be able to reach the floor they were on.
Jared and Blaine started walking quickly toward the stairs, but Jennifer remained still and asked, “What do you mean by ‘Daddy’s building’?”
“Daddy paid for the building,” Thomas’ voice came from behind her and the toys on the floor shuffled as though someone were walking through them. “The men he borrowed the money from didn’t like him, so the poured fresh cement on him.” The matter-of-fact way that Thomas spoke about the horrific events made a shiver go up Jen’s spine. But the little boy wasn’t done yet. “They killed Mom too, poor Mom, only liked to collect her things. Daddy always helped her collect things, he knew it made her happy.”
“Did they kill you two as well?” Jennifer asked while calming her nerves. She glanced to Jared and Blaine, who were waiting for her by the staircase, arms and shoulders tense.
“I’m not sure,” Thomas said, and heavy breathing filled the air.
“Thomas, she’s scaring me,” Marilyn’s voice seemed panicked and further away.
Several of the toys surrounding Jennifer began to flash and Jared shouted out to her. She looked up and panicked at how far away they suddenly seemed. As she ran to them, the toys she passed came to life and wandered in her direction.
“Come on,” Jared shouted one more time.
She bolted up the stairs, chasing after Jared, her bat bouncing off each step. When they turned around, they saw all the toys walking towards the stairs. Flashing, singing, and cranking as they neared - but then the stairs vanished, and they were left staring at a blank wall.
“Well,” Jennifer said as she caught her breath. “We know why this place is haunted now.”
“That doesn’t really help us with surviving, though” Blaine said sourly.
“’Collect her things’,” Jared mumbled to himself. “Fish Face in the basement… That must be Mom. She collects things, that’s why the basement was cluttered.”
They all glanced at one another, then looked out into the darkness of the top floor. It was grossly silent.
Chapter Eighteen
Barriers
“I’m really glad the wall blocked those plastic creeps down there,” Jen said as she leaned against the wall. “I didn’t hear them come up – I don’t even think they tried.”
“We should go check the breakers,” Jared said, and pointed in the direction.
They walked slowly, watching and listening for any signs of ghastly beings. Blaine tripped since the lighting from the glow sticks was growing steadily worse, but nothing bothered them as they made their way to the breakers.
Every single breaker was switched to the ‘off’ side, so all three took their time flipping them back to ‘on’. After they were all changed over, Jared placed his hand on the master power switch and flipped it - but nothing came on.
“Of course. Why would be fortunate enough for that,” Blaine huffed. He sat down with his back against the wall. “I guess we’re going to hope that those barriers are strong enough to hold everything. And spend whatever time we have left until morning up here.”
“We need to make one more,” Jared said, pointing to the bare wall where the stairway would appear soon. “I don’t want to fight off small soldiers. Especially not after what they did to you.” He glanced at Blaine’s neck and shoulders, small dots of dried blood showing the smattering of puncture wounds.
Jared helped him stand up. The three of them worked together to construct the barrier quickly. When they were finished and sure it was secure, each made themselves a comfortable place to relax and wait.
They sat in silence until the staircase appeared again behind the mound of miscellaneous items they’d piled in front of it. The sound of dolls and actions figures beating at the blockade came from the other side. The group waited patiently, assured that the toys wouldn’t be able to get through.
As time went on each of them grew anxious. The cranking noise of the mannequins now accompanied the toys. Jared stood first with his bat held up as if he were swinging for a ball. The other two followed after him and they waited for the blockade to fail.
A hole broke open and a mannequin crawled through. Each of them swung with all their might as they targeted the sole mannequin. It whined as the bats bashed it into a bunch of pieces. The hole grew larger and two more squeezed in, both destroyed quickly as their companion had been.
As the group prepared for the next thing to crawl through, they were caught off guard by the entire blockade falling to the ground and everything on the other side flooding in. Mannequins and toys lunged for the teens, who fought them off and ran back and away from the stairs.
Teddy bears with spinning heads and dolls carrying nails approached them from the floor while the mannequins climbed the sides of the wall and tops of the stuffed shelves, knocking things off. Whenever something got too close to them, they bashed it to pieces. The group stayed side-by-side as the neared the far wall.
They couldn’t see much into the darkness, but the increasing sounds of the attacking entities gave them an idea that more things continued to come up the stairs. All the haunted items circled around them and enclosed them. Each of them tried with all their might to keep everything at bay, but it was clear that they were failing to do so.
Jared let out a grunt of rage and swung his bat at the wall, hitting the breaker. Sparks flew and everything came back to life abruptly - the possessed mannequins and toys froze
in place, almost comical in all of their strange positions of attack.
The sound of televisions and stereos playing came up the stairs, but the whining and cranking of the mannequins was no longer heard. Blaine tapped the nearest mannequin with the tip of his bat and it fell over, the arm breaking off.
Everything remained frozen under the lights.
“A little bit of luck,” Jared said as he looked over to the breaker. “Let’s hope these lights stay on because, at this point, I don’t think there’s anywhere safe for us to hide out.”
“I’ve got an idea,” Jen said. “It’s probably the last place we’ll be able to protect ourselves. Let’s find a bathroom and lock ourselves in.”
“That’s the only option we have at the moment,” Blaine said. “I think the nearest one I saw was on the television level.”
“Okay, let’s move as fast as we can,” Jared cut in, taking the lead. “We don’t know how long these lights are going to stay on and we’ve got a few floors to go.”
The group made their way to the stairs, past the frozen mannequins and toys, avoiding all contact with them as if they had the potential to explode. It never seemed to end. The stairway was filled with motionless figures that made it more difficult to get down.
They made their way down to the electronics level, observing the destroyed barriers. Fewer mannequins were on this floor. As they neared the bathroom a phone began ringing just nearby. Blaine stopped and looked towards the sound.
“Leave it alone,” Jared insisted, tugging at her arm. “If there’s anything that we’ve learned about this place, it’s that nothing good can be on the other end of that phone call.”
“But that’s my ringtone,” Blaine said as he looked over at the other two who were opening the door to the bathroom.
“Blaine, leave it,” Jared repeated.
Blaine glanced at his friends one last time before turning and running toward the sound. His phone was laying underneath a display shelf behind a bunch of boxes. It continued to ring, and he stuck his hand in, reaching as far as he could. It vibrated against his fingertips.
He snagged the phone and pulled it to him, then ran back to the bathroom where Jared was holding the door open for him. Blaine hit the button on his phone to ignore the call – he watched “Unknown Caller” disappear from the screen.
The phone dinged, and Blaine looked down at the screen. A text message from an unknown number read, ‘I don’t like the lights on.’
He showed it to the others, who gulped as they their eyes scanned the words. Jennifer glanced at the door, then gestured for Blaine to look over. It had a fogged window and on the other side, a shadow alerted them to the presence of someone standing just outside.
The doorknob jiggled as the person tried to get in, but it wouldn’t open. The intruder stopped.
Another message appeared on Blaine’s phone: ‘I’ll turn them off myself.’
The shadow vanished as the three were still looking down at the ominous words.
“We might be safe inside here,” Jennifer whispered. “The door wouldn’t budge and it looks pretty sturdy.”
“We really need those lights to stay on though,” Jared said as he stood and tried to see through the fogged window with no luck. “We should have just stayed up there near the breakers.”
“Whoever that is would have found us then,” Blaine said. “Clearly they mean us harm.”
“We could take our chances and just run for the first level again,” Jared suggested as he sat back down.
“Then what?” Jennifer asked. “We can’t get out.”
“I might feel safer with a tool as a weapon instead of a bat,” Jared said. “I could grab something on the way down.”
“Jared, calm down,” Blaine said. “We’re safest in here. We only have a little bit longer until the sun rises, then the store opens and we can slip out.”
Jared’s shoulders relaxed as he visibly calmed down. “Yea, you’re right,” he said. “We probably are safe in here.”
The lights went out.
Chapter Nineteen
BreakIn
The fogged window was lit from the other side by the glow of the television screens. That gave it away – not all of the breakers were off. Only the main lights.
The teens could see movement, which they realized quickly was mannequins milling around, waiting for them. Their eerie cranking sound seemed even louder in the dark.
Jared slowly backed away from the door and sat down next to the others. They stayed silent, hoping that the mannequins wouldn’t find them for a long time. It seemed that nothing out there was aware of their hiding place, but the window darkened once again.
‘Open up,’ the next message sent to Blaine’s phone read.
As Blaine showed it to the others, they all stood and prepared themselves for whatever would come through the door. A loud banging came from the other side. A metal section fell and clanked against the floor. Another loud bang and another piece of metal fell.
The door jiggled once more and then popped off from the hinges. The overwhelming sound of the mannequins whining filled the bathroom as they began to push through, reaching out arms and jointed fingers. As they neared the group took wide swings with the bats, shattering some of the plastic, but it seemed that every mannequin in the store had come. There were just too many.
Jared swung for the nearest one, but the bat was grabbed and pulled from his hand, Blaine’s bat broke in two while smashing a mannequin against the wall, and Jennifer dropped hers as several of the figures grabbed her.
Each of them kicked and punched as the mannequins dragged them out of the bathroom. Next to the door was a hammer and the broken door hinges lay on the ground. Blaine used what was left of the splintered bat to destroy another mannequin, but several others leaped on top of him and slammed his face against the floor. He went unconscious, blood trickling from his nose.
Jennifer screamed and gave up fighting, but Jared tried to remain focused and noticed that they were being dragged towards the stairway and elevator. The mannequins eyed them curiously as they dragged them along. They were fascinated by life and Jared could see it in their blank eyes.
“Jennifer,” Jared shouted as one of the mannequins dropped him to kick at his face. “We can’t let them take us down the stairs.”
She tried to respond but couldn’t and started flailing. Jared fought as well and nearly freed himself, but more mannequins joined in the struggle and held them still while continuing to drag them. They stopped before the elevator and one of them pushed the button, eerily slow.
At its touch, the elevator powered up and after a moment the doors opened. Jared and Jennifer stared wide-eyed and used the last bit of their might to try and get free, but nothing worked, and they were forced to watch helplessly as the elevator descended. Blaine began to stir in the corner when they came to a stop. The reader indicated they were on the first basement level.
“No!” Jared screamed, thinking of all the mannequins that were kept on this floor. He knew that he’d be facing death soon. “Let us go you plastic freaks!” Jared tore himself free just enough to hit the close button on the elevator.
The doors opened to reveal the swarm of mannequins waiting on the other side, but closed once more before any of them could get inside. Jared pressed on the up button and managed to kick some of the mannequins still holding him away. The ones holding Blaine and Jen turned toward him, distracted, giving them a chance to pull off a few legs and arms. The bodies tumbled and the teens were able to stand, breaking them into pieces.
They looked at the buttons to see which floor Jared had chosen and the number 2 lit up. It stopped. Jared held his finger over the close door button.
“We could hide in here,” Jared suggested as he looked over his shoulder at the others.
The lights around the buttons flickered and Blaine rubbed his head as he spoke. “I don’t like that idea, we need to get off here. We’ve already been hurt on the elevator.”
“I don’t want to see that guy again,” Jennifer whispered to the others.
Blaine took out his phone and silenced it, then used it for more light as the others looked around for any sign of stalking mannequins or wandering toys. The floor was still with no signs of movement. Jared glanced back towards the elevator and noticed that it was dark, and the stairs were gone. They were stuck on this floor for the moment.
“Maybe he isn’t here right now,” Blaine said hopefully. “I’m getting the feeling that the person on the other side of the bathroom door was the ghost.”
“But how could a ghost take off the door?” Jared asked.
“The same way that these mannequins and toys are moving,” Blaine said. “The ghost used tools, I saw them at the door.”
“You’re right,” Jared said and glanced around, paranoid at the realization. “I wonder where the Collector is?”
“Is that what you’re calling it now?” Jennifer asked. “Maybe she’s with the deformed ghost.”
“Her husband,” Blaine amended.
“What do you think the mannequins were doing to us?” Jen asked.
“Whatever it was,” Jared said, “I’m glad that we got away from them. There were a lot more waiting outside the elevator for us.”
“Thank you for that,” Jennifer said. “If you hadn’t made that last attempt we’d still be down on that level with them.”
“Yeah, thanks,” Blaine added. “Those things did some real damage to my head. By now, I’ve probably had a concussion or two tonight.”
“We’re going straight to authorities and medical attention once we get out of here,” Jennifer said. She rubbed at her ankle restlessly, eyes wide at the memory of the mannequins coming after her.