by Gabi Moore
“So, how do you want me to help you?” he said from across the table. Sean picked a small booth toward the back where they would less likely be noticed. He didn’t need the sneers from the jocks who found reason to come inside from time to time.
“Just come out there with me today as back-up,” she told him. “I need you to run cover for me. It’s all I’m asking.” Emily slid one hand over his.
When she did that, Sean made up his mind he would do anything for her. He was gone to the world, madly in love with the girl who faced him, even if he couldn’t tell anyone.
“So he knows it all,” Emily told Dion and Lilly. “I told him every detail what happened yesterday. Sean is here to help too. Why don’t you let him?”
“Do you have any idea what we’re up against?” Dion asked Sean. “You have any idea at all what could be on the other side of those doors?”
“I’ve talked with Emily,” he said. Dion noticed Emily gave Sean’s hand a little tug with hers.
“I see. Well, let’s get moving. Just watch me and listen to anything I have to tell you. It might appear to be a normal mall on the outside, but the place is the entrance to hell.”
As with the other entrance, there was as small water fountain outside the entrance to the “Air” section of the mall. Dion stopped and watched the water play out. He wondered what he could do to make the dangers of the mall real to Sean, but his full power extended only over the earth element.
And then he saw the bull again.
The plastic bull, which came to life the previous day and tried to stop them from reaching the Grandmaster of the Earth Element, was on a cart. The cart was sitting on the curb next to the fountain, although the plastic bull was tied down to it. Next to it was a uniformed maintenance man who was in the process of finishing his morning cigarette. Dion stopped to look at the bull on the cart.
“They’re taking it out?” he asked the man.
The worker finished his cigarette and tossed the butt on the ground. At least there had been a rain the night before, so there were no worries about the ground catching fire.
“Not working?” Dion asked again.
“Somebody said it came loose and slid off the mount upstairs. I don’t see how it happened, but it was in the cooking store when we had to move it out. The company is replacing it. Can you believe that? This damn mechanical bull came loose and slid all the way into the store.”
“I’d have to see that happen to believe it,” Dion told him.
In fact, he had, but now it was just another cheap ride for the curious.
“Yeah, I find it hard to believe too,” the man said.
Dion felt the earth elementals moving beneath them. These were the basic ones; he could do a lot more with them now though. They weren’t too complicated and could be easy to work with. He found two playing in the soil beneath the plastic bull and connected with them. Would they be willing to help him in return for something they might need? Yes, but what did he need? Dion told him and they were delighted to help.
“It that strap very tight?” Dion asked.
“Tight as it needs to be. I don’t think there’s much trouble with it. Statue doesn’t weight that much, in spite of how it looks. I don’t foresee it bucking out of the truck.”
“I wouldn’t’ be so sure about that,” Dion told him just as the plastic strap around the middle of the bull snapped.
The maintenance man turned and looked at the bull behind him. He dropped the second cigarette, which he was on the point of lighting, and starred as the bull stepped off the cart. It walked straight up to him. It turned its head, looked around and noticed the green grass on the ground. As the rest of the group looked on in wonder, the plastic bull walked over the grass and began to gnaw on the ground.
“But, it’s fake!’ is all the man could sputter out.
“Are you sure about that?” Dion said to him. “I don’t recall too many fake bulls which eat grass.”
The man walked over to the bull and starred at it a bit longer. He could see the painted nose snort and the artificial eyes look at the ground. The bull was black in color and wasn’t transparent; although it had a shine on it from the way the sunlight struck it. The bull continued to munch on the grass.
“It’s some kind of machine,” the man concluded. “Has to be. Now I see why people thought it had walked into the china shop. Can you imagine that? A plastic bull inside a china shop.”
The bull reared back up. It reassumed the position it had before the it animated. The earth elementals thanked Dion in a voice only he could hear. They left the bull statue, traveling back into the ground. The bull turned back into what it was before the elementals entered it: a metal and plastic statue designed for the entertainment industry.
“I think your bull is back to normal,” Dion told the man as it froze back into position. “You need some help getting it back on the cart?”
The man walked over to the bull statue and pushed it. It wobbled, but showed no signs of moving again. He looked at it all over until he decided it wasn’t going to walk away. With one hand, he lifted it up. The front section bucked up into the air.
“I don’t get it,” he said. “I watched this thing walk off the cart by itself and eat the grass. There are even grass stains on the mouth. How did it happen? I can’t feel any heavy gears inside it.”
“Who knows? Maybe they’ve put something inside the bull you don’t know about.”
“Now I have to be concerned about it climbing of the cart,” the maintenance man grumbled.
“I don’t think you have to worry,” Dion smirked as he and his friends headed in the direction of the mall entrance.
Chapter 3
If a true believer needed to be created, it was found in the form of Sean.
Lilly and Emily had watched all kinds of miracles the day before and didn’t have the least trouble with a plastic bull, which walked on its own. Sean, on the other hand, had spent his formative years listening to his mother babble on about demons, spirits and the end of the world.
He was forced to attend church meeting where elderly pastors screamed damnation on the sinful world of rock music. He watched respected women of the choir divorce and re-marry. By the time he was fifteen, Sean decided it was all a pile of nonsense and there was no magic in the world. It was all protons, electrons, smoke and mirrors. But a walking plastic bull had made a believer out of him in seconds.
They continued to the mall entrance. It was now unlocked and the crowds which had waited outside were on their way inside.
There was always a sense of excitement by these shoppers as they worked their way into the mall to greet the new shopping day. It resembled a tribe of hunters who had spotted their prey and were intent on closing in as soon as they could. They would form groups of hunting parties to swarm across the grounds of the mall in search of the best sources of game. They pursued their quarry based on tracks marked by sales flyers and images on the wall, which told them of the daily specials. When they were ready to pounce, the hunters approached with shopping carts in front of them, ready to acquire the target.
The four were soon inside the mall, walking through one of the corridors, which connected with the main concourse. Benches and planters ran through the middle of the corridor and smaller shops lined the sides. These were small stores that seldom had more than a thousand square feet on the inside with one or two windows. It was the start of the workday and the window cleaners were busy at work with their squeegees.
Dion noted the window cleaners were human and with a local company that used a seahorse as its logo. He hadn’t seen a ghoul cleaner yet and didn’t think he would. The ghouls wouldn’t touch him since he had full earth elemental power. However, officer Karanzen and his officers were a different story.
And just as Dion stepped into the main concourse, he encountered his nemesis. Karanzen, in his uniform, stood and blocked Dion’s way into the mall. On either side were two of Karanzen’s security guards.
&n
bsp; Dion stopped and looked at him directly in the face. “And good morning to you, Officer Karanzen,” he said to the shaven-headed former army officer. “Is there something I can do for you?”
“You can watch yourself in this mall. I don’t want a repeat of yesterday. Do I make myself clear?”
“You do, Officer. Now if you will please move aside? I have an appointment I need to keep.” He stepped around the head of mall security and led his friends to the rest of the mall.”
“That’s right, you little snipe,” Karanzen mumbled to himself, not caring if his guards heard or not. “Just continue on your happy way. We’ll see how far you get this time.”
“Who was that?” Sean asked Dion as they continued on their way. “The guy didn’t seem to like you at all.”
“The feeling is mutual. We had a confrontation the last time I was here.”
“More like multiple confrontations,” Lilly added. She made sure to be at his side in case Dion needed anything.
“He won’t be of much trouble today,” Dion continued. “Unless we do something stupid. And I don’t intend to do anything stupid. We’ll see what happens.”
The mall was busy already. The shoppers heard the news on TV, radio and in the local papers about the big spring sales that drove them to the mall. Already the lot filled with cars, which brought even more shoppers out to sample the wares from all over the world. There was even one store which specialized in imports from the vast reaches of the planet and beyond. Eager faces of energetic aspirants to the wealth of the world could be seen as they walked between stores and feasted their eyes upon the treasures that lay inside. The bonus checks arrived last week from many of the large companies where the families drew their income.
“We lost the map of the mall when we had to trade it for Emily,” Lilly pointed out. It was the only way they could get her back from the ghouls without violence the previous day. “It’s not going to be easy to find our way around.”
“Why should it be hard?” Sean asked them. “There is a directory on the other side we can use. If not, I’m sure one of the kiosk ladies has a map.”
“Different kind of map,” Emily said. “Dion got this from a special store. It shows places the other maps don’t.”
“Why would that make a difference?”
“The map we had showed the passages the ghouls used to get around the mall. You’ll never find them on any other map. Plus, many of these stores, which are closed to the general public, have a very particular clientele base. You won’t see them anywhere else.”
“Like what?”
“Like a store which sells pollution control equipment for water sprites. They still have to live in that mess and want to keep their part clean.”
Dion went on to tell him about the cafeteria for vampires and the anti-surveillance store for ghosts. It seemed the specters were fed up with paranormal investigators who wouldn’t leave them alone. They invested heavily in auto-intrusion technology to have a decent afterlife.
“They’re pushing for a lot of the counter-surveillance equipment on the market. The specter detectors still don’t understand why they were able to get voice recordings in graveyards up to three years ago, but can’t get a thing anymore. The ghosts found ways to jam their devices. They buy new equipment every chance they get.”
Soon they reached the waterfall, which marked the center of this section of the mall. It was built to serve as a wishing well and combination fountain with a goldfish-reflecting pond. Like many of the other aquatic attractions in the mall, it had a ledge where people could sit and relax. It was early in the day and the only shoppers relaxing where young mothers who’d brought their children.
“I could walk to the other side of the mall,” Dion said. “It’s a haul to get over there. Besides, the hobby shop we need to find shouldn’t be so hard to locate.”
As they sat there, a small balloon floated down from the skylight to them. No one saw who released it and all four of them were surprised by the sudden appearance of the balloon. I was red in color and had a small piece of paper attached to it. When the balloon descended in front of them, Lilly grabbed the paper on it.
“It’s a letter,” she said as she looked at the paper. “It’s addressed to you, Dion.” She detached the letter from the balloon and handed it to Dion, and she gave the balloon to Sean.
Dion slowly opened the letter while Sean tried to figure out what to do with the balloon. Sean turned to Emily. “Is there any reason we need to keep this thing?” he asked her.
“I can’t imagine why.”
“Good,” he said and popped the balloon. Several women near the waterfall turned and glared at him. Dion continued to read the letter.
“You didn’t have to make so much noise,” Emily snapped at him.
“Sorry.” It was a problem he’d always had, not knowing when something was appropriated to do or not. Somehow, Sean just never knew the social cues that guided most people through life.
“So, what is in the letter?” Lilly asked Dion.
“It was from my parents.” Dion folded it up and placed it in his pocket. The rest of the group became quiet.
“So what did it say?” Emily asked. “Can you tell us?”
“It said that they’re proud of what I’ve done and want me to continue with the quest. They look forward to being with me again. They’re all right, but still imprisoned at the center of the mall in the clock tower. The managed to get the one letter out, but they don’t think they’ll be able to do it again. They told me I need to have all five elemental powers to free them.”
“Pretty much what you already knew,” Lilly said.
“Five elements?” Sean spoke again. “I thought there were only four.”
“The fifth is the source of the other ones,” Dion explained. “It has to do with the abyss; I’m just not sure how.”
“Well,” Lilly said, “if you can find the hobby store where the Air Elemental Grandmaster is located. You can at least have that part of the quest finished.”
“It’s never as easy as that. You saw what happened yesterday. The mall builders had the ghouls kidnap Emily just to keep me away.”
“I thought the kidnapping was the ghouls’ idea,” Lilly said. She shuddered as the memories of the trip to the subbasement came back to her.
“They put them up to it,” Dion said. “We need to see Mr. Jehuti.”
“Other side of the mall,” Lilly said. “Besides, we lost the map he gave us the first time, what makes you think he and his wife will want to give us another copy? Assuming he has another to give us.”
“Did someone let a bird in here?” Sean asked.
They all turned to see where he pointed.
Indeed, it was bird. But a large one and it was in the pool of water where the waterfall emptied. The bird had long legs and a large beak. It resembled a flamingo, but it was not so colorful. The bird walked in the water toward them with a scroll in its mouth. It avoided all of them except Dion, whom it hopped up to and presented the scroll.
“I think it wants to give it to you,” Lilly said.
Dion reached over and took the scroll from the bird’s mouth. Seconds later, it was airborne. They watched it soar into the heights of the mall until it found an opening in the skylight. The bird swooped out of the mall and was last seen as a dot through the skylight.
The sounds began to fade in the mall as Dion picked up the scroll and unrolled it. None of the others noticed as they gathered around to look at it. Only Lilly remarked that it was made of papyrus, as the map yesterday was also constructed. The air became very warm inside the space where they stood looking at the scroll.
It consisted of one figure, which was a jumble of Egyptian symbols surrounded by an oval. The symbols were painted on the papyrus in very bright colors. This was no tourist replica, but an actual Egyptian document from the Old Kingdom. What it was doing inside the mall had yet to be explained. It made no sense to any of them.
Dion looked up from
the scroll and discovered he was no longer in the mall. Once again, he was in the Egyptian desert of three thousand years ago. Once again, he was dressed in the simple robes of a court official from that time period. He looked across the sunbaked land and saw a woman approach him in a backless dress with her long hair tied back in a headband, which had an ostrich feather stuck in it. She held a set of balances in one hand. It was Mr. Jehuti’s wife, but she was without her husband.
Dion looked to his sides and saw his friends with him, similarly dressed. This had happened the last time he’d been in Mr. Jehuti’s store. The older man said he needed to hold a conference with Dion and Lilly. Seconds later, they were transmitted to the same scenario in the ancient Egyptian desert. This was where he was first handed the secret map to the mall.
“I see you’re alone,” Dion said to Mrs. Jehuti. Once again she walked across the sands with the aid of a staff. Dion noticed this time there was a rose carved into the head of it.
“My husband has to take inventory today. We learned of your forfeiture of the map last night.”
Sean was at a loss to figure out what was happening. One minute they were in a suburban shopping mall, now they were in the Land of the Pharaohs. He glanced across the burning sands and saw a pyramid under construction. In front of it, two men looked over a set of plans as a work team hauled a stone, which had to have weighed several tons. Other work teams were busy moving stones into place as stonecutters walked around with tools to check the fitting.
Lilly knew where she was and stayed close to Dion. Emily hadn’t been here before and turned to watch a boat sail down the river in front of them. She was perplexed by what had taken place. It didn’t bother her, as yesterday was as bad as she ever wanted to experience, but today the sun was high in the sky and it was hot. She looked down at her skirt and found a pair of leather sandals on her feet. They were tooled to resemble lotus heads where the tops joined the ankle straps.
“Here is the map,” Mrs. Jehuti told him as she produced it from a pouch on her belt. “Try and not trade it this time.”