Chapter 2: The Conspiracy Begins
Lucian burst through the front door of his house, still panting, his skateboard tucked under his arm. His heart was hammering, his hands shaking, but the moment he stepped inside, reality hit him like a truck.
He was covered in dust, his jeans torn at the knees from his fall. His hoodie smelled like mildew and old mall air. He looked like he had just crawled out of a crypt.
And yet, despite everything—the chase, the monster, the near-death experience—his first thought was: How the hell am I supposed to explain this?
"Lucian?"
His mom's voice carried from the kitchen. He flinched.
Oh, crap.
"Yeah! Uh—just got back from skating!" he called, forcing his voice to sound normal.
A pause. Then, "You better not be tracking dirt all over my floor."
Lucian exhaled in relief. "I'm not!" Mostly.
He slipped upstairs before she could press any further, shutting his bedroom door behind him. The second he was alone, he tossed his skateboard to the floor and collapsed onto his bed, staring at the ceiling.
That wasn't just some hallucination. That happened.
There was a monster in that mall. A real, actual, otherworldly creature. And it had chased him through the damn food court.
He rubbed his face, replaying the night over in his head. The arcade machine. The message. The static mist. The screeching claws. Every detail sat heavy in his chest.
I can't be the only one who knows about this. Someone has to have seen something before... right?
That's when an idea hit him.
Lucian grabbed his laptop from his desk and booted it up, fingers already flying over the keyboard. If that mall had any history of weirdness, the internet would know. He started digging.
Forums. Old news articles. Sketchy conspiracy theory blogs.
A couple of missing person reports popped up—kids who had wandered into the mall over the past few years and never came out. Most people blamed squatters, or the fact that the place was a death trap, with collapsing ceilings and exposed wiring. But then, buried deep in an old forum post from years ago, he found something interesting.
A user named Nightwatcher87 had written about seeing something inside the arcade.
"I don't care if you think I'm crazy, but something is WRONG with that place. I saw something—some THING—come out of an arcade machine. It wasn't human. It wasn't right. And no one believes me."
Lucian sat up, heart pounding.
There it was. Proof that someone else had seen it.
His eyes flicked toward the time on his laptop. 11:52 PM.
No way he was sleeping. Not after that.
With a sigh, he grabbed his hoodie, pulled it back on, and quietly climbed out his window onto the roof. He had a habit of sneaking out whenever he needed to clear his head, and at this point, his own house felt suffocating.
Sliding down the side of the roof, he landed with a soft thud on the grass. Then, skateboard in hand, he took off down the quiet street, the cool night air brushing against his face.
The town was dead at this hour, just how he liked it. No cars. No noise. Just streetlights buzzing softly overhead. He let his board roll lazily down the road, his mind still racing.
He needed to go back. To prove he wasn't losing his mind.
But how do I even start?
Just then—he heard it.
Footsteps.
Lucian tensed, his grip tightening on his skateboard. The sound was faint, but definitely there—coming from the alleyway up ahead.
He slowed down, heart pounding. "Hello?"
No answer.
Lucian narrowed his eyes. He knew better than to investigate weird noises alone, especially after what had just happened. But...curiosity got the best of him.
He carefully stepped off his board and approached the alleyway, peeking around the corner—
And then someone grabbed him.
Lucian yelped, instinctively twisting to throw a punch, but the person dodged effortlessly, shoving him against the wall instead.
"Damn," a voice snorted. "You scare easy."
Lucian blinked.
It was a girl.
She stepped back, hands raised in mock surrender, a smirk playing on her lips. She had dark hair pulled into a messy ponytail, ripped jeans, and a utility belt packed with random tools. She looked like she had just walked straight out of an action movie.
"Who the hell are you!?" Lucian hissed, still catching his breath.
She tilted her head. "Shouldn't I be asking you that? You're the one creeping around like a horror movie victim."
Lucian scowled. "I was not creeping."
"You were definitely creeping."
He groaned. "Okay, whatever. Who are you?"
The girl crossed her arms. "Amelia."
Lucian hesitated. "...Okay? Annnnd why did you just attack me!?"
Amelia shrugged. "Wasn't an attack, dude. Just testing your reflexes."
Lucian stared. "Testing my—who even does that!?"
She grinned. "People like me. People who actually know what's going on in this town."
Lucian stiffened.
"Oh yeah," she added, eyeing him. "I saw you earlier. At the mall."
His stomach dropped.
"I followed you in," she continued. "Didn't expect you to be such a loud investigator, though."
He felt his face heat up. "I wasn't investigating, I was—" He stopped himself. "Wait. You saw the monster?"
Amelia shrugged. "Didn't see it clearly, but I saw you running like your life depended on it." She smirked. "Kinda hilarious, honestly."
Lucian groaned, rubbing his temples.
"But yeah," she added, crossing her arms. "I'm looking for proof too. Not just for myself, but for my dad."
Lucian blinked. "Your dad?"
Amelia hesitated. "He... used to investigate stuff like this. But no one ever believed him." She looked down, her voice quieter. "I'm gonna prove he was right."
Lucian stared at her.
For the first time since the whole nightmare began, he wasn't alone.
Someone else believed him.
A slow grin spread across his face. "Well, Amelia... you're in luck."
She raised a brow. "Oh?"
He cracked his knuckles, his usual cocky confidence slipping back into place.
"Because I suck at staying out of trouble."
Amelia studied him for a moment—then, to his surprise, she grinned back.
"Good," she said. "Neither do I."
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End of Chapter 2
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