•Stuck in Mayfield's bazaar•

(2) A Man's Leg

Also known as:

•Floor One

•Matt saves the day

•A narrow escape

•ThEy'Re aLiVe-

Daniel's POV:

We stood in silence as the elevator glided upwards. Once on the first floor, the doors opened to reveal the rather dimly lit men's clothing department. From what Lonz said, there were seven floors, minus the main floor.

"So, where do we get a man's leg?" Vanessa wondered aloud, and Matt seemed to be deep in thought, gazing at the mannequins in front of us that were modeling everything from suits to shirts.

"I know!" he declared suddenly. "Let's take a leg from one of the mannequins! I bet that's what Reggie had in mind!"

"Sounds about right," Lonz grinned. "Excuse me sir, I need to borrow your leg," she joked, strolling over to a mannequin wearing a black suit.

We laughed at her joke when a deep, loud bonging noise suddenly echoed through the rather large room. I turned to see an old grandfather clock striking twelve. It was midnight, which meant the store would go crazy soon, if I'm not mistaken.

We gave each other a long look before Lonz bent down to get the leg from the mannequin so we could leave. "Do you think this store is really cursed?" Vanessa asked, but before I could answer, we heard a shriek that was more surprise than fear.

I turned to look at Lonz and my eyes widened in shock.

The mannequin was grabbing Lonz by the arm!

Lonz's POV:

Just as I managed to twist the leg out of its socket and and pulled it out, a smooth, shiny hand grabbed my elbow, making me shriek in shock. I looked up to see the mannequin peering at me coldly. "Give me back my leg!" it groaned angrily.

I gaped at it in horror. This store IS cursed! The mannequin just came to life!

"Vanessa!" I yelled. "Catch!" I threw the leg at her to catch and yanked my arm out of the mannequin's tight grasp, sending it crashing to the floor. 

"Bloody hell!" Daniel exclaimed. "They're ALL coming to life!" He was right, all around us, all those mannequins were waking up!

"Help!" the mannequin in the black suit that had just toppled over called to the others. I scampered away from it before it could catch me again. "Those punks took my leg!"

"Hey who are you calling punks-" Vanessa began incredulously when all the mannequins turned to glare at us. "Give us the leg!" they chanted eerily in unison, moving towards us!

We four huddled together, and I could feel Vanessa's body tremble in fear. "What do we do?!" Matt cried. "We'll be surrounded at this rate!"

"We give them the leg, or book it to the elevator!" Daniel whisper-yelled, glancing at the elevator. "But which one do we do?"

"They're pretty slow... and we need the leg for the bet and to get out of here, so we run!"

That was all that was needed to be said.

And with that, we raced to the elevator at full speed, dodging the mannequins left and right. Almost there...

WHAM!

Daniel ran straight into one of the mannequin's broad chest. It fell on top of him, pinning him to the ground. "Give us the leg!" it groaned, its face dangerously close to his.

"Daniel!" Vanessa screamed as Daniel struggled to break free from the mannequin. He managed to kick it in the stomach, knocking it off of him. "What's with all you mannequins after one measly leg?!" he snapped, getting up. But that wasn't what was important now. He was free alright, but he was surrounded by all the mannequins!

Oh no... I thought. Did we make a wrong choice?

Daniel's POV:

I stared at all the mannequins around me; I was cornered! Crap, I was in for it.

SWOOP! I felt a pair of hands grab mine, lifting me up in the air and away from the mannequins. Of course!

"Gee, thanks mate!" I laughed up at Matt in relief and he just gave me a grin. "You owe me one mate," he replied, placing me down in front of the elevator and following me inside, the mannequins still after us.

"Excellent!" Lonz cheered, jabbing one of the buttons. The elevator doors slammed shut, safe from the mannequins. 

"Haven't stretched these in a while," Matt said, flapping his white wings and drawing them close. "You alright mate?"

"Yep, thanks to you," I replied before I was tackled in a hug. "Vanessa-?"

"I was so scared something would happen to you..." she mumbled into my chest, and I sighed and stroked her hair gently. "Hey, I'm fine princess, don't worry..." I told her, and she nodded, not letting me go.

"Mannequins coming to life..." Lonz gasped, wiping the sweat off her forehead. "Now that was terrifying. I swear I can't remember the last time we ran so fast..."

"Especially when you encounter them in person..." I shivered at the events a few moments earlier.

Matt gave Lonz a soft side hug as a way of comfort, before he picked up the mannequin leg and shoved it inside the duffel bag. "One floor down, six more to go..." he muttered. "Where to next?"

Lonz picked the note from her pocket and unfolded it. "We can go to any of the floors, we don't need go in any particular order," she looked up at us. "But we need to go to every floor. And we can go to the seventh floor only after finishing all the other floors."

Alright... time to pick a new floor.

To be continued...