What Happened in Strasbourg

Chapter six: Lakeside

The evening sky was still light as I hopped into the back of a rideshare car a few blocks away from my house. My parents thought Imogen's family was picking me up to hang out at her place for dinner. But that was far from the truth. This was actually the first time I'd ever had to find a rideshare without the help of my parents or friends. I'd picked the first app that came up on my phone's store -- Turas -- an Irish company that was still obscure in Grays. This fact was something I'd realized after sitting on the curb for 30 minutes, watching the one available car that was meant to pick me up, circling every street on the map except my own.

By the time the Turas pulled up in front of me I already wished I could go back home. Even Ginger, the most patient dog in existence, sighed emphatically in my direction and chewed at her booties, which I'd put on so she wouldn't step on anything dangerous in the abandoned building.

"Nice dog," the driver said, as Ginger jumped into the backseat. "Why's she wearing... pink shoes? Those are shoes, right?"

"Yeah, basically," I laughed. "They're booties. Lots of service dogs wear them."

"Oh, got it. So where are we headed today?"

"Lakeside shopping center," I said, as I sat down in the passenger seat and pulled on my seatbelt.

"Wait, why? That place has been closed for... oh I get it, you're one of those mall kids who are obsessed with the early 2000s. Never guessed that, you don't really look like one."

"I'm really not. I'm going to see my friend -- she just likes to explore places like that."

"Well, don't get yourself into trouble," the driver shouted over the sound of the air conditioning. "Those mall kids are all junkies, at least the ones I know... Hope you have some naloxone on you, or whatever it's called."

He looked over at me. "Hey, what's wrong?"

I was in a car -- why was I in a car? My heart was beating in my throat, and I was staring into the sundown until it stamped green spots into my eyes. Everything felt on the border of a lucid dream and real life. "I'm okay," I mumbled. "I just... I don't know."

I was over-aware of my shallow breathing, the braces on my teeth, the faux pine scented air. I looked back at Ginger. If this had been a pre-seizure aura she would have warned me about it with an urgent paw or nudge. So I guessed I'd just had a pang of worry about the mall.

A few minutes later we pulled up outside the shopping center. After I tipped the driver, Ginger and I stepped out into the dark, empty car park. The driver rolled down his window and shouted "Good luck in there! Thanks for the tip, anything to keep me out of that Acheron hellhole right?"
"Yeah..." I said. "See you around."

I sighed and wandered up towards the building. The cool evening wind followed me through the dark gaps in the wall where there had once been automatic doors. Shattered glass crunched under my shoes, and I kicked an empty beer can aside. "Imogen?" I called. My voice echoed and then was gone. I turned on my phone's flashlight and waved it around. The logos and store names which were once spelled out in bold, glowing letters had been stripped from the walls, and the holes still left in the drywall looked like an overly-obvious connect the dots game. "B u i l d a B e a r W o r k s h o p," "H & M," "H a m l e y s." It looked like some birds had made their nests inside the few signs that remained, but like the mall itself they had been long abandoned and had fallen apart. "Imogen!" I yelled again, choking on the thick dusty air. "Where are you?"

"Up here!" I saw four faces staring down at me from the second floor.

"How -- how do I get up there?" I felt stupid, these kids knew all the mall's lore, and I didn't even know how to get to the second level. "There's an escalator over there," Imogen said.