In The Eye Of My Mind

3. Eden

The grand mall, a massive modern establishment where people spend portions of their lives, and a greater portion of their money. This place has been the hotspot for most people's activities ranging from shopping to socializing. Its facilities and event organization is key to its success.

To me, it was the usual detour i take when going home from work. I usually get something to eat, watch the news at one of the cheap cafés or purchase a new game that came out to kill time back home.

However, for God knows how long now, i've had my own little secret in this mall, my own hidden place. Discovered by accident, hidden from everyone but me, this place has been my own.

At the far end of the mall, near the reconstruction of the old shops and not far away from the emegency exit, there was an old banner ad. It was meant for a new product, marketing it with the shape of an arch where people used to pass through and notice the brand's name. With a faded red color, it was left at its place since people rarely visit that quiet part of the mall anymore.

However, i do, and i always go to that arch. It was made out of cardboard, relatively thin, and very old and dirty. However, it has one noteworthy property.

As i walk down the mall and towards this arch, i'm usually walking calmly. I never rush or become hasty not to draw attention. The reason why is because as soon as i reach the arch, i walk through it. When i exit it, nothing changes at all in what's around me. Just two things happen. Everyone else in the mall disappears and i'm suddenly wearing a full suit. I checked the mall, all its corners, shops, every single place becomes empty as i emerge through the arch. The suit is just there, i can't even remember or realize when or how i wore it.

The reason why i only know that the mall is empty, was because i couldn't leave it anymore when i pass through the arch. Its doors and windows are tightly shut, not even budging after trying to break them open.

I started calling the place i find myself at after passing through the arch as the second or empty world. It's hasty to jump to conclusions, but it's as if this arch was a gate or portal towards a world where nobody else exists, just the mall and God knows what outside it.

To go back, i simply go through the arch once again and the suit disappears, doors and windows open and everyone returns.

One might be curious to how this happened or why it exists, however i stopped trying sk hard to figure it out and accepted its existence.

It had one benefit that i could never have seen coming. One might ask: wouldn't others have found out about this magical weird portal? And the answer is yes. People usually end up passing through it from day to day. Whether they were trying to reacb the empty areas to smoke where there are no cameras or people, or just lost the way, some eventually pass through the arch.

Every day, i make sure to go through the arch and find the lost. The thing i found was that unlike me, they all become disoriented and lost track of what they were doing in the empty world. They wind up inside and aimlessly walk around looking for an exit.

When i go in, i approach them in the empty world, introduce myself and give them a fake name every time. It's weird but it has become a habit of mine. They start by being paranoid and asking all sorts of questions about the place, however, eventually, but surely, they calm down, they give in and accept whatever truth or lie i choose to tell them...

One particular day, i went in, the suit wrapped around me, i began looking for any lost people inside. The mall was relatively large, so it took a while.

At one of the large open areas where a fountain danced, there was a woman sitting at its edge, smoking a cigarette. I walked towards her slowly, trying not to startle her. She felt my presence and turned her head slowly my way. Her eyes were dark blue, surrounded by killer lashes that carried traces of makeup. Her face was really mature, yet innocent at its core. She smiled, her red stained lips were welcoming me, she ran her fingers through her curly long hair and leaned to the side. Her eyes were pinned at mine, not breaking the contact at all.

"Hello there" she greeted me, i finally recovered and managed to reply "Hi, how..are you?" It was very unusual for anyone to be this calm. All the ones i found before usually ran or panicked before and after i met them. This one was rather strange and had an eerie thing about her.

"I'm fine.. what about you? You look very very tired" she replied. Strange.. nobody commented on my looks before, let alone figuring out that i was tired or not.

"Rough day perhaps. More importantly, aren't you concerned? Don't you want to know where we are now?" I asked, her eyes finally looked away, she burned throuth her cigarette and blew smoke in a seductive way, almost drawing at the air.

"Well, i do have some theories, but seeing how well dressed you are, and how empty this place is, i'd say you're probably an angel or a devil... i'm leaning towards the latter actually. So, am i doomed for eternity in here?" She asked, my heart was beating fast. This woman is different.. she accepts this strange place and casually mentions her own demise.

"No no, nothing that extreme. I'm just a human just like you, and we're in a weird world of some sorts where we ended up after passing through the arch" i smiled, trying to ease her into the cheerful mood.

She raised a brow and kept buffing smoke as she replied "Ok wait wait.. so i want to know two things: one, why do you say you're a human like me? Why assume i'm human to begin with?" She paused for a deadly eternal second that almost tore my heart from fear before continuing "Also, what Arch are you talkimg about? I didn't pass through any arch.."

For a moment, i felt like an ice bucket has been poured over me. My heart sunk down my chest as this weird woman casually said what she said. I shook away that fear soon after. She nust be disoriented like the others, or so i told myself.

"Um.. well, you might have forgotten but..." she glared at me and interrupted in a firm but soothing voice "Now now, you're a very tricky devil if you ask me. Now, just torutre me or whatever.. i remember how i went, how things ended. I still remember the many times i came here... dressed in a fancy dress similar to your suit. I tried finding people who end up here, get them out or help them out. Turns out it was only my brain tricking me to believing that they were getting out..." again, she paused and gave me a moment to catch my breath, i was sweating nervously and was startled by her standing up "s...stay back!" I mumbled nervously. She giggled and kept a distance as she continued.

"Listen to me carefully... your name is Dr. ........, you were one of the best psychiatrics out there... you helped people who suffered from deep depression due to loneliness... however, you forgot that the one who needed help was you all along..." i stayed silent, my eyes couldn't look at hers anymore. I didn't know what to think or believe anymore.

"Look at me..." she said, her voice was softer now. My eyes couldn't resist. I was feeling the pain, happiness, bitter sweet suffering sneaking into my heart.

"I was your apprentice... a junior, and i watched you... read your work... kept up with everything you were doing and felt so fascinated by your amazing work..."

Her eyes were red, she was going to cry "but in the end, you fell a victim of what you've helped people avoid all these years... you were taken by the arch, by the mall, by all their images of what loneliness means to them and to you... the suit is a distraction" she pointed towards my body, i looked down and saw the lab coat... the one.. i wore back at the hospital...

"You were still doing all of this... helping people, pulling then out... even after...after..."

She smiled while her tears fell down, turned her head to the side and moved away her hair, her neck was broken, a bone sticking out of her flesh...

"You're dead... and in your death you chose to live in this loneliness... how did you die? You ended your own life... and now... after these years of me following you, having feelings for you... you never once felt that i could fill the loneliness... only when i ended my own life, i could finally reach you..." she fell to the cold floor, crying, but still looking towards me "I don't know what death is like, i don't know what to expect... but at least in the end... i could be with you, and that's enough, more than enough..."

I saw a silhouette of a man standing in the distance, blurry, dark, i can't see him, the light that came behind him was too bright. Her voice was now fading away, i no longer could hear her. I tried to move towards her but instead, the arch suddenly appeared, and as i ran towards her, i ran through the arch.

"Goodbye...Dr. ......"