Five Nights at Macy's: Crimson Stains

Chapter 2: The Grand Opening

   The two girls pushed their way through the crowd, Rene eager to see the grand opening of Macy's and to be one of the first people in the massive building. She wanted to see if what she heard was true: the 5-star pizza, the massive arcade... the animatronic entertainers. Bethany was only a few steps behind her, desperately trying to hold onto her stuff as she was bumped into by other people. "Rene! Come back here!" She called out, but the other girl kept onwards.

   After what seemed like ages, both Rene and Bethany made it to the front of the crowd as the loud speakers whined to life. A tall, lean man stood on the landing with a microphone in hand. He wore a dark blue tuxedo, his dark brown hair styled to swoop backwards. He looked like a proper Englishman, not the owner of a huge pizzeria chain. A smaller, plumper man stood next to him, smiling nervously. He wore casual clothes, which was a red polo shirt and khaki pants over brown dress shoes. He looked out of place next to the taller man.

   Rene's eyes caught on the taller man, then she turned to Bethany. "Hey, isn't that your dad? Mr. Connors?"

   Bethany sighed, crossing her arms. "Yup... that's my pops. Always dressing proper for the meetings and such... I've never seen him outside that tux." Bethany joked, receiving a light chuckle from her friend. Bethany giggles with her friend, her eyes slowly moving up to look at the landing as Mr. Connors raises the microphone to his face.

   "Good evening, and thank you for taking time out of your day to come see the grand opening of the new Macy's Entertainment Parlour." He stopped for applause from the crowd, shushing them after a bit. "I know there have been many rumors of what lies inside the building, and I know you're all eager to see if they're true, so I'm not going to keep you for very long.

   I just came here to thank all of you for the support and contributions towards this massive project to put one of the biggest pizzerias in the state here in little ol' Hurricane, Utah. Therefore, I want to dedicate this establishment to you all as a thanks." He paused for a second, checking his watch. "Perfect timing. It's lunch time!" Connors smilled, grabbing a pair of scissors from the shorter man and cutting the ribbon. Cheers and applause erupted from the crowd as they entered inside.

   Rene grabbed Bethany's hand, taking off in a run. "Come on! We gotta get inside!" she cheered. Bethany sighed, allowing herself to be dragged inside by her friend and the mob of people pushing them further inside.

The inside was absolutely massive. The door opened up to the main dining hall, which was scattered with dainty party tables, draped with a crisp white tablecloth covered in glitter and ribbon pieces, on the arcade-style carpet. Lights shone bright on the walls littered with posters advertising "half-off pizza on opening day!" Music blasted from the speakers stacked on the main stage, playing some popular 1980's tunes. Farther down, the arcade cabinets were in sight, lined up perfectly in a row, blasting sound effects from the game's demo. It took no time for each game to have an eager kid sitting at it's stool, fiddling with the joysticks and buttons. The prize corner sat off to the side of the arcade, which Beth referred to previously as "Arcade Alley" filled with small prizes and stuffed animals of the pizzeria's main attractions, varying from small to humongous. A giant box sat next to the counter, it's wind-up crank slowly turning around and around. 

Rene grinned from ear to ear, spinning around as she took in the magnificent sight that surrounded her. She took in a strong smell of pizza and pastas, sighing. "Man, Beth... you said it was amazing, but you were WAY off!"

Bethany perked up from her phone, eyeing Rene. "What do you mean?"

The raven-haired girl looked up at the stage on the far end of the room, and Bethany could see her green eyes glowed as bright as the stage lights while they marveled at the sight they had found. "This place is absolutely beautiful... I never want to leave.

Hearing this... Bethany felt a chill run down her spine. She shivered as she developed a sickening feeling in her stomach... she had a bad feeling that they were being watched...