Chapter 7 – Shelter Three (Lily)

-Arcadia Grand Central Mall, Floor Three Shelter-
-Five minutes after Emergence alarm-

“It really wasn’t that big of a deal,” Lily smiled awkwardly at the two parents thanking her for the fifth time.

“No, really,” the man in front of Lily insisted with watery eyes. “You saved our little girl. I don’t know what I would have done if anything happened to our Lucy.”

Lily decided to just give a reassuring smile and nod. Finding the parents had turned out to be an easy task considering they were waiting right outside the wide-open doors of the shelter, pleading with the mall security in charge to go and find their children. When they saw Lily running with their little girl in tow, they had all but broken down in relieved sobs as they rushed out to hug their daughter.

Then they realized their son wasn’t there.

“And you’re sure Brian is on his way?” the mother asked, still clutching Lucy to her chest.

Lily felt the corner of her mouth quirk up slightly as she looked back through the shelter’s doors. Lily and the family had been ushered inside the shelter, but had refused to move further inside along with the rest of the crowd. The mall security guards in charge all seemed young and a little lost, and so they had allowed it after the quick explanation that they were waiting for people.

“My friend Mai knows what she’s doing,” Lily gave a cocky smile. “She’s the most reliable person I know. They might cut the timing a little close, but they’ll make it.”

That didn’t seem to alleviate the parents’ fears much, but there wasn’t really anything else Lily could do to convince them. Lily turned back to look down the hallway leading to the shelter, and forced herself to remain still. It was hard, because all she really wanted to do was sprint out there and look for Mai. It was a completely idiotic idea considering Lily had no idea where she would even begin looking.

Deep inside, Lily knew Mai had been right, as she always was. Even though Mai was shy and unassuming, she was one of the smartest people Lily knew. Behind Mai’s gleaming sapphire eye was a quiet cunning that was constantly calculating. More than once, Lily had experienced Mai do something for seemingly no reason, only to find out her action had solved multiple problems before some of them could even manifest.

The only problem was that Mai tended to have a blind spot in regards to her own well-being.

“Lily?” a familiar woman’s voice called, and Lily looked back into the shelter’s interior.

Ms. Toma, Lily’s homeroom teacher, walked towards her. Lily could see deeper into the shelter’s futuristic white interior where a crowd of people were nervously talking in groups. The biggest groups were made of the four classes from Sakura High. The teachers had already done their headcount, but Lily had just given a wave to Ms. Toma instead of joining everyone else.

Idly, Lily noted that Mai’s homeroom teacher was talking to some of the chaperones and teachers instead of waiting at the entrance. It made Lily’s eyes narrow slightly, but she didn’t let it show on the cheery expression she gave Ms. Toma.

“Still waiting for Mai, are you?” Ms. Toma asked with a gentle smile and concerned eyes.

As far as Lily was concerned, Ms. Toma was the perfect teacher. She was warm and kind, and always dressed in clothes that matched her personality, like the simple blue dress and yellow cardigan she was currently wearing. Her face was round and soft, and lent to her empathetic impression. She had an uncanny knack for understanding what was going on, and more than once Lily had been caught off guard by her teacher’s insight. Really, she was completely the opposite of Mai’s useless homeroom teacher.

“Yup,” Lily answered with a nod. “Should be any minute now.”

Ms. Toma glanced at the fidgeting parents, then back to Lily with a relaxed grin.

“If it were anybody else I might be more nervous too,” Ms. Toma replied, “but from the way you talk about her, I’m sure she’s already on her way back.”

Lily felt her cheeks redden as she scoffed and folded her arms defiantly.

“I don’t talk about her that much.”

Which was mostly true. Although, Ms. Toma had stopped Lily after school a few times to have heart-to-heart talks like she seemed to do with all her students, and Lily had spent most of the time talking about Mai after they became friends. Still, Lily hadn’t been gushing about Mai or anything… had she?

“I said the way you talk about her,” Ms. Toma giggled, and Lily’s face burned hotter. “Honestly, she must be pretty impressive to make such an impression on you and not even be in our class.”

Lily shrugged, not sure what to say. As she did, she noticed the parents had been taking in every word of their conversation and seemed to relax a little. Lily blinked as she realized how effortlessly Ms. Toma had calmed them down without even speaking a single word to them. Lily felt a little bit of pride surge in her chest, and she smiled.

“Anyway,” Ms. Toma said, pulling up her hand to check her watch. “There should still be a little over four minutes left, so there’s plenty of time to-”

Suddenly, the lights went out.

 

Cold washed through Lily as the notification appeared in her head. In the shelter, the lights flickered back on, but outside, red emergency lights bathed the hallway in dark shades of scarlet. A sudden chill went down the back of Lily’s neck, and she felt her mouth go dry. Inside the shelter, a few people let out shouts of surprise.

Then, the second message appeared.

 

Ms. Toma’s eyes went wide, her calm expression wiped clear. There was the sudden sound of something heavy moving, and Lily turned to see the double set of shelter doors beginning to shut. The mall security guards who had been outside quickly ran in, their eyes big with fear. Lily heard the parents let out a cry of despair from beside her, and something inside her clicked into place.

Mai.

Mai was out there with those monsters. Skinny little Mai who had been trembling with fear even as she made the decision to split from Lily. All to save a kid, and all without a second thought. Mai who never complained to Lily about anything even though Lily had heard plenty of rumors about the bullying she was going through.

Mai.

A jolt of electricity went through Lily, and she didn’t hesitate. She moved towards the closing set of doors, kicking off as quickly as she could. She wasn’t about to abandon her friend out there, not when she already had failed to help her so many times. Screw directions, Lily would just have to find a map on the wall and go from there.

Before Lily could take more than two steps, a hand clamped around her arm in an iron grip and pulled her back. Lily almost fell from the sudden balance shift, and turned a wild look behind her. Ms. Toma had her hands wrapped around Lily’s arm, and she had a sickened expression twisting her face. Her eyes, though, were steel.

“Lily, no,” Ms. Toma almost whispered. Her voice was flat, but Lily could hear something wavering beneath the facade.

“Let me go,” Lily hissed, trying to tug her arm free. “I’m not leaving her out there!”

“I can’t do that,” Ms. Toma replied. “Lily, it’s my job to keep you safe.”

“I’ll be right back, I promise!” Lily shouted, her voice shaking. “I’m not leaving her out there alone!”

Beside them, Lucy’s father seemed to finally register what was happening and turned to run out the shelter doors. Two of the mall security officers grabbed onto him as he rushed the doors and pulled him down. He let out a cry of anguish as he fought but couldn’t struggle free. Meanwhile, Lily felt another pair of hands grab her other arm, and she turned to see a third officer standing in front of her.

She didn’t want to accidentally hurt Ms. Toma, but she was sure her teacher would understand. So Lily wrenched at their grips, throwing her weight away from them. She managed to slip from the security guard’s hands, but, to her surprise, Ms. Toma held firm. When Lily was stumbling and unbalanced from the maneuver, she pulled on Lily hard, twisting Lily into a bear hug against her chest.

Lily let out a frustrated growl as she tried to pull herself free, but Ms. Toma held firm. A few seconds later, Lily heard the shelter doors shut with a loud boom. There was a whirl as heavy sounding gears turned, and then a loud and distinctive clack as something locked into place. Ms. Toma finally let Lily go, and she stumbled away from her teacher, looking at the large set of double doors.

They were shut, and Lily felt her heart fall as she looked at them in horror.

No, wait, it wasn’t over yet. Lily remembered that shelters were designed with two sets of double doors and a room between them like an airlock. That way, people could be let safely in and out as necessary. That meant Lily could still get out to help Mai. All she had to do was find the console.

Lily’s eyes snapped to the large touchscreen next to the doors.

“Lily, please listen to me.” Ms. Toma pleaded, her voice cracking, and the uncharacteristic tone shift made her stop in her tracks..

Lily shot her teacher a look in surprise. She had tears in her eyes as she walked slowly over, putting a trembling hand on Lily’s shoulder. Lily glared at her, fury kindling into a bonfire in her chest.

“There’s nothing we can do but wait for her to get here,” Ms. Toma said. “If you went out there… you would only be putting yourself in danger.”

“I don’t care,” Lily replied hotly.

“I know, but I do. And I think so would Mai.”

Lily felt her breath disappear as the words hit her like a sledgehammer, and she recoiled slightly from her teacher.

“Her best chance is to either hide, or sneak here,” Ms. Toma continued, her voice quiet but firm. “If you go out there, you could get hurt, and even if you did find her, more people would just draw extra attention. There’s nothing we can do to help except trust in her.”

Slowly, Lily felt the rage in her begin to deflate, leaving her standing there impotently clenching her fists tight. Ms. Toma was right… and inside, Lily knew she hadn’t been thinking. Again. Even though she wanted to rush out there and find Mai, she had no idea where she would even be at this point. No, going out there in a blind panic was just asking to get herself killed.

“Ms. Toma is right,” a voice suddenly joined in, jolting Lily out of her thoughts. She turned to see Mr. Toujou, Mai’s teacher, moving to join them along with the other two teachers.

Lily felt her eyes narrow at the young, suave-looking man, if he could even be called that. He had to be barely out of university, yet he still wore a formal suit in black that was perpetually slightly messy. Lily knew that most of the girls in her class and on the track team swooned over him and loved the way he constantly was pushing up the glasses on his nose.

Yet none of that changed the fact that he was utterly useless in Lily’s eyes. No, maybe worse than useless considering his inaction was a form of passive encouragement. She still remembered his words when Lily had brought up Mai’s bullying. His casual dismissal, saying that he would have noticed such a thing. That, and if it really was happening, Mai would have reported it herself.

Useless idiot, Lily thought for the hundredth time as he continued to speak.

“R-right now, it’s important to stay inside the shelter,” he stuttered, his words coming out a little too quickly. “Nobody goes out, not unless it is an emergency. If somebody comes to the doors, we can always open them. Right?”

Lily felt herself studying him. His hands were constantly adjusting his tie or fidgeting with other parts of his outfit. There were beads of sweat on his forehead, and even though he had on his usual overly smooth expression, his eyes darted around and twitched at every little movement.

Scared, huh? Lily thought to herself. It wasn’t that surprising, really. He was the youngest teacher here even if he did like to dress up like he was better than the rest. Still, it was a little embarrassing to think someone like him could tell Lily what to do. She shifted her eyes to Ms. Toma, who gave a sideways glance at Mr. Toujou before returning to Lily with a slight nod.

Lily let out a hiss of air between her teeth, but remembered what she had discussed with Ms. Toma about Mai’s teacher, and she forced herself to not snap at the man.

“Whatever,” Lily turned, walking towards the touchscreen where the mall security guards were standing. “I’m at least going to look at the cameras. You can stay and make sure I don’t open the doors or whatever.”

The three mall cops had moved protectively in front of the console but looked at each other in surprise.

“Cameras?” one of the guys asked the other. “There’s cameras?”

Lily stared aghast at the guards. It was only now that she realized how young they all looked. Still, weren’t they supposed to be trained for this? They had tasers and guns for God’s sake!

“Yes,” Lily said slowly, giving them a serious look. “How else do you think we would be able to tell if people were trying to get in if we didn’t have cameras?”

“Um…” one of them began, looking nervously at the others. “We uh… we’re all kind of new. The Usurpation training only happens once a month when a Magical Soldier is free to train people in.”

“All of you are new?” Ms. Toma asked, standing beside Lily with a confused expression.

“Yeah,” another replied with a helpless shrug of her shoulders. “Our supervisor was supposed to be with us, but he had to go down to the second level to help with a shoplifter…”

Lily stared at the three and shook her head in disbelief.

“Whatever,” Lily sighed in exasperation. “It’s not my first Usurpation, and I had a Magical Soldier tell me all about how shelters work, so just get out of the way.”

“Ms. Parker, that is no way to talk to your elders!” Mr. Toujou said with a frown, pushing up his glasses.

Lily quirked an eyebrow, looking between the three college-aged guards and Mr. Toujou.

“Sure. Sorry. Now can I please show you what’s going on?”

“I hardly think that’s appropriate,” Mr. Toujou crossed his arms. “We teachers have all been through Usurpation training and know how shelters work. It would be best if you left this to us.”

Lily looked at him blankly. Then she turned away from him and walked the rest of the way to the touchscreen console, Ms. Toma following as Mr. Toujou sputtered. The little girl’s parents hurried after her, and the mall guards got out of Lily’s way as she reached the screen. Vaguely, she heard the others joining behind her, but she ignored it as she peered at the menu.

The console was a simple touchscreen about the size of a large computer monitor with big option menus lit up on it. Lily knew she could access all kinds of information from the menu like how many people were in the shelter, temperature controls, food rationing calculations, and even how much was left in the water supply. She ignored those and tapped through the menus until she got to the outer cameras. The system itself would have automatically switched to them and made a noise if it detected movement, but Lily wasn’t going to wait for that.

The screen flickered and changed to several pristine views of the hallway leading to the shelter doors. Lily felt her stomach tightening when she saw there was nothing out there, but she forced herself to ignore it. She glanced at the parents huddling behind her, and she moved to the side slightly to give them more room to see. They gave her shaky but grateful smiles as they took position next to her.

Lily noted that on the camera menu there were options to open either the outer or inner doors along with an option highlighted in bright red that said “emergency shield.” Instantly, she felt herself tense up.

“When you get to the shelter, make sure they don’t panic and activate the emergency shield. I’ve heard horror stories.”

Mai’s quiet voice went through Lily’s head, and she moved her body slightly, making sure she could physically block access to the option if she needed to.

“We already have training in shelter operations,” Lily heard Mr. Toujou speaking to the mall guards behind her. “So perhaps it would be best if we took charge for now.”

“Of course!” one of them quickly replied, relief evident in his voice. “Just tell us how we can help.”

“Well…” Mr. Toujou floundered, and Lily forced herself not to roll her eyes.

“Why don’t the two of you go to check on if anybody needs anything?” Ms. Toma cut in, addressing two of the security guards. “Food, water, medical attention. One of you should stay here to keep an eye on the cameras, though. Mr. Carpenter and Mrs. Mills, you two are senior teachers, so perhaps you would have the most luck keeping an eye on the students and making sure they behave. The barracks room should be big enough to keep them herded.”

Lily was slightly surprised as Ms. Toma took charge and the other teachers nodded in agreement and began moving. The other two teachers did have seniority on her, but seemed fine with her taking charge. Maybe it was the calm assurance in her tone, or the way she had phrased it as a suggestion, because it seemed to work. Quickly, the shelter’s terminal became less crowded.

“Ms. Parker, you should join the other students as well,” Mr. Toujou said, clearing his throat. “I assure you, Ms. Toma and I will keep a lookout for Miss Kuroki.”

Lily bit back another hot response. What was wrong with this guy, seriously?

“That’s okay,” Lily said dismissively. “I’ll stay here.”

Lily could practically feel the stunned silence behind her, and she felt a small amount of petty satisfaction in his reaction.

“Miss Parker, that wasn’t a-”

“It’s fine,” Ms. Toma interrupted smoothly, her voice firm. “She’s just worried about her friend. She can stay and keep watch with us.”

There was an exasperated sigh, but Mr. Toujou opted not to argue.

Lily kept her eyes glued to the screen, watching and keeping count of the minutes in her head as they passed. Every single one felt agonizingly long, and more than once Lily found herself having to remind herself to breathe as she watched the monitor, waiting for anything to appear.

C’mon Mai, Lily thought to herself. Where are you?

– – – – – – –

-Arcadia Grand Central Mall, Floor Three Shelter-

-Ten minutes after power loss-

Lily had to force herself not to tap her foot against the floor as she stared at the camera. The other security guards had rejoined the small group around the console. Mr. Toujou had urged her to back away from the screen so others could get a better view, but Lily had simply ignored him once again. She was already off to the side of the screen and letting people see it. She wasn’t about to back away, though, not when that button was there for anyone to press.

Most of the other people in the shelter, including all the students, had gone further inside the shelter to the barracks or one of the other rooms the shelter was split into. Mr. Toujou had suggested again that Lily leave to join them, and it was all Lily could do to provide a polite “no thank you” after Ms. Toma had given her a look. Lily could practically feel the man’s annoyance, but she really couldn’t care less about what he thought.

So Lily continued staring at the screen, wondering when Mai would-

Suddenly, something appeared on the camera, and a loud, shrill beeping sound came from the console to alert everyone it detected movement. Lily’s heart lurched into her throat with joy only to come crashing down as she saw the form that came around the corner. There was a cry of dismay from someone as the shape stalked its way down the corridor in slow, shuffling steps.

The thing was tall, so much so that it was hunched over in the hallway. It looked vaguely humanoid, but as if it was poorly shaped from pale, featureless clay. Its arms were long enough to touch the ground, and its fingers were jointless, undulating things. The monster was horribly emaciated, so much that its ribs were practically poking through its chest. The worst part, though, was the face. It had no eyes, only big, empty sockets. Below, was a giant, lipless mouth that took up a full third of its head, and it was stretched into a mocking grin wide enough to show its gums. The monster’s teeth were perfect human teeth, but upscaled to fit its gaping maw.

Lily stared in shock as the camera highlighted the creature with a box, and then displayed something next to it.

[Lesser Pale Man]

Known Levels: 10 – 15

Next to Lily, people began talking all at the same time.

“What the hell is that thing?” one of the mall guards gasped.

“No…” the mother sobbed and fell into her husband’s arms.

“Holy-”

Lily tuned out the clamor as she watched the thing. For some reason, it looked oddly familiar… no, it was familiar! It looked just like one of the monsters in Magical Girls’ Sunset: Rebellion! In fact, it was almost completely the same. Lily watched in confusion as it took long, shuffling steps forward. As it got closer, Lily began to hear something coming through the speakers in the console.

“Everyone quiet!” Lily snapped, and the noise died down.

Then, as the thing finally stood in front of the outer shelter doors, the noise became clear.

It was giggling.

Lily felt her heart rate increase as she listened to the barely contained trilling sound. It sounded so human, so innocent, it was like listening to little girls giggling, and it made Lily shudder. Slowly, the creature reached a hand out to the shelter’s outer doors, and placed it against it softly. Its too-long fingers squirmed, wiggling like worms against the metal. All the while, the giggling continued, a sound so perfectly childlike it was wrong.

“T-t-that things trying to get in!” one of the mall guards shouted, his hand already on his holstered gun.

“Don’t panic,” Ms. Toma said calmly. “The shelter’s systems are designed to automatically assess threats. We’ll be fine as long as we remain calm and-”

The creature suddenly pulled both its arms back, and then slammed them into the door. A loud bong sound came through the touchscreen, but the outer door appeared completely undamaged. It tried again and again, but still didn’t even manage to leave a mark. Lily let out a breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding.

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The monster was freaky. Everything about it seemed to make her skin crawl, and the giggling was setting her teeth on edge, but it really was fine. Sure, it was scary, but if it couldn’t even dent the door-

“It’s trying to get in!” the mall guard yelled. “W-w-we need to do something!”

“It’s fine,” Ms. Toma tried to assure him. “It isn’t even damaging the-”

“It’s going to call more of those things!” he insisted. “The sound! If more show up, it’ll only be a matter of time before they get in! We need to do something!”

There was a silence as he looked around at everyone with a pleading expression. Suddenly, Mr. Toujou stepped forward slightly, pushing up his glasses, and Lily saw his hand shaking.

“T-there’s an emergency shield…” Mr. Toujou stuttered. “But-”

“No!” Lily whirled on him in absolute fury. “Don’t you even dare! The automated system is in charge of that!”

“What if it’s broken?” the panicking security guard insisted. “What if it’s not working? What if this thing isn’t like the rest of them?”

The female guard tried to place a hand on his shoulder to calm him down, but he shook it off. Lily felt her pulse pick up as she looked into the guy’s wide eyes. Slowly, Lily moved to face the small crowd of people watching, placing herself in front of the monitor. She clenched her fists tight as she made sure her feet were firmly planted.

“I-I… w-we can’t put everyone in danger!” the guy continued stuttering. “We can’t know that the system is working! It’s our job to protect people! W-we need to turn it on, just to be sure!”

“Derrick, you need to calm down,” the female guard said shakily. “We aren’t supposed to touch that button unless it’s absolutely necessary. Everybody knows that.”

“It is necessary!” he hissed, pointing at the screen behind Lily. “That thing isn’t normal! It’s giggling! I mean, just look at…”

He trailed off, and then his outstretched finger began to tremble. Lily watched as everyone followed his pointed finger. Their faces went collectively pale, and it was only then that Lily noticed the sound of the monster hitting the door had stopped along with the giggles. Keeping an eye on everyone, Lily slowly turned to look at the screen.

The thing had its face right in front of the main camera, taking up the entirety of the screen with its over-stretched smile and pristine teeth. The thing’s empty eye sockets bore into the camera with a hungry emptiness, and it slowly opened its mouth.

“Gohan?” it asked in a deep, distorted voice, and Lily recoiled as she recognized the Japanese word.

Did… did that thing just speak? Lily fought against the terror that jittered along her spine, her mouth suddenly dry. Was… was that normal? Lily wasn’t sure she had ever heard of one talking before. And the word it chose…