The Decaying Mall
#10 of What A Horrible Night To Have A Curse
A lifetime ago, before I was Aux Chiens, I was "Royal-Sovereign," and while I was Royal-Sovereign I used to also be, contemporaneously, "RoyalShitbrick," under which name I edited a lot of Encyclopaedia Dramatica articles -- they included the ones on "West Virginia," "Code Geass" (I know, I know...) that I turned into, if I do say so myself, a hilarious and chaotic dump of inside jokes and trollish observations. But most importantly, I was responsible for completely revamping, revising, and breathing totally new life into the article for...Creepypasta.
Like everything else, Creepypasta used to be this cool thing that only certain people knew or heard about, and you had to be in-the-know to be about that Holders or Spengbab or even "killerjeff" (what evolved into Jeff the Killer -- I'm fairly certain that someone was trolling me, personally, trying to curate pictures for the Creepypasta article and attempting to figure out the origins of the notorious "joy.jpg" and so here we are) stuff. There were some that were great, some that weren't, but ultimately I decided that I, personally, could write one of my own.
And so, in August of 2008 -- I did. And my very first online publication anywhere became that very short, horrifying tale of what not to do in a Virginian abandoned mall: https://www.creepypasta.com/the-decaying-mall/ It later got some YouTube treatments, which can you find https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NY32Pd5V6a4 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jl5Bv3Ea9ng just to name a few!
Exactly eleven years later, I've adapted it into the Dogsverse, and submit it here.
The first, most salient thing you'll notice is that the text here (i.e., the canon text, what's going into What A Horrible Night To Have A Curse) is extremely different from "The Decaying Mall" that you can find on Creepypasta.com and the Wikia and Reddit and everywhere else: that's because back then, I was more vague about the exact location I was thinking of, and also because I hadn't really had this thing where I was putting all of my work into the same universe just yet. Now that I do, things have to change, including throwing in an epigram, which was something that was actually said about a year and a half before I originally wrote this.
So, yes -- this Creepypasta is in the same universe, and operates in the same world and at the same time, as Bligh and Andrew and their wacky misadventures.
Finally, majorly big thanks to Kybal_Lutra for turning a picture of the exact inspiration for this, Crossroads Mall, into an awesomely spooky titlecard!
When did this town become a mausoleum?
_________
Luke Divers
It is a well-known fact that Crossroads Mall in Roanoke, Virginia, was for many years in an advanced state of decay.
Yet for one reason or another, the mall still stands - there have been several plans, some of them quite elaborate, to revitalize the area, many of them calling for the original building's demolition...but none of them have ever come to pass.
It is quite a shame, a sorry thing to look at today. In its heyday in the 1970's and early 80's, the mall was jam-packed, the place to be on the weekends, especially Saturday nights. It was upscale, fashionable, and always a happy place to go.
Years went by, and bigger, better malls opened around Roanoke. Crossroads slowly started losing tenants, until today it is completely empty. You used to be able to go in, and see for yourself, but much of the interior is blocked off now. If you could, you would be astounded by the vast emptiness - every step you make and every word you speak will echo loudly.
Where once scores of people did their shopping, met for lunch, and got together, there is now only eerie silence. Over the years, the happy, upbeat feeling of the place has darkened, more and more, until now many people avoid it - but can never tell you exactly why.
The story would end here, were it not for a very curious rumor, probably - one hopes - based on a rash of unexplained murders in the area in the mid-2000's, which some say was the real reason for the DMV moving its location from inside the mall and thus sealing its doom to be abandoned and empty forever.
That depends on who you believe, of course - certainly the last anyone heard of this particular rumor was the Summer of 2008, when the eerily empty interior of the mall began to be closed off to the general public.
Supposedly now there will be renovations - another failed plan, to be sure - and it seems this tale can no longer be tested.
Perhaps.
After all, it seems so easy - on certain Saturday nights throughout the year, so the story goes, something very strange happens.
If you go to one of the entrances of this mall, it will be unlocked. Push open the door, and it will give way - and you may enter.
Near a bench right in the entrance will be a strange figure, casting a shadow that obscures the darkness around it.
This figure can be spoken to, if one calls out to it the proper words: I know your secret, and the secrets you keep.
Where once there was shadow, there will appear a face - a radiantly pale, withered old man's face, with black holes for eyes, a wide, ghastly grin that never ceases.
He will respond: No - for I know yours.
Then he will ask a question - the question will be about your life, or rather a detail about your life, something that happened many years ago. The question he poses will be one you should know the answer to - but so obscure, it will be difficult to answer at first, if you can answer it at all.
You will be forced to answer - you simply won't be able to respond with I don't know.
If you get the answer right, the shadowy man will thrust a box into your hands, before dissolving back into the darkness. Open the box, and there will be a note, on which will be written the name of the person you were meant to marry or fall in love with. Only rarely is it the person you think it will be.
If you get the answer wrong, your body will be found the morning of the following Sunday, at the entrance to the mall you came in, mutilated and eviscerated so badly no one will be able to identify the body.