The Decaying Mall
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 - you will 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 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 shadowy 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. "No" he will
respond, "for I know yours." He will then 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.