How we stumbled upon this is almost as ridiculous as it sounds, it was a stumble. There is this massive department store that for the passed 15 years has been going under. I’m telling you flash sales, store closing sales, yearly it screams in all of the local newspapers

“EVERYTHING MUST GO”,

but year after year it stays.

They’ve lost nearly all contracts with all major companies, now their shelves are barely being held together by packaging tape.

They’re running on fumes. With barely three employees holding it together, if those three left, no one would notice, there’s hardly any foot traffic.

We used to believe what kept them running were their other store fronts, but none are left, it’s the only one of its kind.

It’s strange and uncomfortable.

The air as soon as you walk through the foyer feels stagnant, like you’ve entered into an alternate universe. Light hitting the dust particles makes it seem even more unnerving, like you’re stuck in between dimensions.

The last time I went in, we were looking for swim trunks. Nothing crazy either, plain swim trunks. We walked in, and that eerie feeling rushed over us. The hairs on our neck stood up like something big was standing right behind us. We walked on, eager to grab what we needed and get the hell out. Well one of us was eager to leave…

I, on the other hand, hadn’t been here in so long I needed to explore.

“Let’s check out all the departments before we leave.”

“We really should just go.”

“Don’t be silly!”

The first floor was a mess of men and women’s clothing, at 75% off. Styles that had only been hip and trendy on kids sitcoms and teen television.

Then we turned a corner and saw, where the high-end tools used to be, was replaced with the kitchen and home appliances that used to be on the second floor. Which meant, “what’s on the second floor!? They used to have the appliances up there, baby clothes, an optometrist and a jeweler.”

“What kind of collage of stuff is that…”

“Just trust me.”

“The escalator down is broken”

“So it’s just stairs let’s go!”

We hopped up onto the escalator to go up, which was working seamlessly…ish.

When we arrived I realized what he meant by the escalator down being broken. It was completely stripped of its track. Not even stairs just, nothing. Darkness straight down.

“Oops.”

“Are you joking!? How do we get down.”

“Probably the elevator”

“ABSOLUTELY NOT.”

We walked through, and it got progressively spookier. We’d see quick glances of shadows, lurking around us. The silence was so intense it felt loud. We saw one employee appear as if he spawned there for a moment, then when we looked away and back he was gone.

What looked like a customer idly debating at a blouse looked like she was stuck. She’d pick up the blouse, look at it, place it back. Pick up the blouse, look at it, place it back.

She was on a loop three times before we decided it was time to get the heck out of there.

Everything seemed like it was surreal.

We made our way to the elevator, when I hit the button the light didn’t turn on. It didn’t do anything, as if it wasn’t working either. Yet the ground shook and the doors opened.

We looked inside and it felt like entering a 70’s time capsule. We stepped in, cautiously as the halogen light bulbs buzzed above us.

There were no buttons. Just a key hole. We looked at each other nervously, we were already in this mess, we needed to get out.

I grabbed a Swiss Army knife my brother had in his pocket, and used it to turn the key hole, hopefully making the elevator function.

Something began to happen.

Almost immediately the lights flashed, there was a shake, yet there was no upward or downward movement.

The doors opened again, a dark empty hallway, doors on either side like in a hotel, we were somewhere else, we grabbed onto each other and the doors slammed shut. Almost as if we weren’t supposed to see what we had before us.

Again the doors opened back on the first floor, we made our way out of there, stopping only to pay at a cash register where the girl looked at us like we weren’t real. Almost suspiciously she cashed us out.

We made our way to the doors out as an employee who had had enough threw his keys and badge at the same doors we were exiting through. They landed against my brother’s chest and he winced from the sting of the key on his chest.

“I quit!” The employee screamed getting in his car and leaving.

“Guess you’ve got your first job.”

His eyes widened in panic.