CHAPTER 1
One hour could be everyone having a nice time at the mall, the next could be the end of humanity. And Perry? Stuck with her best friends and frenemy. Actually— scratch that. There's nothing friendly about their relationship.
Sounds unbelievable? She thought so too, don't worry. But, suppose life can never be normal. Now for them, it's just a stupid, unreachable dream.
Perry's life was normal, as normal as mixing lemons, onions and chocolate together and eating it. Although, that changed far before she could process it. Now the question— how did it happen? She couldn't answer that yet, but she could tell you when; her 19th birthday.
AUGUST 12TH SATURDAY 11 AM.
The dining room was quiet; no one but Perry sitting at the table, eating… typically what you'd call 'Brunch'. A mix of breakfast and lunch. Perry has two younger brothers. Not blood related— but still, brothers. Dave and Darren, in high school.
Perry does like silence. But not the eerie, unsettling kind. Well— thankfully, this silence wasn't like that.
It wasn't too long before she finished eating. Like anyone else, she have a best friend; Nicole. He— Yes, he is a pretty nerdy dude. Well, his actual name is Nicolas.. Everyone just calls him Nicole.
Moving on..
Now plopped on the couch, Perry decided it'd be more convenient to hang out with Nicole than solo, so she was about to hit him up—
DING.
"Perry? Are you alive after failing Bio?"
It was Nicole. Okay, now to be clear about something— Perry had studied for that exam. And she failed with a D–. Not an F.
She sighed. Nicole had always been like that. Perry came to the conclusion that she'd just ignore that message
"It's my birthday. Did you forget? Let's hang out, you know, where we usually do."
she replied, and waited for his message back.
Perry stood at the entrance of the mall, entering through the automatic doors. Walking inside already made her remember that it was a Saturday— typically one of the most; or the most busy day inside malls.
She rode up the escalator, hoping to find Nicole near their usual hangout place; a pretty cheap restaurant— since they both were broke.
Perry looked around for a bit, finally spotting Nicole next to two familiar blonde people. Ruby was one of them. The other one? The guy she had nothing nice to say about.
"Hey, Perry! Over here!" Ruby called out, waving over at her. Perry was good friends with her, and honestly doesn't have anything bad to say about her. But the problem was the one standing right next to her. Perry took a deep breath, and managed to speak up.
"Hey." she smiled at Ruby, standing beside Nicole. "What's up?"
"Oh yeah— it's your birthday, right? Happy 19th!" Ruby exclaimed, smiling warmly back at Perry.
Honestly, she just wanted to leave. Perry really didn't mind being with Ruby, but she couldn't stand being near Christian all while trying her best to ignore him. It was her birthday— she didn't have time to argue with him.
Now, you might think; Perry, just keep ignoring him, and she'd be fine. The truth? She wouldn't. It doesn't matter where or when, when Christian and Perry were in the same room, they'd have never left without a good name-calling. In other words, an argument.
She really did try to hide her irritation. But when it comes to Christian, her expression didn't lie.
"Stop looking at me weird. It's already creepy enough you followed me here." Christian spoke up, using his annoying voice to piss Perry off again. Ruby sighed, rolling her eyes at Christian's attitude. She nudged him arm lightly.
"I for one, do not follow you. If anything I'm trying my best to avoid you at all costs. As it just happens, luck isn't on my side today." Perry replied, using her pissed-off tone. Which, she always is if Christian's here.
Perry grabbed Nicole's arm, about to turn around and leave, since she really didn't want to waste her time arguing with Christian. Unfortunately, it didn't get through to his thick skull that Perry wanted to get the hell out of there.
"Oh really, huh? Lame-uh. Are you sure about that? I mean, It's nothing to be ashamed about. Everyone would want to follow me." Christian retorted, that damn smirk on his face. He really pissed her off.
Ruby tugged his arm this time, silently hoping he'd knock it off before she had to yell at him— like a mother scolding her child.
"To me, it just seems someone wants attention more than anything." Perry's lips curved into a little smirk, as she saw Christian open his mouth and close it; approximately 3 times or so.
Perry decided it would be better to be the mature one and leave, before he started blowing off steam at her face. She grabbed Nicole's arm, and walked past him and Ruby, hoping Christian wouldn't 'accidentally' follow them. Perry could heard Nicole let out an audible sigh as she dragged him to their decided restaurant.
It wouldn't usually bother Perry to the point she had to keep glancing at Christian, but today, it just happened otherwise. Yes, they did decide to sit in the same restaurant as Perry and Nicole.
"So how are Dave and Darren doing?" Nicole asked, as they both waited for the waiter to approach their table.
The conversation between them stayed consistent as Perry tried her very best to ignore Christian. Considering Perry felt his gaze often fall on her, it was hard, but she got through it. Eventually, they gave their order, waiting for the food. Nicole seemed to have a lot of questions to ask Perry, so she, of course, had to answer them. What she did notice while conversing with Nicole, he was often looking at Ruby, even if it was a quick glance.
Ultimately when Perry and Nicole finished eating, they walked up to the counter to pay. That was only to see Ruby and Christian done as well. They stood in line to pay. Perry dragged Nicole out of there as fast as she could, just wanting to enjoy her birthday in peace without someone as annoying as Christian being around. She would've hoped that'd be easy, but, just in-case anyone forgot, she had the worst luck.
Her last straw? Perry assumed he wouldn't follow her, but he did, to the donut shop. Whatever, life's too short for this, she shrugged it off and entered with Nicole, but he stood aside and let Perry order for them.
"One chocolate donut… please.." Perry's voice trailed off as she heard Christians voice beside her. They'd spoken in sync, annoyingly in sync if she had to add. "And one cinnamon donut." Perry finished her order, side-eyeing Christian. She felt her eyes twitch— It's not funny. Not anymore, if it was before.
Perry handed Nicole his Cinnamon donut once they exited the donut shop, and settled on a bench near the atrium.
"So, I guess he really is following you everywhere, huh?" Nicole smiled a bit, his voice becoming slightly muffled after taking a bite of his donut.
"Seriously, tell me about it. This can't all be coincidences, can it?" Perry sighed, looking down at the atrium through the glass.
5:47 PM
"Yeah, that's why I lied. Taewoo was, like, the grade's chatterbox, alright? I had to leave him hanging." Nicole and Perry were now walking through the mall, roaming around mindlessly. They haven't run into Ruby or Christian since earlier. Currently, it was only a quarter to 6 PM.
Honestly for Perry, today was fun as hell. This was something she definitely needed to do more.
Then they heard it— a bloodcurdling scream, what sounded like from the ground below them. Perry and Nicole shared a glance before rushing to the atrium. They both looked down, seeing a stomach turning sight. A cannibal? In this era? Out in the open?
It was clear what was happening— a man was acting like a brain dead creature that only wanted food. Now laid a motionless body on the floor, bleeding out. There was a crowd surrounding the scene, people running and screaming.
Hearing Christian's voice, Perry turned her head and then glanced back down.
"What the hell." he muttered, his eyes widening. Ruby was there beside him, also looking just as shocked, terrified, even.
All four of them were frozen in place, just staring down at the creepy and unsettling sight. It wasn't until Perry heard a weird sounding groan from a man nearby she turned her head. There's no way he was human. Was her last thought before slapping her purse at the creature's face. It was limping on one foot while walking, drooling all over the floor and most noticeable of all, covered in blood. Which didn't seem like it's own.