Magical Girl Gunslinger - Chapter 2: Anathema

SYSTEM WARNING

Anathema Emergence detected. Reality Usurpation imminent.

 

I blinked as a square message appeared with vivid clarity in the center of my vision. The message read itself in a screaming chorus of a dozen discordant voices that made my skin crawl. A second later, the alarms in the mall went off in the loud droning of what sounded like air-raid sirens. The sound made a primal dread rise in me, a hollow chill spreading through my body that sent goosebumps rising on my skin. Briefly, the memory of every Anathema Emergence drill we’d done in school flashed through my head.

SYSTEM MESSAGE

Emergency shelters have been opened. Please make your way to the nearest shelter by following the arrows on the ground. Remain calm and proceed in an orderly fashion.

REMINDER: Once a shelter’s emergency shielding is enabled, it cannot be disabled without proper authorization. Do NOT manually activate unless under immediate threat of breach and the auto-engage systems fail!

Estimated time until Usurpation: 9:59

 

Everyone in the food court winced as the next message bloomed, the mall’s magitech warning system sending the message to every person’s head simultaneously. As the message read itself, I recoiled in horror as voices read the final number. Ten minutes!? Arcadia was one of the seven most advanced island cities in the world created by the Zenith themselves. The early warning system was supposed to give a minimum of thirty minutes before an attack! I looked at Lily in shock as the warning alarms continued crying out only to find her earlier expression replaced with fear.

Below us, motes of ethereal green light formed into arrows along the floor beneath various groups of people, pointing towards promised safety.

There was a paralyzed few seconds of stillness in the food court where everyone seemed too shocked to move. Then, almost at the same time, people began to panic. Chairs were knocked over as people threw themselves to their feet, shouting as they pushed their way forward. People began to push, yelling as bottlenecks in the miniature hedge maze formed. Somebody screamed, and I stared at the chaos, unable to shake the utter, debilitating terror I felt.

I’d never been caught in an Anathema Usurpation before. Even in Arcadia, with all the fancy magitech shielding crystals, they still happened, but there was always plenty of prior warning. Normally the area was easily evacuated, quarantined, and then cleaned up by MGs and the magical soldiers who dedicated themselves to killing Anathema. Some MGs even livestreamed their fights. Sure, Usurpations weren’t a daily occurrence, but a half-dozen every month were to be expected.

But now I was in the middle of one, and for all the drills we’d done at school, none of it helped with the fear. It was so thick inside me I could feel it coiling through my rib cage and wrapping teeth around my heart. Every racing pulse pushed into those knife points, teasing my chest with sharp pin-pricks of terror. My lungs felt suddenly tight, and I struggled to make myself breathe.

“Mai!”

I snapped back to reality as Lily shook me, leaning in close with a worried look on her face. I sucked in a deep, quivering breath, giving her a shaky nod. She responded with a reassuring smile, but her eyes were alert, snapping back and forth as she watched the chaos around us. She gave me a gentle pull, and I pushed myself up from my seat, grabbing my backpack and shouldering it as an afterthought.

“Don’t worry, we’re actually not in as much danger as it seems,” Lily said after a moment, flashing me a quick grin. “Just follow my lead, okay? This isn’t my first Usurpation.”

I snapped a look at her in shock, but she just chuckled.

“Another time. For now, we wait for our arrows to appear and- ah, there we go!”

As if on cue, glowing arrows of light bloomed beneath our feet along the ground. Grabbing my arm, Lily began pulling me along as we began running along the path the arrows created. It surprised me how quickly the food court had begun to empty out, but there were still people like us just getting to their feet and following their own arrows as they appeared.

The arrows were a form of magitech, made to help with evacuations. They were like an active GPS, creating a constantly updating path to the nearest available shelter. Each group of people got their own customized pathways in an attempt to avoid bottlenecks between fleeing people. So long as the arrows were green, we were on track to make it before the Usurpation took full effect. While it made it look like everyone was running around in a panic, it would hopefully stop people from getting trampled and shelters from overflowing.

We sprinted past stores, turning in seemingly random directions as we trusted the arrows with our lives. Lily could easily have outpaced me, but she stuck by my side even if she did let go of my arm after a minute. As far as I could tell, we were making good time. My mental map wasn’t perfect, but I did remember the general location of the shelters in the building from when I looked up the floorplans the previous night.

We’ll be fine. Ten minutes isn’t much time, but the shelter isn’t far. At most it’ll take a few minutes to get there at full speed, even following this indirect path. Even if the shelter is at capacity, the stairs are nearby, and we could get to the ground floor’s mega shelter entrance. We’re fine. Everything’s going to be-

“Brian!” the voice of a young girl shrieked, the cry broken by sobs.

Lily and I stumbled and came skidding to a stop. Then another wail cried out, and Lily burst into motion down a path towards the sound. I followed after her blindly as we took a turn the arrows weren’t pointing to. Lily moved quickly, faster than I’d ever seen her move before. I did my best to follow her but lost ground in a matter of moments.

We took another turn in the sleek mall and found ourselves in front of a store selling stuffed animals. A young, elementary-aged girl stood there whimpering, looking around. When she spotted us, she practically collapsed, clutching a stuffed bear to her chest. Lily slowed down as she got there, crouching down to the girl’s level. I caught up to her seconds later, breathing heavily.

“Hey there sweetie,” Lily gave a reassuring smile. “What’s wrong? What are you doing here all alone?”

The girl sniffled and wiped snot from her nose, her lower lip quivering.

“Mommy and Daddy told us to wait on the bench with the nice store lady while they got food, but then the alien alarm went off! Everyone started running around and the lady ran too! Nobody would stop to help me!”

She looked to be on the verge of tears again, and Lily reached out her hand, offering it.

“That’s alright, how about we help you? We’ll take you to the shelter. Your mommy and daddy are probably waiting for you there. Come on, we can go together, and you can tell me all about the cute teddy bear you have.”

The girl hesitated, looking between the two of us.

“What about Brian? Who’s going to help Brian?”

“Brian?” Lily tilted her head. “Who’s Brian?”

“He’s my brother!” she whimpered. “He was supposed to wait on the bench with me and the lady, but he wanted to go to the store with the footballs and baseballs! I told him not to go, but he snuck off and-”

“Shh, it’s alright honey,” Lily reassured the girl, rubbing her shoulder gently. “Do you know where the store is? We can go get him together.”

“We had to cross the place with all the food and the pretty fountain,” she said, looking up at Lily as she shook slightly. “It was crowded, and Mommy wanted to eat somewhere quieter.”

Quickly, I reached into my pocket, pulling at my phone. The internet was out, as it always was during an Usurpation, but I still had the third floor’s map pulled up. I scanned over it, looking for our location based on our path so far. I found us quickly, and then started looking through the different stores on the other side of the food court.

“Found it!” I said after a moment, and Lily looked up at me in surprise. “There’s a sporting goods store across the food court. That must be the one.”

Lily gave me a wide grin, and I saw something warm but unfamiliar flash across her face.

“Nice job, Mai! Alright, sweetie, how about you come with us? We’ll pick up your brother, and-”

“Wait!” I interrupted without thinking, my heart leaping into my throat. Lily turned and gave me a questioning look. I bit my lip as I studied the map again, thinking about what the “system message” had said. To my surprise, it popped back into my mind, showing the remaining time. Eight minutes, thirty-two seconds. Below our feet, I could see new arrows had formed, but the previous green had gained a yellowish hue.

As the alarm continued to wail, cold logic began to form in my head at a furious rate. Doubling back, finding the girl’s brother, then running to the shelter… there wouldn’t be enough time, not if we dragged the girl with us. She wouldn’t be able to keep up the pace. Maybe one of us could make it to the store, find Brian, and then run to the shelter, but it would be cutting it close. The only way it was possible would be taking a straight-line route from location to location, relying on everyone else to already have cleared out. The problem was that the person who went would have to know the mall’s map well enough to get straight to the store.

Which meant…

The realization hit me as I considered our options. I ran it through my head once more, but came back to the same conclusion. Swallowing, my legs felt shaky as I forced myself to meet Lily’s searching look. There was only one option if we wanted to save both of the kids.

And I was not about to abandon a little boy to the Anathema.

“We won’t make it if we take her with us,” I finally breathed out. “She wouldn’t be able to keep up with the pace we’d have to go.”

Lily’s eyes widened at my words as she glanced back at the girl. She seemed to think about it for a moment, then gave a simple nod to herself. Looking back to me, I could see the determination on her face.

“Alright, here’s what we’ll do,” she said quickly, her voice a little breathless. “Mai, you’ll take our little pumpkin to the shelter, and I’ll-”

I shook my head quickly, and she stopped.

“Lily, you can’t even navigate in video games with a mini-map that shows your location,” I pointed out, trying to keep my voice from quavering. “You’d only get lost. I… I’ll do it. I’m the one who always ends up navigating for us in games. I can get there and back to the shelter in time.”

She opened her mouth to argue, and I held up a hand.

“Seven minutes, fifty-five seconds,” I pushed. “We don’t have time to discuss this. It has to be me. Just… wish me luck.”

“Mai!” Lily hissed out. She searched my face for something, but after a faltering moment, she simply got up and wrapped me in a tight hug. I squeezed her back, hoping she couldn’t feel my body shaking.

“He might not even be there,” she whispered in my ear.

“But we have to try,” I murmured back. “When you get to the shelter, can you make sure they don’t panic and activate the emergency shield? I’ve… heard horror stories.”

“Over my dead body,” she promised, hugging me so tight it was painful.

Lily pulled away from me after another quick second, giving my shoulders a tight squeeze before she reached into the pocket of the blazer still tied about her waist. She pulled something small out and pushed it into my hands.

“Here. Take this. And no matter what, promise me that if you see the arrows turn orange, you turn back. No. Matter. What.”

I looked back into her eyes as she stared into my own. My stomach turned as I realized she meant I should leave the kid if I couldn’t find him in time. I kept her gaze, ignoring the clenching in my chest.

“I promise,” I lied.

For another breath, neither of us moved, and I swallowed the bitterness in my throat. Then, I turned on my heel and sprinted away from my friend, praying I wouldn’t have to betray her.

I followed my mental map, twisting through the maze until I reached a main pathway, and then I beelined it to the food court. As I did, I looked at the object Lily had pushed into my hand. I almost tripped when I realized it was a switchblade in matte black. I quickly regained my balance and pocketed the knife into my blazer.

Why did she have a knife with her? For that matter, were switchblades even legal in Arcadia? I considered it for another moment, decided it definitely didn’t matter at the moment, and kept moving. I’d just have to ask Lily later.

If there is a later.

I ignored the chill that thought brought along as I entered the food court proper. It was eerie seeing it empty, tipped over tables and half eaten meals littered around. I ignored the feeling and started sprinting through, taking the most direct route I could see. It didn’t take me long to make it through now that there weren’t people adding to the confusion of the area.

By the time I got to the store, I was out of breath. Quickly, I brought back the message telling me the time remaining with a focused thought. Five minutes, twenty-seven seconds. The arrows were orange now, but I ignored them as I kept moving. Hopefully Lily could forgive me.

Please be here and just come out immediately.

I rushed inside the shop, taking a quick look around. The store itself was a medium sized, all-purpose sporting goods type, offering miscellaneous things for a variety of sports. Rows of shelves held everything from footballs to rock climbing gear. I started looking through the aisles quickly, trying to slow my breathing enough to speak.

“Brian?” I called out. “Are you here? Brian, your sister sent me! Come on out, you’re not in trouble, but we have to go! I’ll take you to your parents, so please, just come out!”

Nothing happened for an excruciating few seconds. Then I heard a shuffling sound, and from underneath a clothing rack containing football jerseys, a small boy pulled himself out. He was sniffling, and he looked up at me with a scared, uncertain face. He was cute with his messy swath of blond hair, and he had on a simple blue shirt with stripes and cargo shorts. I felt my heart soar seeing him safe, and I gave him a relieved smile, holding out my hand in an offering.

“There you are! Now come on, I’ll take you somewhere safe and-”

Brian rushed over to me and gave me a tight hug around my legs. I blinked in surprise, then quickly moved to comfort him, giving his back a gentle rub.

“It was so scary!” he sniffled. “And the sirens are so loud! I want Mommy!”

“I know,” I hushed him softly, gently pushing him away to look in his eyes. “So how about we go find her, okay? We can even run the whole way as long as you hold my hand. How about that?”

I saw his face light up, and he gave me a big smile missing a few teeth. I grinned back, offering my hand. He took it, and we went to the store entrance where I stopped and waited. Sure enough, arrows appeared along the floor. They were a dark orange hovering on red now, but that still meant we could make it as long as we hurried at our best speed. The message in my head told me we had four minutes, two seconds left. My heart was going a mile a minute, but I felt a fierce satisfaction as I opened my mouth to tell Brain we were going to start running.

Then the alarms stopped.

A moment later, the lights in the mall flickered off, and the arrows beneath us disappeared, leaving us in darkness.

EMERGENCY ALERT

Power supply compromised. Primary shielding station offline. SOS has been sent. Shelter in place until rescue arrives.

 

As the alien message popped into my head, emergency lights switched on, illuminating the area in dim, crimson light. Sweat formed on the back of my neck, and my hands were suddenly clammy. Desperately, I thought of the message with the time limit, trying to see how much time we had left, but nothing appeared. Brian whimpered, huddling closer to my side.

I heard the sound of a brief and intense static crackle that scratched at my bones. I snapped my head to look at the source of the noise and saw that in the middle of the air above the food court there were trembling lines of inky shadow spider-webbing out from a single point. It looked like glass cracking, but somehow the cracks reached out in all directions and not along a flat plane. The void black cracks wavered unnaturally, and as I watched they began to spread and branch off with more of the staticky bursts.

EMERGENCY ALERT

Multiple Usurpation rifts detected on the following floors:

Basement 1

Floor 1

Floor 2

Floor 3

Floor 4

Floor 5

Reality Distortion: Moderate

Localized Dream Level: Restless

Guardian Command alerted successfully.

System going into low power mode. This will be the last message.

 

My throat went dry. I started backing up into the store, pulling Brian along with me. Another crack formed in the area above the food court, and as I watched, the cracks seemed to pull open at their origin point, opening it into a jagged hole that peered into nothing. From that dark space, a dark shape fell, landing on the floor of the food court with a dull thump.

I quickly turned, pulling Brian with me to the very back of the store, behind the counter with the cash register. I crouched down, moving Brian into the corner as my pulse pounded in my head. He opened his mouth to say something, and I quickly covered it, putting a finger in front of my lips in a “shushing” gesture. He stared at me with wide, quivering eyes and nodded. I slowly removed my hand from his mouth, furiously trying to think.

We’re screwed. We are so screwed.

That thing that had dropped from the rift was definitely one of the Anathema. They were monsters that sought out humans and killed them without hesitation… if you were lucky. Now that it was in our world, it would start searching immediately, possibly even working with others of its kind to set up a nest. We could try to stay and hide, hoping the creatures somehow missed us, but for all I knew, they had super hearing or something. Brian was doing his best to remain quiet, but small, desperate sounds were still escaping from his mouth.

No. There was no way we could wait it out, especially not with one of those monsters so close. Besides, waiting brought the risk of even more of them showing up. That left either sneaking by the thing, which was even more unlikely to work, or-

I swallowed. A distraction. That could work. I just needed the tools to make it happen. Planning and analysis were always my strongest abilities. Right now, I needed to rely on my instincts and act. There was no time for second-guessing, no time to carefully deliberate on the correct course of action. I had to take what I knew and what I was good at and make it work.

I can do this.

I have to do this.

I turned to Brian, trying to put on my most confident smile.

“Stay right here,” I whispered to him seriously. “I’m going to try to find something in the store. Whatever you do, don’t move or make a sound, okay?”

Tears started spilling down his face, but he gave me a nod, clamping his hands over his mouth. He was shivering, and the sight broke my heart a little bit. I gave him another reassuring nod, then moved, working my way around the store while keeping low to the ground. I kept my eye on the window, looking out in the direction of the Anathema I had seen, but the hedge walls of the food court were high enough to block my view.

I was more scared than I’d ever been in my life. So scared, it was hard to breathe. It felt like my rib cage was crushing my lungs, and a permanent spike of anxiety sat in my chest. Still, something in me screamed that I couldn’t sit still, that I had to move. If I didn’t, it wouldn’t just be my life on the line.

And there was no way I was going to let that little boy die.

I found what I needed almost immediately. There was a bin filled with balls from different sports, and I reached in, grabbing a few baseballs as I shouldered off my backpack. I put four inside, and then palmed a fifth. I kept moving, shouldering my pack once again.

Those would work for the distraction, hopefully, but I wasn’t going to leave anything to chance. In the worst case scenario, I’d have to fight, or at least hold off the monster while Brian ran, which meant I needed a weapon.

I paused in an aisle of the store that held baseball bats, and after another indecisive second of consideration, took an aluminum one. I knew I wasn’t strong, in fact, I was downright frail, and I wasn’t confident in how useful it would be. I kept looking, hoping to find something that might fit me better. As I moved past climbing gear, something caught my eye.

It was an ice axe, packaged in thick plastic layers with a protective sheath wrapped around its head. My eye widened at the sight. Those things were used for ice climbing, meaning they could puncture things. I wasn’t sure if Anathema had armor, but if they were anything like what I had seen online or in games that featured them, it seemed likely. Quickly, I grabbed two of the axes, discarded the bat, and then crawled back to the counter.

On my way, I saw a box on the floor with pictures of some kind of volleyball-like game on it. A new idea formed, and after rearranging my loot between my hands and backpack, I started slowly pushing the large box back behind the check-out counter with me.

When I arrived back, Brian let out a small squeak of relief beneath his hands, and I gave him a smiling nod, hoping it didn’t look too strained. After a quick glance above the counter to make sure there was nothing in sight, I ducked back down and got to work. First, I needed the axes. I grabbed at the packaging, looking over it as I tried to figure out the best way to get it open quietly.

I almost slapped myself when I remembered Lily’s knife. I grabbed it from my pocket, figured out how to pop out the blade, and started making cuts. Going slowly, I tried to minimize the crinkle of the plastic as I punctured through it and cut. It still made noise, and I made sure to pause and listen every few moments.

The only sounds were my soft but heavy breaths and Brian’s muffled noises of panic. The first axe took me the longest to get free, but the next went much quicker. Once I had both of them out, I picked one up and gave a few light swings, getting a feel for its heft and how to best grip it. When I was satisfied, I started opening up the volleyball box. Seeing me with the ice axe, Brian’s fear seemed to settle slightly as he watched me work curiously.

My knife helped me make quick work, and inside the box was exactly what I hoped for: a huge, gangly net folded up in a thick heap. I pulled it out, unwinding some of it but doing my best to keep it bundled enough that I could still carry it.

Okay. Two weapons, a net, and baseballs. Is there anything I’m missing, or anything that could improve what I already have? The axes are decent, but if I’m close enough to use one, I’ll be in danger from getting hit by whatever I’m fighting. I’m not strong or fast like Lily. All I have is my mind, and whatever strategy I can cobble together. Once we do this, there’s no room for mistakes, no second chances. If I screw up, I die. Brian dies.

I forced myself to slow down, fighting my instincts that screamed at me to run. Instead, I took a closer look around the counter we hid behind. It had little cupboards I hadn’t noticed before, and I opened them. There was a variety of miscellaneous things inside from cleaning supplies to duct tape. I grabbed the tape, because duct tape might as well be magitech with how many different things it could be used for. As I went to close the cupboard, I noticed a broom leaning in the corner next to Brian.

An idea bloomed in my head, so I grabbed the broom. Grabbing the bristly head of the broom, I unscrewed it from the wood pole. Then I grabbed one of the axes while lining it up with the pole, using the duct tape to attach them together. I had to unpeel the tape from the roll slowly to avoid making too much sound, but even still I didn’t manage to avoid it completely. Every time I pulled some off too quickly, I winced at the noise and paused to listen, continuing only when I was sure nothing was coming for us.

When I finished, I looked at my improvised weapon. It looked ridiculous, the long wooden pole with the tiny ice axe attached to one end. It was the world’s wimpiest looking scythe, but it would at least allow me to swing the ice axe down on something from a relatively safe distance.

I took the other ice axe and put it in my backpack with its head sticking out, closing the zipper around the handle. Hopefully that way I would be able to reach over my shoulder and pull it out quickly. I slipped on my backpack and then grabbed my makeshift scythe in one hand, the baseball in the other. Finally, I bundled the net under my left arm. I took one last moment to gather myself, taking a few deep breaths.

How long did that take? Ten minutes? Less? Feels like it was forever.

I shook my head. The stress and anxiety were playing with my head. Everything was going as well as could be expected. My plan had come together nicely, and now the only thing left was to put it into action. I grabbed my phone from my pocket after a moment of reshuffling items. There was no service or internet, but the map was still pulled up, so I took the time to memorize three different paths to the shelter.

Once I was sure I had the paths memorized and could picture them clearly in my head, I tucked my phone away. Ignoring my terror, I turned to the little boy. He seemed a little more calm now after watching me get everything ready.

“Okay,” I whispered to him, giving my softest smile. “Here’s what we’re going to do. You’re going to follow right behind me. When we get to the door, I’m going to throw this baseball and distract whatever might be out there. Then we’re going to make our way to the shelter as quietly as possible. If something finds us, you run and find a store to hide in, okay? Don’t come out or make a sound until I find you.”

I paused, then quickly added in a quieter voice.

“Or someone else comes looking. If it’s somebody calling out saying they’re here to help, go to them. Otherwise, stay hidden no matter what you hear. You understand?”

He gave me a jerky nod, and after fumbling my items around, I managed to free a hand to rub the top of his head gently.

“Don’t worry. I’ll protect you. Now, let’s go.”

I started moving, still crouched and making sure Brian followed. He stuck to me like glue, and I made sure to pay extra attention to my scythe’s length to not bump it into him or any of the shelves. We made our way to the entrance, and I paused, looking around at the food court. The weird rift thing had disappeared from the sky, and the mall was silent as a graveyard… which was not a comforting analogy to make. Stupid brain…

The way looked clear, and so I carefully set down my weapon and transferred the baseball to my right hand. As I did, I caught my reflection in the glass of a nearby display. I looked scared, of course, but my eye… there was a determination that gleamed behind it that I’d never seen before. As I looked on in surprise, I found my hand reaching towards my eyepatch.

Screw it. It’s not like anyone is around to stare anyway. Might as well go all out.

So I pulled off the eyepatch, tucking it into my blazer pocket as my right eye quickly adjusted to the dim red of the emergency light.

My reflection peered back at me, my left eye a bright azure, and my uncovered right a sanguine red, both gleaming with the mark of someone affected by mana while they were still developing in the womb. The two different colors were just due to mundane heterochromia, but being manaborn meant they both had a vivid sheen to them. The combination ended up causing people to stare or sometimes outright stop me to take pictures. I’d taken to wearing the eyepatch to avoid the looks since elementary school. I’d still gotten looks, of course, but the medical-style eyepatch had stopped all but the most intrusive from asking questions, afraid it was an injury and, therefore, a taboo topic.

Of course, that hadn’t stopped Katie when we had first met in middle school. She’d poked and prodded around the topic, finally taking to calling me “cyclops girl.” Then, at the start of the current school year, she’d grown the courage to outright pull off my eyepatch in the middle of our lunch period. After that, word had spread through the grade quickly.

Freak. Crazy eyes. Demon girl. Katie had gotten creative with the names. From a distance, it was all just stupid, low-tier bullying.

But that didn’t make it cut any less, and even small cuts could bleed someone out eventually.

My vision finally finished adjusting to both the dark and using both eyes again, so I shook the thoughts from my head. Now wasn’t the time to be introspective. It was time to move.

Carefully, I stood up, still searching for movement. Seeing none, I took a breath, pulled my arm back, and threw the baseball as far as I could, aiming at a store window on the other side of the food court. I wasn’t particularly strong and never really practiced throwing, so I just arched it the best I could, hoping it would slam into something and make noise.

It did not disappoint. Maybe I had underestimated the effect of fear-induced adrenaline and the strength that came with it, because I watched with shock as it flew all the way across the food court. It fell short of the store I aimed for, but then it bounced off the floor with a noisy thud and ricocheted into the window. The baseball slammed into the glass, and the entire window shook noisily in its frame, echoing through the empty mall floor. Triumph flooded into my veins, a wild grin stretching over my lips as-

Four shapes suddenly blurred from the shadows, rushing to the sound. I got the vague impression of something doglike with an unnaturally long tail as they moved, the sound of claws scrabbling on the tiled floor. My heart leapt into my throat as one of the shapes appeared from behind a half wall of hedges along the food court’s outer perimeter, directly where our path to the shelter was. The shapes moved about as quick as a normal canine running at full speed, but made no sound other than the clicking of their clawed feet.

I waited, making sure there were no others, and then moved, jerking my head at Brian to follow. I kept my scythe close and the bundled net in my left hand ready as I led Brian to the hedge walls, skirting along the perimeter of the food court away from the direction I’d thrown the ball. My heart felt like it was trying to tear through my chest, but I ignored it as I crouch-shuffled along. When we got about a quarter of the way around, I took another careful look above the hedges, but saw nothing.

I moved, breaking from the cover of the wall and headed to a pathway that led between stores. From there, I knew if we took a right and followed the maze of storefronts for a while, it would eventually lead us directly onto a path to the shelter. Brian stuck close, all but clutching onto me as we moved. I led him along, trying to ignore the storefronts we were passing and the thought there could be any number of Anathema hiding in them. If they were hiding inside, there wasn’t much I could do about it but be alert and ready.

We made slow but substantial progress. My path was designed to take as many turns as possible, utilizing the small “alleyways” created between the stores. That way, we wouldn’t find ourselves on a long straightaway where anything could see us from far away. Before every turn, I stopped and looked down the hall, forcing myself to observe for at least a minute before continuing. With the size of the mall, it felt like I was going through a city more than anything else.

Brian kept up well, and I made sure to give him a reassuring smile every time we waited at a corner. I had no idea how the kid was holding it all together so well when I barely was. Maybe he was just in shock. Maybe I was in shock. Whatever. It didn’t matter too much as long as we were making progress.

At the halfway mark, I paused to catch my breath, taking a little more time as I watched our next pathway for movement. Seeing nothing, I stepped out, turning to give Brian another reassuring smile.

For the first time, he gave me a shaky smile back, and an Anathema stepped out of a storefront ten feet behind him.

It was about the size of a small wolf and borrowed the same shape, but instead of fur, it had a slick black carapace covering it in armor, sinewy red muscle poking out between the plates. The thing’s tail was serrated and hung limply behind it at nearly twice the length of its body. As the thing stepped forth, it turned to me. I blinked as my gaze met what looked almost like a giant eel’s head. It’s unassuming, derpy eyes stared back, lidless and unmoving.

Then it opened its mouth, and I realized its head wasn’t that of an eel but a lamprey.

Teeth lined the interior of its suction cup mouth, and it let out a shrieking hiss that bounced around weirdly in the shorter passage. Brian started to flip around, but I was already moving. The lamprey wolf hurried to move as well, scrabbling and slipping over the tiles as it tried to find traction to leap at us. I threw the net over Brian’s head at the thing, grabbing his shoulder and pushing him behind me once the net left my hand.

“Run!” I yelped at Brian, my voice cracking even as I readied my makeshift scythe for a swing.

The monster managed to take a step forward only for the messily unwinding net to entangle it. Its legs caught in the various layers of webbing, and it tripped forward, crashing to the ground. As it did, I grabbed my weapon with both hands and swung down. The head of the ice axe smashed straight into a piece of carapace and then through it into flesh. I felt the squish of meat being punctured through the broom pole, and I suppressed a shudder.

The thing let out an undulating hiss of pain, spitting gray slime over the ground as it tried to stand, only for its legs to get further enwrapped in the net. It still managed to slide itself forward, only for the excess netting to catch its back legs as well. Between the smooth tile of the ground and its tangled limbs, it couldn’t seem to get to its feet. I pulled up on my scythe, drawing it out from the monster and sending an arc of black ichor onto the wall and ceiling.

Then I swung down again.

And again.

And again.

The ice axe punctured through the thing’s body a half dozen times before the creature finally started tearing through the net with its claws. I pulled my scythe back, fear sending a shock of lightning through me. Suddenly, I realized the ice axe wasn’t piercing deep enough to reach anything vital in its body. I had to aim for the head if I wanted to kill the thing before it got free.

I adjusted, aiming for half a second before swinging down the scythe again, aiming directly at its head and neck area. There was a sudden blur, and the monster’s serrated tail whipped up and wrapped around my weapon. Then it pulled with unnatural strength, and my scythe went flying. I stumbled backwards, reaching behind my head and grasping the ice axe that was sticking out of my backpack. My fingers were slick with sweat and slipped around the thing, unable to find a good grip. Cursing, I pulled off my backpack and ripped the axe clear, tossing my pack to the side.

Before I could flip the axe around to grab the handle, there was a ripping sound as the monster tore itself free from the netting. It leapt at me, bowling straight into me and slamming me into the ground. A gasp of air escaped my lungs even as my head was thrown back by the whiplash into the tile. Pain exploded through my head and back, dyeing my sight red. I blinked the color away, but when my vision cleared, the thing was standing over me, its head hovering above my chest.

Somehow, I was still holding onto the ice axe, and I fumbled with it, trying to work my hand down from the head to grasp the handle. I pushed against the ground with my feet, trying to slide myself away from the monster. It stared at me for a second before it pulled its head back, opening its maw in a victorious shriek, and then it plunged its face onto my stomach. Dozens of serrated teeth undulated in rapid succession to claw into my skin while something sharp and abrasive ripped through my blazer and shirt and into the flesh of my navel.

The beginnings of a scream escaped through my clenched teeth as it tore into me. Finally my right hand found a grip on the axe and-

What felt like a serrated knife plunged into my stomach, and I screamed. Tears came to my eyes as whatever impaled me began to tear around inside of my guts. Dark edges closed in around my vision as a burning pain clawed into me. After another few churning twists, the knife-like object withdrew from my belly in one quick, smooth motion, and I gasped at the sudden sensation. I tried to look through the blurriness covering my sight, my abdomen spasming in a sharp, burning pain. I found the creature still latched onto me, its lidless eyes meeting my own. Suddenly, its neck undulated, and I felt a sudden suction as it began slurping up my blood and guts.

The thing was eating me.

Something inside my head snapped at that realization, and I let out a scream that cracked my throat as a whole new agony flooded my body. Panic and desperation flooded through me at the sheer intrusiveness of the sensation as my guts were sucked out. I tried to grab the thing’s head with my left hand and push it off, but I couldn’t find any purchase on its slick skin. I switched tactics, instead using the feeling of the monster’s head to aim, and I swung the ice axe at it.

The axe pierced the thing’s neck, and its entire body spasmed, the suction faltering. The brief reprieve gave me time to pull the axe back out and adjust my aim. Its tail swung up from behind it, and I knew it was going to try to whip my ice axe away. Before it could, I swung down again, and the axe plunged through its head, this time directly above its eyes.

The monster’s entire body stiffened, going completely still. Then its teeth suddenly unlatched from my belly even as the thing fell on top of me. I could hear myself whimpering as I pulled the axe out, and swung down again at its neck. There was no reaction as it bit deep, but I didn’t stop. I kept swinging, stabbing holes into the thing until my arm grew weak. I could hear myself gasping for breath as I laid there, the creature’s corpse resting on my lower body.

For a while, I didn’t move. Every heaving breath of air caused my stomach to rise and fall, sending shocks of pain through me. I tried to slow down my breathing the best I could, and the pain gradually began to lose some of its bite. When it went from excruciating and paralyzing to only reducing me to tears, I began trying to slide myself from under it. The movement caused my abdominal muscles to contract, and I choked on more sobs as I forced myself to continue until I was finally free.

I wiped at my blurry vision, trying to regain my composure. From where I was laying, I tried my best to look around for Brian, but I didn’t see him anywhere. He must have ducked into a store and hid like I told him. That was good, because I was sure my screams had echoed through the hallways. Hopefully the maze of the mall had bounced the sound around enough that it would take time before more creatures found me, but I couldn’t waste even a second.

I needed to move, and to do that, I had to assess the damage to my abdomen. I felt panicky fear rise in my throat as I pushed my head and shoulders up off the ground to see my wound. There was a hole through my blazer and blouse on the area around my navel, showing skin and flesh scraped raw. In the center was a noticeable hole, and even as I watched, blood bubbled up from it with each of my breaths. Soft, mewling sounds of pain started escaping me as horror washed through me. Bile rose in my throat, and I forced myself to hold it down, not wanting to know what kind of pain vomiting would induce.

I let myself lie back on the floor, closing my eyes. I couldn’t stop myself from whimpering weakly as I gently moved my hands over my wound and felt a hot, sticky warmth. I tried to put a little pressure on my wound, but the slightest push sent stars across my vision. My weak, pained noises gained a raw, shrill sharpness to them.

As I tried to regain control of myself, I realized that even though the monster hadn’t hit anywhere vital, it had still ripped through my guts. If I tried to move, the pain it would cause would almost certainly make me pass out. I was stuck, bleeding out, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

I’m going to die, I realized, and tears spilled down my cheeks.

I felt myself choking on weak sobs as I tried not to agitate my belly. I had killed an Anathema, an alien abomination, but so what? What did it matter if I was going to die anyway? I had saved Brian, but now what was going to happen to him? Would he really be safe with more of those things prowling around? I’d failed in every single way that truly mattered.

And Lily. God, Lily. I was never going to see her again, her blond ponytail bouncing whenever she ran, her mischievous grin when she surprised me. I was never going to get to play more games with her, to watch her run at her track practices, to see her smile at me again.

I really wanted to see her smile again…

Something inside my heart fell apart.

I let myself cry in uncontrolled, choking gasps, ignoring the throbbing pain that came with it. My sobs were utterly undignified sounding, all snot and choked whines, but I didn’t care. It didn’t matter any more.

Nothing mattered any more.

Dimly, I heard the pitter-patter of something against the tile floor, and I almost let out a mirthless laugh as it grew nearer. So much for bleeding out. At least I wouldn’t have to suffer much longer. The pattering steps grew nearer with an odd, hopping cadence, and it was only when I heard it stop near my head that I decided to open my eyes and face whatever had come to finish me off.

At first, I thought I was looking at a stuffed animal.

A pure white, floppy-eared rabbit sat near my head, staring at me with red eyes. The rabbit was huge, the size of a fully grown cat, and even as I looked at it, nine fox tails unfurled behind it, gently waving back and forth. As I looked at the thing in confusion, I noticed that instead of solid pupils, both were black circles that held a seven-pointed star made of seven straight, overlapping lines. Everything about it was overemphasized and artificially perfect, exactly like a stuffed animal was. The rabbit’s head suddenly moved, tilting slightly as it continued to stare.

[Congratulations!] A woman’s voice resounded through my mind. [Your actions have not gone unnoticed! The Zenith have recognized you as being a capable fit to become a Magical Guardian and continue defending humanity!]

I blinked, completely failing to understand what was happening. I went over the words in my head again but couldn’t seem to process them. The rabbit’s head tilted to the other side, and the woman’s voice came back to me.

[It appears your conflict with the Anathema has left you in a critical condition. I should inform you that if you choose to become a Magical Guardian, you will gain access to resources capable of preventing your eventual demise. As you seem to be losing blood and consciousness, I will skip the rest of the introduction and get straight to my one and only question.]

The rabbit’s heptagram eyes began to glow with crimson light, and I felt a cold chill down my spine.

[Would you like to make a contract?]