Chapter Text
Jay was having a nice time. It felt good to get away from his responsibilities for a little while and just enjoy himself with a friend. Ricky, his old roommate, had invited him to come and hang out at the Exton Square Mall, just a few minutes' drive from Ricky's apartment in Coatesville. He had just recently started a new job at one of the stores, and he and Jay were having lunch together at the Mexican restaurant and talking over old times.
Both of them being the sort of guy who always has a big appetite, they'd polished off their enchiladas in no time, and devoured every last tortilla chip, till all that was left were a few tiny fragments at the bottom of the basket, and the watery remains in the salsa bowl had been picked clean of all the big chunks of tomato and onion. Now they were waiting for the server to clear away the plates and bring the check, but in the meantime, they sat in companionable comfort, relaxing against the backs of the booth seats, smiling and laughing at a funny story one of them had just finished telling. It was great, being able to catch up like this.
Jay was grateful they had stayed friends. Things hadn't worked out for them living together as roommates, but he still had a lot of affection for Ricky. For one thing, Jay never would have moved cross-country had it not been for him, in which case he never would have met Mike. But even aside from that, Jay appreciated Ricky just for the person he was, and Ricky had always accepted him fully.
Ricky looked at his watch and sighed. "Well, looks like I better be getting back. That went by way too quick. Sorry it couldn't be longer, considering how far you had to drive."
Jay waved a hand dismissively. "It's not a problem. I'll walk you back."
They paid for their food and left the server a generous tip, then walked out of the restaurant together.
Jay hadn't been to this mall in over a year. Was it always this barren? There were a few shoppers here and there, but it was nowhere near the level of bustling crowds he was used to seeing at other places, like the King of Prussia Mall where he and Mike went sometimes, or some of the sprawling shopping centers he remembered from his youth in California, like Ontario Mills or the Tyler Galleria. Ricky said something offhand about the mall being projected to take an upward turn in the near future; Jay thought that sounded a little too optimistic (classic Ricky), but kept the thought to himself. From where he stood, it looked like half the store spaces were vacant, their old businesses shuttered, former occupants long departed.
They'd walked halfway through the mall when suddenly Jay stopped and stared at something.
"Hey. This is new, isn't it?"
Ricky turned and looked back, having moved a few paces ahead. "What?"
An entire portion of wall had been devoted to a colorful work of art that stretched from floor to ceiling between the entrances of two stores. It was a nature scene, painted in an abstract style with very wide brush strokes. Swaths of green and brown, some as thick as two or three feet, suggested trees and grass and bushes, with speckles of more diverse colors scattered around that Jay supposed were meant to be flowers, or perhaps fruit. In the center of it all, a collection of angular shapes alluded to a cityscape, with an orange sunburst pattern radiating outward from the center in a vaguely art deco style, as though the city were being viewed from a distance, a shining symbol of hope on the horizon. Or, perhaps the orange rays were merely meant to signify a sunset. In any case, it was eye-catching.
Ricky looked at Jay, then at the wall of art, then back at Jay again. His lunch break was almost over and he was anxious to get back, but also curious as to what it was about the wall that seized Jay's attention.
"This wasn't here before. What used to be here?"
"The Sears entrance."
Jay snapped his fingers. "That's right. I forgot that Sears closed."
"Yeah, and this new store called Platz-Halter took its place."
"New store?"
Ricky was shifting his weight from one foot to the other in a way people often do when they're eager to get going. Jay took the hint and moved in step with him again.
"Just seems weird that they would wall up the back entrance," Jay continued as they walked together. "They only want customers entering from the parking lot?"
Ricky shrugged. "Guess so. Maybe they only want people coming into their store if they plan on shopping there, rather than using the anchor store as a glorified entrance to the rest of the mall. Kinda stands to reason, if you think about it. Cutting out one of the entrances means you don't have to pay people to man both entrances. Mall management wants to attract new tenants into their empty spaces, so it makes sense they'd cave to Platz-Halter's conditions, if walling up the back entrance was one of them."
Jay wondered if this information would be useful later.
"Interesting. But the other anchors all still have two entrances? Like Sears did…"
"Yeah, because Sears was built when the mall was brand new and attracting hella crowds. The property owners called the shots back then, and if Sears didn't like having two entrances, tough titty."
Jay smirked at Ricky's fascinating mind and amusing choice of words. He wondered what his interactions with customers were like.
"Well," Ricky said, stopping outside the entrance to the wristwatch store where he worked and turning to face Jay, "it's been great seeing you again. You should bring Mike with you next time."
Jay smiled. "I definitely will."
"Hey...do you feel like hanging out for a while? Me and the guys are gonna go bowling later after I get off. You wanna come?"
"Actually, I…"
Jay knew who "the guys" were, and wasn't wild about the idea of spending any amount of time around them. They--Ricky's other friends--were the ones who drove Jay nearly half crazy back when the two of them were living together, always hanging around the apartment, never letting Jay have a moment's peace. And if he were to stick around that late into the evening, that would cut into the time he'd be able to spend at home with Mike, who would surely be fast asleep by the time he got back.
Nevertheless, something was compelling Jay, making him reluctant to leave.
"...would love to. Thanks."
Jay went into Platz-Halter to check it out. It wasn't all that different from the Sears that had been there before it, or any other department store of similar size, honestly. That back wall, though…
He stood staring at the wall with his hands on his hips. Unlike the other side that faced the mall interior, there was no artwork on this side. Just plain, white drywall. There weren't even any merchandise shelves; the clothing racks stopped just shy of it.
Jay turned one hundred eighty degrees, until he was facing the front of the store, far opposite from his present position. Even from this distance, he could see the sunlight spilling in through the front doors. There weren't many shoppers around--in fact he seemed to have this part of the store to himself at the moment, this secluded nook that had once been the back entrance of Sears. No one was around to witness if he happened to do something unusual, such as…
Now, this was confusing, because it wasn't the same as it had been in the closet, or the time in that dark alley, even though it felt the same. It wasn't pitch dark like those other times--the fluorescent lights overhead allowed him to see everything around him perfectly. And yet, just like the expanding darkness Jay felt like...Jay was convinced that if he walked backwards, the wall wouldn't be there. He'd just keep going, but only so long as he didn't look at the wall .
Jay acted without thinking. There were no words forming in his head, but if there had been, they probably would have been something like, I'll shut my eyes tightly, that way it will feel like I'm in the dark, and the wall will move, the space will expand .
And shut his eyes he did, and walked backwards between a pair of overstuffed circular clothing racks, his left arm lightly brushing up against the sleeve of a shirt. Once he'd cleared them, he knew there were only a few steps left.
He reached the spot where the wall…where the wall would be, and kept moving.
His ankle caught on something and he tripped and fell backwards…