Chapter Three

-Anathema-

 

The darkness of the mall consumed me. My feet pounded the floor, echoing off the walls as I ran. The weight of my thoughts pushed against my chest, every step a desperate bid to make things right.

 

Come on, think Maito! You can't just blindly rush in.

 

I didn’t have a plan, and that terrified me. I just had an overwhelming urge to save Lily and Brian, to prove that I was worth something, to do something right for once. I knew in the back of the mind that there would be Anathema roaming the halls soon, if not already. The familiar stores and kiosks transformed into eerie silhouettes in the dim emergency lights, and the once bustling mall was now a silent, haunting maze. Fortunately, I had a map on my phone, and my sense of direction was always great. I pulled out my phone, hoping that its glow wouldn’t give me away if there were any Anathema nearby.

 

I dimly noted that my footsteps seemed to be muffled by the walls of the mall. Perhaps the very structure was built to protect those within from the impending threat, though that thought might be just wishful thinking on my part. Maybe my heartbeat was just drowning out the sound of my footsteps.

 

I scanned the map on my phone. If Lily and Brian were at the sports store when the Usurpation started, I'd need to wind through some corridors back towards the food court. The entire distance from the food court to the shelter had only taken me three minutes, and I could navigate my way back even without the green arrows guiding me. Still, if I had to put an estimate to it, it would take another four minutes to reach the sporting goods store.

 

I turned a corner, and the food court came into sight . And with it, I could make out four dark shapes in the dim light of the food court. They were unlike anything I had seen before. From the distance, their forms seemed to blur and shift, as if they couldn’t decide on a single shape. I could only describe them as 'dog-like silhouettes,' but even that seemed an insufficient description for the terror they represented.

 

I immediately retreated back behind the corner, pressing my back against the cold wall, my breaths shallow. The realization of what I had gotten myself into began to dawn on me. I thought back to the man's words, and that pang of guilt resurfaced, but this time, with a determination I didn't know I had.

 

But first, I needed a plan.

 

Watching from my hidden position, I noticed that the Anathema moved in a somewhat predictable pattern. They were patrolling the area, three of them hovering around the food court , but the fourth seemed to be shuffling around the entrance of the sports store. It wasn’t too bold of an assumption to make, but I realized that Lily and Brian had to be in there. I had to get to them, but without alerting the Anathema.

 

 I was unarmed, and I wasn’t exactly built to fight these things, but going ahead without a weapon of sort seemed like a death wish. These things seemed to patrol around with the same speed as an attack dog. If I tried to create a diversion without being sufficiently far away, they’d likely be able to swarm me and kill me in an instant.

 

I looked at the stores on this side of the food court — there were about a dozen shops, but four stood out to me. A toy store, a clothing shop, a kitchenware store, and an electronics store. Usurpations were known to interfere with electromagnetic signaling - anything too sensitive, even light over long distance was a no-go, but short range signals could work intermittently. 

 

The kitchenware store caught my eye. Among the various cooking appliances and gadgets, I could see some potential weapons. If I could find something sharp or heavy, it might provide me with at least a fighting chance. The toy store also had promise, as there might be something unexpected there to turn the tide. Then there was the electronics store — Usurpations might interfere with signals, but I could probably find something like a portable speaker that would work long enough to create a distraction. 

 

Without a second thought, I slipped into the kitchenware store. The shop was cloaked in shadows, but I quickly made my way to the knife section. A set of stainless steel knives gleamed in the dim light. I grabbed the largest chef's knife, wrapping my fingers around the handle, and felt the cold weight of it. An unexpected surge of confidence filled me as I slid it in its fancy leather sheath. At least now, I wasn't entirely defenseless. Still, the seven hundred dollar price tag on it made me balk and turn pale for a moment. I silently promised myself I would return the knife if I made it out of this alive. I also managed to pick up a pack of thumb tacks at the counter, which I carried with me outside.

 

The toy store was littered with discarded toys that had been left by hurried shoppers. Amongst the sea of toys, I managed to find a pack of small party poppers and a whistle on a neck string. I looked around for anything that could possibly help me even the odds in a worst case scenario like a net or a rope. I sighed after taking one quick sweep around the aisles. It seemed I was out of luck on that front. 

 

Moving quickly and stealthily, the electronics store was my last stop. I quickly grabbed a portable speaker, praying that it would work when I needed it to. I kept my profile low, looking outside as I tried to sync my phone with it. 

 

I couldn't help but pause for a moment, thinking of how surreal this situation was. Only hours ago, I was worrying about school. About incurring Katie’s wrath, and finding food for another day. Now, here I was, armed with a knife, party poppers, thumb tacks, a whistle, and a speaker, preparing to lure away Anathema to save a young child and a girl I barely knew.

 

It was terrifying, but also invigorating in a way. For the first time in my life, I felt a purpose, a drive that went beyond just surviving another day.

 

Crouching carefully, I moved silently through the food court, planning my next move. Using the map on my phone, I mapped out a route that would take me close to the sports store but also offer multiple exit routes if things went awry. 

 

I looked around for any potential hiding spots or barricades and then set the portable speaker down a good distance away, behind a flipped-over table that overlooked the food court’s balcony near the corner furthest away from the sports store. I connected it to my phone via Bluetooth, fingers crossed it would work. Then I readied a loud, chaotic track from my music library, one that would surely draw the attention of the Anathema.  I also scattered as many thumb tacks as I could near the speaker, setting them up so the creatures would skid into them. It was a rudimentary trap, and I doubted it would slow them down much if at all, but it was better than nothing.

 

Positioning myself strategically, I snuck back towards the electronics store to the edge, staying at a safe range where I would still have a signal.

 

With a deep breath, I played an obnoxiously loud siren from my phone. The effect was immediate. The Anathema shifted their attention towards the noise, moving in a pack towards the blaring sound.

 

Seizing the moment, I dashed towards the sports store.

 

The plan was simple: set off the music, use the momentary distraction to get closer to the sports store, and hopefully retrieve Lily and Brian. 

 

But things rarely went to plan.

 

As I hit play, the music blared out, loud and disorienting. As hoped, the Anathema immediately turned their attention towards the sound, converging on the speaker. But then, the unexpected occurred — the music started glitching, going on and off intermittently due to the interference from the Usurpation.

 

The sudden silence and intermittent glitches of the music had me on edge. Would the Anathema notice? Would they return to their post? My steps faltered for just a moment, but I pressed on. I arrived near the front entrance of the sports store, heart pounding in my ears. I quickly opened and peered through the glass door, and I couldn’t see Lily anywhere.

 

"Lily? Brian?" I whispered with a shaky voice.

 

There was a rustling sound from the back of the store, and then Lily's familiar voice reached my ears. "Maito? Is that you?"

 

Relief flooded through me as I moved towards the voice. In the dim light, I found Lily and Brian, huddled behind a stack of football Jerseys. Brian was trembling and cowering, and Lily held a flashlight toward me.

 

"You came for us," she whispered, standing up as her eyes widened with disbelief.

 

She just looked at me with an inscrutable expression I’d best describe as surprise and worry in the dim lighting.

I gave a nod, sighing in relief that she was still okay.

 

"I couldn’t leave you," I replied, feeling a tightness in my chest. “I saw the alert that Anathema had started manifesting after I got Lucy to her parents, so I came over to try and help.”

 

But then, I saw a frown form on her lips. 

 

"Maito," she said, her voice thick with emotion.

Lily's eyes scanned mine, searching for something. "Maito, What made you leave the safety of the shelter to come after us?"

 

The question caught me off guard. "I... I… it’s my responsibility," I whispered, actually not quite sure. "It’s only logical. You’re in danger now because I didn’t step up to take the more dangerous trek, and I could still make it over to help. Or at the very least, I could make things right and lure those Anathema away, even if I couldn’t sneak past them.”

 

Of course. I’d done it again. Why did I always make everything about myself? I just realized how self-absorbed that explanation was. It wasn't about me, it was about doing the right thing. About protecting people.

Lily continued to study my face, her expression complicated. I wondered if she was regretting the brief friendship we'd formed earlier. But her words dispelled that fear. 

 

"You're really brave, you know Maito? You surprised me here… and truth be told, I’m more than grateful you’re here with me. I’ve always sucked at finding my way around, and with all the power taken out, I don’t think we would have been able to make it back to the shelter. But Maito, I would like you to think of yourself more. Your life is valuable, and you shouldn’t be so ready to throw it away.”

 

The words hung in the air between us. I looked away, feeling a pang of guilt and discomfort. 

 

"I don’t see it like that," I whispered, feeling the weight of her words sink into my chest as I began to search through some protective equipment, avoiding her gaze. 

 

I eyed a pair of baseballs, before taking off my backpack to store it and offer Lily an explanation. “You’re a good person, Lily. I was suspicious, but the brief time we’ve known each other has shown me a lot. That… that isn’t a common thing. Giving someone like you a chance is a far cry from throwing it away, in my view.”

 

Her hand reached out, gently touching my shoulder and causing me to jolt. "Listen to me, Maito. It's one thing to want to help, to be brave and step into danger when it's necessary. But it's another to think so little of yourself that you’d willingly use yourself as bait for someone you’ve known for an hour. Your life matters, just as much as mine, Brian's, or anyone else's."

 

Brian, who'd been mostly silent, looked at me with new eyes. He seemed to see more than just a boy who had come to their rescue. There was respect in his gaze, but also a hint of sadness, as if he understood a fraction of the depth of what was going on through my head.

 

I swallowed hard, grappling with a whirlwind of emotions. "I just... wanted to do something right for once."

 

Lily's eyes softened. "You do more than you think," she assured me. "But remember that every time you put yourself at risk, you're putting those who care about you at risk too. Imagine how I would have felt if something had happened to you out there? Or if I had to live with the knowledge that I was the reason you were killed by the Anathema."

 

She had a point. But it was a concept so foreign to me. For years, I believed that no one would care if something happened to me. But now, Lily was insisting otherwise. Why did she care so much, anyway? 

 

I mulled over her words as I spotted an icepick, packaged in thick plastic layers with a protective sheath wrapped around its head. It was a sporting store, so there wasn’t much to choose from. The icepick wasn’t the ideal weapon, but it might do in a pinch. I took it and handed the baseball bat to Brian.

 

“Hold onto this, okay, little man?” I tried my best to sound confident, though the uncertainty roared in my head.

 

Brian nodded, gripping the bat tightly. His small fingers clenched around the handle, determination clear in his young eyes.

 

I frowned at the ice axe — I looked around for some scissors or a blade to help with the packaging, but my search came up empty. It was Lily who approached, a small switchblade suddenly in her hand, glinting in the dim light.

 

I blinked, taken aback. “You have a switchblade?”

 

She gave a half-smile, the worry evident in her eyes. “Always come prepared. My dad said that. Living in a world like this... you never know.”

 

Lily deftly cut through the packaging, and the ice axe was soon in my hand, a perfect fit. With a sharp click, she closed her switchblade, but then her eyes fell on another ice axe. Without a word, she began opening the second one for herself.

 

For a moment, I just stared. The bubbly, popular girl I’d known from school was more resourceful and prepared than I'd ever imagined. As she wielded the switchblade with practiced ease, I couldn't help but wonder what other surprises lay beneath her exterior.

 

Lily caught my gaze, her eyes searching mine. “You look surprised. It's just... I’ve been through some things, okay? This,” she gestured with the switchblade, “helps me feel safer.”

 

“It’s not that,” I began, choosing my words carefully. “I just... didn’t expect it. I’ve seen you at school, and you always seemed... different.”

 

She let out a small, sad laugh. “People see what they want to see, Maito. We all wear masks.”

 

We stood there in silence for a moment, the weight of her words sinking in. Her gaze was intense, filled with a mix of gratitude, worry, and something else I couldn't quite place. For the first time, I felt a genuine connection with her. We were both hiding parts of ourselves, for very different reasons.

 

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, my voice thick with emotion. “I never meant to put you in this position. I didn’t want you to feel like you had to look out for me.”

 

Lily’s expression softened. “It's not about that. I just... I don’t want to see anyone get hurt, especially not someone as kind-hearted as you.”

 

My heart skipped a beat. Kind-hearted? Me? That wasn’t a description I’d ever associated with myself. She was looking at me with genuine concern, and it hit me. She was scared for me. Not because I was her protector here, but because she cared about my well-being. The realization was overwhelming and caused my heart to skip in panic for a moment.

 

Silently, I rummaged around the counter we were standing in front of. It had little cupboards lined below, and I bent over to rummage through them. There was a variety of supplies inside - from detergent to duct tape, and I grabbed the duct tape. 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. 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.

 

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.

 

Looking around, I caught sight of a small fishing net and grabbed it as well. Lily also spotted a pack of carabiners and some paracord. She handed them to me, her eyes scanning for more useful items.

 

"These might be useful," she commented, pointing to the paracord.

 

“Good idea,” I nodded, wrapping some around my wrist. "You never know when you might need a makeshift rope."

 

Lily nodded in agreement, busying herself with stuffing some of the carabiners and remaining paracord into her backpack. While she did that, I took the fishing net and attempted to wrap it on my arm over the paracord, hoping it could serve as a quick trap if need be. 

 

Brian, who had been relatively quiet this whole time, tugged at my sleeve. "Maito?" he asked hesitantly.

 

I knelt down to his level, giving him my full attention. "Yeah, Brian?"

 

He bit his lip, eyes darting nervously. "Thank you for helping us." The sincerity in his voice caught me off guard.

 

I mustered a small smile. "Of course, little man. We stick together in times like this."

 

Brian's grip tightened on the baseball bat, determination burning in his young eyes. "When I grow up, I want to be brave and strong, like you."

 

I blinked, taken aback. Brave and strong? The idea was laughable. But, the words warmed my heart in a way I hadn't felt in a long time. I ruffled his hair playfully. "You'll be even stronger, I'm sure of it."

 

Lily joined our side, her eyes filled with a serious edge. "Alright, we have what we need. Let's head to the shelter."

 

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. Brian, you’re going to follow right behind me. When we get to the door, I’m going to check and see if any of those monsters are out there. Then we’re going to make our way to the shelter as quietly as possible, with you between me and Lily. If something finds us, you run and find a store to hide in, okay? Don’t come out or make a sound until we find you.”

 

“Ok…” Brian whispered quietly, and Lily gave me a nod in affirmation.

 

As we turned toward the door, I caught my reflection in the glass of a nearby display against the dim red lighting. I looked scared, of course, but my eye… there was a purpose that gleamed behind it that I’d never seen before. 

 

I looked on in surprise, and I found my hand reaching towards the headband I kept over my left eye. Then, I lifted it to reveal the eyepatch underneath.

 

“Maito?” Lily asked as I paused in front of the display.

 

We can’t afford any mistakes here… I hope she doesn’t comment too much on it.

 

Sucking in a deep breath, I pulled off the eyepatch, tucking it into my blazer pocket as my left eye quickly adjusted to the dim red of the emergency light.

 

My reflection peered back at me, my right eye a bright azure, and my uncovered left eye 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.

 

Katie had seen me without the eyepatch when I'd accidentally left it off after gym class one day. She'd approached me with her ever-present entourage, her eyes wide with intrigue. "Wow, Maito! Your eyes are so cool! Why do you cover one up?"

 

I'd hesitated, mumbling some incoherent explanation about how it felt more comfortable. Katie had just laughed, light and tinkling, like the melody of a music box. "Well, I think you're unique! Let's be friends!"

 

That was the beginning. Katie, with her popularity and social pull, had "befriended" me. She'd treated me like a trinket, parading me around the school as her "exotic friend". I’m not sure how exactly it’d happened, but it hadn't taken long for me to become a sort of accessory to her group of friends. I’d volunteered once, and before I knew it, I found myself fetching things for them, carrying bags, enduring their snide comments and harsh jokes. 

 

But for once in my life, I wasn't completely invisible. I was part of a group, even if it was at the very bottom of the social ladder within that circle. I'd allowed it, thinking that this was what friendship looked like, believing that this was the only type of relationship someone like me could ever aspire to. The girls in her group had taken advantage of my vulnerability, but it was easier to serve them and endure their abuse than to be entirely alone. 

 

Plus, it kept all the physical bullies away for the most part.

 

But now, as I looked at Lily, I could see the surprise and wonder in her eyes as they took in my uncovered left eye.

 

"It's...different, isn't it?" I said softly, blushing self-consciously.

 

Lily looked deep into my mismatched eyes. "Different isn't bad, mate. It's unique, and honestly really cool." She took a moment, then added, "They give you a badass air of mystery, even."

 

Brian stared at me with wide eyes. "It's like a superhero's eye," he said in awe.

 

I looked away, trying to blink back a surge of emotion as my cheeks turned red. "T-thank you," was all I could muster.

 

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.

 

We didn't speak much after that. The tension in the air was palpable as the three of us prepared to make our escape. All our hopes rested on this plan. We had to move swiftly and silently. And most of all, we had to believe in ourselves and in each other.

 

Carefully, I crouched by the door, searching for movement outside. The pale red glow from the emergency lights created long, eerie shadows that stretched out across the floor, turning every pile of debris or abandoned shopping bag into potential lurking threats.

 

Just as I was about to deem it safe, the sound of slow, deliberate distant footsteps reached my ears. I flattened myself against the wall next to the door, holding my breath. The footfalls drew nearer, echoing eerily in the empty mall from the food court. My heart pounded in my chest, the beats so loud I was sure it would give us away.

 

The four doglike Anathema silhouettes that had vanished earlier were returning to this side of the food court. My grip on the improvised poleaxe tightened. I scrambled, reaching into my bag for a baseball, clutching one in my sweaty palms. My blood ran cold as it slipped out of my hands, and time seemed to slow as I felt it drop below.

But thankfully, Lily snapped her hand out to catch it before it could bounce and make any noise. The two of us shared a quick, nervous nod in the dim lighting of a store. Then, she took a breath as she crouched over to my side, pulled her arm back, and threw the baseball as far as she could, aiming at a store window on the other side of the food court, perpendicular to our relative positions.

 

The ball soared through the air, crashing into a glass window with a resounding shatter. 

Four shapes blurred from the shadows, rushing to the sound. I got the vague impression of something with an unnaturally long tail as they moved, the sound of claws scrabbling on the tiled floor.

 

Without waiting for another moment, I scrambled out the door and gestured for Lily and Brian to follow me.

 

I waited, making sure there were no others, and then moved, jerking my head at the two to follow. I kept my scythe close and the bundled net in my left hand ready as I led our group to the hedge walls, skirting along the perimeter of the food court away from the direction Lily had 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. Lily followed closely, her ice axe and switchblade out and at the ready, her eyes darting left and right, every muscle in her body primed for action. I could feel the tension radiating off her, a mixture of fear and determination.

 

There was a silent understanding between us. If something happened, if we were ambushed, I would handle the initial threat while she would protect Brian. Neither of us wanted to think about what might happen if we failed, so we pushed that thought from our minds and focused solely on the task at hand. Each step, each turn, each silent gesture became our entire world.

 

For a moment, it seemed like we were going to make it, and hope swelled within me.

 

But, the world has a funny way of twisting that hope into despair. It was a recurring theme with  my life.

Halfway through our journey back, I paused to catch my breath and let Brian do the same. The two of us leaned against the wall of a storefront at the end of a corridor, catching our breaths, while Lily stayed alert, her eyes scanning the vicinity for any hint of movement. The only sounds were our quiet breaths and the distant rumble of... something. A noise drew my attention, and my heart stopped. 

 

The clicking sound of footsteps echoed down the corridor. It was subtle at first, just the faintest hint of movement, but with each second it grew louder, more deliberate. Lily, who had been facing the opposite direction, whirled around, her body immediately stiffening, ice axe raised in defense.

 

As I turned, my gaze met a monstrosity emerging from the shadows of one of the ‘alleys’ between stores, and the blood in my veins turned to ice. Emerging from the shadows of a storefront, an Anathema stepped forth. 

 

The slick black carapace glinted in the dim red lighting, its sinewy red muscles contrasting starkly. The long, serrated tail swayed with an eerie, snake-like grace, and then my eyes met it head on. Hollow, un-lidded unassuming eyes stared back, and a shiver ran down my spine.

 

But it was the moment it opened its mouth, revealing the circular rows of teeth resembling that of a lamprey, that I felt true terror. The otherworldly creature was positioned between Brian and me, blocking our path to safety.

 

Adrenaline surged, my mind snapped into action. Without a second thought, I shoved Brian behind me, pushing him towards Lily. 

 

"Run!" I screamed, brandishing my makeshift weapon. "I'll hold it off!"