“Ooh,” big sis said as we entered the arcade, “I haven’t been to one of these in a long time.”
I just stopped next to her. “You haven’t had enough free time, I’m afraid. I already paid for the credits.”
She blinked and glanced down when I handed her a small card.
“Play any game you like!” I said kindly, smiling with my eyes closed. “I’ll go get us some drinks, okay?”
She smiled and nodded. “Okay!”
I then walked through the arcade machines and to the food counter.
Mable was about three years older than me. We were very close as children until my father passed… we were taken from our mother due to her alcoholic issues, and somehow got split apart in the foster system.
Mable had a much better time at hers, though.
My lashes lowered at the thought.
I missed her greatly. We only connected back together two years ago. It was too long, if you asked me.
I made it to the counter then, stopping at the cash register to find the cashier’s back to me as he fixed one of the machines.
“Excuse me!” I said then.
He glanced back.
I immediately froze.
Dante smiled and stepped over to the register, leaning on the counter as he regarded me. “Welcome to Fantom’s arcade. May I get you a nice beverage, young man?”
I glared. “How the hell did you manage this?”
He just smiled. “However do you mean?”
“Cut the act,” I snapped then. “You somehow miraculously knew I was coming here and are somehow miraculously a worker at the exact place I was coming.”
He just smiled. “You’re smart.”
“I’m observant,” I remarked, glaring. “Did you mind control the manager?”
He closed one eye, smirking. “Possibly.”
I just grumbled in protest.
“How may I help you today?” he said then.
“I want two drinks,” I said then, handing him a five-dollar bill.
All sizes were once price, so I knew how much it would cost.
He took the cash from me and hummed, pressing keys on the register before the drawer popped open.
I watched in boredom when he put the bill back in the drawer and took extra cash out.
He handed me back two dollars. “Anything else?”
“No.”
He smiled then. “What size? We have small, medium, large? Or if you’re feeling really feisty tonight,” he winked at me, “extra-large?”
I caught his innuendo and glared. “I want two smalls, thank you.”
He just sighed and pulled two small cups off the stand and handed them to me. “You have low standards.”
I gave him a bored look.
“Two smalls he says,” Dante remarked, setting his elbow on the counter, “they cost the same, anyway. Why not settle for something new and bigger?”
I immediately pushed the cups back to him. “I want a refund.”
He smiled down at me. “Sadly, we do not do refunds. What’s done is done.” His smile grew. “I can swap them out for something larger that can handle a lot of power.”
“Give me a refund,” I said then.
“Sorry,” he remarked, “it’s against store policy.”
“You don’t even work here!”
He gazed down. “Then it’s against my policy.”
I just threw the cups at him, making him laugh as he dodged them.
“Wow, so violent,” he said then, smirking at me. “I wonder where you got it from. You know, if you get an extra-large, then you might feel calmer knowing your thirst will be fulfilled.”
“If you say extra-large ONE MORE TIME….”
He just set his elbows on the counter, whispering, “Extra-large.”
“That’s it. I’m going to kill you.”
“Awh, I finally got the privilege of your vengeance?” He smirked. “Finally.”
“I’m going to hang out with my sister,” I growled low. “If you don’t mind… leaving me alone.”
“No promises.”
I just shot a look at him. “I will never succumb to you.”
His smile only grew, and I could hear his silent words:
Oh, yes, you will.
“You bully me,” I told him.
“No, I tease you,” he responded. “There’s a difference.”
“No,” I snapped back, “you bully me in hopes to make yourself feel better.”
“I’m the most perfect thing in the world,” Dante said, smirking. “Why would I have the desire to make myself feel better?”
I just ignored him and marched away, feeling his eyes burn into my back.
Almost two minutes later, I walked around the arcade, searching for my sister’s form.
I scanned the crowd, brows drawing together when I couldn’t find her.
Hmm… odd… I thought she would be in the Japanese section. She liked those foreign games the most.
“Mable?” I called then, though the sounds of the videogames burst through the room, making my voice drown out. “Mable!”
I decided then to look for her, scanning the crowd for her form as explosions from games burst through my ears.
The moment I made it to the horror section, I gazed down briefly to find her phone on the floor below me.
I blinked hazily before picking it up, and I glanced around, something deep inside me darkening.
Something was wrong.
I looked harder then, running through the games. “Mable! MABLE!”
I searched profusely, but she was nowhere to be found! She wasn’t near the food desk, not the crane machines, not the foreign games or the children games… I searched EVERYWHERE…
Before I made it to the last game, and I swallowed something hard… knowing full well that it was a horror game with curtains covering it.
My entire form chilled as the moment settled in.
Was she here? Was she taken? Did she fall?
I walked closer to the curtain, breathing shallowly before I reached out.
Oh, God… Oh, God.
I shoved all fear back and tore open the curtain.
My entire being completely froze.
There was a man in here, standing in front of a girl with a knife in his hand…
My blood thickened when I saw her lifeless eyes staring at the ceiling, and blood slipped into her white dress, staining it a horrific red. Her hair was matted with sweat… and her faces had scratches sliced into her skin.
No…
No.
Mable…
Mable.
I took a step back, but the man’s eyes already locked on me.
A wide, toothy grin spread across his face, and he regarded me with a dark smile. “Hello, little boy.”
All aspects of pain, remorse, and fear shattered inside me.
Only one word echoed through my thoughts:
RUN.
And my body did the exact thing.
I spun around and darted out from the arcade, entire body acting on instinct as my breaths shorted from my lack of exercise.
Tears burned my eyes, my heart shattering deep inside me and piercing it’s shards into my lungs…
I couldn’t breathe, but I still kept running.
And I couldn’t think straight… I just… I couldn’t.
She was dead.
Run.
But she was dead!
Run.
BUT SHE WAS DEAD!
RUN!
I kept going further into the streets… I didn’t know where my body was taking me… but I wanted to get far from here.
I never wanted to be found again.
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