Now listen up kids, and gather 'round the camp fire. I gots a story to tell-ya. It's 'bout some kinfolk from way down yonder. Not here'n Austrailer, but up dere in the Texas. Oh, some big kinfolk they were. Why one feller, by the name of Tyler Browder... Seven feet tall, he was: eyes like stone, hair a fiery red, and B.O. that was so bad, it'd put yo mama's to shame. Well, put away the TNT and listen, 'bout the good time, gone bad.

  Blinding Light, a band consisting of six members of the DHS philharmonic orchestra, had managed to get a gig at the new Mega Mall in Sherman, Texas. As a result, only their friends showed up to hear them... And to shop. (I'm not writing this to say that others wouldn't want to hear us play, but it's so that it's just us who are in the mall... You'll see.)

  Paul LeMaire unloaded the last of the amps from the van.
  "You know," Paul said wheeling the amp into the mall, "you'd think we'd be smart enough to just bring one amp for one bass and not every amp and bass we own."
  "Yeah." Robbie grimaced as he lowered a 200 watt bass amp. "Well, what're you gonna do?"
  "Hey Robbie, what time is it?" Tyler asked.
  "About 6:30." Robbie replied. "We have a few hours."
  John, RJ, and Stephen then emerged, each carrying a bass and electric guitar. As the late February sun rose, a cold wind swept across the parking lot.

  Nicole Taylor, Lauren Wick, and Kristin Zimmerer, being cheerleaders, were the first to show up to the mall. Without a word to the band, they made a B-line for an Old navy. While Stephen, Tyler, and Robbie were tuning up, RJ, John, and Paul were going over the harmonies for a few songs that they'd learned a few weeks before.
  "Alright, midgets," Tyler bellowed into the microphone, but was interrupted by feedback, "ouch! Aaaaaaaaah!!! Paul, turn it down! There we go."
  Tyler handed the mic to RJ. He then picked up his strat, and they began to play.

  As they began their first song, they noticed a steady stream of people coming in. Why, there was Anne'nAnn, old bucked-toothed Mason, Marli, Lauren Besselman, Hani, James the crazy drunkard, and April Long. A few stopped and listened to the band, whilst others went off to go shopping. Paul caught RJ staring curiously at the three or four teens nearby as they finished the song. Mallory, Hani, and April gave Paul an eville look and walked off.

  Lauren Wick had brought every cent she had, which was quite a few. Within five minutes, she'd spent upwards of $500. Now it wasn't unusual for her to spend so much, but $500 had to be her most yet. Kristin and Nicole weren't being frugal either. Each of them spent about $350 apiece.

They had decided that they had spent enough money for ten minutes and that they'd take a quick break to listen to the band. As they came upon the bandstand, an "American Bandstand," they noticed a few familiar faces, but they didn't care much. When they got to the band, they were also taking a break. (Wow what a coincidence. Things always happen at the right time when you write the story.)

  Now Kristin, Nicole, and Lauren had quite a few bags with them, and they didn't want to have to carry them all day. So they decided to put their art of manipulation to work. They batted their big blue eyes, and the guys all stopped what they were doing.
  "Can we ask a favor of you?" Asked Kristin in her sweetest voice.
  Now the band, unable to resist, nodded.
  "Why these bags are awfully heavy." Kristin continued. "Could you watch them for us?"
  "Of course." the band replied in unison. "Anything else we can do for you ladies?"
  "You know what, our backs are hurting from carrying all those bags. Could you give us a back rub?" Lauren asked as she gave a smile. "Please?"
  The band was starting to walk over to the girls, but all of a sudden a voice broke their trance.
  "Damn!" The girls shouted as they walked off to do some more shopping.
  "Umm, excuse me. I don't mean to interrupt, but could I possibly talk to RJ if it isn't interrupting anything, please?" Asked April, the most nicest sweetest girl at DHS.
  "Sure. Guys I'll be right back." RJ replied as he walked off with April.
  "Ohhhhhh, looks like RJ has himself a little girly friend." Robbie laughed.
  "They better hurry, 'cause we need to go on aga-" and before John could finish, RJ was back tuning up his guitar.
  Meanwhile...

  It was now about noon. On their lunch break, the band met up with James Li and Lauren Besselman.
  "Woo woo woo!" John shouted from the back of the group.
  "Shut up!" Besselman gave him an eville glare.
  "What are you two up to?" Paul asked. "Smoochin'?"
  "Well, act---" James began.
  "Silence!" Besselman slapped James across the face. "We're just out looking around. You guys sounded good."
  "Thanks." John replied.
  "Oh, James?" Besselman turned her attention away from the band. "Could I please have your credit card?"
  The two walked off. And when they thought they were out of sight of the band, they locked lips.
  "Ha ha!" Robbie laughed. "That's hilariously hilarious!"
  After eating a few slices of pizza from the Pizza Place, the band returned. And after a brief tune-up, they continued playing.

  "That looks gooood! You should get it." Nicole said in her cheerleadery voice. "You look really good. Why don't you get it in blue and pink, too?"
  "Ok." Kristin ran to go buy the three skirts, two shirts to go with each, and matching shoes for all of them.
  "Nicole, come here quick!" Lauren gasped. "Look, there's Hani and Mallory. I think they're going out! So the rumor was true! They are soooo cute. Wait a minute! Oh my God! Look, and there's April and RJ, too! We need to get Kristin."

  When they got Kristin and came back, Hani, RJ, Mallory, and April were gone.
  "Where could they have gone!" Nicole wondered aloud. "We would have seen them if they left. The only other place they could have gone is in the "EMPLOYEES ONLY" room, and they couldn't have gone there. Oh well."
  "Where the heck are all the people!" Tyler shouted. "There were about a hundred of them here about two hours ago! And I didn't see one of them leave!"
  "That's true." John agreed.
  "So where did they go?" Paul asked, puzzled.
  Their voices stopped abruptly, and all that could be heard were a few snickers, which seemed to come from all directions.
  "Man, since there's no one here, why should we even play?" Robbie asked. "Let's just go to the department store and get some sleep in those little display beds."
  "Fine with me." Replied Paul, and the rest of the band followed.

  "We made good time today three stores in five hours isn't bad at all. (Considering they kicked us out of that last store since we brought sixty-two things in the dressing room.)" Kristin babbled.
  "Not bad at all," came a voice from all around them.
  "Dang, Lauren. You really do have a loud voice!" Nicole stopped.
  "Umm, chick, that wasn't me."
  "Not me either," Kristin replied.
  "Then who was it?" Nicole asked with a quiver.
  "Boo!" Shouted the voice. "If I were you, I'd be nice!"
  Then all of a sudden, the voice was gone.
  "That was scary. Let's go find the guys." Lauren suggested through chattering teeth.
  "Right on," replied the other two.

When they got to the stage, the band wasn't there. So they decided they'd go to the department store and sleep in the little display beds, because Lauren always wanted to do that. As they got to the beds, they found half of them occupied by the band.
  "So that's where they were." Kristin realized. "Now that we know that they're here, let's go to sleep."
  "Agreed," yawned the other two.
  "No, no!" Tyler shouted. "Puppy! No, no, no!"
  "Shut yo' mout, fo' I lay duh smack down!" John called.
  "Browder's talking in his sleep." Kristin giggled.
  "Did you guys hear anything on your way over here?" Lauren asked.
  "Nope." Paul sat up. "Why?"
  "There was a loud voice that shouted at us." Lauren continued. "It seemed to come from the walls."
  "Well I'll be a son of a fitch." Robbie murmured. "I did hear someone mockin' me when I was playing on the bass earlier."
  "Look," Nicole laid down on a bed next to RJ'S, "let's just get some sleep. I know you guys have this mall reserved all weekend. So by Monday, we'll be out of here. No wait, that's bad."

  Nicole laid down and soon was asleep. Stephen, Tyler, and RJ had already fallen asleep before the girls had arrived, and now Paul and Robbie had joined them in their state of unconsciousness, but John, as usual, had a lovely case of insomnia. He watched the others and was still awake as Kristin and Lauren fell asleep. The only lights were those in the food courts. (One of which was nearby.) John was nearly asleep, when two silhouettes silently slipped past him and Robbie and helped RJ to his feet. John was about to follow but waited until the three were just past the entrance to the department store.

  John tried to wake the others, but only Robbie and Lauren responded.
  "You'll pay for waking me up!" Lauren whispered angrily.
  "RJ just left with two peoples." John explained. "Robbie, get up."
  "I'm commin'." Robbie slowly got up from his bed. "Let's go."

  Lauren led the way as the three tried to find RJ Robbie spotted him with Mallory and Hani, walking in the opposite direction. They followed RJ and the others until they turned a corner. When Lauren, John, and Robbie reached it, there was a fork in the breezeway.
  "Ok." Robbie said quickly. "Lauren, you and me take the left, and John, you go right."
  "Right." John replied. "Oh boy! That was a good one."
  "Shut up and go." Lauren quickly turned and led Robbie down the corridor.

  John watched with disgust as Lauren and Robbie turned around and headed back to the department store. Luckily, Mallory, Hani, and RJ had turned to the right. John ran up behind them and spun RJ around. He was shocked to see RJ so angry.
  "Don't tell him anything!" Mallory hissed from behind RJ.
  "I have a feeling I just did something bad." John said nervously.
  "Yeah, you did." April stepped towards John. "Now look. You are going to go back to the department store, and you are going to tell them you didn't see anything."
  "But why--"
  "You didn't see anything!" April nearly shouted.
  "Go on." RJ motioned towards the store. "You didn't see anything."
  "Ok." John turned and laughed to himself. "Why should I keep this quiet. I--"
  John turned around and screamed like a little girl. Hani and RJ stood before James and Mason, who were tied and gagged.
  "I'm glad y'all did that to Mason, but--" John felt dizzy. "Ok. I think I'm going to go now."
  "Go on," RJ repeated, "but say one word about what you've seen, and you'll die."
  "Ok, ok," John slowly backed off, "just don't do somethin' crazy."
  He walked away slowly. And as soon as he was out of sight, he ran like hell.

  When the band awoke the next morning, the girls were already up trying to figure out what to wear. The guys were amazed by how many outfits the girls had and what a frenzy they were in.
  "Does this look good?" Lauren asked.
  "You look fine." Robbie replied.
  "Arggg! Just fine? That's it? Not any better?" Lauren asked.
  "I said you look fine!" Robbie protested, feeling a bit nervous that he said somethin' wrong and was stuck in something bad.
  ""Fine" means nothing to me!" Her eyes were blazing red. "I need something like: "wear different shoes" or "that shirt looks good." Not just "fine"!"
  And with that, she went running away to try on another outfit.
  "Man, girls are difficult." Robbie sighed, happy to be out of that situation.
  "What do you think of this outfit?" Kristin asked.
  That was all the band could stand. Panic-stricken, they ran out yelling something about trying to find a way out of the store. When they got to the doors, they were relieved they'd finally be able to get away. But to their surprise and horror, the doors were locked.
  "Man, this can't be good!" Tyler said in what could almost be fear. "Locked in a mall with three girls, man. Who's gonna tell them we're locked in here?"
  "Not me," John murmured.
  "Me either," Browder continued, "but that gets us nowhere. Ok, fine. I'll tell them."

  When they got back to the war zone, surprisingly everything was quiet. The girls were dressed and ready to do some more shopping.
  "Umm, girls, we got a problem." Browder stammered. "We're kind-a stuck in the mall--"
  "That's not bad, that's good! Now we can go shopping without any problem!" The girls were jumping with delight.
  "Yeah, and you guys can come with us!" Kristin smiled at RJ. "Let's go!"
  "Uh oh. This can't turn out good, wooahh!" Paul screamed, as Nicole, Kristin, and Lauren dragged him and the rest of the band off to shop.

  First, they went to the GAP and tried on everything in the store, and then the girls dragged the band off to another store. This torture continued for about another three hours by then the guys had had enough.
  "You dragged us around to your stores. Now it's our turn. To the music store!" Robbie laughed, as he and the rest of the band dragged the girls off to Mars to jam on the guitars.

  Robbie snatched a Fender bass off the rack and plugged it into a Peevee amp. Stephen and Tyler each took a Les Paul. John, RJ, and Paul grabbed some mics, and they began playing the most annoying songs: you know, the one's John likes. They started off playing a little Offspring, and then slowly worked to more annoying songs. After Paul tried to yell the high B-flat in "Rag Doll," they began to ease off. Just after playing "the Slow Song" for the tenth time, Mallory and Hani, smiling at each other all the while, tapped RJ on the shoulder.
  "Alright, midgets!" Browder snatched a mic from Paul. "We're about to play you our very first song."
  Lauren turned pale.
  "That's right!" Browder grinned. "Robbie, tune the A down to a D and the E to a low A. We call this song: "Haunting Visions." Paul, take the drums. Start us off!"
  "Alright!" Paul shouted over Stephen's tuning. "A one, a two, a one two three!"
  By the third measure, the girls were furious. Although they couldn't take the entire band on, they could take out a few. Nicole knocked the mic across the room that Tyler was using. Lauren broke Robbie's bass in two, and Kristin kicked all the drums so they hit Paul in the face.
  "Ok," John slowly backed up, "let's go somewhere else."
  "How about Oshmans?" Robbie asked. "We can play soccer!"
  "Good choice." Paul said beneath the drums. "Hey, can you guys help? I sorta can't breathe."

  During a game of soccer, the guys noticed that one of the mannequins looked a lot like Mason, but they forgot about it and continued on playing until someone came up missing.
  "Man, that doesn't count! Our goalie wasn't there. Hey wait a minute. Where is RJ anyway? Has anyone seen him?" John asked.
  "I don't know where he went. He probably went off somewhere with his girl friend, April." Lauren speculated.
  "What!?" Robbie shouted. "RJ isn't going out with April. And if he was, I'd be the first person to know."
  "Then why did he and April go over to talk to Hani and Mallory?"
  "I don't know, but that's a good question. You know what's bugging me? That mannequin looks so much like Mason. It's killing me!" Lauren clutched her head in frustration.
  "That is Mason!" Nicole screamed.
  She ran over to Mason, pulling him down.
  "No! Noooooo!!!! He's dead... And this one... And this one.... And this one...!" she continued pulling bodies down: Lauren Besselman, James Li, Anne and Anne, and Marli respectively. All of them, dead!
  "This can't be good." Paul said warily.
  "Hee hee! It's not good at all!!!!!!!!!!" Boomed a loud voice coming from a shadow in the corner.
  "It's that voice again!" Kristin clung to Tyler's shoulder. "Except this time it has a body. Who is it?"
  "You mean to tell me you don't know the "most nicest sweetest person at DHS?","
  And with that, April Long stepped out of the shadows with RJ, Mallory, and Hani at her side.

  "I see you have found our victims. Too bad they weren't nice enough to live, and neither are any of you!" April pointed a finger at Lauren.
  And with that, she took off running and ran straight into Tyler, knocking him right into John.
  "Hey, those are my friends!" Paul yelled.
  "Hey Paul, look over there!" Mallory shouted.
  As Paul looked up, she pulled out a hand-gun and shot him in the head.
  "One down, seven to go." She smiled.
  "Make that six." April said, as she got up from the strangled body of Tyler Browder. "RJ take Robbie, Hani get John and Stephen. Mallory, help me with the three ditzes."
  "No you don't!" cried Nicole. "Let's kick her sorry ---!"
  Nicole ran at Mallory but was so short it did more damage to her than to Mallory.
  "Your so puny, Nicole-what with your little girly hands." Mallory mocked Nicole, as she pounded Nicole into the plastic tile floor.
  Nicole managed to grab a golf club as she was being pounded and tried to hit Mallory with it, but Mallory grabbed it from her and whacked her again.
  "You can't win, Nicole. You're not nice enough."
  And with that, Mallory took a hard slap in the back of the head.
  "What the Hell was that?" Mallory threw Nicole aside.
  "Just a little bit of your own medicine!" Lauren replied with another slap upside her head.
  Mallory took Lauren by surprise and tripped her, making her fall hard onto the floor and knocking her out. Then she returned back to Nicole, who was trying to get away.
  "Oh no you don't you little fitch!" Mallory grabbed Nicole by the arm and took out the hand-gun and shot her in the back of the head.
  "Five to go." Mallory grinned.
  "RJ, why are you going against me?" Robbie asked. "You're my best friend. We practically live at each other's houses. Why do you want to kill me?"
  "Because I'm tired of being nice. It's time for me to be mean for a change. So say your prayers!" RJ slowly advanced towards Robbie.
  "Now I lay me down to sleep." Robbie said quickly. "I pray the Lord---"
  "Ah shut up!" RJ shouted.
  And with that, he charged at Robbie and knocked him to the ground. Robbie recovered with a punch to RJ'S nose. Neither one of them had the upper hand, but neither one was losing.

  Then without warning, a gun shot startled them both. They both looked up and saw Nicole dead on the floor and Mallory with a gun in her hand. April and Kristin were still fighting, Lauren was lying on the ground and Hani had John cornered in, you guessed it, a corner. Robbie saw RJ was unaware, and he took this to his advantage.
  "Sorry, buddy." He said and whollaped RJ with a 15 LBS weight that lay nearby, making RJ crumple to the ground. "Now to help my friends."

Hani advanced towards John and Stephen. He picked up a large baseball bat and tried to hit Stephen, but John took the blow instead and sank to his knees. In response, Stephen began giving Hani the Vulcan nerve-pinch. However, Hani quickly gained the upper hand and soon had Stephen barely conscious on the floor.
  "Go to Hell, Hani!" Stephen said, his speech slurred.
  "I don't think so." Hani wound up the baseball bat, when a song over the loud-speaker stopped him. "Ah damn! Robert Plant! Robert Plant sucks!"
  It took Hani a few seconds to react, but when he did, Stephen had sent him sprawling back.
  "In the name of Robert Plant," Stephen shouted as he climbed to the top shelf, directly above where Hani lay, "die Hani, die!"
  John watched in disbelief as Stephen dove from the shelf with a 30 LBS weight in each hand. John turned away as he heard Hani scream like a little girl. Then, a new sound. The sound of collapsing shelves and equipment. Quickly, John turned back in time to see the shelves coming down on Stephen. Lauren lay in the path of the swath of sports equipment. And with his remaining moments of life, Stephen grabbed Lauren by the wrists and threw her as hard as he could. John was looking at the barrage of equipment and not at Lauren and her unconscious body that slammed into him, knocking him off balance. By the time he got to his feet, Stephen was gone.

  Lauren awoke to bright lights and a big headache.
  "Lauren, are you alright?" Kristin asked.
  "Yeah, I'm fine. What happened? The last thing I remember is fighting Mallory, then poof."
  "Well, Mallory tripped you, and you hit your head. Then she shot Nicole. Robbie knocked RJ out cold. Me and Robbie were chasing April and Mallory, and then they just disappeared. When we came back, Hani and Stephen were dead, and RJ disappeared."
  "So they killed Nicole?" Lauren clutched her head in pain.
  "Yes," Kristin replied.
  "That's it!" Lauren jumped to her feet. "They can kill any of my other friends, but if they kill one of my cheerleading buddies, they're gonna pay! Kristin, go get our guns out of our purses."
  "You have guns in your purses?" Robbie asked.
  "We always carry guns when we shop in case anyone tries to get the outfit we want. Ok, Robbie, you and John go get some sports equipment that can help. Now let's kick some ---!"
  "Hey wait," John pointed at Robbie, "so if me and Robbie died, you wouldn't have done anything?"
  "Get some hockey sticks, and let's go." Lauren ran out of Oshmans, as Robbie and John followed.

  All was quiet as Kristin and Lauren followed Robbie and John through the vacant mall. Robbie glanced behind him to see Kristin and Lauren look longingly at a nearby Old navy. It seemed like hours had passed as they continued through the mall, and it had been. Then without warning, John stopped.
  "What is it?" Lauren asked, as John studied the far end of the mall.
  "Look!" John began to stutter. "The-the-the li-li-lights!"
  And sure enough, the lights were going out, one by one. Why John was able to see this before Robbie or the others? Well... I don't know!
  "Now, that's a bad sign." Robbie watched as the lights began going out faster and faster. "Let's go! If we're in darkness, then we're in death. It's symbolic or something."
  It was all they could do to keep up with the zone of light. They knew that soon they'd reach the end of the mall, and by then, they'd be consumed in the blackness. Robbie was in a cold sweat as they reached the end of the mall.

  The zone of darkness stopped. And for a moment, Lauren thought they were safe, but suddenly the blackness was rushing at her, faster than before. Like a silent predator pouncing on its prey, the darkness enveloped her. Lauren's mouth went dry. Kristin sobbed softly. Robbie searched the darkness for Mallory and April. John held his breath in anticipation.
  "Aaaaaaah!" Lauren screamed, startling the others.
  "What!" Robbie shouted. "What is it."
  There was no answer.
  "John, Kristin!" Robbie shouted. "You there?"
  "Yes," both replied.
  "Where's Lauren?" John asked.
  "I do--" Robbie started.
  "What?" John asked. "What did you say, Robbie?"
  There was no answer.
  "John, which di-" Kristin also fell silent and was gone.
  "This sucks!" John dove into the darkness. "I'm not supposed to live! Wait, a fuse box. Let me just twist this around, and if I turn this and this, then I can keep narrating my actions and--"
  A hand gripped his wrist.
  "Ok, maybe I won't." John lowered his arm and let the shadow lead him deeper and deeper into the darkness.

  John blinked as the light of a flashlight caught his eye. The shadow shown the light on his face, and April glared at him.
  "Bah!" John shouted. "Ok, April. What's this all about?!"
  "Silence!" He heard RJ shout from nearby. "That will be enough of that. John, you're a good bassist and a decent back-up vocalist, but still, you're "not nice." And so--"
  "Stop right there!" John shouted. "Every time you start off like that, you, Mallory, and April lay the smack down. So stop right there! Oh, wait! Where are Kristin, Robbie, and Lauren?"
  "Mallory is dealing with them." April handed the flash-light to RJ and pulled out a hand-gun. "And now, we're dealing with you."
  "And that's another thing!" John continued. "How many hand-guns do you guys have?"
  "Enough!" April shouted as she leveled the gun at John's chest. "It's time to finish the job."
  "The heck you will!" John knocked April backwards and barreled past RJ.
  He stopped abruptly and heard a scream far off across the mall. Desperately, he made his way through the corridors, April and RJ searching for him all the while.

  He eventually found the source of the scream. Inside a dimly lit Radio Shack, Mallory and Kristin were going at it. John ran past them to find Robbie and Lauren going at it.
  "Hey hey!" John tore Lauren from Robbie's grip. "Why are you two going at it?"
  "We were married in the last story!" Both shouted. "Either we fight each other, or we fight you."
  "Carry on." John turned back to Mallory, who was coming at him with a hammer. "Stop! Hammer time!"
  "Hammer time indeed." Mallory wound back and smashed the hammer into John's jaw.
  "This is the part where I fall down." John wobbled and then fell to the floor. The attack was enough to knock him out, but not enough to kill him.

  By now, Lauren and Robbie were more focused on Mallory than on killing each other. I guess you two will have to settle that another day. Ok, back to the story, already in progress. Lauren took no time in tackling Mallory to the ground. And she would've had an easy victory, but April soon had her overpowered and beaten down.
  "RJ!" Robbie caught his friend off-guard and threw him at Lauren and Mallory, who'd knocked April aside.

  When it was all over, Lauren and Robbie had come out victorious, and for once, I didn't die. Lauren helped Kristin to her feet, and the group strode towards the doors. Lauren and John dragged Mallory and RJ behind them and were a bit exhausted as they ran to catch up with Kristin and Robbie.

  It was almost midnight now. When Robbie and John had gone into the mall the day before, they thought they'd be having the time of their lives. And ironically enough, they had. And after all that violence and confusion and shopping, they'd triumphed. Although Anne'n'Ann, Mason, James, Lauren Besselman, Marli, Nicole, Stephen, Paul, Tyler, Hani, and April had perished, RJ and Mallory were caught, and their murders would not go unpunished. John was just feeling relieved when he suddenly stopped.
  "Wait," he looked at the others, "I contributed to Hani's death. I'll go on trial, too. And you three contributed to April's death. That's just great."
  "We acted in self defense!" Kristin protested.
  "Yeah, I guess so," John continued on, "but I can't help but wonder if there are still others out there."

  Well youngin's did-ja like that there story? Jed quit kissin' your sister there. Down here in good ol' Austrailer, we don't get these kind-a kinfolk. But boy oh boy, did they ever have some in Texas. Is y'all ready to go on to sleep? No? Well, ok. Way up in the Denton, there was this mule...