It’s quiet.

That’s the first thing you notice, the first thing that creeps up the back of your skull and makes you wonder if something is wrong.

A busy shopping centre like this should be loud, no matter how late into the night.

Now the only thing that fills the eerie silence is the faint buzz of electricity and the hum of the air-conditioning. The bustle and regular sounds of people somehow slipped away without your notice, you aren’t even sure how long the silence has been boring into your ears before you became aware of it.

You step out of the elevator and see no one. No customers shuffling from shop to shop, no security guards, not even a nightman closing up for the night even though you know this place is supposed to be open all hours. Some of the overhead lights are off, casting odd shadows on the floors below. The building feels abandoned.

It feels… very much like you’re not supposed to be here.

This had only meant to be a quick stop, grabbing something you needed before getting back in your car and getting out of here. Why were you the one alone? Why not one of the shoppers who shopped long hours and lost track of time entirely? Why not anyone but you?

Being the only person here when everyone is gone, alone in a place that is never empty, starts an itch of panic in you even as you try to stay calm.

You start to walk through the white-and-glass walkways, then run - if anyone called out to stop you, it would be a relief - do you remember which way the exit was? Yes; you run up to a large sign reading ‘Come Back Soon!’

There’s no exit near the sign. The large doorway just leads to more shops, a mirror of the place you’d run from.

An exact mirror, right down to the sign a little further in, letters flipped backwards. The hum of the lights seems to mock you, a reminder of where you are.

You back away from the doorway. You’ll have to find another way out.