Darkness in the Northpark Cinema

Behind the mall there is a cinema called 'Northpark Cinema' . It's haunted, but it's not haunted by a ghost or a demon. No, what is haunting it is something more sinister than that. The first story I'm going to include in this collection of stories is one that has changed my life. Nobody believes me when I tell them this story, and I doubt you would. The story opens on a cool, crisp October day.

It was a weekday, and I should have been in school. I decided that morning that I wanted to play hookie, now I live only a mile away from the mall. Of course I told mom and dad that I was going to school, but instead of catching the morning school bus, I started to walk toward the mall. I mean, what is the point in going to school anyway? It's school, plus its not like anybody will notice me being gone. I don't have any friends to hang around with, my teachers all hate me. So, me playing hookie was like me giving them a break and myself a much deserved break.

Once I reached the mall, I changed out of my normal school clothes, those being khaki trousers with a brown belt threaded through the loops, a white button down shirt with brown buttons and long sleeves. A pair of white socks and brown dress shoes. All of those clothes were bundled up and stashed into a locker I rented out by the front of the mall. Five dollar month, money well spent I suppose.

And what did I change into? A long short sleeve, pink blouse and a white tiered skirt that reached down just to my knees and of course wedge heel shoes and to top it all a faux leather purse that held my wallet, student ID, phone and a bottle of perfume, mouthwash and such. And of course a hairbrush, I then brushed out my shaggy brunette hair and added some big, bouncy curls with a curling iron that I had stashed with the outfit.

And like that Thomas was gone and Tabitha had once again come out. Of course since I was going to see a movie I decided to take the extra fifteen minutes to apply a bit of blush, some lipstick, pink in color and touch of eye-shadow. Once I did my face I walked out of the bathroom of the mall and smiled. I knew I had a good thirteen hours of freedom ahead of me.

Freedom to stroll around the mall and sample the wares of all the shops, freedom to flirt with the cute guys that worked the sale's counter. Freedom to see how many numbers I could get. Total freedom. Breakfast was the first order of business though. And so with that in mind I headed toward the food court that was located at the far side of the mall.

It took me around thirteen minutes to reach the Cinnabon kiosks located across the Steak Escape Kiosk; both were located at the outer bounds of the foot court. Once you passed them you would be in the heart of the food court, the food court was a line of eight kiosks located on the side with thirty something tables scattered around in front of them. At the far side of the square could see two double doors, through those double doors you could see the looming shadow of Northpark Cinema. And just beside it, hidden and out of view though you smell it was a marsh, here all the waste water of the mall was pumped out. On warm summer days and evenings you could smell it even here, were I standing at the heart of the mall.

Anyway, breakfast was a cup of coffee and a pastry. Once that was done I decided that I wanted to see a movie, with it being October, and so near to Halloween slasher films were all the rage. And in the spirit of the Holiday I wanted to see a horror movie. And just my luck there was such a movie playing. It was called “The Summoning” and the tagline went as follows. “Teenagers should not play with dead things.” that sold me right there and then.
Breakfast finished I walked through the food court and out the doors. I then noticed something, something was off, the wind had started to rise and was blowing hard across the deserted parking lot. Dark storm clouds heavy with rain were gathering overhead. The trees were starting to sway with the direction of the wind.

I rolled my shoulders and walked across the parking lot, despite everything telling me to turn back. A few minutes later I was standing in front of the ticket counter, a girl about four years older than me was standing behind the ticket counter, her jet black hair was streaked with bands of purple, green, and blue. She was chewing a wad of bubblegum and flipping through the glossy pages of some fashion magazine. I must have stood there for like fifteen minutes before she looked up, blew a big bubble, the bubble popped and she returned the bubble back into her mouth and she resumed chewing.

“One ticket for 'The Summoning'.” I said smiling.

“You should be in school.” The woman said as she peered toward me.

“It's a holiday.” I said smiling.

“Bullshit.” She said as she turned toward her computer. She punched a few buttons and a ticket shot up. “That would be seven fifty.” She added.

I handed the woman a tell dollar bill. She handed two, one dollar bills and a fifty cent piece.

“Be safe kid.” She added. “Like, there is a rumor going around here that there is some weird guy lurking in the shadows. And like, if something happens to you, we'll have to call the cops. And like that movie for the eighteen or older crowd. Really you should watch 'Candy land Express' or some kiddie movie. But I don't want to hear your whining so I went ahead and sold you the ticket. Anyway watch yourself and don't cause trouble for me, cause you should really be in school, but that's between you and your mom and dad.” She added. “So just be safe, okay. And remember if something happens to you, that's on you. Not on me.”

I was taken back at what she said. But I still pocketed my ticket and walked into the lobby. The lobby smelled like popcorn and soda. Now The Northpark Cinema has two floors. The movie I wanted to see “The Summoning” was on the second floor. Each floor also had its own snack bar or concession stand if you will. To save time I decided to get my movie snacks at the one on the second floor.

There was something ominous about the girl's words. I just could not shake them as I walked into the long hallway that was lined with movie posters. The hallway was dark, totally void of life. The carpet smelled of stale popcorn, spilled cold, and puke. The air too was stale. The smell was stale and pungent and kind of reminded me of rotting wood.

Then out of the corner of my eye I spotted somebody, a man who appeared to be around his mid forties was peering out at me. A sneer was plastered across his face as peered at me. At first I thought he might have been the general manager or somebody. But then I noticed he seemed to be following me, like I said my movie was on the second floor and to get there I had to climb a flight of stairs, the stairwell was dark, and cold and I could just smell the mildew in the walls.

Worst of all that man was still behind me, he seemed to be following me. Stalking me was more like it, he seemed to make each step I took. It was unnerving to say the least. But nothing I thought I could not handle. I mean he might be going to the same movie as me. And so I tried to push the thought of the man out of my mind.

A few minutes later I was standing in line to get something from the concession stand, the line was moving slow, like real slow. There was only one guy working the counter and he looked like a reject from a Marilyn Manson music video. He reminded me of the guys that work the sales counter at Gothic Topic or Spencer's. His jet black hair was cropped short, he had a nose ring in his nose, his fingernails were painted black, he wore a tight form fitting black shirt that featured a flaming skull with a snake crawling out one of the eye holes.

And he seemed depressed and mad at the world at the same time. And that guy was still standing behind me, peering at me, I could feel his hot breath breathing down the collar of my blouse. I wanted to turn around and ask him what his problem was. But I just tried to block him out. I mean was a Yellow Belt.. did that mean anything. I have no idea. I've never been in a fight before. But if push came to shove, then I'm sure I could at least hold him off. I could always kick him in the balls if I had to.

Finally it was my turn to place my order. The first thing the Marilyn Manson reject said to me though, as he peered right at me was.

“You should be in school.” He said in a half drugged tone of voice. His breath reeked of Marijuana and pizza sauce and melted cheese.

“Field trip.” I said smiling.

“Bullshit man.” He said rolling your shoulders. “Anyway you want. Hurry up there people waiting in line and like this line growing!” He snapped.

I turned around and noticed that beside me and the strange man before there was really nobody else in line. The man must have been high off his ass. I smiled a little and in my best Southern Belle tone of voice. I said.

“I would like an extra large popcorn, and an extra large soda.. and a box of M&M's.” I said pulling my purse around to dig out my wallet.

“Your going to get fat.” Is all he said as he peered at me. I felt my cheeks flush with color as I peered at him. I wanted to reach over the counter and slap the ever loving shit out of him. Instead I smiled and watched him fix my order. It took around ten minutes because he was moving very slow and I guess he was still hung over from the weekend. It was an early Monday afternoon after all. No doubt he spent his weekend raving and partying and doing all manner of drugs.

“Here.” He said at last as he placed the requested items down upon the counter top. “That would be like eighteen fifty.”

I handed him a twenty dollar bill.

“Have a nice day.. bitch.”

I turned around and smiled.

“Were my change?” I asked.

“I kept the change as hush money.” He said as he peered right at me.

I wanted to say something, instead I blew a stream of hot air from my mouth, tossed my hair around, collected my drink and snacks and walked away. It took about ten minutes for me to find my movie. The room too was dark, and the carpet that ran along the seats smelled of mold. Hell even the walls had that sour smell to them, the whole room smelled like rotting wood. Well rotting wood and bad farts. And the cushion on my seat was sticky and my skin started to crawl the moment I sat down.

And to make matters worse that man appeared behind me again. He appeared a few rows behind me and I could feel him peering toward the back of my head. I sat through the opening credit, with the guy still looking at the back of my head. And well I tried to just focus on the movie you know.

The movie turned out to be a solid 'B' horror film, the plot was so thin you could read the newspaper through it. Pretty much a bunch of teenagers use the Ouija board in a graveyard, smart right? Anyway they use the board and make contact with ghost named 'Donny' the sessions start of fun and light heart and group decides to adopt 'Donny' as kind of a ghostly little brother and then two of the girls tell 'Donny' that they can stay with him because his grave was lost in a recent urban development and because of that he was homeless.

Anyway it turns out that 'Donny' was really a demon and the demon starts to torment the teenagers, finally causing one of them to lose control of their car as they drive across the bridge. In the end, two well known paranormal investigators come to a swooping end, discover it's a demon, they then go to the Roman Catholic church who grants them permission to perform an exorcism and drive the demon away. But not before ruining the lives of all those who played with the Ouija board. I'll give it a solid 'B' had some pretty decent jump scares, but the plot was old and rehashed.

Anyway once the movie was finished I decided that I needed to use the restroom. A quick look at my phone told me it was only three o' clock in the afternoon. School was just letting out and the mall would soon be filled to the brims with people, mostly students. It was hard to believe that the movie had lasted about four hours. I guess I got my money's worth.

Anyway, I went into the bathroom, now the bathrooms at the Northpark Cinema are something to be desired. For one they always smell like bleach and ammonia, two the toilets are never, ever cleaned all the way, three despite the overpowering smell of bleach and ammonia you can still smell the piss and shit on the floor, four the walls are covered in grim, and last but not least its dark. There is only one burning light bulb in the whole room.

Anyway I was just finishing my business when the door popped open, there in the doorway stood a man, a giant of a man, with broad shoulders, a head that looked like it had been screwed on and arms the size of hams and fingers the size of beef franks. A monster of a man, before I could scream he was on me and I felt myself being tossed down on the floor.

I screamed, but the man rolled me over and a moment later I felt blood in my mouth as the man brought his huge hand across my face, I saw stars and colors. It was like in those old Saturday morning cartoons, when something heavy, always an avail falls on a character's head and they see cartoon stars. Like that. Only the wave of pain that follows makes you shiver and cry, and before I could catch myself salty tears were rolling down my cheeks, another slap followed and I felt something, a rag of some kind being stuffed into my mouth. Fear took over, at that moment I thought I was going to die. I kind of wish I died at that very moment. A few seconds later I felt myself being rolled over.

Once I was rolled over, I felt my arms being pinned behind my back. The man moved like greased lighting and before I could process what was going on, I felt my skirt being flipped up and my panties sliding down my legs. A few seconds later I heard the ripping of fabric.

“Bastard!” I yelled.

He turned me over once more and slapped his hands across my face a few more times, I could feel my cheeks starting to swell. He then turned me back down. I could feel his hot breath on the back of my neck and taste my own blood in my mouth. Then it happened, if he had killed me there and then, it would have been a small mercy, instead I felt him go inside me, no he rammed his dick inside my ass, I felt the splitting pain and all I could do was cry out. My cries echoed off the bathroom walls.

Then my world went blank.. pain that all I felt each thrust of his dick into my ass brought a fresh wave of pain flooding into me. I cried, and choked on my tears. I begged God to send one of his angels down to help me, but nobody came. For a long stretch of time the only thing I felt was pain, pain and fear, then I felt it, something hot, hot like molten lead shot into me.. I coughed and hung my head. I knew what had happened, he had just cummed inside me, he had taken me. I felt sick as I felt his seed come flooding into me, it ran down my leg and then instead of pulling out he resumed, this time he was going harder, and harder.

“You fell so good you little slut.” He whispered into my ears. “You fucking little cunt.” He whispered again as he reached up, took a bundle of my hair into his beefy hands. He then yanked hard and tugged my neck up and at that moment it jizzed again. I yelled and prayed for death as I could feel him shooting off inside me. It was a feeling of pure hell.

Once he was done, I fell down on the ground and started to shake, I could feel myself shaking all over. My asshole felt like it was on fire, and I'm sure I was bleeding. I wanted to get up and run, but instead I just laid there, helpless like a fish out of water. Part of me wished for death, how could I face myself in the mirror after this?

“Tell anybody about this.” I heard him say as he stood up. “And I will kill you.”

I was too stunned to speak. I just laid there, still and emotionless. I then heard him take a picture of some kind. I saw the bright flash of the camera.

“I've taken a picture of your student I.D and of Learners Permit. I now know where you got to school, your full name, your address, your date of birth, everything there is to know about you. You say one word about what happen here and I will find you, and I will kill you, not only you, but I will kill your mom, your dad, and any siblings you have.” He threatened and with that he felt the me there to put myself back together the best I could.

I stayed home from school the next few days, I was sore and pretty beat up. Of course I told no one about what had happened to me. And I stayed locked in my room for a few days till the swelling went down. And then life went on.
I learned that day, there are real monsters in the world, and demons are not only found in Hell and that sometimes God turns his face always and lets evil have his way. Did I go to the police? Hell no, Ridgeland might bill itself as being progressive but it still has its fair share of transphobic cops on the force. And allow me to remind you that I was in drag at the time and in the girls bathroom nonetheless. Did I go to the hospital? Again, no. No, instead I made a vow that one day I'll get my revenge.

But I also made a vow to keep on fighting and to keep on marching. Like I said, I know I'm damaged goods now, but in a way we are all damaged. Now the best I can do is to keep on living my life the best I can, and try to put this behind me. But one day I'll have my revenge.