Even though the mall had trapped us inside, I couldn't deny that the view was beautiful. Everywhere you walked, you could see a clear, starlit sky through the atrium glass.

But then reality shook me.

Because a woman just died inside of this glass pyramid of stars. After that, I remembered nothing but pandemonium. There was screaming, shoving, curses left and right. Meanwhile the security guards were doing their best to calm everyone down and absolutely failing at it.

As for me, I was frozen to the spot, staring at London Graham's crumpled body and severed head. Until someone a lot heavier than me told me to get out of their way and pushed me to the side. Mercedes must have been caught up in it too, because she screamed and fell against me. The only thing that kept us from hitting the floor was Sean moving just in time to buffer our fall.

"Watch it!" he shouted heatedly at the stranger, but it was pointless. Everyone was shoving everyone. There was no order whatsoever.

It was situations like this when freak accidents happened. People died getting trampled or something similar. I could tell by the looks on everyone's faces that no one was thinking about helping their neighbor get to safety. It was every man, woman and child for themselves.

"Stay close to me, Aqua. Bring your friend. Come on."

I didn't ask questions. I simply grabbed Mercedes' hand and tugged her along with us. As Sean confidently guided us through the frenzy of people, I was surprised by how much of Mercedes' breathing I could hear over my own. On the other hand, my breathing was normal. So was my heart rate.

How the hell was I so calm?

In the background, security guards were screaming instructions at everyone. I glanced back to see that many were hesitating. It was clear that they wanted to listen. People wanted someone to tell them what to do.

And maybe that was why I wasn't losing my shit at the moment. I had Sean. As cryptic as he was, I knew enough about him to be sure that he knew the ways – or should I say, the whims – of this mall better than most.

"W-where is he taking us, Aqua?" Mercedes wheezed once we had put some distance between ourselves and the crowds. "The security guards said–"

"Look." Sean came to a stop. "Do you want to be up all night? Or do you want a safe space to wait this out? Because if it's the latter, then you should keep up and save your questions for later."

Mercedes clamped up. She shot me a desperate, confused look. There was no way she trusted Sean. Not after seeing her boss's head fly off when she had tried to vacate the scene.

I let go of Sean's hand and asked if he could give us a minute. All I got was a hard look from him before he turned his back and crossed his arms. I knew I didn't have long.

I pulled Mercedes to the wall where a pillar blocked our view of Sean.

"Tell me why we're following him again?" Mercedes said, sounding more like her normal self, but still very shaken up.

"I think he's taking us to the arcade where he works," I said, realizing that we were on the path to the Final Dungeon.

"And you trust him?"

I nodded.

"Ok. I get that. I respect that, but," Mercedes hooked her thumb over her shoulder, "all my stuff is back there. And what about London's other models? They don't know where I am. London and her assistants promised our parents that we would stay together and–"

"Are you girls all right over here?"

We turned to see a middle aged woman carrying two pillows under her arm. I vaguely recognized her, but I couldn't remember from where.

"Myself and the other retailers worked with mall security to help everyone calm down. We've decided to spend the night on the main plaza until we can figure things out in the morning."

I heard a soft breath of relief coming from Mercedes.

The woman hiked the pillows higher on her waist. "We're bringing out bedrolls and stuff if you girls want to come back. I think we should all stay together."

Then she craned her neck slightly, looking over our shoulders. I noticed that the pleasant expression had shifted to that of concern. And I think I know why. She was looking out for Sean.

I suddenly remembered where I had seen this woman before. She was one of the shopkeepers. I wondered if she was one of the ones who had harassed Sean's employer about letting him go. I wouldn't be surprised if she was at least associated with that crowd.

Not wanting to put Mercedes in a weird spot, I put a hand on her shoulder and said, "You should go with her. I'll catch up with you later."

Mercedes went off with the woman without a moment's hesitation. I told the lady that I would be all right and watched them walk off. Then I went to join Sean.

He caught me completely off guard when he said, "I think you should go with them."

"What?"

"Just for tonight." He said, gently placing his hand on my back. "I don't want to draw too much attention to you. Everyone is on edge and those retailers already don't like me. If they associate me with you too much, it could be bad for you in the future."

I thought about protesting, but after thinking about everything since London's beheading, I sighed and said, "I can see where you're coming from. Plus, Bobby still has my stuff. And I want to make sure that he's okay. Elliot too."

"I'll come check up on you in the morning. Meet me by the vending machines under the North Wing elevators?"

I told him that I would before standing on my tip toes and kissing him on the cheek. His everglade green eyes shined for just a moment before all his features went dark again and he took off towards the Final Dungeon.

On the way to the ground floor plaza, I saw a small group of people dressed in purple wandering off on the far side of the building. They were following one of those scientists in the hazmat suit. Everyone was carrying a bedroll under their arm. Based on the direction they were going, their destination was where that purple tent was set up.

The sight gave me the creeps.

I tried not to stare too hard and focused on getting back to the main group. The shopkeeper from before was right. Everyone had calmed down. The bedrolls were lined up in rows along the floor. People had formed groups, moving their rolls a little closer and huddling together. Security guards and retailers were still passing out water and blankets, trying their best to answer people's questions.

I looked all around for Bobby but couldn't spot him. On my second trip around the plaza, someone called out my name.

"Aqua?"

I didn't recognize the voice at first. It sounded so scared and feeble. And then that's when I saw who had called out to me huddled on a bedroll completely alone.

"Elliot," I said, parking myself on the empty bedroll beside her. I could tell she had been crying. London and her may not have been on the best of terms, but Elliot knew her very well having been roommates and colleagues for a time.

I hugged Elliot because I could tell that she needed it. She sobbed quietly on me for several seconds.

"W-will you stay here tonight? I don't think I can..."

"Of course. I'm not going anywhere else."

I felt Elliot nod against my shoulder. "Th-thank you, Aqua."

I hadn't found Bobby yet, but it could wait until morning. I didn't want to leave Elliot alone. Plus, I was tired. Shortly after I arrived, Elliot was out cold. I'm guessing that she was completely drained from the fashion show, but after the incident at the mall's entrance, she hadn't felt safe enough to go to sleep.

Apparently now she did.

When everyone was lying down, the atmospheric lights dimmed to a minty haze. Was this the mall acting on its own? Or had one of the security guards done it?

I checked my pager. Still dead.

Listening to the gentle snores of the designer lying beside me, I looked up at the stars through the atrium ceiling.

No matter how soothing the constellations could be, I couldn't help remembering back to what happened to London and thinking...

So, who's going to be next?