Converses by Apple Green
There was one thing certain about me. One, I had a passionate love for rock music in my younger years. Two, I embodied the rebel and no one could take that from me. Three, I do not scare. Under no circumstances has anyone ever pulled one over on me. Many people have tried don’t get me wrong, but they soon find themselves in a losing battle. I am not only numb to fear, but I enjoy the getting even part of things. I can pull an elaborate prank that no one will see coming. Not ever. My days often times surrounded going to the nearest mall and chilling with my friends. I didn’t have many girls for friends. Despite the fact I too was of the female origin I didn’t find any interest in the typical girl things. Boys were cool but I was not objectifying them. Most of
the time I hung out with them and I might as well have been one. Girls were boring and dull creatures in my mind. They dwelt too much on the dramatics. This particular day I had been hanging out in the cigar store. I was too young to buy any, but I loved the smell. I had my headphones in, and I must’ve lost track of the time. I left the store, walking to the bathroom to relieve myself. I washed my hands, and then I noticed the lights all went out. I simply sighed in frustration. I looked at the clock on my iPod, sure enough, 10:00 pm, closing time on Thursday. I rolled my eyes in the back of my head, brushing the stringy straight blonde hair from my face. I stepped out, looking around. The strange thing was, it was quiet. I mean the mall was closed obviously. But the initial concern I had stepping out of the bathroom was I’d run into the mall cops. Not so much as a glimmer of a flashlight though. I used my iPod to light up the area I was walking, knowing that I’d be forced to find the exit closest to me. That unfortunately was almost six bus lengths away. I drudged off the annoyance, slowly stepping through the quiet walkway. The silence was slightly unnerving, mostly because it was not usual to be so quiet at this time. Usually there was a shop keeper still there, unhappy with my presence. This certainly wasn’t the first time I’d gotten caught in the mall after closing. But the difference was the darkness and quiet. I felt slight relief upon the light coming from one of the stores. It was in front of the shoe store. I wasn’t a huge shoe person, but I thought it strange that this was the only store lit up. I shrugged it off, stepping into the light and looking towards the entrance. The common shoe store look, shoe boxes, shoes, nothing new. However, right outside the floor line of the entrance to the store rested a pair of converse shoes on the floor. Now those were a pair of shoes that were worth mentioning. The black converses, laced up, just like 1920 Chuck Taylors. They were small, right at my size. I looked around, thinking, I’d never get a chance at shoes like these in the regular day. They were already past the door. No one would ever know. So I reached to pick them up. As my fingertips touched the surface of the shoes it felt as though ice had been shot through my blood. I watched as legs sprouted within the shoes, which became dirty and worn. I slowly scaled up the form in front of me. It was a girl my age. She was sickeningly pale, her skin a slight green that may go unnoticed in different light. She had a closed smile as she looked at me. Big brown eyes staring back at me. I shook my head, “This must be a joke for all those times that I got Jeff. Alright, you win! Come out!” There was no response though. Her smile widened, and suddenly I saw blood stained teeth. A drop of blood dripped from her jaw onto my nose. I smelt the iron scent of blood, and slid away from her. She didn’t take a step though. She simply craned her neck to the side, as if to further examine me.
“I liked it,” vocalized the shrill sounds from her throat. I realized that now I could see clearly this girl was dressed in a straightjacket. A red and black straight jacket. I suddenly understood what fear was. As I couldn’t decipher a single way to escape this being. The brown eyes suddenly turned an eerie yellow. She whispered, “I liked their fear.” I used my hand to search for anything on the floor by me. Nothing. I pressed my back against the vender station. I had no escape and no way of protecting myself should this thing lunge at me. Her lip quivered in a strange way, showing more of her blood stained teeth. I felt my hand rest against a possible salvation. I grabbed for it even more, not taking my eyes off of this girl. I could feel cardboard. It was the only time I think I’ll ever appreciate a box. “I WANNA LIKE YOUR FEAR!!!!” She lunged at me upon screaming these words. I managed to maneuver the box on her head, running for the door. Locked! I panicked. She was still struggling fortunately, as I looked for anything that would let me escape. It was a glass door, there had to be something I could use to break it. A chair! I grabbed it, throwing it into the glass and running outside. I turned away from the rebel life after that night. I got my head on straight, went on to law school. I never ever mentioned that night. For sure people would think I was crazy. It wasn’t until a long time later when the mall was suffering an employee grievance issue with an employee that I found out the truth behind the events of that night. During my research, I stumbled upon the history of the property. Records showed something I found absolutely horrifying. The mall property used to be occupied by an insane asylum. Though there was very little evidence left, there was enough to prove malpractice had gone on there. Several patients had been found in gruesome scenarios. There was an account that chilled me the most. A young girl of the age of 16 was a patient at this asylum. She was known for schizophrenic tendencies; her patient notes claimed she stabbed an orderly with a ballpoint pen. But the final account of this young girl was that another female patient drowned her in a bathtub. Her name was lost. But one thing stood out to me as I looked at the picture of the body headfirst into the tub. On her feet, was a pair of Chuck Taylor shoes.