Skye led the way along the hallway, pausing at a corner to hold her hand up. Zac could faintly hear panicked screams and sobs and the constant, nerve grating laughter of the slasher.

Skye tilted her head slightly, reminding Zac of a little bird, a dove maybe. “The screams are moving. It hasn't caught him yet.”

“You're sure?” Jacob squeaked.

“Not entirely,” Skye said, “It could be dragging someone from place to place but I can't think why it would do that.”

“What do we do?” Jacob asked.

Skye leaned around the corner. She waved frantically, and then leaned back with a growl.

“Alex is out there, in the open, like a moron,” she reported. “I can't see the creature or its target right now, but I think they're both upstairs. We need to find a way up there.”

“There's a staircase next to the fountain,” Zac said, remembering, “It should be right over there.”

“Let's go, then,” Skye said. “Stay close.”

Zac fell into step behind Skye as she rounded the corner. Skye paused just in front of what had once been a very nice water fountain. Water had tumbled from tiled columns into a wide, shallow pool lined with painted glass tile. Now, the glass tile was shattered and the columns were broken, leaving exposed pipes to claw at the glass ceiling high above.

Alex stood by the stair case, which looked to be in even worse shape than the fountain. The concrete and tile stairs were cracked, revealing rusted and twisted rebar supports. Zac honestly doubted those stairs would hold a cat, let alone a human's weight.

“Wait,” Skye said. “Look.”

Zac looked around, not spotting what had caught her attention at first. Then there was a grinding sound, and then repeated low pops, sort of a gurgling. The fountain began to fill slowly from water leaked out of the shattered pipes.

“What the hell?” Alex asked. He moved away from the stairs to join them next to the fountain.

Zac shrugged. He would have assumed the water was cut off to the fountain, if not the entire mall. Well, no, they had to have water running somewhere; they'd needed it to torture him. He doubted they brought in gallon jugs from the supermarket for the purpose.

Skye wasn't looking at the fountain, though. Zac followed her gaze up to the second floor balcony which ringed the mall proper. There was nothing there, only shadows and closed storefronts, barely visible from the angle he stood at.

Then, the laughter started. Low, and chilling; so full of sadistic glee Zac could taste it. The slasher melted out of the darkness, standing on the edge of the balcony over their heads. It smirked down at them from flame red eyes, mocking their efforts. The creature had caught its prey; in its left hand it held the neck of a man Zac recognized. It was the big guy from before, the one who'd taken such delight in smacking Zac around. The one who'd held him down. He didn't seem so big, now, dangling from the fist of the monster.

“We have to help him,” Alex hissed.

Zac glanced over at the staircase. It would not hold a human, but elves were lighter. If he ran fast enough, he might make it.

A hand rested on his wrist. He looked down at Skye, who shook her head once. Zac looked back at the slasher, which now held the big guy out over the balcony, dangling by his neck. He kicked and screamed frantically, the sounds more choked whimpers than anything.

The slasher laughed, and shook its victim once, making the man's legs flail and flop. Zac slid a step towards the stairs. He wasn't fast enough, not nearly. The slasher laughed, and opened its hand.

The man fell, screaming all the way. He landed flat on his back in the center of the fountain. The sound he made when he hit was awful; a splash filled with broken flesh and the sudden, final end of the screaming. The fountain's continued gurgling didn't help.

The main, jagged pipe of the fountain jutted out from his chest, only now the water that spurted from it in bursts was deep, deep red. More pipes impaled him through the arm, the stomach, and one leg.

Alex ran to his comrade, splashing into the fountain. Jacob hovered at the edge, hesitant. Zac stood with Skye. He could see the man was no longer breathing.

“It's too late,” Skye told Alex, almost gently. “The impact of the fall was enough to kill him. The rest is just... theatrics.”

“Where is it?” Jacob asked, frantic, “Where did it go?”

Zac looked up. The slasher was, indeed, gone.

“I was watching! It didn't walk away, it just- it was there and it wasn't and what if it comes back?” Jacob whimpered.

Skye rested a hand on his shoulder, “Please, try to stay calm. This thing is already too powerful. It's changing its pattern.”

“What?” Alex looked up from his friend's body. “What do you mean?”

“I thought it would take longer, killing him. Instead it did so seconds after catching him. It's powerful enough to waste a victim.” Skye chewed at her lip. “I miscalculated. This thing must be on its sixth, seventh cycle of victims. If it succeeds this time, it could fully break free of its pattern.”

“What does that mean?” Alex demanded.

“It means it could roam free. In the city.” Skye crossed her arms. “You think it's bad now? Imagine that thing running loose with thousands of victims, an entire population to terrorize and torture and kill. Gaining power from each victim. If I don't stop it here, I'll never be able to stop it. No one will.”

Zac felt the blood drain from his face, and saw the same happen to Jacob, and Alex.

“So why didn't you do something? Why didn't you stop it?” Alex demanded, splashing across the bloody fountain to stand over Skye. “Why did you just stand there?”

Zac stepped between them. “I can run faster than any human born, when not drugged into submission,” Zac said pointedly, “and I barely made it two steps before the slasher dropped him.”

“And I'm still in shock that you tried,” Skye said. “Didn't that jerk hurt you?”

Zac wondered how she knew he was one of the ones to hurt him, or if she was just assuming everyone in the mall was guilty.

“Hey! He's my friend. And dead!” Alex yelled.

“So he's a dead jerk,” Skye said.

“Please,” Zac said, “I prefer not to speak ill of the extremely recently deceased. It feels... petty.”

Skye shrugged. “Okay. I'm sure he... liked puppies or something. And I am sorry. A little. That I miscalculated, if nothing else. I didn't realize this thing could adapt to the situation so quickly, and that's on me. So. Yeah. Get out of that fountain before the slasher comes back and decides to drown you in your friend's blood. Seems like the kind of death it would enjoy.”

Alex bolted out of the fountain so quickly one would think the water had become acid.

“Don't worry,” Skye said, “I won't let that thing get loose. Whatever I have to do.”