As I opened my eyes after last night's nightmare, I blessed my eyes with a black cat. More bad luck today? How much more bad luck am I going to get from my life? Who knows.

  “Kuragi, it's morning. Wak-” - My little sister stopped in the middle.

  Perhaps she seemed surprised as I don't usually get up this early in the morning. Moreover, it’s Friday and the schools are off, so now I am surprised that she didn't died of shock.

  I got out of the bed and went to the washroom to brush my teeth. While brushing, I still thought about the dream I had last night.

  It was a nightmare but also a bit strange. I can't remember it well. But from what I remember I saw a pair of lights coming from fog. One was white, another was red. My body didn't move even though I wanted to run. Like it was frozen. That's all I remember.

  After brushing and washing my face, I went downstairs and had my breakfast. Only then I remembered that I had to head for the shopping mall.

  Me and 2 of my friends, Sami and Kunechi are gonna go shopping and hang out for the day. The nightmare completely made me forget about the plans.

  “Mom, I am heading out with some of my friends.” - I said and went up to get dressed.

  “Ok, but be back before dawn” - My mom replied.

  After dressing, I took my leftover pocket money and went out.

  The weather felt off. Storm clouds gathered as if the sky itself were impatient. My sister asked me to take the umbrella with me but I didn't. Maybe I should have taken it.

  The mall was far away from our house so I had to take the bus. We all planned to meet up at 9. It is already 8:45. Hopefully I will make it in time and not get yelled at by them like last time.

  The phone was giving me a weather update that today will be a sunny day. But the clouds in the sky say the opposite.

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  I finally arrived at the mall at the right time and met with them. The mall was situated at a corner of crossroads.

  “At last, the lord of punctuality has finally graced him ” - Kunechi said

  “No kidding, but man you really got here in time. How did this miracle happen?” - Sami said

  “Now you two are exaggerating things. Don't I have the right to wake up early in the morning for once?” - I replied.

  Once again, thanks to the nightmare.

  “Now then,shall we head inside the mall?” - Kunechi said.

  “Yeah sure, let's go!” - Sami replied.

  Then we stepped inside the mall. The mall was crowded as it was a holiday. We shopped for about 2-3 hours. Sami bought headphones and a pair of shoes, meanwhile me and Kunechi bought shirts. After this long session, we got to the cafe for drinks. As we were drinking our cold coffee, the lights started flickering.

  “Not this again. The lights always start to flicker at this exact time for the last couple of weeks.“ - Kunechi said.

  “Is that so? We never encountered this problem around our areas.” - I replied.

  “Maybe the power plant isn't producing enough around here.” - Sami said

  After the lights stopped flickering, they went to the game stop. Meanwhile I went outside to get some fresh air. That's when I noticed her standing outside.

  “Didn't expect to see you here, Surahika.” - I said

  “I didn’t realize expectations exceeded your mental capacity.” - she replied.

  “So you do remember me.” - I said

  “My brain isn't buttery smooth that it can't remember even an insignificant human” - she replied.

  “So did you come here alone? Or are you accompanied by humans?” - I asked

  “Where is the big deal saying ‘friends’ instead. Is it not in your vocabulary?” - she replied.

  “Actually sorry, it wasn't reading my vocabulary, I was actually reading yours.” - I said.

  “Is that supposed to insult me? Well it is trash same as you” - she replied

  As we were arguing, the storm came closer every moment. Suddenly out of nowhere, all of our phones started giving earthquake alarms. Before we could understand anything, it started raining and the winds became violent.

  And then it appeared through the clouds glancing at us. Glancing at everyone around the place.

  A giant eyeball appeared in the middle of the crossroads of the mall. It was gigantic. Not less than a 3 story building.

  We were frozen at the sight of this thing. Is it a dream? Is it a nightmare? We rewind that thought again and again.

  Suddenly thousands of tentacles started coming out of the eye and started attaching to everyone. Whoever got attached to it started to float in the sky.

  I came to my senses and grabbed Surahik's hand and ran inside the mall. But something's off. Everyone is stuck at one place as such, the time is stopped.

  “They aren't shocked.” - I thought.

  I ran grabbing her and saw everyone behind getting attached to it. And before I process it all, I become one of them.