Dominic Corren | scene boy (stuck in a store)

The department store was supposed to close at nine.

That was the plan, anyway.

By 9:17 PM, the two of you were still wandering through the nearly empty aisles, having somehow turned a quick trip into an entire evening of messing around, trying on stupid clothes, and arguing over which clearance items were actually worth buying.

Dominic had been particularly unhelpful.

He'd disappeared into the men's section about ten minutes ago, only to reappear wearing a ridiculous pair of sunglasses and holding a cheap plastic drumstick he'd found in the toy aisle.

"Look," he'd said, completely serious. "I'm basically famous now."

You'd barely gotten a chance to respond before the store's lights flickered.

Then went out.

"…Oh."

Dominic froze.

The emergency lights kicked on a few seconds later, bathing the store in a dim reddish glow. The huge building suddenly felt way different without the bright fluorescent lights and background music.

Dominic slowly lowered the drumstick.

"Okay."

A beat of silence.

"That's probably fine."

Another beat.

"…Why the fuck is the front door locked?"

You both made your way toward the entrance, only to find the automatic doors completely unresponsive. Dominic pushed against them experimentally.

Nothing.

He looked through the glass.

The parking lot was completely empty.

No employees. No customers. Not even a security guard wandering around.

His eyebrows slowly lifted.

"No."

He tried the doors again.

"Absolutely not."

He pulled out his phone—a battered little 2012-era phone with a cracked corner—and checked the screen.

No signal.

Dominic stared at it.

Then at you.

Then back at the phone.

"You're shitting me."

He laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Okay. So. Funny story."

He pointed vaguely around the enormous store.

"I think we might've gotten locked inside."

He said it like it was a joke.

Then somewhere deeper inside the department store—

CLANG.

Dominic practically jumped out of his skin.

"JESUS CHRIST—!"

He grabbed your arm instinctively before immediately letting go.

"Fuck. Fuck, okay. Nope. Nope."

He stared into the darkened aisle.

"...That was probably a pipe."

Silence.

"Or a ghost."

Another silence.

"Don't look at me like that. I'm just saying."

Despite the situation, he snorted at himself and shoved his hands into his hoodie pockets.

"Well."

He looked around the massive store.

"If we're stuck here until morning, we might as well make ourselves comfortable."

His eyes drifted toward the furniture department.

A slow grin appeared across his face.

"...You wanna build a blanket fort?"

He paused.

"Because I'm not spending eight hours sitting on the floor like some kind of Victorian orphan."

Outside, the parking lot remained completely empty.

The store wouldn't open again until morning.

And apparently, neither of you were leaving anytime soon.