Rows and rows of cans, jars and packets of food, all neatly lined up in the fully stocked shelves. Stands with piles and piles of vegetables and heaps of fruits. Fridges with all the cheese and dairy you could want.
Jhin could not believe their eyes when he saw that. They advanced on the yellow floor tiles, going through the aisles, looking at all the stocks. Even in the harsh neon light, each packaging popped out more than the next.
Suddenly, something moved behind them.
Melissa turned around quickly, Jhin not having heard the noise. But she found nothing, only a green-ish trail.
Suddenly, the place felt threatening. All the products fighting for her attention were leaving imprints on her mind, their saturated colors aggressive to her eyes.
She could feel herself feeling faint. And a smell hit her. It was such an out of place smell that she had to think about what it was for a bit. But it was a familiar smell. The smell... of something rotting. Of food decaying. A pungent smell, one that filled your lungs and that would not let go of you.
She went away from Jhin, who was still hypnotised by the labels. Going through the shelves now seemed almost ominous. The hum of the neon above was no longer comforting, but menacing, threatening.
As she advanced, the smell grew stronger. And finally, she saw it.
In front of her, there was a pile of rotten food. She could catch glimpses of some fruits, or of some specific food items, all covered in a thick layer of mold and rot. The smell was strong, so strong that it brought tears to her eyes.
And then, the pile rotated. It turned around, slowly, with a good number of squelching sounds. And on the face it revealed, two ping pong balls had been stuck in place for eyes, each with a little dot.
The pile reached a tendril out, a tendril of disgusting, putrid, foul rot. Melissa was paralyzed by the fear.
When suddenly, a can flew over her head and landed on the pile. Then another, and another, and another.
Delivered from her paralysis, Melissa turned around to see Jhin throwing cans at the creature. It seemd to work for a bit, but the pile reached with another tendril. Melissa stomped on it hard, severing it, and ran.
Jhin followed, and they frantically searched the floor for a way out, and they found it. It was another elevator. That elevator could also only go down.
Smelling the thing getting closer, they both rushed in the elevator and went down.