Crouch End

She stepped out of the taxi in her light blue mini-dress, spotting a signboard by the sidewalk that read, "CROUCH END." Traffic was heavy, and many passersby smiled at her as they walked past. She glanced at her phone, attempting to reach the friend she was supposed to visit, only to find the device wasn't working. When she looked back at the street, the taxi was gone without a trace. ​Cursing her luck, she walked on, only to step on a newspaper discarded on the sidewalk. The headline blared, "10,000 Lost in Underground Horror"—news she hadn't heard anywhere that day. ​Weird, she thought. ​But when she looked back up, she realized the street was entirely empty. The shops had all suddenly closed and barred their doors, hanging signboards with strange, unnatural names. A disfigured grey cat by the sidewalk walked away from her, leaping through the broken window of a nearby shop. Across the street, two boys with disfigured, clawed hands played, waving at her mockingly.