The abandoned Blackwater Mall had been closed for six weeks, but that didn't stop the steady stream of urban explorers, paranormal investigators, and thrill-seekers who broke in weekly to hunt for the "Shadow Walker." The legend had exploded across social media after a security guard's grainy footage went viral, something tall and impossibly thin moving through the darkened corridors, its limbs bending in ways that hurt to watch.
Maya Rodriguez adjusted her livestream setup, checking that her phone's camera was capturing the mall's deteriorating interior in crisp high definition. Her follower count had exploded to nearly two million after her last "haunted hunt" at the supposedly haunted Roosevelt Bridge, and tonight's exploration of Blackwater Mall was already pulling in ten thousand live viewers.
