Take the vent heading right.

After several minutes of considering her options, Jen eventually decided that the risk of falling was too great. She hadn’t kept in amazing shape over the years, not terrible, but she was concerned her muscles wouldn’t be up to the task of holding herself up over the gap while she inched her way across.

With a sigh of disappointment, Jen began pushing herself backwards. She felt she was making better time, pushing herself along was easier than pulling herself had been. She started wishing she’d considered trying to head into the vents backwards in the first place.

Soon her right foot stopped brushing against steel and felt nothing but air. She’s gotten back to the turnoff. She continued scooting further back, and she was soon able to slink into the tunnel head-first.

So if I can stick to the vents, she began thinking to herself, I need to take a left and then another left, and that can hopefully get me back on track. She had no idea if this path would lead that way, but if it was possible she wanted to try to keep a mental map to avoid getting further off-course.

She had worked herself a short distance through the vents when she started seeing light up ahead. As she got closer she realized it was a ceiling vent, letting in illumination from below. Up ahead she saw a second one, clipped into the vent floor and providing more light, patterned horizontally against the sheet metal above.

She reached the vent and peered between the slats, seeing several racks of clothes below. Two people were milling about, one vacuuming and the other hanging items on the racks. Careful to not make any noise, Jen began pulling herself ahead. For a moment she worried that someone might look up and see her body, but realized the vent was too small to make out what might be beyond it. She could put her breasts right up against it and chances were the plastic would cover enough that if someone glanced up, they wouldn’t know they were seeing part of a nude woman’s body.

Another few minutes of slowly sliding herself forward and Jen eventually reached the second vent, this one pointing into the same store but she was now able to see the entrance. The large glass doors were closed and she couldn’t see far enough through them to see if anyone was still moving about. She figured she’d been in the vents long enough that the mall had to be closed, but she had been hoping to get an idea of how many after-hours workers she might have to worry about.

As she got past the second vent her eyes began to re-adjust to the dark and she saw the tunnel ahead cut off to the left.

One turn back towards that door, Jen thought. Here’s to hoping there’s another left further ahead.

She’d been moving through the vents long enough that she was able to make the turn with less difficulty than the first few times had been. Another vent came into view further along, and she began pulling herself towards it.

As she got closer, the vent was allowing enough light in that Jen realized she was coming up on a dead end. Not willing to go back all the way and chance the gap, she pushed forward and peered downwards through the vent.

She realized she was laying above a cosmetics store, two women moving about the shop and putting bottles and compacts on display. Jen could see three shelving units, all around shoulder height, across the center of the store, with further shelves lining nearly every wall. Jen soon decided that waiting here was her only option, unless she wanted to backtrack to the clothing store. This was one shop closer to her planned exit so she opted against losing that little bit of ground.

Time passed as she watched the two ladies head to the back room and return with another box of items to place on the shelves. Most of the shelves were already full, and Jen hoped she wouldn’t have to wait long. If one of them started vacuuming, she decided she would take her chances at the clothing store, which looked to be further along in their closing routines.

Eventually her patience was rewarded when she heard one of the women say “well I think that’s everything!”

“I think so. You can take off, I’ll double check and make sure.”

In a few moments the lights in the store went out, and Jen reached forward to start working on the vent cover. It was the same type of plastic clip-on cover that she’d had to pry out to get in the ducts in the first place. Pushing a corner out was easier than pulling at them had been, she didn’t have to wedge her fingernails in behind anything. Just apply pressure.

The first corner popped out with a metallic ping, but quiet enough that it didn’t echo through the shaft. Jen was more careful at the second corner and was able to release this one without any noise.

She grabbed the edge of the cover with one hand as she used her other hand to **** the other clips out, able to avoid the cover falling to the ground. She pulled it into the vent with her and pushed it forwards, out of her way.

Sliding forward, Jen put her head down through the opening and looked around to make sure she was alone. Hearing nothing, she started to inch her way out but realized she didn’t want to exit the vent head first. She could likely brace her fall with her arms and avoid injury, but it would be safer to fall onto her feet.

She pulled herself back in and worked her way over the vent, sliding the cover further ahead of her as she went. She lost a few minutes getting past the opening, but once she was able to feel gap in the sheet metal under her feet Jen reversed course and began pushing herself backwards, her legs working her way down into the store little by little.

Soon she had her stomach pressed against the edge and decided she needed to drop the rest of the way. The rim of the vent wasn’t sharp, but it was far from the bluntest object she’d ever felt. The idea of it scraping against her torso and breasts, and possibly across her face, didn’t thrill her. Placing her hands alongside her, she gripped the edge and in one motion, pushed herself backwards and out the vent.

Bracing for the impact as best she could, Jen still hit the ground harder than she expected. Lucky I didn’t break an ankle, she thought. She’d landed between two of the shelving units, invisible from the glass doors and windows at the front of the shop. She froze in place, hunkered between the two display units, listening carefully to make sure there was no one about that could have heard her fall.

As no sound reached her ears for a moment she began to stand up, but when a rustling noise came from the back room Jen immediately dropped down again. Back in a crouching position, she instinctively moved away from the noise a few short paces.

She’s still in there! Jen thought to herself. If she has more stock to put up I’ll be sneaking between aisles for who knows how long. And if I have to move towards the front of the shop, I’ll be visible to whoever might walk by. The mall’s closed but someone still has to be working. Maybe security guards or janitors?

Jen’s mind raced with possibilities. She felt that the more she tried to play hide and seek with the last remaining shop worker, the more likely she’d change aisles at the wrong time and get caught. Trying to think of an alternative, the only one she could think of was going out the front of the store, into the common area of the mall. She suspected it would have to be close to bare minimum staffing out there,. There was some small chance she might be able to get through the mall without being seen.

Another loud rustle came from the store room. Jen shook her head, trembling with nerves, and tried to make up her mind.