Something is off about this story. My previous reports from Monfeld have all taken place within the building. But here is something that contradicts all of that. How did this happen? Surely nearby residents would have called the police? How is this not headline news?
This was our interviewee’s first attempt at urban exploring. I don’t think they will try again. But as usual, I am happy to follow up with any questions you have.
I often wondered how they cleaned the skylights at the top of Monfeld. They dominated the space above the shopping centre, and were always sparkling. Imagine the long conversations around logistics, and how to keep the workers surreptitious. Yet I never saw anyone dangling on harnesses with a bucket and squeegee.
My aim was to get to the bookshop. Find some coffee table hardbacks, and display them as talking pieces in my new flat. Haunted books would break the ice. What you realise is how much the daylight helped the space. Now the mucky panes create so many shadows. Monfeld was my hangout as a teenager, so I managed to clamber over broken dustbins and faded coffee stands without too much effort. But this was not a greenhouse with the lights switched off. So much was lost to the darkness.
One of the shadows kept moving. Almost following my path through the shopping centre. Rainclouds were my suspected culprit. Until I looked up.
The shape above me crawled along the glass, not on legs, but as one huge mass, like a snail crawling up the side of a fish tank. Only I was on the inside. A circular set of teeth scraped against the panes, desperate to break through.
I never got those books.
The windows are filthy in Monfeld. I wish someone would clean them.
