Mr. Nim‘s Toy Emporium was probably the biggest Rin had ever seen. A model railway track ran the entire length of the shop, equipped with shiny engines chuffing out tiny puffs of artificial smoke. Stations built out of Lego had miniature passengers alighting with luggage, uniformed porters, and whistle-blowing guards. A jigsaw puzzle depicting a fairy tale town was on display alongside a variety of board games that were mid-round. Picture cards decorated the side wall.

The only customers were children. Two were playing house at the play area. A younger boy ran around the store wearing a makeshift cloak and waving a plastic sword.

In the middle of the toy shop, a group of colorfully-dressed children wearing pointed hats danced around a fairy ring of plushies, trailing behind an equally colorful Mr. Nim, who was playing a merry melody on a flute. Rin supposed they were taking after elves or dwarves.

“Come join us, big sis!” one of them called out.

Rin did not answer. She was busy staring at the walls. They faded in and out. The train chuffed in exhaustion. One of the teddies keeled over, a beady eye loose. The picture of the jigsaw transformed into a sinister jungle with dim lamps lighting up a tiny path to nowhere. The brilliance of the emporium gave away momentarily, revealing its used, dilapidated interior.

None of the children seemed to realize anything.

She supposed they were bewitched into thinking it was a toy paradise. She was exempted because she was an uninvited guest.

A girl with a pair of ponytails came up to her, holding a set of cards. She looked about six. “Let’s play, big sis.”

She had a strange smile. Crooked, hesitant, and forced. Her wide eyes gazed tremulously at Rin.

It took Rin a short while to realize that it was fear.

Leaning down, she said in a low voice, “Do you not want to be here?”

The girl gave an imperceptible shake of her head, looking more frightened than ever.

“Why can’t you leave?”

She glanced to the left. Rin followed her gaze.

The picture cards earlier were actually photographs – each one of a child. All of them had the same fake smile plastered on their faces.

“I want to go home, Mister,” the boy with the cloak wailed, running up to Mr. Nim.

The toy shop owner bent down to speak to him, his face inches away. “Oh, no, dear. You have not had enough fun yet.”

“No! I wanna go home!” The boy threw the cloak down in temper and ran towards the exit.

Right before he reached it, he disappeared. The cloak and sword clattered to the floor.

At the same time, a new photograph appeared on the wall.

It was of the boy struggling to free himself from the constraints of the frame. His movements slowed until he finally stopped moving, lips curved upwards in a forced smile.

The girl turned away in fright.

Mr. Nim’s voice echo softly around the shop:

Oh, dear child, I just want your smile.

Rin glanced down at her hand. She was still holding on to the papers she had been given earlier.

The topmost one read, Missing Children. Below it was a list of names. Dates were written next to each one, all within the same month.

“Hello, hello.” Mr. Nim came up to her. “Are you enjoying yourself?”

Rin did not bother looking up. In a low voice, she said, “Mister, did you trade your heart?”

There was a broad smile in his voice. “Yes, I wished to preserve the smiles of children.”

Because I couldn’t keep my child’s.

“These little ones are so precious.” He clasped his hands over his chest.

Precious? Keeping them as prisoners?

“Daddy, I want that robot! Timmy’s dad got him the whole set for his birthday. Why can’t I have one?”

Business was not good. Money was short. “It is expensive, dear. Maybe next time.”

“No! You always say the same thing! You’re lying!”

Then, just weeks later, a child running after a ball in the street, a screech of tires, the wails of a siren –

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He never saw his boy’s smile again.

Ever since that day, he would stop by toy shops to stare at the windows. If only he had enough money, maybe things would be different.

He saw children beaming, entering with their parents, leaving with an armful of bags and boxes.

Ah, he loved children. Their smiles were so pure, so precious. Every child deserved to smile.

He missed his boy. His beloved boy. He couldn’t keep him smiling.

Maybe, maybe if he owned a toy store, he could keep their smiles –

The Heart Shop granted him a haven – the toy shop. A temptation, a mouse trap, a one-way trip with no exit. A place where children were forced to smile. He was technically getting what he wanted.

Rin felt her anger rising. She couldn’t tell if it was more towards Mr. Nim, whose Desire had been twisted, or the Seed for manipulating the desire.

She turned to leave. Another moment longer, the emporium would be in flames.

At the entrance, Mr. Nim said, “Are you leaving already? Have you had enough fun?”

Fun? Who are you to decide whether I have enough fun?

“I’m not one of yours. You can’t stop me,” she said coldly.

The shop owner quietly retreated into his shop.

The hatred she had for the emporium made the tips of her fingers itch. Her flames were raging to be released, to burn the prison down, but she reminded herself that this was not his Territory. He was not the actual Master. He was only one of the many who fell for the Heart Shop’s schemes, swept away by the delusions created by the Seed. A wrong move might destroy everything, including the photographs of the trapped children.

She decided to leave it alone for the time being.

Glancing down at the rest of the articles in her hands, she moved the missing children one to the back. The rest had headlines depicting unprecedented violence, thievery, assault, murder – all committed in unconceivable ways by the most unlikely people.

“Here, missy. Would you like some jerky?”

She turned around. A big man with a jolly round face that spelled enthusiasm was holding a plate of freshly cured jerky in her face.

Taking a step back and holding up a hand, she said, “No, I-”

“No need to be shy! The samples are on the house – satisfaction guaranteed. My jerky is the best in town! Look over there!” He jerked his head over at the long queue in front of a shop two lots away. “Customers can’t get enough of them.”

He led her towards his shop, blabbering about how good his jerky supposedly was.

I did not give away my heart for nothing. Now everyone knows of my shop.

The smell hit her the moment she heard the owner’s Desire. Strong, raw, and metallic – it reminded her of the slaughterhouse near a wet market she once visited.

At the counter, she caught a glimpse of what looked like suspicious wet reddish mounds. The customers were leaving with paper bags that were dripping wet on the bottom, leaving a trail of dark droplets behind them.

And what did she just see through the transparent refrigerator door? She tore her eyes away and headed in the other direction before the owner could stop her.

She recalled one of the papers she read earlier – a feud between competing business owners along the street that ended in a bloody affair. It was an unpleasant thought, considering the circumstances, despite knowing that the Territory twisted reality based on its interpretation.

She couldn’t tell how much of it was real. It was a well-known rule that within a Territory, it was advisable to take everything as it was and let it slide. The main priority was to find the Seed.

The problem was she simply couldn’t find the way to the alley where it was.

The roads kept taking her back to the same spot, but the shop simply refused to be found.

The street clamored around her. She witnessed pots falling from above, a man clutching his heart and collapsing in the middle of the road, and a gambling house papered with money. She asked a handful of people about the Heart Shop, but none of them seemed to know what she was talking about.

The whispers of traded hearts hissed all around her, filling her ears, merging into incomprehensible sound.

I want to be famous.

I want to be a millionaire.

I hate him. He betrayed me. I want him dead.

Who are you to deserve happiness when you stole mine?

You scumbag! This is what you get for cheating on me!

She felt like she was walking in someone else’s dream, multiple dreams that congregated in the same place. The strangeness was rubbing off on her. This was why Hunters usually worked in teams – so that they could keep each other sane.

“Don’t you have a desire you would die for?”

The speaker was a man wearing a ragged two-piece. He was unkempt and barefooted. His facial hair was so thick that it nearly obscured his eyes. Like an additional piece of jigsaw that did not belong, he sat by the pavement as the world moved around him.

“Everyone has one. You – what is yours?”

Her head throbbed.

From the corner of her eyes, she saw a red-headed figure passing her by again.

She refused to look. She was not going to fall for the same trick twice.

Reveal your desire.

The lights were becoming disturbing. They were too bright, too many, too flashy.

She wondered if it was her or the Territory.

The man started to morph. One eye was becoming bigger than the other, his mouth crooked, his teeth magnified.

She heard a voice inside her head: Why won’t you let me look inside your heart?

A female voice pulled her out of the illusion.

“Hey, missy, I see that you’ve been wandering about. Is there anything that catches your fancy?”

Her heart pounded as she looked around. The man was gone.

She had let her guard down – and the Seed took advantage of it.

“Hey, missy, over here.”

It was one of the ladies from the gambling house. She wore a glittering navy-blue dress that reminded Rin of the Milky Way. Her eyeliner and mascara were so thick that they nearly merged with her brows. A satin ribbon sat atop her head like a crown.

Still not completely recovered from the experience earlier, Rin half-heartedly said, “I’m looking for the Heart Shop. You don’t know anything about it, do you?”

The lady made a face. “The Heart Shop? Is it some kind of fad?”

“Whatever you’re looking for, just make sure you avoid going down there.” Another lady appeared, similarly dressed. She jerked her head towards the end of the street.

“Why?”

“Between you and me, it’s not a good place.”

“And why is that?”

The lady tutted in displeasure, as though unwilling to impart the words from her mouth but felt obligated to because Rin had asked. “Because someone died there.”

“Oh, you mean the young couple who lived in that apartment?” The first lady lowered her voice. “I heard the poor girl was frightened to madness and took her own life. How tragic. They were going to get married...”

“I heard it was the man’s ex-girlfriend who committed the unspeakable deed. How evil of her. She disappeared right after that.”

“It was so scary how they ended up... I couldn’t sleep that night when I heard.”

Rin was certain the street held more bloody history than what was let on.

There was an unspoken rule when trapped within a Territory: following the hints would be the best lead to the Seed itself.

And it had been dropping obvious hints.

At least, it was better than waiting and doing nothing.

She headed in the direction they mentioned.