Blood red eyes stared up at the old, rickety wooden structure. Despite the fact that it was most certainly morning, the sky was hazy and gray.

While unwilling to remain outdoors when it looked as if the heavens would begin to weep once more, their tears burrowing deep into the earth as they drowned unseen creatures in their fervent downpour, Noël was reluctant to step into the questionably decorated toy store. Emblazoned within the two story structure’s roof was an equally rickety sign. The words, ‘Emerett and Co.’ were written in a blindingly gaudy and colorful shade of forest green. Multicolored glass soda bottles were strung up along clothing pins and hung across the building’s windows, and, even more curiously…one of the walls appeared to have been built solely out of buttons.

A large assortment of weather worn stuffed animals were placed along the entrance of the…toy shoppe? Thrift store? Hoarder’s paradise?

A literal hell on earth?

Noël did not know, but to be frank, he did not care enough to ask.

He had a sinking suspicion that even the devil would not be caught dead in such an abysmal structure.

Annabelle, on the other hand, would probably be delighted. He barely knew the girl, but she seemed to appreciate the stranger things in life.

Afterall, she seemed to like him just fine.

As it had just rained [though, with how gloomy the horizon was, he was sure the downpour would not cease anytime soon], the faint image of a long-haired woman with striking purple eyes could be seen in a puddle.

I’ll be leaving you now, the witch seemed to say as she slowly faded away from the small puddle of water.

Noël smiled blankly back at Lila before directing his attention towards the store (?) owned by this ‘Emerett’ person. With thoughts of the grotto and ghost children still fresh in his mind and Lila’s words [Ignore the lies of the deceased], he was reluctant to step foot into the store.

Though, he really would prefer to not stay out in such dreary weather…

Perhaps if I am quick and stay to myself, no one will get hurt.

Now resolved, Noël was resolute to walk into the toy store. Or, he would be, were it not for a cat-like creature seated directly in-front of the doorway.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“Evil…” the vampire sighed as he approached the tiger.

There was a loud, incessant, insufferable ringing in his ears not unlike that of teeth tearing through flesh…

He could even distinctly hear a panicked voice, urging him away from something…whatever it was, however, he could not remember.

It was an uncomfortable feeling to have so many lapses in his memories, and yet, not an entirely unfamiliar sensation—unwelcome as it may be.

If he was being honest with himself, there was so much that felt unnatural and yet eerily recognizable about everything that he had seen and heard ever since he woke up from his coffin.

“I normally like stuffed toys, but there’s…something weird about this…” The confused, bewildered, lost vampire merely glared at a grinning, faded orange tiger plushie before kicking it to the side. “You’re really cute, but…I don’t trust you.”

“It’s always the quiet ones,” Noël muttered as he stepped through the doorway. Multicolored glass bottles clanked noisily together as he shut the gaudy, wooden door closed.

Now inside, he was quite surprised at how…chaotic the antiquated structure truly was. If there was a method to the sheer madness of its layout, it was a complete and utter mystery to him. For the life of him, he could not figure out exactly how someone could believe such a selection of mismatched baubles could be deemed as ‘organized’ or even fit for human settlement.

He, himself, was no stranger to disorder, but even the young vampire felt a migraine developing between his eyes as he stared judgingly at a moth-eaten doll. There was no way in hell a customer would be able to peruse such a catastrophic selection of useless junk.

Despite his nimble, careful footsteps as he trekked across the store’s surprisingly well-kempt floor, the wooden floorboards were still creaking ever so slightly.

The room itself was quite desaturated, what with the little amount of light peeking in through its large, stained glass windows. Once again, words completely eluded the vampire as he inscrutably gazed up at the glass windows, obstructing him from the torrent of rain from beyond the building. While they were all beautiful in their own right, he could not begin to fathom as to how anyone thought it a good idea to lump the eclectic selection of windows all together into one hellscape of a building. One window that caught his eye depicted the 1626 witch trial of Würzburg. The portrait was painted in harsh variations of red, yellow, and orange. A lump formed in his throat, and, choosing to quell down the memories of a cursed town once upon a time, he…directed his attention to the other more subdued stained glass windows.

The vampire shivered as he gazed at the other windows. One depicted a smiling, pink dolphin dragging a woman to her watery grave. Another was of four boys discovering small human remains in a wych elm.

Noël was reminded of a story from England he had heard about in which a couple of school children found a skeleton inside a tree. The remains could never be identified, but he couldn’t help but note that…this depiction was highly reminiscent with the story. It seemed that whoever had propped these windows here had an uncanny investment towards the macabre, both mundane [albeit horrific] and supernatural [subjective] in origin.

His head felt heavy and stuffed with cotton the more he’d inspected these windows. A sharp, incessant static once again rang in his ears as he’d strained his memory in an attempt to remember something, anything……

Unfortunately, what is there to remember if you do not know what you have forgotten?

Sighing, he tore away his gaze from the morose windows and instead turned his attention further into this interior designer’s nightmare of a mad house.

“What depraved soul could be responsible for this? I’m all for individuality, but this is all a bit much. It’s impossible to be productive if you can’t even see where you’re going.” Noël brushed aside more glass bottles. A strong scent of peppermint and…dark chocolate wafted through the air as he swatted at a cobweb.

“How…pleasant. At least whoever runs this place has good taste in incense…even if their choices in décor are heavily lacking.”

Noël passed through shelves and even more shelves chocked full of random knickknacks. A broken teacup here, wooden tops covered in moss, half-sewn dolls there. He also happened upon baskets brimming with sweets, though…they seemed completely bereft for human consumption. Even an immortal vampire such as himself would not dare to consume the sugary, brightly wrapped treats. They…all appeared to be covered in mold—

And he could have sworn he saw a baguette move at the corner of his eye.

“This never happened,” Noël said as he hastily treaded across a faded rug. Turning a corner, he was surprised to find an elderly man seated behind a cash register.