Fiction: The Antique Shoppe

The Antique Shoppe

Once Upon a Christmas Eve (second half)

One month later…

Jenny sighed as she flipped the door sign to “Closed”. It had been a long day. People had come and left in waves. Ceici had actually had to come from the back for once and help customers. Jenny was surprised that people had actually come to a secondhand shop for the “perfect present” that might be found in the middle of all the clutter. She would have to reorganize the entire front of the store after the holidays finished.

“Good work today, Jenny.” Ceici opened the register and started counting up the cash. “You can go ahead and leave early if you want. The cleaning can wait until after Christmas.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. Go do something nice. Your bonus, by the way.”

Jenny accepted the envelope hesitantly. “Thank you. This is the first Christmas bonus I’ve ever gotten.”

Ceici smiled broadly. “Then go out and get something nice to eat, if you can. Laze about in bed tomorrow. Treat yo’self, as they say.”

Jenny grinned briefly. “Actually, there’s a church around the corner from the center that’s having a Christmas Eve service in a couple hours. I’ve been thinking about going. Would you be interested in going with me?”

Ceici smiled. “I’m sorry, but no. I have a business appointment tonight. You’ll have to go without your security blanket.”

Jenny blinked. “You’re not a security blanket!”

“That’s how you see me, whether you admit it or not. Go and make some friends already, little Jenny Wren.” Ceici shooed her towards the door. They exchanged Merry Christmases and goodbyes, then the doorbell rang as Jenny left.

Ceici snapped her fingers, and her eyes briefly turned golden. The door locks snapped into place, and the lights turned off. She went into the back room, the bead curtain clacking against itself in the silence.

At the end of the hallway, pushed up against the wall, was a large wooden chifforobe. One half of it was full of drawers of every size,  while the other half was an elegantly carved door covering the wardrobe half. The carvings had been portraying a woodland, then abruptly changed to a scene like a Greek ruin. The door then opened, and out stepped a small woman. She was dressed impeccably in a black pantsuit and flats, her dark gray hair pulled into a bun. Her black eyes narrowed as she saw Ceici.

“Hiya, Maggie,” Ceici said cheerfully. “Merry Christmas.”

“The name is Magdala, and I could not care any less about your seasonal greetings.” The woman’s scowl deepened, as impossible as it seemed. “I have business in other realms to take care of, so let’s get this over with.”

Ceici sighed. She gestured to her outfit: forest green leggings, a knee-length denim skirt, and a dark golden turtleneck sweater under a black leather vest. “And I got dressed up for our appointment. I wanted to make a good impression on my parole officer.” Her eyes turned gold, and black boots appeared on her feet. “Doesn’t the effort make any impression?”

“Listen, you could be dressed like Queen Elizabeth the First and I wouldn’t care. I’m here for my job, so stop trying to make friends.” Magdala slammed the door of the chifforobe shut, waited until the carvings turned into a large mansion, and opened the door again. “Come on.”

Mike Kaiser sat at his desk in his opulent office. The last month had changed his appearance. Before, he had been a little heavyset, bordering on fat. Now he had noticeably lost weight, but the haggard look on his face and the dark circles under his eyes made the most difference. He flinched as a knock sounded on the door.

“Come in!” he snapped.

He jumped from his seat when the door opened. The shop owner strode in casually, followed by a small woman.

“How did you get in here?” Mike yelled.

“Through the front door, naturally.” Ceici smiled broadly. “We didn’t bother coming down the chimney, since your living room fireplace is just for show.”

“But…”

“Oh, your guards? Don’t worry. They’re fine. For now.” Ceici sat down in one of the leather chairs in front of Mike’s desk. Magdala sat in the other chair, silent. “But I must say, you do not look fine.”

“I’ve just…” Mike tried to bluster.

“Had nightmares every night for the past month? Unable to sleep well? Let me guess, your dreams have involved a lot of memories of your past.”

“How do you know that?” Mike contemplated whether he could take his revolver out of his desk drawer without them seeing. Something had been causing all of this. It had to be the shopkeeper. Ever since she had talked him into signing that contract with her.

“It’s the same thing that has happened with every owner, far back into antiquity. Did you think you could escape the Tiger Demon’s Curse?”

Mike scoffed. “Curse. Words like that mean nothing to me.”

“Oh, they’re far more real than you want to believe. Speaking of, have you successfully kept the terms of our contract?”

“Of course I have. So get out of here.”

“I’ll need to see proof of that. Otherwise, I won’t leave.”

Mike yanked his desk drawer open and pulled out his revolver, cocking it in one swift move. But Ceici wasn’t in her chair. He spun around to see her lifting down a painting from the wall by his desk, exposing his private safe.

“Get away from there!”

The locks and tumblers on the safe spun and clicked open. Ceici opened the door and pulled out the black velvet box. “You can shoot if you like, but it will do you no good.” She opened the box as she turned around. She took out the diamond and held it to the light. The golden hue of the gem had almost entirely faded, and the gem looked black instead. “My, my, my. You really have been a naughty boy, Mr. Kaiser.”

Mike snatched it away from her and stared at it in disbelief. He had looked at it multiple times per day for the last month. Why had he never noticed it changing color? “What’s the meaning of this?”

“It’s hard to notice gradual changes, isn’t it?” Ceici sat back down in her chair and crossed her legs, propping her chin on her hand. “Becoming the owner of the Eye of the Tiger Demon, quite a weighty burden. And with your reputation to uphold, no way easy way to refrain from business as usual. Tell me? How many people have you ordered killed in the last month? How many lies told in business transactions? How many transactions done for the sake of getting something you coveted, perhaps even stealing things? How many women have you lusted over? Whether thought or deed, it all counts.”

“This is a fraud,” Mike stammered. “How did you change out my diamond?”

“I didn’t. That is the genuine thing. But you are unwilling to accept the rumors of something supernatural, because your life deals in facts and numbers and money and bloodshed. Blood demands blood, Mr. Kaiser.”

Mike hurled the diamond at her. Ceici caught it easily, and held it up, holding onto it with only two fingers. Her words rang out like a death knoll:

“Michael William Kaiser, you have violated the terms of our agreement in all aspects. In addition, you have persisted in unrepentant behavior. Despite knowing what the consequences of your actions would be, you chose the path you end at. I now pronounce judgement, and may God have mercy on your soul.”

She let go of the diamond, and it fell to the carpeted floor. The outer shell of the diamond shattered like glass, and the darkness inside swirled and grew. There was a shrieking growl that split the air, and the darkness lunged at Mike. He screamed and fired his revolver multiple times, but the darkness seeped into his mouth and eyes. He then slumped to the ground and the darkness swirled around him again, then shot through the air and out through the study door.

Ceici sighed, and stood up. “Shall we go outside and watch the show?”

Magdala stood up and straightened her pants. “You care too much for theatricality.”

Jenny clenched her hands from her seat in the church pews. She had been afraid she wouldn’t be dressed well enough, since the church was built in a traditional manner of stone and stained glass. But a large amount of the people crowding in were dressed casually. She couldn’t shake her nerves though. She hadn’t been in a church since childhood, and she had strayed so far since then. Tugging her sleeves down as far as possible to hide the needle marks on her arms, she tried looking around to distract herself, and caught the eyes of a little girl. She was watching over her dad’s shoulder, and waved at Jenny before sucking on her thumb again. A giggle threatened to escape as Jenny waved back. She could do this.

The choir stood. The words to the Christmas carols were projected onto the wall at the front of the room, and people began singing along. “O holy night…“

Ceici and Magdala stood outside the mansion, on the gravelled driveway that shone in the moonlight. A silvery white frost covered the bare trees and bushes, making the scene look as though it were covered in snow.

Meanwhile, the mansion was shrouded in darkness. All of the windows and open doors were completely black. The screams and gunshots had faded finally. The darkness slowly crept towards the two women, coalescing into a form of a crouching feline form, the so-called Tiger Demon.

“Had fun?” Ceici asked. She still wore a smile, but there was no emotion in her eyes.

“I… hunger.” The voice from the creature was grating, like multiple voices whining at once. “More …”

“No.” Magdala said. “You have been given enough.”

“More…” the creature insisted, stepping forward.

“Do you hear that?” Ceici asked. She motioned upwards. The air around her shimmered. Strains of music wafted through the air. Instruments and voices sang Christmas songs. “The sound of humans worshiping something other than their own greed.”

The creature shrieked, trying to overcome the noise. Ceici closed her eyes and sang along, her voice rising above the noise. “A thrill of hope, a weary world rejoices. For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn…“

While she sang, threads of gold flowed through the air from her to the creature. 

“Fall on your knees. Oh hear the angel voices. O night, o holy night…“

The sounds of singing clung to the threads and wrapped around the creature. It struggled and shrieked again and again, but shrank and was surrounded by crystalline walls again. 

Ceici sang the last three words of the carol, letting the notes vibrate through the air. “O night divine.” She then took in and let out a deep breath. 

Magdala walked forward and picked up the diamond from the frosted ground. She inspected it carefully. “All correct.”

Ceici caught the diamond as Magdala tossed it to her. “I’ll take that as a compliment. After all, I have been doing this for quite a while. Now then, can we go get some takeout before going back to the shop?”

“No.” 

“Ah, c’mon. We can go anywhere. Someplace isn’t closed for Christmas.”

“No.” Magdala reached out and turned an invisible doorknob, then pushed. A doorway of light opened, leading back into the shop hallway. She glared at Ceici, who sighed. In spite of that, she walked back into the shop, leaving behind a frost-covered mansion and empty bodies. It would be found in the morning by housekeepers, and the news media would be full of nothing else but the mysterious deaths of a local gangster and his men.

But for now, Ceici pouted as she stepped back into the shop. Her boots disappeared once they touched the hardwood floors. She turned around to see Magdala standing in the chifforobe doorway, holding the door open.

“All righty then. Same time next year?” Ceici asked.

“There’s a stupid question if I ever heard one. Here.” Magdala shoved a plastic sack towards Ceici, who took it. “This is not because we’re friends. It’s keeping with human tradition. Nothing else.”

Ceici grinned, and said in a teasing tone, “Aww, and I didn’t get anything for you.”

“Good-bye!” Magdala slammed the door shut.

Ceici wandered back out into the quiet storefront. She set down the bag and opened containers of Greek food. “Oooh, and she even remembered the baklava! I have to think of something for her for next year.”

She put the Eye of the Tiger Demon on the counter, and stared at it while she started eating. “None for you. You’ve eaten enough. Not that anything besides human essence and greed is what you crave. Oh well. You miss out on the best things that way.”

Finis