I nod and swallow hard as we walk towards the doors of the toy shop. I didn’t feel nervous entering the other stores but this one does feel off. “Right, learn from a fight. Don’t run. Just let go an-and clear your mind. I can do that.”
“And in any case, so long as we are together there is nothing we cannot defeat. You’ll see once we bond.”
That has me confused. “Didn’t we already bond? What do you mean?”
Jaak pushes open the door for me and enters a step behind me. “We will bond again in the fray. Our bodies will fight in tandem.
Tandem. That could have been a good safe word with how little I’ve heard it, or maybe not because Jaak is using it now.
“Together? We’re fighting together?”
He nods once and looks around the corner of an aisle. “Indeed and it will be a glorious fight.”
The toy shop is quiet and still when we enter. It’s a different kind of stillness to what the floral shop had. That was calm, something that felt soothing but the silence here isn’t right. It’s too heavy. It signals someone is in here with us, the way the silence and space feels too full.
“Hello?” I call out but there’s no answer. Instead, I hear someone or something rooting around in an aisle I can’t see. It doesn’t sound like steps but it’s definitely not nothing. Someone else is in here with us. “This is definitely a trap.”
“Oh verily, and a ham-fisted one at that. Stay close,” Jaak says as we continue to walk through the store. Aisles extend on either side of us and create a walkway down the middle of the store. It’s bigger inside than I imagined it would be. At the far end of the store I can see a register on top of a half-counter. Atthe start of each aisle, a red sign hangs with the aisle contents painted in white.
We’ve just walked past aisles one and two, plushies and pillows respectively. Aisle three promises toy cars and I blanch when I see farther on down weapon replicas waiting for us in aisle ten. Why does it feel like the entire store is watching us? Like the aisles are about to come alive and attack?
I tap Jaak’s back now that he’s moved in front of me and glance over my shoulder to make sure we aren’t being followed. “The store. I-I think it’s alive.”
Jaak nods, just once. “I think you are correct. There’s a weight to this place that I have not felt in eons. The last was on the sentient planet Miram.”
“What happened on Miram?” I ask and silently pray for a happy ending consisting of the planet coming to its senses and befriending Jaak.
“War,” he says softly and looks down to the right, scanning the aisle we’ve just passed. We both see a shadow dart at the end of the aisle and my breath catches. Yup, there’s definitely going to be a rumble in here, no doubt about it. “Miram rose up to fight against us. The whole of it.”
“What did you do?”
“Destroyed it, naturally.”
“The entire planet?”
“Yes. All of Miram is gone now. Nothing but a myth.”
I don’t like thinking about having to do that here. Yes, it’s a creepy place that feels sinister but it’s also just a toy store. Maybe this place is someone’s favorite cherished spot in all of town. I can’t stomach the thought that we might have to destroy it. I know I’m alone in that sentiment with Jaak saying he destroyed an entire planet.
Above us the lights that look like replicas of gaslit lamps in jewel-tone colored shades, cast eerie throws of light down on us.On a normal day, I bet the lights are cheery and warm, but these flicker and dim at random. It creates a weird kaleidoscope effect that makes the entire thing look like a horror movie. We walk forward another step when I see the first real signs of someone else.
“Is that fog?” I ask and point towards the creeping, rolling fog pouring out of an aisle ahead of us.
“So it is.” Jaak straightens up and steps forward. “Make yourselves known. We wish to speak with the owner.”
It’s not one voice that answers us but what sounds like dozens, hundreds. “And who calls upon our master?” The question echoes and reverberates around us. We’re surrounded.Fuckkkkk.
“The Bride of the Hell Maw and Master of Archdemon Jaakobah, Lord of Chaos and Destroyer of Worlds who calls your master forward.”
My mouth falls open at Jaak’s words. Bride of the Hell Maw is one thingbut master?When did I become his master?
“The pair of you are not fit to look upon our master,” the voices howl. The fog becomes thicker, each second that passes it inches closer to us. “We will see your bones made into a crown for our master.”
“Threaten her again and I will unmake you.” Jaak moves, his body shifts and when I look at him I see he’s getting…bigger. His clothing strains and I hear a few seams rip. Yeah, he’s getting bigger all right.
The voices cackle, the sound echoes and reverberates through the store until the ground shakes beneath us. The ground pitches suddenly and I stumble away from Jaak. I catch myself on the side of a toy shelf and manage to keep my feet under me.
“Show yourself or are you scared?” I look around the toy store and see shadows moving and writhing in the aisles.Something slithers out of aisle seven but I can’t see it because the fog has rolled on past it. I look up and see Active Play on the sign. “What the heck is active play? That can’t be good.”
