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It’s after one o’clock in the morning.Benjamin’s Costume Company has been closed for hours.If there are any unsatisfied customers, they’ll have to make their complaints after the holiday.
The only trouble is, dead men don’t give refunds.Though I’m pretty sure all sales were final anyway.I pick the lock, and the bell jingles to announce our presence.The only light in the place comes from the perpetually malfunctioning Zoltar machine and the purple lights in the glass counter, eerily illuminating the shrunken heads.
I almost walk right into the hanging string of garlic and Mina giggles behind me.It’s not just a prop, it’s fresh, so I wonder if Barker is a superstitious man.
He has a black cat so he can’t be too superstitious.The cat sits on a nearby bookshelf and hisses down at us.I’m surprised there isn’t a security system, but I casually cased the shop the last time we were here, and there were no signs of one—no little boxes to input a code.Unless it’s in the back away from prying eyes.But it would be quite a jog to get to it in time before the alarm went off.
So I’m going with the theory that there’s no electronic security system in this building—just a lock nearly any dumb teenager with a lock-picking kit and access to the internet for a quick tutorial can get into.Maybe he doesn’t worry that a lot of people want to steal from his shop.If he keeps the money locked away somewhere else… It isn’t as though there’s a huge black market for shrunken heads and clown makeup.
Not only is there garlic, but there are sigils hanging near the door and cash register, something I didn’t take notice of in previous visits.Does he believe magic will stop intruders?Is he a believer in magic in general?He lives in an apartment just above the shop, and before I can wonder if we’re going to have to break in to that, too—and if maybe that’s where the real security is—a bleary-eyed Benjamin minus his goth makeup comes downstairs into the main shop.He pushes aside the bamboo curtain.The cat jumps up onto the counter to be closer to him and continues to glare at us.
We’re back in our Krampus costumes—I don’t know why.It just felt like the creepy thing to do.Or maybe it’s a form of cover in case a stray witness still lurks nearby.Benjamin is barely awake and doesn’t seem to have registered the danger we present.
I had thought since he has enough dealings with the underbelly of the city and since my name actually meant something to him, that he would have the good sense and wisdom to keep his mouth shut, but you just can’t trust normies.And clearly his loyalties were already to someone else despite my reputation.I knew it was a risk giving my name—but I also knew it was the quickest route to gaining his compliance and gaining access to Valentino at the critical moment.
“C-can I help you?”he asks.
“You had one job, Benjamin,” I say, as though I’m a parent who is deeply disappointed in his conduct.
He recognizes my voice, even muffled behind the Krampus mask.His eyes widen and he turns to run, but I jump the counter and stop him, pushing him into the back room, and pressing him against the wall.
Back here, it’s clear hedoesbelieve in magic—its protective power, its darker powers.There are more sigils back here as well as candles and tarot cards spread out, and carved stone idols on a nearby shelf representing what are probably deities he prays to.Or maybe ancestors or guardian spirits.I’m not so much into the occult.I just know it looks spooky and would make a good set for a TV show centered around witchcraft.But I’m a normie in his world as much as he is one in mine.
Let’s find out which one of us has the real power.
I grip Benjamin’s throat hard.“What did you say to Dante?”
“W-who’s Dante?”He chokes out.
I squeeze harder until his face goes red from it, and then release him to let him gasp and choke and cough, as he tries to get back to the familiar safety of sweet oxygen.
“Tell me,” I growl.“Don’t play fucking games.I was told that you told someone we would be there.Was it Dante?”
Benjamin holds up his hands defensively as if he knows I’m not going to like what he has to say next.“I-I don’t know who Dante is.I swear.T-there was a guy who was looking for you, and I told him you’d be there.”
“How about Frederick Valentine?Does that name mean anything to you?”
Recognition slowly dawns in his eyes.“Y-yes, he bought a costume for the event.But I d-don’t know him.That’s not who I talked to.”
I’m not sure if I believe him.“If you want to survive this night, you will tell me the truth.Did you talk to Dante Valentino?”
“N-no!I don’t know him!I told you!”
“What about the guy you talked to?Who is he?”
“I-I don’t know… he came in for a costume.I don’t know him.He just mentioned he was looking for you and asked if you were going to the event.”
I wonder if it was some kind of set-up.Was Dante looking for me?Or was it truly someone else?
“P-please… I’m sorry.I didn’t think.I just thought he was a f-friend of yours.”
“Never met the guy,” I say.
“S-so I told you what you wanted to know, so w-we’re done here, right?I-I can go back to my apartment?”
“Brian…” Mina says, putting a hand on my arm.“Let’s just go.He didn’t mean to…”
I shake my head.“You believe that, Mina?Really?”I can’t trust this guy.He’ll talk to the cops.He’s too scared.He’s too unreliable.He will absolutely name us for this crime because he’ll think me being behind bars will protect him.
