Episode 10

-The Same Night-

Tina hadn't seen a customer since noon. It wasn't terribly surprising being Christmas Eve.  Regardless, things weren't looking too prosperous for her little antique shop.  Thank goodness they made some money off of the detectives.

Dylan had Tina's feathery pink duster and was brushing the line of lamp shades, all a different pastel color.  Dust particles danced in the air, and Dylan sneezed a three times in a row. He looked bored enough that he could pass out.

"Dallin!"

"It's Dylan."

"Dylan," Tina corrected, "Clean off the jewelry boxes and mirrors then you can leave early."

"Sweet," Dylan shrugged.

Tina counted out for the day and flipped the open sign to closed.  She started putting storage boxes in the huge closet they had in the back and almost tripped over a trunk on the ground.

"Ooooh, ouch!"

Dylan tromped into the room, his dark brows furrowed, "What was that?"

"This... trunk. Did you take it down today?" She rubbed her foot tenderly.

"Uhh... No, I don't remember it out at all."  

"Well, let's put it away, I guess." 

It was the same trunk the detectives searched through the other day.  A little odd, Tina thought, but she forgot a few things here and there.  Oh well.      

  

"Alright, see you Monday," Dylan waved. 

Now Tina was alone in her quaint little space.  She had planned to visit family but the snow was too terrible to make the trip that weekend.  So it was going to be her and her cat, Felix. Her home was actually right above the shop.  It was about the same size, but an apartment with plenty of room for one and a pet. 

There was a door slightly hidden in the back room that led to her apartment.  She locked up the shop and headed up the staircase to get ready for her small festivities.  Felix and his bulbous fluff of a body mewed in protest, demanding to be fed as soon as she entered the apartment.  

After Felix had a generous portion of canned fish, a special Christmas treat, Tina put on some classic holiday movies accompanied with a large diet coke and buttery popcorn.  After the second movie started, her eyes drooped and she started to fall asleep.

Midnight.

Tina woke with a start.  Felix was fast asleep.  The air was still.  Her Christmas tree was still lit along with her fake fireplace she had running on her laptop screen.  All seemed well.

Except her door was open.  

Tina adjusted her little reading glasses that had slid off her nose during her nap.  It couldn't have been the wind because the staircase was attached to the inside of the store.  She gulped. 

"Felix," she hissed, "Felix, go investigate."

Felix lay like a slug sinking into the couch cushions.  Tina grumbled, and rolled out of her comfortable position.  She should call the police.  

She grabbed her phone and a small can of pepper spray from her purse before braving the open door.  The staircase was dark and the shop was even darker below, like staring into a void.  Unfortunately, the light switch for the staircase was at the bottom.  So Tina tiptoed, avoiding the one step she knew always squeaked until she reached the shop.

Nothing looked too out of place.  It was dark except for the Christmas lights from outside and the moon reflecting on the piles of white snow.  Tina's windows were frosty.  She shivered.

As soon as she found the light switches she turned all of them on.  The room flooded brightly, and again everything seemed to be fine. Tina checked the locks one more time, just to be cautious, and was about to return to the stairs when she stubbed her toe.  Again!

"Oooooh, darn it, dumb thing!" Tina glared at the trunk, "Dylan didn't put you away? Ugh..."

The trunk was open this time, and when Tina peered inside, she noticed everything was missing.  All of the other deemed artifacts.

"A thief?" Tina pursed her lips.  It couldn't have been the detectives, they were nice boys, but perhaps someone else that knew about the Thanatos cult?

All of the lights went out.  Tina nearly jumped out of her skin, her phone tumbling to the floor.  The brightness of her phone screen lit up the area around her as it rested on the floor.  She gasped, noticing someone hidden in the corner creeping out in her direction.

"Intruder! The cops will be here any second!" she threatened.

The burglar didn't run.  He stood in horrific silence watching Tina as she readied her pepper spray. 

"Silly woman.  Where is the artifact." The man's voice was nonchalant like he wasn't even breaking an entry, or he was used to this sort of thing.  

"You already stole them!"

"These? Fakes? Who bought the real one?"

"People who work for the city, and police, so you're wasting your efforts trying to find it!"

"That's really too bad.  I don't enjoy wasting time," his voice got cold real fast, like diving into a pool in the winter.  Tina released a wave of pepper spray, and the man retreated back.  The fumes filled the store quickly, and Tina found herself choking, tasting the sourness of the spray in the back of her throat.  Her eyes tingled as she reached for her phone.

"What a nice collection you have," the man whispered in the darkness, "It even has jewels in the handle.  The craftsmanship is sublime."

She knew what he was looking at.  Her heart stopped, right before an ice cold knife was plunged into it.  The knife collection, damn him! "AAAHHHH!"

Tina got to be close and personal with her killer.  She recognized his face from somewhere.  Even as blood decorated her product and the killer's hand, she muttered, "You...? I... saw you...on T.V."

The killer grinned.

"H-how..."

Tina crumpled to the floor.  The killer whipped the blood off of the blade with his fingers, "Now.  Do we want to be clean or messy? Tch tch tch..."

He picked up Tina's phone, snooping at her recent contacts - Landlord, Rebecca, Petco, Dylan Atchley... The killer smiled.

R.I.P 

Tina Surlin

(Grandma, you're a trooper to be in my creepy stories, love you! Hehe)