The bell on the door jingled as she walked in. She didn't see anyone behind the counter as she walked over to the one who interested her. He looked down at grinning like a devil.
"Find something you like lass?" a Scottish voiced asked making her jump. A man with red curly hair and a beard now had stepped out from the back. "Didn't mean to startle ya. The names MacGuffin" he said walking around the counter to shake her hand.
"Gwen." She replied taking his beefy hand. "I was just admiring the craftsmanship."
"Aye Lass. That's Slappy." MacGuffin said taking a ventriloquist dummy off the top shelf and handed him to her. He noticed her backpack. "I see you're a student. Ya must be looking for something ta do for the talent show."
Does everyone know about that stupid show? Gwen thought to herself. "Ah yeah" she lied.
"Well let me tell ya Slappy would make anyone a fine partner" He smiled.
"Oh I don't know. I don't think I could afford him" Gwen said stroking the carved ridges of the dummy hair and looking up innocently at MacGuffin. He sighed.
"I'll tell you what lass. He's been here a while and no one has shown any interest in him. Seeing as how I didn't give much for him I can give you a good deal on him" MacGuffin said. He named a price that was well within her limited resources.
"Deal" Gwen agreed. They walked to the register to ring up the sale. Gwen set Slappy on the counter as she pulled the money out of her backpack. MacGuffin handed her the receipt.
"Pleasure doing business with you Mr. MacGuffin" Gwen smiled at him.
He sighed as she left the store. "Finally that really gave me the creeps" MacGuffin muttered to himself.
"I can't believe that worked" Gwen smiled happily as she walked clutching Slappy to her chest as if he was the greatest treasure in the world. "I wish you really were alive" she told the dummy. His sky blue eyes stared back at her almost as if he agreed. "Shoot!" she cursed. She had forgotten to put the receipt in her bag. She decided to stick it in Slappy's suit pocket but stopped when she felt something else in the pocket. It was a weathered yellow card with strange words printed on them. They appeared to be an old form of Latin.
Karru Marri Odonna Loma Molonu Karrano She read aloud. Gwen felt a shock in the arm holding Slappy causing her to almost drop the dummy. "That's weird." She said putting the card back into the pocket.
Gwen suddenly felt a cold shiver run down her spine. She turned to look behind her but there was not a soul in sight. Gwen knew better. She could sense them moving towards her. They were still at a distance so Gwen still had a chance. She took off running as fast as she could, cradling Slappy closer to her as if protecting him. She did not notice that Slappy's eyes had moved to look up at her. He took great interest in the look of fear on her face and his smile grew wider.