Standing outside the shop in the middle of Nowhere, Dr. Brayden Pointe recalled the conversation that played out earlier in the day.

[color=0072bc][quote]“I tell you, you have to check out Intriguingly’s,” the old man began.
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Carefully examining the Black Lab standing patiently on the floor of examination room two, Brayden had listened to the grizzled ex-Marine who had brought the dog in for its annual check-up and the most recent booster of rabies, Bordetella, and some other vaccines.

[color=0072bc][quote]“There’s no place like it. It’s got some of the strangest things you’ve ever seen. Memorabilia from horror movies, things that look like they could be straight out of a coroner’s office. If you like weird and bizarre, that is the place to go.”[/quote][/color]

Brayden had chuckled and tucked the conversation away. He hadn’t planned on going to the antique shop, but when he found himself passing by after a long day at work, curiosity got the better of him, and he pulled his Subaru Outback over to the curb. Staring at it for a minute, Brayden studied the shop with its tall glass windows and the intricately designed lettering declaring the name of the shop: INTRIGUINGLY’S.

He bit his lip as he stared at the place. He had been up and down this road dozens of times, driven past twice a day on his way to and from the clinic. Why hadn’t he noticed it before?

Getting out of the SUV, Brayden stepped from the roadway onto the sidewalk and made his way to the shop. Even from outside the store, he now understood what the old man had said. Behind the glass was an old-fashioned Singer sewing machine like the one his grandmother had owned, an armchair, tattered and torn, sitting beside a trunk older than time. The framed painting of what looked like some more horrific version of Dante’s Inferno had caught his eye, but it was the skeletal display of a creature that must have been a dog that held his attention. With teeth longer than any he had ever seen and a shape that seemed unnaturally long, the doctor’s curiosity was piqued, and he walked toward the door and pulled it open.

Instantly, the young veterinarian was overwhelmed by the mixture of scents that attacked his nose. Dust and perfume filled the air, and the soft, eerie sound of organ music played in the background. Brayden almost left the shop, but wanting a better look at the bony specimen from the window, he took a step in, ready to sneeze.

Wanting to make a quick entrance and a speedier departure, Brayden walked toward the front counter, looking for someone who could help. Intriguingly’s was not well staffed, and the number of customers walking about could be counted on two hands.

When he almost sneezed again and felt his chest tighten, he was ready to leave the shop, but his eyes caught a display out near the back, and the doctor was hooked. More skeletal creatures lined the shelves and ornate cages hung from the ceiling with invisible strings, but it was the instruments and tools a veterinarian like himself might use, all from a bygone era, that caused him to stay.