Brayden had started to make his way toward the strange proprietor of the shop when, again, he noticed the mirror emit the dim, luminescent glow he had seen earlier. It caught his attention from the corner of his eye, but this time the light seemed to linger a moment, then two, longer than before. He stopped to study it, but seeing the young woman watching it too, he didn’t stare any longer, not wanting her to think his focus was on her.

Although his curiosity was piqued, Brayden turned back to Imp. He saw the man still trying to usher out the teens, and when the owner of the shop opened the door to shoo them out, Brayden heard the sound of dogs barking and immediately knew it was his two best friends, Scooby and Doo, making the noise, begging for his return. Giving up his turn to speak to the impish man, Brayden headed outside and walked over to his SUV.

“Scooby, Doo, quiet, boys,” he pleaded, but the two dogs seemed anxious and relentless, and when he opened the door to calm them down, the two black Labs scampered out of the car and waited eagerly at his feet. Tongues lolling from their mouths, Brayden scratched each of the dogs at the base of their ears and then leaned into the car and grabbed each of their leads.

It was a quick stroll down the road as the veterinarian let the dogs sniff at each lamp post and raise their back legs at fences. With their red leashes hanging loosely between his fist and their collars, Brayden let the dogs stretch their legs before they had to head back to the car. Reaching the intersection one block down, Brayden gave a gentle tug on each lead and quietly muttered, “Stop,” then, “Turn.”

Well-behaved and quick, the dogs turned and headed back. As they approached Intriguingly’s Emporium, Scooby pulled toward the shop and Doo toward the car. Still interested in speaking to the owner and learning more about the skeletal remains in the shop, Brayden followed his dog and pulled the other with them.

Looking at the shop windows and the entrance to the store, there were no bylaw regulations posted, no fines threatened, or warnings against dogs. So, opening the door, Brayden walked inside and called out, “Do you mind if I bring my dogs inside?”

Not hearing yes and definitely not hearing no, Brayden stepped inside the shop and looked for the strange man. In his garish outfit, Imp was easy to spot, but now he had retreated to the back of the emporium and was chatting with the girl by the mirror. After turning back to look at the front window display, Brayden spotted the skeletal creature that caught his attention, the one that had lured him into the store.

Looking back toward Imp, who was clearly busy with the girl, the doctor breathed in deeply, then sighed. Stepping into the window display, Brayden reached out to pull at the display when he felt a sudden tug at his arms.

Scooby was already growling and pulling away. Doo was whimpering more quietly but tugging just as hard. As if they sensed some danger, some power, or the need to protect, both dogs pulled hard together, and the young doctor was tossed off his feet. Tripping over a box, then landing on his face, Brayden lost his grip on the leashes, and the dogs were now free in the store.

Always the protector and braver of the two, Scooby stayed by his side, but Doo had run off into the store. Worried about his one dog running free, Brayden grabbed the leash of his protector, then brushed off his hands and rose to his feet.

“Doo,” he called out in his loudest whisper. “Come here, boy.”

When the younger dog stayed hidden somewhere else in the store, Brayden began his search, which was over in a second or two.

Lying only ten, maybe fifteen paces away, his smaller black Lab had taken refuge at the feet of another girl in the shop, this one with black hair, mid-twenties or so, a large cross on her chest.