The human definition of a vampire narrowed his eyes at Jinn like he had not expected such a calm reaction or those words from him.
But he only paused for a second before snorting in disdain, "There is nothing you cannot find in my shop unless you are looking for human sperm. I won’t sell you anything if you are with one of the seven churches or all of them. I don’t offer my services to those disgusting leeches."
’Sperm? So you got female—wait, never mind.’ Despite being caught off-guard, Jinn finds himself calming down internally as well. He cautiously walked to the desk a few steps away from him while keeping an eye on the scary-looking man from under the hood and placed a note on the table.
The shop owner had yet to move until now. The shop owner only walked out from the shadows after seeing Jinn pull something out. He moved swiftly, so fast that Jinn had only blinked twice before the man was standing right beside him.
"Hmm..." Picking up the paper, he pulled out a lorgnette with his gloved hands and used it to read the contents of the paper. Once done, he started eying Jinn from head to toe, his expression as blank as his eyes.
Even though it was only for a brief moment, Jinn almost yelped in fear at how his empty eyes made him feel. It was like a death was looking right at him, and don’t ask how he knew; he just did.
"Here at Ra-ul’s we understand your quirks and kinks and also respect your privacy, so I won’t be asking you what you need such precious ingredients for, but I must say..." The man walked around the table like he was floating with his feet hidden under his long cloak, like a ghost. Another thing about the man that unsettled Jinn’s spine. "You are in need of some quiet special ingredients here."
’Can I back out now and find another place?’ forcing the tears of regret down his soul, he steeled his nerves to ask, "Do you have all of them?"
"Of course!" The coldness in the shopkeeper’s voice sharpened, which kept Jinn on the edge. It seems the man did not like Jinn questioning his abilities. With a light snort, he flipped his long cape and moved through the two endless rows of cabinets behind the counter. Facing each other, these cabinets were oddly close to apothecary chests, but the drawers varied in size, and the cabinets almost reached the ceilings.
Jinn was not exaggerating when he thought they were endless because the cabinets were just so big that they disappeared deep into the darkness, and the blue-eyed boy could not see their or the shop’s end.
Although Jinn was skeptical when the man said he had everything, he was proved wrong when the man placed everything he had on the list, the last of his remaining ingredients, on the table before him.
’What is this shop, really?’ instead of feeling happy that his search had ended, Jinn felt wary and more suspicious of the owner of the shop.
He had never heard of this place before, even when this place was nothing short of a treasure trove.
Jinn almost felt an urge to ask if there was some of the good old blood of any of the dead or alive gods he could buy, but he instantly burned away that thought. ’There is no way I am going to ask for something like that in such a shady place. Not to mention this shopkeeper seemed to be a nonbeliever. How could someone like him even have such a sacred item?’
While Jinn was lost in his useless thought, the ghost shopkeeper Raul appeared before him once more, this time with a neatly folded bag. He threw the bag on the desk without care and said, "Drop 30 Tula for the stuff and leave."
Jinn did not understand why the man was so edgy, but he did not care. Right now he had a problem.
"I only have 23 something..." He spoke hesitantly, forcing himself to look straight into the lifeless eyes of the ghost, who did not seem amused at all.
With a grunt, the pale-skinned man spoke, "leave it all and just go away. Next time you come, I will charge you double."
’Yay, I won’t ever come here knowingly.’ Jinn patted his back inwardly for gaining one over the walking prop of a horror movie. ’I even saved a few coins.’
"And I am sure you will come sooner than you expect." The surety with which the man said those words chilled Jinn. He almost ran away without even taking the things he came for.
’Did he read my mind or something?’ He gulped nervously, hiding the shaking hand under his robe. Taking out a few pouches, Jinn placed them on the counter.
The shopkeeper removed the white glove with unusually large fingers from his right hand, revealing five-inch-long pointy nails painted black.
Jinn’s polite smile faltered, his lips quivering as he watched the man use his fingernail to widen the opening of each pouch. He was doing all of this while maintaining eye contact with Jinn. "Some of them are not even in Kal."
Jinn had no reply; he was still staring at the long, pale fingers brushing against the metal, making terrible noises. ’Did I unknowingly enter the den of a vampire or something? I am buying a revolver the first chance I get; fuck accidental firing.’
"I am definitely going to charge you double the next time." Seeing Jinn had nothing to say, he repeated himself before storing the money somewhere behind the counter and putting the glove back on.
Without any objection, Jinn took the folded paper bag from the table, and after a quick look inside, he closed it back up. He placed the bag inside the robe before raising his head to thank the shopkeeper.
Yet, shockingly, the man was no longer there.
Jinn did not even look around and quickly turned before slipping toward the exit as calmly as he could.
’Nah, I am never coming back here, ever.’
The old door closed behind him with the creepy noise. Once the light was devoured by the darkness inside the shopkeeper, Ra-ul walked out from behind one of the shelves. His cold, piercing eyes flickered, almost blending into the emptiness around him.
"I wonder what fate has in store for this one..." His gaze, a swirling mass of darkness, bored holes into the space, "but why did I feel a familiar breath from this boy? Where have I smelled this scent before..." ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝⟡𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕥⟡𝕟𝕖𝕥
He slowly took out one of the bags of money he took from Jinn and pulled out a coin. He felt the air against his finger under the glove before moving it close to his nose. Taking a sniff of it, he gasped in almost delight, "Ah, it’s the breath of the end..."
Outside the store, Jinn was taking a deep breath when a voice sounded in his ears, almost making him jump.
"How was it? Did you get anything?"
’Fucking Hell of all Vampires and Demons.’ Realizing who or what it was, Jinn calmed down a little, but the embarrassment from his previous episode started to settle in.
With a straight cold face, he looked ahead and started walking. Only after he was about to reach the end of the lane did he ask in a cold voice, "Anyone with any malicious intentions?"
Jinn acted as if he was not acting like a rat who had been licked by a cat just moments before, and no one could even guess seeing his facial expressions.
"Surprisingly, no one. Staying out to watch others was boring." The voice complained like a whining child while Jinn secretly checked whether he had wet his pants or not. "No one else would ever dare treat my kind like a doorman."
"Yeah, yeah... well, you are stuck with me." Jinn replied with a shrug. The sun had already disappeared behind the tall spires, bathing the city in the cold shadow of its brilliance.