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They stood outside an old building at the deep end of the alley, debating whether to go in. The windows were boarded up, and they couldn't tell what was inside. No sign hung above the door to let the unsuspecting customers know what kind of shop it was, which made it practically impossible to determine if it was even a shop or something else. People walked by it without sparing a glance—it might very well be invisible for all the attention it got.
"I think this must be the place Nina told us about," Noreen said. Beads of sweat rolled down her forehead, but she didn't bother wiping them.
It was hotter than a normal April day should be. Though there might no longer be normal with all the climate changes. The unpredictable weather was the only thing Sameer didn’t miss about the Aboveworld.
"I don't know." He stood with his arms crossed over his chest, thinking and pretending he had all the time in the world. "This place is weird, and the rumor has it—"
She held up her hand and didn't let him finish. "There's no reason to put credence to rumors. Since when have you started listening to them? Nina said to find the weirdest-looking place in the market, and that's it." Pointing to the unmarked entrance, she raised her brows as if challenging him to refute her claim.
He couldn't, of course, because the building they were standing in front of was indeed the weirdest place he had ever come across. It gave him strange vibes of being there and not there at the same time. He didn't sense any presence inside and couldn't tell if it was real or a figment of his imagination. With a nod, he said, "You might be right, but it's better to make sure before we enter. One never knows what awaits on the other side of a closed door."
"You know very well the shop might not be here tomorrow. We're lucky it's here today. I say, let's not waste time and open the door. We’ll face whatever is on the other side together." She smiled up at him.
Sameer took a deep, cleansing breath and took a step forward. Fear might not be a word in his dictionary, but he was by nature a nervous person who liked to be prepared for the unexpected. Especially since his last venture into an alleyway didn't work out that well for him. Better not to think about the past, he thought ruefully and reached out for the handle. Before he could, the door flew open with a bang, startling them both, and they took an involuntary step back.
When they regained composure and stared through the now open doorway, it was completely dark inside. From their vantage point, they couldn't tell what was there.
"I guess," Noreen said, “we must enter to learn this place’s secrets.”
They stepped in, and the door closed behind them. The shop lit up, and they could finally see it was an antique shop. An array of objects lined the neatly arranged aisles of shelves. Walking down the middle aisle, they stopped by a counter at the end. The bells chimed as the backdoor behind the counter opened, and an old man entered the shop.
"Well, hello there," the man said in a raspy voice. "I wasn't expecting any customers today." He gave them a curious look.
Sameer felt as if the man could read their minds. Considering the nature of the rumors he had heard about the place it might not be that far off the mark. "Nina sent us,” he said, ignoring the unease. “I'm hoping to buy something no one else seems to have. Will you sell?” He was repeating the lined Nina fed them.
"Enchanting," said the man and rubbed his hands in anticipation. "And I’m always willing to sell. What might you be buying, young sir?"
His smile gave Sameer the chills. There was something off about the man. Sameer couldn't tell if he was living or dead, which was saying something, considering his line of work. The man's hair was completely gray, his back hunched, and his face marred with wrinkles. But it was his aura that mystified Sameer.
"As long as you pay the price, you can buy anything here, even love," he continued without waiting for Sameer's response. "And what about you, beautiful girl?" He looked toward Noreen, who was admiring a full-length mirror on display.
Sameer noticed the mirror didn't reflect the room. It showed Noreen standing in a garden. He wondered what kind of visual trick it was or if it was magic.
"Oh, please. Not so close, dear girl," the man said, waving his hands, urging her to move aside. "You don't want to stand so close to that mirror. Don't you know mirrors have powers to capture your soul or transport you to the worlds unknown?"
She walked away from it and came to stand beside Sameer. "I'm accompanying my friend. I don't need to buy anything. He, however," she whispered, tilting her head towards Sameer, "needs to buy some information. Special kind of information that's not available anywhere else."
The shopkeeper burst into laughter. "No need to whisper, my girl. Nothing here has ears except me. And information isn't hard to get, but of course, it depends on what kind we are talking about."
Instead of Noreen, Sameer answered the question. "I'm looking for my friend. He went missing a few months ago, and no one knows where he is. I must find him as soon as possible." He hoped he wasn't too late and Rayan was still alive somewhere. Although, if his friend was dead, Sameer would have heard it by now. Dead were easier to find than the living.
"Oh, a missing person's case."
The man deflated a little, making Sameer wonder what he thought they would buy. Nina told them the shopkeeper was a trustworthy fellow and would never give away his customer's identities to anyone and that was the only reason they were there. Otherwise, Sameer would never endanger their quest by involving an outsider.
Noreen knew about Rayan because she was his partner, and they did everything together, from working to fighting. Nina knew because before Rayan even went missing she had been looking for him to take her place in the Underworld. She no longer needed to find him since she found Sameer instead, but that's a story for another day. And Sameer was still looking for his friend, who was still missing.
"Okay, if you give me the information about yourself and your friend, I’ll get right to it." The shopkeeper took out a ledger and a pen from one of the drawers and looked at Sameer expectantly.
"My name is Sameer, and my friend's name is Rayan..." Sameer rattled off all the required information, including where they were born, where they lived, and the date when Rayan went missing. The shopkeeper wrote in respective columns, asked a few questions here or there, and noted down everything as required.
"Is that all?" Noreen asked.
The disappointment in her voice seemed to amuse the shopkeeper. He gave her an indulgent smile and said, "Were you expecting me to take out my wand? Let's wait and see what happens." He stared at the ledger’s last column as if the words would start flying any minute. But it remained blank.
Sameer and Noreen kept staring at the page and waited for something to happen. The minutes ticked by, and nothing did.
Becoming impatient, Sameer asked, "How exactly are you supposed to find him?"
The man gave him an incurious glance and turned his attention back to the paper. "Your friend's current location should have appeared on this page, here." He pointed to the dotted line. "I don't understand why it’s still blank."
"Are you sure that's how it works?" Noreen asked him, doubt clear in her tone.
"Yes, I'm quite sure," he said stiffly. "Maybe your friend is dead?"
"No, I know he is alive," Sameer said quickly and firmly. That was one possibility he could confirm, at least.
"I'm afraid then I don't have an answer for you." He looked baffled by the turn of events. "To be honest, even if Rayan was dead, we should have received the location of his body. I don't know what to tell you. This has never happened before."
"I told you this was a waste of time," Sameer said to Noreen and exhaled. They had met yet another dead end. Lately, his world seemed to be full of them.
"Excuse me," the shopkeeper cleared his throat. "Nina often sends customers my way, and I assure you, I always deliver."
"Okay, then how come you couldn't help us? Nina told us that the man who owned this place can perform more arduous tasks than finding a missing person." Disappointment made Sameer cranky, and he forgot how to be polite.
"I might be an old man, but you don't understand what you're dealing with here. I take offense at your doubt of my abilities. Have you considered that your friend might not be in this world anymore?"
"I told you he isn’t dead. Trust me on this, I’d know if he was dead."
"Sameer is right, he knows the dead," Noreen said softly.
"Sweet girl," the man smiled a little. "It isn't your knowledge of the Underworld that I'm doubting. But you realize that many other worlds exist in the universe. Your friend could be anywhere, even if he isn't in the Underworld or the Aboveworld."
"No, he is human," Sameer said. "He can't be anywhere but here." Oddly, it was something he hadn’t doubted even after knowing what he knew.
"Well, if he is so human, why are you not at the police station? Why come to me at all?"
"Sameer, he has a point. We came here for a reason. The police failed to find him, and it has already been months. We should consider other possibilities." Noreen, always the voice of reason, reminded him.
"Well, do you still want to find your friend?" the shopkeeper prompted.
"Of course.” Sameer gave the man a look that said, ‘What kind of question is that?’
"Young man, don't trouble yourself. There is nothing we can't accomplish here. So, now that it isn't a simple missing person's case, we should discuss my fee before we proceed."
The gleam in his eyes made Sameer wonder if he deliberately wasted their time to extort a heftier fee from them. But he didn’t care as long as he could find Rayan, no price was too high. "How much?" he said in a serious, brisk manner.
"I must know who you are before deciding what to charge."
"Let us introduce ourselves, then. Sameer is a Grim Reaper. That's how he knows Nina. And I'm a fairy."
"Ah, you two are an odd pair. Who is paying?" He looked between them.
"Since it's my friend, I’d be the one paying your fee," Sameer said before Noreen could volunteer. He didn't want to owe her more than he already did.
"Okay, I say five souls will do," the old man stated his fee.
"Done."
"Follow me." He walked towards the door behind the counter, leading them to a basement.
"Wow, this place is something." Noreen sighed in wonder.
It was different from the exterior of the shop. Here, the magic was on display. Instead of stairs, flying carpets scattered across the room. As soon as the shopkeeper opened the door, they formed temporary stairs, and stepping on them was like stepping on air.
"Not to brag, but this place is one of a kind. You won't find a place like this in any other realm, and the room you are about to enter is the most special."
After coming down the steps, they found themselves in a large circular room. The floor was made of glass. And beneath their feet, they could see the stars glowing in the dim light. Ten doors opened in that room, and each seemed like guarding a secret of its own. They stopped in front of the door nearest to them. The shopkeeper knocked three times, and it opened. They entered a spacious and bright space bare of any furniture.
"This room is a doorway to all the other realms. The windows around us are portals, and from here, we can find anything or anyone that exists in this universe. No matter which world your friend has entered, we'll be able to locate him."
There was a console in the far corner of the room. That's where the shopkeeper entered Rayan's information and waited to see what the screen in front of them would show. Once again, it stayed blank.
Sameer grumbled under his breath while the shopkeeper pressed a few more buttons.
"At least, I now know why I haven't been able to find your friend. I'm afraid he isn't someone you can find using magic. Especially when he doesn't want to be found." That got their attention as they both looked at him, bewildered. He relished the attention, and said, "That's right, Rayan isn't missing. He is hiding, and there is nothing I can do to find him."
Sameer had an uncanny feeling that the man knew more than his words relayed. And from the shopkeeper’s expressions, Sameer also knew he wouldn’t reveal anything else.
"But Nina said you can help," Noreen said in a way of complaining.
Sameer stood silently and observed the old, frail man in front of them. Studying the lines of time on the old man’s face, he had also realized something, but he too wouldn't voice his thoughts lest he complicated things even more.
He watched as the shopkeeper responded to Noreen's complaint by saying, "And have I not? You now know more than you knew before. I say that's plenty helpful."
"How so?"
"Well, I've told you Rayan is hiding on purpose, and he isn't exactly human, or should I say, entirely human."
"Then, what or who is he?" Sameer couldn't help himself but ask.
"He is half-immortal and someone who knows how to use his powers well. That's all I can tell you."
"That’s disappointing. I thought I'd find him for sure this time," Sameer said. He gazed into the space, feeling dejected.
"We're not going to give up that easily. There must be something else we can do." Noreen patted his shoulder gently.
"So, what about my payment?" the shopkeeper interjected.
"The deal was to find Rayan, but you haven't. There will be no payments today."
"Oh, well, it was worth the try. Good luck to you two in your next endeavor. Don't forget to stop by when you need a little magical help."
The two friends retraced their steps and walked out of the shop. When they entered, the sun was shining brightly, and it was mid-afternoon. But it was already dark, and the sky was filled with stars. The time must have moved differently inside the shop. At least, some of the rumors about the place were based on the truth.
Walking toward the main street, Sameer was deep in thought. Thankfully, Noreen didn't try to engage him in conversation. If Rayan wasn't fully human, then what else was he? If he had powers, then why had he never tried to use them to change his life? Why use them now to disappear, and why not tell Sameer before leaving? As he put one step in front of the other, he wondered if he would ever get an answer to any of his questions.
"Where should we go next?" Noreen said, bringing him out of his head.
He looked up, only then realizing that they had stopped walking and now stood by a bus stop in a queue as if humans could even see them. "Why are we at a bus stop?" He looked at Noreen absentmindedly.
"I wondered when you would notice we didn't need to board a bus." She chuckled and shrugged as if amused by his state of mind.
He smiled back and teleported with her hand clenched in his.
