I tilted my head, eying the chain of tiny shops decorated in basic orange and black lights. A few stores had carved pumpkins with cat patterns and witches sitting on their steps. All of them tame compared to the festivity Macabre showed. It probably stood out like a sore thumb to others, but I found it exciting.

The carefully placed cotton webbing, with plastic, black spiders scattered, clung to the corner of the display window. Slightly catty-cornered to that was a dry ice graveyard, complete with skeletons and aged RIP gravestones that looked too real. In the corner, opposite the spider webbing, was an adult-sized black coffin, the surface of it decorated with a silver pinstriped cross. 'All out' were two words I knew best when it came to Halloween, but this—this was spectacular.

"Wow," I said in awe, making an exaggerated leap over the sidewalk curb to get a closer look through the window. "How is this place empty? There are no people here. Where's the Halloween spirit?"

"Bee, it's seven in the morning. Most sane people are sleeping. They're probably not even open yet." She took a step to the store in stride and waltzed up to the window, cupping her hand over her forehead as she peered in. "Besides, this is Nah'lins," she said, trying to mimic the accent. "People are highly superstitious of this stuff. This isn't just a Halloween shop, ya know? It's like an occult store."

"'Tis the season. If I didn't have to get a second job, I'd be here anyway. Plus, not everyone is superstitious here."

Maggie shrugged and reached for my arm. She tucked her own in mine, locking our elbows together, before tugging me towards the door. "We didn't grow up here. We don't know that. It's a different area. People believe different things here. Oh! Like our crazy neighbor who never comes out during the day. Total vampire, swear to God!" She patted her rounding belly. "They eat differently too. Amazing food, but I've gained five pounds since we moved here."

"I thought it was just me," I said in relief. "I got on the scale yesterday and almost broke it."

"Don't be overdramatic." She laughed and reached up with her free arm to flick the tip of my nose. "You should've put your nose ring in. This is probably the only place people will find it acceptable."

"I wonder if they'd let me wear it while I worked."

"I bet it's mandatory. I'll probably have to get some piercings if I get hired."

I pulled away from Maggie. "Wow, are you stereotyping me and this store?"

She shrugged. "Maybe."

"It'd do you good to get some piercings. Wanna get some tattoos too?"

"Nope! Oh look," she tapped the glass door, "they don't open until nine! I told you."

"You aren't trying to change the subject, are you?"

"You have beautiful skin, Bee. Why mar it with tattoos?"

"I don't think of it as 'marring'. Tattoos are gorgeous. I want my body to be somebody's canvas." I nudged her with my shoulder to push her towards the brick wall. I glanced at my silver watch as we huddled next to the door. Forty-five minutes until the store opens.

Maybe we should get some breakfast first. I thought as I looked around for a place to eat.

Maggie bit her lip. "Somebody's canvas? That sounded incredibly dirty."

I snorted. "How is it in Guttersville, where your mind lives?"

"Oh whatever, you know it turns you on. What I want to know is, why you haven't gotten one yet?"

Shrugging, I picked a piece of lint off a black square on my plaid checkered shirt. "You know why." Money was always a problem, and I refused to ask Maggie for things that weren't necessary.

Maggie sighed. "You could've asked me. I would've paid for it a long time ago."

"Not the kind I want. I don't want my first one to be small, and large ones are expensive."

"Well, I just got approved for a new Discover card."

I rolled my eyes. "Maggie, no more credit cards!"

"Ladies, won't you come in?"

Maggie yelped and clutched my arm between her breasts. "Gees, my arm's gettin' more boob action today than it ever has before," I mumbled as I glanced up, trying to pull my quickly-losing-feeling arm from her.

"We thought you were clo-oosed," I said. All I could do was blink at the man as my heart ripped through my chest. His midnight black hair ruffled into his electric cerulean eyes from the gentle breeze, and the smirk on his face, as he stared at me, spoke volumes. My face burned, but I couldn't stop staring. Any moment I was sure I'd be able to feel the wet, warm drool running down the side of my mouth.

He was lean but muscular. Built like a soccer player, his tanned biceps popped, and his abs rippled beneath his tight shirt. There was a tribal tattoo curling at the base of his neck and sleeving his upper left arm. I licked my lips and swallowed, suddenly in the mood to body explore and see how much of that black tattoo covered him.

"I hate to see beautiful women in the cold. I'll let you come in early." His voice was deep, with a sexy New Orleans grit. It was between a constant purr and a growl rumbling at the base of his larynx.

I lifted my hand and fanned my face.

"Hello!" Maggie said, pulling away from me. "Are you hiring?"

He tore his gaze from me and frowned at Maggie like he hadn't noticed her until she'd spoken. "No, but I can make an exception. Halloween is coming up. It's our busiest time of the year."

"Her too," she added, gesturing at me with her thumb.

His charcoal eyebrow rose and he gave me a delicious grin that made my stomach flip. "If you'd both like to come in, I can interview you now."

"Fabulous!" Maggie said and pushed me forward.

I followed the man, shaking myself out of my stupor, and was greeted by a large spider dangling in my face. I let out a high-pitched squeal and darted to the side, accidentally knocking into the man with the f*ck-me blue eyes.

"What's wrong?" Maggie asked, oblivious to the creature dangling in front of her.

"There's a spider by your shoulder!" I cried out and forcibly extracted my hands off of the man's steel-like muscles.

Maggie turned and smiled at the spider. "Hello."

I scoffed and ran a hand through my windblown hair. "Are you nuts? It's not Artie!"

Maggie had a pet tarantula named Artemis at the apartment. She said if I get Pathces, 'the rodent' as she liked to call him, then she gets Artemis. I had an understanding with Artie. I would buy her food, and she would stay in her cage, out of my sight.

Maggie gave me a dull stare. "We've gone over this, Bee. Spiders are the good guys. They get rid of pests like flies. I mean who wants to be barfed on by those dirty suckers?"

Maggie reached a hand out to pet it.

"Don't!" I darted forward and yanked her hand away.

Maggie gave an amused chuckle and hugged me to her side. "It's fake, Bee."

"What?" I scowled at the small hairy body with beady eyes and held in a shiver, watching Maggie stare at it intently.

"How could you not tell?"

"It's dark!" I said, reaching forward to poke it. Its legs wiggled, surprising me further. "Eh!" I jumped away and nodded when the beady eyes glowed red. "I'm gonna buy it."

Maggie folded her arms across her chest. "You hate spiders." I did, and Maggie loved them. She thought they were some of the better pets because they aren't as dirty as cats or dogs.

I shrugged. "It'll scare the trick-or-treaters, and Patches too. Artemis can 'kill' it afterward."

Her eyebrows rose, and her fingers tapped together. Maggie nodded in agreement and bent over to grab one of the three boxes next to the door. She then turned towards the miniature silver coffin key chains and unhooked two. She let the tips of her fingers play over the shiny rings of the witch broom key chains but changed her mind. "These too." Maggie turned to the man eyeing us. "Sorry, we know you aren't technically open, but can we buy these?"

"Yes," he said. He stroked his stubble-free jaw and tilted his head. The corner of his mouth lifted. "Is Artemis your spider?"

Maggie nodded. "She's an Avicularia versicolor."

I turned away from his hypnotic voice and Maggie's prattling on about how beautiful Artie was. I glanced at the different sections of the store, trying to figure out where I wanted to go first. I was here to apply for the job but I needed to research it too.

"Can't buy anything else," I mumbled to myself.

I noticed that each area was designated for certain supernatural creatures. "Vampires, shifters, were-creatures, fairies, and witches," I counted off my fingers.

I expected costumes and plastic cauldrons, which were there, but towards the middle of each aisle, serious items were displayed. There were cast iron cauldrons and bottles of weird ingredients in the witches' aisle, which was the closest one to the front of the store. There were old books of the dark arts for practitioners, how-to manuals for what to do if bitten by a werewolf or if exposed to witch blood, and information on individual supernatural creatures. It was clear that Macabre was not just a Halloween boutique as Maggie had mentioned earlier, which meant that this wasn't a seasonal store. That was good. Another steady job meant a steady income.

Leaning forward, I sniffed the string of garlic in front of my face and quickly pulled away. The fact that it was real gave me hope that the silver-tipped press-on nails might actually be tipped with real silver too. Actually, this entire place seemed more real than it probably should've been.

I also hadn't expected such a tiny-looking store on the outside to be so wide on the inside. The expert layout made it appear gigantic, but the deep bloody red walls helped made it larger. I'd expected black. Black carpet, black walls, but instead the walls were a shade darker than brick red and the carpet a shade lighter than crimson. The only black was the curving sketches of words in a different language I'd never seen. The words covered at least two inches on all four walls, stopping just before the curved writing touched the ceiling. I tapped my chin as I walked back to Maggie and the man, who was still chatting.

"Can I ask you a question?" Maggie asked.

Please, not about spiders...

"Of course, Maggie, ask as many as you'd like."

"What's the difference between shifters and were-creatures?" She pointed to the aisle with the sign.

I scowled at Maggie. Any horror movie buff should know and I was ashamed that Maggie didn't. We've had a ritual horror movie fest at least twice a month since we were ten and in October it was almost every day if work allowed it.

"Shifters are born; Weres are made, usually by a bite or a deep scratch, and lack any type of control. Terrible creatures Weres, and Werewolves are the worst. Those mangy mutts usually keep away from Macabre, but occasionally you'll have to deal with them, and I'm afraid a full moon is coming."

Maggie gave a nervous laugh and eyed me from her peripheral vision. Her look was clear and along the same lines of what I was thinking. This guy is a loon. Sexy, but crazy.

I felt a twinge as I glanced between him and Maggie. They were both beautiful and weird, and he liked spiders. They already had so much in common. He'd never notice me. I bit my lip at the thought, trying not to let it get to me too much. Story of my life—a guy sees me, and he's interested; a guy sees Maggie after me, and he's blown away. I'm left to my own devices.

I didn't have time for a boyfriend anyway.