The Looking Glass Book Store

[Shadeaux D Gloom]

ZOOOOM!!!

The sound of Wvernia's sonic snore sent Shad rocketing up to the top of a bookcase and peering carefully over the top. He glanced around, trembling, until he saw the sleeping form of the dragon lady in the chair near where he had been standing.

He slowly climbed back down and peered around the edge of one of the many (!!) bookcases and noticed that when she rolled over, her blanket came undone. Hm, we couldn't have that, could we?

Shad crypt carefully over toward the chair from behind and leaned over and picked up the blanket and gently folded it back over her -- when the sleeping Wvyvernia snatched hold of his arm and clasped it against her with a smile.

"Want to thank everyone for this Ghoulitzer..." She murmured and Shad started to panic, looking around wildly and tugging hard to free his arm but was unable!

This dragon chick had quite the grip on her!  

[Draconia St George]

*Szzzzzzzzzzznnnnkkkkk*

Wyvernia turned over in her sleep, dragging Shad almost underneath her.

"Mmmmmhmmm, story at 11....." She muttered as Shad's head ended up underneath hers as a rather lumpy pillow. "Oh, Bruise Springscream....tell me about your next albu-huh?!"

Suddenly, Wyvernia's eyes snapped open, staring Shad right in his red and black peepers.

"What th-" Wyvernia jumped up, dragging Shad and the entangled blanket with her. "THIEF! SHADOW THIEF! SOUND THE ALARM! GET MY PRODUCER ON THE PHONE! IF ANY OTHER REPORTERS ARE LISTENING, I CALL DIBS ON HIS FIRST JAIL INTERVIEW!"  

[Shadeaux D Gloom]

And while Wyvernia shouts out across the Looking Glass, Shad is practically shrieking as he struggles in the folds of the blanket that is knotting itself around both Wyvernia and himself!

"I'VE BEEN FRAMED! I WANT MY JOURNAL! I WANT MY DAD! I WANT A LAWYER! I WANT A CHEESE SANDWICH!"

And the more the two wildly struggle against each other, the more they become entangled in the blanket WITH each other -- until they end up back to back and Shad dashes toward the nearest shadowy closet -- with Wyvernia strapped to his back!  

[Draconia St George]

"Kidnapped by shadow thieves! What a story! This reminds me of the expedition in the Scarehara Desert where I interviewed Waili Baba-Draconia!"

Awakened by the noise, Draconia looked downstairs at Wyvernia being dragged towards the storage closet. Draconia gasped.

"Shadeaux! What are you doing with my sister?!" Draconia dashed down the stairs, horrified at what seemed to be happening before her. "Stop kidnapping her! Right now!"

Panicked, Draconia picked up the nearest book and hefted it at Shadeaux's head.

"Kidnapping a monster without their permission is so...so rude!"  

[Shadeaux D Gloom]

THUNK!

There are reasons why Manny always picks Draconia for the dodgeskull games -- the ghoul has a great throwing arm and even better aim!

The book had a very unceremonious greeting with the side of Shad's head (missing Wyvernia just for the record), and sent him and Wyvernia tumbling to the floor and rolling away in separate tailspins, the blanket going along with Draconia's sister.

"I wasn't kidnapping anyone! She was kidnapping me! I'm innocent! I was framed! I was..."

He looks at the book thrown at him.

"Oh cool! My journal!"  

[Draconia St George]

With the two of them separated, Draconia finished running down the stairs to check on her sister. For her part, Wyvernia was just disappointed that yet again, it didn't seem like there was any sort of interesting story happening at the Looking Glass.

With her sister's safety ensured, a very angry Draconia turned to Shadeaux.

"You have TEN WORDS to explain yourself before I call the boolice!"  

[Shadeaux D Gloom]

"Oh gee, only ten? Hm."

Shad propped his chin on his hand and gave it some thought for a moment and then he turned back to look at her and asked,

"Now does that mean it has to be ten words exactly or can I do one or two lessss...."

He gulped as he saw the expression on Draconia's face and cleared his throat.

"I lost my poetry journal here. I just wanted it back."

He cringed.

"Bummer! That was more than ten! wait, wait! Let me try again..."  

[Draconia St George]

Draconia raised an eyebrow.

"Your journal? Is that what this is all about?" Draconia looked at the aforementioned diary on the ground. "Why didn't you call and let us know it was here? Or text? Or stop in during normal business hours?!"

"Oh, Draconia." Wyvernia, now back on her feet and untangled from the blanket clamped her sister on the shoulders. "That's how Sackmen work. All skulky in the shadows. It's a point of pride for them." Wyvernia picked up the journal and handed it to Shadeaux.

"Here you go. You need to work on your lurk, kiddo." Wyvernia yawned and stretched. "Truth be told, I need about twenty more winks before I can start up my day again. Don't you agree, Draconia?"

"But...but he-" Wyvernia shushed her sister. "All right. We'll head off to bed. But all of this mess had better not be here in the morning!" Draconia gave Shadeaux a warning look as the sisters headed up to bed, leaving him alone in the store.  

[Shadeaux D Gloom]

Shad watched as the two dragon ghouls, well one ghoul and one babe, went upstairs to go to bed. He seemed frozen and only when he heard the closing of two bedroom doors did he exhale sharply.

"Whew! That could have gone worse!"

The older one knew about Sackmen, and basically saved his skin from the younger one, and the boolicemen. Oh his dad wouldn't have been happy had he been arrested.

Shad then glanced around at the mess made. Boo! Did he do all this?

He sighed and set his diary down and calmly grabbed a frilly apron that read 'Bless This Mess' and slipped it on over his head. He tied it behind his waist and grabbed a broom and got set to work...  

[Lin McGearloch]

Lin was standing at the front door to the Looking Glass with a frown on his face. He reached up to grasp the door handle and gave it a jiggle, but it was locked. He leaned over to the side and looked at the hours, then at his wind up watch.

Hmm, three minutes past opening time?

He looked back behind him and shrugged and then climbed up on the cobblestones at the base of the wall and reached up to press the doorbell.

*Ding!* *Dong!*

He hopped back down and extended his small fist to knock on the door.

ratatatatatatatatatatata!  

[Draconia St George]

Suddenly, the door flung open, leaving Lin knocking on air. Then he was knocked - right onto the ground by Wyvernia St. George stomping out, arguing on her iCoffin with her producer.

"It's been eight and a half hours! Why haven't you gotten me a replacement for Catty Noir yet?!" Wyvernia flipped the 'closed' sign to open, tossed the daily paper inside at Draconia and sipped her morning coffee almost simultaneously.

"Justin Biter? Hel-LO, two years ago called! They want their teen idol back! NOBODY wants to hear from Justin Biter anymore! You might as well try to make me interview the Jaundice Brothers! Get me One Dissection! Get me Kitty Purry! Get me SOMEmonster who's been relevant in the last month!"

Wyvernia's ranting faded into the distance as she took a few more steps and then launched herself into the air to fly off to the new studio where her talk show would be taking place. Draconia peeked her head outside the door, looking at Lin, laying in the bushes next to the entryway.

"Oh! 'Ello! Shoppe's open now. Come on in!"

She paused.

"Please wipe your feet first."  

[Lin McGearloch]

Lin's legs kicked and struggled as he attempted to free himself from the bushes that were twice the size that he was. He finally opted to just roll across the top of the bushes until he could dangle over the side and drop down.

He looked up into the air at the retreating form of Wyvernia and scowled before he looked back to Draconia.

"I was thinking today mighta been a holiday for dragons."

He dusted his hands off, wiping them free of grass stains onto his pants -- which now had grass stains, and then hurried up the steps and almost made it inside before a haggard noise behind him stopped him short. He dutifully wiped his feet on the welcome mat and then stepped aside and another form passed him.

A small, elderly gremlin granny on an automatic cart that seemed to be barely holding itself together as it 'coughed and wheezed and popped up and down.

"Yeowtch!"

Lin hopped through the doorway, holding his foot. He bit down on his bottom lip and nodded from Draconia to the old gremlin who was looking around the store with one wide eye.

"Me grimma."  

[Draconia St George]

Draconia smiled at Lin and his Grimma as her rascal sloooooowly coughed it's way into the store.

"Welcome to the Looking Glass! Feel free to look around. If you're looking for the Monster High book list, it's up by the register. We have all of the textbooks in stock eighteen rows to your left."

Draconia watched as the reading lamps near the comic books gave up the ghost and popped as Grimma McGearloch drove by. She bit her lower lip but kept her nice smile.

"Er. We also have free cri-fi, usually...."  

[Lin McGearloch]

Lin nodded and hurried over toward where the current book lists for Monster High was as Draconia so helpfully pointed out. He reached up and pulled one of the paper lists off the counter and had a look at it when his Grimma called over to him in gremlin language.

Lin cringed...

"Grimma, I don't wanna ask her that!"

That was the wrong thing to say as his Grimma's haggard voice was shrill and Lin winced and then reluctantly turned to Draconia and sighed.

"Ye got any goremance novels?"

Grimma said something else and Lin rolled his eyes.

"With Fangio on the cover?"  

[Draconia St George]

"Of course!" Draconia responded as Grimma McGearloch's rascal scooter backfired a huge belch of black smoke into the Sci-fi section. "Forty-fifth aisle on the right. You can't miss the Fangio display!"

Draconia pointed the way helpfully with a claw.