The moment Haytham stepped into the shop he was hit by a mysteriously rejuvenating fragrance. He instantly felt fresh and looked around, searching for the source of the fragrance and saw that the smell was coming from an incense burner made of jade. However when Haytham took a closer look he noticed that there was no incense in the incense burner and the fragrant smoke was forming in thin air out of nothing inside the incense burner.
Haytham looked at Ellie for an explanation.
"The incense burner is a very special gift to one of your ancestors from the ancient demon hunter tribe. It is extremely potent in warding off any evil entity and additionally it also has rejuvenating effects on people inside the shop." explained Ellie with a smile.
Haytham looked around the shop. There was normal stuff such as wooden cabinets, desks, books, curtains, charms, etc. Then there were the supernatural items such as a sword with a golden handle emitting a faint glow, jars filled with gross organs of supernatural creatures, wooden boxes with various complicated runes on them, etc.
The shop had two doors at its entrance, right beside each other. The door on the right was a normal wooden door while the one on the left was the same wooden door, the only exception being the large purple circle rune drawn on its centre.
Noticing his curious gaze Ellie quickly answered, "The door through which we came in is connected to the human world while the runic door is connected to the underworld. The runic door is currently our only remaining portal to the underworld and it is mostly used by our customers from the underworld. However, do not worry, as without the master's permission nobody can enter the shop."
'Now that I think about it, I was always so oblivious to the state of my family and its history. To hear about the things and to actually see them with my own eyes is completely different.' Haytham thought. He was so engrossed in the fascinating stories of his family that he had forgotten about his earlier fear.
"Majority of the things you see here are gifts, rewards, favours, loans and payments bestowed upon us by our customers throughout the centuries. We don't deal in any singular currency but rather we provide our services in exchange for valuable items." said Robert.
His voice and words dragged Haytham out of his thoughts and back into reality.
"Enough fooling around. Ellie give him his mask." commanded Robert "Haytham prepare yourself, our first customer of the day is almost here."
Ellie came back with a purple domino mask which was decorated with purple designs and at the centre of its forehead was the Walker family insignia.
"Why do we need to wear a mask, grandfather?" Haytham asked.
"We only reveal our faces to long time customers or to those who we trust. The upcoming customer is a first timer, thus we need to wear the masks because we don't know if he can be trusted yet." Robert put on his black and white domino mask while saying.
Haytham followed his grandfather's actions and put on his mask.
After a couple of minutes, the sound of a small bell rang out in the room. Ellie who was standing near the entrance moved to open the normal door. Seeing this, Haytham gulped with nervousness as this was his first ever interaction with a customer. His eyes fell on a man in his mid forties. He wore an old worn out suit. His hair was disheveled and his face was completely void of any energy. But the most eye catching thing about the man was the dark circle around his eyes giving him the image of a panda.
However the moment he stepped into the shop his face lit up with energy and he was visibly rejuvenated. The man himself was surprised by this sudden change. He looked around as if finally realising where he was and the bizarre situation he was in. He was standing in a very old shop with bizarre items on display. Beside him was standing a pale yet very beautiful woman in a maid's uniform. He could smell her sweet perfume. While in front of him were two men standing in suits and with masks on. One being a very old man while the other being young. If he didn't knew any better then he would've thought that he was in a sex dungeon.
"Welcome dear sir, to our esteemed nightmare riddance shop." said Ellie politely.
The man who seemed to be in a trance was woken up by the sweet voice. He tried to respond but the words couldn't come out of his mouth. After a few minutes he managed to compose himself and say,
"I don't know h-how I got here, I- Who are you people?"
"Before you ask others it is the basic courtesy to introduce yourselves first." said Robert in a heavy tone *Sigh* "My name is Robert Walker III and I am the proprietor of this shop. Now, may I know your name."
"O-oh, I apologise. My name is Sebastian Miller and I am very confused." said the man named Sebastian.
"Well Mister Sebastian, your confusion is valid and clearing it is my responsibility. Ask away." said Robert.
"Oh, my first question is where am I? and why don't I remember coming here?" asked Sebastian meekly.
"Well as stated earlier by my dear assistant you are currently in the nightmare riddance shop. As for why you don't remember coming here, it is because you came here subconsciously. That is right, you were brought here by your own subconscious." explained Robert in a graceful manner.
"My subconscious? But how is that possible?" asked a confused Sebastian.
"Well, tell me, have you been plagued by some type of unusual problems lately?" asked Robert with a hand on his chin.
"Y-Yes, how did you know? I have been suffering from sleep deprivation due to nightmares every night!!" said Sebastian with a pitiful face.
"Well you have come to the right place. We will cure you of this disease." said Robert.