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tarily blinded by the abrupt change from bright sunlight to gloom. |
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"Are they open?" Kyna whispered. |
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The shop was a shotgun structure with tall shelves lining the walls on both sides of a central aisle and a rectangular glass display case and cash register at the rear. The walls behind the display cases were hung with a regular "Night Gallery" of the most disturbing oil paintings and watercolors Cyrus had ever seen. As he preceded Kyna down the aisle toward the cash register, he stared at the macabre collection. |
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The first oil depicted a giant tree ringed by a group of white-clad natives kneeling in a circle of candlelight. Across from that painting was a reproduction of Bosch's Adoration of the Magi, and next to that was a particularly chilling portrait Cyrus recognized as Prince Vlad of Transylvania, a man famous for his strange ideas on how to make shish kebabs. Cyrus paused in front of a frame that contained nothing but molds of cloven hoofprints. |
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"I've been to some really nice places, Russ," Kyna whispered out of the side of her mouth. "But this isn't one of them." |
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He glanced through the glass to his left and saw a series of braided necklaces made from twigs, hemp and God only knew what else. The other case contained jars of powders, dried leaves and viscous-looking liquids. Down a little farther was a display of black statuettesgrotesque little things that looked like they had been carved by the insane and intended for the demented. There were squat dwarfs with enlarged penises and three bulging eyes, rail-thin golliwogs with flat heads and fangs and hunchbacks with huge arms and tiny shriveled legs. |
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Kyna stuck close to Cyrus all the way to the cash register, where he looked around for a hand bell. On the top shelf behind the register, a row of horned gargoyles looked down at them through slitted eyes. |
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"Must be anti-theft devices," Cyrus mumbled, nodding toward the gargoyles. |
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