Open for Victims

"Today is the day, sweetheart!" Laura smiles at her daughter.

Danielle returns her mother's smile nervously, her voice tinged with fear and anxiety, "Yes! I'm so excited Mother."

The pair is standing at the center of the Sweet Nightmares Confection Shop, surrounded by heaping racks of fresh pastries and big wicker baskets of colorful candy. Each and every treat looks delicious, with an attention to detail in the icing of the cakes that speaks to their being made from scratch. In fact, the entire shop has a handmade appeal, the shelves and floors expertly crafted from warm-colored woods. The building would appear to hail from a bygone era, if not for the level of perfection on display in its construction and cleanliness, to an unnatural degree.

"I have so been looking forward to this day!" Laura impulsively wraps Danielle in a warm hug.
The teen clings tightly to her mother, staring over Laura's shoulder at the shop's checkout counter. There is a large brick partition wall behind it, obscuring the rest of the shop from view. A blackboard displaying prices for the shop's various treats dominates most of the wall. Doodles of witches and monsters decorate the board, each terrorizing a human victim in cartoonish fashion.

The two separate, Laura fixing Danielle's pointed hat. Danielle just looks like a younger version of her mother, with both women having the exact same green eyes, straight black hair, and pale, flawless complexion. They are both dressed in witch's outfits, in theme with the confection shop, consisting primarily of a midnight-purple dress. While Laura's dress is longer and cut to accentuate her beautiful figure, Danielle's is shorter, showing more of her legs which are covered in orange and white striped stockings. Just as Laura finishes fixing her daughter's hat, the front door to the confection shop swings open, jingling the shiny gold bell hanging above the entrance. 

"Customers!" Laura claps her hands together excitedly and glides to the shop entrance, Danielle trailing slowly behind her. Along with the brisk fall wind, a young couple enters the store, hand-in-hand.

"This place is adorable!" says the woman, her eyes sparkling with interest as she scans the shop. The man seems equally impressed, but not with the shop itself, as his eyes have settled on Laura. The woman turns to Laura, "How long have you been open?"

Laura stares back at the man, not giving the woman her full attention. "We've been open for a while, but we don't stay in one place for long."

At a prod in the ribs from his partner, the man clears his throat and adds to the conversation. "So, you're a traveling business? Like Spirit Halloween, or something?"

"I don't know of this 'Spirit Halloween', but you could certainly consider Sweet Nightmares to be a traveling business."

"We'll have a look around, then." The woman ends the conversation abruptly before haughtily dragging the man over to one of the displays.

"Go on, dear." Laura whispers encouragingly, ushering Danielle towards the couple. The young witch nods and makes her way over to the display. The woman is utterly engrossed by the decadent sweets laid out before her. 

"Ummm, hello! Please, let me know if you have any questions." Danielle offers shakily, but the woman quickly takes her up on the offer. With each treat that Danielle explains, her confidence grows. All the while, the man seems eager to leave the woman's side and as soon as she let's go of his hand, he takes the opportunity. Danielle watches as he wanders off, subtly making his way to the counter, where Laura lies in wait for him.

Danielle leans next to the woman, whispering in her ear, "You need to leave. Right now."

"What? Why? Is something wrong?"

"You're in grave danger. Please, just trust me. You need to grab him and go." Danielle points at the man, who is slinking to the shop counter like a thief towards a pile of gold, the pile of gold in this case being Laura. She sits on the counter with her legs crossed demurely in front of her, a predatory grin plastered on her face as the man approaches.

"John! What the hell are you doing!?" the woman cries out angrily. He looks back at her with a dumb expression, like he can't understand why the woman would be so unhappy. She storms towards him, smacking him across the face. "I can't believe this! I turn my back on you for one minute and you slink off. You disgusting PIG!"  The strike seems to snap him out of it and he doesn't put up any fight as she drags him by the hand out of the shop. The bell jingles merrily as the door slams shut behind them. Danielle walks back to the shop center, breathing a sigh of relief.

Laura joins her daughter, pouting disappointedly. "So close..."