No, it was not. When you placed the doll back in its rightful place on the shelf, the doors to the store slammed shut as the rest of the dolls’ eyes shone. The lamps by the shelf’s sides flickering on. It didn’t stop there! The rest of the store came to life. What once looked like an ominous store was now a place that could truly satisfy a child’s toy needs. “What the hell..” Was the only sentence that left your mouth before booking it to the exit, flinging the door outward.

Outside of the store was even more of a shock. The dead silent town you walked through minutes ago was now full of life, and the townsfolk wore a variety of costumes that looked too good to be true. “Hey, watch it! We have feelings too, you know?” The voice seemed to come from behind the door you flung outward.

“M-my apologies…” Panicked over the thought you hurt someone, you stepped out of the store in a hurry and closed the door. “Let me help-” Your words got caught in your throat when you realized where the voice came from. It got up on its own, the scarecrow brushed the dust off its behind and picked its top hat off the ground.

“Apology accepted. Be careful when opening doors next time. You never know who can be next to it.” You meekly nodded at its words before taking a few steps back. This couldn’t be happening, right? No way a scarecrow just talked to you. “You look pale. Is something the matter?”

“Don’t worry so much about them, brother. It’s probably just their makeup which makes them look pale!” You jumped back in shock when the same voice came from behind you. The other scarecrow had approached when you were interacting with his brother. “Though… They are skittish. I thought the townsfolk don’t get scared this easily.”

“Maybe this is one of the rare ones. Gotta have someone to scare around this town!” The scarecrow which you had pushed down let out a hum before looking at you. It picked its hat off its head and brought it to this chest, “My name’s Jack. The name of My brother over there is Zero.” Odd choice of names, but you would not question it.

You pursed your lips as you slowly took a few steps back. “Thank you for the introduction, but I’m afraid I have got to take my leave…” This was just weird. Maybe it was a dream? You were probably still in bed, or maybe you hit your head on a thick wooden branch in the forest and knocked yourself out? Before you could make it far, the doors to the Toy Store opened inward, and out stepped a gentleman dressed in a royal purple coat over a pair of black pants, a simple white button-up shirt, and a black waistcoat. Tied around the collar of his shirt was a black bowtie.

What caught your attention was the piercing blue eyes he had along with a set of ash-grey wolf ears on his head that matched his hair color. Your eyes stayed glued to his ears. Did they twitch? That is cute… THAT IS NOT THE ISSUE HERE.

You shook your head to snap yourself out of those thoughts. That isn’t what you should focus on right now. A small smile made its way on to the gentleman’s lips as he spoke in a polite tone. “Welcome dear customer to Otis’ Doll Shop.“ You could see his blue eyes examine you from head to toe, taking in, and analyzing your appearance. “You look shaken up, are you in need of some help?”

You kept your lips shut as you continued to stare at him. What could you even say? You followed a cat into this strange town. That is a weird explanation… Suddenly, a light bulb lit up in your head as you explained to him how you came here because of a dance. “Do you by chance know of a dance occurring in this town?”

You expected the gentleman to give you a look of pity, but the look of interest never left his blue eyes. “I see. So you’re here for the Dealmaker’s Masquerade Ball.” He said with a charming smile on his lips. You arched an eyebrow in curiosity. The invitation mentioned nothing about a masquerade ball. Is this gentleman the host of the event? Is this why we dressed like this?

The doors of his store widened, allowing you to feel the cold air that billowed out from behind him and catch glimpses of the dolls on display; With the lights on this time. The gentleman held a hand out to you as if expecting something, “May I see your invitation?”

… Ah, your invitation. “Wait, are you the host of this event? The dance is in this doll shop?” You took one step back to examine the size of the shop. It was huge in a shop’s sense, but it wasn’t huge enough to hold a large scale dance or a masquerade ball!

“I will soon explain everything. But first, the invitation if you please.” He was quite adamant about it as he pressed on the importance of the invitation through his words. The scarecrows, who had returned to their posts, had their heads tilted your way, which made a sense of unease wash over you. When the gentleman received no answer from you, he let out a soft sigh and placed his hands on the doors, “No invitation? Then this is as far as I can help you then. I have more matters to attend too.”

You panicked. You came all this way for nothing! Just as the doors were closing, a mewl came from your feet. Looking down, it was the black cat again! Except it had a surprise for you. The invitation letter which you had presumably lost was in its mouth. “Thank you!” You whispered to the cat as you knelt down to take the invitation from it. “Wait! Hold on! Here’s my invitation!” Quickly charging forward, you grabbed on to the doors and pushed it open, holding your invitation out to the gentleman who had jumped back in shock at your sudden action.