Pet Shop

Chapter Two: Lucky Liam

Mike looked up as the bell jingled, announcing another customer. Most of the well paying families already had high class pets or baby playthings for their children, and working class vampire families only paid for cheap, standard bred slaves. Customers were rare, and when they came, they paid stingily.

This one was different. She was a tall, regal woman, coated in furs and silks, sniffing contemptuously at the dirty state of his shop. Mike could almost smell the money floating in her perfume, which might have cost the mortgage of his shop.

"Anything I can do for you miss?" he asked, in his best wheedling voice. She looked over at him, then nodded. Mike drew closer.

"I need a baby, for my niece. It is her birthday, and though she is a decidedly unpleasant little girl, I must get her something. That is why I came to your little hovel." Here, her lip curled in distaste. Mike swallowed his reply and smiled. "She collects them, you see. She has baby boys, girls, twins, blue eyed and blonde, submissive, resisting, the lot. Do you have anything she might not?" the lady paused, looking doubtfully around the shop. Mike had to hurry, or he'd lose his sale.

"A baby, miss? Well, does your daughter have a dress up doll?" he asked, making it up in his head. The woman looked at him, surprised.

"No, I have never heard of such a thing." she said.

"Surprising! They are so in vogue, nowadays. I only just managed to get one in, at great cost to myself." he paused here, hoping to squeeze a few sympathy dollars. No reaction. "They are babies that you can leave in the crib. Change them once ever two or so days, and feed them twice a day, and give them some water. Other than that, a child can dress them up in whatever outfit they like, and show off their fashion designing skills to parents. Each model comes with a baby boy onesie, or a girly girl dress," Mike finished, hoping he had one such miracle baby in stock.

"Can't she do that with every baby?" she asked skeptically.

"Other babies whine and cry, or else are listless. These are permanently sucking a pacifier, so can't. Most dolls quickly become a little girls' favourite, according to polls." he defended, hoping that she fell for it.

"Show me a model, then I'll decide. It has to be cheap mind, nothing over two thousand." the woman spoke dismissively, as if it was pocket change. Mike's eyes nearly bulged out of his head. Two Thousand! He could pay off the mortgage with that. Now to find a suitable human.

"One moment." he stalled, disappearing into the back room. It was it's usual midday chaos, babies crying and snivelling, slaves shuffling around, and pets doing their thing on newspapers. Mike was close to panicking.

There were six babies. Four girls, each prone to crying, and moving around. No good. The two boys were both quiet, generally quite scared and bullied by the girls. One ran away, and snivelled when the girls came close. The other simply let it all happen, looking baffled and slightly scared. A pacifier could hide that expression easily! Triumphantly, Mike drew out the boy, and changed him into a onesie.

"Don't you dare mess up, you do nothing, react never, and you might live." Mike growled.

"Took you long enough." the woman remarked as he returned, boy in tow. "What is his name?"

Mike struggled to think. He never called the humans by names, they were simply things. He thought of a name that would please a rich lady like her. Had 'Liam' been popular recently? "His name is Liam."

She nodded in approval. Over the next ten minutes, she tested him in different outfits, lifted him and moved his limbs, none of which he made any nosie or movement to resist.

"He will do. I am quite impressed with your services, Mr..?"

"Mike."

"Mike. I will reccomend you to my friends, though I suggest you upgrade this dump. Oh, and the slaves in the window? Slaves are out of fashion. High class pets, novelty and classic babies are the way to go. And here is two thousand, as promised." she pressed a wad of cash into his hand, and waited as he strapped Liam into a baby carrier, and carried him to her car.

Mike watched as she went, clutching the money in a sweat drenched palm. Then he turned to the shop, suddenly aware of the peeling paint, the cloudy windows, half of them cracked or reduced to empty frames, and the desolate stock, looking listless and boring in his windows. His shop needed a drastic change, not just physically. Something to attract customers and keep them. He would need to be creative.

What had that lady said about 'novelty babies'?

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There have been a couple of requests. I tried! I hope you like the chapter!