Lexi closed the sacred book carefully, deliberately and took her time in stowing it below the counter. Taking a deep breath to calm and center herself, she leaned across the counter and said,<br/><br/>“I’m nobody’s bitch. So that must mean I’m yours.”<br/><br/>She heard the air go out of the Asian woman and the older man, well that might have been a chuckle, but she was really focusing on the blond man.<br/><br/>“Dead people parts? Like bones and shit?” she emphasized the word. “Yeah, we store all the dead bodies in the back after the beetles get done stripping off the flesh. Mostly asinine customers and the occasional street person, but yeah, I have skulls and finger bones for sale.”<br/><br/>Lexi was just smart ass enough to make such an assertion, although in the back they did have a skull. The owner always insisted it had belonged to a pirate from back in the mid 1800s but Lexi just figured he was bullshitting her.<br/><br/>“The rest of the bones we grind into powder and sell for magic spells.”<br/><br/>She indicated tiny Ziploc packages of ash that had no description on exactly what it was.<br/><br/>“Did you want to see the human skulls and shit?” she emphasized that word again. “Since we are technically closed and I don’t have other customers, I can always take you to the back to look. “ With a half serious dead pan, she held his eyes. “ I can’t guarantee you will come away unchanged. Voodoo spells being what they are.”<br/><br/>Lexi was as full of shit as the blond man who was trying to wear her out. She thought he would actually be fun to match wits with somewhere out on the town.  The clocks in the store began to chime out various tunes or clamoring to make the hour.<br/><br/>“Better make up your mind. Store opens for real business in about 10 minutes.”<br/><br/>The air in the store suddenly became hazy and it felt as if all the oxygen had departed. Lexi could hear her heart beating in her ears as she waited for the man’s decision.<br/><br/>With no warning, a low, but distinctive sound began to rumble, making many of the curio items shimmy in their display cases. Lexi stiffened,<br/><br/>“Not again.” She muttered.<br/><br/>The strange sounds seemed to be coming from the skies. Suddenly, the sound began to flare into something that sounded like metallic sounds, trumpets, booming sounds, the sound of a huge gas burner, or  long rolling thunder. Lexi didn’t know how to describe it, only that it was unnerving.<br/><br/>“Welcome to Seattle, where not only to we have traffic noise, people pollution, shipping distortions and roaring jets,  we also have Mother Nature flaring up to grumble with indigestion.”<br/><br/>“Now, about those skulls and shit?” she said again.