Page 56 of King of Hollywood

“I think I’ve been there,” I said, quiet and curious. It was an odd thing. Not because visiting the same store as someone else was all that odd, but because—for the last ten years I’d tried and tried to find that shop again. After my first visit, no matter how hard I looked, it was nowhere to be found.

It was almost like it hadn’t existed at all.

As a very logical person who is quite rooted in reality, I found it more than a little concerning that I had memories of a place that didn’t seem to exist. After doing some digging, I discovered that there was no reference to the shop on social media or any sign of it on my map app.

Searching for it every time I left town became a compulsion I could not ignore. For years, I’d done just that, hunting the winding roads for a place I was certain I’d once been.

After a while, I’d been forced to face defeat.

I knew my mind was not what most would consider “healthy.” Part of me wondered if I’d imagined the entire encounter—but that was unlike me. When I dreamed, normally I saw violent visions, memories from a past I’d tried to forget, or worked mundane jobs at a variety of boring places.

I was not the kind of man that simply made things up.

I always remained firmly rooted in reality.

For example…one time, while I was dreaming I’d given a prescription to a customer at the pharmacy. The next day, I’d Googled the medication I’d filled, only to discover that it was somehow very real. I’d never been certain how my brain knew about it, only that it did.

Which was why the “shop” in my mind had become somewhat of a demon.

Now though…

Now I knew I hadn’t made it up at all. If Felix had been there, it had been very real. Which didn’t explain where the hell it had gone.

I still had no idea how the shop had disappeared.

“Oh,” Felix responded, clearly not understanding how monumental the fact that he had been inside the missing shop was. “How fun! When did you go?” As a person who very rarely left the house, I could see why he’d be curious. There was no reason for him to believe anything was amiss if he’d never tried to hunt for the shop in vain himself.

“It was ten years ago. When I was passing through this area to visit my sister, Melissa,” still feeling a little shell-shocked, I was certain my expression looked off. “Before I’d moved to Beach Town.”

“Huh.” Felix cocked his head to the side, regarding me curiously.

At the time, I’d still lived with my father and Winnie in the city, and I’d been looking for independence.

“It was how I found Beach Town in the first place. I’d been wanting to move away from home, but I didn’t want to live in the city with Winnie and my dad. I love them, but not enough that I want either of them popping their heads into my business. Besides, I missed the small town life we’d left behind when we moved away from the farm.” Realizing I’d gotten off track, I realigned. “The owner of the shop was the one that pointed me in this direction. He said I’d like it here. That I’d find what I was missing.”

A town off the beaten path.

A town with a club for murderers.

A town where Felix lived with his cats, his secrets, and his pretty pointy smile.

Though, I’m almost certain the owner of the shop hadn’t known that last tidbit. Unless…of course…he had. Maybe disappearing shop owners were matchmakers who could see the future? What a joke! I was too shell-shocked to muster any mirth, despite how fantastical that thought was.

“Are you okay?” Felix asked, frowning at me. “You look as though you’ve seen a ghost.”

“It feels like I have.” I stared at him, then the cats. “Have you ever tried to go back?” I asked, curious.

“No. Why?” Felix laughed, eyes crinkling at the corners. “I don’t often leave, as you know.”

“I…” I was acting irrational. “Never mind. I suppose I found it odd. There are a lot of things I’m finding odd lately. Perhaps you feel the same?”

There was a strange expression on Felix’s face…almost guilty? Though I could’ve been imagining things, because the next moment it was gone, and he was peering at me like he always did, red eyes soft.

I’d stopped questioning their color and appreciated it instead.

“I do,” Felix said, honesty quaking in those two simple words. “So much has changed in such a small time. I don’t know how to wrap my head around it.”

“The murders?”