Page 95 of Full Body Hit, Part 1

Auston managed not to wrinkle his nose. He’d always hated posing for pictures, but it was a necessary part of modern living.

Unfortunately.

“Sounds good. I can film first if you want.”

Chase shrugged, putting his phone away.

Auston took out his.

God, this was going to be a nightmare. He was shit at filming things, and it was just weird to do it in public as they walked along as if they were influencers or something.

Chase was visibly uncomfortable too, face still red, turning away from Auston at every opportunity. He looked shorter than he was, shoulders all bunched up as his gaze fluttered around uneasily.

“Let’s walk without the camera for a bit,” Auston suggested.

“Yeah,” Chase agreed, loosening up as the phone was put away.

They strolled for a bit, Auston inspecting the differently-coloured facades, the iron balconies, the decorative signs hanging in front of stores.

Apparently, the area was lively and crowded at night. During the middle of the day on a Wednesday, the area was awake and moving, but there weren’t that many people.

“Oh!”

Auston stopped as Chase made a sound of surprise. He was peering into a shop, its large French doors open and letting the light in. Auston took a step closer, peering at what was so interesting.

For a second, Auston was convinced there was a massive bird in the store. Auston was no expert, but judging by the funny little feathers on its head, it was some kind of albino peacock.

“Jesus Christ,” he muttered when he realised it was just taxidermy.

Those beady eyes were surprisingly realistic.

There was a table by the door, covered with a seemingly random assortment of objects. There was an animal skull, a weird ball that looked like it was made of eyes, a stack of tomes, a set of dice in a see-through, purple bag.

Chase turned to him, eyes wide. “Can we go in?” he asked.

“Uh, sure.”

Auston followed him inside, peering around suspiciously at the things littering the shelves and tables. They were all morbid, but maybe they had some sort of history relevant to New Orleans.

From the back of the room, hidden by bookshelves and a coat stand, a female voice sounded. “Let me know if I can help you.”

Auston wanted help with absolutely nothing except maybe getting out of there. He’d never liked creepy things. His sister was obsessed with true crime and horror films, and he couldn’t understand the appeal.

Even Halloween kind of freaked him out. It was fine when people dressed up as celebrities or book characters or whatever, but he hated all that gore stuff people used on their faces.

Mark, the absolute dick, knew this about him, and he and Chin-Sun always chose the most horrific costumes every year just to fuck with him.

So, no. He did not need help.

Chase, apparently, did.

“Uhm…what are these?” He was pointing at something on the table.

The woman appeared, brown hair up in a messy bun, strands falling everywhere. She had a thick pair of glasses on, dimples in her cheeks showing as she looked at Chase.

“Oh, these are sheep knucklebones. They’re used in bone throwing…to tell your fortune. The Mongolians use these, but this one over here is a shoulder blade—you set it on fire, and the patterns left behind will tell your future.”

Auston frowned. What a load of bullshit.