Lady Mystique Rose was checking on all of the creatures in the shop. Every cat, dog, reptile, bird, rodent and fish were checked before she opened each day and after she closed each day besides the frequent visits during the day. Lady Mystique kept the floors tidy and neat, kept the record books, accounting and all of the other duties of a small store owner. She practically lived there in the shop.

In fact, not many people even saw her out of the pet shop. The reason was that she lived above the store. She usually went out once or twice a week to pick up groceries. She had everything else delivered to her store. She had a two stall garage for deliveries and each one was enclosed from the rest of the house. A hallway to her upstairs apartment and one to the pet store went pass the doors of the two garage stalls. The first one was for pets only and the second one was for office supplies.

Behind the pet shop was a quarantine area. This is the first stop of all pets. If a pet is not healthy in Lady Mystique's eyes, a vet would be called to examine the pet. She based her decisions on what the vet told her. Her first concern was her pets and their happiness. Lady Mystique even have visitation room for a few permanent pets. These pets are favorite pets of hers and she shares them with those who can not have a pet for one reason or another.

There is a rumor that somewhere in that building, an area was reserved for blackmarket pets. But no one knows where and Lady Mystique will ignore such remarks......

Perhaps you would like to pay an innocent visit to her Companion Pet Shop Plus one day.

James was walking down the street because he didn't have work today. Today he was planning his bank heist like he did everyday. While this line of work wasn't the best or one that he would have chosen, he made great money and that's what kept him going throughout it all. He worked for a very wealthy man who hired James to do the dirty work for him such as hits on people. The boss he called him, wanted him to rob the bank of an enemy of his and James would have the money from the job in about a week.

Today however, he was just strolling around town looking for a gift for the boss's daughter to try to be nice and build a stronger business relationship with his boss. He walked by every store with each of them having something different. Everything from games, to jewelry, etc. That was when he saw a pet shop. One that he'd really never seen before or paid attention to. Word on the street was that the owner had things that were out of this world. He thought for a moment and maybe the boss's daughter would like a hamster or a fish of some kind. So James had casually strolled into the shop "hello?" he called out wondering where the owner was.

A lady with long red hair came out from behind some pet cages. She was cleaning out the ferrets cage and just happened to have a ferret on top of her head.
"Good day, sir. Just let me get the ferrets back into their cage and I shall be right with you. " she spoke as she put one of the ferrets into the cage. She rounded up three others, including the one off of her head.

"Now how may I help you today? I have many kinds of pets here including a few that are not out here at the moment." she spoke pleasantly to the man who came in.

He looked around at all the different animal cages and looked at which one the daughter would like. He decided on a fish and was about to go over to the fish tanks. That was until a woman came out to service him. He noticed the ferret on top of her head and smiled a little and waited for her to come back.

Not long after she did so "hello ma'am, I'm looking for a kind of pet a little girl the age of 10 would love. Can you recommend anything?" He asked going over to talk to her.

"A ten year girl....hmmmm, the best pet is a gift certificate. This way she will need to take the responsibility of picking out what she wants and dealing with her own decisions. I have a variety of packages that can be chosen from. If you want the ten year old girl to have an actual pet, I also would suggest that you consult the girl's parents. Some parents do not want their child to have a pet.

If the girl wants a pet and it is allowed by the parents, she could have any of these pets in the main area." Lady Mystique spoke warmly.

He listened to the woman speak and glanced over at the many pet cages and tanks and things like that. He thought about it but wasn't sure about any of the pets. Nonetheless he looked back over at the lady "hmm... Do tell me about your gift certificate packages" he asked.

He thought about it for a moment and thought that it would be the best thing for the daughter since she didn't even know what she wanted. He looked back to the teller "and she can use that certificate here?" he asked

"The packages start as low as $75. That would be for small rodents and fish. A small tank, care book and starter kit. Larger the pet, more expensive. Some like the reptiles will cost more. You could put money down on the pet and I'll give you a certificate for her to redeem. If there is any money left over, I'll call you so that you can have the rest of the money." Lady Mystique spoke.

He nodded and thought about it for a moment. $75 seemed like a lot for a certificate but nonetheless he would take it. He smiled and nodded "that actually sounds perfect, I'll take one" he said and pulled out his wallet and looked around some more though before turning back to the lady. James then remembered the rumors about this shop and decided he would ask about it too. But maybe after she rang him up.

Lady Mystique pulled out a variety of certificates for him to choose from.
"All of these are suitable backgrounds for a ten year old girl. Which style would fit the young lady in mind?" she asked as she pushed them towards her customer.
"In the corner is a computer where you may enter her information and it will print it out here. Seventyfive dollars, plau.

He began to look at the certificates and tried to pick one which was best "hmm... I think she might like a mouse, you sell those right?" he asked then went to the computer to begin entering her name on the computer to print it on the certificate.

"Yes, I do. White, black, grey and brown. She would be getting 2 mice. They like to live in groups. There will be a few toys and a maze home for mice." Lady Mystique spoke as she set up the printer.

He smiled and nodded and entered the daughters name into the computer. He then entered a certificate into the printer then printed it out. Once that was done he went over to the counter "alright then, that's printed. How much is it again?" He asked as he took out his wallet.

"Seventy five dollars, please. I hope she will come this weekend. A few rodents will be on sale for half price. Will there be anything else for you today?" she asked with a smile as she took out a small box for the certificate.

A buzzer rang twice then paused before buzzing once more.

He nodded and took out his debit card sliding it to the cashier. He then thought about it for a moment "hmm... I was just curious... I'm sure you've heard the rumors about your shop. Strange things which I'm sure is not true but anyway... I was just wondering where you think these rumors stem from?" he asked curiously wondering what she thought.

"I am not sure what rumors you are talking about. Please enlighten me of them, then perhaps I can tell explain any of them that I know about" Lady Mystique spoke calmly as she rang up the sale.

He thought about it for a moment and remembered one in particular. He looked back at the woman "I believe there's one I've heard of that said you sell exotic pets. Pets from other countries that are kind of in a legal gray area with the law? Such pets I would actually consider buying..." he said

"Yes, I do sell few exotics as well as talented pets. But these pets are not your everyday kind of pets. You must know exactly what you want, what kind of care you can provide among other things. You will be required to sign a contract for this kind of purchase." was the simple answer.

He became more intrigued by her answer and wanted to know more. He moved closer "so it is true, do tell do tell, what sort of talents do these pets have that others don't? Besides the fact that they're foreign of course" he said

"I haven't checked them out yet" she leaned forward and spoke softly.
"Please follow me to the parlor. There you may fill out the paperwork. The shop will soon be closed."

Lady Mystique opened a door and allowed the man inside. "You may fill out the paperwork while I close up shop. It is located on the clipboard on the table. I'll be back soon"

He nodded and took his certificate he just purchased and put it away along with his card he used to purchase it. He followed her to the parlour like she requested and looked at the form beginning to read it and fill it out carefully while he waited for her to come back.