Journey to the end of reality [UNDER HEAVY EDITING]

CHAPTER-1: The Shop

"Finallyyyyyyyyyy!" screamed an over-excited Kiera Parker, or Kai, as she was more popularly called, hitting the other two walking beside her.

"Kai, you do realize we're standing right next to you, don't you? Please stop screeching." spoke an exasperated Ara Lee, trying to dodge the other's flailing arms.

"Let me be freeeeee-"

"God-"

"Calm down Ara, let the kid have her fun" chuckled Kani Kyoto, also trying to protect her head from Kai's uncontrolled tentacles which were her hands. "And Kai, your hands are a danger to society. Please don't flail them around as much." "Yes yes, I'm done. " said Kai with a cheeky grin, "by the way, aren't we going to hunt antiques today? I do have a place in mind," she asked.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot, it was that shop in Daechi, right?" asked Kani.

"You mean that creepy shack that looked like it would fall apart any moment? Ugh it gives me a lot of bad vibes" said Ara.

"It wasn't creepy at all, just a bit old," frowned Kai, "Anyways, we re going to check that out today,"

"Oh god," sighed Ara, massaging her shoulders, "I thought I could sleep finally fucking sleep these holidays."

"No sleep, only fun," hollered Kai, still wiggling her arms. "C'mon it's gonna be fun, imagine if we find skulls," she continued cheerily while blowing kisses to the passing students greeting her. 

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The three girls stopped outside a run-down alley, which strangely contained only one very old, feeble-looking shop.

"Woah.....not creepy at all," murmured Kani, wondering if it'll even be safe to go in there.

"Yeah, and I'll be right here," Ara said, taking in the building's alarming structure.

"OK," said Kai, and  strolled into the shop before any of the two could reply.

"Come on Ara," Kani looked at Ara, "Unless, you don't want that pizza-"

"Ugh, all right, we gotta make sure the baby doesn't accidentally kill herself too" interrupted Ara hastily, and shook her head. Food was gonna get her killed someday, so was Kai.

The shop itself wasn't too impressive, a gothic indoor that didn't look like it anymore and an old doorway that seemed as if it was going to fall apart any moment. Kai was already busy sifting through the different kinds of old artifacts and, apparently unsatisfied, moved on to look at the paintings hung on the wall.

While looking around, Kani picked up a little ball that was covered in dust. Thinking it to be perfect as a showpiece, she looked around for the store owner.

"That's not for sale," the shopkeeper, an old, pudgy man, appeared out of nowhere.

At this, Ara, who was at a distance going through her phone, walked up to the old man. 

"If you didn't want to sell it then why keep it here," she asked in confusion. Feeling a little ansty, she continued, "We can give you two times the price you say for it," 

"I said it's not for sale," insisted the man.

"But why?" asked Kani, the beginnings of a suspicion forming, in her head.

"Just like that," said the old man and proceeded to take the ball away. Kai, who observed this from afar, scampered towards her friends with a pout and asked, "What happened? Why isn't he letting us buy it?"

"Don't know," shrugged Kani.

Noticing the three girls still looking on curiously, he scolded them, "If you don't want to buy anything else, then please go."

Not wanting to be kicked out, the three started to look around for more junk. As they looked, Ara found a small bag with some strange embroidery and picked it up. At the same time, Kai picked up a strange pair of earphones which seemed plated with some metal. They walked to the shopkeeper to confirm their purchases while Kani returned with a little antique disc.

Seeing their possessions, the shopkeeper rubbed his head in annoyance.

"Don't tell me, we can't buy these either?" exclaimed Kai, who was starting to lose her patience.

"No, you can buy it, never mind. Just take what you want and leave please," replied the shopkeeper, visibly exasperated.

Surprised and yet again, confused, the three girls walked out of the shop with their purchases in hand.

Once out, Kai exclaimed, "Phew, what a rude old man! But it's a shame we couldn't get that ball. It looked really cool."

"Yeah," said Kani.

"I think we should just head home for now," replied Ara, weirded out.

"Yeah, it's been a strange evening," said Kani, thinking about a certain smell she'd picked up in the shop.