Description - Exterior
The House of the Still Shadows sits quietly on a corner in Little Mexico, just north of 47th and Ashland. Its whitewashed stucco walls are cracked and faded, painted with protective red handprints that have long since dried to brown. Iron bars curve over the windows like old vines, and bundles of herbs, red thread, and strange charms hang from the eaves. Above the door, a hand-carved wooden sign bears its name in flaking gold paint. Most walk past quickly without looking directly at it.
Description - Interior
Inside, the air is thick with the scent of copal smoke, dried flowers, and damp earth. Shelves groan under jars of bones, stones, and preserved things that don’t have names in English. The light comes from wax candles and a dim green bulb in the back. A long wooden counter separates the front shop from the deeper, darker rooms behind—a beaded curtain the only barrier. Shadows cling to corners, and even the mirrors refuse to show your reflection clearly. The walls whisper if you stay too long.
Regulars
Soledad Salazar – Her sister, who sometimes appears without a word and disappears the same way.
La Chica del Velo – A veiled woman who never speaks. She comes every new moon to leave something wrapped in red silk.
Backyard Bulls’ Runners – Occasionally buy charms to ward off patrols or ghosts. Usually don’t stay long.
Father Vela – A defrocked priest who comes for herbs and leaves with warnings.
History
The building has stood since the early 1900s, originally a curandera’s home. During the influenza pandemic, dozens came here for healing—and not all of them left alive. During the ’38 fire at the Sapphire Room, Lucía’s mother collapsed mid-ritual, whispering Vincent’s name before she died. The Veil has been thin here ever since. Some say the back room doesn’t stay in the same place—those who enter it on certain nights don’t always return from the same direction.
Notes
The spirits of the neighborhood avoid the threshold—but gather nearby, waiting.
Lucía trades in favors as much as coin. She remembers every deal.
The back room is rumored to be a safe zone during major Veil events—but only if Lucía lets you in.
Every candle in the shop burns a different color flame. Nobody’s sure why.
Skips once tried to steal from her. He came back two days later sobbing, with a crow’s foot sewn into his mouth.
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