The cool air hit me like a wave, gelling the sweat on my skin as I walked into the small gas station. The lights overhead were a soft blue and it took a moment for my eyes to adjust as I walked to the back of the store. Shelves stood in claustrophobic rows leading to the wall of coolers stocked with overpriced drinks and sandwiches. The tiled floor was dingy, years of caked on dirt lining the bottoms of shelves where they met the floor and where mops could not reach.
I stopped, staring at the milky bubbled glass of the cooler with a sigh. Tuna or ham and swiss. Definitely the ham. The hinges of the cooler squealed as I pulled the door open and reached inside. No, the ham was a day out of date apparently. By a week. I let another sigh float from my lips and grab the tuna and a yoohoo. The cool metal of the coolers handle slips from my fingers as I turn towards the counter stopping as I stare at the reflection in the glass. A black shadow the size of a horse drifted down the isles in a slow meandering path around, and through, the shelves.
With a small head shake I look away from the glass and push it to the back of mind, then farther, and walk to the counter. Too much to do today, there was no time to deal with… whatever that is. I had also been out of the circle of people that dealt with those things for over a year, with no intentions of stepping back into it. High school and college had be… interesting to say the least. A kind of interesting that lead to a small town quarterback on a slab in a mortuary with what had turned out to be second degree abyssal burns.
As I wove through the shelves and end cap displays of every trinket you will never need that would break inside a week at best I heard the doors up front open and close. A strong gust of wind colder than what had leaked from the coolers swept through the store, an odd smell carried along it. The fine hairs on the nape of my neck stood on end as I step from between the last set of shelves towards the counter.
A small sigh slipped between my lips as my eyes landed on a small elderly lady. Her back was hunched, and her thin white hair whipped into a stiff perm. The loose fitting pale pink sundress hung from her wiry frame and her hands were wrapped in thin satin gloves two shades lighter than the color of her dress.
As she turned I felt the sigh that had been leaking from my lungs stop mid stream and I inhaled sharply, choking. Tears welled up in my eyes as I tried to clear my throat and stop the harsh coughs that crawled from my throat. The silver necklace around her throat glinted, but the small othala rune with a hunting horn jutting through it wasn’t the most shocking thing about the woman. It was unfortunately common for the elderly citizens of the area to be members of the kings horn. The thing that had really stolen my breath was the thick bands of scarring that wove itself up her arms and across her chest. Her dark brown eyes, like dead wood long submerged in the depths of the cold lake, locked on to mine and I swallowed hard looking down at the floor as she grabbed the carton of virginia slims before shuffling out the door. I shook myself and walked up to the counter, placing the sandwich and yoohoo lightly on the dingy and yellowed plastic.
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“Anything else for you?” the boy behind the counter drawled out in a false cheerful tone.
“Ah, two packs of full flavor marlboro black one hundreds and that’ll do it for me.” I say glancing up as I pulled my wallet out.
He punched at the touch screen humming under his breath and pulled the cigarettes from a hidden shelf above him. “That’ll be $18.43. We doin cash or card sir?” the kid said.
“Cash” I mutter handing him a rumpled twenty.
“You want the receipt or nah?” He asked handing me the change. I shook my head and grabbed the cigarettes shoving the boxes into my pocket and then grabbed the food. “Your ham and swiss sandwiches are out of date.” I say as I head out the door.
The heat rolled out of the car, sweat instantly springing from my pours and slipping down my face. I let out a low curse and fell into the car seat, there wasnt much of a point in messing with the ac at this point id just have to ride with the windows down for the time being and get through the last few sites. I shoved the key into the ignition and started it up, quickly rolling down the windows and backing out of the parking space. As I pulled to the edge of the drive to get onto the small country road I packed one of the new packs of cigarettes, the box stinging as it slapped into my palm, then pulled on out and lit it. My phone buzzed in my back pocket. I rolled my eyes and pulled it out taking a long drag from the cigarette as I unlocked it.
A text from an unknown number. I opened it up felt my brows furrow as I read it, sweat slid down my back and I frowned.
“We appreciate your willingness to work with the community on this matter and hope that you use the utmost discretion in this matter until all facts have been gathered. To further assist you we have left an envelope of some materials that may help.”
Another message, this one from Connor, came through as I finished reading the messaged from the unknown number.
“Just a quick update the shop owner is claiming that the surveillance system is broken and has been for a week or so. Officials are filing for a warrant to get full access to the equipment but no one seems to be able to locate DA Johnson.”