I sit in silence, the fluorescent tube lights buzz above me, the sign outside shines brightly against the night sky “Equinox Oils’’ It’s a small desolate gas station out in the middle of nowhere and I am the poor soul tasked with maintaining the pumps and catering to our customers. It’s a boring job, it used to be more bearable when back I had another person working with me, but the last guy quit two months ago. “Good for him” I thought, I would quit too if I could but alas I cant. Just then Im awakened from my boredom induced trance as a car rolls into the parking lot and parks next to mine, I watch as a pudgy man steps out and ambles toward the store, the bell chimes as he pulls the door open, I clear my throat preparing to greet him when suddenly he stops moving and turns his gaze upward. “Sir, is there a problem?” I ask, when rapidly the man is violently yanked up into the air by some dark gangly arm.
The door swings shut as I let out a whimper. “What just happened? What should I do?” I think to myself eventually deciding that the best course of action would be to call 911. I slowly make my way past the walls of chips and soda and into the “employees only” room there’s a small desk, a calendar, and a computer but most importantly a phone. I shakily punch “911” into the keypad and wait for a response. The phone rings once, twice, three times when eventually I am greeted by a calm female voice “emergency services what is your emergency?” “Well” I stuttered, what was I supposed to say “Hey, a man just got pulled into the sky” they would never believe me, I eventually settled on “I’ve just witnessed a possible kidnapping”, “Ok we’ll send two officers right away”. I sighed a sigh of relief as I set the phone back down on the receiver.
I shakily made my way back to the front of the store and gazed out the window “what had I just seen, was it on the roof? Could it still be on the roof now?” I thought. Then I made the worst decision of my life, I decided to find out. I grabbed a mop and slowly pushed the door open until the chime went off, a rumble sounded from above me. I stood petrified waiting for something to happen, then something happened. I watched as long inky black skeletal fingers descended from the roof and slowly curled around the door frame. I bolted to the back of the store, I could hear the beast behind me break through the door and crash through the isles behind me.
I pushed open the employees only door and locked it behind me, moments later I heard the thing slam into the door, I let out a sigh of relief I was safe at least for now. Then It slammed into the door again, the door buckled. I quickly threw myself against the door as it rammed the door again, I could hear the door splintering and the thing on the other sides snarling. Then it stopped, I heard sirens outside the store wailing “Oh thank god” I thought, four shots rang out, I cracked the door open a sliver enough to see the thing outside, it was tall and dark with matted fur and long crooked limbs and had the head of a deer. It was taking shot after shot without so much as flinching.
The officers outside were dead from the moment they answered the call. I knew that and they mustve too so I did the only thing I could think of, while the beast outside was distracted I rushed outside to my car, turned the ignition, and peeled off as fast as I could, I drove and never looked back. When I got into the nearest town I rented a room at a motel though I barely slept that night. In the morning I went to a starbucks and checked my phone for the first time since starting my shift yesterday. “Two officers missing without a trace” read a headline, I got a text from my boss reading “where are you? There are cops at my house asking for you”. I spoke to them eventually though they didn’t take me seriously but they had no reason to suspect me and the whole event was chalked up to a bear attack. The only reason I’m typing all this is because I’m now back at my apartment and I’m seeing antlers outside my window. I live on the third floor.