The next day at work I was just doing my regular duties turning on the radio to drown out the scratches in the walls when some more of those cultists came back to the lobby to get something to eat.
It was around one am when they seemed to conjugate in the lobby. There is about seventeen of them and two of us so that’s a lot of work to do when they come. It was just Jason and I tonight. They dramatically increase our sales after midnight. Makes me look like I am doing a decent job.
There is this one cultist that comes in an awful lot and tries to talk to me about their religion. His name is Teddy. I heard them talking about some event they got planned. I just herd in whispers. I was too busy typing on my laptop to care.
When they were in the lobby eating Stan stopped. He walked into the lobby, and everyone stopped and stared at him. You could cut the suspension in the air with a knife. Stan slowly walked to the cash register and ordered some coffee and a fish sandwich. He looked around the lobby and said Well this is awkward. I do not want to cause a scene but looks like I was doing a stakeout at the wrong place. I offered to let him eat in my crew room, but he denied it and said he will eat in his police cruiser.
“Let me know if they give you any trouble”
I said, “I’ll let him know if they do, but they usually are fine.”
With that he left and everyone in the lobby went back to eating and talking amongst themselves. After twenty mins all the cultists left, and I was left cleaning the lobby. Teddy came out of the bathroom and went up to me and asked if I had some time to talk about their religion. I signed and agreed, but on one condition he had to go outside and tell the man with the big fedora he had to leave. With our rushed agreement in place, he proceeded to tell me about their religion.
The Guardians believes that cryptids and ghost are real. They are rare and extremely important. We need to persevere them and protect them at all costs. We talk to spirits to gain their knowledge and power. With this we can protect sacred beings like bigfoot, Michigan dog man, Loch ness monster, ETC. They are beings from another dimension that leaked into ours many years ago.
We must preserve nature and in time nature will pressure us. When the apocalypse happens, we will be the only ones let in the new world. There is not a heaven nor hell. When you die your spirit stays on earth for all eternity.
The being we call “god” leaked into our dimension. Three whole religions were founded on this being called “god.” He is the most powerful of them all and was the first. “God” created many other beings on the earth including us. We believe that it started all life on earth. He is an angry god. He destroys non-believers and causes chaos for no reason. We believe he does this because he came from chaos and seems natural to him.
We believe that there are holes in our dimension that connects us with other worlds. Beings from other dimensions leak into ours from the holes. Some places are natural strange and that is why.
After he was done talking, I said that was stupid and your stupid. Now you must go outside and tell that guy to leave.
Daily entry June 19th
11:00 pm
Simon came into the store again. He said it Was nice ice to see me. He makes ice puns a lot. Simon got a fish sandwich and said it was time to ice things up and sat in the lobby. Alex walked into the store and started talking to Simon. All I heard was something about Ice and the freezer. I tried to not ease drop, but it’s hard when they are the only thing making a sound in the store.
1:30 am
Teddy came into the store he asked if I had time to rethink about joining the guardians. I said no and my answer was final. With this news he pulled out a flask and started drinking from it. He then ordered a soft drink and a chicken sandwich with fries. He poured the contents of the flask in the cup of coke in front of me.
He laughed and asked me if I wanted some. I would have said no, but that would have gone against my code of never refusing anything that’s free, especially liquor. He made me a rum and coke and I sat with him in the lobby.
He asked me if I had notice anything strange lately.
I said strange things happen here all the time. You will have to specify.
He said that the other night when he went to tell the man with the black fedora to leave, he just disappeared into thin air not before leaving his lit cigar. Teddy also said he’s heard cries from help in the woods when he’s by himself and seen ice in the middle of the parking lot. I told him that happens you just got to ignore it.
Teddy seemed to be a good guy, just mixed up in the wrong crowd. He asked what I knew about Simon. I told him Simon was a local and he was three grades ahead of me in school. I remember him being on the football team and after high school going to some college out of the state. He must have moved back recently.
“That Simon is a weird guy. He always talks about the ice, or how he misses the freezing weather and I swear he leaves a path of ice where every he walks.”
“That is pretty strange just remember to mind your own business you don’t get paid to worry about other people.”
“I am a guardian, so it is hard to mind my own business. I am always on the lookout for strange things. Whenever I am in the restaurant, I get this weird feeling and strange things happen a lot. Like a couple of nights ago I was eating here, and I swear with me looking away for a matter of seconds my cheeseburger disappeared. The whole thing was gone.”
‘Yeah, that will happen. That’s probably bob he is a shadow person.”
Teddy just looked at me and said right on. He then asked me what my favorite music is. He said he enjoys German polka and heavy metal. He also said Linkin Park had a special place in his heart. After that I went back to work and left Teddy alone in the lobby.
At 3:00am
I just found teddy passed out until a table. Looks like he finished that flask and five other mini shot bottles. I tried to wake him up, but he was in a drunken stoper, so I dragged him into the supply closet and left him there. I put a cup of water next to him since I am such a nice guy. I put a coat from lost and found over him for a blanket and made a pillow out of some plastic bags.
Daily Entry
9:00 the evening manager told me someone had eaten an entire cheesecake in the freezer over the night and it looked like they tried to make cheese curds on the grills. I was alone after 1am last night so I was sure that was not me. I just figured the morning crew was blaming stuff on me again.
11:30 pm
I hear strange noises coming from the supply closet. Sounds awfully like someone is moving around in there. I just acted like I did not hear them and mind my own business.
2:00 am
I was beginning to notice strange stuff happen. Noises coming from the lobby, empty sandwich wrappers on the floor, and used pop cups appearing on the floor after I cleaned everything. Teddy just walked out of the supply closet and told me he had a killer hangover. He got some water and went back into the closet. I never imagined he would have stayed in an entire day.
After fifteen minutes Teddy came back out and asked if the scratching in the wall were normal. I said they were and just ignore them.
I asked him if he stays here to long won’t the other cult members come looking for him. He said they don’t care about him that much and won’t come looking. With that he walked into the kitchen grabbed a cheeseburger said no cap and then offered me some Whisky. I accepted then made a Rum and Coke for both of us. Then he walked in the supply closet. I know I should kick him out of the store, but I won’t. I feel bad for him.
At 3:00 AM
Jason was still at work so I left him in charge so I can go into the basement and put a part on one of the old arcade machines to try and get it working. I unlocked the heavy door and swung it open then proceed to descend the steps to the basement.
I found a black envelope on the Donkey Kong machine. I opened it and it read. It asked how I was doing, and I looked good today from Lilith. I got fed up with these letters business, so I decided to respond. “I am doing well thanks for the complement but who the hell, are you? I said in the dimly lit basement. Nothing happened at all. I then proceeded to write what I said on the letter put it back in the envelope and dropped it in the pit.
I went back upstairs after that. I just finished up all of my cleaning when I remembered that I never put that part on, so I went back downstairs and low and behold there was another letter on the edge of the pit. I picked it up and read it. “It’s nice to finally get a response from the Gunner. I have been watching you for a while now. I love watching you working. My name is Lilith and I live in what you call the bottomless pit. It is very spacious and lovely. Won’t you visit me sometime.” I wrote back on the letter that I am simply fine staying up here and will not be jumping into any pits anytime soon. If you came out of it, I would be more than happy talking to you. After I wrote the response, I threw the letter back into the hole then I heard someone walking down the hole. It was Jason.
“Wow I have never been down here before. Is that a Pac man machine and a creature from the black lagoon neon sign! Wow what is that giant hole? It looks beautiful.” I lied and said it was an old well. He just kept on starring at it and then he said do you also feel that it is lonely? He was dead on starring at the hole. I said all right Jason lets go back upstairs. All right he said.
“Oh, before I forgot there is a man living in the supply closed.”
“That’s old news.” With that we walked back to upstairs, and I started to wonder why Jason said the hole looked beautiful and lonely. I then remembered the story we are not allowed to talk about. I then locked the door and made double sure that it was looked. I did not want anything to happen to Jason. Maybe I should tell you about the story we are not allowed to talk about sometime.
Teddy was standing in the kitchen eating a chicken sandwich he looked at us and said, “sorry I have the drunchies.” Jason responded, “That’s okay I have the munches!”
4:50 am
I snuck away into the basement without Jason seeing me. I see a black envelope sitting on the edge of the pit. I opened it and read the contents of the letter. “Dear Gunner, I would love to come out of this hole, but I am trapped in here. The only way to talk directly to me is by jumping in the hole. Please I am so lonely down here. The only thing to keep me company is those bats.” After I read that a hand came out of the darkness in the bottomless pit. The hand beckoned me to come and join it. It looked like it belonged to a female and had a ring on her ring finger. There was black nail polish on her nails to.
I have been the night manager at this restaurant for three years. I have seen many crazy and strange things. I know when it is time to leave and so I did. Before I left, I threw a stone and the hand it caught it. That was pretty cool. I went back upstairs with the letter.
I tried showing Jason the letter, but it was blank he said. Just like the New Moon papers.
Daily entry June 20th
9:50 The rednecks are back. They sit in the parking lot for hours. They have Ford pickup trucks with straight pipe exhaust. They play loud music to its either country or rap there is no in between. They come in and buy some food, but they go back outside and tailgate for hours.
11:11 I just went into the freezer and there was a message on the freezer walls in ice. It is in the walls.
At midnight I heard a thump at the front door. I opened it and found a neatly wrapped bundle of paper. Oh, great another chronicle of the New Moon paper. I opened it up and read it.
When midnight strikes all is silent in woods, but then a thumping and crashing can be herd. A beast unlike no other is walking through and looking for his next meal. The beast is bipedal but also can walk on all fours if it wants. It has razor sharp teeth and claws. It is dark as the night with bright red eyes. The beast stalks up to the road and see a car parked. A man is standing by the car relieving himself. The man’s name is Blake Thomas. The beast takes its shot and pounce on Blake. He never even hears it coming. He goes for the throat and the man never has a chance to scream. The beast drags him through the woods and into his den. He feasts on the corpse and is full until the next moon.
After I finished reading it, I wondered if it was talking about the beast that is stalks the Restaurant. I made a mental note about not leaving the store at all tonight.
I did know a man name Blake Thomas. He was one of the rednecks in the parking lot tonight. He does not have a good reputation. Him and his friends drive their loud trucks around town all hours of the night breaking many of the vehicle noise laws. Having party’s until late in the night during the work week. Getting into fights in the bars and not being good customers in the restaurant.
1:15am
A man came into the store and asked if he can use our phone. He said he escaped a dungeon and needs to use the phone to call the police. We have a policy that you can only use the phone if you buy something. I told him this and he said He did not have any money and to please let him use the phone. I said rules are rules and he screamed fuck you and ran out of the store. I could not but to help notice that he had Nike shoes on that seemed to be brand new and an apple watch.
2:30 am
Stan came into the store and asked if I had seen anything strange tonight. I said no more than usually. He proceeded to tell me that a man named Blake Thomas was reported missing not far from here. He was one of the rednecks that was in the parking lot.
They found a blood trail from his car to the woods, but it just ended kind like the body flew away. They think he parked his truck to take a piss and an animal got him.
I told him I will be right back and went to the back to grab the New Moon paper. I showed it to him, and he read it. He told me He will investigate it, but we must burn it as the rest. He said if that is true, we must pretend like it’s not and say it was a black bear or a Cougar. No one will take this seriously. I promised him I would burn it so after he left, I went in the back and burned it in an empty trash can. The way it screamed when it burned still haunts me.
Some of you ask why we did not try to prevent the stories from coming true. We tried a couple of time but no matter what we did the story still comes true. I tried to show other people the midnight paper instead of seeing the stories, they see a blank piece of paper. The only one that see’s the stories are Stan and me.
4:00 am
I was in the lobby taking gum off from under the table when I looked outside and seen the beast standing on the edge of the forest staring at me. I do not know what came over me, but I suddenly felt courage and open the side door and stared at it. I yelled at it to leave and stop hurting people. I heard a voice come from where it was standing. “NO” is all it said after that it turned and walked into the woods. The voice sounded to be an old man.
The next day I was doing my usual rounds after ten. Cleaning up the garbage in the parking lot and getting all the bloody clothes off the ground and put into the bin. When I see a giant patch of live ice next to the lobby door. They usually disappeared by themselves, but I got an idea.
I went to the drink station and got a cup of hot water. I then went to the spot of ice and emptied the contents of the cup on the ice. It immediately began to melt. It also made a weird moaning sound to as it disappeared. Now I know I do not have the most stable mind in the world, but I know that did not seem right. I did that to another ice patch I found in the lobby and the same thing happened.
At 12:30 I was in the lobby reading a book since it was a slow night when Simon walked into the lobby. Simon started at me and looked pissed. I asked if I could help with something. Simon yelled why I would do such a thing. I said I have no idea what you’re talking about. He said I killed the ice for no reason. It was not harming anyone by just being there. Then I viciously poured hot water on it. I said, “Hey Simon it’s no big deal it is just ice” Simon started to hysterically laugh “No big ha ha ha no big ha ha ha NO BIG DEAL.” Simon then lunged at me. I was at this point standing in front of a table and moved out of the way. He smashed in a table and went down with it. I waited for him to get back up, but he was laying there motionless. I stood over him and seen the damages. He broke his neck when he hit the ground. I did not know what to do and I panicked. I went and grabbed one of the many coats from the lost and found and threw it over him and picked up both his legs and dragged him to the supply closet.
When I was dragging him, I noticed he was getting lighter and lighter. I looked down at him and noticed his upper body was gone. He had melted. I could see that some of his body was made of ice. I stopped and studied him. He slowly turned to ice and melted. After fifteen minutes all that was left of him was a giant puddle of water. I moped it up and went to make a coffee for myself. I was in shock how could that have happened? I went and used an emergency flask I had hidden in the basement and ignored a letter left from Lilith to traumatize to care. I drank it and smoked an emergency cigar.
At 2:10 Am
I was calm and just reading a book. I had no customers for 3 hours, so I was trying my best to fend off boredom. I heard the lobby door open, and I looked up and seen him. Standing there smiling at me the same man that was lying dead on the floor. Simon walked up to me and said it was nice to see me. I was in completely panic mode and to stunned to speak. I could only watch.
“What’s wrong” asked Simon” looks like you’ve seen a ghost,”
Simon ordered a fish and coffee, and I nervously made his food. He sat down in the lobby to eat. He was going on about how he hated the hot weather and wished it could be winter.
I could only think I’m going crazy there’s no way that’s Simon he just died a couple of hours ago. Simon got up and walked to the counter to grab some napkins and he slipped on the water that the last Simon left after he died. This Simon fell and when he went down, he cracked his head at the side of a table with a loud crunch.
I went over to see if he was okay. I checked his pulse, and he was indeed dead. At this moment Teddy came into the lobby. I froze in place, and he just looked at me and said, “First time killing Simon?”
“Yeah…. have you killed him before?”
Teddy laughed and said multiple times. He grabs a cup fills it with coke and put a little bit of liquor in it and asked if I wanted some. I asked what it was, and he said 190% proof Ever clear. I declined his offer. Also wonder where he got that because it is illegal in this state.
I put a wet floor sign next to his body as it melted, and we took a seat in the lobby. I explained to him that it was an accident. He said he believed it and admitted he had killed him a couple times. He said he was driving at night with his headlights off and ran him over when it first happened, but after the body melted in the back of his truck, he figured something strange was happening. He said no body no proof no evidence so just made it a forget story.
Teddy said that at the guardian cult club thing had him take classes about how to identify cryptids and deal with them. He said that the first step in dealing with a cryptid is to identify them. Every Cryptid has its weakness for example how big foot hates fire. He said he thinks Simon is not human. He could be a being that makes clones out of ice but will need more evidence before he makes his final assessment.
Teddy also said he thinks the restaurant is the epicenter of all the strangeness like something is wrong with it. He said he can feel a presence in the walls.
After we were done talking, we went outside, and Teddy lit up a joint and we passed it around. After we were done, I seen the beast standing in the woods staring at us.
I think it’s time to tell you about the story that we are not allowed to talk about. This happened when I first started working here. The old maintenance guy mike was training on how to be a maintenance guy like him. Back then the door was unlocked and down below was about the same but there was a tarp over the arcade machines with a layer of dust on it. He showed me what I was supposed to do down there with the equipment. When I first went down there, I asked what that hole was. He said that he did not know, and he thought it was an old well.
After a while of working there Mike began to get weird. He would constantly tell me that he felt as if he were being watched downstairs then he would say the hole felt lonely. One day I went down there when he was working and caught him starring at the hole. I asked him what he was doing and all he would say was that the hole was beautiful. Weeks passed and mike would spend longer down there and looked to be not sleeping or showering. Mike told me that the hole was special. I asked how it was special and he never answered me. He just walked away.
One day I got to work and went to find Mike. I had seen his truck outside, so I knew he was there. I went downstairs and found a pile of his clothes next to the hole. After all this time no one knew what happened. They think he jumped in the hole.
After the owners heard what happened they had the door sealed and only a handful of people could go into the basement. The owners even did not have an explanation for the hole. I am mainly the person who ventured into the basement since nothing that strange had happened to me down there up until recently. After working here for years and being down in the basement to I have never understood what happened to him. After hearing Jason say what mike said all that time ago, I am going to make sure that door is sealed and no one else is going down there.
I am starting to think this place effects people differently.
I just found myself standing in the freezer again.
The next day at work was slow. It was 1:00 am and I was alone in the store. Teddy stopped by and asked if I have ever seen that black tree in the woods ten miles away from here that has red sap running down it and no other tree grows near it. Its taller than all the other trees. “I said I have, and you should stay away from it. People have disappeared in that area of the woods.” Teddy said he went up to the tree and cut a piece of the bark off. He said when he did that the tree started to shake and grown. He then got the hell out of there.
I said my name for that oddity is the demon tree. He also talks sometimes, and you’ll find bloody clothes next to it.
“Hey Teddy, you like paranormal things rights.”
“Sure, do bud.”
“I got something it the basement that is pretty odd want to come, see?”
“Sure, only if I can make a mix drink first.”
After he made a mix drink we went into the basement. Teddy stood there for a bit and stared at it. He said the hole seemed unnatural. The longer he looked at it his eyes would hurt. He said he felt like the hole was trying to put thoughts in his head and for some reason he felt sad for it. It felt lonely.
“Yo bro I’m not sure what this whole thing is, but it’s pretty fucking weird.”
Teddy then finished his mix drink took a sharpie out and wrote a T on it and then proceeded to throw it in the bottomless pit. He burped and yelled “FOR SCIENCE.”
“I just want to test if it will really come back out the top.”
“Well, we will know tomorrow. I come down here as soon as I get to work.”
Teddy turned around and seen the bar and said “Oh snap is that some old liquor”
I told him that stuff has been down here as long as I worked here, and I never tried any of it.
I told him he can try some of he wants.
“It is against my code to give up free liquor.” Said Teddy
I showed him the old bottles left down here. He picked up the moons tear bottle pulled out two shot glasses from his pocket and filled them. He said I think it is about time for a taste test. I agreed and we both took toke a shot and it surprisingly went down smooth.
Teddy yelled “that was awesome let’s do another.”
So, we did, and it tasted even better. We wondered out loud why it was called moons tears. We just figured it’s because it sounds neat.
We went back upstairs since I had to get back to work and Teddy asked if he could crash in the supply closet. I said he could. I looked outside the lobby window and in the dark night was a brilliant white full moon. It looked so beautiful and next thing I know Teddy is standing next to me starring at the moon to. We stood there for what felt like five minutes until a customer came into the store and asked if he could get something to eat. That snapped us out of our stopper, and I went to go serve him. I then noticed two hours had passed since we came back from the basement. It felt like five minutes. How could that be right.
After the customer left, I asked Teddy what he thought about it. He said there was two explanations for what happened. Either the Liquor had some sort of magical properties or there were drugs in it. He said he thinks it was the latter but who knows.
“Now won’t you please excuse me Gunner I must retire to my bed quarters for the night.”
With that he went into the supply closet and went to sleep.
Since Teddy went to sleep, I have taken the liberty to type this up and post. Hope you all are enjoying this post. It’s been helping me keep events clear and in order. I’ll be sure to post again soon.