You were walking to your place. It was Halloween and the owners decided to shorten your shift because they said that "You need a break!" And that "You should spend more time by yourself!!"

You thought that was the biggest amount of bull you heard since the flat earth theory!

But you couldn't argue with your bosses! So you obliged. If you're obligated to take a break by your boss. Then you should take a break! The owners were the reason why you even have a job after all!

You sighed and looked both ways.

Your home was across the road. So the walk would only last about a couple minutes or so.

Once all the cars passed, you were sure no other vehicle was nearby. You crossed the road. And you finally went to your place!

Your humble abode was a small camo tent. It was on the edge of the woods, hidden between two trees. It was not the best living space. But beggars can't be choosers! You sighed. It was a unique experience every time you went into your 'home.'

You thought that the Gas Station was your home. Sure, the Gas Station was bad. But it beats living in the tent or your mom's house when she married that guy... You mumbled about how great your mom is and how sad she's being used.

She needed better. You thought as you went into the entrance of your place. She deserved way better...

You unzipped the entrance and went in. It had a lantern on the corner, and a sleeping bag in the middle. The other corners of the tent were also occupied with various items. A pile of snacks and food was in one corner, your backpack was in another corner.

The last one was a trash basket you found in the woods that was barely used due to your working at the Gas Station a lot. You rarely visited this place.

To be fair... you only visited this place because you had your stuff here! As well as sleeping in here.

You sat down and pulled out a book to read. Sure, it was late. But would you want to finish this book? Besides... your next shift is a long time from now. So why not? You got some time to kill!

You were reading. Everything seemed to fade away when you read. The drama, your past, Rocco. Everything bad was gone for at least a little bit when you were reading.

But while you were reading. You heard movement. Drastic movement. It sounds like a guy running and to make it worse. It is near the tent!

Oh, sh*t! You thought, sweating a bit as you heard the noise. Something or someone is outside!

Great... one of your only breaks was interrupted by some person or creature! Damn it!

You slowly got up and grabbed your pocket knife. And you took a deep breath for good measure.

Okay [NAME], you have to go and see what's out there! You thought. There's absolutely no point in being a p*ssy! You're going to confront whoever is there and then you can get back to reading!

You slowly opened up the tent entrance. The sounds suddenly stopped. But you know for a fact that something is out there. In a second you ran out of the tent and pulled out your pocket knife and opened the blade.

"Who's out there!" You said in a tough tone.

You looked around. And what you saw near the edge of a tree. Was the man in the trenchcoat?

He was standing there. All hunchbacked over there. His face was not visible at all. But you did get a look in his hands. It looked pale and skinny. Its fingers, (Or should I say claws.) were inhumanly long! You were sweating a little bit more.

OKAY! You thought. I got a plan.

You raised your voice. "GET THE HELL OUT BEFORE I SLIT YOUR THROAT AND PISS ON YOU'RE BLEEDING NECK!" You then took a step forward. Your face was furious enough to rival the Hulk himself. You wanted this guy to go away!

The man finally showed his face. It was a face of utter terror.

He had greasy hair. His eyes were milk-white and too small to be human. It didn't help that he had no nose and a wide jaw.

Yep. You thought. This is not human! No wonder I considered him creepy!

You narrowed your eyes.

"Who the hell are you?" You asked him. You raised an eyebrow at the man as you pulled out an incredulous look.

The man's face turned into a nervous look. And he then bent his legs down. Which looked extremely uncomfortable. The sound of him bending his legs was like fingernails on a chalkboard. He then quickly ran off on all fours.

You blinked. You were shaking in your boots. You looked around with sadness.

"What did I just see?" You asked yourself. Confusion all over your face. Did you just see some guy with biologically impossible features walking on all fours into the woods? What the actual hell!

You walked back into your tent and just went to bed. You needed some rest damn it! After all, seeing weird crap does take its toll. So you laid down. Face first on the old pillow and just passed out of exhaustion. Besides, you're going to work tomorrow! You need more than coffee to work at the sh*tty gas station at the edge of town!

You went back into the gas station with your usual helpful demeanor. You came in to see Jack talking to Vanessa. Vanessa was another part-timer. You don't know much about her. And that would stay that way because you only had one very short discussion with her in your almost year-long time here. You just walked over to the counter and chimed in.

"Hey!" You said with that same smile on your face. "What's going on?"

Jack turned to you and said "Well. I was just talking to Vanessa."

You nodded and turned to Vanessa and waved at her. She waved back and smiled.

"Hey, kid!" She said,

"Hey! Where's Marl-" You were interrupted by Vanessa pointing at Marlboro, who was sitting with his head down. And he was sobbing his eyes out! He was making the table at the window wet with a gigantic puddle of tears. It was a pretty awful sight to see.

"Oh! Well, that sucks!" You said with a surprised look.

"Yeah." Vanessa replied "He came in a few hours ago. He was already like that and I can't get him to stop."

She then proceeded to ask Jack if he could cheer the cultist up. Jack asked what he was supposed to do. And Vanessa just said "I don't know, but he was asking for you when he first came in. Before he got too incoherent to understand."

You raised an eyebrow. "Why can't I talk to him? I mean, I got along with him well! It wouldn't hurt to talk to him right?"

You really wanted to speak to Marlboro again. You didn't have anything to do right now because some other employee (maybe Carlos or Vanessa) did everything already.

Jack just said blatantly, yet calmly "No! [Name], I don't want you to get in trouble with murder cultists. So let me handle this okay? There's some inventory someone needs to do. Might as well be you."

You reluctantly nodded and said "Okay! But be careful! You are dealing with a murder cultist after all!" You then went to do inventory. Man... you thought. What was so bad, that it made a murder cultist cry!? Did his cult reject him!?

Inventory was surprisingly really short this time! Usually, it took an hour but this time it was only a half-hour! You walked out. Marlboro & Vanessa were gone. But Carlos was here! That made you happy! But he then clocked out after you got done doing inventory.

F*ck! Sh*t! I didn't even get the chance to talk to him. Damn it! You thought. It's also nighttime? How did I not notice that?!

You just cleaned around the place. Mainly the table where Marlboro sobbed over. After that, you turned to see two agents that looked the same! They both wore the same black suits and haircuts fit for the army. The only difference is that the agent on the right had darker-colored hair.

You also had the strange privilege to hear their conversation with Jack from a distance. Apparently, both of their names were Brick Roscoe. And they were CDC agents.

Since when do CDC agents look like the men in black?

They denied the idea of them being the same person. And the left Brick said, "It's a very common name!"

They asked Jack to hand any electronics to them. And Jack complied. Left Brick also pulled out a warrant and was rightfully called out for it. Left Brick apologized and they then put a cable in the phone. A laptop was connected to said cable as well. After a while. They were talking about some incident with Jack. Brick then unplugged the phone. (It doesn't matter to specify which Brick. They're literally the same guy!)

They then mentioned that one of Jack's blogs he did contained a tutorial to jump into another dimension.

Wait, wait what the F*CK?!

Not only that, some of Jack's fan's tried to do it for themselves.

"When the others opened the door, horrible things happened. Horrible, horrible things."

"Things involving butts! Horrible butt things!"

You widened your eyes as you heard what the Brick's said.

"Why the f*ck is this a thing?" You whispered.

Luckily, all traces of it have been removed from the internet. Brick beat the other Brick at a game of rock paper scissors. And then one of them removed both of their eyes with a spoon with a squish.

"WHAT THE HELL!" You yelled out. You then just walked into the beer cooler and waited for the agents to leave. Enough was enough! You needed a break from these weird agents. Eventually, they left. And you headed out.

Now, you thought everything would be smooth sailing right? Wrong, because standing in front of you and Jack. Was Kieffer.

You stood there as the possible immortal drunk politician stood there, looking extremely creepy as hell. He didn't buy anything when asked to pump gas. He's just standing there... drunkenly!

"Well ain't you two the cat's who ate the canary?" The drunk a**hole said. You could smell the booze from where you were standing. Not only that, the metaphor he used pissed you off! That was one of the worst uses of a literary device you've ever seen!

You quietly walked over to Jack.

"Hey Jack," you whispered to him. "Shouldn't we get that no loitering sign back?"

"Yeah," Jack whispered back. "I think taking down the 'No loitering - Or Else' sign was a bad idea."

You finally got some relief... until Kieffer came back from the bathroom.

"Oh God damnit!" You whispered-yelled into Jack's ear.

Kieffer then said the same metaphor he did previously.

"I don't know what that means!" Both you and Jack said at the same time.

"Where's your friend? I think his name's uhh... Mcstabbins?"

You shivered at how much Kieffer casually butchered Carlos' name.

"Kieffer look, if you have issues with Tony-"

"Tony! Yeah, that's his name!"

"then you should talk to him! I'm tired of being in the middle between you two!"

Kieffer then slowly leaned on the counter. His face contoured into a look that can only be described as Satanic and inhuman. You shivered even more at how bizarre and uncanny this punk was acting.

"Hello sir, would you like to buy somet-"

"SHUT UP YOU STREETRAT!" Kieffer yelled out, interrupting you. "Go home you little sh*t!"

You suddenly felt a surge of hostility coursing through your body. You now have another enemy on your list that wasn't your stepfather!

You still kept your composure for now.

Kieffer then turned his attention to Jack and said. "You know this place is all an experiment. And you're nothing but a little mouse?"

He then started imitating mouse sounds. It sounded like nails on a chalkboard times flesh being stuck in a wood chipper! You groaned.

"Sir, can you please buy something or-"

"F*ck you! You LITTLE PIECE OF SH*T!" Kieffer interrupted you yet again... you groaned even more.

"Not cool!" You replied. You expected Kieffer to make some angry insult back at you... but he didn't. He instead looked at Jack. Waiting for an answer.

Jack put his book away and stared at the drunkard with a face you never knew Jack was even capable of.

"Are you wasting my time or what? You're a trespasser if you are not buying anything. I got a job to do. So either buy something or I'll call Tom to take you out of here! So kindly buy something or f*ck off to somewhere else!"

Oh, sh*t!  You thought. Tom is a deputy! And Jack just threatened to call him on Kieffer? Man! Kieffer must've struck a nerve!

Kieffer then went to the aisles after chuckling. He then grabbed a small tube of Crest toothpaste. He paid with cash. And then took off all of his clothes. And then, before you could shut your eyes. Standing in front of you and Jack was a butt-naked Kieffer!

"WHAT THE ACTUAL F*CK?" You yelled out, the composure you had died in a giant inferno!

He then opened the toothpaste and began to rub it all over his exposed elderly-man body. Every inch of his naked body was covered in toothpaste. You started mumbling out random sounds as you witnessed this traumatic event! Nothing but random sounds came out of your mouth. The only words that came out of your mumbling were why, how, and the phrase "Help us!"

"People told me something is wrong with your mind. Is that true?"

Jack moved his eyes out of Kieffer's direction. You followed his example because the sight of a naked Kieffer made you want to stab your eyes out!

"Yeah," Jack replied.

"Do you have some sort of mental problem or condition?" Kieffer said.

Jack replied with another "Yeah."

"That's too bad."

Kieffer then squeezed out as much toothpaste as he could. He then grabbed a forty-four-ounce cup and filled it with a red frozen drink from the frozen drink machine.

He then poured it upside down on top of his head. He then started shaking the sticky debris like a wet dog. You stood there, your fist clenching, your teeth gritting.

"Oh gross!" You yelled out at the drunk a**hat nudist.

Kieffer ignored you.

"What is your mental problem?" He asks while his pile of clothes were next to him.

"What?" Jack replied.

"What's your condition? Schizophrenia?! Depression?! Meningitis? The gay?!"

"No," Jack replied again. He answered rather quickly. "I don't sleep,"

Wait what? Jack didn't sleep?

"You don't sleep? Like ever?" Kieffer said with an interesting tone.

"I can never fall asleep. I haven't slept a single night in years. It's a very rare genetic condition with not a single cure. And one day it will kill me, but until then, I handle it the best I can."

You widen your eyes. "You can't sleep?! Well, that explains the bags under your eyes!"

Kieffer nods. "That must also explain why he can't reach you."

Jack simply asked, "Why who can't reach me?"

Suddenly, Spencer came rushing through the front doors. The man seemed very concerned.

He looked at Kieffer who muttered some rather specific words. He then took off the suit jacket he was wearing and threw it over the naked drunkard.

He then ushered him to an SUV outside. And he then went over to you and Jack.

"Hey kid," Spencer said to you. "You alright?"

Your face said it all. You're the polar opposite of alright. But you lied and faked a smile.

"Yeah, I'm okay!"

Spencer than just threw you a bag of Swedish Fish and a twenty-dollar bill. You caught it and looked at Spencer with a more genuine smile.

"Thanks, sir!" You thanked Spencer.

Spencer chuckled. "No problem kiddo!"

Spencer still gave you that fatherly smile. It was rather warm. Despite it being Spencer doing it. He then asked Jack for the security tape in exchange for a hundred bucks. Jack happily obliged and took the hundred with a grin on his face.

It's been two minutes since Spencer came to get Kieffer. And you were booming on the floor until Jack put away his book.

"Hey [Name]!" Jack hollered out. You turned to Jack.

"Yeah! What is it?"

"Listen, [Name], I want you to take a break. You seem very stressed."

You raised an eyebrow with an incredulous look.

"Really dude?" You asked in a bummed-out tone. "I already took a break not long ago though!"

Jack shook his head. "Look, I understand you want to work, but I don't want you to be overworking yourself after Kieffer's degeneracy! And as the owners said. You're supposed to listen to older employees because you're a child!" He stated bluntly. "So may you please take a break for at least an hour or two? Please? For me?"

His expression was a mix of concern and desperation.

You sighed. You then put the broom away and got your backpack & Swedish Fish from Spencer.

"Fine! I'll take a break! But it's only for your sake! Not mine!" You said reluctantly. "I'm going to hang out somewhere I guess!"

Jack chuckled at your reluctance to take breaks.

"Thanks, kid," he stated while pulling out his book to read.

You then walked and went into the storage closet. Tired of the day's mentally insane shenanigans. You were going to sit down. Until you saw Marlboro bawling his eyes out on the floor. The sobs echoed out of the storage closet. You quickly closed the door behind you. Now... you are in a closet with the sobbing Marlboro.

Oh... you thought. He's still sobbing? Poor guy!

You just stared at Marlboro having a mental breakdown. You just sat down in the small space unoccupied by Marlboro. You put the backpack and Swedish Fish next to you and sighed.

"Hey, buddy!" You whispered. You didn't know how to approach the situation.

Marlboro heard you and got up.

"Kiddo?!" He said between sobs. "How are you here?"

You sighed again.

"Jerry, I work here. Of course, I would be here!" You stated bluntly, your voice softer this time to comfort the crying cultist in front of you. "But why are you crying, man? Is everything okay?"

Marlboro continued sobbing.

"I um," he sobbed more. "No... I'm not okay!"

He continued crying like a baby.

You widen your eyes. You decided to try to make things a little bit better for your friend. Should you call him your friend? Whatever, he's your friend now.

"Mind telling me what's making you sad?" You spoke to him like a dad to a sobbing child. "Maybe I can cheer you up?"

Marlboro continued sobbing for another minute before he could answer. "Yes," he said between sobs. "I'll do that!"

He then told you the story. The higher-ups of his religion sent him on a "vision quest" where he had to live in the woods for a week.

He had to go hunt and forage for food.

"I finished my trial with flying colors," Marlboro said between sobs. "And I was about to head to my brothers and sisters! But I wanted to grab my smokes first!"

He then told you about the "Feast of Samhain."

You raised an eyebrow. "The Feast of Samhain? What's that?"

"It's the holiest of holy days to the mathmetists! It's like a graduation ceremony, Christmas morning, and a massive hardcore o*gy all smashed up in one! I was really excited about it ever since I joined. But then I found out..."

"You found out what?" You replied.

"I found out everyone was gone! When I went back, everyone was gone. No one was there... the place was abandoned! It looked like everyone was in a hurry because beds were not made and personal items were still there. A small fire was even left in the wood stove!"

You frowned. "So what did you do?"

"I waited and waited. I thought they would come back but... bu-" he started sobbing even harder than before. "Everyone vanished! Nobody was there! I realized they went into the next stage of Mathmetism without me! They graduated and went somewhere else! And I didn't make it! They left me!"

He sobbed harder. Tears were becoming large puddles coming from his eyes. You frowned even more.

I feel like sh*t! I can't see this anymore!

You then sat Marlboro up and slowly wrapped your arms around him. It was on instinct. You needed to comfort your friend somehow.

"I'm sorry Jerry," you said while squeezing him. "Those people are d*cks! I hope they regret leaving you!"

Marlboro widens his eyes. And he slowly wrapped his arms around you. He squeezes you tightly while crying on your shoulder.

"Thanks, kiddo..." he said while rocking himself back & forth. "I won't take you or your efforts for granted. You're such a good kid!"

You didn't mind Marlboro being this way. You rubbed his back as he sobbed. You found a blanket and wrapped it around him as he embraced you.

Eventually, you and Marlboro still hugged each other for the rest of your shift. You and he talked about stupid crap like SpongeBob and dark jokes that made you laugh all the time. And by the end of it all. Marlboro still held you in his arms like you were his child. Maybe... you were his child in a way. And you didn't mind in the slightest. You and he eventually fell asleep, still in each other's arms.