Creepy - Day 7 - Tales From the Gas Station Part 7

Episode Date: October 7, 2018

There's a gas station at the edge of town...***Written by Gas Station Jack***Please consider supporting the podcast at Patreon.com/Creepypod or creepypod.com/support***You can also subscribe to us on... YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQ3SrH_3fsROXFAjomKcUtw***Produced by Steve Blizin, Puzzle Audio***Title music by Alex Aldea***Intro/Outro Narration by Joe Stofko Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 This episode of the 31 Days of Horrors presented thanks to patrons Will Caldwell, Candace Nola, Freak Show 808, Margaret Wittick, Molly Smith, Shadow Sumbra, Lisa Finnegan, Lillian Schumacher, and Lodi Grinbeck. If you'd like to learn more about how you can support the podcast and a rewards such as episode shoutouts, early releases, sticker sets, and bonus episodes, please visit the reward to yours at patreon.com slash creepypod. This is creepy. A podcast dedicated to sharing the most famous chilling and disturbing creepypasters and urban legends in the world.
Starting point is 00:00:50 Whether these stories truly happened or not simply fabrications is for you to decide. These stories may contain graphic depictions of violence. and explicit language. Listener discretion is advised. Creepy presents. The 31 Days of Horror. Day 7. Tales from the gas station.
Starting point is 00:01:19 Part 7. Credited to Gas Station Jack. With guest narration by Owen McCune and Steve Blizzin. Recovering from an injury sucks. Recovering from an injury, you can't fall asleep sucks worse. Recovering from an injury, you can't fall asleep while simultaneously being hunted by a psychopathic
Starting point is 00:01:44 lackey of a dark god with a personal vendetta against you sucks even worse. But what sucks even more worse? Is having to do all the above and still being called into work because, as the owners put it, the new guy is, quote, a complete and total moron with willful and malicious idiocy that borders on the criminal, unquote. And so, am here, against the doctor's advice at the shitty gas station at the edge of town.
Starting point is 00:02:13 Only a little worse for the wear. What's incredible is that I've only been back for one day and there's already a body count. More on that later. My right legs in a cast from ankle to thigh, and I've elected to use crutches because, unsurprisingly, a gas station is not wheelchair accessible. The cast has several signatures and messages, which is very strange because I have no memory of anyone signing it. But that could just be a result of the pain meds.
Starting point is 00:02:43 Looking down now, I can see that Carlos scrawled this message. Try and stay out of trouble. See. There's also a message in red crayon. Jerry was here. A few signatures scribbled in Sharpie and a little further out my leg. I have to pull my pants way up to read it. This note.
Starting point is 00:03:04 R-T-R-A-T-C-exclamation point. Well, that's annoyingly cryptic. I checked the tape logs to see who I let get so close to my delicate area, but the owners had every camera in the place removed. I guess there was something about finding that secret room full of security camera feeds to bring personal privacy into the public discussion. I feel like the act of removing all the security cameras was a bit of an overreaction, especially with Spencer still out there.
Starting point is 00:03:36 The police took a statement and confiscated the remains of the bomb. They're taking this whole thing very seriously. West warrants out for Spence from Middleton, should he ever show up again. As for Kiefer, things get a little more interesting. The police were unable to find any evidence that he ever existed. He had no property in his name, no driver's license, no public record of any kind. The only thing even linking him to this town was a grainy picture in an old yearbook photo. It would seem that Kiefer was living off the grid ever since he graduated high school.
Starting point is 00:04:11 And now that Spencer's attempt to blow up the gas station failed, Kiefer suspended his election campaign and simply disappeared. The sheriff's been sending a new deputy, Arnold, to check on me once or twice a day. Arnold isn't from around here, which is probably why he agreed to replace Tom as a new gas station babysitter. He's about six-two, dark-skinned, with a mustache thick enough to plant a yard flamingo in. He has eyes that constantly telegraphed the sentiment. knock that nonsense off. Man, I've yet to see him smile. I don't know if Arnold will become the next Tom or the next Spencer.
Starting point is 00:04:50 Right now, he could go either way. Arnold was the one that dropped me off at work today. I'm not supposed to get behind the steering wheel for a while, which is fine, I guess. It's not like I'm going on any road trips anytime soon. On the way to work, we passed the SUV of the man with the beard. The one staked in place on the... the side of the road by the tree growing up through its engine.
Starting point is 00:05:13 I asked Arnold about it, but he just shrugged it off and said I shouldn't worry myself with other people's business. I asked him about the owner of the vehicle, and Arnold said that he thinks he got lost in the woods just like those hikers last fall. The search and rescue effort was underway, and he was confident that they would find him, quote, one way or another. After Arnold dropped me off today, I went about my regular shift starting duties. I reconciled Marlboro's Till, not at all surprise.
Starting point is 00:05:43 to see he was somehow $150 over, or that the surplus was entirely in $1 coins. I logged all the invoices that had piled up while I was out, and I emptied the trash cans. I was hoping that I might run into the cowboy. But the only thing in the men's room was an obese Hispanic trucker punishing the toilet and surrounding air with an unholy fury that deserves its own scary story. The sun was starting to go down when I hobbled out to the dumpster, balancing garbage bags against my crutches and probably looking like a baby deer learning to walk. You know, if that deer were drunk and two-legged carrying several bags of garbage.
Starting point is 00:06:21 The scorched earth near the dumpster was the same as I'd left it, blackened down to the subsoil. Somewhere just past the start of the trees was another patch of smold of remains, one that I had neglected to mention in the police report. One that might look to the casual observer like the remains of a human body. Before I turned to go back in, I noticed something odd on the side of the dumpster. At first, I thought it was a child's toy, stuck to the dirty outside wall. Then I realized that it was moving, breathing, crawling slowly, and eating the gooey drippings off the rest of the dumpster.
Starting point is 00:06:57 The thing looked like a giant tomato caterpillar, about eight inches long, and as the sun went down, I swear I could see the thing giving off its own light source. This squishy caterpillar thing didn't seem to mind my presence and even let me feed it an old starburst that I had in my pocket. A yellow. Because like all people, I hate the yellow starburst. The critter bioluminescent a little brighter as he ate at happy and I gave it a gentle pet. It tied wasn't as what has it appeared.
Starting point is 00:07:28 In fact, it seemed to be covered in tiny clear hairs. You're not so bad. I said, while it nibbled at the candy. Not everything out here needs to be scary, huh? It wiggled and crawled away to a place on the back of the dumpster with more gung. And I went back into the gas station. Marlborough was taken up smoking again. He'd quit for a while and then explained that the suffering he was causing himself by not smoking
Starting point is 00:07:57 grossly outweighed the suffering that he was causing us through secondhand smoke. And mathematically speaking, it didn't make any sense for him to quit. I'd hope that he was beginning to shed its cultist philosophy after the entire compound mysteriously vanished, but now I'm staring to fear that he can't be rehabilitated. Oh well. Today was a pretty normal. Well, not normal, but average day at the gas station. We had some strange people visit.
Starting point is 00:08:26 We had some normal people visit, too. And along the way, I zoned out. I finished a book I've been reading, made some boring journal entries, even got online to buzz. the internet for a while. There's another package sitting under the counter addressed to me from a return address I don't recognize. I took a gamble with the last package and it turned out to be something great. But that was before Spencer tried to kill me.
Starting point is 00:08:50 Once again, my guts telling me not to open it. I got a phone call today at the store just a few hours after sundown. It was pretty late. Hard to say one exactly. Marlborough was asleep in his hammock in the dry storage room and I couldn't remember the last customer. This was somewhere in that temporal wasteland between dusk and dawn.
Starting point is 00:09:10 Hello. Just outside under any circumstances. Two, do not drink the tap water. Don't smell it. Don't look at it. It's bottled water from here on out. Three, don't trust your eyes. Four, barricade the...
Starting point is 00:10:01 Hang on, hang on. Where did you say the pen was? He sighed. My right or you're right? Right then I heard a car horn honk. It was the old widow, Miss Sistrunk. She's another local, somewhere in the area of a hundred years old, if I had a guess. And at this point, not so much more than a skeleton wrapped in an ill-fitting skin suit
Starting point is 00:10:27 with vibrant lipsticks smeared all around the general mouth area. After her husband died, Miss Agatha Sistrunk had taken to buying and collecting sports cars and oversized trucks and racing them around the outskirts of town at all hours of the the night. Her most recent purchase was a brand new Ford F550, with a painting of the Hulk in all his green smashing glory along the side. In person, she was a sweet old lady, no taller than four and a half feet. She wore special shoes to reach the gas pedal and always came into the gas station to fill out because she knew I'd help her pump her gas, something she'd never done before and wasn't interested in learning how to do. One sec, I said to the voice on the other
Starting point is 00:11:09 ran to the phone. Be right back. Miss Sistrunk means me to top her off. Listen to me. The voice growled. I hear what you're saying, I said as I grabbed my crutches and got ready to leave. But I don't work for you.
Starting point is 00:11:29 With that, I hung up the phone and went outside to help Miss Sistrunk. Old Agatha was happy to see I was back at work. Apparently Marlboro made her nervous. She said he was flirting with her and wouldn't stop smoking while he pumped her gas. Before she left, she gave me a case of empty light beers. and asked if I would, quote, be a lamb and toss these for, I can't say no to Agatha. When I got around back to Tass of Trash, I noticed something incredible. The glowworm from this morning had formed itself into an enormous cocoon against the back of the dumpster.
Starting point is 00:12:03 I can't explain why exactly, but this filled me with some sort of... I don't know. What means the exact opposite of existential dread? Euphoria? Existential hope? Is this what optimism feels like? Again, I know it doesn't make any sense. But seeing the weird garbage-eaten caterpillar thing begin the brave journey of transformation
Starting point is 00:12:31 gave me this tingling feeling in my soul. Like this was some kind of sign. Just when a caterpillar thought his world had come to an end, he became a butterfly. My world just felt like it's coming to an end for a while too, little buddy. Maybe I'm also on the verge of a metamorphosis. Maybe the world doesn't have to be strange and scary.
Starting point is 00:12:57 Maybe it can be strange and cool. I decided that whatever hatch from the cocoon be a butterfly or a moth or monster, I was going to name it Starburst. I hobbled myself back to the gas station and toss one last look over my shoulder at the dumpster to see one of the raccoons with stuffing the cocoon into its mouth. devoured the whole thing in a couple of bites before making eye contact with me and dashing off into the woods. Carlos came into the store for his late shift and asked how I was feeling. I told him the pain was tolerable.
Starting point is 00:13:34 He nodded like that was the kind of answer he was looking for, and I went back to reading my book. A few minutes later, the man with a beard came into the gas station. I almost didn't recognize me as the same man that went into the woods after the creature he called an angler fish. He lost a lot of weight. His beard wasn't nearly as well kept, and he smelled like he bathed in a tub of pee that someone farted in. Hey, I said when he came in, you're still alive. Cool. Did I mention that the man was holding a pistol when he walked in? The thought crossed my mind for the briefest moment that I wonder what happened to his big gun.
Starting point is 00:14:13 I didn't have time to ask. He quickly found the locks on the door, used them, then covered the short distance to my register, and extended and aimed it at my face. I told you not to go outside. You're lucky you're even alive. He screamed before grabbing the store phone and yanking it out of the wall. He threw it to the ground
Starting point is 00:14:32 at a loud, satisfying smash nest. Who else is in this building? Let me see, I sad, thinking. There's you, me, and probably the other cashier unless he went into town again. I saw one other car out there. Toyota
Starting point is 00:14:51 That yours? No It's got to be Carlos Right on cue Carlos walked out of the back And froze at the side of the bearded man Still pointing a gun at my face Carlos might have been tempted to take action
Starting point is 00:15:05 If he hadn't been carrying a 50-pound bake of corn over his shoulder Instead he just raised his free hand and said softly Hey man We don't want no trouble If you're after cash Go ahead and take it Ain't no heroes here The bearded man laughed in an obnoxious way and said,
Starting point is 00:15:22 Well, at least there's one. My name is Benjamin, and I'm here to save your sorry asses. Carlos and I made eye contact. A lot can be conveyed in just an instant if you know the person you're looking at. He was trying to see what I wanted to do. I was trying to tell him to relax. This was neither the worst nor the weirdest thing that's happened in that room. Okay.
Starting point is 00:15:49 I said. What do you need us to do, Benjamin? There's something evil under this gas station, and nobody is leaving here until I understand what it is. Because I know that someone is working with that thing. I've seen it in my dreams. I know you have, too. Well, he was wrong about one thing.
Starting point is 00:16:13 Right then, Marlborough walked out of the dry-sword closet, stretching and yawning. Benjamin snapped him in at church. chokehold before you knew what was going on and jammed the gun against the side of his head. Are you listening to me? Benjamin screamed. I just told you that the world as you know it is just a facade. There's a devil here, and one of you is working for him. He looked at both of us for some kind of reaction, but I don't think he got the one he was looking for.
Starting point is 00:16:44 I just shrugged and said, Neat. Right then, Marlborough surprised the pants off everybody by half yelling, half laughing. Oh, let's do this. I'm not afraid to die. Before reaching up, grabbing the gun, pressing it against his head and pulling the trigger. I've seen a lot of weird stuff working at that shitty gas station. I've been nearly killed once or twice. I've watched the same guy die over and over in front of me.
Starting point is 00:17:12 I've seen things that may or may not be real, because I can't dream. and sometimes I wonder if my mind is making up for that in other ways. I've seen Ball Leitner, people with blue skin, a man with two heads, a talking dog, an Elvis impersonator that may have been a little too convincing. I've seen so much weird stuff in that room. But this was the first time I ever saw a look as surprise like that on anybody's face. And that was absolutely priceless. What? What the hell is wrong with you people?
Starting point is 00:17:51 Benjamin said, backing away from us. Ain't nothing wrong with us. Said Marlboro, relieved to be free from the headlock. What the hell's wrong with your gun? How did you know I was out of ammo? I didn't. There's a loud thud as Carlos dropped a sack of corn. He was the next to talk.
Starting point is 00:18:12 I think maybe you should get out of here, pal. Well, you still can. Afraid I can't do that. Benjamin responded. Not until this thing is dead. And not until I... I heard a wet thunk before I saw anything. Before Benjamin went limp and hit the ground,
Starting point is 00:18:30 when my eyes caught up to the situation, I hoped that what I was seeing was a hallucination. But the look of fear on Carlos' face told me this wasn't the case. The man standing behind Benjamin, holding a bloodied shovel. The man that just saved our bacon was smiling a toothy-delighted smile that he only ever made after inflicting the kind of pain he just inflicted. Hey Jack, said Spencer Middleton. You miss me?
Starting point is 00:18:58 He stuck Carlos and Marlborough in the walk-in freezer. Marlborough is and always has been to go with the flow kind of guy, so we went to the freezer voluntarily. Carlos put up a fight, which is why he ended up bruised and bloody and barely clinging to consciousness. From what I could see, Benjamin looked like he might be dead. At best, he was out cold and a slowly spreading pool of events. his own blood. Spencer pulled a couple of chairs out of storage and placed him both in front of the cash register facing one another. He made me hobble over and sit down in one. Then he spun the
Starting point is 00:19:29 other one around to sit on it backwards like a cool school teacher from the 90s. I just want you to know, he said, I'm not mad at you. And neither is he. He wanted me to relay that message. Spencer's face had specks of blood on it from where he'd beaten the shit out of Carlos. Your boss? I said. Yeah. He was upset at you for what you did to Kiefer and wanted me to show you what happens to bad children. You were supposed to meet him.
Starting point is 00:20:01 But then that got all cocked up, huh? Guess it just wasn't my time to die, I answered. That's when the smile faded from Spencer's face. He shook his head at me and said, Die? No. No, no, no. You weren't supposed to die.
Starting point is 00:20:21 You can't die. We need you. I saw some movement behind Spencer, but tried not to break eye contact. It was Benjamin. He was alive. And right now my best shot at getting out of this. He was moving slowly on the ground, regaining consciousness, but miraculously not making any noise. I tried to keep Spencer distracted.
Starting point is 00:20:43 Your boss? Tell me more about him. How do you find you? Who is he? Spencer chuckled. Oh, he's got a lot of names. But you'll meet him soon enough. And this time, we will not be interrupted.
Starting point is 00:21:01 And my friends? I don't care. They can join us. They can die. Makes me no difference. By the way, Jack, I wanted to ask. Did you guys ever figure, out who placed that bomb?
Starting point is 00:21:17 I laughed softly. Yeah, the police took it. They know it was you. They know everything. Well, almost everything. Okay, in the grand scheme of things, they know very little. But they do know that you tried to kill me and put a bomb in the gas station. Spencer shook his head again.
Starting point is 00:21:37 Wrong on both accounts. If I wanted you dead, you'd be dead. And a bomb? Seriously? Not my style. I think he had more to say to me, but I'll never know, because right then Benjamin yanked his head back and wiped in a knife blade the size of a large to all walk crosses off, neatly slicing his head halfway off.
Starting point is 00:21:58 Blood erupted out in a couple spurts and stopped, and Spencer Middleton was no more. That's what you get. Tanted Benjamin as he flung Spencer's lifeless body onto the floor, his blood pouring out and mixing with all the rest. I was going to suck for whoever I had to clean all this up. When we opened the freezer, we found Marlborough had gone all bad nurse on Carlos, sticking clumps of frozen meat all over his face.
Starting point is 00:22:26 Quote, for the swelling. I made us a fresh pot of coffee, and we took seats around the table by the window. Just in case a nosy passer-by decided to pass by, we put a tarp over Spencer and then moved the wet floor sign next to it. For about half an hour, we all just sat and drank coffee in a pregnant silence. When we were all done with our third cups, Carlos finally spoke. His jaw was swollen to hell, but he was still able to pronounce his words with only minor difficulty. So, why haven't we called the cops yet?
Starting point is 00:22:59 This was clearly self-defense. I've got the face to prove it. Yeah. So Benjamin, after some lengthy deliberation. Yeah, let's call them. That would be good. But tomorrow, you and me. mean you need to have a serious talk, Jack.
Starting point is 00:23:18 I called Arnold from the only phone in the building with any reception, Spencer Sell. The deputy listened to what I told him, just the most basic and simplified version of what happened that night, and he said he'd be on his way right after he got out of bed and put some clothes on. I called the owners next, and they were not happy. They told me next time I should call them first. Next time. Right now, the others are in their booth. staring out the window.
Starting point is 00:23:46 I'm sitting on my laptop documenting the night while the memories are still fresh. I know this isn't over yet. I think the gas station's going to have to close for a day or two. But when it opens again, I'll be here, writing my journals and doing my best to ignore anyone to walk through those doors. I guess that means this is to be continued. For more information, including pictures and videos of the stories told on the this podcast or to suggest stories for future episodes, please visit us at CreepyPod on Twitter,
Starting point is 00:24:52 Instagram. All stories told on this podcast can be found at creepypasta wikia.com and are protected by a creative commons license. Some rights reserved unless otherwise stated.

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