Lighthouse Horror Podcast - I Work In A STRANGE Grocery Store. We Have Some Terrifying Customers | Scary Stories

Episode Date: September 14, 2023

Wanna meet them?  Story from thatreallyshortchick Make sure to check out more of their work at u/thatreallyshortchick                           Original Post: Welcome to Charlie’s: Your Local Family Department Store. Cashiers & Professional Wendigo Hunter Wanted. : r/ShortTalesWithAsh                                     Original YouTube link: I Work In A STRANGE Grocery Store. We Have Some Terrifying Customers.            For more stories like this one, check out my YouTube channel: Lighthouse Horror | YouTube  Patreon: Lighthouse Horror | Patreon Merch: lighthousehorror.com  Sound Effects: Zapsplat  Music: Lucas King - YouTube Myuu - YouTube  Incompetech Darren Curtis Music - YouTube Thank you for listening to this scary story! If you enjoyed this new creepypasta story, please check out some of my other horror stories. We'll be uploading new episodes every day, featuring ghost stories, haunted encounters, mysteries, true stories, creepypasta, and anything supernatural and paranormal. Don't miss out on the thrill and suspense that await you in each episode!

8.05 a.m. I clear my throat and grab the microphone. Good morning and welcome to Charlie's, your local family department store. Today we have a sale on chopped liver. Go ask Gary over at the deli all about it. I look over in the direction of the deli to see Gary violently chopping up said liver. I don't really know where he got it though. He just told me to add it to the morning announcements. We've also updated our holiday section so all customers can find whatever they might. want or need for Father's Day. To all customers currently shopping with us, I glance over

to the bench by the front door and see our only customer. If he can even still be considered a customer, because he doesn't look like he has much life left in him. Did he just pull the skin on his feet up like socks? We're sorry to inform you that our restrooms are currently out of order until further notice. That's because when I came in this morning, both the men's and the men's the women's restroom were covered in blood. When I say covered, I mean floor to ceiling, drenched and dripping. It's been happening for months now, and we have no idea how. It always happens during the closing hours. The camera always glitches when it happens, and no one's

brave enough to stay overnight to figure out the source of it. Have a nice day, and thank you for shopping at Charlie's department store. I finished the first announcement of the day and let go of the microphone. As I do, I see Gabe speedwalking into the front doors. He has a look of terror on his face and he's breathing heavy. It must be out of its cage, I ask him. He slams his messenger bag down and I can see rips and tears in it. Yeah, and apparently it only finds me tasty for some stupid reason.

He says, clearly frustrated that our unintentional pet Wendigo is a picky eater. Huh. Well, I'll tell Gary to give it some other less fortunate meat selections he might have. We need to get it back in its cage before we get a rush. Gabe's face contorts into one of disgust at this comment, but I'm not sure if it's at me discussing Gary's mystery meat selection, or at us getting busy. Or maybe it's at the thought of the Wendigo munching on his flesh. Who knows? I tell Gabe to begin setting up his register space, while I go over to talk to Gary. When I walk over, I see Gary chopping up some very disgusting gray meat. Hey, Gary. Uh, you know, the owners don't like when you try to sell customers

meat past its expiration date. I softly remind him. Gary was usually a total sweetheart to all our workers, but it still wasn't the best idea to make him mad. He grunted, then said, Gary here, when to go out, Gary help. He slammed his butcher's knife down on the counter, completely obliterating whatever bone was in the mystery meat. Great job, Gear Bear. Always ahead of the game. I tapped the counter twice before turning around and walking back towards the front of

the store, passing the bathroom where I could see Cheryl mopping blood off the tiles. I could have sworn I saw her lick some excess blood she had acquired. on her fingers, but I try not to look too deep into things like that around here. However, I did notice and call out her failure to post an out-of-order sign on the door, to which her response was, Oh, is the restroom out of order? Once I handled that situation, I passed the earlier mentioned customer, a seven-foot-tall man whose skin never seemed to fit him properly, and we greeted each other. He had to close his jaw,

draw, using his hand after the greeting, but I tried not to stare because that would be rude of me. Just a usual morning here at Charlie's. One forty three p.m. Um, sir, said the young girl who just walked up to me. She looked college-aged and absolutely normal, so she really shouldn't have been in here. I stood up from the shelf I was restocking and looked at her, waiting for her to state what she needed help with.

There's these two little girls over there on," she pointed over to a nearby aisle. That aisle, and they seem to be lost. They've been standing at the end of the aisle for quite a while, but they don't seem to have a parent or anyone with them," said the girl nervously. She genuinely looked worried for their well-being, but it was hers she should have been worried about. I nodded, then asked, Are they twins? She nodded back, confused that I didn't seem so concerned.

You already know about him?" I ignored her question and asked one of my own. Did you respond whenever they asked you to play with him? I asked him where their mom was. Why do you not seem more worried? What if their mom abandoned them? She seemed to be getting somewhat flustered that I wasn't doing more. Ma'am, I'm sorry to tell you this, but you are basically now their mother.

You spoke to them and acknowledged their presence, so now they are attached to you." She looked at me in complete bewilderment. Then it quickly changed to a look of fear, probably for me, those girls, and this whole establishment. What are you even talking about? Well, they said they wanted to play with you forever. You stupidly responded, even though you didn't know any better, and now they're yours. Which, look, I'm very sorry about, but also can't do anything about. Are you crazy?

Is everyone in this store crazy? Is that what's going on? What even is this place? She was starting to not take me seriously. She had a look on her face that reminded me of all the blonde girls that used to bully me in high school. I was used to people looking at me in fear thanks to Charlie's, but looking at me like I was stupid was another thing.

I suddenly decided I didn't care much for her well-being anymore. I shrugged and told her the honest truth. It's a grocery store, but not for people like you. She inched away from me at this point, but she still asked, What do you mean people like me? She was starting to sound like a Karen, but I could also see the fear come back in her eyes, betraying her tough act. Normal people, I said.

She stared at me. a few seconds in silence. I could see the gears turning in her head, looking for a response and unable to find one. The two twins walked up to each side of her, each taking one of her hands. Her left hand was occupied by a bag of sugar, which the twin taking over happily launched over her shoulder, causing the bag to bust with a force. The force of the throw actually made some of the sugar turned to powder so it looked like a freak snowfall had occurred. Good luck, Good luck, is all I said. Albeit sarcastically, before the girls dragged her out of the grocery store.

I could feel her eyes practically burning a hole through my skull. Clearly she didn't get the memo about it being rude to stare, but she didn't say anything else. I'm assuming out of fear. I looked at the snowstorm the twins had caused and groaned, grabbing my walkie-talkie. Hey, Gabe, clean up on aisle. I glanced up at the broken aisle sign above my head, then glanced at the broken ones in surrounding aisles, and inwardly cursed myself for being unable to do basic math. Whatever aisle looks like Frosty the Snowman just shit himself, thanks.

5.7 p.m. I was restocking the magazine racks up front by the registers when a thought occurred to me. Hey, have you seen Gabe in the last few hours? I asked Cheryl. She paused her very difficult task of organizing a pack of M&Ms by color and thought for a second. I think he clocked out and left already. The schedule says he got off at three. I know that, but he's been missing since before three, Cheryl. Oh.

She replied, as she scrunches up her face in confusion. Hey, aren't you colorblind? She pauses again to look at me. Yes, I am. Why do you ask? The thought of seeing if the Wendigo might be interested in a taste of Cheryl enters my head. Mere seconds before a messenger bag soars through the sliding glass doors and lands with a loud thud just in front of her register.

It's nearly ripped to shreds, but I can see one of those tourist keychains with the name Gabe on it, hanging from the somehow still intact armstrap. That looks like his bag, doesn't it?" Ponder, Cheryl, making me literally want to rip her head off her body at this point. I stare at the bag for a few seconds, honestly angry that Gabe was gone and not her. Wait, she says, swinging me Eminem's bag in her hand towards me in an effort to grab my attention, making two M&Ms fly out and smack me in the face. I remember Gabe went outside after he felt.

finish sweeping up the snowman. You didn't tell me Christmas decorations had come in." I slowly turned a look at her, completely confused as to how someone could be so stupid, and grabbed every single bag of M&Ms off the rack behind me. I threw all of them on her conveyor belt. Here, count and organize these for me. Don't leave your register until you're done. Better yet, don't talk to me.

until you're done. She chirped in excitement and got to work. I made a mental note to tell Gary there was possibly a new meat selection for tomorrow outside, then headed towards the office. I needed to call the owner and let him know we'd need to hire another cashier. 7.14 p.m. After I'd gotten off the phone with the owners, I was doing a sweep around the store to see if there was anything that needed to be restocked or reorganized. I stopped at one aisle whenever I saw a woman kneeling on the floor with her back facing me. Can I help you with anything, ma'am? I asked her. Honestly, there were few things that scared me anymore thanks to Charlie's, but something about this woman made the hairs on my arm stand up. I stared at the back of her head for a few moments, noticing how her

hair was matted into one giant strand of twigs, dirt, and whatever else was hidden in that mess. She could have had a dead animal in there for all I knew, which would help explain the horrible stench that was coming from her. I took a couple steps towards her. Suddenly, I heard a loud snapping noise, like she'd broken her neck, and her head slowly started to turn towards me. It stopped moving whenever she was faced. facing me, as if she was an owl, and I finally got a look at her face, or really, what was

left of her face. She had horrible scars all over her face, some healed and some still open and clearly infected, dripping blood and pus onto the tiles. The whites of her eyes are the only thing that shone, and they looked milky. Even though I couldn't see her actual eyeballs, I could tell she was looking at her looking at in my eyes. Her jaw looked broken and hung loosely, letting some weird black tar-looking liquid drip onto the linoleum tiles, mixing with a blood and pus. She tilted her head back and forth. I'm assuming to crack her neck, but it strangely ended up sounding like a creaking door you

would hear in a haunted house. Honestly, the fear that I felt right now made me just want to run away and pretend I'd never even seen this woman, but I knew the owners wouldn't like that. The thought of upsetting them scared me more than this woman did, so I stayed and tried to offer help. However, I have this bad habit of making jokes whenever something makes me feel tense or scares me, so when I heard the god-awful creaking noise coming from this woman, my immediate response was, If it's WD-40 you're looking for, we have that over on Isle 10. Clearly, that was not the product she was looking for, though. Because whenever I recommended it, she started screeching at the top of her lungs.

I don't know why, but I panicked, and I started screaming back. And then when she stood up, I grabbed a broom that was leaning up against the shelves and pointed it at her as a makeshift sword. This immediately made her start cackling, which caused her to choke on the black tar coming out of her mouth. She waited until she stopped coughing, and then grabbed her head and twisted it back to its normal position. Then she turned to face me. She slapped the broom out of my hand, and it flew into the shelves, causing an avalanche

of canned vegetables to drop to the floor. Stupid boy, do you really think you could defeat me with a broom? What are you going to do? Sweet me to death. Ha ha ha. She cackled some more and then took a step towards me. I took a step back and said, I don't know, maybe. I grabbed a couple cans of beans off the shelves, ready to toss them at her if provoked.

Relax, child. I'm only the messenger. I wish more than anything that I can rip your fingernails off one by one to make a delicious snack. The father said you are not to be touched yet. She grinned at me with sharp rotting teeth and then softly waved one hand upwards, causing the two cans in my hand to launch from my hands and into the ceiling. They exploded upon impact and showered beans and bean juice onto the aisle we occupied in the surrounding aisles.

I heard a customer mutter a confused, what the hell? and the next aisle over. Who? Who was the father? I asked nervously. She cackled again, swiping beans off her shoulder. Oh, you haven't heard?

He's coming back, and he will rule this world with an iron fist, bathing everything in a beautiful, fiery blaze of despair and agony. He will rid this pitiful place, planet of every single wretched human and monster, including you and everyone else in this

portal to hell. I was about to ask her what she meant by portal to hell, but I let her continue her speech instead, tears forming in her eyes as she did. I didn't want to be rude in case she decided she really did want to rip off my fingernails. If you think you felt fear before, you're in for a hell. You're in for a hell of a ride, silly boy. He will torture you in ways you never could imagine. Ripping off your eyelids and sewing them back on.

Ripping open your abdomen and making you feast on your entrails while they're still attached to you. Chopping off your tongue and shoving it into holes you didn't even know you had. The possibilities are endless. And since this is a portal after all, just expect us to be here a lot, preparing for his return. She finished her speech with a little excited applause. I'm guessing at whoever this father guy was. Since I finally had the chance to speak, I asked, Are you talking about the devil?

And what do you mean by portal to hell? She looked at me like I'd asked the dumbest question she'd ever heard in her life, if she ever was alive, and then said, The father is the most powerful being in the world. And his name is Zulberin. Not this stupid devil character everyone's always talking about. And how did you not know this is a portal to hell? Did you honestly think all of this weird stuff that happens here is normal?

Are humans really that stupid? Well, and speak of the devil, or is it the father? Cheryl chose this very moment to walk up to us. She paused at the end of the aisle and stared at us, and we stared back. Oh, is it Halloween? She asked while staring at the woman. No, Cheryl, I said rolling my eyes, but then realized she might be able to help me. Actually, Cheryl, you are right.

Do you think you could get me a bottle of water? I'm kind of parched. Sure. She said happily, as she walked off to complete the request. I turned back towards the lady just a second before she waved her hand and slammed me into the shelf left of me. Do you really think I'm as stupid as you humans? She walked towards me and got right in my face. Her breath made my eyes water with how pungent it was.

Did you really think a stupid trick like Holy Water would be able to defeat a disciple of Zulberin? She put one of her hands around my neck and started to choke me. If you weren't going to be used as one of the father's pawns, I'd kill you right this instant. She started to speak to me in what I assumed was angry Latin, and I began to see stars. I tried not to look into her eyes, but I was unable to look away or close mine because of some unknown force. In her eyes, I saw every single scenario of torture she wanted to act out on me. It was like seeing your life flash before your eyes, but the exact opposite.

Right when I felt like I was on the verge of passing out, she let go when I dropped to the floor, coughing so hard I thought my lungs were about to pop. I was too scared to look up towards her, but I could feel her staring daggers down at me as she said, I'll be back and I'm bringing some friends with me. And with that she walked away, and I stayed on the floor, trying to gather my thoughts and catch my breath. I looked up when Cheryl appeared in front of me, struggling to carry ten different water bottles. I didn't know which brand you liked, so I got them all, she said, and then she dropped

every single one of them on my legs. Ha ha, oops. 9.07 p.m. It's actually after hours at Charlie's right now. I've just about finished locking up the place, and I am currently sitting in my car. I can see the Wendigo's red eyes staring at me from inside one of the plastic dog houses we have displayed for sale out front. Maybe if I got him in bed and some chew toys, he'd be less inclined to chew on my workers. That's the third cashier we've lost in six months.

And it was a shame, too. I had just finished training that one. Maybe I should start training them on how to defend yourself against Wendigo attacks. And maybe I should train them for the possible end of the world. Who knows? I don't really know who or what this Zubaran guy is, but I told the owners about what happened. They just kind of laughed at me and then hung up the phone. So I'm not really sure what I should do.

I guess we'll just have to wait until the lady and her friends come back. You know, I just realized the scary lady never told me her name. I think I'll call her Deborah. She seems like a Deborah. Anyways, this concludes a normal day at Charlies. It was one of my friends' ideas to write this little diary of events after I told him how he's hectic it is working here. I don't think he believes 100% of the stories I tell him, but maybe you guys will.

I know for sure he won't believe today's events, so please tell me you guys do. Writing this has helped relieve some of the stress of managing this place. You guys taking me seriously will also be a big help. If you do, I might continue writing these. here definitely has helped me realize that humans aren't the only monsters in our world, so stay safe out there, guys, and make sure you avoid any weird ladies that look like they could be named Deborah. 7.3 a.m. I unlocked the doors and walked in, ready for another day at Charlie's.

I'm done, boss. I looked around, confused for a minute, until I turned the lights on and saw a mountain of M&M's overtaking the space in front of a little. cash registers with Cheryl's head peeking out at the top. Cheryl, what the hell are you doing? You told me to not leave or talk to you until I finished counting the M&Ms. It was kind of hard with the lights off, but I did it. Have you been here all night? I asked. Yeah. There's a hundred and nine thousand, two hundred and twenty-five M&Ms in the store,

23,4002 red ones, 17,000 and... Yeah, yeah, good job. Can you clean all these up now? Oh, and order more, please. Oh, okay. Uh, I might take a minute getting down. I've already gotten lost like three times in here, she said while giggling at herself.

Okay, well, take your time, I replied. Confused at how you can get lost. in M&Ms. Suddenly, a muffled scream came from the pile of M&Ms. We both turned towards it and then heard another scream come from inside. Clearly a woman's. Cheryl, who the hell's in the M&Ms? I tried to sound concerned, but aggravation took over.

She walked over, reached in, and pulled a woman's head out of the colorful mountain. Help me. He's cool men for me. Oh, it's okay, honey. You're safe here. Cheryl said. As she continued pulling the woman out by her hair and towards us, she stopped pulling when she realized the girl was nothing more than a head. Oh, no, you lost your body. It's okay, though. I got lost in there, too. Do you want me to help you find it?

The only good thing I've noticed about Cheryl is that she seems unable to realize just how scary some situations can be. I think it's the reason the owners hired her, because I know it for sure wasn't because of her work ethic or brains. He's common. He's common for all of us. The woman said again. Tears of blood started to fall from her eyes. It's okay, hon. Here, have some M&Ms. They always help me feel better. Cheryl grabbed a hand full of M&Ms and started to force-feed the woman. She gave up when she realized the woman didn't exactly have a stomach for them to go to, or even an esophagus for them to go through.

So they just fell straight to the floor, into the puddle of blood tears. Who are you talking about? Who's coming? I asked her. Zubaren. The woman shrieked, and the lights flickered as if they were as scared as she was. was. See, his power is increasing.

Soon he will be unstoppable. Honestly, today already wasn't turning out like the day I had prepared for in my head. And that was saying a lot for Charlie's. I was not feeling it at all. I think that helps explain why my response to hearing Zou Berend's name was to grab the woman's head from Cheryl, walk outside to the Wendigo's doghouse, and And chuck it inside. The woman started screaming bloody murder the second the sliding glass doors closed, but I ignored

it and the sad look Cheryl was giving me. Oh, and can you mop up that blood too, please? Thanks. I asked her as I made my way to the office to prepare to open. 12 p.m. Good afternoon, and thanks for shopping with us at Charlie's. I said while holding the strangely sticky microphone in my eyes. hand. I silently prayed that Cheryl hadn't spilt chocolate syrup on it again.

If you haven't made your way over to the deli yet, head over there and let Gary hook you up with some of our daily deals on whatever meat selection you would like. Today's special just came in yesterday, so you know it's fresh. Gary told me he had to fight off the Wendigo for that special meat. He mentioned something about preparing it for Gabe's family to send them our best wishes, but I quickly shut that down. now have wooden crosses for sale, for whatever you may need. Church praise, crucifixion, exorcisms. I glanced at the new cashier Lacey. The owners had hired her. I noticed her giving me a very

confused stare, and I had to stop myself from accidentally chuckling into the microphone. She did not know what she was getting herself into. You never know what you'll need until you need it, folks. Also, the bathrooms are finally back in working order, and we're terrible. sorry about that inconvenience. I'd give it about a week until the blood came back. The new cashier was going to love seeing that. As always, have a great day, and thank you for shopping with us at Charlie's.

I let go of the microphone and walked towards Lacey. You have an interesting sense of humor, she said while smirking. I looked at her with a straight face and said, I wasn't joking. I grabbed my clipboard from her and motioned for her to follow me. I expected her to question my difference in humor, but she surprisingly didn't. We walked past the aisles while we talked. Since you're new here, there's a lot you're going to have to get used to. You mean like that weird dog out front?

She laughed, then said, That thing sounds like kujo on steroids. Why do his eyes glow red, though? Because it's not a dog, and it's not a he either. I explained, while feeling grateful that the Wendigo didn't fully show itself, or try to get a taste of Lacey yet. What, is it a really angry fat cat? She laughed at her joke again, but then awkwardly stopped, whenever she realized I wasn't laughing.

Honestly, if I told you what it really was, you wouldn't believe me. So we'll talk about that another time. We're waiting on someone else to help with that situation anyway. control? She asked. I could tell this question wasn't a joke this time. Something a bit more serious and definitely not an animal, I replied. Well, does it at least have a name? What if we named its spot? Maybe that would make it less angry. I stopped in an aisle that wasn't occupied by customers. She looked at me expectantly, waiting for me to acknowledge her joke. I didn't. Whenever she finally got somewhat used to this place, that's when we could joke about the strangeness of it,

but she didn't even know that it was more than a joke right now. Did the owners tell you anything about the job before they hired you? Or have you heard anything about this place? I asked, and I wasn't surprised at all when she shook her head. They didn't warn me or the others either. Now that I'd been here so long, they left it up to me to teach new workers how to safely operate. operate this place. Do you believe in the paranormal or anything strange, Lacey?

What, like crop circles and chem trails? I shook my head. Like demons. Werewolves. Wendigos. Oh, I guess. I think my grandma's house is haunted. Why though?

Are you trying to tell me this place is haunted? Right after she asked that question, a customer walked up. The customer in question was a beautiful woman with insanely curly bright red hair and vivid green eyes. Her hair was enough to keep you completely captivated, but if you could look away long enough, you'd see that she was wearing a straight jacket. It took me a moment to even notice it when I first met her. Hello. Can either of you please help me with this wretched jacket?

Um, sure, said Lacey. Completely clueless as she walked towards the woman to help. I probably should have warned her of what was about to happen, but it's best that she learn herself. I mean, who would just help someone in a straight jacket without asking a few questions first anyway? She clearly had a lot to learn in life. But I think Charlies would teach her way more than the average person would learn. Anyways, the woman is a repeat customer, which is why I wasn't shocked at all over what ended up happening. Thanks, said the red-haired beauty, just before she grabbed Lacey by the hair and yanked

her towards her. She grabbed a knife from the waistband of her pants and placed the sharp edge against Lacey's throat before she said, They're coming for me, and I won't let them take me back. I swear I'll kill her before they do. No one's coming for you. You're completely safe here. I softly reassured her.

I had the lines I told her each time she returned, memorized in my head, almost like reading a script. I just hoped Lacey didn't try anything, because I did not know how things would go down if she did. She didn't look as scared as I thought she would be over this predicament, though, which would have been a good sign if she didn't look kind of amused, like she wanted the woman to try and hurt her. Mora, no one is coming for you, I reiterated.

You've been dead for you. 30 years. You don't have to worry about them or escaping anymore. She blinked her big, green eyes at me in disbelief. What? That can't be. How do you know my name? Are you one of them? It can be because it is, Mora. And I know this because you come here almost every week and do the exact same thing. I said, taking the opportunity to discreetly press the button on my walkie-talkie in an attempt to alert Gary that I needed assistance. No, you're lying. You're trying to make me feel like I really am crazy.

I am not. I'm not, I tell you. She tightens her hand around the knife and accidentally nicks Lacey a bit, causing a small drop of blood to escape from her neck. I see Lacey wince, but I think it was because she was finally feeling a tinge of fear rather than from pain. Oh, you are crazy. You're all so dead, though, so I don't think how crazy you are really matters anymore.

Tell me, do you remember anything before the asylum? She stood there and pondered for a bit, scanning her brain for any fraction of memory she could remember. But I knew nothing would come up. It never did. She decided to ignore my question instead, and did exactly what I was really hoping she wouldn't do. How can I be dead when I don't even feel dead? I'll show you I'm not dead," she said. Just a split second before Gary came up behind her to try and subdue her, Mora took

the knife and cut. She immediately started screaming when no blood came out of her and she dropped the knife to the floor, followed by her knees. I can't be dead. No. No, no, no. Gary took advantage of the opportunity and wrapped a rope around her hands while I I slowly swooped down and grabbed the knife along with Lacey's wrist, jerking her behind me.

It's okay, Mora. At least you're safe now. I said. I always felt bad for her. She truly was a nice woman, along with being drop-dead gorgeous. The story of her death was a truly gruesome one, so I usually always lied to her about it when she asked. She looked up at me. Her jade eyes full of tears.

asked, Did I die in that hellhole? No, Mora. You escaped before he died, I told her. That wasn't technically a lie, but not a hundred percent truth either. Besides shaking a bit, Lacey still seemed mostly calm. She kept staring at Mora in disbelief and even amazement. Gary was about to bring Mora up front to the office, but Lacey motioned for him to wait. She grabbed one of Mora's arms and turned it over to look at the scars, lightly

touching one with her fingers. Mora didn't even flinch or show any signs of feeling pain. Can you feel that? She asked Mora. And Mora responded by shaking her head, tears falling from her eyes and onto the tiled floor. Lacey stared down at the scars for just a second more before wrapping Mora up in her arms. It's okay. to be confused and scared. But you're safe here now. You don't have any reason to be scared anymore. They can't hurt you. She squeezed Mora tighter as she said this, holding her head to her stomach while brushing the tear-covered curls that were stuck to her cheeks out of the way. Mora let go of Lacey and looked at me while asking,

How can I cry, but I can't bleed? I shrugged and answered honestly. I don't know, Mora. She didn't seem satisfied with my answer, but she could tell I had nothing else to say. She silently hugged Lacey again without asking any more questions. Lacey waited until Mora stopped crying before she let Gary bring her up front. After they had left, I wanted to make sure Lacey was okay. Honestly, I'd understand if you needed to quit after what just happened.

No one has ever had something that scary happened to him on their first day. She rarely ever goes through the self-harm scenario, so I'm sorry for not better preparing you for that. She caught me off guard because she started laughing. Are you kidding me? That's the biggest rush I've ever felt in my life. I loved it. She paused and frowned for a second. I just hope Mora will be okay.

Maybe she'd fit in here after all. 354 p.m. I'd forgotten that the local blood bank asked to park their van they use for donations in our parking lot today, and we usually always get a rush after that. The Bloodmobile attracts a lot of special guests who like to buy the blood, and while I know that doesn't sound very legal, the owners like the business that it creates for us. Something about the blood gives the buyers a high that also makes them have the munchies, so we always get crazy busy whenever donation starts. After the rush calmed down,

I brought Lacey into the office to discuss the day's events and left Cheryl to man the registers. So who is, or was Mora? She asked, as she played with Mora's rope, tangling it in her fingers. Every time Mora left, she always randomly disappeared. One minute she'd be able to be able to be. sitting in the office talking to you, then you turn your back for a split second and turn back and she's gone. No signs of her having been there besides the rope used to subdue her. We keep the rope for every time she comes back because we knew that basically the same events would happen each time. And there had been many occasions where we trusted her and assumed she'd calmed down, only to have another hostage with a sharp object to their throats.

I sighed and sat across the table from her. Mora was a patient who escaped from an asylum in the 90s. Whenever she escaped, she came here and took a hostage, saying she would kill the person if they made her go back to the asylum, so the cops ended up swarming the place. She died whenever they shot her in the back of the head. Was the hostage okay? She asked, looking completely intrigued with Mora's story. I honestly was shocked that she was so accepting of what she'd witnessed, considering the existence

of ghosts is something heavily debated around the world. I guess if you see a woman literally attempt to kill herself in front of you and not even bleed a single drop of blood, you don't have enough evidence to dispute what you saw with your own two eyes. Yeah, yeah, she released the girl. She never intends to hurt the hostages she takes. I explained, while I watched her tie the rope into a bow while she listened. She's just scared because she thinks she has to go back to the asylum.

Well, why was she in there?" Paranoid schizophrenia. Oh, she said, with a look of sadness on her face. She unknotted the bow and nodded it again, taking a moment to think. Then she asked, that wasn't even the weirdest thing to happen at this place, was it? She looked up at me as I responded by shaking my head and saying, not even close. She thought for a moment again and then asked. What is Spot?

Spot is a Wendigo, and I don't think it would like the name Spot. A Wendigo? Like from Native American folklore? This was the first time I'd seen full-blown disbelief on Lacey's face since she got here. It changed whenever she saw how serious I was. That would be it, yes. We're working on getting someone hired to handle the problem. You gonna kill it?

She sounded disappointed. Well, yeah, he ate the last cashier. That's why they hired you. Well, maybe I can make him friendly. I did name him after all. It's a windigo, not a feral animal. And I told you it wouldn't even like that name, I said, almost laughing. When I came in here, he was literally playing with a squeaky toy.

I could hear it from inside the doghouse. Cheryl gave it that because she's Cheryl, and nothing she does ever make sense. I rolled my eyes while saying this, very over Cheryl's antics. Well, maybe he wants to be a pet. It wants to eat people. And stop calling it he, it's an it. Right after I said this, Gary spoke over my walkie-talkie and asked me to come help with something. So I excused myself and gave Lacey some papers from the owners to read while I was

I was busy. 8.54 p.m. Since it was close to closing, I was in the office doing some last-minute paperwork for a fight that broke out in the parking lot between two rival werewolf tribes. The owners like me to document when stuff like that happens, though whether it's just for their pleasure or for actual legal reasons, I'm not sure. Cheryl came in and handed me a piece of paper that she said she found in the bathroom. It had droplets of blood on it, including the words, we are coming, and a little bit of the

a bunch of random symbols under it that I'm assuming is their language. I didn't really think much of that note, but then she told me to go check out the bathroom. I expected it to have its usual mess of blood, which honestly would be kind of unusual because it normally takes a bit longer to show back up. But when I walked in, it was so much worse. Instead of blood, there was an abundance of black sludge that you had to wade through. floated around in it, each with their own eyes and mouths wide open like they were screaming in terror, and a pyramid of skulls and bones was leaned against one corner. The same language from

the note was carved into the tile walls, floor to ceiling, along with images that crudely resembled hieroglyphics and a few upside-down penegrams. I tried to walk towards one of the stalls, but it was extremely difficult with the sludge as deep as it was. I stopped and ran back to the doorway of the bathroom whenever I felt something grabbed my leg. A being formed from the sludge, coming together to create a woman with long black hair, black eyes, and skin that seemed to barely fit her. Rather than clothes, the sludge covered her and writhed around her body, moving her loose skin around as it did. She looked absolutely disgusting. and dirty, and just like what you'd expect a person created from black sludge to look like.

She opened her mouth and reached her arm in, completely stretching her jaw, way past what a normal human jaw could withstand. What she brought out was a chain with a charm, resembling the symbols on the wall, and she began to slowly move towards me with it. I tried to move, but the same invisible force that Deborah had used seemed to take over my body once again. She stopped just before me and raised the charm to my forehead. She placed it on my skin lightly and then more forcefully once I began to feel it burning. I tried to scream, but the force had taken away my ability to move even my lips. She stared into my eyes,

and rather than seeing torturous images, I felt a feeling of despair and hopelessness. Deborah elicited fear. But this woman made you once. to beg to be dead. I felt like her eyes were slowly sucking my soul out of me. I sat there in silent pain, until after what felt like in eternity, she removed the charm. She placed it back into her mouth and swallowed it. Then, as slowly as she came towards me, she backed away and melted into the sludge once again. I felt whatever paralysis the force had created leave my body, But then I became paralyzed with fear to move within the sludge, afraid she'd come back. I calmed down whenever Cheryl came up behind me.

You have one of those little doodles on your forehead, she said, and I could actually hear fear in her voice. I got brave enough to walk towards one of the bathroom mirrors to look at myself. The symbol burned into my forehead resembled an upside-down tear-drop with a lightning bolt through it. I looked around at the symbols on the wall to see if any match the one now on may, but none of them matched. Whenever I turned back towards the mirror, the symbols on the wall above the mirror had changed

to the words you have been marked by him. But whenever I blinked, they morphed back into the strange symbols. I looked back at Cheryl and asked, Did you see that too? She responded by nodding. And I realized this is the least that she had. had ever spoken since starting at Charlie's. Things were getting strange at Charlie's, but it was a strange unlike any that we'd ever seen. 9.32 p.m. I just finished locking up the store.

I asked Gary to clean the bathroom up for us, and he swore he didn't see any strange women floating around in the sludge. Lacey took pictures of the symbols on the bathroom, and the one on my forehead, before she left and told us she was going to try and research them tonight. Cheryl stayed quiet, besides telling us goodbye before she left. I tried to explain to the owners how concerned I was about something bad happening soon, but they still didn't take it seriously. They told me they'd already had five different instances of people or things claiming the end of the world was coming. I honestly have no idea how to feel about what's going on. But I do know I'm scared. Whatever that woman did to me earlier has left me feeling off, like she actually actually

did take a piece of my soul with her. She didn't feel evil like Deborah, however. The only thing that comes to mind whenever I think of her are feelings of sadness and despair and wanting things to end. I don't know what the future holds, but I'm honestly scared. I'll keep you guys updated if anything else happens. Good luck out there. 7.33 a.m.

Good morning, Charlie's folks. She pointed Lacey as she tightly gripped the microphone. Today, I'm excited to announce our sale on... She paused to glance down at the paper in her hand. Chopped liver. Head on over to the deli section to talk to our favorite meat master, Gary, all about that. I looked over at Gary to see a huge grin on his face, as he gave Lacey a thumbs up.

The fact that the tip of his thumb was sliced off made him seem slightly less endearing and meatmastery, but it's the thought that counts. We also have a new and very wide selection of Thanksgiving supplies just shipped in today. Check that out if you want some paper plates with cute little turkeys on them. She shuffled through the papers in her hand, making sure she wasn't missing anything. The bathroom is currently out of order once again. We should be replacing the plumbing soon just to avoid this repeated problem. We want to ensure Charlie's customers have the best time while here with us.

We all knew it wasn't a plumbing problem, but the owners thought it would be. might be good for business to say it'd be fixed soon. Thanks for shopping with us here at Charlies, and we hope you have a wonderful day. Lacey clicked off of the mic, jumping as she accidentally made a god-awful cracking sound through the speakers. She walked over to where I was restocking the candy shelves at the register. So why are we announcing Thanksgiving stuff again? She asked.

Thanksgiving isn't for months. Not in the world of Charlies, I explained. Time kind of flows differently here. I don't really know how it flows, but the owners do. They send us the scheduled announcements for it, and that's all I know. She shrugged, accepting this answer, just as she had every other strange thing about Charlie's. Charlies had never had a worker as enthusiastic as her, honestly. But I think how eccentric and bubbly she was helped that.

She reminded me of a flower child from the 60s, even asking if she could make some of our work t-shirts tie-died. Charlie's needed someone like her to add fun back into it, you know, with all the possible portals to hell and Wendigo attacks. And we were all glad she was here. After she brought tacos and margaritas last Tuesday, Cheryl had started calling her Charlie's resident party popper, which I think is entirely too close to party pooper, but it's also the thought that counts on that one. Lacey even brought Spot a dog collar with his name printed on it, And I'm surprised he accepted it and his name instead of ripping her head off. As she helped me restock, we watched a man glide through the sliding glass doors, moving around

like he was feeling a mixture of cloud nine floating and toddler mobility. He was giggling like a delighted child in a candy store. Well, he seems like he's having a great day, I commented. Yeah, he's on acid, stated Lacey. How do you know? She waved a hand at her outfit, which looked like she just left Woodstock before heading to work. Do I look like someone who's never done acid before?

I shrugged. The man stumbled towards us, laughing at the empty space beside him as if someone was there. Do you guys want flowers? He asked, pulling some crumpled-up dandelions out of his pocket, before holding them up towards us. I found him on my walking. No, we're good, responded Lacey. Thank you, though.

He shrugged, before holding the flowers out to the empty space beside him. Apparently, his imaginary friend didn't want them either, though, causing him to glare with his ballooned iris eyes and angrily shove them back in his pocket. Well, fine. I guess no one wants them. He wandered away a bit before whipping back around to face us. By the way, I saw him. I saw a demon lady the other day who told me to tell you guys to be ready.

A demon lady? I asked. My nerves rising a bit. What did she look like? Like she needed a shower, he explained. I almost offer her my flowers, but she already had lots of plants in her hair anyway. He wandered away again, this time yelling out and... Oh!

and heading towards the gardening supplies for whatever reason. I kind of wanted to run after him to ask more questions, but it felt like pointless considering the state he was in. What demon lady? Lacey asked. There's, uh, something going on with this weird lady and her father. I started, before beginning to cough, my nerves making it unable for me to clear my throat. Can I get a little more information?

Lacey asked. I don't really feel chill around demons. There's just, uh, there's been this stuff going on in the store lately about Charlie's possibly being a portal to hell. She stared at me with a blank expression on her face before responding. I would ask if you're joking, but I know it's never a joke at this store. Before we could talk more about it, a loud noise of glass breaking was heard from aisle eight. Isn't that the aisle that the pickles are on? She asked.

Yep. Groaning, Lacey headed to inspect the possible pickle massacre. Acid dude exited the gardening section and headed towards the registers once again, a small ceramic plant pot on his head, and two gardening gnomes in his arms. You guys have any more gnomes? He asked. Tom and Tim here can't find their friends. Nope.

We sold their friends last week. I said. Oh, sorry guys, he said to the gnomes before placing them on the register's conveyor belt. I quality checked him and his new friends out. After carefully placing the gnomes into shopping bags, which was quite difficult due to assid dude yelling at me that they needed to breathe, I asked him what else the demon lady had said. Oh, she said there'd be a lot of hell coming your way, but she kind of laughed when she said it.

This weird chuckle, it kind of sounded like she was choking, too. Like, eh, he tried to imitate the noise, nearly dropping Tim, or was it Tom, in the process? After a few more questions that only ended in him discussing what Tom and Tim thought of the demon lady rather than anything helpful, I told him and the gnomes to have a nice day. 9.10 a.m. Hey, look what someone just gave me," said Lacey as she approached me with a cheerful smile. I looked up from my crouch on the floor where I'd been restocking cans. What? She pulled out a silver chain that had a white teardrop-shaped jewel hanging from it.

The white of the jewel was slightly seethru, and wispy smoke spirals filled it, locked in place within. The chain wrapped around the jewel, the way it was morphed onto it, resembling veins protruding from a heart. A customer just gave this before she left. She told me she was into some magical, witchy voodoo stuff and felt like I needed protection. So she gave me this necklace, she explained. She slipped the chain over her head, and the teardrop dangled down from the chain and came to rest at the height of where her heart would be. I don't know if it was my mind playing tricks on me or what, but it seemed like it was attempting to nuzzle her heart, but the chain was preventing it from reaching. She lifted her head up,

waiting for my response with a smile on her face. The smile faltered when she realized I didn't have one as well. What's wrong? Does it look bad on me? Oh, no, no, I replied. Not at all. It goes with your hobo style well. She giggled, playfully rolling your eyes. It's boho, not hobo. She walked away after being called by Cheryl to help on the registers, giving me a small wave as she did. A bit my lip, worried about how awful things must be going if a witch was giving out protection items to our workers. I made a mental note to tell Lacey what was going on before we left today.

It wasn't right for me to not tell her, and I wanted her to stay safe. A lot safer than Gabe. I felt the pit in my stomach grow deeper. Today was going to be another long day. 156. The lunchtime rush was close to over whenever a woman with a distinctive haircut came barreling through the sliding glass doors. A scrap of paper bunched in her fist.

Ah, another regular, I thought. She approached the register I was at and slammed the crumpled paper down on the conveyor belt. It started to move due to the motion, so she had to scramble to catch it, deciding to keep it in her hand for the time being. She glared at me, I noticed that she was slightly shorter than me. But the height of her huge hairstyle laden with hairspray made her seem a lot taller. The smell of the hairspray was overpowering, extremely pungent with the smell of copper that could be explained by the gaping wound through her forehead.

You could see straight through her skull to the shelves of merchandise behind her. Her eyes reminded me of the expression a hawk might give its prey. You need help with anything, ma'am? One of your stupid cashiers told me this coupon was expired over the phone." She snapped. It is not expired. Can I see it, ma'am? She forced it into the hand I'd held out, before folding her arms and staring at me with a smirk.

She really thought she was right. It wouldn't be funny if she was simply a ghost from another time, but I think she'd feel this way even if she wasn't dead. You'd think after coming in over and over after she died that it would stop being funny. But it really hasn't. I unfolded it, taking the time to pretend to read it like I always did every time she came through. This expired in 1997, ma'am. I explained. It is 1997, she said. No, it's not. I replied. She looked at me completely dumbfounded, before switching back to her, you're such an idiot, smirk. Do you think I'm stupid, like this is a

prank. I picked up a newspaper off the rack behind my register and showed it to her. After she finished reading it and returned her scowled face to me, I also handed her a tissue. What is this for? What's going on? You are dead, I explained. And you have been for over twenty years. She stared at me for a few moments with a blank expression before scoffing, dismissing everything

I just told her. You really do think I'm stupid. but you're the idiot for trying to mess with me. I swear, dumb teenagers will never learn. Where is your manager? Well, first off, I'm 25, I said. She rolled her eyes after I said this and opened her mouth to speak again, but I yelled my next sentence over her, so she would hush and listen to me.

And I am the manager. I've been the manager for the last few years. I know your memory isn't the best as a ghost, but you don't have to be rude to me about it. Quit saying that. I'm not dead. What's your name? The question caught her off guard, causing her to sputter out.

What? What is your name? I repeated. Karen. She stated matter of factly. Well, I guess ghosts do have some memory, but no, that isn't your name. That's the nickname we gave you, because women like you have become a meme since you. died. Your name is Anne. My name is not Anne. It is. And you died in 1997 when you came here to bring

in that very coupon you carry around with you. Someone robbed the store, and they shot you first because you wouldn't stop screaming. There's no way, she said. I don't remember that. At that very second, the shooter appeared, and the whole scenario from 1997, began again. I was so bored of it at this point, honestly, that I just stood there as everyone panicked. Even Cheryl panicked, like this was a recurring thing at Charlie's, just like every other ghostly experience. I waited for the shooter to shoot Karen or Anne, closed my eyes and groaned as her blood splattered all over me. Why do I never remember to keep my distance whenever she gets shot,

I thought? After I opened my eyes and saw Karen staring at me, eyes dough-like and blood pouring out of her mouth as she struggled to grip the register and maintain her balance. I grabbed the gun from the register station and shot the intruder twice. You see, I had to be the one to do it because the manager in 1997 was the one that did. He didn't die in Charlie's though, so he doesn't come back to reenact everything like Karen and the shooter did. Sadly, lots of people died before we finally figured out we had to stop him, rather than wait for the ghostly version of the shooter to appear. After the events were over, everyone stared at

me with eyes wider than Karen's were, waiting for others on what they should do. I sighed and walked towards the microphone for the intercom. It's okay, shoppers. I said into the crackling mic. Just avoid the bodies and the blood and we'll have it cleaned up soon. This seemed to satisfy most of the customers, considering they themselves weren't exactly normal. Well, I honestly didn't care about Karen, or the rest of the customers that still remained concerned. I had bigger things to worry about. I had a strong gut feeling that Lacey getting that necklace was a sign of a shitstorm coming.

5.43 p.m. I was teaching Lacey how to type in the code for a buy one coffin get-to-free coupon at the register. When we saw something roll through the sliding glass doors and slam into one of the magazine racks, I told her to say by the register and then walked towards it, taking cautious steps as I did. Whatever it was had hit the magazine rack so hard that a stack of them fell on top of it, covering whatever it was like a hat. I grabbed the magazine and immediately jumped a foot backward whenever I saw what was underneath, a head with no eyes grinning back at me with razor-sharp teeth.

The grin quickly morphed into a scowl whenever Cheryl walked up and announced Oh, you must be Headless Harriet's grandmother. I turned around a facer and asked, Headless Harriet? The head I pulled out of the Eminem Mountain, she explained, with a look of emptiness on her face before walking away, no longer interested in the conversation or the decapitated head. The head cleared its throat.

What do people say in this situation? Had this situation ever happened before? I doubt it, considering Charlie's was known for its wild occurrences. It cleared something before explaining its appearance. They sent another one of us, and I'm proud to say this one bites back if you try to mess with it. It said, followed by a throaty, no, just a regular cackle. I glared down at it before warning, I will literally kick you like a football back to your sister. She's not my sister, it exclaimed.

And I will latch onto your foot like a bear trap and take some toes back with me, so calm down, buddy boy. The head levitated a few feet off the ground to match my eye level, then informed me, We heard your owners didn't take our threat seriously, so the father thought we should reiterate our claims. He didn't expect you to make my partner when to go food, though. Lacey walked up at this moment, inserting yourself into the conference. Have you never been to Charlie's before?

I've been here a week and experienced enough weird shit for a lifetime. The head seemed to ponder this statement a moment, floating up and down in a fashion possibly resembling a shrug. Well, this is a portal to hell, after all. Why does everyone keep saying this is a portal to hell? asked Lacey. I wouldn't be shocked, but is it really? Oh, I see.

So you haven't told your little girlfriend about the little girl, about the last? the predicament your workplace is in," asked the voice. It tisked me before shaking its head, a pouty expression on its face. I'll tell her. Before we could even react, it zoomed towards her, stopping to hover a few inches from her face. A hand sprouted out of where its neck once was, and it immediately wrapped around Lacey's neck and slammed her into the wall in seconds. Lacey's hands fought to free her throat, but it was no use. Stop before I snap your windpipe, roared the head.

What is it with you guys grabbing people by their throats? I said. You mad because you don't have one or something? Just let her go. She asked why this place is a portal to hell, so I'm going to show her. It responded with an evil grin. I instantly regretted saying something, as soon as the head threw Lacey into the ceiling, So hard it began to crumble and free fall around her body.

The head's hand caught Lacey just before she hit the ground. For just a flash I saw her eyes and I saw the complete terror in them as she was swung upwards while the hand wrapped her hair around its fingers. It continued to swing her upwards until her body was straight up in the air. Then it began to helicopter her around and around. I couldn't believe anything that I was seeing right now. My feet firmly planted to the ground. ground out of fear and I couldn't understand how Lacey wasn't puking her guts out. I was struggling

not to puke mine and I wasn't even the one spinning. She began to scream so loud I had to cover my ears and I looked around to see all the shoppers and workers were just as terrified in covering their ears too. All except for Cheryl, who stood mesmerized as she cradled one of the garden gnomes like a baby. My attention was jerked away from Cheryl as I felt something wet splatter against my face. The first thought in my head was this is throw-up, but nope. It was blood flying out of her head, along with strands of hair as the head continued to violently whipper around. For some odd reason.

At this very moment, I was reminded of a homeless man that sometimes frequents Charlie's entryway, sitting on the lawn chairs we have for sale. The Wendigo never bothered him, which I was reminded him. I always found even odder than me remembering this random thought. He always told me he could clone me for $10 in a lock of my hair, and I was seriously considering taking him up on that offer right about now so that another version of myself would have to deal with this shit show rather than this version of me. But then again, he also told me Charlie's was just a product of him taking too much LSD,

and then throwing up the whole store, staff and all, and I'm pretty sure I'm not a drug-induced hallucination. I think. I inch over to one of the register stations and start chucking stuff at the decapitated head. It takes about three packs of skittles and two staplers for it to stop swinging her around and face me. There was a moment of doubt when I saw the hatred in its eyes, as it glared daggers at me. But I stood my ground because I knew I had to help Lacey. What? It said. Aggravated that I distracted it from the cat and mouse massacre it was attempting. Lacey hung from its hand like a limp rag, not moving and still bleeding. What message is this supposed to send?

Just let her go! The razor-sharp bear quickly transformed into an amuse smirk. Did you not want me to make an example of your little girlfriend? An example of what exactly? I said. The amusement left its face as the sharp teeth took over again. Of what happens if you don't bow. Now down to the father.

You know what? I think I'm done playing. It clearly isn't working for me to torture her, so I'll just end her life." Another evil grin lit up its face before it launched Lacey at the wall and I saw her body crumble into a broken heap on the linoleum floor. I watched her unmoving body for a few moments. Mouth agape due to the sight and due to me being shocked that I felt tears fighting to leave my eyes. We'd lost a lot of cashiers in the fast few months. Hell, the last few years,

really. But this was the first one I'd actually liked. I thought she was a great fit for Charlie so far, and I was looking forward to making memories with her and teaching her the ropes. Maybe she could have been an assistant manager someday. If the world didn't end, that is, with a portal to hell opening and all. Why are you talking like she's dead, idiot? She might be alive. Go to her. thought. I did just that, running and crouching beside her. As I did, I jerked backward as I saw the head move towards us. I thought better of my decision and immediately moved to shield Lacey's body, not wanting

her to have any more pain inflicted on her. Maybe she was still alive. Relax, it said, laughing at me. I'm only making sure she's dead. A weird light projected out of its eyes, scanning her body before. backing away from us. Avavich coulda. I squinted, confused at the strange language.

It noticed and responded with a simple, It means she's dead, kid. It smirked at me before it waved its arms towards the drink fridges, instantly transforming them into a large door surrounded by stone. Horrible things crawled and squirmed between the worn-down cracks of the stone. Spiders with hundreds of eyes, chopped off hands that moved off their own accord, snakes with acidic venom that poured out of their mouths and melted the floor, and spirits that moaned in pain every time they were forced through the cracks.

A countdown clock appeared above the door with the words until the end. Ha ha ha ha ha, to-de-loo and good luck! yelled the eye before zooming out of the sliding glass doors, leaving us to deal with the wreckage of its antics. Right now, though, I didn't have time to deal with the destroyed store and the possibility of the owners flaying me. I had to take care of Lacey. I turned to her unmoving body, and the waterworks immediately started flowing.

Cheryl came over and squatted down on the other side of her, caressing her hair as tears of her own streaked down her face. I tried to find a pulse, but I didn't hear any tell-tale signs of a beating heart. What I did notice is my tears dropped down onto her body and her tear-drop necklace, is that she was absolutely beautiful, even with half of her hair ripped out and blood all over her. We just sat there with her, silently crying as customers came and surrounded us, curious as to whether she was alive or not too.

And then the teardrop started to glow, and this time. It made it to her heart without the chain giving any sort of fights like it was finally letting it do its true purpose. Lacey's body began to glow, too, as orbs of light came out of the jewel and began to swirl around her body, slowly at first, and then gradually picking up speed. They began to zoom so powerfully that it lifted up the bangs resting on mine in Cheryl's forearms, and we backed up as Lacey's body began to rise into the air once more, this time gently. We backed up to give her room as the orbs began to move so fast they looked like

single strands of light surrounding her, and gasps of awe emanated from the crowd surrounding us. Their glow became so powerful and bright that we had to look away. But before I did, I noticed that all of Lacey's wounds were beginning to heal. New strands of the same. hair were growing from her head and being joined by the strands that were previously ripped out as they flew to her. The droplets of her blood splattered around the room began to fly to her as well, instantly adding a lively flush to her cheeks. She became as bright as a supernova, warming up the grocery store even, and I felt the tears

dry on my face from the heat. When the brightness finally left and we could look at her again, she was even more Angelic looking. Her wavy blonde hair, now full of highlights as bright as the orbs, billowed around her like a crown, and her lips were a soft cherry blossom pink. Her eyes also glowed the same light as the orbs, making her look powerful and like something to be feared. She wasn't just some beautiful, helpless thing. She floated downwards and towards me, making me squint my eyes as she stared at me. Avavich Nankuda.

She said in the same weird language that the head had. What? I asked. Confused once more. The witch is not dead, she explained, before her eyes dimmed to their natural ocean blue, and she fell to the floor. 7.38 p.m. Lacey was knocked out for a while, and when she woke up, she had absolutely no idea why the front of the front of the floor. the store was trash so badly. She had no memory of the events. I kind of didn't want to tell her what happened, but I knew she needed to know what was going on. I told her everything. The first weird encounters with Zubren's people, the Countdown Clock's appearance, and what she'd said

when she was raised from the dead. She told me she had no idea who the witch was, but she felt different now. This is understandable considering she died, but we also have no idea what that peer drop did to her. The main thing that matters to me right now, though, is that she's safe. Gary won't stop picking at me over all the girlfriend jokes they had kept making, but I've just ignored them and all of Lacey's questions about it. The only thing that matters to me is slightly less important, but still pretty important because it is pretty apocalyptic, but it's kind of taken over the place of our drink coolers currently, which is something the owners aren't going to be fond about. It kind of just sucks in general that we

now have to deal with a doorway to hell being in our way? Zubaran's minions did say Charlie's was a portal to hell, but it is kind of different when that portal is given a literal door that stares at you as you check out customers. Like, it literally stares at you. Because these weird, creepy eyeballs are starting to come out of the cracks. Gives me the hebi-jeebies. Anyways, I gotta finish cleaning Lacey's blood off the ceiling. Until next time.

8.34 a.m. Good morning. Cheryl greeted me. I returned the favor, expecting that to be the end of the conversation, until I noticed her staring expectantly at me, seeming to be waiting. Yes. I was wondering if my boyfriend, Chip, could get a job here with us, she said. She motioned towards a guy standing by the front doors that I hadn't noticed before. I looked at the boyfriend. Blonde hair, muscular. eyes blue, and teeth so white that they looked artificial almost. I thought he didn't look like Cheryl's type. But then again, the only guy I've ever seen her show interest in is her garden gnome, and

Gary when he's passing out samples to the shoppers. She never asks what the samples are, which is something I highly recommend doing, but she always seems to love the taste of whatever they are. It doesn't help that Gary looks down at the floor and vigorously shakes his head when I ask him. Uh, tell me about yourself, Chip. Hi, my name is Chip Micro. Growing up, I was the weird loner kid in school until my glow up during junior year.

Everyone started to hang out with me more, and then they realized they should have been hanging out with me in the first place. Uh, cool? I replied. I was about to tell them it probably wouldn't be a good idea until I saw Cheryl giving me puppy dog eyes. Ah, I could hire him as a shelf-stocker, I guess. I told Cheryl. Great!

She replied. She and Chip walked off towards the break room as Cheryl mumbled something about getting her chocolate chip in apron, which made me cringe. 11.57 AM. Hey, are there boom boxes for sale here? Asked Chip. I stopped counting the bag of ancient ruin crystals a customer had used as payment to look at him.

No. Why? Well, Cheryl's on break right now, so I was gonna surprise her with a serenade. I need to play a cheesy love song from the boom box while doing it in order to properly confess my undying love for her. Uh-huh, I responded. I paused for a moment to see if he'd explain more, but that was it. Dude, what even are you?

I asked. He stared at me with a blanket. expression for a few moments before his face scrunched up and his left eye twitched aggressively. It was during this that Lacey left the employee bathroom and entered the break room. She paused wiping her hands off with a paper towel and we both just sat there while Chip had a seizure or short-circuited or whatever the hell was going on. I don't think either of us really knew. My name's Chip Micro.

I was the weird loner. Okay. Okay. I interrupted him. We have regular radios on Isle 11 if you want to check there." He paused for a moment again, staring off into space. I was afraid my interrupting had fried his brain, but he chirped up after a few seconds and said, Thanks!

He spun around and began to march off to finish his side quest. Lacey and I looked at each other at the same time, both with concerned looks on our faces. What the hell was that? She asked as she sat down across from me. No idea. What did you say his last name was? Micro. His name is Chip Micro, she asked while chuckling.

Like Micro Chip, but backwards? I paused my counting again, fully thinking about that revelation, and accepting, huh, was all I could give. I bet he's a cyborg, she said. I looked up at her with an amused look on my face. What? Did you not just see him practically short circuit? in our break room, and his name is literally a technological device.

Why would Cheryl have a cyborg? I replied. I don't know, but I bet you that's what he is. No way, I said while shaking my head. Bet you twenty bucks. I looked at her to see her eyebrow raised in a playful yet challenging manner. You're on, I said, and we shook hands. As we were shaking hands, I thought how soft her hands were. I quickly shook my head and snatched my hands away.

What? She asked. Oh, nothing. I just got to chill. I lied. She shrugged before getting up from the table to get a bag of Doritos from the vending machine. Just count your runes, dude, I thought. You have bigger things to worry about besides your love life.

She'd never go for a dude like you anyway. 103 p.m. So the owners think that the doorway that took over our drink fridges is great for business. Why, you might be asking? Because a whole slew of oddities has come out of the thing. Not even just demons, oh no. Apparently there's a wide variety of beings that can manipulate the portals like this one, and they find it convenient that one has popped up in our strange little grocery store.

I was informed by some of the beings that our portal was one specifically meant to send someone to hell, but the demons changed it around a bit to screw with Charlie's. Some customers actually didn't know about the change, and they really thought they'd be walking into hell when they stepped out of it. They still decided to shop anyway. Nothing like shopping to get a snack on your road trip to eternal damnation. Am I right? I honestly didn't care, though, because so far the beings didn't seem threatening.

And the owners also told me I didn't have to replace the drink coolers due to the business boom. The only annoying thing about it was we now had a wider variety of super-nesternet. natural beings coming to shop with us, which made the owners feel like we should increase our available merchandise. Which is why I was currently stocking jars of pickled human ears, something incredibly popular with our vampire, still sane when to go, I didn't think they existed either, and cannibal customers. There was another annoying occurrence besides that one, but it was mostly just annoying

for the owners. It was absolutely hilarious for us, but it upset the owners because it was a lot of the owners wiped out our whole entire stock of frozen turkeys. Another new type of customer we had was wizards. We'd had some in the past, but not enough to really know anything about them as supernatural beings. We learned a lot about them whenever a group of five of them came through the portal, and it turns out that they are the literal definition of crackhead energy. They told us they were looking for party decorations for a ball, but made it very clear that they were unhappy with our lack of options of live-action decorations. Whenever I asked what a live-action decoration was, one

of them sighed, pointed his wand at the display of frozen turkeys, and gave it a gentle swirl. Immediately, the turkeys began to hop out of the display, hobbling around with their lack of feet and their wrappers restricting them. Soon, though, the wrappers began to pop as they continued to wiggle, stretching the plastic beyond its limits in order to be free. Rappers littered the floor everywhere, and the turkeys began to slip on them in their haste to be free. Another quick swirl of his wand made the turkeys stop in their path to freedom, instead making them begin to form a circle. The rest of the wizards giggled with delight, running to join them.

Soon, they were teaching the turkeys how to do highland dancing as another wizard conjured up some bagpipes to play. Customers gathered around, entranced by the dancing turkeys and clapping along with the to the music. Cheryl and Chip even joined in, bringing along her garden gnome. Lacey walked up at this time, and we watched the sight for a few minutes. Both amused. Are Cheryl and Chip trying to teach the garden gnome how to be a robot? She asked. I believe so. She starts giggling. What? I ask. I leave you alone for a few minutes to go stock some stuff up, and I come back to a turkey hoe-down throw-down, she said. I roll my eyes at her.

before heading towards the intercom microphone to announce an end to the dance party. Before I could make it there, though, a pack of werewolves came barreling through the sliding glass doors and made a beeline towards the turkeys. Total chaos ensued as the turkeys began to zoom around the store, weaving in between register stations and up and down the aisles, trying to get away from the werewolves as fast as possible. The wizards were throwing spell after spell at the wolves, upset that their dance party had been ruined. The spells bounced between the aisles and the shelves within them, causing explosions of products to catapult into the ceiling. Damn it, I said. I just clean Lacey's blood off those. Lacey rolled her eyes at the comment.

Her facial expression quickly transformed into deer in the headlights moments later, as a werewolf leapt over the register station she was standing by. It landed on all force, skidding to a halt right before our newspaper racks and snatching up a cowering turkey that was hiding behind them. If that turkey still had a head, I 100% believe it would have been saying a lot more than gobble-gobble at that moment because it was ripped to shreds by the werewolf's sharp teeth. Lacey, however, did scream as chunks of turkey organs landed on her. The wolf paused to stare at her for a moment with a confused look on its furry face, before running off to catch another snack. Chaos continued as we watched the wolves play

bumper cars with the shelves. It took three of them running down aisle five all at once for the shelves to be completely knocked over. A domino effect began, and Lacey and I stared with our mouths open as all of the shelves came tumbling down. Cheryl and Chip appeared beside us at this moment, just as shocked and mouths open as us. I'm not sure if it was me seeing things, but I could have sworn and the garden gnome also looked shocked. The events around us prevented me from looking too deeply into that, though, as explosions of fireworks and werewolf growls made their way above the shelf mountain, and the wizards continued to shoot spells. The owners are going to kill me, my mutter. Lacey looked at me and nodded, a look of pity on her face. A turkey approached Chip,

and for some odd reason, he thought it be a good idea to reach down and try to pick it up. Well, hi, little guy, he said. In its panicked state, the turkey actually let Chip get close to it before a werewolf approached the two, bearing its teeth at Chip. The turkey scurried off, but the wolf was more focused on Chip now. It's okay, Mr. Werewolf, explained Chip, trying to calm the wolf down. Chip, said Cheryl. It might not even be a boy wolf. It might be a girl wolf.

Oh, Chip said, not even realizing that possibility. Well, I'm sorry, Miss Wolf, he said as he reached his hand out. Here, Miss Wolfie, here, girl, he said, stupidly calling it like a dog. In an instant, the wolf's jaws had unlatched and engulfed Chip's arm, biting down and pulling it away with it. Lacey gasped as she saw the loose wires and sharp scraps of metal, Judding out of his bicep, sparks in strange green fluid emanated from the bitten-off limb, dripping onto and burning through the tiled floors. You owe me!

Lacey told me, without taking her eyes off the sight, even though I knew she couldn't see my reaction, I simply nodded in response. Too shocked to speak. Lacey and I spent the next few minutes attempting to calm things down and failing terribly. They only started to calm down whenever the wizards managed to talk the the werewolves into a dance battle between them and the turkeys. They promised the wolves that no matter the outcome of who won, they'd get to eat turkey no matter what.

The turkeys weren't made aware of this, but we didn't really care about turkey rights at that very moment. We were just glad things were calming down. The dance competition ended up being pretty fun to watch, and I can now cross watching a frozen turkey break dance until it thaws and turns to mush off my bucket list. After the dance battle was over, the werewolves finished the war. their feast. We talked the wizards into magically fixing what had been damaged in the store, which was basically everything.

Sorry about all this, said one wizard. He looked younger than the others and seemed a hell of a lot more mentally stable. We wizards can get a bit carried away. It's okay, said Lacey with a grimace. Just, please make sure it never happens again. The wizard nodded, before turning to Cheryl as she and Chip approached. She held the garden gnome in her arms like a baby, rocking it back and forth as if it really were one. Hey, you guys found Larry, said the wizard while pointing at the gnome. Larry? I asked. Yeah, he's one of the gnomes that works at our wizarding school. He explained. You know, pigweed school of magical stuff. I looked at the gnome, squinting as I

I thought I saw the gnome's eyes were wider than usual. They didn't move, though, so I wasn't sure. A gnome that looks like this works in your school, I asked. The wizard nodded and opened his mouth to respond, but Cheryl cut him off. There's no way Chip Jr. works at your wizard school. He's a cyborg like Chip, she explained. Oh, did he tell you that? Asked the wizard.

Gnomes are notorious for being deceitful." I don't believe you!" Cheryl stated, unfiltered as always. Can you fix Chip's arm? The wizard glanced towards Lacey and I, wondering if he should continue his endeavor of trying to convince her. He decided against it when he saw shaking our heads. He sighed before taking out his wand and circling it a few times around Chip's half-eaten

arm. Instantly. The arm began to grow. Weirdly, though, the blood that dripped from his arm was no longer green. It was now crimson red. Oops! said the wizard. I always get those two spells confused. But don't worry, it won't reject or anything.

It might be human, but it's still magically human. Chip checked out his new extremity, flexing his fingers as he did so. The only thing he had to respond with was, Ha ha, what's worry? 3.15 p.m. Can you show me where the bread is? This question confused me greatly. Not because I didn't know where the bread was.

I knew we were out due to the raft of ducks that visited us on Tuesday. They were products of an experiment gone wrong or wasn't right, an experiment that gave them the ability to talk. They came in absolutely starving. Another product of the experiment. The ducks left after they got their bread and after Cheryl spent an hour pissing them off by trying to catch one of them to keep as a pet. I've never thought of a duck as a threat, but they felt very threatening as they ganged

up on Cheryl. It took Lacey threatening to unleash spot on them before they agreed to leave. The reason this question confused me was because of the number of voices that asked it. It sounded like a large crowd had asked. A crowd that most definitely couldn't have quietly snuck up on me within the last five minutes of me stocking this shelf. Even still, it sounded like the crowd of voices was coming from all around me, and that didn't really make sense either.

The shelf was in front of me, and I could tell no one was directly beside me, yet the voice sounded like they came from everywhere all at once. This also sounded like a wide variety of people of different genders, ages, and accents. Now that I think about it, Was the question even asked in English, Ahem! The voices cleared their throat, trying to get my attention again. I'd been lost in thought,

trying to figure out what weird phenomenon I'd witness upon turning around. What I saw was unlike anything I'd ever seen before, and it immediately made me incredibly uncomfortable due to its complexity. Within seconds of looking at it, I began to get a migraine. Excuse me? I asked the wriggling mass of everything. It was like one gigantic tangle of everything you could think of and imagine on earth, and things I thought of even began to appear in the mass as I thought them.

Something I can only describe as squiggles of television snow static, wrapped around tendrils of smoke of all colors, even of colors I didn't know were real. Within the middle of those strange squiggles were my random thoughts and other flashes of things, possibly thoughts of others in the surrounding area. It was incredibly overwhelming, and I couldn't look directly at it for longer than a few seconds. Do you guys have any bread? Uh, I started.

Pausing due to being hypnotized by Lacey smiling at me from within the cloud. A thought that had been in my mind for a while now. I shut it down once I realized the possibility of her seeing it, replacing it with image. of ducks chasing Cheryl. Well, we did, but a duck rampage took all the bread. Ah, that makes sense. Said the voices once more. I felt like it didn't make any sense. But who was I to argue with a cloud? What are you? I muttered out. I am a living paradox. They responded, leaving it at just that.

Uh, what is that exactly? I answer and honest. answer all questions. It replied, being just as vague as before, I glanced at it again and saw flashes of Lacey and May. A version of us that was dancing. A version of us with kids. A version of us where half of her body was sucked into the portal and cut in half and many more versions of us in happy and horrific moments. Hey, stop that, I said. Stop what?

It asked. You're the one doing it. I am not thinking of Lacey being chopped in half. No, but you're thinking about Lacey. I'm displaying every possibility you might experience with her. I stared into the cloud, ignoring the pounding of my head as I imagined having a normal, happy life with her. I pictured her smiling at me, glowing as she did that day she was resurrected.

The image of her beauty covered the whole span of the cloud, eventually warping the tendrils of smoke into stretched out lacy zooming around. Wow, you really love her. Hey, shut up, I said. We don't have any bread, so go away. But I'm hungry, and you cannot avoid feeding the essence of life, for you will. I snatched a honey bun out of my back pocket. I'd been saving for a snack and chucked it into the cloud. All the images of Lacey within the cloud had identical honey buns smack them in the face

at the same time, catching them completely off guard and causing some of them to flip me off in reaction. There, how is that? I asked. Do you have more of those? Isle 3. The images within the cloud morphed to a variety of people, all nodding and smiling at me and thanks for their sweet treat, before the cloud zoomed off in search of more.

Did I just use a honey bun to avoid my love life? Yes, yes I did. 5.46 p.m. Hey, came Lacey's voice from above me. I slid out from under the shelf I'd been under. Hi, I replied. So there's a witch at Register 3, wondering why we don't have any eye of newt or toe of frog in stock, she said.

Mustard seeds on Isle 6 and Buttercup is on Isle 11, I responded. You know, I really wish these witches would just get up to date on their ingredient names. Lacey shrugged while looking at me. I just work here. I get what they ask for and hope something doesn't come along and murder me. You're doing pretty well with a Wendigo and keeping it from murdering you, I replied. Yeah, I got him some dog toys, so I think he likes me more now. She said while fidgeting with a pack of gummy worms, she'd take him.

taking off a hook beside her. The only thing I can't seem to get down is the aisles. I can never remember where things go. Yeah, well, that's because they change every day. The look on her face screamed light bulb moment. That's why the mummy wrap randomly got moved by the moisturizer. I nodded. Sometimes the shelves have a sense of humor, makes it a little less annoying that they constantly

change. I watched Lacey roll her eyes as she replaced the candy back. I don't know how you've run this place for so long. I shook my head. Yeah, I don't know either. And she was silent for a moment, staring down at the exit of the aisle. I straightened some items on the shelves as I waited for her to talk again. Thank you for being there for me that day, she finally said.

The topic caught me off guard, and I looked at her to see she was already looking back at me. I froze as she began to walk closer, growing incredibly nervous. A feeling like fireworks began to ignite within me as I felt her lips peck my cheek. My cheeks fired up so quickly that there was no way I could have hidden it. She'd caught me red-handed. More like red-cheeked, really. She smiled at me before turning around to walk away.

And I honestly just stood there for a few minutes, feeling completely numb with joy yet dumbfounded. 8.32 p.m. It's been a hell of a time since our last update. even without the threat of dying every second being there. I mean, it's still looming over us like a black cloud. But at least now there's a countdown for it, instead of not knowing an if or when. Lacey, Gary and I have been cooking up some stuff behind the scene in preparation, since

the owners have yet to take it seriously. I literally FaceTime them the door to prove it was actually there and they gave zero shits. Anyways, I figured I'd highlight some of the other happenings before I finished closing up the store for tonight. They aren't as long, but I felt they still deserve to mention. There's another plus side to our new wider stock and customer range. Our packaging has been upgraded. I didn't know this, but the owners actually hired a team of wizards to place spells on certain

items. Can't have a serial slasher walking into the store and ending us all, can we? No, so now the slasher section we recently added is spell protected and prevents murderers from doing what they do best until they're off Charlie's property. Things like Silver, Wolf's Bain, garlic, steaks, and Holy Water have also been given protective spells and better packaging. Items that we want to avoid being stolen have been given spells too. For example, we had a man try to walk out with a flat-screen TV the other day.

I will admit he was ballsy, because who literally attempts that? His ego got downgraded exponentially whenever he was electrocuted while trying to make it through the doors. We also added more species-specific convenience items, such as fur combs, detangler, fang bleach, SPF-3,000 sunblock, brooms, and cauldrons. Oh, and coconut water and free-range fingernails for our more health-nutty types. Acid dude came back. This time he was completely fascinated with our portal.

He stole some band-aids off the shelves and began to put them all over the hands that crawled around it. Lacey offered him a bottle of nail polish to which he greatly appreciated. He tried to drink it at first, but was quickly redirected. Gary now has a wider selection of meats in the deli, specifically a monster meat selection, which is what he liked to call it. It's a wide variety of select meat cuts from special creatures of all kinds. Whether it was able to be created due to the fact that the store now has a wider selection

of special creatures as customers, I do not know. But I do know. He's become exceptionally close with a few of our slasher customers. You'd think that would worry us. But that just means he will tell them we're off the market for their interest. If that means we have to turn a blind eye to Gary's chopping habits, then so be it. I set up a camera on the new shipment of garden gnomes we just got in. out of curiosity. I've also been paying more attention to Larry, otherwise known as Chip Jr. by

Cheryl. I've always thought there was something weird about those garden gnomes and how we get them for so cheap. The idea that the owners were in charge of an underground gnome trafficking network didn't really shock me though. Well, I think that's everything. There'll always be more though. So stay tuned. You never know what's going to happen at Charlie's, and we're glad you're You know how they always say one minute things are calm and then all hell breaks loose? I think I've said it a few times, actually. The other day, Lacey described Charlie's perfectly. Hell breaks loose in tiny increments here, she said.

It's one crap storm after another. I truly think it's spot on, so I had to include it. Let me explain all the recent tiny increments and tell you what you missed since your last Charlie's checkup. Number 1. The owners bought us some more drink coolers. Cheryl was incredibly excited for them for some reason. I think she just likes new things, really. But the delivery man gave her a weird look when he came in. Everything went fine whenever the delivery man brought them in, though. He also helped us set him up, which was very kind. When he was leaving, though, it wasn't fine, however.

Considering as he headed back to his truck, he realized it was no longer there. What was now there was a black hole in the concrete, which more than likely was the reason there was no longer a truck there, just in case you haven't heard of context clues. Hey, what the hell? The delivery man said. That truck! Spot decided to approach us at this point. He'd become a hell of a lot more friendly since Lacey basically domesticated him.

His elongated and rotting tongue hung out of his mouth as he paned, perched politely beside me. What the hell's wrong with your dog? The delivery man said. He's dead, said Cheryl. I nearly jumped out of my skin when she did, because I didn't even realize she'd approached. What does that even mean? It means he's dead, she responded with a confused expression. Cheryl being unable to comprehend that Charlie's and its happenings were anything but normal

was nothing new, so I immediately interjected into their conversation. He's a malnourished stray that we've been taking care. of. I lied. Oh, well, I think he needs to go to the vet," responded the delivery man. I nodded as Spot picked up his bony back foot and scratched behind his very clearly not dog ear, but the man said nothing else. Instead, he smacked his forehead with his hand before exclaiming, My boss is going to kill me.

How am I going to explain this? Just say the ground ate your car, suggested Cheryl. Lacey approached the delivery man, grabbing his arm so he would face her. I swallowed my feelings of jealousy and waited to see what she was doing. As soon as she locked eyes with him, the man's face went blank. His focus was only on her. Tell your boss that your truck broke down on the side of the road, said Lacey to the man. Your phone died, so you went into a nearby gas station to borrow their phone.

When you came back, the truck had been stolen. The man nodded to that. Lacey pointed down the small road that Charlie's was situated on. Head that way and there'll be a gas station on the right. Go make the call saying your truck broke down and then handle the rest when your boss shows up. He gave another nod before slowly heading in that direction. Incident number two. Have you seen Cheryl's snicker stash?

Asked Lacey. My fingers paused over the keyboard as I looked up at her. No, like the candy? No, not at all like the candy. She said with an eye roll. Yes, dummy, she has like 50 bars in her purse. She gave me one because she said she felt like I needed it because of the— She held up her fingers to do air quotes.

Close call I had. She chuckled before taking a bite out of the Snickers. She sure is a strange one, I responded. You know, she told me she saved a kitten from a burning building. She actually did, Lacey said. She showed me pictures in the vet record where they said the kitten had smut in its lungs. Huh, I responded. Lacey shrugged and said, She's got some tricks up her sleeve.

Hey, um, maybe we can have lunch together later. She asked with a hopeful look. Ah, sure, that sounds great. Great. Some were cheap, though. I'm having to save up for a car because my van is on its last leg, so how about the pizza place down the road? You know, if Charlie's doesn't go into a total meltdown without us, she said.

Yeah, sure, that sounds great. He gave me a small wave before heading out of the office. I spent the next few minutes trying to finish the expense report, but I was honestly too excited to. Note, this wasn't a huge incident for Charlie's, but it was for me. Incident number three. I don't really talk about the business side of Charlie's a whole lot, because I don't think it's quite as interesting, but let me tell you, trying to explain on tax reports

while your business buys 50 pounds of free-range chicken a week when it isn't on your product list or shelves is rather difficult. But you can't tell him that your Wendigo named spot has grown rather spoiled and refuses to eat anything else. I mean, honestly, I'm starting to miss when he ate humans. It was a hell of a lot cheaper. It wouldn't be so bad if the owners didn't make us maintain such a strict budget, but it also wouldn't be so bad if they hadn't grown to love the beast, too.

They made Gary build a personalized and heated doghouse for the thing, and they gave Cheryl job of bathing him and changing his bandages to prevent more rotting. I swear. Everyone is absolutely bonkers here. However, a professional dog breeder offered to buy Spot from us the other day. Yep. Someone who runs a business selling expensive dogs and they wanted Spot. To be fair, it was a rather old lady who was asking, and I'm not even sure how she and

her husband found Charlie's. She absolutely fell in love with Spot, though. because she was too blind to see that he wasn't an exotic dog. How much for the beauty in the doghouse? She asked me. Excuse me? I asked back. How much for him? Um, free? I said. For my spot? spoke up Lacey from her register. I could see a look of fury into her eyes. He's yours, then? asked the old lady. She attempted to turn around to speak to Lacey,

but she ended up facing the direction of the merchandise shelves instead. I'll give you a fair price for him. My husband Howard and I breed dogs, and we would love to have him." Chip paused bagging their groceries I was scanning, and repositioned her so she was looking at Lacey. He isn't for sale, ma'am, responded Lacey. The woman's face quickly turned to a scowl before she responded. That's not what I asked, little girl.

A man with the same shade of white hair came through the sliding glass doors and approached the woman. I pulled the car around, lovebug. He said to her, Howard, I want their dog, she stated. What dog, Honey Bunch? He asked. She pointed toward Spot. Oh, I'm not sure, sugar dumpling. He nervously responded.

Honey, please, she begged. You said after you finished building the tennis, that she'd buy me something I wanted. I want that beautiful dog." Okay, he reluctantly gave in. Whose dog is it? The stores? I pointed to Lacey, who was still fuming behind her cash register.

The old woman attempted to point, too, but she ended up pointing in the direction of the deli. We'll offer you. He glanced towards Spot one more time, before deciding with a shrug. How does ten thousand? I waited for a response from Lacey, but I ended up turning around when I heard nothing. I couldn't help but laugh when my eyes landed on her. Her face was full of awe at the number, mouth completely open. Is that not enough? How about 15,000? The man said. I, Lacey stuttered. The old

man waited patiently. That's enough to buy a car, she finally said. Well, do we have a deal?" he asked. Lacey glanced out the double doors and into Spots Doghouse. I knew in her head she was probably imagining him frolicking through some huge mansion, eating lavish meals and being spoiled. I knew she was also imagining herself with a better vehicle than her beat-up van and have many more nights where she could afford a meal besides ramen. Lacey tried to downplay her money issues, refusing help from anyone, but it wasn't hard to see she was struggling. So strong she stayed, though, is one of the things I admired about her.

And don't tell her I'm saying all this to you, because I would rather keep my life. Yes, she quietly responded. The old woman began to bounce with glee, something I wasn't so sure her body could handle. Her husband, more than likely having the same idea, placed his hands on her shoulders to study her. Hey, Chip, can you load up our friend spot for these customers? I asked him. And then acid dude wandered up and stood by us, watching the entire process of Chip struggling

to get Spot into the old people's cage. I saw Spot contemplate making Chip his new chew toy until he realized he was more robot than human. Hey, what's that dog doing? Said acid guy. Huh? I asked, scrunching up my face in confusion. The dog.

What's he doing? I ignored him and went over to Lacey. She had her head hung down over her monitor as she scratched at the plastic peeling off its sides. I realized she was crying. I can't believe I said yes, she said, It's okay, Lace, I reassured her. He'll be going to a better place and you'll be getting what you need to. But what if they realize what he is and they kill him.

I glanced over to make sure the couple wasn't paying attention before lowering my voice and saying, The old lady is literally standing right next to Spot and still has no idea he isn't a dog. I would be very shocked if she figured out he wasn't, and she seems to get her way in this relationship. You know what? I think Spot will be eaten fresh steak and salmon every day, probably. Hell, maybe we should have pretended to be dogs. She laughed and then said, Oh, I have to tell them what brand of chicken he likes and what his favorite toy brands are, exclaimed Lacey before running off in their direction. Before the couple left, they gave Lacey their business card.

It featured their Instagram where they posted pictures of their animals. A few days after making his way to their home, they posted a picture of Spot with a huge grin on his face and a very large pink bow on his head. Both Lacey and Cheryl couldn't stop crying at how cute he looked. which was kind of annoying, but I was just glad Lacey felt better. Incident number four. Our potions dealer came a lot later than he normally does to stock up on potions, so of course the witches were losing their shit.

I was in the middle of a screaming match with them when he finally showed up. Ladies, ladies, I'm working on getting him here. I'm sorry for how long it's taken, but I don't really have any control over it. I was reaching to call him again. When a short and pudgy man ran through the sliding glass doors. Ah, speak of the devil, I said. I looked all around me out of fear of the father randomly showing his face, regretting what I had said.

All seemed well, though, so I directed my attention back to the commotion in front of me. Nothing to fear for I am here, he announced. I hid my snickers at his entrance line while the women whooped and hollered, surrounding him and yelling for him to share his products. I have? He began as he fished one hand into his bag. After a few seconds, he gave up, and decided to just dump all the contents onto my conveyor belt. He waved a hand at the mess of products he just unleashed.

Man, how'd you fit all that in that tiny bag? I asked. Oh, the bag is charmed, special spells and such. He stated, Anywho, I have there coming in five mil liters, a poison elixir in 7.5 minoletors, the cure for cancer in one mil-liter. Wait, did you just say the cure for cancer? asked Lacey. Well, yes, but there are a few possible side effects. Like what? He said. Well, loss of limbs, growth of talent, instantaneous death, trivial matters, and whatnot.

He explained. She gave him a rather perplexed look, but spoke no more. What's this bottle right here? asked one of the witches as she picked it up. It was a rather large bottle with three tears to it that resembled a snowman's shape. The colors of the potion itself, however, were incredibly unlike a snowman, a neon-green color filled the very bottom with a deep red in the middle and a violet at the top. The colors clashed horribly, and the stench that came out of it when the woman pulled its stopper was downright foul. Oh, now be careful, he said before snatching the bottle back up. Why don't I just hold out of this? Why is it dangerous or something? She asked with an eye,

eyebrow dramatically raised. Well, all potions have the smallest bit of danger within him, he said, while attempting to shove the bottle back into his bag. The outside of it appeared to be rather slick, however, with a nervous sweat he'd just broken out in. The three-tiered monstrosity didn't hesitate to slip out of his wet hands and fall to the floor, smashing into many pieces. Oh dear, he said as he dabbed his forehead with a handkerchief.

What does that potion do? I asked him. Well, you see, he began, but one of the women let out a screech before he could finish. It was snakes. All three of them scattered, and the potions dealer looked close to fainting. I looked down at the floor as I felt something wrap around my ankle just in time to see a serpent giving me a mischievous grin. I bent down to try and remove him, but I was quickly whipped back into the checkout station

behind me before I could. What the hell? I exclaimed. The snake gave me a hiss while I wiggled my foot around to free it. It seemed like it was going to lunge at me, so I began banging it against the register. Eventually it slithered off. What the hell, man? I repeated while glaring at the potions dealer.

How am I going to fix something like that? Well, there are only five snakes. Five rather strong snakes, but only five of them. They shouldn't be a bother. He said as screams erupted through the store. He shrugged at me nervously. As I heard shouting behind me, the witches approached. All three of them whizzed past me and headed straight for the potions dealer who had already

taken his cue to leave and darted out the front doors. They each had their own snake that continuously wailed hits on them as they chased the short man. I turned around to see where the ruckus behind me was coming from, and I found Chip fighting off his own snake. Chip Jr. threw himself in the mix and began chasing the snake around. around his adoptive cyborg father's body. Today is going to be an interesting day, I said, before heading to go clean up whatever mess

the snakes had made. Incident number five. Stop that, I said as I swatted acid dude with a newspaper. He paused in the middle of placing a pretty pink-flowered band-aid and slowly turned his attention to me. His eyes looked glazed over. Hey, what? He said.

quit putting band-aids on the portal's hands," I explained. But they need them," he responded. He went to place another one, this time tie-dye onto a hand, but I smacked him again with a newspaper. They don't need anything. I said, they are evil hands coming out of an evil portal and you're wasting our band-aids. Have you ever met anyone evil that had a smiley-face band-aid on? He asked while holding up said Band-Aid, This is going to help the bad vibes go away. I stared at him for a moment while pondering what he said.

Fine, I finally said, but don't use any more boxes of him. Cool, dude, he said with a huge grin. I walked back to my register, leaving Acid Dude to his strange end-of-the-world survival techniques. I spent a few minutes watching him delicately place the colorful bandages. He even held one of the hands for about five minutes, singing it an impromptu song about all the foods he currently wanted to eat. He was a few lines into Disturbia by Rihanna when I nearly jumped out of my skin due to a very loud bang that came from my right.

I looked over to see a huge and hairy man unloading his groceries onto my conveyor belt. The bang had been the result of him placing a watermelon down. I was shocked it hadn't smashed the thing, and that I hadn't heard the man about it. approach at all. Oh, I'm sorry. He said. He moved it practically a snail's pace as he unloaded his groceries. During the ten minutes that he took to unload his buggy, all while refusing any help from

me. I couldn't help but stare at his strange appearance. Charlie's was known for its strange customers, but he was a new type of strange that I couldn't figure out. He was covered in fake hair from head to toe, besides a uniquely shaped section of his face. First, I thought he was a werewolf with a strange hair growth pattern, but I'd never seen a werewolf that slow. After I finished scanning all of his items, Chip began to bag them all.

Cash your card, sir. I asked him. He stared at me for a few moments, but it was a bit longer than I felt comfortable with. I was just about to repeat myself, afraid he hadn't heard me. When he produced a slow... CARD. I tapped a few buttons on my register before giving him the go-ahead. He slowly placed the card into the slot, pressing his pin into the keypad even slower.

I let out a sigh as an error message popped up. It said it was the client, sir. I stated. His attention remained focused on the keypad, his hand hovering slightly over it. Sir, it said, I typed in the wrong password, he said. Yes, I responded, before quickly pressing the transaction button again. Try again, please. He pecked out the numbers one by one, his speed ranging somewhere between a turtle and

a zombie. It finally went through, so I told him to go ahead and remove his card. He continued to stare at the keypad. Still, instead of removing it. Sir? I started, until I peered over my screen and saw his hand inching towards the card. I was entranced by his strange pointed fingernails until I heard him jumble out. Can I have my receipt, please?

I handed him the paper and told him to have a good day before bringing my phone out of my back pocket to Google something. What are you doing? Lacey asked. Trying to Google what my customer is, I said while glancing in his direction. Lacey followed my line of sight before turning back towards me. Jared, he's a sloth, she stated. I looked up from my screen. A what? He's a sloth.

She repeated slowly. Is that too weird for your brain to process? I mean, I've just never seen a customer like that come into Charlies. Hey, you know, that's the first time you've ever been called by your name in the story, pointed out Lacey. Way to break the fourth wall, Lace. She giggled before continuing with our previous conversation. Maybe the portal's causing strange things to happen, she suggested.

Even stranger than what Charlies has ever seen. We both looked at the huge doorway, watching as acid dude emptied his last box of Band-Aids. I hope this is over soon, she said. The Ultimate Incident When the time came, it came in full force. I managed to talk the owners into letting us shut down the store for the day. We spent most of it rounding up people to help us defend the place. Wizards, witches, gnomes, werewolves, serial killers. Some Wendigo friends of Spot, some gnome friends of Chip Jr., along with our current stock,

you name it and it was probably there. Then we all surrounded the portal, watching the digits continue to go down as we snapped on what Charlie's had to offer. Cheryl passed out some of her snickers stash, and Gary also took it upon himself to whip something special up and pass it out. When asked what the supposed delicacy was, he only stated it was a surprise. and a few of the werewolves were the only ones able to stomach it. Lacey sat on the floor beside me, knees bent and arms propped upon them. She tapped one foot nervously as she bit her lip. She hadn't

taken her eyes off the doorway. Lacey, you okay? What if he has a rocket launcher? She replied, huh? I said, struggling not to laugh while doing so. I can tell you aren't taking me seriously, but that was a serious question, she said. I mean, This dude clearly means business. What are the chances he wouldn't bring something crazy like a rocket launcher or a blowtorch? I nodded while soaking up her theories. I guess it's a plausible thing to be worried about. I said.

He said this would be the end of the world, she said before looking me in the eye. What makes Charlie's that special? I shrugged. And the conversation was left at that. As it grew closer to time, we all finished our goodies and got ready. Weapons prepared and combat ready, we stared at the huge clock as it counted down its last few seconds. The disembodied hands actually held up their fingers and counted down with the clock when it hit ten seconds left.

Battle ready, we stood fiercely in wait for what would come. What did come was possibly the last thing we would have expected. I kid you not, the Monster Mash began playing at full volume once the clock was the clock Lock hit all zeros. It caught us off guard, and it made us wonder if this had been a joke the whole time. I busted out laughing, actually, convinced we'd been pranked. But mere seconds after the song began playing, demons began to flock to the store, making their way through the portal and popping up throughout the aisles with white puffs of smoke.

They each had a wicked snarl on their face, bearing their fangs at us to assert dominance. In response, Gary loaded his shotgun, Lacey summoned a fireball in both fists, and I held up the pointy end of the mop I had spent all day sharpening. The fight began with Cheryl launching Chip Jr. into the menacing horde. For the first time since his arrival at Charlie's, Chip Jr. let it be officially known that he wasn't an inanimate object, and he did it by letting out a war cry that sounded like a chipmunk screeching. It was quickly drowned out by demon roars.

What I'm going to describe to you about the fight was mostly seen on the security cams that made it through the battle, but also from the bits and pieces of moments I saw. At one point, I saw Lacey conjure up a whip made of fire and literally sliced demons in half. The ends of her hair lifted up into the air, lit up with a fiery blaze that accompanied her eyes. I saw Asadudu'd launching garden gnomes at full speed. Chip Jr. had taken command over the nose. gnomes and was actively chirping at them to go for the throat. Instead of fighting against

each other this time, the were werewolves and turkeys were working together. The turkeys were still being used as bait, but the wizards had talked to them beforehand and told them it was for the greater good. Gary and his horde of slashers were doing what they do best, slashing and slicing. I wouldn't doubt it if Gary had been excited about possible new meat selections as I watched him stab a demon in the eye. Chip had fully upgraded one of his own arms to be titanium steel and was knocking demons out left and right as Cheryl was safely perched on his back and actively chopping off demon heads with an axe. Puffs of colorful smoke and sparks surrounded the commotion as wizards cast spell after spell. It didn't take long for my pointy

mop to be downgraded to a single mophead. I was in full-blown panic mode and being chased down by two demons whenever one of Gary's friends shot them down with a shotgun. He then handed did and some ammo back over to me. Shooting demons was a lot more fun than I thought it'd be, and it honestly felt like I was playing a virtual reality zombie game. Nausea and dizziness from the motion included. The snake from the potion fiasco was also helping out by getting demons in all directions. I think my favorite moment of all, though, was when I saw some witches full-on roasting a demon like a rotissory chicken, tied up on a spit and with an apple shoved into his mouth. He looked absolutely horrified as the witches tackled around him, looking back

while in the middle of it. I honestly thought we were losing. Maybe because it felt like hours before the portal stopped regurgitating its monsters, or maybe it was me watching Chip's last remaining cyborg arm being ripped off by a demon. I felt like I was watching the store fall to shambles. Whole chunks of the ceiling were gone, and I could see the stars shining down in us, As monsters of all kinds beat each other to bloody palps, I was sure death would come soon, as I held the last bit of ammo in one hand. When I'd shot my last bullet, I heard a loud bellow sound from somewhere to the far left of me.

I didn't understand what it meant until all the demons began to retreat, scrambling like rats to the portal. As the opening consumed them, they began to topple over one another in their haste to leave. Storm clouds appeared outside. flashes of lightning shine through the remaining ceiling and windows. Thunder boomed as the smoke within the portal began to violently spin, becoming so powerful that it projected high-force winds into Charlie's. What wasn't already damaged by the battle was blown away by the portal's winds, and I began

to panic when it started sucking things in. I yelled before grabbing onto Lacey and hunkering down behind her register. I saw a few gnomes and thawed-out turkeys go flying by, and I held on to Lacey even tighter. A few moments later, a loud pop sounded throughout the store, as sun rays took the place of the storm-clown shadows. Angelic bird chirps filled my ears, and I no longer felt the portal's force against us. It was gone now, along with its god-awful hands and the countdown clock. The only thing that remained was a floating banner that read,

You stick, signed the fire. That too quickly disappeared before our eyes. We won, roared Gary. And all of his friends began to whoop and holler, shooting random shots into the air. They shut up whenever one of them shot a ceiling tile that was hanging on by a thread, and it landed on his head. Lacey burst into giggles beside me, and I looked over at her. The beauty emanating from her was absolutely in. insane, and she was glowing with power.

Cheryl walked up at this point, stealing my attention from Lacey. She faced her back to us, and I wasn't sure what she was doing until I saw her lift her cell phone over her head and angle it towards our group. She said, Say cheese! Before snapping some pictures, Geary ran up towards me and threw an arm around my neck before smiling. Chip shifted the fingers on his ripped off arm into a peace sign symbol. for holding it up beside his grinning face.

I was in the middle of laughing at him when Lacey wrapped her arm around me, pulling me towards her until our cheeks were touching. What was that for? I asked after our photo shoot was over. I asked the owners if they wanted any updates after the battle, said Cheryl. And they said they did? I asked. I didn't think they'd care, considering they didn't seem to be taking it seriously.

When I asked them if we could close the store, they laughed. and told me it'd be coming out of my pay if I did. They texted back that little yellow guy that looks like he's crying and laughing, she explained. I figured that was yes in another language, so I'm sending them pictures. I slowly nodded my head before responding. Thanks for the hard work, Cher. Everyone seemed busy celebrating, so I took a chance while they were distracted and ran to the bathroom.

Demon slang sure did make you feel the need to piss your pants every five seconds. And for once, the bathroom wasn't covered in blood. I let out and accepting, Huh, the urinals looked god-awful, and I walked to the nearest stall. I was mid-unzipping when the door swung open, but I stopped in my tracks before using the bathroom. Congrats, Jared. Read the words carved into the tiled wall. You finished round one.

So yeah, that was pretty much all the weird shit Charlie's had to offer in the days leading up to our battle. We've actually been given a paid vacation, shockingly, but I think it was mainly due to the fact that the owners found out we weren't joking. Do a backflip, said Lacey from her pool chair beside me. I looked over to see her sipping on her fruity drink as she twirled the little umbrella. Chip Jr., after realizing he'd captivated an audience, took three of the most dramatic jumps on the diving board before somersaulting through the air, gracefully landing in the water with a splash. Bravo!" said Cheryl as she clapped behind us.

I swear I saw her wiped tears away. Meanwhile, Chip and Gary talked at the bar across from the pool. They were debating whether or not the bar's smoothie blender could take a bear in a fight. Chip had some fair points, honestly. I was also still in shock that Cheryl had her own mansion. As for the words carved into the wall, we had no idea what they meant. And there wasn't exactly a when you survive a supposed apocalypse. but still keep getting creepy messages, Survival Guide, floating around out there to help us.

We chose to ignore it, honestly. Take one day at a time. I mean, never mind the fact that Lacey and I were really the only ones who could understand the seriousness. The rest of them just wanted to celebrate. I couldn't tell you the last time I saw Gary drink anything but tequila. I'm seriously worried for the guy. Anywho, thanks for surviving a little longer with us at Charlie's. And as always, we'll keep you updated.