Gas Station

I used to work in a gas station that was far from civilization. Literally there was no houses nor stores around at all. The owner of the gas station had two gas stations and since I was "experienced", I got to work in the gas station that was farthest away from my town. It took about sixteen miles to drive there and I was given the night shift since the guy at the day shift had Nyctophobia. To me it was better to work the night shift because I got paid more. Usually when I work there are several people who pass by or drive in only to fill up gas or buy a snack for the ride. Sometimes I would see people who gave me the creeps. Once I remember seeing a dirty old man walk into the store and stood there for several minutes. The man just stood there watching me as I cleaned the store or patiently waited at the cash register. I couldn't just stand and do nothing so I gave him a bag filled with two candy bars, a bag of chips, and a soda. I was hoping he would leave and not come back, but he stared at me the whole time. Eventually he shook his head fast and apologized for what happened. Apparently he had some sort of disorder that prevented him from moving at all and that it occurs randomly. I was relieved, but felt bad for him so I still gave him the bag. He did buy a pack of cigarettes. Another time two cars came into the gas station and both people got into a fight resulting me calling the police and trying to brake up the fight. I got punched a few times but eventually I managed to brake up the fight and even heard that the reason why they were fighting was because one of the guys was a father who was mad at the other guy because he impregnated his daughter and left her because he didn't want the kid. The cops came and had the situation controlled. But the last incident I recall was the one that scared me the most. As I was doing the usual restocking the snacks, a man came in and waited for me to get to the cash register. He just needed gas in pump 8. Nothing out of the ordinary, but he kept staring at his car every few seconds and I would also glance outside to see what was wrong. Eventually the man left, but said something weird,

"Have you ever KILLED someone?"

I almost lost my balance and turned to him where he stood by the door. He continued talking.

"Watching the blood rush down there throats and see them struggling to live, until you stab them in the stomach repeatedly."

I stared at him and said in a quivering voice,

"....N-no......"

He chuckled and left. I watched him leave as he passed by the entrance, he smiled as he passed by and waved a stained object before speeding off. I couldn't tell if that was actual blood or anything, but it gave me the chills, so I called my boss to let him know. He told me to call the cops or lock up the store and leave. I chose neither option and watched outside to make sure no one else was outside. I waited more and after a while I actually ran outside to see if he had left. I was scanning around the dark when I noticed a figure walking down the road. I didn't know what to do whether to run and hide or face what was coming towards me. As the figure came closer, I realized that the figure was actually not an adult, but a child. They stopped halfway and stared in my direction. I didn't know what to say or what to do, so in a calm voice I asked,

"Hi there. What are you doing all by yourself?"

I extended my hand hoping they would come and not stand in the road. Eventually a little girl covered in dirt and blood emerged from the dark and slowly began to walk to me. I was actually horrified by the amount of blood she had on her. Her eyes were red and she kept wiping her face like she had been crying for a while. As she walked towards me she extended her arms like she wanted a hug. I didn't want to hug her, but she was already holding onto me crying. I picked her up and brought her inside. I called the cops and locked the doors to the store to make sure we were safe inside. I gave her a water and candy bar and asked her what had happened to her. She was like only seven or eight years old and she was shaking. But she managed to say some things that had happened to her.

"A man hurt my mommy and daddy."

"What do you mean? What happened?"

"We were going to go visit grandma and were driving to her house when we saw a man laying on the floor. My dad went to help him, but......they had switched positions."

"What do you mean they switched positions?"

"The man was on top of daddy and was jabbing something on him. He screamed and then went quiet. The man came around and began to reach for me, but mommy grabbed the man and told me to run. I ran as far as I could behind some rocks and saw the man pulling my mommy from the car. He got inside the car and drove away. I went to mommy and daddy, but they weren't moving. I tried helping them up, but they never moved. I didn't know where to go so I walked along the road........"

She didn't say anything after that. We waited until the cops arrived so I could close the store. That's when I heard tapping at the door.

"POLICE! OPEN UP."

I thought it was the cops, so I began to walk to the door looking for the right key to unlock it. As I raised the key to unlock the door, I froze to see the man who had come before standing in front of the door. As I stared I heard the girl scream and say,

"THAT'S HIM! THAT'S THE MAN!"

I backed away and pulled the girl back. The man now had a wide grin on his face and began to pound at the door. I looked around for anything to use as a weapon or to defend myself when I heard the horrible noise of glass being scratched on. I watched as the knife was being jabbed at the door. I ran into storage room and remembered that the owner of the store once said he had hid a gun in the store for protection. I locked the storage room door as my last protective barricade. I heard glass shatter and heard banging on the door. I raised the gun and pointed it at the door. The kid was hiding behind a pile of boxes as I watched the door began to violently bend forward. I screamed several things, but only remembered two which was,

"The police are on their way! And if you get in, I won't hesitate to shoot you."

Still no matter what I yelled or said, all he did was laugh or scream. As the door took its last few hits before opening, the man said,

" DIE!!!!"

The door flung open and with the girls screams and the mans laughter, I shut my eyes as I fired four rounds.