Synopsis: Jadine drove throw deep snow to get to work at the gas station she manages to find herself face-to-face with a big-shoed psycho. She’s starting to wish she’d called out.
Status: Completed
Last Updated: 11/28/2022
Read-Time: 75 min.
Part 1: Page 1
Part 2: Page 8
Part 3: Page 18
Part 4: Page 24
Part 1: Send In The Clowns
An eerie quiet greeted Jadine, as she stepped through the back door. Only the sound of her own footsteps, sneakers squeaking against the tiled floor, reached her ears. Goosebumps broke out on her arms. Absently, she rubbed them away; stashing her wet coat, dripping melted snow, into her locker as she walked by. The air felt pregnant with foreboding.
She found herself hesitating before opening the door that stood between the backroom and the hallway connecting it to the main body of the store. The metal cold under her palm, the hinges groaning as she pushed through. There she paused again, her back pressed against the door frame, listening for the familiar sounds of a thriving convenience store. She heard nothing, not the mindless chatter of customers shopping for snacks nor the employees doing their side work, not even the Christmas music set to drift through the overhead speakers 24/7 made a peep.
The silence was oppressive. Her mind called up frightening images of robbery and violence as she stood trembling by the door. Working the graveyard shift left you open to junkies and thieves. Convenience stores, she knew from experience, were especially vulnerable this time of year. There were twelve other C-stores in the area, three of which had been robbed in the last few weeks. In her mind’s eye a perfect snapshot materialized of three people cowering together behind the registers while a masked gunmen ripped the bills from the drawers, and another held a gun to the clerk’s head. Jadine shook the memory from her mind. Three years gone and the thought of it still shook her to the core.
Stealthily, she slipped across the hallway and into the office, locking the door behind her. To the left of the desk, a two-way mirror took up space. A manager’s best friend. From here, she had a clear view across the tables of the Eatery to the wall of coolers on the far side of the store, including the horseshoe shaped register counter between the entrance doors. All but the kitchen area showed in its rectangular view.
To her relief, there were no signs of larceny going on. As a matter of fact, she could see the two employees – Stacy and Trevin – standing at the window staring out at the night, watching the snow fall. A flush of irritation crushed out the blossom of relief at the sight of them..
Seriously? Have they never seen snow before? Jadine thought, her temper rising as she watched them.
“They should be clearing it not watching it,” she muttered, the tremor in her voice belying her true emotions. With a hand pressed to her chest, her heart trotting along fearfully beneath it, she took three deep breaths in and blew them out with a slow shush. Feeling more in control, she gave her head a shake. “Two feet of uncleared snow outside and you’re worried about robbers,” she chided herself, doing a quick perusing through the camera views, just in case she’d missed something. Everything seemed normal except the two employees who, frame after frame, stood watching the snow accumulate outside. “Well, Jadine, if you ever hope to be more than Night Supervisor, you need to nip that in the bud.” Heaving a heavy sigh, Jadine left the comfort of the office to confront her employees.
Neither had moved at all when she stepped up behind the register, earning them the full force of her frown. Not that they noticed. Instead, they stood close together, whispering. Stacy, tall and voluptuous, had to lean down to whisper to Trevin, who stood a good three inches shorter than she, and thin as a willow branch. Stacy’s short, blonde ponytail swished gracefully back and forth with every movement. Self-consciously, Jadine tugged at her own hair clip, barely containing the mass of dark curls that hung halfway down her back.
“The walks need to be cleared,” Jadine began, making a conscience effort to keep her tone even.
The sound of her voice startled both co-workers who spun in her direction. Stacy let out a squeak of fear and sank her nails into Trevin’s arm.
“Good, God, Jadine!” Stacy scolded. “Don’t sneak up on us like that.”
“Ow, Stacy, let go!” Trevin wrestled his arm from her grip.
Jadine opened her mouth, sharp words about Stacy’s statement on her tongue, but both had turned back to the window again.
“Where did he go?” Trevin asked nervously. “Is he still there?”
“Yes, by the tree.” Stacy pointed off to the right.
“What are you two going on about?” Curious, Jadine stepped up next to them, searching the snowscape beyond the window.
“That guy out there by the street. Do you see him? On the corner by the tall tree?” Stacy was whispering again.
The falling snow made it difficult to differentiate objects, but the bright colors on the man’s shirt drew her eyes to him. Once she saw him, she couldn’t seem to look away.
“What’s he doing out there?” Jadine asked quietly, leaning towards the glass for a closer look.
“We don’t know,” Trevin answered, running his shaky hands through his hair.
“Oh, for Pete’s sake,” Jadine grumbled. “He’s just standing there. Stop freaking out.” It came out harsher than she had intended with her own unwarranted fears still ringing in her head. She turned away quickly before either of them could see the flush on her cheeks, and busied herself with her register and safe counts.
“He’s been out there for over an hour,” Stacy whispered.
“He’s probably just some homeless guy trying to decide if he can crash here for the night or not,” Jadine countered, trying not to think about the flapping shirt and the snow falling all around.
“Homeless? Really?” Stacy gestured towards the window. “Do you see what he’s wearing?”
“Stop whispering.” Jadine slammed her till closed. Stacy had said the words as if she’d plucked the thought from Jadine’s brain. Irritated, she said, “He can’t possibly hear you.”
“I’m not so sure – oh, God, he’s moving,” Trevin said, his voice trembling; fingers laced through his dark hair. “Shit, shit, shit. He’s looking right at us. What do we do? Call the police?”
“Trevin, calm down,” Jadine said sternly. “You can’t call the police because someone is looking at you. He isn’t even on store property.”
Stacy grabbed hold of Jadine’s arm with an icy hand. Her grip, tight enough that Jadine was certain she’d have finger shaped bruises cropping out on her skin by morning, had Jadine slapping instinctively at the young woman’s hand.
“Stacy!” She gasped, as much in surprise as in pain, “Let go!”
“Just look at him, Jadine,” Stacy pleaded, dragging her supervisor back to the window. “Look at him!”
“Fine! I’ll look at him. Again,” Jadine said with a frown. “Just let go of my arm!”
Stacy looked down at her hand as if surprised to see it clutching her boss’s arm. Perhaps due to the amount of pressure it had taken to hold on so tight, or possibly because of her growing fear, it took a great effort for her to release her hold. Absently, she rubbed at the spot where she had clung, as if in apology for her action.
Jadine, true to her word, stepped up next to Trevin. The snow was still thick, shrouding the gas pumps, trees, and other objects in the mystery of its embrace. The man, however, stood out now that he’d moved away from the tree. The colors on his billowing outfit shown vivid against the white of the snow, like an exotic bird lost in the arctic.
Billowing. Billowing. “Where’s his coat?’ Jadine muttered aloud.
“That’s what I’m saying,” Stacy said, her voice close to Jadine’s ear.
Even from this distance, Jadine could see the garish make-up of the man’s clown face, the red ball on his nose, and the curly orange hair sticking out from under a small black hat. But, his shoes were wrong. While they were large, they weren’t the traditional length for a clown. Nor were they the right color. These appeared to be a man’s regular pair of black snow boots.