Tashi

Part 1

Tashi pulled the squad car in to one of the spaces at the front of the gas station's store. This place was long abandoned. Weeds grew from between cracks in the pavement, and the layer of dust on the "Closed" sign made it clear that the sign meant it. Nevertheless, this was the last place anyone had seen Paul Jenkins. A witness said he saw him poking around here the night of the disappearance, but he didn't watch long enough to see what he was doing.

He pulled the flashlight from his belt and decided to take a lap around the store first. It was still day, but the sun was starting to set and part of the outside was covered in shadows.

Turning the light on, he looked around for any signs of...well, anything. The good thing about how long the place had been closed is it would be easy to see if anyone had been here, and if they had, what they were doing. Tashi could see that a couple of wooden pallets had been moved a bit, and what looked like an empty oil drum. Further up were some some other items that had been moved, but nothing looked like it was done with any purpose. Maybe he'd been looking for something?

Tashi took a couple pictures and continued around to the back of the station. There, the story was much the same. A few things shifted, but nothing really obvious. He wasn't sure what he was looking for, but he figured he'd know it when he saw it.

They were fortunate enough to get even the one witness. This station was on the edge of town, outside of town really, and there weren't any other buildings around. Their witness said he'd stopped to get some gas before he realized the place was closed, and said he saw Paul looking in the front window. Said he figured he was just looking to see if anyone could turn the pumps on, same as him.

Not seeing anything on the other side of the building, he came back to the front of the station and pulled a key out of his pocket. He'd been told that the key may not work, and now was the time to test it. He put the key into the lock and to his surprise, the door simply opened with the force of that. He'd been told the scene had already been given a once over, but there wasn't any report of it being unlocked already.

Cautiously, he stepped through the door and shined the light around the dark room. Empty racks filled the room and a layer of dust covered the floor. Looking down at it, he saw a set of footprints, leading toward the back of the store, but none leading out. Tashi felt his heart skip a beat and he pulled his taser out, just to be safe.

Silently, he stepped to the side of the footprints and began to follow them.

Part 2

"Hello?" he called out. "This is the police. I'm coming in."

There was no reply, but Tashi heard something shift in the back of the store. He shined his light up, but he still couldn't see. He kept following the footprints which clearly were imprinted in the dust. After a couple more, it looked like the person had stumbled, or fallen.

Suddenly, Tashi heard the sound of a raspy breath. He stopped. "Hello, is anyone there?"

The footprints rounded the shelf, and there was no response. He took a breath and stepped around the corner, taser and light raised. On the ground in front of him was what looked like an old man in a flannel shirt and jeans, the same clothes the missing Paul Jenkins was supposedly wearing, but Paul was in his 30s.

The man on the ground turned his head to look up at Tashi. He had grey hair, thin and messy, and his face was wrinkled and sunken. Tashi holstered his weapon and moved toward the old man. "Sir, are you okay?"

The old man pushed himself away from Tashi along the floor, frantically waving an arm at him to stay back as he took another labored breath.

Tashi stopped. "Sir, are you okay? Do you need medical attention? I'm here to help."

The old man shook his head violently and tried to push himself further away. Suddenly, he grabbed his head as if trying to block out a deafening sound and screamed. Tashi saw his eyes shoot open, bloodshot and dilated despite the darkness. Tashi thought, trying to figure out what to do. Should he call for backup? An ambulance?

The screaming stopped as quickly as it began, and the man uncovered his ears. Tashi looked closely at him and the old man slowly turned his head to stare at him.