Employees Of The Unnamed Convenience Store

[Yohlan’s POV]:

For the past hour or so, I told psycho bitc-

Errr… Allena about the situation and my recent findings within the building.

To be honest, I don’t want to work together with this person. But I’ve got no choice since we’re sharing the same predicament: we are trapped inside this convenience store.

Allena, who didn’t believe my words at first, verified the effects of the black veil outside the store that surrounded the whole building. The look on her shocked face after submerging her left arm into the supernatural barrier was priceless. Though, I didn’t explicitly show my reaction out of fear for what she would do afterwards.

Near the counter, we were trying to figure out how we got into this place. The unnamed convenience store was unfamiliar to both me and Allena. Along with the strange layout and oddities in the store, we assumed that we were inside a supernatural building.

Wait-

Then the ugly truth dawned on me…

Being stuck here… Also meant that I’m stuck in here with her..!

Sigh…

Just bear with it for now. Our first interaction clearly ruined our impressions of each other. Since it was just both of us, I need to build some sort of relationship with her to establish a sense of cooperation.

Well, I just need to gain her trust again…

Faking a smile on my face, I decided to tell her my thoughts,

”We might’ve started off on the wrong foot. But so far, you and I are the only ones here.

Let's try to get along so we can work together and figure things out.”

Allena scoffed, “I seriously don’t care. Let’s just work together until we figure out how to leave this place.

If you try buttering me up like the previous times, I’ll seriously kill you.”

… Jesus, are you serious?

“I already told you. Last time I was looking at your name tag, not at your… Y’know.

And the incident earlier was me trying to tap your shoulder to wake you up. I wasn’t trying to touch your… Y’know.“

Fuck, it felt so awkward talking to another girl other than Delilah. Plus, it had to be a crazy person who swung at me with a pair of scissors.

”I swear I had no ill intentions.”, I claimed.

Allena frowned at my unclear responses, “To be honest, I can’t tell if you’re lying.

But I’m not stupid enough to ignore that there was some truth in what you’ve said.

Maybe it’s all a misunderstanding and you’re some kind of decent guy.”

So she gets it. I’m glad she’s not an idiot.

”So I’ll cooperate for now…”

But then she pulled the scissors from her shorts and pointed it at me.

”But I’m only saying this once.

The moment you pull anything funny…

This will be the last thing you ever see.”

Ah…

So right now, she was the one who held power in this situation. I don’t know why I assumed that we were on mutual grounds.

As I silently gazed at those pairs of scissors. It’s clear that Allena was clearly showing me mercy by not stabbing me. She was deliberately holding back because we were stuck together in this store.

Well… Regardless of whether or not she had those scissors, I still would’ve tried to build some trust between us. It’s only reasonable to avoid having conflict with the only person stuck in this store alongside me.

She put away the scissors then asked, ”Anyway, you mentioned a hallway at the back of the store?”

“Yeah, the one that leads to the Employees Lounge and the Storage Room.”, I responded.

At the mention of the storage room, Allena paused and looked at me,

“Also… You said you were afraid of going to the storage room?

Can I ask you why?”

Huh..? Why is she asking me this?

I responded back, “I don’t know, I’m just getting bad vibes from it…

On an unrelated note, I feel like it was associated with my nightmare in some way.

But that’s probably not relevant in this situation… Haha…”

… Allena stared at me, “Your ‘dream’...

Was it really a dream?”

Huh..? Why was she asking me about my dream?

She repeated her question, “Are you just saying it was a dream?

Or could it be that you’re playing with me right now?”

I affirm to her, “I’m telling you, there’s no way it could’ve happened.”

Allena paused for a second, then asked me,

“Do you remember a tall man with a pumpkin-esque face?”

What the- Wait… I somewhat remember such a character appearing in my dream.

But, how do you…

Then it clicked with me.

…

Perhaps… She knows something.

“Let me tell you what happened to me before I woke up here.”

…

…

…

“So then… A tall man- No, a monster was going to kill me?”

Allena nodded, “Yeah, and some sort of voice was telling me that you were being tested.”

My fragmented memories aligned with the story she was telling me. I vaguely remember such events happening. Though, it seemed like her body had died before seeing what happened next.

Shit… It straight up sounds like a creepy ghost story.

But, if that’s true then… Does that mean it simply wasn’t a dream? That I was trapped in a dark storage room and battled a monster with 8 arms? There’s no way… But, right now Allena’s account is telling me otherwise.

Also…

“Hey Allena, you mentioned having a bad dream before that day right?”, I asked her.

She realized what I was implying.

Allena shivered and placed her hand on her forehead, “No way…”

Well… I guess we got our first clue about our situation.

Our ‘dreams’ before entering the store.

Let’s assess our information on our dreams so far…

---

1. The ‘dreams’ were scenarios we experienced in real time. However, they’ve been distorted and left off as a fading memory.

2. The ‘dreams’ coincidentally contained the similar content: We both recall some sort of monster chasing us in an enclosed and wide space. Albeit, Allena was chased by a merged clone of herself and Wally. Whereas, it was an 8-armed monster for me.

3. Allena mentioned a ‘test’ before I was chased… She also mentioned a supernatural force that ejected her current consciousness outside of her own body. But what exactly did it mean by ‘test’?

---

A ‘test’ implies that there was something or someone evaluating us. So what or who exactly was testing us?

Also, was my ‘test’ the reason why we were stuck here now..?

Clearly there were some correlations between the supernatural store and our dream before coming here. But even with this information, there’s not enough for us to establish some facts…

We’ll think about the significance of our dreams later. For now, we have to explore the entirety of this store.

I reminded Allena, “Well, we should explore the hallway in the back.

We can think about this stuff later. Our main priority should be to explore the entirety of the store first.”

I feel more confident knowing that there’s somebody to accompany me now.

Allena turned towards the back of the store.

“Guess that makes sense.”, Allena took the initiative and walked ahead of me.

Step. Step. Step.

Jesus, she has long strides.

I hurriedly tried to catch up with her, “Hold on, wait for me.”

As I passed the gondola shelf, I saw Allena up ahead. Taking a step onto the marble floor in the hallway at the back of the store.

Jeez… At least wait for me, will you?

I followed her into the hallway.

Clack. Clack. Clack.

Unlike the hallway next to the counter, it wasn’t as long on the inside. Though, there were two doors that sat adjacent across each other. The one to the right resembled the steel door from the main office. Although, the window was entirely blacked out.

Again, on the door’s header was a wooden plaque with an engraving.

‘Storage Room’

Shiver.

This weird sense of déjà vu… Although I don’t remember my dream entirely, my body is engraved with a sense of fear. Well, this also serves as additional proof that my dream took place in real time… What a scary thing to think about.

Then on the left… Can only be the Employees Lounge.

It was a blue wooden door with a sign hanging in the middle. Held by a single pin piercing into the wood, on it was a warning symbol for authorized personnel only.

I wonder… Would there be people behind that door?

Perhaps there was someone chilling in the Employees Lounge. Someone who presumably works in this odd… Convenience store.

Allena then spoke up, “What’s the hold up?

Which one are we going in first?”

You’re asking me?

Well… To be honest, “I think we should check the Employee Lounge first.

I don’t feel too comfortable heading into the Storage Room yet.”

“Hmmm… Okay then-“, Allena took the initiative and went over to the door of the Employee Lounge.

Creak-

As Allena opened the door, we both entered the room…

Woah… There was a lot to unpack. You’re telling me that this was a lounge for Employees?!

Allena looked around, “Holy shit…”

On the right, two-thirds of the room had a red carpet. Then the carpet cut-off to the left by the marble floor for the last third.

The right side of the room had a couch that was facing an antique television screen on the wall. Next to the couch was a bookshelf and circular carpet that was surrounded by several adult-sized beanbags.

Whereas, the left side of the room had a long plastic table with several chairs. At a safe distance away was a sink, a couple cabinets on top, and a sizable fridge on the side.

Whoever was resting here was probably living in paradise on their off-time…

Allena ran up and submerged herself into the couch.

“Man… I’d kill to have a staff room like this!”, she exclaimed.

Wow… This seemed to be the most surprising room so far.

This creepy and surreal place had such a relaxing room for this store?

As I continued scanning the room, I noticed a whiteboard and bulletin board adjacent from each other, right next to the entrance door. First, I walked over to the right to take a look at the whiteboard.

---

Notice for New Employees: Welcome, congratulations, and thank you for choosing to work here! Through numerous applications, we’ve decided that you were a suitable and worthy applicant for joining us. After fully reviewing your capabilities, we officially acknowledge you as a valuable asset for future endeavors! For any inquiries, please refer over to the bulletin board that’s to the left of the door. We hope you have a pleasant time working here!

---

Allena got up from the couch and came over to look at the whiteboard notice,

“Huh… So there’s new employees?”

New employees…

Alongside the notice, there were weird child-like drawings of eight individuals. Above it was a bolded statement that read, 'Please find some time to appreciate the Seniors who have been with us for a long time!'.

Seniors?

I carefully observed the drawings. Each ‘senior’ had a title under their name.

“Stocker, Illustrator, Chameleon, Aberration, Slave, Daydreamer, Triggersmith, and…”

I paused.

The Bystander.

Bystander, Bystander, Bystander… That name sounds familiar.

Depicted with silver white hair, a blindfold, and a black dress. Some part of me felt like I knew who that was, but I can’t… remember.

Ah… She must’ve been part of my dream then.

For some reason, her drawing felt like a reminder for something important I forgot. Just what exactly happened in my dream..?

Meanwhile, Allena was staring at the drawing of the senior titled “Chameleon”. As if she was gazing at a familiar corpse during a shocking crime scene.

Well… It seems like it’s the same for you too Allena.

Shifting my attention back over to the notice, I re-read a specific part that caught my attention.

‘For any inquiries, please refer over to the bulletin board that's to the left of the door.’

The bulletin board…

I shifted over to the bulletin board to the left.

…

Okay. What the fuck?

A chaotic amount of blank sticky notes were plastered onto the board. To the point where the notes literally had to overlap one another, filling up the board with numerous colors. The mess seemed as if it were one of those overly-exaggerated modern art pieces. Obviously, there was no pattern nor order to read them in.

Allena also came over to look at the bulletin board.

She just had the same reaction as me, Allena spoke out, “Refer to the bulletin board my ass.

Just what are we supposed to get from this?”

“I dunno… Maybe it’s a cryptic message?”, I responded back.

Right next to the bulletin board was a stool with a bunch of sticky notes. Unlike the colorful mess on the board, the sticky notes were completely white.

Wait, just maybe… It has a supernatural-like function just like the newspaper rack?

I offered a suggestion to Allena, “Hey, I got an idea. Let’s try putting up a sticky note on the bulletin board.

Maybe it has a weird interaction, just like with the newspaper rack.”

“Well, that sounds like an idea.”, Allena responded back.

Allena took off a white sticky note from the stool and stuck it on her thumb. Then she turned towards the board.

“Ummm… Well, it doesn’t really matter where I place it, I guess.”

Allena placed the sticky note on the board.

…

Nothing happened.

Allena stared back at me, “That was a total bust. There’s nothing unusual with this board I guess.”

Hmmm… No, something’s wrong. It feels like we’re missing a piece of information for some reason. Just like the newspaper rack, it probably acts on certain conditions we’re not aware of yet.

I asked Allena to wait, “Hold on, there’s no way this is just here for no reason…

There’s probably a mechanic about this board that we’re not aware of.”

Allena responded back, “Well, if that’s what you think.

I literally just proved that it’s a normal bulletin board. Unless you’ve got any other ideas, this thing doesn’t seem weird in any way.”

“Think about it, why would the notice refer over to the bulletin board? It just doesn’t make sense.”

Allena held her hand on her temples, “Stop mulling over details that are worthless. You literally look like a side character that’s desperately trying to imitate a world-class detective.

We both saw that I took a sticky note and placed it on the board. Nothing happened, end of story.

Right now, we should be trying to find a way out of here.”

The hell is your problem?

Sigh…

…

Wait.

‘For any inquiries, please refer over to the bulletin board that's to the left of the door.’

Wait… Inquiries.

Perhaps we need to do something with the sticky note before putting it on the board?

But wait, how are we supposed to write down an inquiry on the sticky note? There’s nothing to write down with!

Unless…

I went over to the stool and took off a sticky note from the bundle.

Perhaps… Just like with the newspaper rack, it operates on thoughts?

Before placing the sticky note on the board, I thought, 

‘How do we leave this place?’

Stick-

Immediately… The sticky note gradually changed from white to yellow.