#//also filing this under 'starters that had me looking things up on the tma wiki again'

[gas-stxtion-a]

@freeddead said: “I asked to have the case reopened.” (//for jack! from pre-death gerry who is working on solving the unknowing with gertrude perhaps)

Jack looks up from where he’s sitting at one of the shitty little booths in the gas station to see Gerry standing there, a grim expression on his face. He’s only spoken to the taller man a handful of times at this point, and he still doesn’t quite know what Gerry wants with the gas station. Not that this is something Jack would normally be concerned about one way or the other, but the dude hasn’t exactly been subtle about his snooping around. Clearly, he thinks something is going on.

Especially because he’s been asking after the disappearances in the area, especially that of Jack’s coworker, Vanessa Riggin. The poor girl’s been missing for three weeks now, though admittedly Jack hasn’t had the time to focus on that. Between Spencer beating the shit out of him and leaving him with a mangled leg and a cast up to his thigh, the worryingly high number of Kieffers piled up in the walk-in cooler, and the not-so-subtle death threats he’s been receiving… yeah, he’s been a little busy.

Still, if this stranger is as interested in Vanessa’s disappearance as he is, then there may be something to it. She isn’t the only person to disappear from the gas station, after all--even if the local police don’t seem to think there are any connections between the cases.

“The sheriff’s probably not going to cooperate that much,” Jack warns him with an exhausted sigh, lifting one hand to rub his face. “They’ve already ruled Vanessa a runaway, and they’re probably gonna be stubborn and stick to that story as long as they can, no matter how much you or anyone else pokes and prods to try and make them look into it again.”

He lowers his hand, glancing absently toward the register. One of the newer part-timers, a girl named Jess, is working the register today, giving Jack a much-needed break. She isn’t being subtle about her eavesdropping, curious hazel eyes flicking their way every few moments, but Jack figures that it’s not too big of a deal. People in small towns are nosy by nature, after all, and it’s not like he or the goth stranger standing before him have said anything incriminating.

He turns his attention back to Gerry, taking in the intensity in the man’s expression. He lowers his voice slightly as he speaks again. “Do you really think Van’s disappearance might be… connected, I guess? To the other disappearances in the area? I mean, it’s not too outlandish to assume that, but a lot of people wander into the woods around the gas station and just… never come back. I even have to tell new employees not to go too close to the trees, and especially not to follow anything that might be calling out to them, and Van was a smart kid, so I can’t imagine her disregarding that-”

He cuts himself off as he realizes that he’s starting to ramble, and he clears his throat uncomfortably as he breaks eye contact.

“Sorry,” he says automatically. “I guess I’m just… kinda on edge. There’s a lot going on here lately.” A pause. “Though, I guess you’re already aware of that.”