𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐀𝐂𝐊⠀ ⁽ ¹ ⁾

MONSTER

The next morning, Darlene, Arthur, Dirk, and I all head into town again. Just as I asked, Arthur tells us he knows of a tattoo parlor. This town is relatively small, a kind of mundane place like Newedge, but that was before I came around. If we stay around any longer, who's to say a body won't drop here.

Parking, we all climb out. Arthur walks to the front door and opens it, a small bell chimed. "Hello?" He asks. A man behind a counter pops his head up, he has thin, brown hair, and a full beard as he looks at us with a smile. "Hello there, what can I do for you?" 

Arthur takes the photo of the rogue's tattoo I gave him, and hands it to the man. "We were wondering if you recognize this work." He takes it, looking down and giving his beard a slight scratch. Then looks at us again, his posture straightens, and his large arms lean on the counter.

When he speaks again, all the friendliness that was there is gone, replaced with defensiveness. "Who's asking about my work? At the man's sudden hostility, my cousins and I standing in the back, look to one another. Hearing the emotional speed in his heartbeat, and sensing the fear radiating.

Arthur passively grins. "I'm a cop," he lies. "These three here," pointing at us, the man gives us a look over. "Were targeted by some of the people who had your tattoo. I was wondering if you had any leads on the people you gave it to." 

The man looks back to him, stalling for a brief moment, before breaking out into a nervous grin. "Oh, I get it." He nods. "Yeah, they were here a few weeks ago. They wanted the tattoo, and said they'd pay me half, then the rest later. Never got it."

Arthur leans on the counter casually. "Any idea where they might've gone?" The man stalls again, as if making up details as he goes along. "I saw a handful of them head out of town. Then another half leave town in the opposite direction, towards Mossley." Arthur gently pats the counter with a smile. "That's more than enough, thank you." As he turns around and we start to leave, I file out last, but not before hearing a slight click. A gun. I falter in my step, trying not to look over my shoulder, I leave the store.

Once outside, we all climb back into the camper truck. "He's lying through his teeth." Dirk has no problem saying, sitting in the back. "How can you tell?" Arthur inquired, getting into the driver's seat. "We can hear his heartbeat," Darlene explains, sitting passenger. "Smell his fear." I climb in last. "And the gun he cocked just as we were about to leave," I state.

Arthur looks back at the rest of us. "You got all of that by just standing in the same room?" Dirk scoffs at him. "Who needs a lie detector." I shake my head after a minute, squinting my brows. "He's not completely lying, everything he told us was the truth, except for the part when they left for wherever Mossley is. There was some truth to it all, but it was clear he was definitely trying to hide something else." Arthur turns back around, placing his hands around the steering wheel. "This is definitely what I signed up for." He says, with an air of excitement. 

When he drops us off at the house, all three of us enter as Allison gets up from the couch. "So?" She asks, while Aunt Patty comes from the kitchen, cleaning her hands with a rag. "We're on the right track." I tell her, before sitting down beside her. "Which I'm afraid of."
"Why are you afraid?" Aunt Patty joins us around the couch. I look up at her with a deep exhale. "Because the last time we were right, someone died."

At that, everyone falls silent. Allison knows what I mean, her car and Cat. "I don't want to get you guys involved any more than you already are," I tell them. "You've lost too much already, and it's dangerous. I'll find out what happened to us on my own." Not leaving room for argument, I get up from the couch and leave the living room, heading outside for fresh air. A few hours later, around the time the sun starts setting, I make sure to pack all of my belongings in the trunk of my car.