A disturbing poster keeps making its way onto Glenn's pharmacy walls, and he decides to take matters into his own hands.

February 24, 2023

Glenn had left his house in the early morning after not getting much rest. His shoulders had been cramped and he didn't bother trying to go back to sleep after waking up for the fourth time that night. Thus, he now trudged along the empty sidewalk at 5:17 a.m., the sun barely peeking over its crest. Not many people were awake at this point, which he didn't mind in the least. He could clear his head long before he'd have to open the pharmacy to the public.

It was his least favourite day of the week: "payday." Though not for him, of course. No, today was the day he paid his due. It gave him incredible discomfort whenever the day arose, regardless how much he tried to pass it off. He tried not to think too much on it, it was just a way to get out of debt. Just business.

For his mental sake, it had to be.

His palms were sweaty as he walked along the pavement, gripping the money tight within his pockets, turning a quarter over in between his fingers as he stared at the walkway. It didn't take him very long to reach his pharmacy, yet before he could unlock the doors, he froze, a cold sweat dripping down his neck. He stared at what he could only presume was some form of mockery: the same poster he'd tore down and threw out three times this month. A plain poster with an open-mouthed expression, asking "ARE YOU HAPPY? DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU WANT IN LIFE?"

Glenn scoffed as he looked at the poster, unnerved by it once again appearing despite tearing it down many times before. His palms were sweaty as he gripped the money in his pocket tighter, trying to stare down the face in the poster. He could feel eyes on him.

"Whoever put you up has a real fucked sense of humor, huh?" He grumbled under his breath, scuffing his shoe on the concrete. "'Are you happy,' of course I'm not happy. If I was happy, I wouldn't have my hands full with all this goddamn shit." He lifted one hand to crudely gesture towards his pockets with a jerk, jaw clenched.

He stared at the poster for a few moments longer, feeling a strange sensation, as if it were watching him. Unnerved and having enough of this, he tried to rip it down from his wall in a fit, accidentally tearing it in half as the paper sliced his wrist.

"ACH-!"

Immediately, he withdrew his hand at the pain, instinctively dropping half of the flyer on the ground, gripping his wrist with his other hand. The cut stung him harshly, causing a fiery sensation to sear through the veins in his hand. Glenn glared at the remaining half of the poster, the two eyes staring back at him. He grimaced and crumpled the half into a ball, before bending down and picking the other half up from the ground, shoving both in the dumpster around the back.

He shut the lid with a shudder, muttering under his breath. "Damn thing..." His hand stilled on the top of the lid for a moment, staring blankly forward as he tried to think of a way to prevent someone from putting that nuisance back up again.

Glenn swung around the corner, stopping once again in front of his pharmacy. He leaned back on his heels as he tapped one foot in agitation, contemplating. Eyes shifted when he heard the clacking of heels coming towards him, causing him to up to see who was approaching. His shoulders slumped a bit when he saw who it was - Rarold, the farmer. Made sense he'd be up this early too, one of the only other people in town who would be out and about before 6 a.m., tending to his farm's chores and all.

Glenn glanced down to see he was gripping something in his hands. He seemed to have printed out a new series of flyers for his missing cat, flyers which Glenn had asked him to take down multiple times as Rarold tended to unnerve his customers. Today, however, it seemed to be just the perfect opportunity. He glanced from the empty space on the wall and back to Rarold again.

He called out, his voice only a hair above an indoor voice. "Hey."

Rarold turned his head at the sound, narrowing his eyes at seeing who had called to him. He said nothing, but waited for the pharmacist to finish his apparent thought.

Glenn swallowed a bit hard, he was always admittedly a bit nervous around this guy. He turned to face him, arms crossed almost defensively over his chest. His voice wavered slightly, glancing to the flyers in his hand, gesturing with a quick turn of his wrist.

"You, uh... Putting up posters again?"

Rarold looked down to the papers in his hand, then back up towards Glenn, walking a bit towards him. His voice was low and raspy, cutting through the morning air. "What's it to youuuu?"

Glenn shifted in his stance, looking Rarold up and down. "W-well, I know how much that cat means to ya, a-and I decided that I'll finally let you put your poster up, outside my pharmacy here..."

Rarold squinted his eyes further, closing the gap between them. He now towered a bit over Glenn, his back hunched and with no sense of personal space. Glenn only sweat more.

"I thought you didn't want me to hang them hereeeee..." He tilted his head, staring down Glenn. "So why'd ya change yer miiind? Are you gonna mock meeee... Point and laugh at my Kevinnnn..." His voice rumbled in his chest, lips downturned in a sneer.

Glenn stammered as he sweat, raising his arms with an awkward and fearful expression. "N-no! I-I, uh..." He tried to think his way out of this, glancing to the ground. "W-well, y'know, there's not much going on right now I'd need to advertise, so I figured what's the harm?" He laughed a bit nervously, the last thing he wanted was for Rarold to get pissed off at him.

Rarold seemed to think over what Glenn said for a moment, watching his expression with a skeptical look on face. Glenn took a small step backwards, change clinking in his pocket. Not thinking it through, he tried to come up with a quick excuse. "Hell, m-maybe I could even look for him!"

Rarold raised his eyebrows at the sudden suggestion, wondering where the sudden change of heart came from. "Reallyyyy?"

Glenn nodded, his collar feeling tight around his neck as he swallowed. Shit. He can't back out now.

"Y-yeah! I, uh, h-have to run errands here and there, so... I may as well make use of 'em..." He trips over his words rather unconvincingly, hoping his forced smile will placate Rarold and not raise any further suspicion.

And indeed it did seem to placate Rarold, a flip seeming to switch as his face split into a wide smile, eyebrows knitted. It was almost more unsettling than his grimace with how quickly he shifted, his smile pushing against the corners of his face. "Mr. pharmaciiiist..." He swiftly gripped Glenn's shoulders, causing Glenn to flinch at the sudden grasp.

"You'd look out for him for meeee...? You've got such a good heart..." Glenn looked off to the side, sweating as he shakily patted Rarold's hands awkwardly, trying to push them off his shoulders. His words twisted a pit in his stomach, one he'd rather not think on.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm a real saint, don't go makin' a big deal out of it." As Rarold's hands fell to his side again, Glenn glanced back to the wall, pointing to the spot the previous poster had hung.

"You can put it up here, alright? Just no usin' glue, it's hell to scrape off."

Rarold fished out his wallet from his back pocket, opening it to reveal an array of oddities. Faded photos, some cash, an old and bent identification card, and strips of duct tape haphazardly stuck to the inside, presumably for hanging up his posters. He ripped one off, carelessly tearing a small patch of leather from his wallet, before positioning his poster on Glenn's pharmacy. He taped it over the small corner of the previous poster Glenn hadn't tore off.

Glenn nodded his head instinctively, letting out a shaky breath. Maybe that'll stop it now... He looked to Rarold, wringing his wrists, sweat stinging his slight cut. Right. I forgot. Glenn wanted nothing more than to wash off the reminder and go on with his day.

"Well, it's been a real pleasure, but I gotta get ready to open now."

Rarold's spread grin tugged into a frown at his words, his brows furrowing in displeasure. "But I thought you said you'd help look for Keviiiin..."

Glenn's lips were pulled into an awkward downturn, clenching his teeth as he took in a sharp breath. "W-well, I can! I-it's just, I, ah..." He paused, thinking of some sort of excuse. "I meant after my work shift."

Rarold didn't look terribly impressed with this new update, as Glenn scrambled to try and sort out this new owed favour. "...Tonight. I can look for him tonight. I've got an errand to run, I-I can look for him on the way."

Rarold's eyes narrowed a bit once more, but he nodded his head, keeping steady eye contact the whole time. It made every hair on Glenn's body stand on end. He hasn't noticed Rarold blinking once.

"You better not be lyin' to me, pharmaciiiist... I don't like being lied to..."

Glenn felt his hands growing clammy, the cut on his wrist stinging more and more prominently. It felt like it was burning him. His eyelid twitched as he winced silently, gritting his teeth. "I-I'd never!"

Rarold snapped his wallet closed as he shoved it into his back pocket, not once removing his eyes from the pharmacist. "For your sake, I hope soooooo..." He glances up and down, his expression unwavering. "When you're done lookin' for him, come to meeeee... Tell me what you find... Or what you don't..."

Glenn nodded his head. His collar clung to the back of his neck, now drenched in sweat, feeling uncomfortable under Rarold's stare. "W-will do..."

Rarold nodded with a grunt, before raising his gaze forward, beginning to walk past the pharmacist. Before he gets too far, however, he stops in his tracks, still staring forward. "One more thiiiiing..." He speaks, not turning to face Glenn. "...Don't go into my barn."

Before Glenn could reply, Rarold had begun to walk away once more, leaving Glenn to stand there alone. A shiver ran down his spine, agreeing to be in Rarold's debt may not have been his brightest idea. But it did give him an alibi, just so long as he makes sure to visit him afterwards. It's a bit out of his way, but it would be better than risking angering Rarold. Heaven knows he doesn't need to be the next newspaper headline.

The sweat on his wrist stings once more, as Glenn gives one final glance to the space now covered by Kevin's flyer. He fumbles to find his key, muttering incoherently under his breath as his hands were slick with sweat. He didn't bother to turn on the main lights, instead making his way to the back of the store, flipping on the switch in the employee's bathroom. He shut the door behind him, the harsh light glaring as he rolled up his sleeve and turned his wrist over. The wound was rather inflamed, unusually red for a bothered papercut. He tries not to think much of it as he runs it under the faucet, audibly wincing as pain once again scorched through his hand, causing tears to prick the corners of his eyes.

"Fuck..." He cursed through gritted teeth, grabbing hold of the bar of soap kept on the sink. Lathering some in his hand, he tried to clean the area, only causing the pain to sting him further. Fighting back the urge to pull his hand away, he continued to wash it until the pain numbed out. His hand felt scalding hot to the touch. Glenn dried it off gently with a paper towel, staring at the wound in unease. After flipping on the light switch for the backroom, he rummaged around, searching for antibiotic cream and a band-aid.

Giving one final glare to his wound, sweat rolled down his cheeks, and he patched the cut with a huff. "Fucking nightmare..."

He pulled down his sleeve in a haste, covering the band-aid and any reminder of this scenario. Glenn glanced at the clock on the wall.

5:47.

With a sigh of relief, he made his way to the front of the store, turning on the rest of the store's lights before setting up behind the counter. There wasn't too much time left before the store opened, and for the first time in a while, he would be glad to keep his hands busy.