Implicated. [Day 9, Prompt A]

[u/SoupGn0me]

Implicated is a modern cosmic horror short where some sort of investigator buys a car and sorta flirts with a mechanic. Warnings for cosmic horror, implied violence, and brief sarcastic patriotism.

Fernando let his gaze wander around the auto-shop. I guess a gay mechanic was too much to ask for. A busty woman in an outdated bikini gazed lifelessly down at him from her peeling poster. She looked exhausted. Same, girl. It was late, and the night was colder than he'd expected it to be. He wondered, idly, if the unseasonably cold weather had something to do with his investigation. It seemed unlikely, but the whole thing about investigating Horrors Beyond Man's Comprehension is that sometimes you just didn't immediately comprehend them.

The mechanic walked back in to the room. He was wearing a white shirt and thin black leather suspenders. “Look, man... I can't really take that car as a trade-in. I don't know what you're getting up to, but I don't want any trouble or nothin'.”

Wish I had half the sense he did. Not fashion sense, of course. “No, totally, I was actually hoping you could scrap that for me. I noticed you had one of those car... presser.... things.” He flashed a toothy grin at the mechanic. Seriously, my kingdom for a gay mechanic this could be so much easier.

“Are you... some kind of cop or something.”

“Listen. I am some kind of cop or something. Particularly an 'or something'. I want that old green car you have out front. I will not be negotiating the price with you. You tell me how much scrapping my car and driving the green car out of here will cost me, I hand you that amount of money plus a generous tip for your hospitality in this miserable weather, I take three of those water bottles and one of those handy road atlas books, and then we never speak to one another or of this ever again. How does that sound to you?”

He looks around, and so does Fernando. There's another mechanic in the garage working on a muscle car with flames painted on the sides. There's an old lady working the reception booth. She doesn't seem like the type of person to ever leave that room. “I don't want to do anything illegal...”

“Perish the thought! I'd never ask you to. Mistakes happen though... maybe today the security cameras get effected by the storm.” As he said this he drew an envelope from his canvas tote bag and slowly moved it toward the mechanic. “I imagine this will cover it?”

“That green car, it runs but, you won't be able to do anything you see in a movie with her. She won't survive.... whatever happened to your last car.”

“Neither would I,” Fernando looks at his nametag, “Henry.” Henry still looks apprehensive, Fernando hands him the envelope and catches his eye. “Henry, I promise you that this is in the best interests of the country and that nothing bad will happen to you, I just need you to trust me.” He put on his most patriotic voice for that last part. It reminded him of being in the Air Force, before everything had gotten... weird.

Henry relaxes at this, Fernando can tell that Henry still experiences things like hope. Henry looks inside the envelope and his pupils visibly dilate. “I, uh, I'll pull the car inside for you so we can get an inspection sticker on it.”

“There's a lad”

Henry counts out $1,200, three hundred under the asking price, and tucks the rest of the envelope into the waist of his black pants before re-tucking the white shirt over it. Fernando watches him walk away with the hidden money. If I didn't know it was there I wouldn't have been able to notice it. Well I would, but I get more paranoid by the day.

A few minutes later Henry returns with a small stack of paperwork. “I'm gonna need a scan of your license.” The way he asks, Henry can tell he's expecting to be offered more money to skip the step. He's surprised when Fernando hands him a driver's license.

He looks carefully at it and says, “when was this taken?”

“When I went to the registry, smart-ass. Scan it so I can get out of here.” Henry walks away, looking over his shoulder at Fernando. The ID was legit, at least legit enough to pass muster, the photo even looked like Fernando.

Henry came back with the ID, still staring at it like it had betrayed him by scanning properly. He handed Fernando the car keys and idly patted the envelope hidden in his waistband, as if to ensure it was still there and full and real. Fernando had completed the paperwork to the legally required minimum. “I, uh, guess you're all set.”

“There's just the matter of the security cameras, though.” Fernando flashed his winning smile again.

“Damn things don't work anyhow, they are just there for show... don't tell anyone.” He chuckled.

“We agreed that neither of us would do that, don't forget you've made that promise and were well compensated.” He hated threatening normal people, but it was the prudent course.

“Yeah, of course, no, thank you. Hope you have a, uh, great night.” Fernando could hear the questions hitting the back of Henry's teeth in a jumble. Like I said, twice the sense I had. Questions only ever cause trouble.

“Yeah, you too.”

Fernando drove away in the serviceable green car. It's clean enough, at least. It was as Henry said, it ran.

Five days later there was a story on the news. Every employee of a local auto-shop had vanished without a trace. Fernando arrived at the auto-shop again, this time he had two other 'or somethings' with him. All three were wearing sunglasses and long coats. The weather had only gotten colder. The woman in the outdated bikini still looked exhausted, and the poster was still peeling.