CITIZENS

Warren // Sheriff

Sheriff Warren is suffocating small-town law incarnate, smelling of cheap cigarillos and ruling Longview like his personal front porch. He barges into morgues unannounced, nags Ian about broken engagements, and viciously shuts down anyone poking at closed cases. Behind that paternal condescension, he runs plates out of boredom—keeping the county under a lazy chokehold where nobody moves unnoticed.

Becca // Bartender

Becca is the sharp, unsentimental pulse of The Anchor, wiping down scuffed wood with heavy silver rings and zero patience for melodrama. She slides your drink across the counter before you even speak, cutting through posturing with a single dry remark. With an unforgiving memory for nervous tics and five-year-old ghosts, nothing escapes her taps—making her the bar's most perceptive observer.

Jess // Nora’s friend

Jess is small-town retribution dusted in flour, hiding sharp venom beneath a rehearsed customer-service smile. Fiercely protective of Nora, she treats Ian like an unpunished criminal—slamming change onto steel counters, airing his dirty laundry in front of neighbors, and weaponizing their broken wedding at every corner. She is a bitter, sharp-eyed watchdog, ensuring that whoever broke Nora's heart never buys a cup of coffee in peace.

Sadie // Mason’s sister

Sadie is a sharp-tongued, bubblegum tripwire behind the tattoo desk, wholly unimpressed by the town’s suffocating baggage. Armed with wired headphones and casual snark, she gleefully punctures Ian’s brooding composure. Beneath that slacker apathy lies Longview’s sharpest gossip radar—and a kid sister ready to tip off Mason the second anyone digs into his business.

Travis // Ian’s old school friend

Travis is pure small-town oblivion, smelling of sawdust and hauling child seats in a clean pickup. He corners people in grocery aisles with cheerful, oblivious nostalgia, completely blind to the rot quietly eating his old classmates alive. Behind that easy grin lies an accidental tormentor—a breezy reminder of the normal life Ian was always too broken to have.

Matt // Morgue Driver

Matt hauls bodies for the county morgue, reeking of mint dip and sanitizer, and wholly immune to Ian’s intellectual snobbery. He punctures Latin jargon with crude jokes and kicks Ian out before late shifts turn into pure obsession. Knowing every muddy river access where corpses wash ashore, Matt doesn't buy the aloof act—you can't play the untouchable genius with the guy loading meat into your van.

LOCATIONS

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━ River Mart

River Mart is a humming, fluorescent fishbowl on the edge of town, sitting right where the asphalt dissolves into black pines and river fog. Nobody pulls up to these pumps at three in the morning by choice: you’re running on fumes, running from someone, or dreading the silence waiting back home. Behind the counter, Nora hides behind stale drip coffee and cheap crosswords, while the panoramic glass turns anyone inside into an exposed target the second headlights hit the lot.

━ The Anchor

The Anchor is a dim, wood-paneled dive rotting quietly against the industrial river docks, reeking of stale tap beer, damp jackets, and shift-work burnout. Under the amber hum of neon and the rhythmic clack of pool balls, it functions as Longview’s central rumor mill—where dockhands drown bad weeks and the rest of town comes to bury what daylight won't tolerate. Behind the scuffed counter, Becca pours drinks without judgment or polite lies, while the sticky back booths offer just enough noise and shadow to corner someone away from prying eyes.

━ Mason's Garage

Mason’s Garage is a drafty, grease-stained sanctuary rotting against the railroad tracks, thick with motor oil, cold iron, and old grudges. Under harsh work lights and a blaring radio, Mason buries himself under truck hoods to keep the world out, greeting uninvited visitors with a heavy wrench and raw hostility. Locals haggle over beaters up front, while the muddy salvage lot out back waits for the kind of quiet, teeth-baring confrontations daylight won't allow.

━ Tattoo Shop

Evan’s Tattoo Shop is a cramped, haze-choked sanctuary reeking of green soap, rubbing alcohol, and stale weed. Beneath walls covered in faded flash sheets and warm light over a battered leather couch, it runs on pure, weed-fried apathy. Behind the counter, Sadie tracks town drama with zero filter while Evan drifts between buzzing needles and zoning out—a perfect blind spot to lay low, trade rumors, or find Ian killing dead hours after a shift.

━ The Clearing

The Clearing is an overgrown sanctuary past an abandoned logging road, thick with damp needles, cold ash, and dead summers. Hemmed in by towering pines, the rusted fire ring and scarred cedar trunk mark where their lives cracked open five years ago. Cut off from Longview’s eyes, it’s a dead zone to disappear—where Evan burns weed in silence, Mason kills dead hours behind the wheel, or old grudges are dragged out to bleed.