Hundreds of customers come through the store each day. None have ever made me feel the way this guy did. I find myself writing this to keep track of events, though I’d be perfectly happy if no more unfold.
I work in a gas station, and on my second week, I was asked to cover the night shift for Thursday and Friday. I hate to admit this, but I can be a bit of a suck-up when it comes to my jobs. I wanted to get off on a good foot, so I accepted. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried about it though. It was one of those conversations where the moment you turn away, you wish you hadn’t agreed.
I wouldn’t tell you this if it didn’t have some sort of relation to the story, but I’m a very anxious person. I take medication for it, and as of the last two days, I’ve been out. Now if you’ve never taken drugs like this, stopping abruptly for any reason can cause some pretty unpleasant side-effects. Drowsiness, Insomnia, and nausea are the main ones, although some people, including me, can sometimes see . . things. Sort of like with sleep paralysis, a figure or creature or blob can show up, even if for just a few seconds. For me, it’s always when I’m half asleep, or exhausted, but it’s always the same thing. A man.
The man in the corner of the room. He doesn’t move, he doesn’t speak. He watches. And when I blink, sometimes he’s gone. Sometimes he’s closer. So it’s best I take my fucking pills.
The late-night shift was pretty pleasant for the first few hours. It was slightly busy for a while, but as midnight came closer, the people in the shop trickled out. While kneeling down behind a shelf to restock, I remember hearing the front door swing open. Though, I didn’t register that someone was in the shop until the motion chime played. At this point, I had been stocking for hours, running on nothing but soda and two of those prepackaged burgers, so I was relying on Auto-pilot to get me through the night. I made my way behind the front counter and noticed the time - 1:32 A.M. I remember sighing to myself, chin resting on my palm. I was exhausted, once again. I checked the cameras, and to my surprise, nobody was on them. I know I heard the chime, and so I leaned forward and really studied the cameras.
It was at this point, the first sign of something strange going on that I started to feel uneasy. I disregarded this, and in fact, I recall being sort of upset with myself. It was just a kid, or maybe someone forgot their wallet and went back out for it. Those were the things I said to ease my mind when I noticed something in one of the cameras that I hadn’t seen before. A black figure standing in the corner of the store. My heart dropped into my stomach, and my eyes darted up towards that corner to see if there was someone there. Nothing.
There were two things I thought it could be. My mind was playing tricks on me, and instead of being in my room, my brain just put him wherever it could. Or, there was just a guy wearing black in the store, and I was just being paranoid. I heard the door open earlier, but I never saw the person walk in. The weight of dread kept me in the chair, despite wanting to check. I remained in the safety of my little room at the front. It’s the kind with the plastic wall covering and a door on the side, so I felt mostly protected there. Out of nowhere, somebody begins walking down one of the aisles and makes his way to me.
“You’re new.” He said. He wasn’t holding anything to buy. Now my internal alarm is blaring, but I tried to stay polite and told him it was my first night shift, and added that I was a little nervous about it. The moment I let those last three words slip off my tongue, he smiled.
“Oh, I bet.” He didn’t move. The man stood there for what felt like way too long. I thought that maybe he had a mental illness of some kind, but there wasn’t anyone there with him to aid him. Maybe he didn’t have anybody.
“I live right out by the woods back there, y’know.” He pointed behind me. I wasn’t sure what to say to this. “It’s a short trip then, huh?” A few moments went by in silence.
“Can you show me where the chips are?” I pointed to the aisle they were on, and his smile disappeared. He snatched a bag of the chips and stared at it for a few seconds, before setting it back down. He didn’t speak another word to me, but he looked angry. Once he left, I looked at the cameras set up outside and saw him. He was staring at the camera. I couldn’t look away, but after a few moments, he left, walking out toward the way he pointed earlier.
What I didn’t understand was why he asked me to show him where the chips were. He said I was new as if he was familiar with the shop, or at least the employees, but none of my coworkers had ever heard of this guy. Or at least they couldn’t remember him based on my descriptions. It was obvious that he wanted me to leave the safety of that room, but why? I’m glad I didn’t find out.
The rest of the night, I sat watching the monitors, searching for any signs of him. I sort of expected him to, and I had even thought of letting the cops know, but he hadn’t done anything, so they couldn’t help. He never showed up again on the cameras.
Honestly, I’m starting to think the whole thing was just in my head, and that this may have been my first real “hallucination” caused by my lack of medication lately. This didn’t feel like one, though, it was as real as any other encounter I’d ever had. Maybe that means it’s getting worse. I suppose that’s what makes a hallucination truly terrifying, the inability to distinguish whether what you’re looking at is real, or just in your head.