I just got hired, but I don’t know if I can go back.
I’m not sure how to put this all on paper so I’m just going to start writing. Two months ago I was released from prison after serving 8 months of the two years I was slated to serve. I was convicted of manslaughter after a bar fight, which wasn’t started by me mind you. The guy was mouthing off and pushed me, so I punched him. Being drunk like most people are in a bar, he stumbled over the bar seat behind him and hit his head on the concrete floor. I didn’t mean to kill him, but being a drunk asshole hasn’t turned out well for me over the years.
Since I was released two weeks ago, I’ve been bouncing around town staying at friends places until I find a job. As I’m sure many of you know, finding a job as a felon isn’t an easy venture. I applied to every fast food spot and gas station in town and hadn’t gotten so much as a fuck you back.
I was staying at my buddy Jerods house for a couple days while him and his wife were up north camping for the weekend. By the time they got back I assumed they’d want me out, so I’d run out of places to crash and favors to ask. Come that Sunday I knew I was going to be out on the street. In my desperation I applied to maybe over 100 jobs in my area for about every position imaginable.
I woke up that Sunday morning surrounded by miller lite cans and suffering a terrible hangover. I struggled to my feet wincing at the light coming in through the windows and over to my phone to check the time. When the screen popped up, I noticed an email from a job I applied for.
My hangover disappeared almost immediately, and a smile grew on my face. It was for a night shift security guard position at the local mall. Not my first choice, but I was desperate. I knew if I didn’t get that job I’d be homeless, so I called the number immediately and set up an interview for that afternoon.
I arrived with an entirely borrowed wardrobe, and everything went great. By the end I got the job, and I was ecstatic. They handed me the uniform consisting of the usual mall cop attire, and a can of pepper spray. I went and had my self a nice dinner at my buddies place that his wife cooked. One of the best meals I’ve ever had in my life, even though it was only a hot dog and chips.
My schedule was 10 PM-6 AM for work, which was right when the afternoon guards left, and when the morning guards showed up. Since it was the night shift and the mall was on the smaller side (mid-sized midwest town), I was the only guard for the night shift. That Monday I woke up late around 1 PM and started to look for apartments around the area. Everything I looked at was either way out of my budget, or a fucking dump. I showed up at the mall at 9:30 that Monday to talk to the manager about the rules and how to use the old cctv cameras. I walked into the doorway of the office and knocked on the door frame.
“Hey, Jerry right?” I said as I stuck my hand out to the guy reclining in a beaten up desk chair. 20 old CCTV monitors we’re set up around the room displaying fuzzy scenes of workers closing up shop and empty shoe cleaning stands. Jerry looked nervous, as he was tapping his foot rapidly and looking at his watch before he looked up at me.
“Yessir, how ya doin.” Jerry said as he shook my hand limply.
“Take a step in here buddy, let me show you the ropes. Up here is the main screen that you can toggle between cameras to get a better view. All you’ve gotta do is shift this stick here to the right or left and it’ll change cameras. It’s pretty quiet here, maybe some kids who make their way into an unlocked door or a bum looking for a place to sleep. But for the most part pretty easy. We do walks every hour and make a note if you see or hear anything strange. Any questions?”
I nodded my head and he slapped a ring of keys into my hand that weighed about 10 pounds.
“Alright then, see you in the morning.” He damn near sprinted out the door and left me alone in the office.
First few days were honestly great. I brought a book to read that I picked up at the library and sat on my phone watching YouTube videos. The office was nice and cozy and I dozed off a couple times the first few days but got used to the schedule. What I didn’t like was how damn quiet it was in the mall. Even though it wasn’t a huge building, every step I took echoed off the walls around me and sometimes made it seem like there was someone else in the mall with me. That next week I had already secured myself an alright apartment close to the mall, so I was feeling great. The Thursday of my second week I showed up like all the others, Jerry slapped the keys in my hand and said he’d see me in the morning.
I was going about my already normal routine, barely glancing at the cameras and sitting on my phone when I noticed a figure out of the corner of my eye in front of a store front. I looked up immediately and no one was there. I sat there with my heart racing for a second and went back to my phone. Just a figment of my imagination. Everyone sees stuff from time to time right? I was tired anyways so probably just needed a 20 minute snooze. I set an alarm on my phone for 20 minutes, looked at all of the cameras again just to be sure and leaned back and fell asleep.
I woke up to the alarm at around 2:40 still exhausted so I hit repeat and leaned back to sleep a little longer. I looked up at the main screen as I was closing my eyes, which displayed the hallway that the office was housed in. A shudder of anxiety went from my head to my toes and my armpits began to sweat.
At the end of the hall, a man stood facing the wall. He did nothing but stand there inches from the wall with the back of his head showing to the camera. I stared at it for what felt like an hour, assuring myself that it was really what I was seeing. I slowly got up out of my chair, feeling gray puddles growing in my armpits and opened the door into the hallway.
I yelled down to him from the office, I barely remember what I said. Maybe “what the hell are you doing here” or “you can’t be in here man” but to be honest I was too horrified to recollect.
Let me tell you, nothing that I’ve experienced in my life has made me feel such primal fear as this moment did. I couldn’t place my finger on why though. I’m not a weak dude I can take care of myself. But there was something so wrong about it. I’ve seen people stabbed in prison, as a kid I saw a motor cycle accident that split the poor guy in half. But this dude standing at the end of the hallway, there has been nothing more bone chilling.
I stood in the front of the doorway and stared at him waiting for him to move or say something, but not a peep or a twitch came from the man. I started to make my way down the hall toward him with my hand on the pepper spray.
“Hey turn around man, you can’t be here.”
Silence, stillness. The only thing I could hear was the slight echo of my voice.
“Listen man I’m gonna fuck you up if you don’t turn around.”
He didn’t move a fucking inch. I couldn’t even see the dude breathe. At this point I was getting pissed off.
“Alright man you’re fucking done.”
I was about five feet from the guy at this time. I walked up and yanked on his shoulder to turn him around with pepper spray in hand.
The man tumbled to the ground from the force, and I finally got a look at his face. It was a fucking manikin. I took my first breath that I could remember and wiped my forehead. My fear returned almost immediately. Who the fuck put this here? Are they fucking with me? Was this already here?
I looked around quickly in every direction, trying to find a sign of life. Nothing still, just the sound of my heart beating in my ears.
I pulled the manikin into the office and locked the door. The rest of the night my eyes were glued on the camera, but that door didn’t get unlocked until the 6 AM crew came in.
I’m at home exhausted now, and I don’t know if I can go back. What should I do guys? I really need this job.