Being a night owl hasn’t gotten me much in life. As a kid, I constantly fell asleep in school, and more often than not would be awoken by a room full of mocking laughter. I always remember how pissed my mom was when she got calls from the school, and the lectures about how staying up late wasn’t good for me. No matter how much I told her I just couldn’t sleep, I was just not tired, she brushed me off and applied varying punishments. You’d think after she took my TV, books, phone, computer, even my lamp, that I would sleep at night.
But no, instead I’d just lie awake, waiting for morning.
Because of my chronic class-sleeping, I didn’t do well in school, as you may have guessed. That didn’t leave me many options after graduation - which I attended by the skin of my teeth.
So when I saw the ad for a night guard at the local mall, I knew it was something I could do. I mean, I already spent every night awake, how hard could it be?
This is the part where you expect me to say in fact, it was a hard job. That I struggled to stay awake, to keep my focus. But in fact, that’s just not true. I did well at my job, and was with the mall security team until they shut down ten years later.
In that time, I met my wife, and we welcomed my son into the world. I bought a house, held down my job, and did all the things my mother told me I’d never be able to do.
However, we fell on hard times in 2020, as many did. The mall shut down, and I was out a job. I went back to laying awake at night, but this time it was easy to just tell my wife I was stressed about making ends meet. I couldn’t find a job that I’d succeed at - in fact, I was laid off for poor performance twice through the past two years in the menial retail jobs I managed to get. Tension grew between my wife and I, and I was desperate.
One night, I was browsing job forums when I came across a new night security guard posting. It was for an amusement park maybe twenty miles from my house. Without a second thought, I applied. I finally found a way to provide for my family, something I could count of succeeding at.
I started this job a few weeks ago. Honestly, it wasn’t too different from my work at the mall. The biggest change was the outdoors element of it all. There’s something inherently more creepy about patrolling an empty place when you can see the moon above you.
I was never alone though. Our rule was that there always had to be at least two guards on duty. The place was too big for there not to be. Usually, I was scheduled with Doug. He was a nice guy, and we became fast friends. He lived down the road; his wife would often invite me over for breakfast before I drove home after a shift.
We’d break up our work so that one of us would patrol on foot, and one would remain in command central, watching the cameras. On this night, I was a few minutes late. There was a note from Doug on the door to the camera room when I got there:
“Think some kids are in the park. Went out to check. 11:37 PM”
Good. I’d only missed him by a few minutes.
There had been a group of kids plaguing us the last couple nights. They’d break in, and from what I’d heard, last night they’d shattered a couple of funhouse mirrors before being chased out.
I sat down and started scanning the cameras for Doug. Soon enough I saw him, walking in the direction of the funhouse. I radioed to him, letting him know I was there. He threw a thumbs up letting me know he heard - this is also our signal for “I gotcha, but shut the fuck up I hear something”
I waited patiently, hoping to catch these kids on camera while Doug tried to catch them in person. I saw him approach the funhouse, and look around before entering. It took everything in my willpower to not radio him a second time to check on him. Something just felt off.
The hair on my neck stood up, and I could feel my heartbeat quicken. I hadn’t seen Doug for a few minutes, which may not sound odd, but the funhouse isn’t that big. That and the fact that Doug had been working here for four years - he could run through there in thirty seconds flat - led me to worry.
I was reaching for my radio when it sounded instead - I was so startled I nearly dropped it.
I could hear Doug’s voice on the other end, “Jesse, come quick! I think I’ve got em in here!”
It was unusual for Doug to want backup, but I didn’t think twice about his request. These kids kept evading us, and I know we all wanted to see them caught.
I was across the park and at the funhouse in five minutes. I approached the door, but found it locked.
That’s when I heard Doug screaming
“LET ME OUT LET ME OUT PLEASE! LETMEOUTLETMEOUT!”
I tugged at the handle in vain, and began fumbling with my keys before I was able to turn the lock. Doug burst towards me in a panic, too frightened to do anything but point.
“Are you okay man? What happened?” I asked, my voice shaking
“They’re… they’re in there! “ he began “one of ‘em locked me in there! But I know there’s another one!”
“Alright alright! Let me take a look Doug, you chill for a minute” I stepped towards the door, peering into the dark hallway before me. Hesitantly, I placed one foot beyond the threshold. I could hear Doug trying to catch his breath behind me.
Before moving my second foot, I turned to look at him. He nodded at me, patting his hand on his taser. He had my back.
The second I entered the funhouse, I could feel a severe chill in the air. Goosebumps flocked my skin, and I shivered, not from the cold, but from unease. I took another step forward and heard a small, hushed giggle. It was those goddamn kids.
I turned to tell Doug I could hear them. As I did, I saw him approaching the door. I opened my mouth to ask what he was doing, but before I could speak, he shook his head and slammed the door.
“What the fuck are you doing man?!” I screamed
If he replied, I couldn’t hear it over the sound of the lock turning.
I started banging on the door, telling Doug it wasn’t funny, to let me out. I heard nothing in reply.
“Very funny” I said “you know I can just go to the exit right? I bet you’ll be waiting there to scare me, huh?”
Still nothing.
I started forward again, into the maze. But, before I was even five steps in, I noticed something in front of me.
It stood tall and dark, taking up almost the full height of the hallway. I couldn’t tell if it was a trick of the mirrors, but all I could make out were two dark, burning red eyes. I could feel their heat permeating my skin. I jumped back, and noticed two small burn marks on my forearm, right where I felt this thing’s gaze.
I turned around and began banging on the door again
“DOUG WHAT THE FUCK?!? DOUG LET ME OUT!!”
My phone buzzed quietly in my pocket. Cautiously, I took it out, peeking back to where I had seen the shadow. It was gone.
I looked at my screen, and saw a message from Doug’s wife.
“Sorry Jesse, Doug seems to have the flu and won’t be in. Told him to text you, but don’t think he did”
I didn’t even feel the phone slip out of my hand, but I did hear it hit the ground. If Doug wasn’t here, then who locked me in here? And WHAT was that thing in front of me?
I couldn’t run, unless I wanted to get closer to whatever was in front of me, and I don’t think anyone would want that. The door wouldn’t budge, and my keys didn’t do jack shit.
I was trapped. And I still am. Whatever this thing is, it’s watching me. Waiting for a moment when I’m vulnerable. If I can just hold out until morning, maybe someone will be here. The thing is, I’m just so goddamn tiredddddddddddd