It was almost time for the interview but I didn’t feel nervous or excited. All I expected was disappointment but I had to give it a try, my friend was counting on me. She knows that I’ve been depressed for several years and she has always tried to help me out. She suggested I apply for this unusually high pay job at a sales department she found which only requires you to have finished class 12.
At the interview, I told her about how I had no job experience and had failed my class 12 twice, but the lady didn’t seem to care. She said she believed in me and that I could do great if I tried. She looked at me with these big creepy eyes, as if she was hunting for something and had found it. It sparkled whenever she smiled. She had a long bob cut, the darkest shade of black I had ever seen when it comes to hair. After I was done I had to wait there as it started raining. I was able to see everyone who had come for the interview. Surprisingly their interview was wayy shorter than mine. I had a strong gut feeling something was wrong with this place, for some reason it gave me goosebumps. Once I was leaving I met this guy who was also there for the same reason as me. His name was Ryle. Ryle was fun to talk to, he seemed like a nice person and we bonded well. We decided to have coffee later to get to know more about each other and honestly I couldn’t wait.
I had gotten accepted but Ryle didn’t. Ryle has graduated from NYU but he lost his job during covid. He applied as the salary was well and he needed to save up money to continue schooling. How could they reject someone who was clearly overqualified? Why were they paying so much? Why did they accept me? A plethora of questions ran through my mind.
On my first day at my new job, everyone seemed overly excited to meet me but the strange part was that no one who gave the interview was there. The people were overly friendly, not in a nice but rather in a well-hidden. ominous way. I felt scared after a very long time in my life.
After taking up the job I stopped feeling safe at home too. No matter where I was I always felt like I was being watched. Even before going to the coffee shop, I made sure to cover myself enough so that no one would recognize me instantly, At the shop, I saw one of my colleagues looking directly at me without blinking once. He seemed like it was his first time here. This has to be a coincidence right?
I convinced myself I was being paranoid for no reason and gathered up the courage to greet him. “Hi David, good to see you.” He seemed surprised to see me but I know he was staring at me for quite a while. When I reached home, I changed into my cozy pajamas and started watching Netflix. After a long time, the feeling of being watched had disappeared. Soon I felt sleepy and while in a haze, as I looked to my right, I saw something. Shivers ran down my spine. It was the interview lady with her big eyes staring at me through my window, her chin covered in drool and her mouth slightly open in a long grin. Soon I remember I fell asleep and as I woke up I pacified myself thinking that it was only a dream. Oh, I really do wish it was now that I look back.
I was about to quit but still stayed due to the salary, I felt like I was the only one working there. Everyone had their eyes glued to their screen but their notepad and fake typing told another tale. There was another thing I noticed, the workers seemed to take turns spying on me. It would start with David glaring at me for twenty minutes and then it would switch to Riley and then Sasha and so on. Did they really think I was stupid enough to not notice? Ugh. Anyways I decided to take a peep into one of their screens once everyone was busy. I took out my mirror and tried looking at the reflection on David’s screen. It was filled with pictures of me.
I kept looking as I saw him watching videos of me at home. I never knew I was being recorded. Suddenly I got this awful feeling again, I felt as if I was about to puke. I looked up to see the Lady with the bob cut smiling at me. Her eyes had the same desire to ‘hunt’. “So you found out didn’t you” She screamed while laughing