I Work the night shift at Pine Falls mall doing security. Pine Falls is a funny town to have a mall, considering its mostly woods, but in the mid 80s the town saw a large population boom and the entire downtown was built up as this modern urban center. Today it’s mostly a bunch of offices and other industrial businesses but the mall is still popular as the only one in town. The mall itself is tucked into the side of the mountains making it a divisive structure in the community, some says its an eyesore that ruins the natural landscape, but i always thought the architecture complimented the scenery well and made for a beautiful shopping center, but i digress. The point is : this mall was essentially in the woods. I was night watch and my job was to do occasional rounds and watch cameras. The only other people there were usually the day security people for about an hour until i left, my boss for a bit longer, and the custodians until about 2 am. From 2 to 6 the entire property was quiet. My usual duties included doing hourly rounds and watching the camera in between. Every other hour i would begin my rounds where id go to several checkpoints and sign a clipboard. There were 6 total on all different areas of the property and signing them all took me about an hour , 45 minutes if i was quick about it. I would arrive back at my post and wait another hour to do it again, exciting right?
That night was like any other night. Around 1:30 AM my radio rang out with a familiar voice. It was my boss “ Hey uhhh, can you come outside for a second ?” This shocked me because i thought he had gone home over an hour ago. It was also strange because he didn’t specify why or which door. Just to come outside. “ Hey chief what can i do for ya, which door are you at I can buzz you in if you need” I replied to no answer. I continued checking the cameras when I saw some lights flicker. The camera was on the west side which is a back entrance of the mall. The door led out to the employee lot. “ - Can you come outside for a second ?” the voice on the radio echoed again. It sounded strange but i couldn’t put my finger on what was so odd about the voice. I was about to unlock the door remotely when the voice came again “- Can you come outside- “ It was the same cadence and timbre every time he said it. I watched the camera closely and saw the lights change again and i noticed they weren’t flickering but instead it was something moving out there. These lights were 8-10 feet up and there isn’t much that could block them. “ - Come outside- “ My running theory was that someone was trying to get in by faking his voice. I considered putting in a call to the police but i decided to check out the door for myself first.
The door was a short turn and all the way down to hall. I marched to the edge of the door. Looking out into the dark I saw a movement at the edge of the lot. A figure meandering around lazily facing away from me. He didnt look like a burglar, especially not the kind that would go as far as to copy voices on our radios. I decided the safe thing to do would be call it in and I dialed the police on my phone. I called the non emergency line “ Pine Falls Police Department how can i help you” the voice answered. “ Hi Im over at the mall and we’ve got a suspicious person on the premises, he hasn’t really done anything yet but just to be safe-“ i was cut off “ hello? “ the voice questioned. “ yes hi I’m at the -“ again the voice interrupted me “ is anyone there?”. I hung up. Frustrated and growing fearful I tried the emergency line. The second i heard the phone pick up i spouted off “ Im at the mall and we’ve got a suspicious person I-“ I became aware of the blaring silence on the other line and hung up again.
When i looked up i just about jumped out of my skin. My boss was against the glass. He had one had awkwardly pressing against the window and his face was nearly pressed into the glass. His face was emotionless and flat but his eyes, Oh god his eyes, They were dark and crooked. As i stared in disbelief I couldn’t exactly figure out what was wrong with them. They looked like an apes eyes, having a sort of animalistic primal stare. I can still see them in my mind as i type this up. Before i could move out of my paralysis he spoke. “ Unlock . The door” “Please unlock . The . Door “ his voice was strange, as if he were trying to speak through a yawn or if he couldn’t control his jaw or lips right. “ let me in “ “ I need to come inside…” his hand gently slapped against the glass, leaving a wet muddy print. I retreated to my office and locked myself inside. Trying the landline phone it was also down. I was completely cut off with 3 hours until daylight. I dont know if it was me coming off the adrenaline or just the overall stress but i fell asleep. What had brought me back was the smell of wet earth. After slowly waking up to the strange smell i jumped recalling the events. I checked the cameras to find the door wide open, The first rays of sunlight shining in. My shift was over and i decided to make a run for it seeing as both phones weren’t working. I left a basic version of this note as well as the security footage timestamps so my boss can see for himself what happened. walking out of my room i saw the hallway. muddy handprints and footprints all over the walls floor and even ceiling the smell was so overpowering, Like mud and rain. I basically sprinted to my car and sped home. So thats my crazy story
UPDATE: after last nights post i got up this morning to a voicemail from my boss claiming the security footage shows nothing but me opening the door after i fell asleep at my post. He’s absolutely furious. I think I’m going to call and apologize for sleepwalking, maybe ill blame it on a new medication I’m on. I’ll post more if anything else happens
UPDATE: well i think I can keep my job but I am on THIN ice. I worked last night and my boss stayed for my entire shift making sure I did my job. I was scared all night I kept thinking I saw something out of the corner of my eye. But nothing else.
UPDATE: Holy shit holy shit holy shit . I got up this morning and went to my car only to find the trunk was wide open and that black earth was everywhere. THE THING WAS IN MY CAR. I drove home with it. Who knows where it could be. I searched my entire house like 10 times but theres no sign of it. I’ll edit again if i see it again.
UPDATE: I havent slept for 2 days. Its raining hard tonight. Im wide awake shaking as that smell creeps into my house. I can hear shuffling out in the darkness. Stones moving around in the garden. It’s talking and I’m trying so hard not to make a sound. The thing I’ve noticed about how it talks is this : Humans have a natural ability to pace a sentence. We know when to stop to breathe or naturally pause. This creature cant copy that, it stops in between words or talks during a breath. Its very unnatural no one talks like this thing. I hear it at the door and I feel myself falling asleep. I’m gonna post this as it is and do another update tomorrow morning.