Working With Ghosts

I worked as a kind of early morning restock clerk at this supermarket near where I lived. My first day on the job I arrived about 25 minutes early to impress the boss. When I got there it was dark and apparently the only other person working was the security guard at the back entrance. He let me in and I headed to the back receiving area to pull out product.

I passed through two sets of double doors and none of the lights in the receiving area were on. I moved into the holding area and searched for my dolly/cart, when suddenly I heard a slam. It shook me to my core. I quickly looked toward the double doors and noticed the outside set of doors rocking. No one came in so I figured that a person was coming in then immediately changed their mind and turned around. Then the second set slammed open!

I was staring straight at those doors when the second set burst open with no one there manipulating them. Also to note that there was no strong air currents that could have slammed them the way they did. I dropped what I was holding, took off out the doors, and headed back to the security guard. He asked me what was wrong. I lied and said I didn't know what to restock. I never came early for that job again.

I soon became a security guard for that market and was required to come early and stay late. First to be there last to leave. During my time in security I had seen, heard, smelt and felt things that should not have been there. I will share two experiences since I had other persons there as witnesses.

I had an early morning shift and I was to unlock all entrances and exits, including restrooms. I headed out to the food court area and walked into the restroom landing to unlock the doors. When I get there I heard noises coming from inside the men's restroom. It sounded like a female voice giggling, so I decided to open the women's restroom first. Everything was normal in the girls section, so I went back to the male's room.

"Excuse me I need to open the store for business; you need to come out of there!" The voice stopped immediately. A man then walked into the restroom area with me saying "I gotta go!" After that a male voice echoed in the sealed rest-stop. I told the patron to use the girl's room for now. Then I banged on the door and said "Look you two are not supposed to be in there!" The man came out of the girl's room and said "Just go in on them, that'll teach 'em." I was a bit wary until we smelt smoke coming out from the restroom.

"That's it I'm coming in!" I unlocked the room and opened the door. The lights were already on and the smell and sounds stopped abruptly. The patron looked in the empty room and said "Weird." There were no other exits or holes big enough for a person to sneak in or out of that restroom.

I had a late night shift. It was a bit past 12, an hour after closing the market, and I was getting tired. There was a cashier, a manager and myself in the store alone. I received a call from the cashier at the front of the store. "Hey, there is a guy in here and he's walking in the storage warehouse." I said I'd be right there. When I approached the front end the cashier then pointed to an open warehouse door. "He's in there." Just as she said that we see this idiot walk right past the door into a dead end area of the store.

I then call for the manager to come help me. There were two possible ways to come from the back I figured it would be easier with both of us there. "Here's the plan. You hold here and turn on the lights when I call to you!" I was a bit excited and no longer tired. I went to the other door to pop in and grab him. I quickly jumped into the darkness and yelped "Turn on the lights!" The manager said "They aren't working." We looked toward the stairs and saw, in the dark, feet scrambling up to the second level.

The only thing on level two is the security monitor room which is locked. I ran up to the next level as well. No one was there. I then noticed that the generator was not on either. It's so quiet I can hear whispering coming from inside the locked camera room. "Are you talking?" I asked the manager. She said no. There is someone talking in here. She shrugs at me and said "Check it out."

I pull my keys out and try to unlock the door. Nothing. "Can't get it open?" she asked. "Nope." Then I remember the panel behind the generator was loose and I could squeeze in that way. I then nudged in the loose panel and as soon as I did everything kicked on and the whispering stopped.

The lights that wouldn't go on went on, the generator started to hum once again, and the most bizarre was the door was now unlocked. The manager stayed down stairs while I checked the monitor room. I peeked in and nothing was amiss. There was no person there at all. It would have been impossible for him to pass me let alone two people. We both came out from the back puzzled and the cashier asked "Did you catch him?" I replied "There was no one there."