Transcription
I work at a data center. It's at a small warehouse/off place. My job is to just stare at a monitor and make sure all the systems stay online. If anything goes down, I head to the operating rooms to usually just give it a quick restart. It's a really simple and easy job. And because it's overnight and just me, I can really do whatever I want, so long as I'm constantly checking the status of all the systems. Although, I'm sure you can tell just how boring it can get sometimes. By the time this happened, I'd already seriously considered quitting several times, but forced myself to stick with it.
Anyway, this night I drove over to the office at my usual 10:00 p.m. The building was at the end of a long road and backed up to trees, so there were never any cars or people in the area. I parked and headed up to the office. This week, I had a show on Netflix that I'd been binging for my entire shifts. So, after giving the computers a few checks, I immediately set up my laptop and started watching my show.
For reference, there's usually no trips in any of the systems during my shift. Since it's overnight, there's less of a load on everything, so it's less likely anything will happen. I'd say maybe twice a week, there would be an outage, and it'd only be a single system that I can quickly just restart and get working again. I think I got through just about two episodes of my show. So, it was about 2 hours in when I saw a notification pop up on the monitor. One of the systems lost connection. I paused the show and got up. I walked downstairs and through multiple corridors until I got to the huge storage room that was the main hub of the data center. There were massive rows of shelves all throughout the room. The notification I got had a row and section number. I walked down the aisle and over to the correct section. It happened to be the very last row and the section on the far corner. And strangely, it was really obvious why it was down. The main power cable wasn't plugged in. It was laying on the ground like it had been pulled on or fallen out somehow. I really didn't know how that was possible. In all my years of having the job, I'd never seen a heavyduty cable randomly fall out like that. It just doesn't happen.
Regardless though of however it happened, I plugged it back in and booted up the system. Everything came back online and seemed to be working properly. The obvious and really only answer to fall back on was that it did somehow just wiggle out of the sockets. Maybe over time it slowly shook out and it just so happened to fall out tonight. I did a quick walk through of the rest of the aisles, checking for anything else while I was down there. Then I started heading back through all the corridors and back to the office.
As I was in one of the corridors, I heard an unfamiliar sound. It was almost like a heavy door thumping closed in a doorway. It was a little creepy sounding, especially with there being no other sounds in the entire building. Unfortunately, I didn't really know the rest of the layout of the warehouse. So, if it actually was a door, I had no way of knowing which door or where at. And although it sounded like a door, it very well could have been anything else. This was a massive warehouse, and often the metal pipes would bend and creek in the walls or make similar thump sounds. It was just that that exact sound I hadn't heard before. I made my way back to the room and sat down. I double checked the systems again, then continued my show.
Only a few minutes passed by, and I'd barely even gotten through one scene before I heard what sounded like a couple of fast-paced footsteps scurrying through the corridor next to me. It gave me a quick jump scare, but I got up and opened the door, looking down the hallway. There was nothing there, just an empty corridor with a door on the far end, but it sounded like it was just outside of the office I was in. I knew I wouldn't be able to keep my mind off of it if I didn't take a look around. I walked toward the end and opened the door. When I did and looked down the next hallway, I barely saw the door on the other end closing like someone had just went through it. My heart was pounding now. I cautiously walked further up and opened the door. This one led to a hallway with multiple office doors in it.
"Is someone in here? Hello? Hello? Hello?" My voice echoed through the corridor. I took a few steps inside. It was eerily quiet. Not the slightest sound throughout the building. Were they hiding in one of these office rooms? As that thought creeped into my head, I got really unsettled and decided not to go any further down that hallway. I took one step back toward the door, but just when I did, one of the office doors next to me swung open. I only caught a glimpse of a man running out of the unlit room before I turned and booked it out of there. I could hear his footsteps echo behind me as I made it to the next corridor and into the staircase. I didn't want to risk getting trapped, so I took the fire exit door and just ran out into the parking lot. Once I got closer to my car, I started calling the police. Whoever was in there didn't chase me out the same exit, though. The cops made it pretty quick and did an extensive search of the entire building, which took nearly half an hour, but the guy was gone. Probably ran out of different exits and into the woods behind the building. Him being in there explained a lot, though. The wire that had been disconnected earlier in the night was on the corner section, which the man probably bumped into while sneaking around.
The company I worked for did a huge investigation to review security footage and try to figure out how he got in and if he stole anything. I didn't get much information on it. However, because I'm not authorized, I think it's pretty clear that whatever he was in there for, he likely didn't want me to know and was probably planning to prevent me from blowing his cover. How he would have done that after leading me through the corridors, I'm fortunate enough to not know.
This was a couple years ago when I was working two jobs to save up for a condo. I had a stable 9-to-five full-time gig, but did deliveries as a way to make a little bit extra cash whenever I had time. Actually, I found myself doing sometimes 30 hours a week just doing deliveries every day after work. This night, I started after getting dinner at 6:30. It was a pretty good night, to be honest. I was getting a lot of good orders with good tips. So really, I should have just taken the rest of the night off and given myself a break. But I was greedy. I kept working, hoping to continue getting well-paying orders. By the time it was 11:00, it had slowed down a lot, and the last few orders I'd done were just average. I really wanted to end on a good one, though, so I kept driving around until one came up that was decent. Finally, when one did, I quickly accepted it. Almost 20 bucks for a delivery 15 minutes away. Who wouldn't take that?
Once I got the food, I started heading to the address. The roads were, of course, very quiet and empty at this time of night, so the drive there was smooth. However, it took me toward a wooded section of town that I wasn't even aware had houses in it. I made sure I was on the right route several times, though, just to be sure I was going the right way. When I got to the final turn, it was on a well-maintained gravel road going into the forest. I drove a little ways down until there was a gate. It was one of those small ones, basically just two pillars on either side of the path with a chain running between them. The chain on these wasn't up though, so I drove through. My headlights weren't the best, so I couldn't see too far ahead. But not too long past the gate, I pulled into a parking area. I was confused. It definitely was not leading to a house. I pulled into a space and put my car in park, then looked out my windows all around. There was a sign on one end. This was a forest preserve. I'd done deliveries to parks and whatnot before, but I always thought forest preserves were closed up at like 8:00 or 9:00, and I didn't see anyone here to deliver the order to.
Just as I was starting to question what exactly I was supposed to do here, my phone started ringing. It was the customer. I picked up. The voice on the other end was a deep male voice, very grally and rugged, almost to a point where it was hard to understand them. He said he saw on the map that I'd parked and asked if I could see him. I said no. To which he explained he was camping with some buddies down one of the trails and I should be able to spot a campfire if I walk a little closer. I said all right. Realizing this was probably why the tip was so large. I did mention to him that I thought the forest preserves were closed, but he said this one allowed overnight camping on certain days. I wasn't a big outdoorsy person, so I didn't know any better. I didn't see any reason he'd have to lie. I turned off my car and got out with his bag of food. I quickly realized that it was really dark and I needed to use my phone as a flashlight to see where I was going. There was only one trail leading out from the parking area, so at least I couldn't get lost. I started walking. It was really quiet outside. I expected to hear the group of guys talking and laughing in the distance, but I didn't. It was just the wind and crickets. Then I saw the light, an orange flame glowing and flickering out in the trees. Oddly, it wasn't on the path, though, or right off the side of it. It was far out of the way and amid all the trees. I couldn't see too far down the trail to see if there was a direct path going to it or not, but I just started walking straight to the flame.
As I got closer, things were getting really strange. First of all, I didn't hear any voices. And secondly, once I got even closer, I didn't see anyone. It was just a small campfire burning in the middle of nothing. No chairs, no tents, literally nothing. I barely got the chance to whisper, "What the hell?" under my breath before I heard a stick snap from somewhere out in the trees. I jolted my head toward the sound. There was someone there, but too far for the light to reach. And the faint figure that I could make out was standing still like they were trying not to be seen. I felt really uneasy.
"Hey, I'm the delivery driver. I'll just put your order down over here," I yelled out and set the bag on the ground. As I did, they suddenly decided to show themselves and walk toward me. The man was tall with dark hair and a scruffy beard. He apologized and said he didn't see me walking up. It was that same deep grally voice from the phone. His smile was disturbing, like he was faking it, and it was really strange that he only showed himself once he knew I saw him. Nothing added up. I stumbled over a few words, but as he got closer and closer, I just decided to turn and run. He called out several times in this creepy, overly nice voice, asking me to come back and that he had cash for me. I didn't stop until I got to the car. I fumbled around with my keys in my shaky hands as I tried to hurry in and turn it on. I backed out and pulled back onto the gravel path to leave, but had to slam on my brakes. The chain was latched across the pillars now, blocking the exit. I stared at it for way too long, trying to think if I could get out and unlatch it or what to do. Then I heard footsteps coming up behind my car. I didn't even look. I just floored it onto the grass and made it around the pillars. It was a tight squeeze because there was a short ditch really close to the sides. So, if I messed up, my car would have slid down and maybe gotten stuck. Once I was back on the gravel, I sped away. I didn't know what that was back there, but I was stupid not to call the police, even though I think that if I did, they likely would have been long gone anyway.
The following morning, I did a little investigating and found that the forest preserve I was at did in fact close at 8:00 p.m. and never allowed camping or campfires. To me, that confirms the horrible nature of the situation I was in. What he intended to do is unknown and still haunts me to think about what could have happened in the forest that night.
I worked at a local pizza shop in my mid-20s. It was just a small place that did deliveries and had a few tables inside for dining in. In all honesty, the food wasn't that great. The only thing that was really special about the place was that it was open 24/7, so any not so sober people would usually come in all throughout the night. I often worked alone, but I didn't mind it. Actually, I preferred it. None of the food was hard to make, and whenever it was slow, I could usually do whatever I wanted while waiting around. This night was no different than any other, at least to start. I headed in at 9:00 p.m. and took over for the day manager. There were no special tasks or anything that I had to do that night. And with it being a Tuesday, I was prepared for a chill night. I prepped some of the workstations in the back and just waited for any orders to come through. I got a few customers in the next couple hours, but then it went radio silent. No walk-ins or calls. I pretty much sat on a chair in the back of the kitchen and scrolled on my phone the whole time. But around 1:00 a.m., I heard the bell by the door ring, which happened every time someone opened the door. I got up and walked to the front where the counter was, but I stopped as soon as I could see the main room. Nobody was in there. I stood in place and looked side to side, but there wasn't anyone at all. A short smile broke across my face as I walked further up and quadruple checked that nobody came in. I found it funny, like I must have been so used to hearing that sound all night long that my brain was playing tricks on me now. Being sure it was nothing, I went back to my chair in the kitchen. I really didn't think about it at all after that.
For the next 15 minutes, there were still no calls or customers until I heard the bell ring again. This time I wasn't even watching a video when it happened, so I knew I actually heard it. I got up and walked into the main room, but stopped in confusion again. Nobody was in there. After a second, I walked up to the front door and opened it, sticking my head outside and looking up and down the sidewalk that went along the building. There was nobody out there, not even any cars in the parking lot. I wouldn't say I was really scared or creeped out, but more so just really confused. I messed around with the door for a little bit, trying to see if it would ring without opening, but it didn't seem to. This was really weird, but I didn't know what else to do about it. I stayed up front for a while, at least 30 minutes, waiting for the door to ring again, but it never did. So, I went back to the kitchen. It was between 2:00 and 3:00 a.m., which was always the slowest time of the night.
Unsurprisingly, once I was in the back again, only a few minutes went by before the door rang again. This time, I stayed sitting and listened for anyone. I didn't hear anything, but just to be safe, I called out, "Hello, is someone out there?" I got no response. I figured it was just the door doing whatever the hell it was doing. So, I just ignored it and stayed back and continued on my phone. Somehow, there wasn't a single customer for a whole hour after that. So, basically, the past 3 hours were completely dead. It was 4:00 a.m. So, for my last hour, I had to start prepping everything for the next shift. I got up and went to the front. I started counting the register from the few orders I had at the beginning of my shift. But while I was there, I felt strange. Something just felt off. I kept looking up at the empty room ahead of me and back at the kitchen behind me, feeling like I was being watched or something. I thought it was just the unusual nature of the night I was having, you know, with the door and everything. I was just thankful my shift was over soon.
Another couple minutes went by when I suddenly heard a thump on the floor behind me. It was just like a boot stepping on the ground, which instantly sent a chill through me and made me quickly turn around. I felt my breath leave my lungs. There was a man standing just 5 or 6 feet away from me. He had all black ripped up clothes and a hoodie draping over his face, stopping just above his eyes. His eyes were bloodshot and hollow. I don't know if he was drunk or high or what, but he clearly wasn't sane right now. Then I saw his left hand was holding a knife. His knuckles were white from how tightly he was clenching it. I stayed motionless, trying not to escalate anything. But after several seconds of him not making a move and just staring at me, I decided to speak.
"Hey, listen. You can have the cash from the register. I won't say anything. Please, just let me go," I said, trying to say anything I could to get out of this. He just stood there, though, still clenching the knife and having that thousand-y stare. Honestly, I think I was even more terrified because he clearly wasn't some normal guy. There was no predicting what he might do. The counter I was at was L-shaped, extending toward the back where he was. So to run away, I'd actually have to run a couple feet toward him and around the counter, then back toward the front door. With him only being 5 ft from me, he could easily grab me or attack me if I tried. So I did the next best option. I basically dove over top the counter. It wasn't pretty, but I guess it kind of worked. I slammed into the ground and got up. The guy was already sprinting at me with a face of uncontrollable blood lust and rage. I ran out the door and only got a few seconds away before I heard him get out the door as well. He was too close for me to even try getting inside my car, which was behind the building. I just kept running, making it to the road and hoping a car might drive by and help. But at some point, he stopped chasing. I don't know when because I was so focused on sprinting and not looking back. I called the cops and waited at the road for them to get here. It took about 5 minutes. The guy was gone, but I guess after chasing me, he went back inside the shop and just demolished the place. Everything was trashed and he left out the back door where he then scraped his knife all over the side of my car. It's likely he was watching me inside the shop through the windows from a distance and using the door as a distraction, hoping to slip in without being noticed. Admittedly, it worked perfectly, which makes me feel pretty dumb. It's also pretty creepy knowing that there was about an hour gap between the last time the door rang and when I saw him, so he was probably hiding inside the shop that whole time. It's really strange though because I really had no idea who he was. I really thought he was just some random guy, but his actions seemed oddly directed toward me. Maybe it was just a wrong place, wrong time sort of thing. I don't know. They never found him. I didn't stay working there very long after that, fearing that he might come back.