I’ve always wanted to post but I find it difficult to make up some bogus story involving the supernatural or somebody stalking me. I don’t know how I would respond in a situation like that, so it was hard for me.
I wanted something unsettling or disturbing to fall into my path. Something I could write about and experience. Reading stories is truly nerve-racking at times, but nothing compares to experiencing the real thing.
Or so I thought. Not until a few weeks ago.
I’m 16 and work at a movie theatre. It’s a chain theatre, nothing independent, so it gets pretty corporate sometimes. “Makes smiles happen!”, “Greet everyone 10 feet away from you!” “Sell enough membership cards or we’ll fire your broke ass!” I may be exaggerating, but you get the gist of it. I’ve been there for 6 months doing all sorts of jobs - box office, concessions, ushering (cleaning theatres), unclogging a urinal filled to the brim with old orange piss with a cup and a pair of gloves… Now THAT could make a good story in itself.
Anyway, I’ve been working there for 6 months and overall enjoy it. Most shifts are fine but some get a little old. One shift I hate is closing usher.
You’re one of the last people to leave and your job consists of cleaning the final theatres, then taking ALL of the trash out for the night and throwing it into a large black trash compactor.
Little background on the floor plan of the theatre (sorry, I hate to write this). 18 theatres lined up in a very long strip (customers joke we should install a monorail, it’s that long). We’re in a mall so the theatre was built with those limitations in mind. Behind the theatres are long, dirty, and creepy looking hallways. The trash bags are thrown on the floor, which leak all over the place and make the whole area smell like rotting popcorn and sugar. Not to mention half the lights are burned out so it’s dark as hell. Trash bags are put into a whale (dumpster on wheels), which is brought to the freight elevator that takes you down the ground floor, outside of the mall and to the compactor.
So last week the other closing usher called in sick so I was left to do everything on my own. I was having a rough day and wasn’t exactly excited to clean 3 Avengers theatres on my own, but I trudged on.
Waiting for everyone to leave the theatre (especially after not one but TWO scenes during the credits) is annoying. Once everyone was gone, I headed in.
Right from the get-go, I got this overpowering sense of dread when I walked in. It was unsettling, but I blamed it on my mood. I turned the corner of the walkway and noticed nothing on the screen. Usually once the movie finishes up, some music is playing and trivia is displayed. Nothing. Complete silence.
45 minutes later I’m out in the hallways. They were colder than usual, which I thought was strange, as it was 85 degrees out in the middle of May. I heaved the bags into the whale, soda spilling all over my uniform. I got the last bag inside and started heading out when I heard something strange behind me.
They sounded like footsteps, but at a very strange pace. One step…… TWO THREE FOUR. One step… TWO THREE FOUR. Almost as if someone was moving quickly, but trying not to be seen. I stopped for awhile trying to see anything but to no avail. It was getting late, so I continued on.
Two minutes later, I’m almost to the elevator. CRASH. The lights go out. Darkness.
At this point, I’m fucking terrified. I dart around and call out for someone, anyone. The only noise I hear is sound effects from movies echoing throughout the pitch black void before me. Then, footsteps. But faster. They were running.
I backed into a wall and whipped my phone out, trying to get as much light as I could. No battery. The footsteps were closer now. I heard breathing with a small, almost pleasure filled moan mixed in with each heave. Like an animal having sex.
Hot breath hit my face. The lights flick on. No one is there. I slid down into a sitting position, feeling completely and utterly relieved. I looked around, feeling my pounding heart in my chest, when I noticed the whale on the complete other side of the hallway.
This is completely impossible. The whales are loud as fuck, so there is no way it could have been moved 75 feet away without me hearing a thing. Not to mention you would have to run to get it down that far, which would be incredibly difficult in the amount of time the lights were out.
I walked cautiously towards the whale when I noticed the bags were all taken out. And not just spilled out, they were lined up evenly along the ground, creating a line of trash bags.
I looked down on the ground. All of the soda that leaked from the bag was dribbled in my direction. I examined closer.
Wet footprints were all over the floor. Bare footprints. And handprints. In long strides. As if someone was running on all fours, in my direction.
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Credits to: thetermite
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