Many of my coworkers insist that the building that we work in is haunted by a ghost, or interdimensional entity, or demonic presence (it depends on who you ask). I was never a believer in such things and I have serious doubts about those claims but I would be lying if I denied the weird goings-on in that place or said that I have never experienced anything that shook my normally sturdy skepticism.
When I first got this job, I was told about this supposed ghost on my first day. The lights in the building are motion activated and when they turned on in an empty part of the large open work area, Susan told me that "it must be the ghost." A moth seemed more likely to me but I politely asked her about it. "It likes that corner [...] I've seen a man watching me when I'm alone [...] there are a lot of unexplained noises [...] things move on their own" she explained as I silently judged her and Elise (the other employee there at the time) nodded in agreement.
I asked some of the other employees about this ghost, expecting to be told that Susan and Elise are crazy but I found the opposite to be true. Silvia told me "spooky stuff happens here." Andy told me that Silvia refuses to be in the building alone because she claims to have seen the same man as Susan. He also explained that Susan (much to my annoyance) will play Christian music because she believes that it drives the "demons" away (maybe it does because I can't imagine anyone, living or dead, wanting to stick around to listen to that). He concluded by conceding that he also hears things moving in unoccupied parts of the building and firmly believes in this ghost.
I thought that I must be working with a superstitious bunch and I disregarded their alleged experiences as misinterpretations of mundane events because there is no such thing as ghosts, after all. I became a trusted employee, was given keys, and have been asked to open and work alone for hours at a time for two years now. Over that period, some of my skepticism has begun to erode because, I, personally, have experienced things in that place that I struggle to explain.
The first events were minor. The the radio (which is located in the custodian's office and away from the main work area) started playing over the loud speakers while Elise and I were working alone. "It must be our friendly ghost," she said. "Or bad wiring," I thought. Later, I would hear equipment moving right along with Andy in the mornings but I explained it away as noises coming from the outside through our poorly sealed doors. The lights would come on by themselves but moths, mice, and, occasional birds, could set off the sensors and all have been spotted in there before.
Everything seemed nice and dismissible until it wasn't. The first truly weird occurrence took place in the restroom. I was at the sink, washing my hands. Behind me was a row of empty stalls, each with a can of air freshener sitting on top of the toilet paper dispenser. With nothing seeming to cause it, one of the cans fell from where it was placed and rolled toward my feet. I immediately thought of the ghost stories and decided that, if there is ghost here, maybe it's trying to send me a message so I sprayed a bit of lavender Glade into the air and placed it back on its perch. Since then, I have tried to recreate the incident several times without success. I shook the stall but the can does not fall. I placed it on the edge and slammed the door but can stands firm. It's weird and kind of funny but now I always make sure to spray a little when I use the facilities so as not to offend this alleged ghost.
The air freshener is not the only thing that I have seen move on it's own. We use these flatbed carts to move oversized boxes or other inconveniently heavy objects that are not easily moved on a pallet jack. Anyway, I watched one roll about two or three feet without being touched. Those things are heavy and require some effort to get them moving like that. I wondered if the wheels were awkwardly weighted or something and I attempted to position them in such a way so as to recreate what I saw but it was to no avail. Maybe their is an explanation that I am not seeing but I have to count that incident as another one of the "spooky" things that happens there.
I heard the distinctive sound of a locker slamming in the locker room when I was alone in the building. I went to investigate and I found the room to be empty but the automatic lights were were on so something had moved in there during the last fifteen minutes. "Is that you, Ghost" I asked the emptiness. I received no reply but I continued "Can you please not fuck with me today? I have a ton of work to do. I'll put on the music and we can hang out or something." Still, no reply came but I followed through with my end of the bargain and played an album by the band Ghost (because it seemed appropriate) and nothing else strange occurred during that shift.
I have seen moving shadows in a certain location too. When I mentioned this to Susan and pointed to the location, she claimed to have seen the same thing in the same place and elaborated on some more of her experiences. She says she sees the figure of a man occasionally moving along that walkway. I don't know if what I saw was a man but it looks strangely humanoid and I catch glimpses of it frequently. At first I thought it might be a trick of the light or my eye but I can't seem to find a way to make it happen on demand.
Even having experienced all of those strange occurrences, I would be pretty unconvinced of the existence of this ghost if it wasn't for one incident that took place in front of multiple witnesses and is backed up by security camera footage. There were four of us working early on a Saturday morning when the fire alarm sounded. We knew that there was no fire and all of us were working within sight of each other so we also knew that none of us had pulled it. We could see three of the four entrances to the building so we suspected that someone had come in through the fourth and set off the alarm to drive us outside for some nefarious purpose. Another employee and I searched the area, while the others remained in the main workspace and called the police. There was no one to be found but the police did discover that handle for the alarm (which requires some effort to operate) had been deliberately pulled. A few days later, I was allowed to watch the camera footage and it shows that no one entered or exited through the fourth door and no one came near the fire alarm either. The handle just came down on it's own.
I don't know what's really going on in that place. Maybe we are overworked and slowly losing our minds or maybe there really is a ghost inhabiting the building. I choose not to be fearful of it (if there is an it) because I don't have a choice about working there. It will just have to learn to live (or die or whatever) with me there. Rose, one of the other employees who has seen "things," insists that "he" likes me. Maybe he does or maybe he isn't real; I don't know but I spray the air freshener and put on the music for his sake all the same.
Peace.
All the images in this post are sourced from the free image website unsplash.com.
lol you are lucky to have seen something like that. I've never seen a ghost. I don't even believe in it. Maybe if I am in the same position, I will try my best to find logical explanation in everything too.
If I'm being honest, I can't say that I'm much of a believer but I can' t deny that weird stuff seems to go on in that place. The worst part is dealing with Susan and her awful music though lol.
Reminds me of "Susans" in my previous jobs before. Listening to awful music and singing out loud. What could be worse than that lol.
Haha I know. Luckily I have been working a different shift than her so I have been getting to control the music while I'm there lol.