Creeped Out on Graveyard Shift

I worked at a printing company for about 25 years, and for 15 of those years, I worked graveyard shift. For some of that time, another employee or two would share the building with me, but for most of that time, I was alone.

The building, along with about six others on the street, was fairly new. However, every time the company would add onto the building, or alter the arrangement of the rooms inside, people would see apparitions, as if the construction disturbed spirits. Different people experienced these sightings, and one was witnessed by two people at once. Most of the sightings occurred during daylight hours.

One night when I was alone there, I had been working for less than an hour when I heard a key turn in the front-door lock. "Must be Kathy," I thought, and knew that she would stop by my desk to say "Hi" and maybe chat for a few minutes. We were very busy in those days and had to farm out work to other companies. If one of those companies called to say that press proofs were ready, Kathy would go pick them up, then drop them at the office before she continued on her way home.

When Kathy did not appear within five minutes, I assumed that she was using the restroom. After fifteen minutes, I wondered what was going on, so I left my desk and walked through the offices looking for her. I could not find anyone. I began to feel alarmed because I knew that I had heard someone enter the building, but I had not heard that person leave.

For more than an hour after that, I could hear faint furtive noises that told me that there was, indeed, someone in the building with me. I got up several times to look around, but found no one. I felt more and more freaked out as time passed.

Meanwhile, I was working despite my growing fear. I had many assignments that night and one in particular was giving me fits. After I got the file close to being finished, I would send it to a printer in the next room. I would have to walk to that room, get the printout, take it back to my desk and examine it under a magnifying loupe. I was trying to position a couple of graphic elements very precisely. After I adjusted things on the page, I would print it out again, go get the printout, go back to my desk and check it again. I remember being annoyed that it was taking so long, and I knew that I wouldn't be having so much trouble with it if I hadn't been so distracted by the mystery visitor.

The last time I retrieved my printout, when I left the printer room and turned to head down the hall to my workstation, I saw someone standing three or four feet away from me as I exited the door. Momentum carried me one more step around the corner, then I thought, "What did I just see?!" I turned my head back toward the figure and it was no longer there.

When I say that I saw someone, I don't mean that I saw a living being. What I saw appeared to be a male human figure made out of colored mists, as if the entity was trying to solidify, but could not quite manage it. It appeared to be a couple of inches taller than I, with dark hair; clean-shaven. It wore a tan jacket and dark trousers. Its arms were extended slightly toward me.

I went to my desk and sat, breathing deeply and trying to calm down. Not only was there a living person sneaking around in the building and going to great lengths to stay out of sight, but I had just had a ghost appear to me. The only reason I didn't grab my belongings and flee was that I got a strong feeling that the ghost had appeared in order to try to reassure me that I was in no danger! Besides, I still had a lot of work to do that night.

Shortly after that, I heard the building's back door slam shut. There were no windows on the walls in that part of the building, so there was no way I could have seen who had left, even if I had run back there to look. I made the rounds of the interior once more, checking door locks as I did, and went back to work. The rest of the night passed without any more incidents or interruptions and I was able to settle down and work, despite my jangled nerves.

There was definitely someone alive in the building with me that night. To this day, I still do not know who it was or what he might have been doing there. There was also definitely someone there who was no longer living, but was aware of my discomfort and fear and was trying to do what he could to help.