Security guard

I had been searching for a job for quite a while. My parents were getting sick of me and they really wanted me to move out. About a week ago I found the perfect job. It paid pretty well and all I had to do was watch a camera feed and check on other guards every once in a while. I'm a night owl as well so the night shift was perfect for me. I could read books, play games, scroll through social media and basically do whatever I wanted as long as I did routine checks of the mall. Much of the system was automated and there were alarms everywhere, so I needed to pay little attention really. What surprised me was how much they were paying for the job.

*$65 per hour*

I knew it was way too much for such a position. It seemed like a prank when I first saw the facebook ad. Even the website seemed fake. Who names their security business Entity Security Services? Other than the name of the business and the wage, everything seemed pretty legit and so I applied for it.

A couple of days later, I got a call from them. They took a basic interview from me over the phone and they also asked about my health and physical fitness level. The last question they asked seemed a bit out there but then also fit the position I was applying for:

*Are you able to work efficiently in stressful and life threatening situations?*

I kind of paused at that one. The interviewer asked the question in such a serious tone. I was lost in my head for a moment before the interviewer brought me back to the call with a '*Hello?*' nudge.

*Yes, I believe I can handle possible scenarios that may occur at the mall.*

I wasn't so sure about my response but I really didn't wanna turn down such a good offer. What are the chances of the mall getting robbed by an armed gang anyways? The interviewer told me I'll get a response in a couple of days and hung up.

Fast forward the next day, I got a call from the company again and they told me I was chosen for the position. My first shift would've been the next night.

\*\*\*\*\*

It was a cold rainy night. The rain relentlessly poured down on my windscreen as my wipers struggled to wipe it away. I shivered. I turned the heaters up all the way. The road was dark and the only source of light were my headlights. Even the moon had been covered by the thick rain clouds. I was nearly there.

I was super excited for my first shift but also a touch nervous. The mall was a 30 minute drive from my house and was in a remote location. The location of the mall made me slightly uneasy.

My uneasiness increased when I arrived at the mall, it was an old dark building. I navigated to the parking lot and zipped up my jacket as I stepped out of the car. I felt extremely vulnerable in the empty vast parking lot. There was forest on either side of me and the only road that led to here was the single big road that I used to drive here. I saw a couple of other cars in the parking lot as well. They were probably the other security guards. I ran to the mall entrance.

The inside of the mall was just like the outside. Surely no one visited this mall. I spotted a couple of other people and started walking towards them. They all turned in my direction when they heard my footsteps on the marble floor. They introduced themselves as the other security guards. They were

>Andy- He seemed pretty excited for the job and wasn't nervous at all. He has worked in other remote locations too and really likes night guard jobs

>

>Marcus- He was a bit fidgety like me as this was his first job

>

>Dylan- He was the introverted one out of all of us. He was quiet and shy and really only gave his name.

We all waited for a manager or someone to arrive but no one came. It was well past our starting time of 10pm. We decided to start our jobs when it was confirmed no one was going to turn up to tell us what to do. I made my way to the security room while the others took up their jobs. I felt pretty bad for Andy who had to stand at the entrance, but he was getting paid double my wage.

I got myself comfortable in the security room and scanned the 20 camera screens across the wall. I looked around in the room for some kind of manual on how to operate the systems and what everything meant. I wanted to do good on my first shift. As I picked up the tattered employee manual, a sheet of paper fell out of it.

I picked up the small sheet of paper. I'll transcribe what it said here:

​

***Essential Rules For Employee Safety On The Premises***

*These rules must be followed under any circumstances. These rules are only for the security room employee. Other employees will get a similar set of rules. Failure to follow these rules will result in injury or loss of life.*

1. *Do not exit the security room, unless it is time for your routine check (Rule 2). No matter what you see or hear, you must not leave the room*

2. *Walk around the whole mall every hour. Your walk should not take any longer than 15 minutes. If you do find yourself still outside after 15 minutes, take shelter in one of the stores.*

3. *If you get a call on the phone in the security room, pick it up. If it is one of the employees that you met earlier, continue talking. Otherwise hang up quickly*

4. *If someone starts knocking on the door, hide in the toilet and lock the door until the knocking stops. Do not open the door under any circumstances.*

5. *During your routine checks, if you hear crying or laughter, immediately run back to the security room.*

6. *If you see a black figure on the cameras or during the routine checks, close your eyes immediately and turn around a corner. If you can't turn around a corner keep your eyes closed and walk to the nearest store. If there is no store next to you or if you see the figure on the cameras, lie down, count to 360 and then open your eyes.*

7. *You may see any sort of entity or disturbing occurrence on camera 9. You will be alerted to it by a high pitched beep. As soon as you hear the beep stare at the camera without looking away until it turns off by itself. You may see extremely disturbing things on camera but you must not look away*

8. *Towards the end of your shift, you may start feeling sleepy. It could be natural but as a precaution resist the urge to lie down and close your eyes no matter how strong it is.*

9. *Keep this sheet of paper with you. You'll need it to access Rule 10*

​

It seemed like a prank on the new employee. I was about to throw away the sheet when I heard a high pitched beep...

I immediately looked up at camera 9 and saw something I'll never forget.

A horrifying alien like creature was eating Andy. It had yellow skin and unnaturally long limbs. It's limbs ended in not hands but razor sharp points. It stabbed at Andy relentlessly and slowly consumed him with it's gaping bloody mouth.

I struggled to hold my dinner in and I desperately needed to look away. I was at the breaking point when the camera final shut down.

I turned around and puked violently into the rubbish

Just when I finished throwing up into the rubbish bin, I started to think rationally and grew worried for Andy. Was what I had seen on the camera just an elaborate prank on the new guy? It seemed way too real. The blood, the screams, the entity itself. I needed to get to the entrance of the mall and see what was happening. Just then, my eyes fell on the cursed rule sheet again and my eyes fell on the very first rule.

Do not exit the security room unless it is time for your routine check

I fought an internal battle within myself. The rational part of me told me that it was all just a prank, the instinctual and primitive part of me told me that something was seriously wrong here, and I had to follow the rules for my own safety.

The distinct ring of the desk phone, interrupted my conflicting thoughts. I picked the phone up.

>*Hey, hey listen man, this is Andy*

>

>*I can see this figure in the distance dude. Could you check the car park cameras*

>

>(I looked up at the carpark cameras and saw nothing)

>

>***Andy are you okay?***

>

>*Oh Shit, SHIT SHIT! Richard, get out of here,*

>

>(I heard a low growl and the scream of Andy before the call cut off)

I started hyperventilating. Somehow Camera 9 showed me the future and Andy was being eaten at the very moment. If this was a prank, it was a sick disgusting one. This had gone too far. My gut feeling deep down told me to just follow the rules and come out of this mall alive. And so, for once in this entire week, I decided to listen to my gut instinct.

I scanned the list of rules again and again until my watch let out a small beep. It was the hourly chime feature on my watch. I quickly realised I needed to do my first round of the mall. It was 12 am

I slowly opened the door of the security room half expecting to get jumped by the same alien that ate Andy. I walked out into the dimly lit mall. The mall felt like a medieval castle at this point, except medieval castles were made of mostly hallways and corridors, here the mall was just a vast open space. I'll try to give you guys a better description to really help you visualise the mall.

Alright let's start from the entrance. You have an average sized parking lot at the front first. Walk through the parking, and you get to the front entrance which is basically just a big glass double door that can be closed at night. Go inside and you will find yourself in a... I wouldn't call it a hallway, because it's a pretty wide space. Continue walking through the 'hallway' and you get to the 'main square'. The main square is basically a vast area. Shops line the edges of the main square while the middle occupies the big spiral staircase leading up to the second storey. There are also old elevators that lead to the second storey. The lighting is terrible for a shopping mall and most places are poorly lit. I guess if the shop lights were on the 'main square' would definitely be brighter. Otherwise the square was drowned in shadows and darkness. It's a darkness in which you can still see, but you may mistake something for another thing. It's the type of darkness that makes you feel like some monster is right behind you. It's the unnerving type of darkness. It's the type of darkness in your closet when you mistake your coat for an unwelcome home intruder. While you can still see the coat in the darkness that darkness masks it and makes it look like something else. That's the kinda darkness I'm talking about.

Climb up the staircase and you get to the second floor. The second floor is an exact replica of the 'main square' along with the same lighting issues. The middle however is cut out and you can actually overlook most of the main square along with the entrance if you lean over the edge. My security room is quite discreet. You have to go to the right of the second storey and you'll find a discreet door in the corner leading to my security room via another flight of stairs. I can also access the security room from the first floor through the same flight of stairs. The roof of the mall is basically just an open glass canopy. I assume the mall would look great during the day, but at night it's a creepy place. I hope I haven't confused you too much with the description and you got a somewhat clear picture in your head. Now imagine taking a stroll around this mall at 12am, that's exactly what I was doing.

So I walked out of the only place that I deemed safe in the entire mall: The Security Room. As I stepped out into the barren mall, chills ran up my spine. I crossed my arms and hugged myself thinking I was just cold. The air was cool and empty here. My eyes slowly adjusted to the new dimly lit conditions and I started walking around the second storey first, just staring into each store. I jumped at every shadow and sound.

As I walked past one of the stores, I heard a loud crash. It made me jump back as my heart started pounding violently in my chest. My veins were full of adrenaline and I swear I could've beat the world's fastest athletes then. I looked directly in the direction of the sound and noticed that some items had just fallen over. I sighed in relief and dismissed the incident when a thought suddenly blossomed in my already panic-stricken mind.

*Why did the items fall over just as I was near them? Is this just a coincidence?*

Countless thrillers and horror movies I had watched came up in my mind and I suddenly thought a serial killer was out there lurking to get me. It was way worse than that. My ears picked up a faint crying sound from the store and I immediately looked over. A ghostly white tall woman emerged from the rows. I was frozen in fear. She was extremely tall. Her eyes lacked pupils and were a milky white colour. She had a round mouth lined with blood stained razor sharp teeth. The rest of her face was pale and flawless. She didn't seem to have a nose. Her dirty black hair hung at either side and she seemed to be wearing some sort of gown.

Every single one of my muscles were frozen and my heart nearly popped out of my chest in each beat. My vision swam. I tried to scream but my voice caught up in my throat. Every single cell in my body screamed for me to run away but my muscles were locked. The creepy woman then pulled out a knife from her abdomen and started charging at me.

That caused me to snap awake quickly. I ran so fast my PE teacher would've shed tears of joy. I felt her putrid breath on my neck but I didn't dare turn back. I ran into the security room and slammed the door shut. I locked it. Crimson blood oozed out from the gap under the door slowly. I screamed and jumped right back. Suddenly, I heard the regular ring of the desk phone.

I picked it up.

>*Hey this is the police, we received an emergency call from this location*

>

>***YES YES please come I need help***

>

>Then the person on the other line said the following in such a malicious and demonic voice, that shivers ran down my spine

>

>*It isn't that easy to get out of here*

Then suddenly my ear felt wet. I pulled the receiver away to see that a thin coal black hand had somehow come out of it. The hand looked like it had been severely burnt. It suddenly moved forward and extended further. It's sharp claws clawed at my ear. I lost a bit of my ear and felt an intense stinging pain in the area. I threw the receiver away as my vision blurred with the tears in my eyes.

The hand retreated back into the receiver with the bit of my ear it took.

Suddenly I heard the [high pitched beep again...]

I cradled one side of my head to try to stop the blood flow from my ear when I heard the high pitched beep once again. I immediately looked up at Camera 9 and watched as the screen came back to life.

I saw Marcus on the camera and he looked nervous as ever while patrolling the first floor. I watched as his face suddenly turned to a face of absolute fear. Somehow the camera changed angles and now I could see what he was looking at. He saw the same white gowned lady that I had just dealt with, staring at him from the shadows of a store. She stuck out like a sore thumb in the shadows of the shop. Marcus was frozen just like me and the lady walked over towards him. She pulled out the knife embedded in her abdomen and slowly walked towards him. Marcus became unstuck like me and started running but suddenly he stopped.

The Camera angles switched again and I saw a grinning Dylan holding Marcus as he struggled to run free. Dylan was bigger and leaner than Marcus and it seemed impossible that he would get away. I felt helpless as I watched the camera. Dylan started laughing, Even though I couldn't hear it, I felt chill go down my spine. He grinned wide from ear to ear. Unnaturally wide. His face froze in that grin and his eyes were wide and hungry.

The lady slowly walked up to Marcus and stabbed him, again and again. The screams were so loud I could hear them from my security rooms. I shuddered in my seat and tears started rolling down my face but I continued watching the camera feed.

His screams finally died down and his body slumped down. Dylan let go and his body slid down onto the floor like jelly. Dylan then put his fingers on either side of his grin and ripped open his skin. His skin peeled away like tape. I felt the urge to vomit again but my stomach was empty. My eyes got watery and I grew nauseous.

Dylan ripped all his skin off to reveal a totally different creature. He was still a human, just skinned. I could see all his muscles, organs and veins. He then bent down and started to eat Marcus's body. The Lady With The Knife smiled and disappeared off screen. The camera finally flickered off

As soon as the camera turned off, I gasped massive gulps of air realising that I had held my breath the whole time. I then started crying hysterically and kicking at the walls. I felt hopeless. My mind flooded with thoughts of how I was about to die here. Suddenly, I heard a knock on my door. My mind quickly came back to the situation and I was on alert.

​

*Hey Richard, Its me Dylan, There's this weird thing outside. Please let me in*

​

I gasped and quickly hid in the toilet and locked the door to it. Dylan started knocking again and his voice grew more frantic. I put my hands over my ears and tried my best to ignore him. He then started kicking and ramming himself into the door. I flinched every time I heard the door bang and prayed for the door to stay strong.

Luckily the door held and the bangs subsided. I cautiously made my way out of the bathroom and collapsed in the chair. My watch chimed again telling me that it was 1am.

In no way was I going out into the mall after that. I decided to skip the round. Just this one.

5 minutes ticked by in absolute silence. I started laughing in relief.

That's when the first hand popped out. It slid right out of the wall like the wall was a pool of water. Imagine you pulling your hand out from under water, that's exactly how it appeared to come out of the wall. I jerked back immediately. More hands appeared from every wall and they reached for me. They were hungry for me. They reached further and further wanting to grasp my skin. I Backed off as more and more hands appeared from the walls, the roof and the floor.

I screamed as one of them touched me with their slimy wet grip. I ran out of the security room. So not following this rule really had it's consequences. I strained my eyes to see in the dark and slowly made my way around the second floor. I decided not to go to the first floor to be safe. I felt very vulnerable in the open space as unknown shadows surrounded me. I felt like every shadow was going to jump at me.

Suddenly, I felt a very strong presence behind me. I looked behind and saw nothing but shadows and the faint outline of the mall. I felt the presence again. I turned my whole body quickly and saw nothing once again. My heart rate rose to levels I didn't know were possible and I stood still. I felt a faint breath on the back of my neck and turned around to come face to face with Dylan.

I whimpered and jumped backwards. I somehow tripped on myself and fell to the floor. Dylan grinned at me in the same way. His skin was back on again though. He started leaning down to pick me up while laughing. I kicked him in the face and quickly strangled up to my feet. Dylan was still in shock at what had happened.

In my adrenaline filled state, I kicked Dylan's in the groin while simultaneously punching him at the side of the neck. These were some of the moves I had learned from when I used to do mixed martial arts in my teens. Looks like all the practice really did help and muscle memory was real. I then quickly shoved him backwards against the railing. I quickly pushed him over the railing and he fell to the first floor with a scream. He landed with a thud on the hard marble floor. Blood pooled around his head. He stared up at me with lifeless eyes. My watch then started beeping and I realised I had screwed up.

My 15 minutes for the round was over. The Shadows transformed into silhouettes and soon multiple black figures were surrounding me.

The black figures howled as they came closer and closer. They surrounded me just like the shadows had. I started feeling claustrophobic and I struggled to take breaths. Suddenly I got a dangerous idea. I debated whether I should do it or not, but as soon as one of the black figures touched me, I made up my mind. Their touch was icy. So cold my shoulder still feels numb. It felt like someone had spilt liquid nitrogen on it.

I leapt over the edge of the railing. Even the black figures were shocked. They stopped howling as they watched me flail in the air. I landed hard on all fours and heard a distinct snap in my left ankle. I then collapsed further and my body thumped against the marble floor. Luckily most of my body broke my fall and absorbed the force but my head still came down hard on the marble floor. My nose hit first followed by my forehead. I'm surprised I didn't break my nose. I felt pain shoot up all through my head and I saw stars. My vision tunnelled and narrowed. I was about to pass out but I kept myself awake. My whole body was bruised and battered. The air was still knocked out of my lungs. I forced my muscles to work but they only screamed in response. I heard the howling of the black figures again.

Somehow this made me motivated to get out. I willed my body to get up. My entire body hurt like hell but I didn't succumb to the pain. I kinda dragged my left leg and quickly ran to the security room access door from the first floor. Climbing the steps was like hell with my ankle and I was about to give up, but luckily I made it. As soon as I made it inside the security room, I dropped onto the floor and just lay down for a bit. My chest went up and down in an even rhythm as I thought about how I was going to get out of here. I checked the time on my watch

*3:00 am*

The hands hadn't come from the walls so it looked like I was getting a break from the routine walks. I rolled over onto my right side so I could lay out my angle and have it rest on the floor. Suddenly, a glint of an object under the table caught my eye. I reached my hand out and found out that it was a small lighter. I tried to use it and sure enough a flame erupted from it. I also found another not under the table: I'll transcribe it here:

*Hopefully you have found this just when you needed it. Rule 10 is a risky and dangerous rule that should only be acted upon if you are under extreme danger and there is absolutely no other escape. Rule 10 has a higher chance of being successful in the later hours of the shift as well which is why we did not give the rule to you immediately. We hope you understand our concerns. This lighter will help you access rule 10. By the time you figure out how to access rule 10 with the lighter it will be the late hours of your shift and it will also be the optimum time to put rule 10 into action if needed.*

*Lemon Juice Is Your Best Friend*

I was so confused by the last line. *Lemon Juice? I thought.* This was probably a code for someone's name. I started thinking about what lemon juice could mean when I heard the high pitched beep once more.

I looked up at camera 9 and saw the black figures surrounding me outside. Basically what I had just experienced was replaying on camera 9. The black figures came closer and closer but in this tape, I didn't jump off. I stayed there and crouched low and put my hands over my head. The black figures started prodding at me. My skin melted with each of their probs and slowly rolled down like wax. Soon my organs were melting and rolling down. The last thing I saw before the screen fully went black was me slowly turning into a puddle of water. I dry heaved into the rubbish bin and had a few sips of water from the water bottle. I then picked up my phone and started searching for uses and other names for lemon juice. I needed to get out of here.

Soon my watch chimed again telling me it was 4am. Only 4 more hours until the end of my shift. I cautiously went outside and brought the lighter with me for protection. Taking a round in the mall this time was worse. It was a totally different experience.

I heard whispers all around me. It was like someone was gossiping about me in one corner of the mall. They were audible enough to hear but not to understand. I caught mere syllables of the visibles, but when I did hear a word, it sent chills down my spine.

*Melts*

*Rip*

*Eat*

*Richard*

I stopped when I heard my name. I saw figures in my peripheral vision. I looked sharply to my sides but saw nothing. They were always in my peripheral vision but never in my reach. I checked my watch:

*4 : 10*

I started walking back to the security room. When I saw a black figure right in front of me. It was of a deep black colour. The colour when there is a total absence of light. It was a mesmerising colour. Darker than the shadows themselves. It stood out. It looked like the total absence of matter, like someone had cut a human shaped hole in space-time itself. I stared at it for a little too long until I realised I was closing my eyes. I quickly closed my eyes and blindly ran for the next shop. My already hurt angle smashed against a shelf and I fell onto the floor. I hoped I was in a shop and I just lay still and prayed that I had made it inside the shop. I counted to 360 while lying still and waiting.

Suddenly my eyes grew droopy and I felt extremely sleepy. My muscles all relaxed into a deeply relaxed state and my head was foggy. My mind urged me to relax and just lay down for a bit more. I opened my eyes and closed them again. My eyelids were too heavy.

I struggled for a bit before I finally let the urge to sleep take over me. I had no fight left in me and sleep was a blissful option. If I had to die tonight, I'd die sleeping. As my consciousness drained out of my body, the last thing I saw before I completely closed my eyes were black figures surrounding me. By then my brain didn't even register them as danger and I was in the dreamworld.

\*\*\*\*\*

I woke up in the security room. I checked the time immediately upon waking up:

*6:00am*

*Shit*

I realised that I had fallen asleep for 2 hours. I broke the rules and I waited for the consequences. I unlocked my phone and realised I had posted my last post before falling asleep. I read through the comments and saw the frantic comments that urged me to wake up. I'm sorry I did you guys like that. Suddenly my eyes widened when I saw u/phantomrogers comment:

​

>*Lemon juice can be used as an invisible writing. Try using the lighter and heat up the rules paper. Rule 10 should appear.*

​

I had hit the jackpot. I quickly pulled out both the rule sheet and the lighter. Before something happened in the security room, I needed to get out of here. I lit the lighter and cautiously waved it over the rule sheet. I made sure to not burn the sheet but also heat it up adequately. I was about to lose hope when I saw the faint outlines of brown letters on the underside of the sheet. I brought the lighter closer and the letters appeared clearer. I'll transcribe what it said:

​

>*Rule 10. Now you'll realise why this rule was hidden. It is only to be used as a last resort. Let's say you fell asleep during your shift. That's when you must use this rule. If you don't, you will die a horrible death in the mall. You have around 15 minutes upon your awakening to utilise this rule. If you don't manage to follow this rule in 15 minutes, the mall will never let you out.*

>

>*You should've woken up in the security room. Now climb up the stairs to the roof of the mall and jump off. Try to jump off from the back side of the mall and land on the grass of the forest surrounding the mall. Hopefully that'll cushion your fall and minimise injury. Try to land on all fours. We will collect you soon.*

​

By now I knew that I must follow the rules. I haven't always been too good with heights but I needed to do this. I got up and flinched when I put weight on my ankle. I slowly climbed up the stairs. I checked my watch

*6: 07 am*

*I have tons of time*

I made it to the roof and then slowly started walking over to the edge of the roof. There was still a raised fence type area on the roof so I had to carefully move myself over it. I moved myself over the ledge and looked down. My heart nearly jumped out of my throat.

I was very very very high up. My legs were dangling off the edge. I noped out and started to move back onto the roof. I would die from the fall.

Suddenly, I saw the black figures emerging from the roof exit, I had come from just minutes ago. They were hungry for me and they howled as they moved closer. They slowly surrounded me and I was torn between 2 options:

*Jump the roof.*

*OR*

*Face the figures*

My instinct got the better of me and I quickly swung myself over the edge and jumped. Time slowed down. I slowly watched the unforgiving hard ground come closer to my feet. I frantically moved my hands trying to fly like a bird but gravity didn't give up. I looked up and saw the black figures looking down at me over the edge. I looked down again and the ground was not so far away.

My legs hit first, I heard multiple cracks. My knees were next and then my hands. I felt my wrists shatter at the impact. A twig impaled my right shin. My whole body burned in pain for my final few moments before my head also hit the ground and it all went black.

\*\*\*\*\*

I woke up to the rhythmic beeps of hospital machines. My vision was blurry and my entire body was aching. My head was foggy and I couldn't think straight. I heard a TV somewhere above me.

​

>*Shopping mall caught fire. Security guard had to jump off the roof to save himself.*

​

I heard snippets of an interview but I couldn't recall anything and I fell unconscious once again. When I woke up properly, my whole body was in pain. The anesthetics had worn off and my head was clear. Most of my body was in a cast but the doctors told me I'd make a full recovery in a couple of months.

I found a $10 000 check on my table. They paid me more than double my rate.

Soon my family came in and they asked me how I was. Apparently the mall had caught fire and I had jumped off to save myself. I tried to tell them what had actually happened but they gave me concerned looks. They called a doctor in. I have figured out that they think my memory has been messed up due to the concussion I had. The $10 000 was apparently a donation from the security company and they also paid all my hospital fees.

I finally managed to get my phone off my Mum and saw a message.

​

>*We're glad you're doing well. We believe you have the ability to now be a permanent member of our security team at the mall. We will pay you a rate of $75 per hour and will cover your medical bills. This time you will be working at the entrance of the mall. The details of your next shift will be given to you when you recover. Also remember, we have