1 Hour of Rainy Night Shift Alone at Work Horror Stories | Vol. 1 (Compilation)

I used to work as a security guard for a small warehouse in my city. It was an overnight job, which wasn't ideal, but it paid really well in comparison to other similar gigs. Though the warehouse itself wasn't too big or impressive, the company that owned it sold expensive tech items, so I guess it was necessary to have the building under surveillance 24/7. My job was nothing more than watching the cameras, walking around, and very rarely filling out reports. This night, it was raining heavily with occasional thunder. Honestly, although it was a bit of a

creepy ambiance, it was nights like these that I felt more laid back, knowing that nobody would be going out. I got in and talked to the closing shift workers as they left, having the warehouse to myself from 10:30 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. Usually, the building was really quiet, with only a bit of creaking, but with the rain crackling down on the roof, it was almost impossible to hear anything else. About two hours in, I took a break from staring at the camera footage and got up to walk around the building for a typical security check.

I went all the way down to the far end, where most of the actual storage section of the warehouse was, then started walking to the other end. But a soft beeping sound began echoing through the hallway. It was an alert coming from the security room. I walked quickly over and checked it, seeing that it was a latch sensor on the back door, which meant that someone tried to open it. I opened up the live camera feed that covered that door, but nobody was out there. After a minute, I went to the back door myself to

take a look at it, thinking maybe the sensor was faulty or that the rain had messed with something. I disabled the alarm and opened the door, then glanced around, seeing nothing but an empty alleyway behind the warehouse. Nothing out of the ordinary. The door itself looked fine; though I mean, I was no expert on it, I ran it through the test, and it never misfired or failed to detect the latch. I looked around once more before shutting and locking it. Unfortunately, despite me not seeing anyone or anything, I still had to file an entire report

on the incident due to the alarm showing up in the system. So, I got back to the security office and started filling out the paperwork. Only a couple of minutes in, a thud echoed through the entire building. I jumped up and stared down the hallway, unsure of exactly where the sound came from or what it was. I left the room and stood in the hallway, listening for any more sounds, but didn't hear anything aside from the rain hitting the roof. I walked cautiously across the building, looking at the shelves for any fallen boxes or noticeable

damage. But as I got closer to the front of the building, the sound of the rain started to get louder. I rounded the corner and stopped in place as I looked across the warehouse; the front door was wide open, and on the floor, I could see the reflection of water puddles, likely from someone having entered the building. I sprinted back and locked myself inside the room, pressing the emergency button to get a hold of the police immediately. While I waited, I heard a few thuds from within the building, and then it stayed quiet until the

police arrived. I waited by the front and gave a report to one of the officers while two others searched the warehouse. A minute later, they came back to the front with the man in cuffs. They said he was hiding behind some boxes in the storage area with a hammer in his hands. As he passed by, he gave me a cold stare that horrified me. After a few days, police reported back that the guy seemed to have been under the high influence of several drugs and gave no reason for his actions. It's unclear what he intended

to do, but he was hiding with a hammer in his hands after forcefully breaking in, and with him being so intoxicated, there's just no saying what he could have done. Luckily, he's still behind bars, and I no longer work overnight at a creepy warehouse, but that night still holds a horrifying feeling over me, especially on rainy nights when I can't see or hear my surroundings. I'm an officer for our local police department. Shifts in our department are always switching around, having people work 10 to 12 hours on a different schedule every week, sometimes overnight followed

by early morning and then overnight again. On this day, I was working from 10 p.m. to 10:00 a.m. and was at the office when a dispatcher notified me of a call about a group of teenagers trespassing on private property. Specifically, it was a hospital on the outskirts of town that had been deserted for the last decade. This was a common place for groups to hang out and do various illegal activities, and the whole department knew about this; most of us had been there several times before. This was my fourth time going there, and I was

sure it would be a quick and typical case of walking in and either escorting a group of friends out or watching them run off. I was tired, so either was good enough for me. I honestly didn't care too much about arresting and charging them; I just needed them to leave the property. When I got there, I was quickly aware of a flashlight shining through the windows of the second story. What was strange about it was that it was moving really fast across multiple windows, like someone was running through the hallway. I got out of my

vehicle and prepped my flashlight, then entered the building. The first thing I did was call out, requesting everyone to show themselves and whatnot, but of course, no one did. I listened at the entrance for any noises to hopefully give me an idea of where to look, but it was dead silent enough to wake me up and get my nerves going, having me keep my right hand on the holster of my gun. I think it was always a slight fear that it could be a trap to lead in an officer and attempt something, but I kept

my cool and walked through the old hallway and up the flight of stairs. It was as I reached the top that a thud echoed through the building. It sounded like someone hitting a wall and was definitely from the second floor. I entered the hallway and shined my flashlight all the way down, not seeing anyone or even a sign of anyone. I called out again very aggressively, knowing that the stairs I was by were the only way up and down from the second story. I stayed there and listened again, but heard nothing more than the creaking

of the building. I walked slowly through the hallway, looking through each door and scanning the rooms with my flashlight, but there was nothing more than old hospital beds and graffiti. When I got to the last room, the door was closed, so I called out one more time before swinging it open. I cleared the room, but nobody was inside; however, there were signs of recent activity—cigarettes on the ground with smoke still rising from them. This was extremely concerning, knowing that they hadn't left the second floor through the stairs, and the only other way was if they

had jumped out a broken window. Before I could even check, the door behind me slammed shut, followed by something smashing against it and footsteps departing down the hallway. Luckily, I was able to forcefully push the door open enough to slide through the opening, seeing that a large hospital bed was pressed against it. By the time I got out, whoever was there was long gone. Backup came, and we did a more thorough investigation, also checking in with the one who originally called in the two teenagers. What was odd about this was that there was only one

clear set of footsteps I heard and only one flashlight in the window. The cigarettes still burning also showed that they had left in a hurry, which could have been from my arriving. But then, why would one of them have stayed behind? In the morning, we got a report from a mother on her missing teenage son, followed soon after by an identical report from another mother on her teenage son. After looking into it for days, and then weeks, and then months, it was almost definite that they were not going to show up. Now, six years later,

they still haven't. Their disappearance is an unlikely one, and that's what makes it so difficult. It isn't certain whether or not the person in the hospital with me was one of the two kids, but the current most stable theory is that it was someone else, and unless something more comes up, it's not likely that we will ever know. It was a snowy night when I pulled into the parking lot of my gas station. I worked the overnight shift from 11 to 7, and had been at the job for several months before this. I really didn't

like this job, but finding somewhere else to work was really difficult, and due to how some things were in other aspects of my life, night shifts were the best for my personal schedule. Still, though, I went in tired every night and struggled to get through every shift. I parked in front of the building beside the only other car in the parking lot, which was my co-worker's, then I went inside and relieved him of his shift. He left a couple of minutes later, and then it was just me for the rest of the night. My manager

had a paper on the desk with some things to get done, but from reading it over, it wasn't all that much. My guess was that it would take no more than an hour total to complete all the tasks, so I tried to put it off as long as possible to save me from falling asleep. Once I started getting really tired, but as I sat there behind the desk, at around 12:00 a.m., a car pulled into the station. I glanced out the window, seeing an old SUV parked by one of the pumps. Of course, with it

snowing outside, most people were not driving around, but getting a customer every once in a while was normal. I went back to my phone and scrolled through some videos, not paying much attention for probably 10 minutes, until I looked back outside and saw the SUV was still there by the pump. The headlights were off and the doors were closed, looking like they should be pumping gas, but it had been so long. I stood up and got closer to the window, looking down both sides of the building, but nobody was anywhere outside. If they had been

in their car for the past 10 minutes with it off, they'd have to be freezing. It was snowy, windy, and cold, so I honestly got a little nervous for them. I paid more attention for the next few minutes, waiting to see any movement through the dark windows or for someone to get back inside their car, but there was nothing. It was like the car was just abandoned right next to the pump. After some thought, I put on my jacket and went outside. Immediately, I knew I was... Right, it was way too cold for anyone to

be in there with the car off, or for anyone to even be outside for more than a few minutes. I rushed over to the car and looked around, then put my face close to the window and tried to look inside. "Hello? Anyone in there? Just checking to see if you're okay," I called out, but from what I could see, there wasn't anyone inside. It wasn't exactly easy to see, so someone could have been, but I was pretty sure there wasn't. Now, even more confused, I backed up and looked around at the empty gas station parking

lot before starting to walk back. With my eyes not focused on the car, I was just looking at the ground and noticed shoe prints in the snow going toward the building— not really the front of the building, but kind of off to the side. I looked back and saw that they seemed to come from the car, but at this point, I was freezing and didn't want to investigate further without warming up a bit first. I stepped inside and turned on the small heater next to the counter, putting my hands in front of it to warm

them up. I was only inside for 30 seconds to a minute, though, before a thump resonated through the building from behind me. I spun around, not seeing anything, then walked around the counter and toward the back. On the floor, there were puddles of dirty water, like snow that had melted off someone's boots. Feeling a chill run through me, I stepped closer to the back room and turned the corner toward where the supply room was. Standing in the dark behind one of the shelves, I could see the outline of a figure. They were tall, with broad

shoulders and had a large, scruffy beard, and they were looking right at me. My heart stopped for a moment, but after the initial shock, my reaction was to just walk back to the counter. I don't know why; maybe I was just too shocked to react appropriately. After staring at the doorway to the supply room for I don't even know how long, I quietly picked up the store phone and called the police, whispering for help. Then, I endured the most unnerving 10 minutes of my life as I waited. During this time, I didn't hear or see

anything from the supply room, which honestly added to my fear; for some reason, the man never came out to confront me. When two cops finally pulled in and came inside, I quietly told them where the man was. They searched the room while I stayed by the front, but I was shocked when they came out with nobody else. The man was gone. Watery shoe prints surrounded the back door, but outside were fresh tracks in the snow going straight away from the gas station, straight into the completely dark empty field that led on for miles. Obviously, nobody

could search that at night, but even when they did in the following days, they didn't find anything. I mean, the field was huge; he could have gone anywhere. But it was so cold and windy that night that I was almost sure that they'd find a body. The SUV was taken in for hopefully more information. I don't know how or why, but for some reason, they couldn't find any history of ownership, so that left us with just what we know from that night. We are still left with just that— who the man was and what he

was doing remains unsolved, and where he is now is just as much of a question. I picked up my first job this year as a delivery driver for Pizza Hut. I'm 16, so this was only a part-time job that I did after school a couple of days a week. I chose Pizza Hut, though, because it's not that busy nowadays, and I didn't want to have a job that I was stressing out about all the time. The first month passed with nothing of interest; it was a very boring and repetitive job that left most days as

forgettable. But then, I had one experience that I'll never forget. It was a Friday, and we got an order in just before closing. The address wasn't too far, but it went through a part of town that I almost never went to. This neighborhood was different from the rest, not having tons of houses or stores in it, which gave me no reason to ever go there. While driving through, I kept checking the GPS as it took me all the way through the neighborhood, turning down seemingly every road until it finally said I arrived. But something was

off; on my left was a row of maybe six or seven houses, and on the right was a path leading to a park. The waypoint on the GPS was showing up on the right side, so I double-checked by searching the address on Google, and it was the actual address of the park. I parked on the side of the road and picked up the pizza, getting out and walking up to the path. With a better look, I could see that it was just a walking path, not leading to any sort of playground or anything, which is

where I expected to see a group of kids that had ordered a pizza. Instead, there was a guy sitting on a bench a little ways down, waving at me. I started walking over, still a bit unsure about it. As I got closer, he stood up and started sifting through his wallet for cash. The fact that he was alone on a walking path at night and for some reason needed a pizza delivered here was odd, to say the least, so I was skeptical when I went. the shadows, I felt a chill run down my spine. I

knew something wasn’t right. "Hey! What do you want?" I called out, my voice trembling slightly. He turned back to me, still smiling, but there was something unsettling about his expression. "Just needed some help, that's all," he replied, his tone too casual for the situation. My heart raced. "Help with what?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady. "My car broke down. Can you come out for a second?" He took a step closer to the car, but I remained firmly in my seat, my instincts screaming at me not to engage. "I can’t. I’m waiting for someone,"

I said, hoping he would just leave. The man frowned, and for a brief moment, his demeanor shifted. There was a flicker of annoyance in his eyes before he masked it with that unsettling smile again. "Oh, come on. You can't leave a guy stranded out here in the dark." "You should call for help!" I insisted, my voice rising slightly as I gripped the steering wheel, trying to control my rising panic. "I'm just trying to get by, alright?" He snapped suddenly, his temper flaring. "Just help me out, and I’ll be on my way." My mind raced as

I glanced around the car for something I could use to defend myself, but there was nothing within reach. I could only hope my friend would arrive soon. "Look, I really can't. Just go away!" I shouted, my voice echoing in the empty night. He paused, his expression hardening. Then, without another word, he turned on his heel and walked back into the darkness, disappearing just as quickly as he had come. My heart pounded in my chest as I watched the spot where he had stood, hoping he wouldn't return. A few agonizing minutes passed, and then I saw

headlights in the distance. Relief washed over me. When my friend arrived, I quickly got out of the car and rushed toward him. "Thank God you’re here!" I exclaimed, trying to catch my breath. "What happened?" he asked, concern etched on his face. "I think someone was trying to get me out of the car," I said, my voice shaky. "They approached me when I was waiting for you." "Are you serious?" he responded, glancing toward the dark woods. "Did you see who it was?" I nodded, still feeling the adrenaline coursing through my veins. "I didn't get a good

look, but they were acting strange." We got into his car and drove away, my heart finally starting to settle as we left that lonely road behind. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I had narrowly escaped a dangerous encounter, and the image of that man’s unsettling smile lingered in my mind long after we had left the woods. Something in his hands, and it was just then that headlights came through the fog from down the road. The man watched as the car slowed down and started to pull in behind me. Then he ran into the forest, losing

my sight in the fog. My friend seemed to have noticed the man as well, because he was very cautious about approaching my car. We ended up leaving my car behind, and it was on the ride back with my friend that he told me the man was holding a gun before he ran into the forest. We called the police and had a tow truck pick up the car, which happened to have been broken into and looted. It turned out that the gas meter was stuck in the middle, and it was actually an empty tank. But concerning

the man, there's been nothing on it. I don't know what he was trying to do. I mean, he obviously robbed the car, but what would he have done to me if he had tried to while I was inside? And why was he out there on that empty road in the middle of the night anyway? All I can say is that if my friend hadn't shown up when he did, I'm pretty sure I would have never been seen again. Being a delivery driver was never my first choice for a gig in my late 20s, but I

got laid off during COVID, and the only place hiring was a local pizza shop. It was a popular place in our town, but really, it was just basic pizza. Anyway, this was during the time when everyone was staying inside and ordering for delivery, so I was working overtime and staying busy up until close every night at 1:00 a.m. This was just another day running deliveries all over town. Around 12, we got a call in for four large pizzas for a house located just outside of town, about 30 minutes away. I accepted it, knowing it would

be my last order anyway, and it was a big order, so the payment would likely make up for the longer drive. By 12:15, I got on route to the house. The drive wasn't anything to note; all the roads were empty and nobody was outside due to the mandatory lockdowns going on. When I got to the address, though, I was immediately confused. There was a driveway with a large open gate, looking like it belonged to a large mansion of some kind, but at the end of the driveway was nothing—it was just a dead end with forest

all around, except not far off in the trees was a glowing light. I pulled in and parked in the middle of the driveway and got out. Now standing outside, I could see more clearly that it was a campfire or bonfire of some kind, and I could hear a group of people talking. After a moment, a figure stepped in front of the glowing light from the fire and waved at me, like he was inviting me to bring over the pizzas. It goes without saying that this was not normal in any way, but seeing them wave me

over and hearing the group of people gave me more than enough reason to believe it was just a bunch of college kids hanging out. I mean, they did order four large pizzas, so it all just added up in my head. I got the pizzas from the back seat and left the headlights on as I started walking off the driveway and into the trees. A few more people showed up in the light as I got closer, all watching me walk toward them. When I reached the bonfire, there were half a dozen more people standing and sitting

in the area. Strangely, none of them seemed happy that the pizza was here, and there was nothing else around in the yard—no beer bottles or drinks of any kind, no music players, no games—just a bunch of people hanging around the bonfire. I stood on the edge of the site and kind of just held the pizzas up awkwardly, hoping one of them would come up to take them and pay. A second later, a man walked over and took the boxes, handing them off to someone else. The whole eerie feeling of this place was getting to me,

making me more uncomfortable with every second that passed. Before I could even ask for payment, though, I heard some footsteps approaching, and from the forest, several more people came in toward the bonfire. There were at least a dozen of them now, all looking at me and not saying anything. I'd never once left without payment, but this situation literally had me shaking. I quickly turned around and started walking back to my car. I looked back a couple of times, seeing them still standing by the fire and not hearing any of them speaking. As I exited the

tree line, though, my heart almost stopped as two figures sprinted away from behind my car. They went straight into the forest and disappeared past the headlights. I didn't even check my car for anything missing; I just got in and backed out, speeding down the road to get as far from there as possible. Once I made it back to the shop, I told my manager of the strange situation. Thankfully, he understood and even tried calling the number they used to place the order, but they declined to answer. After a bit of discussion, I ended up calling

the police to have them check up on the group's suspicious behavior. It had been less than an hour since I was there, but when the police arrived, the only sign of them was the bonfire still burning but left unattended. What really happened that night is unknown, and as far as I can... see it will likely remain that way. I worked at a retail store in my 20s as an overnight lead. It wasn't one of your regular big chain grocery stores; it was a local place with only about eight or nine locations. Most nights, I'd have

an overnight stalker to help out, but it wasn't uncommon for me to spend the whole shift alone. Again, not the biggest store, so it really wasn't a very intense working environment. A lot of the time, I'd find myself working slow just so I wouldn't run out of things to do. This was one of those nights where I was alone and working at a steady pace. At the beginning of my shift, I loaded up some boxes and moved into the aisles to start stocking. It doesn't take much mental effort, so my mind was elsewhere, just thinking

about random things and not really paying any attention. I went through about three aisles until a knock at the front entrance made me jump. I almost didn't even realize what it was because I was so spaced out, but once I did, I got really confused. I heard them knock again, loud enough to echo through the store. I walked down to the end of the aisle and looked through the large front windows, seeing a man in a hood standing at the doors. I went up to the other side. "We're closed; won't be open until 8:00 a.m.,"

I said through the glass. The man looked at me but didn't say anything. I pointed at the sign on the door. "We're closed; sorry," I repeated. The man continued to look at me for a few seconds, then turned and walked away. I watched him walk until I couldn't see him anymore, but it didn't look like he had parked anywhere. The whole thing was odd, to say the least, but I figured he was just at the wrong place or something. I went back to what I was doing, stocking up the shelves and eventually forgetting about the

man. By 2:00 a.m., I had gotten through half of the aisles and was ready to take my lunch break. I left the boxes where they were and went to the break room on the other end of the building. I was in there for probably a good half hour before I tossed the rest of my lunch and went back to work. I walked through the store and to the end of the aisle I was working on, but just as I looked up, there was a man walking past the other end. He looked like he was just

walking across the store, not having noticed me. I froze in place, feeling that instant rush of fear. Now listening intently, I could hear the man's footsteps moving toward the side of the building I'd just come from, so I moved into the aisle and hid behind the shelves. The footsteps sounded like they went toward the break room, but just before I left the aisle to try and run and get help, I heard the man rushing out of the room. The footsteps were now sprinting through the store, getting closer and closer. I ran for the other end

of the aisle, looking back and seeing the man turn in and start running at me. I ran for the front door, getting my keys out and trying to unlock it with shaky hands. The man appeared at the end of the aisle just as I got it open, and just as I stepped out of the building, I saw a bright flash in the corner of my eye and heard a pop sound that made my ears ring: a gunshot so loud I didn't even know where it landed, but I sprinted for my life around the building. I

made it to my car and hid in the back seat as I called 911. From what I know, the man didn't follow me outside; he was gone by the time police made it to the store, but they found the back door to be busted open, along with some heavy tools sitting next to it. The most terrifying of their findings was the hole created by the gunshot, sitting right to the side of the front doors. Why the man broke in and was so aggressive, targeting me like that, is unknown. From his behavior, the police seemed to

think it was some kind of mental breakdown or psychotic break, not having any real reason to target me specifically other than the fact that I was alone. I no longer work there, but I can tell you that for the years following that incident, I was on edge every single night. I work from home for a cybersecurity company, which really isn't as interesting as it might sound. I have to be online overnight from 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m., scrolling through files full of code to see if anything is a possible threat. It's extremely boring, and when

paired with the overnight shift, it makes for a struggle every night to stay awake. One night, just a few weeks ago, I was up at 2:00 a.m. working and feeling the weight of my eyes. I pushed through the sleepiness for a while, checking my phone over and over, hoping the time had somehow skipped forward. At 2:40, though, I took a break and decided to order some food to get myself some fuel for the remaining three hours of my shift. I opened up Uber Eats, and my only real option was Taco Bell, so I sent in

an order and got up to get something to drink. As I walked through the house with only the hallway light on, I woke up some more and realized it was raining outside. I looked out the front window and was surprised at how hard the rain was coming down, given I had... been so oblivious to it while working. My first thought was how I just ordered for delivery, and I felt really bad for basically making someone run through the rain for my own convenience. I checked my phone and saw the order was already received, so I

sat on the couch and waited for them to show up. After about 10 minutes, I was notified that they had picked up the order, so I watched the map on Uber Eats as the car made their way across town and eventually into my neighborhood. Once they were a minute away, I put my phone down and opened up the front door so we could make the exchange as quickly as possible. I stood at the open door, staring at the end of the road where they should have been coming from, but another 5 minutes went by without

seeing any cars. I picked up my phone again and checked, but on the map, their car was still in my neighborhood. When I zoomed in, I realized they were right around the corner, just before the turn onto my street. I looked outside again, but didn't see any lights from their car. My rightful reaction was that they probably had the wrong house or couldn't see the address numbers through the rain, so I tried calling them. A few rings later, they rejected the call. I tried again but had no luck. Unsure of what exactly was going on,

I stayed at the door and waited. I want to say 5 more minutes went by before I tried to contact them again. I called, and this time it rang for a while, but then they answered. I asked where they were and if they needed help finding my house, but as I listened for their response, all I heard from their side was the crackling sound of rain pouring down. After another few seconds, I hung up, feeling really weird about that call. I checked the map one more time; at first, it hadn't updated, but when it did,

it showed them right outside my house. I checked the windows and saw nothing, but knowing they were walking around in the rain like this was giving me a really bad gut feeling. I closed the door and locked it, and I swear I only made it a few steps down the hallway before a loud knock shook the front door. I carefully looked through the peephole; a man in a gray hoodie was pacing around on the porch, his head was on a swivel like he was checking for any onlookers as he waited anxiously for me to answer.

"Uber Eats delivery!" he yelled, but nowhere did I see a bag with my food. I stayed in place, not answering or making any sounds. The man got increasingly more hectic with his movements and called out several more times. Then he suddenly pressed himself up against the door, blocking my view, as I heard a few dull scrapes on the wood before he quickly ran to the side of my house and disappeared into the rain. I called the cops, but his car was already gone, and from what I was told, he was using a scam account. A

couple of days went by with nothing else to report on until I noticed a small scratch on my front door. It was an "X," but it didn't look like it was made for me to see; it was more hidden, like a personal indicator for something. It could have just been a fluke to scare me, but I still painted over it to conceal whatever that marking was supposed to mean. That night still leaves me with an uneasy feeling in my gut, especially since he had some sort of sharp object in his hand as he waited for

me to open the door. Part of me is still convinced that that won't be my last encounter with him. In my mid-20s, I worked at a retail store as the overnight manager. It wasn't a big place, and the only reason I was technically a manager was because I'd be the only overnight worker, so I was in charge of checking stock, filling shelves, and sometimes receiving order shipments. I was very satisfied with the job and never found myself hating the work, and up until this, I hadn't had anything really happen. It was a weekday night, and

a storm was just setting in as I started my shift. Over the first hour of being there, the rain had picked up, and the wind was hitting the building much harder than before, making a lot of noise. I was filling the shelves for the first two hours, trying to get the time-consuming tasks out of the way first. As I was in the aisle, though, I heard a thud sound resonating through the building. It sounded like it came from the back of the store in the warehouse section, where our delivery bay was. I walked over and

saw the solid metal back door that truck drivers used to get in when making deliveries. The more I thought about it, the more I convinced myself that the thud sounded like a bang at this door, as if a driver was trying to make a delivery. But there were none scheduled for tonight. I opened the door and was met with a face full of cold rain and wind. I stuck my head out briefly to look down at the shipping bay and saw no trucks, so I closed the door and dried off while walking back to the

aisle. I assumed the noise was just the building having shifted a bit from the wind or maybe just some strange-sounding thunder that I hadn't noticed before. I continued working for another full hour before taking a lunch break in the back office, spending maybe 15 minutes there before... Heading back, but while I was walking through the store, I got this strange feeling like everything had gone silent, aside from the rain ticking on the roof. It gave me chills, and as I reached the end of the aisle, I saw something that made my heart almost stop. Right

next to my cart, halfway down, was a line of wet shoe prints through the aisle. I approached it without even thinking and tried to figure out how this was even possible. I followed them down to the front of the store until I saw so many watery prints going all over that it was impossible to follow, and honestly horrifying to know that they'd walked around the entire place. I ran back to the office and locked myself inside, calling the police and waiting. As I sat there, I only got more scared, as I couldn't see outside the

office door, and the rain pouring on the building was too loud for me to hear anything else. After 10 minutes, the operator that had me on hold came back on the phone and said the police were right outside the building. I quickly got up and opened the door, and right on the ground was another set of watery shoe prints alongside mine, leading right up to the office I was in. I sprinted to the front and hurried to let the police in. In their search, they didn't find anyone in the store. Security tapes were reviewed not

long after, showing us a man in a dark jacket entering the building through a side door that had been left unlocked. He clearly spotted me early on and stayed hidden until I went on break. Then he walked around aimlessly. He didn't steal or break anything; he just went down the aisles and looked at the shelves. But the creepiest and most horrifying part was when I entered the office and waited for the police. The man came up to and stood outside the office door, waiting for several minutes as he stared at the doorknob like he was

preparing for me to come out. Luckily, he decided to walk away a few minutes later and exited the store. No more footage of him was seen after that. The man never came back, and as far as I was told, he was never found. What he was doing that night is still uncertain and will likely remain as an eerie uncertainty for the rest of my life. This happened last fall; it was toward the end of the season, closer to winter, and where I live it gets pretty cold and even snows sometimes in October. I've been doing

food delivery for the past three years and was working on this night. It was around 10 p.m. and lightly snowing outside. It was one of the first snowfalls, so people must have been skittish to go out. I was one of the few cars driving around, but a lot of orders were coming in. Pretty much as soon as I'd finish one, another one would pop up. After driving around everywhere until almost 1:00 a.m., I took up one last order. The snow was starting to pick up, and I was just getting a little tired. I drove through

the McDonald's that they'd ordered from and picked up the food, then set in the directions to the house. It was close, about 10 minutes away, but I didn't consider the direction it was in before accepting the order. It was opposite from where I lived, and I was already a good 25 minutes from home, so it was going to be a long drive home afterward. Annoyed at myself, I turned out of the parking lot and onto the road. The plow trucks still weren't out yet, probably because they weren't expecting this much downfall, but my SUV was

usually good in the snow, so I wasn't that nervous. While I was driving, I noticed the road I was heading down was about to leave the main area of town. I checked the map again, and it said it was this way, but it was just a very unusual route. I didn't even know any houses were down there because the only reason people take the road is to get to the highway that leads out of state. I went down for a few minutes, seeing only streetlights and trees, until I came up to the turn. It was

a single small street leading off the road. I slowed down, being more careful since this street was smaller and had trees lined up right beside it, so sliding off would make for a really terrible night. As I made my way down, I saw a few long driveways leading to faint lights in the trees far out before I reached the driveway I was to turn down. It looked like all the others. I slowly drove through the driveway until I made it to the house. It was medium-sized and older, completely covered in snow. Nothing looked too notable

about it, really; the only interesting thing was that it was out here in the middle of some forest. I parked out front and got the bag, then started walking up to the door. The snow was thicker than I would have liked, soaking my shoes and even the lower legs of my pants. When I got up to the porch, I knocked and started to set the bag down, but almost immediately the door swung open. I looked up, seeing a large man in a winter jacket. His face was pale, like he'd just been outside in the cold.

"Hi, I got your order right here," I said, holding the bag up. After a moment, the man stepped back and opened the door wider. "You can set it down right over there." He lifted his arm and pointed toward what I assumed was the kitchen. The way he said it made me feel like I had to, but I knew it was a horrible idea to go in there. I looked at the man's hands, seeing he wasn't holding anything, so it really didn't make any sense for me to do anything other than hand him the bag. "Sorry,

but I really have to get going," I said nervously, holding the bag up again. The man's face dropped into a frown, then he suddenly slammed the door shut. Still holding the bag up and just a bit shocked by what was happening, I set it down on the porch and quickly started walking back to my car. But just as I got past the front yard, I heard something from behind me. I turned around, realizing it was from somewhere on the other side of the house. It could have been a back door or something, but it was

too muffled to hear clearly. Getting creeped out, I walked quicker and got in my car. I switched it on, and right as I looked up, I saw the man coming around the side of his house and making his way quickly over to my car. He had something in his hands; it almost looked like rope, but there was something else that I wasn't able to make out. I suddenly felt my heartbeat spike and adrenaline take over my body. I started going in reverse, trying my hardest to go quick while also not getting stuck in the snow.

The man got close, probably just a few feet away, before my car was able to grip the road and start picking up some speed. I backed up through the whole driveway, seeing the man eventually stop and watch, slowly fading into the dark as I backed up into the street. I don't know what he was doing; honestly, the whole thing was just terrifying and confusing enough to make me not even want to think about it. I still do food deliveries, but I'm far more cautious, and most of the time I don't even knock on the doors

anymore. I just drop the food on the porch and leave. Had I stayed any longer that night or had I entered the house, who knows what would have happened to me? I work at a 24-hour drive-thru restaurant, and this had happened only a few weeks ago. I'm a crew manager, but for the most part I just do the same things everyone else does, which is cook and take orders for overnight hours. We always have at least two people, one being a manager and the other usually being a cook. On this night, the cook had called

in sick, and when I called the others to see if they could cover a shift, none of them said they could. So by 12:00 a.m., I was the only worker there. Now usually, the restaurant doesn't get busy overnight, and more employees come in at 4:00 a.m., so it wasn't an entire shift alone, but it still meant that for four hours I had to do everything myself. I left my headset on in case someone came to the drive-thru, then started working on the tasks I had for the night. I started by scraping and cleaning the stovetops,

but a few minutes in, I was interrupted by a banging sound from the front of the restaurant. I walked down and looked over the counter, seeing a man standing at the front door and banging on it. Then he pressed his face against the glass and looked inside, scanning the whole room before his eyes set on me. I walked over to the door as he stared at me, and when I got closer, he backed up and waited, like he thought I was going to open it. I yelled through the glass that our dining area was closed

and that he needed to use the drive-thru if he wanted to order something. He looked confused, so I yelled again that the doors were locked and he had to use the drive-thru. He showed no response that time, not giving me any idea whether he understood me or not, so I just turned around and walked back to the kitchen. I figured he'd have to get the hint at some point that the doors weren't opening. I continued working on the stovetops, spending at least 15 to 20 minutes on them. Throughout this time, I had gone once to

check the front to see if the man had left, and from what I could see, he was gone. The whole parking lot was empty, and the man was not at the door. But it was a couple minutes after finishing with the stoves that I got an alert from my headset that someone was in the drive-thru. I turned on my mic and asked for their order while walking to the window, but nobody said anything. When I got to the window, I immediately saw in the camera that there wasn't a car out there. I looked around the

screen and didn't see any movement either, so I ignored it and started walking back. But as I got to the back room, I slowed to a stop when I thought I heard something. I stood in place and listened as footsteps slowly walked above me on the roof of the building. They were careful steps, not making much sound aside from the roof creaking, but I had no doubt that there was someone up there. I followed the sound of their steps with my stare, moving down the ceiling until I saw the ladder leading to the maintenance hatch,

and that's when I realized what they were doing. I sprinted over to the ladder and started looking for some sort of lock to keep the hatch from opening, but I'd never even used it, so I had no clue how it worked. Or, if it even locked, then there was a loud creak from the ceiling directly above me, and a few thuds came from the outside of the hatch. A moment passed, then the hatch creaked open slightly, and through the small gap, all I saw were a set of eyes staring back at me. I sprinted for

the front of the building, hearing loud thuds from where the hatch was, as I quickly unlocked the door and ran for my car. I called the police as I sat inside and frantically looked through the windows of the restaurant. While on the phone, I saw a shadow moving by the front counter; then a man appeared, standing in the far back of the restaurant but looking in my direction. After a moment, he turned and disappeared behind the kitchen, leaving me in a panic until the police made it. They searched inside and outside, going on the roof

as well, but the man had already run off. Nothing from the place was missing either. No equipment or money was taken; nothing. He just broke in and left. I tried to not think about it too much, but it's hard not to come to the conclusion that he was there for me. Like I said, this happened pretty recently, so there's still not much of an update on it. Even with his face on the cameras, there's yet to be a confirmed identity. The owner of the building added a padlock to the inside of the hatch, though, which

should have been done before, but I guess it was just an inconvenience. I still worry about the man's intentions and if he could be watching for me to be alone again, waiting to do whatever it was he tried before. I spend a lot of my spare nights doing deliveries for DoorDash. It's my way of getting extra money while also not needing to commit to a more strict second job. I started driving around 9:00 p.m. on this night and steadily took on some orders until 11:00, where it slowed down a bit. During this time, I just

drove around the shopping center that had most of the fast food restaurants people often ordered from, and eventually, another order came through. It was a regular order to be delivered about 4 miles away. After getting the food, I started the directions to the address, and it was almost immediately apparent that it wasn't a house. I scrolled in on the map, which only showed streets and buildings, and the address it pointed to was along a street that had no buildings on it. It looked kind of like an empty plot of land, but the DoorDash map was

never that great, so I just started driving and decided to at least check it out and maybe call the customer if there was an issue. I drove out, taking just under 20 minutes until I reached the street it was on. This street was very bare—no houses, no crossroads, and no cars driving on it. When I got to the end, it became a gravel road, and on the side was a small wooden sign that was too weathered to be legible. I pulled onto the gravel and turned my brights on, and right away I could see something

far off down the road. I drove in closer, and as I approached it, my phone dinged to let me know that I had arrived. In my headlights was a small mobile home or some kind of RV, and on the door were poorly painted numbers. I looked back at my phone: 2760. It was the address. I got out, holding the food in my hand as I walked up to the RV. Getting closer, it was a bit unsettling to look at. It was overgrown and old, which was strange considering it was a mobile home meant to be

moving around. I gave it a knock and waited. This was a rare cash order, which made more sense once I saw the place, but it definitely didn't make me feel good having to stand here. As I looked around, an eerie feeling loomed over me. This place was surrounded by woods, with no lights anywhere past the RV; it was complete darkness. I heard something from inside and prepared for them to open the door, but then a voice to my right startled me. I looked over and saw a man smiling at me, standing by the corner of

the RV. He asked if I had his order, and I nodded, apologizing and walking it over to him. I handed it off and said, "Is that total?" The man reached into his pocket and pulled out a $5 bill, then smiled again and said he just needed to grab the rest. He turned and walked back around the RV while I stayed where I was. This whole interaction, in writing, doesn't seem as off as it was in person, but I can tell you there was something very wrong about this guy. It was just something about the way

he acted and said everything that gave me chills. I waited for a minute or so before getting more nervous and looking around the corner to see where he went. In the distance, I saw a figure standing by what looked like the dark outline of a shed. They were not walking; they were just standing there. As the fear grew inside me, my head jolted around, hearing the door to the RV opening. A different man looked out at me, and just as I started to greet him, he slammed the door shut. My heartbeat now intensified. I looked

back out at the man who was by the shed; he was now walking back toward the RV but had something else in his hands. In the moment, I couldn't tell exactly what it was. But it was either a long bat or a rifle. I ran back to the car, getting in and turning it on with shaky hands. As I put it in reverse, the man came around the side of the mobile home and stood calmly in the darkness. As I drove off, I don't know what happened there, but I wasn't exactly keen on finding out.

I went straight home afterward and debated calling 911 but was caught up on the fact that I didn't actually know what was going on. In the end, I made the regretful decision not to notify the police. Whatever happened that night will remain as just the strange encounter it was, with no answers to the true nature of it. I was driving through my city delivering for Postmates way back in the day when it had basically just started. Every order was mostly inside the main city blocks, but I had just gotten an order from outside the main

roads. I picked up the food and headed over, but the further out I got from the city, the more the roads became less populated, both of cars and of houses. Everything was replaced by the woods. I'd been out this way before, but only when leaving town; I didn't even know there were houses out here. I drove until the GPS told me to turn down a gravel road, which was almost unnoticeable. There were no lights aside from the dim ones coming from my old car. As I made my way down this thin path through the woods,

it was much longer than I expected, taking a whole minute to reach the house. To be honest, it was what I assumed it would look like due to its isolated location in the woods. It was aged and almost entirely made of wood, having vines growing up the outside of the house. There were a few lights on inside shining through the windows, but if there hadn't been, then I probably would have thought twice about approaching it. I checked the back for everything, then went up to the front door. I pressed the doorbell, which didn't really work,

so I had to knock as well. As soon as my hand hit the door, though, it creaked open. Cautiously, I opened it a little further and called out, "I have an order here from Postmates." A moment later, I called out again, "Anybody home?" There were no sounds coming from inside, but all of the lights I could see were on, and through the crack in the doorway, I could see a TV in the living room. It was playing but was muted. I don't know how else to really explain my thoughts, but the vibes were just off,

and I knew something was wrong about this. I turned and went back to my car, getting in and starting to do a U-turn right away. I felt a problem; the steering was stiff, and my car was struggling to move through the gravel, feeling extremely bumpy and jittery. I got out, and my face went cold when I saw that my front tire was flat. I then moved my eyes over to the other tires, and every one of them was flat as well—not just a little deflated, but completely flattened. My stomach dropped instantly, knowing this was a

purposeful act. In that moment, my mind was everywhere. What terrified me was that I didn't know whether someone put something on the path or if someone had come up while I was at the house and done it behind my back. Either way, the only thing I knew was that someone was out here with me, way out in the woods, in the middle of nowhere. I got back inside my car and locked the doors, trying to call 911 but had no connection. As I ran through my few options, I saw a light in the house flicker,

and the front door opened wider, revealing a man in the doorway. Without any hesitation, he started walking quickly over to my car. I didn't second-guess myself this time, putting it in drive and forcing my car through the gravel. In the mirror, I saw the man stop and stare at my car. Once I was on the main road, I took it more carefully, driving slow to keep from damaging my car until I got enough signal to call 911. But what unfolded afterward was equally as terrifying. That house was owned and lived in by a single mother

with two kids, all of whom said they were at the house sleeping in their rooms at the time I claimed this happened. They never ordered anything or saw any man or even found anything missing in their home. I don't know if they were in on it somehow or if they were just as much a victim as I was. Why the man ordered food to the house and slashed my tires still doesn't make sense to me. Though the only thing I've thought of is that maybe he was planning to do something horrible to that family, and

I was going to be set up somehow to take the fall for it due to my presence at the property at the exact time it would have been committed. It may be a stretch, but if that's true, then me getting away might have saved more lives than just my own.