4 More DISTURBING Confessions from SECURITY GUARDS

Hi, welcome to Dead and Roasted. What can I get you? Security guard is up there with those other jobs guys think would be really cool to do or at least try. Right next to trucking and being a bouncer. Us guys are weird like that, especially after hearing from these allegedly true security guard stories. The extremely creepy stuff that security guards often see. If you work guarding things at night, well, I hope your flashlight has a proton pack feature. Before we start, send me your scary work stories at eeriecast.com/submit. Help us grow by following and rating

Tales from the Breakroom on Spotify and Apple Podcasts and pre-order my upcoming book, Creepy Campfire Stories, on Amazon or go to creepycampfirestories.com. I really appreciate your support. Now, these are tales from the breakroom. No normal asylum part two from Bad Badger. I had previously submitted a story from a time when I worked at a very old, still active mental health facility. I worked there as a security guard for some time and while there I encountered a string of odd occurrences. I experienced everything from hearing voices, seeing things move, lights turning on, witnessing shadow people, and

hearing people in corridors only to see them empty upon investigating. While I did end up quitting a few years back, I definitely racked up a lot of stories in my time working there. Some days were terrifying, some were interesting, others heartbreaking. But all of them did push me to be a little braver. Even if the feeling of a place makes your skin crawl and your hair stand on end, a lot of times there's a very rational explanation to what's happening. And even when there isn't a good explanation, well, most of the time, it can't really

hurt you. Usually, to reiterate, this facility was set up like a small village. There were buildings all over the place. The grounds were sprawling, and a web of tunnels connected everything together. The grounds reached out to a lake. the biggest in the state if you ignore the Great Lakes. In order to get to the access point of this lake, you had to drive a mile through a sprawling forest following a very narrow road. During the day, it was simply stunning. The trees over time had crept over the road, creating a beautiful canopy with barely any

sun able to break through. As you followed the road, you'd find various reminders of the facility's testament to time. First, a decrepit old climbing tower from when patients were allowed to leave the physical building. A/4 mile up from there was the old cemetery for the poor patients who were never allowed to leave. Eventually, the road ended in a clearing where it met up with some DNR land. There were picnic tables, a bathroom, a dock, and a beautiful view of the lake. There was a trail that led to this point where anyone could come park and

hike. Unfortunately, this occasionally made my job as a security officer difficult because after sunset, a lot of teenagers would park at the public access point and hike to the DNR area, but then keep exploring. After busting a few kids being where they shouldn't be, some of them got smart and started parking away from the public access area and walking from even further to get in. As a result, our job as security now required us to swing by and check out the DNR area as well as the public area to keep an eye on which cars

were parked there, taking note of their license plates and then circling back to see how long they've been near our grounds. It's a nice little park, but really there isn't much of a reason to spend more than a couple hours there. Less than that if you're arriving near dusk. If it's been a while and there's no sign of anyone nearby, there's a good chance it was time to explore the grounds looking for potential trespassers. For the most part, just seeing our dinky security van was enough to send most wouldbe ghost hunters packing. One night, while

checking the area out, I decided to park out in the woods just up from the cemetery. It was so dark that without the headlights on, it was almost impossible to make out the shapes of trees. But it made me feel calm just sitting on the hood of the van, the only light coming from the moon and stars reflecting off the lake. It was spooky being alone in the dark, but I often times found it so peaceful. Plus, as an added bonus, sometimes if I quickly flashed my light at the base of a tree, there would

be a bunch of raccoons foraging around. It was adorable. On one of these nights, I was sitting on the hood just listening to the hoots of owls and the gentle lapping of waves when I heard a loud crack coming from behind me. It was so loud and sharp it felt like a branch had snapped right behind my head. Being parked on the road, it was about 10 ft from the closest tree. So, that couldn't be right. I quickly turned on my flashlight and I began scanning the area I suspected the noise had come from. I

was met with nothing. I assured myself it was probably some deer that had misststepped and had cracked down on a fallen branch. Even though inside I knew that wasn't right. It was far too loud a noise for an animal as timid and graceful as a deer to make. I hopped back onto the hood of the van and kept my flashlight ready. If it was someone trespassing, I wouldn't be caught off guard again. Some time had gone by, and I'd almost accepted the idea that it was just the world's clumsiest deer when I heard another loud

crack. This time, I jumped off the hood, quickly, turning on my flashlight as I landed and shown the light right where the noise had come from. Once again, I was met with nothing. I scanned the area diligently. There's no way it could have avoided the light for how close the sound had been. Even if it was a deer or some obese owl or something, I would have seen it. I would have heard it run away. Yet, as I stood totally confused, there was nothing. Determined to find out what was going on, I approached the woodline,

looking for any prints or signs of broken branches or disturbed leaves. At the very least, I was hoping the flashlight would catch the reflection of an animal's eyes, and then I could go back to admiring the lake until it was time for my next round of checks. At the time, I didn't realize how far I'd wandered off into the woods. I was now far enough away where I wasn't entirely sure where the road was. Thinking that was a pretty foolish move in the event it was a person harassing me, I decided to turn around. it

being too dark for even my light to break through far enough to see the road. I aimed it lower so I could at least see the path I made charging in. While focusing on my way back, I was hit with the sudden feeling I was being watched. It started with a creeping feeling in my neck and went all the way down to my spine. I tried to keep my head about me, but I could feel myself starting to panic. I knew there was something behind me, something just waiting. It felt like at any moment a

hand was going to reach out and grab me or this mystery creature was going to jump out and attack. I kept myself as composed as I could, ready to fight back if I needed to. I convinced myself at some point that if I turned around to look, I would be attacked and I just needed to get to the road. Keeping the flashlight pointed towards my trail, I started to speed up. I had to be close to the road by now, close to the safety of the interior of my van. I was starting to feel hopeful

when my bouncing light caught the reflection of the emblem of my trusty security vehicle when smack. I was struck in the head with something sharp. It wasn't a hard hit, but something had definitely cut the top of my head, and I could feel the warm trickle of blood coming through my hair. I spun around trying to figure out what had attacked me. Then my light caught something pale and white, hanging low from one of the tree branches. It was an old deer skull, intentionally placed to hang on a branch. Almost all the tissue had been

eaten away except a few rotted remains around the eye sockets. Its teeth were mostly intact, and it almost looked like it was smiling at me. I noticed it had half its antlers still attached, and I quickly pieced together that's what must have cut my head. I felt like I'd been staring at the skull for a small eternity when I finally snapped myself out of my bewilderment, only to hear footsteps coming from quite a way behind me. They were slow at first, but gradually going faster until it sounded like whoever it was was in a dead

sprint. Branches snapped, leaves crunched as it got closer. I didn't think then. I took off at a full sprint towards the van. I could hear them closer now. Close enough. I could hear their breathing. As my feet hit the gravel, I strained my ears, listening for when they made it to the road. for the sound of branches to turn into the sound of their heavy footsteps hitting loose gravel. I only had about 20 ft to make it to the van, but if they were too close, they could easily catch me before I made it close

enough to open the door. I contemplated just running down the road so I could radio for help. But I worried that pulling out my radio now would slow me down too much, giving this company of mine opportunity to close the distance. Plus, who was going to help me? I had the only vehicle. The communication room was monitored and run by a bunch of older ladies. And even if they did call for help, it would be far too late for me. I made my choice and gave everything I had left to sprint into the van. I

thanked my occasional carelessness for not locking it this time. I threw the door open, jumped in, and locked it. I searched my pocket for the keys, and I turned it on. backing up and pointing the front towards where I had come out of the woods, hoping to catch my wouldbe asalent coming out of the woodline. It then occurred to me I had never heard them on the road. It felt like they had been so close behind me, but there was no one for me to catch. I caught my breath and gently touched my head, sighing

when I pulled my hand back, seeing blood on it. It didn't seem to be a bad cut, but head wounds do tend to bleed like crazy, so I could only imagine how my light colored hair would look when I went to go check back in. I didn't use the radio. I didn't do anything but sit and stare at the spot that emerged from the woods. I sat until my heavy breathing calmed and my heart slowed. Once again, there was nothing there, but I knew that wasn't right. I know what I heard and what I felt.

It had to be similar to the feeling that deer had at some point in its life. The feeling of being hunted. Not being fully ready to move just yet, I tried to think of ways that deer skull could have gotten there. A large bird of prey was scavenging and just dropped it. An ambitious raccoon tried to get it up to its nest and it got caught. Then it dawned on me. I followed the path I'd made in to get back out. That meant it wasn't there when I walked in, or I would have hit my

head going in initially. It was also close enough to the road that even now I could make it out clearly with the lights on, which meant I should have noticed it when I scanned the woodline previously. My skin began to crawl as I broke out in goosebumps. Whoever was out there had been behind me hiding and managed to move still enough to put that skull on display. Had they been trying to lure me into the woods? But then how did they get so deep in the woods to chase me back out? Unless there were two

of them and my van had been unlocked the whole time. A horrifying thought flashed through my head and I flew out of the vehicle. I pulled out my radio and stopped. What was I going to say? I've made a series of horrible choices and I'm currently stranded outside my vehicle in the woods, alone in the dark with someone potentially hiding in the woods and maybe in the backseat of my van. Would that be it? I sighed and tried this. Anon to control. I'm at the lakefront about to move out to check the schoolhouse. Requesting radio

check in 10 minutes. Control to N. Copy that. We'll be in touch in 10 minutes. Over. There, I thought. At least now if things go terribly wrong, eventually someone will be called out to help. I slowly made my way around to the sliding door of the van. I held my breath and then pushed it open. It was an automatic track, however, and despite my desire to rip the band-aid off quick, it just slowly made its way back. "I guess we'll both be ready," I grumbled as I could start to see the back seat. To my

relief, there was nothing. I sighed and closed the door, listening to it slowly begin its retreat back to the closed position. I started to make my way back into the driver's seat when I could hear someone behind me beginning to laugh loudly. The high-pitched kind of manic laugh I thought only existed in Batman movies involving the Joker. I was done. Absolutely and completely done. I didn't wait. I didn't look. I bolted back into the van. Side door still slowly closing and hauled tail down the road. I checked my rear view mirror, expecting to see someone

come dashing out into the road so I could finally see who has been tormenting me the last hour. No one ever appeared, and it abruptly ended my little peaceful nighttime trips to that area. After completing my requested radio check and checking the schoolhouse, I drove out to check the parking lot. There hadn't been any cars present earlier, and there still weren't any in the vicinity. With little else to do and unsure of how to proceed, I decided to park at one of the old bunk houses. It used to house patients a long time ago, but

now it was used for staff. Occasionally, if a bad snowstorm was going to blow in, staff could stay in these buildings to a avoid driving in bad weather and b guarantee that there would be some staff in the event of bad weather. I figured because of this there had to be running water there and I could attempt to try and wash some of the dried blood out of my hair. I still needed to do my final check in there. Anyways, as I was doing my impromptu hair wash in the cleanest sink I could find, my

radio blared. Control to in. I responded into control. What's up? We need you to come by the control room as soon as you're able. Control over. That wasn't great. I assumed I was in trouble for something. I couldn't immediately think of anything I did that would have warranted getting called in like that. I quickly patted my hair dry, put my hair up the best I could, cursed my luck, and hurried over to the control room. Upon entering, I'd expected to get scolded. To my surprise, one of the ladies waved me back to their soundboard. It

was set up in a semicircle with all kinds of buttons and screens. Every radio interaction was automatically recorded on their board. And with all the radio chatter that went on from all the wards talking to each other, requesting help or calling in a new patient, it was a lot to keep track of. Were you alone when you radioed about your location out by the DNR area? She asked me, her face stern. It was a big no no to have anyone with you on the grounds, and it was definitely not a good look this late at

night. Of course I was alone, I said defensively, but immediately thought about everything that had been going on. Could they hear that I was panicked over the radio? Well, were you looking for anyone? You know, you're supposed to radio in suspicious activity. She eyed me keenly over glasses and then added, "You're not in any trouble, by the way. I just need to ask before I have you listen to your radio transmission." I sighed and told her everything except the part about hitting my head and it bleeding. That would have required an incident report and frankly

at that point I was exhausted. I didn't want to bother with any more paperwork. It honestly felt good to have told her the whole story. It had only happened an hour ago, but I could already feel it weigh on me. I was still kind of shaken, and if I got chewed out for not reporting suspicious activity, so be it. I needed to get this off my chest. She nodded to me, face still serious. She had always come off as the sweet grandma type, and seeing her look so stern really put me on edge. Listen to

this. I listened as she pressed play. As soon as I had ended the transmission requesting a radio check, the recording stopped. I eyed her confusion. This didn't seem worth calling me in for. That was the last transmission you sent in at the time, correct? Yeah, I said hesitantly. And then you responded, and that was the end of the dialogue. She shook her head and pressed another transmission that directly followed mine. It was that laugh, that crazed manic laughter, loud and clear. It blared through their speakers. My blood went cold and I could feel the color

leaving my face. I looked to the others in the control room and I could finally see they weren't upset with me. They were scared. I gathered myself and said. I searched around and found no one in the area. She looked at me, shrugged, and said, "All right." And hit the delete button. I'm never working security again. From willed the hex. Just as the title says, I've decided I'll never be working in security again. Mind you, I've kept my job as security guard for over 7 years. I've had run-ins with a lot of unfortunate situations, some

even life-threatening, but none I couldn't defend myself in, or at least phone 911. But what if you couldn't defend yourself? If you called the police and no one would come, that's the exact situation I found myself in just a couple of nights ago. I worked security for my uncle's company. He was helpful enough to hire me right out of high school. All I needed to do was apply for my guard license and purchase all my own equipment. Working under him had been a breeze for those 7 years, mostly working in the daylight hours, where the

most action I would see was asking drifters and homeless people to not loiter in place or dig through the trash. Only on occasion would people give me trouble, but the threat of calling the police was usually enough to get people to calm down enough to just walk away. Only a few times have I ever gotten into a fight with someone with less than better sense, but I've always toughed it out. Pepper spray is a great tool to defend yourself with, by the way. But everything changed after my father passed away. Essophagal cancer. Life started to

become an uphill struggle. All through his illness, I had to pick up extra shifts, covering for guys who couldn't make it into work due to CO or just didn't feel like showing up. My uncle's company started to dip, so he began to look for more contracts to ease up at least a little during a really hard time. I did my best, juggling between work and taking care of my dad at home until one night he sadly went in his sleep. It tore the family aunder losing him. I don't believe in ghosts. I definitely didn't want

to. It made me a bit scared to think there's a chance my dad's spirit might be wandering around after death, lost in some kind of dark limbo of an afterlife. After the battle he went through, working until his final moments, I just wanted him to rest in peace. Ghosts were the furthest thing on my mind. I sort of envied that kind of rest. But I still had work to do. If not for me, then for my little brother, who I now alone had to help take care of. So when my uncle approached me with a

new job site, graveyard shifts, I didn't complain one bit. The change of schedule would allow me to work and also watch after my brother. So on the night I would start the new shift, I packed my lunch, put on my equipment, and got into my car that my job provided for me. It was an hour-ong drive in the dead of night to get to the new job site. As I approached it from the road, I saw the shapes of two identical buildings. I'd later find out that these buildings belong to many and office businesses that

rented them out during the day. The buildings themselves were nicknamed the sisters since they were both identical from the outside and the layouts inside, only connected by a single open courtyard. My job was to secure the buildings at night, locking up all the doors and setting all the alarms. Then I could just sit in my car to keep warm. I met my uncle on the outskirt of the East Sister building, smoking a cigarette outside of his car. Good to see you found the place, nephew, he said as I got out. I'll show you around. I

already took a tour with the property manager this morning. I nodded and said it was good to see him, too. Most times my job didn't need much explaining, just the knowledge of where all the alarms were and what doors needed to be locked. I followed my uncle into the east sister, which was the one closest to our cars. He unlocked the first set of doors with a huge set of keys. Then he led me to a box in the wall nearby the front entrance. He showed me how it worked and texted me the codes to

arm and disable the alarm. I'd have to arm it when I got on shift and disable it again before the employees started to show up for work. Usual stuff. Then we took a trip up the elevator. On our way up, I couldn't help but grow nauseous from the smell of tobacco that still wafted off of him. Both my dad and my uncle liked to smoke, but I wasn't one to complain about the choices of others. He said to me, "Now all you got to do inside is make sure there's no one left in the building

before locking up. Wouldn't want to lock the janitors or maintenance inside all night or trip any false alarms." Again, I just nodded, trying my best to fight down my queasiness. Finally, the elevator doors opened and my uncle and I stepped out into a lobby. By the time you get on shift, he said, this should be the last floor that anyone should be on. Make sure you put in your report that you checked all the rooms and that trash was properly cleaned up. Management takes pride in keeping their offices clean. We walked down the hall looking

through the glass walls that made up the office space. Eventually, we reached an open space with cubicles and desks. We didn't spend very long there, just a quick scan to make sure no one was still inside or anything had been left behind. He also mentioned, "I've been told some of the employees like to leave their things behind, but they tend to go missing. So, if you see anything that looks important, make sure to bring it down to the lobby desk for lost and found. I don't want us to take the heat if some important documents

or tablets go missing." I agreed that I would do just that when my eyes spotted something colorful and eye-catching on one of the desks. I pointed it out to him and we both had a look. Laid out on the corner of someone's desk was a bag of chips. Cheetos, which weren't my favorite flavor. My uncle just shrugged. Probably someone left a snack behind. Not important. Just leave it there for him. I didn't want to make anyone upset in case it was their favorite snack. So, we let the bag of chips be and left the offices

for the elevator. We rode up a few more floors, a lot of rinsing and repeating, finding nothing of much particular interest until we reached a floor that seemed to be the host of several meeting rooms. I imagined the executives of the branch would be the ones to use these rooms the most, laid out with the nicest rolling chairs money could buy, along with touchscreen projectors in each of the rooms. This floor was easy to check since it too only had glass walls and doors. if anyone was up there, we'd easily spot them. With all that,

my uncle finished showing me around and we headed back downstairs. He watched me punch in the code from the notes in my phone and the alarm began to give a few slow beeps to signal it was armed. And we had about 20 seconds to exit before the alarm could be tripped for real. We locked the doors after we headed out and repeated the exact same steps in the West Sister. When I was told the buildings were practically identical, it was no joke. I was starting to think this job site was going to be my most

boring one yet. We did everything the same and armed and locked the West Sister, too. Then, after my uncle finished the last of his third cigarette, he said he'd leave it to me from here on out. There was a lot of trust between us, so he knew I wouldn't be up to no good watching two empty buildings by myself all night without needing anyone to check on me. He asked if I needed anything and I said I was all good. He nodded his head and got in his car, tossing the butt of his last cigarette

into the parking lot. Not long after that, I was all alone. The hardest part of the job would be to not fall asleep. Luckily, I had a few podcasts I enjoyed that I could listen to while working. And when those ran out, I just watch videos or movies. Like I said, it was a simple task. Only occasionally did I feel like wandering the grounds outside, sometimes on foot or sometimes in my car. There was only one road to get to the sisters, so trespassers didn't seem to be a problem. I wondered then why' they hire

an on-site guard. My first few hours were uneventful. I'd cracked open an energy drink and eaten all the snacks I packed so I wouldn't be jittery by the end of my shift. But that might have been a mistake. Like I said, trying not to fall asleep was the hardest part. The energy drink was wearing off. I could feel the boredom trying to become tiredness, and it was then that I looked up at the West Sister, and I saw a light passing by one of the windows. I stopped the video I was playing and tried to

get a better look. It couldn't have been the light from any passing cars. The likelihood of any nearby cars at this hour anyway was pretty unlikely. To me, it looked more like a flashlight bulb passing from room to room. I watched the light move slowly across the eighth floor, then back again, and I was sure it wasn't any trick of the light. Quickly, I turned my car off and got out to approach the building. I was surprised that no alarm was sounding, which was a sign that it couldn't have been a break-in, and I didn't

see anyone near or around the building. I unlocked the doors and the security system began giving some warning beeps. This gave me a handful of seconds to disable the alarm before it actually went off. So, I did just that. I then remembered which floor I'd seen the lights in. So, I rode the elevator up straight to the eighth. As the elevator doors slid open, I was met with nothing but pure darkness. I shown my flashlight across the hall, lighting up the cubicles. I then announced myself, "Security." No response. All the doors to the offices between

the elevator and cubicles were shut. These doors led into rooms that did not have glass walls, which meant I would have to check each one. One by one, I opened each door and scanned inside with my flashlight. I didn't see any sign that anyone had been inside them. Then I went and I checked each of the cubicles in case anyone might be trying to hide. Still, I found nothing. I was starting to think I was beginning to imagine things when I peered across the courtyard to the east sister. My gut twisted when I saw a

similar light as before, only floating in a window in the other building. I thought for a second it might be a reflection of my light, but when I turned mine off, my fears were confirmed that it wasn't mine. I cursed under my breath, thinking it might be a light left on or something we missed. Maybe it was only playing tricks on my sight. I hurriedly made my way to the elevator to check the other building. And that's when it hit me suddenly. As I was making my way to the elevator doors, my focus on the

button slam. One of the doors I had just walked past suddenly opened and shut with such force that it made me jump out of my skin. I had never had a fight orflight instinct trigger so badly in my life. The only response my brain could muster was to leap away from the source of the noise and plant my back against the wall. My neck snapped back and forth as I checked for anything on all sides. No one was there in the hall. My nerves were still on fire, but eventually worked up the courage to pry

myself from the wall. I narrowed down the source of the slam to one door that I had just walked by. I knew that it was shut when I approached it. I had shut it myself earlier. But if someone was hiding in there, well, I nervously placed my hand on the cold knob, then swiftly opened the door, shining my light inside. No one. No one was there. I checked all the corners, but there just wasn't anybody in there. What the heck? I thought I had to be going crazy. I couldn't have heard the door slam all

on its own. It could not have just been the wind. Slowly and surely, I shut the door this time. I checked around the hall again, and a feeling that I needed to leave was growing stronger. Without taking my eyes off the door that slammed, I approached the elevator and hit the button to go down. The elevator took a while to open up, which I nervously thought was strange, as it should have been waiting for me on that floor. As I stepped inside and hit the button to head down, the doors shut and I was hit

with that same queasiness I had before. Then the smell of tobacco was so strong as if my uncle was still in the elevator. Only I didn't smell it on the way up. I held my nose all the way down, fighting my stomach until the doors finally opened up and I rushed out of the elevator. I didn't forget to set the alarm before locking the doors again. As I came out of the building, I leared up at the side of the east sister. I could no longer see the light I had before, but it was still

my job to go and check. The fresh air helped to calm my nerves, but a gut feeling was still bubbling inside of me. I unlocked the doors and disabled the alarm, then took the elevator up. This time I started from the eighth floor and made my way all the way down to the first again. I didn't find a thing. When I checked the last floor, however, I was searching diligently into all the cubicles. I almost wanted to find someone, a real living person, just to make sense of what I had experienced. That's when I came

across the desk that had had the bag of chips left on it. I came to it and found the bag had now been opened. And not just opened, it looked as though someone had slammed their fist down onto it. Bursting it open and spraying chips and crumbs all over the desk and floor. It was a real mess. I huffed, thinking that I would surely take the blame for it. When it dawned on me that this was evidence someone was in the building, I quickly scanned around again, but I found no one. No further evidence that

anyone was there. Nothing else moved, nothing taken. I was standing there in the middle of the dark space full of cubicles when I heard and felt a breath on my ear. I spun around in shock, whipping my flashlight at whomever was near me. But again, no one. I had never felt more afraid in my life. My eyes were wide and all my senses were on fire then, screaming to me that I was in some kind of danger. I still can't explain it. I just wanted to get out to leave. I didn't bother setting the alarm

again. I just headed straight out of the building, swiftly locking the door behind me. However, as I was approaching my car, I stopped cold dead in my tracks. There was someone in my car. Someone featureless, more like a shadow in the shape of a person. I wasn't actually sure what I was looking at. It couldn't be a real person because my car had been locked. The light of my flashlight didn't reach that far out towards the parking lot, and I didn't dare get any closer just yet. All I could do was stare, frozen in place.

I couldn't even call the police. What would they think? Just a security guard who was working too late, too many hours, probably on something. So, I just stood there staring at the shape in my car until the sun started to come back up. I might have frozen for real if I didn't have the jacket my dad got me with his own money. I'm not sure how long I was out there exactly. Right outside the doors of the East Sister. I had eventually closed my eyes and I think I dozed off a little while when I

heard the sound of a car engine. It wasn't my car, but another car coming in for work. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that the shadowy shape was no longer inside my car. I waved to the oncoming vehicle as a short Hispanic woman stepped out. She must have been a cleaner. I unlocked the doors for her, not bothering to go back in myself, and I walked across the courtyard to open the West Sister building. That was the one she needed to go into first. As I was disabling the alarm, she came in

with me. I felt a little better not having to be in the building alone, and I think she felt the same. In broken English, she asked that I accompany her to the eighth floor. I gulped a little, but said that I would. So, I did just that and rode the elevator again. This time, there was no smell of tobacco, so my queasiness didn't return. However, when we made it to the eighth floor, there was a sight to behold. Every office chair had been upturned, and nearly every trash can flung from its cubicle. I was aruck

by this devastation. It was like a storm had blown through there overnight. The cleaning lady, though, simply sighed and went about picking everything up like she had already seen it before. As we walked past one of the meeting rooms, I saw that all the rolling chairs had also been picked up, overturned, and stacked onto the meeting tables. She gave me a dirty look, like she suspected I was the culprit, or maybe that I had failed to catch whoever had done this. After she had picked up the place with my help, she thanked me and said

that she could do the rest on her own until her daughter got there. I nodded my head and headed back downstairs. It wasn't long before I got back in the car. I found two missed texts and several calls from my uncle who was wondering if I was okay and why I hadn't clocked out yet. I took a deep breath and I texted him back. I don't think I can work here anymore after tonight. He was confused, but he didn't argue or ask. I never liked working security anyways. I only did it to help out the

family, maybe make my dad proud. But after that night, I don't think I have the nerves to work security ever again. Walker above us from Twin City Man. Back in 2018, I was smoking up and eating junk food on the couch, watching some comedian making fun of mall cops and security guards for being fake cops and such. So, it's a funny thing that I ended up becoming a security guard myself that year and would proceed to have a very creepy encounter not long after starting. There I was, 24 years old, college dropout, working security at

a mall in a medium-sized town in Georgia. Not exactly where I thought I'd end up. Really, I was just a guy trying to make rent and figure out what I wanted to do with my life. The thing about working mall security in a place like ours is that nothing really happens. Maybe we'd catch someone shoplifting once every couple weeks, break up a fight between teenagers every few months. Most of the time it was just walking around, checking that doors were locked at the right times, making sure the heat was working, that kind of stuff, boring

work. This particular morning was right after Thanksgiving, so we were getting into the Christmas shopping season. I remember because all the stores were starting to put up their holiday decorations and the mall management had us working extra shifts to handle the increased foot traffic that was coming through. It was still dark out when I got there around 6:30 a.m., an hour and a half before we'd opened the doors to shoppers. There were three of us on the morning crew, me, Dylan, and Moses. Dylan was an older guy, maybe in his 50s, who had been doing

security work for like 15 years. Moses was even newer than me, early 20s like me, but still lived with his parents. Good guys, really, both of them. We'd gotten into a routine where we'd meet up at the main entrance, unlock everything, turn off the overnight alarms, then do a walkthrough while the store employees started trickling in. The mall itself wasn't huge, but it wasn't tiny either. Typical setup. Anchor stores on both ends, smaller shops in between, food court in the middle. The building was about 20 years old. The roof has an odd design where it

was flat in the center but sloped down at the edges. So, if you're in one of the outer stores, the roof was lower above you than it was over the main walkways. We'd been there maybe an hour that day, getting things ready for opening when my radio crackled. An employee from the thrift store on the north end had called in. A lady in her 60s who had been running that particular store for about 10 years. A real nononsense type. Not the kind of person to call security unless something was actually wrong. She said she needed

someone to check something out. I was the closest to her store, so I walked on over. She was standing behind her counter looking up at the ceiling with this concerned look. Her store was right on the outer edge of the mall, so she had the lower sloped roof section above her. I asked what was going on. She said that there was someone walking around up there and pointed at the ceiling. She could hear footsteps back and forth, back and forth. and they'd been going on for about 10 minutes. I listened and sure enough, I heard

it, too. Slow footsteps moving across the roof above us. Step, step, step in one direction, a pause, then step, step, step back the other way. I made sure to ask if she knew it wasn't just maintenance, though I was pretty sure I knew the answer. She said that's what she thought, but I called the office to check the schedule. There was nothing on the books about roof related work today. Nothing scheduled at all up there. So yeah, she was right. It wasn't maintenance. The footsteps kept going back and forth, back and forth. It was weird

because they were so regular sounding. Not like someone working or trying to fix something or even someone trying to sneak around. Just regular walking. I told her I'd go check it out. And in my head, I thought it was some homeless guy who found a way up there. Maybe he thought it'd be a cool place to sleep or something. I radioed Dylan to let him know what was going on, then headed for the maintenance access that led to the roof. The mall had a service ladder that went up to the flat center section of the

roof. From there, you could walk to the edge and look down at the sloped sections, but you couldn't actually walk on those sloped parts. Too steep and too dangerous. If anyone had to go out there, they would use a sturdy ladder. It took me about 5 minutes to get up there. It was pretty cold. The sun was just starting to come up. I walked over to the flat section toward the north side where the thrift store was. When I got to the edge and looked over at the sloped part, I saw him. There was a

man walking back and forth on that sloped roof, just like the lady had described. He was about 30 ft away from me, walking parallel to the edge of the building. The slope wasn't that steep, maybe 15 or 20°, so it was walkable if you were careful, but still it seemed dangerous. The guy looked rough, like really rough. His clothes were torn and dirty, like he had been living outside for months. His hair was long and matted up, and he was thin in that unhealthy way that comes from not having too many chances to eat. Worse

yet were his bloodshot eyes. Completely bloodshot. Not just a little red, like someone who hadn't slept. I'm talking about eyes that were more red than white. Like every blood vessel in his eyes had burst. "Hey," I called out to him. "Sir, you can't be up here." He stopped walking then, then turned to look at me real slow. He stared at me with those bloodshot eyes. To be honest, it gave me a chill. Something was seriously up with this guy. "You all right?" I asked, trying to keep my voice calm and professional. "The roof is private

property. I need you to come down from there." For a few seconds, he just continued to stare. But then after that, his mouth opened and he let out the loudest scream I've ever heard in my life. It was enough to make me instinctively take a step back from the edge. The scream went on for a few seconds, echoing off the buildings around the mall. I had to look down to watch my footing. The roof edge wasn't protected by any kind of barrier, and I didn't want to fall. I reached for my radio to call for

backup, too. And when I looked up again, maybe 2 seconds later, the man was gone. Just disappeared. But here's the thing that still gives me chills when I think about it. I could still hear his scream. For another few seconds after I couldn't see him anymore, that horrible scream was still coming from the exact same spot where he had been standing. I looked around frantically. There was nowhere for him to go. The sloped section of the roof ended at the edge of the building, which was a straight drop of maybe 25 ft to the parking

lot below. There was no ladder, no fire escape, no way for him to climb down, and the slope was too steep and too far from the flat section for him to have climbed up to where I was. The only way down was to jump or fall, and that would have seriously injured anyone. Broken legs at minimum, but probably worse. I ran back across the flat roof to the ladder and climbed down as fast as I could. Then I ran outside to the north parking lot to the spot where he would have landed if he had

jumped. Nothing. No blood, no body, no sign that anyone had fallen or landed hard. I spent about 10 minutes walking around that whole area, checking behind dumpsters and cars, looking for any sign of where he might have gone. But there was nothing. When I went back inside, the thrift store lady was waiting for me, asking if everything was okay up there. I told her, "Yeah, everything was fine. False alarm. Probably just some debris blowing around in the wind back and forth." I didn't want to tell her what I'd really seen in case it might scare

her. I went back to the security office where Dylan and Moses were going through the morning reports. Instantly, Dylan wanted to know what that was about. I told the guys everything. I expected them to think I was crazy or making it up. But Dylan believed me, saying that weird crap does sometimes happen, that even he has seen things that just don't make sense. Moses looked skeptical, but didn't say anything. The rest of the morning went normally. We opened the mall to shoppers, did our regular patrols, handled a couple of minor issues. Then around 2:00 p.m.,

my radio crackled again. It was the owner of the electronic store. The guy's store was on the south side of the mall, also on the outer edge with the lower roof section. I asked what was up. I hate to bother you guys, but I think there's someone walking around on the roof. I can hear footsteps up there. I won't lie. My stomach turned a bit. I asked if he was sure. He said he was said they were walking to and fro like someone pacing about. I looked at Dylan and Moses. Dylan raised an eyebrow, but

Moses stood up and said he'd go check it out. I asked if he was sure that I could handle it if he wanted me to, but he insisted. But then I thought of something. I told him to go, but to do me a favor to go straight up to the roof, walk to the south edge, and look down at the sloped section. Don't call out to anyone if you see someone. Don't even try to talk to them. Just look first. Then he could radio me immediately and tell me what he saw. Moses looked confused but

nodded and went along with it. After he left, Dylan looked at me, asking if I thought it was the same guy. I told him I'm not sure, but I had a hunch. We waited about 5 minutes when Moses's voice came over the radio. He said there was a guy up there, a homeless looking dude walking back and forth on the sloped section. He explained how the guy's eyes looked really messed up. At the same time, my stomach turned a bit and I smiled. This is what I said to him. Okay, Moses, listen carefully. Turn your

radio volume all the way up and keep the channel open. Then tell the guy you're going to get a ladder so you can get him down safely. Don't try to engage with him beyond that. Moses just said, "Okay." I began to listen as he keyed his radio and the channel stayed open. A second or two later, I heard his voice telling the man he was going to get a ladder to get him down, requesting that he stays right there. A moment later, it came. The horrible scream loud enough that it came through Moses's radio clearly,

even though he was probably 30 ft away from the guy. Even Dylan jumped in his chair, asking what in Christ's name that was. I was yelling into the radio, laughing while I did, telling Moses to run and to get out of there. I could hear his footsteps pounding across the roof through the radio, then the sound of him climbing down the ladder. A while later, he burst through the security office door, out of breath and eyes wide open. He was asking me what the heck that was, but I wanted to know where the guy went.

Unfortunately, Moses didn't see. Sad. As soon as he heard the scream, he ran out of there. Like I said, creepiest thing he'd ever heard. Then I just burst out in laughter. I couldn't help it. Here, I'd been thinking I was going crazy all day. And Moses had just confirmed that I'd seen exactly what I thought I saw. That's the same guy I saw this morning, I told him. Same bloodshot eyes, same scream. I bet if you go check the parking lot behind electronics right now, there won't be a sign of him anywhere. Still chuckling, even

though the whole thing creeped me out, I said, "I think we've got ourselves a ghost." Melis went on out to check the south parking lot. When he came back, he still looked shaken up. He said there was no one there, no trace of anyone, no way for someone to climb up there and climb back down without getting hurt. We spent the rest of our shift talking about it. The funniest part about all of this is that it never happened again. I worked at that mall for several more months before finding a better job, and we

didn't have one single new report of someone on the roof, and I couldn't have been more grateful. The face I saw by the gate from Anonymous. About 6 months ago, I encountered something at my job that still gives me the creeps. I work overnight security for this industrial complex on the outskirts of town. There's a certain part of my job that's a real pain in the butt. About 2 mi from the main complex, there's this access road. It leads into a section of forest where the company has some equipment storage and a small maintenance building

and the whole area is fenced off. So they have this big old heavy metal gate at the entrance that I have to open manually every night to do my rounds. This gate is seriously old, and I mean heavy. No automatic opener and no remote control. I have to get out of my patrol car, grab this thing with both hands, and drag it all the way across the road opening. takes real effort because the darn thing weighs probably 300 lb and the wheels are rusted to heck. Then after that, I check the storage area and I

have to drag it back and close it every single night. I'd been doing this job for so long, I was on autopilot almost every night. This night was no exception. I would just drive out to the gate, get out, open it, drive through, do my checks, drive back, close the gate, and head back to the main complex. Same thing every night around 2:30 a.m. I was tired that night, just wanted to get through my rounds and maybe catch a few minutes of rest before my shift ended at 6:00. I pulled up to the gate like

always, put the car in park, and got out. I walked over to the gate and grabbed the handle. The road is pretty narrow there with forest on both sides coming right up to the fence line. There's a single street light about 50 ft back, but it doesn't throw much light where the gate is, so it's always very dark there. I started pulling the gate open. It always made this horrible scraping sound against the asphalt, metal grinding on stone. I was focused on getting it open, putting my back into it because the thing fights you every

inch of the way. But I let go when I heard a scurrying sound coming from my left at the forest edge right next to the gate. sounded like something moving fast through the brush. I looked over just a quick reflexive glance to see what the noise was. What I saw scared the living daylights out of me. There was a face looking at me from between the trees, only about 10 ft away from where I was standing. But this was no normal face. It was all emaciated, sickly looking. The skin was real taut to the skull

and the head was completely bald and its eyes were gone. Like no eyeballs, just dark empty sockets. But it was facing me. So that's why I describe it as looking at me. Keep in mind this whole thing lasted maybe 3 seconds because as soon as I saw it, the face was already starting to pull back into the darkness between the trees. Not like it was walking backwards either, but more like it was drifting back, fading away. I screamed. Couldn't even control it with how freaked out I got. Probably scared every animal within a/4 mile. I

ran back to my car, leaving the gate where it was. My hands were shaking so bad I could barely get back in the car. I threw it in reverse and got the heck out of dodge, leaving the gate wide open behind me. I drove back to the main complex and just sat in the parking lot for about 20 minutes trying to catch my breath and my heartbeat. I was completely alone out there. No backup, no one to call. Company policy states were supposed to complete all our rounds, but there was no way I was going

back to that gate in the dark. I spent the rest of my shift doing paperwork and checking the main buildings. But every time I looked near a window toward the forest, I got goosebumps. Thinking I was about to see the face out there. Just before the next shift arrived, but right after the sun was starting to come up, I drove back out there to close the gate. I hoped whatever it was wouldn't come back out in daylight. I got out, looked around, then ran as fast as I could, shutting the gate even faster than that,

then jumped back in my car. This didn't scare me away from my job, but it did make doing the gate part of my rounds pretty troubling for a few weeks, but it helps that I've never encountered anything creepy again. I mean, so far, I have no idea what it was, and I sincerely hope it was something to do with exhaustion or maybe a bizarre case of paridolia or whatever that is where you see faces and things naturally. I pray I never have to see something like that again. Creepy story, but I've heard from two different

folks in my family that they've seen disembodied faces or heads just out of the corners of their eye vivid enough to make them jump and look only to see nothing. Now, what's that about? Good night. Thanks for tuning in to another episode of Tales from the Break Room. I'm your nasly host, Darkness Prevvils, and you can follow me on X at darkprevvils. Or send me your scary work stories at eeriecast.com/submit. And help us grow by following and reviewing Tales from the Breakroom on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Thank you. Don't forget, if you love campfire stories,

my new book is coming out and it's full of them. It's called Creepy Campfire Stories and you can find it on Amazon or creepy campfirestories.com right now and you can pre-order. Thank you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to clock out and snort an allergy pill. Wish me luck.