4 Very Scary TRUE Night Shift Horror Stories — Transcript

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1. 0:10My name is Thomas. I've been working the
2. 0:12late shift at our local Burger King for
3. 0:14about 2 years now. It's not glamorous,
4. 0:17but it pays rent and the hours work for
5. 0:19me. I'm a night owl anyway, so being
6. 0:22behind the drive-thru window from 10:00
7. 0:24p.m. to 4:00 a.m. doesn't bother me the
8. 0:25way it would most people. This all
9. 0:28started maybe a month ago. I was working
10. 0:31the drive-thru solo. We're usually
11. 0:32underst staffed after midnight, and
12. 0:34that's when a car pulled up to the
13. 0:36speaker. Male voice, pretty
14. 0:38unremarkable. He ordered a large double
15. 0:40Whopper with cheese meal with a Coke. It
16. 0:43was pretty standard. The one notable
17. 0:45thing about the encounter was when he
18. 0:47went to pay, he only rolled the window
19. 0:49down just enough to slide his card
20. 0:50through, and his windows were tinted, so
21. 0:52I couldn't see his face. He paid and I
22. 0:55handed him his receipt, but then he just
23. 0:58drove off, like without stopping at the
24. 1:00second window to grab his food. I waited
25. 1:03there with his bag for a few minutes,
26. 1:05wondering if he'd be coming back.
27. 1:07Eventually, I just set the order aside
28. 1:09and ended up eating it later. People do
29. 1:12weird stuff sometimes, so I didn't think
30. 1:14about it too much. About a week later,
31. 1:17it happened again. It was the same order
32. 1:19and the same exact thing happened.
33. 1:22Someone paid at the first window and
34. 1:24then drove off before picking up the
35. 1:25food. I remember thinking, "Huh, that's
36. 1:28strange. Someone did the exact same
37. 1:30thing last week." But I wasn't quite
38. 1:32able to connect the dots at that point.
39. 1:33[music] I just figured it was a
40. 1:35coincidence.
41. 1:36It wasn't until it happened a third time
42. 1:38that I realized it was the same person
43. 1:40making these orders. At that point, I
44. 1:43knew something weird was going on, but I
45. 1:45wasn't going to complain. The food was
46. 1:47made, paid for, and I was the one who
47. 1:49got to enjoy it. So, I kept eating the
48. 1:51free Whopper meals and tried not to
49. 1:53think too hard about why some random
50. 1:54dude was essentially buying me dinner
51. 1:56every few days. [music]
52. 1:58This went on for a few more weeks. The
53. 2:00guy would show up every four or 5 days,
54. 2:03always late, usually between 1 and 3:00
55. 2:05a.m. and always with the same order. I
56. 2:09started to almost look forward to it in
57. 2:10a weird way, like, "Oh, it's been a few
58. 2:12days. Wonder if my mysterious benefactor
59. 2:14is going to show up tonight." One night,
60. 2:17I was working the speaker at around 2:00
61. 2:19a.m. when I heard that familiar voice
62. 2:21through the speaker. I knew what was
63. 2:23about to happen, and I was right. He
64. 2:25ordered the same meal, which I knew I'd
65. 2:28be eating. But this time, he said
66. 2:30something else. Something that made me
67. 2:32freeze up. He said, and I'll never
68. 2:35forget this. I hope you've been enjoying
69. 2:37those Whoppers, Mr. Hurley. My last name
70. 2:40is Hurley. I don't wear a name tag with
71. 2:42my last name on it. It's not posted
72. 2:45anywhere customers can see. There's no
73. 2:47reason, no reason at all that this guy
74. 2:49should know my last name. I just stood
75. 2:52there for a second, not saying anything.
76. 2:54My brain couldn't catch up. Then I
77. 2:57started talking into the speaker, asking
78. 2:59who this was, what he wanted, and how he
79. 3:01knew my name. I must have said who is
80. 3:04this four or five times, but he never
81. 3:07answered. And this time, he didn't even
82. 3:09pull up to pay. I heard his engine rev
83. 3:12and then he was gone.
84. 3:14I was rattled for the rest of my shift.
85. 3:16There was nothing I could do. But I
86. 3:18couldn't shake the feeling that
87. 3:19something was very, very wrong. Little
88. 3:22did I know, things were about to get
89. 3:24much worse. When I got home after my
90. 3:26shift, I found a note on my doorstep. It
91. 3:29was a handwritten note that said, "I
92. 3:31know what you did. You have 3 days."
93. 3:35I just stood there staring at it with my
94. 3:37hand shaking. and I started feeling
95. 3:39really, really sick, like someone had
96. 3:41punched me in the gut. I have no idea
97. 3:44what I supposedly did. I've been racking
98. 3:47my brain trying to think of anything
99. 3:48that could explain this, but I've got
100. 3:50nothing. This sounds so stupid, but I
101. 3:53don't have enemies or secrets. I'm a
102. 3:5624-year-old guy that works at Burger
103. 3:57King and plays video games on his days
104. 3:59off. I'm not exactly living the most
105. 4:01exciting life. I didn't sleep that
106. 4:04night. Instead, I just sat on my couch
107. 4:06with the lights on, dreading whatever
108. 4:08was going to happen next. But nothing
109. 4:10happened. I had no choice but to just
110. 4:13move on. It turned out I wouldn't have
111. 4:16to wait that long because the next night
112. 4:17at work, that guy was back. This time,
113. 4:20he didn't even bother playing games.
114. 4:23Instead of ordering food, he just asked
115. 4:25me to write something down. Then, before
116. 4:28I could even respond, he gave me an
117. 4:30address. It was some random place on the
118. 4:32outskirts of town in an area I didn't
119. 4:35recognize. And then he told me I had 2
120. 4:37days to deliver him $10,000.
121. 4:40I damn near laughed at that. I didn't
122. 4:42think he was serious, but he clearly
123. 4:44wasn't kidding. As soon as he drove off,
124. 4:47I immediately went back to being
125. 4:49terrified. There was absolutely no way
126. 4:52I'd be giving that guy $10,000. I didn't
127. 4:54even have $10,000. I still don't. So, I
128. 4:58decided to ignore it. I figured it had
129. 5:01to be some elaborate scam or a prank
130. 5:03from someone I knew. I should have
131. 5:05called the police right then, but I
132. 5:07didn't even think of that. Three nights
133. 5:10later, I thought things were over. I
134. 5:12hadn't dropped any money off, and
135. 5:14nothing had happened. But of course, I
136. 5:17was wrong. I was sitting there watching
137. 5:19TV, winding down from my shift, when out
138. 5:22of nowhere, I was jolted up by the sound
139. 5:24of shattering glass. I hit the floor on
140. 5:28instinct, thinking someone was shooting
141. 5:29at me. But when I finally got up and
142. 5:32looked around, I realized someone had
143. 5:34just thrown a rock through my window. By
144. 5:36the time I went to look outside, whoever
145. 5:38had been there was long gone. This time,
146. 5:41I called the police. I told them
147. 5:43everything, including the address I had
148. 5:45been given, and they said they'd check
149. 5:47it out and told me to stay vigilant.
150. 5:49They really didn't do much. They just
151. 5:50told me they'd patrol the area a little
152. 5:52more closely and that without any
153. 5:54doorstep footage, which I obviously
154. 5:56don't have, there was nothing they could
155. 5:58do. And that was 3 days ago. I've called
156. 6:01in sick to work the last three nights.
157. 6:03But I don't even think that's going to
158. 6:04do anything since the guy clearly knows
159. 6:06where I live. I can't afford to not work
160. 6:09and I can't afford to move. [music] So,
161. 6:11I'm stuck in this nightmare until the
162. 6:12police can track that person down. I
163. 6:15think I might try getting them to track
164. 6:16the credit card number that the guy used
165. 6:18to pay for the Whopper meals. But other
166. 6:20than that, I'm not really sure what to
167. 6:22do. Why I got targeted, I have no idea.
168. 6:25Hopefully, things don't escalate from
169. 6:27here.
170. 6:37I graduated from college about 8 months
171. 6:39ago with a degree in communications,
172. 6:42which, as I'm sure you can imagine, has
173. 6:44been incredibly useful in helping me
174. 6:46secure gainful employment. That's
175. 6:48sarcasm, by the way. I'm still living
176. 6:50with my parents, and I haven't been able
177. 6:52to find a real job yet. So, I'm off to a
178. 6:54great start. In the meantime, I drive
179. 6:57for Uber and Uber Eats, sometimes both
180. 7:00in [music] the same night, depending on
181. 7:01what's popping. It's not a career, but
182. 7:04it's money, and [music] it lets me feel
183. 7:05like I'm doing something productive
184. 7:07while I figure my life out. I know that
185. 7:09sounds kind of pathetic, but it's what
186. 7:11I've got right now. I drive mostly on
187. 7:14weekend nights, Friday and Saturday,
188. 7:16usually from around 9:00 p.m. until 2 or
189. 7:193:00 in the morning. That's when the
190. 7:21surge pricing kicks in and the drunk
191. 7:22college kids need rides home from the
192. 7:24bars downtown. It's not technically a
193. 7:26night shift, but it feels like one. This
194. 7:29happened a few weeks ago. It was a
195. 7:31Saturday night, maybe around 1:30, and I
196. 7:34was about ready to call it. I was about
197. 7:36to turn off the app when one more
198. 7:38request came through. The pickup was
199. 7:41downtown, which was fine, but the drop
200. 7:43off location was really, really far
201. 7:45away, past the suburbs even. I almost
202. 7:48declined it for that reason, but the
203. 7:50fair was too good. The girl I picked up
204. 7:52was completely normal. The drive took
205. 7:54about 40 minutes. By the time I dropped
206. 7:57her off, it was past 2. And then I was
207. 8:00alone, out in the middle of absolutely
208. 8:02nowhere with a 40-minute drive back to
209. 8:04civilization. I turned the car around
210. 8:07and started heading home. Not 10 minutes
211. 8:09into the drive, I saw a car stopped in
212. 8:12the middle of the road with its hazards
213. 8:13on. I approached cautiously and I
214. 8:16realized there were two people standing
215. 8:17in front of the car, waving their arms
216. 8:19like they were trying to flag me down.
217. 8:21My first instinct was actually not to
218. 8:23stop, but I'm someone who can't just
219. 8:25ignore a person in need. So, against my
220. 8:28better judgment, I decided to stop. I
221. 8:31stopped the car about 20 ft away from
222. 8:32them and rolled my window down a few
223. 8:34inches. just enough to hear them, but
224. 8:37not [music] enough for someone to reach
225. 8:38inside. It was a middle-aged couple,
226. 8:41which actually put me at ease a little.
227. 8:43That is until they started talking. The
228. 8:46woman did most of the talking. She had
229. 8:48this frantic energy about her, but also
230. 8:50something that felt slightly rehearsed,
231. 8:53like she'd given the speech before.
232. 8:55She said they were warning drivers about
233. 8:57a collapsed bridge ahead. She went on to
234. 9:00say it happened earlier that day and
235. 9:01they'd almost driven right off
236. 9:03themselves. She pointed down the road
237. 9:05into the darkness and said if I kept
238. 9:07going that way, I'd end up in the river.
239. 9:10So, naturally, I asked them what I
240. 9:12should do instead. The husband spoke of
241. 9:14a turnoff that was about halfway between
242. 9:16where we were and the bridge. He said it
243. 9:18cut through the woods and that it would
244. 9:20add some time to my drive, but it would
245. 9:21get me back to the main highway without
246. 9:23having to deal with the bridge. I
247. 9:25thanked them and started driving.
248. 9:28Something felt off. I didn't know what
249. 9:30it was, but I knew [music] one thing. I
250. 9:32was going to trust my gut and just drive
251. 9:34the way I had been intending to go.
252. 9:36About a mile down the road, I saw the
253. 9:38turnoff they'd been talking about. It
254. 9:41was this narrow dirt path that
255. 9:42disappeared into the trees, and it was
256. 9:44barely wide enough for one car. I
257. 9:47decided to keep driving, and a few
258. 9:49minutes later, I reached the bridge. I
259. 9:52slowed down a little, but it was fine.
260. 9:54It wasn't collapsed for sure, and it
261. 9:56didn't even look damaged at all. I drove
262. 9:59across it without any issues and made it
263. 10:01back to the main highway a few minutes
264. 10:03later. Even though nothing happened, the
265. 10:06experience stuck with me to the point
266. 10:07where I didn't sleep well that night. I
267. 10:10kept thinking about what would have
268. 10:11happened if I had followed that couple's
269. 10:13instructions. If I turned down that dirt
270. 10:15road alone in the middle of the night. A
271. 10:18few days later, the curiosity got the
272. 10:20better of me and I did something stupid.
273. 10:23I drove back out there. It was the
274. 10:25middle of the afternoon this time, broad
275. 10:26daylight, which made me feel slightly
276. 10:28less insane about the whole thing. I
277. 10:31retraced my route from that night. Those
278. 10:33people weren't there this time,
279. 10:34obviously. When I got to the turnoff,
280. 10:37that dirt path into the woods, I slowed
281. 10:39down and pulled over. To my surprise,
282. 10:42there was something new. There was a
283. 10:44sign nailed to a tree right at the
284. 10:46entrance of the path that simply said,
285. 10:48"Dead end." That sign hadn't been there
286. 10:51before. I would have definitely noticed
287. 10:53it that night, even in the dark. Someone
288. 10:55had put it up in the last few days. I
289. 10:58sat in my car for a minute staring at
290. 10:59the path. In the daylight, it didn't
291. 11:02look quite as ominous. It was just a
292. 11:04narrow dirt road that disappeared into
293. 11:06some dense trees. I wanted to explore it
294. 11:09a little, but I was worried about my car
295. 11:10getting stuck, so I decided to go it on
296. 11:13foot. I'm not sure what I was expecting
297. 11:15to find, but being that there was
298. 11:17daylight out, I really wasn't scared at
299. 11:19all. I turned off my engine. As soon as
300. 11:22I stepped out of the car, though, I got
301. 11:24a bad feeling. I stood there at the edge
302. 11:26of the path trying to see further down,
303. 11:29but there wasn't much to see really. I
304. 11:31don't know what it was, but something
305. 11:33about standing there and actually being
306. 11:34out in the open discouraged me from
307. 11:36walking in. Things went from 0 to 100 in
308. 11:40about 2 seconds. As I was turning around
309. 11:43and walking back to my car, I heard a
310. 11:45scream ring out behind me. [screaming]
311. 11:48It was this awful scream, definitely a
312. 11:50woman's, and it came from somewhere deep
313. 11:52in the woods down the path. I can't tell
314. 11:55you how fast I was out of there. Before
315. 11:57I could even think, I was already
316. 11:59speeding away. I don't think I've ever
317. 12:01been so scared before, and that was
318. 12:03about 2 weeks ago. I haven't been back
319. 12:06to that spot since. But here's the
320. 12:08thing. I can't stop thinking about it.
321. 12:10Part of me knows I should just leave it
322. 12:12alone, but I've been thinking about
323. 12:14asking one of my friends to come out
324. 12:15there with me. If I do, I'll record a
325. 12:18video and send it. But for now, all I
326. 12:20can really do is wonder about that
327. 12:22scream and those people.
328. 12:33This happened a few winters ago when I
329. 12:35was working overnight security for a
330. 12:37commercial warehouse complex. I was 26
331. 12:40and had been doing the job for 8 months.
332. 12:43The shift ran from 11:00 p.m. to 7:00
333. 12:46a.m. and I was always the only employee
334. 12:48on the site. There was a supervisor I
335. 12:51could call if something went wrong, but
336. 12:52for the most part, it was just me and
337. 12:54the cameras. The complex was in an
338. 12:57industrial area on the edge of a small
339. 12:59city that didn't have much nightife.
340. 13:02Most nights followed the same routine.
341. 13:04Clock in, do a walkthrough of the
342. 13:06exterior, then settle into the security
343. 13:08office to monitor the cameras. and every
344. 13:11hour another patrol. The warehouse
345. 13:14stored mostly industrial equipment and
346. 13:16bulk supplies. Nothing particularly
347. 13:18valuable. The night everything went
348. 13:20sideways, started pretty normally. It
349. 13:23was cold enough for there to be snow
350. 13:24falling, but nothing too heavy. I did my
351. 13:28first patrol. Everything was secure, and
352. 13:30I went back to the office. Around 1:30
353. 13:33a.m., I got a motion alert on one of the
354. 13:35loading dock cameras. This wasn't
355. 13:37unusual. The system was sensitive and
356. 13:40wind or animals could trigger it. I
357. 13:42pulled out the feed and watched for a
358. 13:44minute, but everything looked normal.
359. 13:46Just the empty dock and snow drifting
360. 13:49past the flood lights, but the alerts
361. 13:51kept coming. Every 10 or 15 minutes, the
362. 13:54same camera would trigger. Each time I
363. 13:57checked the feed, and each time I'd see
364. 13:58nothing. What started to bother me was
365. 14:01that the movement always seemed to
366. 14:03happen just at the edge of the frame,
367. 14:05like something was there but not quite
368. 14:07in view. By 2:30, I had maybe six or
369. 14:10seven alerts from the same camera. No
370. 14:13other cameras were triggering, just that
371. 14:15one. At 3:00 a.m., I went outside to
372. 14:18check it myself. The snow had mostly
373. 14:21stopped, and the complex was dead
374. 14:22silent. I walked the full perimeter of
375. 14:25the dock area with my flashlight. I
376. 14:28didn't see anything unusual. All the bay
377. 14:30doors were closed and locked, and there
378. 14:32were no footprints in the snow except
379. 14:34for mine. I went back inside. About 20
380. 14:37minutes later, I heard a loud metallic
381. 14:40scraping sound like something heavy
382. 14:42being dragged across concrete. It came
383. 14:45from inside the warehouse somewhere deep
384. 14:47in the building. I checked the interior
385. 14:50cameras, but all six feed showed empty
386. 14:52aisles. I was starting to freak out a
387. 14:54little bit because I started feeling
388. 14:56like I was being toyed with or watched
389. 14:59somehow. But still, I explained the
390. 15:02noise away by chalking it up to the wind
391. 15:04or something. An hour later, though, I
392. 15:07heard it again. It was louder this time.
393. 15:10The dragging sound followed by a sharp
394. 15:12bang like something had struck one of
395. 15:14the interior doors. I cycled through the
396. 15:17cameras again. Nothing on one through
397. 15:19five. When I got to camera 6, though,
398. 15:22the feed was black, maybe 3 seconds of
399. 15:24static, and then it came back. But
400. 15:27something was different. The angle had
401. 15:29shifted just a few degrees to the left,
402. 15:32like someone had bumped the camera or
403. 15:33adjusted its position. At that point, I
404. 15:36had no choice. I grabbed my flashlight
405. 15:39and radio and headed into the warehouse.
406. 15:42The interior was massive, probably
407. 15:4480,000 square ft of industrial shelving
408. 15:46arranged in long aisles. During the day,
409. 15:49it was bright and full of forklifts. At
410. 15:52night, the overhead lights were dimmed
411. 15:53to save power, casting everything in
412. 15:56this yellowish half light. I was maybe
413. 15:58halfway down the main aisle when I heard
414. 16:00footsteps coming from somewhere [music]
415. 16:02to my left. It definitely sounded like
416. 16:04someone, a person walking maybe two or
417. 16:07three aisles over. As soon as I stopped,
418. 16:10the footstep stopped, too. I stood there
419. 16:13trying to control my breathing. I
420. 16:16remember how tense it was, standing
421. 16:18there in complete silence, waiting for a
422. 16:20sound that I wasn't even sure would
423. 16:21come. After what felt like forever, I
424. 16:24couldn't take it anymore. I had to break
425. 16:26the silence.
426. 16:28In a firm voice, I announced my presence
427. 16:30as security and insisted that whoever
428. 16:32was there make things easy and reveal
429. 16:34themselves. But of course, there was no
430. 16:37response. The rest of that patrol was
431. 16:39utterly terrifying. I was bracing myself
432. 16:42for a fight or some kind of
433. 16:44confrontation. And the longer I surveyed
434. 16:46without finding anyone, the worse that
435. 16:48feeling got. But I ultimately finished
436. 16:50my patrol without seeing another person,
437. 16:52which was arguably worse because I knew
438. 16:54with 100% certainty that there was
439. 16:56someone in there. I didn't see or hear
440. 16:59anything for the rest of my shift, but
441. 17:01that didn't make me feel any better. I
442. 17:03actually felt somewhat guilty. My job
443. 17:06was laughably simple, and I was messing
444. 17:08it up in real time. But by the time 7
445. 17:11rolled around, I wanted nothing more
446. 17:12than to just get out of there. I
447. 17:15reported everything to my supervisor
448. 17:16when he showed up on site. Maintenance
449. 17:19did a full inspection but didn't find
450. 17:21anything either. Even after everything
451. 17:23was double and triple checked, no one
452. 17:25was able to identify the method of entry
453. 17:27and I could tell people didn't believe
454. 17:29my story. Still though, that night
455. 17:32remains one of the freakiest things that
456. 17:34has ever happened to me.
457. 17:45This memory still terrifies me. And
458. 17:47outside of police and some close family,
459. 17:50this is my first time fully revisiting
460. 17:52it. A few years ago, I had gotten my
461. 17:54first job at a 24-hour gym. At the time,
462. 17:58I was in a gap year between high school
463. 17:59and college, so I worked a lot of night
464. 18:02shifts. The gym was open 24/7 and
465. 18:05accessed by keycard only, meaning often
466. 18:07there were only one or two employees
467. 18:09working. People could just check in, use
468. 18:12the equipment, and leave. The whole
469. 18:14facility pretty much managed itself. All
470. 18:17entries, exits, and usage of equipment
471. 18:19was processed digitally. So, all I had
472. 18:22to really do was sit in the office and
473. 18:24keep an eye on the cameras. I would
474. 18:26occasionally get up and walk around, do
475. 18:28some light cleaning, and even talk to
476. 18:30some of the guests. This was in a pretty
477. 18:32bad part of town, but for the most part,
478. 18:35everyone was nice and friendly, and it
479. 18:37was one of those gyms where everyone
480. 18:38kind of knows each other, considering
481. 18:40how few people really come in. This one
482. 18:43night in particular, I was working from
483. 18:458:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m., which is
484. 18:47generally a very long, boring shift. But
485. 18:50everything that happened that night
486. 18:51keeps me up at night to this day. It was
487. 18:54around 2:00 a.m. when I had already done
488. 18:57multiple rounds around the building and
489. 18:58finished all routine paperwork.
490. 19:01I was exhausted, so I just figured I'd
491. 19:03sit down for a bit and monitor the
492. 19:05cameras. Everything was normal at first.
493. 19:08Not many people come in to work out in
494. 19:10the middle of the night, but there were
495. 19:12a couple regulars who came and went. I
496. 19:14had worked here for a few months now, so
497. 19:17almost everyone I recognized except one
498. 19:19man. I first noticed him when I saw him
499. 19:22using a treadmill in the far corner.
500. 19:24Normally, this wouldn't catch my
501. 19:26attention as we have new guests from
502. 19:28time to time. However, what really
503. 19:30caught me off guard was how fast this
504. 19:32man was running. I pulled up his
505. 19:35treadmill number in the system where I'm
506. 19:37able to live monitor all equipment
507. 19:39activity. He was running 9 mph, which
508. 19:42was impressive already. But what really
509. 19:44shocked me was the fact that he never
510. 19:46stopped. 10 minutes went by, then 15. He
511. 19:50never slowed or stopped. I looked closer
512. 19:53at the camera, and although I can't
513. 19:55quite describe it in detail, this man
514. 19:57was nothing short of unsettling.
515. 20:00He was wearing ragged clothes. He had
516. 20:03long, messy hair and his face never
517. 20:05moved once. He was just staring straight
518. 20:08forward. Then I noticed his feet. He was
519. 20:11barefoot. He had been running 9 mph for
520. 20:1515 minutes barefoot, just staring into
521. 20:17the distance. At this point in time, I
522. 20:20was very weirded out, especially since
523. 20:22he was now the only person in the
524. 20:24building besides myself. I pulled myself
525. 20:26[music] together and realized that we do
526. 20:28have a policy requiring shoes. So, I
527. 20:31decided I would use that as an excuse to
528. 20:33go talk to him. Although his appearance
529. 20:35really freaked me out, I got up the
530. 20:37courage to [music] leave the office and
531. 20:38head out to talk to him. The machine he
532. 20:41was on was located almost directly
533. 20:43outside the employee hallway. And as
534. 20:45soon as I turned that corner, my heart
535. 20:47stopped. The treadmill was covered in
536. 20:49blood. His feet were tearing apart as he
537. 20:52ran. My heart dropped. Blood not only
538. 20:55dripping, but splattering from his feet
539. 20:57and ankles for every step he took. His
540. 21:00face was still stone cold, staring
541. 21:02straight ahead. His mouth was wide open
542. 21:04as he ran. He looked like he was on
543. 21:07every drug on the planet. At this point,
544. 21:10I was terrified. He looked crazy enough
545. 21:12to the point that my gut was telling me
546. 21:14he was dangerous. However, I still
547. 21:16mustered up the courage to yell at him
548. 21:18to stop. I can't even remember exactly
549. 21:21what I said, but I did have to raise my
550. 21:23voice a bit so he would hear me over the
551. 21:24thutting of his feet as he sprinted. He
552. 21:27didn't say a word or even turn his head
553. 21:29for that matter. He just continued to
554. 21:31[music] sprint and stare forward with
555. 21:33his mouth open. I yelled again,
556. 21:35something along the lines of, "Hello,
557. 21:37what are you doing?" He then muttered
558. 21:39the words, "Are you there?" in the
559. 21:41coldest, raspiest voice I've ever heard.
560. 21:44He wasn't out of breath or even panting
561. 21:46as he spoke. I told him to stop a few
562. 21:48more times, and [music] he repeatedly
563. 21:50just said, "Are you there?" The pool of
564. 21:53blood at the end of the conveyor was
565. 21:54growing. And at this point, I just
566. 21:56figured I'd call the cops. I went back
567. 21:58to the office, picked up my phone, but
568. 22:01before I called, I glanced at the
569. 22:03monitors again. He was staring directly
570. 22:05at the camera, sprinting, bleeding,
571. 22:08mouth open, staring at the camera. I
572. 22:11turned away and then heard him screaming
573. 22:13from outside the door. He wasn't even
574. 22:15screaming words, just screaming at the
575. 22:17top of his lungs as he stared at me
576. 22:19through the camera. Suddenly, he hopped
577. 22:22off the treadmill. He didn't even turn
578. 22:24it off, and he sprinted out of view of
579. 22:26the camera. I immediately started
580. 22:28clicking through the feed, searching for
581. 22:30him, but he was out of view of every
582. 22:32camera we had in the building. I had
583. 22:34checked every camera except one, the
584. 22:36employee hallway. Sure enough, there he
585. 22:39[snorts] was, about 6 ft from the office
586. 22:41door, just standing there. I don't even
587. 22:44know how he had gotten into this hallway
588. 22:46without a key card, but I didn't
589. 22:47hesitate to quickly lock the door.
590. 22:50Almost 5 seconds after I locked it, the
591. 22:52doororknob rattled.
592. 22:54Now I was calling the cops. He started
593. 22:57screaming again and shaking the door as
594. 22:59I explained to dispatch what was
595. 23:00happening. They told me police were 5
596. 23:03minutes out as I just waited in the
597. 23:05corner of the office while this man was
598. 23:06trying to get inside. His scream was
599. 23:09terrifying. It was so deep it barely
600. 23:11sounded human. And he kept it up for an
601. 23:13unbelievably long time. This went on for
602. 23:16about 3 minutes. I thought if he got in
603. 23:19here, I was going to die and I felt
604. 23:21absolutely helpless.
605. 23:23Suddenly though, [music] the screaming
606. 23:25stopped and the door didn't move. I
607. 23:27checked the cameras again and he was
608. 23:29gone. I couldn't see him anywhere.
609. 23:32Eventually, the police arrived and I
610. 23:34made them search the entire place before
611. 23:35I would even leave the office. They told
612. 23:38me he was nowhere to be found. I
613. 23:40answered their questions and drove home.
614. 23:42I quit the next day and have not entered
615. 23:45that gym since. I have no idea what that
616. 23:48man wanted or what kind of crazy he was.
617. 23:51I still wonder what would have happened
618. 23:52if I didn't lock that door.