Night Patrol

Wow. This place is really big.

I remember saying that when I first started there as a night security guard about a year ago.

I no longer work there, things just got out of hand.

Here is my story.

I was put on the 10 PM to 6 AM shift at this ridiculously big complex consisting of a small office area, shopping center, a restaurant, and fitness center, theater, banquet hall, and a basement consisting of a labyrinth of corridors and cubby-holes, and who-knows how many storage and equipment rooms? This is a three-story building that takes up almost two city blocks. 

During my training shift, I was provided a bunch of instructions on how to conduct patrols.  One thing I was told was to never patrol in the basement. '...because there are no cameras down there, and we need to be able to monitor you, in case something happens...'

In case something happens? That sounded a bid odd to me, but I really didn't think much of it.

Anyway, I accepted to work at that location, and agreed to start on the following weekend.

The manager continued showing me around, and explained,"We shut down completely at midnight, and you are responsible for locking the doors. Then the cleaning staff start coming in just as your shift ends..."

The following Friday night, 21:30:

I arrived at the address, and reported to the tiny security office near the main entrance of the complex. I relieved the afternoon guard, and that's it. I was now in charge of this --place.

It was January, so it was very cold outside. Currently minus 14, but supposed to go down to minus 17. One of the things I noticed was the lack of heat in the complex. They do not heat most of the building after closing. The security booth is heated, a bit.

23:00, First patrol:

The first patrol was rather boring. Routine. I took a look through the windows of the fitness center, and noticed a few lights left on, but that is normal, I guess. However, across the hall at the banquet center, every single freaking light was on, like they were in the middle of a huge party, but the hall was completely empty. I mean, there were not even any tables or anything set up. What a waste of electricity. 

On the way back to the security office, I felt a bit weird.

Do you ever get that feeling that you were being followed?

Something--one, was following me. I was sure of it, but what--I mean, whom?

I continued patrol. The sound of my work shoes clomping on the fake marble floor, and that weird-sounding echo. It was not a normal echo. I can't describe it. Just an eerie sounding echo.

I walked a bit faster than normal to get back to my booth. Past the dark banquet hall.

I passed the compressor room, and right at that moment, a compressor started. There I went. Half-way up the wall. I hate that damn compressor room! Why don't they keep the damn door closed?!

I returned to the security booth, and closed the door. Not that I was scared or anything like that. I wanted to keep the heat in. What little heat I had.

For the whole first part of the shift, I felt uneasy. As if something or someone was watching me. Sometimes I would see something move across one of the cameras, but when I look, there is nothing.

00:30, Second patrol:

This time, I decided to go into the basement. Although, I was told to not patrol down there. Well, I was not patrolling. I was exploring.

At first, I did not want to go too far. Just a little look.

At the bottom of the basement steps, was another security booth. Larger than mine, and warmer. I mean, this booth was toasty! I could feel the heat coming from under the door, and through the windows.

Inside sat another security guard. Oh, so that is why they don't want me to patrol down here. The last thing I'd want to do is step on this guy's toes.

I looked at him and waved. He waved back, but did not come out of the booth. Actually, he did not move at all.

I walked a bit past his booth, and that is when I discovered the labyrinth of hallways. I picked one, and began to walk.

I got a  few doors down, and suddenly I heard, "Thump! Boom! Scratch, scratch. Thump! Thump! Thump! Scratch."

What the hell was that? What the hell was that?!

I ran back to the downstairs booth, and noticed that the other guard was not there. I ran up the stairs, and ended up behind the restaurant. I ran around to the front, through the shopping area, and right past the brightly-lit banquet hall, and back to my 'cold' booth. 

Okay. That was so far the oddest thing to happen all night.

Nothing unusual happened again until about 30 minutes later.

'Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...', The fire alarm panel started complaining. 

I went over to look, "SYSTEM TROUBLE  ZONE 6  SPRKLR VALVE LOW PRES"

Zone six. That's in the basement, sprinkler pump room. That is that odd-guy's job. Let him damn-well deal with it. 

After about five minutes of the alarm complaining, I figured that odd-guy downstairs was not going to do anything about it.

I went down to see what he was doing, and he was nowhere to be found.

I was able to find the pump room. I opened it, and discovered nothing unusual.

Figuring it was a system fault, so I started back up to my booth.

As I passed the downstairs booth, I noticed the other security guard was now in there. He was staring at me as I walked past.  I wanted to open the door to ask him why he didn't answer the alarm call, but the door was locked. I looked at him to open the door, but he just continued to stare, as if he was daydreaming, or something.

Screw it. Back to my both. Past the fitness center with its few lights on, and the completely dark banquet hall.

Nothing odd happened for the rest of the shift, and I did not return to the basement. However, I requested to not return to that location.

The security company obliged, but asked me to file a report with management as to why I did not want to return.

For my report to the security manager, I did not mention the oddities of that location. After all, he would think I was a nutcase. However, I did mention the other security guard.

I said, "That other security guard, the one that stays in the basement, he's a bit of an odd character, isn't he?"

The manager gave me a bit of an odd look, then after a short pause said, "Ummmm. We don't have another night security guard at that location."