Nolan beamed with pride as he stepped onto the stage and accepted his diploma having finally finished high school and ready to start working in the real world. He didn't stand out like a lot of young men his age, he was 19 with short black hair, brown eyes and a bit of an athletic build although he did not play in sports. He planned on finding a part time job to get the feel for working before deciding where he wanted his life to go next. Without any experience, finding a job was becoming a very difficult task for him and he was beginning to doubt that he would ever find anything.
It was just another typical Tuesday evening and he had just finished reheating leftover pizza in the microwave and sat down on the couch with the tv on as background noise as he opened up the newspaper to the help wanted section. He sighed as he took another bite, that sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that there would be nothing he was qualified for yet again. He was about to toss the paper aside when his eyes fell upon an ad he had not seen before and he had to take a second look to make sure he was not seeing things. The job was not extraordinary by any means, they were looking for a night watch man for an office building in the older part of town and no experience was needed plus the pay was incredible. He could easily save up to buy himself a car or anything else he wanted. There had to be a catch though ,no one would offer a bundle of money to someone with no experience so he looked closer at the bottom of the ad and in smaller print it said” you must be able to follow the rules” and it left a number to call.
Without giving it much thought, he dialed the number prepared to leave a simple message in hopes they would return his call. The phone only rang once before it picked up, silence on the other end before what sounded like automated voice responded” leave your name and address after the beep” then nothing for about five seconds before it beeped” He blurted out his name and address then the phone call disconnected on him and he sat there a little in disbelief wondering if he had made the right decision to call.
The next morning he woke up to hear knocking at his apartment door which was not rushed or urgent, just persistent so he went to the door after putting on his robe and peered through the peephole. Standing on the other side was a well dressed man with a little grey on the sides of his temple, an envelope in hand. He slowly opened the door and the man looked at him for just a moment as if studying his face before he spoke” If you are Nolan this is for you. Please sign the paper.” Nolan nodded his mouth suddenly feeling dry as he took the pen and signed the paper. The man tucked the pen back into his jacket pocket and handed over the envelope before disappearing down the hall and out of sight. He stepped back inside and closed the door, turning the lock before looking down at the envelope, noticing that it had no return address and simply his name on the front of it. With nervous fingers, he slowly tore open the top and slid the contents of it onto the kitchen counter which consisted of a few pages bound together like a small booklet, a badge with his name and picture on it, and a set of keys. How they knew to put his exact picture he could not comprehend and he picked up the badge and looked more closely at it. It was a picture of him wearing the same clothes as he was the night of the phone call which gave him a little bit of chills. Maybe the person behind all of this was just being thorough about making sure the right person got the package.
Picking up the booklet, he returned to his worn out couch and sat down, the front page in big letters read “Welcome Nolan” then he flipped it open to the first page and began to read. “This booklet that you are holding in your hand is very vital to your job. Make sure you read it completely and follow the rules in it. Breaking the rules is not an option.” Now he was really beginning to feel like he got himself in over his head but he had accepted the job so he swallowed hard and flipped to the second page.
These are the rules:
Do not answer the phone after midnight especially if the call comes from the 13th floor. This building only has 12 floors.
Make your rounds at 11 pm and 5 pm. When you are on the elevator and the number 13 appears, do NOT press it.
If the elevator stops at 13, and the doors open, do NOT get out and do not be tempted by anything you might see or hear. Stay near the back of the elevator and wait for the doors to close.
If you hear the elevator doors open while at your desk after midnight, quickly leave your desk, go into the office, shut the door and lock it. Turn off the lights and remain quiet till the end of your shift
These rules are for your safety and well being. They are not an option so follow the rules, make your money and go home.
Nolan slowly set down the booklet on the coffee table and took a deep breath trying to calm himself down. He was no longer sure he wanted the job anymore but the money was so enticing and the rules as creepy as they sounded did not seem like they would be difficult to follow. He was not easily scared and he was willing to at least give it a try. What is the worst that could happen he thought to himself. I lost the job and a lot of money which would hurt but he would just find another job but he had no idea what was in store for him. He tossed and turned that night, everything playing over and over in his head till the sun peeked through the cracks in the bedroom blinds and he forced himself out of bed. He stumbled into the kitchen and made himself a pot of coffee and drank in silence as he waited knowing his first shift would start that evening. He paced back and forth in the living room, tried to watch a bit of tv but they did nothing to help distract him from what he had read. The words about not breaking the rules haunted his mind as the hours slowly ticked by. A couple of hours before his first official shift, he began making preparations by packing himself some snacks for the night, taking a shower and dressing in decent work looking clothes which was just jeans, a t-shirt and jacket since he did not own much. He brewed himself another pot of coffee and filled a thermos he had bought, fixed his hair in the mirror and grabbed his wallet remembering to attach the badge to his jacket and slip the keys into the left front pocket of his pants. He did not own a car so he would take a bus part of the way and walk the last two blocks.
When he arrived, the only lights he could see in the building were just inside the front door which had been left unlocked for him. It seemed like everyone had left for work before he got there or he was just in charge of looking after an empty building. He held his breath briefly then slowly exhaled before pushing the doors open and stepping inside at exactly 7 pm. He glanced around noticing the front desk where he would sit and he set down his lunch coffee and keys after locking the front door. Sitting neatly on the desk sat an open book which looked like a ledger of sorts so he sat down on the chair and began to read out of curiosity. There were lots of entries, typical of what a nightwatch man would write but the more he read the stranger the entries became. The first entry that stood out was written a month ago and it said” I heard the elevator door open. I did not hear any footsteps but I think someone is in the building. I need to go check it out” and right below it in a different hand writing it stated “he broke the rules” The entries continued on for the next month with 3 more different names all of the entries ending with “he broke the rules” The very last entry was dated for tonight, his first night on the job and it simply said “Welcome Nolan, don’t break the rules.” He sat back in the chair and glanced at his watch hoping that it would already be time to go home but the shift had just begun. Surprisingly the night went by without a hitch although the building was eerily quiet and not just because there was no one there but each floor looked like it had never been cleaned or even used. It felt like an empty shell that did not need any type of protection but who was he to judge how they did things as long as he got paid.
The first two weeks of work were predictable and kind of boring. He started bringing a book to work with him, relaxing at desk and enjoying his snacks between rounds. He was beginning to think that the rules were just a scare tactic with no substance but the entries and the rules were always in the back of his mind. It was Monday night, the starting of his 3rd week and it started as normal with him sitting at the desk quietly listening to the radio and at 11 pm, he got up with a flashlight in his right hand and headed towards the elevator. Stepping inside, he waited for the door to close and pushed the button for the first floor. In and out, he walked the hallways and checked the doors ensuring they were all locked till he had completed his rounds on the 12th floor. Just as the doors closed, the number 13 suddenly appeared on the panel and he almost pushed it then he remembered the rules and pulled his hand back before pushing the button for the ground floor but nothing happened. He pushed it again and again but it would not move. When it finally did, it stopped at floor 13…yes floor that was not supposed to exist. He stepped back in the small space and braced himself as he waited for the doors to open but when they did he saw…nothing. He was confused because he was expecting to see something or someone staring back at him but there were no walls, no rooms, just a big empty dark space which felt un-nerving because he did not know if anything lurked in the darkness. He bit his lip, held his breath and closed his eyes and waited which felt like an eternity but it was only about 5 minutes before the doors slowly closed and he found himself back on the ground floor.
His legs shook a bit as he returned to his desk and sat down, pouring himself a cup of coffee but he didn't even taste it. He turned up the radio to try to drown out his thoughts as he watched the clock on his desk and saw the time turn to midnight. That is when the phone on the desk began to ring but he ignored it, it rang once before it stopped then it began to ring again and again. He looked down at the caller id and he froze. The call was coming from the 13th floor and the phone would not stop. He panicked and picked it up, tearing the cord out of the wall and tossed it against the wall and the sound finally stopped. He just wanted the night to be over and he leaned his head into his hands, his fingers pressed into his forehead as he could feel his heart beat pulsing in the veins as he tried to wipe out what he had experienced. Then he heard it, the swoosh of the doors opening and he glanced at the clock noting that it was past midnight and remembered the rules. He slid off the chair leaving everything on the desk and rushed into the office that was directly behind him and barged through the doorway, slamming the door shut behind him and engaging the lock. Flicking off the switch, he sank to the floor leaning against the back wall as he wrapped his arms around his legs that were folded and pressed up to his chest holding his breath as he waited. At first there was nothing, no noise, no movement and he thought that he let the paranoia get to him then he saw a flicker of movement from the crack beneath the door as if something was moving back and forth, perhaps pacing. Next he heard the breathing, it was heaving and deep, almost guttural as he heard clawing against the wood of the door. Whatever it was, it was determined that it was going to come in to get him. He closed his eyes tight and did his best not to scream. After what felt like hours, the noise stopped as did the pacing and silence returned but he was not foolish.
He had found himself curled up in the fetal position waiting for the end of the shift because he was too afraid to open the door. When the alarm on the clock went off at 7 am, he jumped up and ran to the office door and swung it open, grabbing his lunch, thermos and tossing the keys and the badge onto the desk before running out the door. He did not break the rules but there was no way he was ever returning to that job. After reaching the street, he turned to take one last look at the building, the one that had gone from being a sweet job to a nightmare and his eyes slowly counted up the floors and stopped as he reached number 12. At first he could see nothing past it till he looked a little bit more closely and that's when he saw it, shrouded in shadows that hung over it like a heavy blanket there was the faintest outline of another floor that most would never have noticed and in the middle a red eyes suddenly appeared. Nolan dropped everything from his hands and he ran because whatever was in that building was not human and he had no desire to find out what it was.
There is a soft ding of the elevator and the door opens, a thick black form pours out and into the hallway. Slowly and methodically it moves towards the front desk looming over the open ledger engulfing it in darkness for a few moments before it slowly vanishes. On the last page where Nolan had signed his name but left the entry empty it now said This one got away (for now). Nolan thought he had escaped the nightmare that remained hidden within the building but it had only just begun.
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