The Night Shift

I crawled towards the faint yellow glow in the crack at the bottom of the door frame. I felt a warm liquid dripping from my brown and could smell the iron of my blood mixed with the must of damp laundry.

I could hear several footsteps behind me and to the sides of me. The only light was the one shining through at the very bottom of the floor. I dug my claws into the floor as I continued to crawl. Hyperventilating. Crying.

I made it to the door and pulled myself to my feet using the doorknob as an anchor. I felt my legs ache, and I felt my feet squish into my warm, wet shoes. I groaned. I stumbled as I pushed open the door. I shut it quickly, fumbling like one of the morons in your favorite horror movie.

I hadn’t wanted to work at Job Corps, but I needed the money. I heard rumors of weird shit happening there. I didn’t believe it. I’m an atheist and $18.75 was hard to pass up as a starting wage because of some silly ghost story.

I had never worked third shift before either. I drank a lot of coffee though and had trouble sleeping most nights anyway.

I reported for my first solo shift as a Residential Advisor on September 4th, 2019, at 11:15 pm. It was cold that night, I had an extra-large, hot coffee from Tim Hortons. Two creams. One sugar. The perfect cup of coffee.

I checked in with the second shift RA, Friedrich Strauss. I caught him while he was finishing up his end-of-shift checklist.

“Hey. How’s it been today?” I asked as he scanned his list and notes with precision. “Anything of note to report tonight, Freddy?” I was surprised when he didn’t look up at me to respond.

“Camryn Boise and Denny Walker got into an altercation earlier. Camrym is on final notice and Denny has been suspended so he is not here and won’t be back until the 9th.” I nodded and sipped my coffee.

I updated all the files in the first hour of my shift. I started the first round of bed check at 12:15 am as I was trained to do. I slinked down each side of both hallways. Three quiet knocks, pop open the door. Verify student name, room number, and bed number.

I started washing the dirty linens at 1:20 a.m. I pulled out a copy of Dracula by Bram Stoker. It was warm in the laundry room and the tumbling of the washer and dryer kept freaking me out. I had this nagging feeling that I was being watched by someone or something.

I began the second round of bed checks at 2:15 a.m. I got to room 15. I knocked quietly three times, like I had been trained to do and popped open the door. I looked down at my student list: Denny Walker (18), room 15, bed 1 –Suspended. Camryn Boise (18), room 15, bed 2 –bed check 1: here, bed check 2: , bed check 3:

I flipped on the light.

I got on the radio as soon as I realized Camryn was missing.

“Tanner to Base.”

“Base to tanner, Go.”

“We have a student out of bed.”

“I’m on my way to you.”

I completed the bed check list and found the rest of my students in their designated bedrooms with no other complications, and I went back to the RA office. I found Elis Baker, the site manager, waiting outside the door for me.

“Which student is missing?” I could hear superiority in her voice as she huffed.

“Camryn Boise.” I responded and handed the check list over to her. She screened it with her eyes and shoved it back into my hands.

“Go figure, Mr. Boise is back at it again.” I have to admit; I wasn’t surprised by it either. Camryn was a new arrival and was struggling to adjust to campus life. I had given him a warning on my first night. It was his first night, too. I had problem after problem with him every night since. Most weren’t serious enough to warrant an infraction until he snuck over to the girls’ dorm and was caught pants down with his girlfriend of the day.

“Is everyone else accounted for?” I nodded.

“Yes, ma’am.” I tapped the check list, looking down at it to double check.

“Alright. I’ll cover the dorm; you go with security to track him down.” I nodded again and grabbed my sweater and a flashlight.

“Tanner to security.” I got on the radio again.

“Security to Tanner, Go.”

“Can I get you to assist in locating a student?”

“Yep. I’ll be right there.”

I met security officer Kenneth Bailey at the front doors, and he drove us over to the girl's dorm in the golf cart.

“Which student is missing?” I told him who it was and where he was found last time. “Well then, I guess we’ll start there.” I gave a swift, single nod, and we hopped out of the vehicle and headed inside.

I stopped at the RA’s office, Norma Delrose was on duty tonight and I explained the situation once more. Norma was the quiet type, mousy.

“Oh no. I guess we better go check it out.” I followed her down to room 21, the same one he was found the last time that he had eloped. I knocked three times, and we popped open the door. Both Nina Reynolds and Sara Wood were in bed. I blinked when Norma flipped on the light. And when my eyes had focused, I saw no one but the two girls.

I accompanied Norma on a hunt through the rest of the rooms but, we came up empty and I went back to the boys’ dorms with Kenneth where we searched every room again and again did not find any sign of Camrym.

“I guess it’s time to check some other buildings and call in the reinforcements, huh?” I asked as Elis lounged in the chair, popping her bubble gum.

“Yep. You and Kenny go check out some of the other buildings and I’ll call the cops and Camryn’s parents.” I rolled my eyes at her fake southern drawl but followed her directions and left with officer Bailey on the golf cart once more.

I read the words, ‘Building C’ etched into the old brick building as Kenneth jiggled his key ring looking for the one for this door.

“You know, this used to be a part of the old TB hospital before it was converted to Job Corps.” I couldn’t have been less interested in this information at the time. I was focused on finding the missing teenager.

“Huh. Interesting.” I responded, not even trying to hide my disinterest.

The air was damp, spoiled. I followed Ken down a long hallway to a nurse's office. The glass on the window was coated with a thick layer of dust; I listened as Ken once again wrangled through keys before he found the right one.

I propped up my flashlight and pointed it towards a large white curtain. I approached it, Kenneth joined me. I saw the blood-soaked sheet spread across the corpse as soon as I rounded the edge of the curtain.

“The fuck is that?” I heard Kenneth speak but I couldn’t respond. My eyes were fixated on the macabre scene in front of me. Against my better judgement, I moved closer to the exam table. I peeled back the sheet. It was Camryn Boise. I was alarmed at the sight of his dark eyes, still wide open. His chest had been ripped open, and several of his ribs had been removed.

I heard a horrendous laugh break over the silence and looked back to find that Kenneth had already bolted from the room. Doors slammed open and shut, and lights started to flicker violently. I heard the laugh again and ran.

I turned the wrong way, and instead of running toward the exit, I found myself deeper into the unfamiliar building. I remembered my radio and went to grab it from my belt loop. It was gone. I didn’t remember dropping it.

I found another door. This one was unlocked. I looked around the room, my eyes caught sight of an operating table stained with rust. There was a tray next to it with a scalpel, ice picks, and bone saws on it. All of which were stained by some dark past.

I caught a glimpse of a shadow in the far-right corner of the operating room. A figure with a dark face, a white coat, a surgical mask, latex gloves dripping with crimson. I dropped the flashlight and bolted.

I tried to cut the corner but, I twisted my ankle and slammed my face onto the linoleum. When I lifted my head, my vision was blurred but I could see a small glow. A small, yellow glow creeping up from beneath the door.

I titled my head and read the sign above the door. Exit. In big red letter. I wrestled to my feet and grabbed the doorknob.

As I began to twist the knob, I felt a tug at my ankles. I looked down and saw nothing. Nothing and no one. I swallowed my spit hard and looked around again before twisting the knob again. I was pulled to the ground and dragged away. I don’t know if they’ll ever find Camryn Boise, or me for that matter, but I know that removing ribs didn’t cure TB, thanks to the people I’ve met since that night.