# 7 True Costco Night Shift Horror Story Something Was Wrong at Costco!

An episode of [AfterDark Reddits](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1896809423), 21 Oct 2026, 58 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/74987401/052_7_true_costco_night_shift_horror_story_something_was_wrong_at_costco.mp3



## Transcript

[0:03] Speaker 1: I'd been working at the Springfield Costco for just over
[0:05] Speaker 1: two years. I stocked shelves, moved pallets, cleaned up spills
[0:09] Speaker 1: from broken jars of pickles, real glamorous stuff. But it
[0:13] Speaker 1: was steady work, paid better than most, and I needed
[0:16] Speaker 1: every cent. My mom's lupus meds cost more than our rent,
[0:21] Speaker 1: and the hospital bills were a never-ending pile of envelopes
[0:24] Speaker 1: I couldn't open without feeling sick. That summer, corporate greenlit
[0:28] Speaker 1: and expansion, more storage, more floor space. Supposedly a good thing.
[0:34] Speaker 1: They brought in a crew. Jackhammers. Sawdust. Exposed insulation. The works.
[0:41] Speaker 1: I'd sneak looks when I could, mostly just to kill
[0:43] Speaker 1: time during slow hours. But one day, something shifted. They
[0:49] Speaker 1: found a metal door. Wasn't part of the plans. Wasn't labeled.
[0:54] Speaker 1: No one had ever mentioned it. It was just there,
[0:58] Speaker 1: hidden behind drywall like someone had gone out of their
[1:00] Speaker 1: way to bury it. The foreman, Derek, scratched his chin
[1:04] Speaker 1: when he saw it. Maintenance hatch, maybe? Looks old as hell,
[1:08] Speaker 1: just rusted shut. He had them cover it back up.
[1:12] Speaker 1: Forget it, he said. Too much hassle. But I didn't
[1:15] Speaker 1: forget it. Because that night, when I walked by that
[1:18] Speaker 1: section after hours, I heard something. Not rats. Not pipes.
[1:25] Speaker 1: A voice. Whispering. I told myself I imagined it. Just stress.
[1:31] Speaker 1: Long shifts, lack of sleep, caffeine hallucinations. But the next day,
[1:37] Speaker 1: the voice came back. And I wasn't the only one
[1:40] Speaker 1: who heard it. Jess was the one who finally said
[1:43] Speaker 1: it out. Loud. You hear it too, right? She asked
[1:46] Speaker 1: while we were refacing the cereal aisle. The knocking? I
[1:51] Speaker 1: looked up from a box of Cheerios. What knocking? She
[1:54] Speaker 1: gave me a look. Don't be an asshole. She was
[1:58] Speaker 1: the only real friend I had there. We started around
[2:01] Speaker 1: the same time, early 20s, trying to figure life out,
[2:05] Speaker 1: mostly failing. Jess was tough, sarcastic, smarter than most of
[2:11] Speaker 1: the supervisors too, and not someone who got rattled easily.
[2:15] Speaker 1: The locked door, she said quietly. It's been knocking and talking.
[2:21] Speaker 1: I heard it yesterday when I was putting away inventory.
[2:24] Speaker 1: I tried to joke. Maybe someone's trapped in there, haunted
[2:28] Speaker 1: forklifts or something. She didn't laugh. Just said, it said
[2:34] Speaker 1: my name. I didn't sleep much that night. And the
[2:37] Speaker 1: next morning I started noticing it too. Power flickering when
[2:40] Speaker 1: I passed the new storage wing. Static in my earbuds
[2:43] Speaker 1: when I shelved nearby. Always the same time, around 3 p.m.
[2:49] Speaker 1: Right before the lunch crowd died down. Then on a Wednesday,
[2:53] Speaker 1: we were closing together. Lights low. Music off. Building settling
[2:58] Speaker 1: into that eerie warehouse silence. Knock, knock, knock, right from
[3:04] Speaker 1: behind the sealed wall, clear, deliberate. Jess turned white. You
[3:10] Speaker 1: heard that, she said, not a question. I nodded, heart pounding. Yeah.
[3:18] Speaker 1: We told Derek the next day. His reaction, classic manager indifference.
[3:23] Speaker 1: Rolled his eyes, muttered something about us watching too many
[3:26] Speaker 1: horror movies, and went back to fiddling with his phone.
[3:30] Speaker 1: But that night, I stayed late. Pretended I was counting stock.
[3:36] Speaker 1: I snuck into the manager's office. That's where I found it.
[3:38] Speaker 1: A small key in a manila envelope. Labeled, Storage B.
[3:43] Speaker 1: Do not use. Like it was just waiting for someone
[3:46] Speaker 1: stupid enough to try. The door was colder than it
[3:49] Speaker 1: should have been. I mean, the warehouse is always cool.
[3:52] Speaker 1: Air circulation, giant fridges. But this was different. The metal
[3:56] Speaker 1: practically sucked the heat from my hand. Jess was shaking
[3:59] Speaker 1: when I showed her the key. I'm not going down there.
[4:02] Speaker 1: She said, but she didn't leave either. We stood in
[4:05] Speaker 1: front of that wall for a long time, just staring.
[4:09] Speaker 1: Then I moved the panel aside, just drywall screwed in
[4:12] Speaker 1: quick behind it. That rusted metal door, old hinges, industrial
[4:17] Speaker 1: looking and a single key hole. I slid the key
[4:21] Speaker 1: in click. It turned too easily. The door creaked open,
[4:26] Speaker 1: revealing a narrow stairway, concrete steps, Wet with condensation. The
[4:32] Speaker 1: air smelled like mold and metal. And something else. Something. Sour.
[4:39] Speaker 1: Like meat that had gone bad in the sun. That's
[4:42] Speaker 1: when we heard the voice. Faint. But real. Help. Me.
[4:48] Speaker 1: Jess grabbed my arm. We have to tell someone. Police. Management. Someone.
[4:53] Speaker 1: But I stepped down instead. My phone flashlight flickered. One
[4:57] Speaker 1: bar of signal. No service. I reached the bottom of
[5:00] Speaker 1: the stairs. The room was small, maybe the size of
[5:04] Speaker 1: a walk-in freezer. Cinderblock walls. No light fixtures, just shadows.
[5:10] Speaker 1: And in the corner, something hunched, pale, thin, not quite human.
[5:16] Speaker 1: Skin stretched tight over bones. Long arms, head tilted sideways,
[5:20] Speaker 1: too far like a broken doll. It blinked, not like
[5:24] Speaker 1: we blink. Slower, sideways, then it smiled. I turned. We ran,
[5:31] Speaker 1: up the stairs, back through the door, slamming it shut
[5:33] Speaker 1: behind us. Jess bolted. Didn't say a word. I locked
[5:37] Speaker 1: the door. But I knew it wasn't going to be enough.
[5:40] Speaker 1: The next morning, the door was gone. Covered over. New drywall. Seamless.
[5:47] Speaker 1: Derek claimed he didn't know anything. Said the expansion had
[5:50] Speaker 1: hit unexpected structural issues. When I asked about the door,
[5:54] Speaker 1: he stared at me like I was drunk. I told
[5:57] Speaker 1: you there's no storage B. Jess quit that day. No warning.
[6:01] Speaker 1: Texted me. Don't come looking for me. She didn't answer
[6:05] Speaker 1: after that. Not once. Not even when I called from
[6:08] Speaker 1: a different number. Weird things kept happening. The camera near
[6:12] Speaker 1: the back wing glitched every night at 3.17 a.m. Never failed.
[6:18] Speaker 1: Just ten seconds of black screen, then static. Maintenance said
[6:22] Speaker 1: it was a wiring issue. Sometimes, I'd be working stock
[6:26] Speaker 1: near the walk-in cooler and hear something knock. Three slow beats.
[6:30] Speaker 1: Always from behind the wall. I stopped sleeping. My mom's
[6:34] Speaker 1: condition got worse. Her meds started reacting differently like they
[6:38] Speaker 1: weren't working anymore. Her doctors had no explanation. Sometimes diseases accelerate,
[6:44] Speaker 1: they said. But deep down I knew. It had followed
[6:48] Speaker 1: me out. I tried to tell myself it was all
[6:51] Speaker 1: just burnout. Hallucinations. Stress playing tricks. I even deleted Jess's
[6:56] Speaker 1: number so I'd stop staring at my phone all night.
[6:59] Speaker 1: But every time I passed that section of the store,
[7:01] Speaker 1: I felt it. Like something watching. Like something waiting. I
[7:05] Speaker 1: don't work at Costco anymore. I wish I could say
[7:08] Speaker 1: I quit. On my own terms. Truth is, I got fired.
[7:12] Speaker 1: Too many missed shifts. Too many weird stories. HR said
[7:16] Speaker 1: I was scaring the other employees. Derek said I needed
[7:19] Speaker 1: a break. Maybe see a therapist. Maybe I should've. But
[7:24] Speaker 1: none of that matters now. Because I still hear it.
[7:27] Speaker 1: Not at the store. At home. Three knocks, exactly at 3.17 a.m.,
[7:34] Speaker 1: every night on the back wall of my apartment. No
[7:37] Speaker 1: matter where I move, no matter how far I go,
[7:41] Speaker 1: I hear whispers in the vents. Things about schedules, stocking lists.
[7:46] Speaker 1: You were never supposed to leave. I've tried to ignore it.
[7:50] Speaker 1: But last week I got a letter. No return address.
[7:53] Speaker 1: Just my name, handwritten in red ink. Inside was a note.
[7:59] Speaker 1: Access restored. Your shift begins. Tonight. And taped beside it?
[8:05] Speaker 1: The key. The one I thought I threw in the river.
[8:08] Speaker 1: It's clean now, like it was never used. But I
[8:11] Speaker 1: swear when I hold it, I hear breathing on the
[8:14] Speaker 1: other side of my closet door. I haven't opened it yet.
[8:18] Speaker 1: But I think I know what's behind it. Costco. Storage. B.
[8:23] Speaker 1: The thing that never left. And this time? I don't
[8:27] Speaker 1: think it's going to wait for me to open the door.
[8:34] Speaker 1: Have you ever had one of those days where every
[8:37] Speaker 1: muscle in your body screams, your brain feels like it's
[8:40] Speaker 1: been set on slow boil, and all you want is
[8:42] Speaker 1: the simplest, smallest relief? I had one of those days,
[8:47] Speaker 1: a brutal 10-hour shift at Costco during the holiday season. Understaffed,
[8:53] Speaker 1: two no-shows, and a non-stop crowd of customers with deadlines
[8:57] Speaker 1: and patients that wore thinner than the cheap plastic bags
[8:59] Speaker 1: we used to pack their groceries. By the time I
[9:03] Speaker 1: clocked out, I was done. Feet aching, back tight as
[9:07] Speaker 1: a coiled spring, and a headache creeping in behind my eyes.
[9:12] Speaker 1: I just needed gas and a hot dog. That 150
[9:15] Speaker 1: hot dog was my reward for making it through the chaos.
[9:19] Speaker 1: I pulled into the Costco gas station and saw the
[9:21] Speaker 1: line was eight cars deep. Exhaust mixed with the sharp
[9:25] Speaker 1: cold biting at my skin. I was next, inching forward,
[9:28] Speaker 1: eyes on the pump, imagining biting into that steaming dog
[9:31] Speaker 1: and finally relaxing. Then, out of nowhere, a black Escalade
[9:36] Speaker 1: swerved around the line like it owned the place. Tinted windows,
[9:40] Speaker 1: polished rims, the kind of vehicle that screams, I don't wait.
[9:43] Speaker 1: It cut in front of me. I tapped the horn.
[9:46] Speaker 1: Just a little beep beep. Big mistake. The Escalade's door
[9:51] Speaker 1: slammed open and a massive guy stepped out. Jacket shaved head,
[9:56] Speaker 1: eyes like stone. He stomped toward me and my pulse
[9:59] Speaker 1: kicked up a notch. You got a problem? His voice
[10:03] Speaker 1: was low and sharp like a warning. I rolled my
[10:05] Speaker 1: window down just a crack. Yeah, the line starts back there.
[10:11] Speaker 1: He leaned in and his breath fogged the glass. Move
[10:15] Speaker 1: your car. I gripped the wheel tighter. No. His dark
[10:19] Speaker 1: eyes didn't blink. Then his lip curled in a sneer.
[10:23] Speaker 1: You sure about that? From the Escalade's passenger side, a
[10:27] Speaker 1: door cracked open. Another person sat inside, watching. The air
[10:32] Speaker 1: went heavy. I felt my throat tighten. This wasn't just
[10:36] Speaker 1: a road rage thing anymore. Car behind me honked, but
[10:40] Speaker 1: neither of us moved. I wasn't about to back down,
[10:42] Speaker 1: but suddenly I was painfully aware of how small and
[10:45] Speaker 1: vulnerable I felt. Hey! A voice cut through the tension.
[10:50] Speaker 1: A Costco employee in a red vest jogged up, arms
[10:53] Speaker 1: waving like he was trying to defuse a bomb. What's
[10:57] Speaker 1: going on here? The big guy hesitated, glanced at the employee,
[11:02] Speaker 1: then back at me. For a second, I thought he'd
[11:06] Speaker 1: throw a punch. Instead, he smirked. Enjoy your gas, tough guy.
[11:11] Speaker 1: Then he got back in the Escalade, revved the engine
[11:13] Speaker 1: hard and peeled out, almost clipping a car next to him.
[11:17] Speaker 1: I sat frozen for a moment, heart hammering. The employee
[11:20] Speaker 1: came up beside me, Marcus, according to his name tag,
[11:23] Speaker 1: and asked, you okay? I nodded, though my hands were
[11:27] Speaker 1: shaking too much to light my cigarette. That guy's been
[11:30] Speaker 1: around before, Marcus said quietly. Always trouble. I thanked him,
[11:36] Speaker 1: but my mind was spinning with what could have happened
[11:39] Speaker 1: if Marcus hadn't shown up. What if the other guy
[11:41] Speaker 1: in the car had gotten out? What if the guy
[11:43] Speaker 1: had been carrying something heavier than words? I told my
[11:47] Speaker 1: manager the next day. She listened, sighed, and promised it'd
[11:51] Speaker 1: get reported to security. But nothing changed. No extra patrols.
[11:56] Speaker 1: No warnings to employees. Just that same cold gas station.
[12:00] Speaker 1: The same line. The same potential for trouble. Every time
[12:03] Speaker 1: I pull up now, I scan the lot. Look for
[12:06] Speaker 1: that Escalade. That guy. Anyone who looks like they think
[12:10] Speaker 1: rules don't apply to them. I'm no hero. I didn't
[12:14] Speaker 1: want to fight. But there's a part of me that's
[12:16] Speaker 1: still wound up tight, ready even though I wish I
[12:19] Speaker 1: could just forget the whole thing. The exhaustion from work,
[12:23] Speaker 1: the cold air, the fear. It's like a cocktail that
[12:27] Speaker 1: settles into your bones. Wonder how many people don't get
[12:30] Speaker 1: that lucky. How many just take their chances and hope
[12:33] Speaker 1: for the best? Since that night, I've learned a few things.
[12:37] Speaker 1: You can be tired. You can be beaten down by work,
[12:40] Speaker 1: by life, by bills stacking up like the pallets in
[12:43] Speaker 1: the Costco warehouse. But some fights aren't worth backing down from,
[12:48] Speaker 1: especially when it's about respect. Waiting your turn isn't just
[12:51] Speaker 1: about manners. It's about staying safe. And sometimes help comes
[12:57] Speaker 1: when you least expect it. That Costco vest and a
[13:00] Speaker 1: steady voice were all I needed to turn the tide.
[13:03] Speaker 1: I still fill my tank late at night. I still
[13:06] Speaker 1: avoid the farthest pump if I can help it. And
[13:09] Speaker 1: I never hesitate to call for backup if I see trouble.
[13:12] Speaker 1: The world doesn't owe us a break, but maybe... Just maybe.
[13:16] Speaker 1: Standing your ground when it counts is the best defense
[13:18] Speaker 1: we've got. Because you never know who's waiting in line
[13:22] Speaker 1: and who's willing to cut. You ever been so tired
[13:29] Speaker 1: that reality starts feeling optional? I'm not talking sleepy like,
[13:33] Speaker 1: I need a nap. I mean the kind of exhaustion
[13:36] Speaker 1: where your brain hums like bad fluorescent lighting and your
[13:39] Speaker 1: hands shake no matter how tight you grip. The steering wheel.
[13:43] Speaker 1: That was me. 1.17 a.m., rolling into Costco warehouse number
[13:47] Speaker 1: 4159 like a ghost with a debit card. I just
[13:51] Speaker 1: pulled a double shift at St. Mark's. Another 16 hours
[13:54] Speaker 1: of nonstop blood, piss, and bad news. Half the ER
[13:58] Speaker 1: staff's out with RSV, and the rest of us are
[14:00] Speaker 1: running on fumes and vending machine coffee. My rent's two
[14:04] Speaker 1: weeks late. My car's check engine light is glowing like
[14:08] Speaker 1: a red eye in the dash. And my phone? 3%.
[14:11] Speaker 1: No charger. The lot was dead empty. No music, no
[14:19] Speaker 1: carts clanking, just snow-dusted silence and that big glowing red
[14:22] Speaker 1: open 24 hours sign. Funny thing, I've lived in Salt
[14:27] Speaker 1: Lake for four years and I swear this Costco was
[14:30] Speaker 1: never 24 hour, but I told myself it must have
[14:33] Speaker 1: changed recently. Or maybe I was just too tired to
[14:36] Speaker 1: remember right. The automatic doors creaked open, slow like they
[14:40] Speaker 1: didn't want to. No greeter, no samples, no, hi, Welcome
[14:45] Speaker 1: to Costco, just that low industrial hum. Freezers in the distance.
[14:51] Speaker 1: My own footsteps echoing. Off concrete. The food court was
[14:54] Speaker 1: dark except for the ovens. Still glowing orange. There was
[14:58] Speaker 1: a tray with a half-eaten hot dog sitting out, steam
[15:01] Speaker 1: rising like it had just been abandoned. I said, hello,
[15:06] Speaker 1: out loud. Nothing. No echo. I pushed a cart forward.
[15:12] Speaker 1: Its wheels resisted. The kind of resistance that feels like
[15:16] Speaker 1: someone's holding it back. That's when I should have left.
[15:21] Speaker 1: But I didn't. I needed dog food and toilet paper
[15:25] Speaker 1: and answers. I made it halfway to the pet aisle
[15:29] Speaker 1: before I noticed how wrong the air felt. It wasn't
[15:32] Speaker 1: just cold. It was still. Heavy. Like breathing. Inside a
[15:38] Speaker 1: vacuum-sealed bag. The kind of still that tells your body
[15:41] Speaker 1: something's watching even when your eyes haven't caught up. Aisle
[15:45] Speaker 1: 37 was the meat section, and the first thing I
[15:48] Speaker 1: noticed was the frost. Not just on the inside of
[15:51] Speaker 1: the doors, creeping out, crawling across. The floor tiles. Like
[15:56] Speaker 1: the cold was escaping on purpose. And then I saw him.
[16:01] Speaker 1: A stock boy in a red vest, standing motionless between
[16:04] Speaker 1: a wall of pork loins and ribeye packs. His face
[16:08] Speaker 1: was turned toward the glass. Eyes wide, unblinking. I swallowed.
[16:15] Speaker 1: Hey man, you okay? He didn't answer. I walked closer,
[16:19] Speaker 1: cart abandoned behind me. I reached out, just a gentle
[16:23] Speaker 1: nudge on the shoulder. He moved, his head rotated 180 degrees,
[16:28] Speaker 1: no body turn, just the head, like an owl, but faster.
[16:32] Speaker 1: And wrong. Neck tendons snapped like stretched rubber bands. His
[16:37] Speaker 1: mouth opened wide, way too wide, and whispered, You're not
[16:41] Speaker 1: on the schedule. The overhead lights flickered, not randomly, in rhythm,
[16:47] Speaker 1: like a strobe, sinking with my heartbeat. My cart ten
[16:51] Speaker 1: feet away rolled down the aisle on its own and
[16:53] Speaker 1: slammed into a display of bulk cheese. I ran. Didn't think.
[16:58] Speaker 1: Didn't check my phone. Just ran. But the layout had changed.
[17:03] Speaker 1: Pallets were in different spots, aisles looping back on themselves,
[17:07] Speaker 1: like the store was rebuilding around me as I moved.
[17:11] Speaker 1: Somewhere deep in the store, I heard something drag across
[17:13] Speaker 1: tile slow and heavy, like something clocking in. And I
[17:19] Speaker 1: realized I was now part of the night shift. I
[17:22] Speaker 1: was sprinting full panic past aisles that twisted like a
[17:26] Speaker 1: maze display shifted behind me shelves stacked with mismatched items,
[17:31] Speaker 1: 80 inch TVs beside rotisserie chickens diapers next to chainsaws.
[17:36] Speaker 1: Something in the layout wasn't staying put a mannequin and
[17:40] Speaker 1: Kirkland jeans turned its head as I passed. I swear
[17:43] Speaker 1: its eyes followed me. Another one holding a polo shirt
[17:46] Speaker 1: had a barcode scanner melted into its hand. I ducked
[17:50] Speaker 1: into what should have been seasonal, but the aisle sign
[17:52] Speaker 1: above read 13. The same number I'd seen three times already.
[17:58] Speaker 1: It never ended. I started hearing sounds. Voices crackling through
[18:03] Speaker 1: the store speakers. Faint. Half static. Cleanup. Aisle. 666. I
[18:09] Speaker 1: didn't want to see what that meant. There was blood
[18:13] Speaker 1: on the ground near the TVs, a handprint sliding downward
[18:17] Speaker 1: like someone had tried to crawl up the screen. One
[18:20] Speaker 1: of the display TVs sparked to life, just static at first,
[18:25] Speaker 1: then a blurry security, cam angle. I was on it.
[18:29] Speaker 1: I was watching myself run, but I wasn't running anymore.
[18:34] Speaker 1: I was standing completely still on the screen, staring directly
[18:37] Speaker 1: into the camera. A receipt printer beeped near the self-checkout.
[18:42] Speaker 1: I turned just in time to see a slip flutter
[18:44] Speaker 1: to the floor. It read, Don't look up. Member number 666.
[18:50] Speaker 1: I looked up, above the shelves, wedged between pallets of
[18:53] Speaker 1: bulk flour and motor oil. Something clicked. A huge shape
[18:57] Speaker 1: shifted its weight. Wood. Creaked. Plastic wrappers crinkled, and then
[19:03] Speaker 1: it dropped down. Slow. Deliberate. I ran. My lungs were fire.
[19:10] Speaker 1: But behind me I heard wheels turning, a cart, following,
[19:15] Speaker 1: and a voice over the PA whispered, Thank you for
[19:18] Speaker 1: choosing Costco. Your shift begins now. The thing that chased
[19:23] Speaker 1: me wasn't fast. It didn't have to be. It moved
[19:26] Speaker 1: like it belonged. Like, the store rearranged itself to help it.
[19:31] Speaker 1: The lights dimmed where I ran, brightened where it moved.
[19:34] Speaker 1: I don't know how to describe it, only that its
[19:36] Speaker 1: body made no sense. It wore a red vest. Its
[19:39] Speaker 1: face was smooth white plastic like a blank employee name tag,
[19:43] Speaker 1: except scrawled across it in greasy marker. Hi, I'm... Its
[19:48] Speaker 1: arms ended in price gun. clicking with every step. And
[19:53] Speaker 1: its mouth. Its mouth opened vertically, splitting its head in
[19:57] Speaker 1: half like a cardboard box being torn open. And when
[20:01] Speaker 1: it screamed, it wasn't sound. It was noise. Like a
[20:06] Speaker 1: register error, layered with the high-pitched... whine of a deer
[20:10] Speaker 1: dying i ducked into the back near the emergency exit
[20:13] Speaker 1: pushed on it locked my hands shook as i found
[20:17] Speaker 1: the fire alarm lever i yanked silence then sirens blared
[20:25] Speaker 1: alarms spun red light across the warehouse like a crime
[20:27] Speaker 1: scene the monster froze just for a second its head
[20:32] Speaker 1: twitching like it was buffering kicked the emergency door again
[20:35] Speaker 1: this time it gave snow blew in cold hit me
[20:38] Speaker 1: like a fist I stumbled into the freezing night slipped
[20:41] Speaker 1: on the asphalt and didn't stop running until I hit
[20:44] Speaker 1: the edge of the parking lot, collapsed next to a
[20:46] Speaker 1: frozen shopping cart. No one followed. When I turned to
[20:50] Speaker 1: look back, the doors were closed. Dark, silent, and the
[20:55] Speaker 1: open 24 hours sign, gone. Just blank bricks where it
[20:59] Speaker 1: had been. The next morning I called the police. They
[21:04] Speaker 1: found my wallet and car keys inside near aisle 37,
[21:07] Speaker 1: but no footage showed anything unusual. The manager swore the
[21:11] Speaker 1: store closed at 8.30 p.m. and had for years. No.
[21:15] Speaker 1: Night shift. No red-vested stalker. No one named Terry, Mike, or...
[21:20] Speaker 1: They showed me the camera footage. It showed me walking in.
[21:24] Speaker 1: And then... Nothing. Just static until 4 a.m. Then my
[21:29] Speaker 1: body walking out. Alone. I don't remember that part. My
[21:34] Speaker 1: phone was dead when I found it in my car.
[21:37] Speaker 1: But when I charged it? Dozens of missed notifications, mostly
[21:42] Speaker 1: from a Costco app I never downloaded. One said, shift complete.
[21:47] Speaker 1: Welcome to the team. A week later, my hospital badge
[21:50] Speaker 1: at St. Mark's stopped scanning. I got called into HR.
[21:54] Speaker 1: Your status says terminated. The admin whispered. We didn't do that.
[21:59] Speaker 1: They think I faked it. They think I'm unstable. See
[22:02] Speaker 1: red vests in crowds now. Hear price scanners in my
[22:05] Speaker 1: apartment at 3 a.m. My closet smells like freezers. Then
[22:09] Speaker 1: the letter came. Costco envelope. My name, neat and bold. Inside,
[22:15] Speaker 1: your membership has been updated to executive status. And below that,
[22:19] Speaker 1: handwritten in thick black marker. Welcome to Nightstock, Jordan. See
[22:23] Speaker 1: you on your next shift. Sometimes at night, I still
[22:27] Speaker 1: hear the PA system whispering my employee number. And I
[22:30] Speaker 1: whisper back. Because maybe, just maybe, I'm not off the
[22:35] Speaker 1: clock yet. That's me, Marcus Wright, 34, Costco supervisor, father
[22:45] Speaker 1: of one, divorced. Working overtime to help pay for my
[22:49] Speaker 1: daughter's therapy and meds while trying not to lose her
[22:52] Speaker 1: completely to my ex's threats of moving her to Florida.
[22:55] Speaker 1: I've done two tours in Afghanistan and lived through IEDs
[22:59] Speaker 1: in Helmand province, but nothing prepares you for Chicago in December.
[23:04] Speaker 1: Snow slush creeping into your boots. Holiday customers with zero patience.
[23:09] Speaker 1: the constant hum of fluorescent lights and Christmas music playing
[23:13] Speaker 1: like it's on its last breath. It was 3.17 p.m.
[23:17] Speaker 1: two days before Christmas and we were swamped. People pushing
[23:20] Speaker 1: carts like rams, kids screaming, shelves half empty. I was
[23:24] Speaker 1: restocking batteries near aisle seven when a lady stumbled and barked,
[23:28] Speaker 1: who left this here? A plain brown box, no label,
[23:32] Speaker 1: no tape, just sitting there like it didn't belong, which
[23:36] Speaker 1: it didn't. Tasha was nearby, scanning barcodes. You see who
[23:41] Speaker 1: dropped this? I asked. She barely looked up. Probably some
[23:46] Speaker 1: jerk changed their mind about a sixty pack of sponges.
[23:50] Speaker 1: But when I picked it up, something was off. It
[23:53] Speaker 1: was warm. And, too light, felt wrong. Like holding a
[23:58] Speaker 1: balloon with sand inside and then I heard it. Tick, tick, tick.
[24:02] Speaker 1: The store kept buzzing around me but the sound locked
[24:04] Speaker 1: me in place. Tasha laughed at something behind me. I
[24:08] Speaker 1: didn't say a word. Didn't blink. My training kicked. In
[24:11] Speaker 1: like muscle memory. This wasn't a drill. This wasn't some
[24:15] Speaker 1: Amazon return. This could be it. And I wasn't about
[24:17] Speaker 1: to let it take anybody with me. I pressed the
[24:20] Speaker 1: button on my walkie and spoke low but firm. Code
[24:24] Speaker 1: black at aisle seven. Possible device. I need PD and
[24:28] Speaker 1: bomb squad. Lockdown protocol now. Tasha looked at me like
[24:31] Speaker 1: I'd lost it. You serious? I didn't answer. Just stepped
[24:36] Speaker 1: away from the box. Slow and steady. setting it down
[24:38] Speaker 1: like it was sleeping. I'd seen this before, not in retail,
[24:43] Speaker 1: but overseas. Some looked like toys. Others were built into
[24:46] Speaker 1: cooking pots or backpacks. The quiet ones were the worst.
[24:51] Speaker 1: Management called the police. Within five minutes, we had sirens
[24:55] Speaker 1: out front, lights flashing against the melting snow outside the
[24:59] Speaker 1: big warehouse windows. Employees guided customers out quietly, pretending it
[25:04] Speaker 1: was just an electrical fault. I appreciated the calm. The shopper,
[25:08] Speaker 1: less so. One teenager was already filming. Yo, Costco bomb threat?
[25:14] Speaker 1: Look at this. God help us, I thought. My phone
[25:17] Speaker 1: buzzed in my pocket. My ex. Again. Her text. You're
[25:22] Speaker 1: late for Maya's appointment. Again. She's crying. I'm done covering
[25:26] Speaker 1: for you. I hit ignore. Couldn't afford to deal with
[25:30] Speaker 1: her right now. Couldn't think about Maya's face when I
[25:33] Speaker 1: promised her I'd pick her up. Couldn't think about how
[25:36] Speaker 1: I was supposed to be her constant when everything else
[25:39] Speaker 1: was falling apart. Security cleared the building except for me,
[25:43] Speaker 1: the responding officers and one tech waiting to suit up.
[25:47] Speaker 1: I stayed near the far end of the store. I
[25:50] Speaker 1: could still see the box from behind the displays. The
[25:53] Speaker 1: ticking was softer now, but I still heard it. Sir,
[25:57] Speaker 1: one of the bomb techs said, you did good. Go outside.
[26:02] Speaker 1: But I stayed where I was. If it was Going
[26:05] Speaker 1: to happen, if this was really it, I didn't want
[26:07] Speaker 1: to run. I just wanted to face it. I owed
[26:10] Speaker 1: that much to myself. Every second felt like a lifetime.
[26:15] Speaker 1: The store was quiet now, stripped of its holiday chaos.
[26:20] Speaker 1: Just officers moving with purpose in the whir of hazmat
[26:23] Speaker 1: suits rustling near the front. I stood by the door,
[26:26] Speaker 1: arms crossed tight against my chest, jacket still half unzipped.
[26:31] Speaker 1: The cold air from outside was fighting the heat of
[26:33] Speaker 1: panic in my gut. Kept looking at the box, brown, harmless-looking,
[26:38] Speaker 1: still sitting right there under the overhead pantry essentials sign.
[26:42] Speaker 1: Aisle 7 had never looked so big. The ticking might
[26:45] Speaker 1: have been in my head now. My brain was cycling
[26:49] Speaker 1: through worst-case scenarios, like slideshow images. I could still remember
[26:54] Speaker 1: the smell of metal and dust from the IED blast
[26:56] Speaker 1: in Kandahar. Still remembered pulling a guy named Carter out
[27:00] Speaker 1: from under a flipped MRAP. I didn't want that here.
[27:04] Speaker 1: Not now. not in front of families, not right before Christmas.
[27:09] Speaker 1: My phone buzzed again. It was Maya this time. Daddy,
[27:13] Speaker 1: did you leave me at therapy alone? That hit harder
[27:15] Speaker 1: than any detonation. She was nine. I told her I'd
[27:20] Speaker 1: be there when the session ended. I wanted to be.
[27:23] Speaker 1: God knows I did. But now she was sitting alone,
[27:28] Speaker 1: probably thinking I'd forgotten, maybe crying, and I couldn't even call.
[27:34] Speaker 1: Looked up at the box. Hated it. Hated how it
[27:37] Speaker 1: stole time I didn't have to lose. Behind me, someone
[27:41] Speaker 1: clapped their gloved hands. We're ready, a bomb tech said.
[27:45] Speaker 1: Let's go. The man walked toward it like he'd done
[27:48] Speaker 1: this a hundred times. Me? I was shaking like I
[27:51] Speaker 1: never had in combat. I whispered a prayer. Not for me,
[27:55] Speaker 1: but for Maya. I don't know what I expected. An explosion? Screams?
[28:01] Speaker 1: A cloud of fire and drywall? Instead, there was silence.
[28:07] Speaker 1: The bomb tech knelt, cracked open the box with robotic
[28:11] Speaker 1: arms while everyone held their breath. Then came laughter. The
[28:15] Speaker 1: guy peeled off his helmet and stood up, shaking his head.
[28:18] Speaker 1: You're not going to believe this, he called out. It's
[28:20] Speaker 1: a damn wall clock wrapped in two inches of foam.
[28:23] Speaker 1: Battery was dead and leaking acid, probably ticking from internal pressure.
[28:28] Speaker 1: The officers behind the tape chuckled nervously. Someone even clapped.
[28:34] Speaker 1: I didn't laugh. Couldn't. I just turned and walked out
[28:38] Speaker 1: the loading dock door and into the parking lot where
[28:40] Speaker 1: the snow had started again. Soft, fat flakes this time,
[28:44] Speaker 1: melting into slush. I climbed into my car and sat
[28:48] Speaker 1: there with the, engine off, then I screamed, not a shout,
[28:51] Speaker 1: a roar. A raw, bitter sound that scraped its way
[28:55] Speaker 1: out of me. I gripped the steering wheel so hard
[28:58] Speaker 1: my knuckles cracked. Cried. Maybe. I'm not sure. Somewhere Maya
[29:05] Speaker 1: was probably sitting on that little vinyl therapy couch, watching
[29:08] Speaker 1: the door, waiting. And all I could give her was silence.
[29:13] Speaker 1: The world moved on without me. Inside, they reset shelves,
[29:17] Speaker 1: unwrapped pallets, reset the store like it never happened. But
[29:20] Speaker 1: I still felt like that box was inside me, ticking,
[29:24] Speaker 1: still waiting. Christmas came and went. Maya didn't speak to
[29:29] Speaker 1: me during our video call. Her eyes stayed on her sketchbook,
[29:35] Speaker 1: My ex said she didn't want to come for the weekend.
[29:38] Speaker 1: Not if you're gonna keep breaking promises. I didn't argue.
[29:42] Speaker 1: I went back to work on the 27th. The store
[29:45] Speaker 1: was quieter, but that post-holiday haze lingered. The air felt
[29:49] Speaker 1: thicker somehow. Like everyone was pretending we hadn't all been
[29:53] Speaker 1: one ticking sound away from chaos. I tried to focus,
[29:57] Speaker 1: training new hires. checking the back stock. Tasha cracked jokes.
[30:02] Speaker 1: Daryl from receiving handed out leftover cookies. Everyone was trying.
[30:07] Speaker 1: But on lunch, I went to the break room fridge
[30:09] Speaker 1: to grab my sandwich. There it was. Another box. Brown. Plain.
[30:14] Speaker 1: No tape. No label. Just sitting there. I didn't touch it.
[30:21] Speaker 1: Didn't open the fridge. Just stared. I backed out of
[30:24] Speaker 1: the break room and stood in the hall, pulse hammering.
[30:28] Speaker 1: breathing like I'd just sprinted three flights of stairs. It
[30:31] Speaker 1: might have been nothing, someone's Christmas leftovers, a prank, or
[30:35] Speaker 1: I didn't wait to find out. I texted my manager,
[30:39] Speaker 1: taking the rest of the day, sick, and walked out
[30:42] Speaker 1: into the snow. This time, I picked up Maya from
[30:45] Speaker 1: therapy early. I didn't say much on the drive, but
[30:49] Speaker 1: I bought her favorite cocoa and let. Her play music
[30:52] Speaker 1: in the car. She didn't say anything either, but she
[30:56] Speaker 1: didn't ask why I was late. because I wasn't. She
[30:59] Speaker 1: just looked out the window and whispered, Thanks, Dad. That
[31:03] Speaker 1: was enough. Sometimes the bomb never goes off. Sometimes it
[31:08] Speaker 1: already did. And all that's left is the sound of
[31:11] Speaker 1: ticking in your head reminding you what really matters. You
[31:17] Speaker 1: ever wonder what it means to really start over? Not
[31:20] Speaker 1: the Hallmark card kind. The real stuff. Where you're clawing
[31:23] Speaker 1: your way back from the gutter and everyone still thinks
[31:26] Speaker 1: you're gonna slip. That's where I'm at. My name's Dylan Reeves.
[31:30] Speaker 1: I'm 25, three years clean, if you don't count the
[31:34] Speaker 1: two relapses, which I try not to. I work closing
[31:37] Speaker 1: shifts at Costco down by the refinery district. It's not glamorous,
[31:41] Speaker 1: but it pays, and I keep my head down. My
[31:44] Speaker 1: probation officer checks my pay stubs every month, and if
[31:47] Speaker 1: I miss one, I'm back in court or worse. Tonight
[31:50] Speaker 1: was supposed to be like any other. It was 30
[31:53] Speaker 1: degrasse outside, the kind of cold that bites through steel toes.
[31:58] Speaker 1: The store had emptied out. After 10 and we were
[32:00] Speaker 1: doing our final sweep. Just me, Kurt from Tires, and
[32:04] Speaker 1: Jasmine from Bakery. Quiet crew. Reliable. Kurt rubbed his hands
[32:09] Speaker 1: near the cardboard baler. Fuck, it's cold. Heard it's gonna
[32:13] Speaker 1: hit 40. Jasmine laughed. Nervous, but trying to be chill.
[32:19] Speaker 1: That's not even real cold. That's why do we live
[32:21] Speaker 1: here cold. Then we heard it. A loud crash from
[32:24] Speaker 1: the back storage area. Not the kind of sound shelves
[32:28] Speaker 1: make when they settle. This was sharper, heavier. We looked
[32:32] Speaker 1: at each other. Probably just a pallet slipping, Jasmine said,
[32:37] Speaker 1: but her voice was too high. She didn't believe it either.
[32:42] Speaker 1: We went to check. The loading bay door was cracked open.
[32:46] Speaker 1: Wind whipped snow in, curling like smoke on the concrete.
[32:50] Speaker 1: And right there on the floor was a single glove.
[32:53] Speaker 1: Thick canvas coated in frost. Fingers curled like they'd tried
[32:57] Speaker 1: to hold on to something before giving up. None of
[33:00] Speaker 1: us spoke. We just stared. Something wasn't right. We sealed
[33:05] Speaker 1: the door and ran back to the office to check
[33:07] Speaker 1: the cameras. I pulled up. The feeds while Kurt hovered
[33:11] Speaker 1: behind me, chewing the nail of his thumb. At 11.07 p.m.,
[33:15] Speaker 1: a figure stepped in through the loading dock. Big guy.
[33:20] Speaker 1: Baggy refinery coveralls. No coat. face hard to make out
[33:24] Speaker 1: in the shadow, but he moved slow, like he wasn't
[33:27] Speaker 1: feeling the cold at all. By 11.12, he was in
[33:30] Speaker 1: the electronics section. I watched, frozen, as he ran his
[33:35] Speaker 1: hand over every TV screen like he was looking for something,
[33:39] Speaker 1: smudging them, leaving these greasy frost trails. At 11.15, he
[33:45] Speaker 1: was behind the pharmacy counter, opening drawers like he knew
[33:48] Speaker 1: exactly where everything was kept. That's when Kurt leaned in
[33:52] Speaker 1: and whispered, That's Terry. From the Petro-Canada two blocks down.
[33:57] Speaker 1: I blinked at him. No way. I'm serious, that's him.
[34:02] Speaker 1: I used to buy smokes off the guy. Jasmine said
[34:05] Speaker 1: nothing for a second. Then... But... Terry's dead. Froze walking
[34:11] Speaker 1: home last winter, remember? They found him stiff as a
[34:14] Speaker 1: board in the alley by the Tim Hortons. I remembered
[34:18] Speaker 1: the story. Everyone in this part of Edmonton did. Found
[34:22] Speaker 1: with his boots off like he'd been trying to warm
[34:25] Speaker 1: his feet. We rewound the tape, played it again. Same man,
[34:30] Speaker 1: same walk, same oil-stained knees. Checked the front entrance cam. Nothing.
[34:37] Speaker 1: No one came in through the front. Only the doc,
[34:39] Speaker 1: only Terry. Or something wearing Terry. We decided to split up.
[34:46] Speaker 1: Dumb idea, I know. But we were all trying to
[34:49] Speaker 1: be logical. Tell ourselves it was some squatter or prankster.
[34:53] Speaker 1: Maybe a junkie looking for painkillers in the pharmacy cabinets. Jasmine.
[34:59] Speaker 1: Went to call 911 from the office. I saw her
[35:01] Speaker 1: bar flicker, then vanish. No signal. She muttered something about
[35:05] Speaker 1: the storm interfering. Kurt, tire iron in hand, marched off
[35:08] Speaker 1: toward the pharmacy. That left me. I checked the break room.
[35:14] Speaker 1: Nothing unusual at first, until I noticed the coffee machine
[35:17] Speaker 1: was on. Steam rising. No one had used it in hours.
[35:22] Speaker 1: The smell of burnt grounds filled the space. Then the
[35:25] Speaker 1: PA system crackled. That low hum like when a mic's
[35:28] Speaker 1: live but no one's speaking yet. Then a voice. Hey, kid.
[35:34] Speaker 1: Still stealing from registers? My blood froze. I hadn't heard
[35:39] Speaker 1: that voice in two years. Mike. He was my old dealer.
[35:43] Speaker 1: A heavy user, mean when he wasn't high. I let
[35:46] Speaker 1: him crash at my place once during a rough stretch.
[35:48] Speaker 1: He OD'd on my couch. Died right there while I
[35:51] Speaker 1: was passed out in the next room. I never told
[35:54] Speaker 1: anyone that part. Not even the cops. I just said
[35:57] Speaker 1: I found him in the morning. The guilt still. Weighs
[36:01] Speaker 1: like a steel beam on my chest. His voice came
[36:03] Speaker 1: again echoing through the store. Thought you were better now D.
[36:07] Speaker 1: Thought you were clean. I stumbled backward. Heart pounding. The
[36:12] Speaker 1: lights above me flickered once. Then twice. I wasn't hallucinating
[36:16] Speaker 1: or if I was it was a group hallucination. Something
[36:20] Speaker 1: was here. Something real. And it knew me. I ran
[36:24] Speaker 1: toward the pharmacy, calling out for Kurt. No answer. When
[36:29] Speaker 1: I turned the corner near health and wellness, I found him,
[36:31] Speaker 1: sprawled on the tile near the vitamins. Tire iron dropped
[36:35] Speaker 1: beside him. Eyes, wide open but not moving. I knelt.
[36:40] Speaker 1: He was breathing, thank God, but cold to the touch,
[36:43] Speaker 1: like he'd been lying there for hours. I grabbed the iron,
[36:47] Speaker 1: my pulse slamming in my ears. The lights above buzzed, flickered,
[36:51] Speaker 1: and then I heard Jasmine banging from the inside of
[36:55] Speaker 1: the walk-in freezer. I ran back through bakery, yanked open
[36:59] Speaker 1: the lock, and she nearly fell into my arms, shaking.
[37:02] Speaker 1: I saw someone, she whispered. Not someone. I don't know
[37:06] Speaker 1: what it was. It smiled and closed the door. I
[37:10] Speaker 1: didn't have time to answer. The store. Speakers crackled again.
[37:15] Speaker 1: Footsteps echoed across the floor. I turned toward the front
[37:18] Speaker 1: lanes and saw him. Mike. But not the Mike I remembered.
[37:23] Speaker 1: His face was pale, eyes sunken. He wore Terry's refinery coveralls,
[37:27] Speaker 1: ripped at the seams, soaked with slush. His skin was
[37:30] Speaker 1: blue around the lips, frostbitten fingers, black and cracked. He
[37:34] Speaker 1: grinned like he just told a joke no one else heard. Missed. UD.
[37:39] Speaker 1: I couldn't move. He took a step forward, still hiding
[37:42] Speaker 1: behind other people, still letting them take the fall. I
[37:46] Speaker 1: slammed the fire alarm. Red lights spun. Sirens wailed. The
[37:51] Speaker 1: emergency doors kicked open. Mike didn't flinch. He just laughed,
[37:56] Speaker 1: then vanished in the blink of an eye. By the
[37:59] Speaker 1: time the cops arrived, Kurt had woken up but couldn't
[38:01] Speaker 1: remember much. Just said, I saw my grandpa. He died
[38:06] Speaker 1: in 2012. He kept mumbling about a coat rack that
[38:10] Speaker 1: wasn't there. Jasmine left in tears. She quit the next morning,
[38:15] Speaker 1: moved back to Winnipeg. They pulled the camera footage, but
[38:18] Speaker 1: it was corrupted, glitching from 11.05 to 11.25 p.m., just
[38:23] Speaker 1: static and darkness, like those 20 minutes never happened. Then
[38:27] Speaker 1: came the final blow. The store manager called me into
[38:31] Speaker 1: the office, said they found Oxy in my locker, a
[38:35] Speaker 1: full bottle, prescription label scratched off. I hadn't touched anything
[38:39] Speaker 1: in months, but my record didn't buy me benefit of
[38:42] Speaker 1: the doubt. Didn't matter that I passed every drug test
[38:45] Speaker 1: for the last year. didn't matter i had nothing to
[38:48] Speaker 1: gain i was fired my probation officer told me it
[38:52] Speaker 1: wasn't looking good i knew i didn't put the pills
[38:55] Speaker 1: there but i knew someone who could have someone who
[38:59] Speaker 1: liked watching me fall i stood outside the costco front
[39:03] Speaker 1: doors with my last paycheck in hand the wind howled
[39:08] Speaker 1: i saw my reflection in the glass faint fractured and
[39:12] Speaker 1: behind me another face mike smiling fogging the glass. But
[39:18] Speaker 1: when I turned, no one was there, just my footprints
[39:21] Speaker 1: in the snow, and his, side by side. You ever
[39:29] Speaker 1: work so late the world starts to feel unreal? Like
[39:32] Speaker 1: the hum of the ceiling lights could lull you into
[39:34] Speaker 1: sleep right there on the floor? That's how it felt
[39:37] Speaker 1: on my last shift at Costco. Bonfire night, 10.45 p.m. Outside,
[39:44] Speaker 1: fireworks cracked and bloomed over Trafford Park. Inside it was
[39:49] Speaker 1: just me, Daryl, and Priya, quiet, dim, and cold in
[39:52] Speaker 1: that way only giant warehouse stores can be. I'd been
[39:55] Speaker 1: pushing pallets all night, mostly in frozen goods. My back ached.
[39:59] Speaker 1: My hands were raw from dragging crates into chilled rooms.
[40:03] Speaker 1: But I needed the hours, needed every paycheck. Mom died
[40:08] Speaker 1: last spring. Cancer took her quick. One minute she was
[40:13] Speaker 1: nagging me to eat breakfast, next she was gone. Just
[40:16] Speaker 1: a whisper in the council flat and an urn on
[40:18] Speaker 1: the shelf. Now it's just me and her old kettle.
[40:21] Speaker 1: Bills piled on the table and a student loan that
[40:24] Speaker 1: grows like mold in the corners. Costco helped fill the gap.
[40:28] Speaker 1: Night shifts. Quiet hours. Fewer customers. No one looked too
[40:33] Speaker 1: hard at me when I zoned out or forgot where
[40:35] Speaker 1: I was going. I liked it like that. That night
[40:40] Speaker 1: I was wheeling the last load into the chilled storage
[40:42] Speaker 1: when Priya called out from the registers. Jamie, can you
[40:45] Speaker 1: check aisle 22? Thought I heard something. I wanted to
[40:49] Speaker 1: ignore it. Pretend I hadn't heard. But I grabbed my
[40:52] Speaker 1: flashlight and started down the long stretch of fluorescent lit floor.
[40:57] Speaker 1: The lights in that aisle had already gone dim. Closing
[40:59] Speaker 1: time settings. Just the red glow of exit signs blinking
[41:03] Speaker 1: gently like tired eyes. Halfway down the aisle I heard it.
[41:08] Speaker 1: A child's giggle. Light. Unnatural. Unnatural. I froze my fingers
[41:16] Speaker 1: tightened on the flashlight. This wasn't a joke. Something wasn't right.
[41:23] Speaker 1: She stood at the end of the aisle lit only
[41:25] Speaker 1: by the dull glow of my torch. A little girl
[41:28] Speaker 1: in a soaked blue dress hair plastered to her face.
[41:31] Speaker 1: Like she'd just climbed out of the canal. I didn't move.
[41:35] Speaker 1: Couldn't she tilted her head slightly like a bird, not threatening,
[41:39] Speaker 1: not friendly, just curious. Have you seen my daddy? She asked,
[41:46] Speaker 1: barely above a whisper. My mouth was dry. I couldn't speak.
[41:51] Speaker 1: My flashlight flickered. I smacked the side of it. When
[41:56] Speaker 1: the beam came steady again, she was closer, five feet closer,
[42:01] Speaker 1: still dripping. Damp footprints marked the linoleum behind her, little
[42:07] Speaker 1: bare toes pressing water into the floor. I stumbled back,
[42:11] Speaker 1: knocked over a display of cereal boxes. The crash echoed
[42:15] Speaker 1: through the empty store. No one else should have been
[42:18] Speaker 1: in here. All the doors were locked. Emergency exits chained.
[42:22] Speaker 1: She took a step toward me. And just like that,
[42:25] Speaker 1: she was gone. Gone. I turned and ran. Full sprint
[42:30] Speaker 1: to the front, nearly colliding with Daryl at the security podium. Jesus, kid,
[42:35] Speaker 1: he said, grabbing my arm. What happened? Couldn't answer. Just
[42:41] Speaker 1: pointed down the aisle, chest heaving. priya walked over brow
[42:44] Speaker 1: furrowed you okay i looked at her there was a
[42:49] Speaker 1: girl a little girl she was she was soaked she
[42:53] Speaker 1: asked for her dad then she vanished priya went still
[42:58] Speaker 1: her face went pale in the fluorescent light daryl just
[43:01] Speaker 1: nodded slow and grim ah he muttered so it's your
[43:05] Speaker 1: turn now what i asked priya sighed rubbing her arms
[43:11] Speaker 1: you saw her emily Every November. They'd both seen her too.
[43:17] Speaker 1: And now I had. We sat in the break room.
[43:20] Speaker 1: Lights off. Kettle steaming. Fireworks. We're popping in the sky outside.
[43:25] Speaker 1: But they felt miles away. In here it was just
[43:28] Speaker 1: the hum of the vending machine and the stale scent
[43:31] Speaker 1: of reheated chips. Priya sat beside me quiet. While Daryl
[43:35] Speaker 1: leaned against the counter like a man waiting for bad
[43:37] Speaker 1: news he already knew was coming. They told me everything
[43:40] Speaker 1: in low voices. Like the walls might listen. the land
[43:44] Speaker 1: where this Costco sits, it used to back onto the
[43:48] Speaker 1: Manchester Ship Canal. November 1987, a girl named Emily Carter,
[43:53] Speaker 1: eight years old, was found drowned there. Back when it
[43:56] Speaker 1: was just abandoned warehouses and rusted cranes, police said she slipped,
[44:01] Speaker 1: fell in while playing. But that wasn't the truth. Her
[44:05] Speaker 1: dad had done it. No charges, Daryl muttered. No proof.
[44:11] Speaker 1: But everybody knew. When Costco started, construction in 99, weird
[44:16] Speaker 1: things happened. Tools vanished, cold spots in sealed rooms. Workers
[44:22] Speaker 1: whispered about a girl's voice calling out at night, and
[44:25] Speaker 1: always in November. Always around bonfire night. She's looking for him,
[44:31] Speaker 1: Priya said. Her dad, every year. Like she doesn't know
[44:35] Speaker 1: she's dead. I wanted to laugh, to dismiss it. But
[44:40] Speaker 1: I couldn't. Not after what I'd seen. Not after the
[44:44] Speaker 1: soaked footprints. Not after her eyes met mine. Why doesn't
[44:48] Speaker 1: anyone do anything? I asked. What do you want us
[44:51] Speaker 1: to do? Daryl shrugged. Exorcism Isle's still under construction. I
[44:58] Speaker 1: almost smiled. Almost. Then the fire alarm blinked once, faintly.
[45:05] Speaker 1: No sound. Just a pulse of red. She's not finished,
[45:09] Speaker 1: Daryl said. It... It was just past midnight when I
[45:13] Speaker 1: heard the knocking, three sharp taps, then silence. I'd finished
[45:18] Speaker 1: my final check, tried to shake off the cold sweat
[45:20] Speaker 1: on my skin, and headed back to the chilled storage
[45:23] Speaker 1: to grab my jacket. The knocking came again, from the inside.
[45:28] Speaker 1: I stopped just outside the metal door. My breath fogged
[45:32] Speaker 1: in front of me. I hadn't even opened it yet,
[45:35] Speaker 1: and then, her voice muffled through the door. Jamie. She
[45:41] Speaker 1: knew my name. I opened it. Inside, the room was dark,
[45:46] Speaker 1: lit only by the glow of the exit sign above
[45:48] Speaker 1: the door. It was colder than usual. Too cold. I
[45:53] Speaker 1: stepped in slowly, eyes scanning the crates of milk, butter,
[45:57] Speaker 1: and juice. She stood between two pallets, Emily. Same soaked dress,
[46:02] Speaker 1: same wet hair. Her skin was pale now, almost gray.
[46:06] Speaker 1: Her eyes black. Not angry, not sad. Just... Empty. He
[46:13] Speaker 1: left me here, she said. I tried to back away,
[46:17] Speaker 1: but the door slammed shut behind me. The lights blinked out.
[46:21] Speaker 1: Water began to pool around her feet. It spreads fast.
[46:24] Speaker 1: My shoes were soaked in seconds. I slipped, scrambled backward,
[46:29] Speaker 1: heart hammering like it was trying to escape my chest. Emily.
[46:34] Speaker 1: I choked. I'm not him. I'm not your dad. She
[46:39] Speaker 1: tilted her head again, Closer now. The temperature dropped so
[46:43] Speaker 1: fast my breath turned white. He left me here, she
[46:47] Speaker 1: said again. Her voice echoed now, bouncing around the metal walls.
[46:51] Speaker 1: I pressed against the door, pounding on it, shouting for Daryl,
[46:54] Speaker 1: for Priya, for anyone. The light blinked once, and then
[46:58] Speaker 1: the door opened. She was gone. I didn't go back
[47:03] Speaker 1: the next night. Didn't call in. Didn't explain. I just stopped. Stopped.
[47:09] Speaker 1: Priya transferred a week later, said she had family in Leeds.
[47:12] Speaker 1: She didn't even say goodbye, just left a note in
[47:14] Speaker 1: my locker. You're not crazy. Take care of yourself. Daryl stayed.
[47:18] Speaker 1: Someone's got to watch. Over her? He told me when
[47:21] Speaker 1: I ran into him outside the store one afternoon. He
[47:24] Speaker 1: looked tired. Older somehow. I think she waits for people
[47:29] Speaker 1: like us. The ones who notice. I quit officially a
[47:33] Speaker 1: few days later. Went full-time on my nursing course. Threw
[47:37] Speaker 1: myself into my studies. tried to forget, tried to move on.
[47:41] Speaker 1: But every November, I still remember, still avoid that part
[47:44] Speaker 1: of Trafford Park. And when I shop at Costco now,
[47:47] Speaker 1: I steer clear of aisle 22. Even when it's broad daylight,
[47:51] Speaker 1: even when there's laughter and sales and the smell of
[47:54] Speaker 1: rotisserie chickens, I can feel it. Sometimes I swear I
[47:57] Speaker 1: hear her voice just behind me. Sometimes I feel the
[48:02] Speaker 1: cold air wrap around my neck like fingers. And every
[48:05] Speaker 1: bonfire night, when the sky lights up and the crowds cheer.
[48:10] Speaker 1: I stay inside. Because I remember that she's still waiting,
[48:14] Speaker 1: and I was the last one who saw her. That
[48:21] Speaker 1: was Costco on the day it all went down. March 8th, 2025.
[48:25] Speaker 1: A Saturday so hot the bitumen outside looked like it
[48:27] Speaker 1: was breathing. 40 degrees Celsius, or close to 100 if
[48:31] Speaker 1: you think in Fahrenheit. Melbourne was in the middle of
[48:34] Speaker 1: a brutal... Heatwave and every family in the city seemed
[48:37] Speaker 1: to be inside that store trying to find some comfort
[48:40] Speaker 1: in industrial-strength air conditioning. I was halfway through my shift,
[48:44] Speaker 1: sweating even under the cold, fluorescent lights. I stocked the
[48:47] Speaker 1: electronics aisle like I had a hundred times before. TVs,
[48:51] Speaker 1: game consoles, speakers. Boring, but safe. I worked here part-time,
[48:56] Speaker 1: juggling uni and this job, ever since Dad got injured.
[49:00] Speaker 1: He'd been a cop for over 20 years before. A
[49:03] Speaker 1: robbery left him with a busted leg and a haunted
[49:05] Speaker 1: look in his eyes. Now he limped around the house
[49:08] Speaker 1: pretending everything was fine, while I tried not to repeat
[49:11] Speaker 1: his mistakes. It was supposed to be a normal shift.
[49:15] Speaker 1: I remember adjusting a Bluetooth speaker on the shelf when
[49:17] Speaker 1: the voice came over the PA. Attention Costco members, we
[49:21] Speaker 1: are initiating a temporary lockdown. Please remain calm. For a second,
[49:25] Speaker 1: I thought maybe it was a drill, some safety protocol.
[49:29] Speaker 1: But then I looked up and saw them. Three men
[49:32] Speaker 1: near the exit wearing ski masks and moving with intention.
[49:36] Speaker 1: One of them had a gun, black, short-barreled, Held low,
[49:40] Speaker 1: but with purpose. My stomach dropped. This wasn't a drill.
[49:45] Speaker 1: I ducked low behind a stack of protein powder tubs
[49:49] Speaker 1: and tried to slow my breathing. My phone was in
[49:51] Speaker 1: my locker. No way to call for help. I felt
[49:55] Speaker 1: the weight of the moment press down on me heavy
[49:57] Speaker 1: and real. And somewhere behind me, a child started crying.
[50:02] Speaker 1: You never think about how loud a child's cry is
[50:04] Speaker 1: until silence becomes the most precious thing in the world.
[50:08] Speaker 1: I peeked out from behind the stack and saw her,
[50:10] Speaker 1: a tiny girl, no more than six. She stood frozen
[50:14] Speaker 1: near the frozen foods aisle, tears streaming down her face,
[50:17] Speaker 1: her hands clenched into fists. Her mother was nowhere in sight,
[50:21] Speaker 1: maybe separated in the confusion, maybe pushed back by the
[50:25] Speaker 1: crowd trying to hide. One of the masked men turned
[50:29] Speaker 1: toward the sound. Not all the way. Just a glance,
[50:34] Speaker 1: his head snapping like a hunting dog's. I felt something
[50:37] Speaker 1: cold in my chest that had nothing to do with
[50:40] Speaker 1: the air conditioning. I moved without thinking. I crawled along
[50:45] Speaker 1: the bottom shelf of the pet supply section, ducking past
[50:48] Speaker 1: towers of cat litter and stacks of bulk dog food
[50:51] Speaker 1: until I was close enough. I reached the girl, scooped
[50:53] Speaker 1: her up in my arms and whispered, it's okay. You're okay.
[50:58] Speaker 1: We need to be quiet now. She didn't fight me,
[51:01] Speaker 1: just sobbed into my shirt. her little arms clutching my
[51:05] Speaker 1: neck as I sprinted down the next aisle. The freezer
[51:08] Speaker 1: was nearby, one of those industrial walk-in types with shelves
[51:12] Speaker 1: of frozen pizzas and burger patties and a thick metal door.
[51:16] Speaker 1: I shoved it open, stepped inside, and closed it behind us.
[51:20] Speaker 1: Instant cold hit me like a slap. The temperature difference
[51:23] Speaker 1: made my skin sting, but it was safe, at least
[51:26] Speaker 1: safer than the chaos outside. The girl kept crying, quieter now.
[51:32] Speaker 1: I want my mummy. I know, I whispered. We'll find her,
[51:37] Speaker 1: I promise. But right now we have to hide. Outside,
[51:43] Speaker 1: muffled through the thick glass window, I saw them at
[51:45] Speaker 1: the pharmacy counter. One of them was shouting, forcing a
[51:48] Speaker 1: manager to unlock a safe. I clenched my jaw. It
[51:53] Speaker 1: wasn't just about money. They were after something else. I
[51:56] Speaker 1: could only see part of the store from the freezer's
[51:59] Speaker 1: little window, but it was enough. The three robbers were
[52:01] Speaker 1: clearly working in sync. One was watching the crowd, holding
[52:05] Speaker 1: the gun. His job was control. The second was barking
[52:10] Speaker 1: orders at the pharmacy manager, making her open the safe
[52:14] Speaker 1: behind the counter. The third was stuffing what looked like
[52:17] Speaker 1: bottles and boxes into a black duffel bag. Not cash.
[52:21] Speaker 1: Not electronics. They wanted meds. Probably painkillers, antipsychotics, maybe even
[52:27] Speaker 1: insulin or cancer treatments. Stuff you could flip on the
[52:30] Speaker 1: black market for thousands. Dad always told me, criminals are evolving.
[52:36] Speaker 1: It's not just money anymore. It's whatever the system fails
[52:40] Speaker 1: to protect. My hand trembled as I cradled the little girl,
[52:44] Speaker 1: her cheek cold against my chest. I watched the gunman pace.
[52:49] Speaker 1: He looked jittery, glancing too often at the entrance. He
[52:53] Speaker 1: hadn't planned on things dragging out this long. Or maybe
[52:56] Speaker 1: the heat was getting to him too. Then I heard it,
[52:59] Speaker 1: sirens distant, rising, fast. The police had been alerted. Maybe
[53:03] Speaker 1: someone had texted. Maybe the panic button behind the counter
[53:06] Speaker 1: was hit. The gunman heard them too. He yelled something
[53:10] Speaker 1: at the others. Panic in his voice now. Then, bang,
[53:14] Speaker 1: he fired a shot into the ceiling. Screams tore through
[53:17] Speaker 1: the store. I dropped lower inside the freezer, shielding the
[53:21] Speaker 1: girl behind the shelves. My heart pounded so hard I
[53:24] Speaker 1: thought it might shake the glass. Outside, the robbers made
[53:28] Speaker 1: a break for the loading dock near the tire center.
[53:30] Speaker 1: but the police were already pouring in through the emergency
[53:33] Speaker 1: exit and surrounding the building. The tension cracked like a
[53:36] Speaker 1: wire under pressure. I could feel it in my teeth.
[53:40] Speaker 1: I stayed put, for her sake and for mine. It
[53:43] Speaker 1: didn't take long for the standoff to begin. Two of
[53:46] Speaker 1: the robbers, gunman and bagman, ran toward the tire center.
[53:51] Speaker 1: I could see bits of the commotion from the freezer window,
[53:54] Speaker 1: cops in ballistic vests taking cover behind parked shopping trolleys
[53:57] Speaker 1: and the big display of kayaks. The third guy The
[54:01] Speaker 1: one who'd been forcing open the pharmacy safe. He disappeared.
[54:05] Speaker 1: One second he was in frame. The next, gone. Slipped
[54:10] Speaker 1: out a side exit, maybe. That unsettled me more than anything.
[54:14] Speaker 1: Because criminals like that, when they vanish, they don't stop running.
[54:19] Speaker 1: They blend in. Change clothes. Hide in plain sight. I
[54:23] Speaker 1: held the girl tighter as a booming voice echoed through
[54:26] Speaker 1: the store. This is the Victoria Police. Drop your weapon
[54:30] Speaker 1: and come out with your hands up. More shouting. Another
[54:33] Speaker 1: loud bang. A warning shot, I hoped. Then... Quiet. Minutes.
[54:41] Speaker 1: Passed like hours. Then I heard the girl whisper. Is
[54:44] Speaker 1: it over? I looked into her big brown eyes and said, Almost.
[54:48] Speaker 1: Eventually footsteps approached. Heavy. Careful. Then a knock on the
[54:54] Speaker 1: freezer door. A female officer. Rifle slung across her chest.
[54:59] Speaker 1: peered in through the window and mouthed something i opened
[55:03] Speaker 1: the door she pulled the girl gently from my arms
[55:06] Speaker 1: and handed her off to a waiting paramedic she gave
[55:09] Speaker 1: me a quick once over you all right i nodded
[55:13] Speaker 1: yeah just cold she smiled briefly then rushed off i
[55:18] Speaker 1: stepped back into the heat of the store lights flickering
[55:20] Speaker 1: slightly from the chaos people were emerging from their hiding
[55:23] Speaker 1: spots crying shouting reuniting no one was dead That was
[55:30] Speaker 1: a miracle. But something inside me had shifted. The news
[55:34] Speaker 1: vans showed up before the last sirens faded. By the
[55:38] Speaker 1: time I made it outside, the sun was lower but
[55:40] Speaker 1: still fierce, hammering the pavement like a furnace. I leaned
[55:44] Speaker 1: against a wall, shaking, not from cold anymore but from
[55:47] Speaker 1: everything else. Two of the robbers were cuffed and bleeding.
[55:51] Speaker 1: One was missing. The cops were already going door to
[55:54] Speaker 1: door in the surrounding blocks. They called me a hero.
[55:59] Speaker 1: They gave me a statement form, a blanket, and a
[56:02] Speaker 1: pat on the back. But I wasn't thinking about that.
[56:05] Speaker 1: I was thinking, what if they'd seen me? What if
[56:08] Speaker 1: I'd moved too slow? What if I froze instead of ran?
[56:12] Speaker 1: A thousand what-ifs. And none of them comforting. Later that night,
[56:18] Speaker 1: after everything had been processed, after I'd been offered a
[56:20] Speaker 1: full-time role by my manager with a half-joke, you kept
[56:24] Speaker 1: a cool head in the freezer. I went home. Tried
[56:27] Speaker 1: to study. Couldn't focus. I heard a loud bang outside,
[56:32] Speaker 1: just a car backfiring. But I jumped anyway. Dad noticed
[56:36] Speaker 1: from the kitchen. He was leaning on his cane, watching
[56:39] Speaker 1: me like he already knew. You all right, son? I
[56:43] Speaker 1: forced a smile. Yeah, just tired. But I knew the truth.
[56:49] Speaker 1: I wouldn't forget that day. Not for a long time.
[56:53] Speaker 1: Maybe not ever. And somewhere out there, one man was
[56:57] Speaker 1: still free. Waiting. Watching. Or maybe just disappearing, the way
[57:02] Speaker 1: people do when they know how. Either way, it wasn't over.
[57:08] Speaker 1: Not for me. Thank you.

Shows are listed from Apple Podcasts' charts and directory, and Podcast Index where it is used. Every show and episode belongs to its publisher and plays from the publisher's own feed; this site hosts none of them.