The Night Shift – Part 3

An Anatomy of Typewriters Story / 2,150 words / 9min Read Time

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To say I continued my cursing tirade would be an understatement. When the flashlight hit the floor it fluttered a bit then went out. This wasn’t the first time I’d dropped it clumsily and I’d been meaning to replace it as it’s been known to stop working if knocked about. I pulled my phone out and turned on its flashlight to help me find what I was looking for, completely forgetting why I dropped it in the first place.

“There you are,” I said, getting down on one knee and reaching under the counter where I could see the long end of the flashlight sticking out. “Ouch.” I pulled my hand out quickly, clutching the flashlight in my hand. I shine my phone light over it to see a thin, long, slash on my side of my right hand, blood is slowly trickling from it. “God, damn it!” I turn off my phone’s flashlight and put it back in my pocket, then retrieve my large black handkerchief that I keep in case of a sneezing emergency, or there’s something gross I don’t want to touch with my bare hands. Using my teeth, I manage to tie it around my hand, blood already beginning to seep through.

I know I need to get it looked at right away and can’t leave it for too long. At least I’ll have an excuse to leave work early tonight. I turn the flashlight back on to light my way to the entrance of the shop when the familiar sound of tapping on keys starts up again.

With as much speed as I can muster I rush to the back room where the desk, chair and typewriter are all exactly where I remember them last time I was back here. Except, the chair starts to turn slowly. My light shining on it tells me there’s no one sitting in the chair controlling it. The chair stops turning just enough for me to see the little girl doll, smiling at me. I can’t see if she’s holding anything in her hands. Her head spins in place from facing me back towards the typewriter.

To prove to myself I’m not afraid of some porcelain doll, I walk up to the typewriter and shine the light on the paper sticking out of it:

YOU MUSTN’T LEAVE ME. I AM FRIGHTENED. PLEASE SAVE ME.

I feel something cold and hard graze my bandaged hand. I step back from the desk and look down at the doll, her stiff arm is extended. I turn around on my heels and make for the exit. A sign illuminated over the door guides my way. Once outside I fumble with my large keyring to find the master key that can open and lock all the stores in the mall. I quickly lock the shop and breath a sigh of relief. This place was giving me the creeps and I needed to leave.

I make my way back to the control room to gather my things and call my relief in case I need to leave work at any time during my shift. In all the time I’ve been here I never had to call in a relief worker before. But looking at my bandage and all the blood that’s already soaked into it, I knew it would be a bad idea for me to wait till the end of my shift which wasn’t for another eight hours.

“What?” The voice on the other line was gruff and grumpy. I expected it. No one would appreciate being woken up in the middle of the night, especially if it’s to report in to work a night shift at a mall.

“Hey, is this…” I forgot his name already and rushed over to the calendar on the wall that listed all of our names and phone numbers as well as who our relief call should be. “…Aaron?”

“Yeah, who the fuck’s asking?” I was about to match his tone but I really needed him to come into work and if he refused, which he can do a certain number of times a year, then I’d have to call Guy to come back in and work a double. I really didn’t want to call Guy. I knew he’d make a big deal out of it and I’d never hear the end of it.

“It’s Tripp over at Sheffield Mall. So, I cut my hand pretty bad and it looks like I’m gonna need to go to emergency, like, right now…”

I could hear Aaron grunting and fumbling as I imagined he was turning in bed to hopefully sit up.

“Who’s that?” A female voice asked.

“Some prick at work, baby. Go back to sleep,” Aaron said, not doing a good job, if any, of covering the phone when he said that to his lady friend. “Listen, you’re SOL tonight buddy, cause I’m not in town and even if I was, I’m not coming in so you can get off work over some fucking paper cut bullshit.” He hung up before I could say anything back. I didn’t blame him. If it were me, I might think the same thing about someone calling me to come in because they cut their hand.

By now I have blood dripping down my arm and I look on the calendar for Guy’s number. I sigh deeply and dial.

“This is Guy,” he shouted into the phone, picking up on the first ring. It sounded like he was a club? Which seemed odd to me cause I never thought of Guy as the club going type.

“Hey, Guy, it’s Tripp. You think you could come back? I cut my hand pretty bad in Ander’s Shop and—”

“I’ll be right there,” Guy said and hung up, leaving me in silence. I thought I would need to do more convincing but I didn’t and while I was relieved I also was apprehensive about what Guy would say when he got here.

I sat down in the office chair and held my hand up over my head to try and stop the bleeding while I waited. I wasn’t sure how long it would take Guy to get here, especially if he was at some club. 

The CCTV screens cycled through each camera as usual and the screen I used to watch a show while I ate my dinner was no longer playing anything. While I tried to decide what to watch in the meantime a light over the LOADING DOCK camera started flashing. It only did that when the loading dock door was opening to let a truck in. I checked the clipboard beside the door where all the delivery dates and times for future shipments were kept. The last one happened during Guy’s shift and the next one wasn’t scheduled until an hour after my shift ended. This was normal. The mall never had shipments in the middle of the night.

From the camera I could see the shadow of the loading dock door slowly opening. “Fuck me,” I said as I grabbed my flashlight again and headed for the loading dock. 

While it wasn’t a place I needed to visit often, I knew how to get to it without a map because it’s where the cleanest and nicest bathrooms were to use during my shift and some nights I find myself taking a smoke break after I take a piss, using the door beside the loading dock truck entrance.

I stopped short before walking down the long corridor because all the lights were on. They definitely shouldn’t be. I turn off my flashlight but keep it in my hand to use as a weapon if necessary. It’s certainly long enough and heavy enough where it could cause some real damage if I were to swing it at someone’s head.

I walk slowly down the corridor, my keys making their usual jingle-jangle sounds with every step I take. I feel a breeze coming down the long hallway, telling me the loading dock door is definitely open. But I don’t hear the sound of a truck engine or any sign of life at all when I round the corner. The door is open but there’s nothing there. I start to walk down the stairs to the ground level, gripping the railing with my bad hand, streaks of my blood left behind.

“Don’t leave me.” The voice comes over the loudspeaker and makes me fall back to a seated position on the stairs. It was a little girl’s voice. “He’ll get me if you leave.”

I look up towards the loudspeaker. “What are you doing? I told you never—” It was definitely a man’s voice. Then the speaker cut off. I pulled myself up using my bad hand and winced, the pain was getting worse and this time moving up my arm towards my shoulder.

Before I leave the docks I push a large red button on the wall beside the open door that is a manual way to close the door. I wait the few minutes it takes to make sure the door closes completely. When it does all the lights in the corridor go out. I pull out my flashlight and start to make my way back to the main office. 

“I do apologize for my daughter. She…doesn’t realize her circumstance the way you and I do. Is that right, Tripp?”

Things were starting to get dizzy around me and I swear I hear loud music, like the person talking to me through the loudspeaker is at a club? I shake my head and try to focus my eyes. I just need to get back to the control room and wait for Guy, who’s on his way.

“Are you hurt? Has my little girl hurt you? Don’t worry. She’ll be punished accordingly. I do hope we can still be friends after all this.”

The voice sounds familiar to me. Like I’ve heard it before but I can’t quite place it. At the end of the corridor where the bathrooms are I decide to go inside, pushing the door open with my bloodied hand, leaving a sloppy print behind me as the door swings back and forth.

I splash cold water on my face and look at myself in the mirror. I see multiples of me, bouncing in and around me. I close my eyes tightly. “Stop it, Tripp. You’re just psyching yourself out. None of this is real. None of this is happening. SNAP OUT OF IT!”

Then I open my eyes to see Guy standing beside my in the mirror.

“Hey there, Tripp,” he says, smiling like nothing’s going on. I step away from him, holding my hands up to protect myself. Though I’m not sure why I feel like I need to protect myself against Guy. “You don’t look too good, buddy. Here, let me help you.”

I can feel his arms wrap around my shoulders, holding me tightly as he guides me to walk. My head bobbles back and forth, my vision going in and out as well as my hearing. I think I look over at him at one point and smile, happy to see him. Now he can deal with whatever is going on and I can go home and sleep. Wait! No! I need to go to the hospital. I’m sure I lost too much blood at this point.

“Sit yourself down here. I’ll be right back,” he says, the voice from the loudspeaker. Or is that Guy’s voice in my ear?

I try to focus my eyes and look around. I expected to see the CCTV’s but instead I see a cuckoo clock on one wall with an owl perched on top of it. The owl looks like it’s going to attack me! I let my head fall to one side and see a typewriter on a desk. The typewriter! I must be in Ander’s Shop. But how did I get here? I don’t remember. I can’t…remember…

“I want you to meet my daughter, Tripp. I’ve been meaning to introduce you two for a while now. It’s been a long time since she’s made friends with the night shift guard, isn’t that right, dear? I guess she’s picky about who she wants to be friends with. Afraid I might disapprove or something.”

The chair I’m sitting in is turned so I can see who’s talking to me. Though I know exactly who it is. It’s the same voice I heard when I started my shift earlier. The voice from the loudspeaker. The voice I thought would come and rescue me or at least tell me what was happening was all in my head.

Guy is standing in front of me, carefully holding the girl doll in his hand. The girl doll looks frightened. I see a tear roll down her cheek before I black out.