Story 52
The Thing That Lives in Our Company
Our company’s building is kind of oddly designed — the first floor is for the clerical staff, and the second floor is for the sales department.
I work in sales. It’s been about two years since I last set foot downstairs.
Because of this weird layout, people complained a lot about how inconvenient it was to go back and forth — there’s only an outside staircase, so rainy days are a nightmare.
The phones were a pain too, so management decided to set up a web conference system between the two floors.
Now, both floors have screens that show live video feeds of each other, and you can just talk to the screen to communicate instantly.
The problem is… no one’s officially in charge of turning it on or off, so it’s basically connected 24/7.
That means that even after the clerical staff leaves at six, the connection stays on — and while the sales team usually works until around nine, the screen just shows a live feed of the dark, empty first floor the whole time.
Honestly, it’s kind of creepy.
The first time I noticed something strange was about half a year ago.
It was a Friday night.
I’d finished my work early and was about to head home, but one of my seniors told me he’d be done in twenty minutes and asked me to wait so we could grab drinks together.
So, I just sat there, zoning out at my desk.
Out of boredom, my eyes wandered around the office — and landed on the big screen showing the first floor.
I wasn’t thinking anything in particular. Just staring blankly.
And then I noticed it.
There was someone down there.
But the first floor should have been locked.
And only five of us salespeople were still in the office that late.
Still, there it was — a shadow, swaying slowly in the dark downstairs.
I couldn’t make out any features, but it was definitely moving.
Panicking, I reached over and tapped my senior on the shoulder, pointing frantically at the screen.
“There’s someone down there!”
He froze, eyes fixed on the display.
He saw it too.
Other coworkers overheard and rushed over.
“No way…”
“It’s true! There’s someone there!”
Everyone started shouting.
Then someone said, “Let’s go check it out!”
We all ran to the stairs, flew down the outside steps, and unlocked the first-floor door —
— and immediately, the security alarm went off.
Apparently, the first floor’s doors are wired to sound the alarm automatically after 7 p.m.
Security rushed in, we got scolded by about five different people, and we all had to file written apologies.
In short — there’s no way anyone could’ve entered or exited that floor at that hour.
Which meant that whatever we saw down there… wasn’t human.
For weeks after that, everyone kept whispering that the building was haunted.
And since then, whenever I stay late, I sometimes see that same wavering figure on the screen again.
Not every night, but often enough to make your skin crawl.
And it’s not just me — others see it too.
Then, about a month ago, something came to light.
It turned out that, on the first floor, there had been a severe case of workplace bullying.
Several of the bullied employees had quit.
The bullies were all dismissed for misconduct.
Yesterday, I told a friend of mine — someone who’s sensitive to the supernatural — about everything: the bullying, the shadows, the strange presence on the first floor.
He listened quietly, then said:
“That’s not a ghost.
It’s the resentment left behind by the people who were bullied.”
And that’s when it hit me.
Ghosts aren’t the scariest thing in the world.
People are.
