What happens at 6:15 AM

Matt looked at the time on his phone as his hand hovered over the door handle, the minutes ticking away: 10:58 PM, 10:59 PM, and finally 11:00 PM. He swung the doors open to see the second shift getting ready to leave. The Grocery store was like any other, cash registers, aisles labeled with everything from snacks to alcoholic drinks. His boss told him NOT to be late for his first shift. Even being a minute late will result in him being fired before he could even start the first hour of work. Matt normally wouldn’t put so much care into a job, but the pay was really good, 36 dollars an hour just for watching over a grocery store overnight.

The last shift stared at him like he was pointing a gun at them. He briefly looked behind him to see if there was something else that deserved so much attention. All that greeted him was the dark and most empty parking lot.

“Hi, I’m here for the next shift?” Matt said.

In unison, everyone noticed that they were staring at him and quickly looked to the ground, except for one man. He was older, overweight, and balding; his eyes did not leave Matt. Matt assumed that it was some kind of prank for newcomers, and not wanting to be rude, he introduced himself with a smile and an outstretched hand.

“Hi, I’m Matt. I’m here for the next shift.”

The man grabbed Matt by the shoulders with an almost violent grip. Matt could feel his fingers digging into his arm as his eyes became more intense.

“Hey, what’s your problem?”

“Leave and never come back. There is no amount of money worth this job. But if you stay, do whatever she tells you to do; there is no other way.”

The man let go of Matt and walked out of the store.

Matt looked to the other employees, “What’s his problem?”

A woman came up to him. She was small and thin with long blond hair. “I’m Sal. That was Victor. He used to work the third shift, he says that to anyone who wants to work the third shift, that’s kinda his thing, don’t mind him”.

“Crazy, that’s what I say.”

“I think he started to hallucinate with no one to keep him company.”

“He was here alone?”

“There is only one person for the third shift, but you’ll do fine, just don’t touch anything weird.”

“Weird?”

Sal rubbed her neck, “Umm, weird things, you know, anyways, I need to get going, I don’t want to be here when she calls.”

Sal started to walk out the door.

“She? Who is going to call?”

“Don’t worry about it, just listen to the rules, that’s all.” Before she made it fully out the door, she turned back to look at Matt, “Maybe you should listen to Victor, if it’s too good to be true, it is too good.”

Matt stood in the store alone as Sal left. He walked down the aisles to see everything they sold. It was standard selection for a grocery store, clothes, food, cookware, but before he could finish, his phone rang. He didn’t recognize the number. He was about to hang up like it was any other random, unknown caller, then he remembered that Sal said something about ‘when she calls’.

“Hello?” said Matt as he put the phone to his ear.

“Hello Matthew, what a lovely night it is to be working at the grocery store, eh?”

The person speaking was definitely a woman. Her voice was smooth, confident, and oddly fun. But not like she was a fun person, more like she was having the time of her life.

“Who are you? You’re not the person who hired me.”

“Correct, I am the manager for all stores in the state. You can call me the Lady in Green. If you do as I say, you get paid, and I get paid.”

“Hi, if you’re calling to fill me in, I already have a good idea of what I’m doing. I’ve worked this kind of job before.”

“I read your resume, but there are some ‘responsibilities’ that are outside of your job description.”

“I’m not doing that; I’m doing what I signed up for.”

“That’s a great way to get terminated.”

“You can’t fire me for not doing something that wasn’t in my job description.”

“I didn’t say fired. You. Will. Be. Terminated.”

“Is this a threat?”

“Stay or leave. As long as the lights are on, you can walk right out of here, no questions asked, and no problems. You might even get some hush money. But once the lights turn off, never open those doors, no matter what.

“This is dumb, I’m leave-”

Suddenly, the lights went out. “Oops, must be 11:30, you’re stuck now.”

“Forget this, I’m leaving.” Matt placed his hand on the door, ready to leave. He could push it open, get in his car, and drive off, yet he didn’t move. Was it because he needed the money, or did he believe her? Couldn’t decide which it was. “Why shouldn’t I leave?” The lady’s voice had lost the fun it had; now it was sharp and low. “You’ll die, drop dead where you stand. I would like you alive, so I don’t have to go down there.”

Matt paused, dead? He thought. It was ridiculous to think he would die just from opening a door. But her voice. She meant it even if Matt didn’t believe she did. Matt pondered the chances that she was right, and they were higher than he would have liked to admit. He took his hand off the door and stepped back.

“Let’s say you are right, what do I do?”

Matt could hear her smile over the phone, “I knew you were a smart one. Get to the employees' room. Head to the far left end of the store, the staff only door, and if you see any shoppers, don’t look them in the eyes.” Matt knew no one should be in the building; the last shift had left, and everything was closed. “But I’m the only one here.”

“Get moving!”

He hurried his way through the aisles, although dark, he could make out most things. He was somewhere in the canned goods section. Everything looked normal, apart from the fact that all the lights were off. The shelves were fully stocked with beans, tuna, and vegetables, and something caught his eye at the end of the aisle. It unmistakably had a human shape, but it had now passed. Matt rubbed his eyes. He couldn’t believe it. He wasn’t alone, and his new companion provided him no comfort.

“Hey!” Matt jumped, he had forgotten he was still on a call with the Lady in Green, “You stopped moving, why?”

“There’s someone else here.”

“I know there is, I told you, ignore them. GET. MOVING!” Almost out of spite, he wanted to sit still and teach her how to say please and thank you. Matt almost stopped when he thought about how she knew that he had stopped moving. She also knew when he backed away from the door, was she there with him?

“I have to ask; how did you know I stopped moving or when I stepped away from the door?”

“Easy, I have mind powers that can see all.” Like a psychic? Matt thought with his eye widening, “Really?”

“No, I have access to the camera feed, I’ll be your eyes, but I can’t see everything, blind spots, and some things can only be seen by human eyes.” He slammed his palm on his forehead. Of course, she can see the cameras. Psychic? Is that where his brain went? He thought of a better question: why did she need to be his eyes and what could only be seen with human eyes?

Matt made it to the end of the aisle and spotted the door labeled “staff.” He entered the room. It was a break room and a security room. To one side was a fresh pot of coffee, a small fridge, and a long table set with chairs. The other side had security cameras and a swivel chair that looked more comfortable than the others.

“I’m supposed to read some corporate jargon, but we can skip that. The room you are in is a ‘safe room’ of sorts, but not really. The big thing is to be here before 6:15.”

“Okay, but was that a person?”

“Wait, and I’ll explain. So impudent. What you saw was a ‘shopper’, you can’t see, but I’m putting air quotes around ‘shopper’. They’re harmless as long as you don’t look them in the eyes or bother them. They might ask you a question. If so, just say I’ll get the manager, and they will leave you alone.”

“What are they? Are they people?”

“Best not to ask those questions, it’s above your pay grade. But you can think of them as ghosts.”

“This store is haunted?”

“Sure… let's go with that.”

Matt rubbed the side of his head; it was clear that he would not be getting any kind of answer.

“But hey, it’s not all bad. If you come back tomorrow, we’ll double your pay.” Double? Matt perked up at the offer, and he hated how excited he got. “Okay, what do I have to do?”

Before the lady in green could explain, there was a loud thud followed by a shaking like a mini earthquake. The pot of coffee vibrated off the counter and shattered, and the chair jiggled out of its place. “That’s bad, we’ve wasted a lot of time, get to the drinks and remember, back here before 6:15.”

“What happens at 6:15?”

“Get back here and you won’t have to find out.”

Matt wanted to question the shaking and the time, but he assumed she would provide another invasive answer. Matt left the staff room and started to move to the drinks. “Okay, what do I do when I get to the drinks?”

“I’ll have to walk you through it; it is very dependent on what they say.”

“Who?”

“Stop moving! Don’t breathe, don’t blink, stay still.”

Matt didn’t move, his eyes wide open. It had only been a few seconds, it had felt like minutes; Matt was struggling to hold his breath. He could see or hear anything but something was there. But before he gave in to taking a breath, the Lady said, “You can breathe now and better hurry too, time’s ticking.” Matt took a deep breath and continued, “Why did I have to do that?”

“We call it Rob; it’s a little nickname we have, but Rob isn’t a fan of moving things.”

“What happens if Rob sees me moving?”

“Ever wondered what a person would look like after being pushed through a one-inch hole?” Matt pictured it for a second and shivered, “Enough said.”

“Oh, and avoid aisle 10 at all costs. I mean it. ”

“I’m starting to question if I should be trusting you.”

“Well, do you?”

“I would like to think you’re helping, but I don’t have anything to go on, nor do I have the slightest clue what is going on. At this point, it’s blind trust. I already had two people tell me I should never have come, and I think they were right. I’m starting to think I’m your plaything.”

“I like you, smarter than most. Truth is, I know far less than I lean on. It's more than a game, though I do love to see how long I can keep my puppets alive; we are doing something far more important. Can you trust me? It wouldn’t be the first time someone has the right not to trust me. But trust or not, I have a feeling you’re going to do everything I say, am I right? There were red flags before you signed up, but the money was too important.”

“Something like that.”

Matt started to move to the Drinks section; he looked down the aisle to find the drink section, but he saw people, the ‘shoppers’ she must have been talking about. They looked like normal people shopping; the only thing that was weird was that they were doing it at night. Matt felt something tap him on the shoulder. He jumped and whipped around to see if the shoppers were there. He looked at the ground before he could get a look at their face.

“Excuse me, but do you know where I can find joy?”

Matt paused, joy? That was a weird thing to ask. “Um, I’ll get the manager.”

“Thank you,” said the shopper before they walked off. “So, you keep referring to a ‘we’, is there more?”

“The ‘we’ I am referring to is the rest of management. I work for a company after all. Who do you think is paying you?”

“What does the company sell?”

“When weird things pop up, we deal with them for a fee, and we sell discounted groceries. Drink section is on teh next left.” Matt made the next left and saw a horse, which was brown with little white spots. The horse was doing its best to open a wine bottle with its mouth.

“Is that a horse?”

“Yes, do you have a problem with that?”

“No, actually, I really like horses. I was expecting something odder. So, what do I have to lead him out?” Matt could hear the Lady in Green laughing, “That’s not a normal horse, it’s eaten people before, put me on speaker, I’ll do the talking.”

Matt thought that there was no way she was going to talk with the horse. He approached the horse, and the closer he got, the more uneasy he felt. The animal slowly lifted its head and looked Matt dead in the eyes. Immediately, a dread washed over him, and he wanted to hide from this horse, but before he could, the horse opened its mouth and spoke.

“Lovely day for a drink, is it?”

Matt’s mouth dropped open as he held out his phone to the horse, and Lady in Green cleared her throat, “There is blood in the air, and the blood will spoil the taste of wine.” He could feel the horse take a deep breath in, “Ah, I smell it in my nose and taste it on my tongue.”

“Open your eyes, do you see the bodies? Open your ears, your master calls for you.”

“Yes, the bombs burst, and the armies are still at war, what a terrible day for drink.” Said the horse as he walked off.

Before Matt could ask what happened, there was another loud thud and a shaking.

“You’re out of time! Run to the employee's room now!”

“What’s happening now?”

“It’s almost 6:15, now move!”

Matt ran at full speed to the door; he could feel his heart rate shoot up higher than it had ever before. His legs pounded the floor with every step. Fear rushed through his body even though he had no idea why; he wasn’t told what would happen at 6:15, yet he feared.

“Matthew, don’t stop and don’t panic, but Rob has spotted you.”

Matt heard what sounded like a truck driving through the canned goods aisle as hundreds of cans spread across the floor and even one passed his head. He didn’t have time to look behind him; only one thing was on his mind, and that was to run! Despite clearly hearing something crash through the canned goods section, he could only hear his footsteps, his heart, his breathing. The door was in sight, and he reached out his arm and grabbed the doorknob. He got into the room as quickly as possible and closed the door. When he closed the door, he got a glimpse of Rob. If it wasn’t for that glimpse, he might not have believed he was being chased. He had no words for what he saw, only hate; it looked like hate.

“Matthew!” Her sharp voice pulled him out, “Turn off the cameras, there is a red power switch, hit it and tell me the time.”

Matt quickly found it and turned everything off and looked at the time on his phone, “It is 6:14.”

There was a loud thud, and the room began to shake, but the sound and shaking didn’t stop. In fact, it grew in intensity to the point that he could hardly stand before it all suddenly stopped, and the time read 6:16, and the lights came back on.

“Congratulations on making it to your first night. You are free to leave.”

Matt didn’t respond; perhaps he was in some kind of shock. He wanted to go, to lay down and forget everything that happened. He opened the door and walked out of the store. Shoppers were gone, and the lights were on. The only thing out of place was the canned goods section, where it was a complete mess; it looked like a car had driven through the aisle.

“I will be happy to work with you again, Matthew, and we will have your pay doubled from now on, and I’ll have them pay you in advance for the week. See you tomorrow.”

Matt stopped mid-step. Tomorrow? Tomorrow! There was no way on this green earth that he was coming back. He was told nothing; he was treated like a disposable pond and almost died. “You’re crazy to think I’m coming back, I don’t care how good the money is; I’m not coming back.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said with venom in her words and hung up.

Matt got in his car and slammed his head into the steering wheel. He put the key in and started the engine when he got a notification that his bank account shot up from 33 dollars and 23 cents to over three thousand dollars. He felt a drop in his chest, “Oh no, I’m coming back.”