I Work the Night Shift… Something Clocks In After Me

Written by Daniel Harper

My name is Daniel Harper and I have been working the night shift at a small warehouse outside town for almost two years. The job is quiet, boring and usually uneventful. From 10 PM to 6 AM, it is just me the buzzing fluorescent lights and the old time clock by the entrance. Three weeks ago, something strange started happening. When I clocked in one night at 9:57 PM I noticed a fresh red timestamp already printed for 9:59 PM even though I had just arrived. I told myself it was a glitch in the old machine but the next night it happened again. Before I even touched my card the clock stamped on its own at 9:58 PM. That was the moment I realized I was not alone in that building.

After that small things began to change. Tools I left on one table appeared somewhere else. The forklift would be facing a different direction than I remembered. I started hearing slow footsteps in the storage loft above me, but whenever I checked there was no one there. I asked my supervisor if anyone else had access to the warehouse at night but he insisted I was the only one scheduled. Still the log records showed two timestamps every night around 10 PM. Mine and another one with no employee number attached. Just a blank space.

Last Friday, I was doing inventory when I heard the loud mechanical clunk of the time clock from across the warehouse. It was exactly 9:59 PM. My heart started racing as I walked toward the entrance. When I reached the clock a fresh red 10:00 PM stamp was still wet. I stood there staring at it when I felt warm breathing against the back of my neck. I could not bring myself to turn around. In the glass reflection of the clock, I saw a tall shape standing directly behind me, its outline shifting like smoke trying to take human form. The clock stamped again at 10:01 PM. That was when I ran.

I left everything behind and drove home without clocking out. I called in sick for two days. Yesterday, my supervisor left me a voicemail asking why I had been clocking in every night at 10 PM without entering through the front door. According to the security footage, the door opens by itself, the time clock stamps, and someone walks through the aisles. The cameras show movement, but the figure is distorted and unclear. I have not gone back since. But every night at 9:59 PM I receive a notification on my phone from the warehouse system saying Daniel Harper clocked in. One minute later, another notification appears with no name attached. Whatever is working my shift now it has not missed a single night.