I have been working in a Target store for a long time. We face all kinds of customers every day. From the over-demanding dad to nagging kids we try to manage every one with a smile.
But some customers turn out to be completely different from what they appear in the beginning. It was a boring Tuesday night and I was cleaning the store. It was near closing hours when I noticed a woman standing in front of a shelf full of toilet paper.
She was nodding her head from left to right and talking to herself in a very weird manner. I was stunned to see her behave like that. I stopped working and stood there in awe.
She suddenly turned back and said - "Melissa, don't you have work to do? " - "Umm. .
. I'm sorry ma'am…" I turned around awkwardly and started mopping the floor again. It took me a second to realise what just happened!
Wait a minute, how did she know my name? I don't even know her and I am pretty sure this is the first time we are meeting in person. I looked at her with a confused face and said - "Ma'am.
. . how do you know my name?
" She didn't reply, just stood there like before. I went to her and touched her shoulder when she suddenly broke free from her transit state and looked at me as if this is the first time, she's seeing me. - "Can you please tell me where I will get the toilet papers?
" - "Ma'am you are standing right next to them. " She looked up at the stacked rolls of toilet paper and got extremely embarrassed. I could see in her eyes that all this time standing there she didn't even notice those rolls.
It was as if all this time, she was in a different world. I asked her again - "Ma'am you didn't tell me. How do you know my name?
" - "What! I don't know your name! What are you saying?
" - "You just called me by my name. I don't even have a name tag. Ma'am, are you feeling alright?
" - "Yeah. . .
I'm just going to finish shopping and go home. I am sorry if I startled you. " The woman grabbed some toilet rolls and threw them in her cart.
I could tell from her body language that she is aware of her weirdness and she is trying to hide something at the same time. As soon as she went out of my sight, I felt the urge to keep an eye on her. I secretly followed her.
She walked past the hardware section and went to the clothing department. At that moment there were hardly 3-4 people in the store. The clothing section was completely empty.
The woman was going through boy's t-shirts like a normal person. I started organizing the shelves nearby and observed her with the corner of my eye. 3 minutes went by and she didn't do anything weird like before.
I kind of lost my interest thinking it was all just a coincidence. I might have taken 5-6 steps when I heard her chuckle. As I looked back, I met with a disgusting sight.
She was pulling her own hair out and chewing them like crazy. The way she was eating her own strands of hair made me shudder in disgust. Saliva was drooling from her mouth and her eyes were moving around like crazy.
I couldn't wait and watch her going on like this. I rushed to the counter and called my co-worker explaining this emergency situation. By the time I reached near the counter, I saw other customers leaving and Paul locking the main entrance.
- "Don't! There's someone in here…" - "What? Then tell them we are past closing hours.
” - "No. . .
you aren't getting it. There's something very wrong with her. You need to come with me.
" The usual routine was to lock the main entrance after 10 pm and leave for home using the back door. Paul and I have worked many shifts together and we were the ones who left this store last. I escorted him to the clothing section where I saw the woman last time.
There was no one else in the store and Paul was getting anxious to leave as well. - “What is it, Mellissa? There’s no one here!
” - “No, I just saw her right there. She was eating her own hair. I’m telling you there was something wrong with her.
” - “Look I don’t have time for all this. Let’s make a quick round of the store and leave. I have a date to go.
” We started searching the store. Paul was walking casually, while I was searching for that woman frantically. I even called out to her – Ma’am?
Where are you? We are about to close the store. Please, come out!
” but no sign of her. We came back to the entrance. I still couldn’t shake off that memory of seeing her chewing her hair when I heard a gasping sound.
My eyes went to Paul who was standing right beside me. I noticed his face turning pale with an unknown fear. His eyes were stuck at something ahead of us.
As I followed his eyes, I found that same woman standing in front of us. But this time there was definitely something wrong with her. Her eyes were turned inside her head revealing the white area.
It was so scary that for a moment it felt like she had no eyeballs. She breathing heavily while making a groaning sound. I whispered to Paul in a low voice – “She’s the one I was talking about.
” (Scared) Paul took a step ahead and said in a fumbling voice – “Ma’am. . .
umm. . .
are you alright? Should we call for an ambulance? ” she didn’t reply and then smiled at us in the eeriest way possible.
I took out my phone and started dialling paramedics because it was clear by then that this woman is not in the best shape. I was about to make the call when the woman started to choke. She was choking on the air and gagging in pain.
It was as if something is stuck in her throat. Her gags soon transformed into horrible coughing and Paul and I just stood there cluelessly. We had no idea what was happening to her and we were so much taken aback by this terrible sight that we forgot to act on it.
She slowly crouched down on the floor while coughing and gagging. “Oh, my god. She’s about to vomit!
” – Paul said in disgust. But what happened afterwards none of us expected to see. The woman shoved her index finger inside her mouth and started to pull something out of her throat.
It was a freaking scary sight to watch. After a few seconds of suffering like this, something actually started to come out of her mouth. Once she took out her fingers from her mouth, we saw what it was!
Believe me or not, that woman pulled out almost a ball of hair strands from her throat. Yes! All that hair she ate back then, she pulled out from her stomach.
I can’t tell you how slimy and filthy it all looked but there we were watching this awful scene like statues. After discharging a pile of saliva covered hairballs from her mouth she got up and turned to Paul. Her inverted eyes turned back to their normal shape and she said – “Please.
. . help me.
. . she’s trying to replace me.
. . ” “Who?
What do you mean? ” – Paul asked her but before she could reply something inside her started to break her bones from within. Her body was bending upwards and downwards, sideways and in every direction possible like crazy while her bones snapped.
It was a scene from an exorcist movie and we had no idea what the hell was going on with her. I didn’t wait anymore and called the Paramedics. Paul screamed in fear as none of us was able to witness this woman turning into a vegetable with her bones breaking one after the other.
By the time the paramedics reached she was lying on the floor wrapped and folded like a garbage bag and barely breathing. Her eyes were popped out from its socket with enormous pain and fear! Even though she was taken to the hospital, she couldn’t be saved.
Paul took a leave to get his shit together and didn’t discuss a word about that woman or that night to anyone. But I couldn’t just let this matter go. A few days later, I went to the hospital she was being taken to and asked a nurse about her.
I had to give quite a description of her condition and the nurse recognised. “Oh, you mean Miss Ruby! Yeah, it was bound to happen anyway.
” I obviously got pretty shocked with that kind of a reply and asked – “What? Why are you saying that? ” The nurse told me she knew this woman from her neighbourhood.
Ruby lived closed to her house. She had no family and was on her own. And she worked as a medium in séances.
The nurse also told me her profession took a huge toll on her and that in her last séance she got very sick as the spirit denied going back. I understood why she said someone is trying to replace her that night. All her spooky behaviours were the result of being possessed.
I don’t know if all that is true or she was just a very sick individual but trust me the way Paul and I witnessed her bones breaking it has to be some evil force lurking inside her at that moment. There’s no human on earth who can break his or her own bones like that. Often at night, I woke up imaging those snapping sounds and her gagging voice trying to ask for help as the uninvited guest took over her body.
I was going through my shopping cart when my eyes went to a girl standing near the counter. She was scanning the entire Target store with her nervous eyes. It was near closing hours hence the store had very few customers.
There were two other people at the counter. The manager was a 50 years old man with a sharp face. I noticed him staring at the girl with a not-so-gentleman look.
The girl was wearing a flower printed short skirt and a red tank top. Honestly, she was attractive and I immediately realised why she felt uncomfortable standing near that counter. It was clear from her face that she was hesitating to approach the man at the counter.
Once those two people left the store, the girl moved her cart away and started going back to the store shelves again. I couldn't help but ask her - "Hey, is everything alright? " To which she replied - "Yeah… I just forgot to get some snacks.
" I could have just bought my stuff and left the store but I decided not to leave the girl alone with this weird dude at the counter. "Care for billing? " the man at the counter asked in a rough voice.
"No, I will just wait for her to come back," I replied pulling my cart aside. Needless to say, he wasn't happy at all as I robbed him of one chance to be alone with an attractive girl and make her uncomfortable in every possible way. I did what I felt I should have done for my sister if she was in place of that girl.
After waiting for 10 minutes when the girl didn't come back, I started to look for her. I went straight to the snacks area where the girl mentioned making a check for but there was no one. Standing in the empty passage, I was wondering if she left using the backdoor out of panic when suddenly I noticed her cart parked at the end of that passageway.
Why did she leave her shopping cart like this? I looked here and there but didn't see her. I started searching for her in the empty store.
Light rain was going outside and the murmur of thunder hinted towards an upcoming storm. I was already late so when I didn't find her after searching for almost 15 minutes, I gave up. I was heading back towards the counter when huge lightning struck nearby and the power went out.
The storm has begun. Heavy winds blew like crazy making the store's glass wall tremble with its pressure. - "Umm.
. . hello!
Anybody? " I took out my phone and turned on the flashlight. I heard a soft whimper behind me and turned back right at that moment.
The girl was standing there. She was covered in sweat and tears rolled down from her eyes. - "He locked us inside…" - "What!
Who? " - "The man at the counter. He's a freak.
He had a gun. I have seen it…" - I had no idea about whatever she was saying. I looked at my phone and saw there was no network.
- “The phones aren’t working right? ” - “How did you…” - “He is probably looking for me now. He is going to kill us both!
” I couldn’t decide what to do at that moment. The girl was saying really scary things about that guy at the counter. I had to act on this matter so I decided to check the exit first.
She said the man locked the exit but why would he do that? I mean, yeah, he appeared like a weirdo to me and yeah, he was trying to flirt with that girl. .
. but is he really a killer roaming around this empty Target store with a gun? ?
? I calmed myself down and said to the girl – “We should go to the front door and check if we can open it! Also, we have to get out to call 911.
There’s no signal inside this store. ” The girl nodded her head and started to follow me. We were walking side by side.
There was pin-drop silence and in that huge store, I felt like we are going to get lost in the dark. The storm was roaring outside and I could hear the nervous breathing of that girl. I wasn’t been able to figure out which way is the main door in that excessive darkness also my mobile’s battery was draining out.
I gave my phone to the girl and said – “You wait here. I’ll go grab a flashlight. ” We were walking amidst the hardware section.
I could almost see flashlights hanging. So, I walked ahead and grabbed one. I was about to walk back to her when someone grabbed me from behind and pulled me aside.
Whoever it was placed a hand on my mouth so that I can’t scream. It was a strong hand and it pinned me on the other side of the huge shelf. Out of shock and panic, I turned on the flashlight and it was him!
That weirdo from the cash counter. His eyes were wide and blood was dripping from a cut at his forehead. He spoke in a low but panicked voice – “We must get out of here!
That girl is out of her mind! ” I was extremely surprised thinking what the hell is he talking about? He is the one who chased her like a killer!
The man took his hand off from my mouth. - “What are you saying? She told me you’re the one who is trying to kill her!
” - “What! She’s the one who attacked me. .
. she’ll. .
. ” Girl: “Hey. .
. did you get the flashlight? Hurry up!
We need to go. . .
” I saw the girl walking towards us with my phone in her hand. As soon as she reached closed the power came back and I found myself standing between the man and that girl. They both saw each other and their faces turned pale.
Narrator: “Will anyone tell me what’s the deal with we two? This man said that you attacked him! ” Girl: “What!
Look at him and look at me! He’s lying! Didn’t you see how he was checking me out at the counter before?
he is the reason why I scared off that moment. ” Man: “Oh my God! She is such a bitch!
I’m telling you, please believe me. I saw her lunging over that dead body in the storeroom. That’s when she tried to attack me.
She’s the one who hit me on the forehead with a spanner! ” Girl: “I don’t have a single drop of blood on my hands! You murderer!
Don’t trust him! ” Now, think about my situation! I had no idea what these two were saying.
So, get my head straight, I asked them to take me to that body in the storeroom. The man walked ahead and I followed him for not having any other option. The girl went on saying how I should not listen to him.
but I had to consider both sides. When we reached near the storeroom, the man opened it in one go saying – “Look, there it is. .
. ” There was indeed a bloody body of a young woman on the floor. Her mouth was slit open in a pretty gruesome manner.
It was so violent that one could barely stand the sight. Her eyes were jumping out from the sockets and blood was everywhere. Narrator: “Oh my God!
We need to call the cops. ” Girl: “Yes and put this man into jail for what he did. ” Man: “What!
Me? I didn’t do anything. You are the one sitting near this dead body.
I’m going to tell the cops what I saw. ” Girl: “Yeah obviously because I found her when I went back to get those snacks! ” Man: “So you mean she was already dead when you .
. . ” I immediately hit the guy in the head with all my strength.
He fell on the floor screaming at the top of his lungs. Narrator: “You were right! He is the murderer.
Let’s go we have to find a way out. ” Girl: “I was telling you he is the one. Thank you so much for trusting me over him.
I found the woman in the storeroom. I swear I was just checking at her and when I turned back, I saw this guy standing behind me with an evil look on his face. I mean he was behaving really odd the moment I entered the store.
He came at me so I grabbed the spanner from the storeroom and hit him in my defence. Trust me I just did that to save myself. That’s when the power went out, I met you all freaked out!
” Narrator: “Yes. . .
I trust you don’t worry. ” I took the girl towards the entrance and told her to wait near the door. There were two locks on that door.
I walked straight to the counter and picked up a key chain full of keys. The girl stood beside me and I opened the first lock of the door. She said in a relieved voice – “Thank God!
We will finally be able to get out. I thought this night would be the. .
. ” but she didn’t finish her sentence. She started to step back nervously again.
- “How did you guess the key right at the very first attempt? ” - “What! ” - “How did you find the right key at the first attempt?
” - “Look, I really don’t know what you’re trying to say! It was just a wild guess. ” - “You’re the one who killed that woman, right?
And. . .
now. . .
now you killed that man too. Oh my God! He was telling the truth.
” Well, I couldn’t lie to her anymore. I was anyway going to take her to some unknown road, slash her neck and dump her body in the woods then why not do it now? I gave a friendly smile but she still didn’t stop being afraid of me.
I tried to calm her down but she made me chase her the entire store. The more I laughed and tried to make things comfortable for her the more she screamed. I mean think about it, what else option do I have?
I was returning home after finishing my final kill of the night. I put the body of that woman in the storeroom and was all set to leave. I mean my intentions were all good.
I knew that man was being a creep so I waited for the girl but look at this dumb bitch. She had to go back and sneak into the storeroom for no fucking reason! She had to find that body.
I could have already hit her from behind when she lunged on the dead body and watched it with scary eyes, if not the man came in the same direction. I hid behind the shelf and watched that entire drama enfold. None of them had a single idea that I am the predator and they were my prey.
But no regret, three kills instead of one! Not bad, huh! All I have to do now is dump these three bodies inside that storeroom then destroy the security -footage and drive home.
Can’t wait to finally enjoy a long shower with a glass of wine before going to bed tonight! I was 10 and my sister was 6-7 years old when this incident happened. We lived in a small suburb with very less entertainment.
The only exciting thing we looked forward to was the weekends. Because on weekends our mom took us to the city park and then for a small shopping trip; where we could get any toy or chocolate we wanted. There was a Target store across the city park where we used to go.
Being a huge store Target was our ideal spot to play all kinds of games. I still remember running among the high-rise shelves trying to catch each other. But being kids, we were naive.
We had no idea that not everyone saw us like cute little children, some saw us like prey too. After a hectic week at work, when mom got some leisure, the weekend came knocking around the door. I could tell she was too tired and needed rest.
But my sister Martha was adamant to go to the Target store and buy her long-wished Barbie doll. Mom tucked us to bed saying the next day she will take us there. Next morning when I woke up, I found mom lying sick on her bed.
She caught the Flu and instructed me not to go near her - "I don't think I can take you two out today. Let me call grandma. She can take you to the park.
There's some money on the kitchen counter. Take it and have fun today. " I nodded my head and mom called grandma explaining the entire situation.
Mom told us to listen to her and not wander around by ourselves. Being the big brother, she set me in charge to take care of Martha. Within a half-hour grandma pulled her car into our driveway and honked the horn.
- "Bye, kids have fun! Listen to grandma. " Mom bid us goodbye and we ran outside.
I sat on the passenger seat and Martha sat at the back. Grandma told us funny stories on our way to the park and we began the day with cheerful laughter. When we reached the park, we saw other kids running here and there.
The Park was an ideal spot for family picnics so lots of people used to come there. Martha ran to the swing and I followed her. After playing for almost two hours, I felt like getting a soda for myself.
The Target store stood across the park. I walked to grandma who was sitting on the corner park bench and reading her book. - "Grandma, can we go to the store?
" - "Sure. . .
but just wait for some minutes one of my friends is about to come. We will go after meeting her. " I had no problem waiting but Martha was going crazy to buy her Barbie doll.
She pulled my shirt and said - "The store is right there. We can go and get it by ourselves. " Grandma looked at me and nodded her head saying - "No.
. . no.
. . you two wait here.
My friend will be here any minute. " But My sister has always been a stubborn kid. She started kicking the mud and pleaded to grandma to let us go.
Being fed up with her tantrums grandma asked me if I could take her there and wait in the store; I replied I could. Martha and I started walking towards Target. Being a huge store, I often enjoyed exploring that place.
Not to mention the toys section was our favourite but I liked roaming around the entire store. As we entered the store, we realised it was indeed a weekend because people were all over the place buying groceries, food items, daily needs and whatsoever. I held Martha's hand because I didn't want her to get lost amidst this crowd.
We started walking towards the toys section and Martha's face lit up in joy. She was ranting about how she is going to dress her Barbie once she takes her home. The toy section was comparatively empty considering the other departments.
As soon as she saw barbie dolls stacked up on shelves she let go of my hand and rushed to them. "Don't run, Martha. " - I screamed.
"Look, there's so many of them! I will buy one, on each birthday then I will have a room full of Barbies. " - her eyes dazzled in excitement.
I took out one barbie randomly and said - "Yeah. . .
yeah… now let's go buy this one. I will get a soda after that. " - "I don't want that one.
" I put the barbie back and asked in a tiring voice - "Then which one do you want? They're all the same, you know! " - "No, they're not!
" She then pointed her fingers to a barbie dressed in blue at a really top shelf which was obviously out of my reach. I tried to grab that jumping 2-3 times but they all failed. Just when I was thinking of looking for a target employee to help us out, a woman with a squeaky voice spoke to us - " Do you need help with that?
" I followed the voice and saw a woman standing in front of us. For a woman, her physique was really well built. She had broad shoulders and too much make-up on her face.
The red lipstick on her rough lips looked like dried blood stains. She smiled with her yellow teeth and asked again – “Do you need help? ” Before I could say something, Martha pointed to the top shelf saying – “Can you get that blue barbie?
” She slowly came close to us and without taking her eyes off me grabbed that barbie. - “Here you go little girl. Doesn’t your brother talk much?
” - “Thanks for helping us. ” - “I see you talk really well. What is your name?
” - “Mathew. And that’s my sister Martha. ” - “How sweet!
You know what Martha? I have so many beautiful dolls in my van. Would you like to come and take a look?
You can get the ones you like for free! ” Maybe I was only 10 years old but I knew this woman is a stranger to us and honestly, I wasn’t liking her at all. “No, thanks.
We better get going. Our grandma will be here any minute. ” As soon as she heard me mentioning my grandma her face changed.
“Oh, I thought you guys were all by yourself. ” I started to walk away pulling Martha but being the hyper-active kid, she replied – “Yeah, we are. Grandma is waiting for us in the park.
” I saw the woman’s eyes sparkle with a weird joy. She once again gave her dirty, yellow smile and said – “Oh, I see. I’ll see you around then.
” I walked away holding my sister’s hand without taking the conversation ahead. I looked back just to see if she is following us and found her standing in the same manner smiling at us. We reached near the cash- counter and stood in the line waiting for our turn.
There were 4 other people ahead of us and I remembered I forgot to buy my soda. I told Martha to wait in the line and rushed to get my soda can. Making my way among the crowd and cackle of people when I finally got my soda, I realised Martha might be waiting there all by herself.
I was walking fast to the cash counter when a hand grabbed my shoulder. I turned around and saw grandma – “Where is your sister? ” she asked.
I told her she is waiting for me near the cash counter. We both went there but Martha wasn’t there. Grandma and I both started to panic and informed the woman at the counter about my sister’s sudden disappearance.
They started announcing all over the store asking for Martha to meet us back here but she was nowhere to be found. We searched the entire store with 4 employees and I was terrified that something bad might have happened to her. The store manager called the cops and that’s when I remembered about that weird-looking woman.
I told the cops how she was trying to take her to her minivan saying she had lots of dolls inside them. The police rushed to the target parking lot and covered it from all sides. Thankfully, they found this damp, rusty black minivan parked at the dark corner.
The van was shaking violently and a cry of a kid was coming from it. My grandma held me back so I couldn’t see what those cops saw once they opened the back door of the minivan. Years later when I grew up my mother told me about it.
That woman was actually a man dressed like one. The cops caught him while he was tying up my sister with barb wires. Not just that there were 2 other small girls inside that van.
They were heavily sedated and there’s no doubt he abducted those two kids too. But once they checked the front seat, they met with an even uglier sight. There was a woman lying on that seat with her face cut off with a sharp knife.
Her hairs were pulled out and formed into a wig. Her mutilated face was lying on the dashboard of the car with heavy make-up put on it. So basically, when we met that man, he was wearing this dead woman’s face which is why he looked so weird to me.
The man was arrested with the charge of kidnapping, abduction and murder. This woman was his wife who used to help him by luring kids into his van. But with time she demanded to be free of this inhuman profession and might have threatened that man to stop or she will go to the cops.
What creeps me to the core is that this man not just killed his wife to shut her mouth he even decided to use her face to appear like a woman in front of kids. And trust me his plan did work to some extent. When I went to get a soda, he approached my sister again and lured her into his trap.
If you ask me, I don’t think that man did all these gruesome acts just for money; he is a sick psycho and I’m glad he is going to rot in prison for the rest of his life.
