I can't wait because mine and Carman caren's new book freaky folklore terrifying tales of the world's most elusive monsters and enigmatic Cryptids is coming July 16th featuring the history and lore of terrifying folklore creatures from across the globe alongside some cool and creepy illustrations pre-order today on Amazon Barnes & Noble or your favorite bookstore or go to Eerie cast.com sreak the next 1,000 verified pre-orders will get a freaky folklore decal and a 3 month subscription code to Eerie cast plus and all entrance will get a free pdf sneak peek of the freaky folklore book to
verify and for more info go to ec.com sreak send your scariest workplace stories to us at east.com submit and rate and review Tales from the breakroom on Spotify and apple podcasts thanks hi welcome to dead and roasted what can I get you a certain police officer has updated me regarding an update to the infamous Cynthia story you remember that one don't you that one tale about the dead old woman and the crucified cats yeah that one you're going to need a triple shot during these stories just to retain a tiny bit of your sanity and
innocence there will be dog men haunted offices and a curse that can't stop won't stop these are Tales from the breakroom did I see Dogman from fmg 33 Delila I grew up in Western New York which is where my story happened I was working as a CNA for almost a year at a nursing home it was the winter November of 2022 I was 33 then I married with four kids I worked overnight as it was convenient to our schedule I lived and worked near one of the Great Lakes it was at work one night when
this all happened and changed my life forever I was already a current listener of unexplained encounters for several years at this point so I was familiar with dog men but not a Believer quite yet I was at work on a mandatory Saturday night my lunch break was coming up soon I'd forgotten my lunch in the car though so it was about 3:30 a.m. when I got my break and went out to my vehicle in the back parking lot which was employees only the vehicles were sparse with only one dim motion light on the back of
the building to light the way to my old Ford Expedition I heard rustling in the field to my right which sat directly across from my vehicle with my truck facing the field which had grass as tall as me I was about 5' 3 this wasn't uncommon in our area I just assumed it was deer I kept on walking towards my truck and once I reached it I got inside and I started to reach for my food when something in my gut told me to look up I looked into the field and I saw a pair
of eyes shine as tall as the grass if not a little bit taller now that I can tell you is not common especially the color dark dark Amber I froze and sat as still as I could looking harder 2 point ears and a muzzle with pitch black fur accompanied those eyes I was so Frozen in fear I couldn't move only my eyes could move I looked around and I spotted three more sets of those eyes at about the same height with the same ears same nose same color but that was all I could make out
due to the tall grass and with how dark it was but they were stalking the person at the house on the other side of the field as that was the only other person outside at the time these things barely moved the whole time they sort of just went side to side or crouched down to move forward then would rise back up to full height I don't think they noticed me thank God this person also worked at the nursing home on night shift and they had run home on their break I sat there Frozen the entire
half hour contemplating my run back to the building once I'd finally worked up enough courage I made a break for it I made it back but I didn't look back once once my feet hit the pavement now this other person did also make it back to work that night but I don't think they saw how close they were to Danger I also never brought it up to them they never did mention that they noticed anything that night so I don't think they knew and I was just scared of sounding crazy when I left for work
at 6:00 a.m. they were gone but I don't believe they ever really left because we immediately had weird occurrences and noises beginning at our home we lived just across town not even a 2-minute drive from the nursing home these weird occurrences including our dogs acting very odd acting scared of something out there hearing Taps on our Windows big bangs on the side of the house we would even find things knocked over on our porch we have since moved out of state fortunately but I'm now a Believer and watch out more for the Unexplained that kind
of stuff shows up when you least expect it so you'd better be ready for it night shifts in Porterfield from another overworked employee I'm convinced most Dollar Generals are haunted after hearing a recent story about a haunted Dollar General I thought I'd share my stories from the days I worked at one these are profound but they are spooky let me explain you're underpaid underst staffed and under or overworked depending on whether or not it's truck day at your store two people open and two people close a Dollar General can run on a staff of six
with one or two keyh holders the manager and three regular employees and everyone is miserable but it isn't easy job even if depressing this story happened when I was at my main store I'm a night shift person I come in between 1:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. and work until 11:00 we close the doors at 10: p.m. I was working behind the counter with my cooworker Mary we were talking about ghosts as Mary was telling me about the spooky ghost she saw at this location she said entering that store felt felt like walking into a brick
wall and I had to agree the store had a thick layer of dread and depression to it when she found out I practiced Witchcraft and that I knew about spirits and creatures and such she asked me questions mostly about types of ghosts and how to deal with them I answered to the best of my knowledge I'm still new to the warding and banishing of spirits but I knew the way to do it then she asked me can ghosts haunt a place even if they never died there I said absolutely ghosts especially those with darker intentions
could be attracted to places that had tragedy or where negativity was strong poltergeists do that often just a collection of people's misery that liked to cause problems for others hence why they can be attached to people Mary just nodded to me and that was that we got back to finishing up our duties which for the closing cashier me would finish helping the last customer of the day while Mary the keyh holder would get the tills to count from the safe I would check the parking lot lock the doors then do a store sweep this meant
I would walk up and down the aisles checking for customers still in the store I'd only ever missed someone once how she evaded me I have no idea and how she kept shopping even after we turned off the lights no clue so I was being careful this time so as to not have a repeat of that event after finding no one I went to get my till from the drawer for Mary punching in my numbers to close my till and get my sales paper that's when I saw something a person they were walking between the
toys andent clothing and vanished down the corner great I thought is it the same woman from last time it wouldn't be the first time someone got locked in the store and hid from me between aisles I went to check after telling Mary my till was on the counter I made a Brisk jog down the area and turned to look down the clothing aisle but no one was there puzzled I got to looking again all in the air even called out if someone was there no one replied I started to feel like I was being watched
taking a breath I went back to the back room Mary asked me if I was okay and I told her what I saw she said she hadn't seen anyone herself when she'd looked on the cameras that wouldn't be the first nor last time I saw that person they would show up on the cameras this dark shadowy figure they would knock things over and would cause doors to open and close on their own one night Mary heard running footsteps coming to the register after we closed but when she looked up she saw no one we both
once heard the back door open and went to find no one there with the door alarm still on sometimes you would hear someone leave the bathroom they would slam the door shut loudly but if you looked or went to check it out there would be nobody there it was bizarre it never did more than Annoy Us or kind of creep us out so we got used to it it was just haral we would tell the new people I left that job after a drug bust happened outside the store when our new manager was coming in
working Highway Dollar General at night is a ticket to getting robbed and I wasn't taking any more chances but now I am convinced that most Dollar Generals are haunted most of them I went to had something weird going on around them either due to the staff's misery or being built on lands that were oddly bought cheap it just seems like there's always something happening there and whatever is haunting them isn't always friendly just remember they shouldn't be able to follow you home if you remind them they do not have permission to to do so and
you never know if a spirit is harmless or not don't take chances Whispers in the office from Nicolas accounting is numbers and numbers tell many more stories than people are willing to realize as an economic student myself I feel like I'm slowly grasping their inner workings who's spending what and why what can be done about it but I won't bore you with all that because the story I'm about to tell you is not numerical but instead one right up this Show's alley in Late July something happened apart from being a university student born and raised
in Greece I doubled as my mother's assistant in her Accounting Office for over a year now she and my father's office next door have been my home for as long as I can remember spending as much time there as I did back in our real home naturally working there felt as comfy as one would imagine I already knew the ins and outs of the place of course as well as many of our clients by name so when I started to work apart from the occasional rookie mistake it felt like Smooth Sailing yet none of what
I was ever for taught not in life nor in University could prepare me for what happened one late night in July during the end of July it's pretty much crunch time in our accounting calendar because we have to wrap up the last 3 months of income and expenses for our clients and their businesses before August rolls around so my mother and I were naturally hard at work but as expected of a 21-year-old University student early mornings are not my thing so and instead I proposed that I'd stay after closing hours some nights and finish up
myself like I said I know everything there is to know about the office so my parents entrusted me with the task of closing up after finishing and gave me their permission to work hard on those papers thus around 11:00 p.m. one night my mother and father decided it was time to call it a night but not for me despite what it sounds like I would have a place primarily bustling with people during the day all to myself so I could play my music and work without distractions and so as soon as my parents left I
did just that after applying a few finishing touches on a client invoices I stacked their file onto the pile that had steadily built up at the center office after all the work during the day and decided to carry them back to the storage where we kept all of them the storage room was a closet-like part of the office office with no door but hidden behind a thin wall and not to mention it's located in My Father's Office adjacent to my mother's where I worked but as the good assistant that I was it was my task
to sort through those files every day with it being night and all the lights were naturally off and with me being a slight scaredy cat I decided to turn on all the lights in my father's office I don't like being in the dark you see yet as if fate or something else was laughing at me the light at the back of the storage room buzzed and buzzed away but did not turn on the sound was Eerie so heck no I said and turned the switch off once more if it wasn't going to turn on then
so be it I just had to be fast and put those files away with my back turned to the dark part of the storage room I swiftly went about placing the files inside a closet in alphabetical order my hands were fast but dang why were the hairs of the back of my neck standing up like that what was that weird unease building up within my gut I straight up wanted to bolt out of there stop it I almost wanted to punch myself for being afraid of just a bit of Darkness at my back nobody was
there to see me sweat but the idea of being a 21-year-old guy scared of the dark was not something I wanted to admit as I went through file after file checking the names and placing them accordingly I came across one in particular it was the file of an Old Lady Who Was a faithful client of my mother's she was always so kind and caring she stood out to me from the bunch she only had one son of her own but he worked abroad and rarely came back back to visit sadly she had lost her husband
a few years back but even so she would always smile the same way when she came to visit my mom you could even say she saw in her the daughter she never had she would always bring cookies she bought from the bakery on her way to the office and even juice boxes for us kids to drink even though my brother and I were fairly grown up by now maybe in her eyes we were still kids or maybe she hat waed to visit empty-handed also sadly the old lady passed away 2 weeks before my mother was
sad but having a fair number of old clientele she'd grown accustomed to it at least she didn't owe you money I remember my father trying to lighten the mood by saying but my mother only smiled Riley as I remembered all that I put away the last of the files as needed and made my way to towards the main office again yeah maybe I walked a little faster than normal but no one was there to ask why another hour passed a few more files done and over with I picked up my stack and stopped before the
storage room yet again are you willing to cooperate now I sighed at the light as I flicked the switch on and it still buzzed but stayed as dark as ever apart from the frustra I felt a sense of weird dread swept over me once more this time though it was Stronger darker like I really was in danger like I wasn't alone anymore had I ever been quickly I opened the closet and began sorting the files again this time though I was a bit more frantic my sense of familiarity with the office suddenly long gone I
just wanted to finish up and get the heck out of that storage room as soon as I had that thought I saw the second from last file again clearly resting in my hand it was the file of the old lady which I had stored away earlier suddenly my urgency turned to stone cold Stillness I was frozen in place staring at this file which I distinctly remembered placing in the closet with my own two hands had my mother created a duplicate for some reason was it my imagination playing tricks on me or had I brought it
back with me by mistake no none of that made sense but I didn't want to find out why that file was now in my hands I just had to put it away leave the storage room and that would be it that's when I heard it a voice clear yet frail an elderly woman's voice voice calling out from the main office but that couldn't be possible I thought the front door was locked and the iron bars outside the parking lot were securely shut Maria At The Mention Of my mother's name my blood ran cold and my
heart ceased to function altogether there was no way a person could be out there no it wasn't the person my gulp seemed so loud I thought whoever was out there would hear it and come back to the storage room to check I wanted to scream run and fight all at once but instead I stood Frozen completely still that's when these light small Taps came from the main area like shuffling yet deliberate steps it was like whoever or whatever was out there was walking from the front door towards my mother's office as if to to check
if someone really was there or not we're closed uh she's not here for some reason my brain thought up the most generic of things to say my voice shaky and my throat dry as sandpaper but somehow it had done the trick it all ceased the footsteps the voices all gone like nothing had ever happened as soon as I heard no resp response and the Stillness in the air seemed to disappear I dashed back to the office files and documents be darned my Bluetooth speaker had died amidst it all and I hadn't even noticed the papers
left on my desk were left in disarray as opposed to how neatly I'd arranged them before or had I was I imagining everything what in the blue heck had just happened before I went into a full-blown panic running into to the street screaming for an emergency Exorcist to show up I called my mother hoping to God she hadn't yet gone to sleep I was so thankful she picked up even if it took her quite a few rings the sleepiness quickly disappeared from her voice as soon as she heard how shaky mine was even still hearing
her calmed down a small fraction of my mind calm down calm down your father said he'd be right over over he'll help you lock up so you can come home and rest her voice was as worried as much as a typical mom's but deep beneath it there was a hint of an element I'd never associated with her was she afraid too I quickly shook that thought away and took a few deep breaths as I awaited my father's arrival thankfully our house was fairly close to the office so I waited for the car to pull up
any second now and yet I couldn't relax I couldn't calm down any further not while I was still so close to that cursed storage room without thinking I rushed to the door separating our two offices I opted to shut the door so I could not even catch a glimpse of that Eerie Darkness once done I triumphantly turned to walk back to my own office only to catch a single glimpse of something unsettling at the far end of the room in the darkest corner possible just behind the bathroom's wall I swear a shadow looked back at
me looming tall and unyielding I couldn't discern any features or limbs but it was there and it was watching me I felt a chill crawl up my spine as if the darkness itself had taken form and was fixated on me I don't know if I was was losing my mind consumed by paranoia or experiencing a Sinister hallucination but I was certain of one thing I had to get out there was no way I was staying all alone with that thing in there with me and so without a second thought I dashed out of the office
unlocking the door and locking it back behind me I had no idea if locks could hold that thing in but I prayed to God that that would be enough when I turned around to lock the glass door however the shadow peaking behind the wall was no longer there gone like it was never there in the first place I thought for sure that I was going nuts but thankfully before I could start to panic again our family car rolled down the street stopping in front of the still closed parking lot gate thank heavens I muttered and
frankly my gratitude was not nearly enough to be expressed through words alone when my father arrived he didn't let me say a word instead he went inside turned off all the lights and locked up as casually as he always did on the ride back home I told him everything and he listened keenly he is a man of many words at times and others of only few he knows when to crack a joke and he knows when to be serious and he also isn't averse to the supernatural he believes there's definitely stuff that cannot be explained
and for the first time in my life he did not dismiss my fears like he always did when I was a kid he nodded and said that I needed to get some rest it may or may not have been my imagination but for now I had to rest I had to calm down he was right I agreed of course though that night sleep eluded me partly because I had my light turned on in my room appearances be darned and also because I couldn't dare close my eyes and not think back to the events in the
office the next few days I didn't go to work my mother assured me she could handle the last of the papers on her own and she sent me on an early summer vacation naturally who was I to say no as with death life does not wait for anyone to accept things or to move on I was thrust back into that reality and I forced myself to forget in between having fun with friends and going out on a few dates the unease became a thing of the past when the summer ended everybody gathered at our two
offices once more and we even had guests over just like every year at that time you see as Orthodox Christians we have a ritual where we cleanse workplaces or homes with the help of a priest whenever a new yearly season begins ours happens to be in September and that year was no different I had never been a deeply religious person nor had I any encounters with the Paranormal up until that point but as the priest read through his scriptures I felt weirdly free free of a weight I didn't even know I was carrying it's been
almost a year after that incident and I still work here in the office funnily enough I'm riding in my computer's office as we speak it still feels like home like it always did maybe it was the cleansing that helped or maybe time pushed the events to the back of my mind burying them with tons of other memories I made along the way but I'll always remember that feeling of dread inside the storage room as I turned my back to the dark I'll always remember that voice Mar and I will also remember the old lady that
adored my mother so did she come back if only briefly to say her goodbyes to the daughter that she never had I can't completely roll out that possibility after all there are things out there that cannot be explained my old creepy workplace from drinking the bleach when I was 17 I'm 20 now I started work at an old Heritage building that was a bar Motel Cafe and events venue Allin one from my understanding it was built in the 1800s I don't know the full history of the place but I quickly discovered it was haunted the
contents of my role included working alone sometimes at night when I first started I often experienced doors opening on their own with no wind voices cold spells there were footsteps upstairs too but I dismissed them as people did live up there so that was never too alarming I do recall during one shift when I was there alone on the stage mopping I felt something touch me this sent shivers down my spine I spun around but no one was there I quickly finished up what I was doing and got out of there this one door that
would open both ways would swing open from time to time even without any airflow and it creeped me out the owners told me that there was the Ghost of a woman who would hang around the cafe moving things about and just in general make her presence known I never felt like I was in immediate danger but I do have an experience that is really stuck with me I was working as an event assistant that included setting up for weddings baby showers birthday parties decorating venues and my favorite making balloon garlands most of the time I
would make the garlands in our second bar area because there was lots of good lighting and air conditioning it would get pretty hot there during the summer I was working on a Garland one day and at the time I didn't have any music playing usually I would have something playing from my phone through the speakers but I had to get this Garland done quick as it was needed at the venue at a certain time at that moment I heard foot steps in the other bar through the doors I figured it was a coworker as there
would be other people there it was just impossible to tell as the place was so quiet especially on the ground floor but then I heard something terrifying the sound of footsteps coming up from behind me rapid running footsteps and they were running very quickly they got closer and louder then stopped sted right behind me as I turned around to see no one now this this truly scared me I'd seen shadows in the corner of my eye before when no one else was around I felt cold spells and just presences in general but this was a
very different vibe I put on some loud music and I continued to work despite being very creeped out I couldn't keep my back to the doors that led to the main bar because I would feel like something would be there watching me I finished the Garland and I told the owners who weren't very surprised they were living upstairs at the time and had their own experiences with whatever entities were in the building I don't work there anymore but I still consider the owners to be good friends of mine despite them being older than me from
what I've seen on their social media I believe they've sold the building now very recently too I'm not sure what went on in the past in that old building I just hope whatever ran up behind me that day has not escalated its Shenanigans Home Alone from Timber [Music] 5:30 I may recently widowed 30s something female I live in a rural area off grid it will be 3 years since my husband's unexpected passing and what money he did leave started to run low I knew I would have to find a job fast with little work experience
I started my way through the classified ads it wasn't long before I came across a help wanted ad for a part-time caretaker for an elderly woman I put a big red circle around it and made a mental note to call first thing in the morning the following morning I called the number in the ad and I spoke to a man named Carl who lived out of state he was seeking part-time care for his 97-year-old great-grandmother Carl said that despite his great-grandmother's age she was pretty self-sufficient she still managed to bathe and dress herself she could
still find her way around the kitchen the only help she really needed was a little house cleaning someone to run her errands and Overlook her medication you know to remind her to take it making sure she didn't take the same one twice or forget to take another one altogether it sounded simple enough so Carl gave me the address and told me to be there at 7:00 a.m. to have coffee with Grandma and she would decide if I made the cut or not the next morning was a bit overcast it had just begun to lightly shower
when I pulled into the driveway of Mrs Edna Jean good man I found Mrs Goodman on her enclosed patio porch sipping some coffee she was staring off somewhere far I knocked lightly not wanting to startle her through the screen door I watched her place her cup down pick up a napkin and gently wipe Each corner of her mouth she placed the napkin on her lap and in almost a whisper she said come in I entered the poor cherry and introduced myself hello Mrs Goodman I said my name is Rachel I spoke with Carl yesterday I
was immediately cut off and ordered to have a seat she went over the details of what was to be expected and after two cups of coffee and almost 2 hours of conversation I almost didn't want to leave at all there was something about this woman that just made you feel comfortable I was asked to return the following morning to see how things go as she put it there was a list of chores as well as a list of roles I was to go shopping and to the post office once a week keep up on the
dusting and keep up on sock's litter box socks was a black and white typical shorthair cat that found his way into Mrs Goodman's yard a few years back and just never left his four wide Paws earned him the nickname socks over time I became very attached to this dear old woman Carl would call every now and then to thank me telling me how great it is to have someone that he could trust someone granny also got along with but then one day I noticed there was almost a whole banana cream pie gone and when I
joked with Mrs Goodman about it telling her someone had a sweet tooth last night she just looked at me confused and Shrugged her shoulders then continued back to her program on the TV as time went by I started to notice a lot of little things would be out of place or just missing altogether whenever I asked Mrs Goodman would just look puzzled I had taken care of my grandparents both suffering from dementia before they passed and I couldn't help but notice some familiar telltale signs with Mrs Goodman one evening I stopped by to return a
book i' had borrowed and to make sure she was all set for the night when I got there I was surprised to find socks outside socks never left the house especially once it started to get dark like I mentioned in the beginning I'm from a rural area in the mountains so the wildlife is no joke and socks had become quite the Butterball since shacking up with Mrs Goodman so one of the rules was to make sure socks is inside before I leave every day I know when I left earlier that he was inside the house
when I went inside I asked Mrs Goodman if she had gone out at all and possibly let the cat out by accident her response shocked me she simply said oh the man must have let him out I sat down beside her and asked what man Mrs Goodman then told me there is a nice man who comes to check on her at night sometimes shutting off her television for her after she's fallen asleep or covering her up with a blanket but how could that be I set the alarm when I leave every evening I make sure
of it the cat is in Mrs Goodman is in bed and the alarm is set I didn't know what to think was she imagining it or was there really some person lurking about going completely undetected that night when I got home I called Carl to talk to him about it he was as puzzled as I was I brought up that IID had some s experiences with my grandfather and dementia we both agreed to keep in regular contact and I would be extra mindful keeping a closer eye on things about 2 weeks go by without incident
and my generator went out on me unfortunately when you're off grid a generator is the only source of electricity thank God for Mrs Goodman because that sweet old lady would not hear of me being without power for God knows how long and insisted did I sleep over at her place for as long as I needed Mrs Goodman turns in for the night pretty early so I found myself pretty bored around 7:30 p.m. I decided to kick back and get some reading done I guess I fell asleep because the next thing I knew I was startled
awake bolt upright not exactly sure what it was that even woke me I just listened for a couple of minutes before deciding to check on Miss Goodman after confirming that she was safe and sound I started to return to the guest room where I was sleeping when I heard something I wasn't quite sure but it did sound like a cough even so I went to bed but I continued to listen very carefully I was just about to go back to sleep when I heard it again a cough and then I smelled it it was smoke
marijuana smoke I knew I wasn't mistaken and with 15 Acres between us and the nearest neighbors that meant that whoever was taking their midnight to was somewhere here on this property in this house I quietly made my way to the kitchen where the phone was and then I dialed 911 when the police arrived they searched the house they found a 20-year-old man who the cops said appeared to have been living in Mrs Goodman's attic for some time up in the attic they found leftovers of some of the food that came up missing it turns out
this kid was homeless his oldest brother had done yard work for the Goodman family in the past and he knew she lived alone and went to bed early I guess to him he thought she needed someone to look after her possibly harmless I guess but still scary as heck what if it wasn't some harmless transient what if it was someone with bad intentions this person could have done anything to that poor old woman I hate to think of what could have happened and I'm just glad that everything and everyone is okay thank God for his
protection it may not be the scariest story but at the time and thinking about how dangerous the whole situation could have been it still creeps me out Cynthia a continuation from officer nobody unfortunately it's me again officer nobody you know the jumpy Beat cop who should have been a firefighter you may remember my paranormal encounter with a deceased old lady named Cynthia you may also remember thinking it might have sounded a little silly like a Hollywood horror script I mean schizophrenic grandmas don't suddenly turn satanic sacrifice their pets Die slow deaths then haunt their homes
right you see I didn't share my story for reassurance that it was true I wrote about Cynthia because she needed to be written about I also found it therapeutic and somewhat soothing to my trauma at least temporarily it didn't matter whether or not the audience believed me realistically I could have shared photos of the crime scene I may or may not have a few stored on a USB I may or may not have uploaded them from a confidential file clear and graphic images of the bloodstained bedroom the slayed cats and yes Cynthia herself half rotted
in the woods of course if I leaked such confidential material and I'd been caught my chief would have personally ripped the badge off my chest not to mention the legal implications and the social circus that would have been my life regardless I decided to share my experience with an outside source which was not illegal or immoral I wanted Cynthia's story examined beyond the scope of law enforcement I needed normal everyday people to analyze it did I hear Cynthia's laughter from a state of paranoia or does the Paranormal exist did she sacrifice her cats based on
a schizophrenic fielded belief in the devil or is demonic possession real instead of running to a local reporter a posting on a random Forum I wrote a short narrative and submitted it to an odd but entertaining narrator he found it worthwhile and shared it with his listeners almost immediately after its release things changed for the worse ordinary trauma turned into paranormal occurrences the following is my best effort to explain it started two sleep cycles after my submission instead of my usual night terrors I began experiencing sleep paralysis once this began it didn't stop each occurrence
was miserable and would happen one of two ways the first version I wake up and a cold sweat unable to move my limbs I feel a pain in my chest and find it difficult to breathe only my eyes work as they scan the shadows of my bedroom my eyes finally adjust and I see a young woman in the corner she gradually moves towards me she takes the time to look around while doing so touching items as she walks she looks curious like she's unfamiliar with normal things she climbs onto the base of of my mattress
and begins to crawl I literally feel these Springs Bend and I can hear them squeak she climbs over my legs and I close my eyes my breathing stops and I jolt awake fully gasping as if I'd run a marathon the second version the young woman still stands in the corner but she never moves she just stares at me the only noise is a vague cult-like chant emitting beyond the walls of my bedroom the chant is performed in another language so I do not understand it typically it does not last long and I wake up shortly
after I much prefer the latter approximately 6 months after the initial paralysis occurrence I was back on the night shift I had dabbled in dayshift dealings but found the people traffic and sun to be mildly annoying it was a night number two and I was three Red Bulls deep into the shift around midnight Dispatch sent me to a disturbance the location was a crummy apartment complex away from the Central Area the type of place where you could shoot a spitball and hit someone on drugs the caller had reported hearing arguing and Furniture being tossed inside
a specific room I pulled into the silent parking lot it had little to no lighting the bulbs that did work flickered above me the apartment building itself which better resembled a motel was old and discolored the address was an odd number which meant that my destination was on the second floor I walked up the rusty metal stairs and I found the room I leaned in listening for voices or movement I heard a slow sustained moan of a male when I knocked knocked the moaning stopped several seconds passed by without an answer so I knocked again
I almost knocked a third time but a bang on the door interrupted me I backed up and the door opened a man drenched in blood slowly opened it he calmly said it's okay she said I would be saved blood continued to pour I could not tell whether he was wounded or covered in someone else's blood either way I called for an ambulance requesting my backing officer to hurry I asked the man what happened and where he was injured he stared at me with vacant eyes and repeated it's okay she said I would be saved it
didn't take long for my partner to arrive he positioned behind me not getting anywhere with the blood drenched gentleman my partner threw on latex gloves and guided him down the stairs as he squeezed past me he whispered it's okay she said I would be saved I held my gun on the apartment door while they walked downstairs a third officer arrived he took possession of the man and attempted to render Aid the other officer and I agreed to clear the residence we expected to engage with either an armed suspect or a dying victim I crept into
the frame of the door and observed fresh blood everywhere especially the kitchen which was directly to my right we entered and began to clear the amount of Blood on the tile floor caused me to slip several times however we found no one inside I walked down the stairs to help interview the man he sat silent with medical personnel huddled around him he ignored everyone's questions and only stared at me a paramedic said he won't tell us anything he hasn't said a word he continued staring finally he spoke I know you I don't think we've met
I replied please tell tell the paramedics what happened so we can get you fixed up he smiled and lifted his chin he pulled up his scraggly beard and exposed a superficial cut across his throat blood gushed out at a faster rate paramedics went to work on stuffing the wound you did that to yourself I asked no he said she did he pointed across the dim parking lot once he did two yellow parking lights lit up Suddenly a dark colored sedan sped out of the parking lot almost hitting a fourth officer who had just arrived we
raced to our cars and began to pursue them by the time we caught up the sedan had reached a main road it had sideswiped a minivan and flipped several times we approached the crashed car with guns drawn there was no one inside we searched for ejected bodies and found no one we set a perimeter and thoroughly searched on foot for the driver but we found no traces at the crash scene I discovered a black purse that had been launched from the vehicle I shuffled through the bloody broken glass inside I found a state ID belonging
to a female what I observed horrified me the the ID picture strongly resembled the woman from my paralysis episodes I rubbed my eyes hoping to see a different face afterwards but I did not the real unease began when I read the name it was the same unique last name as Cynthia I didn't tell anyone about the connection I'd already used my one crazy story That No One Believes card I immedi mediately drove to the hospital where the man with the sliced throat had been taken by then his neck had been bandaged and the blood had
been cleaned once he saw me he ignored the nurses and began to stare at me again once nursing staff stepped out I attempted to develop a rapport hey again I'm officer I know who you are like I said before we've never met I know but I know who you are and so does Cynthia at this point everything felt like a dream I questioned whether I was having a nightmare I took a second to gather myself I began to respond before he began to shout and flail his arms he ripped his medical cords from his body
and tore off his bandage blood began to ooze again nursing staff rushed back inside the room and urged me out the last thing I observed was him seemingly using both hands attempting to open his wound even further I went home early that night but I really wasn't home I felt disgusted and unsettled under my own roof I purposely didn't sleep that night terrified of what the paralysis might bring it appeared that my original paranormal experience with Cynthia was not over a few days later a detective from the original case contacted me he informed me that
the alleged suspect who still had not been found was a granddaughter of Cynthia according to the detective sources she too experimented with Satanism like Cynthia she was obsessed with the devil God tarot the detective found several of her journals she praised Cynthia's sacrifices and vowed to carry on her Mission whatever that mission might be granddaughter had been living at the crummy apartment for several weeks she moved in with a man that she met on a dating site the detective described him as an incel he embraced her demonic obsessions although he refused to speak with police
or pursue charges the detective guessed that the assault was a ritual or sacrifice the detective was was surprised and frankly alarmed by the fact that he knew who I was he explained it away by guessing that he in fact did not know who I was and only connected Cynthia and I through my uniform considering that my department was the responding agency it did make sense fast forward a week and a half after using some vacation and sick days I was back and feeling decent the sleep paralysis had actually halted for the first time in a
long time I was well rested I finally found a therapist that I trusted and surprisingly I felt better the last call of the night around 3:00 a.m. I responded to a residential alarm the residence was on the edge of town I contacted the homeowners and like usual the alarm was false their cat had knocked over a drinking glass which activated the internal glass break alarm they were nice folks I chatted with them for a few minutes before they mentioned strange occurrences behind their residence noises that seemed strange and unlike an animal they explained that beyond
their backyard past a small field was a cimetery I remember my face physically changing and feeling sick to my stomach I realized which cemetery they had referred to it was a special one the one Cynthia was buried inside the cemetery was outside of City Limits so I'd forgotten that it existed I left the residence with chills on my arms just drive away I thought to myself the cop inside of me was curious but the person was terrified I decided to step out of jurisdiction for only a few minutes to feed my curiosity or in this
case stupidity I slow rolled down the dark country road so dark that you would never know a cemetery existed there without daylight with the windows down I moved my Spotlight back and forth I didn't notice or hear anything out of the ordinary so I continued I drove another 100 ft or so before hitting my brakes something peaked my interest i' I had heard a noise which almost sounded like a cry I was now past the cemetery in front of a small field waste High Grass obstructed my view of what might be lurking an old Rusty
Gate which acted as an entrance was open I sat in my car and listened carefully I could hear the slightest sound of a Weeping Woman mountain lions do make similar noises so I considered that a possibility I exited my vehicle and stepped closer to the dark field once close enough I distinctly heard crying it was faint but distinct it was a windy night which made it difficult to gauge the exact location this part is difficult to explain but it was almost as if the noise moved above me over my head with the wind I didn't
hear any rustling of grass or crunching of Twigs although my body camera was activated I used my iPhone to video my perspective my apartment no longer allowed access to body camera footage so to be safe I often videoed scenes myself after the synthia debacle it helped to ease my mind I wanted to search the field but refused to do it alone I moved back to my car and radioed for a backing officer an overbearing supervisor radioed back to shut down my request he recommended that I contact the sheriff's office for I was inside their jurisdiction
and out of mind he instructed me to immediately halt my investigation I acknowledged his request agreed to comply and then I did the opposite I walked into the field needing one hand for my glock and the other for my flashlight I put my phone away I followed the soft cry for 30 to 40 ft I followed natural Trails created by animals strangely the trails directed me almost perfectly to the cries it was as if the crying person or animal had followed the same path I stopped abruptly when the temperature changed suddenly I was freezing the
60° night dropped to what felt like 30 I was more confused then frightened I was so confused that I hadn't noticed that the crying stopped I stood in silence and listened intently nothing I heard something bump in the distance behind me I looked back towards the road my red and blues acted as a small source of light the only light in the area I squinted towards it the lights were just enough to see into my tinted windows in my passenger seat with perfect posture sat a figure a person the silhouette appeared to have its head
turned looking at me similar to the crash scene I rubbed my eyes and let them re adjust once they did I could no longer see the silhouette I tracked back to my car it was still locked with no one around I just don't know anymore I don't know about my job my well-being or my sanity am I crazy is Cynthia tormenting me is everything an odd unsettling coincidence or maybe I'm the schizophrenic one in need of a mental evaluation maybe I'm unfit to serve if you are curious about my life post Cynthia I hope this
update helped if you don't care and assume that I'm a liar I don't blame you I'm sorry that I have more questions than answers I wish it was different please stay safe out there thanks for tuning in to Tales from the breakroom the home of the scariest true work stories if you want to hear your story narrated by me send it to me at ec.com sssubmit we pay 5 cents per word for accepted stories help us grow by leaving Tales from the breakroom a rating and review on Spotify and apple podcasts and be sure to
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