Resident Office Ghost

It's the month of Halloween...isn't it exciting! I just really wish we celebrated the playful holiday with such gusto as the Americans do every year.

Then this morning the strangest thing started happening at the office. We have door bells at each entrance for security purposes, so when the bell rings you can either walk up to the gate & unlock it, or you can use one of the remote devices some of us have in our possession during office hours. I am one of those entrusted with such a little device (basically it looks like any other motorised gate remote like those you might have at home).

Due to the fact that I'm normally one of the first staff members in the office, I have to admit that I've gotten so used to the bell ringing every few seconds around 8 am (staff reporting for duty) that I sometimes press my remote button before I actually see who's at the door.

[Lax in terms of safety, I know, so rest assured I'll be more careful next time.]

Anyway, again the bell rang just after I switched on my PC and started getting myself prep'd for the day ahead. I was talking with one of my colleagues, so I simply pressed the button for whomever rang the doorbell to enter, but this was not followed by the sound of the gate being unlatched or anything. My colleague & I thought it means that it must actually be an early bird customer/courier, so he walked towards the reception area, but quickly came back saying there's no one there. I thought this was strange, but in itself did not bother me that much, because I could think of various possible explanations right off the bat.

One of my other colleagues also have one of these remotes & she has a clear view of the front door from her office at all times. When I heard the bell around mid-morning not being followed by the little beep the remote release normally makes, I assumed she wasn't sitting behind her desk, so not even thinking twice about it, I pressed my remote button - only to have her walk into my office all wide-eyed.

"Did you just press the remote button?"

"Yup.  Why?"

"There was no one at the door. I was looking straight at the gate when the bell rang, but there was no one there. I even checked outside if someone was maybe just standing off to one side."

I found that slightly unsettling.

Adding creepiness to mystery, this has now happened a couple of times today. The left side of my brain puts it down to faulty electronics, but the right side - a HUGE fan of anything scary - think we might have a new addition to our team, even if he/she/it is not officially listed on our payroll.

Happy Haunting this October! (And please share your scary stories with me.)