In her bright pink skirt suit, Tia sat on the edge of her desk and overlooked the room. All the desks in their neat formation, with their photo frames, personal items, office plants and monitors looked a bit like lifeless monsters in their own shadows. She loved it when, on Monday mornings, it all came back to life again.
Loudly she clapped her hands, and the lights sprung on, only moments before the first employees would walk in.
Tia smiled. She loved this moment. The offices filling up with people and the smell off coffee, after the quiet weekend.
Although this weekend had been everything but dull and dark.
Something evil glided over Tia’s face. Hey, she wasn’t a saint. She’d never claimed to be, no matter what other people sometimes said about her.
That Saturday the office had suddenly been the home of two camera teams, and a bunch of guys who called themselves ‘paranormal investigators’. Tia had known they were coming of course. She loved listening in on the manager’s phone calls and meetings. And she had her devious plan ready.
One of the guys, Frank the main host, did a dramatic intro in the main hall.
“This building is supposed to be one of the most haunted modern buildings of the US. So no abandoned hospital or prison tonight, but a fully functional office building. I can already feel an eerie energy surrounding me.”
Tia stared around the hall and saw was nothing but her, the two teams of cameramen, the presenters, and a bunch of people they’d interview.
She followed them around. The first interview was in the cafeteria, where several men had felt a hand pinch their bottoms. It made Tia laugh.
“Do you feel this ghost is malignant to men?”
“Definitely.” The man said. Tia had seen him grope women often enough. And suddenly being pinched in the bottom had to do with a malignant woman? This was priceless entertainment to her.
In the basement, it got more serious. The janitor claimed he had no problem going there though.
“This is where I found her. She’d been here for two days.”
“Leatitia, one of the ghosts that’s supposed to haunt this building?”
The janitor nodded. “They say she killed herself after one of the gentlemen had slighted her. Personally, I highly doubt that. Office romance just wasn’t her thing, you know?”
Frank sighed theatrically. “I guess you knew her pretty well, then?”
From a safe distance, Tia watched them. She didn’t like coming down here.
“Do you think her spirit is still here?”
The janitor shrugged. “I’ve never noticed anything like it, but it’s undeniable that weird things are going on. Missing items suddenly turning up on Monday morning, big mistakes just averted because of some unexplainable intervention. Haunted? Maybe. But I doubt if the ghost is of ill will.”
Tia couldn’t help herself, she’d liked the janitor. He had always been so kind to her. To see him here made her feel as sad as he was. In a reflex she moved up to him and put her hand on his shoulder. Unconsciously he put his over hers.
“What’s that?” Frank suddenly asked, in a tone that made to imply the heavens had opened up.
“What?”
“Your hand? What are you doing?”
“Oh, nothing. Just a tingle.”
“Damn,” Tia thought. She’d not wanted to intervene so soon.
To distract them, she got up the stairs and slammed the door at the top shut. That should get their attention. Malignant ghost her ass.
She’d been watching the proceedings all day, had kept from interacting any more. That night in the pitch black it would be much more fun, she had decided. It gave her time to plot and plan her little funny and vengeful adventure. She’d never get a better opportunity than this. They wanted drama and to be shocked, and Tia had some excellent tricks up her sleeve.
Despite demands being made on ghostly inhabitants, none appeared for the remainder of the day.
It grew dark and quiet. The crew had had dinner in a restaurant across the street. Tia had watched them and patiently waited for them to return.
The janitor locked them in. “Have a pleasant night, gents!” He wished them cheerfully. The main power switch had been turned off for that one night. Or so they thought….
The crew made their way up to the office on the third floor first. That’s where most activity was, according to the interviews. The room was quiet now.
“We are calling out to the ghost of the girl who supposedly killed herself. Leatitia, are you here?” The voice sounded commanding.
Tia sat on the edge of her desk. It was her favourite spot, from there she could see to all the corners of the room.
The person using the desk these days had given up on trying to put stuff in that spot. It had been shoved aside every morning, by the cleaners she assumed.
Even in the dark, Tia could see her bright pink skirt. She loved this suit, although she’d never worn it. She had been scared to stand out, scared to be noticed. Sweet, serviceable, flexible, she was the person who took care of everything. She’d not changed all that much. Apart from that little thirst for vengeance and adventure.
She let the guys move around for a while, right until they were about to give up.
She clapped her hands and all the monitors in the room turned on at once.
“Goodnight, gentlemen.” The screensavers on all of them read. It had taken her quite some time to get that done. And it would take her even more time to restore later. Who cared? The shocked faces were all worth it. And what else was she going to do anyway?
“Dude, what’s happening?” Dave, the second host, said with a wince of fear in his voice.
It would be so easy to lead them to the gold right now. Tia wanted to have more fun first, though. Playing around with them for a while would make the dramatic impact so much stronger.
Tia clapped her hands again, this time manipulating the climate control into pushing cold air into the room.
“Crap, can you feel that cold air?” Frank asked his team. They confirmed by nodding and mumbling. “Leatitia, is this you doing that?” Frank asked as he shivered. “Cold air is usually an indication of spirit life being around.” He explained to the camera in that same dramatic voice he always used.
He held something in front of him that he’d pointed out to her earlier. It was meant as a device ghosts could speak into, to be understood.
Calmly Tia slid off the desk and walked over to them. She checked their equipment and made one of the things wheeze and flash.
Startled the crew stepped back. “Damn, there’s a lot of activity here!” One of them yelled. “The meter is going berserk.”
Getting close to the sound recording device, Tia clapped two times. Then bent towards it and spoke. “Evil. Basement.” She couldn’t help herself. These guys were here for some action, she’d give them action. Good thing they didn’t hear her giggle though.
“What? What’s in the basement?” Frank demanded to know. Tia knew very well how to make herself heard, without the aid of devices. She let out a hard manic laugh, before slamming the door shut on them.
The fall out was terrific. They were swung back and forth between fear and fascination. The cameras were turned off for a few minutes so they could discuss their options. They’d not had this much real activity ever. Most of it was caught on tape, Tia had made very sure of that.
Most haunted, her ass. If there’d be any ghosts, she’d know about them. After wandering around here for so long, she knew everything about this building.
Frank wanted to go to the basement, while two of his fellow crew members politely bowed out. It was too much and too real for them to handle. They hung back in the main entrance hall.
When Frank came down the stairs, Tia gave him a little push backwards. Not hard enough to make him fall, but enough to make him believe, that something tried to stop him from going down there. For the big finale, she needed him as on edge as she could get him.
She also made something in the dark distance of the basement rattle. This is where the archives were, as well as a meeting spot for office couples who didn’t want to be caught with their pants down. When she’d said she had to go down into the archives to look something up, she’d meant it. It had not been an invitation, as her boss clearly had believed.
Frank’s responses were priceless. More and more, his fascination made room for fear. His voice gave so much away, even if he did an outstanding job in trying to cover it up.
With a rush, Tia moved passed him, so he felt her cold energy swoosh by.
“Are you here? Who’s there?”
“Secrets.” She yelled through the room in a low voice. In the echo of the room, no one could make out if it was a male or female voice. By playing with the wiring, she made a few light bulbs flash on and off. It fit in nicely with the electrocution scheme.
“Who is this?”
“Evil.” She could toy a bit longer, she decided.
“Did you kill yourself here?” That was the question she’d dreaded. For a long time, she’d not remembered what had happened. One moment she’d been arguing with her boss, the other moment she’d lain there with the janitor looking at her body. That kind janitor, he’d been as shocked as she was. She’d so much wanted to comfort him when she saw that.
To give herself time to think she whirled through the room, creating some other noises. Somewhere in the back, she threw over a stack of paper. She immediately felt guilty towards the poor intern, that would have to go sort it out later.
“How many of you are in here?”
She looked around. She, Frank, a cameraman, a sound guy.
“Four.” She answered in the same dark voice she’d used before.
“Why did you lead us here?”
“Secrets.”
“Are you haunting the poor people in this building?”
“Secrets.” And then her laugh again. They were getting more serious, and Tia wanted to have more fun. This was after all her finest hour. After this everyone would know who she was. And more than that, everyone would know what he had done to her.
She straightened out her pink skirt. One of these days she really should thank her best friend, for having her cremated in this thing. At least she got good wear out of it now.
The crew remained behind when Tia was long upstairs. When they came back to the main hall, the coffee in the machine was brewed and ready for them.
“Did you do that?” Frank asked a member of his crew. “No. Look here.”
Frank looked at the screen of his co-host and saw a bright pink blur move passed the coffee machine as it sprung into action.
“Shit, we have a coffee making ghost here?”
The coffee had somewhat settled their mind, about their ghost being genuinely evil. If she wanted to hurt any of them, she’d had ample opportunity.
More noises came from upstairs. They ran up to the third floor with their camera’s still rolling.
The lights in the office at the back were turned on. They saw some drawers open, at the desks on their way through the room. Someone had frantically rummaged through them. “They weren’t open when we were here earlier,” Frank said in a grave voice. Cautiously they made their way through the room, towards the back. The monitors still emitted their message. Tia had not had time to change them.
The door was a bit ajar. The guys squinted at the bright light on the other side.
Frank pushed through. The desk was a mess, all papers had been shoved off of it, the drawers were torn out, and the heavy desk chair had been thrown through the room. Someone was clearly pissed off.
Written in bright pink lipstick on the window, they could clearly read the message. The two lipsticks it had taken were still on the white windowsill underneath.
Calmly Tia watched them as they took in her message.
“Secrets.”
“Yesterday the case of the death of Leatitia Reading, who passed away six years ago, in what was believed a suicide has been reopened. New evidence has made it clear the death was most certainly a homicide. Her former boss has been arrested on suspicion of the act. According to an anonymous source within the company, Leatitia had accused him of sexual harassment before.
Leatitia, or as her co-workers and friends called her Tia, was a gentle woman. She had a friendly demeanour and was always the first to help out. In general, she didn’t stand out much. Her body was found electrocuted in the basement of the offices she worked at, on a Monday morning. She’d been there since Friday night when she stayed behind at the office to work finish up on some work.
As the case is still under investigation, the police will not provide further commentary. Paranormal investigators, Frank and Davy, claim to have discovered this new evidence. A special of their show ‘Ghost Talk’ on this scary night, will be aired at Halloween.”
Tia stood at her desk and read the article on the screen. It made her smile.
Two birds, one stone, she decided. Then she saw something happen down the room. She rushed passed the desks and could just stop a co-worker from falling over.
“Thanks.” This person said in general. They had worked with Tia around for so long now, they were no longer startled when things like this happened. The most haunted modern building in the US? No way. Just one ghost. Malignant? Only to those who deserved it. To the rest of them? Friendly, gentle, helpful, and maybe a little evil. Good evil. Kind evil.
