nightmare

I was working a solo night shift at 7-Eleven. Around 3:40 AM, I heard two knocks on the glass door—not someone trying to come in, just… knocking. I looked up. It was a girl, maybe 17, shivering. No shoes. Pale. She looked terrified. I rushed over and unlocked the door. She stumbled in and said, “He’s still out there. Please don’t let him in.” I locked the door behind her and called the cops. She hid behind the counter, trembling. A few minutes later, headlights swept into the lot. A black van pulled up—no plates. But before anyone stepped out, red and blue lights flashed behind them. Cops. The van sped off. They never caught whoever it was… but the girl was safe. Her parents had filed a missing person’s report three days earlier. She thanked me over and over before they took her home. I felt like I actually saved someone. But here’s the part that won’t leave my head— When I reviewed the CCTV footage later that week… She never knocked. She never even opened the door. She just walked through it.