Short Horror Stories

The Cleaners

Phoebe didn't usually stay late at the office. But that day, that unfortunate day, she had to.Everything had gone wrong since she woke up that morning, or rather, at 11:30 AM. She was supposed to be at work by 8:30 AM, with a meeting at 10:00 and another discussion at 11:00. Grabbing her phone, she found at least 20 missed calls and even more unread messages, all confirming her presence at the meetings she'd missed without any prior notice.

"Pft!" She sighed.

She rushed through her morning routine, barely washing her face before grabbing her laptop and turning it on. While waiting for it to boot up, she made her bed.

When she finished, she realized something was wrong. There was no welcoming startup sound. The laptop hadn't turned on at all. Thinking she might have forgotten to switch it on, she flipped the power button again.

Minutes passed.

Black screen. Phoebe could only stare at her reflection.

"Seriously?!" she muttered, a bit too loudly.

She'd planned to work from home, but now, thanks to her laptop, she had to go to the office to have it checked by the IT team.

Ninety minutes later, she finally arrived, barely managing to snag the only empty parking spot in the entire five-level basement.

It was almost 5:00 PM by the time her laptop issue was finally resolved. She hadn't even started her actual work yet. Not wanting to get stuck in traffic with the bad weather outside, Phoebe decided to stay and sort out some urgent matters.

By 6:00 PM, her floor was nearly empty. Almost everyone had gone home for the day.

As quiet and eerie as the office felt, Phoebe found a strange solitude in it. Her focus intensified, and she managed to close out a number of tasks.

... Until she heard something... a familiar sound.

The printer was printing.

But who in the office would be printing at this hour? And who else was even there besides her?

Phoebe tried to brush off any negative thoughts, but with little success.

Now she heard the sound of a vacuum cleaner.

"Oh, the cleaners are here," she thought, feeling a sense of relief.

She stood up and saw a group of two or three cleaners vacuuming the carpet at the other end of the office. Far away, but that was okay, she thought.

She was about to get back to work when the security guard, Arul, approached her.

"Miss, can you leave the office now?" he urged.

"Huh? Now? Why? You'll be here, right?" Phoebe protested.

"Yes, I will, but the office isn't safe now. You need to leave." Arul's voice was firm, almost desperate. His eyes kept darting towards the cleaners, who seemed to be moving closer.

Phoebe felt a chill run down her spine. Something was wrong.

She quickly grabbed her things and followed Arul towards the exit.

On their way, they encountered one of the cleaners.

"Don't look at him. Look down and keep walking," Arul warned in a whisper.

Phoebe didn't understand. "Haa?" she asked, looking up.

And then she saw it.

The Cleaner.

She saw what wasn't there.

Empty. Nothing on their face.

Their face.

Hollow.

As if there was another dimension inside their head.

Phoebe froze, her gaze locked on the void within the cleaner's face.

Arul didn't wait any longer. He grabbed Phoebe's hand and pulled her along.

It wasn't until they reached the exit that Phoebe finally snapped out of it.

"What just happened?" she asked, breathless.

"Nothing, Miss. You go home now."

"No. I saw something. I know what I saw. What was that?!"

"The Cleaners, Miss. They came to clean the bad energy in the office so the employees can work better."

"What cleaners? They didn't have faces! They weren't human! What were they?!"

"The Cleaners, Miss. They came to clean the bad energy in the office so the employees can work better."

"Why are you repeating yourself? I want to know what happened, and who they are! What are they?!"

"The Cleaners, Miss. They came to clean the bad energy in the office so the employees can work better."

Three times. And Phoebe realized that Arul's voice sounded... different.

She ran towards the elevator, not looking back.