Scary Stories To Chill Your Bones

The Teacher Saying Goodbye

I attended the same university for my Bachelors and my PhD. There was a lovely woman by the name of Jennifer, who was my Reading in the Content Area instructor. The guys all swooned over her (she was gorgeous) and I loved her because she read us The Giver out loud. She was an awesome instructor (and was doing her PhD in Literacy).

Fast forward a few years, and Jen has moved to South Carolina to teach literacy. I’m now in my PhD program, and in the same grad student office she used to work in, with other Literacy people that were her colleagues.
And then, we get the news that she was murdered by her boyfriend. Everyone is totally devastated. It was a huge blow to the department, as she was genuinely loved by everyone who knew her.

So a few days after her funeral (her body was brought home), I’m in the office suite at school very early in the morning, when nobody else was around. The grad students had a fishbowl office (10 of us, with group desks) within a larger office suite that was locked and had light motion sensors. I’m walking in and pass a locked door with windows, and I see a woman with short, dark hair walk the other way inside. Which was weird, because the lights didn’t flicker on when she moved.

So I walked around the corner to the door with a key code and let myself in. I walk inside, and head to where I saw her. The lights flicker on when they sense me. Nobody is there. It’s just me, and an entire suite of empty offices.
I swear to god, it was her, saying goodbye to a place she spent so many years, and where she had so many friends. It spooked the hell out of me, but made me sad, too.