Escape Africa (10)

 

10. The Colonial:

There was this pub back in my hometown that many people
claim is haunted. I worked there as the bar keep for about a year so I should
know something, right?

From the beginning this place held a heavy vibe to it. It
wasn’t in the good part of town and it used to be an old house converted into a
pub. The layout consisted of three large open spaces with the old fireplace at
the centre. To the left of the fireplace, as you were facing it, was the long
bar counter and to the right were a pool table and few couches. The bar counter
ran the length of the building, front to back with the ends partially converted
to private areas. The kitchen and rest rooms where at the back of the house as
we would say, part of the original building. The backyard was an entertainment
area that opened onto the parking lot running side to front. Overall the place
was dimly lit and filled with shadows. The story goes the founder / owner of
the place died alone in the pub at night under, whether you choose to believe
it or not, suspicious circumstances. Apparently his spirit never left. That’s
what I heard, I don’t buy into the story but after hearing it the place turned
creepy as fuck. Patrons often asked if I saw something move or whatever was
rattling furniture in the shadows. Despite their drunken paranoia the pub got
even creepier when the people count decreased. Cold spots and sudden gusts of
air, lights going out, toilets flushing in the rest rooms at random, the usual
kind of stuff. Believe me when I say everyone had a story about the ghost. I
was repeatedly told about the top shelf of the bar and how things would be
thrown off to the floor or at an unsuspecting patron, how the televisions would
switch off by themselves, glasses would clink together and balls would drop
into the pool table on their own. Then there was whatever lived in the
fireplace. I worked the closing shift and locked up alone most nights; I would
hear balls drop in the pool table, glasses clink together on the shelf behind
me and televisions would either switch on or switch off on their own. I hated
being there alone. Weird shit, really weird shit started to happen when the
power failed. Alone in the dark I would hear bottles tap together as is someone
was touching them, I would see shadows move in the darkness and I would heard
things move around in the kitchen as if someone was busy in there. Power
failures meant two things; I closed early and there was something in the fireplace.
I felt a constant presence in the darkness, an uncomfortable feeling that made
the hairs on the back of my neck stand up when I heard the wooden floor boards
creak in the entrance hall or saw something move passed a window. The more I
told people about my experiences, the more it freaked me out. One night the
power went out unexpected, the entire neighbourhood was in total darkness. I
set about closing up early when I realized the electric buzzer on the front
door failed; I called the boss to come in with the override for the gate. For
roughly twenty minutes I remained pinned to the front gate wanting to get the
hell out of there. I heard some of the scariest shit imaginable, like the pub
had come to life in the darkness. Footsteps across the wooden floor, chairs
moving out from the tables, glasses clinking and a game of pool played. As I
stood in the tiny circle of moonlight again I felt an uncomfortable presence
staring at me from beyond the shadows, watching me. From then on this presence
followed me around the pub. The incident that set in motion my resignation was
a cold winter night in the parking lot. I’d closed up and was starting my car
up to leave when something passed behind my car, that flash in the rear view
mirror caught my enough I misjudged the turn and connected with the tree line.
My bumper was caught up on the branches; I was stuck and need to call roadside
assistance. I cannot explain exactly what I saw next other than a massive black
form standing about ten feet from my car. It didn’t resemble anything but t was
there and it was watching me. That was the longest wait of my life. About a
week later the same black something appeared again inside the pub. This time
hovering over a small group of late night patrons seated at the corner of the
counter. The place was quiet when suddenly one of the women sitting there
looked up at the ceiling and said, ‘just like I dreamt it.’ She described this
dark cloud in great detail, what it was doing at the pub, which patrons it was
following around. I was freaked out enough to resign the next day, never go
back there alone and never in the dark. I haven’t been back home in years, as
far as I know the place is still there, maybe I’ll go back to check.