Why does the facility stay locked during daylight hours, and what's behind those units that never seem to be accessed by their supposed renters? Which storage bays emit that low humming sound, and why do the security cameras always malfunction around midnight? What happened to the previous night watchman who left his keys behind?
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You don’t need more storage space you just need to manage the things that you have and keep only the absolutely necessary and those things which give you joy in your day to day life.
― Marco D. Rogers, Tidy Home and Decluttering: Save time to Tidy, Declutter and Organize Your Home
The fluorescent lights flickered overhead as I pulled into Lane C of the Outdoor Storage facility. The sun had long since dipped behind the mountains, casting long shadows between the endless rows of metal doors. My job as the facility’s night security guard usually meant peaceful rounds through empty corridors, but tonight felt different.
Unit 247 had been reported for a leak. A simple maintenance check, they said.
The gravel crunched under my boots as I approached the unit, my flashlight beam dancing across the rusted numbers. The padlock was missing. Strange – this unit was marked as occupied in our system.
As I rolled up the door, the hinges protested with an otherworldly screech that echoed through the maze-like layout of the facility. My beam caught something reflective in the back corner, something that shouldn’t have been there. Water? No. It was too thick, too dark.
The smell hit me next. Metallic. Organic. Wrong.
I took one step inside, and the door slammed shut behind me with a thunderous bang. In the pitch darkness, I heard something shuffle in the corner. My flashlight flickered once, twice – then died.
They found my flashlight the next morning, batteries corroded, lying in front of Unit 247. The door was locked, the unit empty. But if you visit the facility on particularly quiet nights, they say you can still hear scratching coming from inside.
Just don’t make the mistake of investigating. Some storage units are better left undisturbed.
