Hauted Building

 There were officers chatting and having tea at the office, it was so chilly and no one wanted to work outside. The officers were security guards and they used to guard gold. “Man today is our payday,” George said. Everyone was excited about payday. 

“Guys, we need to host housewarming, after a long time I managed to buy a house,” Joseph said with excitement. “You are right, we need to host it,” Mpho said. Everyone was so happy about Joseph’s achievement. A panel van stopped by, it was not just a van; it had robbers who prepared themselves to steal the gold, within a blink of an eye a gunshot was heard. “Guys prepare yourself!”  George instructed, taking a gun. “Open here and go down!” Ta Mike shouted, a hardcore gangster. 

“No one is opening here guys and we need to protect this gold,” Mpho sweated. The room they were in had an emergency door, Mpho and George found their spot outside the building and saw five people, they leaned against the wall. “Gosh, there are so many, what are you going to do?” George whispered. “Let me see,” Mpho said, sneaking to see. Mpho realized that these gangsters will overpower them. 

Joseph was left in the building holding a gun and he was ready to shoot. “If they do anything stupid, I am going to disable them.” These security officers prepared themselves. “Guys, we force open this door,” said Ta Mike. Ta Mike shot the locker and found Joseph ready for shooting, Joseph shot one robber and managed to run and hide. “Find him now,” Ta Mike said. The robbers scatter around the building. Joseph hid himself in the kitchen and he was trembling. Killer entered the kitchen holding a gun, he never saw Joseph. Joseph appeared to pull the trigger, a bullet went by and it was a headshot . “This way, this way guys!” Ta Mike shouted and they followed him to the kitchen. This time Joseph was in danger. Spiro saw Joseph and started shooting, the bullet hit where Joseph hid. “Damn it! They saw me,” Joseph shouted and hid himself. Spiro approached slowly and slowly. Joseph was so still and held a breath, Joseph was terrified. Spiro found him and pointed at him with a gun. “Don’t make anything stupid,” Spiro said. Joseph didn’t talk. 

“We just need the gold and we don’t want a bloodshed, okay? Show us the vault,” Spiro said. “In your dreams sir, I won’t show you. I will rather die,” Joseph insisted.

Mpho and George prepared themselves to shoot but it was risky. “We need to shoot these people, we are in a dark spot they won’t see us,” Mpho instructed, cocking a gun. “But it is risky man, we can’t do that,” George said. “My man we are the security officers, we need to guard this gold,” Mpho said. 

“Let the game begin.” Within a blink of an eye, Mpho pulled the trigger and the bullet hit a wall.

“Cover yourself! They are shooting at us,” a thug shouted. “We shoot back now.” The thugs and security officers shot each other and the bullet hit Mpho and died. “Mpho don’t do this, wake up,” George yelled. It was already too late for Mpho to live. George became furious and didn’t care about being shot. He pulled the trigger and the bullet hit one thug. “I need to finish them one by one,” George said. 

Joseph and Spiro continued to argue over the vault. “I won’t repeat myself, officer, show us the vault,” Spiro pointed a gun at him. “Listen here you moron! To hell with you,” Joseph said and became furious. Ta mike was fed up and shot Joseph. It was clear that Joseph wasn’t going to show them the vault. These thugs looked around and found the vault. “We are rich, wow!” Spiro shouted with excitement. 

“My man, we are going to rule this town,” Ta Mike said. George went inside to back up his colleagues but it was too late. “Oh my….” It was too late for George to fight but he insisted. “Hey!” As he shouts, he shoots Spiro and Ta Mike hid himself. “Show yourself now!” George shouted. “Who do you think you are?” Ta Mike said, cocking a gun. “I don’t have to explain myself to you, just show yourself,” George said. 

Ta Mike looked around and started to approach, within a blink of an eye George saw and pulled the trigger, a bullet flew on top of Ta Mike’s head and he ran to where he was hiding and started to shoot. 

“You won’t kill me you bastard,” Ta Mike was sweating. “All you friends are dead,” George said. 

“Just know that you won’t touch me,” Ta Mike said. George jumped on without wasting any time, he shot while approaching and finally shot Ta Mike, the police arrived and George gave them a statement. 

It was in the morning and everyone was prepared to go to work. Thabo was eating toasted bread with bacon. It was so tasty for him. Thabo's wife was working at the municipality, so Lucia made sure that his husband finds work and finally he found it. Thabo was also a security officer and he worked where George and his colleagues died. “Love, I am so glad you managed to find me a job,” Thabo smiled. “You are my husband, remember we have exchanged the vows,” Lucia smiled. “I want to assure you that we are going to have a softer life than this,” Thabo chuckled. “This is incredible to hear that,” Lucia said. These two couples went to their job to make more cash.

The building was so creepy and Thabo was his first time working the night shift. “You are welcome for your first day,” the head officer welcomed him. “I am so glad I found this job,” Thabo said. The head officer was showing Thabo around and introduced him to other colleagues. “Officers, this is Thabo Ntho,” the head officer said, Van Wyk. “Okay officers, Mr Ntho, your post is inside, Mr Bulane your post is outside and Mr Maqelepo your post is on the gate,” Van Wyk instructed them during a parade. “Make sure this gold is safe, we don’t want history to repeat itself, dismissed.” Everyone went to their posts to guard.

In the middle of the night Thabo felt a cold feeling in his body, a strange thing was that it was summer so it surprised him. “Something is weird here, it is summer but I feel so cold,” Thabo felt so worried. “Maybe it is the flu; let me switch on the kettle.” Thabo went to the kitchen to switch on the kettle but there were some strange things. Thabo felt a sound of a wind blowing in his ears and screams. “What is that?” Thabo asked. “Maybe there is an air conditioner but I don’t see it.” While switching a kettle he heard the sound of a chair moving as if someone was pulling it. “Officer is that you?” Thabo asked. This young man felt like the place was haunted. He approached his room, sneaking slowly, scared, and could not find someone. A kettle switched itself off. 

“Is there someone here?” Thabo asked and he was terrified. He returned to the kitchen to pour hot water but a cup fell and broke. Thabo became so terrified and went back to his room. “Something is not adding up here,” Thabo said, sitting down. OB Book pages turned themselves over and he jumped and screamed. Thabo was so terrified and his body felt so cold. Thabo ran away and stayed outside. “Hey man, why do you abandon your post?” Bulane asked. “Something does not make sense,” Thabo said with a trembling voice. 

“You seem so scared, talk to me,” Bulane said. “I think this building is haunted,” Thabo said. Bulane thought Thabo was joking. “You are full of jokes man, stop dreaming and go back to work,” Bulane laughed. Thabo was fed up. “Do you remember what happened last year?” Thabo asked. 

“All I know is that the security officers were killed,” Bulane said. “I think their souls are the one haunting,” Thabo was terrified. “I don’t think those theories are real,” Bulane said. “Man, everything is possible, as Africans we believe in culture and tradition,” Thabo added. Thabo waited outside until he was knocked off. It was a miracle for Thabo to see that and Bulane believed him. 

Brian Makara, 2025