Being a hired muscle didn’t usually involve a lot of thinking, but Mike couldn’t help it this time.

He never had to guard an empty room before.

The rules were simple enough: Don’t let anyone near the room and keep the door closed.

There wasn’t much excitement at first. Mike would spend most of the time listening to podcasts on one ear and staring at the cracked walls in the hallway. The shifts seemed to last forever.

His boss, Ray, would sometimes spend hours alone in that room. Mike wondered what the weirdo was doing in there, or why does an empty room need guarding in the first place.

But it wasn’t Mike’s habit to ask questions. He liked to keep things dead simple – if the job was easy, you don’t complain.

And it was easy until he realized that there were intruders in the house, just not the kind he had expected.

The first time he sensed something, Mike’s podcast stopped playing mid-sentence, and the lights in the hallway flickered.

He checked around the house and went to the front door. Fresh night air mixed with the stale one inside as he opened it. Mike stood at the entrance, careful not to step outside, and scanned the ruined front yard.

Then a noise came from the kitchen – or what used to be a kitchen – like whispering but distorted.

Some kids sneaked in probably, Mike thought, and now he’s gonna teach them a lesson.

He jumped into the kitchen, but there was no one.

Naturally, that got him thinking about ghosts. Is he supposed to keep them away too? And what do they want, anyway? Do ghosts see something in this old, empty house that he doesn’t?

One night, after walking around the house with a head full of these questions, Mike found the door of the room he was supposed to guard slightly ajar.

He closed it quickly.

Then he caught movement out of the corner of his eye.

Mike noticed that the end of the hallway was unusually dark. Or rather, something dark was standing there. He turned slowly, resisting the temptation to look away or blink.

The shadow had the shape of a person and the light around it dimmed and bent in weird ways.

And for the first time in ages, Mike felt fear rising deep within him.

But he wouldn’t allow it to surface. If he’d learned anything in the years of doing his job it was this: Don’t show them you’re afraid. Never.

Mike frowned and took a step towards the shadow.

The thing stirred as if surprised and a moment later it bolted out the front door.

The incident didn’t seem to bother his employer at all. Ray ensured him that he was doing a great job and tapped on Mike’s broad shoulder.

Still, Mike continued to wrestle with questions about ghosts and shadows.

But Mike was overthinking this. Things were dead simple, and he was simply dead.