"My Fat Lip"

I found it strange when my night guard called me to cancel his shift for the night. I decide to take the shift, which leads me to the VA Hospital in North Hills.
Friday Night:
We filmed the TV series "On the lot" here many times, and now it's the TV show FACTORY's turn. The empty houses that sit on the corner of the block are the sets they will be filming at. The white second story house looks pretty creepy, but the other single story one looks plain. The crew is still filming so I take my walk around the basecamp, next to us is the mini golf course and next to that is the Crazy Monkey building. I wasn't so comfortable being so close to the building again. They wrap after dark, once everyone is gone, I notice the police that roam the facility drive by to lock the gates, and they never drive in to talk to me. The officer waves from the distance and drives over to the next gate and locks it. Looks like I'm locked in, unless of course I drive thru the golf course to the other side where the closed down hospital sits. I drive the little golf cart they leave behind that night to do my security patrol. I hear music inside the two-story house. I decide not to wonder inside, I'm not in the mood to mess with any “Spirits”, besides, I just rented Spiderman 3. As I'm watching my movie my truck starts to shake rapidly. (Fuck earthquake!) I stop my movie and listen to the radio for any news. Nothing. I get out of my truck, no wind. I look around and nothing. An hour later, while listening to the radio my truck shakes again, I jump out of my truck and look around with my light, I even look under my truck. Nothing. I see someone walk around my trailer. I make my way over to the trailer and once again nothing. The rest of the night I ignore the shaking of my truck and the shadow people behind the trees and trucks.

Saturday Night:
When I arrive back tonight, I dare not mention anything that happened last night to the crew. I don’t want anyone to think I’m “Nuts” So I keep the shadow people and truck shaking to myself. When the crew leaves I do my security patrol. I walk all around the two-story house. They turned off their music this time around. Good. Later that night I start watching another DVD movie, I hear crushing leaves. I lower the volume to the movie, I don't see anyone out here, I look to my left and then to my right. SHIT! Someone is staring at me! I get out of my truck with my four-cell flashlight tightly gripped to my hand. The person is gone. Nowhere to be found. To get the jitters out of my system I do a rounder around the place. As I get closer to the two-story house I could hear music. I make my way to the front of the house; the music seems to be coming upstairs. Instead of entering the building I flash my light thru the windows, I flash the 2nd floor window, and the music stops. The front door slowly opens slightly with that old creak noise.  The door stops half way. I shine my light at the door, fuck that! The guitar music starts to play again upstairs; I make my way back to my truck. The rest of the night I had to deal with truck shaking, people walking in front of my truck or standing in front of my truck staring at me. I understand why my guard didn't want to come back.

Sunday Night:
I wasn't going to come back tonight, but I hear there's another film crew that's going to be here, so I wouldn't be alone since they have one of their guards working here too. This show is big budget since they have equipment and camera “Tents” everywhere on this property.  They wrap early tonight, it's just barely getting dark. The site rep is the last person to leave this time. She calls me over to her.

REP: Hey Rj, can you come with me to the house over here, I have to make sure the power is off.

 ME: Sure. (Damn It better not be inside!)

We walk to the front of the house.

REP: I need your light please.

I give her my light.

REP: I need you to hold it please.

ME: Um, sure.

We walk up the stairs to the front door. We stand in the doorway.

REP: Okay now thru those doors is the kill switch.

ME: Why you telling me that?

REP: So you can shut the power off.
 Now I know there's something wrong with this house when the site rep themselves won't go further in the house by themselves.

ME: Why do I have to do it? You’re the site rep.

REP: Okay, we'll do it together.

ME: That’s fair.

REP: (giggles) You know huh?

ME: I know the yard has to be with all the crap I've seen.

REP: Oh the yard used to be...

I cut her off.

ME: I don't even want to know.

I don't even want to know if this place was some historic gravesite of some sort.

REP: Don't get me started with this house, your not suppose to enter this house alone.

ME: What makes this house so (in the corner of my left eye I see someone behind the front door)
.
Before I could even finish that sentence the door WHACKS me in my face. For 2 seconds my vision went white, but I did see the shadow of a person run into the room next to us. Out of instinct or just plain anger I follow the person into the other room that leads to the kitchen. I hear the Rep scream; I follow the footsteps, which turns to the hallway to the front door. I see the Site rep with both hands covering her eyes. I hear running going up the stairs, but don't see anything.

 ME: Where did he go?

 REP: It went up that way.

 The site Rep points upwards on the staircase.

 ME: It?

 This loud crashing noise comes from upstairs.

 ME: Oh shit! What the fuck was that.

 I start making my way up the staircase. The Rep pulls me by my arm.

 REP: I wouldn't go up there if I were you.

The stomping up stairs stops at the top of the staircase. One step at a time the sound starts to come down the stairs. And yes, there's nothing there. It could have been the anger or the pain in my lip, but I was pissed.

ME: Fuck you guys!

I walk out of the house. The site Rep follows, as she closes the door, she whispers something back into the house, sounded like sorry or hope we didn't bother, not too sure, I just kept walking back to my truck. My lip hurt and I could feel the swell get very big. The site Rep runs up to me.

REP: You okay sweetie?

ME: Does it look bad?

REP: It looks big. I'm so sorry; I didn't want to go in by myself and well. Fuck! (She starts to wipe tears from her eyes) I need a fucking drink! (She lights her cigarette with her shaky hands) You need anything honey?

The “Spark” from her lighter lights up our area. She offers me to “Smoke” with her, but I tell her I don’t smoke.

ME: No. (I'm still angry about my lip. I start wiping the blood from it)

REP: This is a story you can tell your kids some day huh? Fuck! I so need to get drunk right now! We need to drink.

ME: I can't, I'm working.

REP: Like anyone is going to check on you, this place looks too creepy to be checked on at night.

ME: I have the other guards from the other film here too, so I'm good.

REP: True, at least you won't be here alone. I feel so bad leaving you here alone. God! I don't know how you do this fucking job! Well if you changed your mind here's my card sweetie. Be safe and stay away from the house. She starts to giggle.

ME: Yea. What about the power? You didn't shut it off.

REP: It's a federal building; the government has money to pay for it.

She drives away. I tear up the card. I'm sorry but a girl that leads me into a haunted house and not tells me it's haunted is a girl I don't want any part of. I start to ice my lip. 2 security guards from the other company drive up to me. They get out of their car.

ME: They have 2 of you guys working this spot?

GUARD 2: No, my post is over the way in that parking lot over there.

So why are you over here?

GUARD 1: Hey vato, you look familiar.

GUARD 2: Yeah man, whom you work for?

So not in the mood with all the questions right now.

ME: I'm Rj.

GUARD 2: your senior’s boy?

ME: Yeah.

GUARD 1: I heard of you guys, I hear you do guards wrong.

GUARD 2: Yeah, homey, I hear you guys think your bad Asses cause you work a lot of commercials and movies and shit. You guys supposedly make all this money and shit.

GUARD 1: Yeah homey, your independent days are over.

ME: Whatever dude, your so high and mighty. Why you here at this post with this guard. Who's watching your stuff over in the parking lot? Do you guys even have guard cards? Plus, it's freaking dark out here, and yet I don't see anyone of you carrying a flashlight. What fucking kind of guard are you?

Both of them stay silent.

ME: I take it from your silence you don't have a fucking clue.

GUARD 2: Hey man, don't be so fucked up.

GUARD 1: Yeah, man, we don't care what people say about you. You seem like cool people.

GUARD 2: Yeah homey, chill out. Everybody talks about everyone in this bizness; it's all rumors to get the other security competition no work. You know how it is.

GUARD 1: Yeah, Brother, you have to shit on your competition so you can get ahead in this biz. You know man.

ME: Whatever.

GUARD 2: Look homey; we just wanted to use your restroom.

ME: What's wrong with your bathrooms?

GUARD 2: Fucking Benche tramps locked that shit up and didn't leave us the fucking keys.

GUARD 1: Yeah homey, I got to take this fucking mean ass shit!

GUARD 2: Your trailers open.

ME: No, but they did leave the restroom clean and running over in the white house, just upstairs to the left.

GUARD 2: Fuck, that place looks fucking Freddy Krueger scary and shit dark.

ME: Well, that's where the restroom is, take it or leave it.

GUARD 1: Well fuck it, I'll take it.

They both start to walk towards the house. I could hear them talk. "If Rj would of said no to the restroom, I would of fucked his shit up, you know what I mean homey" "Hell yeah, fuck that punk ass nigga"
I sit in my truck listening to the radio. 20 minutes has gone by when I see the two guards running towards my direction. The first guard gets into the driver seat.

GUARD 2: I'm fucking out of here; watch my shit for me homey!

The other guard starts to pound the passenger door.

GUARD 1: Open this fucker up asshole! Dude get the fuck out of here!

The guard is let into the car; they drive off at full speed thru the golf course. I watch them ruin that nice green grass. They go over the curb and continue speeding towards the street. In the morning the other security company had to explain why there was no guard and the tire tracks in the nice green golf course they have there. The site rep had that hang over look in her face.

REP: Rj, what did you do to those guards?

ME: Nothing at all. (I smile) Nothing.