I was working as a Controller of a motion picture film lab in Seattle (Alpha Cine) in 1990. It was located at 10th & Denny, across from the Seattle Times building and Thirteen Coins. It was a three story old brick building with the chemical processing in the basement, offices on the main floor, and post production and theatre on the top floor.
About a month in, I needed to get some work done prior to Monday. I went in on Sunday afternoon and I knew I was the only person there because I had to disarm the alarm. I made sure the door was locked and planted myself in my office. I knew that smoking had been allowed at some time in the office because there was a still a faint odor after it was shut up for the weekend.
I was going through files and starting to work when I smelled cigarette smoke, stronger than what was normal on a Monday morning. I looked around and checked the offices on either side, but I didn't see anyone or anything. A few minutes later I thought heard a faint laugh, really deep and hoarse. I listened for awhile, but didn't hear more, until there was a faint tap, tap, tap down the hallway outside my office. It sounded like someone in high heels walking down the hall, so I opened my door quickly to see who was there, and.....nothing. I wasn't frightened, just annoyed, really.
We had a large magnetized security door into the processing area because a lot of chemicals and the original films were stored there. You could only operate the door if it was physically shut off with the code, which was strictly regulated during the day and always locked down at night.
I just about jumped out of my skin when I heard that enormous metal door slam. I knew it had been closed because I saw it when I set the alarm. I was sure then that someone was in the building but I wasn't sure what to do. I sat there for a while listening and decided to go look. It was scary and I wasn't sure what I'd do, but I looked down the hall and it was still closed. I was freaked out so I grabbed my stuff, set the alarm and locked the door. I waited for awhile in my car to see if someone set the alarm off from the inside or came out, but nothing happened.
The next morning, I checked the alarm register and saw where I had come in and left, but nothing else was registered.
A few weeks later, a guy in the processing lab was talking about the woman who had died the past year after taking her first vacation in over twenty years. He said that she had worked there almost 30 years in the processing lab and had finally decided to go to Mexico. She contracted a disease there and died within a few months. She had worked in the processing lab and was really crusty, always smoking and telling dirty jokes. He said she was very well respected and showed me some awards and articles about her. He said that she was about four feet tall and always wore heels.
I always wondered about that day...
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