The security guard squinted against the headlights of a car that had pulled up to the backdoor of the warehouse. Two men got out and headed to the door. Hand on his gun, he spoke quietly into his radio, though no one acknowledged him. Then he turned his attention back to the intruders.

“Hey! Who are you? What are you doing here?”

Neither of the men paid him any attention.

“I’m talking to you! Identify yourselves!”

They kept working on the lock and ignored him. His nervousness gave way to irritation, and he walked closer to the men. One kept looking over his shoulder while the other concentrated on the door.

“Will you hurry up,” the first said.

“Just give me a sec. This is tricky,” the other replied.

They still acted as though they they hadn’t noticed him. With his gun drawn, he walked to within a few feet of them. “Hands up!” There was no reaction.

At his wits’ end, he put his hand on the lookout’s shoulder in order to force his attention. His hand passed right through. Startled, he accidentally pulled the trigger on his revolver. Luckily, the shot missed both of the men, but they did jump.

“Holy… What was that?”

“A gun shot. Sounded far away, though.”

“Still…”

“Yeah. Hey did you notice anything just before it happened?”

“No.”

“I felt a chill. Now my shoulder’s numb.”

“You think this place is haunted, like they say?”

“I don’t know. But this got a lot creepier.”

“Yeah. Let’s get outta here.”

Still pretending he wasn’t there, they quickly got back in their car and sped off.

Had they been ghosts? How else had his hand gone through one of them? He didn’t know what to make of the encounter. Ultimately, he shrugged his shoulders and returned to his patrol.