 I have owned a clothing store in the local mall for about five years now. I feel very fortunate that I can run a successful business. There's one thing, though, that keeps me up at night, that seeps into my nightmares till I wake in a cold sweat. Every night after closing, myself and the rest of the staff do our daily routine of removing the heads off the mannequins. If we do not remove their heads, disturbing things can happen. When I bought the store, the previous owner left a room full of mannequins. Being I owned a clothing store, I cleaned them up a bit and propped them up throughout the store to display my clothes. There are about 20 mannequins throughout the store that must be accounted for. No one may leave for the night without the heads counted and locked in their respective We've lost several staff members over the years by not following protocol with the mannequins. Myself and the rest of the team, we respect the rules and we follow them closely, knowing the grave dangers that present themselves if broken. Last October, our newest staff member did not follow the store protocols. Justin was a 22 year old, a college dropout, looking for any work he could get his hands on to pay off his bills. Justin was cocky, he didn't connect well with customers, he would take long cigarette breaks, do a lazy job of folding the clothes and, most importantly, he didn't take the rules seriously. Justin watched us each night his first two weeks on the job, how each person would behead their assigned mannequin. The black shiny plastic mannequins were posed in various ways to display our hottest items. As the store would wind down for the night, I'd swear you'd catch movement in the corner of your eyes like one of them was moving. While normal stores leave their mannequins as is, it is crucial we behead them each night. Also, Justin watched from the sideline those first couple weeks as we removed the mannequin's heads and locked them in their lockers. Justin appeared bored, disinterested with the entire protocol. He scrolled away on his phone while the rest of the team secured the store. When the two weeks came up, Justin was assigned his very own six mannequins that he needed to address each night he worked. While the problem started almost immediately, I am a key holder, so I open the store most days. I have put many long hours after closing each night, counting the mannequins, confirming that they're locked up. I have now given that responsibility up to the rest of the trusted staff that is excluding Justin. I headed to the store at about 8 AM when I saw her standing beyond the glass. A tall, naked, womanly mannequin with exaggerated curves was standing in the middle of the main aisle. I felt my stomach drop inside me as she stood posed, her arm waving casually and the other planted on her hip. Her back was arched like she was a ballerina. I shakily unlocked the store, looking around towards the other mannequins who were neatly in place on their elevated stands, all without heads, except the one standing before me. Posed like a dancer, her bald, glossy head facing me. Despite being devoid of facial expressions, I could sense some emotion from them, an anger almost. I cautiously approached the mannequin, feeling the air grow quiet around me. It was like a predator was stalking me from a distance. The pressure rose in my head as I reached towards her own bald head. My hands wrapped around her cold head and I twisted. I twisted her head slightly, squeaking as I pulled it off with a pop. The head came off and the mannequin fell over, her body crashing, echoing through the empty store as it sent a shiver up my spine. I raced towards my desk and texted the group chat asking who closed last night. Everyone answered except Justin. Amanda and Eric confirmed they closed with him. All but one confirmed their mannequins were locked up and again Justin remained quiet. I called the staff meeting that afternoon. I drilled the importance of locking up the mannequins. Justin hung in the back, yawning as I spoke. Those upcoming weeks that eerie feeling hung in the store like they were watching us. They seemed to change their positions, even without anyone moving them. I stayed back each night, triple checking that they were all locked up. Well, one night when I wasn't able to stay back and Justin, Amanda and Eric were tasked with closing, that feeling of dread was washing over me on my drive home. I cursed myself that evening, screaming in my head for them not to forget. For Justin to not be such a screw up and just do what he was told. At about 2 am, an alert buzzed on my phone. The security system for the store was going off. My phone flashed, security breach, front door open. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes as the alert continued. And then I opened my security camera app to the store. I flicked through each camera until I got to the one facing the door. And there she was. She was standing there again, like a posing ballerina, her naked black plastic skin. That blank face aimed towards the camera. A body lay before her, but it was no mannequin, clothed, fuller. It was a male face first on the floor. I frantically texted into the group chat, but nobody responded. I had to grab my keys and I raced towards the mall. Now, a mall in the middle of the night is an eerie place to find yourself. Not a light to be seen. The empty stores are all lined with their pull down chain fences. I carefully walked down the main floor towards my store, my feet echoing on the tile. I could hear the faint alarm going off as I drew closer. That dry lump in my throat was forming. And as I approached the store, seeing the main doors wide open, I knew that this was not right. There she was, standing in the main aisle again. Just in such an eccentric manner, her blank face looking straight at me. A body lay before her in one of the store uniforms. I could barely see in the dark my phone flashlight barely lighting up enough space to see. I shone the light on the body, seeing the ruffled blonde hair of Justin. A pool of blood was around his head, his arm tied behind his back. The mannequin stood over him, almost like a hunter claiming his kill. I switched the security alarm off on my phone. Standing in the darkness with the mannequin, her army of headless soldiers frozen around her. And there was nothing I could do at this point. Justin would have to stay there until morning. If I were to step one foot in the store with her, with her head securely on, well, I'd end up just like Justin. I stayed out front of the store the remainder of the night, just watching her. The rest of the mannequin seemed to move, but I'd only catch a split second glimpse before they were frozen again. As the sun rose and the pool of blood around Justin's lifeless body grew larger, I called the authorities, I called the rest of the staff in as well. We just watched as they wheeled Justin's beaten, bloody, and bound body right out of the store. Amanda and Eric hung back nervously, swearing that they thought Justin left when they did. It was a grim reminder for all of us to never leave the store without first removing their heads.