After Hours

Liv watched from the hallway as families filed out of the aquarium for closing time. She smiled and unclipped the keys from her belt loop to unlock the hall closet. It was time to knock out this last part of work so she could finally head home. She shimmied the cleaning cart out and checked that all supplies were stocked up for her sweep through the front of the aquarium. Liv pushed the cart ahead of her and passed the lobby desk where tonight’s security guard was already getting comfortable in one of the chairs.

“Hey Jerome!” Liv called out to her nightly acquaintance.

“Hiya Liv! How was your day?” He waved to her.

She stopped her cart and leaned one elbow upon it, “LONG. But not bad. I’m definitely ready to go home and avoid any possible interactions with the warden tonight.”

Jerome chuckled, “I know you’ve only been here a few months… just give it time. Gina can be rough around the edges but you get used to her, I promise.” Liv rolled her eyes in disbelief. Gina was more than rough around the edges; she was the most difficult boss Liv ever had.

“Say, why don’t I help get you out of here sooner?” Jerome stood up and joined Liv at the cleaning cart. He took a glance at it and grabbed some paper towels, spray, and trash bags. “I got the main lobby tonight.”

“You’re the best Jerome! Seriously, thank you!” Liv found a pep in her step as she pushed the cart towards the gift shop. Maybe tonight she could actually get some shut eye. Being an almost full-time employee and a college student left little time for doing much of anything else. Liv went through her steady routine of tidying up the gift shop. As she readjusted some sweaters on the rack, she smirked and thought about how her coworker Landon would make fun of her for going the extra mile to straighten souvenirs out. Landon was the one who trained Liv when she first got hired at the aquarium and they became fast friends in the process. Not to mention Liv thought he was super cute. But she would never tell him that.

Liv finished up inside the gift shop and quickly wiped down the bathrooms. Soon, she was rolling the cleaning cart back into the hallway closet and all there was left to do was go fetch her purse from her locker and return the keys to the staff room. She felt tired now.

“I’ll be back in a minute.” She told Jerome as she walked by the desk towards the back of the building.

“You know I’ll be here waiting.” He jested at her. He was on guard waiting for all employees to finish their shifts so he could lock up and go home as well. Thanks to him, Liv would be one of the first to walk out the door. She made her way through different rooms lined with tank after tank of every kind of fish. Liv casually waved bye to two of her coworkers as they made their way towards the front doors to head home themselves. She loved this part of her shift because now that most of the lights were shut off in the building, the tanks gave off a wonderful glow that made all the sea life inside them that much brighter. Liv slowed down and stopped in front of her favorite tank. This one was one of the biggest tanks at the aquarium. It was at least thirty feet across and reached all the way up to the ceiling. Shaped in a perfect cylinder, it was stationed right in the center of the room. This tank was full of all different kinds of fish but Liv came to watch the leopard sharks swim their familiar circles. She watched a particularly large one mosey along the far side of the glass and follow the curve around. It was peaceful. For a moment. Until Liv heard the dreaded click-clack of the heels of the warden aka her boss.

Gina’s shadow took form on the other side of the tank. Liv watched as Gina’s blonde head stopped and look back towards the hallway she just walked out of. Squinting through the dense water, Liv couldn’t make out what Gina was looking at... Whatever was going on though, Liv did not want to cross paths with her boss tonight so she crouched low along the wall of the tank, hoping to go unnoticed. Liv continued to watch as another shadow took form across the tank. With the main lights off, Liv couldn’t make out the face but she could definitely see the person was wearing a hat with their hood up.

“What are you doing here?” Liv heard Gina ask with an authoritative tone. Liv watched as the shadow with the hat ran up to Gina and assaulted her. Gina screamed out but was stopped midcry with an awful gurgling noise. The sound made Liv’s heart race as she instinctively dropped to the floor as low as possible while trying not to lose sight of what was happening on the other side. Liv covered her mouth with her hands as she heard a few more sickening, squelching noises. Someone was hurting Gina! And Liv couldn’t move.

Suddenly, it was quiet again. She could see the shadow that assaulted Gina hovering over her low to the ground. Once the person stood up, Liv tried desperately to peek at their face but a large leopard shark swam in front of her vision just at the wrong moment. Frustrated but mostly frightened, Liv sank to the ground praying this attacker wouldn’t find her there and hurt her as well. As if her prayers were answered, she heard the sneakers of the attacker running off and the noise fading down a hallway. Liv let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding. Shaking, she peered into the tank again. Hearing nothing and seeing no one, Liv slowly got back on her feet. Once she found her balance, adrenaline pumped her legs into motion. Liv booked it back the way she came, hoping to find someone to help.

The wildest thoughts ran through her head as she raced by tank after tank. What if she was seen? What if the attacker heard her? What if they saw her run away and they were right behind her? Liv felt like she could hear footsteps chasing her. She wished she had her phone but she knew it was back in her locker too far away now. Oh God, what if Gina was still alive and she left her behind?! Liv felt more and more sick to her stomach as her thoughts spiraled. Liv’s legs moved ever faster as the main lobby came into view. She was out of breath and sweating by the time she got to the desk. Jerome jumped up at her sudden appearance.

“You scared the jeebies out of me! What are you running from Liv?” She tried to speak but choked on tears as she began to realize what she might have just witnessed.

“It’s Gina,” Liv pointed back into the aquarium, “I think she’s dead… I don’t know it was hard to see…” Liv couldn’t stop the flow of her tears now. She was sobbing as Jerome came over and grabbed her shoulders.

“This isn’t funny Liv. Please tell me you’re joking?” Liv shook her head and Jerome quickly guided Liv to a chair behind the desk and told her to stay put. He reached over to the desk phone and dialed 911. Liv sat still, shock taking over. She soon heard police sirens and could see the blue and red lights blinking into the lobby. Jerome was trying to talk to her but she couldn’t hear him. Everything became a blur.

Gina’s body was found and confirmed dead. The police did a sweep of the building and found no perpetrator, only a few staggering employees in other parts of the aquarium that were all too far away to have heard or seen anything. The cops seemed to ask Jerome and Liv a million questions. They did everything they could to help. Eventually, they were released and sent home. The aquarium was deemed a crime scene and would be closed to the public until further notice. While an investigation took place, all non-essential employees would have to stay home. Only the handlers and caretakers would be allowed supervised access to maintain the tanks. That meant Liv was put on unexpected vacation.

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Over the next couple of weeks, Liv couldn’t focus on anything, not even her studies. She checked out of life. Never, ever did she think something like this would happen to her. No doubt, she was glad to be alive. However, she couldn’t seem to stop asking herself one question: who would kill Gina? The thoughts went round and round her head until she couldn’t make sense of them anymore. The police were still working on Gina’s case but no substantial evidence pointed in any one direction for who the killer might be. The security footage never got a visual of her murderer’s face, she had no lover, not very many friends, and no real enemies except for aquarium employees who couldn’t stand her managerial approaches.

Liv knew even with Gina’s death; life must go on.

Very quickly, she found herself back at work. Walking into the aquarium again put her on edge. Everything looked the same except for a small memorial with a nice headshot of Gina and flowers displayed on the front desk. Liv walked her usual route back to her locker. The room with her favorite tank contained no evidence that anything significant happened there just weeks before. It felt eerie now. No guests had arrived yet but some of her coworkers were milling around getting ready to open and she couldn’t help but scrutinize each of them a little harder now. Liv started measuring them up and imagining what they might look like with a hat on. She even noted that almost everyone there wore sneakers. It would be difficult to discern who might have done it.

The day proceeded as usual. Liv handled her responsibilities in the gift shop and at the front desk when needed. She assisted families with questions and was friendly to excited kids. Every coworker she passed that day made her nervous though. It wasn’t released to the public that Liv had witnessed what happened that night for her own safety but she had a feeling this person could be right under her nose, working alongside her, and that they might know she was there that night. Suffice it to say, Liv was watching her back. She even secretly carried her phone with her at all times now.

Nothing happened though. For two months, Liv went to and from the aquarium doing her due diligence and no one acted suspiciously. The whispers had died and the memorial was also taken down. Life was moving on and so did Liv. Admittedly, she still had nightmares about that night but they came less often now. She was seeing a therapist about it and it was helping. Liv could joke and banter with coworkers again and she was beginning to feel okay. Until she found herself having déjà vu.

Liv was chatting with Jerome at the main desk as they watched families leave for closing time. Once the front doors were shut, she retrieved her cleaning cart and followed her nightly routine. Tonight was the first night in awhile that she felt good. It was Saturday and she had built up the nerve to ask Landon to go to the movies with her after work. He pleasantly surprised her with an enthusiastic yes! Since they both worked that night, they would be able to head to the theatre together. Liv hurried through her cleaning so they could get out the door at a decent hour. She waved at Jerome as she walked back to the staff room. She snuck a quick text to Landon telling him that she was grabbing her things and ready when he was. He responded saying OK, meet you at the front with an adorable smiley face. Liv was smiling from ear to ear.

When Liv looked up from her phone, she found herself at her favorite tank. Her mood dimmed slightly but she stood at the glass anyway taking a moment to watch the fish. As the leopard sharks swam by, she felt grateful that she was alive and safe to live another day. Just as she was about to walk the circle around to head back to the staff room, a shadow appeared on the other side of the tank. Liv’s heart stopped. It was just as dark as that night and this person was the same height and build… and they were wearing a hat. No, no, no… this can't be happening... The person walked around the tank and was almost to Liv when she could see clearly through the water who it was this time. No sharks or fish blocking her view.

“Hey Liv,” Landon beamed at her. Liv couldn’t speak, she just stood there frozen. Landon took a step up to the glass alongside her. He watched the activity in the tank for a moment. “You know, this is my favorite tank in the entire aquarium. The leopard sharks are what do it for me.” He smiled at her then and Liv forced a smile back. She finally heard herself speak.

“I have to grab my purse out of my locker still and throw the keys on the hook… I’ll meet you up front.” She turned away almost too quickly and half jogged to the staff room. Maybe he would think she was just nervous and wouldn’t notice that she was actually scared. Once Liv made it to the staff room, she pulled out her phone and started dialing the police. Propping the phone up between her shoulder and her ear, she hurried and started turning the dial lock on her locker when she felt her phone being ripped away from her body. Whipping around she looked up to see Landon staring down at her. He hung up the ringing line and grabbed her shoulder. Slowly, he brought his face down to her eye level.

“Now what would you go and do that for?”