I Got a Job as a Night Watchman at a Cemetery. Each Day, I Follow a Different Set of Rules

The job seemed too good to be true: overnight shifts at a cemetery, minimal work, excellent pay. On their first night, the narrator and his co-worker Zack are handed a sheet of paper with rules for Monday. Rule one: a little girl will approach during patrol. Do not speak to her. Rule two: a demon will present itself. Wear a holy talisman or risk possession and death. Rule three: be locked inside the guard shack by 2:37 a.m. and do not leave until 2:42 a.m. Zack dismisses the rules as hazing. The narrator, Nate, is less sure.

The rules are not a prank

The first encounter proves the rules are real. A little girl with pigtails named Annika appears behind them. She pleads for them to talk, then reveals a bloody hatchet. Nate shakes his head instead of speaking. Her eyes turn pitch black, she cackles, and vanishes. Zack still insists it was an elaborate test. Then a man in outdated clothes, Amodius, walks through a gate that closes by itself. He approaches Zack. Zack fumbles for his talisman but is too slow. A black cloud pours into Zack's mouth. Zack is possessed. Back in the guard shack, Amodius speaks through Zack's body in a gravelly voice, laughing as invisible hands pound the windows and door. At exactly 2:42 a.m., the noise stops. Zack collapses, remembering nothing.