Daniel Mercer had forgotten coffee.
That was the only reason he was inside the Westbrook Market at 11:47 on a Thursday night.
He had worked late, his apartment was almost empty of groceries, and he didn’t feel like driving another twenty minutes to a different store.
Westbrook Market normally stayed open until midnight.
But that night, something felt different the moment Daniel walked through the automatic doors.
The store was almost completely silent.
No children.
No families.
No employees pushing carts.
Not even the usual music playing through the ceiling speakers.
Daniel looked toward the checkout lanes.
Every register was empty.
He checked his phone.
11:48 p.m.
“Ten minutes,” he muttered.
He grabbed a basket and walked toward the grocery aisles.
The fluorescent lights hummed above him.
His shoes made a soft squeaking sound against the polished floor.
He turned into Aisle 3.
Coffee.
That was all he needed.
He found his usual brand and dropped it into the basket.
Then he heard something behind him.
A faint metallic sound.
Clink.
Daniel turned.
Nothing.
He looked down the aisle.
Empty.
He continued walking.
Then the sound came again.
Clink… clink… clink.
He stepped around the corner.
A shopping cart was moving slowly across the intersection.
Nobody was pushing it.
Daniel stopped.
The cart continued rolling.
Slowly.
Quietly.
Until it reached the center of the aisle.
Then it stopped.
Daniel stared at it.
“Hello?”
No answer.
He looked toward the end of the aisle.
Nothing.
He walked closer.
There was no one around.
He grabbed the cart.
The wheels were slightly crooked.
Maybe someone had simply left it on an incline.
Daniel shrugged.
He pushed it aside and continued toward the front.
That’s when the supermarket speaker crackled.
A burst of static filled the store.
Daniel looked up.
Then a woman’s automated voice came through.
“Customer in Aisle 14, please leave immediately.”
Daniel frowned.
He looked at the aisle sign above him.
Aisle 3.
He waited.
Nothing.
Then the speaker crackled again.
“Customer in Aisle 14, please leave immediately.”
Daniel looked around.
“I’m not in Aisle 14.”
The announcement didn’t respond.
He decided to ignore it.
He walked toward the front entrance.
Then—
CRASH.
A glass bottle shattered behind him.
Daniel spun around.
Several feet away, a bottle of olive oil lay broken on the floor.
The shelf above it was completely full.
There was no reason for it to fall.
Daniel slowly stepped backward.
Then he saw movement.
At the far end of the aisle.
A person.
Standing between the shelves.
Daniel’s heart jumped.
“Hello?”
The figure disappeared.
Daniel ran.
He pushed his basket aside and headed for the entrance.
The automatic doors didn’t open.
He waved his hands in front of the sensor.
Nothing.
He tried again.
Still nothing.
He looked through the glass.
The parking lot was completely empty.
Not one car.
Not one person.
He pulled out his phone.
No signal.
Then every light in the supermarket went dark.
Daniel froze.
The store became completely black.
A second later, emergency lights flickered on.
Dim red lights.
Enough to see.
Daniel looked down.
There were footprints on the floor.
Wet footprints.
They started at the entrance.
Daniel stared.
The footprints crossed the supermarket.
They passed Aisle 2.
Aisle 3.
Aisle 4.
Then continued toward the back.
Daniel followed them with his eyes.
They stopped at Aisle 14.
He remembered the announcement.
Customer in Aisle 14, please leave immediately.
Daniel’s breathing became shallow.
He should have stayed near the entrance.
Instead, curiosity pulled him forward.
He followed the footprints.
Aisle 10.
Aisle 11.
Aisle 12.
The supermarket was silent.
Then he heard something.
A faint humming sound.
Like an old refrigerator.
He reached Aisle 14.
The aisle was dark.
Daniel looked inside.
Nothing.
He took one step.
Then another.
At the end of the aisle was a metal service door.
It was slightly open.
Daniel walked toward it.
The speaker crackled again.
This time the voice was different.
Not automated.
A real woman’s voice.
Very quiet.
“Daniel… don’t open that door.”
He froze.
Nobody in the supermarket knew his name.
He stepped backward.
“Who are you?”
No answer.
Then the speaker came alive again.
“Daniel, if you can hear me, go back to the entrance.”
He looked up.
“Who is this?”
Static.
Then:
“I’m watching the cameras.”
Daniel stared at the ceiling.
“Where are you?”
A pause.
“I’m not inside the store.”
Daniel’s stomach tightened.
“Then where?”
The woman whispered:
“Across the street.”
Daniel looked toward the front windows.
There was a building across the parking lot.
Dark.
Empty.
Or so he thought.
A tiny light flickered in one of the windows.
Then the woman spoke again.
“Someone is behind you.”
Daniel turned.
Nobody.
He looked back at the service door.
It had opened wider.
He hadn’t touched it.
Daniel slowly approached.
Inside was a narrow maintenance corridor.
He could hear a machine running somewhere in the darkness.
He stepped inside.
The door closed behind him.
Daniel immediately turned around.
The handle wouldn’t move.
He pulled harder.
Nothing.
Then his phone vibrated.
For the first time, he had signal.
One message.
From an unknown number.
DON’T TRUST THE WOMAN ON THE SPEAKER.
Daniel stared at it.
Another message arrived.
SHE’S NOT ACROSS THE STREET.
He looked up.
The speaker crackled.
“Daniel?”
The woman’s voice sounded frightened.
“Please answer me.”
Daniel didn’t respond.
She said:
“Don’t listen to the messages.”
Daniel’s heart started racing.
“How do you know about the messages?”
Silence.
Then she whispered:
“Because I sent them.”
Daniel stepped backward.
“What?”
“I needed to make sure you knew.”
“Knew what?”
A pause.
“Who you came here for.”
Daniel stared at the darkness.
“I didn’t come here for anyone.”
The woman answered:
“Yes, you did.”
Daniel’s phone vibrated again.
Another message.
CHECK THE CAMERA ABOVE YOU.
Daniel slowly looked up.
A small security camera was mounted in the corner.
Its red indicator light was on.
He waved at it.
Nothing.
Then the camera moved.
It turned directly toward him.
Daniel froze.
The woman’s voice came through the speaker.
“Daniel, listen carefully.”
He waited.
“Don’t look behind you.”
Daniel’s eyes widened.
“Why?”
“Because he’s standing there.”
Daniel slowly turned his head.
At the end of the corridor stood the man he had seen in the supermarket.
The figure stepped into the emergency light.
Daniel recognized him.
It was his former manager.
A man who had supposedly moved to another state two years earlier.
Daniel stared.
“What are you doing here?”
The man smiled.
“You shouldn’t have come.”
Daniel stepped backward.
“Why?”
The man looked toward the service door.
“Because this store isn’t a supermarket after midnight.”
Daniel frowned.
“What does that mean?”
The man didn’t answer.
Instead, he pointed toward the wall.
Daniel looked.
There was a small monitor.
It showed the supermarket floor.
But the camera angle was wrong.
Daniel watched himself on the screen.
Walking through Aisle 3.
Then Aisle 8.
Then Aisle 14.
But there was something else.
Someone was following him.
Daniel stared.
The figure appeared behind him in every camera angle.
He looked toward the man.
“Who is that?”
The man said:
“You.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
The man pointed at the monitor.
The figure was wearing Daniel’s clothes.
Same jacket.
Same shoes.
Same height.
But its face was hidden.
Daniel’s phone vibrated.
A final message appeared.
NOW LOOK AT THE CAMERA FROM 11:47.
Daniel opened the security recording.
The video showed him entering the supermarket.
But there was something wrong.
The moment Daniel walked through the doors, another Daniel was already standing inside.
Watching him.
Daniel dropped his phone.
“No.”
The man behind him whispered:
“You were never the last shopper.”
Daniel slowly turned.
“What am I?”
The man looked terrified now.
“I don’t know.”
The supermarket speakers suddenly came alive.
Every speaker in the building.
The woman’s voice returned.
“Daniel, run.”
The lights went out.
The maintenance door slammed open.
The man disappeared.
Daniel ran toward the supermarket.
The emergency lights flickered.
A shopping cart rolled across the floor.
Then another.
Then another.
Dozens of carts began moving by themselves.
Daniel ran between them.
The front entrance appeared ahead.
He could see the parking lot.
He reached the doors.
They opened.
Daniel stumbled outside.
Cold night air hit his face.
He turned around.
The supermarket was completely dark.
No movement.
No people.
He looked at his phone.
12:03 a.m.
He called the police.
When officers arrived, Daniel told them everything.
They entered the supermarket.
They found nothing.
No maintenance corridor.
No hidden room.
No former manager.
No broken bottle.
No footprints.
Even Aisle 14 was completely normal.
The officer looked at Daniel.
“Are you sure you were here?”
Daniel showed him the photograph he had taken inside.
The officer stared at it.
“What?”
Daniel pointed.
“That person.”
There was a figure standing behind him.
The officer zoomed in.
Then his expression changed.
“That’s not another person.”
Daniel looked closer.
The figure wasn’t wearing Daniel’s clothes.
It was wearing a supermarket employee uniform.
The officer asked:
“When did you take this?”
Daniel checked the metadata.
August 23, 2026 — 11:58 p.m.
The officer looked at his watch.
It was 12:11 a.m.
Then Daniel noticed something else.
The photograph had been taken from inside the supermarket.
But Daniel had never taken it.
His phone had been in his pocket the entire time.
The next morning, Daniel returned to Westbrook Market.
The store was open.
People were shopping.
Employees were stocking shelves.
Everything looked normal.
He approached the manager.
“Can I ask you something?”
The manager smiled.
“Sure.”
“Do you have security cameras?”
“Of course.”
“Can I see the footage from last night?”
The manager’s smile disappeared.
“What happened last night?”
Daniel told him.
The manager listened quietly.
Then he said something that made Daniel’s blood run cold.
“Sir…”
He pointed toward the entrance.
“This store has been closed for three months.”
Daniel turned.
The supermarket was empty.
The shelves were covered in dust.
The lights were off.
The entire building looked abandoned.
Daniel looked back at the manager.
“What?”
The manager was gone.
Daniel stood alone.
Then he heard the supermarket speaker.
Static.
A woman’s voice.
Very faint.
“Daniel…”
He looked up.
“I’m still watching.”
The lights flickered.
The speaker whispered:
“Next time, don’t come alone.”
Daniel looked toward Aisle 14.
A shopping cart slowly rolled out.
And inside it was a single object.
His coffee.
The same coffee he had bought the night before.
Except the expiration date on the package was twenty years in the future.
Daniel stepped backward.
Then his phone rang.
The caller ID showed one name.
DANIEL MERCER.
He answered.
His own voice whispered from the other end:
“You need to stop going back to the supermarket.”
Daniel couldn’t speak.
Then his own voice added:
“Because next time, I won’t let you leave.”
The line went dead.
And from somewhere deep inside the abandoned supermarket…
a shopping cart began rolling toward him.
