In the summer of 2007, I moved from Arizona to Texas to go to school. My work fortunately had an office in Irving, TX that I transferred to, so I was guaranteed a job when I moved there. The office where I worked was part of a large, three-story building located in an area of the city of Irving called Las Colinas. It's known as being the "rich" area, and as far as I heard from native Texans, the community is relatively new, and the building where I worked built only in the last few years. I don't really know why I would have experienced a haunting there, if that's indeed what it was.
The office where I worked was on the second floor. From the first day I started there, I had a weird feeling about the second floor women's restroom and also the elevators. I noticed almost immediately that many times when I approached the elevators, the doors would open of their own accord without me pressing the button. I thought at first that maybe someone else had pressed the button and then had second thoughts about riding it because they forgot something at their desk or some other reason. But then I realized that if someone does press the button it stays lighted up until the elevator arrives on that floor, and I noticed the elevators were doing this to me even when the button wasn't lit up.
You have to understand, though, that the owners were refurbishing the lobby area, and there was quite a bit of construction going on. It's quite possible that the construction was messing up the electrical system. I still didn't like riding the elevator when that happened. It's hard to explain, but it felt like I was being invited on.
The second floor women's restroom felt even spookier than the elevator, though it looked like nothing more than a normal, large, industrial restroom like you would find in any office or public building anywhere else. There were ten stalls, a sink area, and a maintenance closet. The whole thing was run on sensors, which again, could explain some of the happenings. I didn't like going in there alone and was kind of scared of the maintenance closet for some reason, but I thought I was being silly. Then I started hearing other people talking and saying they felt the same way.
My boss, who sometimes had to work on Saturdays or late in the evening when no one was there, got to the point where she would use the downstairs bathroom after hours because the one upstairs was freaking her out. When we went in to use the restroom and we were alone, the toilets all around us would start flushing. Faulty sensors, we thought. The only problem is, those sensors are set to go off based on movement. What would make them go off if there was no movement?
In addition, I'd sometimes notice the maintenance closet door was closed when I went into a stall, and then it would be open when I came out. I checked to make sure it was the kind of door that closed firmly and it was.
As I already said, all this could be explained by electrical cross-wiring and faulty sensors. Then, on the very last day, I worked there, something happened that wasn't so easily explained. Ironically, it also happened to be October 31, though I don't know if that had anything to do with it.
My boss had taken me out for a farewell lunch. I had gathered all my stuff from my desk and was heading out the door when I decided to use the bathroom since it was a 40-mile drive to where I was going.
When I entered, I went down to the handicap stall, which was the very last one. I knew that no one was in the restroom because all the other stalls had the doors standing open and were empty. In addition, the restroom had one of those heavy-duty doors that they put on public restrooms, the kind that can't be opened quietly, so you can always hear if someone comes in. I was there in the stall, everything quiet, no one else in there, when all of a sudden, I heard the motor to the paper towel dispenser operate up at the front of the restroom.
I think my heart stopped beating for a moment before logic returned. "Faulty sensor", I thought, the usual explanation for weird bathroom incidents in this building. I thought there was an air-conditioning vent above the sink, and if there was any paper towel hanging down from the dispenser, the air could have stirred it and made the sensor go off. Easy enough to explain. I hadn't heard any come in, but I peered under the stall I was in anyway and didn't see feet anywhere in the bathroom. I relaxed.
That explanation lasted all of thirty seconds because I suddenly heard a piece of paper towel being ripped off the dispenser!
Okay, that was not a faulty sensor. I know my heart stopped beating at that point. I gathered my stuff up and decided to make a run for it. The only problem was, I had to go by the sink to get out the restroom door, and I was scared to death of what I would see. I took a deep breath and opened the door. There was nothing there, but as I ran past the sink, I saw a piece of paper towel positioned neatly on the counter between the two sinks.
I was glad to leave. Now, several months later, it's just an incident I can't explain. I'm still open to the possibility of someone playing a joke on me. But I don't know how they did it since I would have been aware of anyone coming through the restroom door and that's the only way into the bathroom.
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