WELCOME to Haunted Wirral, a feature series written by world-famous psychic researcher, Tom Slemen for the Globe.

This week, a store security guard gets more than he bargained for during the early morning shift ...

I've had to change a few names in the following story for legal reasons.

The strange incident took place in early March 2020, shortly before the first Covid-19 lockdown.

A Rock Ferry security guard named Anthony was on duty at a well-known Birkenhead supermarket that was open 24 hours.

Anthony’s colleague, Aaron was off work with Covid symptoms and it seemed strange not having him around to chat to in the wee small hours.

The time was coming up to 3am. The store was due to close for an hour for cleaning and restocking and the two members of staff manning the checkouts were ready to leave; their replacements would show around four.

Anthony walked down the frozen food aisle where the lights had been dimmed when he heard someone running behind him.

He turned to see a petite blonde lady of about 22 years of age running towards him. She wore a dark brown Adidas shirt, jeans and Keds, and her eyes were wide and blue.

She almost ran into the arms of Anthony, and for a moment she seemed unable to talk. Then she inhaled deeply, both hands on her chest, and gasped: "A weird man's stalking me! He said he wants to kill me!" 

"Okay, okay;" said Anthony, stooping as he addressed the girl, who was about 5 feet 3 in height, "now, where is this man?" 

"He might be in here now! He followed me all the way from my house!" came the hysterical reply.

Anthony straightened up and asked the girl her name. She said: "Enya." Anthony then told her his name and asked Enya to accompany him.

At the end of the aisle, Anthony looked towards the checkouts and self-service area and saw no one. The two members of staff had departed, and he went to lock the entrance doors. 

"There he is!" Enya cried, pointing beyond the plate-glass windows at some silhouetted figure in the car park outside.

Anthony closed the entrance doors and cupped his hands around the sides of his face as he peered with his nose against the window.

He saw a bizarre-looking man dressed all in black who was wearing a triangular-shaped cap of some sort.

He was standing there stock-still, looking towards the supermarket, and although he was about sixty feet away, Anthony could see he had a very pallid face, contrasted by a dark van dyke beard. 

"Please don't let him get me!" yelled Enya, "He said he’ll kill me!" 

"He can't get in here, love, relax," said Anthony, and Enya said: "Call the police and get him locked up! He’s dangerous." 

In an almost apologetic manner, Anthony replied: "I can’t really have him arrested for standing in a supermarket car park, but if he starts acting like a tool, I’ll deal with him." 

"How am I going to get home safely with him out there?" Enya asked, and Anthony said: "Come and have a coffee and then you can call someone to pick you up or I’ll take you home if you want." 

"That's not good enough – I want him jailed!" protested Enya, and she walked with Anthony down the aisle which led to the staff quarters – when she let out a scream. 

The strangely-dressed stalker in black was standing at the end of the aisle. Anthony swore and asked: "How did he get in here?" 

"I told you the call the police!" Enya cried and she hid behind Anthony as he stood there, trying to weigh up what he was up against.

Did this disturbed individual have a knife?

How on earth had he gained access to the supermarket?

Why was he after Enya?

All questions doing a circuit of the guard’s mind.

Anthony was well-versed in mixed martial arts and had tackled people with knives before, but at the back of his mind, the guard always worried about the possibility of the trouble causer with a gun. 

"What are you playing at, pal?" Anthony asked the intruder, and reached for his radio transceiver.  

"I do not expect you to believe me when I tell you this," said the stranger in a well-spoken voice, "but that woman you are shielding is a witch!" 

Enya peeped around the guard from behind and said: "Didn't I tell you he was round the bend? He said he wants to kill me, ask him!" 

"You're right, pal," Anthony told the eccentric stranger, "I don't believe you; now, listen carefully: you can either leave here in a civil manner, or we can do it the hard way, and that might involve the police and someone being hospitalised. Alright?" 

"You have no idea what goes on outside of your little everyday world," said the man, and started to walk forwards as he lifted his hands as if surrendering.

A blue mist seemed to envelop the black-clad figure, and then Anthony felt a steady force pushing him aside.

It felt like a large inflatable balloon pressing against his face, and it pushed so hard, the guard fell sideways and knocked tins and bottles off the shelves.

Anthony sat on the floor, stunned – and embarrassed somehow. Then he saw that the blonde girl Enya was now dressed all in black, and her hair was red and scraped back into a bun.

She came out with shocking, obscene profanities which she screamed at the unearthly man (who was still enveloped in that blue mist). In an instant, Enya and her pursuer vanished. Anthony was later told that the CCTV had inexplicably stopped working just after "Enya" (whoever she really was) came into that supermarket in Birkenhead – but then the cameras had become active again after the alleged incident.

I have interviewed Anthony many times, and talked to people who know him, and the consensus is that he is a dependable and stable man who held no belief in the supernatural – so what happened that morning in March 2020?

Did some witchfinder from a higher dimension chase his prey into a Birkenhead supermarket of all places?

We know so little about this strange, infinite universe because we are so little. 

All of Tom Slemen’s books and audiobooks are on Amazon.