I am surprised at my wiliness to share this account of true events with you, my blog readers. I have watched over the years how my husband and I may exchange a knowing glance across the table when with good friends before we share what we lived through. We have always used caution with whom we have chosen to share our story with. I think if we had experienced this alone we would have believed we were going crazy, however in sharing it together we know these things “REALLY” did happen.
Paul and I started going out in the summer of 2003, shortly after he purchased a cute two bedroom, one bath home on Edgebrook Avenue in Terre Haute. It was a cute house, perfect for him. It had a large unfinished basement, a good sized yard, in an older subdivision. The house had wood floors that creaked when you walked anywhere. The best part of the house was a big picture window in the kitchen that looked out at what we called the veranda.
In the first few conversations that I had with Paul at his new home I noticed that he would seem jumpy. Sometimes he would have to go right away and call me back. He thought someone was in his house. He wrote all the strange noises off, as this was a new house to him and he was not use to its creaks and moans. There were lots of events which he dismissed, as there had to be a good reason for all of it.
Gavin and I moved in the week before we married in June of 2004. Things seemed normal. I wasn’t scared, but I did have a strange sense and unease, and I really didn’t like to sleep in our bedroom alone. Paul was working nights at the time so I would sleep on the sofa until he came home. On a handful of occasions I would wake up after hearing my name and go to the door thinking Paul was home and couldn’t get in. I would wake up…not scared…stagger to the door and open it to find Paul was not home at all. I always wrote this off and went back to sleep.
I also wrote off the fact that the television and radio would kick on by itself when not even someone could have accidentally sat on the remotes to turn them on. I wrote it off when the computer would kick on, and dial up internet on its own. There had to be a reason. Maybe I had forgotten to turn the lights off. Maybe I had misplaced that. Maybe there was a glitch in our electrical wiring. I must be imaging things!
However the turning point for me was one summer evening at dusk when Paul was due to come home soon, and I was alone. I was in our bedroom hanging up clothes when I not only heard my name whispered in my ear, but felt the breath of the voice brush against my face. I turned around and said “hi Paul,” and was going to give him a hug….but no one was there. I can still hear that voice…breathy and low. I froze and then mustered up enough courage to leave the room where I sat on the sofa for a few minutes to think of where I had left my keys and phone so I could quickly escape the house. The phone was in view so I took it and ran outside on the veranda where I called Paul in tears and asked when he was going to be home.
Paul was so calm. He didn’t laugh or say I was crazy. Maybe he felt relieved as things had been happening to him too. He said, “When that happens to me, I just offer it a beer and it stops.”
So Paul and I started addressing this being, whatever it was, and it seemed to help. Things didn’t happen 24/7. Mostly things occurred when something big was taking place in our lives. That first year of marriage was full of many big events some good and some bad. The night that Macey was born Paul came home from the hospital. Paul was alone, as this was when we would notice things the most. Paul came into the house took off his shoes, empty his pockets and continued to undress as he walked though the house in the dark and into our room where he turned on the computer. There was a terrible noise, and Paul called out thinking someone was in the house right behind him. Finding something to arm himself with he went back out into the living room and all the cabinets on our entertainment system were open. And of course, no one was in the house.
It became a common occurrence for me after I had put my kids in the car to come back into the house and tell our “friend” with authority that I had had enough of its nonsense that I was leaving and when I got back I wanted it to be gone. If Gavin were not around and I would hear noises or the electrical things would start up I would say “I know you are here, but stop it and go away.” And amazingly things would quiet again. Our friend did lots of things, too numerous to post on here, sometimes leaving us shaken, or a mess to clean up.
Believe it or not, Paul and I actually got use to this. Our friend didn’t appear to be malicious. The kids were never aware of it. And while it would startle us, after Macey arrived it almost seemed to be helping us. What child do you know can say that when her mommy left her to nap in the crib while she took a shower the crib mobile came on by itself when she was fussy? Or when Macey started into her busy new walking and exploring mode, Paul and I would know when she was about to get into something that would hurt her. For example go towards the steps, try to climb out of the crib, etc. Something would prompt us to go to her be it a noise, a sharp intuition, or a light coming on to alert us.
We moved into our current home November 1, 2006 and never again have we had a visit from our friend. Sometimes for nostalgic reason I drive by our old home and wonder if the young couple and new baby that bought our home have come to live in peace with this being from another realm. I wonder if our friend missed us as we missed it when we moved away. Paul told me that he had invited it to come with us before he left the empty house for the last time, and I am glad that it didn’t take him up on that offer.
So that is our story, not hair raising but slightly intense. For Paul and I it is just a part of our history, and enforced the fact that there is something on the other side that we cannot see. So next time the hair stands up on the back of your neck, or you go somewhere and have this unease, or feel as if something is watching you don't doubt yourself as it really might be true!
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