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New Housemate Alters House

 

I have a rather odd experience to relate. In September of 2011, a friend of mine that had been living out of state for the past twelve years returned to New York. We made an agreement that he could stay with me and help with the bills of my home and such.

It was not a smooth transition; he arrived on September 19th and almost immediately it felt as if the atmosphere in my home changed. The first night he was here, he and his helpers (he had two people help him with the move), one of them stayed with us. The other went to visit family that lived in the area. They spent most of the evening after unloading the truck, talking about the events of the trip.

Things of course, for some reason, ended up taking on a supernatural bent, and my friend Jack informed me that my driveway was unsettling. Now I have lived here for nearly 12 years, and my driveway has never bothered me before. I said it was most likely because he'd been living in a large city for the past 12 years, and perhaps being in the country would take getting used to.

They told me about some strange and disturbing occurrences that happened on their trip, driving through various places, before they made it to my place in New York. I just sort of brushed it off as being over active imaginations. However, I admit to having had an uneasy feeling that I could not place.

The next ten months proved to be a strange combination of things that took place rather randomly in and around my house.

My driveway was suddenly unsettling. I am not afraid of the dark as a rule, and normally have no issues getting out of my car and going to the gate. I do not suffer from panic attacks or irrational bouts of fear, but I started to. It felt like something was watching me from the woods, and as the moon waned, it seemed to grow bolder, getting closer and closer, until each night I worked I dreaded getting out of my car. I hate to admit it, but I carried a flashlight with me, something I had never done in the past.

The sensation would leave almost as soon as you closed the gate. On the nights when there was no moon, it sometimes felt as if it was still watching you. The hair on the back of your neck standing on end kind of thing, but it never tried to follow into the fenced in areas.

Inside the house underwent some changes as well. I have to explain that my life was not free of activity before Jack moved in, but it was a very different kind of thing. For me, it consisted of single incident years earlier, which involved a full-bodied apparition in a flannel shirt and jeans, and a few constants that did not inspire any form of dread.

In my house on occasion you would hear music playing, and able to find no source, like a CD on repeat. I cannot tell you how many times I have found myself checking all my radios and players before I'd realize the sounds seems to be coming from outside. It can be heard when you are outside, but I have never been able to locate its source, and it strangely stays the same level of sound, like you can't walk closer or further from it. Sometimes, very few times normally during the summer months, someone will randomly call out my name.

Jack reported hearing someone or something call his name on a number of occasions. On those occasions, he normally thought it was me, because the voice was female and seemed to be calling from outside, though I was never home for these instances.

I experienced three very strange things while Jack lived in my home. I was in the house by myself one afternoon, and I thought I heard the front door open and footsteps on the kitchen floor. I assumed Jack was home as he was a very large, tall man, and his footfalls were normally clear. When I called out he did not answer, and after a few moments, he did not appear, so I went to see if it needed help with anything, only to find the kitchen empty and my front door ajar.

The second occurrence happened around 1:30 am. I awoke suddenly, of course my room is dark except for the clock light and the light which seeps in through the window from the lamp in the yard. I laid there for a moment not sure what had woken me, when there was this loud crash. A sound like pans falling from the cupboard. For a moment I was thinking I should get up, but there was another noise, like loud footsteps running down the hallway. It freaked me out because the only other person in the house was Jack, and he could not physically move that quickly.

I stayed in bed and just listened. The footsteps went up and down the hallway before finally stopping as suddenly as it had all begun. This happened more than once according to Jack, although this was the only instance I was awake for.

The last thing I experienced myself was more of a strange thing that I still can't explain. I have a Kindle Paperwhite. I have had it for some time, and I misplaced it. I couldn't find it anywhere. I turned my bedroom upside down. I looked through everything and every room in the house. I was beginning to think that perhaps it had been broken or stolen or who knows. I decided as a last-ditch attempt to find it to check all the drawers in my dresser. I thought perhaps I had set it on the dresser, and it had fallen into one of the drawers. I opened the drawer; no Kindle. But on a whim, I pulled the folded clothes from the drawer, and the Kindle was nestled between two pairs of pants as if someone tucked it inside for safe keeping. Three items from the bottom of the drawer and three items from the top. Strange thing was that I had put those clothes in the drawer before the Kindle ever went missing.

Jack also felt very uncomfortable about the hallway outside his room. I admit that sometimes that hallway gives me the creeps too, but Jack couldn't sleep without lights on. So rather than turning on a hallway light, I hung fairy lights to chase away the shadows, and placed dream catchers in his room to hopefully ease the bad dreams he reported.

The dream catchers and the lights seemed to do the trick and eventually he told me that he felt as if there was some sort of creature in the hallway, that it smelled of wet dog, or some other wild thing, and that it growled at him. The night he told me that I noticed the smell, and strangely I think I might have even heard a growl, but I chalked my experiences up to his telling me what happened.

Now the strangest part of all this is perhaps that the very day he moved out of my house. The atmosphere changed. It seemed to grow brighter. That night when I returned from work even though it was dark, I felt no fear standing in my driveway. It still felt as if something was watching me, but the fear was gone. It didn't scare me the way it had for the past ten months.

Inside was back to normal. I heard the music the following day that I had off from work. Just like always, and it had been strangely missing in those ten months he lived with me.

So I guess what I am wondering has anyone else had an experience where another person seems to bring something nasty with them. Or that, that person seems to rile up what might already be present but calm. I wonder this because from what I understand there is no activity happening where he currently lives.

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The following comments are submitted by users of this site and are not official positions by yourghoststories.com. Please read our guidelines and the previous posts before posting. The author, Saille, has the following expectation about your feedback: I will read the comments and participate in the discussion.

Saille (1 stories) (34 posts)
 
10 years ago (2014-03-09)
Seeker,

You could be right about it being his energy. What happened in the house would even make sense. I was more surprised that his presence seemed to alter the nature of things I was already well aware of. The spirits out doors had a real issue with him.

I haven't been on here in ages. I did find out something rather interesting. I spoke to Jack's new house mate not so long ago. Interesting to note that things have started happening there. Actually, things that would bother me if they were in my house.

She says she's felt a presence in the house. (that's not so much of a worry, she had a teenage girl living there, and as others have pointed out teenagers and certain kinds of activity go hand and hand.

Her daughter has since headed off to college and is only home on some weekends and vacations now.

The major thing that happened though was much more active than anything that happened at my house.

A mirror jumped off the wall in her bedroom and broke. She says the way that it felt and was broken did not match up. (I did not see this so I am not sure exactly what she means. Other than the way it was on the floor and the way it was damaged didn't match up.)

Interesting side note however --- apparently Jack says that he dislikes the Mirrors. One in particular was something that came from my house --- I purchased it from a garage sale ages ago. I didn't use it, and he wanted it.

Anyway --just thought I'd check in.
Seeker1 (3 stories) (58 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-06-18)
Hello Sailli,

Thank you for sharing your experience. I enjoyed reading it.

I want to preference what I say with; "this is only my opinion"

You stated in the comments section that your friend is Bi-polar. That statement caused everything to click for me. (I have a manic mother so am familiar with their energy/behaviors).

The first word that occurred to me concerning your friend was "chaos".
My mother once described being ill as feeling like she were in a state of darkness at times and others as being in a pit of snakes that were writhing. She was of course referring to her thought process during an episode being chaotic.

Bi-polars swing from one polar to the opposite. High one minute and lowest you can get the next.
The early Persians revered the mentally ill, taking special care of them as it was thought that they had one foot in the spirit world while the other was on this plane. I believe this as my mother was able to tell me things about what I was involved in from over 2000 miles away. It use to freak me out.

With all that being said, I do not believe that an entity of any kind was at work during those episodes at night in the hallway. I believe your friend was "manifesting" what was going on within himself. Whatever chaos was on the inside was taking "form" without in the rattling and footsteps. Pure energy was released in other words. And quite possibly some from you. The two collided.

Bringing in the dream catchers and using light helped dispel the darkness going on within him.

Short story (true). During one of my mothers hospital stays her sister went to visit one evening. Upon entering she heard beautiful piano playing from the common room. She inquired who was playing. The nursing staff informed her it was my mother. This was a jaw dropping moment for all her family as my mother does not play piano. She never has. My Aunt witnessed her playing as she went into the commons area.
My point in this is that my mother was able to manifest into this plane something she had never done. An "energy" was at work.

Just some food for thought. Of course as I said this is only my opinion.
I think we sometimes jump the gun (not intentionally) thinking a spirit/entity must be the cause when sometimes it's our own energy manifesting itself in different ways. Like a poltergeist.

Blessed Be:)
Saille (1 stories) (34 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-06-18)
Merlyn9394,

It has been remarkably quiet here. Calm and tranquil, but that may well be owing to the over abundance of crystals and stones I've added to my home over the last few months. I have always had an affinity for stones and crystals, and lately have been using them to decorate a lot more. They seem to be adding a lovely warmth to my home.
Saille
Merlyn9394 (guest)
 
11 years ago (2013-05-10)
Hi saille,
Whats good? Whats new regarding the paranormal happenings around your home?
M
Saille (1 stories) (34 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-05-05)
Merlyn9394,

I meditate. I put up protective barriers around my home. I try to stay positive and keep the energy inside my house positive.

It is possible that the reason other things don't actually bother me is because of this.

Saille
Merlyn9394 (guest)
 
11 years ago (2013-05-05)
Saille,
Your music incidents were very interesting.
Do you meditate or practice a mantra?
At that time I was practicing a mantra, so spirits kept a safe distance from me.
In the said room, no one else slept coz, they would have difficulty in breathing, pressure on chest etc.I,faced no such problems.
Saille (1 stories) (34 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-05-04)
Merlyn9394,

That is really interesting. I suppose what makes here different is aside from the things that Jack reported to me and the things that happened while he lived here, inside the house is fairly calm.

Sure things go missing, and once in a while I feel as if someone is watching me curiously.

The music, the voices those are always from outside, you can just hear them very well in the house.

Saille
Saille (1 stories) (34 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-05-04)
WestboundShauna,

There may well be something following Jack, but if there is it has been barred from his current home.

I know there are things in my house, and I invited them in one summer solstice, when I perhaps had not thought of the consequences of doing so.

They have never caused a problem, but I also have never had anyone try to live with me who responded the way Jack does to things.

Once in a while things will go missing. I will ask nicely, and they show up in place I was sure I looked before.

I sometimes get a strong sense of someone watching me, but not in an unpleasant way, more of a ooOoo what is she doing now kind of feeling.

Only when Jack lived here did they feel less than pleased.

I do not know for sure what it was that caused them to shift, other than it was related to him. I am just glad to be back to normal for here.

Saille
Saille (1 stories) (34 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-05-04)
Ash,

That does not sound pleasant at all. Jack himself didn't feel bad, and having him in the same room with me wasn't ever a problem. I tend to sense, feel people's energy, so some people do have bad energy. However, Jack upset my house far more than he upset me. I was unhappy because having him move in with me, instead of helping really caused me a lot of financial issues, and it also turned out that if you did not clean up after him, he did not clean up after himself. That wasn't what I signed up for when I offered him a place to stay.

Now Jack is bi-polar. He is on medicines for this, and so to me. He feels a little fuzzy most of the time, like someone whose natural tendencies have been subdued in someway.

Now even on medicines there were times when his moods would fluctuate, and he would go from very high to very low, quickly, but for the most part, they worked.

I have met people who feel wrong like what you are describing. It is as if they pull all the light and air out of the room they are in.

Jack didn't do that, it wasn't like that, it was much more subtle. I didn't even realize it was happening, not really, not until I looked back and thought about it.

While Jack was here I found myself purchasing and hanging sun catches and prisms, and leaving windows open to drag the light in the house.

How does your house feel when this friend is not around?

Now I have visited Jack in his new home since all of this happened, and I know the woman he is now living with very well, and he did not alter her home in any of the same ways mine was altered.

Saille
Saille (1 stories) (34 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-05-04)
shellzy,
Thank you for the compliment. I think Jack does carry around negative energy. However, the odd thing is being around Jack is actually nice, I do like him. Living with him was not the best idea I had, ever had, and he was not a good housemate for me. He, however, for reasons I can not explain is having no trouble where he is currently living. It perhaps is just that her house does not have its own resident fae/energies.

As for the music, it isn't actually in my home. It's very hard to explain. When it is playing, and this is the part that is so strange it just seems to maintain its level. It does not grow louder as if you are moving closer to its source, nor does it get softer as if you are walking away from its source.

You can walk away from it. I mean by the time I reach my drive, I can not hear it anymore, but it is more like it is suddenly not there, rather than has grown softer as I have walked.

I do not think the music actually has anything to do with me or my home because I have heard it in the woods, and our woods but up against other people's land. I always kind of wondered if somewhere deep in the woods if I looked hard enough I would find ruins of an old house or something and that the music would turn out to be from there, but so far I have not. There is a lot of ground to cover, and not all of it is really good for hiking.

Oddly enough I do remember coming across what looked like a meeting area in the woods, though for the life of me, I can't figure out what kind of meetings, they would have held there or who. There was a small clearing in the woods, a circle of benches, that went two rows deep, and a central area that looked like maybe there had been a fire pit, but the benches were in pretty bad shape, so I don't think anyone was using them, and at this point I have not been able to find them again.

Saille
Merlyn9394 (guest)
 
11 years ago (2013-05-03)
In my former home there was a room from which music would explode full blast at around past midnight. No one would like to sleep there. I never heard it though, except once, as if someone was plinking on a guitar at one am.Odd,as we had no neighbours with
guitars.
WestboundShauna (1 stories) (5 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-05-03)
Very interesting story. I think one of two things may have caused these events at your home.

Either, something is following your friend and he may want to consider getting blessed or something?

Or, there is a presence of some sort at your home, maybe that watches over you in a positive way, that for some reason didn't like Jack?

I'm no expert but that's just the first conclusions your story drew my mind to.:)
ASH4321 (1 stories) (22 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-05-02)
Hey

I have a similar problem at my house with one of my mums friends. When ever he is around the house fells dark and cold I don't even like him he his a bad vibe.

Ash 😕
shellzy (8 stories) (218 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-05-02)
Hi Sallie

Great story and very well written. I would have to also agree with the theory that Jack himself carries around some negative energy that manifested itself in your home in different ways.

I was also thinking that any energy that was in your house before Jack moved in felt threatened or simply did not like his prescence so the energy changed in a negative sense. Once he left the energy changed and became light again, hence you hearing the music again almost like a celebration.

😊
Saille (1 stories) (34 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-05-01)
Hades666,

I think disliking Jack might well be an understatement.
Thanks for reading!

Saille
scarlettsnowe (1 stories) (79 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-05-01)
Hm. Well, that is curious. Thanks for clearing that up for me.
Cyborg-Siren (1 stories) (8 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-05-01)
Scarlettsnowe, I mean that some people are more sensitive and might have something about them or their aura that certain entities may become interested in and react to, either the person has a strong energy and spirit or they have darkness but either one can be attractive to certain entities.
And yeah, plenty of people may not have that but still experience paranormal phenomena. I'm just saying i've noticed that. Sorry for any confusion.
Hades666 (guest)
 
11 years ago (2013-05-01)
Thankyou Saille, for such an interesting account you have seriously livened up my dull morning. No questions, but I just wanted to say that maybe the entity that you are talking about just didn't like Jack. Just a thought.
Saille (1 stories) (34 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-05-01)
ngute80,
I agree it is stuff that we have discussed before. I think what surprised me was the intensity of the change. I even wondered for a bit if maybe it was my own energy doing the work. If they were angry, because I was angry.

Merlyn9394,
Thank you so much for your compliments. I enjoy writing, so I am glad I seem to be good at it. As for my home. It's a trailer. We live in the middle of a clearing the woods, or so that's how it feels. We have a road that was still dirt when I was a teenager. We have only 6 properties on the road. So it's not really remote, but it is nice and 'in the country'.
There are 45 acres of fields, and woods that my family owns. I do not have a garden really, just some wild flowers that are strong enough to come up each year, through no aid of mine.

Scarlettsnowe,

I am not sure why it seemed as if it grew stronger when the moon waned. It might have been that with there being no moon, and less light that I actually felt more vulnerable, and perceived it as more powerful. It might not have actually been so.

As for the thing in the hallway. I don't remember sensing anything before he mentioned it, but he also had been acting very oddly regarding the hallway almost from the moment he set up shop in that room. He had to have lights on, and the first few nights before I got the string of lights, I actually turned the hallway light on for him. Just so the darkness was chased away. So of course I wondered if it was just because he mentioned it. And it is possible it was.

Raphdragon02,
It does seem like he brought out the color in them. I don't know if it was because he was here, and they did not like it, or because he was here and my own anger and frustration gave them the extra boost.

Cyborg-Siren,
I do know the situation, but I was just curious if anyone else had run into something like that. At the risk of sounding odd, I am very comfortable with whatever is in my house, and it is very comfortable with me. While he was living here it felt like I was living in a different house. I am just glad it is calm now.
scarlettsnowe (1 stories) (79 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-05-01)
What do you mean, Siren? How are some people more noticeable to spirits than others? Like some aren't noticeable at all...?
Cyborg-Siren (1 stories) (8 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-05-01)
hey Saille, You know the situation better than anyone, and yeah I think some people are more noticable to spirits whether they realise it or not and it stirs up a reaction.

Thanks for answering my comment:)

Siren
raphdragon02 (5 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-05-01)
It's my impression that these spirits have been (and still are) in your home from the beginning, and seem to harmonize with you. But your friend's presence seemed to rile them up (picked up on some negative energy perhaps?). And settled again after he left.
scarlettsnowe (1 stories) (79 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-05-01)
Did you notice the smell before or after he told you that? Because, honestly, his saying that could have caused you to "expect" it, and people tend to hear what they expect to hear. Kind of like when you're taking a bath and your cd player is on. If a song turns off while you're underwater you'll still hear it a little when you get out of the tub. People can cause that sort of a phenomenon, too, I think.
scarlettsnowe (1 stories) (79 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-05-01)
It got bolder as the moon waned? That bit sort of interests me. I'm a firm believer in magic, and I always thought it grew stronger as the moon became fuller. I thought maybe the spirits were like that, too, although that may be a little silly...
Merlyn9394 (guest)
 
11 years ago (2013-05-01)
Hi saille,
Nice story and very well written.
I could almost feel as if I were walking inside your house.
I wish you had added a small description of home, garden etc.
But well done, you can be a very good writer. You story had a nice warm touch somehow.
God bless.
ngute80 (220 posts)
+1
11 years ago (2013-05-01)
Well I'm glad I didn't offened you by saying that about you friend 😉. I guess when I wrote that I was just picking up/feeling in my gut what kind of person was. If he wasn't that kind of person when you knew him before, maybe something is attached to him and is altering is personality. I think this whole incident that happened to you is a mixture of many things that we have discussed before.
Saille (1 stories) (34 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-05-01)
SmokenMirrors,

I never would have figured that They would react like that. I know when I was growing up here that the spirit used to scare me, but I always assumed that it had more to do with being able to see it, feel and not understanding what it actually was.

I mean there is nothing human about the way they feel. It's such a wild energy, and as teenager I sensed it and was not prepared for its presence at all.

Twelveam,
That would not surprise me at all. I think there was enough excess energy going on around here during that time to account for that. I mean I admit I was angry and frustrated, and I kept it to myself most of the time. So I imagine it would have to have a release valve of some sort.

Valkricry,
He isn't the first person who's stayed with me, but he is the first person who stayed that long. He is also the first person who didn't hold up their end of our deal.

As for them knowing something I didn't I would say the strange credit card charges I just noticed, that are associated with an email account that belongs to him, might have been part of the issue.

I found them yesterday, which is kind of funny really, and they would have never been noticed if it wasn't for a renewal for something I did not purchase.

Saille
Saille (1 stories) (34 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-05-01)
WishfulNull,

Nothing is happening with him at his new place at all.
I do not think he would have insulted them fore-say, because he is pagan like me, and normally we know better than to get on the bad side of nature spirits.

I think he did upset the balance. I think it had to do with his own nature, and the fact that he came to me claiming he would be helpful, and actually turned out to be anything but.

And with Jack up until this point it seemed like everything was a hard time for him, so yeah he was having issues.

Ngute80,
Your comment would not have been incorrect. It became very clear after he lived her for a while that he was much more concerned for himself, than anything else.
I am normally a pretty good judge of people and if they are going to be good or bad to be around, but I let the fact that I had known him since I was 18 years old, and considered him a friend for that long cloud my judgement.

Cyborg-Siren,
I do not think he was cursed. I think my friend had a tendency to be reactive, and it is possible he brought it on himself, and pissed off the stuff that is here.
And I have known him for ages, since I was 18 and well that would mean I have known him for 18 years at this point. He just lived in AZ for 12 years, so what he got into down there I do not know.

I do not know if it was scam, but I do think he used the fact that I was his friend, and I had known him for so long to get himself out a situation that had gone from bad to worse, without taking into account what problems it might cause me.

Saille
valkricry (48 stories) (3257 posts) mod
 
11 years ago (2013-05-01)
Saille,
Just wondering if you have had anyone else stay with you (before or since) for a period of time, and if there were any changes then?
Maybe it's just my imagination, or the fact that I'm just waking up, but I can't help to 'feel' that you had a note of distrust for Jack. Or perhaps just having someone else, 'in your space'. Anyway, it's possible that your fae, and the woodland spirit did not like him there and acted. Or maybe they knew something that you didn't.
twelveam (74 posts)
+1
11 years ago (2013-05-01)
Hello Saille,
I was thinking a possibility ADDITIONALLY to the presence of your fae, could be that poltergeist activity was congered up and clashed with the existing energies as a derivitive from stress from either one of you during those frustrating months together. Now that both your lives are more normal and comfortable with your situations, it IS possible everything calmed back down to the absence of that additional stress. A type of poltergeist activity can be caused by excess mental energy and stress building up in someones mind, and being released in a physical way.

But for whatever reasons, it is good to hear all is well and normal again for both of you! Take care and thank you for the story!

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