The Lake House

My mother-in-law passed around 5 pm in May of 2009. She died in the kitchen of her home. Her home is called "The Lake House". The Lake House is a late 1800's Victorian home in College Park, MD.

My husband Steve and I received the news of her passing that night from his brother Donald and we went to MD to stay with Donald that night. The next morning we made arrangements for his mother.

Around noon Steve, Donald, Donald's girlfriend Stacy and I came back to their parents' house. All of us walked through every room and I listened as Steve and Donald reflected on memories. We ended the tour of the home with going downstairs into the basement. Steve and Don were talking about all of the junk down there when all of us heard a loud "thump" from upstairs (the kitchen). We all looked at each other and Stacy volunteered to go upstairs and see what the noise was. She went up and said nothing was out of place. We took it as the house settling and went back to talking.

I was getting bored listening to the guys talking about car parts so I told them I was going upstairs, too. I was making my way up the steps when I felt someone grab my left shoulder! I turned and looked behind me and no one was there! I looked at the blank wall to my left and tried to figure out what could have touched me. I yelled down at Steve and asked him if he grabbed my shoulder and he said no, that he and Donald were still well down into the basement. I shrugged it off.

Steve and Donald came upstairs shortly after and went outside to cut the grass. Stacy was sitting at the kitchen table messing with her cell phone. She didn't seem interested in talking to me so I told her that I was going to go from room to room taking pictures. She said OK.

The downstairs consisted of a kitchen, dining room, living room and a sitting room. I took pictures of those. By the front door is the main winding stairwell that leads to the upstairs hallway. I was halfway up the main stairwell when I heard what sounded like a man exhale. Just a loud breath! I got a little creeped out but I passed it off as noise coming from outside.

At the top of the stairwell was my husband's grandparents' bedroom. I took a picture. I moved down the hallway to Donald's bedroom. I took a picture. I moved further down the hallway to my husband's bedroom. I took a picture. Before I could take a picture of my in-laws' bedroom and their bathroom I heard a noise! It sounded like someone had opened the heavy wooden door at the bottom of the small stairwell. I froze for a second. Then I heard what sounded like someone switch on the upstairs hall light; although the light never came on. I moved back towards the top of the main stairwell. I thought to myself that someone was coming upstairs. I thought it might have been Donald and that he wouldn't like me taking pictures of his mother's home. While I'm thinking this, I hear clear footsteps coming up the small stairwell, so I hurriedly ran down the main stairwell so if it was Donald he wouldn't see me taking pictures.

Whoever had gone upstairs didn't have time to come back down the steps before I made it to the kitchen. I was just about running. When I got to the kitchen, Stacy was still sitting at the table texting and the wooden door to the back stairwell was closed. I asked her who went upstairs. She said no one went upstairs. I told her that I heard someone coming up the steps and I thought it was probably her boyfriend so I came down in a hurry. I told her I didn't think he would understand why I wanted pictures of all of the rooms and I didn't want to make him mad. She said Steve and Donald were still cutting the grass. I asked her if she was sitting at the table the whole time. She said yes. I was shocked. I was confused. I told her point blank that someone was upstairs. There had to be. I know what I heard. I went up the small stairwell and looked around upstairs and found nothing. I came back down the main stairwell feeling like I was losing my mind.

Later on that evening at Donald's house, my husband I were laying in bed getting ready to go to sleep. I told my husband what had happened in the house earlier that day. He's not a big believer in the paranormal but given the amount of death that has taken place in The Lake House (his mother, father and brother Sean died in the home) he said anything was possible.

The next morning was day of his mother's funeral. I got out of bed and took a shower. I put on a button up black dress shirt and a skirt. I go downstairs and Donald said, "What's wrong with your neck?" I looked in my compact mirror and there were scratch marks going from my jaw line down my neck. Two marks on each side. My husband slept in the same bed as me and his skin was fine.

Given what I had experienced the day before along with these unexplainable scratches made me realize that something outside of my control was going on. These experiences shook me for a while and made me fully aware of my surroundings.