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Biter

 

In 1999 my life was a mess. My ex-husband and I had recently separated, I had no savings and he wanted our house. It wasn't much but it was paid for. I was too exhausted to fight him.

My father had just died and I had traveled to Fort Bliss just in time to say goodbye to him. My parents had visited from California to spend Christmas and my Dad got pnuemonia on the way home. That was crushing and when I walked back into the house from the flight home I saw drug paraphernalia along with evidence that another woman had been in my house, my bed, my everything. When a good friend of mine offered to put my son and I up in turn for my help (he was a paraplegic) I accepted his offer thankfully.

John was a very sweet man and he'd had nothing but problems trying to find caregivers who could devote just a few hours an evening. He wanted a little help with dinner and personal care. I really didn't mind. He was funny and sweet and he'd usually tell me hilarious stories about the women he dated. They averaged being gold diggers or women who were separated who eventually went back to their husbands. I knew he was lonely and so was I. It was a very simpatico arrangement.

I loved his huge airy house. It was two stories. I'll try to describe this correctly so that it's not too confusing.

From the front, it appeared to be a single level home. It was set into a hillside though, so that there was another basement level that was built out with a set of steep stairs leading down to his living area. The level had an entire apartment and the side that faced that back of the house had French doors leading to a little patio and fire pit.

We lived there for about a year while I worked and put money in the bank as a down payment for another house. My son was 4 at the time and very smart, very verbal kid. He seemed to have a fascination for the basement steps and I had to keep a constant eye on him to make sure that he never got too close. After a few months, I started to notice that he would play next to the top of the stairs as much as possible and he kept a running conversation with his toys.

One night I went to get him to put him in the bath and looked up at me and asked why the 'other' man in the basement kept asking him to come downstairs. Instant concern from Mom, here. I tried to be calm and asked him if he meant John. No... He thought it over seriously and said no the man who came into the top house at night. "A shadow?" I asked. No, this man sat on the stairs and called to him and asked him to come down and play. He was tall and thin. "What else does he look like?" I asked this while I felt the hairs raise on the back of my neck. My son looked at me and said "Mom, he walks and there are red spots, like ketchup". Anything else? He smiled helpfully. "He has really sharp teeth. They're all broken." Well, putting him to bed that night was a blur. I was walking the line between okay I'm scared and he's a little kid, they make things up. Just the same, the next morning I ran to the store and bought baby gates and put them up in the hallway leading to the stairs. My son was told never to play near the stairs again.

Funny thing, but after I did that, every single time I went down into the basement apartment to help John I feel something glaring at me. I would feel my neck hairs go up. If John wasn't there I would literally run to get what I needed and escape up the stairs as soon as possible. It was like I felt a pure hate directed me.

I asked John about what my son was saying after about month of feeling this hate and told him what my son was describing. John told me to sit down and he told me a story. Ten years before, John was not yet a paraplegic. He'd worked for a computer company and this involved travelling to a few locations for IT support. One night, he was driving in Illinois very late and he'd stopped at a rest stop for the restroom and a coffee from the machines there. As he walked into the men's facilities he noticed that they were empty and he quickly used the toilets and went to wash his hands. He glanced up and there was a tall thin man watching him. A man all in black. John freaked out because he'd appeared out of nowhere. Then he glanced up again and the man was right next to him. In a matter of a couple of seconds, this man had moved probably 20 feet and was so close that John could feel his breath on his face. No human being could have moved that fast. John swore to me that he'd seen a vampire. I didn't believe that, but I kept a poker face.

John poured a very large bourbon and he was shaking when he told me the next part. The man smiled, but it wasn't a smile... It was a baring of huge broken sharp teeth. John said he ran for his car. Like he knew his life depended on it. As he drove away from the rest stop this thing was following him on the road. Running after the car. Shortly after that John was in a terrible accident and was paralyzed.

I couldn't stay. I just couldn't. I told John we were leaving in two weeks. That would give him time to find another caregiver.

I quickly found us an apartment and kept an eagle eye on my son until the day we left. As I was putting my son into the car he suddenly said "Mom! Mom!". He's mad!. He wanted me to stay forever. I faked a smile and asked "Who, baby?". With a great dignity my son said "Biter. He hates you, you. He wants me to live with him but you would be boo-booed like Mr. John". I felt a cold sweat go down my back. "He lives with Mr. John but he said you would go with Pop-Pop." My recently deceased Dad was Pop-Pop.

The last day, I cried in relief as I pulled out of the driveway. We had been so close to pure evil. My son waved and called "Bye Mr.John. Bye Biter". I watched the rear view mirror until I hit the highway in case anything was running after the car.

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Jubeele (25 stories) (882 posts)
+1
6 years ago (2018-01-07)
Emma, when I first read this, my very first thought was that the entity had evil designs on your son's life energy. That was the reason why I was so freaked out. I hadn't wanted to say anything about it at the time, since it was all in the past. I should've known that your mother lioness instincts were already alert to the danger! ❤

Em and LuciaJacinta - the number 4 doesn't always have to mean bad luck. The Chinese also believe when 4 is combined with an auspicious number like 8, it becomes 48, pronounced as "forty-eight", which changes the way it sounds. So 48 is considered lucky, meaning "determined to proper" (success from working hard etc). 😁
Http://numerologystars.com/numerology-in-feng-shui/
EmmalineTexas (10 stories) (163 posts)
 
6 years ago (2018-01-06)
Hi LuciaJacinta -Thanks so much for reading my story and commenting. I think that Biter did come upstairs. My son said that he crept up the stairs at night but he didn't go very far into the house. My son had never been allowed downstairs because John had his wheelchair and power bed down there. When we first moved in, there was a small incident when we went shopping. My son got too close to the wheelchair and John reversed it and ran it into Marc's foot. I know it hurt and it terrified both of them - so Marc kept well away from Mr. John's things. The stairs were also pretty steep. John used a walkway from the patio that circled around to the front of the house. To answer your other question; I think it wanted to attach to my son. John wasn't in the best health. He had limited use of his chest muscles and tended to get pneumonia and bronchitis very easily. My psychic abilities aren't the best but I have enough to know that this 'thing' wanted to hedge it's bets and have a healthy person to latch on to. I think there might be more of these things out there. You're absolutely right in my opinion. As for the number 4 - in Chinese, it sounds like the word for death and is considered very bad luck. I'm so sorry that the story scared you. There are things out there that are good and those that are evil. Scary thought.

Thanks again
Emma
LuciaJacinta (8 stories) (291 posts)
 
6 years ago (2018-01-06)
This story is one of the most terrifying to me accounts I've read on here. It bothered me for weeks until I had to join on here and comment. I was wondering though why the biter only stayed downstairs? Did you ever sense it came upstairs? I wonder what would have happened if your son would have went down to play with him, as if biter wanted to harm him in some way?...did your son ever go downstairs at all?

And then Jetsons account it just makes me think if there is a specific entity of this description seen in multiple places/times and wonder if others have seen him?

Reading over the comments, I never knew that about the number 4. My house now has a 4, as well as the last several addresses I had contained 4s. I thought it was 6s that were bad luck. Never knew about the 4.
Jetson (2 stories) (67 posts)
 
6 years ago (2017-12-05)
thanks Emma... After the house was completely renovated we decided to throw a party... A large party as basically we had our own 'party venue' and so we invited friends and co-workers but afterwards as the house lay empty and on the market without interest I must admit we kept being bothered by people who attended our party who would say "well you know... Something is not right about that place... It's beautiful and all but I get a bad feeling being in there".

And as from time to time we would meet subtradesmen who worked on the renovation and hear their odd encounters... E.g. Paint brush not falling but floating to the ground, a shirt being lifted and running along a hallway under its own power, candles being blown out and then relit, the hearing of someone entering the back door emptying his pockets and depositing his contents (coins, metal objects/a gun perhaps) onto a table and then proceeding upstairs, being pushed, hearing voices, etc. It all added to our worries that this place was putting people off and there would be little to do but watch the price drop and hope that by some good fortune our luck would change.

As mentioned we lost money as the place had had a fire in the 1920s/30s and so we had to basically reframe the house... We then had to put a steel beam the length of the structure as the foundation was suspect... We later had to rebuild the stairs as the main supports that was holding the stairs upright were cut through at somepoint when someone wanted to put central heating into the place... Every day there was another issue which was not cosmetic but structural which set us back months and attacked our pocket books

Today though from this I trust my instincts much more and am open to other world experiences as I believe there are things in this world that we simply don't understand... If you read my experience in France... Which happened a few years after this you will see what I mean

Thanks for your comments...
EmmalineTexas (10 stories) (163 posts)
 
6 years ago (2017-12-04)
Jetson - Thanks for clarifying. I realized afterward that you mentioned screaming bloody murder not literally 'murder'. As I was reading the price I was going 'oh no, no, no" on the price. My best friend is Chinese and she was horrified that there's a 4 in my house address. She insisted of sending me feng shui instructions to take away the bad energy from the house number.

It's interesting and sad that the house didn't sell at the price you offered it at. The Victorian sounds beautiful after all of that renovation. I wonder if the story of the house had made the rounds or whether people felt an 'off' energy. Another consideration would have been the sheer size of the house. Was it too large for the neighborhood demographics?

I'm really sorry that you lost money on it. I'm assuming that it's upstate New York. It looks like it would have been a very hot property.

Thanks,
Emma
Jetson (2 stories) (67 posts)
 
6 years ago (2017-12-04)
Hello Emma... Sorry for the confusion... By 'murder' I am just refering to a manner of speaking... In that she was screaming at the tone of someone being murdered or someone witnessing a murder. When I arrived at the house my neighbour had called the police thinking that something of a violent nature was happening... Perhaps murder but it was to everyone's amazement that we found only this girl alone in the bathroom. Her fear though was real and we accepted it as such.

As for bootleggers... Yes upon discovering that a gang once owned and operated within the house this knoweldge did not sit well with us. In fact we found many things that spoke to that time e.g. Bottles, barrels, gun casings, and even a secret room for hiding things when a 'raid' would happen.

As for selling the house... Well yes we eventually sold the place... But it was a nightmare. When we had the real estate agent walk around she was all giddy... She was excited and said "yes... I have to admit that this will be the first million dollar seller on the street". Feeling that all that we had gone through was now going to be the moment when are ship finally came in we were amazed when the house sat still without offers. Weeks turned into months with the real estate agent then proposing to us that we should 'stage' the house. And so we rented furnishings and everything that you can think of to put into a beautiful period home but even that made no offers come.

In the end price reductions came... And finally we got an offer from someone who bought the house sight unseen... Without visiting it. The buyer bought it as a 'wedding' gift as he was going to be married and thought this was the house for him and his new wife. Even stranger was that he had changed the offer price to have the number '4' throughout it... $644,444.44 (telling my real estate agent that he was marrying a Chinese bride and the number 4 was good luck.

Later after we recounted this story to a friend of ours who was Chinese he said... "The number 4 (四, pinyin: sì; Cantonese Yale: sei) is considered an unlucky number in Chinese because it is nearly homophonous to the word "death" (死 pinyin: sǐ; Cantonese Yale: séi)."

I have to add that we did not make a cent on this endeavour... We even lost money.
EmmalineTexas (10 stories) (163 posts)
 
6 years ago (2017-12-01)
Jetson - I'm sorry. I misread and thought that she was in the bathtub hiding when you got the door open. I made a jump that wasn't there.

Emma
EmmalineTexas (10 stories) (163 posts)
 
6 years ago (2017-12-01)
Jetson - Thanks for following up on the first part of your story. I understand the money pit thing. We have a carriage house that we might as well have thrown cash at. My new tenant also called last night panicked because of a ghost - will follow up on that later.

The Victorian has a fascinating history. Bootleggers were known for dealing their own justice and if there was prostitution, no one would have kept track of missing girls in the 1920's.

The gamblers/bootleggers would explain the male voice. I'm also familiar with a door being held shut, but one thing caught my attention. How or why did the research student make the jump from simply screaming 'help' to 'murder'? Did she see anything? Did she hear anything that might have been a replay of a murder in the house? Was she thrown into the bathtub? So many unanswered questions there?

Finally, were you able to sell the house? And if so, what happened when the people who bought it moved in?

Thanks for your update. Must have been a really freaky experience. Especially, having to meet the student with her belongings because she refused to go back in the house.

Thanks,
Emma
Jetson (2 stories) (67 posts)
+1
6 years ago (2017-12-01)
Victorian House 2nd experience...

As we started to make a 'difference' on the house and as rooms got renovated and our money supply dwindled for it became the proverbial money pit one of us came up with the idea to rent a section out to a student. We would of course explain the renovations but figured a cheap and cheeful place to a student would be a source of revenue and as well a person to provide 'security' (indirectly of course).

Placing an ad in the University gathering places we got a phone call from a Research student who was doing her PhD. She was totally a no nonsense type of person. She was about as logical as you could get. When we mentioned parties... Her retort was that she was "too busy to have parties". When we mentioned boyfriends... We got the same response. And so to ease any 'fears' she might have we mentioned that we had sort of found the place to be 'unwelcoming'. We mentioned that there was nothing we could put our finger on but that we wanted her to know. Her response "ghosts! I don't believe in ghosts". When we said "we said nothing about ghosts"... She offhandedly said "well I'm used to working in a library alone and in various basements with records collecting research for my thesis so I am not worried in the least of being in an old 'unwelcoming' place.

Delighted... As she paid first and lasts month's rent (I remember it allowed us to purchase a bathtub for one of the rooms) we all celebrated our good fortune.

...However...

After a few weeks of our student moving in... I got a disturbing phone call one early evening from my neighbor saying that she heard screams coming from our place. Rushing over I was met by my neighbours (there was a gaggle of onlookers) and a policeman.

Acending the front porch my friends and I had to break down the front door as efforts to turn the lock proved fruitless.

Inside we heard our student screaming 'murder' and as we searched the house we found her in the washroom. She was absolutely unconsolable and at a stage of impossible histeria.

Getting her outside to the neighbours... Who gave her tea and a blanket... She finally calmed down to tell us what was going on...

And so... She told us that she had gone upstairs to take a bath. While in the bathroom she heard someone come up the stairs. Thinking it was one of us she got dressed and spoke to 'us' through the door and said she'd be right out.

She heard a man's voice say "take your time"

She then told us that as she went to open the door (a door that had a lock from only the inside) the door was locked. As she pulled the door pulled back. She then noticed the handle turning on its on... She said that later it felt that whatever was pulling the door was soon also in the bathroom with her trapping her in.

Without words... We just took in everything she said... Made all the more creapier by the fact that she was such a straight and narrow person and not someone who you would expect to make up such a thing...

After contacting a colleague... She left that night... Never to return... I later met her to bring her belongings as she did not want to go into the house again...

The History of the House

... Later as I was sitting in my neighbours living room one of them described the former owners... The house had three owners... The last was a banker who owned the house with his daughter and her husband. Through some unfortunate swindling or misappropriation the banker lost much of his investors money and and the bank failed. His daughter lived in the house but no one knows what happened to her husband (some said ran off / others thought he died) but they said that the house never had any signs of life in it for some sixty years. That this lady was so frugal that she never turned on a light or put on the heat. She was 'friendly' but broken people said.

Prior to the banker... I learned the house had been used by a Bootlegger and his gang... And the house had been used for various 1920s / 1930s gangland type of offences e.g. Gambling, prostitution

The original owner had built the house as his 'castle'... He was an amusement park owner and used his monies to build himself what was called then 'Summerhill'... After people's interests waned he lost the house after it caught fire (during the renovation we discovered the whole back of the house had burned along with the orginal kitchen at somepoint).
babygoatpuller (4 stories) (432 posts)
+1
6 years ago (2017-11-30)
Mmmmmm, love me some tri tip and I'll bring extra for left over sandwiches.

I'm going to bring along all the goodies I found on Val's cyber haunted house. Maybe something in there that'll help with the map! 😜
EmmalineTexas (10 stories) (163 posts)
 
6 years ago (2017-11-29)
Val - Best. Comment. Ever. Hahahaa

Jubeele - Luminol? We don't need no stankin' Luminol! I'm bringing lemon juice and a hair dryer for the map. No worries!
valkricry (48 stories) (3257 posts) mod
+1
6 years ago (2017-11-29)
Guys, if we're going all the way to Melda's in S.A., don't you think we should get some ACME rocket-packs? Should make the trip ultra fast - or end quickly. 😕 Didn't Wiley always end up slammed in the side of a mountain using those? Never mind...
EmmalineTexas (10 stories) (163 posts)
 
6 years ago (2017-11-29)
Babygoatpuller - I knew we were missing someone! Bring the tri-tip chica, I haven't had it in so long. Thanks for your comment. Like you, I can't wait for Jetson to tell us the rest of the story! Now, we're complete. Strap on your proton pack, Egon. We be fast and they be slow. ❤
Emmaline
babygoatpuller (4 stories) (432 posts)
+1
6 years ago (2017-11-29)
Wait for me! Ghost pepper nachos, bloody mary's, haunted houses AND dinosaurs! This is going to be a wild ride. 😁

Another great account Emma. I'm with the others. As soon as got to the part about your son sitting at the top of the stairs, my gut went uh-uh. Nope. Not going to happen. Fortunately you didn't let it happen and got outta Dodge. 😘

Jetson- I too will be waiting to hear more of the fascinating "teaser" you presented to us. PLEASE do submit it for us all to read!
Jubeele (25 stories) (882 posts)
+1
6 years ago (2017-11-29)
Now I'm convinced that you're psychic, Val! I actually made pot-stickers again tonight and thought about how much you love them. You and Emma will have to synchronize schedules to come over to Sydney. I'll definitely fry up a batch to feed you both.

Emma, we'd better go easy on the Ghost Pepper Nachos as Val has reminded us of their unfortunate side effects. Oops, let's hope Rex-T doesn't feed too many of those to his T-Rex!

(No Rex, you can't give them to Big T - aargh, bad T-Rex. Don't slobber all over the pot-stickers!)
valkricry (48 stories) (3257 posts) mod
 
6 years ago (2017-11-29)
*Follows Jubeele in hopes of some pot-stickers.* You do realize how ironic 'ghost' pepper nachos are, when trying to avoid ghosts, don'tcha?
Jubeele (25 stories) (882 posts)
 
6 years ago (2017-11-29)
Psst Emma, we're moving the ghost treasure hunt to Melda's place in South Africa. Can you please pack your luminol spray and UV ghost-lamp? Vic has done something tricksy with the map. 😉

For all fellow Hitchhikers who wish to catch up on Melda's account about Vic, here's the link:
Http://www.yourghoststories.com/real-ghost-story.php?story=25134
valkricry (48 stories) (3257 posts) mod
+1
6 years ago (2017-11-29)
Emma, no, no, no! You guys are fine! Lead away! It's just Jetson's encounter sounds so interesting, I'd hate for it to be hidden in comments.
EmmalineTexas (10 stories) (163 posts)
+1
6 years ago (2017-11-29)
Val - I apologize. I've merrily led our band of tricksters into an area so far off topic that it might as well be labeled 'Here There Be Dragons' or even 'Ultima Thule'. I promise this will be my last post. I surrender my hall pass. Mea culpa.

Jubeele - Now everyone knows that the second you whip out the Scooby Snacks a ghost appears. Because that doesn't sound so very scrummy I brought Ghost Pepper Nachos and Rice Krispie treats rolled into balls with googly eyes.

Melda - Clever! I see what you did there. Kruger doesn't scare me. I'm on it.

Rex-T - Thank you for that iced tea spit-take all over my laptop. It's been dry for far too long.

Lady-Glow - Priceless! Now I have visions of Jubeele making it out the door and me going splat and crumbling into dust just inside the doorway. With a pair of blinking coyote eyeballs on top of the heap.

Jetson - you started all this. I owe you one.

Emma
Melda (10 stories) (1363 posts)
+1
6 years ago (2017-11-29)
Jubeele - I found a yellowed, folded page but I'm not sure what it is. If it is the map, it's been drawn with invisible ink. Can anybody help with that? In any event you'll all have to come to South Africa for the treasure hunt, as I'm pretty sure the treasure is here.

I have an idea that T-Rex might need some mending. I heard somewhere that he'd lost a few rather important body parts - section of head, tail and so on 😆

Regards, Melda
Jubeele (25 stories) (882 posts)
+1
6 years ago (2017-11-29)
Right Emma, if you're my backup, we can do this without an app. I've got my Hitchhiker's Guide, clean towel, ACME brand organic cotton tracksuit and matching running shoes, handy-dandy toothbrushes for all and filled a few thermos with a potent batches of Bloody Mary (generous on the vodka). Have you got the snacks?

Hey Rex, is your T-Rex saddled up and ready to go? Make sure Ford Prefect (aka Ix) and Arthur have fastened their seat belts.

What about you, lady-glow? Are you bringing your pet cougar along?

Ok, Melda, you've got the map from Vic. We're now ready to go on the ghost treasure hunt. If anybody else wants to come along, just hitch a ride on the T-Rex. You can't possibly miss it.

And we're off. Meep-meep!
lady-glow (16 stories) (3149 posts)
+1
6 years ago (2017-11-29)
Rex-T: I bet both Emmaline's and Jubeele's suits are ACME brand! 😜
Rex-T (5 stories) (288 posts)
+1
6 years ago (2017-11-28)
Jubeele, sage advice from Enna,

If you turn up to check out a house and Emma arrives in her Wile E. Coyote suit make sure you've brought along your Road Runner suit to beat her out of the house.

Bless you both, you guys crack me up (along with Melda and lady-glow).

Rex-T
EmmalineTexas (10 stories) (163 posts)
+2
6 years ago (2017-11-28)
Jubeele - I read DestinyGirl's account and I thought it was fascinating. If a house doesn't want me there I'm more than happy to run through the wall like Wile E. Coyote to get away from it.

An app? Oh no, I respectfully disagree. I have my own internal 'oh hailll no' meter and if it goes off it can wait for the next sucker... Er buyer to bring it chicken wings.
Any time you'd like to check out a house though, I'll be your back up. I have my toothbrush!

You know that really is funny. I can't decide if it sounds more like Ford Prefect knowing where his towel is or more like Steve Martin in The Jerk. A man who only needs his thermos.

Emma
Jubeele (25 stories) (882 posts)
+1
6 years ago (2017-11-28)
Emma, I tend to avoid like the plague any place that feels unseasonally 'cold' or seems 'off' in any way. It may just be due to rising damp, mould or some vermin infestations, which are still good reasons to stay away.

There is a recent account of someone else getting creepy vibes while house-hunting:
Http://www.yourghoststories.com/real-ghost-story.php?story=25117

Hmm, maybe we should download a ghost radar app and wave that around wherever we go. If it beeps, whistles, clicks and flashes warning lights, we can beat a hasty retreat on the spot. If it comes up with the message of "chicken wings", then someone's reminding us to pick up a bucket from the Colonel! 🍗

Jetson - I'll be waiting for more details when you submit your own account of that Victorian house. It sounds really interesting... 😓
valkricry (48 stories) (3257 posts) mod
+2
6 years ago (2017-11-28)
Jetson, please submit your story, instead of in the comments, so that it can get the attention it deserves.
EmmalineTexas (10 stories) (163 posts)
 
6 years ago (2017-11-28)
Hi Jetson,
Holy schnikies, that house was definite about what it wanted. It had to have been occupied if it had the energy to tell what color the paneling wanted to be. You had mentioned the face earlier and it and the aura of the house did not sound friendly. I wonder if you were dealing with two different things there. Or maybe more than two.

There's a house here in town that realtors dread going into. My realtor refused to go in and threw me the keys. She said that someone tried to push her down the stairs. Interestingly, no one owns it for more than a year and then it changes hands again. I made it halfway up the stairs, noped and headed for the front door before something could knock my feet out from under me.

A thought occurred to me after your last post. The house was fairly old and it brought back what a psychic told me about houses over a hundred years old. Back then, when a family member was a little 'off' - bearing in mind there weren't the medical advances that we have now, they usually spent their lives in the top rooms of the house. I'm guessing that they might have looked odd or had broken teeth. They were shunned by society. If your experience was a little more benign, that might explain the face.

But it sounds like that's not even close to everything that you went through. Did you ever do any research into the original owners of the house? Or did neighbors have any stories that they shared with you? Neighbors love to gossip while you're doing renovations.

I can't wait to hear the rest of your story. It doesn't sound like the house quietly went along with your plans...

Thanks,
Emma
Jetson (2 stories) (67 posts)
+1
6 years ago (2017-11-28)
Hello Emma and Jubeele... Well as far as the old victorian house goes...

Interestingly before purchasing the house and walking through it with the agent I was struck by how awful every room was... Dust, dirt and newspapers piled into stacks. I remember feeling terrible and it wasn't until I got into the garden that I felt I could breathe. Sitting down on a cement bench the agent asked me what was the matter and I told her about how I felt. She asked me, "do you believe that some houses have bad feelings connected with them?" I replied, "I really don't know and that I had never thought of it". And she said... "well to be honest this one does but I'm sure your work and renovation will transform this place into a wonderful warm and loved place". Those words sealed the deal. But I have to say that while signing the papers of offer I distinctly felt like I was being watched by unseen eyes which I can only describe as making me feel 'disliked' for the decision I was making.

Strangeness begins...

We removed all the woodwork in the house that had been painted over the years... And placed the casings in the basement where one of us took on the task of slowly stripping the layers in the basement.

On one occaision we went to the paint store to obtain sample colors of what were termed by the dealer as an 'historical' victorian palette. At one point we painted several samples on woodwork, walls, trim, etc. To test areas in daylight, etc.

One morning I came to the job site to the anguish of my friend who was upset that I started to paint the woodwork a certain 'blue' that none of us had decided upon as being what we would agree to be the chosen color. As we came down into the basement sure enough several pieces of the stripped paneling were now painted this 'blue' but none of us owned up to painting them.

Later comparing the color painted on the woodwork to actual samples we had obtained and painted as references on the wall proved inconclusive. The 'blue' which we were looking at was in fact not a color which we brought to the job site. In fact it wasn't even on the historical Victorian palette which we had been using as a reference.

Spookier still was that many weeks later when we were peeling layers of wallpaper off a room we came to a point in the wall which was painted in that 'blue'. Dumfounded we spent the entire afternoon holding the paneling painted 'blue' next to the wall color we had discovered and sure enough it was the same color.

Later on speaking with my cousin... A guy that at the time was older and more experienced than us and had 'seen' a few strange things in his day mentioned "well perhaps the house is telling you what it wants to be painted". We all agreed and brought the color on the woodwork to the paint store which mixed up this 'blue' color for us.

For a time we felt that in a way we would be appeasing the house and giving it back what it wanted. In reality though we were wrong... And sadly for us... Things went from bad to worse...

More to follow...
EmmalineTexas (10 stories) (163 posts)
 
6 years ago (2017-11-27)
Jubeele - The feeling is mutual. I'm so very sorry that you went through such a terrible time after your divorce. You came through it a very kind, giving person and that speaks worlds about your character.

I'm not sure that I deserve your compliments but I'm grateful to know you. It's not often you meet someone and instantly feel that friendship click. And a huge admiration click, I might add 😊

Thanks for your post. I love reading your accounts and your thoughtful comments on YGS.

Emma ❤
Jubeele (25 stories) (882 posts)
+1
6 years ago (2017-11-27)
Dear Emma, the more we get to know you, the more there is to admire. And that's the truth! I really feel that your strength protected your son in more ways than one. I think that's another reason why you were there for a year and that entity didn't touch either of you.

When I went through my toxic split with the ex, I was left with sizable debts, no savings, no job and no family in the country. I'm not sure if I'd have managed with half the grace as you did if I had a child to care for as well. You're a fantastic mum - to Harper and your son! ❤

Jetson - that's an encounter you should submit. I'd love to read more from you too. 😊

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