Walter In The Basement

The paranormal investigative team assembled around 5 PM at our place of business. Their leader was the clairvoyant I have mentioned in previous posts, the rest of the group was made up by her sister, and seven others. Other than the technical equipment manager, all of the members of the group had different levels of sensitivities and had all had paranormal experiences in their lives.

When they first arrived, they walked through the entire building and my wife and I shared with them, the two dozen or so experiences either ourselves or our staff had experienced in recent months, at the locations they occurred. Immediately upon entering the building, the team leader sensed a little boy. She stated that as she moved around the building, it felt as if he was hugging her leg. We described to her how the child of one of our clients had stated that he saw a little boy who was crying, a few weeks prior.

When our client asked his child why he felt the boy was crying, he stated that the boy was sad. When the client asked why, the child simply stated, "Nobody wants to play with him." The clairvoyant said in past experiences, she had encountered child spirits who could not understand why no one could hear or see them. She felt this boy's name was either Jack or James, she was not sure which, and she felt that he was around two years old.

After the walk through, the team decided that while there was still daylight they wanted to investigate the cemetery which sits kitty corner across the intersection from our property. My wife went home and I accompanied the team to the cemetery. They were not looking for anything specific, but were interested in finding headstones with names of previous owners of our property.

In the weeks leading up to the investigation, the team's research specialist had provided us with deeds and transaction documents she had discovered in researching the property. She had been able to track the ownership of the property back to the original family who had built the farm in 1820. When we arrived at the cemetery, we were immediately greeted by two cats, who I presumed belonged to a neighbor. We walked around for about an hour, several of the team members were talking to and petting the cats, as they followed along.

The team leader's sister had gotten ahead of us, and at one point called to the group. She noticed that the cat that was staying with her, was incessantly rubbing on one particular headstone. The headstone was of a father of a family, his first name was Jedidiah and the last name did not match any that we were looking for. Situated around him was the rest of the family, the names of which were illegible. The father's headstone was rather ornate and she had brought some materials to do an etching, so she proceeded to capture the emblem at the top of the stone on paper as we all watched. When she was done, the team leader asked her to etch the two children's stones that were next to the father. The first etching clearly deciphered the child's name to be "James" who died at the age of four. The team leader acknowledged that there very likely was no connection and if there was, she could well be wrong about the boy spirit's age at our building, or possibly that if indeed this was the boy, he was presenting himself at a younger age. Just as she finished this explanation, her sister produced the etching of the second child, his name was "Jack" and he died when he was 22 months old. We talked for about ten minutes and no one doubted that we were on to something. Someone noticed as we were leaving, that the cats had seemingly disappeared. No one saw them again after we found the family plot.

We walked back to the building and they began to set up their equipment and I returned to our home to allow them to do their job without any interference, a little more than overwhelmed by the potential discovery. Unable to stay away very long, I returned to the building around 8:00 to see how things were going. When I returned, they told me about what they had been doing, and of some personal encounters they had experienced. One such experience had happened in the oversized eaves of the building, which were accessible through one of the upstairs bedroom closets. With me in toe, the team went back to this location, and the presence they had sensed earlier had vacated the area. When they entered the second bedroom, their K2 meters and EMF detectors started going berserk. The team leader sensed a negative presence, but no more did she detect it, when the meters went back to zero, and it was gone.

We went down the stairs and entered a room that had been living space in the old farmhouse. The team leader and her sister immediately sensed the little boy she had encountered earlier. As we gathered around them, a couple of others in the group were able to sense him as well. They said that the little boy was scared by the sudden attention he was getting, and that he began to cry. The team leader decided that it was best for everyone to just back off, and left her sister and another woman who I later found out was a very loving, maternal grandmother type, to try to communicate with the child.

The rest of us proceeded to the kitchen, and the team leader was immediately drawn to the walk in pantry room.

She said she could sense a woman spirit pacing back and forth. The EMF detectors were off the charts; she said the woman was frantic. She asked the woman what her name was and upon later review of their voice recorders for EVP's, they confirmed what the clairvoyant heard at the time; "Sonya". She began to ask questions about things that were related to experiences we had prior to the investigation... (see "Tickets, Please" for details)...did she like to stay in the kitchen?, was her husband in the military?, who was the man in the orange shirt?

By this time, the team leader's sister and her companion had rejoined the group, stating that the little boy had left the room they had been in. Both the team leader and her sister offered their energy to the female spirit in hopes that she could continue to communicate. "Walter in the basement?" the team leader asked the spirit. "Who is Walter, is he your husband? Why is Walter in the basement?" The spirit immediately dissipated and the EMF detectors went back to normal.

"Well, I guess we have to go see Walter in the basement!" the team leader joked, as she slid past the group members around her. I was standing at the back of the group, in awe of what had just occurred. As she approached me, I said, "It's not: "Walter in the basement.""

"What?" she asked.

"I said, it is not "Walter in the basement. It is WATER in the basement. There is a dug well in the basement, under the house." As I later got to know the team leader, I realized she was quite kind and sentimental. But at this time in our relationship, all I knew was she was very assertive and had a take control type of attitude. When I told her about the well, she looked at me and blinked repeatedly and for just a moment, this tough-as-nails, no nonsense woman's bottom lip quivered and she struggled for an instant to control her emotions. "Show me the well." she stated.

I led the team to the basement. I had shown it to them in the initial walk through, and they had gone down there on their own when they began their investigation. But I had not told them what the raised wooden structure on the floor was for, or that the well even existed. As I entered the old stone walled basement from the stairwell, a gust of air blasted my face on my left side. I could liken it to the feeling of standing to close too a road and a truck just went by. "Did you just see him?" one of the team members asked from behind me. She described a man who ran past me in very dirty bib overalls and a white t-shirt. She said his clothes looked like they were too small, or that they appeared to be stuck to him.

I walked the team to the well and the team leader instructed the team to join hands in a circle around the cover of the well. "Jedidiah" she asked, "where is the boy?" No one spoke for a full minute. My stomach flipped and proceeded to tie itself in a knot.

"Oh my god, he's in the well" the team leader's sister groaned. I do not think I have ever heard a group of ten people struggle to breathe simultaneously before.

"His father can't reach him!" the sister cried.

The team leader immediately took charge. "Everyone close your eyes; imagine yourself in the water... Visualize yourself in the water."

At this point, I began to feel very, very cold. I had forced myself to be skeptical earlier in the evening, even though I had multiple experiences in the building, even though the clairvoyant had validated prior experiences I had at my home; it was at this point that I learned that what was going on was more than an act, more than a screenplay, more than a hoax. The woman next to me began to shiver, almost uncontrollably. I suddenly felt like I was sitting in a boat, and the boat was rocking.

"Do not let go of each others' hands" we were told. "Everyone, we have to help him reach the boy. Visualize yourself in the water lifting the boy.

Jedidiah, grab your son!"

"Everyone, hold him up."

"He still can't reach him" the leader's sister whispered. At this point, I opened my eyes. Although the basement was already dimly lit to begin with, it now appeared almost black; the bare light bulb which was only about six feet away above the group, appeared to be shining through a very heavy dust storm. I closed my eyes.

"Jedidiah! Reach! Everyone, push him up! Push him up! He can't reach him, push him up!"

"Jedidiah, you have to reach. Grab him!"

"He's got him" her sister remarked in disbelief, almost as if she could not believe it herself.

"Jedidiah, take your son to your wife" the leader calmly stated.

"Take Jack to her...she's waiting for you."

"Give her the baby."

I squeezed my eyes tight, knowing that I wasn't going to be able to hold back the tears. As I did so, a bright flash went off behind my eyelids, and I was sure someone in the group had taken a picture with a camera. I opened my eyes to see that all were still holding hands.

"They went into the light" she said. "They are all together now."

There was not a dry eye in that basement, and this group of people I would later get to know very well, walked out of that basement as if they had just crossed the finish line of a marathon. No one spoke for several minutes.

"We did a good thing" I thought to myself.

"Yes, we did" I heard over my shoulder. She did not try to hold back the tears, and when she broke, the rest of the group followed.