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I Didn't Want To Believe

 

When I was young I used to be terrified of everything. I always slept with a night light and often had to have my younger sister sleep in my room at night with me. I hated leaving my room at night to get water or go to the bathroom, and any strange noise at night or errant thought had me literally paralyzed in my bed.

My house growing up was large and old, which accounted for the noises but other than that there was not much to fear about it. That's just who I was. However, when I entered my teens I decided I needed to take control of these irrational fears, and although I'm still a touch skittish to this day, I conquered most of my issues. I share this truth about myself in the interest of full disclosure. I know many people tell the stories prefacing that they were not easily spooked and, therefore, their tale becomes more believable. I, however, fully admit to having a wild imagination. It is, in fact, my hard-earned and conscious effort to suppress my fears that gives validation to this experience. That and I did not experience it alone.

In my mid teens I got a job through a family friend cleaning out low-income housing units after the previous tenants move out. Now, since this was housing for poverty stricken families and most had the problems accompanying said poverty, most of these units were in horribly disgusting shape, often completely abandoned with their personal items and food still on the kitchen table.

I was in one such unit with my cleaning partner, a university students saving-up for the summer, when some strange things began to occur. The first incident occurred in the kitchen. We had pulled out the stove to clean the filth behind it and after we had cleaned out the pan storage compartment at the bottom we found that it was jammed and would not close. Since it was in the middle of the small kitchen and in the way both of us proceeded to kick in the drawer (it took several full strength kicks from both sides to close it), and discovered that we had now jammed it shut and it would not open.

Deciding we would figure it out later, we left it and my partner went upstairs to clean the bedrooms while I washed light fixtures in the kitchen. After a couple minutes of this I turned around and tripped over the wide open storage drawer. I thought that this was strange considering how jammed tight it had been but didn't really think much else of it. Noticing it was still jammed I gave several hard kicks and finally worked it closed again, and proceeded to feel like an idiot as it was once again jammed closed now. Washing more fixtures I turned around a couple minutes later to find the drawer wide open, tripping me again. Now I can't stress enough given my paranoid background, that I once again thought nothing of the incident and opted to simply leave it open when I discovered it jammed once more.

Later as I was putting the light fixtures back on the lights, one of the glass fixtures exploded in my hand cutting my wrist and finger. I attributed this to a temperature fluctuation even though I had been sure to turn off the lights before attaching the fixtures. This was weird but still I did not attribute this to anything supernatural. Since the job still needed to be completed I bandaged up my hand and proceeded to help my partner upstairs. That's when we started getting uncomfortable.

In the ceiling at the top of the stairs there was a square hole cut out for access to the attic, every time we passed under it I thought I heard my friend call to me and the same happened for her. It was after several times asking what she wanted and discovering she hadn't said anything that we started to feel uneasy.

Almost done, the job there was only the basement to sweep out and then we'd be done. Feeling a little creeped out my friend asked me to accompany her downstairs. The basement was a simple concrete square, no rooms or nooks in it. There was a door in the living room leading down to the basement and the stairs were such that one walked down a couple stairs, had to turn 90 degrees and walk down 12 or 15 stairs and then turn another 90 degrees to walk down the final two. It didn't take long to sweep out the small area and as it was completely empty, we finished the job with no issues.

When we were back on the main floor collecting the cleaning supplies by the open basement door both me and my partner heard, at the same time, the distinct sound of heavy footfalls climbing the stair. They started slow and loud for the first 3 then they picked up speed until whatever it was was thundering up the stairs. I looked at my friend wearing an identical face of horror and fearing that any second, whatever large thing was racing up the stairs would turn the final corner and reveal itself, I grabbed the door to the basement, slammed in shut and we both ran from the house, my friend screaming to leave the cleaning supplies and the door unlocked. I can't stress enough that we had just been in the basement with no rooms or closets, nooks or anything to hide behind and nothing was there.

We never returned to the house to retrieve the cleaning supplies we simply dropped the keys off at the landlord's and told her the door was unlocked.

To this day I have no idea what would have happened if I had waited a split second longer to close that door or if we had stayed in the house to grab the supplies and I don't want to know. What surprises me the most about the incident was that it took so long to realize what was going on considering how uneasy I have been in the past for much less provocation.

While I no longer allow myself to be fearful of every unusual sound or sight I know my mind is not always playing tricks on me, there are things in this world that cannot be explained, and while I refuse to live in fear and strive maintain a healthy skepticism, my experiences in that house will stay with me forever.

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Comments about this paranormal experience

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, amandazon, has the following expectation about your feedback: I will participate in the discussion and I need help with what I have experienced.

amandazon (1 stories) (1 posts)
+1
11 years ago (2012-10-30)
Thank you everyone for your support and understanding of my situation. It's gratifying to know I'm not the only one who feels this way and has and has had these experiences. Unfortunately Javelina they were concrete steps leading into the basement, which was part of the reason I could think of no explanation for what happened. The individual events may be explained away but it was the combination in such a short amount of time which made it so alarming.
Also, I agree with you Isandhu, one just doesn't expect these things to happen during the day while at work and it took a while for me to process.
Now that I'm a little older and stronger I would like to think I wouldn't run out like that but would stay to figure out what was happening and I would be really interested to going back one day.
Cliney1212 (4 stories) (121 posts)
 
11 years ago (2012-10-16)
Great story I enjoyed reading it... Thanks for sharing... 😊
SirenBelva (7 stories) (64 posts)
 
11 years ago (2012-10-16)
I cannot tell you how happy it made me to read a story from the perspective of someone who is admittedly afraid of the paranormal. Very good observation that so many who write into this site start off by saying that they are staunch skeptics. I was not able to sleep in my own bed, alone in my own room until I was in my teens. No, I am not proud of that at ALL. It is actually quite embarrassing.

Your story creeped me out. Javelina could very well be right about the steps although I would like to mention that I have had wooden steps in every house I have lived in... And I have never experienced steps popping with enough of a delay that it would have allowed me to reach the top landing before hearing anything. I'm sure that it also has to do with climate. I live in a very humid climate. I would assume that wood pops more in drier climates.

Don't blame you for running out of there!
geetha50 (15 stories) (986 posts)
 
11 years ago (2012-10-16)
Scary as it was I'm glad you experienced that because personally, I think it made you stronger than before. I totally agree with Jave's theory about the stairs being wood and it "bouncing" back into shape. (Sorry, Jave, I wanted to vote you up but it wouldn't allow me).
beautifuleden (2 stories) (66 posts)
 
11 years ago (2012-10-16)
I enjoyed your story very much, and also love the way you write, excellent skills x
Siskakes (4 stories) (68 posts)
 
11 years ago (2012-10-16)
I love stories like this one! I really enjoyed it! I'm so happy there is another fellow 'scardy cat' who believes! 😆
lsandhu (2 stories) (360 posts)
 
11 years ago (2012-10-15)
The stair thing could have been phantom noise and I'm guessing had you stayed nothing at all would have come through that door. However, the oven-drawer thing and the voices through the hole in the ceiling were certainly weird. It sounds to me like most of your terror in your younger days was related to being alone at night, and I certainly sympathize with that. I have struggled with similar fears since childhood which I have yet to conquer. Your slowness to realize what was going on in this situation may have been due to the fact it was daytime (I assume) and you were at work. Therefore, your mind simply wasn't in fear mode to start with (as it would be if you were to hear or experience something at night).
Abinnn (7 posts)
 
11 years ago (2012-10-14)
Wow! No doubt its a real scary ecperience... Voices from attic calling your names gave me a goosebumps.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

Abin
troyarn (5 stories) (479 posts)
 
11 years ago (2012-10-13)
Very good story, amandazon, and very creepy. Had this happened to me, I'd have left just the way you did. Thanks very much for sharing this with us.
Javelina (4 stories) (3749 posts)
 
11 years ago (2012-10-13)
Yes, this was a frightening experience any way you look at it, However, I do have a couple of questions.
First, what were the stairs to the basement made of? Were they concrete or wood? Were they carpeted?
The reason I ask is that if they were made of wood it could have been the recoil or bounce back motion of the wood after you both came back up for the last time. When you stepped on them to go downstairs, and then after you came back up, the pressure from the weight of you both can bend or sway the wood. Later on as it relaxed the wood snapped back into place making it seem as if someone was running up them. They snap back in the order of the last set to use them, from down to upstairs, giving the illusion of someone actually coming up. It is only a theory and can only be considered if the stairs are wooden.
The glass lighting fixture could be anything really. Glass has been known to "pop" or "come undone" simply from the temperature of a persons hand being different than the glass.
Now, the bottom drawer of the stove... Sorry. No explanation that I can think there. It would freak me out too though.
The voices calling your names? Yikes? You both thought it was your voices? That is uber creepy... I don't like that at all.
All in all, what you two experienced that day would have gotten the same reaction from most anyone. There was a combined amount of experiences on each floor of the place. But why oh why is the basement always the last thing to be cleaned? Even though I can sit here and say what may have occurred had the stairs been made of wood, I know in my heart you are going to come back and tell me they were concrete. And in that case I would have beat both of you out that door!

Thank for scaring the crap out of me! 😲

Jav
Argette (guest)
 
11 years ago (2012-10-12)
Now this is a really scary story! You had my heart going faster than usual.

I have no answers, but agree with Wondering1.

The cause of your experience will likely remain a mystery unless you are able to research the history of the place you were cleaning.
Wondering1 (4 stories) (29 posts)
 
11 years ago (2012-10-12)
Very creepy story. It sounds as if you did indeed disturb a ghost or spirit. Who that ghost is, or why it was there is a question you'll probably never have the answer to.
(unless you go back and try to investigate, course!)
Thanks for sharing! 😁

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