The Stairway

I have always been inclined towards the paranormal. I myself have encountered quite such experiences and I often try to find out that who else in my contacts has been facing such issues so in that way I get to know more about such stuff. While I was looking for one such experience by any of my knowns, this incident came as an absolute shocker as the one to narrate me this incident was no one else but my father.

He told me that when he was young, like between his late teens to early youth, he encountered something which to date is a mystery.

The story begins as:

He went to his maternal uncle's place for a visit. His maternal aunt, uncle and their only son used to stay in that house. The house was in a small town in Rajasthan state of India. He reached there in the afternoon. The house as he described was build in an ancient manner and was one of those Haveli types. (Havelis are the palace like homes build in ancient times. In Rajasthan state you can find many such homes where people still live.) When he reached there his uncle was leaving for some work and their son, i.e. My dad's cousin was already out for his tuitions.

He greeted uncle and aunt. Aunt served him food and they sat gossiping. My father told that her aunt was very beautiful and had such a physique that she would be identifiable in the crowd of 1000s as well. She was very soft spoken and always has a smile on her face.

Now to understand the story further and better I will give you a brief explanation of the house. There were 4 rooms in the house and in between of those 4 rooms stood an open hall that is without a ceiling. Many old homes have this type of place. There is no roof on that particular area. The only covering to it is the natural sky. Mostly the residents of the house sit in that place to talk, have meals or even sleep. Now connected to that area was the stairway. The stairway was covered from both the sides. So usually it stayed dark even during the day. One could see through it if the light of the sun fell on it, i.e the peak time of the day.

At night it usually was dark and the faint light of the moon increased the visibility slightly. So moving further, it was evening and my dad's aunt was preparing for dinner. My father was sitting outside, in that open hall. He went to the bathroom and came back and called for his aunt. He looked in the kitchen and other rooms but she wasn't there. Just then he heard some sound coming from the stairway. He thought that she might be there so he went towards that direction. He saw a figure standing in the dark in the mid of the stairway. That figure wore a saree but it was too dark to see any further details. He was about to go to that figure that he got a tap on his back. Startled he looked back to find his aunt standing behind. He was shocked and looked again at the stairway and found nothing there. That figure was gone.

Upon asking, my aunt answered that she had gone outside the house to buy something from the street vendor. My father told her that he saw someone standing in the stairway which he thought was her. She laughed and said that he might have been mistaken as no one else is in the house, especially no other woman. My father was speechless but he then thought that his eyes might have played trick on him. My dad's uncle and cousin returned later that evening and had dinner together with my dad.

The following evening my dad and aunt were home alone again as the other two were out for their respective works. Aunt told my dad to stay in the open hall as she was going out to buy groceries. My father sat there reading a newspaper. He fell asleep while reading and woke up to the noise of bangles and anklets. Half awake he saw someone going up the stairs. He thought that her aunt might have returned. He called for her but there was no response.

He stood up and started to walk behind the figure walking up the stairs. He was only able to see the back of that figure wearing a saree but again there wasn't enough light to see more details. He could clearly hear the sound of anklets and bangles as the figure walked up. He climbed the stairs and started escalating and just then he heard his aunt calling his name, from behind. He turned and grew pale. His aunt was standing behind him. And as expected, when he looked in the front of him that figure was gone.

He was scared and immediately asked aunt that what was wrong with that house, to which she answered nothing. My dad told her the whole story and she again had the same response that he might have not been fully awake and must have imagined or hallucinated something. She further added that they have been living in that house for so many years and haven't encountered anything out of the ordinary. My father, unconvinced, later that night asked his uncle and cousin about the same but got the same response as aunt. Now he was scared to stay alone in that house.

A couple of days passed and nothing happened. My father now was ensured that he might have been imagining. Then one evening my father was sitting in the open hall reading a book and he saw a figure passing by the hall to the stairway. He again doubted for that figure to be his imagination and didn't pay attention but just then he heard a familiar voice asking him to come to the stairway.

He turned and saw the same figure going up the stairs and then stood midway. My dad called, "Aunt, is that you?"

The figure just nodded in a yes.

My father started following that figure. The figure stood still.

My father stopped for a moment and asked, "Are you going upstairs for some work? Do you need help? Want me to follow you?"

The figure again nodded in a yes and said in a familiar tone, "Yes, come with me, I want to show you something" and then that figure started walking up again.

My father recognized the voice as his aunt's. He was about to follow when his uncle entered the house. My father turned towards him and went to greet him. He was about to turn back to the stairs when he saw his aunt coming from the room with towel draped on her hair. She had just returned from taking a bath.

This time my dad was absolutely horrified and after telling them everything, he urged to leave. My uncle calmed him down and said that there were no spirits or supernatural entities in that house as they have never had any such experience and none of them has ever seen anything suspicious.

My father was not at all convinced. That night he asked his cousin about the same and he told that he has never seen anything even when he was home alone. My father was still scared. He left the very next day and decided not to come back again.

After a year my dad's aunt came to visit my father's mother. My dad was also there. My grandmother asked my father to go visit his aunt's house sometime. Before my dad could answer in something, his aunt interrupted by saying, "It's okay. I met him today. It is enough. He is too scared to visit my house. I guess he didn't liked that place. It will be difficult for him to survive there."

My father recalls that there was a strange grin on his aunt's face while saying that and her voice seemed strange. My dad was terrified again. He was sure that whatever that thing was on the stairway wanted to take her up the stairs. He never went though. He don't know what could have happened if he had went.

Till date he has not visited his maternal uncle and aunt's place.