Haunted
by Willow Cross
Copyright 2011 Willow Cross
Smashwords edition
License Statement
This book is free for your personal use. You may gift this book to anyone you think might enjoy it. Haunted may not be duplicated or used in any format digital or otherwise, without direct written authorization from the author. Please respect the hard work of this author.
Dedication
Dear Children,
You are always asking me to retell the happenings of those days and houses. This is for you and your children. Someday I’ll be gone, but you will still be able to tell my grandchildren and great grandchildren our family’s ghost stories. When you tell them, remember to add as much suspense as possible. And most importantly, after you get them good and tense…don’t forget to yell BOO!!!!!
Prologue
This book is an actual accounting of my personal encounters with ghosts. Although I’m fully aware that many will believe I’ve lost my marbles while simultaneously flipping my lid…I can assure you each event happened exactly as written. At no point did I embellish or add to the story to make it more interesting and dramatic. If you are expecting to see chairs fly around rooms and protoplasmic blood seeping out of walls, stop reading now. Like I said, these are true ghost stories. You’ll be sorely disappointed and quite probably feel this a waste of your time. If, however, you are interested in hearing absolutely 100% true ghost stories, please continue on. To protect the identity of the people involved, the names have been changed.
The Protector
My first experience with a live-in ghost happened shortly after I became a grown up. Now, I stipulate live-in because I had a few minor experiences as a child while visiting friends in their houses. However, they were fairly insignificant and could probably be chalked up to the after effects of too much hot cocoa and several scary movies.
I’d just turned 18 and graduated from high school. It was glorious! My coworker had a crazy ex-boyfriend and was in dire need of a roommate. I jumped at the opportunity. For the sake of this story, we’ll call my roommate Sandy and her boyfriend Mike.
Sandy was as petrified of the place as I was enthralled. The antiquated building had once been a 3 story home. Over time the owners had renovated the structure into several apartments. Ours was an efficiency on the top floor. One bedroom, a bathroom, and a kitchen/living area. It was cute, cozy, and frequently held the sweet scent of pipe tobacco. I loved it!
The first week there I’d made up my mind she was crazy. Every so often she’d get goose bumps and say, “Do you feel that?” Her eyes would grow wide as a terrified expression came over her face.
I wasn’t sure what ‘that’ was. I felt warm, peaceful, and protected. The scent of pipe tobacco grew stronger during those times. Something about the presence, and there was definitely a presence, made me feel safe and warm. He (we were sure it was a he) reminded me of my Grandpa. You see, I didn’t think she was crazy for believing the place to be haunted. I thought she was nuts because he seemed like such a nice old man. Not that we had conversations or anything, just the ‘feeling’ I got.
Strange things did happen there. Mostly little things like the doors opening and closing for no apparent reason. Half of which we could debunk by believing it was a change in air pressure when people entered or left the building.
My second week there I realized Sandy wasn’t as nuts as I’d thought. Although I still felt the warm fuzzies, it had become obvious our visitor either didn’t like her, or had an enormous amount of fun scaring her. It seemed like all the bumps and bangs would happen just behind her or over her head. She’d jump, squeal, and move as close to me as she could get.