I Know It Was There
Maree, Queensland, Australia
September 2001
We had been living in the split-level house for just over 2 years, and until then I hadn't noticed anything strange.
I was fourteen at the time, it was a warm summer night and I had left my windows open when I went to bed, to let in a breeze. A banging noise woke me up and I turned over in my bed to see it was my curtain rod hitting the window in the breeze, so I got up and shut the windows. As I crawled back into bed I heard footsteps downstairs. Footsteps are unmistakable in our home, we have polished floors and noises are very noticable, especially to me as my bedroom is also the first at the top of the stairs. I lay there and listened, the footsteps were like those of someone wearing heavy work boots and walking around the dining room.
At first I thought it was dad, he often got up early, around 5am to go to work, so I thought it as him about to leave. So I rolled over and tried to go back to sleep. But the footsteps continued, and they seemed to have no purpose, as if someone was pacing across the dining room floor. I then heard the sound of one of the dining room chairs being pulled out and the footsteps stopped. All was quiet, but at this moment I could make out the sounds of both my parents sleeping in the other room, my father is a very heavy sleeper and often snores in his sleep. At this point I began to panic. My ears burned as I lay there, staring at the ceiling wondering what to do. The chair downstairs was pushed in, and now the footsteps moved with a definite purpose, up the hallway, getting closer and closer to the foot of the stairs. It was then I heard a muffled cough, like that of a man with a beard clearing his throat. The footsteps reached the foot of the stairs and then I could no longer hear them. I lay there in fear, the stairs were carpeted and I couldn't make out the sound of anything, I couldn't move, I lay covered in sweat for what seemed like hours, I was sure it was standing in my doorway but I couldn't move or open my eyes that were now squeezed shut.
Eventually I summoned the courage to open my eyes, nothing was there, so I got out of bed. I moved quietly to the doorway and gently peered around the corner and down the stairs. Again nothing there, so I bolted across the hall and into my parents room, I glanced at the alarm clock on the bedside table, 2am. I shook dad violently, tears streamed down my face and I was shaking all over, uncontrollably, he awoke and when I told him what I heard he rushed downstairs, but nothing was there.
We checked all the doors, all the windows everything was how it had been locked up the night before, it was if nothing had been there, but something was definitely there, the noises were clear and unmistakable. Something I will never forget.
Another incident occured about 6 months later. My Mother had taken my little sister to swimming lessons, and my younger brother was outside playing with the neighbours. I was upstairs, in the office which is down the hall from the bedrooms and also next to the bathroom. It was about 5.30 in the afternoon and I was doing my homework. It was getting dark and it was almost time for my brother, Josh, to come inside. I decided to let him play a little longer, so I continued on with my homework. Next thing I heard heavy footsteps coming up the stairs, it gave me a fright as they seemed to come from nowhere all of a sudden, I hadn't heard the door open downstairs, or anyone walking through the kitchen, just these sudden heavy footsteps coming up the stairs.
Thinking I must have just been absorbed in my work, and that my brother had tried to sneak in so I wouldn't notice he was late home, I just ignored the steps. But I listened as they came up the hallway and turned into the bathroom next to me. Our bathroom floor is covered in old cracked tiles that make crunching noises when you walk on them, and I heard the crunch-crunch of the footsteps on the tiles, and then the flick as the light was turned on and the squeak of the hinge as the door was closed.
I didn't think much of it, assuming it was Josh about to have his shower, so I continued with my homework. It was about ten minutes later that I noticed nothing had happened. There had been no noise since then, the taps hadn't been turned on, the water wasn't running. Nothing, just silence. I called out "Josh, you alright?" there was no answer, "Josh!" still nothing, so I got up and walked out of the office and turned, and then froze. The bathroom door was wide open, no light was turned on, no one was there. I stood there stunned. There was no way I had imagined it, the noises were so real. I walked slowly down the hall, and into my parents room, I looked out the window and there was my brother playing with his friends. I was terrified. What then, had I heard?
I ran from the house, and out the front, I grabbed Josh by the shoulders and shook him. "Were you just inside?" I yelled at him desperately, "No, I've been here! Stop it, your hurting me!" he wriggled free of my grip. I sat on the steps for awhile and waited for mum to come home, she asked why I was outside and I told her I had been keeping an eye on the kids.
I have never, until now told anyone what I have heard. I often hear things but I don't tell my family, as none of them would believe me and I don't want to scare my younger brother and sister. Possibly this is why I am a target for these experiences, I am not sure, but I am pleased to have finally shared them.