The Elevator (2)

Hi, we're Jay and Deryck. We don't normally look at sites like this but we came across it and thought you guys might be interested in an experience we'd want to share.

Our jobs require us to travel a lot and in the summer of 2003 we were staying at a hotel somewhere in Indiana. Our friends warned us that the hotel was rumored to be haunted but we just laughed, since we didn't believe in ghosts or spirits (until that night).

We got back from work late that night, we'd come alone even though we were staying in the hotel with friends because they wanted to go out afterwards. So we head up to our room, just wanting to go to bed. It's quiet in the hotel as it's gone midnight and as we walk down the lobby there is no-one in sight. Then we both hear a strange noise, which we presume is from a TV set in one of the rooms... and then we see a little girl as we turn the corner into the next lobby..

We didn't think anything of it at first, assuming it was just someone staying in one of the hotel rooms. It seemed odd that she would be up this late, but again, we didn't think much of it. We had been talking about something and didn't pay much attention to her until what happened next. When we arrived at the hotel we had noticed that there seemed to be a problem with the electricity and the lights seemed to flicker on and off at random times. It didn't bother us though as we were told that there were gas lamps in our rooms. However, the lights went off while we were in the lobby and once the lights came back on again the little girl was gone.. which didn't seem possible because she was standing at the end of the lobby, where there was no exit except through a room door or an elevator. But surely she couldn't have moved that quickly and we'd have heard the door open and close??..

We were obviously confused and a little freaked out by this so we started to walk a little faster. Our room happened to be on one of the higher floors of the hotel, so to get to it we had to get on either the elevator, or the stairs. the stairs had been in the opposite direction, on the other side of the lobby (we had bypassed them when we came in obviously-- we were exhausted and we'd have to walk up at least three or four flights of stairs, why would we want to do that?) and we weren't about to go back to them. the elevators were right up ahead at the end of the lobby, which happened to be right where we had seen the little girl standing...

We felt stupid to say anything at the time, but both of us were freaked out by this "phantom" girl. So we just kept walking until we reached the elevator. Once we got there, though, we saw something we hadn't noticed before: an out of order sign. It hadn't occurred to us that with the hotel's electrical problem the elevators wouldn't be working properly. A little annoyed that we'd have to turn back and take the stairs, but at the same time relieved to have an excuse to go back, we started to turn around. As soon as we did, though, we heard the elevator doors opening. Confused and getting a little nervous again, we tried to come up with a logical excuse-- maybe they had fixed the elevator and forgotten to take the sign down. Still hesitant to get on it, but too lazy to willingly climb those many stairs, we decided to take the elevator anyways..

Once we had gotten onto the elevator, though, we realized something wasn't.. right. The lobby had been a normal, comfortable temperature. The elevator, however, was freezing (we would use the term "deathly cold" but that sounds a little cheesy). There was no explanation for the sudden change in temperature, or what came next. Obviously we'd been feeling a little uneasy ever since we spotted the little girl, but the feeling seemed to intensify the moment we had stepped onto the elevator. There was a definite "bad vibe" to the point where it almost seemed like something was subconsciously pushing us out and telling us to take the stairs. Assuming it was just logical thinking (after all, with the electricity acting up and the out of order sign, the elevator probably wasn't safe) we decided maybe this was a bad idea and quickly went off to take the stairs instead. One thing we distinctly remember was that as soon as we stepped off the elevator, the temperature was normal again and it wasn't cold at all anymore.

The next morning we headed downstairs to check out of the hotel. Standing in the lobby we saw something we hadn't noticed when we first arrived: hanging on one of the walls was a large painting, a portrait of a little girl. obviously that's nothing overly noticable, which would explain why it was overlooked any other time, but what caught our attention this morning was something that might be a little hard to believe. The girl in the painting was the one that we had seen the night before, in front of the elevators. The plaque beneath the painting read: "In Loving Memory: Annabelle Whobbley (1971 - 1978)". Getting freaked out all over again (but trying to keep our cool) we asked one of the hotel employees about the painting. It was then that he told us that the little girl, Annabelle, was the original owner's daughter. She had died twenty- five years ago when technical difficulties caused the elevator to collapse while she was on it. Even more freaked out then before, we quickly left the hotel with our things, obviously intending to never come back again.

It wasn't until later that we realized that it hadn't just been twenty-five years ago that she died, the night that happened was exactly the twenty-fifth anniversary of her death.