To this day I find it very difficult to talk about what had happened in my apartment in Alabama. I didn't tell but a few close friends what was going on in my home because I was scared at how others would look at me or judge me. I was most of all scared what else would happen to myself and most importantly my 3 year old son, Austin.
I have always believed in ghosts. The afterlife has been a bit of a fascinating mystery to me. I heard stories growing up from family and friends of things they have heard or seen or experienced themselves. I used to want to experience it myself. I now have a completely different thought about it.
Back in November of 2008 I was finally getting my life back together. As a single mother, and both parents passed when I was only 14, things have been very hard for me. I was able to get an apartment with a H.U.D home in Calera, Alabama. A cute, clean, nice place. It was perfect for me and my growing son. Two bedrooms, one bath and fairly large living room, a small kitchen and a great pantry that was located in the hallway. Mine and my son's rooms were located side by side. I was very comfortable knowing I was right next to my son since he has shared a room with me since he was born. Things were looking so great for us. Great job, Austin was in daycare, great car for commuting. The apartment was like a dream for me.
About late November/early December, I started to notice things in my apartment change. The air was always cold, I was always tired. I thought it was because I was a single mother working so much and with the commute to and from work it tends to be a bit of a drainer.
One night I was sitting in my living room watching cartoons with my son. It was probably about 7 pm when I heard a loud noise come from my bathroom. It sounded like my shower curtain had fallen. I looked at Austin, he was just sitting on the floor watching his cartoons and I knew he hadn't gotten into anything, so I got up and went into the bathroom to see what had happened. When I got into my bathroom I look at the shower curtain and noticed something that kind of startled me. Since I was little I was accustomed to when I get out of the shower I always close the curtains. So when I saw what I had seen I was taken back. Half of my shower curtain was pulled out of the tub and you could see an indent of a little hand embedded in the curtain. I stopped and thought about it over and over again thinking maybe Austin did that earlier and I didn't notice... But I still could not explain the loud sound that I had heard. I decided just to ignore it and continue about my night.
Not a whole lot went on for a while in my house. Winter came and the house was almost always cold. Austin was adapting to our house very well. He was always playing in his room with all his toys. About Feb. 2009 my son was acting out and I had sent him to his room for time out. Within 5 minutes of Austin going into his room I was sitting on my couch and I heard Austin start to scream, crying hysterically out to me. I jumped off the couch and ran to my son's room where he was standing beside his bed and holding the side of his face. I sat on his bed and asked him what was wrong, just then my son Austin pointed over my left shoulder and said, "He hit me, Mom, the boy hit me." I turned my head and there was nothing there, so I said to Austin that there was nothing there. He yelled at me and said, "He's right there, Mom. The boy he hit me." I moved Austin's hand from the side of his face and right were he was holding his hand was a large red mark on my son's face. I was then aware of what I think I was going on in my home.
That night I was still rather shaken up with what had happened to my son so I decided to make him sleep in my room with me. At about 2-3am me and Austin were awoken by a loud punch through the wall coming from his room. I was so frightened at that point, then my son looked at me grabbed my hand and pointed at my bedroom door and said, "There's a man, Mom. There, Mom, the man!" I didn't know what to do or say I just turned on my light and held my son to calm him down until we drifted off to sleep.
Nothing else happened again for some time... Austin started playing by himself more and more often. He would gather toys that would be enough for 2 kids to play with. He would get 2 toy cars and place them in front of himself then get 2 more toy cars and place them across from him. Austin would just sit there and whisper things about his toys or how to play them right. He would always say that he was playing with the boy, I asked him what boy and he would point across from him and say that boy, he likes to play with me and my toys. I assumed Austin had an imaginary friend.
One night after a long week of work I was sitting on my couch and Austin was once again playing on the floor. He suddenly looked up at me and told me the boy he plays with was sitting next to me and told me not to be scared of the boy because he likes me. Austin got up off the floor and came over and whispered to me, "That man scares him, the man, Mom, don't like us." Then Austin just walked back over to the floor and continued to play with his toys.
Things in my home started to get worse from that point on. It was always cold in there. Austin no longer wanted to stay in his room. Austin said the boy was no longer a good boy. Almost every night Austin was waking me up between 2-3 am and crying that the man was at my bedroom door and he was mad. I never saw anything but I could always feel like something was always watching me. Nights I would stay at a friend's place across town, when we would come back home the following night we would walk in and my son would point from the front door, he would point down the hallway and say, "The boy is mad, Mom." I would click on the lights and nothing was there. I felt so uneasy in my own home. Lights started to break, new light bulbs would go out within an hour of putting them in, cold air would surround you, bangs came from Austin's room.
A few months go by and I started to just ignore what was going on in my home. Austin would still warn me if the man was at my door or if the boy was mad or not playing nice to him. So I decided to call a good friend of mine and tell her what was going on in my home. She has done some of her own studying about ghosts and haunting and paranormal things, that's why I decided to turn to her. She told me I should go into every room in my house and demand out loud that they were not welcome there and this is my home and they are to leave. She also instructed me to say that if they have any problems with that to go see her.
So a few nights later after I had built up the courage to do so, I went into every room in my house and said to leave my house they are not welcome there and go see my friend if they wanted to. I decided not to tell my friend when I was doing this simply I was embarrassed and scared and didn't really know what I was doing.
That night I felt rather great. Austin didn't wake up in the middle of the night to tell me about the man, the house felt comfortable again. The next morning I woke up to my phone ringing and ringing. I picked up and it was my friend on the phone, the one that gave me the instructions a few night ago. She was crying on the phone to the point I could not understand her. I calmed her down and asked her what was wrong... She said she had gone to the store and met up with her mother just a little while ago and her mother was driving in the vehicle in-front of her and called up my friend's cell phone and asked her who was that little boy sitting next to her in her van. My friend asked her mother what she was talking about and her mother told her that she was looking in her rear view mirror and that there was a little boy sitting next to her in her van. She looked next to her in the passenger seat and there was nothing there. She hung up on her mother and called me.
That's when I told her I did what she asked me to do last night. She just started to cry and said that I needed to get out of my house, that whatever was in my home was not a friendly thing, but something strong and powerful. She said she was feeling sick and cold, and frightened.
The rest of the day I stayed at a friend's house across town. I had work in the morning so I decided to stay the night. The next day on a Monday I had a great day, work was great, I was full of energy. Nothing that had happen in my house even crossed my mind. I picked up Austin from daycare early since my job let me out a few hours early. The drive home was nice. Bright sunny day, cool breeze, I felt full of energy. Austin also had a great day at daycare.
We pulled up to my apartment and I opened the front door, I was all of a sudden taken over with exhaustion. I felt so tired. I walked over to my couch and sat down and I fell asleep. I remember opening my eyes and seeing Austin sitting on the living room floor and watching cartoons. I felt so tired, it was hard to even lift my head and open my eyes to check on my son. I have never felt tired like that before. I remember laying there thinking I need to get up and take care of my son.
Apparently hours went by and I could see that the sun was gone it was dark and late. I was still drifting in and out of sleep. I started to hear my son talking down towards his room. I could hear him crying and saying no. His voice started to get closer to me. I tried so hard to move but was unable to. I was so tired and I could not figure out why. I was able to crack open my eyes and faintly seen my son standing in the hall pointing up crying saying, "Mom, wake up, Mom move!" I was unable to move at all and still could not open my eyes completely. Austin got closer and closer to me crying harder and louder pointing into the air yelling for me to move, to get up.
I felt Austin by my side and start to climb up on the couch by my head. He shook me crying and yelling for me to move. I just could not. I tried so hard to move. I was so scared and still could not see very well. Austin leaned into my face and screamed at me to MOVE! The next thing I knew I was being pushed into the couch. I felt something heavy just push on my side and push me into the couch. My body started to sink into the middle of the couch and I felt my breath leaving my lungs. The pain was horrible. Austin was screaming and crying for me to move. All of a sudden I was released and I shot up from the couch. Austin was partly standing on the couch crying hysterically. I didn't know what to do. I was so frightened I grabbed my son in my arms and grabbed my keys and bag and left my apartment.
As I got into my car and as I was pulling away I looked at my windows I could see I left the lights on and they just turned off by themselves. I went to my friend's house across town. I felt I could not get there fast enough. Austin was crying in the back seat the whole drive, I was scared, trying not to cry, trying to figure out what had just happened. What was I going to say to my friend for my showing up so late at there house like that? I didn't care, I was just glad to get out of my house and get my son away from there.
It was 2 weeks before I went back to my apartment. The minute I walked in, my son pointed at the hall way and once again said to me, Mom, the boy is mad." That's when I decided it was time to move. A few days later I was packed and moving myself and my son to a friend's house out of state. I hated that I had to start over again, I didn't want to leave my job, but whatever was in my house didn't want me there and was causing my son pain. I just had to get out and try to never look back!
I have been scared to talk about what had happened in that house. I was afraid that by talking about it might bring it back or cause so many more unwanted memories for me and my son. Austin is now a smart 9 year old boy and has no memory of what had happened in that apartment and I hope he never remembers. I was able to get a picture of something in my son's room, and most pictures I have taken in that house you could see things in the back-round of every picture of my son. A friend of mine offered to do an investigation on my apartment but I decided I didn't want to know what was in there or if anything had happened in there. I still to this day don't want to know. The memories are enough for me.
I also now know whatever was at my apartment will always be with me. Nothing bad as it was then, just the little things... Whispers, lights, voices, that strange feeling someone is watching you. Months go by then that sudden reminder... I'm not alone.