The whole family had been sleeping
in the sitting room ever since. Other
activity, such as the television
switching itself on and off – even
when unplugged - began to happen
more frequently, accompanied by
what was described as a sulphuric
odour of rotten eggs.We began the investigation and split
into groups. Myself, Claire and another
investigator set up in the master
bedroom where the disturbance
had occurred. We talked for a while
about various things that Claire had
experienced in order to put her at ease
about the night to come.
Ted and Dan based themselves
downstairs using the Franks Box (a radio
scanner that spirit can use to make words
and sentences.) One of the names that
was given through the device was Alice.
They couldn’t have known that Claire
was, that very moment, describing the
time her deceased grandmother Alice
appeared in plain sight. Nothing much
else happened for us during this time, but
I feel it was beneficial in setting a relaxed
atmosphere and helping the family to feel
safe and comfortable with us being there.
When we reconvened for a break and
compared what we’d all experienced
so far, I heard that Mark and Shaun,
two more of the team, experienced an
aggressive male presence in the eldest
son’s room. Ted filled us in about what
happened in the sitting room using Frank
(the radio scanner, which I’ll call Frank
from this point on.)
Next, we all swapped locations. Myself,
Claire, Mark and Shaun gathered in the
sitting room with the lights off. I was
aware of a presence moving around near
the window and began to call out and
ask it to make itself known. Turning on
Frank, I handed it to Claire as whoever
it was seemed to be more willing to
communicate when held by one of the
family members. It went something like
this:
Can you tell us your name?
(Blank)
Did you live here?
Yes
Why are you here?
Revenge
What happened? Can we help?
F****d
Sodomy
(Mark asked) Were you persecuted
because you were gay?
NEVER
RAPE
I DIED
What year were you here?
*Interference* ThousandIt was becoming clear that this spirit
had died violently, but we had no idea
just what we were about to find out, and
this communication verified what the
family already suspected.I asked the spirit to show himself to me,
as I could see him moving around as a
dark mass. Immediately, my vision of
the rest of the room faded away and all
I could see was a face. I recounted what
I saw: an older, non-descript male with
large, eighties-style glasses and scruffy,
greasy hair in a side parting. Claire
gasped and her hands flew to her mouth
at my description. I discovered why when
we stopped for another break.Before I could question further, Shaun
said my face began to change into that
of a woman with long hair who wore a
hood, with prominent cheekbones but
an emaciated, white face with coal-black
eyes. She showed herself later in the last
vigil of the night. We both felt that she’d
been around for several hundred years
and was connected to the land rather
than the house, and meant the living no
harm but despised the male presence
that lingered.“Stopping for the second break of
the night, we all met once again
in the kitchen to report back. By
this time, the couple’s son had
returned home. What the family
showed me next chilled me to the
bone.”I was shown an online article with a
picture of a man - the same face that
had got right up to mine a few minutes
before. I was so astonished that I jumped
and I think I swore! The same face, the
same greasy side-parting, the same
glasses. Claire said she began looking
into the previous occupants after a photo
of the same chap appeared from nowhere
on her son’s bedroom windowsill.To cut a long story short, they’d
discovered that a paedophile had lived in
the house for many years and abused his
own daughter there. He and his wife also
fostered children and one of their former
foster children, amongst others, also filed
a case against him. He served six years
and was murdered in 2008. The more I
read, the less I could breathe.He was found with his lower clothes
removed and had been ‘interfered’ with.
In other words, everything he told us
through Frank was there in black and
white. Reading the rest of the article
later, it seemed he’d been a domineering,
abusive bully to his wife and family his
entire life and nobody dared speak out
against him until the children were finally
free of having to live under his roof.Our last vigil consisted of myself, Dan
and Shaun in the master bedroom. Thissame man made his presence felt, trying
his best to intimidate me so he could
feed from my fear. However, I’m scared of
very little and he soon gave up. Looking
towards the window, I realised that he
daren’t leave the house because he was
frightened of what would be waiting for
him.Realising that he wasn’t going to get any
kind of fear response from me, the spirit
targeted Shaun, feeding off his terror
to make himself stronger. Suddenly, the
gaunt lady from earlier appeared behind
me and the male spirit retreated and
practically went from trying to intimidate
Shaun to hiding behind him.Whoever she is (I initially got the name
Emily, but at the same time Shaun got El
and I got Elizabeth), she is formidable.
Enough to have made this other sick,
vindictive spirit cower in fear.By this time, it was gone one in the
morning, so we turned the lights on,
packed up and advised the family to
fill their home with laughter, love and
positive stuff, as the spirit feeds on
negativity and fear. Both Ted and I also
advised on how to cleanse the house.Unsurprisingly, we all found ourselves
back at the house the following weekend
to perform a clearing ritual. The sick
spirit caused bangs, thumps, shadows –
everything to try and stop us. This still
wasn’t the last we’d heard of him though.A few weeks had passed, and the family
said all seemed calm. Then, the activity
began to ramp up again with footsteps
thumping in the attic. This was the only
area of the property that no-one had
thought about. We were stunned at what
we found up there.The spirit’s wife had lived there until
she’d died, at which point the council
were supposed to go in and clear out any
remaining belongings before the current
family moved in. What they’d done
instead was thrown the rest of this man’s
belongings in an old, disused water tank
in the roof. Amongst them were an old
hatpin, racing programmes, and a leather
belt. All of it was removed and taken to
the dump.I am still friends with Claire and Dan to
this day. I’m pleased to say that finally,
after three attempts to rid the family of
their unwelcome guest, they now live
fear-free in their own home.Lucy x