February 2, 2009

A Crying Baby and Evil House

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AmberMoons - Salt Lake City, Utah - Summer of 1996

I was living with some friends on 500 South and 400 West in downtown Salt Lake City, during the summer of 1996 when we heard stories about an odd house on 900 South and about 1100 East. Me, my Boyfriend Shawn, and our two friends, Shane and Tina decided to go check out the house. I knew right away something wasn't right; the yard was way too well taken care of for an abandoned house. The lawn was neatly mown, and the bushes were trimmed neatly, at least out front. In the back yard it looked like a normal, overgrown yard. Shawn, Blackjack, our three-month-old Black Lab, and I walked through the open back door and discovered the second thing wrong with the house. Even though it was filled with garbage from parties, there were no bugs or mice. Before I could explore any further, the dog began whimpering and trying to run out the door. I scooped her up and walked further into the house. She fought me until we reached the front bedroom. Then she refused to come out of the room.

The set up of the house is a little odd. You walk in the back door into a small kitchen with three doors leading off of it. Through one door is a long pantry, the second door leads to a laundry room, and the third leads into a dining room. Three doors lead off the dining room, two bedrooms, and the front room. The back bedroom has a bathroom off of it. The front bedroom has two doors; one leading to a small hallway, and the front door. As I stood in the door looking into the back bedroom I got a cold chill and suddenly heard a baby crying. The floor was covered with black garbage bags full of stuff and I thought it might be a baby someone dumped so I began tearing through the bags. The bags were full of clothes and papers. I never found a baby even though I could still hear it crying. I know it didn't come from a neighboring house because on the west side was a house converted into a little Pagan shop, and on the east side was a fire station. Behind the house was a parking lot. I walked into the bathroom looking in there for the baby and was stunned at what I found. The toilet was an old fashioned pull chain type! I had no idea the house had been empty that long. As I stepped towards the massive claw footed tub, the crying stopped. I went back out into the bedroom. As I stepped into the room I saw a movement out of the corner of my eye in the closet. Walking toward the closet I got cold and felt an overwhelming sense of dread. I hurried out of the room to go find my boyfriend; He was standing in the front room staring at the front door with a puzzled look. I asked him what was wrong, he jumped and yelled. When he had calmed down he said, "I saw a man standing in here, but when I tried to talk to him he walked out the door without opening it!"

I decided I wanted to stay the night and he agreed to stay with me. Shane and Tina decided to stay with us as well. We got sleeping bags, flashlights, food etc. As we left I had to carry Blackjack out. Once we got outside he was fine. We set up in the front bedroom. While the guys set the beds Tina and I set up tape recorders in the various rooms. I carried a video camera and taped everything we did. As Tina and I were setting up in the front room we heard creaking from the dining room, we knew it wasn't the guys because we could see them in the bedroom still. Walking into the dining room we saw the Chandelier swinging back and forth gently. I stepped closer to see better but Tina grabbed my arm and dragged me backward hissing, "Someone's hanging from the light." I couldn't see anything, but she could. Tina dragged me back to the guys and told them what had happened. The guys went to check it out, but found nothing. Shane thought we were jumping at shadows. Tina stayed with the dog in the bedroom while the rest of us went to the kitchen. As we stood there the room suddenly got ice cold and a voice whispered out of the dark, "Leave while you still can." Then the flashlights went out, all three of them, and I felt something cold and slimy brush my neck.

The guys ran for the bedroom, but I stayed put, I wasn't afraid, after all ghosts can't hurt you, right? Wrong! As I stood there I heard footsteps moving in a circle around me and a voice whispering, "Not afraid? You should be," and laughing. I laughed shakily and replied, "You can't hurt me, you're just a ghost." There was an evil chuckle and I felt cold, slimy hands grab my shoulders and slam me backward into the wall. I felt a body press up against me and cold, dank breath on my neck. The hands roamed my body pinching here and there, teeth brushed my neck and bit in two places while a voice whispered in my ear, "I can do anything I want with you." Before more could happen a bright, white light blinded me, the Thing screeched and let me go. When I could see again my Blood Brother, Bear Dancer, A Blackfoot Shaman, was standing there. He picked me up in his arms and carried me outside to his truck and set me on the tail gate. He chewed me out for going hunting unprepared.

I asked him what he was doing here, he was in Texas last I had heard. He laughed and said, "I was told to come here tonight because Little Cat was going to get herself in trouble with her curiousness." Shawn, Shane, and Tina were already outside with the dog, they had come out the front door when they saw me pinned to the wall in the kitchen. They were going for help. We went home that night but I wasn't finished, I was mad, I wasn't going to let a mere ghost get the better of me, so I came back the next night, this time prepared for battle.

Due to some home problems it wasn't until about a week after my first visit that I returned to the abandoned house, probably at one of the worst times I could have undertaken the adventure, Halloween. I went back to the house with my brother. I knew the spirit was waiting for me, I could feel him watching from the windows. Sure enough, as soon as I stepped in the back door I heard a baby begin to cry and I felt the cold hands brushing across my neck. I laughed and said, "I am not afraid of you." He grabbed me and tossed me into the dining room. I landed on my back and slid into the middle of the floor, all the wind knocked out of me. As I lay there gasping I could faintly hear my brother yelling. Above me I could see the dark outline of a man bending over me. I could feel his hands touching me all over and hear his voice whispering, "You should be." I finally caught my breath and just grinned at him. I placed my hands on the ground and pushed myself upward. Once I was on my feet I pulled my amulet out of my shirt. The spirit hissed when he saw it, and drew away from me. My amulet is a Moonstone blessed by several different religions as a talisman against evil. I wrapped my hand around the stone and deliberately stepped toward the spirit. He hissed in rage and began trying to tear the amulet away from me. He jumped on me and knocked me to the ground causing me to let go of the amulet, but it was still on its chain around my neck. He sat atop my chest smacking me, clawing at me, and screaming. I protected myself the best I could and continued to chant, "By the power in my amulet, I command you to be gone. In the name of all that is good, leave this place forever and return to the world of the dead."

The more I chanted, the angrier he got. A wind filled the room whipping my hair against my face and sliding me across the floor toward the back bedroom. I couldn't get a grip on anything and was spun into the room. As I came through the door, I saw the floor of the closet glowing a sickly red color. The wind was coming from the closet. The spirit was still clawing and biting at me trying to rip the amulet off. I got one hand up grasped the amulet and broke the chain. I slammed the amulet into the thing's forehead and chanted louder. Suddenly the wind began to be sucked back into the glowing floor. As it went, it took the spirit with it. He wrapped a hand around my ankle dragging me toward the closet with him. I knew if I touched that glowing floor I would be lost forever. I dug frantically at the floor trying to find anything to hold on to. I caught a flicker of movement from the door to the dining room, I glanced up to see a young woman standing there. She ran across the room grabbed my hands and pulled me back. When she couldn't free me she stepped forward, grabbed the man's wrist, and said, "He already has my children, I won't let him take you." There was a bright flash of blue light, and when I could see again the hand was gone from my ankle and the glow was gone from the floor.

As I stood up my brother rushed in. He gasped and said, "Gods Bless, you look like you had a fight with a large rosebush and lost!" I was covered from my head to my ankles with scratches, welts, and bruises. When I asked my brother what happened to him, he said something blocked the door and kept him out of the house. As I left the house the ivy around the back door briefly gripped my arms and throat, and I heard a woman's voice whisper, "Thank you, we are finally free." Then the vines let go and I walked away without looking back.

I got to wondering about the house last summer, so I went back to see it. When I got there I discovered nothing but an empty lot. A couple of firemen next door were outside so I walked over and asked them what happened. They told me that about a year after I had been in the house last it caught fire and burned to the ground before any one saw the fire. Maybe someone else can explain how a house right next to a fire station can burn without anyone seeing until it was too late. Two of the firemen told me they saw things dancing in the flames. Things that looked like young women made of fire, and other things that looked like lizards.