September 8, 2009
My First Demon Encounter
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Michael Harris - Weirton, West Virginia - August 1967
When I was six, I had my first experience with ghosts and demons. This has
led me to a life that many people would fear, and others would not even
believe. These experiences have changed me in many ways. My summer of 1967
was just a normal, hot, and fun time for a five-year-old; running and
playing, not having a care in the world. I would not have dreamed that
things could go the way they did.
It started like any other summer -- me and my friends riding bikes and
playing chase. We were just happy to have a dollar to ride to the store for
candy. My best friend, Pat would wake me up every day at sunrise it seemed
to just go down to the creek to watch trains go by or to play ball in the
field with everyone in the neighborhood. We had a great life back then, in a
rather small steel mill town in West Virginia. The times and economy were
great. You will need to understand this was a time in America when the only
worry a family had was what to have for dinner or what color is the new car
is going to be. My biggest worry everyday was if my bike had a flat tire.
That summer went by rather slowly. I was waiting for August because that's
when the carnival came to town; this was the biggest event every year back
then. I collected pop bottles for deposit refund and cut grass all summer
long as well as my paper route to have money for this. While delivering
papers I came to know almost every family in town and they would always
watch over me. This came to be a big part of my first encounter with the
supernatural.
I should give the layout of the town and who lived where for more
understanding. I lived on the only main highway back then between two mill
towns in West Virginia and Pennsylvania. So there was a lot of traffic and
some danger for a young boy. At one end of the road that was facing town was
the lower income, rather run-down part of town where the mill itself was and
where many of the rougher people in town lived. My school was at the edge of
this area of town as well as the newspaper office. At the other end of the
road was a new complex they had just built for families that needed help to
have a place to live, such as lower income or disabilities families. In the
middle between them is where I lived in an old house on the hillside, also
there was a retirement high-rise building eight houses down from me. I had
papers to deliver in all these areas and buildings. I would start at the
paper office and work my way by my house for lunch then finish at the new
complex. At the end of August I had to stop the paper route because school
was starting and my mom did not think I would be able to get them done
before dark after school. While I was collecting money for papers on the 3rd
Saturday that month I also was telling every customer I would be quitting
for school. I got a lot of tips and gifts from them from money to clothes
and even a saving bond from one of the ladies in the retirement building.
She was the nicest lady on my route and would give me a can of pop everyday
and on Saturday collecting she always had cookies or candy for me. On this
last Saturday she gave me the bond and hugged me, whispering in my ear,
"Mike you are more special than anyone knows and always be aware the angels
are watching you." This made me think she was a little funny in the head but
she was always nice so I thanked her and said I'd be around anyway, after
all, we are all still in the same neighborhood. She said, "That may or may
not be, Mike, but please be safe."
When I finished my route that day in the new complex and stopped by my aunt
May who lived there for a drink of pop and to call my mom for a ride home
because it had started raining. My aunt May ask me to take an umbrella and
run over to Miss Faye's apartment to give her a pack of cigarettes, so off I
went on a run to Miss Faye. She opened the door with big smile and said,
"Come in out of the rain." I gave her the cigarettes and she thanked me.
Her son and his roommate were playing rock music very loud in his room, she
told me he was a pain but was laughing when she said it. His name was Mike
also, I had seen him around town a few times and he was the doper type with
beads and long, dirty hair. I had never really bothered to talk to him. So
Miss Faye gave me $2 dollars to give back to my aunt and I started out the
door. As I picked up the umbrella something came over me. It seemed like
something was watching me and I did not know where from. I looked over my
shoulder and all I saw was Miss Faye. She ask me if something was wrong. I
said, no and walked out the door. As the door was shutting I heard a voice
say, "Don't come back." I turned and asked Miss Faye, "Why? Did I do
something wrong?" She had a funny look on her face and said, "Did you hear
that?" I said yes.
At this point she turn pale white and started crying. I ask if I could help,
she said, "No, just please don't tell anyone you heard anything." I said ok.
I went back to my Aunt's and my mom was there. After a little time talking
we went home. That night I told my mom and dad about this and they just
said, "You imagined it," and that she's just old and that was all there was
to it.
Well, a couple of weeks went by and school started for me I was not really
all that excited about it, but I had to start. The first day went good. I
met the teacher and a lot of new kids from different parts of town and the
outer areas around town that I had never seen. This first day went good; I
lived within walking distance so I had to walk to and from school. I had
walked home that day wanting to get out and play with friends and talk about
school. My mom asked me to run down the stairs and get the mail. We had 34
steps to go down to get to the road. I complained that I didn't want to run
down the steps then back up and back down again. She told me if I want to
play it wouldn't hurt me to run up and down the steps, after all you're
young. So I went and got the mail, brought it to her, and I was off to play.
I ran down the steps and stopped to look at traffic. The rule was always
looking both ways at least twice before crossing road. So I looked to my
right then left and back right and stepped out without that second look at
the left and sure enough there was a car coming and I got hit by the car.
I don't remember much about this. The last thing I remembered was looking
down the road; I woke up in the hospital. My mom and dad where there and
told me what had happened. I started to look all over myself but everything
was fine, just a lot of bruises and cuts. The doctor came in and said I had
couple of broken ribs and that was about it. I spent six days in the
hospital.
The young girl who hit me came by every day. She was nice, and we all could
tell she was so very sorry for what had happened. She told me the last day,
"Mike, you have something watching over you. I heard a voice just moments
before I hit you saying, 'Slow down.'" She also said she had told my parents
this and they told her to tell me. One other thing about this event was that
every night when I went to sleep there was this male nurse who came in to
say hi and give me a pat on the head. What makes this important is that I
found out many years later that there were no male nurses working at the
hospital back then.
A few months go by and in November we were at my Aunt May's house for the
evening. I was playing with her kids while my parents and she talked. I
overheard them talking about Miss Faye's son's roommate killing himself in
the apartment. I had also heard this around town but it didn't stick with me
at the time. They said she was upset and she just didn't know what to do
with her son, Mike. She was afraid he might do the same thing to himself
with all the drugs he was using. She also was afraid because things had been
happening in the apartment that shouldn't be. This got my dad's attention,
so he said lets walk over and talk to her. So my parents and I, and Aunt May
walked over to talk. Miss Faye invited us in and offered the adults coffee
and me a Coke. Aunt May started asking her about her son and the weird
things that have been happening in the apartment. She said she really didn't
like talking about this but needed to tell someone if to just keep from
going crazy. So she proceeded to tell us what has become a lifelong thing
for me. She had been hearing voices and sounds from the room that the friend
had committed suicide in ever since they had moved into the apartment, about
a year ago when the building was finished. She also had problems keeping the
curtains on the window in that room, they seemed to fall off the hooks right
after she put them up. My dad asked her if she had been in the room today
and she answered no. He stood up and said, "Well, let's put those curtains
up and see." He walked into the room with my mom, Miss Faye, and Aunt May
standing in hall watching. I was standing by the door of the room watching
my dad. He picked the curtains up off the floor hung them on the hooks and
stood back to look. Nothing happened, so he turned around and walked to me
saying in a whisper, "I think she's just getting old and losing it." He
turned to them and started to walk down the hall. I was looking right at the
curtains and they lifted and fell to the floor. I turned and yelled, "Dad,
they fell!" He turned, looked at me, and said, "What?" I just pointed at
them and he returned and saw they were on the floor. He asked me what had
happen I said they just lifted up and fell. He hung them again and this time
when he turned they hit him in the back. I was watching this all but had not
entered the room. This became a fight between whatever this was and my dad.
He then nailed the curtains up and again they pulled the nails out and they
flew across the room. Then he used two railroad spikes to hold them. He
drove these into the wall and again they pulled out and curtains flew all
over the room. My dad turned, stood in the middle of the room, and yelled,
"What are you and what do you want!?"
Now this is where things go somewhat bad. Something grabbed dad's arm,
turned him around, and on the wall in fiery letters was the name "GARTH." It
then threw him out the door. This was over 40 years ago and my dad still has
a print of the hand on his arm of what grabbed him. It then yelled, "Get
out!" We all ran back to the living room and were scared and shaking. Dad
called his sister, my aunt Hanna, to ask her what to do. She had converted
to the Catholic Church and he was hoping a priest would know what to do. She
said she would be right over and about 30 minutes later she was there. We
had all calmed down a little by then. They told her what had happened so she
went to the door way and looked into the room. There was nothing going on,
just the messed-up curtains laying on the floor and bed in the room. She
walked in and in a matter of seconds started to cry and ran out. Dad ask her
what had happened, but she wouldn't tell him. I found out years later it had
called her a follower of that "damn Jew." She just asked for a phone to call
Father Moore, her priest. He said he would be happy to come up if someone
would come and get him, so my aunt was out the door and on her way. About 45
minutes later they returned. He greeted everyone and patted me on the head.
(Side note I was not Catholic, but me and Father Moore had been friends for
a long time. The father's church was across from the community center
swimming pool, so he was always outside talking to the kids.) He got the
whole story from everyone and asked if he could bless the room, which might
help. Miss Faye said please do.
Father Moore got out of his bag a Bible and a bottle of holy water and
walked into the room. As he started to pray and open the bottle of water,
noises like screaming voices and breaking glass started happening
immediately. This caused him to stop for a minute, but then he started again
the voices got louder. One voice told him, "Priest, get out! This is not
your territory. That Jew you follow cannot help you here." Father Moore
answered by saying, "God compels you to leave." It then started laughing
saying, "Your god is not with you, your faith is not strong enough." Then it
grabbed him and spun him around and around. When it stopped, he ran out of
the room. He ran to the living room, picked up the phone, and called a
policeman to come and get him. He then stood outside and would not come back
in or talk to any of us. Years later he told me it had scared him so bad
that in his mind it made him doubt his calling.
After this my aunt Hanna left also and never stepped foot in that apartment
ever again. My parents asked Miss Faye if she needed a place to stay, but
she said she'd be fine, and that it had never came out of the room, so she
would be fine in her bedroom and the rest of the apartment. But she didn't
go into that room ever again. Her son was not at home so we left for the
night.
A week went by and the next Saturday we all went to see her. She said there
had been some noises in the room but nothing big. My dad asked where her son
was, she said, "He came home, went to his room, packed his stuff, and left
telling her he was going to California to live." Dad and I walked to the
room. He told me to stay outside and he went in. As I watched, the bed
lifted into the air about a foot again the voice said, "Get out!" My dad
asked it what its name was. It said, "You do not need to know, just get
out." At this point my dad left the room and told me to come to the living
room. They all talked as I watched TV. About half an hour later I had to use
the restroom which was across from this room. As I walked into the hall the
door of the room closed. When I finished and opened the bathroom door, I
noticed the door of the room closing again. As I walked into the living room
it opened a little. I told my dad this and he said, "Let's check something
out. Come with me." My mom said, "Be careful." We walked to the room and the
door was open just a little. Dad said, "I thought you said it closed when
you came by." I told him it did. He looked at me and said to stand there for
a minute. he walked to the living room and as soon as he turned the corner,
the door of this room closed in my face. He came back and it cracked open.
Then dad asked me if I had been in that room yet, I told him no. He asked if
I would be scared to go in and I answered no. So he said to go in if I
wanted, but that he was staying right there. I walked into the room. At the
point I crossed the doorway all the noises stopped and there on the bed was
a little girl with her mom combing her hair. I heard them talking. The
mother said, "Darling your father will be home from the mill soon, we have
to make you pretty for him." The little girl answered, "Why, Mommy? He
doesn't love us, he's mean." The mother said, "He is a busy man and has a
lot on his mind, so you have to understand about his anger and problems; his
life is hard with running the mill and shipping company." The little girl
looked at her mom and smiled then they disappeared right in front of me.
Nothing else happened for about 15 minutes, so I went back to the living
room and told everyone what I had seen. My dad asked me if they looked
familiar. I told him no. From the dresses they were wearing it looked like
they were in the 1900's movies I saw on TV. He just looked at me and shook
his head. My mother asked if they scared me or if I thought they might hurt
me. I told her no, not in any way. Miss Faye asked if they said their names.
I told her no, it seemed they didn't even know I was there.
We went to dinner and took Miss Faye with us. After dinner we returned to
the apartment and the noises started again in the room. (Side note: the
sounds were never heard outside the room, not even standing outside the
window of the room.) Dad went to the room telling me to stay in the living
room. When he entered the room the noises got louder and the voice was there
again saying, "Get out!" My dad came back and asked if I wanted to go into
the room again, and I said yes.
When I entered the hallway the door slammed closed on the room. When I
opened the door I could smell flowers and the woman was alone and setting on
the bed combing her hair. She was singing a song that at that time I didn't
know, but later I found that out it was an Irish love long. I walked to the
bed and stood next to her. She didn't stop me then I asked her, "What is
your name?" She jumped and turned to me saying, "Who thee be, and how thee
get into my bed chamber?"
"Ma'am, may I ask your name? This is the apartment of a nice lady who is
very scared of all of you," I said. Her eyes got big and she looked hard at
me then said, "Be thee alive or dead?"
"Alive," I said. "Ma'am, you are dead I think." She told me she knows this
and she has been unable to leave along with her daughter and husband. I
asked why they could not leave, she said, "Such a nice young gentleman
should not hear such things". I said, Maybe I can help, Ma'am." Her reply
was that no one can help them. Then she said, "He's coming, leave, please
leave!" Then she disappeared. I was amazed by the whole thing.
When I went into the living room I asked if they had heard, and everyone
said they heard nothing, so I explained what had happened and again mom
asked me if it had scared me and again I said no. At this point we left and
went home. Almost five weeks passed before they would take me back. This was
the only thing on my mind. My school work was not really anything back then
in first grade, and my home life was about as normal as possible then. Five
weeks later after the holidays, we all went to see Miss Faye's and not to
our surprise she was moving. We had been expecting it since her son had
left. So my parents helped her move everything into the truck, and when they
asked about the room she said she didn't want anything in the room, not even
the bed. When the apartment was empty dad asked her to keep the key until
the end of the month as she was paid up and she agreed.
The next Saturday I begged him to take me back and he finally gave in so we
went. When I first entered the apartment I could smell something at that
time I didn't know but later found out that it was brimstone. I entered the
room and all three of the "ghosts" were there. The husband was standing
yelling at the mother and little girl; they were hugging on the bed and
crying. He began to beat the mother and knocked the little girl to the
floor. I yelled when he did and they all stopped and turned to me. He said,
"Boy why has thee come into my realm, I am lord and master here and if thee
don't want a beating, then thee should leave now!" I looked back out the
door and heard my dad in the living room talking to my aunt May who had
walked over. I turned back to him and said, "You do not scare me, and you
can't touch me." He began to laugh and the woman got a terrified look on her
face and the little girl started crying and yelling, "Run away please!"
I said I was not afraid of him and he can't hurt me. He mumbled something
under his voice and the demon appeared behind him. The demon laughed and
smelled awful. The man told the demon to kill me or throw me out, one or the
other. The demon then started toward me and at this point the most wonderful
thing to ever happen to me started. This beautiful soft loving voice came
from behind me sayingm "Demon, thee has no power or dominion over this one,
thee must give thee name!" The demon replied, "I am Garth, the demon of
power and greed." I tried to turn around to see who was behind me, but his
hands were on my shoulders stopping me and in that wonderful voice he said
to me, "Mike, thee is fine and safe under my guard, do not worry." The demon
roared in anger and started to cuss and yell things I had never heard
before, and the man began to scream in anger also and for the first time
ever I saw the little girl stand and smile in pure happiness. She looked at
me and said, "thank you." Again that wonderful voice came, "Demon of hell,
free these spirits and be gone."
This made the demon scream louder and then the man disappeared as did the
demon, the woman, and little girl were there standing next to the bed
smiling at me. Again the girl said, "Thank you, I wish we could have been
friends," and the mother said, "Thank you, you have no idea how you have
helped us both." She looked up at the thing behind me and said, "Keep him
safe, please." And they were gone. I still felt the hands on my shoulders
and again I asked, "Who are you?" He whispered in my ear, "You are my name
sake and the lord himself sent me to you," I was amazed and asked "Are you
an angel?"
The voice replied, "Yes, Mike, I am a messenger of the Lord and only God."
"Can I see you?" I asked.
He replied, "Not at this time, the time will come when you will need me
again and you will see me when the Lord deems it's time." His last words to
me were, "Never come back to this room as a child for the demon is not gone
forever but is just away," and the angel was gone.
I ran out to my dad thinking that many minutes had passed, but he said,
"Nothing happening?" I said a lot. I was in there for long time; he replied,
"It's only been about three minutes." I began to tell him what happened,
then at home had to tell my mom, and many others over the next few weeks.
After about five years people forgot about this, but to this day if I go by
that building I can see the eyes of the demon in the window.
Last note on this: they have converted these apartments into condos except
for this one. It is still empty to this day and they have tried to tear the
building down many times. It seems the equipment fails when it gets close to
the building and small accidents happen to the workers that enter the
apartment.
At the age of 16 I did more research on this and found that the land had
belonged to man who owned the lumber mill and a shipping company. Many
rumors had floated around in the early 1900's that he had been in league
with the devil, why this is known it even made the papers back then. He was
a greedy angry man who had more or less bought the daughter of another
landowner for a wife, and from what I had found treated her like a piece of
property, not a wife. He wanted a son from her but she only had one child, a
young girl. This angered him to the point that one day he killed them and
disappeared himself. Some people in the town political circle even made note
in town journals about thinking he had been taken to hell. The land was sold
to the town. I found some old papers with stories about hunting and farm
accidents on the property and many years later it was divided into land
sites for building. In the 1920s three houses were built around this lot but
nothing was ever able to be built on the lot this man had his house on. In
the 1960s these houses were torn down and plans to build these apartments
was put into action. All went well until this lot, now this where things do
not make sense unless you think about the things going on in the 60s such as
drugs and protesting. I think the demon planned on getting someone he could
control during this time due to the fact that religion and God were not in
many of the young people's lives at this time. So the spot this apartment
was on would be about where the house was that this man owned and lived in.