A Clockwork Haunting

As a child living at my parent's house in Australia, my grandmother died in the hallway. The bedroom that she had been staying in at the time eventually became my bedroom when I reached my teens and needed more space. For years after moving in there I was constantly disturbed every night by footsteps and sounds of movement in the hallway and in my room. If I was lying on my back I would often feel fingers gently touching my face and it became so frequent that I would simply brush the fingers away and tell whatever it was to go away and let me sleep. I was always afraid of the sounds and fingers, but my way of dealing with it was to angrily yell at the entity and pretend that it didn't scare me at all. I had long given up telling my parents about all this as they just laughed it off.

I was in bed early one night, just starting to relax, when I became aware of a ticking sound at the far end of the room. I had nothing in the room that would make this sound. I got out of bed in the dark and indeed it seemed to be in the room with me. The moment I switched on the light the ticking stopped. Several weeks later I had only just got into bed, wide awake and restless. The ticking sound started again. It was louder this time and I could not ignore it. I got out of bed in the dark again but I didn't want the sound to stop so I kept away from the light switch. As I approached the sound I realised that it was more complex than just a ticking sound. I could hear little wheels and springs moving as if it was some kind of crazy wind-up toy. I located the sound in the back corner of the room, down low near the floor. I somehow found the courage to get down on all fours and crawl towards it. I reached a point at which it was right in front of me, much louder now and cloaked in total darkness. It was a strange sensation. I was terrified and frustrated at not being able to work out what it was.

My curiosity had overcome my fear and I reached into the dark corner expecting to feel something but didn't. I leaned forward and my head now seemed to be inside the invisible object. I could hear little wheels and gears moving around my ears. I panicked and jumped to my feet. I was worried that my sudden movement might make the sound disappear, but it continued ticking away. Wishing to catch it off guard I decided to make a sudden dash for the light switch. Of course everything stopped as soon as I could see into the corner.

I never heard it again, but the sounds of movement continued until I moved out of my parent's house years later. Looking back now it seems unreal, but I was wide awake at the time and I still think of it sometimes.