A String Of Spooky Events

For Privacy purposes certain names in my story have been changed - the events; however, are true.

In the summer of 2011 my boyfriend - Nathan, (this was before we were engaged/married) and I drove south to Gatlinburg, Tennessee to attend the wedding of his sister Barbie to her fiancé Frank. An interesting fact about Frank is that he is a shaman; he spends his days training and teaching others how to hone in on their psychic abilities and how to use them with ease. Barbie - being a former student of Frank's, also teaches in his seminars and is currently training to become a shaman herself. Needless to say, Nathan and I were looking forward to our stay at their cabin curious to meet Barbie's husband-to-be.

When we finally arrived at their two story cabin nestled in the Smokey Mountains we were warmly greeted outside by Barbie and a few of her friends, also from Michigan, that had already made the trip to their home the previous day. With our luggage in hand we climbed the wooden steps leading to their wrap around porch where we were introduced to Frank who was idly sitting in a rocking chair taking a drag from his long cigarette. He appeared a tad older than we anticipated, looking to be in his late 60's/early 70's, especially compared to Barbie who had just recently turned twenty-one. Now we had seen pictures of Barbie and Frank together on Facebook before our visit, so we were aware of the obvious age difference; however, it was still a bit startling (for lack of a better word) to see the two next to each other in person. But, love happens to all walks of life!

The initial shock of seeing Frank in person quickly faded and we thoroughly enjoyed the rest of our evening catching up with Barbie and getting to know her kind, elderly fiancé. The night was coming to a close as everyone had begun to stretch their limbs and release long, bellowing yawns. Barbie's friends said their goodbyes and headed back to their hotels while Nathan and I made our way down the hallway and into the guest bedroom. The head of the twin size air mattress that was supplied for us was pushed up against a wall; just on the other side of this wall was where Barbie's and Frank's room was located. After a bit of situating Nathan and I had positioned ourselves comfortably in the small air-filled bed and were ready to drift away into a pleasant and much needed slumber, until that is, we heard screaming. At first the only thing that could be heard was our slow, relaxed breathing and the creaking of crickets outside, but after about ten minutes a very low and muffled sound of crying could be heard. Initially I thought perhaps Frank and Barbie were watching some television before they went to sleep but then I remembered that that there was no television set in their room (this I knew because Barbie had shown me around the house earlier).

I kept quiet for a while listening carefully to the grief-stricken sobbing as other strange noises started to join in - A chilling chorus of screaming, a cluster of different voices yelling and talking to what I believe would be each other, and a flurry of different gruntings and growls. These noises persisted throughout the whole night making it rather hard to sleep and unfortunately since these noises sounded so muffled (almost like trying to listen to a punk rock concert with your head underwater) I couldn't make out any audible words or phrases. I finally managed to squeeze in a few hours of sleep until the next morning when I discovered Nathan had too heard the cluster of creepy sounds.

We talked about it for a short while discussing what it could have been or where it may have come from trying to be as logical as one could be after hearing such things; however, we just couldn't come up with a solid explanation. Every night we stayed there (which was only four nights) we heard the same spooky nonsense. Sometime later during our visit, Barbie and Frank briefly talked about being in tune with the spiritual realm and how many, many different spirits resided in their home - but this was a brief a conversation and Nathan and I weren't fully comfortable disclosing what we had heard to Barbie and Frank just yet. (Yes, there is a reason for that.)

When our time visiting Frank and Barbie came to end we packed our bags and headed back home to Michigan. The trip back was a grueling 18 hour drive and by the time Nathan dropped me off at my house I was ready to do infinite cartwheels around my yard - I was glad to be out of the car! Everything seemed fine for the first few days being back home - nothing out of the ordinary until one particular night.

(I will try my best to describe the layout of my parents' home in order to better relay the incidents that took place.)

My parents' house has an attached garage - this is where everyone that comes over or that lives there enters. Once you enter through the garage and into the house you would be in the kitchen; the door to my former basement room is in the kitchen directly across from the door that leads to the garage (make sense?). If you walk through the kitchen, past my bedroom door, you would be in the dining room - once in the dining room you would be able to see into the living room straight on, and to your right would be the hallway where the bathroom, my brother's bedroom, and the door that leads to my parents' bedroom upstairs is located (still making sense?). Okay back to the story!

One night around 2 am, I was chatting on the phone with Nathan while relaxing on my bed as was usual. We were near the end of our conversation for the night when I heard the door handle to the garage jiggle and rattle as if someone was trying to get in (my bed was located right next to the stairs that lead up to the kitchen and to the entrance of the garage so I was normally the first one to hear anyone come in since that door was rather creaky and loud). I was startled to hear the door open because I knew my older brother (who worked a third shift job) was still at work, and I knew that my parents were asleep in their room on the second story. My head was racing, I panicked thinking someone was trying to break in; I knew I had locked the handle and deadbolt to that door (a nightly habit of mine) right before I started talking on the phone with Nathan. What's worse was the sound of the heavy footsteps I heard above my head through the floorboards of the main story of the house!

At that moment I started to feel my adrenaline rush as I dashed for the handle of one of my swords (I collect swords and daggers because I am a nerd) and began to quietly sneak up the stairs. Nathan was still on the line while the phone dangled between my shoulder and chin - I must have looked completely silly adorned in Napoleon Dynamite pj's and all! When I reached the main floor I could see that the garage door entrance was in fact open and upon looking out the kitchen window I could see that my brother's car was still missing from the driveway - this verified that he was still at work. Once I left my bedroom I no longer heard footsteps walking about so I took a deep breath and raced for my parents' bedroom door. When I did, I ran up their stairs and just about gave them a heart attack exclaiming "Someone's in our house!" My Dad then opened his safe grabbed his hand gun and investigated the house, when he returned he said he found no trace of anyone breaking in; no other doors were opened, everything seemed in its place, and nothing was broken or missing; even the entrance door of the garage was closed and locked again (I had left it open hoping my dad would see but someone or something got to it before he even had the chance)!

I think my parents' wanted to believe me, but they just ended up trying to comfort me and told me to try to get some sleep. They were both exhausted from working the previous day and were a bit too tired to entertain my supposed "fit of hysteria". So I did as I was told and retreated to my bedroom where I disclosed all that happen to Nathan (who was still on the line and was terribly confused and worried - poor guy lol). I knew what I heard and I knew what I saw - that door did open and something was stomping around the house. There is no convincing me otherwise (my resolve)!

Things didn't stop there; for the next few weeks that followed, I found myself continuously waking up at the same time each night, roughly between 1:30 am to 2 am to the sound of gut-wrenching sobs. This crying was terrible, it sounded as if someone was mourning the recent loss of a child or something; incredibly loud and sorrowful. The first time I heard the weeping it sounded as if it was coming through from the vents in my ceiling - it had a female ring to it which led me to believe it was my mother who was crying (I could always hear my parents talk or watch TV since the vent in my ceiling connected with the vent in their bedroom). So of course I ran up the two sets of stairs to my Mother's side to see what was wrong only to find both of my parents sound asleep; riddled with confusion, I gently nudged my mom awake and asked if she had been crying at any time that night. Her answer was no, and went on to ask me if something was wrong - she could tell I was a bit shook up. I told her what I heard and she suggested that I pray and go back to bed (parents...gotta love 'em).

The crying lasted every night for about three weeks like I mentioned before, and every time I heard it I would inspect the house for clues hoping to find the source. I never was able to reach a conclusion on the incident; although, the crying always reminded me of the crying I heard at Barbie's house at night - same pitch, same ghastly sounding wails.

The last strange occurrence I underwent at my parents' house was a few days before my wedding in the middle of the day. My mom and I were preparing to go last minute wedding shopping to pick up any small odds in ends we may have forgotten or might need. She was already to go, sitting patiently in the driver's side of the car, engine running, radio blasting where as I still prancing about my bedroom was picking out my outfit for the day. I was well aware that I was the only person inside of the house at that moment - my dad was at work, my brother was at a friend's house, and of course my mom was in the car outside.

I was just about finished putting myself together when I went to grab a scarf from my walk in closet; as I stood there fixing the scarf around my neck I heard a male voice say directly in my ear, "Hey!" I quickly turned around to find nothing behind me. My eyes frantically scanned the room looking for signs of anyone else that could be in the room with me. Even though I knew my dad and brother were gone I still called for their names checking to make sure I wasn't being teased; sure enough there was no reply from either of them - again verifying to me their absence. I checked all the corners of rooms and any possible hiding spots and couldn't find anything or anyone. I started to shake a little as I often do when I'm spooked and continued to grab my things so I could leave. When I walked back inside my closet to grab my jacket I immediately heard loud, heavy breathing almost like a growl all around me, at that point I ran like hell up the stairs and into the car where I vigorously fought off an oncoming panic attack!

I can't say for sure what was going on in those last few months I lived with my parents; all I know is after my Junior High experiences ended nothing paranormal ever happened in that house until I got back from my trip to Tennessee.