House Sitting For My Neighbor, My First Real Scare

Back when I was 21, a former neighbor who is a good friend of mine came over to ask if I could house sit and care for the family dog while they went out of town for the weekend. I agreed considering I had the weekend off from work, besides my buddy always having the up to date big screen and stereo made it a plus lol. So that Thursday night he came over to the house and gave me the key before he, his wife and 3 daughters left for their trip. They had let the dog out and of course left him water and food for the night so I didn't go over their until the next morning.

So the next day I go over in the morning to let the dog out and fill his water bowl. While I'm over there in the house watching tv and waiting for the dog to bark to be let back in I start to remember about the girls telling me from time to time about them thinking the house was haunted and such. They would speak about sounds like someone walking up and down the stairs or someone walking into their rooms. I never really believed them because after all, at the time they were 10, 14 and 17. I figured it was just big sis trying to scare the younger ones and their minds were taking it from there. Plus the house is connected to another house and the stair cases ran up the same wall, so I just figured the noises they were hearing was neighbors walking up the steps and throughout the upstairs because that's what I have heard before.

So basically with those thoughts out of my head I went back home, catered to my own dogs and collected some cds, movies and my gaming system to enjoy the brand new big screen and killer stereo across the street. Around 5pm I got settled at my neighbors, left my dogs outside in my backyard while I was gone to avoid accidents in my home because I knew I'd be gone for awhile.

So the first night comes and goes without a hitch, watched a movie, played a game or 2 and watched some Sports Center. Before I left the house I made sure the dog was topped off on water and food and went home. The next day is when things seemed a little off. I go over in the morning and I noticed the dogs water bowl was empty, which would not be an issue if there wasn't water all over the kitchen floor. The bowl was in the spot where I left it next to the food but the water was all over the kitchen floor. At the time I figured the dog just might have pawed the bowl, maybe as a reaction to not liking his owners gone and being alone at night. So I let him outside to go to the bathroom and I cleaned up the floor and put fresh water in the bowl and refill his food and left to tend to what I needed to do at home.

Later that afternoon I go back over to let the dog out again and hang out. I open the door to find the dog just staring at the couch like someone is sitting in it, at first he doesn't even acknowledge that I'm there until I walk behind the couch and and give the order to go outside. Again I'm not even thinking anything really weird, hell the dog was weird anyways lol. As I go to let the dog out I notice his food is now on the floor, and not just a few pieces but every bit of his food on the kitchen floor and the bowl is sitting right where it was left. Now I'm getting pretty curious as to what the heck is going on, but I blame the dog again thinking he is just frustrated with the family being gone as dogs do have a tendency to get depressed or saddened when their owners are gone for a longer amount of time than they are used too. So I don't think about it and clean up the food, top off his water and let him back in.

That night at around 11pm I'm playing a video game and the dog is just laying down on the love seat and chewing on one of his toys, then all the sudden the dog just bolts and runs up stairs and back down again. This repeated like 5 times and I'm just watching and almost laughing because it just seemed funny. Then he ran back into the living room and stopped right in front of me and it looks like he is staring right above my head. That's when I got freaked out a bit because for like what seemed about 20-30 seconds he was as still as a rock, didn't move a muscle or shake his tale and was just staring.

Then all the sudden he growls and lunges on and over the couch and takes off upstairs running and barking like he had a purpose. He did this like 3 more times and again ran into the living room, stopped immediately in front of the love seat and stared again like something was standing right behind it. This time is a little different because I notice his head snap to the right, then back to the left and then quickly he looks in my direction and again growls and lunges up and over the couch and takes off back upstairs. This time when he went upstairs though he stayed there for like what I'd say about 2 minutes just barking like he has something trapped but can't exactly get to it. Then as quickly as it started, he stopped barking and came back downstairs and laid on the couch next to me like nothing happened. I left the house that morning again late, locked up and went home. I felt kind of worried leaving the dog alone but I couldn't bring him home with me because of my dogs. So I go home and go to bed.

The next morning I woke up I was in a hurry to check on the dog. I opened the door and the poor thing was already waiting for someone to let him out the back door. I let him out and go check his food and water and everything was normal, there was a little food in the bowl but he needed more water. At that point I'm thinking the dog was again just having anxiety issues and left it at that. Well while I'm watching tv the front door opens and my friend and his family are home, they had to cut their little getaway short because the youngest child got sick. Anyways, we talked and they asked how the dog was and all the normal small chatter. I told them about how the dog knocked over his food and water and how he acted the night before and immediately the oldest daughter raised her voice and said "that wasn't the dog, it was a ghost. And if you don't believe me go sleep in my room for a night and you will find out I'm not joking". I look at my friend and he told me "Go for it and tell me what you think because she won't sleep in there anymore and when I tried to prove her wrong I also felt very uneasy in the room by myself". At first I thought he was joking or just trying to get a rise out of me but he was dead serious. In short, I accepted the challenge, because at that time in my younger life I was always down for a dare.

A little background about the room, it was a storage area and converted into a bedroom. You have to go into the last bedroom on the second floor, open the closet in that room in which there is another door inside that closet that leads to the storage room. They had to fashion a room out of it because the house is originally a 3 bedroom, and with their daughters getting older they all wanted their own room naturally. So they built the bedroom for the oldest daughter. It was done very nicely except there are no windows, but it was very spacious. The oldest slept in that room for about 5 months before she had enough of whatever was happening and either slept on the floor in her sisters room or slept downstairs on the couch.

So that night I make sure my dogs will be good until the next morning and head back over to my neighbors for dinner and prepare for the dare, of course making little jokes and I notice that none of the girls are taking them very lightly and giving me the common response of "just wait, you will see". I'm a little uneasy but I try not to psych myself out and just get ready to go to bed. I get into the room and the 14 year old asks me if I want her to leave her door to the closet open and I just tell her not to worry about it and I tell them goodnight and close the door behind me.

I laid down in the bed and shut the lights off and try to go to sleep, its pitch black in the room so I can't even see my hand right in front of me. I stayed up for maybe 30 minutes and heard nothing during that time, so by then I was pretty much calmed down and I fell asleep. Later on I woke up to some slight tapping noise, but then I remember the water heater is in the room and that's what the sounds were coming from, but I still woke with a feeling of uneasiness. After about 10 minutes the feeling just started escalating and that's when I heard the dog barking and running up the stairs. The dog was in the girls bedroom and barking right at her closet door. I could hear the oldest wake up telling the dog to be quiet and then she yelled from the room "Are you awake, you ok in there?", in which I replied simply "Yeah I'm awake but I'm fine, goodnight again".

Well as it turns out I wasn't fine, not maybe 10 seconds after I responded I had the most terrifying experience of my life. As I'm laying on the right side of the bed I thought what I heard was 2 footsteps right next to the bed. Of course I can't see a dang thing because its pitch black so of course I'm feeling seriously vulnerable at this point. Then, with no regard I feel the left side of the bed sink in, first like someone is sitting or kneeling down on that side. Then just a few moments later that whole side sinks in like someone is now laying in the bed next to me. I didn't make a movement or a sound but inside I was screaming bloody murder lol. The side I'm laying on is against the wall, the side that now feels occupied by someone else is towards the door so not only am I feeling completely freaked out I feel like I'm trapped and there is little I can do about it.

So I slowly reach over and I feel nothing next to me, then I feel the bed and I confirm that it is sunk in. I made the decision in my mind I was just going to bolt but just getting started seemed impossible at that point. That is until the dog went nuts again, the bed shifted like it got up and I felt a good tug on the blanket and I blindly bolted in the direction I knew the door was in. I knocked over the night stand and ran into the wall next to the door lol. The girls started screaming when they heard the "thud" I made and were flipping out because I almost took out both doors trying to get out lol.

I got back into the girls bedroom and the dog stood at the closet door seemingly keeping what was there at bay. At that point I truly believed them and I never went into that room again, and based on my experience told my friend to never make any of the girls sleep in that storage room either. They never did, and they ended up moving out of that house a year later. We still talk about that incident, of course joking and laughing about it now, about how the walls damn near came down from me forcing my way out lol. I'll never forget that experience for as long as I shall live, it was my first real time experiencing something truly paranormal and it's what got me interested in the subject.

Since then 5 different families have lived in that house, I never really got to know them so I couldn't tell you if they experienced anything odd going on in the home. The closest thing I can speculate about was about 2 years ago when I was coming home from work and 2 cop cars were outside that house. I stopped and ask the neighbor if they were ok and what was wrong and she told me that her son ran to her room crying saying someone was in his room so she got up and locked her door and called 911. She said she thought she heard footsteps in the next room and the hall but wasn't totally sure. The cops checked the home and found nothing and couldn't see any point of forced entry or a unlocked door or window in the home. She moved out about 4 months later. The home was just recently rented by a new couple, they have been there for about 2 months, but for now everything seems all quiet.