In November 2012 me, my husband and two sons had a beautiful house in the north east of England in a town called Peterlee. It was the ideal home and we all loved it. Unfortunately, due to the recession my husband's shop was closed and we had no choice but to move back to our home town of Seaham so he could start work in the factories.
So the day came to move, and because I had been busy I hadn't managed to go see the house before we moved in but my husband told me it was newly refurbished, redecorated and clean. My first priority when I arrived at the house was to have a look around see what I was dealing with. All I can say is, it was dull. Every room was magnolia with a plain light beige carpet in every room, except the bathroom which had wood affect linoleum.
Halfway up my staircase is a door that leads to a tiny box room, I'd say it would be ok for a small child to sleep in. Immediately walking into that room the air just felt different. The room seemed a little darker than it should be considering the huge window and the bright magnolia paint, and it felt cooler. There was a sense of awkwardness about the room. It wasn't a bad feeling though, it was like when you first meet someone, and neither of you are quite sure of what to say so you just share awkward glances and grins lol.
A few days after moving in my two boys, Mathew and Joseph, started to tell me that an old lady would come in to their rooms at night and sometimes she would sing nursery rhymes. I didn't think too much of what they had said, I just assumed they weren't to happy about moving so they were making stories up.
Since the day we moved in we always kept that small bedroom door closed. We had no reason to enter as we have 3 bedrooms at the top of the stairs and everything else is downstairs. It was 8:30pm, I had just put the boys to bed and was heading down the stairs when the door opened a little bit as I walked passed. At first I assumed it was a draft but had this urge to look inside. I pushed the door open not expecting to see anything when I saw a little old lady sitting in the corner looking out the window. I really wasn't expecting to see anything, so my initial reaction was to switch the light on and question her, but as soon as I turned my head to hit the light switch she'd gone.
Over the next few weeks we'd often see her peeking through the door, or hear her shuffling up and down the stairs. It was like she was wondering what we were up to. She never caused us any bother although the boys said she still comes into their rooms at night sometimes. And for some reason, we all started to refer to her as Ada, none of us are sure why.
After around 6 weeks of living here we decided to renovate and have the bathroom moved from the kitchen to her room and use the old bathroom as a laundry room as it was far to small for a family of 4. As the renovations started, I became worried that Ada wouldn't be too happy because we think that it was her room. She didn't seem to mind, though. Once the room was done up we'd often go in and she'd just be sitting there but she never lasted long if we went in.
The thing with Ada, though, she didn't seem interested in us, she never tried to make contact other than us seeing her. If I went in the bathroom I'd always say hello but she'd just disappear. We realized that she has no interest in us and that she's just happy being here so we try not to bother her and things have been fine until around a month ago.
So around a month ago, I was just walking in the door around 3:15pm from picking the boys up from school and nursery and immediately heard shuffling on the stairs. This isn't anything usual but as we were taking our coats and shoes off and the bathroom door slammed really loud. I thought maybe a window was open so I went and checked but nothing. This happened 3 or 4 times after on the same night.
The next day around 11pm, everyone else was asleep and I was up watching Doctor Who when I heard the shuffling on the stairs. I went in the kitchen to make a cup of tea and when I came back Ada was standing in the living room. This is a first, as far as any of us had witnessed. She'd never came in to the living room before. She just stood there crying. I didn't know what to do so I asked if she was ok but she didn't didn't answer, she just went back out the room.
Over the month she has done this every night, as well as slamming the bathroom door during the day and we can here wailing coming from the bathroom. A few days ago my husband was in bed as he's on night shifts at the minute. He came down and told me he couldn't sleep because she kept walking around the room.
We honestly don't know if we have upset or offended her, or even if she's just trying to communicate, or even warn us of something. We have no idea. All I can say is we have come to accept her as part of our lives since we moved in and her being upset is kind of upsetting to us. I don't expect anyone to understand that but I think because we see or hear her so often she just became like one of us.
I'd like to know if anyone has had any similar experiences as this? In the 45 minutes I have spent writing this she has slammed the door twice, I've heard her cry and she's constantly shuffling up and down the stairs. If anyone has been through this or has any advice it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for taking the time to read.
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