A Simple, Subtle Greeting

I'm a sucker for anything related to the paranormal. My favourite movies involve the paranormal. I love how mysterious it is, how much we don't know. Most of all, I love the thrill of being scared. But to me, this thrill only came from movies and books.

Less than a week ago, my mother brought me and my younger brothers to a location in southern Calgary called the Deane House. This house is nothing new to me, as I had visited it a couple of years previously. My story begins in the attic, the scariest part of the house. The manager told me that a fourteen-year-old boy committed suicide in the attic due to his epilepsy. I don't find this story as entertaining and the lady in the rocking chair, or the bloodstain in the closet, but unlike the other two, this is actually true.

I sat on the porch eating my caesar salad (which tasted like dog poo, by the way) holding my camcorder and listening to the business men and woman at the next table chatter away on the subject of carpets and kitchens. My brothers where running around the old house, and avoiding their doggy-poo salad while my mother sat eagerly awaiting their arrival. Of course, they eventually came, and I was as bored as hell. With the majority of my salad finished I thought, "Wouldn't it be cool if I spent a while in the attic alone?" I turned on my camera and started narrating my way up the stairs ("nothing says history like grip tape on the stairs...")

I came to the attic doorway, slowly twisting the knob as to not damage the door. The boarded floor creaked under each step I took. As I climbed the attic stairs, the creaking was louder. The higher I got, the colder I felt. As I approached the last step at the top I heard somebody say, "Hi..." That was it. A simple, subtle greeting. I whizzed around, as if this noise came from directly behind me. I was terrified. My legs shook uncontrollably. A bead of sweat rolled down my forehead. I stood there, body twisted towards the stairs, a terrified look on my face. I was alone. Completely alone. What I heard I cannot explain. I was so scared. It all happened in a matter of 26 seconds, and I caught it all on film. The part that disappoints me was that the "Hi" I heard is almost completely silent in the footage yet it sounded so clear to me.