This series of events happened somewhere in Silang, Cavite, Philippines while I was working there over 5 years ago. The place where I worked is called the Campus by insiders. It has a proper, official-sounding name of course but that is what we all call it. It made us feel, well, insiders. Besides, it's shorter.
In the early 90's, pioneers hacked, hewed and chopped out a clearing in the forest. With only a few army tents as shelters, they started operations of the Campus. It is about 500 meters away from Aguinaldo Highway, across a wooden bridge that spans a narrow creek. Coffee trees line the last 20 meters or so of the road leading to the front (and only) gate. It's not really secluded because there is a small community along the road, and it's only about 20 minutes by car along the highway to Tagaytay and about 10 minutes to Silang Proper going the other way.
When I got there more than a decade later to take up my position as the resident IT guy, the army tents were replaced by concrete buildings with manicured lawns and landscaping. But the same forest still surrounded its three sides, held at bay by a 15-ft wall. It's a pity that the wall could only keep out the trees because it sure let's in other things that I could describe only as supernatural.
For one, there is the lady in white who likes to take a stroll in the garden in the middle of the campus just before or after midnight. I haven't seen her myself during my whole stay but a lot of people did, including one woman whom I really admire for her honesty.
There is another entity which took up residence in the motor pool. They say that this one likes to make noise at night by banging on the steel grills that served as walls on two sides of the building, so I decided to check this one out personally. In the motor pool is an upstairs room with several bunk beds where the mechanics and drivers are housed. I requested from the residents that I stay there for the night, to confirm for myself the existence of the resident poltergeist, and I was made more than welcome.
Later that night, while we were talking to pass the time, there was the unmistakable sound of something striking the grills. We turned on the lights inside and outside the motor pool itself and went to the windows which overlook the whole area but saw nobody. The noise became even more intensified, as if whatever it is was glad of its audience. Everyone was accounted for, so it couldn't have been one of us. We all went down and the noise stopped. As the area was well lighted both inside and out, it was easy to see if somebody was hiding or running away. But nobody was there.
My office is the most secure room in the Campus because the server and other equipment are housed and stored there. The door automatically locks itself every time it's closed and you need a special key to unlock it. Only I and the Director have the key to the room since we were the only authorized persons to enter there.
There is a comfortable couch in one corner, for use when I work late at night and I don't feel like walking back to the men's dormitory. I often take advantage of its convenience, because most of my best ideas come to me at night. It is for that reason I like working late. Oftentimes, when I thought I was alone in the building, I can hear footsteps walking around the corridors of the top floor where my office is. Even though the door and the walls are thick, a special glass window is inset into the wall so that those in the corridor can look inside my office. If I need privacy, I can cover it with blinds. So, one can distinctly hear the click of the heels as they strike the floor. It would sometimes stop at my door but never knock. When I open the door to see who is standing outside, there would be nobody there and the corridor would be deserted.
To the back of the campus are the dormitories, one for men and another for the women. The men's dormitory is one long building designed like a military barracks. At the wings are the sleeping areas and in the middle are two shower rooms with several stalls each room.
The men's dormitory seems to be a special place in the sense that it hosts more than one distinct entity. One appears to be a poltergeist that delights in repeatedly opening and slamming the doors that lead to the shower area. These doors have doorknobs that you have to twist to open, so no imaginable kind of wind can conceivably twist the knob, swing open the door, slam it close, then repeat the process over and over. Whenever this happened, we would all just look at each other and ignore it.
The other entity is more subtle.
One time, my friend woke up in the middle of the night because the lights went up. He noticed that the others were still asleep and saw me just sitting on my mattress staring straight ahead, frowning, eyes unfocused, my arms crossed. He apparently caught me in one of my mannerisms signifying deep thought. He thought I was working out a problem in my mind and just left me be and went back to sleep. Early the next morning, he caught up with me at breakfast in the cafeteria. He joined me at my table and asked me what I was thinking about last night. I was genuinely puzzled and asked him what he meant. He told about the previous night and I became even more confused. I told him I never left my office the previous night. In fact, I just came directly from there and just grabbed a bite before going to the dorm and take a shower.
A few days later during breakfast, I entered the dorm feeling tired after a long drive from Quezon City where I stayed overnight. I wanted to rest there for an hour or so before going to the office. When I went through the door, my friends stared at me funny. I asked them what their problem was. They said they don't have a problem but they wanted to ask me how I changed my clothes so quickly. I asked them what they were talking about and they told me they were coming back from the cafeteria and saw me walking out the dorm wearing different clothes. They had not been inside for a minute when I walked back in wearing a new set. I told them I just got back from QC and did not meet anyone on the road to the dorm. They didn't believe me, thinking I was pulling a prank on them so I gave them my two-way radio and told them to contact the guard at the gate and ask if I was back yet. The guard replied that I got in only about two minutes ago. Apparently, I have a doppelganger of my own; either that or a shape shifter. I haven't seen it for myself, and I have no idea why it was mimicking only me and nobody else.
There are a lot of theories why these sorts of things were happening in a relatively new place. As far as we knew, nobody died inside the Campus itself so ghosts were ruled out. The most favored theory is that some spirits were disturbed when trees were cut down to give way to the present Campus, and perhaps they were expressing their displeasure by disturbing us. Be that as it may be, what we are really sure of is that these strange phenomena did happen, not only once but countless times during the years. The positive side we could see is that so far, nobody has been hurt by these spirits.
A few weeks ago, I called a friend who still worked in the Campus, just to ask how they were doing and stuff. When I asked, he assured me that the spirits are still very much restless and active and that nobody has been hurt. Yet.
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