The Apartment After The Split

Since my last story (My Haunted Childhood) had great comments and ideas all from really nice people, I'm going to post an account of some of the paranormal events that took place in the brand new apartment my mother and I lived in from late 2001 to early 2009 in Surrey, UK.

It was a beautiful place, just great for this particular time of our lives. My parents had just separated (they later got divorced) and my mother and I had moved into a large apartment, two storey up with a large shared terrace in a very safe area with nice neighbors. My Dad was and has always been very instrumental in my life and neither of my parents have ever missed any events - not even a school play, I'm proud to say they still get on well. Anyway, that's the potted history over and done with so now I'll get on with it!

A few things happened in that apartment that was pretty strange. Much less pronounced than what we had experience in the old house, but nonetheless, very odd. I had never liked corridors and this flat had one that was about 15 feet long and to which all the rooms were attached. However, I was surprised at myself that I was never scared by this one and could very easily walk down it to my bathroom in the middle of the night without turning any lights on our feeling apprehensive. I mean, no one likes going down dark corridors but this one wasn't any different and even though there was a big mirror at the end of it (by the door to my bathroom), I never felt like I was being chased or scared. However, after a while we started noticing things.

I would be sitting in the living room with my mum watching TV or just chatting when I would see things out of the corner of my eye like shadows in the corridor. This didn't bother me until I started hearing footsteps walking very purposefully down this corridor in the night time - never the day. I was convinced it was our floorboards as we could never hear the couple upstairs moving around unless they were on their balcony which wasn't anywhere near the corridor. We were both just laughing it off at the time, though. There wasn't any malice to it, and seeing as my grandma and grandpa had recently passed, we thought it could have been them. We had also started smelling lilies (my mum more than me) every month or so, which were my grandma's favorite flower. This could have been put down to the loss of immediate relatives so close together that takes its toll on a person, but I am not one to be sensitive to smell (I am more sensitive to touch and sound when it comes to the paranormal) and even I smelt it a couple of times.

Mum and I were both in bed one night, both awake as we had confirmed later to each other, and we both heard the very distinct sound of an empty water bottle falling on the kitchen floor and bouncing off. At the time, I froze. Was there an intruder in the house trying to get in via the kitchen window? (We sometimes kept empty water bottles there to fill up in the mornings - but when we checked the next morning, there were none there). There was no one in the house, no evidence of anyone else being there and also no water bottles in the kitchen. None at all. There was nothing on the floor either that could have made that sound.

My mum also reported hearing 'bang bang bang bang' kind of knocking on the front door like someone was desperate to get in, very late at night. I never heard this at all which I found very strange as I'm quite a light sleeper and when it comes to noise and sleep, I totally need quiet! The first and second times it happened, she actually went up to the door to see what was going on and how she could help but there was no one there (she checked through the spy hole and stood there making sure no one walked away). Also, I stayed in her room when she was out one night, and I had woken up briefly as you do sometimes. I was getting ready to go back to sleep when I heard a massive bang. I have no idea where it came from but it was just huge. It scared me quite a lot and I am not easily scared by these things unless they are negative. Perhaps it was someone dropping something upstairs, but if it was, they must have been very quiet because there was no movement before or after the bang (the way my mum's room was positioned was such that there was another bedroom above her). I'm open to suggestions about this noise but it was very close to the room (if not, IN the room) and from what my mum had said about her experiences with the front door, it made me wonder. I'm afraid I don't know anything about the history of the apartment building so I don't know if there was anything in its past that could have perpetuated these noises. I might be able to look it up though.

After that, I started to get very strange feelings whilst walking up and down the corridor - like someone was following me. I also experienced sleep paralysis twice - hearing whispers both times. I don't know if that was related but hey, it's worth mentioning.

I should also tell you that we had no one living underneath us - it was just an empty space, underneath that was a car dealership so no one would have been underneath us after about 5-6pm at night.

Mum had also reported seeing her late mother in her bedroom, tucking her up and stroking her forehead. This happened when she was ill with a stomach infection so it may have been that she was dehydrated and upset - who knows. She has also seen her bathroom light string (she had an en-suite) swing around in little circles, even when she had previously been watching it completely still (while she was in the bath relaxing) and the windows and doors were closed according to her.

My boyfriend who I live with now also reported seeing the top half of a woman floating from my wall that separated me and my mum's room, through my room, and into the opposite wall. She was in a white dress and didn't look at anyone. He is a skeptic who really doesn't believe in the paranormal, even after seeing this. I asked him why he still didn't believe and he thinks he dreamt it but first described it to me as happening to him when he was awake. I think he was just a little confused and scared. Or maybe he really did dream it!

In any case, that apartment never felt totally vacated, even though it was brand new. I have since moved from there and nothing out of the ordinary has happened to me which I'm kind of sad at. I think maybe my mum has a lot of spiritual energy about her, as things often happen to her, but not me. I am usually the one who has the predictive dreams or actually feels or senses something weird.

Anyway, any comments on what you think the noises were would be appreciated and I'd be happy to answer any questions on the place or the build of the apartment.

Thanks for reading once again!