Story by Nadine Ward
After I decided I wanted to go on my life’s journey alone, my parents moved into a new property on the Ridgeway, Enfield.
Travelling around meant I didn’t get to see the house until six months had past. One day when food had become too expensive to buy and rent was impossible to meet, I decided to put my tail between my legs and go home.
My parents reluctantly took me back offering me the old study as my bedroom. And to be quiet honest it was a thousand times better than where I had been living.
I was at that tormented teenage stage, and was feeling exhausted after years of partying. I was going to use this house as my resting period – I couldn’t have been more wrong.
I decided to go to bed on the first evening quiet early. It felt good to be back home.
The walls were decorated in dark wood with a huge wide hallway with the rooms coming off of them. My room, the study, was completely on the other side of the house, with original leaded windows and its own back door: it was surrounded by tall trees.
As I lay in bed everything seemed quite peaceful. The weeping willow tapping on the window seemed quiet playful. My parents said goodnight, and rather sleep alone I decided to call in Trixie, our Bearded Collie to sleep beside my bed. I wrapped the covers round my shoulders, and snuggled my face into the soft warm pillow and smiled with contentment as I smelt the fresh lavender that mother had cut from the garden that morning.
Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang. Startled I woke up, sat upright thinking that my whole family could hear this violent noise. The only way I could describe this noise was as if someone was picking up a bed and dropping it from the ceiling to the floor, over and over again.
I then looked to the bottom of the bed and Trixie was staring straight at me. My heart was pounding, my skin felt hot and wet. I jumped out of bed opened the door, ran through the dining room, down the hall to my parents bedroom. And nothing. The banging had stopped. My hand shaking I leant forward to the handle opening my brother’s bedroom door, and as I pushed it open him was fast asleep. I noticed his clock said quarter to three.
Confused, I stepped back, shaking my head in disbelief. I proceeded to walk towards my parents’ bedroom and held my breath. I pushed the door open expecting my parents to be completely aware of what had happened. But yet again, they were sleeping soundly.
I explained the events to my mother the next morning, and she tried to comfort me by saying it was just a phase. And then jokingly she added that it might be my first calling. Confused or what! She explained that in the spirit world, girls of my age are more susceptible to drawing in lost spirits.
Scared as it made me feel I did have a sense of inner calm, knowing that my mother understood me for once. After my extremely restless night, I decided to retire early, taking Trixie with me. I drifted off quiet easily. Until, it began again.
The following two evenings continued as the first. On the forth night I had a dream that there was a grave yard in our back garden. The two front doors were green and the roads and the whole scene was in the early 20th Century. I saw carriages, horse and cart’s riding through the house.
On the fifth and last night in the house I had a dream I was in a dark vehicle and a man in a black cloak and dark face was trying to strangle me, screaming words into my ear. My eyes then opened. My body felt slightly elevated off the bed and I was screaming at the top of my voice. I felt the dark figure let go of me and I fell back onto the mattress. Then I realised, I was screaming with no sound coming out.
That was my last night in the haunted house. By day it felt colder in some rooms more than others, and my family experienced some of their worst life experiences.
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