I’m a monster. I shouldn’t have said anything. I looked at this poor woman as she was experiencing something, that neither of us knew how to explain. And it was, at this awkward moment, having a depth of effect- a ripple, if you will- that would turn out to mean something different, for both of us.
She told me that she had a story for me; alluding to something relating to my dream experience; but, that would have to wait until another time. She was running late, & I understood. I gave her my total thanks for the gift, and urged her not to worry. Putting all of my energy, during her departure, into brushing what had just happened under the proverbial carpet. Thinking that I have to learn to cap my excitement, and stick to talking about the weather.
After she left, and I was able to smooth my feathers again. I took a break from unpacking & nesting. Remembering that there was no rush & questioning myself as to why I was trying to speed through it. I sat in the living room, cozied up with the cat, and turned on the tv.
I awoke later on on the couch, with the kitty still next to me. I must’ve fallen asleep after I got under the blanket. What time was it, the sun was going down; Just after 4. I started to think about dinner. So I made my way to the kitchen, still wrapped up in my blanket. I was also still feeling the need for comfort after my foot in mouth issue earlier; and besides that, the night was turning cold.
I riffled through the gift basket the landlord had left for me, and found a chocolate bar that had almonds in it, and immediately began unwrapping it. As I broke pieces off of the chocolate and chewed them slowly, I felt a little bit of my energy coming back. Nodding as I nibbled.
I continued looking through the basket and saw an envelope tucked underneath. I thought I remembered seeing that she had brought an envelope in with her during the awkward visit. The curiosity was firing me up to my next level of energy. I began opening it, carefully and gingerly, to both savor the moment and to not accidentally rip anything inside. I paused for a second while I checked the front of the envelope to see if it had my name on it. The last thing I wanted was to open someone else’s envelope. Had she left it here absentmindedly... I would feel so awful.
It had no name on it. I placed it back down for a second, considering the weight of awkwardness that this could be adding to todays events. Maybe I’ll peek into the bit that I opened; see if it’s something that I shouldn’t be fiddling with, I thought. If it isn’t meant for me, I could repair the corner & then, I’ll have to call the landlord to tell her this envelope is still here…
It’s a gift certificate, crisis averted! For a local restaurant, that seems appropriate. Right…? I’m second guessing myself now. “Oooooo!” I squealed! It’s for a Chinese food restaurant, just down the street… "Rangoon!!!!" I said aloud, as the cat found her way to my side as if to share in this pleasant discovery.
The amount of food I had ordered that night was enough to feed an army, or at least a nesting/unpacking fiend like me for enough days to keep the madness going. And as those days had passed, and I kept to myself, mostly. I unpacked everything, I shopped to fill the fridge and pantry, & generally made myself at home.
The walls here were all painted off white, with glossy bright white decorative trim. The ceilings were high, which gave the whole place a larger feel. And it had these crazy arched double doors that led from the living room to the front room, that I was using as my bed room. The overall vibe in that long apartment, felt just right to me. I only had one issue. I was having trouble sleeping.
Every morning I was waking up at 4:08am on the dot. Which, was unusual for me. And if I did have interrupted sleep, my usual wake up was around 3:30am. It wasn’t that far from the usual, so I tried to pass it off as insignificant.
As I was getting used to my new routine, a week and a half later; I came home from work to the house feeling extremely chilly. I checked the thermostat in the living room, the setting was at 60, but the actual apartment was reading 55. I checked all of the radiators, and they were working. I then made sure that all of the windows were shut tight, they were. So I pretended like I had intimidation powers over the little thermostat, and told it to do its job, then I flicked at it with my finger. “I’m going to check back with you, and the house better get toasty again!” I warned it as I went to the bed room to change out of my work clothes.
KAH-KLANG, KAH-KAHTHWOMP! I jumped as I heard this coming from another room. “What was that!!!” I said shocked. I made my way through every room, inspecting as I went. Left, right - living room- nothing... left, right- bath room- nothing... left, right- dining room- nothing... "whaaaaa....???" I stopped mid-way through the dining room. I was stood still, looking, blinking, now staring, head tilted, brows furrowed. There was an object in the middle of the kitchen, on the floor...
"How did this....??? How could this...???" Puzzled, I now found myself in the middle of a mystery. And I didn't have any idea how, what, or who, could explain this.
The item, now firmly standing upright, on full display, on my kitchen floor, was a plastic pitcher. The kind you'd make large batches of iced tea or lemonade in the summertime with. This item, had been placed, just a few days ago, by me, on the very top shelf of the pantry shelves. Not just the shelves that you faced, when you rounded the corner to look into the little room from the kitchen. No.
That would just seem so logical. Maybe? That it could have, maybe…? With the slightest misplacement, made its way by bouncing off the pantry floor, then… continuing to tumble, & somehow, it made its way into the kitchen, up a step, then landing standing straight up... No. NO. Ha, yeah.... No. I thought.
This pitcher was placed by me, on that top shelf, located on the right hand wall. And so I made my way, softly walking around the mischievous pitcher. I eyed it, not a scratch, or crack... Ok... Then I stood in the doorway to the pantry, surveying if there were any other items perched to tumble.
Nope. I stood, studying the stack of shelves to my right. I would be there for a bit, running scenarios in my mind, following my finger as it traced possible routes that the pitcher would have had to take to fall down... then turn a corner... then come to an upright stance, in the dead center of the kitchen floor...
"Gah!!! This is RIDICULOUS!" I let out with an exhale of frustration. I picked up the pitcher, and put it back where I had placed it originally. "There." I said firmly. "You let me know if anyone else bothers you." I patted its side as I lowered myself down from the step stool.
I mean, my good old plastic pitcher wouldn't scare me on purpose, surely, forces unknown, were at work here. And my thoughts go back to my last apartment & how I had to be firm with the unseen whatevers, that had, at times, attempted to bother me there. "I am very aware..." I said aloud; in hopes of striking a sort of line in the sand, to discourage further unexplainable happenings. I had high hopes that it would suffice.
The rest of that night was very uneventful. Thank goodness. I was trying to relax, & not to let that incident, or the waking at 4:08am every morning bother me. Or, the fact that I was having to verbally harass my thermostat every night. Every night coming home to find things chilly. The temp had always read 55, when it had been set to 60. Every night, the same thing.
I would remind of its settings, & how my intentions were to not be cold, & somehow within minutes the temp would start climbing. I could also hear the furnace in the basement below kick on, & attributed it to the unit being an "antique" as the landlord had put it. Most "antiques" are charming, this however, at least to me, was anything but.
After another week of becoming used to what I would refer to now as "quirkiness", I arrived home from work. It had been a loooooong week. I was tired, yet elated, that the weekend was finally here. The whole month of October had been a marathon for me. I couldn't place an exact blame of what exhausted me more, it was the culmination of the entire journey to get here. And I was looking forward to having absolutely no plans.
I came through the back door, to be greeted by the Kitty, so happy to see me, and of course to get me to feed her, which I would, after I put my things down in the dining room. As I took off my coat and draped it over one of the chairs, I a blinking light on my landline phone. "Oooo, I have a message." I said out loud.
I pressed the voicemail button, and the automated voice said, "You have... one ... new ... message." I walked into the pantry to give the Kitty her scoop of kibble, and listened for the message. Nothing... Maybe I was just too far away to hear it.
I walked back to the phone and pressed the button to listen again, and waited... Maybe they hung up... I checked the volume, it was set really low. I rarely got any calls on this phone, makes sense. So I turned it all the way up.
Static... ... ... then a whisper... and then nothing. Intrigued, I pulled up a chair, and listened again, with my ear to the speaker. "Static... ... ... Let Me Inside."
I pushed my chair back, at the same time pushing the small table that held the phone so that it nearly tipped over.
"WHAT THE ACTUALL...." I exclaimed. Why do I live alone! I thought. This is creepy, too creepy. I examined the phone, played it again. Yup, it says, "Let me inside." I examined further and noticed that this particular voicemail had no caller id. How's that possible? HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE! It had to originate from somewhere... Do Ghosts have phones now?
I was fed up. I had a nice relaxing weekend planned. And nothing was going to stop me from enjoying it! I was determined to relax, & this prank from the ether wasn't going to stop me!
I got on my cozy clothes, as usual, checked the thermostat as I walked by and noticed that it read 60 degrees as it should, & the ambient temp was 60. "Good." I chuffed as I passed it. I was in no mood to argue with whatever quirk lived within that mechanism tonight.
"I AM GOING TO MAKE MY DINNER, & IM NOT IN THE MOOD." I said to the room gruffly. 'Let that be a warning to ya, whoever is waiting with the next prank." I said under my breath in an authoritative tone. I let my footsteps articulate how unenthused I was. And to let anything listening know, that I didn’t appreciate this new invasion of my peace. I made my way to the kitchen, got my dinner together, and poured myself a glass of sweet red wine.
The night became more relaxing as time went on; which I was very grateful for. I made the decision to go to bed early, tucking myself into a crisp, freshly made bed. I had also placed an extra blanket at the foot of the bed that night. It had been forecasted to get really cold within the next few days and I knew I would be in need. I just didn't realize how soon.
I felt the frosty tone to the air hit as it was still dark in the room. It was pulling me out of my dream state, in a slow, achy sort of way. I felt like my drowsiness had fought against the moving of my body. Just a little, I thought, enough to reach the blanket at the edge of the bed. I struggled for consciousness for what felt like a long while. The scene played over and over in my dream. My body only complying enough to move my legs in a fruitless hunt for a warm spot for my toes to nestle into. I groaned a little, & opened my eyes a slit, to look for the blanket to pull on. And that's when I saw it.
A Glowing Red Figure standing in the doorway that led to the living room. I shut my eyes hard, thinking that this obvious figment of my dreams/imagination would go away. "it's not really there." I thought to myself reassuringly. I opened my eyes again, and they rested upon the exact thing that I did not want to be seeing.
The Glowing Red Figure in the doorway. It's physique, coming into focus, was a skeleton. Its right arm, lowering, as if it had been waving to gain my attention. I closed my eyes again.
You are having a dream, I thought. And took a second, wanting so bad to have this futile wish take hold of reality. Opening my eyes again, felt like ripping off a bandage. I knew what was waiting, and I really didn't like it. But I had to see…
The Figure didn't move, and it didn't feel angry, or mean, it felt as though it was just making sure I knew it was there. And as I gulped & accepted this, it began to fade.
Before I knew it, there was no sign of it, and I stayed put for a bit to watch the door. Curious to see if it was going to come back.
Nothing. The room was now calm, and quiet. The cat quickly entered the room, which gave me a small fright when she announced her presence with a short and loud Trill. Now, that familiar feeling set in , of being sobered out of my sleep. I lay back down for a second and rolled over to check the time. 4:10am.
My first thought was, why!? I now had so many questions, but who do I ask? Did this glowy body that appeared tonight have something to do with the time? Was there something that related to this in the story that my landlord had to tell me? I won't know now, or maybe ever, I thought.
The cat got up on the bed, then back down, rubbed her face along the door frame to the living room and disappeared. She'll want food, & I think I will go to the kitchen and get some coffee, and try to start my day…
I had laid low all day. Just what the doctor ordered. The only disturbances had been the cat playing with a paper ball I threw for her, and I could hear it when the mail carrier came into the foyer to deposit goods into the various boxes.
I took a break from lounging, and went out to see if I got anything. A few letters, a few adverts, nothing exciting, which was fine by me; and I turned to go back into my bed room.
"Pppsssst...!" I whirled around, still on edge from the being who woke me this morning. It was Maxine. She had opened her door and popped her head out. "I thought that was you," she said low voiced as she waved for me to come towards her. "I heard it too." she said. "Did the landlord tell you yet?" she finished, with a hopeful look on her that was tense.
"Tell me what...?" I leaned closer, and she pulled me inside her door by wrapping her arm around my right elbow.
I could hear her tea kettle begin to squeal, and she had incense burning. Her front room was bright and sunny, & there were swirls of smoke illuminated by beams traveling in with the afternoon light.
She looked out to the foyer, and closed the door quietly before she resumed pulling me towards the next room. I let her lead me, & I tried my best to watch my steps. Her Kaftan style of dressing was sweeping the floor today, and I nearly tripped the both of us in our short distance traveling to the left.
She let go of her grip on me, leaving me to stand in a dark wood paneled room, in front of a dark, wooden, round table. She fled into the next room, to cease the cries of the hot water kettle. I heard a few things clink and clank from her shuffling, as I stood taking into focus what was in the room. I saw many rich dark fabrics and some cushioned dark wooden chairs that all had arms on them. There were candles burning in the middle of the table, on top of a delicate looking table cloth that didn't span the width of the table. Maybe it was a scarf...
Just as I was starting to lose all train of thought, spacing out at this perfectly dark bohemian vignette; Maxine bounded in and directed me to sit in the chair by the wall. “Chair on the right.” She said. She then closed the blind on the window across from my seat that led out to her porch; that now had less plants, due to frost, I was guessing.
The candles and the hallway bringing in the only light in the room now, she sat down next to me on my left. It felt very safe, the chairs were well cushioned, and the tea, in the pot she placed on the trivet in front of us smelled of lavender and mint.
"How much did she tell you?" Maxine asked gently, as if inquiring about something very sensitive... or secret.
"About what... exactly." I leaned in, now getting giddy on the suspense. "You're apartment." She stated, and looked into my eyes like she was trying to draw something unintelligible about what she was attempting to glean. "Is this part of the story she said she had to tell me...?" I asked her, hoping she could tell me. “The way so much time had passed, I figured the landlord wasn’t really interested in doing it.” I looked down for a second remembering our awkward exchange. "Wait, you said that you heard it....?" I looked at her with curiosity, of what she whispered in the hall.
"Yes. I always hear it" She said as she sat back & closed her eyes while it replayed in her mind.
"I didn't think it made any sound from what I had noticed,” I wrinkled my nose at the odd thought of how much more scary it would’ve been if it had made any kind of noise. “It just stood there at the door, looking at me, like 'I'm here'..." I rubbed my chin trying to remember if it actually made a noise or not. The memory was not coming clear to me, just the visual, standing, looking, then fading.
"What... looked at you, dear...?" she asked with a sudden stillness, realizing that this had just gotten bigger than either of us knew. "The Red Skeleton." I said to her in assumption that we were talking about the same thing. She sat back, & regarded me in a different way.
"My apologies, Dear." a smile began on her face, pleased as punch. "I have not met anyone who has seen, what... I mean, who you saw." She poured us each a cup of tea & offered me a small teddybear shaped ‘piece’ of honey for sweetening my tea. "Yes, please." I said, and wasn't quite sure where to start with all of my questions, that were now circling in my mind.
"Who…was it...?" I asked what I thought was the most important question first. She took a big sip of tea and began relating the story of the man who had died in my apartment. She told me that she hadn't known him, personally, but, she had known our landlord since they were both children at school. She went on to tell me that the landlord had lived in this house when the man had many years ago.
She made a long story short, and said that the man had had a heart attack and died, and he lay unknown to all, until his relatives came to check on him 12 days later.
"Oh my gosh..." I put down my tea cup, and asked her about what it was that she had heard. I had recounted my visual of the figure, but that it hadn't made a noise, at least that I knew of.
She told me that she hadn't been the only one to hear what she did, and that it hadn't been the only time it had occurred.
Apparently, those who have apartments with doors nearest the foyer can hear it repeatedly within the month of October. It was the knocking of the man's relatives, trying to check on him.
"They knock, then we can hear, 'let me inside'." she said finishing her cup, and pouring another. "Some of us have lived here long enough, that we just drown it out..." she passed me a plate with a cookie on it. “This morning it was too loud to ignore.”
"What about the people who have lived in my apartment since he passed?" I took a bite of the cookie and told her about my dream, the voicemail, and the plastic pitcher that fell.
She thought that the voicemail was a spectacularly humorous bit of evidence to hold onto. And she went on to say that the relatives of this poor man had tried to call his phone from the neighbor's landline, and that would have been our landlord’s parents apartment.
It all made sense to her, that this emotional echo would come through. And as for others who had tried to live there... "Not many made it through more than two Octobers." she sighed, "Its been two years now since we've been able to get anyone through just one..." She made eye contact this time with a look of hope, that they'd found the one who could do it... maybe...?
"You said 12days, right...?" I confirmed & perked up. She nodded. "NUMBEROLOGY!" I looked up & then at her for acknowledgment. "4 + 8 = 12. Every morning at 4:08 I've been waking up, without fail, and once after falling asleep on the couch at 4:08pm..."
I felt a wave of relief... would this mean that I would be able to sleep better from now on? Please & thank you, I hope so I thought.
"If my count is correct," Maxine said, "you would be the 12th tenant to live there since he passed. And the way you describe him waving, then dissipating..." she paused to pull a hand rolled cigarette from a silver filigreed case. I could tell that it was made of lavender, camomile and mugwort from the smell. She struck a match, lit her cigarette, and continued, "I think you may have freed him, my dear." and with a proud smirk she poured us more tea.
I remained living in that apartment for 5 years after that, with no other signs of paranormal happenings. At one point, I even tried to beckon the unseen to come forth and make conversation by hosting a Ouija style seance party with friends. Nothing came through.
The apartments are still there as far as I know. I used to make note, if ever I saw a listing for available apartments in that building. I still glance down the street if I’m in the neighborhood & Maxine's porch is still full of plants during the warmer months...
Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it...
XOXO
Jen
