A Thud in the Bedroom
Witness: Allen
Location: Chester, South Carolina
Date of Encounter: early 2005
This is something weird that happened to me over a year ago but I still remember it distinctly. I can't say with any certainty that it was in fact a ghostly encounter, but lets just say I can't logically explain the things that happened that night. I hope this isn't too long, but you wanted details so here they are!
I was in the downtown historical district of Chester, South Carolina visiting one of my friends (I live only about 20 miles north of there) and we were just hanging out to play video games and do other such activities that two 17-year-olds might do. It was still pretty cold outside because of the season, cold enough to see my breath, and being an old house without central heat, there were a few kerosene heaters scattered about, one of which was in the middle of the hallway next to an entrance for the living room. After standing in the kitchen area to chat and warm up, I was following my friend down the hall toward the back room which was used as a computer/storage/bedroom at the time and I walked by the living room waving at his mom. For some reason I stepped to the left of the heater as I passed it, even though it was closer to the wall on that side. Almost instantly, my vision darkened to the point of not being able to see, I got light-headed, and it felt like all the energy had been taken out of me at once — like the feeling you get when you stand up too quick, but I had been standing up for probably 10 minutes outside and in the kitchen. I froze right where I was and had the feeling I was about to collapse onto the floor. I think I even started to double over, then all of a sudden it all stopped and I caught my breath and kept walking… I stopped my friend and told him what just happened and half jokingly said something like, "I think *something* is in your house…" and he laughed at me, making some comment about me blaming it on ghosts (he doesn't believe they exist). I didn't know what it was, but it was soon forgotten and we carried on through the night.
When it came time for bed around maybe 2 AM, he went upstairs to his room (his mom had gone upstairs to her room a few hours earlier, and his dad was on night shift probably coming in around 5-6 AM), and I slept in the computer room that I mentioned earlier. Well, I didn't exactly sleep for a while. As I was in the bed attempting to sleep, I heard what sounded like heavy, but slow breathing that seemed to be coming from the living room down the hall, like the kind of breathing one would do when trying to calm down from something. There was no one in the room, this house was old and creaky and all the floors were wooden so you couldn't walk anywhere and keep it a secret, especially not down the two flights of stairs. I wasn't sure what to do, but I really didn't want to go find out what it was. So I laid there and listened, partly frightened and partly curious, and the breathing continued for a good 45 seconds to a minute, and then stopped. I rolled over and continued trying to go to sleep but within a few minutes the breathing sound started again, a little softer this time, but still sounding like it came from the living room. Again I was on my back listening intently. It lasted for maybe 25 seconds, and then quit. By this time I sort of expected it, and wanted to wait it out, so I laid still. Sure enough, I heard it again. This time it was again softer than before, and lasted for about 10 seconds and quit. I waited and listened… probably for 10 minutes or so until I was satisfied that it wasn't going to happen again, and then I rolled over again putting my back to the open door across the room. Another 10 minutes probably, I wasn't really keeping time… and I got a chill. Like someone lightly touched my back, just once, and I wiggled a little incase it was just a result of my emotion at the moment or the way the covers were touching me or something (I really don't know). Just a few seconds later there was a loud "thud" sound on the other side of the room. Not extremely loud, but loud enough that it got my attention (made me jump) and I knew it was in the same room as me. You know how you close those big dresser drawers and they don't always shut completely, like it leaves just an inch gap or so between the drawer face and the dresser? Well there was one on the other side of the room from me maybe 6 feet away, right next to the doorway, and it was as if someone had just gave the drawer one good, quick push to knock it all the way closed, that's exactly what the sound meant to me. After this nothing was going on and I finally got some sleep probably around 3 in the morning.
When I woke up I began to tell both my friend and his mom what I had experienced, and of course my friend laughed at me because he thinks I'm weird for believing in ghosts. But when I had finished and so had he with his comments, his mom said something to the effect of, "I don't doubt it," and she told me that she herself had seen a ghost in the house before, a white transparent female figure hovering over the bed of my friend while he was asleep, and that it didn't worry her because she felt like the spirit was watching over him. Maybe it was the same spirit I heard and possibly felt that night… or maybe it was a different one that likes to play jokes? In any case, it never harmed me or made any sign of that intent. I've since spent the night over there and had no experiences to speak of, but I was sleeping on the couch in the living room since my friend started sleeping in the room I had used before.
