Nighttime Runner

Hunger, thirst, or you just have to go to the bathroom. These are the things that wake us up during the night. If you have fridge or bathroom in your room then good for you, but if you have to go downstairs like me… hmmm…

I don’t turn on the lights whenever I go down because I might wake up my grandma whose room is at the first floor, right next to the kitchen. Feeling really hungry so I stood up and leisurely walk my way to the kitchen, using my mobile phone to illuminate my course. I was almost there when I felt something weird. I felt like someone is walking behind me. So I turnaround to check, but found nothing. Well I did see Zac (my dog) but he is asleep and is not moving a bit. I’ve made it to the fridge (finally!) and looked for anything that would satisfy my hunger. On my way back to my room, there it is again. I’ve had the same feeling in that same spot. The creepiness is really all over me this time, so I hurriedly went back to my room. I was about to sleep when I heard my ate (who happens to have a third-eye) arrived.

Morning. I was shocked when my ate told us over breakfast that when she arrived (that night), she saw a kid running in the kitchen. It was weird because there are no kids at our house. So she stayed a bit more in the kitchen just to be sure, she didn’t turn on the lights though. Then she saw the kid running again. This time, it is clearer. She was stunned to see a boy, who seemed scared and unhappy. But what was really disturbing is that he was colored green…

And yeah, I still go downstairs in the middle of the night after hearing that…with the lights on of course!

More on the 15F

It’s quite weird that there are a lot of “appearances” in that office building. It’s relatively new and I haven’t heard about any accident or mishap that resulted in death in that building. The area is also not known for such things. The only thing to note, however, is the fact that the building is across a church that has a masoleum in its premises. Oh well.

It was a Friday night and everyone left me behind in the office. I had to meet my classmates from the marketing research class I was taking. I stayed at the office to finish the iterations of the study we were making. There were only two other people in the floor – Manong Sonny, the janitor who was earning 30K per month and the Manong Guard. Manong Sonny was quite apprehensive about me staying late because he really didn’t like my room.

In my previous story I mentioned that I moved to several spots. I had it made when I was finally moved to a corner office! It wasn’t big, just about 12 square meters, but the Manila Bay sunset view was what always made my day (far cry from my garage view at my basement now heh). But Manong Sonny and the building maintenance people weren’t really happy that I was placed there.

I like well-lighted rooms. I even requested maintenance to add several fluorescents in my room. I thought it was too dark. One time while the maintenance guy was installing additional lights in my room he told me, “Ma’am ingat po kayo dito ha.” (Ma’am, be careful here.). I thought it was quite weird and asked him why. “Meron pong kakaibang nilalang dito. Kayo na po ang may pinakamaliwanag na opisina sa buong building at makakatulong po to.” (There is something different here in your office. Your office is the most-lighted one in the whole building, but this would surely help).

I didn’t mind what he said until a few days later the decorative stuff that hid the light came off and almost hit me on my head. I actually ran to Anne’s place and complained about what happened. The maintenance guy immediately showed up and said, “Sabi sa iyo Ma’am eh.” (I told you so.). I just shrugged it off and thought that it was because he didn’t hinge the thing properly when he installed the lights.

Eversince then whenever I stayed late – usually until 7 – Manong Sonny would check on me every so often. It was only on that evening that I was to meet my classmates that I understood what Manong Sonny and the maintenance guy was trying to tell me. I was happily being a nerd when I heard the tapping on the glass. I thought there was someone from publishing trying to get my attention – I was like in a fishbowl in my office, despite the blinds, everyone in the publishing section could see what I was doing. I then checked who was tapping the glass. There wasn’t anyone. And then I heard it again, it was to my right. I then thought my colleague who was situated in the next room was just dissing me. I knew she went home early and thought maybe she went back to get something. There was no one.

I called out to Manong Sonny and the Manong Guard, but they weren’t within earshot. I just then shrugged it off and continued my computations. Tap-tap-tap. I just raised my brow. Tap-tap-tap. Hmmm… The rapping on the glass continued and wouldn’t stop. I started praying and saving up my work. It was already way past ten in the evening and I thought the occupants weren’t really happy I was still there.

Tap-tap-tap. Tap-tap-tap. Tap-tap-tap.

I quickly shut down my PC and ran.

The House On Clover Street

Back when I was in second year high school we had our family reunion on my father’s side of the family held at my Uncle’s house in Clover Street, Sun Valley Subdivision, Parañaque City. The house is empty since he bought it just recently from some Engineer who used to live there I think. My Uncle had a couple of houses in that Subdivision but he chose that particular house for the occasion since it had plenty of room for barbecue and games…

I’ve been to that Subdivision as often as I could remember but I never felt as weird as I did that day…especially when we entered that said Street. There’s this particular house that had the aura so weird it sent shivers down my spine. I found myself begging silently, “Please don’t let it be that house.” To my dismay…it was indeed the house that we’re supposed to go to.

The house is deserted, it is located at what seemed like a dead end of that Subdivision with tall wild grass around it…the nearest house to it is a couple of meters away. When we parked the car my family and other relatives jumped out happily talking with each other. I was left inside the car staring into the scary looking house. Don’t get me wrong it looked normal…at least through my family’s eyes the house is just like any other ordinary modern looking houses in that place but they didn’t know what awaits us inside this nice looking house. In my eyes it looked like one of the houses in Addams Family…it’s as if the house had a face…a very scary face.

I was about to get out of the car when a flash of some woman standing by the window of one of the rooms in the top floor suddenly appeared. I looked up and it’s gone. Shrugging my shoulders off I tried to shake off that familiar feeling of being “stalked” by these beings. I couldn’t tell anyone about it much as I wanted to because I know they would not believe me…and I didn’t want to scare off the kids.

And so we partied and I tried my hardest to have some fun…but it’s kind of hard to do since I am fully aware of the uninvited guests…or was it the other way around?!

My Mom at that time was with one of my Aunts who at that time attends the El Shaddai Charismatic group on a regular basis at the PICC…it was night time when they arrived at the house on clover street…back then I didn’t know that Mom experienced the same things that I did.

After dinner we all decided to have a grand tour around the house…all of us kids were thrilled upon learning that there is a basement located under the kitchen…we all went down there…and that is against my better judgment.

While touring the house from top to bottom I am convinced that it was indeed haunted! In every part of the house the woman I saw by the window is there…she followed us everywhere…and she wasn’t alone. There was a black entity roaming around the house and I could tell it’s not happy to see us there…the black entity left us when my Mom arrived…that was the only time I felt at ease. As we let the elders catch up on their what not my cousins & I decided to stay outside the house and chat...one of them even started telling scary ghosts stories...when he came to the part when he’s talking about evil spirits I asked him to stop. Talking about them means you’re invoking them to come out…and since the presence of evil is really strong that night and even if my Mom’s there with us…I don’t think I’d be comfortable talking about it.

The elders decided to spend the night since it’s late and my Titos were mostly too drunk to drive…my Uncle, the owner of the house told us we could use the house for the night and gave us the things that we needed…odd part is that he locked the gate & the door behind him when he left…up until now I wonder why the hell he had to do that?!

We were all at the living room at that time and no one made a move in going into the rooms to settle down & sleep…then my Mom spoke…”This house gives me the creeps…maybe we should stay here and sleep together." Everyone agreed since everyone suddenly felt the chills.

We all decided to pray…(led by my Mom of course!) and as we hold hands while singing The Lord’s Prayer I suddenly heard a very weird sounding voice coming from the basement…I can’t even tell if it’s a woman’s or a man’s voice…it just sounded weird. My Mom heard it too since she stopped singing and looked at my direction…my Aunt Elly heard it too since she dropped her hand and said, “What was that?!” Everyone stopped singing then my Mom decided to recite The Lord’s Prayer instead of singing it…we all followed her lead…halfway through the prayer that weird sounding voice is there again…if it’s trying to recite the Lord’s Prayer I honestly don’t know…because I couldn’t understand anything from the odd sound it’s making.

Mom prayed over the souls who were roaming around the house…

One by one they fell asleep…my eldest cousin Rowena, my Ate & I were the only ones who were awake…we all decided to stay up until morning comes…since they were using the phone talking with their boy friends…while I was happily listening to my walkman…

Drowning myself with my music I didn’t realize that my cousin & Ate were already asleep…leaving me all alone...I was then staring at the glass sliding door contemplating when a woman appeared standing nearby where I was…I quickly threw a glance at that direction but found no one…turning my eyes back at the door it’s there again…

I raised the volume of my walkman a couple of notch higher trying to ignore it…I closed my eyes trying to feel my music and I was just beginning to relax when I heard that weird sounding voice again it’s as if it’s breathing down my ear…what the hell?!

I opened my eyes and saw the woman standing right next to me…then to make my situation worse the black entity made itself visible again…I saw it roaming around the house…but thankfully it’s just outside the house…but still…it was scaring the hell out of me…I wanted to run to my family & scream but I couldn’t even move a muscle let alone utter a single sound. In cold sweat I prayed as hard as I could…prayed to God to give me a sign…telling myself…”If one of you (my family) would just move a muscle I could find the strength to jump out of here!” I begged and I begged for what seemed like eternity for me (but I bet it was only minutes) then suddenly my cousin moved her leg…almost immediately I jumped off and ran to the space near her and crouched beside her covering my ears and shutting my eyes so tight that it hurt. I covered my ears because I could still hear the woman’s haunting voice….my eyes because I could see the black entity moved towards the direction where I headed and stopped right outside the window above me. I prayed & I prayed until I fell asleep.

That was a total nightmare…I swore never to step foot into that blasted house ever again!

The next day without bothering to have breakfast we all decided to leave that blasted place as soon as we can…apparently I wasn’t the only one who had a scary encounters with the entities living in that house…and so we packed our stuff and board the cars…before we finally left the house my Mom offered a prayer for the troubled souls…as we drove away…I took one last glance at the place…I saw the woman by the window…looking at me with that accusing eyes of hers…

Was she trying to tell me something?!

Later on I heard from my Uncle that she is murdered in that house a couple of years ago and that whoever bought the house never had peace living in that place that is why it was always for sale…until my Uncle came along that is!

Was she trying to tell me how she died...perhaps she wanted to tell me who killed her.

Up until now I still don’t know the truth about her death…her case was never solved…

Should I have listened to her cry for help?!

Creepy Creature

I have heard quite a few stories about different creatures from the “dark” side from relatives and friends. The one that I have been really scared of is the one called “Sigben”. I recall my yaya Brenda tell me her story. I’ve forgotten what province she is from (for I was really young back then) but it is somewhere in the Mindanao region. Her family’s house is a typical bahay-kubo. It is surrounded by large trees, and seemed isolated.

When her friends call her from outside of her house, they just clap. That is kind of their gesture. One evening, when she was about to sleep, she heard someone clapping. Though surprised because it is pretty late already, she looked outside of her window and tried to see who’s calling out to her. Because it is too dark, she didn’t see anyone, so she went to her bed instead. As she was about to sleep, she heard the clapping again. This time, it is louder. It seemed that whoever it is, it is closer to her room now than the first time. Again she looked outside her window and didn’t find anyone. Then she decided to go out to check. As she was going down their house’s wooden stairs, she saw someone moving behind a tree. She heard the clapping again. And it’s coming from that spot. She yelled one of her friend’s name thinking that he was that someone, but it didn’t stopped clapping. So she walked towards the tree. As she approaches it, bit by bit, she sees that whoever it is behind the tree, it is huge and has an odd body. She got the shock of her life when it jumped in front of her! She saw this half-man half-goat creature! Its head can turn upside-down and it has the scariest eyes. Its ears are so big that it can clap using them. That’s where the clapping is coming from. She ran back to the house as fast as she could and locked all the doors and windows. She woke up everyone in her family and told them what she saw. From then on, she never answered to anybody who is calling her by clapping ever again.

Click here to see an image of a creature that is rumored to be a young Sigben.

Warm Welcome at 15F

Indeed the 15th floor of the building I used to work for is haunted! The tales in that floor doesn't end with Anne's sharing. It's just the beginning.

I worked for about 5 years in the building where Anne and I met. My first job in that building was at the 12th floor. I thought that I wouldn't have "friends" anymore at the 15th floor when I moved.

I was wrong. Dead wrong.

I moved places several times at the 15th floor. There were a lot of changes when I entered the organization because they had to adjust to the "new media" section that I brought in with me.

Anyway, I was used to staying late in the office and was quite surprised that the place would be deserted by 4:30 p.m. It wasn't a wonder because the average age in the organization when I came in was above 40. They were all scrambling to go home even before the hymn that signaled EOD played.

One thing my spirit questor friend was not able to close was my "third ear" (audio). Back when I was in the 12th floor of that building I used to hear a lot of voices calling out to me (I'll tell that story some other time). I thought that when I moved to the 15th floor it wouldn't happen again. But, of course, it did.

My first encounter was hearing a mature woman call my name. I thought it was one of the mommies from the other section and I'd always say, "Bakit po?" My colleagues would then look at me strangely and tell me no one was calling me. It happened several times and the worst time was when she called out to me when I was already alone in my little corner at the 15th floor. That actually happened on my birthday when I was waiting for my parents to pick me up for my birthday dinner.

I was on the phone at that time and it was way past 7 in the evening. I was looking out the window and watching cars driving by the Skyway. "Aileen," she said, it was barely a whisper. At first I didn't hear it since I was chatting with a friend. "Aileen, " a bit stronger now. I heard it and told my friend, "Just a minute somebody's calling me." I stood up and looked around. Nobody was there. I took a deep breath and ignored the call.

I was quite bothered about it, not scared, but bothered.

The next day I asked the mommies if there was a spirit wandering the area and they said that a few years back one of the publishing supervisors passed away in a car accident. They said she has probably not moved on that's why she still wanders the halls of the 15F. They also told me that I shouldn't be scared coz she was just welcoming me.

And that was just one of the encounters I had in the 15F.

*EOD - end of day

Translation
Bakit po - Why?

15/F

There was this time na inabot ako hanggang 11pm sa office…nagka-problema kasi sa mga payables nun so I had to stay and finish everything since rush yun. Around 9pm ako na lang ang tao sa 15/f floor...ang mga taga-Marketing na kasama ko eh before 5pm pa lang nagsialisan na since its Friday…gimmick day! Yung mga taga-Publishing naman hanggang 6pm lang yata nag-overtime so ayun mag-isa ako sa floor na yun tanging kasama ko eh si Kuya yung guard na nasa lobby. From time to time naman he checks up on me…isa pa di ko na rin pansin na nag-iisa ako since I was exchanging text messages with a friend & chatting with Ai while processing those payment requests.

Sa dami nang ginagawa ko nun at sa pagpapanic na rin (pero nakuha pang mag-text at mag-chat!) eh dko na pansin na gumagabi na pala at mag-isa na lang ako sa office…until nagstart silang magparamdam sa akin.

Bumukas yung gripo sa may pantry na halos katabi ko lang…tinawagan ko agad si Kuya to ask if may naiwan pa sa loob aside from me…only to find out na nag-iisa na nga lang ako dito at wala ring pumapasok…then may mga naglalakad sa may harap ko…empty space yun at that time...the old fulfillment place…DEAD MA lang. Ayokong pumasok ng weekend kailangan kong tapusin yung ginagawa ko.

My friend actually told me na umuwi na since it’s late at nag-iisa pa ako sa office sinabi ko sakanya na ayoko nang ibitin yung trabaho ko..ayokong umuwi nang di ko pa natatapos yun. Ai on the other hand is giving me words of encouragement na talaga namang nakatulong sa akin.

11pm na nang matapos ako…dali-dali kong shinut down ang pc ko…kinailangan kong umakyat sa 16/f since naka lock na yung exit dito sa 15/F…habang inaakyat ko ang hagdan papunta sa lobby ng 16/F ka-text ko parin yung friend ko…not looking back kasi alam kong may kasunod ako…isa sa mga naglalakad sa may empty space sa harap ko sinamahan akong umakyat (isang babae)…when I finally reached the lobby inabutan kong natutulog yung guard doon…oblivious to the man sitting on the couch…

“Ma’am Anne, ginabi ka yata?!” sabi nung guard…I just smiled and asked, “Manong me kasama ka pa ba dito?!” He shook his head and said, “Tayong dalawa na lang Ma’am ang nandito sa DPC…ngayon iiwan nyo na ako matutulog na uli ako wala naman kasi akong kausap.”

While we were talking the woman who came with me is just staring at me from the glass door...I guess she felt sorry for me since I was alone...sinamahan pa niya ako hanggang sa elevator.

Are You In?

Have you ever tried playing “Spirit of The Glass”?

When I was in highschool, my friends and I played it. I didn’t believe in it at first. I told my friends that we are only fooling ourselves. But they insisted on doing it so we went to one of our classmate’s house. Their house is pretty big, but seemed empty. Only he and his grandmother live there because the rest of his family lives in the US. Before we started to play, we prayed. And then started placing our two fingers – pointer and middle finger on top of an upturned glass. “Spirit of the glass, are you in?” we said. Then the glass started moving towards the “Yes” circle. I was kinda suspicious and I thought one of us was controlling the glass. But seeing their reaction, I knew that they are shocked too. We asked for the spirit’s name, and the glass spelled it. The spirit was a “he”. We asked how he died. He said that he had a car accident. His car fell off a bridge, and he drowned when he couldn’t get out of his car underwater. His body was never found. Then the glass just keeps on moving even if we are not asking him anything. He said he wants us to help him. We asked him “How?”. He said he wants us to look for his body, and bury him! Of course we are all thinking that it is impossible for us to do, so we said we are sorry and that we can’t do that. We said that we’d just pray for him. “I’m mad now!” he said! We were all scared. We’ve wanted to let go of the glass but doing so might get things worse. We said we’re sorry several times but that didn’t change his mind. And so we prayed. And prayed. And let go of the glass.

We went home right after that. We are all very terrified. I’ll never play that game again. I felt guilty about disturbing that spirit. I’m praying for him until now.

My brother played it too, with his friends. He said that the spirit who entered the glass is an evil spirit – It is so angry that the glass broke! And one of his friends got very sick the following day. His family brought him to several hospitals but all of the doctors didn’t know what was happening to him. After a week, he was paralyzed. He was in a wheelchair when he graduated.

Now, are you in?

Have You Ever Experienced Your Bed Shake?

Last weekend I tagged along with my friends to see the sights in Ilocos Norte. I’ve never been to that area in the country and since it was free, I gladly went along with the plan.

It was a very long trip. We left Manila at around 4 in the morning and arrived in Laoag at almost 5 in the afternoon. We were looking forward to eating yummy local food and relaxing at the prestigious Fort Ilocandia, but we had to tag along with the other guys we were with for some work.

We arrived back at the hotel at past 11 in the evening and decided to check out the beach. It was very dark, only the moon illuminated the wide seashore. A couple of trees were scattered around. We had to avoid falling into newly dug ditches for a landscaping project, seemed like the placement of the trees were part of a grand scheme (quite unnatural). After checking out the shore – sand seemed to be black – we settled in a hut a few meters from the seashore.

Of course, like in Punta Fuego we started scaring each other. Abe pointing out a wire to be a tuko’s tail – in the dim light it did seem like a tail. We also couldn’t help but scare Sasha by placing our mobile phones under our chin to look like ghosts. Rito, a writer at the Philippine Daily Inquirer, joined in the raucous behavior.

We were laughing so hard, but I told Abe to cut it out since I was afraid that my third eye might open. The place seemed perfect for wayward spirits and I felt I wasn’t far from seeing one pop-up anytime.

Too late. I was speaking with Rito when I saw a blur of white and blue streak behind him. I just stayed quiet at first so as not to scare Sasha and Lauren further. I just said, ‘It’s too late I can already see them”. It didn’t help that Rito kept kidding that he was seeing things already. He suddenly stood up and said he was going back to his room.

By this time, the girls were already seeking protection from Abe. Three very scared girls, uhuh, lucky Abe and Rito. We then decided to go back to our rooms altogether.

I had to hide my face in Abe’s arm because I knew that what I saw was following us. I’d see him in the sort palm trees looking at us. Curious perhaps and probably amused that we were so scared. I only let go of Abe’s arm when we were already in the lighted area of the hotel. It looked like a kid Good thing it didn’t follow us anymore.

We slept with the lights on, but I guess Lauren was bothered about it and turned it on. I thought things were okay already. Sasha and I slept beside each other and assured each other that things were already alright and that we were far from the entity that we saw.

At the witching hour I was awakened by the vigorous shaking of the bed. I realized Sasha was awake too (I didn’t see that Lauren was seated on our bed already) and asked her what was happening. The bed was shaking so badly. I remembered that we were in Room 214 (supposedly a room that is always occupied – it was, something was in the shower). I was so freaked out because I became fixated on a corner in the room. I felt I was looking at something. It was so dark though and I just hid under the covers.

The shaking of the bed soon stopped and I finally managed to ask Sasha what it was. She said it was an earthquake. Weird, how could a bed shake that bad during the earthquake when it’s only on the second floor?

Haunted

I grew up with a bunch of relatives who could see things that normal people don't...people say that my family members’ “third eye” is open that is why they could see these things.

I started having my own “sightings” during my early years in grade school…first time I saw them was when my family went to visit my grand father’s resting place in Loyola Memorial Park, Parañaque City…I was walking behind the others admiring the “view”…I saw lots of “people” roaming around most of them have this big smile on their faces, “Kaya pala fiestang patay ang tawag, para pala talagang fiesta dito ang daming tao!” I thought to myself.

I realized that those figures are not really human beings when I actually collided with one of them…he just went through me…”What the…”

After that incident seeing “them” became part of my daily life…there came a point that it didn’t bother me anymore.

This explains why I am not the one who would easily get scared over a horror film…except for “The Grudge” Original Japanese Version that is…ehehehe…that film actually got thru me. But no sleepless nights or having to turn on the lights while I sleep kinda thing…it just made me think…and I actually loved it. What good is a scary movie if it doesn’t serve its purpose?

Sometimes I ask myself why do I see these things?! Is there something wrong with me? I’ve been watching films, been reading things related to what I am going through to find some answer…all the stuff I’ve read & watched implied the same thing…if you have a rough childhood or if you are extremely sad or depressed, you are most likely to experience these things…Hmmm…I wonder saan kaya ako nag-fall dun?! Hmmm…

People would actually suggest that I should go to a specialist that would help me open up my "third eye” I was like, “why the hell for?! I am fine with the way I am now…if anything I want to “close” it. I do not want to see the future or see more of these things.

And so as time goes by I eventually lost my “talent.” Does this mean that I am happier now that I am older?! Does this mean that I finally have it closed?! And how was I able to do that?! Is my unwillingness to explore did it?! I honestly don’t know. Basta tahimik na ang buhay ko and I’m not about to go looking for ways to complicate things again by wondering why I don’t see them anymore.

It’s over…finally!

Or so I thought.

Last April 27, 2007 we went to Caylabne Resort in Ternate Cavite for our company’s summer outing…the beach is located below this weird looking ravine…the resort looks nice though. I shared a room at the top floor of the apartment style building with some friends of mine. The room is ok it’s got a nice view…it also have my favorite part of a house…the terrace. While waiting for my turn to take a shower I went out to the terrace to “reflect” with my brother’s mp3 on…I pushed the sliding door and went outside…it’s almost dark outside but I didn’t mind at all...stood there admiring the trees…wala kasing masyadong trees sa city…ehehehe.

So ayun while enjoying my moment alone…natigil ako sa aking pagmumuni-muni when all of a sudden huminto ang hangin…I looked around then suddenly biglang lumakas uli ang hangin…feeling like someone’s watching me…feeling like I’m not alone I decided to take a look around for the second time…that’s when I saw the “white lady-like” figure with a longest locks of black hair that I have ever seen…she’s standing by the tree that’s in front of me...few feet away from me. I closed my eyes & shook my head off…telling myself that it’s just my imagination…then I looked at that same direction again…she’s gone.

I went inside our room happy to find out that it’s finally my turn to take a shower…I tried to forget about what happened. After that refreshing bath I tried to relax by the bed listening to some mp3s…mga ilang minuto pa bababa na kami for dinner…I was enjoying my music when I noticed the two huge windows by the bed…I pulled the curtain to see what’s outside…to my surprise…it’s there again!

Why am I being haunted by these things again?!