"What happens to us when we die?" is a common question that has been asked of just about every known religion. The answer is that we do not know what happens to us after death. To many people, what awaits beyond death is something that should be feared. Others believe there are several things that could happen to a person when they die. One of them is to become a ghost. If they have unfinished business or choose to stay behind, to stay with the familiar, then they can become a ghost.
There are many experiences that cannot be explained otherwise: Full apparitions of someone who was not there, items moving to unusual places, loud unexplainable noises, even shadows.
I have lived in several houses that had paranormal activity, though nothing like what I have recently experienced. We currently have something here in our house. Our "friend," as I call it, likes to scare me.
At first, our friend was interested in slamming cupboards, particularly the cup cupboard. When we did not respond, (we thought it was the house itself, creaking and groaning, you know?) it went to shadows and making the front door open and close. The door did not actually open and close, it just sounded that way. We even had a neighbor across the street hear it once when no one was home.
The first time I saw a shadow, we had been living in the house for almost a year. I was sitting up reading while my husband was asleep. I glanced up as I noticed movement (I thought it was one of my cats). However, a shadow of a rather tall man, around 6 foot 5, walked from the living room into the kitchen. I panicked and woke my husband. Jase then grabbed our air gun and proceeded to check through the house. Of course, there was nothing there except our many cats and two dogs. Since that time, our friend has taken on a shadow form twice more.
As I mentioned before, we have several cats. Occasionally, our cats will pick a spot in the room and stare at it. One time, two cats went nuts because of one of their "spots". They had been just sitting there staring at a spot, then suddenly both cats bolted. When I went in search of them, their hackles rose and their eyes were showing white. That one bothered me for some time.
Shortly after the shadow and cat incidents, the door began to slam. It would happen almost daily. When it first started to happen, it would occur around the time that Jase would come home. I would call out to Jase, thinking that he was there. Only there was nothing. After a while, I stopped responding. Jase has learned to call out when he comes home so that I can respond, because of this.
Our friend did not like the fact that we had changed the rules. So then, they began to (auditory) slam the door between noon and three, every day. It was during that time that the neighbor heard it. I lied and told the neighbor that a friend had been visiting.
The sound of the door slamming continued for around six months. I was terrified at that point, because whoever was slamming the door sounded angry. It became worse when the time became intermittent and would occur at any time, day or night. Unfortunately, that is when I found out that our friend could stop others from hearing the sound. I finally began to lock myself in my room.
My husband's first experience with our friend was with the auditory phenomena about a year or so ago. We were sitting in the bedroom, I was reading, he was playing a game on the play station. Suddenly, he perked up and asked if I had heard anything. I answered that I had not and suggested that it was one of the cats. Nevertheless, Jase shook his head and left the room to investigate. He was outside the bedroom for nearly a half hour. When he came back, he was perplexed and frustrated.
My husband then decided to try to expel our friend. Around Christmas that year, he took it upon himself to learn what he could about exorcism. He had me stay at my parents' house while he did it. When he came to pick me up, several hours later, he was whiter than I had ever seen him. He took me home before explaining what had happened.
While exorcising, the Christmas lights that we had hung around our bedroom went insane. They swung around as though we were having an earthquake (we were not). Some of the ornaments even flew off the strands and shattered on the floor. Several items were thrown. Jase had not seen the action, just the result. One item came close to hitting him in the face.
Luckily for us, our friend decided to take a break for several months. All activity stopped. This really was a surprise because we found out later that others have tried to expel a spirit and ended up with horrible results. A couple of them were physically attacked.
However, things are beginning to pick up again. Just before Christmas (in 2008), we heard a huge crash. It sounded like a car accident. We immediately ran outside and looked around. To our amazement, no neighbors came out. We realized that our friend was back.
Since then, little things have been happening. Movement out of the corner of our eyes. Strange sounds. Things disappearing (nothing has ever come back. We are still missing a cell phone, a set of car keys, etc.).
Though we have never had any "bad" experiences, I get the feeling that our friend is not a happy thing. There is loneliness there and anger. Maybe our friend is trying to communicate with us, maybe not. All I know is that I hope our friend does not get upset again. I do not really want to go through another period where I lock myself in my room.