It's time for another installment of a house call complaint of a haunting for you to work your skills.
This homeowner had inherited the house from her family. Her father died when she was in her 20s and then her mother retired to Florida. The house was paid off, in a nice neighborhood, a little old and tired, but ready for redo. Being a middle-ager never married, the woman considered her childhood home the future home for her children that she was determined to begin having as soon as possible. She worked like a mad woman on the place every weekend, evening and holiday, enlisting friends and family to help out.
She contacted with concern that something was in the attic.
It began after she started to gut out the rec room. The wall between the room and the living room came down and opened the area up into one huge space. It brought in lots of light and was a brilliant choice for her modern tastes. Exhausted from the hard work, the woman went to sleep in the master suite that her parents used to share and that she claimed as her new domain. Curled up on the bed for a few moments before taking a much-needed shower, she fell into a deep sleep instead.
She was awakened by a slamming sound, something remotely familiar. She sat up and realized the room was dark and she was still in her dusty clothing, she went into the bath and ran a shower. When she was dry and in her pajamas, she headed down the hall to the kitchen for water. It was when she got to the door that she heard it again. Swinging around, she raced down the hall and looked around. The place was still and there was no sign of an intruder, but that sound was familiar and yet she didn't remember it being a part of the heating system or other usual house sounds.
Days later, it happened again several times in one night. She investigated twice and then finally gave up chasing it down and went to sleep.
It was when she had her brother and his family over for a barbecue and painting party that she really got concerned. Her brother came into the kitchen pale-faced.
"You're not living with someone and not telling me?"
She shook her head.
"Then who's in the attic?"
A chill ran through her body, suddenly the woman knew what the familiar sound was the click of the attic door closing in place.
Her brother reported that while he was using the bathroom, he heard the attic door click and stepped into the hallway to hear what sounded like heavy footfalls in the attic.
A middle of the night rhythmic thumping came to her mind and the woman realized that she had half awake heard the footsteps too.
When asked about the history of the house, the brother and sister revealed that three of their four grandparents had died in the house. One died in his sleep, the other two died in hospice care of cancer. They had always lived with other generations in the home. So far as they knew, nothing had ever happened of a haunting fashion while they were growing up in the house and the grandparents had passed when the woman was 5, 10 and 12.
Where do you begin?