Ghostly Ancestors: Why They Can’t Leave the House Alone - Part II (The Ghost Stories)

For the introduction about the ancestral haunted house, please check out my hub http://coffeegginmyrice.hubpages.com/hub/Ghostly-Ancestors-Why-They-Cant-Leave-the-House-Alone

The busy kitchen

Kalay is a blind woman who have lived for a while with the family having her quarters just next to the kitchen. Everything is dark to her, of course, but she has sharp senses. She could even tell the value of bills put on her palm as a gift to her. Later, Kalay would just come visit the house when families come home for the Holy Week.

Her years in the house made her a witness to several unusual occurrences especially in the kitchen. She claims that many times she would hear voices, rattling of utensils and clanging of dishes in the kitchen like there are people dining. On some occasions, she also claims that she recognize the voices.

The “psst” from the balcony

Since the old house’ balcony had been transformed into a square bedroom, neighbours report that when they’re walking on the dusty road, someone calls on to them from the balcony room attracting their attention. “Psst, psst,” it goes. They look up only to see a strange white shape of woman and neighbours know that the house is empty. This mystery is still on going. Pssstttt!

The spooky bathroom

My pa and three of my uncles at one time occupied the living room for the night while all the women and children were up in the bedrooms on the upper floor. The sound of constant splashing of water in the bathroom (like someone taking a bath) woke them up and the light bulb fixture was on at 2 a.m. too. “Definitely, someone is taking a bath at 2 in the morning,” my uncle exclaimed. The men all felt that it was silly and weird, so my pa got up to check. Immediately, the splashing sound stopped but the light then started to flicker. The bathroom door was not locked from the inside. He checked and the floor was dry. So, he turned off the light bulb and headed back to my uncles who were drowsy but eager to know his findings. The moment he got settled back on the floor mat that the men shared, the four of them heard the activity inside the bathroom again…water splashing several times and the light bulb was back on. They were a bunch of scared matured men who raced up the staircase to join their wives in the bedrooms.

The ghost apparition of Perfecto

Coming down the staircase, my uncle Jun saw the apparition of my great-great grandpa Perfecto, standing slender and tall, all dressed prim and proper in ironed-crisp white suit wearing a white top hat and white shoes, holding a cane touching the floor, smiling wide in good cheer at him. He took a “shortcut” leap to the ground floor (the living room). My uncle Jun turned very pale.

The messed up furniture

There was a time my uncles and pa were outside at the back of the house grilling giant oysters over a bonfire on an early evening beside the well. They were having a good chat with cases of ice cold San Miguel Pilsner. Then, their chats turned towards planning about the house. There was nobody inside the house at the time of their gathering so my pa had made sure all the windows, front door and the backdoor (kitchen door) are closed. One of my uncles brought up about what to do with the house during the rest of the year when it is left empty. Another uncle suggested renovating the old house and turning it into lodging for students. In an instant, a very obvious loud bang that sounded like a furniture hitting the floor was heard outside. They looked at each other and took turns pointing who should go back inside to check. Since my pa was always braver than his brothers and cousins, he headed to go inside the house.

He said that they followed behind him and he went in first. They were shocked to find that the living room rattan chair reached the dining area upside down like it was thrown by force. The centre table was moved too. Then, one of them decided to drop the plan of turning the house into some profit accepting the fact that our ancestors were not pleased of the idea.

The sound of steps up the staircase

On another Holy Week vacation in the house, my aunt relayed to me how she felt heavy footsteps coming up the staircase behind her, on the platform where she was squatting going through old Latin and Spanish script books inside an antique trunk. She said those books belong to my grandpa and are very old. The books’ pages were so fragile, yellowish and crisp. The hardcovers were of linen. I saw them myself. She went through them hoping to keep them stored in a safer place back in her home in Canada than leaving these precious books in an empty house. Since some china, silverware, beddings and other things in the house had already gone missing, she thought of the books. She also had wondered if there were more books inside the trunk and the aparador before. My aunt recalled to me later in the day that a couple of times she opened the trunk, she would hear the footsteps coming up towards her, until it hit her that someone from our ancestors, or perhaps my grandfather didn’t want her to take away any of those books. She dropped the lid immediately out of fright because each time she turns around upon hearing those footsteps, it stops and she finds no one on the staircase.

The shadow

Neighbours claim that when the house is empty or after a housemaid had dropped by to sweep and dust the house, later in the day, they would witness a shadowy figure walking back and forth on the ground floor (the living room area). They have always believed that my grandpa’s house is haunted.

No water

The latest ghostly encounter was when my sister guided and accompanied my cousin and her husband from the States to the hometown in the island. They had with them four other friends. My sister, Missy brought them to the ancestral house and slept there for the night. Lisa, her husband and their 2 friends slept in the big room. While my sister slept in between her friends, Darryl and Curt in the other room. “I wouldn't dare sleep alone,” she said.

At dawn, Lisa and her husband went down to use the comfort room but were disappointed when they couldn't flush the toilet (Missy had told them they'll be using the bucket-method in flushing). She explained to them that it's impossible not to have water because the tank was full. They could even pull up some water at the well but they told her there was no water at the well either...(but my sister’s real guess was that they were scared to go out because it was still slightly dark).

What Missy did was open all the faucets in the bathroom and sink...and lo and behold, water was flowing freely. They were very surprised and she told them that that was their first encounter of being spooked and they believed it. Hehehe.

Back in the room, Darryl and Curt were already awake and my sister and the guys started arranging the beds when she said that Darryl noticed a wet spot right under their bed. It looked like a fresh wet footprint. How it could get there puzzled the three of them since Darryl and Curt never left the bed and besides, it was not raining and there was no roof leak and Missy never stepped on a wet floor. All of her visitors experienced these at the house but they didn't seem too scared because it was already daylight. “It would have been nicer if I told them ghost stories the night before but they begged me not to because they were feeling too tired from the trip. At the back of my mind, they refused my stories because they're scared shit. HAHAHA!” Missy said.

Hope you enjoyed the ghost stories.

≈♥≈ ©coffeegginmyrice (Marites Mabugat) 2012