12/20/08
Soooo…I’m locking up for the night and I go to the side door next to my carport and it isn’t completely shut! I can’t remember if I left it unlatched, not something I usually do, unless I’m unloading the car. Which I had done earlier and I could have sworn I closed and locked it per usual. So I’m uncertain, but since we haven’t had any dog alerts, I’m not overly concerned.
Just to be on the safe side, I decide to search the house, including the guest room and my studio, which I don’t even go into very often. I start off sans gun, since I never did get it cleaned and if I had to use it would probably blow up in my face. No worries, this search is just a precaution.
I go to the guest bathroom and look in the shower – empty. Then on to the guest room and turn on the light – room empty. As I start to move toward the closet, I hear an odd noise. Stopping dead, I inch forward a very tiny baby step, but decide that it is the hot water heater in the pipes. Nevertheless, I back up, turn off the light and close the door – very, very quickly, but not quickly enough – was that a voice???
Heart in my throat, I debate, gun? cops? If someone had been in there, they had to hear me. Why did they stay in the closet? Nah, has to be pipes. I go turn off the hot water determined it has to have been that. Not sure how I finessed that, since the water was warming up at the other side of the house, but I wasn’t thinking very clearly by then.
However, since there is no frigging way I’m just going to go to bed, I decide I have to investigate. So, completely weaponless, I go back – telling myself it has to be something in the pipes or ductwork, something. This doesn’t help a whole lot, but I’m not a coward.
Prolonging the inevitable, I open the door to the studio (next to the guest room) and turn on the light in there. Yep, my disaster in there surely would have impeded anyone trying to quietly hide, but I look in the full closet anyway. Empty of people or aliens or monsters.
OK, time for the guest room again. Deep breath, open door, turn on light, move silently into room. Same frigging noise as before, except this time I definitely hear a faint voice!!!
Frozen, heart pounding, dear god what do I do now, why didn’t I get the gun cleaned…but then why isn’t he coming out? Why isn’t he attacking? Male voice for sure, but something odd about it. OK, can’t stand here all night. Just go over there and open the closet door…just do it…now…I’m going now…ok…this time I’m going to go open it.
I finally do. And there are these stupid Halloween displays that my brother left when he moved. Large box-like displays, from which the sound of a creaky door, followed by a deep voice saying, “You rang?” repeats over and over. Laughing, half hysterical with relief, I shut the door, turn off the light and leave the room.
Then the dogs started barking. They are still barking as I write this – 20 minutes later. I’ve checked outside as much as I’m willing to. Meaning I stuck my head out and I couldn’t see anything or anyone. Still the dogs are on edge, which is freaky.
I’m pretty sure I left the back door not quite latched. Since if I had shut it tight, it would have been locked, as well, because I almost always keep it locked. I must have been going back out for something and gotten sidetracked. No one could have come in through the door, even though it wasn’t completely latched, without me knowing, since I have those alarm things that beep every time a door is opened.
The dogs surely heard the faint voice and were reacting to it. However, the question remains: Why did that stupid display start making noises tonight? Or has it been quietly talking to itself all these months and months? I’m thinking not or the dogs would have reacted to it before. Right? So what set it off?
And why, oh why are the dogs still barking? A Very Creepy Christmas!
12/21/08
My heart was still pounding when I wrote this. Used it as catharsis. The dogs eliminated anyone from being inside, but kept wanting out, which I did – ad nauseum. It was an hour before they finally settled down, secure that all was well.
I slept with the lights on, though.
Having checked out the closet in the light of day, I think that display has a motion detector. It didn’t start off right away, but the batteries could be wearing down which would explain why it is intermittent. I rattled it and it started, then stopped. It started again after I closed the door.
Still, there is a reason I refuse to watch the movie “The Strangers”. Living so far from anyone else does have a down side. I’m getting my gun cleaned.
12/21/08
The above was posted on a former guild website and received the following response:
“I suspect that this was merely a case where some sort of evil spirit unlocked the door, crept into your house and possessed the Halloween decoration (Which happens all the time). The dogs were reacting to the residual energy of the spirit transferring its soul into the cheap plastic. Your best bet to reduce odd evil spirits infusing Halloween decorations is to periodically burn one in whilst the other decorations are in plain view. This is to scare off would be spirits.”
Good idea!
