Here ya go Dawn!

As we yelled for Neal & continued to hear nothing in return, we started to freak a bit. Mom said " I'm going after him!". Just as she started down the stairs, we heard footsteps coming back toward the stairs. It was Neal. And in his hand...an aluminum baseball bat. That's what all the banging was. He had grabbed a bat from the pile of sports equipment down stairs & started banging away at the padlock on the first of the three doors on the far back wall. "Well why didn't you yell that up, when we were calling your name?" mom demanded. "I didn't hear a thing", he replied. Mom & I looked at each other in amazement! "We were screaming for you at the top of our lungs!!!" I said. Neal's turn to look totally amazed, & he did. "I heard nothing but the sound of the bat hitting the steal padlock." Neal said, his voice turning to a whisper as he finished his sentence. At this exact moment I got a chill that ran straight up my spine & into the back of my head. A tingling, tickling feeling. Two seconds later, The sweeping sound returned. First slowly, then more rapidly as the minutes passed. We all stood there quietly, until mom turned to me & asked me if I had ever seen anything in the house before. I answered "If I had ever SEEN anything in this house, believe me, I would have JUMPED in bed w/you & INSISTED on a night light!!!" We all decided that we would sleep together in my room that night. Neal took the floor.

Later that night when the scratching started, Neal said he could feel the vibration of it beneath his back, on the hard wood floor.
The next day the twins came home. When mom told them a lighter summary of what took place the night before while they were away (basically downplayed the whole thing), she had also informed them that she had to work that night & couldn't be home with us. My sister freaked. And back Mema came, from two cities away to pick her up. JJ stayed with me that night at home. I told him I wasn't afraid (Mostly because I thought he was going back w/my grandma & Jen, I didn't want him to worry.), but when he heard me say that I wasn't afraid, I guess it made him secure enough to tough it out at home. And so our night at home alone began. To be quite honest, I was so happy that he said he'd stay, I was going to be at home alone that night. It was too cramped in my grandmas trailer & no AC in the middle of August! I'd rather listen to strange sounds all night in my house , then to be cramped & sweaty all night in hers. So it was settled, Mema & Jen at her house & JJ & I at ours.

This night went by pretty uneventful, all except for the creaking. That was just about every night though, with or without the crying or sweeping. This didn't bother us, but rather put us to sleep with it's rhythmic sound. There we lay soundly sleeping in ma's bed, bathroom light ON.

The next two weeks went by very quick, as we were shopping & preparing for the new school year to start. The first weekend after school started, we three kids were so bored & stir crazy from all of the rain keeping us indoors, that we decided to break Ma's rule & venture upstairs.She was at work, how would she know right? All three of us, me in the lead, went up the dark rear hallway & came to the door of the upstairs flat. There were no light bulbs in any of the sockets in the hallway, but we had the trusty flashlight. As we stood in the hallway at the top of the stairs waiting for our vision to adjust, we stared ahead to see the door, slightly ajar.

It must have been a good 10 - 15 minutes before we made the decision to enter. Jen was against it. But in we went. It was dark, still no light bulbs. But what we could see just by the light of the flashlight, was utter disarray.

This apartment looked like a tornado hit it. There were about 10 -12 boxes laying around some full, some only half full. There were magazines strewn all over the floors, & clothes shoes & personal mail . There was only one light bulb in the whole place & it was in the bathroom. We turned it on & started to open cupboards & drawers. Some were completely full, some were only half full but in disarray, like as if someone grabbed only what they needed & in a hurry. We did a quick walk around, & then stood in the living room, which was lit only by the bathroom light, deciding what to do next. JJ said to me, " I dare you to spend the night up here alone!" I searched my mind for a cleaver reason to shoot that idea down..." I can't, mom will find out when she gets home from work!". "SO, I'll set the alarm clock for 20 mins before she gets in & come wake you up." he replied. OMG, what was I going to do, I had been outsmarted by a 10 year old! I couldn't think fast enough for another excuse, I was starting to look like I was stalling, until it hit me, I had it! " If I stay up here alone, then that means you & Jen have to stay alone downstairs too!" ...and Presto, we were all sleeping DOWNSTAIRS TOGETHER.

About 3 weeks later Jen was invited to a friends to stay the night on the weekend. Mom had to work, so this meant that JJ & I would again be home alone. Mom said that Jen would be leaving at around 4 or so & she was leaving for work shortly after. This meant that we would be alone in the house much longer than we anticipated. This was fine with us, because we decided that we were going to spend the night in the upper flat together. Sleeping bags, Flashlights, alarm clock, pizza, & THE BASE BALL BAT. No one else knew of our plan. The woman still had yet to come pick up her things.