Needless to say, we opted not to spend the night in the upper flat!!! We didn't even bother to go collect the rest of our things from upstairs. We called mom at work & told her what we found in the basement, & what had happened before our very eyes. We waited next door at a neighbors until she returned home from her shift.



While waiting there our neighbor finally said, " I was wondering how long it would take you guys!" We were puzzled as to what he was talking about, but were afraid to ask. Finally, I asked him what he was referring to, that's when he proceeded to tell JJ & I the history of the house, well what he knew of it anyway.



Apparently he had only lived there for 2 years, but said that he was there when the woman upstairs fled the house. He said that one night she came banging on his door,crying & asking to use the phone. He let her use it, she called her boyfriend. She waited on Ed's (the neighbor) porch until her boyfriend showed up, then they went back up stairs together, came out with a suitcase & a box, & left. She hadn't been back since! That was 9 months prior to our moving in downstairs. She left no forwarding address for her deposit to be sent. He said that she was already at the end of her lease, so she didn't just cut out on the land lord. She had originally signed a 6 month lease, but went to a month-to month lease for the last three months, until she could find another place. So she was actually entitled to her deposit, since she didn't skip town before the next months rent was due. As a matter of fact, the landlord had left a note on the upstairs cabinet for her, stating that when she returned to collect her things, she may still have the deposit back if she contacts them (the landlords were a mother & son team.)



When ma came home, she talked to Ed further about that situation, & got the rest of the details. Then she called Neal & to come to stay the night with us three. When Neal got there, we all filled him in on the events of the night, & the information that Ed gave us.



When we took Neal & mom downstairs to show them what we had discovered, mom saw the little apartment & started to cry. When we asked her what was wrong, she said she didn't even know why she was crying, or what brought it on.



The next day mom & Neal went to see the owners of the property. The son wasn't home, but the mother was. Although elderly, she was very detailed in her memory of the events that took place in the last five years.



THIS IS WHAT WE FOUND OUT, & THIS IS WHY WE MOVED....



Five years prior to our renting the place, the house was filled w/two sets of renters occupying both the top & bottom flats. The makeshift apartment in the basement was originally built for a relative of the owners. After the family member bought a house of his own, the owners rented out the basement apartment for very little rent, to a newlywed couple who were expecting their first child. Seven months later, the baby was born. Two months later, the father who was an alcoholic, passed out in a drunken stooper, with a lit cigarette in his hand. The mother & father slept in a sofa bed in the small living room & dedicated the small room w/the door as the baby's nursery. The mom was on anti-depressants, for her very bad case of post-partum depression, which knocked her out every night. They both died in bed where the fire started.



Later when the fire fighters found the little baby in his bassinet in the nursery, they had determined that he had died of smoke inhalation, not of being burned, although he was badly covered in soot when they found him.



So this is what we have,...



1. A family that moves into a house & mom & I immediately start to feel uncomfortable & unable to breath in the basement....only to find out that three people died in that apartment, of smoke inhalation.



2.Jen & I keep hearing shuffling (sweeping), Creaking (rocking) & a cat in heat (crying) & a scratching sound, all from the basement area....only to find later, a broom (sweeping). A rocking chair (creaking). And the knowledge that a baby died there (crying). The scratching was never explained, although Neal did feel the vibration of the scratching under his back, while sleeping on the floor.



3. Mom & I hear a bang (slam that sounded like a broom handle hitting the ground) in the apartment while we were on the outside of the apartment door, upon investigation....Upon the break-in of the little apartment, JJ & I find a yellow broom, later that broom slides across the counter as if it was losing it's balance all on it's own, & SLAMS down hitting the basement floor RIGHT BEFORE OUR VERY EYES!



4. An upstairs tenant that fled her rented space in such a hurry, that she never came back to collect the rest of her things or pick up her deposit....a neighbor that confirmed it all & witnessed the frantic state of the tenant himself.



5. No light bulbs in any of the sockets in the upstairs hall or the upper flat, except the bathroom. Also a smell of burnt rubber in the basement apartment....the day we finally moved out, a few neighbors stopped by to be nosy, & informed us that what the landlady said about the couple causing the fire w/a lit cigarette was a lie. They said that that the fire was caused by faulty electrical wiring.



6. A landlord that hadn't been able to rent out the bottom flat in over a year....We were also told by the neighbors on our street that the owners, first had to fix the electrical problems before they could rent it out again. I guess it took them quite a while.



As we drove to our knew house on the other side of town, I looked back on Elm street & knew that I would miss it. It had been the most exciting house that I had ever lived in! In this house I bonded with my mother on an experiential level, I found a whole new respect for my fearless (or very, very brave) little brother. I explored the world of the paranormal up close & personal for the very first time. I discovered that I am very sensitive to feeling lingering energy, hence my not being able to breath down there, where people died of smoke inhalation. And last but not least, I had my very first encounter w/ trying to contact spirit, & actually got a response ( the broom falling when I asked if the entity there used to live in the rest of the house, or just the basement). All in all I discovered much about my family in that house & I learned much more about myself. Yes, I was going to miss this house indeed.



As we pulled onto our new street, mom pointed out the big brown house that stood almost at the end of the block & said "That's it, that's our new house!", as the landlord was removing a FOR RENT sign from the window.





I hope you've all enjoyed this quite long, but all true experience that I've shared. I've written it to the best of my recollection. I might have forgotten some things, as this all took place back in 1989, but I'm pretty sure I got it all. I am happy to answer any questions that anyone has. Thanks for being such a great bunch to share with!



Bless=-)