For as long as I can remember, I have always believed that my bedroom at 2 Richardson Street was haunted. The feeling of dread I used to feel as I lay there in the darkness, feeling the chill behind me. But, was it all just in my imagination? I was terrified of horror icons such as A Nightmare on Elm Street's Freddy Krueger, Clive Barker's Candyman and Pennywise of IT fame, so I attributed the fear I felt in my room to my fear of these monsters who haunted my nightmares. After all, it is natural for a child to have a revulsion to darkness and solitude.
So it was with great happiness that in 1997, at the tender age of twelve, that I moved from this room to settle in another, located at 108 Stevenson Street, in the Wavertree district of Liverpool. I had seen the house before it had been made livable for my family. Sure, it had been a wreck, but a lot had changed since I had witnessed the dilapidation from the summer prior to moving. Now, it had become a wonderful family house, with a new lick of white paint, a paved front garden and a clean front door. It couldn't have been more perfect.
However, all was not as it seemed. The next summer, as I rested in my room - which had been converted from an old bathroom to make space for this, the third bedroom - I began to feel cold, which was extraordinary seeing as it was in the middle of a very warm day. I assumed it was simply a draft coming through the small gap near my window. But then the really scary thing started to happen. I could hear the sound of bells, like wind chimes, which was amazing, as there were no wind chimes nearby. Beset by fear, I ran down the stairs and took my dad up to the room. Amazingly, the chimes had now stopped, as had the wind. It was only right that the ramblings of a mid-pubescent teenager should be ignored. With this in mind, I forgot the memory.
But I would be grimfully reminded years later of my supposed haunting. A work desk had been purchased and placed in my room, and for months it lay dormant, just acting as your average everyday desk. But I didn't realise something: every morning, I would instinctively close one of the drawers on the desk. Then I realised what was going on: something was opening the drawer, and it certainly wasn't me. At first I thought it to be my parents looking for my hidden contraband and the like. When I confronted them, they swore they did not do such things. After this, the drawer openings became less constant and more sporadic, happening randomly every couple of days, sometimes not even restricting itself to night time. However, I was not yet disturbed.
But then, just a couple of months ago, the most bizzare thing happened. My VCR, placed just above the drawer by the way, never had the right time on it. Then, one morning, I awoke to find the clock and date set perfectly to the exact time. Once again, I confronted my parents. After some joking, they admitted they had had nothing to do with it. I was more than a little disturbed now. What was this unknown force that dwelled within the confines of my room? I tried not to think about it, but something happened last night, that I cannot ignore.
Just near my bed, right near were my head rests, is a Metal Gear Solid 3 poster. It has been there for nearly a year, and I really liked it. But last night, something else decided it did not share the same love for said poster. I awoke to see four bluetak marks on the wall, the poster missing. Looking beside my bed, I tried to see if it had fallen under my bed. However, it had not. I looked at my bin, which was on the other side of my room, to see the poster resting on top of the garbage, folded neatly. I looked above were the poster had been to see my Soul Calibur poster ripped at the base. This had not been attatched to the Metal Gear Solid 3 poster, and had been ripped on purpose. The ghost had struck again...
Now, these events could merely be me sleep-walking. But that does not make sense. Surely, I would dream some images of these events. But no. I slept peacefully each and every time these events occured, including last night. What is it that haunts my room? That plays wind-chimes, opens drawers, sets VCRs and destroys posters. Needless to say, I'm not wholly worried as it has not yet tried to hurt me or anybody else. But one things for sure, I'm not going to let whatever it is rest in my room for much longer...