Ghosts Among Us - James Van Praagh [72]
“I…I don’t really want a reading. At least I don’t think I do, but I don’t know where else to turn.”
I could detect the desperate tone in his voice.
“Take a breath,” I said. Then I suggested that we go to the side of the store where there were tables and chairs so that we could sit down and talk.
As the two of us walked toward the seating area, the young man kept thanking me for taking the time to speak with him.
Once we sat down, the young man said, “I’m Mike, by the way. I came here to find some candles or incense that could take away evil spirits.”
“Why do you think there are evil spirits around you?”
“Because my wife and I have been bothered by lots of weird things in the house, like objects moving, terrible smells. We even heard voices. What else could it be?”
“Let’s start from the beginning. Tell me exactly what is happening.”
“My wife, Hanna, and I moved to Long Beach two years ago. I inherited the house from my father after a long and intense legal battle. Finally, I was given the house.”
“What was your relationship with your father like before he passed?” I asked.
“Fine,” Mike answered. “My father and I always got along.”
“Then why was there a problem getting the house?”
“It was my stepmother. She wanted to have all of my father’s money and possessions, but she wasn’t entitled to it all. She sued me for the house.”
“Are you cordial with her now?” I continued.
“No. We don’t talk at all. Especially not after what she did to my dad. We think she tried to poison him.”
“Really?” I said in astonishment. “How do you know?”
Mike explained. “When we went for a visit, I found some lethal substances in the kitchen pantry.”
I was a bit surprised and asked Mike to continue to tell me about the house he inherited.
“Ever since my wife went into her sixth month of pregnancy, neither of us has slept through the night. There is so much noise in the house that it keeps us awake.” The young man began crying. “This is our first baby, and we are concerned that whatever this thing is, it’s after our baby.” He looked at me with tearful eyes. “What am I gonna do?”
I felt a stabbing in my heart at the thought of something trying to attack a baby, but I did my best to calm Mike down.
“Can you be more specific about the noises and racket in the house?”
“Every night, actually around one in the morning, the lights in the hallway flicker. We hear a mumbled crying sound and a banging in the back bedroom. It’s the room we are planning to use for the baby. It goes on for about fifteen minutes. I get up each time and walk into the bedroom. It always feels weird, like someone is watching me. I get goose bumps every time.”
“How long has this been going on?”
“Five weeks. I even called the local Catholic church, but the priests were not really interested in what I had to say.”
Mike hesitated. “Do you think it might be my father? Maybe he’s unhappy about the plans we made to change the house.”
“That’s possible,” I said, “but I doubt he would cause that kind of disturbance. The only way to find out is for me to go and see for myself.”
I took down Mike’s phone number, and a few days later I called him to schedule a visit to his house near Belmont Shore in Long Beach.
A week later, at six in the evening, I arrived at Mike and Hanna’s house. I would have preferred to meet at one o’clock in the morning, when the disturbances actually occurred, but because that would have been so late, we settled on a more reasonable time. Hanna, who was very pregnant, welcomed me inside.
“I’ve been having the weirdest dreams,” she said. “One in particular I’ve been having quite a lot. I keep seeing a tree house fall out of a tree and crash to the ground.”
“Is it all right if I walk around and see if I can pick up anything?” I asked.
“Of course,” she smiled.
As I roamed from room to room, I didn’t feel anything especially unusual or sinister. The energy felt as normal as it does in any other house. However, when I reached the back bedroom, I noticed a cold breeze as I entered the room. I felt as if the room didn’t belong