by Max M. Power
They are out there, demons and ghosts. I have had experience first hand with them, my first experience when I was in summer school between 4th and 5th grade. A little background on me, just so you know where I'm coming from. I grew up as a Jehovah's Witness (JW) and demons were believed in, but ghosts were not. Fair enough, I will not know for certain until I die, so I am not in any hurry to find out the truth.
I have always known to stay away from Ouija boards, but others seemed to think it was a joke. In summer school we were allowed free time. A student wanted to play the Ouija board and was able to draw one on the chalkboard, using an eraser as the thingy that moved across the board. Asking questions all the students were at the chalkboard except for me. Since I was at the back of the room I did not hear the question that angered the demon in the room. Desk began flying toward the walls and the front door slammed shut. A male teacher two classes over heard us yelling and tried to pull the door open, but it would not budge. There was no whirl wind like in the movies, but we could feel something cold in the room. Without warning, the demon left and the desks that were against the walls fell to the floor and the front door flew open.
Now, fast forward to my 13th year on this earth. JWs (Jehovah's Witnesses) were taught that idols were ways of demons to come into a person's home. My grandmother, my father's mother, is a VERY devout Catholic. Pictures, statues, candles, and pendants of Jesus, The Virgin Mary, and other Saints were all over the place. She even had a nightlight of Mary. Anyway, going inside that house had always given me chills, so when I found out that I had to spend the night there, I freaked out. I just knew something bad was going to happen and it did.
That night while I slept, some THING was rattling the window of the room I was in. I freaked out and my uncle came into the room and asked what was going on. I told him something was outside the window. He went outside and there was nothing. So I tried going back to sleep and the rattling began again, stopping the moment my uncle walked back into the room. Not wanting to upset this man, because at thirteen I would still get my hide tanned, I opened the blinds so I could see outside. The window began to rattle again, and I could see that there was NOTHING there to shake it, but it was still shaking. I had a similar experience when I was 18 and home alone, not taking the family vacation because I was now working full time.
The weird and unexplainable have always been around me, I mean I think I was the biggest unexplainable thing out there, a nerd with my ugly mug was dating a smart intelligent woman, talk about X-Files stuff. Anyway, soon I discovered Art Bell (Coast to Coast Radio) and my world was blown wide open. Working at night, Art became my best friend. Things that made me go, "Hmmm," was now making perfect sense to me and I was learning how to deal with it.
Now I skip forward to last Spring. I was working as a Patrol Officer for XYZ Security and one of our sites was a cemetery. It was our job to lock the four gates and then drive by two more times at random. Well we were not allowed to lock up before the sun went down, so at times I found myself sitting 15 to 20 minutes waiting for the sun to go down. While I waited, I took a look around the place, talking to the spirits as I passed, letting them know I was a friend. There was a section that was for service men and their spouses. The area at the gate was dedicated to WWII vets. One night after locking the gate, I turned to get back in the Patrol Unit. As I turned around I saw two figures, young and in love floating across the driveway, hand in hand. As they passed over the site of their headstone, they stopped and noticed that I was watching them, watching because I did not want to disturb them. The man looked me square in the eyes and his young face turned old and scary in an instant, almost causing me to need a change of uniform. That was the start of strange things to come.
There was only one other Officer who felt at peace in a cemetery, so he and I were the only ones to willing lock the place up. One night it was time to lock up, but there was one gate that the lock was missing. So we had to tie it closed with rope. As I tied the gate closed, the long rope broke as the heavy metal gates flew open wide. I tried again, having to use shorter rope now, and the same thing occurred. Getting angry, due to not having any more rope if it broke again, I turned around and shouted, "I HAVE A JOB TO DO SO, THESE GATES ARE CLOSING WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT." At that moment a lady drove up and explained that she was leaving town for the next three months and she wanted to say goodbye to her father. I allowed her in and as she drove out the gate they began to close themselves. I was allowed to tie the gates closed.
Now here is where it gets weird. I had always heard of stories from other officers who refused to return to the cemetery because of ghosts. One night the other officer who liked the cemetery and I were asked to escort two paranormal investigators around the cemetery and show them the areas where we were experiencing all the paranormal trouble. One night I had my patrol unit die at every gate I attempted to lock. With all the overhead lights and headlights on, if the unit dies, the lights still run off the battery, just not for long. So when ALL the lights went out, we knew it was not normal because the vehicle checked out fine for the rest of the night.
Well we set the investigators to work, then my partner and I went to go lock all the gates. I decided to take pictures of the area where I had seen the WWII vet and his wife. I took a picture of my partner standing outside his patrol unit and saw all sorts of orbs surrounding him and the car. Right after snapping the picture, his car radio, which was turned off and had been on an AM station, was now blaring full blast on a rock FM station. A cold chill went through us both, and we jumped in our units and hauled it out of there. Not much frightened us, but this did. EVPs were being taken as well, and the ones that were recorded around us were in not such polite tones saying that we were going to die if we kept coming around, and that we were no longer welcomed there. So I never returned.
Now I have my ghost that to date has not been a problem except for the pranks it pulls. I have to say it, because I don't know if it is a he, or she. I think it is a she, because once my daughter said it was a her. Anyway, short of playing with my drink, taking my pocket knife, and causing the vibration in my hip, it is fine. There you have it, you asked for my story and here it is. Now despite what you believe or do not believe, please do not attack what has happened to me. I know it to be fact and there is nothing more to add to that. I am just telling my story and offering you to tell yours.