03x04 - Dining With The Dead

[bunniefuu]

Okay! Let's go.

This was my dream having the restaurant.

And the whole thing was turning into a nightmare.

Ah!

Something was released here.

It was nasty, it was dark.

[Speaking foreign language]

Something was coming.

[Speaking foreign language]

My heart was hammering in my chest.

[Boom]

Boom! Boom! Boom!

I don't want to be here.

It felt like that I wasn't alone.

Ah!

You just don't know what's coming next.

Ah!

Ah! Help me!

Ah!

Help me!

Dining with the dead.

[Bells ringing]

We wanted to start a small business.

And I was always really interested in cooking and...

Creating food.

Well I think we might have found our Monteleone's Restaurant.

I think you're right.

I was pretty good on the business aspect side of it so, we figured it might be a very good business opportunity for us.

[Construction work]

There was a lot of work to do so, we started doing the demolition.

[Hammering]

In my mind I kind of had the vision of exactly, what I wanted to do with the property.

As we were doing the demolition I noticed that something was stuck in the wall.

Huh.

It was a uh, porcelain...

Uh, figurine of The Virgin Mary.

You could tell it was deliberately put there by someone for sure.

So I loosened up the plaster around it.

And pulled it out of the wall.

[Ominous music]

It was strange but at the same time I wanted to keep it.

I thought she could watch over us.

One afternoon I had left to go pick up some material.

[Hammering]

And it just left a worker... his name was Carlos.

[Bang]

[Exhales]

[Exhales]

Hello?

Hello?

[Breathing]

Hello?

Ah!

[Inhales sharply]

I saw Carlos... he looked kind of flushed.

Uh, pale looking.

He was really shook up. And you could tell it was something serious.

What happened?

[Speaking Spanish]

What, did something happen in there?

I don't understand Spanish very well, and he doesn't know how to speak English, so we're both... [laughs]

You know trying to communicate.

[Speaking spanish]

I don't understand.

You got something in your eye?

No.

[Speaking spanish]

Come here, come here, come here.

So I called my wife Laura said, I don't understand, quite what he's trying to tell me.

[Speaking Spanish]

[Speaking Spanish]

[Speaking Spanish]

He says he saw a ghost.

A what? No, no, Carlos, Carlos it's okay.

Let him calm down, what happened?

I didn't want to tell him that I didn't believe him.

It stayed in the back of my mind, but I was just too busy to worry about it at the time.

[Cheers, and applause]

We are open!

Opening day was...

June 11, 2001.

We were very nervous, not being in the business before, but we were very excited.

Cheese! [Camera clicks]

Welcome to Monteleone's, table for two?

Yes.

Laura was taking care of the people up front.

And I was in the kitchen, taking care of the cooking.

Let's go! Let's get them out!

Here we go, hustle out. Good, great, great!

It was very busy when I first started. I really enjoyed working there.

I had my mother-in-law there, Laura's mom.

Everyone calls her Mrs. B.

How's the Linguini Mrs. B?

Alright.

That's good, let's see that sauce.

Oh, that's perfect I'll take that with me.

Little by little I got more used to the kitchen and his recipes.

[Bell rings] Two up! Let's go!

The wheel was full of orders.

Let's get those other entrees out.

The restaurant was very popular, and it was a hit.

[Phone rings]

Hello?

The police are on the phone, and they said "is this Gary?"

Yes.

And he explained that they believed there's an intruder.

In the restaurant.

Okay.

That I needed to get down there right away uh, to open up.

[Alarm ringing]

You guys the owners?

Yes we are.

Please open up the door.

Okay sure. Honey why don't you go wait by the car?

Go wait by the car.

There was no sign of, broken entry or forced entry...

When we got there.

Here, I'll shut the alarm off.

It wasn't the door sensor, it was the motion sensors inside the building.

[Beeping, alarm stops]

I'll get the lights.

[Light switch clicking]

Nope, no lights.

Sir do me a favor, go back to your car please.

Okay.

Thank you.

Me and Laura, we were very shook up and nervous.

And were wondering, well did they break things up inside or...

What's going on and this is no...

Great way to start, you know when you just opened a business.

There's no one inside. Could just be a fault with the alarm or something alright?

Okay thank you officer.

Have a good night. Take care.

After the police had left, myself and Laura we went into the building, just to take another look around.

Looks okay.

That's weird.

And then we noticed a strange thing.

The Virgin Mary that was on the mantle...

Um, was turned facing the wall instead of facing the building.

You sure?

I put her there myself.

Let's go have a look around.

Okay, get that flashlight.

[Clicks flashlight on]

Okay.

Gary and I decided, you know what, let's take one more look, to make absolutely sure there's nothing here.

He went one way, I went the other way.

[Eerie music]

We checked all the doors in the stock room, just to make sure nobody was hiding.

[Ominous music]

There was no sign of vandalism, everything was intact just as we had left it the night before.

It just didn't make any sense.

[Door creaking]

[Door closes]

Whisper: Laura.

As we're looking through I hear my name whispered.

And I thought, well, maybe it was Gary.

So I keep looking.

Whisper: Laura.

Gary?

And I hear my name again.

It's very strange, it didn't really sound like Gary's voice, but it was more of a whisper so...

I thought possibly it could be Gary.

[Floor creaking]

[Knocking, creaking]

[Ominous music]

Oh!

[Breathing heavy]

Did you see anything?

No.

Did you call my name?

No.

And I told her "No, I didn't call for you".

[Bang] Ah!

What was that?

And then all of a sudden, we had heard a real uh...

Hard like pounding against the wall.

[Bang] Ah!

[Pounding continues]

Oh!

[Banging]

[Pounding continues]

Boom! Boom! Boom!

[Pounding continues]

[Bang] Ah!

We were both very shaken up, we didn't know what was going on.

We were both very scared.

[Bang] Ah! [Electricity crackles]

The pounding d*ed down.

Gary and I were frozen in the middle of the room.

Heart b*ating, didn't know it could b*at that fast.

Frightened.

[Crashing] Ah!

The register's running, and it's running a report.

Ah!

And then all of a sudden, it was like somebody had grabbed the tape coming out of the register.

And it was going straight across the room.

[Paper flying]

Neither one of us was near the register.

Ah!

Ah!

Whatever it was let go of the tape, the tape fell to the floor, and the register stopped running.

No explanation for it whatsoever.

These odd things were happening, but it wasn't really interfering, with the business itself.

[Car horn]

In the back of my mind I always figured if the business went very well that uh...

That we would expand.

We were looking at the property next door, but it was occupied at the time.

We figured, whenever it becomes available that's what we want to do.

So we ahead and purchased the property.

We were really excited about the expansion, a bigger area...

A little more entertainment, a bar area, a little bit of dancing maybe.

[Coughing] In the corner there was like... a room within a room.

There was no door, or anything to get in there.

So I decided to get a hammer.

[Hammering]

And I stared making a hole in the wall.

[Hammering continues]

And I was hammering and hammering, and the plaster was falling down and as I took...

A section it made a hole.

And I stuck my head kind of in the hole...

[Gasps]

And I could see a face.

Little bit startled but I didn't know quite what... what it was.

And I pulled this picture frame out.

And the face was The Virgin Mary.

And I was trying to figure out, why would they...

Put this picture in there.

And then build these two walls around it.

I thought well maybe there's something else.

So I started with my hands, kind of digging through the dirt.

[Bang]

And I pulled out something...

It was real dusty, I couldn't quite figure what it...

What it was, but it looked like some sort of a document.

And then I found another picture.

Of two children, like a first communion, something like that.

With a candle and a Bible.

Then the last thing that I noticed, was a piece of marble.

There was no doubt in my mind that someone deliberately...

Uh, had buried these things.

I didn't want anything to happen to them, so I took them next door to our restaurant.

And put them in a safe place.

[Safe door slams shut]

As we expanded we, needed to hire additional help so...

In the kitchen we hired Ellie.

She was to be Mrs. B's assistant Ellie is Mexican and she speaks Spanish only.

[Exhales]

[Exhales]

[Gasps]

Mrs. B!

Mrs. B?

[Speaking Spanish]

I went in there and the whole table was splattered with the flour.

How did this happen?

We were there, we didn't hear anything.

What happened, what happened?

Oh Gary, Ellie said she just cleaned up.

And then so how this mess appear?

I went in to check and there was flour everywhere.

Well, they were really shook up.

Okay, tell her not to worry.

It's okay we'll clean it up.

One day I was in the dining room and I was cleaning the silverware.

I was by myself there was no one there.

[Silverware clacking]

And all of a sudden I felt kind of eerie, I don't know it's just I felt...

Something.

I had Goosebumps all over.

I turned around there was no one there, nothing.

I looked under the table.

And nothing, no one. No one.

Ah!

It seemed like a large hand, and I could really, really, feel the fingers.

Uh, cutting in to my leg.

You could tell on her face that... that it shook her up quite a bit.

What happened? Are you okay?

I just didn't know what to tell her. I looked around the area...

There's nothing there, there's no signs of anything.

Just didn't know what to think.

[Bug zapper]

That afternoon at the restaurant everything seemed to be calm and going fine.

I asked Mrs. B to make a couple batches of Napoli Sauce.

Well I took it to the back room, and I put it against the wall on that table.

And then I went to get my other sauce and bring it also.

[Pots clattering]

I heard crash behind me.

And I walked in there... and I found the sauce on the floor.

Gary!

It didn't look like it had flipped over and fallen.

It was not splattered anywhere it was just, right there like it had been poured out.

Gary!

Mrs. B?

Ah!

It was just smashed on the floor.

With a lot of force.

Whatever it was, it was aiming right for me.

You just don't know what's coming next.

There was no was no question in my mind that the restaurant was haunted.

As Mrs. B and I were walking out of the restaurant, closing up for the evening.

We walked by the small dining room.

And we could see the light on the one candle burning.

So I went over to blow out the candle.

Ai, Gary!

Okay Mrs. B it's okay, it's okay.

I don't want to be here.

Something is wrong.

It's okay, don't worry.

Gary!

It's okay Mrs. B.

It's okay.

I don't want to be here.

I gotta go.

No, no.

No!

I don't want to be here.

It's okay.

No, no I gotta go.

Mrs. B, calm down, it's okay.

I gotta go.

It's okay don't worry.

Gary!

It's okay.

Gary!

I was questioning myself um...

If I was actually seeing, what I was seeing.

No.

But, when I looked over and saw Mrs. B...

Then I knew I wasn't going crazy.

We were all seeing the same thing.

Gary!

Just calm down, it's alright.

It was unbelievable.

It's okay.

I don't want to be here.

Calm down it's okay.

I gotta go.

It's okay.

I gotta go.

All Mrs. B wanted to do was get out of there.

But I didn't want to leave with candles lit in my restaurant.

I gotta go.

Okay, go fill the sink up with water.

Go, go!

Okay, okay, yeah.

So I grabbed the candles, took them to the kitchen.

And put them in the sink with water.

Gary.

Here.

That's okay, that's okay. It's okay, it's okay.

They put everything into the restaurant, Gary and Laura...

We just have to keep going for them.

It's okay. Come on we'll get you home, we'll get you home. Okay, okay.

It's very hard sometimes. Yeah, I get to the point where I just want to quit.

But, it's my daughter.

It's okay. No, it's okay. Okay, okay.

[Sobbing]

At the time I was at a real low, I uh...

Wasn't real sure what to do with all the things that have been happening.

This was my dream having the restaurant and the whole...

The whole thing was turning into a nightmare.

Everybody had left.

I was going through the kitchen...

You know, checking the gas on the stoves.

Turning off the lights.

[Door opens]

All the normal things that I usually do, when I close up.

[Lights clicking off]

I started feeling very uneasy, leaving the restaurant that evening.

I knew I was by myself.

But it felt like somebody else was there.

That I wasn't alone.

[Keypad beeping]

[Door opening]

I turned around, grabbed the handle to close the door.

[Door slamming] Oh!

[Roaring]

[Roaring]

[Pounding]

[Pounding continues]

My heart was hammering in my chest.

I didn't want to be there, a minute longer than I needed to be.

[Pounding continues]

Something paranormal was happening at Monteleone's.

I could see that Gary and Laura were under a lot of pressure, and they needed to get away at least for one night.

Take care, go, enjoy.

Chow mama, chow.

My mom said she thought she could handle the business for the evening.

It was just one evening so... we thought perfect let's do it.

[Door closes]

Now of course, I wish we had never left.

[Stairs creaking]

Ah!

Mrs. B! Mrs. B!

Si?

She came out of there running. "Mrs. B there's a man!"

And I said, "what do you mean there's a man?"

I said, "Ellie, we're still closed".

No one could have gotten in there without us knowing about it.

There was nothing, we couldn't find anybody.

[Lock snaps shut]

That evening we were very busy.

Was had a lot customers.

I looked at Ellie and she's kind of looking around very nervous with her big eyes.

You could feel some tension, in the air.

Something was coming.

[Eerie music]

[Breathing sounds]

[Exhales]

She said, "Mrs. B can you hear it?"

I said, "no I can't hear it Ellie".

[Breathing sounds]

Ah!

[Pots clattering]

Ah!

This is hot, scalding, boiling water.

Ellie just managed to move out of the way in time.

It could have been really terrible.

[Sobbing]

Ah!

Oh!

Is everything okay?

Everything's fine, don't worry.

Okay.

At this point we have a restaurant full of people.

And I have a staff in the kitchen that is scared.

I went with her and I held the door ajar.

I was holding it from the outside.

And then all of a sudden, the door just closed.

I thought she had closed it, and she thought I had closed it.

[Breathing sounds]

[Electricity crackles]

Ah!

Ah!

Oh!

Ah!

Help!

She's like inside, pulling frantically at the door...

"Mrs. B, Mrs. B! He's here, he's here!"

Ellie kept screaming inside frantically.

[Sobbing]

She jumped at us, and she was just hysterical.

She was crying, and pale, and...

Just shaking, her whole body just shakes.

[Sobbing]

We were all ready to, just run out of there I called Gary and Laura, and I told them what had happened.

After I got off the phone with my mom, we were frightened as well.

Not knowing what was going to happen next.

I had a sense of dread, I knew for sure that there was...

Something going on that, I had no control over.

Okay, thanks.

We definitely needed some help.

And we had no idea where to get it.

I think we need to talk to him.

We waited till everyone left, because we wanted to talk to them, we wanted to make sure everything was okay.

We didn't want to say anything in front of the other patrons.

Diana and Robert Calamia.

They're regular customers of the restaurant.

It was a huge sigh of relief, when the Calamia's asked us what was going on.

I thought possibly, if anybody could help us it would be them.

Diana has been a local psychic here in El Paso for many years.

Things had taken a darker twist and they were just frightened, and they were scared.

It was nasty, it was dark.

Let's go back over the details, and let's be really specific here.

Oh, okay.

So I started from when we were doing the construction.

I remembered the photographs, and the documents I found in the secret room.

Yeah.

When I first saw the certificate, and I read "Spiritualist Church".

I thought oh, my God, I can't believe this.

1923.

Wow.

See the altar?

Yup.

This little Italian restaurant was sitting, on property that once was a Spiritualist Church.

Back in the twenty's.

Diana and I looked at each other.

And it was then that Diana turned to Gary and Laura and said...

Well, now I know what we're dealing with, and I believe...

She explained to me that in this very room we were sitting in, the Spiritualist's performed seance's, to communicate with the dead.

[Metronome ticking]

It's a human nature thing, that we want to talk to our, our loved-ones that have crossed over.

And that was a real core belief of the Spiritualist Church.

[Speaking foreign language]

[Air whooshing]

It's not a wonder Gary's been having problems.

Something was released here.

[Speaking foreign language]

[Pounding]

[Roar]

[Hammering]

The Spiritualist's had placed those items into this room to close the portal.

To uh, to seal it.

Gary and Laura needed to return the items, because they needed to close the door.

Fill this space with pure light.

So when they bury these items together, it's the photograph, is one lock.

[Lock clicking]

Certificate is another lock. [Lock clicking]

Another photograph. [Lock clicking]

Diana told them, she believed a cleansing, they call it a "Limpia" here on the border.

Should be initiated.

Protection, of the light.

And we are thankful that this area in now cleansed.

And will remain cleansed.

For all of eternity.

[Indistinct conversation, music]

As soon as we took the objects back to the other building, it was a total different feeling.

The air just felt so much lighter in there.

It was a happy place.

At the beginning I was definitely a non-believer.

But there's definitely uh...

Definitely things out there that... that I believe in now, that I never did before.