04x09 - The Fireplace

[bunniefuu]

[Haunting music]

It was a beautiful old fireplace.

The only thing was, it was boarded up.

Built her house...

It was beyond my wildest imagination.

There was blood dripped around his head.

Whatever's in there is coming out.

And of the son.

Something trying to get into my house.

My heart stopped for a minute.

Pull harder.

What are you looking at, baby?

Honey.

Mandy?

Mommy!

It was something evil.

There was no one I could call.

In 1984, my Dad passed.

And it was devastating.

I loved him so much.

I was just 21 years old.

I had a daughter, Mandy, and I was pregnant with my son.

Linda took it the hardest.

She was the baby of the family.

[Doorbell ringing]

My boyfriend was a truck driver.

Months at a time, I wouldn't see him, so I was on my own with Mandy a lot.

Dad left us a small inheritance.

He wanted to make sure that we were taken care of.

I felt like I needed to stand on my own two feet.

So I started looking for a place to live, a place where I could raise my children.

I seen this apartment building that was in a familiar neighborhood.

It was gorgeous.

This is the home for me and my babies.

I remember it being there since I was a kid.

It was comforting, and it was perfect.

Ow.

[Grunts]

[Sighs]

The one thing that really caught my eye was a beautiful old fireplace.

The only thing was, it was boarded up.

I thought maybe later on when I had a bit more money that I might be able to restore it.

[Door creaking]

A few days later, I started fixing the back bedroom up, 'cause that was gonna be Mandy's room.

[Blowing and patting]

In one corner of the room was a closet.

When I opened it up, I noticed that there's an object in there.

The object was round, and it had shapes and designs.

It was pretty, so I kept looking at it.

It felt like it had a meaning.

So I didn't want to just throw something away because I figured someone will come back for this.

So I hung it back into the closet.

And I just didn't think about it again.

After I got settled into my apartment, every morning I'm pulling my curtains over, and it's like there was no light beam.

Nothing.

And I thought, "well, this is really strange."

So I thought, "well, okay.

Well, I'm just going to scrub them down and see if I can get them to shine a little bit."

[Breathing deeply]

But still no light.

It was almost like some kind of shield that kept the sun from coming into the house.

It was gloomy.

[Siren wails and dog barks]

As the evening started coming around, the atmosphere changed.

It felt uneasy.

There was a sense of... Not fear, but something's not right.

I just put it down to settling in, new place, and maybe being a little lonely.

And I was always waiting to find out when Mandy's Dad would be in.

[Hollow scraping]

[Rattling]

Hansel and Gretel went to bed thinking they were in heaven.

So at night, Mandy always looked forward to her bedtime stories.

But the old woman had only pretended to be friendly.

[Breathing]

I'm hearing this really heavy breathing.

And it's right by me.

Had only pretended to be friendly.

She was a wicked witch who was lying in waiting for children.

So we're sitting there, and I'm reading to her.

She had built her house...

[Heavy breathing]

It was like...

[Ragged breathing]

The wicked witch thought, "now I've got you!"

[Sharp breathing]

It was right at my left ear.

Honey, you know what? It's getting late.

Let's take this into your room, okay?

Okay.

I'll meet you there.

I started wondering, "what was that?"

I couldn't get over the breathing I kept hearing.

I got to thinking, "I'm just tired. I'm stressed."

I just tried to forget about it.

It didn't happen.

We Haven't been in the apartment long when my cousin Jeanne ended up coming over to see me.

It's pretty dark in here, hon.

I joked with her.

I said, "you need to wash your windows."

And she gave me her Linda look.

Mm.

I was in the kitchen talking to her, and she was doing laundry.

How are you feeling, anyway?

Pregnant.

I noticed Mandy nodding her head as if she's having a conversation.

And she's answering back to whoever may be talking to her.

What is Mandy doing?

She was looking the same place all the time.

And it was always up like it was somebody bigger than her.

She's just playing.

Well, I took it as a child's imagination.

Isn't it strange, though?

It's like she's talking to an adult.

It's her imaginary playmate.

And I said, Linda, "I've got five kids."

None of them have ever done that.

She's fine.

Here you go.

Because I had Mandy in bed in my room when I would have company, I pulled my bedroom door partway shut.

So I turn around and my bedroom door is pushed completely shut.

I go over and I turn the knob, and I can't get in my bedroom.

So I'm pushing on the door.

Mandy?

Mommy!

I was really concerned that an intruder had gotten into my home.

Open up.

Mommy! Mommy!

Mandy!

Mommy!

Mandy? Mandy, honey.

Mandy! Open up!

And I'm going, "Mandy! Mandy!"

Why are you shouting?

I'm throwing my whole body against this door, trying to get into my bedroom.

What's the matter?

Oh, my God. Honey!

How did this get here?

The bed had been lodged up against the door.

Is someone in here?

I don't know.

For someone to move something like that, it had to take a lot of strength.

She couldn't understand why I was so upset and why I was yelling her name.

I had a little girl to think about.

I could feel something wasn't right.

I was really scared.

So the next morning, I get up.

I'm getting a cup of coffee.

I'm standing at the window.

And I'm hearing this... cr*ck, cr*ck.

And it startled me a little bit.

And I turn around, and I start hearing this creaking.

I realize that it is coming from the fireplace.

I hear this loud pop.

[Popping]

I walk over and try to peek in there.

But when I did, it stopped.

So I just kind of let that go.

I thought, "well, it might have been a breeze...

Or maybe a bird fell down there."

You're not hearing what I'm saying.

You sound like you're freaking out.

So a couple days later, my phone rings and it's my boyfriend.

And I start telling him what's going on.

He's thinking that I got baby blues.

He's trying to tell me that it's just my imagination.

It was very frustrating 'cause this wasn't my imagination.

I love you.

Bye.

And it wasn't my hormones.

I thought it was just time to start getting Mandy used to sleeping in her new bedroom in the back so I would have more space for the baby in my room.

All of her toys are set up.

It was so cute.

Mandy!

Come on, honey.

What do you think of your room?

I love it. Thank you.

Yeah. Here, help mommy.

There you go.

Mommy worked very hard.

I figure, well, the doors are open.

If she needs me, I can hear her.

It was around midnight.

I'm lying in my bed.

[Screaming]

All of a sudden, I hear this horrible scream.

Mandy.

The scream was just bloodcurdling.

I ran so fast, like her life depended on it.

Mandy!

Mommy!

The bed was just violently shaking.

It was just banging so hard.

Mandy!

Mandy is hanging on, and she's screaming.

Mommy!

I grabbed her so fast.

All I kept thinking was, "how am I going to protect my babies?"

On the couch, honey. On the couch.

Are you okay?

So I'm sitting there, and I'm holding Mandy.

And I start hearing this sound.

You're fine. You're fine.

[Whimpering]

It's the fireplace.

[Rumbling and creaking]

What is that, mommy?

I don't know.

Stay there.

The wood is popping, and it's pushing outward.

And I'm thinking, "oh, my God.

Whatever's in there is coming out."

My heart was pounding so hard.

I thought it was going to pound out my chest.

I was terrified.

There was something trying to get into my house.

Be careful, mommy!

[Gasps]

I could see a shadow of a shape pushing and scratching.

And it wasn't no bird.

It wasn't a draft.

This was something trying to come through that fireplace.

Come on, hon. Come on.

I turn around and I grab Mandy.

And we went back into the bedroom.

And at this point, I knew that something paranormal was going on in my house.

But I had that little tiny seed of doubt that maybe it was me.

Maybe I was going a little crazy.

I kept Mandy close to me, and I couldn't sleep.

All I could do was pray for morning.

Everything right now was revolving around keeping Mandy as safe as I could.

And then my other big concern was the baby coming.

I don't have my Dad.

My boyfriend was driving a truck cross-country.

It was late at night and there was no one I could call and say, "please come get me."

I got up the next morning.

I walked back into Mandy's bedroom.

Everything was calm.

I pulled the door shut and I never went back into that room.

I didn't want to stay there, but I invested everything I had in the apartment.

Whatever was here, I was really hoping it would just go away.

This was supposed to be our home.

I decided to call my sister, Audrey, and ask her if she could come over.

Mandy was asleep.

Hey.

What's going on?

It's the fireplace.

[Heavy breathing]

Then all of a sudden, there was a slow breathing sound right next to my ear.

And I got scared, and I jumped up.

Audrey?

I was trying to get it away from me.

I was hitting at it.

Are you okay?

Audrey's standing there, and she's trying to SWAT this thing away from her.

And she's pushing it and fighting it, trying to swing it away.

Linda?

Something raised my arm up, just like this.

Something's got me.

Audrey.

Pull harder.

Audrey.

Something had a hold of her arm.

And she's trying to help me.

It was like a tug-of-w*r trying to get her away from this.

It finally released me.

She fell backwards and landed on the couch.

We just hung on to each other.

We just couldn't believe what just happened.

It was beyond my wildest imagination.

She was breathing hard, and her being pregnant...

The baby's coming.

I told Lin, I said, "we need to get out of here."

[Baby crying]

Here we go.

Your new home.

He's beautiful, isn't he?

Aaron is born, and he was beautiful.

We went back home.

Yeah.

After she had the baby, she seemed almost like her old self again.

[Light flickering]

Okay. Go on in.

Thanks.

So I get him home, and nothing happens.

It was very peaceful. It was calm.

Are you sure you're going to be okay?

Yeah, got to make a go at this.

I felt like I turned a corner.

[Car alarm wailing]

[Creaking and snapping]

Then all of a sudden, the popping and the scratching from the fireplace gets so much worse.

[Banging]

Stop.

It's like something is trying to fight to get into the apartment.

I was scared. I didn't know what to do.

It was late, but I called my cousin Jeanne.

[Phone ringing]

Hello?

Jeanne?

Linda?

What's wrong, sweetie?

Jeanne, whatever's here, it won't go away.

I'm not kidding!

Please, can you get here?

Just come!

Hello?

I'm coming right over, Linda.

[Dial tone drones]

Linda?

Jeanne?

The phone went dead.

She sounded really anxious, stressed.

"I need you here now."

And I told her I'd be right over.

I've got to go over to Linda's.

[Knocking]

As soon as I walked in the door, she goes, "this place is haunted."

She didn't tell stories.

Come on, now.

There's something in the fireplace.

She had a lot to deal with.

Come on, let's settle down a little, okay?

She was by herself, basically, raising them.

I wanted to be there for her as much as I could.

You got a screwdriver?

I thought maybe, you know, birds might have got down in there, flopping around.

I started taking the screws out.

Whoever put the board there wanted to make sure it stayed up.

I just got this really bad feeling that I shouldn't take the board off.

And I started putting the screws back in.

What are you doing?

And I just told her, I said, "Linda, I don't think this is meant to come down."

Every time I take out a screw, I get a worse feeling like this is something I'm not supposed to do.

I'm not going to take it off.

The feeling that came over me, it was a feeling of dread.

And then I heard the voice.

[Whispering] Get the children out of here.

[Whispering] Get the children out of here.

Linda, I... I got to go.

I knew the kids were in danger.

Something just...

You guys need to get out of this apartment.

You need to move.

I'm trapped here.

And she started crying.

Please come with me.

She said the kids weren't safe there in that apartment.

It was devastating.

I suggested she come with me, and she said she couldn't.

Your place is full without us being there.

I couldn't pile in all my family, you know?

They still had their life.

I have to.

So I was stuck in a place where I couldn't keep my baby.

I'll stay.

Take them with you.

Shh.

Can you get Mandy for me, please?

She gathered up stuff, threw it in a bag real quick, and I walked out of the apartment.

I said, "I'll bring them back tomorrow daylight."

And I said, "okay."

Just be careful.

"Just be careful."

I love you.

I felt so bad leaving Linda there.

I had to make it work.

It was my home...

Supposed to be my home.

I crawled in bed, I turned the light off, and I laid back.

I knew something wasn't right.

[Muffled shouts]

Something was on top of me.

It was suffocating me.

All I could do was pray.

Whatever this was released me.

It let me up.

I was so frightened that I didn't have any idea what it was.

Maybe it's just all a bad dream.

I started wondering if it was all in my mind.

I was lost on what direction to go.

I didn't know what to do or who to go to.

I couldn't leave the kids with my family, because my first instinct was my children should be with me.

[Baby crying]

My boyfriend was still away on a long job and still wouldn't be back for weeks.

And I'd wonder if I'm ever going to wake up from this nightmare.

[Baby crying]

I was beginning to get angry at the kids' father for not putting more effort into taking us out of this situation.

I'm sorry I Haven't been round before.

I invited Becky to come over for dinner.

I met Linda when I was probably about 16, 17.

We were really good friends.

I was just happy that I wouldn't be alone.

I felt like I was just going to be safer with my friends there.

I think it started with the fireplace.

Then there's whispering.

There's something in here.

She insisted there's something wrong.

And there's constant...

[Glass shattering]

[Plate shattering]

We heard this crash.

[Smashing]

All hell broke loose.

Opening cabinets and taking dishes out and just throwing them.

Dishes are starting to fly off the counter.

Like somebody invisible came in there and was just raging mad.

It's, like, telling us to get out.

[Rattling]

The bedroom door was shaking.

Aaron!

Stay here!

Oh, my God.

Oh, my God, there's something in there with my baby.

Oh, my God.

Aaron, the baby, was in there.

Oh, my God. Leave my baby alone!

Linda just started hollering that there was something on the other side of the door.

Push!

Oh, my God!

Oh, my God.

Something was so wrong.

Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

There's something in there with my baby.

Oh, my God.

And I flipped the light on.

Honey.

And there was blood dripped around him.

What is it?

It was like almost somebody stood over him maybe with an eyedropper or something, just perfect spots.

Where did all this blood come from?

I don't know. There's no cuts.

That's when we did start thinking, maybe a ritual.

My God, it was going to take the baby.

I'm checking everything, trying to figure out where this came from.

I stripped him down.

There was no marks, no cuts.

I don't get it.

No reason for the blood.

It doesn't make any sense.

I felt helpless.

I didn't know what to do.

The children had to be protected.

We're gonna call the church.

We're gonna have a preacher exorcise this house.

In the name of the Father...

The priest began to read from the Bible.

And it was blessings.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Most glorious prince of the heavenly armies, Saint Michael the archangel...

You could start hearing the sound of muffling in the fireplace.

My heart stopped for a minute.

Against the rulers of this world of darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places.

[Crashing]

It was like an invisible creature...

And those who hate him flee before him.

As smoke is driven away, so are they driven.

[Crashing]

As wax melts before the fire...

It ran and it hit Audrey's leg.

[Yelps] What is that?

We drive you...

But you could hear whatever this was...

It was going around the table and it was going fast.

All satanic powers flee before Him.

It ran up the chimney.

It went... [Pattering]

You could hear it hitting the inside of the wall.

After it went up the chimney, everything got really, really quiet.

But you could feel there was a lightness in the air.

The sun was starting to shine through the windows.

We were just ecstatic that this was over.

She was going to be safe and wouldn't be afraid to stay in that apartment with her two babies.

[Hammer pounding]

Thanks.

Yep.

I'll just get you some milk, honey.

[Heavy breathing]

[Phone ringing]

My phone rings.

[Phone ringing]

Hello?

It's the priest and he says...

You need to get the babies and get out of that apartment.

What?

It's not gone.

It's still there, Linda. I was att*cked.

This thing left bruises and...

[Gasps]

And at that point, I got sick to my stomach.

Something was trying to break through the board from the inside.

But the board is nailed shut.

Whatever this thing was, it was back.

And it was just horrifying.

Mandy, honey. Please, I need your help.

Grab everything that you want. We're going to auntie's tonight.

Come on. Let's go.

I need help with your brother.

Mandy.

No playtime right now.

She says, "who is that, mommy?"

Who's that, mommy?

Who's who, honey?

And she went quiet.

And I'm looking, I'm like, "what are you looking at, baby?"

Honey...

When she moved her head towards me...

Please, Mandy.

Mandy, please. I need your help.

Honey.

She had this grin.

Mandy.

Mandy.

And her eyes weren't her eyes.

They had turned black.

It wasn't her.

Mandy?

Something took her.

Come on.

And I just grabbed her.

Mommy?

And it was Mandy again.

She's looking at me and she... She doesn't understand.

Are you okay?

How could I tell her that it wasn't her I was looking at?

She was just a baby.

I was clinging on and I just kept her right about me.

My heart starts racing.

I've got to get my kids out of here.

I was done with the apartment.

It was over.

So a week or two later, I had a few things still left in my apartment.

And I asked my cousin Jeanne if she would help me.

[Door creaking]

I went back in the back bedroom.

I opened the closet door to see if there was anything else in the closet.

And there was this thing hanging there.

It was really odd-looking.

I'd never seen anything like it before.

And I called to Linda and I asked her...

Linda, does this thing go too?

What thing is that?

Come here a sec.

I said, "when I moved in here, I seen it, but I figured it just belonged here."

I said, "doesn't that look like a pentagram?"

And she goes...

Oh, my God.

Yes.

She's like, "this really looks like this is..."

Something evil.

Something that a witch would work with.

And at that moment, I got to remembering that when I was a child, there was an old woman who lived in this apartment.

Come on, girls.

The very same apartment that I'm living in right now.

It suddenly made sense to me.

People used to always make a comment...

There she is. There's the nasty old witch.

"Don't go too close to her house.

She's a witch, and she's mean."

And it was very clear she did not like children.

She was always looking out the windows, especially when she heard kids out there.

I couldn't believe that I did not remember about this woman living in my apartment and everybody accusing her of being a witch.

How could I forget that?

She kept shaking her head, "how could I forget that?"

I said, "well, Linda..."

It was a long time ago.

You were, what, six, seven years old?

I said, "let's get out of here now."

And so we grabbed the other boxes from that room and we were gone in no time flat.

I knew in my heart that I may never truly know what really was in that apartment.

I didn't know if it was the soul of this old woman tormenting me or if it was something that she may have conjured up.