It just made sense to move in to my grandmother's house.
[Reading indistinctly]
She wanted to re-create for our daughter the happy memories she had in this house.
I was stunned to see Amelia sitting up in bed.
[Whispering indistinctly]
Who is she talking to?
[Garbled disembodied chatter]
I know I heard somebody, but there's nobody there.
[Water plopping]
Something was wrong in our house.
[Nails screeching]
[Yelping and whimpering]
I could feel awful, searing hatred.
[Door slams]
Who's there?
Something paranormal was in our house, but I never would have thought a member of my own family would be trying to harm me.
Chris! Chris! She's back!
[Screaming]
I grew up in a small city about 20 minutes east of L.A. called Whittier.
I spent a lot of my time with my grandmother.
She lived down the street from us.
Hi, grandma.
I'd come in, and she'd say...
How are you, sugar pie?
What you up to?
Not much.
Ooh, what are we making today?
Your favorite pie.
I loved my grandmother dearly.
She was wonderful to me, very caring and nurturing...
[Laughing] Hey.
Very warm...
And loving and inviting.
What do you think?
[Horn honks]
Sorry, grandma. Got to go.
Don't you want some pie?
I met Chris in July of 2008.
Chris loved life.
He had no fear about him and such strong confidence.
Bye, grandma!
The common cliche...
It was just love at first sight.
The minute I laid eyes on her, I knew she was the one.
Chris and I got very serious very quickly.
But my happiness was cut short.
[Gasps]
My grandma had a stroke.
And our family decided that she needed round-the-clock care that we couldn't provide, so she had to go to a hospice facility.
Chris and I spent as much time as we could visiting her and trying to keep her spirits up.
What can I do for you, grandma?
There was a day that she was really down and depressed.
And she asked for her favorite blanket.
The one grandpa got me...
It's on my bed.
I'll go, babe. You stay with grandma.
Before Chris left, I told him...
Oh, just go in through the back door.
It's always open.
Chris works security, so he gave me a puzzled look.
And I said, "she comes from the generation where you leave your doors and your windows unlocked and open."
Sure enough, the door was open like they said.
[Music tinkling softly]
It was a creepy, dark house.
[Floorboards creaking]
And there's all kind of antiques and sort that she had collected over the years.
[Clock ticking]
Damn it.
[Floorboards creaking]
All of a sudden, I got this really strange feeling, almost like somebody's following me.
I don't see anything, so I shrug it off and think, "oh, it's just my imagination. Snap out of it."
[Floorboards creaking]
I go into her bedroom...
[Curtains rustling]
And see her blanket sitting there.
[Disembodied sigh]
I still feel this heaviness about me.
[Suspenseful musical flourish]
I'm a big guy.
I've been in the security field for about nine, ten years, so there's not too many things that are gonna creep me out, but this house had me creeped out.
[Crickets chirping]
When I got back to the hospital, I guess obviously I looked like something was bothering me.
What's the matter? What happened?
Nothing. I don't know.
It just seemed like there was somebody in the house.
But obviously, there was nobody there.
[Laughs] Oh, Mr. Security.
I thought Chris was just reading too much into it.
You're my hero.
[Birds cawing]
[Somber piano music]
My grandmother passed away.
I was completely devastated.
This was someone who I had spent so much of my life with, someone who raised me, and my best friend, and now she's gone.
[Birds chirping]
Chris and I got married.
We had a baby girl, and we named her Amelia.
It just made sense for us to move in to my grandmother's old house.
The price was right.
The house was a perfect size.
It had a backyard.
It was everything we were looking for and an added bonus to me to be in the warmth and the comfort of my grandmother's home.
[Door creaking]
I knew it would have made my grandma so happy.
It made me feel closer to my grandmother, almost as if still a part of her was with me.
[Hammer tapping]
There was a lot of unpacking to do, getting rid of old stuff that was in the house.
Oh, wait.
It's my guardian angel.
We didn't get to all of it.
We just kind of took a couple of boxes of paperwork, shoved them in the den closet.
It's nothing that's that important.
We hung pictures in our hallway of family: His family, my family, past generations.
Mementos of, like, people that had passed on or...
That we can see every time we walk through the hallway.
Well?
It looks great.
See what your man did for you?
[Laughs]
"Rocky, I'm afraid this joke may get Zeke in a whole mess of trouble."
Amelia had her own room.
"Rocky laughed.
I'll just put this rock on a sheet. It was amazing to think that my daughter was the third generation of my family to live in this house.
[Static crackling]
"To find his first crowd of customers."
It gave me such a warm feeling.
"They're going to expect a ghost.
Zeke hasn't got anything but a rock and an old board."
"They'll just run him over to jail."
It brought back memories of me when I was a little girl with my grandmother in the house.
"After all, it was his mischief that started all this foolishness."
[Static droning]
A few days later, we had put Amelia to bed.
And welcome to Fact or Fiction.
I'm your host...
I glanced over at the monitor.
And I was stunned to see Amelia sitting up in bed.
Welcome to our champion, bunny.
[Foreboding music]
[Whispers indistinctly]
[Static crackles]
[Whispering indistinctly]
She was having a conversation with someone.
[Whispers] It's my daddy.
As you know, bunny has won...
[Whispering indistinctly]
$17,380 dollars so far.
Chris.
Look at this.
[Whispering indistinctly]
Who is she talking to?
She was looking in a specific direction as if somebody was sitting there next to the bed that she was talking to.
Here's our child sitting up in bed having a full conversation...
With nothing.
And then I hear another voice...
[Garbled disembodied whispering, static crackling]
Almost like a really faint... But you could hear it...
Woman's voice.
[Garbled disembodied chatter]
[Static crackling]
[Chatter continues]
And I'm kind of like weirded out, like, "what's... what the hell's going on in here?"
Like, "am I just... Am I hearing things?"
Who is that?
I start to freak out and, like, wonder, "who's... who's in her room? Did somebody break in?"
[Garbled disembodied chatter]
[Static crackles]
[Suspenseful music]
I go over, and I start checking the windows to make sure that they're locked and make sure nobody's in there.
Who you talking to, sweetie?
To my friend.
Who's your friend?
She shut down, didn't want to talk about it.
For her to want to keep a secret was very unusual.
Okay.
I didn't know what to think.
But I started to watch the monitor like a hawk.
[Static droning]
Good night.
Good night.
[Water plopping steadily]
One night, Chris had gone to work.
I went to take my contacts out, get ready for bed.
[Water plopping steadily]
[Knock at door]
I heard a very small, very light knock on the bathroom door.
I thought, "meh."
Tried to brush it off.
[Water plopping steadily]
[Bang on door]
It sounded like a fist had pounded the door...
Very forceful bang, very loud.
I'm home alone with my young child.
[Floorboards creaking]
I needed to check on her.
I reached out, kind of shaking.
[Door creaking]
[Suspenseful musical flourish]
I felt blind.
Everything was blurry.
[Ominous musical flourish]
There was no one outside the door.
[Panting]
[Floorboards creaking]
My daughter was looking very happy and peaceful in her bed.
[Sighs]
[Footsteps thudding]
I heard what sounded like footsteps on the roof.
[Thudding continues]
The thing that really scared me was that somebody could be trying to break into our house.
[Panting]
[Footsteps thud and Amanda screams]
What would anybody want with us in our house?
I called my husband immediately.
I was talking probably a mile a minute.
Come home right now.
Okay.
Look, I'll be home as soon as I can.
Just sit tight.
When I get home, I grab my flashlight.
And it's so heavy, I can double it up as a w*apon if I need to.
Stay here.
I'm gonna go check outside.
I walk down the run behind our bedroom and don't see anything.
It was dead quiet.
But we're just east of L.A., so there is always that possibility that we could have a break-in or anything of that nature.
[Dog barks faintly]
But there was nothing out there.
So I kind of just said, you know, "hey, honey," and just reassured her.
Maybe she's hearing new creaks and cracks of an old house.
Smooch!
I wasn't sure what it was, but there was something threatening about the house.
This was not the safe place that I remembered from my childhood.
[Burgers sizzling]
I decided we should maybe do something as a family, so I thought, "okay, let's have a barbecue out back."
[Laughs]
It was nice to have family time again.
Chris is working a lot, and it was wonderful to have him home.
And Amelia was having fun playing with her toys.
It seemed like a perfect evening.
[Laughing]
[Foreboding music]
Holy crap.
What was that? What?
I saw this figure, like a black, shadowy figure, like, pass by the kitchen, and then it was gone.
You didn't see that?
His face got really serious.
You guys stay there.
I'm just gonna go inside for a second.
I went into my room and grabbed my g*n from the safe.
I knew it was fully loaded.
My heart's racing, 'cause, you know, at any given moment, I can turn the corner and kind of see somebody.
Amelia, come here.
Come on.
[Static droning]
[Static crackles]
I feel like somebody's on my heels...
Like a heavy weight on me.
[Floorboards creaking]
I had heard a creaking noise coming from the kitchen.
"What was that?"
Who's there?
I saw something, at least a figure of somebody.
I couldn't shake the feeling there was somebody there.
[Birds chirping]
Is everything okay?
Yeah, it's nothing. I thought I saw something.
But... it's nothing.
I wasn't convinced.
I know that if he thinks he saw something and he went to investigate it, there's a reason behind it.
He saw something, and he just wasn't telling me.
[Eerie piano music]
Later that evening, Chris had gone to work.
[Water running]
I was trying to just relax and finish up some housework.
[Light tapping on window]
[Water shuts off]
[Light tapping on window]
I hear tapping on the window...
[Light tapping on window]
As if fingernails were tapping.
Nothing there, absolutely nothing.
[Water running]
[Scratching]
I hear this scratching on the outside of the house.
[Scratching]
The hair on my arms stood up.
[Scratching]
[Door slams]
It sounded like the living room door slammed shut.
I stood there really not wanting to go see what it was.
[Crickets chirping]
[Door slams]
Another bang...
The kitchen door...
[Door slams]
The den door...
[Door slams]
And then another...
[Door slams]
And another...
[Door slams]
And then another.
[Doors slamming rapidly]
They didn't actually close.
They just made the noise.
[Panting]
I felt so vulnerable.
[Suspenseful music]
I had a terrible feeling somebody was following me.
[Screaming]
[Screaming]
I felt something grip my shoulder.
After what I had just experienced, I knew something was happening.
Something paranormal was in our house.
There's definitely something or someone connected to this house.
[Sobbing]
[Chimes tinkling]
[Indistinct TV chatter]
I was searching for any kind of reason as to what was happening to us.
I started to think, "could it be somehow connected to my grandmother?"
Available 3.6 liter v6 makes 295.
In terms of fuel economy, Chrysler's boasting up to...
Is grandma still here?
Maybe we had done something to upset her.
What do you mean "here"?
This was her house for so long.
[Glass shatters]
What the...
Stay there.
[Indistinct TV chatter]
Amanda, you have to come see this.
I couldn't believe what I was looking at.
This one picture came off the wall and landed in a very unnatural way.
We were both completely at a loss.
The nail's still good.
The picture would have had to have been lifted off to come off the nail.
I was utterly confused as to what was going on and what was happening.
I started to wonder, "maybe we should have moved somewhere else. Maybe we should have moved somewhere to start fresh that neither one of us had any memories from."
Hey, Chris?
Oh, hey, Kevin.
My boss asked me, "hey, you know"...
What's going on?
I told him, you know, "I have some weird things going on in the house, a lot of things that I can't explain."
Neither of us can.
Like what?
Like fingernails scratching at the window, footsteps down the hall.
And he said, you know, "well, maybe I can help you with that."
My wife, Lisa, she's a psychic.
I was dumbfounded, 'cause I didn't really so much as buy into, you know, psychics and mediums and things of that nature.
Amanda, she's frightened.
We were desperate at this point.
We didn't know what else to do, so we decided, "let's give it a sh*t."
Okay.
I'm a psychic medium.
I specialize in exorcisms and cleansings.
I've been gifted since about four years of age.
Hi, Amanda?
I'm Lisa.
I didn't know what a psychic was except for the silly things you see on TV, and I didn't really know what to think, but I knew we needed something.
They were a very sweet young couple.
I could tell immediately they were very s they really needed help, and I really wanted to help them.
[Eerie music]
She moved through the house as if she was taking photographs with her eyes and just kind of making observations.
As I walked around the home, a pulse in my hand began to start.
It got stronger and stronger, and it was leading me around.
I got this very strong sense of history.
Have you been living here long?
Uh, no, just a few months.
Well, that's strange.
I feel a very strong family connection.
Uh...
This is my grandmother's house.
It was really odd, because we hadn't given her any information.
I was heading towards Amelia's room.
My hand started having a pulse.
It's like a Geiger counter.
I was drawn to her little bed.
And I pointed to a spot on the ground.
Does she talk to someone there?
I froze for a second.
Yes.
I remembered Amelia sitting up in bed having a conversation with someone we couldn't see.
[Garbled disembodied chatter]
All of a sudden, I could hear talking.
[Garbled disembodied chatter]
I can hear her now.
[Garbled disembodied chatter]
The presence was in the room with us.
[Loud garbled disembodied chatter]
I could hear talking.
[Garbled disembodied chatter continues]
I can hear her now.
[Garbled disembodied chatter continues]
The presence was in the room with us.
[Garbled disembodied murmuring]
She's very kind.
"He said, 'I'll just put this'"...
I like her presence.
You could feel this good presence, and it was a very gentle, very kind, very nurturing voice.
[Garbled disembodied chatter]
And then Lisa said that the spirit in this room was a positive force.
It was actually protecting my daughter.
[Garbled disembodied chatter]
"He thought and thought."
When she turned to leave the room, I heard Lisa say something.
That started all this"...
Sugar pie.
[Whispers] Sugar pie.
My heart stopped.
What did you say?
Sugar pie.
I got very emotional.
It's my grandma.
That's what she called me.
It was a wonderful feeling inside to think that this woman was now protecting my child.
But it was very confusing.
We had a guardian angel presence, but on the other hand, these terrible things had happened.
The next room I went to was the den.
You could feel this dark, horrible feeling.
It was overwhelming.
I was jolted and pushed back.
[Moans]
I heard this very aggressive voice yelling and screaming.
Get out of here!
Lisa.
Stop.
I could feel that she was trapped.
I could hear it.
She's angry.
Stop it!
I could see her dig her nails in and scratch and claw at the side of a box.
[Nails screeching]
There's a box. There's a box!
She wanted out so desperately.
She was literally in a hell.
Lisa.
Lisa! [Screams]
I looked at my hands, and I swear they were bleeding.
[Gasping and moaning]
Scratching.
[Panting]
She wanted me to feel the pain that she was going through.
What is going on? Lisa.
I could feel a presence literally physically there.
Lisa turned around and said, "you have human remains here."
Right behind my hand on this wall, there's a box of human remains.
[Whispers] In the closet.
My jaw dropped.
I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
I open up the closet door, and we have all sorts of boxes stored in there.
No.
She tells me, "keep looking. Keep going."
No.
It's that one, that one.
It's in there.
This is it. It's in there.
Oh, my God.
As soon as Chris took out the box, I realized what it was.
Great-aunt Almarie.
Almarie? Who's that?
Inside this box was an urn of ashes.
I looked over at my wife, and she looked back at me, and, you know, she understood.
Like, she understood what Lisa was talking about.
Not everybody knew that my grandma had a twin sister.
She lived out in Las Vegas, so I only saw her maybe once or twice a year.
She had very long fingernails.
Stop fidgeting.
She was a very stern person, very difficult.
Everything had to be her way or no way.
Take the picture.
[Camera shutter clicks]
When my uncle passed away, my grandmother had to bring her sister back home to take care of her there.
The whole time she was there, she made my grandma miserable and would be very nasty.
Homemade chicken soup.
I don't want it. T so.
I don't want it.
It was very upsetting seeing my grandmother being treated in such a mean way.
Get out of here!
A few months after that, my great-aunt passed away.
I never would have thought in a million years that a member of my own family would be trying to harm me.
I tried to explain to them the gravity of the situation.
You need to get rid of these ashes to protect this family.
Her great-aunt blamed them for her being in that box.
She's just begging to be out, and no one's listening, so her only recourse is aggression.
She'd do anything to get out of that box, anything.
[Nails screeching]
What is going on? Lisa.
I tried to explain to them the gravity of the situation.
You need to get rid of these ashes to protect this family.
Her great-aunt blamed them for her being in that box.
If these remains were not removed, this family would never survive living there.
Me and Amanda had talked about what to do with the ashes.
I had figured that we'd just leave them in the garage overnight, and then we would just figure out what to do with them in the morning.
[Static droning]
Ha-ha, oh, that's great, bunny.
As you know, bunny has won $17,380...
Later that evening, Chris had gone to work, and I was sitting on our bed watching a little TV.
Oh, thank you.
Bunny, are you ready to meet that new challenger?
Oh, yeah, I really am.
[Laughs] Okay, bunny.
[Laughter]
[Light tapping on window]
Let's bring in that new mystery challenger.
[Applause]
Well, hello.
Hi.
And your name?
[Light tapping on window]
My name's Sable.
Sable.
Oh, Sable...
I hear fingernails tapping on our window.
They were, "tap, tap, tap."
[Light tapping on window]
Sable's from Harlem.
Isn't that wonderful?
I'm gonna get me some money.
[Indistinct TV chatter]
So you can get out of Harlem, huh?
[Foreboding music]
[Light tapping on window]
And you can see that she is very serious.
All right, Sable, you know how our game is played.
Yes. I watch it every day...
[Suspenseful music]
[Light tapping on window]
[Tapping continues]
And I looked out the window.
Absolutely nothing.
[Scratching]
[Screams]
[Yelping and whimpering]
I was completely petrified.
[Panting]
I knew that my great-aunt was back.
[Line trilling]
Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on.
And he's still saying it's not him.
Yeah, right.
[Phone rings]
Yeah, I get him back to the car...
Come on. Come on.
[Line trilling]
[Phone rings]
Hey, babe.
Chris! Chris! She's back!
What?
Chris, come home, please!
[Sobbing] Okay.
I'll be there as soon as I can. Just...
[Dial tone beeping]
Amanda.
Amanda.
All of a sudden, the phone drops call.
Chris? [Panting]
And the phone went dead.
[Dial tone beeping and clock ticking]
[Static crackling]
[Beeping continues]
[Floorboards creaking]
[Screams]
I was terrified, completely terrified.
[Panting]
I could feel the most evil, terrible feeling.
I hear this... [Mimics clicking]
[Door clicks shut]
The door had shut, almost as if somebody closed it.
[Screams]
[Ominous music]
No. Amelia!
No!
[Static crackles]
The door wouldn't open.
Trying to pull on the door and hit the door and kick the door.
[Sobbing]
[Footsteps thudding]
On the roof as if this spirit was trying to cave in my roof.
[Footsteps thudding]
Mommy! Mommy!
No! Amelia!
[Sobbing]
My daughter starts to cry, and I can't get out.
I can't get to her.
Mommy!
[Sobbing] No.
[Screaming]
[Sobbing]
Amelia!
[Screaming] Mommy! Mommy!
[Sobbing] Amelia!
[Sobbing]
[Floorboards creaking]
Mommy!
I hear what sounds like footsteps.
[Footsteps tapping]
Mommy!
[Floorboards creaking]
Something was coming at me.
[Suspenseful music]
I hear what sounds like footsteps.
Something was coming at me.
[Sobbing]
[Amelia screaming]
Quick, Amelia!
[Dramatic music]
I was petrified for Amelia.
[Screaming]
Mommy! Mommy!
Leave my daughter alone!
Stop messing with my family!
I'm just yelling at the top of my lungs, "leave my family alone. If you want to pick on somebody"...
Pick on me!
I'm right here!
We had to do something.
We had to get rid of these ashes.
They had to go...
As far away from our house as possible.
[Engine revs]
I knew what I wanted to do with my great-aunt's ashes.
I had a good idea of where I wanted to scatter her.
She was always very happy at the casino.
It was definitely a place that she loved to be.
We just wanted this thing out of our house and wanted to move on with our lives.
[Disembodied sigh]
As her ashes were flying in the wind, you could feel the sense of relief.
You could feel this sort of...
[Sighs]
[Disembodied sigh]
Did you hear that?
Yeah.
I did.
I knew that now she would be at peace and be happy.
When we arrived back home, there was such a sense of peace and calm in our house.
Our house was no longer tormented by this negativity.
My grandma had always looked out for me when I was little, and now it's a great feeling knowing that my grandmother is also taking care of my daughter and my great-aunt was now at peace.
[Static crackling]
04x13 - Ashes to Ashes
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"Paranormal Witness" is a paranormal documentary television series featuring "eyewitness accounts" from "everyday people" who claim to have experienced paranormal activity.
"Paranormal Witness" is a paranormal documentary television series featuring "eyewitness accounts" from "everyday people" who claim to have experienced paranormal activity.