> be me
> spring 2015
> move to victoria, BC
> broke & pretty desperate for housing w/ my best friend
> end up moving into an old farmhouse where my friend's coworker currently lives with one other guy
> beautiful house, falling apart but sitting on a big property, backyard is a grove of garry oak trees shrouded in tall grass
> guys living there seemed chill except there was supposed a third guy who "disappeared' right before we moved in
> from their description he seemed to be very mentally ill
> he'd been living in the tiny sunroom area between front door//main room cuz too poor to pay rent
> no one seems to rly care where he went despite saying they've known him since childhood. ok.. sad
> they're showing us around the house
> the dude neither of us really know offers to show us the basement, where his bedroom is at
> sure why not
> walk over to the basement door, he opens it
> looking down those stairs, my friend and i both instantly recoil in horror
> no real reason for this, something about it just feels off
> the guys laugh, tell us that they have a friend with a dog and every time the dog comes over you can't leave the basement door open because it'll just stand there and bark into the doorway
> WTFFFFF
> sounds like fake horror movie shit
> we go downstairs regardless to test our courage
> there's a main basement area, laundry room, dude's room, and inbetween them is this tiny little room
> the size of a closet. but there's an empty bunk and a desk in it
> dude says he has no idea what it was before they got the house
> my friend and i just instantly know this is dark and hurry back upstairs
> dudes make fun of us for being pussies and believing in ghosts
> never do laundry the entire few months i lived there, would rather sit at a laundromat for 2 hours than go back down there ever again, even for 2 minutes
> anyways. we go on
> our new room is upstairs (sharing room w/ friend bcuz poor)
> nothing strange happens at first, just feels creepy in the way any old houses does
> find myself wishing i knew about the history of the property since our house was much older than all the others on the block
> only a few blocks away is a park called summit park
> it's a rocky hill and you can see a good view of the city from it
> can't remember where i learned this information but supposedly witches would meet there on full moons
> it was commonly known that pagans/wiccans were very everywhere in victoria
> back then you'd to be able to find more infortmation and stories about it on google but i can't seem to find much now
> most things i found out were just through getting to know locals
> still, would spend a lot of time at that park, it had garry oak trees similar to my backyard, they're an ancient tree that only grow in that part of the world
> living in that neighborhood was nice, lots of flowers, things were good
> got a job, getting settled in
> anyways, that's the context of where and when this experience took place
> i think around a month after moving in was when it happened
> 10pm-ish, sitting in bed with my friend
> we had just been reading and looking at our phones and stuff, not talking, just winding down before sleep
> room is dimly lit by a string of battery powered christmas lights
> just sitting there, i think to myself, i should brush my teeth before i get too tired
> we had our own tiny bathroom up on the 2nd floor with us, pretty much attached to our room but a small hall area at the top of the stairs that also connects to another bedroom (the guys had been trying to find someone to rent but it was empty at the time)
> basically, bathroom was 2 steps away from our room
> our bedroom door was closed, and as i looked at it, i just became, i don't know, paralyzed?
> suddenly i start to feel the most primal terror i have maybe ever felt
> as if i was in an urgently life threatening situation
> and scariest part of it was, there was nothing there. i knew there was nothing there. there was absolutely no reason for me to be having an actual adreniline rush
> sat there for what felt like 20 minutes, not sure how long it actually was, still me and my friend are silent
> want to tell her how insane i'm feeling but don't want to scare her
> finally, after much contemplation, i'm able to move my lips just enough to say her name
> "*name,*"
> "yeah"
> "i'msofuckingscaredrightnow"
> she IMMEDIATELY grabs ahold of me, "OHMYGODDUDEMETOO"
> hyperventilating and cowering in eachother's arms
> just trying to absorb the harrowing reality that we were both feeling the exact same thing
> still no indication that there is anyone or anything outside the door
> friend starts asking me to turn on the light
> lightswitch is right next to bedroom door
> "no dude i seriously can not do that i can't move i can't get out of this bed i'm so scared seriously no no i'm not gonna do that"
> for like a minute or two we just go back and forth, her pleading me to turn on the light, me absolutely refusing
> don't remember what made me change my mind, but finally i said i'll do it
> the lightswitch is just right there. close to the bed. nothing can hurt me
> so i muster up all the adreniline, and leap towards the door
> it all happened so fast, probably in less than 3 seconds
> flick light switch
> light turns on for.. a millisecond?
> BANG!!!!!!
> lightbulb explodes
> we both SCREAM to the high heavens
> jump back into bed as fast as humanly possible
> don't say a word to eachother
> don't move, paralyzed again
> just cry and huddle together for the rest of the night until we eventually fall asleep
> wake up the next day and talk about it a lot, confirm it was real
> tell the guys, they think we're dumb, replace the lightbulb for us
> we moved out of that house and into our own apartment not long after, nothing else notable happened at the house but crazy shit happened in the apartment so sometimes i wonder if the force from the house followed us there or if it was something else entirely
> this was one of the most fucked up things that ever happened to me
> weird shit has happened throughout my life but never before and never since this incident have i ever felt... hunted... by something i can't even SEE
> the way the fear set in despite lack of concrete danger, the way my friend felt it too, the sound the lightbulb made when it poofed, the timing of it all... despite being over 5 years since it happened, the memory of is so vivid in my mind
> still think about it all the time, just wondering what the fuck did that, and why
> think about the house and what became of it after we left, who lives there now, who built it, what happened there in the past...
> one time someone told me downtown victoria is built on cursed land that the native people wouldn't set foot upon, wouldn't even bury their dead there, so the british built the city there on purpose, to harness that dark energy
> wish i could confirm that story but of course there's nothing about it online, you just hear a lot of stuff talking to islanders, they sure do love to talk
> they're not fucking around though. especially years later when i became a dog groomer and 90% of my clients were age 50+
> most older islanders have spent their entire lives there, come from generations of people who've done the same, they KNOW there's fucked up shit happening all around us
> downtown victoria was especially ominous. i worked there, in chinatown, and although i thought it was going to be my dream job, it was an overall terrible experience where my boss would treat everyone like dirt, we all sorta feared her because she had an explosive temper and loved to take it out on whoever was available, namely me
> she lived in an old chinatown loft close to the shop
> genuinely felt like she was possessed by something, the way she could immediately switch from nice and happy to tyrannical tantrum
> met all kinds of downtown people through that job and most of them were similarly cruel and calculating
> back then i couldn't understand why i didn't really fit in no matter how hard i tried... LOL
> anyways, i'll wrap it up
> vancouver island is fucked
> victoria is fucked
> living there gave me solid personal proof that spirits + demons are real
> i'll never forget that night in the farmhouse
> yea
