Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Foreign Good evening, I'm Ben and welcome to the show where you and I gather around this campfire to hear some of our fellow campers scariest experiences. So whether you're a new or returning camper, I'm happy to have you. Tonight we're going to hear something a little different, something that scares me more than any story I've told you thus far. For those of you who have sent a story in, you know that I offer two options. The first, I will read your story exactly as submitted. The second, I will use your story and events as an inspiration and craft a narrative specifically for you and your story. I'm sure you've noticed that the tone in many of my stories sounds the same, but that's not only because I'm narrating them. It's also because I have, for the most part, been asked to do the second option craft stories based on the camper's submissions.
[00:01:00] But back to tonight, what terrifies me more than anything, tonight I'm going to tell you a story that wasn't founded necessarily on any singular camper's experience or submission. Rather, I'm going to tell you a story that is grounded in my brain. A story that I have written entirely.
[00:01:20] This story does still take inspiration from real life hauntings, but the events of this story, while entirely plausible, have not, to my knowledge, ever been personally experienced by any one specific person.
[00:01:34] This is terrifying for me because I don't share my writing with anyone or even this podcast. In fact, very few people who know me in real life know this show exists.
[00:01:46] But for now, without further ado, do you want to hear a ghost story?
[00:01:54] My daughter and her son Ethan mean the world to me. He was just a five year old, barely understanding why his dad wasn't coming home anymore. And Emily was barely keeping it together after her husband's death. So when she sold her home, packed up their whole life, and moved them into this creaky old rental on the edge of town, I guess I couldn't say I was shocked. Everyone copes in different ways. But I knew that she and Ethan needed my help.
[00:02:24] There was an extra bedroom, so I moved in with them even a few days before so I could clean the place up a bit. The place was, for lack of a better word, a disaster. I couldn't even believe that it was deemed habitable by the city. But if this is what Emily thought she and Ethan needed, I wasn't going to stand in the way. I tried to breathe as much life into this old, decaying building as I could, but the structure was past my CPR's abilities for resurrection. I dusted every square foot of that building, every hallway, every closet, even the attic. There were a few pieces of trash left behind, but by the time I was done with the place, it was as spotless as it could be. The decades of neglect were wiped down from the walls and it was ready for a new family to move in. My week long task of getting the place ready for my daughter and her son to start fresh was coming to an end. I rounded up the trash bags and left them by the front door as I went back upstairs to turn off all the lights and make sure I didn't leave any cleaning supplies lying around. As I was shutting up the back master bedroom where Emily was going to sleep, I thought I heard someone talking downstairs. I was a little confused because I was supposed to pick Ethan up from school and meet Emily for dinner, but I thought maybe she left work early and picked him up herself. You know, just the nerves of the move. As I walked down the stairs, I immediately noticed two things. The front door was wide open and the trash bags were gone. I guess Emily really did come over early. I thought to myself, thinking that she must have taken the trash out to the bins for me. But when I got to the bottom of the stairs, I saw the trash was thrown all over the front room.
[00:04:10] Was someone upset we had moved in? Was someone trying to make a statement? I started walking to the kitchen to the phone, but I could hear someone inside there. They were rooting through something. More trash. What were they looking for Instead of running out the front door and going to the police station like I should have done, I stood there for a moment, catching my breath.
[00:04:33] Okay, just be assertive. Maybe catch them off guard and startle them, I said to myself. I jumped around the corner. Hey, what do you think you are? But standing there in the middle of the kitchen floor was a raccoon. But it hissed back at me, seemingly equally upset at me. As I at it, I grabbed my chest to feel my heart pound as I chuckled a little bit, catching my breath.
[00:04:58] I was late picking up Ethan after chasing our new roommate out of the house and cleaning up after him.
[00:05:06] When Ethan and I finally showed up at the restaurant, Emily looked ragged, like she was expecting to have gotten a call with grave news about us. I tried to empathize. Her husband died quickly out of the blue. That sort of scar runs deep and makes you paranoid. I could see that worry wash off her face slowly over slices of pizza. I thought this marked the moment everything in their lives would begin to turn around.
[00:05:32] But I was wrong. At first I thought Ethan was just having a hard time adjusting to the new home. But then he found a teddy bear in his closet. A teddy bear that couldn't have been there because I cleaned out that house myself.
[00:05:46] But I guess I could believe that. Perhaps I missed something, however. That's when I started to listen to Ethan play by himself in his room. And he was talking to what I assumed was his teddy bear a lot.
[00:06:00] But that's the thing. Ethan wasn't just talking to his teddy bear. He was having conversations. Real ones. He paused, responded, reacting to things that no one else was saying.
[00:06:13] I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what to say. I didn't say anything to him or Emily. She was already carrying so much. A new single parent, longer shifts, her bills piling up. I wasn't going to throw any more weirdness on top of that. Besides, imaginary friends are normal, right?
[00:06:36] This went on for about a month, until one afternoon I was folding laundry and I heard him whispering again. But I was more curious now, but also more certain it was just an imaginary friend. I stepped out into the living room. Who are you talking to, sweetheart? Ethan didn't even look up at me. David. The way he said it so casually, so matter of fact, made something cold pinch in my chest.
[00:07:05] It forced a smile.
[00:07:08] David, Is he a friend from school? Finally, Ethan turned and looked at me, his little face so serious. Too serious.
[00:07:18] No, he doesn't go to school. He doesn't like to leave the house.
[00:07:23] Well, maybe we can invite him out with us sometime, I said. No, he's not allowed to leave, ethan said. I felt the blood drain from my face as I tried to hide my unease from Ethan.
[00:07:37] Who said that? I said back.
[00:07:41] Ethan blinked like I was the one being strange.
[00:07:44] He did.
[00:07:46] At first, I told myself it was nothing. Kids say creepy things all the time. I had read about it somewhere. A survival instinct, something about testing reality.
[00:07:57] But something about this felt different. I didn't think Ethan was making this up. That night, as I was finishing up some chores, long after Ethan and Emily had gone to bed, I heard whispering again from his room.
[00:08:11] I tiptoed carefully up the stairs and pressed my head against Ethan's door. I could hear someone talking, though I couldn't quite make out the words. But the strangest part, this voice didn't sound like Ethan's. And finally a shh. And it went silent. But I kept my ear glued to the door, hoping to hear what came next?
[00:08:36] When a long, slow, dragging noise came from the other side of the door inside Ethan's room.
[00:08:44] I held my breath.
[00:08:46] Then another scrape. I slowly grabbed the knob, turning it, pushing the door open.
[00:08:53] Ethan was in bed, asleep.
[00:08:56] The noise came from a different part of the room that time. I turned my head toward the closet. The door was cracked just enough to spill out darkness. My fingers curled into fists. This was stupid.
[00:09:10] I was letting my grandson's imagination get the better of me. I stepped forward, grabbing the handle, and yanked the door open. Nothing. Just that teddy bear and the scent of dust.
[00:09:24] I exhaled, shaking my head. I was not about to let myself get worked up over this. But as I reached down to pick up the teddy bear, I noticed something in the dust along the floor. A long, thin mark etched into the wood. I told myself it must have been Ethan. Something he did by accident. Kids can be rather careless. Grandma, what are you doing? David is trying to sleep. Ethan was sitting up in his bed, staring directly at me.
[00:09:53] Yes. Yes, I suppose he is. You are right. I. I forgot to tuck him in, that's all. Good night, David. Good night, Ethan.
[00:10:04] Ethan didn't say anything. He. He just watched me walk out of his room. Things only escalated from there.
[00:10:11] At 3:12am every night after this, I heard a soft, deliberate tapping at the far end of the hallway, moving toward my bedroom door. The first few nights, I laid in bed, pretending I didn't hear it, staring at my ceiling, too afraid to let whatever it was doing this that it affected me. But as this continued night after night, my protective instincts took over. I swore myself up, checking on Ethan and Emily.
[00:10:40] Every time they were asleep, I would shut their doors.
[00:10:44] But one night, Emily must have heard it too. I was already awake when her voice cut through the darkness. Mom?
[00:10:51] I turned my head to see her standing in the hallway, arms wrapped around herself, eyes darting towards the noise.
[00:10:58] The knocking was in the hallway, somewhere between her and I. She reached quickly for the light switch, flooding the hall with light just as the final knock hit. We both stood there, staring at the empty space where someone should have been standing, knocking on the wall.
[00:11:16] The next morning, she sat at the kitchen table, staring blankly into her cup of coffee, as if it might give her the answers.
[00:11:23] I think the house is haunted. Her voice was so flat. I nodded in acknowledgment. Me too.
[00:11:31] We didn't say any words for a long time after that. Emily was the one who finally broke the silence. I don't want to scare Ethan, but maybe we should ask him about David again.
[00:11:43] Yeah, I said. Tonight we took Ethan to the same pizza place we had gone months ago. He seemed at ease to be away from the house, but when we got home we sat Ethan down on the couch, keeping our voices light. Sweetheart, emily started, can we ask you a bit more about David? Ethan hesitated, his hands twisted at the hem of his shirt. His eyes flicked towards the staircase, then back at us. He doesn't like being talked about.
[00:12:14] My skin pricked at this. Why not? I asked.
[00:12:19] Ethan swallowed, hesitating a little bit more.
[00:12:23] Because he's not supposed to be here. Emily and I exchanged a look. What do you mean? She asked. Ethan looked at her and then at me, his face pinched with some confusion, like he didn't understand why we didn't already know.
[00:12:41] Because he was forgotten, left behind.
[00:12:45] I looked over my shoulder at the stairwell, at the stairs, and then back at Ethan. Left behind where? I said. Ethan's lips barely moved as he answered.
[00:12:57] In the walls, we knew at that moment this was no imaginary friend, the way Ethan discussed it, the things that had been happening around the house.
[00:13:07] But we didn't know what to do. We stayed there, living in this nightmare for the duration of the lease, the same tapping happening every night, Ethan continuing to play with this unseen being.
[00:13:19] It didn't necessarily feel threatening anymore. Contrarily, it felt sad. It felt as though the state of abandon the house was in before we'd moved in was purposeful, as though someone purposely left David behind.
[00:13:35] Moving out went the opposite of moving in. Ethan and Emily moved out first into their new luxury condo. Emily didn't want to take any more chances on an older building again, and I stayed behind to clean the place, to leave it in good condition for the next tenant, though I doubted there would be one by now. The taps on the wall were normal to me. I no longer suspected raccoons of any mischief. It was just David. Ethan had left behind the teddy bear he found. I figured the last thing I would do was go up and leave it in the closet for David, where Ethan found it. I could hear the knocking from the bottom of the stairs as I walked up, with the teddy bear, getting louder as I walked towards Ethan's room. As I approached the closet, just for a moment, the tapping changed. It was more frantic, no longer an act of acknowledgment, but desperation.
[00:14:32] It stopped as soon as I opened the closet door. I set the teddy bear down in the middle of the closet. Then I stood there for a moment, just taking it all in. I hadn't noticed this before, but Ethan's closet was smaller than the rest, not quite as deep. As I looked closer, I saw that it didn't quite sit flush with the floor on the back wall either. I remembered what Ethan said in the walls. Maybe David was in the walls and just wanted to leave, but I was too afraid for what I would find if I tore that wall down. Rather, I opted to call the police and tell them that there was this weird smell coming from behind the closet wall. I sat there in my car watching through the windshield as the rain drizzled down. They first sent animal control, then the police, then an ambulance and then a black bag was carried out of the house.
[00:15:27] The remains were apparently old from close when the house was built decades ago.
[00:15:33] Emily and I never told Ethan this. He no longer remembers his friend David, but I believe he was the reason David is now at peace. And in a way, I think David helped Emily and Ethan find peace too.
[00:15:47] Thank you for listening to my story. If you liked this format and wouldn't mind hearing more stories that aren't necessarily from any specific person, let me know in the comments on Spotify, YouTube, or on this episode's post on Instagram. Your feedback is always appreciated. Now, if you'll go excuse me, I'm going to go die of embarrassment from sharing my writing publicly on the Internet. I will leave you here for the night. And if you want early access to ad free episodes bonus episodes, head over to patreon.com do you want to hear a ghost story? And as always, I'm glad to have you all as campers on this journey. Please keep sharing the show with anyone you think might like these stories or someone you're just trying to scare. If you're enjoying the show, please leave a review. I would love to hear from you. Until next time.
