by Sharon | Nov 6, 2018
I was with my ghost hunting group at the local cemetery. While there, we met Bertha who had a story to tell.
She went on one of those tours of haunted places. She didn’t specify where and we didn’t press her.
Bertha was 14 or 15 years old at the time. She was looking forward to this particular trip and the whole family was interested in taking pictures to see if they could capture ghosts or orbs or anything paranormal.
When they arrived, Bertha recalled saying, “If there are any ghosts here, we mean you no harm,” as she stood in front of the massive building.
She heard something fall, she looked down and on the cement walkway was a metal object. She picked it up and put it in her purse.
She joined her parents, siblings and other tour group members up the steps and into the grand lobby. Bertha immediately felt a cold blast of cold air. She took pictures, but didn’t see anything. The cold air wasn’t coming from the air conditioning vents, but it was above her. She imagined ghosts flying overhead or giant orbs.
Bertha wasn’t paying much attention to the tour guide, she was more concerned about how cold her hands felt.
As we stood in a shady spot on this late June day in the cemetery, I noticed Bertha rubbing her hands to get them warm.
Bertha continued. She began feeling dizzy as they climbed the stairs along with the tour guide. Bertha told her mother she wasn’t feeling well and would wait for them outside.
She sat on the steps, off to one corner, to be out of the way of tourists, but visible to her parents when they finished the tour.
The dizziness subsided, but she shook with fear. She was sure something there did not like her — maybe personally, or just didn’t like her being there.
Bertha tried to calm herself down. She prayed for protection and immediately felt better.
After the tour, she met her parents and walked to the car. They stopped at a restaurant for lunch before heading for home.
She remembered her parents and brothers talking about the tour and what impressed them about what the tour guide said. She remembers her mother saying she took a lot of pictures and couldn’t wait to get them developed.
When they were leaving the restaurant, Bertha picked up a quarter she found on the sidewalk and put it in her purse. It clinked with the metal object she picked up earlier at the haunted place. She decided to take a closer look when they got in the car.
She brought it out as they were driving out of the restaurant parking lot. The car’s engine sputtered to a stop. Her father got out and lifted the hood to take a look. He fiddled with something and started the car. She was holding the object in her hand, but still hadn’t examined it closely. She opened her hand and looked at the broken bell-shaped object. There was a piece that fit in the top and there was no clapper in the bell.
She turned it over in her hand to examine the writing that was inside the bell. The car once again sputtered to a stop.
Bertha wondered if it had anything to do with the metal bell.
Her father got the car running again, but he drove to the nearest gas station hoping someone could fix the car.
Bertha put the bell back in her purse while they waited for her father to finish talking to the mechanic who could find nothing wrong. She was sure, the car trouble had something to do with the broken metal bell. She decided to keep it in her purse.
Bob, one member of our group, said that one should never accept gifts from ghosts. It could have been a demon or some ghost that wasn’t being generous, but was a way of getting into her house.
We all agreed, including Bertha who continued her story.
“When we did get home, I put the metal bell on my dresser. A friend of mine came over and invited me to the movies. Mom and Dad agreed and my brothers joined us.”
When Bertha and her brothers arrived home that evening, her mother and father were sitting on the front steps. Police cars were in front of the house and around the back.
“Someone broke in the house,” her father said calmly.
As it turned out, there was no break-in. The police could find no one in the house or around the house.
Bertha told her parents about the bell she found that morning and went to get it to show them.
The bell was part of a candle snuffer. The handle had broken off.
Bertha pointed out the inscription inside the bell. She couldn’t read it — it was in old script and she thought in another language.
Her mother cleaned it up with silver polish to clear away any soot and tarnish.
Looking inside, she read a message that disturbed her. She threw it in the trash and put it out to the trash can in the alley.
As it turned out, all their haunted tour photographs came out black.
Obviously, something didn’t want them to have pictures of their visit.
Eventually, Bertha’s mother shared what she read inside the broken bell. “A curse is placed on the possessor of this bell. May all your dreams be snuffed.”
Even though, the bell had been thrown out, strange things occurred in the house. There were many fires in the kitchen and garage. The whole family seemed to suffer from Bertha’s picking up the bell.
Her older brother broke his leg in a basketball tournament. Her younger brother got hit in the mouth with a baseball, breaking his front teeth. Her father lost his job, his boss and co-workers thought he was a jinx. Bertha had some traumas in her life, but she didn’t share them.
She was wondering about curses and how to break them. Since we didn’t know about the original curse, we couldn’t help her, but referred her to someone who might.
It is true that Bertha took a gift from some entity, her mother threw it out instead of giving it back. I wonder if that would have made a difference.
Just beware of taking gifts from ghosts.
Thanks for stopping by!!
I hope you will share this real ghost story along with some others with your friends and family.
Sharon
by Sharon | Nov 1, 2018
You really don’t need to venture far from home to encounter ghostly apparitions or orbs.
It doesn’t have to be late at night, it can be during the daylight hours. Granted, they are easier to see at night, but that doesn’t mean that’s the only time they are present.
You may not like hearing this, but there could be ghosts in your house. There could be ghosts walking down the street right along with you in your neighborhood, at the mall or downtown. It’s rare I don’t see one or two or more as I’m going about my normal routine.
You can either accept this, be skeptical, deny it’s true or be paranoid constantly looking over your shoulder and being scared senseless.
Most house hauntings have to do with the history of the house or what loved ones who have passed want to visit you from time to time. Depending upon the personality of the person in life, the behavior remains the same.
The reason it’s important to get some history about your house is to know if any horrific event occurred there or even in the neighborhood.
There was a violent assault down the street from me. I see her apparition occasionally. It’s not something you want to see. My dog is terrified of it and she usually is comfortable with spirits. Also is such cases, the spirit doesn’t know she’s dead. She’s unaware of the attack, so it remains an unsolved murder case.
All I want to say here is that it was a brutal attack and her face is unrecognizable as such. She does have an eye that is out of the socket, resting on what would be her cheek. I’m surprised the spirit is pacing in front of her old house, given the damage to the rest of her body. It is absolutely frightening.
And, of course, my neighbors don’t want to discuss it … but I’m sure they’re whisper among themselves as to how I know of the attack since it happened well before I moved into the neighborhood. Well … knowing what I’ve seen, I can understand it … but they don’t have to deny it ever happened.
I rarely walk on that side of the street.
You may think me heartless. The truth is a friend and I tried to help her. Not after the assault, but in her spirit state. She insists she needs a ride to her hairdresser. She can’t seem to find her car and she has a terrible headache.
She repeats the same thing over and over again.
We did take her to her hairdresser once, but the next time we saw her she made the same request. We took her to the hospital, a local mortuary, even to the cemetery, but didn’t encounter any spirits that could connect with her to get her to crossover. We even tried to help her move on, but she is stuck in needing to go to her hairdresser.
I saw her in my house one morning and had to firmly tell her to leave, to go home and scare the living daylights out of the current resident of the house.
I’d held a séance for her, but she doesn’t understand what the psychic was talking about, plus she doesn’t believe in such nonsense. She has her priorities straight, get to the hairdresser.
I think it’s more interesting hearing the ghostly tales of others.
“I was at the local deli picking up a sandwich to take back to the office,” Ted explained. “I saw an old guy sitting on a bench, waiting for a bus. There was something odd about him, but I was in a hurry to get back to work.”
Just as he was finishing up the paperwork for his client, Ted saw this same man who was on the bench walk past his office and continue down the hall. He seemed to know where he was going, so Ted didn’t follow him.
Ted met with his client and when he opened the door, there stood the man he had seen earlier waiting. The odd thing was that the man was about half a foot off the ground. He was hovering there.
Ted’s client walked through the apparition and Ted stood in his office in utter shock.
“I don’t know how long I stood there like an idiot,” he admitted. “I couldn’t stop shaking and didn’t trust my legs to walk a few feet to a chair.”
The ghost eventually floated away after Ted got a good look at him. He knew the ghost had a reason or a message, but Ted wasn’t capable of thinking clearly at that moment.
When Ted was busy with another project, a book fell from the shelf.
Ted didn’t notice, he was in deep concentration.
“I remember smelling coffee and thought I’d go get a cup. That’s when I noticed the book on the floor.”
He picked it up, paying no particular attention to it and returned it to the shelf. He was focused on getting a cup of coffee.
He met Kim in the alcove that served as their beverage area. There was the coffee maker and a small refrigerator with sodas and water. Occasionally there would be snacks, but mostly beverages.
“I’ve had a strange feeling all day,” she began. “You know my grandfather founded this business. My father, brothers and uncles did most of the work here. Then when Granddaddy died, the place almost folded. My father worked night and day to set things right.”
Ted heard this story before. The uncles cashed out to get their retirement. Kim’s father and his brothers worked to keep things afloat, but soon realized there wasn’t enough revenue to support them all. They sought other employment.
“Come to my office, I want to show you something,” she said.
Ted followed, bringing his cup of coffee with him. He wasn’t about to refuse his boss.
“Do you believe in . . . ” she paused searching for the right word.
“Ghosts?” Ted said, trying to help.
“No, that’s not what I was thinking, deja vu, perhaps.”
Ted was working on one of the oldest accounts the firm had. It went way back to the beginning of the company. That was why he grabbed a quick sandwich and returned to the office.
“How did everything go with your meeting today?”
“Very well, young Flemming seemed pleased with the investments.”
“Well, it was right after that meeting on this date that Granddaddy was waiting for a bus when he was held up, robbed and murdered. Then, 24 years to the day, my father met with the family and that evening had a massive stroke.”
Kim didn’t handle that account believing it was cursed and she would be next.
“Are you warning me?” Ted asked trying to make a joke, but he was concerned. He realized the man he saw on the bench was Kim’s grandfather. Was the old man trying to warn him?
“It’s been 24 years since my father’s death.”
The air was heavy. Both Kim and Ted sat quietly.
As it turned out, Kim and Ted were both fine. It was the young Mr. Flemming who hung himself in his office.
It was later revealed that the Flemming account had its ups and downs over the years. It was down 48 years ago when the elder Flemming had a verbal altercation with Kim’s grandfather and later robbed and killed him at the bus stop. The account was down 24 years ago when Kim’s father had a massive stroke and died caused by the altercation in the office that day and receiving threats through the night by telephone. It was when the doorbell rang that Kim’s father was at his wits end and suffered the stroke.
Ted’s meeting went quite well with the young Mr. Flemming. The accounts were up and a great profit was realized from the investments.
In a note left by Mr. Flemming to Kim or her heirs, he spelled out the details of his family’s involvement in her family’s deaths and the plans that were put in place in the event the accounts were down on that particular date.
As it turned out, Mr. Flemming didn’t call off the hit on Kim before he took his own life.
When Kim left the office that evening, she had a feeling her life was in danger. That made her hypervigilant. She left her car in the lot and rented one to drive home. She didn’t want to put her family in danger, but with a different car, she felt she wouldn’t be followed. Just to be on the safe side she hired armed security to protect her home.
The brakes on her car had been tampered with. When the hit man noticed the car in the lot, he went to her house. He was able to avoid the armed security guards, but the tale he told about an old man who blocked his entry into the house and still stood his ground after being shot three times, the hit man was willing to give himself up to the armed guards and the police without incident.
Kim is a believer. She is sure her grandfather saved her life. I have to agree.
Thank you for stopping by!
I hope you enjoyed this real ghost story. It is one of my favorites — I like it when the truth comes out and justice is served.
Sharon
