Hey everyone. Never thought I’d be posting here, but here we go. This happened last sunday so it’s still fresh in my mind, but I’ve had some time to let the experience ruminate. Get the facts straight, so to say.
Before we get onto what happened, I think some background info is in order. I live in a standalone home from somewhere around the halfway point of the nineteenth century. I know, cliché, but it’s where I grew up, and what I inherited and I’m not just going to sell it so my ghost stories sound more believable. I digress.
This house comes with a pretty sizeable garden. One that needs a lot of gardenwork, and due to this, I go through a lot of garden-related tools. Last week, I’d noticed my axe was getting too dull for my liking, so I set out to sharpen it, which I do in my rather sizeable basement. Gotta love old houses, right?
Now, if you’ve ever sharpened a tool before, axes especially, you’ll know the rather characteristic noise it makes. A deep metal scraping, along with a grainy clinking caused by chipped metal colliding with the grain of the stone. So, where does the spook factor come in? Well, you see, as I was scraping away at my axe - KGGGHHHH, KKCCCHHHG, KKGGGGH - I notice something weird about the sound. It seemed to go on for half a second after I stopped grinding.
It took me a while to notice this. Let me remind you, grinding an axe is a rather loud busywork. It takes quite a while and it’s not the most interesting task. So, I zone out. I take the time to think about my day, my week, my life in general. After half an hour of grinding, there came a moment where I finally noticed it. A very similar grinding, though quieter, grinding on just a little bit longer after I pulled back the axe. I waited a while, but heard nothing.
So I continued, thinking I imagined it, but the next time I was paying attention. Indeed, as soon as I stopped my axe, I could hear the sound in the background. Again, it went on for just a tad longer than my grinding. It was coming from somewhere above me, I’d deduced at this point.
I placed the axe on the stone. Nothing yet. I grind it on the stone, the familiar sound grinding inside my head. I stop. The sound continues, somewhere above me. I grind the axe again, repeating the motions, though this time stopping more abruptly. The sound played again, contuining longer than before, and finally ending as abruptly as I had done. KKKKGGGHH
By now, my axe was pretty much done and I was getting pretty antsy about whatever was making that sound. I don’t have any pets, roommates, or whatever, so I was getting kind of worried. I blow the metal dust from my axe and head upstairs. That’s when I really freaked out.
Just outside the basement door I found deep GASHES in the wood of my floor, all coming from or leading to the basement. Tens of them, each about half an inch deep. Like some large animal had put their claws through a slab of clay, but instead of clay it was the FUCKING WOOD of my FLOOR. What kind of creature does that? Would a full-sized bloody tiger even be able to manage that? You might be able to tell this part still freaks me out now. And why wouldn’t it? I am pretty fucking terrified.
So, that’s why I’m here. Have any of you had an experience like this? For your sake, I hope not. But I would love to hear I’m not the only one.