Within weeks of moving into her Antioch home, Lisa Llewellyn began to notice unusual things. At first they were little things: a thump coming from an upstairs bedroom, a shuffling sound going up and down the stairs, and sometimes a feeling of being watched.
But things came into focus one night as Llewellyn stood at the kitchen sink and felt a tug on her shirt and a voice saying, ?Mom.? She turned around ? and found herself alone. Calling out to her children, she discovered they were all together upstairs.
It was then that she became a believer.
?Oh, I know what I felt, and I know what I heard,? she said. ?You try to explain things away, but this time I couldn?t justify it. There is absolutely a presence in that house.?
Call it spirits, ghosts or paranormal activity, but for Llewellyn and her family the sounds that go bump in the night, and sometimes during the day, are definitely real.
While she admits she has experienced this kind of thing throughout her life, something that can?t be explained away, her husband has been the disbeliever in the family ? until he began to have experiences of his own.
?My husband was always the skeptic in the house,? she said. ?But one night we were asleep in our bedroom, which is downstairs, and I heard a thump, like one of the kids was getting out of bed. I thought to myself, ?Someone is on the way down to sleep with us,? and so I listened and heard a rattling at the door like someone was trying to open it.
?It continued, so I finally got up to open the door, but no one was there. It happened again a few minutes later and I woke my husband up and he heard the same thing. Finally on the third time, we got up, let the dog in, did a thorough search of the house and found nothing.?
After seven years in the house off G Street, the Llewellyns finally moved out ? not because of the paranormal activity, but because of the need for more space.
?We never felt afraid while we were there; we just needed a bigger house,? said Lisa. ?There was a point, though, where my son wouldn?t go upstairs by himself. He would sleep at night just fine, but during the day he wanted someone to go with him.
?And my brother, who is a frequent visitor, has actually seen a little girl running up and down the stairs. One night he came into the living room and saw her face peeking out from under the coffee table.?
When the Llewellyns rented out the house to the new tenants, they didn?t mention the extra energy in the home. The tenants noticed it, however, on their own, and lasted just four months before they abruptly moved out.
?When the tenants came to me about their experiences, I wasn?t sure what to say,? said Joy Di Ricco, the Realtor who set up the lease/option for the tenants. ?They told me that they were standing in the living room and the floor began to buckle and wave. Not just a little movement; a large, noticeable movement.
?Of course, I was looking for a realistic explanation and checked out the house outside, under the porch and all that, but couldn?t find a cause. That was just one of a few things that happened to them, and they were spooked. They moved out pretty quickly. I don?t even know where they are or where they went.?
Wondering if there was anything to the tenants? story, Di Ricco contacted the Llewellyns, and that?s when she learned of their experiences.
?That clinched it for me, when Lisa told me about what had been happening to them,? said Di Ricco. ?Two separate families with the same stories. No question something is going on.?
So how does one go about selling a haunted house? Well, for Di Ricco there was really no question but to disclose the paranormal activity. The home is listed on Craigslist as an ?atmospheric offering.? Her feeling is that there might be a market for those interested in such homes. But either way, both ethically and morally, Di Ricco felt she had to be honest.
?What else could I do?? said Di Ricco. ?At what point do you say, ?What are my duties and responsibilities?? There are people out there who want these kinds of houses, and those who don?t. I don?t believe I had any other choice but to disclose what I know.?
Di Ricco herself has had a few unexplainable experiences in that home as well. An old pillowcase full of turn-of-the-century toys, at one time found by Llewellyn?s husband, has a habit of turning up in odd places throughout the house. Di Ricco herself has placed beach balls in different rooms, and returned to find them in closets or altogether different locations.
Spook or mere suggestion? Di Ricco said it?s hard to know.
?My logic tells me it?s not real, but how then do you explain all the movement?? she said. ?How do you explain the balls and toys moving inside closed closet doors? I don?t know what to think. I?ve certainly never had this kind of experience before, but I can?t deny something is going on.?
For her part, Lisa said she is absolutely positive there is a presence in the house.
?I definitely know there is something there,? she said, adding that her new home in Antioch appears to be quiet so far. ?I?ve been in other people?s apartments and homes and felt things immediately. Why are they there? Most people say spirits that hang around have unfinished business, or left this world abruptly or violently. I don?t know; I?m really not sure. I just know they?re there.?
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