The Ghost Upstairs in the Kitchen
By: Hm Grove
Tags: True Story, Horror, Supernatural, Ghosts, Nonfiction

By H.M Grove

When I was 14 years old, I goofed up and was sent to a boarding school for troubled teens in Missouri for a year. While at this Boarding/military School, I underwent several strange and utterly insane events. This is one of those true events.

The day I was chosen for night watch was a good day. Wow, I’m trusted to watch the other kids throughout the night to make sure nobody runs away. My partner was my buddy Tristan, so we were going to have a blast. The dorms were downstairs, and the school contained about 30 to 40 students at a time. The school was on a ranch in bumfuck Missouri in a town with a population of 300. The nights were quiet, and the sky was wide. So began our one-month stretch of night watch.

Week 1:

During the first week, we would mainly take our hourly headcount, play games on the iPod touch, break into the pantry to huff the nitrous out of whip cream cans, and fuck around like any 14 year old kid would. Sometimes we would wake up our friends to play games and hang out. Sometimes when we were really bored, we would go to the barn and huff some gas. Don’t judge me, we were 14. I know your dirty ass probably huffed gas a few times in your life. So, it was a really fun time. Everything was going well, until we heard the fridge in the kitchen open and close… At first, we thought one of the students snuck out and stole some food, but the headcount was clear. Maybe one of the staff members went to get a snack, so we went up to check, but the kitchen was clean, chairs were stacked, and the air was unusually cold. We tried not to overthink it, but something was off in our heads.

Week 2:

As we carried on with our duty, strange sounds from the kitchen would continue to rattle our heads. There was no seeing past it, so Tristan and I would definitely talk about it, while trying not to make wild assumptions. As we talked about it more and more, the sounds would only grow, as more objects were being tinkered with. After a few more nights of slamming, throwing, and shaking from the kitchen, we decided to conduct surveillance with the camera from the iPod touch. As we walked upstairs to set up the camera, the air was thin, but the room felt a little thick with tension. It was as if we were soldiers trying to sneak past an enemy sniper in the clock tower. Once the camera was set, we sprinted downstairs and sat in anticipation. One hour passed by as we talked to kill the time. The kitchen was oddly silent until we heard a big “SLAP”. With hesitation (Because we were scared out of our fucking minds), we slowly paced upstairs only to see the iPod touch laying facedown on the floor. Quickly, we grabbed the iPod and sprinted downstairs whilst almost shitting our pants and crying like babies. This was big! What the hell are we going to do? We have a legit ghost in the compound! It was time to take it up a notch and assemble the troops. It was time to build a team.

Week 3:

As the sun went to rest behind the green horizon, and the night came to claim its beauty, the strange sounds in the kitchen only grew more and more violent. Heavy slamming from the cupboards and fridge continued, while small loose objects were thrown around. There was even a small Hotwheel car thrown down the stairs into the dorms. So, as logical and reasonable kids, we assembled a ghostbusting team. Drew, Sam, and Jake were woken up and quickly briefed on the situation at hand. Given the situation, these brave boys were scared shitless, but nonetheless, agreed to assist, probably because we all had nothing better to do. First act of business was to collect more surveillance. We drew straws, and as always, Jake drew the short straw. Our new operational protocol was to duct tape 4 bibles to our limbs, and carry a makeshift sword we crafted out of a ski pole and a wooden crucifix. We dressed Jake in his armor as he was trembling. Soon after he placed the iPod in the spot, he screams, then runs downstairs. He said, and I quote, “Holy shit dude! I saw something move in the window!” Our crew was in shambles and our hearts felt as if it sunk into our asses. We were quite uncertain on what our next operation would be, and we wouldn’t retrieve the iPod touch until next morning. Upon watching the video, we learned that there was no video. At first, we blamed Jake for being an idiot and dove into a 15-minute argument that included mean names, punching, and I think one guy spit on someone. Then we realized that the ghost was trying to split us up. Quickly, we reunified our brotherly bond, and dipped our balls in molten steel to prepare for war. For the rest of the week, the ghost was trying to antagonize us. More items were thrown down the stairs, chairs were even thrown from the tables, and pounding was heard on the windows. We were scared, but a soldier in a war will always be scared. A new week was approaching, and we were desperate to end this.

Week 4:

The first night of the week started off with a bang. Usually, we were protected in the safe confines of our dorm, but there was an attack. We noticed that many of the sleeping boys were uneasy while tossing and turning in their sleep. Then it happened… There was a schizophrenic kid named Freddy at the ranch. He was a very kind boy with a good heart, but an unfortunate mental illness. On that night, Freddy was screaming in his sleep. He was not known to have night terrors, though. As we tried to wake him up, his body started shaking, his eyes were rolling back and it appeared as if he was having a seizure. After one minute, he finally woke up and burst into tears as he lunged onto Sam. After he calmed down, we interviewed him. Freddy claimed that in his dream, a black silhouette chased him and shoved a broom up his ass while beating him. This was the final straw. The ghost attacked Freddy, and we weren’t going to put up with that. Luckily, we were at a Christian boarding school, so there were plenty of bibles, crosses, hymnbooks and other objects of God lying around. Ghosts hate God, right? Eh whatever, we saw it in movies so it must be true. We all dressed in our bible and duct tape armor, and wielded crucifixes attached to stick-like objects. With courage in our hearts, we charged upstairs. Upon entering, the room emitted a high-pitched buzzing sound, and the air felt as if we were walking through Jell-O. It was extremely hard to move and breath, but we carried on. Our ears were tingling, and our hearts were pounding. Drew was holding the iPod while recording the area, and Tristan noticed that the air would thicken closer to the stairs to the computer room, so he ventured over there. As for Jake and I, we kept our heads down because we were scared shitless. While at the stairs, Tristan discovered that he could not move up the stairs. He said there was an invisible wall that would freeze his body as he tried to walk up the stairs. It appears as if the computer room was the ghost’s compound, and we were not welcome. Then, all hell broke loose. First off, Sam saw the fridge door open and slam shut while papers on the desk flew out onto the floor. Then a scream was heard outside, and Drew caught something through the window running by. As logical boys, we did what any person in this position would do. We all screamed like children and sprinted downstairs while tumbling on each step. In all honesty, I did piss my pants. Seriously, my pants were soaked; I had to change them and everything. If you were there, you’d probably shit and piss your pants, so shut up and stop judging. As we recollected ourselves, the strangest event of this whole month took place. From the kitchen and dining room, there was the sound of a crowd. It was as if everyone was upstairs eating, laughing, and conversing. We were in shock as we heard the sounds of a crowded dinner. Quickly, we moved away from the stairway and all sat on my bed with the blankets over our heads. I’m pretty sure one of us cried… Yeah, that was me; I won’t bullshit you. After a few hours, the sun rose up, and night was over.

Aftermath:

Soon after the sporadic and terrifying events, we agreed that we needed to take this up with the Pastor. The Pastor was the man who ran the school, and he was an actual pastor, so surely he could do something. But before we brought it to his attention, we discovered that the video Drew took that night was still on the iPod. We all huddled around to watch, only to see something that would scar us all. As Drew whipped the camera back and forth, a baby’s face was seen in the window. It was pale white, had squinty eyes and was a little blurry, but nonetheless, it was an infant in the window. We all took a moment to take it in, but before we came to any conclusions, we had to talk to the Pastor. Upon explaining the situation to him and showing him the video, the Pastor took us into the other room and had a talk. Upon conversing with him about the subject, he informed us that this ghost is not a new occurrence. Every few nights for the past four years, the ghost comes out and makes a little noise. A few of the night watch kids to confront the ghost before yielded similar results. When two boys named Dominick and Parker approached the ghost a year before, a knife was thrown into the wall, and a bible was hurled in a trashcan. He told us that the only way to stop it is to avoid it. Confronting it will only antagonize it. When asked what the ghost was, the Pastor informed us that the ghost is the concentrated negative energy of troubled boys that turned a new leaf at the school. Upon dropping bad habits and negative mindsets, those pieces of those people are left to wander at the confines of the school. So, as we carried on with night watch, we left it alone. The first few nights after, the ghost would throw shit around, and try to mess with our heads, but we ignored it with an iron will. After 3 days, the kitchen was silent. We were to not speak of the ghost with anyone else in hopes of not antagonizing it furthermore. To be honest, this was one of the most bizarre experiences of my life. I’ve seen some weird shit throughout my days, but nothing to this degree of utter inanity and disbelief. Like a good soldier, I held my head high and carried on, only to tell this story through the words and memories that lie in my head.