Shannon, 16 - Santa Clara

When I was in fourth grade, my Father finally became an official deacon for a church. I remember the day he cleared out his office at Elmwood, he was a jail chaplain, and brought all of his stuff over to Trinity Cathedral in downtown San Jose. As we were driving, my Dad filled me in on how "interesting and historical" our new Church was. The Church itself, was built around the tun of the century. A few of its' priests have died on the property. That's not the creepiest part. In the 1930s there was a grocery store called "Harts" that was privately owned by the Hart family. They were well liked by the whole community, everyone shopped there and knew them personally. On November 9th, 1933, Brooke Hart, the only son and child of the family, was abducted for ransom by two sociopathic men. When they didn't receive money, they tied cinderblocks to Brooke's feet and threw him in the Bay. They also shot him a couple times to "shut him up." The San Jose community soon caught them and sentenced them to hanging. However, Brooke Hart was a huge part of said community, the people in the area were so angered by his death, they lynched his killers in St. James park on a tree in front of the post office. Guess where St. James park is? Right across the street from Trinity Cathedral. About a week after my Dad got settled in, it became summer. I spent most of my lazy days playing on the computer in his office. The building I was in wasn't the actual church, but it was where the vestry got it's work done. About three stories; the top floor was where brides could get ready in the large bathroom, the main floor was where the original offices where, and the bottom floor was my Dad's storage-room-turned-office and Rec room were located. I remember it was always unusually cold and dark down there, but my Dad always said it was because the Church didn't have enough money to fix the AC and electrical systems. It was the day after July 4th and I heard a knocking on my Dad's door. He had left to pick up my Mom, so I assumed it was him. When I went to open the door, I saw what I thought was a women in a white skirt running up the stairs. I chased after her and ran into the Vestry Secretary, Lisa. I asked her where the lady went, and she said we were the only people in the building and have been for at least an hour. I checked, she was wearing black slacks. I assumed it was my imagination. About... A week later, I could have sworn I heard a dog barking in th Rec room, but every time I got up, it immediatly ceased. I remeber hearing crying from time to time, like a little girl was quietly sobbing. One day, someone knocked on my Dad's door again, but this time I ran as fast as I could to the door. I heard laughing and someone running up the stairs, but I didn't see anything. Right after the running stopped, my Dad's door slammed behind me. Not only did I scream quite loudly, but my (then long) hair got stuck between the door and the frame. My Dad helped me out, but I never went back down there.