`Throwaway_NurseBetty` [Thread]

Here is my story from about a decade ago. I have to use a throwaway
because I'm sort of required to keep some things confidential about my
employers.

From the time that I graduated high school to the time that I finished
nursing school I worked as a caregiver for a nice couple who had the
husband's elderly mother living with them. It was a great job because it
didn't involve much and paid very well. My mother knew the couple from
where she worked and had set me up with the gig.

I had been working for them at least two nights a week, whenever they
had dinner plans or had to go out of town for business. (They were both
doctors but were employed by a pharmaceutical company) The elderly
mother was very sweet and was a total treat to be around. She was often
very tired in the evenings so we didn't spend too much time together,
but when we did she'd teach me how to cook the most amazing dishes and
tell me old stories.

The strange occurrences began on the very first night I spent in their
house. It wasn't anything serious at first. Just weird sounds and doors
that were open that I was sure I had closed behind me, stuff like that.
The house was very old and I was sure that most of the noises and open
doors occurred due to house's age and it settling.

One night while I was there (about three months into my employment) I
was downstairs sitting on the couch reading through a textbook because I
had a big test coming up. The lights were all dimmed except for the one
I was using to read. The rest of the living room was in shadows. All of
the sudden I got a strange feeling, like someone was watching me. I
glanced up towards the darkness and thought I could make out the shape
of a tall person standing in the distant shadows of the den. My eyes
were so used to the bright reading light that I couldn't see much of
anything in detail. I called out "Beverly? Is that you?" (That's the
name of the elderly mother I cared for) I didn't get a response so I
blinked and rubbed my eyes. They were closed for just a second but when
I opened them the figure was gone. I felt very creeped out but I knew it
was just my eyes not adjusted to the darkness.

When I was done studying I got ready for bed. I was allowed to sleep in
one of the smaller guest bedrooms that were down the hall on the second
floor. It used to be the bedroom of the husband when he was a little
boy. I had put my books back in my backpack and set them on the table in
the den, then went upstairs quietly so I didn't wake Beverly. The second
floor is set up in a long L shaped hallway with doors to rooms on all
sides. At the end of the first length where the hallway bends to the
left there is an old mirror hanging on the wall.

As I was walking down the hall I momentarily glanced in the mirror as I
passed it and there was that figure standing behind me at the end of the
hall. This time it wasn't my eyes or a trick of the light. There is a
small lamp at the bottom of the stairs that always remains on so that
anyone moving around at night doesn't trip down the stairs and break
their neck. It casts light up the stairway and illuminates the green
wallpaper at the end of the hall. The figure was a very tall silhouette
of a man standing at the far end of the hallway I had just came from.
(All of this was realized in a second) I screamed and turned around to
find nothing was there. An empty semi-illuminated hallway.

My scream woke up Beverly cause I heard her calling for me from her
room. I walked cautiously over to her bedroom door and went inside.
Beverly always slept with a small lamp on at the end of her bedroom, so
I could see her clearly when I went inside. She was sitting up in bed
and she asked me what was wrong. I told her it was nothing, I was just
startled by something. She looked at me what I believed to be a very
weird question at the time. "Was it something inside the house or
outside the house that startled you, dear?"

I thought that was very strange and I asked her why that mattered. She
told me that it was important and asked me to please answer. I told her
it was inside, I thought I saw a man in the house. She instantly looked
at ease and told me that it's okay, it's just a trick of the light.

The next morning I couldn't stop thinking about it and what she had
asked me. I assumed that either I was going insane (which wasn't likely)
or that Beverly was experiencing some dementia (which could be very
possible) and I should bring it up to her son and his wife when they
returned.

Once they had come back that evening I asked to have a word with them.
We sat in the den and I explained that I had been startled by something
and that Beverly had asked me the strangest question about it and then
seemed to have a strange emotional flip flop when I answered. I told
them I thought it might be a sign of a change in her mental status. The
husband politely told me that his mother is not crazy, not going crazy,
and very much sane. He told me that she was considering my best interest
when she asked me what frightened me.

I felt bad suggesting it because it seemed he had become defensive.
Immediately his wife saw that I was misreading her husband and spoke up.
She told me that Beverly knew something I did not, which is why she
asked me that strange question. They both reasoned with me and explained
that they believed their house was haunted. I seriously thought they
were joking, I even laughed. They did not laugh.

The husband explained to me that strange things have happened around the
house ever since he was a kid. The house was built by his grandfather,
Beverly's father. He explained that he had done his research and as far
as he could tell no one had ever died in the house. His grandfather and
grandmother both died in a car crash together, Beverly's husband died in
WWII, and not even a family pet had died in the house. So there is no
traditional reason for the house to be haunted.

They explained that the weird occurrences in the house are the reason
they pay me so well and allow me so many freedoms around the house. I
hadn't thought of it yet, but Beverly was a very active elderly woman to
warrant someone being paid \$100 a night to watch her. Especially since
I wasn't a medical professional. Not that Beverly needed a medical
caregiver. He told me that I should talk to Beverly about it.

I spoke to her later that week. She apologized for not telling me sooner
but they all thought I would turn down their offer if they admitted that
the house was haunted from day one. She explained that there are two
rules I needed to understand. (I had never heard of a haunting with
rules) She told me that if I see something inside the house it might
seem scary but it can't hurt me, it doesn't mean me any harm. But if I
see something outside the house, like outside the window, then I should
stay away or go hide.

That scared me. She told me that often people will see a tall man inside
the house. She said that no one is sure, but said she thinks she knows
who the man is. She took a framed picture out of her drawer and showed
me. She asked if that looked like the man I saw. (I had never told her I
saw a man in the house) In the picture was a very tall man standing next
to a woman of average height in front of an old car, probably brand new
at the time. It was hard to tell if that was the same man, but the
height and the shape seemed right. She told me that the man in the
picture was her father, the man who built the house. She told me that he
is the only figure seen inside the home. But outside the house there is
another figure, a thin man who is of average height. He is seen standing
in the window, on the lawn, or in the trees off the property. She told
me her dad keeps him away, keeps him out of the house.

I saw many other things after that, but the story is getting too long.

  [Thread]: https://reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/22u8yf/serious_have_you_ever_experienced_any_paranormal/cgr5r5p/