In Bruges part II

Hello dear readers.

Thanks for your patience. Now back to the story.

We checked the camera my dad set up in the owner’s room and there were a few unexplained shadows that occurred when no one was there, always in time with the episodes my dad recorded the other night. Not enough proof, but interesting nonetheless. We set up camp in that room, starting earlier than the previous night. By about 10pm the first episode of heavy atmosphere already happened. My dad was happy his theory was correct, that it happens the whole night, not only in the small hours. During the first interval we set up the equipment and my dad prepared a few strategies to contact the man. He tried yet another theory by attempting contact during the intervals. Nothing happened.

As soon as the air got heavy again my dad applied his first plan, consisting of him holding up an old clock that supposedly belonged to the man. He stood there for a few minutes, holding the clock, waiting for something. Once again nothing happened.

Another interval came and my dad put the clock in a corner of the room, on top of a coffee table. Next we were trying verbal contact, but with a twist. We were asking for help from the man. According to what we read, this man was an important person in town, with people always coming to him for advice and help. We positioned ourselves in the middle of the room, facing the old desk. As the readings told us someone was possibly back we looked down and my father spoke a couple of words in Flemish, asking for help. We felt a draught of air running through the room. My dad was convinced the man understood, but wanted to confirm it by asking the man to speak with us. There was nothing for a while, but this episode lasted longer than all the others. We thought the man seemed to be interested in us, until the next interval lasted about three hours, instead of the usual 45mins. My father was very disappointed and a bit frustrated with himself. We spent that time talking about all the great and successful trips we had in the past (yes, it was me attempting to lift his mood). Shortly before the next interval we got a knock at the door. It sounded too real to be a ghost. It was the hotel’s current manager, with a scared look on his face. He came in and told us how he was woken up by a man’s voice calling his name, telling him to go back to his own room. My dad got the three of us in the same position in the middle of the room. The air got proper heavy, it seemed still. My dad asked the manager to translate out loud whatever he said, to which the guy agreed. My father spoke about the man being trapped here, to which we heard the sound of heavy footsteps around us, then my dad said he understands this seems like his duty, but the man must move on and leave this place behind. There’s got to be more for him than to do rounds of the hotel every night. As my dad said that the manager and I started to cry. It was not that we wanted as it was an urge to do it that was beyond us. My father didn’t seem to be affected by it and continued, telling how he suspects the man is trying to protect his building, but mostly he’s trying to protect his possessions. We heard a bump coming from somewhere inside the room. As we looked over to a corner we saw the object my dad held up, the clock knocked on its side. We made contact. My father asked the crying manager to get rid of all personal objects that belonged to the man, which should be enough to let the man go in peace.

We left that hotel the next morning with a sense of duty done. We usually don’t meddle with other people’s business, we only show them the way to deal with things their own way, but in this trip so far we helped three different people move on from their past life, from this place they don’t belong to anymore.

Job well done I say, as of course I would love to say it to my dad, but now I believe he knows I feel this way about his work, his life and all the knowledge he left behind with me.

Thanks dad.

I’ll continue this story next week, hopefully without any delays (from Tuesday to Thursday this week. Need to work harder)

Have a good weekend.

Miles.

In Bruges

Found an old picture of my dad and I from our trip to Bruges, in Belgium. I remember we got really excited when they made a movie about it, to see if they’d show the places we’ve been to.

We spent two weeks there and stayed in five different hotels, the ones we heard had some activity previously reported, which in turn reminds me of another movie, Stephen King’s Room 1408.

During the day we visited the touristic places and were fascinated by their beauty, but it was at night that we got the best out of this medieval town.

The hotels were cool with what we were doing, but all of them asked us not to tell people about it. I guess they don’t yet know how good for business it would be.

First hotel there was nothing. We picked a few readings on the first night and stayed a second night to see if it meant something. Nothing presented itself so we packed our bags in the morning and moved on to hotel number 2.

There the concierge had stories to tell. It was a really old place, which is not surprising in Bruges. There was a picture of one of the dead owners of the building hanging on the wall of the reception and our first thought was he’s still around. With that in mind we split for the night, dad stayed in the main bedroom, the owners’ room and I stayed in the supposedly most active room. We both had busy nights.

I had readings peaking throughout the night. At some point I fell asleep, tired from the long day. I was awakened by a crying woman. It startled me as I forgot where I was and called for my mum (not in a cowardly “I want my mommy” way, just thought she was the one crying, you see). I saw this woman sitting on a chair in the corner of the room. She looked up in my direction and said, angry, “I am not your mother”.

As I got up and composed myself I couldn’t see her anymore. I checked my readings and there were still peaks. I attempted to contact her and it all went quiet. I stayed up for a few more hours and got nothing else in the room.

The next day we spoke with the staff and they were not surprised to hear of my encounter with the woman and happy for me I didn’t meet the man who usually appears in that room.

My father had an interesting night too. Although he didn’t see anyone of any physical proof of an entity in the room, he got readings peaking and the air in the room getting constantly heavy, within exact intervals. He just recorded the time of all occurrences and planned to attempt contact the following night.

I made sure I got enough sleep and rest to stay awake the whole of the second night. My father was quiet interested in the possible dynamics of the room I stayed, so he decided to stay with me. We set up a camera in the owners’ room, just in case something decided to present itself.

As the night went on we got comfortable in the room. As soon as we got some peaks in the static energy I was eager to contact and see if she or he would show themselves. My father was, as usual, more patient and waited a little longer. After a few failed attempts on my part he then picked a random object in the room, placed on the bedside table and just looked around, as if offering it to someone. He sat back down and soon after the object moved. It was a slow and delicate movement, and we regretted not having the camcorder with us. My father led the way and called for whoever was present. My readings were all over the place, from high to absurd, and every time my dad spoke it would all go crazy. For a brief moment there was nothing, and then the object flew from the table, crashing on the opposite wall. We were now certain the man was also here tonight. The curtains were flying all over, the chair the woman sat the previous night was knocked on its side and the bathroom door slammed shut. We kept our cool, staying on the bed while it all happened.

Once it calmed down, my father spoke in a respectful manner, apologising for the inconvenience.

Suddenly I felt very heavy, my head weighted a ton and I felt I had to lie down and I could hear a whisper inside my head in a foreign language. My dad just watched, understanding more than I did what was going on. As I closed my eyes I could see the woman, still sitting on that chair. I opened my eyes and looked around. My father sat on the bed looking at me, and the chair was still knocked over. I closed my eyes again and I saw her once again, she was smiling. Suddenly her smile faded and I saw a shadow walking in from the bathroom. He was massive with a long dark hair and a clear pale skin. I couldn’t hold it looking at him for long so I opened my eyes. My father looked in the same direction as I saw the man coming from. The bathroom door was now open. He looked at me and with a smile asked if I was ok. I braved closing my eyes again and saw the man standing over the woman. She looked up at him in a mix of fear and anger. She then looked at me and I saw the most beautiful smile, probably ever. The man looked over in my direction and said something I couldn’t understand. I got slightly scared but managed to hold my eyes closed. She then translated it to me, he said “what do you want here?” I opened my eyes and saw my dad with his eyes closed. He looked up at me and told he heard it too. I stayed in the moment, but I gotta say that was the most amazing paranormal experience I had so far. We were both communicating with these two entities inside the same trance. As I joined the party once again the man was shouting abuse at the woman. I then felt a soothing and calming energy. Both of them looked around, at my direction but not at me. It was my father. I joined him in sending them the same energy, trying to calm things down. The woman looked at our direction and I saw what it seemed like tears. She said “thank you”. I could hear my father’s voice saying we were not here to disturb them, he said we are travellers passing by and will be on our way soon. The man looked at what I assumed was my dad’s direction and bowed in a respectful manner, saying something else. I heard the woman say “then you are welcome to stay and go in peace” the man now looked straight at me and said something. For a moment the air got heavier again, then the woman translated once again, “you be warned, stay away from my woman.” I heard my dad laughing. I told him he has nothing to worry as we will be on our way and his woman will stay with him, as long as he doesn’t mistreat her. She translated to him with a smile on her face. He looked at both of us, bowed once again and left the room. The woman looked at me and thanked me and then said I remind her of the man she wanted to marry but was chosen by this man instead. She went on to say he will not harm her and that he lives in constant fear that her lover will come for her. My father told her they should move on from here, as they will find peace by doing so. She got up, bowed down to us, then she walked in my direction, and with that beautiful smile still on her face she reached down as if to kiss me, but just before she did the whole thing was over. I opened my eyes and saw my father composing himself. He was quite touched by their story. We looked at each other and immediately burst out laughing. My dad then turned to me and said “ok, Casanova, let’s call it a night.”

I was sure I wouldn’t find anything more interesting in this whole town. That said, there was still the owner's room for the next night.

As I’m typing this on the bus, three stops away from home, I’m realising how long this post is. So I’m gonna do my usual splitting and will post the rest of the story next week. But don’t worry, I won’t take ages like with this one. I’m off again on Tuesday, so I’ll try and type the rest of the story and post it.

Until then,

Miles.