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Wanted Housemate

Happy Halloween!!!

Here is my Halloween blog special…

The Matatag Inc. moved into a large and decent apartment in Barangay Pinyahan. It’s a typical apartment with all the amenities, fit for a group of architect bachelors. We got the space relatively cheap due partly to one thing: somebody committed suicide inside the house.

The suicide victim was a former U.P. student and beauty contestant for a famous pageant. Due to severe depression she committed suicide by hanging herself at the railings of the house’s staircase with a blanket. Although we don’t know the exact details (or we chose not to) the case was documented in Magandang Gabi Bayan.

And as fate would have it, some members of Matatag Inc. got to know some of the former housemates of the victim. Now we have a name: Maryanne.

While looking for an apartment within the area, we inquired in the nearby sari-sari store if they know of anybody wanting to rent out space. The vendors said that there is one apartment nearby that is for rent. Upon seeing that we were all male, they jokingly told us “…sabagay puro lalaki naman kayo e…”. What the….?

Now more testimonials came in after we bagged the rental for the place. One neighbor said he was among those who carried the body down from the staircase. Mabigat daw, kasi matangkad.

The house is newly renovated after the former remaining residents vacated the place a few months back. There are still traces of candle droppings from the house blessing to give rest to the spirit of the victim.

We lived inside the apartment for almost a year, as dictated by the contract. During the first months it was a little challenge for us, especially if we have to go down to the ground floor during the night, as we have to pass down the stairs of course. It became more difficult when the inaccessible light at the stairwell conked out.

Well, nothing happened though, except for some cases of leaving the door closed and dosing off, only to find it ajar after waking up. Or vice versa.

Taunting the spirit was not in our agenda during our stay, except for a few party goers joking about it when the topic is brought up.

But after we left the house after our contract expired, things got different.

I went back to the place to inquire about our deposit refund after only 5 months. Upon meeting the caretaker, the first thing she asked us was if we had encounters with Maryanne. I later learned that there were sightings of Maryanne, as experienced by the new residents and the caretakers themselves. There were sounds of somebody walking around the kitchen during the night, a shady figure standing at the front door upon entering from the outside, and silhouettes of a lady seen from the second floor window.

The new residents left after only two months. I guess Maryanne became very lonely, because there were only two people who moved in, unlike us, we were 6 residents who sometime become 8 to 15 at one time. Maybe Maryanne felt at home with us.

Now the new residents consists of ten people. Maybe the spirit will again feel happy now that the house is once again teeming with life. Hopefully she will free herself someday from her bondage with the house.

May you rest in peace Maryanne.

posted by nap @ 1:40 PM