I had nearly forgotten this strange incident until I read the Phantom Fire story from 2004. About four years ago I was renting a tiny apartment on a college campus. The rent was a bit high for such a small space, but it was on a really nice block with a big park across the street, so I couldn't really complain. My roommate had gotten sick and had to be hospitalized for a few months. A good friend of mine had gotten evicted from his apartment, so I invited him to stay with me for a little until he got back on his feet. I set up my futon into a bed for him in my room.
The apartment was on the second floor and, for some reason, we could hear everything that was going on in the rest of the building through the vents. For the longest time, the apartment above me remained vacant until one day my friend and I heard raised voices above us. It clearly sounded like a man and a woman having an argument. This lasted all day and eventually stopped at night. A few days later, we heard footsteps above us and what sounded like furniture being moved across the floor, so we assumed we had new neighbors. The only concern I had was that they seemed to argue a lot and I didn't want to have to be the neighbor that calls the cops whenever there was a domestic dispute, but I needed my sleep, too. I had work to do!
One day, my friend and I were taking a nap in my room when there was an extremely loud BOOM! directly above us. It shook the entire house! We both sat up, wide awake and looked at each other, waiting for any kind of sound through the vents. About five minutes went by and the most terrifying scream I have ever heard rang out through the vents. Scared that someone had gotten hurt, I quickly ran up the steps and tried to enter through the door, but it was locked. So I pounded on the door, but nobody answered. At this moment, my friend downstairs was already dialing 911.
When the cops arrived, I directed them upstairs. They got the door open and went inside. A cop stayed downstairs with my friend and me and asked us questions. I remember telling him we had never met the new neighbors, but they often would get into fights and we were often awakened at night. After about five minutes, the first cop returned downstairs looking extremely confused. He asked if I was absolutely sure that's where the noises were coming from. Of course I was sure; I had heard these noises and voices day in and day out for almost two weeks now. My friend confirmed my story.
The cop said, "Well, I think you need to see something" and motioned for me and my friend to follow him. When we got up the stairs and into the apartment, we stopped dead. There was nothing and nobody in the room! In fact, there was nothing in the entire apartment! My friend and I sputtered out the rest of our stories about what we had previously heard, but it didn't matter. There was clearly nobody there.
Confused and dismayed, we thanked and apologized to the cops for their wasted effort, and sat in my little TV room trying to figure out what had happened. I ended up calling my landlord and asking him if there had been any new tenants upstairs, and he assured me that I and the Chinese family downstairs were the only ones in the building. I soon moved out. About a year ago, I traveled down that same road, only to see that the house was gone and a gas station had been put on that exact same spot. I still wonder why they tore it down.... Did the next tenants experience the same things I had?
