My daughter has been experiencing troubles for about two years. She's normally a sweet, quiet girl who loves church and reading the scriptures, so her changing pattern of behavior has been rather disconcerting.
It started when she was eight, and progressed to the point that she was institutionalized for a week or so. I am told it is psychological in nature, and there are compelling reasons to believe this. However, there are just as many compelling reasons to suspect something darker in nature.
Natalie was born and raised in a meth-addicted family until the age of four. She was ignored by her stoned parents and neglected, left to fend for herself, fighting with rats for scraps of food left on the floor. She witnessed some rather traumatic things, and the doctors feel this has caused a mild form of schizophrenia. You see, she sees people and hears voices. Now, coming from the background she does, I can see the psychiatrist's opinion as perfectly logical, but I still have my doubts.
None of these behaviors started until we moved to the Midwest, into a house we purchased from the widow of a suicide victim. He hadn't killed himself while in the house, so we weren't privy to that bit of information until informed by the neighbors.
My wife and son have seen shadowy people in the house, my wife going so far as to describe the height and features of the spectre. I often hear my name being called and respond, "What do you want, honey?" My wife insists she didn't call me.
The door to my daughter's room had the knob installed so that the locking mechanism was on the outside. We always thought it an innocent mistake of the previous owner until a loud banging noise from upstairs caught our attention. We ran up and found our son (who was using the room at the time) curled up in bed crying. He said that his bed had lifted up off the ground and then flopped back down.
You can see why my daughter's condition makes me wonder whether the cause is psychological or not. She claims to see things only when alone in her room. She has been so frightened that she clasped me to her in stark fear when I tried to leave the room after putting her to bed.
Medication has helped a little, but she still sees things from time to time. I wonder if the meds just dull her senses enough to help her overlook things, somehow dampening her ability to see what may still be there. I hope my wife and son just have vivid imaginations, and that I'm so paranoid about not hearing my wife call for me that I imagine it even when it doesn't happen. I hope we're all a bit crazy; it would be preferable to what I fear might be the real problem.
