1.0
I remember back in Grade 8. We were taking a Science test. I didn't really know the answers because I didn't review, so I kept looking around the room. Ma'am was walking around too, checking if anyone was cheating or doing anything wrong. At one point, she noticed that I wasn't answering, so she said something about not reviewing.
When Ma'am was at the back of the room, about to walk around, I suddenly saw her hair, tied in a ponytail, suddenly fly upwards. It was like her hair got flicked straight up. Ma'am said she felt it, and the moment it happened, she got startled. There was no one near her, and there was no wind since the room was air-conditioned.
We decided it must have been a ghost. There were rumors in the school that a child ghost liked to "prank" people at our school. It didn't hurt anyone, but sometimes it could really scare you.
There's also a story another teacher shared after we told her what happened to our Science teacher. Apparently, she was late one time because she had a lot of tasks. She didn't notice it was already night until the school janitor told her. The school gate was about to be locked, and Ma'am was the only one left. She said she just needed to use the bathroom. The janitor waited at the gate.
Ma'am went to the girls' bathroom. It was small, and the door was poorly made—no lock, and you needed someone outside to push it to close. So whenever one of my female classmates used the bathroom, they would go in with a friend.
Since there was no one in the school, Ma'am used the bathroom with the door open. But while she was washing her hands, the door suddenly shut and wouldn't open when she tried. She banged on the door for about 10 minutes. She even tried using her body to force it open, but it was locked tight.
Fortunately, the janitor arrived. As soon as he got there, the door opened on its own. He was surprised why Ma'am took so long, and when he went to check, he heard the banging on the door. Ma'am explained what happened, and the janitor believed her.
Since then, Ma'am never stayed late at school. And mind you, she's a workaholic.
2.0
One more thing—this happened at our house in Baguio. I was only six years old at the time. We had two separate houses there: in one, our helpers and my babysitter stayed along with my sibling, and in the other, my mom and dad's room.
That night, my little brother and I were playing, but it was already late, so Mommy said it was time to go to sleep. I really still wanted to play because it was still early, but I wasn't allowed, so I started crying nonstop. We were already in our room, in bed, but I kept crying… Mommy got frustrated with me, so she sent me out of the room.
When I stepped out, there was a hallway. At the end of it were stairs going down to the first floor. In the other direction, the hallway had a narrow window, which looked out to the door of the house where our helpers stayed. I couldn't reach the light switch… I was so scared. I just cried even more in the dark. There was even a cross-stitch of Mama Mary at the end of the hallway (I was really scared of that back then).
So, of course, I stayed near the light source—the window. When I peeked out of the window, I saw one of our helpers standing there. She was just standing, wearing a long white dress down to her feet. I called her because I wanted her to help me; I was really scared of the dark. I shouted her name and banged on the window as hard as I could.
Nothing. She didn't respond and just slowly walked toward the gate… I couldn't believe she didn't help me. Moments later, my parents came and let me in. They tucked me in and asked why I was calling out to the helper. The next day, they asked the helper, and she said she was asleep at that time—and she didn't have a white dress.
That memory has stayed with me ever since—it's still vivid in my mind.
3.0
The Red House
Our house is quite old—if I remember correctly, it's been around for more than 50 years. Whenever someone else sleeps here, almost everyone wakes up crying. Nightmares, sleep paralysis, or worse—hauntings. My family and I have grown used to the repeated occurrences here. If we see anything, we just let it be, as long as it doesn't disturb us. People have died here too, both old and young. There are also elemental spirits and engkantos around the house, probably because of the large trees behind it.
One time, it was early Sunday morning. I knew my dad would be leaving because he had somewhere to go—he leaves every Sunday at 3 a.m. (I won't go into the reason here).
Back to the story: I woke up to the glare of light in our living room. At that time, the bedroom didn't have a door yet, just a curtain—and the curtain was wide open, so the light really shone in. After rubbing my eyes, I saw Mom returning to the bedroom. I also saw Dad retrieving something from a divider in the living room. I smiled at Mom, thinking everything was fine.
Once Mom entered the bedroom, she stared at me and asked why I was smiling.
Verbal exchange:Mom: "Why are you smiling there?"Me: "Nothing. What time did Dad get here?"Mom: "Huh? Your dad just left, that's why I came back here."Me: "Then who's the man behind you?"
Suddenly, Mom went silent and hugged me tighter. We also heard the chairs moving in the living room, so we just held each other. Then, suddenly, heavy rain poured down. We have no neighbors; it was just Mom and me in the whole compound. No one else could help if we left. All we could do was pray and close our eyes.
Me: "Who is that, Mom?"Mom: "I don't know. Someone's making their presence known again. My God… my God…"
The rain poured, and Mom and I felt fear and dread all over the Red House.
Suddenly, I felt dizzy. I couldn't tell Mom; I couldn't even open my mouth. I lost consciousness, but Mom thought I had fallen asleep. Yet I could see my own body and Mom, hugging. Both of them had their eyes closed. Meanwhile, the curtain by the door was swaying in the cold wind. I couldn't move because of what I was seeing. It was terrifying, chilling. I wanted to scream, but nothing came out of my mouth.
Dad was smiling at me—an unsettling, horrifying smile. There was so much blood, and his eyes were nearly popping out. The veins in his eyes were about to burst. He moved slowly, yet directly toward me. Then I saw his feet—they were smoking. But why were they floating?