I got this story from a friend who is the founder of one of the largest paranormal investigation teams in the nation, Charlotte Kosa. Charlotte runs California Haunts and the podcast by the same name.
Based out of Sacramento, California Haunts reaches quite a wide berth of geographic locations from the northern reaches of California to San Diego, including Hawaii. I believe there are also affiliates in neighboring states.
They have been in the business for over 30 years.
This account has its roots in an investigation Charlotte herself was involved in about fifteen years ago in a small town in California. For reasons of confidentiality, I will refrain from identifying the town or the names of the family members involved.
Charlotte and her team were contacted by a woman in the spring of 2008. The woman in question whom I will name Abby explained that they lived in a rental home which they procured after her divorce. It was just her and her teenage daughter, “Ellie” who was thirteen at the time. Ellie had autism and thus was unable to articulate clearly her own experiences.
The issues in the home appeared to have commenced with Abby’s nightmares. Her nighttime sleep was disrupted so much that her ability to function was impeded during the day. These nightmares eventually escalated to what appeared to be repeat encounters in her sleep. Please be aware names have been changed to protect the identity of this confidential case and any resemblance to actual people is purely coincidental.
Abby moved to a small town near Sacramento in central California with her daughter Ellie after locating a rental house close to her job. She was recovering from a divorce and was eager to move away from the house that she had shared with her ex-husband. Now alone as a single parent, Abby was protective of her daughter who was now a budding teen with autism. When Abby’s dreams turned into nightmares, she began to toss it up as the trauma from the divorce, the loss of companionship as well as the financial upheaval that came from a disintegrated marriage.
Moving into a new house was also another major event for Abby and Ellie. As weeks passed, Abby hoped that the nightmares would subside as a routine became more established. The house was small, but cozy and well-kept, facing a quiet street away from the hustle and bustle of the small, but busy downtown area. It was what she expected and hoped would be a place where a lot of fond memories would be forged and their past with her husband quickly diminished to memory.
However, something new came to the forefront. With her job and the presence of Ellie as the only stability she had, her nightmares escalated as several weeks went by. One night, Abby found herself with dreams bordering on terror as something dark and foreboding entered her psyche. Abby awakened in the early morning light of daybreak to rush to work. When she stepped onto the cold wooden floor, she felt pains on her thighs.
Abby glanced down at her legs and discovered bruises all over her inner thighs. She felt she had been pinched, hit in the back and was feeling fatigue despite what she felt was a deep sleep from which she could not awaken. Quickly, she trotted to the hall and knocked on her daughter’s door to check in on her. The daughter was awake and getting dressed as the routine of morning was fast upon her, her clothes laid out and slippers off on the designated spots an autistic child would find comforting.
Abby let out a sigh of relief, the routine of the day taking hold of her, comforting in its sameness. She pushed the bruises from her mind, now bent on making Ellie’s usual breakfast of oatmeal and orange juice. That repetitive menu every morning consoled Abby that everything would be all right. After dropping Ellie off at the school where she was greeted by the special needs monitor, Abby dismissed the episode and decided she needed to take in a movie or even dinner with a friend. The nightmares proclaimed her isolation from other adults, she felt. They were her fears, taking shape during her sleep – or so she thought.
Weeks passed. Abby decorated the house, established the same routine for Ellie as she had with the old home, placing a calendar in the same spot on the new refrigerator and taking walks with Ellie to help her acclimate to the neighborhood. However, the nightmares became very real. One night, after fending off something unseen in her sleep, she felt a distinct slap on her cheek which awakened her.
Abby’s eyes widened in fear. She felt the palpable presence in the small bedroom. It was heavy, a darkness she couldn’t shake in her head and it roiled in her gut. As she inhaled, she caught the unmistakable scent of a toilet that had not been flushed.
She sat up in fear.
Abby was alone.
The window next to her bed was shrouded in darkness despite the curtains open to the street below. Somehow the streetlight did not cast rays onto the bed as it did before. It was as if it was deflected by something in the room that was with her. Abby stood, pushing the bedroom door wide open and turned to the bedroom across the hall. Ellie’s room. She opened the door and found her mumbling in her sleep as if in the throes of a nightmare.
Abby decided then she had to get help.
As Abby sat with Ellie, now awake and lying on her side staring past her, she wiped her daughter’s forehead with a damp towel. It was rimmed with sweat. The child was shivering. She covered her in her blanket, kept the light on and proceeded to the bathroom. Abby looked at her reflection in the mirror. A bruise had formed where she had been slapped. Then, a bruise began to form around one eye.
Abby pulled up her nightgown, now feeling as if she had run a marathon. On her pelvis were bruises, the shape of large hands. Around her groin, new bruises, fresh from being hit, showed. Then, she felt it. A sharp pain inside her as if she had been raped.
Abby reached for the thermometer, placing it on Ellie’s lips. Her temperature was normal. The girl’s eyes roamed the room as if she was watching something in the ceiling. Abby glanced around, her tension now palpable in her daughter’s eyes.
That Saturday morning, with a friend over coffee, Abby contacted Charlotte. Charlotte brought in her team, sought evidence and determined the nature of the intrusions in short order. Fearful for her own safety and the team, Charlotte protected herself in rituals she knew were steeped in faith and belief. Growls, scents of putrefaction and bowel movement permeated their visits. They gathered much evidence. The growl, distinctive in quality, would haunt Charlotte to this day… and it did.
Fifteen years later, several weeks ago, now in 2023, Charlotte still has the recording of the distinct growls she heard during the investigation of the case. While Charlotte listened to another prominent guest interview of a priest, she overheard the guest replay a growl she would forever remember. Astounded, Charlotte contacted the man. The case from fifteen years ago was back to invade the sanctity of another family. This time, however, Charlotte’s involvement, though minimal as it was far away, didn’t seem to protect her.
The entity which will go unnamed, haunted Charlotte’s spirit for a few days, almost as if to remind her to stay away. It was a psychic attack that appeared aimed at discouraging her involvement. A stark reminder of a terror a woman lived through as she tried to protect her daughter.
For updates on this haunting, please contact me or subscribe to my website. I will be following this new case to its conclusion and will inform readers once I hear of any developments.
Remain blessed. God always protects and is merciful.
