Post by nerdwitch on Jun 13, 2017 14:08:15 GMT
Hello all! I am a new member and have been binge-listening to the podcast for a few weeks now. I absolutely love it and the storytelling is fantastic. I noticed some of you have been posting your own statements on this forum so I figured I'd add my own fictional statement. I apologize now for the length of this, I may have gotten a bit carried away when writing it. Some of this statement are partially true, based on my own au pair experiences back in 2011 in that creepy victorian house. Mr. Nobody was indeed "Tegan's" imaginary friend and to this day, thinking about it still gives me the shivers.
Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy this and please let me know if you would like to see more
"Child's Play."
Written by Jasmine Isaksson
Statement of Marie Johansson regarding her time working as an Au Pair for the Taylor Family in Marlow between 2011 and 2012.
Statement Recorded direct from Subject on July 22nd 2015.
I used to be an Au Pair. Yes, yes I know. Being an au pair isn't actually a "real" job, it's just a glorified babysitting gig for rich people and an excuse to travel. Don't even get me started on the Swedish Au Pair stereotype. But for a while, that's all it was. A year of having my accommodation and food paid for whilst I looked after a three-year-old girl for 25 hours a week and earning just about enough to have a few adventures of my own. I'm getting ahead of myself though, maybe I should start at the beginning.
When I finished my foundation degree in Museum Studies at the University of Umea in Sweden, back in 2011, I was desperate to get out of my mum's small flat in Stockholm and do....anything. The thought of spending months unemployed while watching my mum slowly drink herself to death was unbearable. I just had to escape and at that point, I was prepared to do almost anything for a bit of freedom. My relationship with my mother has never been the best and over the years we've only grown further apart. In fact, I haven't spoken to her in the past few years but that doesn't have anything to do with this story.
I'd always heard some of my older friends talk about how much they'd loved au pairing when they'd been in their early twenties and from the way they spoke, it certainly didn't take much convincing for me to look into it. The only problem was that I didn't really have any prior childcare experience apart from babysitting my younger cousins so I offered to babysit as often as I could in the weeks before I left. After some Google searches I came across a small but reputable Au Pair Agency specialising in placing Swedish Au Pairs in the UK without charging ridiculous fees and I submitted my application. I'd always dreamed of living in Britain and I suddenly have my chance.
I'd been interviewed by a number of families before I came across the Taylors in Marlow. In fact, I'd almost given up hope of finding a family that would hire someone with as little experience as I had but the Taylors were different. They seemed to care more about finding someone with the right personality and willingness to go above and beyond which suited me just fine.
Even after the first interview I knew I liked this family so much more than any of the others I'd spoken to. There was just something genuine about the, you know, and after the first interview they offered me the job. I was so happy I couldn't believe it. A week later, I was on a flight to London, ready to start my new life. The family met me on the airport and we got on just as well as we'd done during our previous calls. Most of that first day was spent getting to know them and showing me around the town they lived in.
Marlow is a small town on the River Thames in Buckinghamshire surrounded by lush green forests and scenic walking trails. It's mostly populated by rich people, celebrities looking to escape the concrete London jungle and elderly retirees. Have you ever seen the show Midsomer Murders? Well most of it was filmed there so you can imagine the sort of place it was.
Now, you have to understand that contrary to what people may think, Au Pairing is not a dance on roses. In many regards, I got really lucky with my host family as the Taylors were as lovely as they could be. I wasn't just a hired help who just happened to live with them I genuinely became a part of the family, and as this was the first time I'd moved so far away from home I couldn't really explain what a relief that was. Many of my other au pair friends in the area weren't quite so lucky and believe me I've heard some horrifying stories of nasty children and slave-driving parents, sending my friends to tears.
In my own case, for most of the time, Tegan was a well behaved little girl but of course there were trying moments when all I wanted to do was scream but at the end of the day, my job was fine. It was simple enough really, I would wake up early and drop her off at nursery then I'd have the day to myself until about 3o'clock when it was time to pick her up again and when we got home it would be my job to cook food, and play until the parents got home. And that's how it remained for a long time.
It wasn't until a few months into my contract when the weird things started happening and I didn't even really notice it at first. I'm sure you hear this all the time but I don't believe in ghosts or superstitions. The house the Taylors lived in was an old Victorian townhouse. It had three floors, the ground floor which consisted of the lounge, hallway and kitchen. The first floor was the parents' as well as Tegan's bedroom, the third floor was my own en-suite bedroom as well as a small attic used a as storage nobody ever really went into.
It started during the times when I would be home alone, on weekends if the family was away during the day. I would be in the living room reading and the suddenly I would hear clear, succinct footsteps treading down the stairs from the first floor and through the hallway until it reached the front door which would open and then close shut. I swear to you, every time this happened and when I ran to check if someone was still home and call out, there was nothing there.
On top of that, I began to notice that a few times, I would see Tegan hand toys to an empty corner of the room, then walk away giggling only to return to the same spot with a different toy. As if someone was standing there but I couldn't see anything. I don't think I need to explain how much this unsettled me. But this wasn't the creepiest incident.
One night, I was babysitting while Angie and David were out on a date. Tegan and I were in her bedroom as she'd been hungry so I gave her something to eat so she could settle down again. As she ate in silence, I was texting the parents to let them know everything was alright when Tegan very sharply suddenly said "Stop talking to me!". This surprised me because I hadn't said a word and when I told her this she looked at me with an annoyed frown on her face, pointed at a spot in the doorway and said "No! Not you! Mr. Nobody! He is bothering me!"
Mr. Nobody. Just the name sent chills down my spine and I could feel pure dread gnawing inside me ever so steadily until it had consumed me. Even after all the minor creepy incidents and phantom footsteps, that had never frightened me as much as that moment. Just thinking about it now still makes me shiver. I don't know what it was about this imaginary friend, which is what I assumed it was at the time, that made me so damn uncomfortable whenever Tegan and I were alone in the house.
She would never mention him around her parents. I know this because I'd asked them about how best to approach this situation and if I should worry. Of course, they just laughed at me and said it was perfectly normal for a three-and-a-half-year-old to have imaginary friends.
But even if they wouldn't believe me, I knew there was nothing normal about this strange Mr. Nobody. I couldn't quite place my finger on what it was but something just felt….wrong.
Some nights, I'd wake up in the middle of a dream and in that blurry state between being awake and asleep, I'd see an almost impossibly tall, spindly silhouette of what I assumed was a person, standing in the doorway. He…or it…would just stare at me and if I accidentally happened to meet his eyes, he wouldn't even blink. It was lie there were no emotions at all in that face. When I'd managed to wake myself up, it would no longer be there. Those nights, I never dared going back to sleep because I just didn't want to see that thing again.
The way I figured was this. Even if the house was haunted, the idea of ghosts didn't really bother because, how much can something that's dead and buried really hurt you? That's the logic I used in order to get by but as the weeks turned to months, I grew to hate being alone in that house and if the family wasn't there, I found reasons to do other things. The family must have just thought I was keen on exploring the area and I did really enjoy it, I even made a new group of wonderful friends during that year but every time I knew I had to go back to that house, I was just overcome with this horrific anxiety.
For a little while, things were more or less back to normal. I say more or less because I still hated being alone in the house as I never felt safe but there hadn't been any weird incidents for some time and I'd begun letting my guard down a bit. During the weekdays, I was spending quite a lot of time alone with Tegan because Angie and David were travelling a lot and even though most of the time it was fine, she missed her parents and some nights were tough. I have to say, it gave me a lot of sympathy and understanding for how challenging parenting really is sometimes.
It was a Wednesday night on the 17th of January when it happened. I remember because I'd spent a weekend alone with Tegan, without incident and this was the night when both her parents had arrived back from a weekend conference in some unpronounceable town in North Wales. It had been freezing for days and quite often Tegan would wake up because she'd be too cold or she would simply be restless. This night, I decided to check in on Tegan to make sure everything was alright. I don't exactly know why, but I just had this feeling that I just needed to make sure.
Her bed was empty and I first assumed that maybe she'd gone to try and find her parents which she sometimes did but when I peeked into their bedroom, she wasn't there. Nor was she in the living room or in the kitchen and at this point I was starting worry. For some reason, I decided I had to look in the attic and to my surprise that's where I found her. It didn't seem like she was hurt, sad, or scared but she stood in the corner of the room and looked right into the wall. The same anxious feeling as I'd had many times before made itself known but I composed myself and approached Tegan.
"Tegan, what are you doing here? It's late. Let's go back to bed, sweetie."
"I was talking to Mr Nobody." She told me matter-of-factly. "He said he had a message for you."
I froze in my steps and was almost too scared to turn back around, as if I was expecting that thing to be there but when I eventually did look, it was just Tegan but something wasn't quite right about her. She was talking to me and her eyes was open but they just looked right past me, like she wasn't awake. At that point, I guess I assumed she was sleepwalking but it was more like she was in some sort of strange trance but there was nobody else there.
"He wants you to know that he's here and that you're not alone. You're never really alone."
What happened next is a bit blurry. My therapist told me it's my mind's way of blocking out that horrific experience. I'm not trying to withhold information from you, it's just I genuinely can't remember much. All I remember is that same tall silhouette growing and hovering over Tegan in the corner of the attic. Its long arms were branching out over Tegan and something that seemed like a grin spread on it's face. You know one of those carved out jack-o'-lantern smiles we make during Halloween? It was like one of those but much worse.
I screamed for him to leave her alone and but the only reply I got was this distorted, laughter.
The attic door just wouldn't open no matter how hard I tried or how much I kicked and pushed it open. I was so frustrated and scared I had tears swelling up and streaming down my face but then just as quick as it had started, it ended. The door swung open and I saw Angie and David in front of me, both with worried expressions in their eyes as Tegan and I were sat together in a corner of the attic. In the end, I explained that I had found Tegan sleepwalking up there and that the door lock had somehow just gotten stuck.
I wasn't sure if they actually believed that, but they certainly didn't ask any more questions and more than anything they were just relieved that both Tegan and I were safe.
I know what you're thinking. Why didn't I just end my contract early and go home? Why stay? Believe me, I considered it. To be honest with you though, I don't have an answer and I've been asking myself that question for years. I felt like I had to stay. That if I left, I would just leave the family to the fate of that demonic shadow and I couldn't let myself do that. Especially as Angie and David were still unaware of the real dangers of that house. Maybe I should have told them the truth but I worried that if anything, that was enough a reason for them to terminate my contract and how could I protect Tegan if I wasn't there?
So I stayed. But, I promised myself that at the end of my contract, I would never work as an Au Pair again.
I kept in touch with the Taylors after my contract finished and they even visited me one summer when I was back in Sweden temporarily. The reason to why I'm here is actually because I recently stopped hearing from them just before Christmas. In fact, the last email I'd received from Angie and David was on the 21st of December, I remember because I was asking if there was anything Tegan had wanted for Christmas that I could send but I didn't get a reply.
I moved back to London a few weeks ago and I have a new job now, a normal 9-5 in a library and my life is pretty ordinary. A few weeks ago, I had a missed call from Angie Taylor. I dialled back but the number wasn't working and the call just instantly cut out. I told work I wasn't feeling well and decided to take a trip to Marlow because, well to be honest, I was starting to worry and get scared. Something felt wrong and I knew whatever it was had to do with that house and the thing inside it.
I took the first train out of Paddington and within less than an hour, I was back in Marlow.
It was strange being back. I always used to think it was cliché to say one takes a trip down memory lane but that's exactly what it felt like. I hadn't been back in that town since I moved away but everything looked exactly the same. The moment, I found myself approaching number 13 Station Rise, I was re-acquainted with that same anxiety as I had felt so many times in that old Victorian house. It was later afternoon when I arrived, and I could see school children heading home after a long day and so I assumed that Tegan would probably be home as she normally was around this time but there were no lights on in the house.
"They are not home."
I was startled and jumped when I heard the voice. I turned around to find myself in front of a tall man dressed in suit. He had strawberry blonde hair but I couldn't really determine his age. There was something strangely familiar about him though, like I'd seen him somewhere before but at that point, I just dismissed it. I was more interested in finding out where the Taylors were so I asked him if he knew.
Apparently, the family had moved just a few days ago. He told me that apparently one of the parents had been offered a different job in Amsterdam or somewhere similar and had left the housing arrangements with the man in front of me. I should have believed him because it sounded plausible, but at the same time I also knew it wasn't like the family I had gotten to know. As far as I was aware, the Taylors had been perfectly happy with their life in Marlow and not to mention Tegan had a lot of friends in school. It just sounded strange that they would just leave without letting anyone know. Without letting me know. Especially as we'd been in touch regularly and there wasn't a single of mention of a possibility to move.
I was going to as the stranger if he knew a way I could contact the family but when I turned around he was just gone and I was left standing there alone with more questions than answers.
I wish I could remember his name, I'm sure he told me what it was.
Oh yes, I remember. I think he said his name was Michael.
Statement ends.
Archivist's notes.
This is a difficult one. At first, it seems like it's just an ordinary haunted house story. I mean, it's not entirely unheard of that children have imaginary friends that might actually be ghosts. In fact, I recall similar stories being shared in my own family some year ago. But something about this story is different. This isn't the first time that Michael has made an appearance in a seemingly random family home. If it is the same Michael, which it has to be. But why does he do it? What does he gain from it? More importantly, what is he? I asked Sasha to try and arrange a follow-up interview with Miss Johansson but she hasn't been able to reach her and after a few enquiries, she was able to get in touch with the letting agency to her flat who said Miss Johansson hadn't been seen in days and when Tim rang the library, they told him that she had failed to turn up to work lately.
End recording.
Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy this and please let me know if you would like to see more
"Child's Play."
Written by Jasmine Isaksson
Statement of Marie Johansson regarding her time working as an Au Pair for the Taylor Family in Marlow between 2011 and 2012.
Statement Recorded direct from Subject on July 22nd 2015.
I used to be an Au Pair. Yes, yes I know. Being an au pair isn't actually a "real" job, it's just a glorified babysitting gig for rich people and an excuse to travel. Don't even get me started on the Swedish Au Pair stereotype. But for a while, that's all it was. A year of having my accommodation and food paid for whilst I looked after a three-year-old girl for 25 hours a week and earning just about enough to have a few adventures of my own. I'm getting ahead of myself though, maybe I should start at the beginning.
When I finished my foundation degree in Museum Studies at the University of Umea in Sweden, back in 2011, I was desperate to get out of my mum's small flat in Stockholm and do....anything. The thought of spending months unemployed while watching my mum slowly drink herself to death was unbearable. I just had to escape and at that point, I was prepared to do almost anything for a bit of freedom. My relationship with my mother has never been the best and over the years we've only grown further apart. In fact, I haven't spoken to her in the past few years but that doesn't have anything to do with this story.
I'd always heard some of my older friends talk about how much they'd loved au pairing when they'd been in their early twenties and from the way they spoke, it certainly didn't take much convincing for me to look into it. The only problem was that I didn't really have any prior childcare experience apart from babysitting my younger cousins so I offered to babysit as often as I could in the weeks before I left. After some Google searches I came across a small but reputable Au Pair Agency specialising in placing Swedish Au Pairs in the UK without charging ridiculous fees and I submitted my application. I'd always dreamed of living in Britain and I suddenly have my chance.
I'd been interviewed by a number of families before I came across the Taylors in Marlow. In fact, I'd almost given up hope of finding a family that would hire someone with as little experience as I had but the Taylors were different. They seemed to care more about finding someone with the right personality and willingness to go above and beyond which suited me just fine.
Even after the first interview I knew I liked this family so much more than any of the others I'd spoken to. There was just something genuine about the, you know, and after the first interview they offered me the job. I was so happy I couldn't believe it. A week later, I was on a flight to London, ready to start my new life. The family met me on the airport and we got on just as well as we'd done during our previous calls. Most of that first day was spent getting to know them and showing me around the town they lived in.
Marlow is a small town on the River Thames in Buckinghamshire surrounded by lush green forests and scenic walking trails. It's mostly populated by rich people, celebrities looking to escape the concrete London jungle and elderly retirees. Have you ever seen the show Midsomer Murders? Well most of it was filmed there so you can imagine the sort of place it was.
Now, you have to understand that contrary to what people may think, Au Pairing is not a dance on roses. In many regards, I got really lucky with my host family as the Taylors were as lovely as they could be. I wasn't just a hired help who just happened to live with them I genuinely became a part of the family, and as this was the first time I'd moved so far away from home I couldn't really explain what a relief that was. Many of my other au pair friends in the area weren't quite so lucky and believe me I've heard some horrifying stories of nasty children and slave-driving parents, sending my friends to tears.
In my own case, for most of the time, Tegan was a well behaved little girl but of course there were trying moments when all I wanted to do was scream but at the end of the day, my job was fine. It was simple enough really, I would wake up early and drop her off at nursery then I'd have the day to myself until about 3o'clock when it was time to pick her up again and when we got home it would be my job to cook food, and play until the parents got home. And that's how it remained for a long time.
It wasn't until a few months into my contract when the weird things started happening and I didn't even really notice it at first. I'm sure you hear this all the time but I don't believe in ghosts or superstitions. The house the Taylors lived in was an old Victorian townhouse. It had three floors, the ground floor which consisted of the lounge, hallway and kitchen. The first floor was the parents' as well as Tegan's bedroom, the third floor was my own en-suite bedroom as well as a small attic used a as storage nobody ever really went into.
It started during the times when I would be home alone, on weekends if the family was away during the day. I would be in the living room reading and the suddenly I would hear clear, succinct footsteps treading down the stairs from the first floor and through the hallway until it reached the front door which would open and then close shut. I swear to you, every time this happened and when I ran to check if someone was still home and call out, there was nothing there.
On top of that, I began to notice that a few times, I would see Tegan hand toys to an empty corner of the room, then walk away giggling only to return to the same spot with a different toy. As if someone was standing there but I couldn't see anything. I don't think I need to explain how much this unsettled me. But this wasn't the creepiest incident.
One night, I was babysitting while Angie and David were out on a date. Tegan and I were in her bedroom as she'd been hungry so I gave her something to eat so she could settle down again. As she ate in silence, I was texting the parents to let them know everything was alright when Tegan very sharply suddenly said "Stop talking to me!". This surprised me because I hadn't said a word and when I told her this she looked at me with an annoyed frown on her face, pointed at a spot in the doorway and said "No! Not you! Mr. Nobody! He is bothering me!"
Mr. Nobody. Just the name sent chills down my spine and I could feel pure dread gnawing inside me ever so steadily until it had consumed me. Even after all the minor creepy incidents and phantom footsteps, that had never frightened me as much as that moment. Just thinking about it now still makes me shiver. I don't know what it was about this imaginary friend, which is what I assumed it was at the time, that made me so damn uncomfortable whenever Tegan and I were alone in the house.
She would never mention him around her parents. I know this because I'd asked them about how best to approach this situation and if I should worry. Of course, they just laughed at me and said it was perfectly normal for a three-and-a-half-year-old to have imaginary friends.
But even if they wouldn't believe me, I knew there was nothing normal about this strange Mr. Nobody. I couldn't quite place my finger on what it was but something just felt….wrong.
Some nights, I'd wake up in the middle of a dream and in that blurry state between being awake and asleep, I'd see an almost impossibly tall, spindly silhouette of what I assumed was a person, standing in the doorway. He…or it…would just stare at me and if I accidentally happened to meet his eyes, he wouldn't even blink. It was lie there were no emotions at all in that face. When I'd managed to wake myself up, it would no longer be there. Those nights, I never dared going back to sleep because I just didn't want to see that thing again.
The way I figured was this. Even if the house was haunted, the idea of ghosts didn't really bother because, how much can something that's dead and buried really hurt you? That's the logic I used in order to get by but as the weeks turned to months, I grew to hate being alone in that house and if the family wasn't there, I found reasons to do other things. The family must have just thought I was keen on exploring the area and I did really enjoy it, I even made a new group of wonderful friends during that year but every time I knew I had to go back to that house, I was just overcome with this horrific anxiety.
For a little while, things were more or less back to normal. I say more or less because I still hated being alone in the house as I never felt safe but there hadn't been any weird incidents for some time and I'd begun letting my guard down a bit. During the weekdays, I was spending quite a lot of time alone with Tegan because Angie and David were travelling a lot and even though most of the time it was fine, she missed her parents and some nights were tough. I have to say, it gave me a lot of sympathy and understanding for how challenging parenting really is sometimes.
It was a Wednesday night on the 17th of January when it happened. I remember because I'd spent a weekend alone with Tegan, without incident and this was the night when both her parents had arrived back from a weekend conference in some unpronounceable town in North Wales. It had been freezing for days and quite often Tegan would wake up because she'd be too cold or she would simply be restless. This night, I decided to check in on Tegan to make sure everything was alright. I don't exactly know why, but I just had this feeling that I just needed to make sure.
Her bed was empty and I first assumed that maybe she'd gone to try and find her parents which she sometimes did but when I peeked into their bedroom, she wasn't there. Nor was she in the living room or in the kitchen and at this point I was starting worry. For some reason, I decided I had to look in the attic and to my surprise that's where I found her. It didn't seem like she was hurt, sad, or scared but she stood in the corner of the room and looked right into the wall. The same anxious feeling as I'd had many times before made itself known but I composed myself and approached Tegan.
"Tegan, what are you doing here? It's late. Let's go back to bed, sweetie."
"I was talking to Mr Nobody." She told me matter-of-factly. "He said he had a message for you."
I froze in my steps and was almost too scared to turn back around, as if I was expecting that thing to be there but when I eventually did look, it was just Tegan but something wasn't quite right about her. She was talking to me and her eyes was open but they just looked right past me, like she wasn't awake. At that point, I guess I assumed she was sleepwalking but it was more like she was in some sort of strange trance but there was nobody else there.
"He wants you to know that he's here and that you're not alone. You're never really alone."
What happened next is a bit blurry. My therapist told me it's my mind's way of blocking out that horrific experience. I'm not trying to withhold information from you, it's just I genuinely can't remember much. All I remember is that same tall silhouette growing and hovering over Tegan in the corner of the attic. Its long arms were branching out over Tegan and something that seemed like a grin spread on it's face. You know one of those carved out jack-o'-lantern smiles we make during Halloween? It was like one of those but much worse.
I screamed for him to leave her alone and but the only reply I got was this distorted, laughter.
The attic door just wouldn't open no matter how hard I tried or how much I kicked and pushed it open. I was so frustrated and scared I had tears swelling up and streaming down my face but then just as quick as it had started, it ended. The door swung open and I saw Angie and David in front of me, both with worried expressions in their eyes as Tegan and I were sat together in a corner of the attic. In the end, I explained that I had found Tegan sleepwalking up there and that the door lock had somehow just gotten stuck.
I wasn't sure if they actually believed that, but they certainly didn't ask any more questions and more than anything they were just relieved that both Tegan and I were safe.
I know what you're thinking. Why didn't I just end my contract early and go home? Why stay? Believe me, I considered it. To be honest with you though, I don't have an answer and I've been asking myself that question for years. I felt like I had to stay. That if I left, I would just leave the family to the fate of that demonic shadow and I couldn't let myself do that. Especially as Angie and David were still unaware of the real dangers of that house. Maybe I should have told them the truth but I worried that if anything, that was enough a reason for them to terminate my contract and how could I protect Tegan if I wasn't there?
So I stayed. But, I promised myself that at the end of my contract, I would never work as an Au Pair again.
I kept in touch with the Taylors after my contract finished and they even visited me one summer when I was back in Sweden temporarily. The reason to why I'm here is actually because I recently stopped hearing from them just before Christmas. In fact, the last email I'd received from Angie and David was on the 21st of December, I remember because I was asking if there was anything Tegan had wanted for Christmas that I could send but I didn't get a reply.
I moved back to London a few weeks ago and I have a new job now, a normal 9-5 in a library and my life is pretty ordinary. A few weeks ago, I had a missed call from Angie Taylor. I dialled back but the number wasn't working and the call just instantly cut out. I told work I wasn't feeling well and decided to take a trip to Marlow because, well to be honest, I was starting to worry and get scared. Something felt wrong and I knew whatever it was had to do with that house and the thing inside it.
I took the first train out of Paddington and within less than an hour, I was back in Marlow.
It was strange being back. I always used to think it was cliché to say one takes a trip down memory lane but that's exactly what it felt like. I hadn't been back in that town since I moved away but everything looked exactly the same. The moment, I found myself approaching number 13 Station Rise, I was re-acquainted with that same anxiety as I had felt so many times in that old Victorian house. It was later afternoon when I arrived, and I could see school children heading home after a long day and so I assumed that Tegan would probably be home as she normally was around this time but there were no lights on in the house.
"They are not home."
I was startled and jumped when I heard the voice. I turned around to find myself in front of a tall man dressed in suit. He had strawberry blonde hair but I couldn't really determine his age. There was something strangely familiar about him though, like I'd seen him somewhere before but at that point, I just dismissed it. I was more interested in finding out where the Taylors were so I asked him if he knew.
Apparently, the family had moved just a few days ago. He told me that apparently one of the parents had been offered a different job in Amsterdam or somewhere similar and had left the housing arrangements with the man in front of me. I should have believed him because it sounded plausible, but at the same time I also knew it wasn't like the family I had gotten to know. As far as I was aware, the Taylors had been perfectly happy with their life in Marlow and not to mention Tegan had a lot of friends in school. It just sounded strange that they would just leave without letting anyone know. Without letting me know. Especially as we'd been in touch regularly and there wasn't a single of mention of a possibility to move.
I was going to as the stranger if he knew a way I could contact the family but when I turned around he was just gone and I was left standing there alone with more questions than answers.
I wish I could remember his name, I'm sure he told me what it was.
Oh yes, I remember. I think he said his name was Michael.
Statement ends.
Archivist's notes.
This is a difficult one. At first, it seems like it's just an ordinary haunted house story. I mean, it's not entirely unheard of that children have imaginary friends that might actually be ghosts. In fact, I recall similar stories being shared in my own family some year ago. But something about this story is different. This isn't the first time that Michael has made an appearance in a seemingly random family home. If it is the same Michael, which it has to be. But why does he do it? What does he gain from it? More importantly, what is he? I asked Sasha to try and arrange a follow-up interview with Miss Johansson but she hasn't been able to reach her and after a few enquiries, she was able to get in touch with the letting agency to her flat who said Miss Johansson hadn't been seen in days and when Tim rang the library, they told him that she had failed to turn up to work lately.
End recording.