What Mey Sees

The Neighbor

August 2 2020

Mey: 6

Kai: 4

There is a nice elderly lady who lives next door. Her name is Lydia. Lydia is from Peru and I have known her since I moved into this place when Kai was born. So, for four years. She is a kind lady who we always say "Hello" to in passing. 

From what I know about her is that she has two kids who both own their own homes in the neighboring neighborhood. She also has one grandson who I don't know anything about but he might be a year older than Mey. 

Lydia has always been a quiet neighbor. I never hear her next door and she never complains about how much noise I know my children make. 

Lydia lost her husband before I moved in next door. I don't know how he died. From what my husband told me, he died from a heart attack on a cruise. So, Lydia lives alone with her son and daughter coming to visit every now and then.

A few weeks ago, she told me she was moving out to go live with her son. The stairs were too much for her and she was scared she would fall and no one would be able to help her. 

Over the next few weeks I see her family come over and pack her things for her. It wasn't too long before Lydia was all packed up and ready to leave. She came over one night and gave me her number and new address. They would be renting out the place next door once this whole Covid thing died down. 

Now, Lydia has been gone for about three  weeks. The place next door has been empty for three weeks. 

The first night it happened, it was about a week ago. My husband and I put the kids to bed a bit later than usual, at around 10pm. Mey and Kai go to sleep right away and my husband and I watch a movie then clean up. 

At around 12am, the both of us head on to bed. While we are both on our phones in bed, we hear someone banging on the walls. Kai does that a lot so we figure it's him and leave it alone. But the banging becomes insistent and annoying so I tell my husband to go check. 

He gets out of bed and goes to check on the kids. He comes back and tells me that they are both asleep and neither of them is near the wall. 

OK, we leave it alone and my husband comes back to bed. Then, about ten minutes later we hear the banging again along with running in the hallway. I turn to my husband and label him incompetent, and go check out things for myself. Clearly the kids are still awake and played him for a fool.

I quietly sneak over to the kids room and listen for the banging again. When I hear nothing for a good 20 seconds, I open their door to see that yes, they are both asleep. But I know I heard them not even a minute ago. 

I decide I am going to catch them in the act.  I sit myself down in the hallway facing their door. I wait there quietly, listening for any movement I can from their room. 

Nothing. 

Either they knew I was there or they really were asleep. I wait a bit longer and my husband comes and asks me what I'm doing. I explain that I want to catch the kids in the act and he calls me crazy but sits with me. 

After another five minutes of complete silence, I get up to leave. That was when we heard it. The banging on the walls and the running in the hallway. Only it wasn't coming from our house. It was coming from next door. 

The hallway and the stairs have a wall that separates our house from the neighbors house. On that side of the wall in her house are the bedrooms. 

My husband and I sit there staring at the wall as we listen to the banging. Slowly, we come to the realization that Lydia moved out and there should be no one there. 

We debate what to do. It's way too late to call Lydia and if we call the police they might break into the place causing Lydia more stress with repairs and she would be quite angry with us if nothing was actually there or if she had let someone stay in the house without telling us.

We decided to leave it alone and call Lydia the next day. We both go to sleep after hearing the banging continue for at least another 30 minutes. 

However, the next day we forget to call and the following night we hear he noises again.

It became a constant thing before after the third night in a row with the noises, I make a point to actually call Lydia the next day.

A few things my husband and I noticed about the sounds were that they always started at 12am and wouldn't last longer than 2am. 

Eventually I called Lydia and asked her if there was someone living next door. She says that there isn't. I tell her about the noises I heard the past week and she sends her son over to check. 

Her son comes and checks and says that nothing is damaged and there is no one staying there. The doors are all locked and nothing looks tampered with. 

Since nothing was found, Lydia and her son probably thought we were crazy and just hearing things. 

That night we heard the noises again. I go out into the hallway with my phone to record the sound but the sounds stop before I get a chance too.

I don't know if this is paranormal or if someone is hiding out in the place next door. Either way, I am just happy that there is no way our houses are connected other than that wall. 

I have been going to sleep earlier and I haven't heard the noises for about three days. Maybe it's because I make a point of going to sleep before 12am. 

I won't let it bother me because we will be moving to a new home next month. I am honestly really happy with this and hope nothing new happens in the new home.