Our problems all began about a month ago when my girlfriend, of over two years was offered a new opportunity by her company, but it would require her to transfer to Dublin. To say it now is almost sickly humorous. She had accepted the transfer and we found an apartment near to her new job. Everything was working out we were happy with the move. I was even able to start working from home. Things were going so well that I had even contemplated asking Susan to marry me. That`s when my life and all around me started to descend into what I can only describe as nightmarish madness.
I can remember the first week in the apartment we loved the place, the rent was cheap, we were in a quite area and our neighbors all seemed friendly. Then things started to get a little strange, it all seemed to start around the large mirror hanging in the sitting room. It was an old elegant looking piece with a big wooden gold leaf frame. It seemed like every time I walked trough the sitting room, out of the corner of my eye I would catch a glimpse of a dark silhouette of a woman, everything time near that mirror, never able to make out a definite figure. I would stop and take a second look and when I turned to look, nothing. I began to get a little on edge with this and found it was a little unsettling. The strange thing was it only happen when Susan was not home. I dismissed it and wrote it off the and over active imagination and decided not to mention it to Susan as would think I was losing my mind or smoking something I shouldn`t.
Things changed when Susan came home from work one day, earlier then normal to surprise me. As she walked in the door I could here her ask "Have you got company?" I replied slightly confused by the question "No babe! I am on my own, what`s up". She proceeded to ask me "who was the girl that was at the window?" I was confused and asked which window, she pointed to the window behind where I was working on my computer, "There was a dark haired girl standing right there behind you, I could she her plain as day as I walked the apartment "A cold shiver went down my spine and I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck tingle. I quickly replied that "it must have been the courier that my work had sent to pick up some papers" I didn`t want to tell Susan that I had taught I had seen a women in the apartment also might freak her out, it freaked me just to think about it.
That night as we slept, I was awoken by the touch that I presumed was Susan looking to cuddle up but as I slowing turned in the bed to face her, In front of me was the ghostly face of someone I did not know, women with black hair, ghostly ashen grey skin and a menacing smile. I jumped from the bed with a fright, staggering to find my balance and knocking over a lamp. Susan quickly woke and turned the other bed side lamp on. Worriedly she quickly asked "what`s going on is everything ok" I scanned the room quickly. There was no one else here, it had to have been a dream I wishfully taught. Somewhat in a panicked state I said "It must have been a bad dream, just a bad dream, sorry honey" laughing she said "come back to bed and stop acting like a little baby" I went back to bed thinking it was a dream or am I cracking up. Cuddling up to Susan she jokingly said "don`t worry babe I be here to protect you"
The next day Susan went to work as usual and I started to work forgetting all about the events of the night previous. After working for a short time I began to hear the music of a violin wafting in the air, it was beautifully and seemed to be coming from all around. I stood up from my desk and began to try and follow the sound to see where it was coming from. It seemed to fill the air all around me and I could not figure out which direction it as coming from. I walked into the hallway to listen and investigate further. There I was met by one of my neighbors as he came up the stairs, an elderly man by the name of Richard. I asked him "have you heard any violin music coming form any of the apartments?" his answer surprised me somewhat "No not for some time now, there was someone a while back, but no more" I asked if he would explain what he meant. He asked me to follow him up to his apartment where we could speak over a cup of tea. We went up to his place and made some small talk, he asked about myself and Susan, how did we like the new apartment and how long we where together. I then asked about the music and what he meant by "No not for some time" when I cloud clearing hear a violin before we spoke in the hall. Richard then proceeded to tell me a story that I wish he hadn`t. "Well it`s been about a year now since I heard that music play. It was a woman named Rose and she live in the apartment you are now staying in with her boyfriend or husband, I`m not to sure. She was a lovely person she did seem a little shy with some people, someone you would consider a lady. She played the violin and practiced every day, I think she played with an orchestra. It was always a pleasure to hear her play. That`s why it was so sad what happen to her" I got a cold chill as he said this. "What do you mean by so sad, what happen to her?" I asked, as he replied I could hear sadness in his voice. "Well the best I can tell you is that her boyfriend suddenly moved out after they had a big fight over something, I can remember hearing the shouting and a few days later she was found dead in the apartment, suicide they said, an overdose of something, not sure what" I was somewhat speechless at that moment and didn`t know how to react. Rose couldn't be the figure I was seeing, I mean a ghost, no. I held back and taught it best to keep the events of the last few days to myself. "Thanks for taking the time to speak to me Richard; I had better head back my girlfriend will be back from work soon.
I was sitting at my desk when Susan walked in "Hi honey how..." suddenly there was a bang and the sound of breaking glass from the sitting room. We both jumped with the fright and went to the sitting room as quickly as we could. I walked across the sitting room to see a picture of Susan and me on the floor, the glass and frame broken. "What the hell, that is very strange, how did that happen?" Susan asked. "I don`t know, that`s very odd, It must have fallen from the top off the bookshelf" I couldn`t help but wonder how it fell that hard. My imagination started to race trough a number of scenarios but all lead back to the one that I taught to be the most improbable. I couldn`t say this to Susan I mean she will think I nuts.
It was about 3am while I was lightly sleeping, I could hear music softly playing, it was that violin again. As I opened my eyes and my and I taught I saw Susan moving at the end of the bed. "Is everything alright honey" There was no answer. "Honey, you ok" I repeated. I heard Susan answer sleepily "I too tiered baby, it`s too late go back to sleep" My heart was in my mouth when I realized that Susan was still beside me in the bed. I tried to speak again but no sound came out, I quickly turned on the light and the room filled with light as my eyes adjusted to the light I could make out the silhouette of someone briefly in the mirror on the wall at the end of the bed. I panicked for a second and jumped back in the bed. Susan sat up in the bed with a look of angry surprise "What`s going on, Is everything ok?" I didn`t know what I should say to her I could really tell her I taught someone or something was in the room with us and it could be the ghost of the previous tenant. "I taught I had heard something, I`ll take a quick look around" she quickly replayed "Your not having another bad dream again I hope" I walked out of the bed room and surveyed the apartment. "Everything looks ok" I reported. She didn`t say anything but the way she looked at me said it all. I taught it best to go get myself a drink and let her get back to sleep. "Sorry Sue, I`m going to stay up for a bit and let you get back to sleep" I was in the kitchen for a little while reading at the table, when I heard Susan getting up and as she made her way from the bedroom I could hear her ask "Will you turn that music off? it`s too late and I`m trying... who`s there?" Confused I answered "It`s me don`t be silly, I`m at the kitchen table" I got up and curiously made by way to the sitting room. There I saw Susan stand with a look of fright on her face, she was staring into the large mirror on the wall "Are you ok? Susan look at me are you ok?" her reply froze me to the spot "There was someone here, just now I swear I just saw someone" It took me a second to say something back to her as I already knew what she saw she didn`t need to go into detail. I quickly went over to her "There is no one else here honey just me, are you sure you didn`t just catch your reflection me the mirror?" angrily she snapped back "Do you think I`m stupid, I know what I saw" I didn`t think now would be a good time to go into what I taught was happening, besides I would prefer to know more details before I told her. "I didn`t mean it like that Sue" I held her tight and tried to calm her. By now I had turned all the lights on in the apartment and we had looked pretty much everywhere to see if anyone else was in the apartment. After a while tiredness got the best of us and she fell asleep in my arms.
Morning came and Susan saw the funny side of what had happened that night after I spoke to her and told her that maybe it was my bad dreams the last few nights and waking her up at all hours that had caused her to start having bad dreams too. She left for work as normal and didn`t seem to think too much about it after that. Now All I can think about is what had happened who was this Rose the previous tenant and what can be done to dare I say it stop the ghostly presents.
I contacted the letting agent that morning and enquired about he previous tenants. He was very reluctant to say anything to me at first "It would be normal for us to discuss such matters" but after a bit of persuading, a few lies and visit to his office in person he finally agreed to tell me about the last tenant "her name was Miss Rose Lawson and a very nice person to deal with, she was a violinist and played professionally for an orchestra here in Dublin", he gave a name and address of a Tomas Markovic who had written a reference for Rose. The letting agent could only tell me that he had heard from the Gardai that she had died of an over douse and it was treated as a suicide. Her body was found in the sitting room in an arm chair. I asked "had you replaced the furniture or redecorated since" He replayed "only the furniture had been replaced, the fixtures and fitting were all still the same". I quickly followed with what most intrigued me "The large mirror in the sitting room, was that always there?" I knew the answer before he replied "Yes the big gold framed mirror, that has always been there" I then asked If anyone had rented the apartment since and his answer didn`t surprise me, he told me there were two tenants since, each only staying of a month or two with no real reason as to why they left. I thanked him for all of there help and made my way to see Tomas Markovic to see if he would speak to me.
I arrived at Tomas`s house at around one o`clock he was indeed home and after I told him who I was and that I would like to speak to him about Rose Lawson. As I mentioned her name I could she a change in his eyes. He agreed to speak to me and ask if we could sit somewhere and speak over lunch. There was a coffee shop just up the street and we sat and I asked him about the situation surrounding her death. "It was so sad for poor Rose she was a lovely woman and a great musician, but alas she had her heart broken and couldn`t take the pain" I asked "What happened to her?" "Here boyfriend was an asshole that`s what happened" I could here anger in his voice "He was cheating on her for a while even when they got engaged. It was another case of a nice girl and a dickhead boyfriend" he then asked me "Why do you care about the past, how are you to Rose" I knew I would have to honest with Tomas so I simply told him "I now live in Rose`s old apartment with my girlfriend...." I paused to think of what to say to him but sharply followed "So what? That doesn`t mean anything" I taught it would be best to come clean and tell someone finally what was going on.
"Ok Tomas, to tell the truth I have had a few strange things happen in the apartment over the last while and everything keeps bring me back to Rose" He didn`t flinch or bat and eye when I said this. "Like what exactly makes you think it has anything to do with Rose" I took a breath paused and answered "Well for a start, I am hearing violin music when no one else in the building plays an instrument, that and I have had the life scared out of me on more then one occasion by a paled skinned dark haired woman when there was no one else in the apartment, and now my girlfriend is starting to see her too." He looked at me and simply said "I see, what music are you hearing?" I was very surprised by his reaction and confused. I hummed him a little of the song I heard. Straight away his eyes opened wide and simply said "Telemann`s Fantasia, she loved that peace" I had to except the fact that I had the ghost or spirit of Rose Lawson trapped in my apartment. "It true, she must still be in the apartment as crazy as it sound" I thanked Tomas for taking the time to talk to me he ask for my number and if he could call around later to see the apartment for himself. I agreed and was happy in a way that he seemed to believe my story and hopefully it would be proof to myself that I haven`t lost my mind.
I arrived home to find Susan sitting on the step of the stairs. Why are you sitting here?" I asked. She looked at me and said "I didn`t want to be in the apartment on my own" I gave her a reassuring hug and told "Do worry, I starting to figure out what is going on" My phone rang it was Tomas. He had told me that he was going to call over and hopefully be able to help us with our problem. I sat on the stairs and told Susan everything I knew about Rose and that she had died in the apartment. I told her everything that I had seen since we moved in. This time she held me tightly and said "I don`t think we should stay here anymore" I asked her to wait and meet Tomas and see what help if any he could give us.
Tomas arrived a little while later and we were still sitting on the steps still unsure of going back into the apartment. I introduced him to Susan and he began to tell us "I`m didn`t tell you earlier put I`m from the Czech Republic and back home I can remember as a child stories of haunted mirrors. When you left earlier I had contacted my mother back home to remind me of some of these stories. She told me that It is said when a persons dies in there home that all mirrors in the house should be covered in a black cloth to prevent the soul of the dead being trapped in it. This ensure that the soul leaves this world safety for the next." Susan and myself looked at him is disbelief and shock. "Are you saying the you think the soul of Rose if still trapped in the mirror in the apartment?" Tomas looked at us and simply nodded yes. "There is a way to free her soul, so my mother has told me and all we can do is hope that it`s works. I would hate to think that her soul stayed trapped" I looked at Susan and she said "If this girl Rose soul is trapped we should at least try to set her free. If you think it will work Tomas we should do it" Tomas looked at her and smiled. "We will need a few items to get started, we must go to a church and get two things, some holy water and a blessed white candle. We will also need some black cloths to cover all other mirrors in the apartment to make sure the her soul doesn`t get trapped again"
It was hard to believe that this was happing it was almost like something you would see on TV. We all jumped in Susan`s car and went to the nearest church. After a little while we finally found the priest and told him we needed some holy water and for him to bless a white candle. He quickly said "That is no problem, but might I ask as the then nature if this request?" I explained briefly that we had a little problem with what we taught was a trapped soul. "Well if it is Gods work you are doing, you can certainly have the items you need" He took a bottle and filled it with holy water and a candle and placed the on the alter and said a prayer over them. He then handed them to us and said another prayer and blessed us all with holy water. "Thanks you father you have been a great help" he wish us luck and to stay safe. Next we stopped at one of shopping centers to get some black cloths. Not an easy task but after some looking we found them. We had everything we needed now and headed back to the apartment.
We sat in the car for a bit quickly thinking of what we were about to do, Tomas broke the silent`s "Ok when we go into the apartment we must cover all of the mirrors and anything else the has a large reflective surface then we will go to the sitting room and start" we all looked at each other and in silent`s gave a positive nod. We all stood together as I put the key into the lock of the door of the apartment as I did we all heard a violin start to play. Tomas simply said "It is, it`s Rose. I can`t believe it" With a deep breath we entered each of us quickly went around the apartment and stared to cover mirrors with the black cloths. We could hear thing being thrown around the sitting room as we did. Tomas shouted "Ignore that until we finish the other rooms" We all meet up at the doorway to the sitting room we could books and pictures thrown around the room. Bravely we all walked into the room one by one and stood in front of the large old mirror the in one we hadn`t covered. Suddenly Rose appeared in the mirror "Can everyone see her?" I asked nervously. To which both Susan and Tomas answer "Yes" Tomas then quickly said "Rose we are here to help, we are here to set you free" he instructed me to help lift the mirror down from the wall. We could here the violin begin to play louder then before and more books violently flew off the shelves across the room just missing us. Tomas then said "Next we must brake the mirror and straight away we will need to bless the floor were we broke the mirror with the holy water, and say aloud, Spirit fear now the power of God and his blessed Host! Flee this spot where you were fallen and set free, and in your eternal rest you shall ever be.
We will need to repeat this about nine time. Things started to get a little intense, Susan screamed as a lamp flew into the air and she ducked as it passed over her head. I shouted at Tomas "If we`re going to do this, do it now before it get worse in here" With that I grabbed a candle stick hold and threw it at the middle of the mirror the was a blood curdling scream as the pieces of the now shattered mirror fell to the floor. Quickly were carried out Tomas`s instruction. Susan then quickly grab the holy water and we blessed the stop on the floor were the mirror pieces lay. We all chanted loudly and repeated the words Tomas`s had given us and abruptly the violin music stopped, the room fell quite. We quickly wrapped up the pieces of the mirror in the remaining black cloth`s. "Now we must take the pieces to an old graveyard to bury them and we must tap one of the large pieces on top of the oldest gravestone we can find" Tomas looked at me "Do you know any old graveyards?" "Yes I know just the place" I replied. With all the pieces now bundled up we jumped back into Susan`s car and drove to Glasnevin cemetery. We found the oldest grave we could and tapped the largest piece of the mirror on the top of it and quickly and quietly buried all the pieces wrapped in the black cloths. Tomas now explained the last part "tomorrow night you must light the blessed candle on the spot where we broke the mirror. This should completely free Rose`s sprit form this world and your apartment should be a peaceful to live. Hopefully she can find some peace now" We thanks Tomas for all of his help and told him to thank his mother back home too. We decided that we might just stay in a hotel for the night and let tomorrow be a new day and a new start.