After getting to know her a little better, she often talked to me about strange things occurring in her house... things moving, footsteps upstairs when no one was home, and a general feeling of oppression.

Having been genuinely interested in the occult and paranormal from a very young age; I thought I might be able to help her.

I was mistaken.

My first warning was the night I met her... she invited my brother and I over for a beer, and while I drank (my brother doesn't), we watched her trying to summon a spirit with a friend, using a Ouija she had laying on the floor.

They were both fairly tipsy, and their attempts didn't bring much to bear.

After a little while, my brother excused himself and left, while the three of us started talking about her house and some of the strange things going on in it.

As I was listening to their stories, I glanced over at the Ouija and thought to myself; "I wonder if it can answer on it's own?"... and I got my answer.

I watched the planchette slowly move unaided, to the word "yes".

Though I was freaking out on the inside, I managed to keep my cool, and asked if anyone else had noticed it move.

They hadn't, but they explained that things like that no longer frightened them... they happened often.

As time went by, and she and I became closer friends; stranger things began happening in the house.

She called me over a little after midnight one night because she had felt something touch her arm while she lay half asleep in her bed.

There was little I could do to console her, and I couldn't stay because her father had a strong dislike for me. So when her father went to work the next morning, I went over and we tried to contact one of the spirits who she claimed resided there.

There ended up being three spirits sharing dominance there, one supposedly the spirit of an older woman who had been trapped in the basement and died there.

There was no compromising with them.

After our initial "talks" ended, they began showing us just how much power they had... footsteps began pounding on the floor in the upstairs bedroom, and throughout the house we could hear doors opening and closing.

Frightened nearly out of my wits, I stood and called out to them; "That is enough. You will leave this woman alone, or you will have to deal with me".

Everything quieted down immediately... but only until I left the house.

A few hours later, I received a hysterical phone call from her... there was heavy static on the line, and I could hear what sounded like an earthquake in the background.

She screamed for me to come over, and then the phone died.

When I got there, it was silent... nothing stirred, and the two women sat in the middle of the living room floor, crying and holding each other.

When I asked them what had happened, they told me that they had decided to contact the spirits again... but this time they had gotten no answer.

Soon after, the house began to shake... the stomping feet from upstairs returned, and as they ran into the laundry room to get away from it; they saw the washer and drier shake... and something underneath it must have been trying to punch it's way out, because the floor bounced as if someone was trying to force their way out of it.

When they ran back into the kitchen, the dishes all began to shake, and the chandelier began swaying... her father's liquor cabinet began shaking... and that was when they had called me.

A few minutes before I had arrived, everything stopped.

Over the course of the next few weeks, one of the spirits became less hostile... he would not tell us about himself, but he would warn us about the other two.

The activity began dying down, and we started thinking everything was going to be alright... until one night while we were talking to the friendlier spirit, the stomping and shaking began in earnest.

It only lasted a few minutes, but it was violent enough that it made me afraid for them so I said a prayer for protection, and made a protective seal for each of them to keep close to themselves that night.

I received a phone call the next morning from a lethargic sounding voice... it was my friend, but she did not seem herself.

I went over immediately to check on her, and found her sitting on the couch, drunk, visibly shaken.

She would not speak to me at first, but the look in her eyes when she looked into mine was unnerving... she spoke hateful words, and then slumped over on the couch.

After a few minutes she came to, and whatever was in her eyes had gone... she told me everything that had happened that night.

After midnight they began hearing voices. After a few minutes, something began caressing her arm, and she got scared and went and slept with her friend.

They were both awake, though facing opposite each other when the voices began whispering again.

In the dark, she told her friend to take her hand off her arm, because her hand was very cold... and her friend told her that it was not her hand on her arm.

They looked over their shoulders and saw they were laying back to back, and the cold hand on her arm strengthened it's grip, sending spasms of pain up into her shoulder.

At the same time, her friend felt something grab her, and she jumped out of bed and ran out to the car and would not come out.

After spending several minutes trying to get her friend to come back in, she went in alone and laid down on the couch.

She told me that she had gotten the protective symbol out and held it close to her heart, and prayed.

She drifted off for what seemed like hours, when she suddenly woke up... several hands were on her now, some holding her down, others touching her legs and thighs, and she screamed and blacked out.

She didn't remember calling me that morning, nor did she remember drinking any alcohol.

A few days later she moved out of the house, and to the best of my knowledge; she hasn't had another occurrence since.