S04 Episode 1: Alone With Everybody (Pt 1 of 2)

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just right with Grammarly. Go to gramley dot com slash podcast to sign up for free, then get twenty percent off when you upgrade to premium. That's twenty percent off at gramley dot com slash Podcast. At the northern edge of the Guialing Brecon Beacons in Cumerie, under the shadow of Penny Fan to the south and the Black Mountains to the east, there sits a large stone house, long and narrow with its rickety roof and jumbled patchwork of brick.

It lies at the intersection of two winding lanes, surrounded by a thick ring of oak alder and which elm hidden from prying eyes by the holly, the hawthorn, and the ash. From the front, ivy paurs greedily at its northern flanks, almost as if it were trying to drag it down and into the ground, while from the back the way the earth rises up into a rugged clearing of thick scrub. You'd be forgiven for thinking it was

part way to succeeding. Its name is heel Fannock, or in English road to the Peaks, a reference to the hills and mountains that overshadow it. An entry point of sorts,

or perhaps a gateway, as some might say. Constructed in the nineteen fifties, like a repurposed limb grafted onto the remnants of an old barn, it is comprised largely of stone taken from what was left at the old sixteenth century manor house, the lichen covered ruins of which can still be found hidden deeper amongst the trees at the

very back of the garden. It is May nineteen eighty nine, and all is quiet save for the distant chatter of skylarks, while high above light tufts of cloud in the bright spring sky draw shadows across the roof. They drift lazily from front to back, east to west, slipping down onto the thick grass before heading into the trees and disappearing somewhere beyond. Inside, silence rains as dust mots float through

soft beams of light. Spiders twitch in dark corners. The barn door creaks up above, a large crow comes to rest on the chimney, pop digging its beak into its feathers as it preens, when suddenly its head jerks up, the eyes alert to something rustling in the undergrowth. Moments later, something else, far more ominous is heard, the faint sound

of an approaching vehicle. With a strained squawk, the crow spreads its iridescent wings and launches into the air, rising away and over the tree tops before it too disappears somewhere beyond. Back down below, he old fannock sits quiet and still as the sound of the engine draws ever nearer, until finally a car turns into the front drive and

pulls up outside the house. Silence returns for the briefest of moments before the front door swing open and its excitable passengers spill out into the warm spring air you're listening to Unexplained and I'm Richard mc lean smith. Thirty year old Liz was first to exit, followed by her partner, Bill, thirteen years her senior, from the other side of the car, a big smile spreading across her face as she caught

his eye. Fourteen year old Lawrence, Bill's son from a previous marriage, was the last to get out, slowly extricating himself from the back seat. Liz, her pregnancy bump just beginning to show above her waist, paused to take it all in as Bill and Lawrence set about unloading their things. It was even more beautiful than she remembered, She thought, the perfect place to raise their baby and begin afresh,

free from the distractions of the past. For Bill, it was the sheer remoteness of the place and the large studio space above the barn that had first appealed. A gifted and renowned artist of predominantly surrealist pop art pieces, Bill had become increasingly frustrated with how much his time was being taken up with his more commercial endeavors, creating decorative boxes and other pieces for the casual consumer. He old Fannock he hoped would be a chance to rediscover

the true artist inside him. For most in similar circumstances, it is easy to become distracted by the excitement of a move, to become wrapped up in the accompanying sense of optimism it often brings. It is also easy, when in such a state, not to notice things that at the time might otherwise have seemed a little off kilter.

The receipt for six pound sixty six that Bill found shortly after moving in, taken from the last meal the couple eight before arriving at the house, for example, or the sixty six pound sixty grocery bill they would incur

shortly after. There were certainly no signs of anything untoward that first summer, as the family settled into their new lives, bringing a whole host of life to join them in their new adventure, from cats to goats and even a pig named loose Cinder, and with a steady run of orders for Bill's work coming in, it wasn't long before he was finally able to dedicate some time to his

more personal and fulfilling work. By September, Liz and Bill were married, and the following month, as if to top it all off, her waters broke despite some initial complications. Come November, the couple welcomed new arrival, Ben into their dream home. Life, as they say, couldn't have been more sweet. But all that was about to change. It was one afternoon in mid November when Liz stepped out of the house for some fresh air. As a sudden gust of

wind rustled the leaves in the trees. She was struck for the first time by just how quiet it usually was out there, as if no birds ever seemed to alight in the garden. Perhaps it was just the drawing in of the nights, or how winter had stripped the leaves from some of the larger trees, leaving her and

the house feeling a little more exposed than usual. But as Liz watched the pale sun drop below the horizon, sending majestic crepuscular rays shooting white gold across the sky, it wasn't a sense of wonder that she felt, but dread. Early one morning, with all the family laying fast asleep, Baby Ben begins to twitch in his cot, kicking out with both legs, with his hands squeezed up into little fists, and his face beginning to Redden and scrunch up. Finally,

his mouth opens wide and he begin to cry. Liz, having woken instantly, switched on the light and gathered Ben from the cot as she prepared to feed him. A weary Bill pulled back the covers and headed toward the toilet downstairs. He had just started to pee when an unexpected noise startled him, a loud, hammering sound that seemed to be moving along the corridor above like heavy footsteps. Bill froze as the apparent footsteps near the top of

the stairs before coming to a sudden stop. Assuming it to be his son, Lawrence, Bill headed back upstairs, only to find the corridor completely empty and Lawrence's bedroom door now closed. He switched off the light and returned to his own bedroom, where he found Liz quietly placing Ben back into his cot. Bill asked if she'd heard anything too,

but to his surprise, she hadn't heard a think. He poked his head back into the hall, switched on the light, and stood watch for a moment, keeping his eyes trained on the studio door at the far end. Hearing and seeing nothing, he switched off the light and returned to bed. The following morning, Bill and Liz were stunned to receive an exorbitant electricity bill from SWALEC, the South Wales Electricity Board, which was almost four times what they had been expecting.

That afternoon, as she sat down on the bed to feed bed, Liz couldn't stop thinking about the extortionate invoice and what Bill had said the previous night that he'd heard something moving about the house. Although it was true that she hadn't heard anything herself, there was something that she hadn't mentioned that recently in her private moments, she had begun to feel as though something was watching her. Just then, the studio door at the far end of

the house slammed shut with a bank, startling Liz. Momentarily thinking it was nothing, she returned to feeding her baby when a second closer door slammed shut, startling her again. It must be Lawrence, she thought with annoyance. With her eyes now trained on her own door, Liz jumped again when the sound of a third door being slammed was heard, this time leaving her utterly frozen in fear, for although the noise seemed to have come from inside her own room,

the door hadn't moved an inch. Bill, who had heard the bangs from downstairs. Burst in moments later to find a scared and confused Liz struggling to comprehend what had just happened. Convinced it had something to do with Lawrence, she demanded that Bill tell him to pack it in, but Bill didn't understand Lawrence hadn't been home for over an hour. Bill called the electricity board at the first opportunity to dispute their invoice, eventually forcing them to send

an electrician round to monitor the meeter. Unfortunately, they found nothing wrong with it, though they couldn't say exactly how the family were racking up such a large bill. Something in that house was draining the electricity one way or another. It was about the same time that Bill started noticing a foul smell emanating from somewhere in the kitchen, as if something putrid had been set on fire. A plumber was duly called to locate the source of it, but

found nothing untoward. As winter reproached, life at the house superficially at least carried on as normal. However, though the couple had yet to acknowledge it to each other, both had the sense that something of the atmosphere in their home had recently shifted. A few days later, Bill received a disappointing phone call from a major client. They were terribly sorry, they said, but they would have to cancel their order. Conscious of the unwieldy electricity bill still hanging

over their heads, Bill tried to remain up beat. After all, he still had another large order to fulfill. Later that afternoon, they canceled too. As the holiday season approached, Bill and Liz, with their newborn son and Lawrence, who they felt was becoming increasingly withdrawn, found themselves in the grip of a

very domestic sense of uncertainty. For by now, Liz and Lawrence were noticing those footsteps too, and the occasional eruptions of the inexplicable putrid stench that continued to plague their home. But most of all, they couldn't escape that unmistakable, skin crawling sensation that something else was in there with them. Are you always taking care of your family? Do you often take care of others and not yourself? Now it's time to take care of yourself, to make time for

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slash Unexplained Podcast. After sharing a first Christmas together in their new home, not least for the benefit of Lawrence and their baby's son, Bill and Liz agreed to not let the disappointments of the last few months and the increasingly strange events get the better of them. It wouldn't

be long, however, before they were being challenged again. Early in the new year, Liz entered the barn overjoyed to find their goat Lulu had given birth to two kids, but when she neared them, her excitement turned to horror. Though one kid seemed bright and healthy, the other lay completely still, its tiny glassy eyes fixed and rolled back into its head. The mother had crushed it with her

hind legs shortly after it was born. Not long after that, Lucinda the pig was found brushing about the barn, screaming wildly. A few days later, she was diagnosed with a rare disease for which, towards no cure, the devastated family had no option but to have her put down. Liz tried her best not to overthink it at all, to put it down to unfortunate coincidence, but when Bill's orders started

drying up too, she couldn't ignore it anymore. Picking up the phone one morning, she took a deep breath and died a few moments later, Bridget Buscombe, the previous resident of Hugh or Fannock, answered the corps. After introducing herself, Liz, cautious not to sound too odd, proceeded to ask Bridget about her time living in the house. She was disappointed, however, to learn that she had only fond memories of her experiences there, but as the pair were just saying there

good byes, Liz sensed a slight pause from Bridget's end. Actually, she said, Finally, there was one thing, yes, replied Liz. Once, when she had been lying alone, reading in bed, with her husband away on business, she became aware of a very gentle creaking sound. Looking across to the other side of the room, she was astonished to see her antique

spinning wheel slowly turning of its own accord. She had stared at it utterly perplexed for a number of seconds, before eventually rising from the bed and jamming it with a piece of paper. She knew it, thought Liz. They had hadn't been imagining it after all. As if in response to Liz's renewed conviction that something untoward was occurring in their home, the strange activity intensified, and in early

March they finally agreed to seek help. A priest was found to bless the house, and although he didn't notice anything himself, the family were reassured by his lack of judgment and determination to help, and in the days that followed the house seemed lighter and more spacious than it had done in months. One morning, after Bill had driven into town to run some errands, Liz took Ben for

a warp. When she returned for the first time she could remember, Liz felt pleased to see the house, smiling warmly at the sight of her husband in one of the top floor windows as she made her way up the driveway with Ben. But then her smile dropped. Bill's car was not in the driveway, meaning it wasn't her husband. Standing at the window. With her breath quickening, Liz forced herself to look up again. There staring back at her from inside the house was the gaunt face of an

elderly woman she didn't recognize. A moment later it was gone. Left terrified at the recent turn of events, but unable to afford a move elsewhere, the couple turned their attention to the history of the local area in the hope that they might uncover something to help understand what seemed to be stalking their home. Soon after, a builder, responding to a hopeful article placed by Bill in the local paper, got in touch. There was something he thought the couple

should know. The man, as he went on to explain, had helped build the house in the nineteen fifties. At some point during construction. He and his co workers were gathering stones from the ruins of the old manor House when they came across a set of old, smashed up headstones in amongst the rubble. Could it be? He wandered that the house had in fact been built on the

site of the old manor houses burial ground. One afternoon in the spring of nineteen ninety, Bill was upstairs working in his studio when Liz, who was just finishing cleaning up in the kitchen, had the sudden urge to check on their baby. With a rising sense of panic, Liz hurried to the bedroom. Rushing through the door, she looked up in horror to find sitting in the chair opposite the crib the same elderly woman she had seen looking at her from the window. A second later, she was gone.

The next morning, Bill woke in agony to find both his hands strangely dry, the skin red and cracking all over them. The sudden affliction left him unable to paint for weeks on end, But just as the increasingly oppressive atmosphere in the house was threatening to overcome them, the mood was lifted when the couple learned that Liz was pregnant again. The joyous revelation left them more determined than

ever to find an end to the problems. Local spiritualist Ray Williams was recommended to the couple, having apparently succeeded in helping other parishioners in similar situations to themselves. Arriving one bright April morning along with two colleagues, he swiftly set about examining each room of the house for any sign of psychical disturbance. Within minutes, Williams was in no doubt that something dark had found its way into the property.

A few days later, with Liz and the children staying at her mother's in the nearby village of Cowbridge, Bill arrived at the property to meet with the three men again. After letting them in, he waited in the kitchen as they carefully made their way around the house, blessing each room. A short time later, while Bill went through his mail, he heard a cry coming from the back of the house.

Racing outside to investigate, he found one of the men doubled over in pain, claiming it had come on as soon as he approached the window to the downstairs bathroom. Returning to the house, the men made a bee line for the small area between the bottom of the stairs and the rest room downstairs. Convinced it was where the malicious activity was centering, Bill explained with amazement that indeed it was the exact spot where most of the strange

events seemed to occur. With their investigation completed, the men relaid their findings to Bill, stating that they had felt the presence of four entities in total, three being an elderly woman and two young men, who they had now successfully banished from the house. However, there was one other,

far darker and clearly not of this world. It was their opinion that, unlike the three other entities, it had not originated at the sight of the property, but had in fact arrived with Bill and may have been following him for the past twenty years. Later, in an effort to provide protection for the family, one of the men returned to construct a psychic wall of protection around the house.

Finding a spot on the kitchen floor, he carefully outlined a pentacle with chalk, before placing incense at each point. As the perfumed smoke drifted and dispersed into the room. Quietly, he implored any spirit to vacate the property. Immediately twenty minutes later he was gone, leaving Bill alone to rack his brains for any reason as to why a malicious entity might have attached itself to him. And then it

came to him, Alex Sanders. Back in his early twenties, when Bill was trying to make a name for himself as an aspiring artist in London, he was introduced to a man named Alex Sanders, the self styled King of the Witches. The controversial Sanders had at one time been a follower of renowned Wiccan practitioner Gerald Gardner, before splitting from his teachings to pursue his own interpretations of ceremonial magic.

Having at one point been informed of Bill's ambitions, Sanders offered to initiate him into his coven in an effort to aid his development as an artist. With nothing to lose and curious to know more, Bill accepted his invitation. However, no sooner had Bill begun the series of initiation rituals than he had a change of heart and pulled out

of it. Could it be? He wondered that his failure to complete the initiation had opened some kind of gateway allowing something unsavory to come through and attach itself to him either way. When the family moved back to the house that summer, they found that whatever the spiritualists had done appeared to have worked. Gone was the heavy, oppressive atmosphere, those strange noises and noxious smells. Despite the apparent cleansing

of Yolfannock. However, Bill, growing increasingly worried about the impact it was all having on Lawrence, was unwilling to take any more chances. After consulting with his ex wife, it was arranged to have Lawrence to take a room at a nearby boarding house. Though Bill was relieved that his oldest son could now get on with life away from the Mayhem, it was a further hit to the family finances, as if things weren't complicated enough, a nationwide recession had

all but done for his regular stream of income. In July, they were forced to sell the car, and, being unable to pay the phone bill, their line was cut off. With a number of friends and family having found it difficult to sympathize with their recent plight, having no experience of what it was they had been through, the family could scarcely have felt more isolated. That summer of nineteen ninety.

The trees that surrounded the house seemed to loom higher than ever, the rising hills of the beacons taller and more foreboding, and it wasn't long before Bill and Liz were hearing those footsteps again. This concludes part one of a loan with Everybody. You can hear the second and final part next week on Friday, eighteenth of January. If you enjoy listening to Unexplained and would like to help support us, you can now go to Unexplained podcast dot

com forward slash support. All donations, no matter how large or small, are massively appreciated. All elements of Unexplained are produced by me Richard mcclained smith. Please subscribe and rate the show on iTunes. Feel free to get in touch with any thoughts or ideas regarding the stories you've heard on the show. Perhaps you have an explanation of your own you'd like to share. You can reach us online at Unexplained podcast dot com or on Twitter at Unexplained Pod.

Now it's time to take care of yourself. To make time for you, teledoc gives you access to a licensed therapist to help you get back to feeling your best. Speak to a licensed therapist by phone or video anytime between seven am to nine pm local time, seven days a week. Teledoc Therapy is available through most insurance or employers. Download the app or visit teledoc dot com forward slash Unexplained podcast today to get started. That's t e ladoc

dot com slash Unexplained Podcast. When it comes to work, communication is key, even if you don't have a writing job. Sounding unconfident, indecisive, or passive aggressive can hold you back professionally and er your team's productivity. Grimly premiums advanced tone suggestions make sure you're always sending the right message, sound clear and confident in your writing, and automatically replace negative

leaning language with solution focused alternatives. With Gramley's help, you can build stronger relationships at work, be constructive in the face of challenges, and help your team get things done. Grimly works where you do so your team's projects get done before the deadline, and with features like comprehensive spelling, grammar and clarity focused sentence rewrites, Grammily helps keep your writing efficient and mistake free. The right tone can move

any project forward. Get it just right with Grammarly. Go to grammley dot com slash Podcast to sign up for free, then get twenty percent off when you upgrade to premium. That's twenty percent off at gramley dot com Slash Podcast