I looked at the abandoned house. it followed me home.

okay I wasn't going to post this but it's been sitting in my head so here.

five years ago, me and my boyfriend drove out to this mountain pass that was kind of famous in the area for being a haunted spot. we didn't fully believe in it but we were curious, so we were slowly driving past this abandoned house near the pass. just vibing. windows up. pretending we were chill.

I was NOT chill. I've accidentally seen ghosts a few times before in my life so I was already on edge. and of course, of COURSE, I had forgotten my prayer beads at home that day. the ones I always carry. great.

the house had those no-entry ropes around it and the grass was like. two meters tall? wild and overgrown. old junk piled everywhere. there was genuinely no space for a person to stand.

but I saw them.

an old man. standing with his back to us, right beside the house. and next to him, a woman. holding a newborn baby. just. standing there. staring at nothing.

instantly I knew. I KNEW they weren't alive. because they were gray. not like shadows, not like silhouettes. gray. like someone had cut a hole in the world and replaced that one spot with black and white footage. everyone else, the trees, the road, my boyfriend's hands on the wheel, all normal color. just those two. gray.

my boyfriend didn't see anything, just kept driving. but our friend who came along suddenly screamed at me.

"DON'T LOOK TO THE SIDE."

I snapped my eyes forward. didn't look. stared at the road ahead and kept it there.

a minute later she goes, "okay it's gone. there was an old man attached to you just now."

attached. to me. she said attached.

turns out she can see them too, way more than I can actually. she sees ghosts at her job all the time (yeah). so she knew what she was looking at.

I asked her to describe the old man.

white hair. thin. white shirt.

exactly what I saw.

I started shaking and she scolded me like a mom. "you were looking at that house when we drove past, weren't you. you can't do that. it followed you BECAUSE you looked."

I genuinely almost peed myself right there in the car.

for the next few days I kept seeing him. around my house. the old man. just there.

luckily after I got married and moved it stopped. haven't been back to that pass since. not once.