* As told by Nicole
My job as a cleaner at a high school was hard work and odd hours, but with the help of my two daughters, Denise 16 and Sue 14, I enjoyed the work and appreciated the pay. I’d been working there for three months so far, and was happy enough with my position and got along well with the other staff members.
While the girls and I were working one afternoon I noticed a plague on the wall, commemorating the re-opening of a wing of the school. They’d named it the ‘Parry Wing’ after a former teacher. I hadn’t noticed it before, and thought nothing more of it.
I heard Denise squeal suddenly and rushed over to see what the problem was. “Someone brushed passed me,” she said anxiously. There was only us three in the room, so I dismissed it as just her over-active imagination, much to Denise’s chagrin.
A few afternoons later, while working in the same section of the high school complex, Denise, Sue and I were finishing up the vacuuming before signing off for the day, when all of a sudden the power went out. We stood looking at one another waiting for the electricity to turn back on. But after 10 minutes or so I decided that we’d call it quits for the night, so I left a note on the maintenance man’s door letting him know about the electricity problem.
Just as we got to the car park and unlocked the car, the lights sprang back to life in the building. I told the girls to stay in the car while I made my way back into the building to turn off the lights and re-check the locks ... but just as I stepped back inside, the lights went out and all fell silent again. I stood there frozen on the spot, deciding what to do. The lights flicked back on, then off again in a blink. Without hesitation I quickly re-locked the door and bolted back to my car as fast as I could.
Once safely inside the car, the girls asked me who I’d been talking to inside the building. I looked at them dumbly. There hadn’t been anyone in there as far as I’d seen and I’d certainly hadn’t spoken to anyone, but both girls insisted that they’d seen someone who was quite tall walk across the room towards me as though speaking with me just before the lights went out for the second time.
A chill ran right through me, and I turned the key and took off home in a rush. It was getting dark outside and I didn’t want to hang around that creepy place. All three of us were completely spooked-out.
The following evening my daughters and I reluctantly went to work back at that haunted High School and experienced no disruptions or disturbances for the first hour or so - but just as we were relaxing and becoming a bit complacent, it was time to vacuum and dust the ‘Parry Wing’.
Putting on a brave face for the sake of the girls (and myself for that matter) I pushed open the glass door and ushered in the large vacuum cleaner, buckets and cloths. Working as quickly as we could, Sue, Denise and I whizzed through the chore list and within 15 minutes or so, were ready to finish up.
Packing up the vacuum cleaner, Sue went to unplug the power cord at the switch on the wall. She flicked to switch to ‘off’ and grasped the plug, tugging with just enough force to ease it out of the socket. But the plug wouldn’t budge. She tugged again, and again the plug held fast.
Seeing her struggling I went over to help and gave the plug a hefty pull myself - but alas, the plug refused to move an inch. Focusing on the stubborn plug, I didn’t noticed the pen rolling towards me on a nearby table - but Sue did. She screamed and screamed in my ear and I stood up in shock, getting head spins instantly. Sue pointed to the rolling pen and I watched it move by itself as though in a trance. Denise stood rooted to the spot, mouth and eyes wide open, shaking her head in disbelief, and everything seemed surreal and in slow motion. I couldn’t believe what we were seeing, but we were definitely seeing it.
Finally breaking from my mini-trance, I grabbed Sue’s hand and dragged her towards the door, ushering Denise ahead of us along the way. I didn’t bother packing the vacuum cleaner and cleaning stuff away - just took off then and there leaving everything as we left it.
I vowed never to go back to that haunted High School - but I had to just one last time.
I fronted up to the school’s office the following day and handed in my resignation, beginning right then and there. The human resource officer asked me why I’d decided to quit my job with such short notice, as she’d thought I seemed quite happy with the job. I decided that I may as well be honest and upfront with her, so told her that I felt uncomfortable and spooked-out in the creepy ‘Parry Wing’ and about some of the things that my daughters and I had experienced over the last week or so in particular.
The human resource officer didn’t bat an eyelid. Instead she sat nodding her head slowly, as though confirming what I was telling her. Once I’d finished she asked me if I knew anything about the history of the school ... and in particular, the history of the ‘Parry Wing’. I shook my head No as I had no idea. She began by telling me that I wasn't the first person to quit the cleaner's position, nor was I the first to speak of 'disturbances' in the 'Parry Wing'.
According to history, during the upgrade and renovation of the original school building, a large part of an old, brittle brick wall unexpectedly fell down, killing a teacher who’d used his body to shield three children from harm, when the wall collapsed on them. The teacher’s name had been ‘Steven Parry’ – hence the naming of that particular section the ‘Parry Wing’. Apparently, Mr Parry had been quite a tall man at 6’5 and it had been assumed at the time that the new section of building would house his classroom in particular. It seemed Steven Parry loved his job and didn't want to leave the school ... even after his death.
I haven’t been back to the haunted High School since then and it was some years ago now ... but I do sometimes wonder if the school teacher is still haunting the high school.
*
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