Building 1 “The Black Spot”
About five months ago I reported on the death of a couple in one of the oldest homes on Wellington Street. It was my first report. Two years after those deaths, yet another can now be attributed to the home.
Upstairs, the scent of sewage pervades one of the rooms, even though the black spot on the ceiling has since dried up; more or less disappearing since the removal of the body. The boy’s father has refused to comment on the death of his son, though the boy's mother has willingly provided details. The following information is therefore included out of respect for the mother, who has insisted that what she witnessed is essential to understanding what happened.
The family moved into the home approximately three months ago, and for the first month reported no incidents. It was around the beginning of their second month there that the strange black stain appeared in the corner of the boy's room. The family was quick to hire people to look into the cause, but the results were inconclusive. The source of the stain remains unknown even now, since the investigations revealed no pipes running through that patch of ceiling. The roof above was also looked into and found to be perfectly sound.
About three days after the spots appearance the boy’s parents were awoken when their child came screaming into their room. He was hysterical, and it took nearly three minutes before his crying quelled enough for him to explain what had scared him. Talking rapidly, the boy claimed that he saw something looking at him from the stain. When they went to go with the boy to the room to take a look, the boy broke down completely, refusing to enter the room at all. Reluctantly, the boy’s parents investigated the room by themselves, only to find the room as they expected it to be. That night the boy slept with his parents, and the next day seemed to have forgotten all about it.
In the days that followed their son began to complain about feeling increasingly tired and sad, and seemed to require more time for naps than normal. He claimed he slept okay, and yet in the morning he would awake sluggish, only recovering after an afternoon nap on the couch. His mother claims that besides the fatigue he seemed perfectly okay, and the parents figured that he may just be having trouble sleeping in the new home.
About a week after the first incident, the boy’s family again woke to the sound of their sons screams. Quickly getting up to investigate, they arrived at the door of the room, only to find it stuck fast. By the time they managed to open the door his screams had stopped altogether. Looking around the room, they found the boy in the corner, breathing heavily. His bed was damp, and upon checking him they found he was covered in sweat and had seemed to have also wet himself.
The boy took several minutes of coaxing before he began to talk. He said that he didn't like it “when mommy looks like that.” When the father asked him to explain, he said that his mom had been in the room with him, and that she was lying next to him when he woke up. But he said that she scared him because she looked black and gooey. He said that she had fangs and was growling at him. When his mother went to comfort him, the boy began to scream again, and it was not until she left the room that he calmed down.
That night the mother slept downstairs while the boy slept with his father. The boy’s father worried that perhaps some abuse had been occurring while he was away at work, and so brought in a psychiatrist to evaluate the child. The mother seems to have had problems with abuse as a child, occurrences that eventually culminated in her father’s imprisonment and her placement into the custody of her grandparents. The mother denies ever touching her son like that, and though she supported having the boy see a doctor, she was angry at her husband for assuming such things of her.
Over the course of several visits, the boy claimed that this had not been the first night that he had woken up with his mother sleeping next to him, though she “never looked like that.” No evidence could be found of any abuse, but a service worker was brought in all the same and the mother and father were required to get couple counseling. Meanwhile, the boy was treated for night terrors, which was considered to be likely caused by the movement into a new home. He was given temporary sleep aids and the door to the boy’s room was removed and placed in the basement.
Then, on the following Sunday, a call was placed to emergency services by the husband. The paramedics found the wife crumpled near the bottom of the stairs, alive but unconscious and suffering from pronounced injuries including several broken bones. The boy was dead up in his room, his body also sporting several injuries including several fractures and lacerations. The woman was promptly brought to the hospital for treatment, and it was determined that the she had fallen from the balcony.
The boy seemed to have suffered a severe seizure, likely brought on by sleep deprivation. The official cause of death was labeled as asphyxiation, after the boy was found to have swallowed his tongue. His numerous injuries were attributed to the thrashing around caused by the seizure, and no foul play was determined to be involved in his death. The father insisted that he felt the mother was involved, but no evidence could be produced. The mother awoke a few days later, devastated when she discovered the death of her child. It is the professional opinion of the staff of the hospital that the injuries she sustained may well have caused her to misconstrue her experiences, though the woman swears by her account. The following is her recollection of the events that transpired.
According to the mother, she put her son down for a nap about a half hour before the incident. She was startled when she heard her son yelling at someone. She says that though he was loud, his tone was too high to make out. The woman rushed up the stairs and entered the room.
Her son was on the floor, unconscious. Seeping out from the hole in the ceiling was a black, tar like substance. It was shaped in a long, serpent like configuration that hung loosely over her son's body. It swung mildly back and forth, and she claims it had a face. The black spot on the ceiling was now three feet wide, water pouring out of it and collecting on the ground. The mother rushed forward to retrieve her child, only to be picked up by the thing. It then wrapped around her and began to crush her. The thing seemed to made up of some of course substance, because as it squeezed it cut into her.
As she tried to get free, she could feel several of her ribs shift and then break. Then it suddenly let go and dropped her to the floor. It reeled back, curling its form against the wall. Then it rushed forward and knocked her out the door. She struck the banister hard and tumbled over, immediately falling unconscious after she hit the ground.
The woman's account is obviously suspect, and since the incident the husband has filed for divorce. Although the cause for the woman's fall could not be determined, neighbors do verify hearing screams coming from the house. The banister does show damage, but the son's injuries though perhaps excessive for a seizure are nonetheless possible. There was no water damage to the floor, and no other evidence to support the woman's account. Since that day both the husband and wife have refused to enter the house. Within a short amount of time they made arrangements to leave the home to live in separate residences. However, when it came time to collect their belongings, it was left up to the movers to prepare their things.
