It began in the fall of 2005 -- well, actually, it really began on Halloween night. But the events leading up to my involvement with Cielo were as follows:
My boyfriend, Jeff, lives in a house built in the 30's in Hancock Park, very old Hollywood. Throughout the years weird stuff had happened to his family while they lived there and everyone agreed the house was probably haunted. When I first met him, the events were spooky but harmless (I'll discuss those later). But by the summer of 2005 things had changed. The haunting had escalated until it became necessary to actually seek out some help. So we contacted a parapsychologist, and the parapsychologist in turn put us in touch with David, who, we were told, lived in a very haunted house on Cielo drive. And so it happened that we were invited to see the house on Halloween night, when there would be a small investigation going on as well as some filming for one of the local news stations.
I was really excited. I had always been interested in the supernatural; in fact, at one time I had wanted to be a parapsychologist myself and had taken courses on it in college. Everyone we talked to claimed this house was very haunted, the real thing. Yes, Jeff's house was haunted, but that was ours, if that makes any sense. This house on Cielo drive had been the subject of numerous investigations and had been declared haunted by independent witnesses. It was as close to official as you can get, as far as the paranormal is concerned.
I don't remember the drive up there that first night, but I'll never forget walking in the front door for the first time. David greeted us and led us into the foyer, where the outline of a body was marked in masking tape - very CSI. It took me a moment to realize it was Halloween so he had the house decorated!
David took us on a brief tour, and then Jeff and I split up. Jeff likes to socialize so he started chatting up the other investigators, and I wandered off a little by myself to listen to the house. That's pretty much the pattern we would follow for the next few years. Several things happened that night that I should mention.
The first thing I experienced on my own was the sound of breathing. David's house is a split-level three storey that he and his Dad built together. I always refer to the bottom floor as the third level and the top floor as the first, I don't know why. So I was on the second floor walking down the stairs to the third floor, the bottom level, when I heard the breathing. It did not scare me, and it wasn't a scary sort of breathing. Just... Breathing. Like if you were tired or had run hard you might breathe like that. I am very sensitive to what I would call the intentions of any spooks that choose to communicate, and the intent behind this breathing was, well, friendly. It was just saying, hi, I'm here. Several other things happened that night but that one will always stick out for me, for reasons that will soon be clear. But among other things, Jeff and I also heard a man's voice talking, possibly over a radio.
I had been expecting to be frightened, given all I'd heard about the house from our parapsychologist friend, and due to the history of the place, but these first few things seemed friendly, almost playful. It wasn't until a bit later that I became alarmed. For one thing the house has a very heavy atmosphere. It's also freezing cold, especially on the 3rd floor. So when more people showed up and David gave another tour, I stayed upstairs. David set me up in the den to watch TV and relax or whatever, and I used the opportunity to bundle up in my coat. Now, the den is flanked by the bar, which opens out onto the living room, so from my comfy chaise I could see a good portion of the top floor. I was joined by David's 2 huge dogs, Sebastian and Stella, who were either guarding me or hoping I would guard them. We watched TV together. I was vaguely aware of more visitors standing at the bar talking, but they left me alone. This was good because I had started to feel a bit sick. I tried to focus on the show we were watching, because it was too cold to go get Jeff, but I was feeling pretty uncomfortable after a while. And then the dogs started growling. First Sebastian, then Stella. They huddled a little closer, growling deep in their throats, but not loud. The humor of the situation was not lost on me! Looking back on it now, I feel the same as I felt then: somebody was checking me out. Now, I believe it was a different someone than the presence I'd felt earlier. Then, I didn't differentiate. I let whoever it was have a look and stayed focused on the show. Incidentally, I later found out that there were no other people by the bar that night, at least none that David had invited. That was news to me! I still remember the people standing around, murmuring with each other, just like you'd expect guests to do at a party. But I didn't know they weren't "real" until the next day.
At any rate, things didn't turn unpleasant until 11 o'clock drew near. This was because the news people would be doing their live spiel and we wouldn't be able to leave once they started. I was very sick by this point, a sort of sea-sick feeling, but I was also getting the vibe that it was time to GO. Now. And this is another pattern that would play out time and again: Jeff said okay, but then he just could not stop talking to people. He kept getting sucked back into conversations. It was like he was high. Finally I grabbed him and drug him to the door, saying good bye as politely as possible. We made it just as they were rolling film.
After that, we were invited back whenever we wanted, and we spent many days there, sometimes several days a week. We filmed, took audio recordings and photographs, attended seances, and I was always scribbling away in my notebook. But about the breathing:
Before he'd set me up in the den, when Jeff and I were finishing up our tour, I told David what I'd heard. He asked me what kind of breathing and I imitated it for him. He said at once, "Oh, that's Voytek. Where were you in the house when you heard it?" I told him, and he said, "Yeah! That was Voytek." And just like that, my friendship with Voytek had begun.
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