Urban Exploration

Urban Exploration

My story began when I was 15 years old, living in South Wales, UK in a town called Bridgend. Me and my friend that I'd known for a while who will be known as "Jack" for the duration of this pasta to protect his privacy, developed a liking for derelict buildings that had been left to rot where they stood. We considered ourselves Urban Explorers. Urban Exploring for those who don't know is the act of exploring abandoned properties with no consent or permission, so as you can guess, it was a pretty risky job in the first place. We had been to many, extraordinary places that we found very... interesting to explore. This was until we went on our... final exploration.

It was summer time, the perfect time to explore and we hadn't done it for a while. Me and my friend Jack got together after finding this very... creepy looking building which we thought would have been our best outing yet... we thought that is. The place was an old, run down farmhouse type building which looked like something straight out of a horror movie. It was great. It was behind an old railway track that was also not in use, so to get there we would have to cross the tracks. We were worried about being seen, but luckily, no one caught eye of us. We had arrived at our destination, finally. Now we had to find a way in.

We came to the large, white-sand colored, walls that looked like thy would fall down at any moment in time. We knew this would be a dangerous job. We both looked at each other, nervously. Neither of us were prepared for what was about to happen. We came to the old wooden door, that was lying on the floor. It looked like someone had kicked it in. We thought that is was just a group of pot heads, trying to find a good location to hangout for a night. We didn't think much of it at the time. We stepped through the old doorway, out of the sunlight and into the dark corridor of the old farmhouse. We were hit with the old, moldy, grey, musky smell that lingers in many if not all abandoned buildings have. We were used to it by now. I switched on my flashlight and was ready to explore this beauty of a find. We started down the first corridor and came to a large, dark room. This must have been the living room. There was a big portrait with mold growing on all 4 corners making its way in over the years. It was of a woman, in a huge, frilly, red dress and a very, pretty head dress. She was beautiful. The rest of the room was just filled with small piles of rubble and trash. there was a broken desk with nothing in it but a small, candle stick with a tiny amount of dried was left in it. We continued into the next room. It looked lie the last room, but smaller. It has a small amount of foliage growing through the old, wooden floor boards, and moss and mold everywhere. Most of the rooms were like this, so we began to think, that this wasn't what we had hoped for.

Time was ticking on and we had explored most of the house, finding nothing but moss, mold, rubble and small, left over items such as candles, a few items of clothing, lipstick and a sewing machine that no longer worked. there was 2 more rooms in the house we needed to look through, on of which was behind a large, wooden door. It seemed to be the only door left standing in the house and seemed to be in relatively good condition compared to the rest of the property. We left that room until last. We entered the only other room left to explore and found a small box labelled " Jessica's things" This seemed very intriguing. We opened the box... to find nothing. Nothing but a very small music box. Jack began to turn the lever on the side. The box began playing " Baa Baa Black sheep " Which we both recognized pretty quickly. There was something... off about this music box. Maybe it was due to its age but... the tune sounded a little off key and in a way distorted. We wondered why there was nothing in this box but a small music box, but we left it there and continued... to the final room.

We stood there, nervously looking at the old, wooden door, wondering why it looked how it did, in the condition it was in. We must have been there for about, 2 whole minutes just looking and arguing about who will open the door and go in first. After I had been chosen to open the door, I pressed my hand against the cold wood. The door was not latched, but it was not far from it. It was open enough for me to just push it open. This room was different to the rest. It looked the same... but there was something very... strange about it. It didn't smell the same as the rest of the house. It had the faint smell of a woman's perfume. We didn't think much of it for some reason, maybe because we were creeped out by the room itself. There was a closet at the back of the room and a few... lit candles on the floor. Something wasn't right. We were scared, however, we had found somewhat of a jackpot for urban explorers. There was nothing in this room but the closet and the candles. The rest of the room was the same as the others with the mold and rubble. I slowly crept towards the closet. I was very nervous and jumpy at this point. The floor creaked as I stepped closer to the closet. I didn't feel right.

I had come to the closet doors and reached out to grab the handles. I slowly and carefully opened the closet. What we found in there was not what we expected. There in the closet, alone, was a single, large,... frilly,... red dress, hanging on an old, broken clothes hanger. The inside of the closet looked clean, as did the dress. This didn't make any sense. From this point on is where things started to go horribly wrong. A few seconds after I opened the closet, me and Jack were startled half to death, by the sound... of a screaming woman. We were 15 remember, so we wanted out. I slammed one of the closet doors leaving the other open which shook the closet. We ran out of the room and down the old, narrow stair case. We reached the living room but could not see the sun light beaming in through where we entered the property. This spooked and worried us. I shined my flashlight around the room as there was barely any light in there at all. I shined it across the portrait we found earlier and what I saw was unimaginable. There was a huge, red symbol splashed on the center of the painting. After a few seconds I realized that this symbol... was a pentagram. Now I was more than ready to leave. I just stood and stared at the painting, thinking of the worst case scenarios of the situation. As I was stood there, me and Jack started hearing a loud banging coming from upstairs. Neither of us wanted to check it, but as there was now no apparent exit, we had no choice. We slowly crept up the stairs, all the while hearing the banging getting progressively louder... and louder.

We discovered that this banging was coming from the closet room. Now we were terrified. I stupidly started opening the door. I don't know why I went in, maybe it was out of pure shock and not knowing what to do. But I went in, only to find... the closet violently shaking, with both doors closed tight. I crept over to the closet and touched it. The closet stopped shaking. I looked inside only to find the dress... was gone. I took a few steps back from the closet and was about to turn back to tell Jack what happened and to find an exit. As I turned, I had the worst scare ever. Right in front of me was a figure. A female figure... in a long, frilly,... red dress. I screamed and walked backwards closing my eyes. I was petrified. The room was cold and I heard the door slam shut. I screamed louder then stopped. Everything was silent now. I didn't want to open my eyes. I didn't know what happened to Jack but I could not hear anything from him. Surely he could hear my screams and the door slam. My mind, however, was not on my friend at the moment. It was on the ghostly figure I had just come face to face with. The room was still silent. I sat there for a few moments, then I started to hear... weeping.

I was spooked out. Too scarred to open my eyes again I sat there quietly waiting for the weeping to stop. It didn't. I knew that if I did not open my eyes, it wouldn't stop. So I gained the courage to open one eye, then the next. I could not see anything but the weeping sounded like it was in the room. I started towards the door slowly. I then for some reason, turned around. I guess it was instinct. When I turned, I saw the figure again. This time however. I just stopped and stared. I had my bearings this time and I realized. That was the woman from the portrait. I slowly opened the door without looking and ran out. I found Jack staring at the pentagram on the portrait. Emotionless. I tapped him and called his name. Nothing worked. I was in a rush. I pushed him to the ground and he sort of... woke up. I pulled him up and we both started to hear very loud, sobbing and screaming. We were terrified. We ran to the back of the house were we found an open door, much like the one we entered through. We ran and ran, until the house was rather distant. We just dropped to the floor and got our breath back. We just sat there looking at the house, recollecting the experiences in our heads. Wondering what had happened to us. That night I could not sleep. I went online to research the house. It took me a very long time but eventually I found it. I wont mention the name of the property but I can tell you it was built in 1899. I also found something that gave me chills.

There was a family that lived there in the 1920's. The wife and mother of the family that lived there, was named Jessica...

I was spooked out when I read this. It made me think about the experiences I had in the house earlier that day. Had I seen the Ghost of Jessica Watson? Was I crazy? What happened there?

I kept researching and found that Jessica, was murdered by her husband, Matthew. He stabbed her and slit her throat... in the master bedroom. This must have been where the closet was found. No one has lived there since the last Watson, the son of Jessica and Matthew, Harry died in the house of old age. He must have been keeping his mothers dress locked away in their old room. It has been derelict since 1947 when He died.

To this day I do not know if the dress is still there, in the closet. I don't even know if the house is still standing. One thing I do know, is that I have not been urban exploring since... Especially not in the Watson property.