Pemberton Hall

~*~ Submitted by Fuelgirl180 ~*~

The years have provided literally dozens of tales of strange events, ghostly apparitions and frightening tales at "Pem", as the residents call it. For more than 80 years, women living in the dorm have encountered the ghost and have reported hearing her playing the piano and scratching the walls on the building's fourth floor. But how did these stories get started? For that, we have to journey back to a winter's night in 1916.....

It was on this bitter night that one of the hall's residents went upstairs to the fourth floor music room to play the piano. It was very late, but she was unable to sleep, so she hoped that the music would ease her mind. It is reported that a janitor in the building managed to let himself into the strictly women's dorm. He may have been watching the young girls for some time and may have slipped into the building after hours on other occasions. Regardless, on this night, he found one of the girls alone and isolated in the upstairs music room. He made his way to the fourth floor and savagely attacked her, beating and raping her and leaving her for dead. The janitor then made his escape and disappeared into the cold and wintry night. The young woman, however, was not dead. She managed to drag herself down the stairs, leaving a bloody trail behind her, and scratched on a counselor's door for help. She was discovered minutes later in a pool of blood, her body bruised, battered, and now... lifeless.

The counselor's name was Mary Hawkins and the death of the girl who had died in her charge haunted her day and night. Unable to cope with the guilt, depression and horrible nightmares, Mary was institutionalized and later committed suicide. Shortly after her death, the residents of Pemberton Hall started to report some strange occurrences, which continue today.

One former resident was visited by Mary one night in the early 1980's. She had stayed up late to study and then returned to her room. Her room mate was asleep and rather than slam the door closed and awaken her, she decided to just leave it unlocked. This is a common occurrence at "Pem" as many residents know one another and don't hesitate to leave doors unlocked. She climbed into bed and drifted off to sleep. A short time later, she was awakened by a frigid chill and turned over to see a woman in a long nightgown by her bed. The woman stood there for a few moments and then walked out of the room. Apparently, she locked the door on the way out as the resident found that her door had somehow been latched during the night. She talked with some other residents and found their doors had been locked that night, but had somehow opened on their own.

Many residents don't actually see Mary, but have seen other odd things. Reports claim that on some nights, bloody footprints have appeared in the hallways... only to vanish moments later. On another occasion, several residents that I talked to said that all of the shower curtains in the communal bathroom had been closed. A few moments later, the sound of something sliding across the floor was heard in the empty room and upon entering, the young women found that all of the shower curtains were open and a heavy chair had somehow moved across the room.

Other occurrences include radios and televisions that turn off and on by themselves, along with lights that behave erratically and the sound of footsteps pacing up and down the corridors.

And the stories are still told today. My wife, Amy Taylor, is a former resident of Pemberton Hall and has recounted many of the stories told about Mary Hawkins' ghost. She, along with many of her friends, recalled many things that they could not explain, like lights turning on and off in the abandoned fourth floor, items that would appear and disappear and a number of other bizarre occurrences. In fact, I actually met Amy because of Mary Hawkins! I was looking into the ghost tales of the building and met Amy during the course of the investigations.

Many things that happen here cannot be easily explained... and perhaps the most unsettling is the sound of piano music that sometimes trickles down from the fourth floor. That floor is dark, closed off to the residents of the hall, its rooms and furniture covered in the dust of decades. The floor is abandoned by students and visitors alike... but there is still a piano stored in the silent music room and one has to wonder whether the music that comes from it these days is from our world or the next........?

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