I wanted to narrate the scariest moment that I have come across in my life so far. Did you say - “Come on, I was ambushed by a real ghost, engaged it in a bloody battle, and killed it (again?)!! Nothing else can be scarier”? Well, in that case, give me your phone number; I might contact you, if required (God forbid). Believe me, it was scary being in that situation.

Few years back I was on an official trip to an alien city. We (me and colleague) were put up in an apartment, which was quite far from office. So, we asked for a change in the apartment, and we did get a change. We were happy that we could walk to office everyday. The very same day, we relocated to this new apartment. Somehow that place made me uneasy. It was 'different'!

This house, #183 Strijpsestraat, was situated atop a café. The main gate was rusty, and led us into a narrow corridor, flanked by two big walls on either side. About 15 feet away, towards the left there was another door, which was the main door of the apartment. The door gave way to a steep stair case, which led us to a small area in the first floor. Towards the left was the living room, and towards the right was the bathroom. The living room was kind of antique – with a medium-sized fire place (similar to ones you might find in horror movies), old-fashioned windows, decorations on wall and ceiling was rustic.

The bedrooms were in the second floor. My colleague went up there first and took the better one. I had no option, but to choose the other. In my bedroom, there was another small room on the left side; more of a storeroom like. Anxiety prevailed over curiosity; I never dared to see what was inside!

The whole place was freaky. There was a church just opposite to our apartment, on the other side of the road. Few days later, we learnt that there is a cemetery behind the church! That only served to make me feel that the place was all the more spooky. Under its very shadow life was normal, until one day.

That evening, we returned from office. We usually closed the bedroom doors every morning, before leaving for office. We wanted to relax and headed to our respective rooms. Tired of climbing the stairs, I stood in front of my bedroom door for a moment. Seconds later, I held the door knob and threw it open. Holy Ghost! Never did I expect (even in the wildest of my imaginations) that I would hear the door of the inner room closing!!! It was like someone closing in haste.

That was it. I do not remember what I screamed. I have had enough. I could not take anymore. “This place is haunted”, I told my friend. After sometime, we did venture out to see what was inside that room; only to find there was nothing interesting, just some old stuff lying there. “We will change the apartment”, I urged him. But, he was not so interested; we already had done it once.

Obviously, I could not sleep whole night for a couple of days. We still had to stay there for well over a week before we returned home. I had very few options, but to count days.