WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.940 The Silent Directive is a horror podcast. There 00:00:03.940 --> 00:00:06.780 are many themes some users may find disturbing. 00:00:07.259 --> 00:00:10.119 Please check the description before listening. 00:00:10.419 --> 00:00:19.940 Thank you. The Silent Directive Episode 3 The 00:00:19.940 --> 00:00:28.670 Presence in Smith Hall It is a misconception 00:00:28.670 --> 00:00:31.570 that only the uneducated believe in the paranormal. 00:00:31.929 --> 00:00:35.429 Those dull, tasteless, oversaturated, and largely 00:00:35.429 --> 00:00:38.329 scripted ghost hunting shows bear the blame for 00:00:38.329 --> 00:00:42.710 creating such stereotypes. In reality, those 00:00:42.710 --> 00:00:45.009 most likely to believe in the paranormal are 00:00:45.009 --> 00:00:47.909 those who truly grasp an understanding of the 00:00:47.909 --> 00:00:51.189 world. I'm telling you this because of my next 00:00:51.189 --> 00:00:54.000 story. I wasn't sure at first how much time had 00:00:54.000 --> 00:00:56.539 passed in between, but after Taiwan, I found 00:00:56.539 --> 00:00:59.179 myself across the world. Chapman University, 00:00:59.539 --> 00:01:03.640 in California. Now, I need to explain to you. 00:01:03.799 --> 00:01:08.239 My perception of time is linear. However, sometimes 00:01:08.239 --> 00:01:11.840 I can see events of the past. They flash into 00:01:11.840 --> 00:01:14.560 my mind as if I were there to see them. But I 00:01:14.560 --> 00:01:17.659 cannot see the future. Keep that in mind as we 00:01:17.659 --> 00:01:24.549 continue. Now, back to what I was saying. Usually, 00:01:24.549 --> 00:01:27.829 paranormal experiences are individual. Usually, 00:01:27.890 --> 00:01:31.150 there are no witnesses, which adds to the unease. 00:01:31.489 --> 00:01:34.269 If no one is around to see what you saw, how 00:01:34.269 --> 00:01:37.349 do you know you're not going insane? But this 00:01:37.349 --> 00:01:41.370 instance was not the same. In fact, it had none 00:01:41.370 --> 00:01:43.310 of the usual qualities of a ghost encounter. 00:01:43.849 --> 00:01:46.109 It was a full classroom during the middle of 00:01:46.109 --> 00:01:49.180 a cool, cloudy day. The professor was standing 00:01:49.180 --> 00:01:51.719 at the front of the class, lecturing to his 30 00:01:51.719 --> 00:01:53.920 -some students preparing for their upcoming midterm. 00:01:55.000 --> 00:01:57.799 It was quiet. Only the professor's voice filled 00:01:57.799 --> 00:02:01.379 the room. Sometimes, if he paced too far toward 00:02:01.379 --> 00:02:04.159 the door, the floor would groan and creak. Everyone 00:02:04.159 --> 00:02:06.319 knew it did. It was somewhat of an inside joke 00:02:06.319 --> 00:02:08.800 among any student with a class in Smith Hall 00:02:08.800 --> 00:02:12.159 211. Step too close to the door and the floor 00:02:12.159 --> 00:02:14.780 will creak. So while he was talking, the professor 00:02:14.780 --> 00:02:18.139 made sure to stay close to his desk. With only 00:02:18.139 --> 00:02:20.599 15 minutes left of the two -hour class, he started 00:02:20.599 --> 00:02:23.539 to discuss expectations for next week and the 00:02:23.539 --> 00:02:26.639 dreaded midterms. But suddenly he was interrupted. 00:02:27.099 --> 00:02:29.719 The distinct, familiar sound of someone walking 00:02:29.719 --> 00:02:32.719 toward the door startled him. Some student had 00:02:32.719 --> 00:02:35.219 gotten up to go to the bathroom, surely. But 00:02:35.219 --> 00:02:38.139 no, all students were seated, taking notes on 00:02:38.139 --> 00:02:40.979 what was written on the board. Some were looking 00:02:40.979 --> 00:02:43.060 toward the front of the classroom. Clearly they 00:02:43.060 --> 00:02:46.620 had heard it too. But, oh well, an unprompted 00:02:46.620 --> 00:02:49.789 creak. Unusual, but not strange. Smith Hall was 00:02:49.789 --> 00:02:51.870 one of the oldest buildings on campus, after 00:02:51.870 --> 00:02:54.729 all. The professor went to continue, but another 00:02:54.729 --> 00:02:57.789 creak came. This time, the entire class looked 00:02:57.789 --> 00:03:01.789 up. It was loud. Distinct. It was a footstep. 00:03:02.469 --> 00:03:05.129 The professor watched the door. There should 00:03:05.129 --> 00:03:06.689 have been someone standing in front of it, but 00:03:06.689 --> 00:03:09.689 there was no one there. It was eerie. Then came 00:03:09.689 --> 00:03:12.409 three more footsteps. It sounded like stomping. 00:03:12.889 --> 00:03:15.030 The floor groaned out as this invisible force 00:03:15.030 --> 00:03:16.909 stepped across the front of the classroom toward 00:03:16.909 --> 00:03:19.409 the professor. He flinched, expecting something 00:03:19.409 --> 00:03:21.870 to happen, but nothing did, and the sounds disappeared. 00:03:23.969 --> 00:03:26.590 The stunned silence of the classroom only lasted 00:03:26.590 --> 00:03:29.930 a few seconds. It quickly derailed into questions 00:03:29.930 --> 00:03:32.289 and excitement. For the rest of the class, it 00:03:32.289 --> 00:03:35.370 was clear the sounds were in the room. As a collective, 00:03:35.449 --> 00:03:37.590 they spent the rest of the class trying to recreate 00:03:37.590 --> 00:03:41.530 the noises. After all, they were academics. To 00:03:41.530 --> 00:03:43.629 explain something is to know something, right? 00:03:45.370 --> 00:03:48.069 But they couldn't. They tried stomping outside 00:03:48.069 --> 00:03:50.349 the classroom, next door, in the class below. 00:03:51.210 --> 00:03:53.590 After using up the rest of the class, the students 00:03:53.590 --> 00:03:56.770 left, still confused. They had been unable to 00:03:56.770 --> 00:03:59.189 reproduce the noises. The only way they could 00:03:59.189 --> 00:04:01.430 was by stomping across the front of the class, 00:04:01.650 --> 00:04:03.969 the exact place that had been empty during the 00:04:03.969 --> 00:04:07.189 event. So they left their professor just as confused 00:04:07.189 --> 00:04:13.960 as they were. What a strange event. I must say, 00:04:14.020 --> 00:04:16.379 from what I saw, the word ghost or paranormal 00:04:16.379 --> 00:04:19.459 was only thrown around a few times, as a joke. 00:04:19.699 --> 00:04:21.980 The class did not directly come to the immediate 00:04:21.980 --> 00:04:24.600 conclusion that there was a ghost in their building 00:04:24.600 --> 00:04:27.240 that interrupted their lecture. The primary thought 00:04:27.240 --> 00:04:29.459 was concern over the integrity of the building. 00:04:29.680 --> 00:04:32.079 The students, along with their professor, worried 00:04:32.079 --> 00:04:34.620 about how stable this creaky floor really was. 00:04:35.579 --> 00:04:38.279 The thought of something paranormal only came 00:04:38.279 --> 00:04:44.920 up later that night. Now this had the markings 00:04:44.920 --> 00:04:48.079 of a ghost story. The clouds had dissipated, 00:04:48.120 --> 00:04:50.259 the sky was dark and the moon was bright, and 00:04:50.259 --> 00:04:52.920 campus was a ghost town. Or, you know what I 00:04:52.920 --> 00:04:56.899 mean. Before that day, the professor didn't have 00:04:56.899 --> 00:04:59.040 any prior experience with the paranormal, nor 00:04:59.040 --> 00:05:01.779 any opinions on it. He wasn't a believer, nor 00:05:01.779 --> 00:05:04.199 was he a skeptic. He just had other things to 00:05:04.199 --> 00:05:06.540 worry about, such as his students' most recent 00:05:06.540 --> 00:05:09.000 essays. That's why he was still in his office 00:05:09.000 --> 00:05:14.139 so late. Smith Hall, 07. It was late and he was 00:05:14.139 --> 00:05:16.500 alone, but that was usual. He didn't think anything 00:05:16.500 --> 00:05:20.279 of it. At least for the first hour. By hour two, 00:05:20.439 --> 00:05:22.939 he had finished grading half the essays. They 00:05:22.939 --> 00:05:24.819 were in a neat pile on the side of his desk. 00:05:25.279 --> 00:05:27.759 He leaned back in his chair to take a small breather. 00:05:28.379 --> 00:05:30.420 As he surveyed the room, he heard someone pass 00:05:30.420 --> 00:05:33.819 by his door. Or at least he thought he did. The 00:05:33.819 --> 00:05:36.120 window on the door was translucent. If there 00:05:36.120 --> 00:05:37.879 had been someone out there, there would have 00:05:37.879 --> 00:05:41.529 been a shadow or something. In a place so quiet 00:05:41.529 --> 00:05:44.370 and empty as Smith Hall, it was easy to get one 00:05:44.370 --> 00:05:47.949 of those creeping feelings. See, Smith Hall, 00:05:48.110 --> 00:05:49.930 aside from being one of the oldest buildings 00:05:49.930 --> 00:05:53.129 on campus, was also one of the farthest. It was 00:05:53.129 --> 00:05:55.649 at the very edge of campus, and the professor's 00:05:55.649 --> 00:05:59.350 office was in room 07, the basement. There were 00:05:59.350 --> 00:06:02.269 only offices down there, and he personally knew 00:06:02.269 --> 00:06:04.509 the other three faculty members with offices. 00:06:05.610 --> 00:06:08.370 The professor stood up, opened his door, poked 00:06:08.370 --> 00:06:10.500 his head out into the hall. It was empty, of 00:06:10.500 --> 00:06:12.899 course, and the lights were dim. He considered 00:06:12.899 --> 00:06:16.160 calling out, asking if anyone was there. But 00:06:16.160 --> 00:06:18.060 for some reason, the thought of making a noise 00:06:18.060 --> 00:06:21.860 sent a deep chill down his spine. Before he could 00:06:21.860 --> 00:06:23.819 step back into his office, he felt something. 00:06:24.480 --> 00:06:27.600 That vague, unreachable feeling that you know 00:06:27.600 --> 00:06:32.180 you're not alone. We've all felt it. We've all 00:06:32.180 --> 00:06:34.740 tried to describe it before, but it's not easy. 00:06:35.370 --> 00:06:37.730 We don't know exactly what that feeling is or 00:06:37.730 --> 00:06:41.269 how it works, let alone how to describe it. But 00:06:41.269 --> 00:06:44.310 we all know it. The professor felt as though 00:06:44.310 --> 00:06:46.670 he'd seen someone step back into the darkness 00:06:46.670 --> 00:06:48.889 of the supply closet at the end of the hall. 00:06:49.509 --> 00:06:52.629 He hadn't. He knew he hadn't. But as he stared 00:06:52.629 --> 00:06:55.509 into the dark room, he knew someone was looking 00:06:55.509 --> 00:07:00.829 back. They weren't. But he could feel it. By 00:07:00.829 --> 00:07:03.269 now he was spooked. He stepped back into his 00:07:03.269 --> 00:07:06.019 office and closed the door. Like that thin pane 00:07:06.019 --> 00:07:09.660 of glass could help. His hand rested on the handle. 00:07:09.759 --> 00:07:12.480 Should he lock it? No, that was just silly. Besides, 00:07:12.660 --> 00:07:14.240 what if it was a student? What if they had some 00:07:14.240 --> 00:07:17.100 questions? Locking it was just not necessary. 00:07:18.420 --> 00:07:21.180 As he released the handle, he took a step backward. 00:07:21.680 --> 00:07:26.339 And as he did, he bumped into someone. Now, this 00:07:26.339 --> 00:07:29.160 was his office. He had barely taken a step down 00:07:29.160 --> 00:07:31.899 the hall. He had been gone for less than 30 seconds. 00:07:32.670 --> 00:07:34.970 So if someone had entered his office, they would 00:07:34.970 --> 00:07:37.569 have had to sneak behind him. It didn't make 00:07:37.569 --> 00:07:42.389 any sense. Yet he bumped into someone. He yelped 00:07:42.389 --> 00:07:45.310 and spun around. No one was there. That should 00:07:45.310 --> 00:07:48.250 have made him feel better, but it did not. Maybe 00:07:48.250 --> 00:07:50.810 he bumped into his desk. It was too far away, 00:07:50.930 --> 00:07:53.829 too low. He felt the sensation in his shoulders, 00:07:54.050 --> 00:07:56.550 like backing into someone in a crowded hall. 00:07:57.310 --> 00:08:01.620 But this room was empty. The professor pushed 00:08:01.620 --> 00:08:03.779 his back against the door, the threat outside 00:08:03.779 --> 00:08:06.500 completely forgotten. There was someone in this 00:08:06.500 --> 00:08:10.620 room with him. He was not alone. But the room 00:08:10.620 --> 00:08:14.420 was quiet and empty. But it wasn't. It was filled 00:08:14.420 --> 00:08:17.500 with the silence created by another person, both 00:08:17.500 --> 00:08:19.879 trying to stay quiet to not disturb the other. 00:08:20.519 --> 00:08:24.019 And then, the professor's eyes moved to his leather 00:08:24.019 --> 00:08:27.420 office chair. It had spun around when he stood 00:08:27.420 --> 00:08:30.720 up, and it was now facing the back wall. Only 00:08:30.720 --> 00:08:34.720 now, it was slowly spinning. His heart raced. 00:08:34.820 --> 00:08:37.120 His breathing stopped. There was going to be 00:08:37.120 --> 00:08:39.820 something sitting in the chair, and the professor 00:08:39.820 --> 00:08:42.200 did not want to see it. But he couldn't move. 00:08:42.340 --> 00:08:44.879 His door opened inward, and that would require 00:08:44.879 --> 00:08:48.320 him to get closer to it. He watched in horror 00:08:48.320 --> 00:08:52.539 as the chair spun around. But it was empty. Immediately, 00:08:52.639 --> 00:08:55.019 he was flooded with relief, almost enough to 00:08:55.019 --> 00:08:58.000 laugh out loud. How silly, being scared of an 00:08:58.000 --> 00:09:00.620 old building and a gust of wind from some vent. 00:09:01.259 --> 00:09:05.460 He almost, almost went to sit back down. But 00:09:05.460 --> 00:09:07.519 his eyes were still on the chair as he saw the 00:09:07.519 --> 00:09:11.740 leather sink down. Something was sitting in his 00:09:11.740 --> 00:09:16.820 chair. Now he could feel it. The eyes. Something 00:09:16.820 --> 00:09:20.179 was staring at him. He was not alone. He hadn't 00:09:20.179 --> 00:09:25.519 been alone this entire time. The professor was 00:09:25.519 --> 00:09:28.139 old, but that didn't stop him from running out 00:09:28.139 --> 00:09:30.799 of the building. He rushed to his car and drove 00:09:30.799 --> 00:09:33.539 all the way home, feeling the eyes on the back 00:09:33.539 --> 00:09:37.000 of his neck the entire time. There have been 00:09:37.000 --> 00:09:39.879 stories here and there, presences, anxious feelings, 00:09:40.080 --> 00:09:42.980 this and that, but the professor from Smith Hall 00:09:42.980 --> 00:09:46.200 never went back to Chapman. He retired the very 00:09:46.200 --> 00:09:49.679 next day. To this day, he doesn't feel comfortable 00:09:49.679 --> 00:09:54.289 alone. Because... He never feels alone anymore. 00:09:54.529 --> 00:09:56.950 The second the other person leaves the room, 00:09:57.070 --> 00:10:00.009 he feels those unseen eyes return, standing in 00:10:00.009 --> 00:10:05.309 some corner. As far as unusual activity on college 00:10:05.309 --> 00:10:08.230 campus goes, paranormal encounter is relatively 00:10:08.230 --> 00:10:11.029 tame. And like I said before, there's a misconception 00:10:11.029 --> 00:10:14.289 about who believes in the paranormal. Sometimes, 00:10:14.570 --> 00:10:17.570 the more you know, the scarier the world becomes. 00:10:18.230 --> 00:10:21.399 Which... I guess, is what I've devoted myself 00:10:21.399 --> 00:10:27.759 to. I don't get scared. I get curious. Clearly, 00:10:27.759 --> 00:10:30.179 you're the same. Otherwise, I'm not sure why 00:10:30.179 --> 00:10:33.100 you're listening. But either way, I'm happy to 00:10:33.100 --> 00:10:34.039 keep telling these stories.