A Haunting (2005–…): Season 4, Episode 8 - Echoes of the Past - full transcript

Narrator: In this
world, there is real evil

in the darkest shadows and
in the most ordinary places.

These are the true stories

of the innocent and
the unimaginable.

When the Johnsons moved
to a small town in new england,

they disturbed the peace
of a dormant presence.

Lost souls inflict
fear upon the living,

shatter rational beliefs.

With the help of
a team of witches,

an embattled family
fights the unknown

to take back their
home and their sanity.



Sean!!

Between the world we
see and the things we fear,

there are doors.

When they are opened,

nightmares become reality.

captions paid for by
discovery communications

nestled between the
majestic green mountains

and the fertile river
valleys of southern Vermont

lies the town of Chester,

the birthplace of
thousands of young soldiers

whose lives were tragically
cut short in the civil war.

Today, local legends chronicle

centuries-old accounts
of untimely deaths.

And every now and then,



the agonizing cries
of these young souls

can still be heard, echoing
from beyond the grave.

The year is 2005.

Look at that place.
That is a beaut.

Are you serious?

Libby and Sean Johnson,
along with their two daughters,

7-year-old grace
and 5-year-old Willa,

search for the perfect home.

This place is a classic.

Having moved from
ft. Lauderdale, Florida,

nearly a year ago,

they believe that Chester,
Vermont, is a town of promise.

We could restore it.

Libby: We really liked the
pace of life here in new england.

We thought living
in a small, rural town

would be a nice place
to raise our children.

What do you think? All you
need's a little imagination.

Narrator: The Johnsons
have been living

in a small two-bedroom
apartment for over a year

while looking for a
place of their own.

Hi, this is Sean Johnson.

I'm over at the house
on school street.

I was wondering if
we could see it today.

Libby: The house
needed, probably,

$200,000 worth of
general construction

to get it to be livable.

Sean was the eternal
optimist and was so excited.

It's got great bones.

What?

The house. It's solid...

As a rock.

I, on the other
hand, was thinking,

"I could never
live in this house.

It needs so much work."

I don't know about this, Sean.

Sean: She wanted
a finished product.

She didn't want to live
through construction.

We could do this.

Narrator: Sean, who runs
a car dealership from home,

offers to oversee
the renovations.

I could look
after the girls, too.

Libby figures she can
use this opportunity

to go back to work...

Something she's
always wanted to do.

Libby: So, we thought
we'd give it a shot.

Okay.

[ Chuckles ]

Narrator: Over the
next few months,

Sean continues to assist
with the construction

and manage his business
from the apartment...

while Libby takes
a job as a secretary

at the local elementary school.

Finally, after 10
months of construction,

the renovations
are nearly complete.

Hey, Freddie. How's it going?

One afternoon, Libby
checks on the workers

during her lunch hour.

I just wanted to see
how you guys were doing.

Great. Moving on.

Oh!

This is incredible.

She discovers dozens
of old family photographs,

letters, and documents
dating back to the civil war.

Yeah, you never know
what you're gonna find

once you start tearing
down these old walls.

I want to keep these.
Could you hand me a...

Let me know if you find
any more of these, okay?

Sure, no problem.

Libby: I was very excited
to find those documents

just to learn a little
bit more about history

and the people that lived here.

It's just interesting

to think about how
people lived in new england

with no hospitals
and grocery stores

and atms and cars.

Narrator: In march of 2006,

the Johnsons finally
move into their new home.

The renovations are
not completely finished,

but Sean and Libby
can wait no longer.

All right, get
it while it's hot.

Libby: My husband
and I were so excited

to be moving into the house.

It had been a year
of blood, sweat, tears,

and lots of money trying
to renovate this house.

Sean: And... For you.

The kids, on the other hand...

Were not as excited.

I don't like it here.

It's big and scary.

You're gonna love this house.

Okay, kiddo?

Okay.

Narrator: The girls
sleep with their parents

while the floors in their
room are refinished.

Get away, get away, get away!

It's all right, honey.
Just wake up... it's okay.

It's okay, honey, wake
up. It's just a dream.

Sean: Grace, wake up.

It's okay. It's all right.

There was someone
coming after me.

She saw a person
come into the room

with strange-looking eyes

and was coming toward her.

It was just a dream, Gracie.

Hey, you want to sleep in
our bed tonight? Come on.

Sean: I just thought
it was her nerves

from being in a new place.

She just was scared.

[ Door slams ]

W-What was that? Did you...

I thought I heard the door shut.

Sean: I heard a door slam.

[ Door slams ]

And then I heard
another door slam.

[ Door slams ]

[ Door slams ]

[ Slamming continues ]

My ears are hearing
the doors slam,

but I'm not seeing
doors slamming,

and I can't figure it out.

[ Slamming continues ]

[ Door slamming ]

[ Slamming stops ]

Sean: It didn't make sense to me

to run around the house
and test all the doors

and this and that because
I knew it wasn't that.

But you don't know what to do.

[ Footsteps approach ]

So?

Nothing. I didn't see anything.

I don't get it.

It must have been the wind.

Narrator: Sean
downplays the incident

because he doesn't want
to worry Libby any further.

Great.

[ Sighs ]

Don't you think it's weird
the girls never woke up?

[ Sighs ]

The next morning.

Morning, ladies. How are you?

I'm telling you,
Sean, it's not normal.

I didn't say normal.

I'm saying there must
be a logical explanation.

How can there be
a logical explanation

for something that's
completely not logical?

So, what are you
saying, we have ghosts?

Libby: I have never been a
believer in the supernatural,

ghosts, anything like that.

What are you saying... That
we have a haunted house?

[ Laughing ] Stop.

I'm very scientific.

I don't have faith
in a lot of things

that I can't feel and touch.

What if it is haunted?

Think we can get our money back?

[ Sarcastically ] Yeah, right.

All right, girls, let's go.

Mommy's got to go
to work. I love you.

Have a nice day.

Let's go.

All right, y'all... have fun.

[ Laughs ]

Narrator: The following week,

the girls' room is
finally complete.

[ Children laughing ]

[ Laughing continues ]

[ Echoing ] Ring
around the Rosie,

pocket full of posies,

ashes, ashes,

we all fall down.

[ Laughing continues ]

I heard little girls
laughing and giggling.

[ Laughing continues ]

And as soon as I opened
up our bedroom door,

the voices stopped.

"Well, I must have
left the TV set on."

And then everything was quiet.

I thought, "well, maybe I
was just dreaming that."

Narrator: The following morning.

Grace, Willa... come on, girls.

You're gonna be late for school.

Hey, what's this?

I don't know.

Okay, come on. Zip up.

Get downstairs. Daddy's
got breakfast waiting, okay?

Okay.

[ Chuckles ] Go on.

Love you.

Scoot. Love you, too.

Hey.

Sleepyhead... Rise and shine.

Hey.

Hey, what's this
puzzle doing over here?

I thought you hated puzzles.

Grace: The fairies
wanted to do it.

What?

There were two fairies here.

[ Children laughing ]

We played all night.

Well, that sounds
like a wonderful dream.

It wasn't a dream!

Okay.

Well, what did these
fairies look like?

They had white
dresses, white stockings,

and they had ribbons
in their hair, too.

Where do these fairies live?

They live under
a tree in the yard.

Well, that sounds
wonderful, honey.

Libby is puzzled.

Why don't you go
brush your teeth

and wash up, get dressed, okay?

She can't remember grace's
dreams ever being so vivid

and knows it's unlike her
daughter to make up stories.

Libby: Part of me
really wanted to believe

that she just had a very
overactive imagination.

Narrator: In the
days that follow,

Libby manages to forget
about these strange incidents

and settles into
a normal routine.

[ Children laughing ]

Grace, Willa, are you in here?

Libby: I could hear
young children giggling.

[ Laughing continues ]

It made me feel
really uncomfortable.

I didn't really
know what to think.

Grace? Willa? Are
you guys up here?

[ Laughing continues ]

Were you girls just upstairs?

No, we were right here.

Grace, what is this?
What is this a picture of?

It's our house,
and that's the fire.

Libby: Grace had
drawn our house on fire.

This was very alarming to me.

Grace, honey...

Why would you draw
a picture like this?

I'm afraid you and daddy
are gonna die in a fire.

No, honey.

Mommy and daddy
aren't gonna die in a fire.

The fairies' mommy
and daddy died in a fire.

Grace, honey, that
was just a dream.

The fairies aren't real.

But it wasn't a
dream! They're real!

It was interesting to me

that she was so adamant
that it wasn't a dream.

I'm beginning to wonder, maybe,

if there's something coming
into play that isn't natural.

We've had too many
things happen in the house

to just write them
off as random events.

Narrator: Libby is
beginning to believe

that her house may be haunted.

She hopes that history
can shed some light

on what has been happening.

Hey, what are you doing
up here? What's that?

Stuff the workers found when
they were up here renovating.

Libby: I decided
to try and figure out,

you know, if these two "fairies"
that grace is talking about

happened to be little
girls that used to live here,

if there was a fire in
the house at some point.

I'm sure you're
over-thinking this whole thing.

There were many moments

when Sean tried to
talk me out of believing

that something
paranormal was happening.

We both really wanted it
to be something natural.

But whatever it is,

I think we should keep
the whole thing quiet.

Sean: Being the
new people in town,

I was concerned
about airing too much.

Look, I'm just trying
to figure this out.

I'm starting to think
I'm going crazy.

I'm going to take the girls for
a walk. Do you want to come?

No. No, you go ahead.
I've got some errands to run.

Okay.

Narrator: Libby takes the old
photographs and documents

to the Chester
historical society.

It says here that that old house

was used as a barracks
during the civil war.

I was actually wondering

if there was any
record of any fire.

Unfortunately,
Libby doesn't receive

the answer she's looking for.

The director finds no evidence
of a fire on her property.

I've seen any
evidence of a fire.

What about these photographs?

Do any of these people
look familiar to you?

I don't know. Let
me take a look.

Oh, look at that.

There seems to be
something stuck here.

Let's see.

Oh.

Same time.

He tells Libby that this is an
early 20th-century photograph

of Chester's civil war veterans.

A picture of the
50th anniversary

of the gettysburg battle.

Who are the girls?

Well, I don't know,

but they certainly don't
seem to belong there.

Libby: It's strange, because
these girls match, to a "t,"

a description of the fairies
that grace kept talking about

that would go into her bedroom.

[ Children laughing ]

Narrator: Libby remains
calm for her family.

Will you give me
a kiss good night?

Yes. Come here.

Mwah!

Now, go on.

Okay.

Hey, honey, can I show
you something for a second?

Just pop over there.

I want you to do
something for me, okay?

I'm gonna show you this picture,

and I want you to tell me

if you see anybody in
it that you recognize.

The fairies!

Libby: I was not surprised
that grace said that.

I just knew that those little
girls who were in the photograph

had something to
do with the house.

Hey, grace, come on.

Why don't you go upstairs
and get ready for bed, huh?

I'll be right up in a minute.

[ Footsteps depart ]

[ Sighs ]

There is an explanation.

She's just a child.

Well, you heard
the girls giggling

in the middle of the night.

That was a dream.

Narrator: Sean cannot
come to terms with the fact

that the house could be haunted.

Sean: I couldn't explain it...

so, therefore, I was a little
conflicted on what it could be.

All these things were happening

that were pointing to
something other than normal.

She's been playing
"ring around the Rosie"

with two little fairies
who happen to look

exactly like the little
girls in this picture.

I never taught her that song.

Maybe she picked
it up at school.

No, I talked to her teacher.

She said they
never sing it there.

Did you know that that
song is about the plague?

It's a song about death, Sean.
She is obsessed with death.

"Ashes to ashes,
we all fall down."

What do you want to do... move?

No, of course not.

We've put more
money into the house

than it even cost to buy,

so it just wasn't an
option to sell the house.

Grace wasn't afraid.

It wasn't so scary at that point

that I felt that we
were in danger.

Libby: Sean, when you
heard the door slamming,

did it wake you up?

Narrator: Libby begins a
record of her experiences.

When you heard
the door slamming,

were you awake, or
did it wake you up?

I don't know.

Man: Now rock's into the motion.

Sean.

Fly to center field.

I was asleep. It woke me up.

Okay, well, what about when
you heard the girls giggling?

Libby: I wrote down
the time, the weather,

what was going on in our
family, if anyone was sick,

if there was any kind of
unusual tension or stress.

I really wanted to make
it as scientific as possible.

Sean!

Geez, Libby, come on!
Can I just watch the game?

As we take a look on this
date in baseball history,

we go back to 1962.

[ Thud ]

Did you leave the
window open upstairs?

No, I did not.

Libby: I felt like I
was being watched

and like there was a
presence in the room.

Sean!!

Sean!!

Are you okay?

No, I'm not okay.

There is something
in this house.

It's not alive. It's
not like you and me.

It moved as fast as I've
ever seen anything move.

You know it as well as I do,

and you're gonna
have to face it.

I saw something...
A black figure.

I-I was at the window, and...

And I felt something behind me.

And I turned around,

and I saw this black thing
standing in front of me.

It darted under the bed,
but it was right there.

I saw it. It's real.

Narrator: Libby no longer
believes the ghosts are harmless

and searches the Internet
for a way to remove the spirits.

And I just thought, you
know, "why is this happening?

Should we really
believe in this?"

Narrator: She learns
she can remove the spirits

by smudging the house with sage.

"Smudging" is a
native-American ritual

where sage is burned to cleanse
a space of negative energy.

Libby: It sounded
a little far-out,

but at this point, I
was feeling really like,

"well, what can it
hurt? It's got to help."

Narrator: That day, Libby
finds a local store that sells sage.

Libby: Excuse me.

Hi. May I help you?

I was actually wondering
if you have any sage.

Libby: I was a little
bit embarrassed

by the whole sage-smudging idea.

It's just not something
I would normally try.

Okay, did you want a bag, or
did you want smudge sticks?

Smudge sticks... two, actually.

They're gonna be $5 a piece.

Thank you.

Narrator: That afternoon,

Sean keeps the girls occupied so
Libby can perform the smudging.

Stay on the sidewalk, all right?

Don't get too far ahead of me.

You sure you don't
want me to stay with you?

No, I'll be all right.
You go ahead, okay?

All right.

Bye. All right.

Hey!

Girls...

We mean you no harm.

Please leave this
house in peace.

I walked around the
house with burning sage

and said a little wish
in every single room.

[ Sighs ]

Please leave this
house in peace.

Narrator: After the smudging,

things return to normal
for several weeks.

Libby is relieved that
the spirits have finally left.

Then, one night,
grace suddenly falls ill.

What's up, kiddo?

She doesn't feel so hot.

Oh, what's the matter?

She has an upset stomach.

Do you want to sleep with
mommy tonight, sweetheart?

I decided to have her sleep
in my bedroom with me.

Me too. I want to
sleep in your bed, too.

All right, all right.

I guess I'm sleeping
in grace's bed tonight.

[ Laughs ]

Good night. Good night.

I want to sleep next to mom.

Grace: No, I want to.

Okay, I'll get in the middle.

Good night, dad.

Good night. Good night,
Willa. Good night, grace.

Girl: Where is she?

Girl #2: She's not here.

Where's grace? Where's grace?

Sean: The sheets
got really tight,

like they were holding me down.

Who are you?

Where's grace? Where's grace?

She's not here. She's sick.

I tried to get up,
and I couldn't move.

Where's grace? Where's grace?

Get away!

Leave us alone! Please!

Please, leave us
alone! Get away!

Get away! Leave us alone!

[ Indistinct screaming ]

Get away! Please!

Sean?

Sean, I heard you
shouting. Are you all right?

There's something in this house.

Sean was finally
starting to come around

and not be completely in denial
that something was happening.

[ Breathing heavily ]

I think they're here.

Narrator: Libby contacts
Isis investigations,

a team that specializes
in helping people

who are experiencing
paranormal activity.

God, I hope we're
doing the right thing.

Whatcha looking at?

Okay, who wants to
get some ice cream?

Me! I do, I do!

Okay, come on. Leave that.

You're doing good.
We'll come back to it.

Narrator: As a
safety precaution,

Sean takes the girls out of the
house during the investigation.

The members of the Isis
team are all followers of wicca,

a new religion
of life and nature

which finds its roots
in ancient ways.

Patricia gardner

is the co-founder and
director of the group.

Gardner: "Wiccan" is
another word for witchcraft.

Everything that we do is geared
to the protection of the earth

and the creatures
that live on it.

Hello. You must be Libby.

I'm Patricia.

Thank you so much for coming.

Narrator: Along with
Angela Kaufman,

co-director dayna
winters, and Justin staley,

each member is a gifted psychic.

What are they doing?

It looks like they've
sensed something.

It was a little startling to
me that the first thing they did

was to head over to this tree

that I had never even
mentioned before.

[ Children laughing ]

Narrator: Angela feels
a peculiar sensation

coming from the tree.

Kaufman: I noticed
a very strong,

abnormally warm
feeling coming from it,

and it seemed to be
a center of activity.

Let's go inside. I'll
explain everything.

Narrator: Angela, a
psychic sketch-artist,

uses art to re-create
images in her mind's eye.

Kaufman: What I'm trying to do

is to use myself
as an instrument

to mirror what's
going on in the room.

There was a lot
of spiritual activity

going on in the house.

I did get a couple of
specific impressions...

one being this figure
in a civil war uniform.

[ Child crying ]

Narrator: The final
sketch is uncanny.

It's the perfect
illustration of the two girls

from the photograph
found in the attic.

[ Children laughing ]

Kaufman: I got the sense

the two little girls' spirits
were kind of mischievous.

They were just looking for
someone to communicate with.

Narrator: Angela feels
the impact of several spirits.

Kaufman: The left part
of my head started to hurt.

My first thought was

that something is
present in the room,

and it doesn't like us,

that it's trying to make
us feel uncomfortable.

This is my daughter's room.

Narrator: Patricia and
dayna immediately pick up

on the presence
of the two little girls.

[ Meow ]

We assumed that it was
the girls playing with the cat

to let us know that they
were in the room with us.

[ Meow ]

Libby: That's so odd.

That toy's been
broken for months.

[ Meow ]

[ Children laughing ]

Narrator: Libby hopes
that Patricia can reveal

why the spirits are
haunting her house.

Gardner: These are interesting.

This was the one that
held the most interest to me.

This is the one I was
telling you about...

The one with
the two little girls.

Oh.

This is amazing.

Patricia runs her hands over
the images on the photograph.

As her fingers pass
over the two girls,

she senses a change
in temperature.

[ Children laughing ]

The warm feeling I'm sensing...

Oh, it means that
they're still earthbound.

Well, who are they?

What do they want
with my daughter?

Patricia believes the girls
once lived in the house

and don't know
how to cross over.

But the presence of a
fire remains a mystery.

There are others...

So many others.

[ Sighs ]

Did you do a lot of renovations?

Patricia believes
that renovations

must have awakened the
dormant spirits in the house.

We basically started from
the bones and rebuilt it.

Gardner: When
you renovate things,

even if something has been
asleep for a hundred years,

that's the best way I
know of to wake it up,

because they want to know
what you're doing to their property,

because, in their minds,
it still belongs to them.

We need to perform a ceremony

which will help some
of the spirits here

move on to another plane.

Okay. What do we need to do?

We'll perform what
we call a magic circle

and then a crossing ceremony.

Narrator: The wiccans begin
the crossing-over ceremony

by casting a magic circle.

A magic circle is
what witches use

to protect themselves
before rituals.

Ye gods of the
watchtowers of the east...

Narrator: In wicca,

guardians, known as
"watchtowers," are called upon

to protect the four
directions of the circle.

We call upon you to
protect this sacred space.

Ye gods of the
watchtowers of the west,

we call upon you to
protect this sacred space.

All: Ye lords of
the watchtowers...

Narrator: During the ritual,

incense is offered
to the guardians

in exchange for
their protection.

Gardner: We can all
close our eyes now.

Narrator: Now protected
by the magic circle,

they begin the
crossing-over ceremony.

Kaufman: We open a doorway

so that the spirits
can cross over

to where they are
supposed to be.

For some of them,

you pick up on their
sadness or their fear.

[ Door slams ]

[ Gasping ]

[ Door slams ]

[ Gasping, moaning ]

I think they've gone.

Narrator: Afterwards, a
feeling of calm and peace

envelops everyone in the room.

Most of them have left.

Gardner: That's it.

Patricia tells Libby

she believes that
most of the spirits

have moved through
the open door to the west

to a place called
the summerlands...

A wiccan version
of the afterlife.

[ Indistinct conversations ]

Things have returned to
normal for the Johnson family,

but they will never forget

how their lives were
touched by the supernatural.

Libby: This whole experience

absolutely changed the
way I think about things.

I do believe in a soul now,

which was a huge
revelation for me.

I think it's really been
sort of a gift to our family.

[ Rustling ]

Narrator: Recently,

the Johnsons removed
the old tree in the backyard

to make room for an addition.

[ Clank ]

Libby, come here.

You might want to
take a look at this.

Truce.

What is it?

Looks like there
was a fire here.

Libby: He found an
old brick foundation

that had been all burned out.

There's even burnt
clothes in the ground.

Narrator: Black ash,
charcoal-covered wooden beams,

and burned clothing

indicates the presence of
a devastating fire long ago.

Grace was right.

There really was a fire.

No human remains were
ever found beneath the tree.

And whether or not anyone
actually died in the fire

may remain a mystery forever.

Where's grace? Where's grace?