The Presence : Melbourne: VIC

[KANACKI]

They say the definition  of the word "presence" is a person or thing that exists or is present in a place but is not seen?

Can a presence from the past may exist in the present? Or can a presence from the past linger and inhabit a new building on the site of an old one?

Such intriguing questions cannot be answered easily.

The following story is strange one from a lady by the name of Julie Ann. She and husband are what you call a young professional couple both university trained and have very good professional careers and live a busy upward trending lifestyle. So the opportunity to rent a new townhouse in North Melbourne seemed a godsend for convenience and their desire to be part of the inner City lifestyle with all the perks of entertainment bars and cafes of inner city Melbourne at their finger tips.

Everything about the unit was new. Bright open rooms all modern not the dark dingy terrace of old. Nothing at first that would even give any hint to fault the place.

Yet it was in the this modern townhouse not long after Julie Ann and her husband first encountered the presence.

To be continued....

Kanacki

[KANACKI]

It started with little things hardly even worth mentioning at first. It sort of grew into the awareness of Julie Ann. A night the room they was sleeping in was deathly still. Not a sound all places have ambient background noise even in the quietest of streets. Hardly a reason to complain in fact most people would love that to sleep. Yet the stillness created a thick foreboding atmosphere so thick that one would cut it with a knife. A tense atmosphere that some one or some thing was lurking waiting to pounce.

To make things worse for Julie Ann her husband was sleeping sound making little snoring noises. But for some reason she felt that some one else was in the room watching staring. She flicked on the bedside light in panic, nothing but their room.

Reassuring herself she turned off the light. But as soon as the light was off the presence was back lurking waiting. Her instinct was react and she did by turning the bedside lamp on. but every-time she did the presence would be present in the dark and disappear in the light. So much so her poor hubby awakened by constant light being turned on and off and said to her in grumpy voice what the hell are you doing?

And so feeling stupid she fell into sleep.

But sleep was no escape from the presence.

To be continued....

Kanacki

[KANACKI]

Julie Ann's sleep was becoming interrupted by a reoccurring night mare of her being pined down on her chest in her bed being attacked being hit on the head with a hammer. So violent was the dream she would awaken gasping. To her amazement her husband was sound asleep next to her.

And once again the atmosphere of room was quiet as a mouse with air feeling suffocating. One again the presence hovered it seem still around her evil and malicious full of hate.

Was she going crazy?

Kanacki

[KANACKI]

It had even started to affect Julia Anne's performance at work as sleep deprivation began to take its toll. Not only that it started to have an impact on her relationship with Ben her Husband who was virtually oblivious to the presence in the house. But Ben only saw in her a nervous reaction to this presence. Although he tried to be understanding when Julia Anne confided with him , her strange dreams and feeling of a presence.

Most of all Ben tried to reason with her to allay her fears. For one this alleged presence could not be seen, Nothing was moved. There was no sounds, No footsteps or banging doors. He joked much to her annoyance that it was pretty lame ghost....

He continued.....that there who purpose was to be living near clubs and restaurants and cafes and all trapping inner city Melbourne has to offer. They was both earning good money from steady well paying jobs having the time of their lives and no brooding about a presence......

So they decided to invite their friends down that they had known from the university of Sydney Alison and Dave. They decided to fly down for a long week end visit from Sydney. The four would go out and party and they would stay at Julie Anne's and Ben's spare rooms. The idea of two good friends visiting perked Julia Anne up but sadly.....

The presence had other ideas.

To be continued.....

Kanacki

[KANACKI]

So Julia Anne and Ben hatch a plan...........or experiment they invited Alison and Dave to stay at their place to see if they encountered anything strange.

At first as young professional couples do enjoyed the delights of the cafes and restaurants and bars Melbourne has to offer. The visit was welcome distraction from the presence. To the point Julia Anne had almost forgotten about the presence.

Alison and Dave had a big day Friday flying down and big night with wine dancing and in essence a late night with Ben and Julia Anne, they was too drunk too exhausted to even notice the presence.

The next day Saturday was a little different.....

to be continued..........

Kanacki

[KANACKI]

The Saturday was a little more quiet perhaps still suffering from the effects of the big night on Friday. The two couples had gone out for lunch a pub near St Kilda and had spent the afternoon at Luna Park at St Kilda. Before returning home to Ben And Julia Anne's Apartment in North Melbourne to have barbecue a few wines and beers in the evening.

During the evening they listened to music and played cards as they had done a few years ago as broke uni studies and they laughed and joked about old times....

Having a good time Julia Anne and Ben had almost forgotten their little experiment they had planned. They had moved out of main bedroom changed rooms over moving everything other into another and let their guests Alison and Dave sleep in the former main bedroom as the gust room.

Well like all good times they finally called it a night and both couples retired to their respective bedrooms.

Strangely for the first time in a long time Julia Anne Slept soundly.....

The presence must of felt overwhelmed by so many in the apartment she pondered when she awoke refreshed next to Ben.....

But the presence was busy elsewhere............

To be continued.....

Kanacki

[KANACKI]

The next morning Julia Anne and Ben noticed a change in Alison and Dave as if they had a restless night?

Dave had not had any problems until just after they both had gone to sleep. And Dave awoke finding Alison panicking that there was some one else in the room. Turning on the light and off only for Alison to feel the presence only when the light was off?

This went on for hours during the night and finally Alison fell to sleep only to have a terrifying dream of like some one kneeling on her chest and hammering her face with mallet?

That was enough for Alison to insist Dave to sleep with her in the living room lounge with the light on. Finally over breakfast it all came out and Julia Anne and Ben had a hard time convincing their friends to stay.

It felt to Julia Anne and Ben the presence was winning....

But Julia Anne and Ben was made of sterner stuff.

To be continued.......

Kanacki

[KANACKI]

So the four friends concluded to have a seance. Although skeptical and not knowing what would happen they made a makeshift Ouija board using an up turned glass and card with letters and numbers.

Later the following night they had a seance and at first it all felt surreal and rather silly but as they was about give up.....The Ouija board spelled out a name......

John?

To be continued.....

Kanacki

[KANACKI]

Was this presence named John?

Was it all a coincidence?

Well came the time for Alison and Dave to return somewhat baffled by the events back to their somewhat um-haunted lives in Sydney. While Julia Anne and Ben got on with their lives trying as best they could with menacing presence lurking now.....

Making its presence even further as it now had followed Julia Anne and Ben in the spare bedroom where they had moved to.....Lurking with it malignant presence. The nightmarish dreams contained.....for Julia Anne as it seemed like it was following her from room to room haunting her with pure hatred.

This presence now named John had started to drive a wedge between Julia Anne and Ben.

To be continued......

Kanacki

[Simon2]

A wonderful tale so far KANACKI, reminds me of two separate incidents in my life.

When I was young I had similar dreams where I could not move and being taunted by a demon, while my room was on fire. these dreams went on and off for some years until I was able to find out the connection between me and the demon. I wrote about this some time back and it related to a past life when I was a Cathar.

I bested the demon some years back and he has not returned. The demon did not scare me so left quite upset.

The other was when I worked in a city office block around Circular Quay around the opening of the 21st Century.

I was working late, on the 13 Floor, when I felt the presence of what was a very quiet spirit and I asked "him" (I knew only that much) what he was doing and if I could help him at all.

He explained that he was guarding sacred aboriginal grounds (I did another Post on this some years back).

I then asked him if he wanted me to go, to which he said no, he just wanted to talk with me as it had been a while since anyone noticed him at all.

I asked him if he wanted to move on also, but he said he was carrying out a sacred duty and was happy to stay.

My point is that demons and/or very malevolent spirits are besides being very real can either haunt a place and/or a person.

"John" haunts a place and only females and given the dreams and the "hammer" being used against both females, John may have in the past murdered, at least one female, where the new house stands.

Given John also still haunts the area, would lead me to think he was either killed there or committed suicide.

Also, given the ferocity of John in the dreams, he may also have been an abuser of women.

As this is only the start of your story KANACKI, I cannot wait for the next installment, but hopefully the couple may pursue an investigation of what was at the site they now live in, would guess an old home and also look at old newspapers to see of any similar tales and whether a murder similar to the one in the dream.

John is a very nasty spirit.   

[KANACKI]

Yes indeed this john is a nasty spirit.

Julia Anne and Ben struggled on sleeping from room to room. In which the presence followed invading her dreams over and over. Julia Anne was desperate. But help was near it was called the state archives and that was the building across the road from the house.

Kanacki

[KANACKI]

Julia Anne started researching as discovered who John really was?

Kanacki

[KANACKI]

In 1917 The Northern Star newspaper reported the following terrible crime. Julia and Mary Cummins was found Murdered from being bashed with a hammer and their throats cut. Their brother John Cummins .

Here is a picture of the old newspaper clipping below. For those who cannot see the pictures I suggest you join the forum to see wonderful pictures of haunted places in Australia.

Also below is picture of what the original house looked like in the 1970's. An elderly gent lived there for 50 years and appeared he was never bothered by the vengeful spirit of John perhaps because he was a man and the presence tolerated his presence? Eventual the old terrace house was torn down demolished and the new building we see today built in its place.

This old Terrance house is where Julia and Mary worked as seamstresses making a living altering peoples clothes. Both had never married but were well regarded as hard working women working out of their small shop from. John their brother was unmarried and to most a never do well supported by his hard working sisters. 

It appears John resented his two sisters because in a era when men was considered the bread winner he was supported by his sisters and felt belittled by it. Most of all remarks from locals inflamed his hatred for his sisters.

Resentment grew year after year until finally one day he claimed a passer by made derogatory comments that his sisters was secretly working as prostitutes on the side. Or that was his claim for the brutal murder.

He was found wandering the street by passerby with a bloodied knife and police was called and discovered the murdered sisters in their beds.

John was found mentally unfit for trial and was transferred to an asylum for life. The family had originally came from England. They had no other relatives.

Technically Julia was the Breadwinner of the family and owned the house.

We can only hypothesis that John might of had a long history of mental illness and perhaps Asperger syndrome with propensity for violence. Perhaps the Sisters never married because they cared for their mentally unstable brother? In a era of poorly understood mental health issues it was not hard to see the poor sisters paid a heavy price for looking after their brother.

Kanacki

[KANACKI]

John escaped the Hangman because of his mental health issues. However he may of had a motive for killing his sisters because Julia the oldest sister owned the house. In her will she left the property to Mary and John Cummins her sister and brother.

You can see the will below.

Kanacki

[KANACKI]

Here is a more detailed report  of the ghastly murder of Julia and Mary Cummins. John had hammered each of his sisters with mallet then cut their throats with a razor.

Kanacki