A GHOST STORY

In 2004, I started a period of seven years working as a teacher in Quesada which is a small village near Cazorla in the Spanish province of Jaén.

When I arrived, I rented a flat to live in during the school year. The owner, Catalina, was an administrator who worked in the same secondary school as me. She was very friendly and we got on well.

The school where we worked was in two different buildings separated by a huge exterior staircase. And when I started my new friend told me that, surprisingly, the new construction was built on top of the old cemetery and a lot of coffins had not been claimed so the builders left them there under the building. She later added - a little embarrassed - that sometimes, strange sounds were heard on the second floor.

One afternoon several years later, I was alone in the technology workshop where I taught. It was late June, my students had just started holidays and the building was empty. While I was working, the silence was broken by the sound of a rusty metal door slowly opening and closing with a strong bang. I heard the sound quite clearly and stopped what I was doing to listen for it again.

Suddenly, I remembered, as I knew the building very well, that there were no metal doors on the second floor. I was sure of it. In fact, only metal doors the exit doors on the first floor. What is more, the other doors, which were wooden, were locked.

I decide to leave. Unfortunately, the only way out was in the direction of where the sound had come from. Gathering up all my courage and I started walking. Just as I was passing the spot where the noise had come from I heard it again! This time I felt panic and I ran down the stairs to the exit door. But, just in case anyone was looking, I stopped before opening the door and when I stepped outside, I tried to look relaxed.

From that moment on, I tried not to be alone there again.