Standing on the Stairs and other short stories

II

All throughout high school, I had been very active in theatre and drama. Nearly everyday after school from the beginning of my freshman year til the end of my senior year, I could be found either in the drama room(s) or in the auditorium. I had been in numerous one act plays, a couple full length plays, and three musicals, not counting my (assistant) directing of a one act and a musical. I had been the historian and president of our drama club my senior year and received a letter in theatre like many people do in sports. We had spent many days, evenings, and nights in my high school's auditorium my sophomore year, I had been cast in "The Female Odd Couple", which was a big deal because I had received the role over upperclassmen, this is when it started getting weird. 

Our auditorium was old, I believe one of the US President's wives came to the official "opening" of the auditorium when construction was completed in the 1940s. Obviously, it would have had to be haunted from seventy some years of it being open and not being renovated between that time. I do not remember his name, but there was a ghost in the auditorium that was turn our spotlights off and on during our rehearsals and we would have to ask him nicely to turn them back on or to "please stop doing that". Sometimes he listened but as spirits do, they play. He was also notorious for turning off all of our lights in the auditorium for extended periods of time, leaving us to rehearse with flashlights or having to end rehearsal early. While some could argue it was an old building the electric could have failed, well no. We had numerous electricians look at our lighting equipment and they said that there was nothing wrong and no reason for it to shut off and quit working. 

He was also known for moving things, but not quietly. Things would fall over with a loud bang or chairs would roll, costume pieces would be inside out or props turned all sorts of ways other than how they needed to be. There would be noises in the dressing rooms below the stage, that we were not permitted to use because of the health affects from asbestos. Occasionally noises could be heard from the catwalk above the wings of the stage, like someone walking back and forth on either side, we were also rarely allowed to use the catwalks due to safety concerns. We had a bat appear and visit us one evening rehearsal for one of our musicals. It flew over us on stage and landed in the mezzanine and then up to the catwalk, not being seen again. Again, a very old auditorium. 

Some of my peers used a Ouija board during rehearsal one Saturday afternoon. I'm not sure what happened because I was too afraid to ask, I also refuse to use Ouija boards because you do not know who you are talking to or who you are inviting. No one in that circle told what was learned, or at least I never heard through the grapevine. Others had used an EVP app on their phones but I was skeptical due to most of them being free and having ads, but maybe they were real. We had also discovered tunnels in and under the auditorium, although some had been filled, not all of them were. Some people were brave enough to venture into them. They were dark and dusty, spider filled with no cell phone service. I was not one of the brave souls but I did see pictures. 

One afternoon, after school had let out, a friend and I had decided to spent the evening in the auditorium looking for any sign of paranormal. While we were too chicken to venture into the large tunnel entrances, we did look into the smaller openings and areas. There were sounds that we couldn't explain or even begin to describe to anyone who wasn't there with us. The doors would rattle and pulling like someone was trying to enter or exit but there would be no one there. There would be knocks on doors that didn't sound human made and distinct whispers in the ladies room and a small dark hideaway in the restroom that made your hair stand up. 

Later on, I had heard an old folktale of a young boy, named Timmy, would was an actor and had a spotlight fall on him and crush hime while he was performing on stage. I do not know any truth to this tale as the stage itself was original to the time of opening and I think they would have had to replace the wood if a young boy was killed. Maybe it was Timmy playing with our lights, warning us about how deadly they could be.