Everyone dreams of someday buying and owning their dream house. The man in this story got a lot more than he imagined when he bought what the thought was his dream home. Christopher found something so bizarre when he walked around his property that his life would never be the same again. Curious and amazed, he entered the tunnel, exploring this mystery further. He had no idea that this decision would not only be life-changing but also one he would come to regret deeply.
Even though both a realtor and a police officer told him not to, Christopher continued to investigate his discovery. What he found, in the end, convinced him to leave and never return again. What could have been so terrifying that he would abandon his dream home?
Woodland Fields
Christopher Wanliss was overjoyed with the property he had bought -- 16.5 hectares of woodland fields which he had all to himself. He could never have expected to find what he did, however.
On one fateful day, Christopher explored his property on foot. The bark on the trees had been stripped away by the seasons, the birds were singing in sporadic bursts, everything seemed perfect. As he walked aimlessly through the trees and birdsong, something peculiar caught his eye.
Enigmatic Discovery
Almost without realizing, Christopher walked toward the strange thing he had seen. Small, dark, and mostly obscured, by the other trees it seemed to be hiding. He wondered if it could just have been an old, dark tree as he got closer to it. Then he realized what it was and in his excitement, he made a misstep which caused him to fall 3-feet down.
Dazed, stunned, covered with leaves and mud after his fall, Christopher stood up and brushed himself off as best he could while staring ahead of him. The strange thing he had seen was not a tree, but an entrance into the earth. Even stranger is that it wasn't a natural cave, it was man-made. Could it be that he had discovered a mine on his own property? He knew he had to explore it.
'Sparkly' Walls
It was too dark to see into the moss-covered mine from the outside. Trembling with excitement he rushed home to grab a flashlight. “When we bought the house, nobody ever told us about the fact that the estate had a lot of mines on it. We just sort of stumbled upon the gold mine one day and that was it. When I first saw it, I was so excited that I almost fell over myself. The only thing that I could think about was Indiana Jones and underground railroads,” Christopher recalls.
Flashlight in hand, he rushed back to explore his exciting mystery. He had no way of knowing that he would come to regret that choice. As he reached the mine entrance, Christopher found himself holding his breath as he stepped inside. Once inside the mine, his flashlight illuminated 'sparkly' areas on the wall, but he had no idea what they were.
Echo
The walls appeared to be damp, many of them looked like they were about to collapse. With each echoing step taking him deeper into the mine, Christopher became more and more aware of the tons of soil just above his head. He carried on deeper, not worried about how long it would take as he had brought several spare batteries with him.
When he got closer to the walls, he saw more and more of the unidentified sparkling substance. For a brief moment, he thought, “What if this was gold?” That was when he saw something that not only put the thought of gold out of his mind but could also change everything forever.
Turn My Collar To The Cold And Damp
It didn't matter what the temperature was outside. Inside the mine, however, it was cold and damp. As he walked, his feet left 4-inch deep indentations in the damp ground. The water was coming from somewhere else, keeping the puddles of water flowing instead of them becoming stagnant. This was a good thing because stagnant pools of water, especially in abandoned mines, are known to release dangerous gases when disturbed.
He turned around, pointing his flashlight toward the exit but he could no longer see it. Then he heard it. Behind him, deeper into the tunnel, noises echoed. Someone or something was in there with him. He turned around and continued deeper. A choice he would come to regret.
Darkness
He walked deeper and deeper. There was no sign of light, no breeze, and no warmth. Gripping his flashlight defensively he moved deeper. He heard the sounds again. A screech of machinery, and then, voices.
They're indecipherable but he can clearly hear the voices talking to each other. “Who’s there?” Christopher shouts. The only response is his own echo. Adrenalin rushing through his body, he decides to carry on. He needs to know who's there.
All Set Up
The damp soil caused his boot to sink deeper and deeper with each step. He saw a yellow ventilation system that had been installed. It was old and practically falling apart. The chains hanging from the roof were moldy and rusting, clearly also hung there a long time ago. Something was very wrong here. It started to feel as if he was being pulled back toward the entrance. Something didn't want him there.
“The ambient temperature also seemed to suddenly drop all around me at this point, and I felt an even stronger negative presence ahead in the tunnel,” Christopher recalls. He continued to follow the water assuming it must have an origin. Perhaps that's where the voices were. Was it possible that some lived there he wondered?
Swing Time
Christopher was deep inside the tunnel. He was almost 150 ft inside. That's when he turned around and saw the light coming from the entrance. It made no sense, so he just stood there staring for several seconds before his body reacted.
He jumped, his nails scraping the walls. A sudden feeling of claustrophobia closing in on him like the closing of a heavy lid on a box. That's when a chain began to swing. It wasn't a slow and gentle swinging either. It was violent and powerful. He felt that someone was watching him. He turned and ran, his heart thumping in his chest. He knew that he had to call someone but he had no idea who.
Who You Gonna Call?
Christopher didn't stop running until he reached his house. He immediately grabbed the phone and called his real estate agent. “When we went to ask about the place, we were finally told that the estate had actually been home to quite a lot of mining sites. A lot of mining was done in these hills at the turn of the century, and there are a lot of little mines that are scattered across the hills,” Christopher said.
Christopher also told him about the sparkly substance on the walls and how it appeared to give light to the tunnel. The agent assured him that someone would come to investigate the mysterious mine. Relief washed through his entire body as he ended the call. Then suddenly he tensed up again. “This cannot be happening!” he shouted.
Flickering
Panic flooded his mind as the lights in his kitchen suddenly began to flicker. His heart started pounding and his breathing became rapid as he caught glimpses of his kitchen each time the lights strobed on for a moment. Then everything went black. He fumbled for the light switch and began flipping it up and down but to no avail. It seemed to become very cold in his kitchen and a cold breeze washed over his face.
He fumbled in his pocket and pulled out the flashlight he had taken into the mine. He turned it on and played the beam over the thermostat to see that the temperature had dropped quite far, his breath creating fog clouds in the air. He found this strange but went in search of his fuse box. A fuse had blown or something similar, surely.
Bad Wiring
When he examined the fuse box, nothing was wrong. All the switches were on and the main fuse hadn't blown either. He fiddled with everything just in case, all the while hoping that somehow it would fix the problem.
“Faulty Wiring,” he thought. Nonetheless, he couldn't help but feel nervous. He headed upstairs to calm his nerves and drink some water but right then his doorbell rang. Who could it be?
Introducing Mr. Rudall
The man at the door was Mr. Rudall. He explained that he had been sent by the realtor to investigate what Christopher had found. He was excited to see what the substance Christopher had seen was. Christopher led Mr. Rudall to the mine, warning him to watch his step to avoid falling like he had the first time. As they walked, the sky was becoming ominous. The threat of a storm was imminent.
When they reached the mine, both men took out their flashlights and stepped inside. The walls seemed to sparkle even more and the reflected light was a powerful glare. Mr. Rudall approached the wall. He recognizes the substance and excitedly turns to tell Christopher what he has found. That's when he felt that something was trying to send a message. He was choked up, and he felt more than a little uneasy but that's when he told Christopher something that he wasn't sure how to feel about.
Wide-Eyed
Wide-eyed, Rudall told Christopher that it was indeed gold. This mine had been used as a gold mine for some time but the fact that there was so much still in the walls showed that the miners had abandoned the mine long before they finished their work. But why would they abandon a perfectly good mine that still had so much to give?
Rudall also mentioned that there had been many rumors about mines and miners in the area at the turn of the century but no one knew about any specific mines in the area. Again, they wondered what could have made them abandon the mine and leave the rest of the gold untouched. Whatever it was, it had to be something terrible. Christopher was determined to find out.
Hidden Entrance
As he continued to explore, Christopher could only think of two things. Firstly, there could be gold in there, and secondly, it might be haunted. Flashlight and spare batteries in hand, Christopher entered the mine again. Each step taking him deeper, further away from the light. This time he knew he had to keep going, no matter how far it was. Deeper and deeper he went until he was about 600-feet inside the mine. Finally, he located the source of the water, but then he saw something that made him bite his lip.
Adrenalin coursed through his body again as he saw the door. He drew himself up with a deep breath and knocked on it. He didn't expect there to be an answer. When there was none, he reached out and turned the handle, pushing the door open. The first thing he saw, however, stopped him dead in his tracks.
A Whole New World
This was an entirely new world of its own. It was freezing in the room despite the warmer weather outside. The walls in the room were rough and cold to the touch. Much more so than the ones outside the room. Again the feeling of claustrophobia set in, making him want to turn and run away. That's when something new caught his eyes.
Furniture glinted in his flashlight beam. Much of it was junk and had been destroyed. It didn't seem to make sense. Why would someone abandon the mine and not take any of their belongings? Right at that moment, the air got even colder again. Pressure pushed on Christopher's chest. He didn't know what it was, but something strange was going on.
Inhabitable?
Then Christopher saw a bedspring among the junk and knew that he had been right. Someone had lived here. However, it seemed that they left in such a hurry that they must have been desperate to get away from the mine. But why or from what?
Christopher was still thinking about that when he noticed a brick hideaway. It seemed strange to hide something like that in a mine unless you were trying to hide something very valuable. He moved closer but sees nothing inside. However, as he turns away he sees something that makes his blood run cold. Could that be writing?
Hideaway
Christopher examined the different scratches on the wall, unable to figure out what he was seeing until he came closer. All the scratches were the same, four vertical lines right next to each other, over and over again. He reached out to touch the strange marks when he realized something startling.
The scratches appeared to have been made by fingers. They weren't deep but still managed to leave a mark on the cement. The question was, what or who was so desperate to get out of here? That's when he saw the most chilling part of all.
Scratches
On the opposite wall of the scratches he had found more, but this time, there weren’t any lines but a message on it. It was an unreadable message he had to document. He took out his camera and took a picture of it, maybe later he would put that picture on his computer and investigate further and decipher it. Startled, he heard a noise. The hairs on his body prickled forward and gave him goosebumps. Someone was there. He pointed his flashlight in the direction of the noise. Nothing.
He turned around and continued to look at the wording on the wall, but in that instant he heard the sound of metal clashing together, a cold breeze close to his shoulder like a whisper, and a sense of cold washed over him as if he had just passed through an icy shower, having every warm feeling and thought sucked out of him. At first, it appeared to come from behind, then from the front. In only moments the noise and cold were coming from every direction, getting closer, louder, more frantic… He ran.
Run
Shivers went down his spine, and he felt the blood chill his veins as he sprinted. He couldn’t shake the feeling something wasn’t right. His mind told him not to move, but his body dragged him to the light of the entrance like a moth to a flame. When he finally got out, he clutched his chest and fell to the ground. He should have known, everything was so right it was wrong – really wrong. A gold mine? That would’ve been too good to be true.
As he got up in a frenzy, he collected himself and continued to run through the woods to his house. The stillness of the air seemed to suck even the sound of his footfalls. Even the trees seemed not to rustle, as if they were tense with nerves for what was to come. He ran like he had never run before. He had to find out what was really happening.
Haunted Mine
As he got to his house, he made his way straight to his study and locked himself in. Something weird was happening in that mine, and he needed answers. Creeped out, he googled ‘haunted mines,’ and as the results were loading a chill rose up his spine, making him shiver. The ‘thing’ that was in the mine was there, with him, inside the house and he could feel it. He whipped around, and sounds of hushed whispering seemed to be erupting everywhere around him. Was he going crazy?
A breath so hoarse echoed around him. As Christopher turned his head over his shoulder, the whispering stopped. The air chilled to ice and his labored breathing became the only sound. Then, out of nowhere the google search loaded and the first hit read: “If you want to get rid of the paranormal activity in the mine and subsequently, in your life, you have to face it.” Could he really? Could he go back and make ‘whatever’ this is leave him alone? There was only one way to find out.
Hello?
Christopher heard the knocks come in pairs of threes, three times. He swallowed the lump in his throat. “Hello?” is all he could muster. Tentatively taking steps forward, he reached the handle of his study, he twisted it hoping it would give easily and swiftly. It did. And as he crossed over to the kitchen, a small whirring sound made him turn his attention to it. It came from his camera.
He went over and picked up the object. He could have sworn he had turned it off as he got inside his house, but when he went to check on the pictures, there were none on the SD card. They had all been deleted. He picked up his camera again and headed towards the mine. This time, he was going to face whatever was in there.
Gathered Courage
Christopher gathers all the courage he can as he looks into the mine. He is welcomed with darkness at first, but then, he realized he made a colossal mistake. The dark and shadowy corridor he had run out of twice already seemed a little darker.
He thought that his flashlight was a bit faulty, so he continued on, step by step through the puddles of water until an incredible cold gust of air hits him in the face with such strength, he could have sworn it was a basketball. The cold air leaves him pale even though his blood still runs warm. But then, he heard the noise of metal again. He knew he had to face it, but he never expected this decision to be a terrible mistake.
Awful Sound
As his feet lead the way through the darkened tunnel, his body abruptly stopped. The noise was so close his ears began to ring and screech in pain. The metal noise had turned into a hurricane of metals all clunking together, creating an awful sound.
Christopher held his head in his hands for what seemed like an eternity. Suddenly, everything stopped. The sound was muted, and he looked up. Terror filled his body with the silence more than it did with the noise, and that’s when he saw it.
Little Clearer
The chains that hung from the rock ceiling of the tunnel started swinging rhythmically as if they were dancing. Hypnotized by what he was witnessing, he couldn’t even begin to process the noise of swooshing water. As his eyes focused a little, he saw it, a cascade of water coming toward him like a tsunami.
“I must be going crazy!” Christopher thought as the brittle silence of before was inundated with the sound of moving water. His head is pounding, every cell in his body is screaming for oxygen as he gathers himself and runs toward the light, the entrance. What could he do now? He couldn’t face whatever it was in there…
Salvation
As Christopher ran out of the mine into what he believed was salvation, he looked back. Perplexed, he didn’t see any water of any kind, not even puddles in the entrance. He saw his frantic footsteps, but that was all. He began his journey back to his house.
He knew then he had to call someone who could help him with paranormal activity as he couldn’t live like this. He walked through the utter blackness of the woods until he was close enough to see his lights on in the kitchen. Had he left them on? Maybe someone was there?
Empty and Alone
He opened the door, but his home felt so empty and alone. No one had been there, he must have left the lights on before. Shuffling through his kitchen, he can’t get the thoughts of that day out of his head. “Did everything really happen?” He thought as he silently sat on his chair in his study and opened his computer up. “Was he really going to do this?” He had never believed in ghosts, or hauntings and paranormal activity, but everything that happened that day… he just couldn’t explain.
He opened his search engine again and began to type. A loud wiring noise came from the engine of the computer, and suddenly, it went black. As if it had died, there and then. In a sitting position, he looked in disbelief at the black screen. “What could possibly go wrong next”? Christopher thought as tears filled his eyes. Little did he know, this wasn’t the end of his adventure.
Tired
Christopher was tired, mentally and physically. That day had worn him out entirely. As he cupped his hands on his face, he felt a gentle pull. Without warning, something pulled at his feet. He noticed it was like he was made of metal and a magnet was pulling him towards it. He stumbled backward, falling in the process. That’s when he made the decision.
He had to get out of there as soon as possible and call someone for help, surely all this could be explained. He knew a lot of paranormal cases had been due to many toxic gases or maybe the water in the mine wasn’t flowing but was stagnant, and he hadn’t realized. Whatever it was, it had to be something. He got in his car and drove to the nearest café.
Double Espresso
As he ordered a double espresso, he pulled up his search engine on his phone. Quickly, scared that this too will break, he typed in the box: “Best Paranologist near me.” Surprised, he sees that two different places have matched with what he was looking for, and they weren’t far at all.
He got in his car and arrived at the location Google Maps sent him. Before him was a purple sign that said, “TAROT readings.” Good God, he was still in disbelief about everything that had happened that day, but he couldn’t rest soundly if he didn’t know what he was truly dealing with.
Vacated
As the door of the entrance gave off a chime song, he immediately noticed the smell of incense. A woman dressed in red and purple coverings turned to Christopher and offered her hand to him. She then immediately started chanting, something familiar Christopher had heard before. In utter paralysis, he was drawn towards it. He knew. The song that she was singing was the noise he had heard in the mine but now it was a lot more melodic. He opened his eyes and dashed out to his car.
Christopher went to his mother’s house that night and immediately put his home on the market. The real estate developers in charge of the estate tried to get hold of him, but they never heard from Christopher. Instead, his mother was selling the property on his behalf and was open to offers for anyone who was willing to purchase it. The remaining questions are: did Christopher, in fact, see something inexplicable on his property? Was the mine really haunted? And has there been someone brave enough to enter it since?