Sonia De Benedictis, 52, from Ryde, NSW shares her creepy true life story:
I held the new key in my hand, smiling.
Me and my three kids, Jacques, three, Adrian, five and Laura, six, had just arrived at our new place in Glebe in Sydney’s inner-west.
Although it wasn’t far from our previous home in Ashfield, it felt as though we were two worlds away.
The two-storey brick house looked so homely.
Inside, the kids ran through the open-plan rooms filled with sunshine, shouting in excitement.
“Mum, I’m so glad we never have to go back to Ashfield,” Laura said.
Just thinking about our old home gave us all the heebie-jeebies.
For years, we’d been living with an angry ghost that refused to leave us alone.
Once I’d seen a glass panel drop suddenly out of the kitchen cupboard, smashing to pieces.
Another time, a painting went flying across the room.
Then my jewellery went missing and never turned up.
We were so excited for a fresh start.
My kids were so terrified that I even called in a ghostbuster to try and remove the white figure who would strut around the house as if they owned it.
Not even the professionals could help me.
“I can feel a bad presence here,” the ghostbuster whispered.
“This ghost will follow you wherever you go!”
As soon as we were in Glebe, I felt relieved.
This place is perfect, I thought.
The kids had a yard to play in and the house was light, airy and close to the city.
But after a year of everything going smoothly, alarm bells started to ring when my partner, James, couldn’t find his car keys.
“I put them on the kitchen table,” he said. “Where could they have gone?”
The two of us worked cleaning and managing properties, so we were used to searching for lost items.
The keys were the first sign that the ghost was back.
The ghost had followed us!
Eventually, I spotted them in my sewing kit in a different room.
“How the hell did they get there?” James asked.
Suddenly, I remembered what the ghostbuster had said: it will follow you wherever you go…
It wasn’t long before my suspicions were confirmed.
One night, James and I heard the front door opening.
“Who is that?” I asked.
My kids were all asleep, tucked in their beds upstairs.
We turned and saw what looked like a young boy wearing a French beret and a striped shirt.
James and I froze to the spot, too shocked to move.
For five seconds, the boy just stood in the hallway, just glaring at us.
Then, in a flash, he was gone.
Soon afterwards, Laura, 11, was terrified when she saw a table move by itself.
The poor thing was so upset she went to live with my mum.
Even our dog Bindy seemed edgy and nervous.
The stress of living with a ghost all over again pushed me to my limits.
In the end, me, James and the kids moved to a new home in Ryde, 30 minutes away.
For seven lucky years, life was like a dream, but then suddenly things started to go missing again.
One night, a painting landed on the floor of Adrian’s bedroom, narrowly missing his head.
All of us could feel that someone was there, watching over us and ready to strike when we weren’t expecting it.
I’m cursed, I thought. Why is this happening to us?
What’s worse, James and I had begun to bicker more often.
These ghosts were now at risk of ruining our relationship.
Things only got worse.
At night, a ghost would shake the bottom of our bed.
We were terrified.
Even our dog Bindy seemed edgy and nervous.
But just when it felt like there was no hope, I saw Take 5‘s competition to win an exorcism performed by Take 5 psychic, Sharina.
I shared my story and was thrilled to be chosen as the winner.
As soon as Sharina walked through the door, her face drained of colour.
“I feel physically sick,” she gasped.
Want to find out what happened next? Listen to the latest episode of Take 5’s Ripper Real Life Podcast!
