Mark and Rick told the family to shut the living room door and wait for them to return.
Slowly, the two officers ascended the stairs toward the second floor.

"Now, before I go on," Mark said, "I want to tell you that I don’t believe in this supernatural stuff. Never did anyway. But as we moved up the steps, we both heard banging and it sounded like a gang was up there smashing up the place."

But as soon as Mark, who was in the lead, stepped on the second-floor hall landing, the noise stopped. Suddenly and totally.

"It was if it just disappeared," Mark said, sipping his coffee and shaking his head.

He said both he and Rick checked every room together, looked in the closets, shined their flashlights under the beds.

"We even pulled back the shower curtain and then made sure all the windows were locked and secure. I tell you, nobody and nothing was up there."

As they started to return downstairs, the noise started up again. This time it was coming from the third floor, and it was just as loud as before.

"We looked at each other, drew our weapons," said Mark, "and I nodded in the direction of the stairs to the third floor. We went up, slowly, approaching the latest noise that was going full force.

"I swear, I was sure we were going to find at least three or four guys up there tearing hell outta the place. And just like before, as son as I put my foot on the third floor hallway, the noise stopped, totally."

Mark and Rick checked every room, even though most were empty of furniture. All the windows were locked. Again, nothing was found in any of the closets or rooms.

"Thinking back now," Mark said, "I remember thinking one thing was really strange. In the largest, practically empty room, there was this single chair. It had curved arms, a bright red seat and carving on the back, like birds’ or angels’ wings. It was sitting by itself, all alone, way off in a corner. It was really far away from the door.

"When I looked in that room, it just seemed odd, almost as if the chair was staring at me. I remember thinking that exact thought at the time, then I laughed to myself and put it out of my mind and shut the door, slamming it shut and hearing the latch catch."

Not finding or hearing anything else, Mark began descending the steps to the second floor and Rick fell in behind. They had holstered their weapons and neither was talking. Mark said they were listening in case the disturbance started up again.

When they got to the second floor landing it was still completely quiet.

"When we get halfway down the steps, between the second and first floor," Mark said, "we hear this sound, like something is falling over itself and heading down, in our direction. It was getting louder, sounding sort of like a person was falling down the steps. But it wasn’t a person hitting the steps, it was more like wood crashing against wood. And it was getting closer.

"We looked up and couldn’t see anything," Mark said, then he paused, looked across the booth of the diner and whispered to me, "I tell ya, I was scared by now and rather than go up, I told Rick we’re going down. So I continued walking toward the first floor.

"The next thing I knew, Rick was falling on top of my back and knocking me down. And I’m face down and flat on my chest and something is flying over my body, heading down, for the main floor hallway."

When mark and Rick pulled themselves up, the chair, the solitary chair that Mark has seen in the large room on the third floor, was sitting, facing him at the foot of the stairs.

"I know this may sound crazy now," Mark said, "But we both drew our weapons and slowly headed toward the chair. I was going to blast the hell outta it if it moved again.

"I yelled for the family to stay inside and not come out, and they didn’t." Mark let out a short laugh, "I didn’t have to tell them to stay put twice."

The two officers grabbed the chair, lifted it up, looked underneath and moved it around. There was no explanation for what had occurred.

"We tied the chair to the banister with clothes line," said Mark, "and we went upstairs and checked the whole building again.

"There were no drop ceilings where someone could hide, no way anyone could have gotten in and fooled us. It was just us and the chair.

"But I remember shutting the third floor door tightly," Mark said. That chair couldn’t get out on its own. Someone, something or some force had to help it get loose."