From: ELMERFUDDW@aol.com
To: obiwan@ghosts.org
Subject: Local Legend: Saint Mary's of Ellicott City, Maryland
Date: Thursday, February 20, 2003 6:12 PM
Location: Ellicott City, Maryland, USA
We have all heard stories about haunted places and ghost stories that are so outrageous yet you find yourself wanting to find out more. That was the case for a few good friends and myself. Last winter, the week after Christmas, we planned to investigate this local "legend." The story goes like this: In a small storybook town called Old Ellicott City there once was a small private all-girls catholic college by the name of St. Marys. It was located at the summit of a hilltop under the cover of trees and thickets. The legend states that the nuns or professors, whichever comes first, started dipping into satanic worship and rituals. The layout of the campus was just one large four story building including a green house on the side and quarters for the grounds keeper. Inside the building housed the dormitories for the ladies as well as the classrooms and the monastery. The dorms were supposedly the place where the legend is based. After participating in these satanic rituals, the nuns were taken over by the demon world and as a group headed towards the dorms. They started on ground level and worked their way up the stairs to each of the girls rooms. What happened next was sort of a gray area. Some say that the girls were all massacred, one by one, in their sleep as part of a ritual killing. Others say that they were rounded up together in the top floor dorm being forced to watch as each of the girls were massacred. Then as a part of the ritual the nuns committed suicide together....
So there we were, my 3 friends, Ryan, Alex, Mikey and I piling into Ryan's ford bronco with a snowplow on the front at about 11:30pm on a Sunday. We were so stoked and ready for anything. I mean, we were all dressed up in our war-games best with camouflage pants, black sweaters or hoodies, black cotton jogging-masks, the ones that make you look like Spiderman, jungle-boos, and of course flashlights. Our adrenaline was pumping and we were excited as he!!...until we got to the base of the hill and parked in front of the road gate that led up a winding path to the campus. My friend Alex just then started having second thoughts. He said "I don't know if I can do this fellas.." That was just the beginning of our doubts.
There are two easy ways to get to the top of the hill. The first way was to jump the road block gate and head up the winding path, the other way was to go around to the other side and climb a very steep staircase that went up the entire hillside. We chose to take on the stairs. It would have been an O.K. decision except for all of the fresh snow on the ground. The steps were hard enough to traverse standing straight up, let alone with snow on the ground. We didn't really think about it and started up the steps. I decided to go up first followed by Alex, then Ryan, and Mikey was last. We all agreed beforehand that if we see or hear anything we give a good tug on the shirt of the person in front of you to signal to stop. I started up the steps, crawling and looking down to place my feet as not to slip on the ice. Just then I felt a hard tug and almost lost my balance. I looked back and saw Ryan and Mikey climbing down the steps in a hurry. I looked at Alex and before I could say anything, he pointed up towards the top of the steps. My heart pounded in my chest as I slowly turned my head around. There before us was a figure of a man standing at the top of the steps looking dead at us. The only light around was from the moon cascading through the treetops. The figure slowly turned to his left and walked away. Without hesitating, Alex and I quickly turned back and slid down the steps, tumbling to the bottom. By the time we got to the bottom Ryan and Mikey were already halfway to the bronco.
When we got to the truck we sped away towards the Citgo gas stop, which was the only thing open that late in Old Ellicott City. We couldn't stop talking about what we all seen. "What the F*** was that??" said Mikey. It was definitely a man, but why was he just standing there looking at us, and why didn't he have a light, or how long was he standing there before we noticed?....
After trying to pull ourselves together, we made it our mission to find out who or what that was. "I'm not leaving until we do this..." I said with a stern voice. We decided to go back for round 2. At this point the best thing we could do was to back the bronco up to the gate blocked road so we could bail out in a hurry. We parked the bronco and made our way up the winding road towards the campus. I think we should have done this in the first place. As soon as we got past the trees we could see the silhouette of the main building against the moonlight. It sent chills down our spines. We hadn't realized how big the building was. We stealthily led our way around to the right side of the building near the grounds keeper quarters. To our dismay we found out that someone set the building on fire, either out of hatred or plain stupidity. All that was left were the walls and broken staircases. We hopped through one of the groundfloor windows and stood in the middle of the room beside the fireplace opening. All that went through my mind was a bunch of what ifs, like what if I see a ghost or what if we get chased by something or what if something happens to me....we made our way down the burned hallway towards what was left of the monastery. The pews were all broken up and burned leaving a faint smell of insense which was a little settling. Mikey walked underneath the bell tower and said "the bell is gone," it was probably one of the last things taken for historical sake. I turned towards Alex and his face turned pale white. "What's wrong?" I asked and he said "my frickin stomach hurts." I told him that he should have stayed at the truck but he didn't want to be alone.
Ryan ran down the hall towards us in the monastery telling everyone "SHUT-UP, SHUT-UP AND LISTEN!!" We all got quiet and listened. What scared Ryan so much? Just then I heard faint laughter. It sounded like a girls laugh. It grew louder and louder as if it were getting closer. It was definitely coming from dorms down the hall. Whatever it was seemed to have followed Ryan. Even now the hair stands up on the back of my neck just thinking about it. We backed ourselves to the opposite side of the monastery shining our flashlights down the hallway, kind of hoping to see something happen. The laughter stopped and we quickly turned towards one of the chapel windows and ducked out. We were all climbing over eachother as to not be the last one standing in the chapel. I fell on top of Ryan and Alex and Mikey fell on top of me in the snow. We all looked up and flashed our lights on the greenhouse, with all of the glass broken out leaving a skeletal structure full of dirt and old vines from past botanical projects overgrown. We all ran as fast as we could, slipping and sliding in the snow towards the greenhouse. We all ducked behind the shed on the side of the greenhouse structure and looked back at the monastery. "What'd ya see Ryan??" I asked. "I didn't see nothing, I just heard the laughing and got the he!! outa there..." Whatever it was, we all heard it. There were no lights or sign of people moving through the dark monastery.
It just then struck me of the fact that there was no sign of the man at the top of the staircase. I told everyone that I wanted to go look for footprints in the snow or any sign of someone standing at the top of the steps. We decided to split up into 2 groups. Ryan and I decided to go check for footprints while Alex and Mikey decided to go check out the greenhouse. With my trusty mag-lite in hand I led the way, with Ryan close behind, through the path in the woods towards the staircase on the hill. Neither of us spoke one word to eachother on the way down. As soon as we got there, it was evident that someone or something was standing there. I looked down and saw prints leading from the top of the steps towards the trees and vanishing into the thickets. "That's crazy man..." I said "who would be up here hanging around this place in the frickin dark?" There was no way that anyone could have made it through the brush, it was to thick and full of thorns. There was no sign of entry either. It was as if whomever it was just vanished at the tree line. The whole we were standing there, Ryan was just silent. He then spoke something I would always remember. He said "I have a feeling someone is watching us...." I turned towards him and pointed to the path. We then quickly walked down the dirt path back towards the campus. At about 2/3 the way down the path I heard chapel bells ringing. I looked at Ryan and I knew right away that he heard them as well. I look at my watch and turned on the backlight, it was 1:25am. "OH,SH**!!" said Ryan. Ryan didn't hesitate and took off, I chased right after him back to the greenhouse. Ryan kept on saying "OH,SH**.....OH,SH**!!!" over and over. As soon as we got to the end of the path we saw Alex and Mikey running by towards the roadway down the hillside. "Where the F*** is that bell comin from?!" shouted Alex. "Lets just get the he!! outta here!!" I said. We quickly ran down the road to the bronco and peeled out. The whole way back to Ryan's house we were shouting and yelling "what the f***," "I told you I had a bad feelin about dis", "Damn, that was some crazy Sh**".....We got back to Ryan's and promised not to tell anyone about this. We figured that nobody would believe us anyway. I have only told my girlfriend and my brother, and both of them think that I am just full of it. The old Saint Mary's campus in old Ellicott City is certified and registered as an official haunted spot in the state of Maryland. Well, right now Mikey, Ryan, and I, not to mention a few newcomers, are trying to go back up there. I have to go back, its an experience and adrenaline rush like no other.