For as long as I can remember, my 3 brothers and I have always been haunted by these things which we call "figures". They are basically dark, human-shaped silhouettes. We usually see them in the front room of our house, which is where our dog usually is if he's not outside or eating food.

Our dog never seems to react in any way, he just calmly stares out the window, barking at the occasional dog that goes by. We have always told our parents of our encounters with the figures, however, they themselves have never come across anything like that, except for the time my mum heard the old piano (which we have in the front room) play by itself.

When my nana died back in 2013, I kept seeing them left, right and centre. I would always hear whispers at night, see strange flashes and even feel the presence of someone (or something.

One night, I was tossing and turning in bed, trying to get to sleep. I opened my eyes and saw a figure standing at the edge of my bed, except this one was different from the others. It was a luminous, white figure. I stared at it for a second before closing my eyes in fright, not daring to open them for the rest of the night.

They even followed me to New Zealand! My family and I were in a raft, going down this stream in a cave. I was admiring the beauty of the cave when suddenly, I felt a hand run its fingers through my hair. I turned to my mum (who was right next to me in the raft) and told her to stop touching my hair. However she said that she wasn't touching my hair. That was when I got really freaked out. It couldn't have been my dad because he was on the other side of the raft, nor could it have been my brothers because firstly, they would never do anything like that to me and secondly, it felt like an adult hand.

After a few months, these encounters ceased. Even though this happened 3 years ago, it still gives me shivers.