Episode Recap: Ashes to Ashes

Amanda's childhood in Whittier, California had been full of trips to her grandmother's house down the street. Her grandmother was warm and nurturing, and Amanda loved her dearly.

When Amanda met Chris in 2008, she knew it was love. Unfortunately, their happiness was cut short when Amanda's grandmother had a massive stroke. Amanda's family knew she needed 24-hour care that they were not able to provide, so she was placed into a hospice facility. Chris and Amanda looked in on her as often as possible.

One day, Amanda's grandmother was feeling blue and asked if she could have her favorite blanket that her husband had given her. Chris made the drive back to the house to fetch it.

Chris found the old house full of antiques somewhat creepy in the darkness. As he walked through the house to the bedroom, he got the strangest feeling that someone was following him. He tried to shrug it off as just his imagination, but the sense that he was not alone did not go away. Chris had been working in security for almost a decade and knew it was hard to creep him out; however, Amanda's grandmother's house that night had creeped him out.

When Amanda's grandmother passed away, Amanda was devastated. It took time, but Amanda and Chris eventually got married and had a daughter, Amelia. They believed that it made sense for their budding family to move into Amanda's grandmother's old house; it was the size they were looking for, and the warmth and familiar comfort made for quite the bonus.

Chris and Amanda went through Amanda's grandmother's old things. What they couldn't sort through they put in a couple of boxes and put them in a closet in the den. Pictures of past generations of both of their families went up in the hallway.

A few days after they had moved in, Amanda was shocked by what she saw on the monitor to Amelia's room. Chris was troubled by the fact that he could not see who she was talking to, but it was obvious that Amelia was sitting up in bed and having a conversation with someone. As Chris listened, he could hear a barely audible woman's voice.

Concerned that someone had broken into the house, they went to investigate. Chris checked the windows as Amelia would only tell her mother that she had been speaking to "her friend." They found nothing, but Amanda kept one watchful eye on that monitor going forward.

On another night, while Chris was at work, Amanda was getting ready for bed and taking out her contacts when she heard a light knock at the bathroom door that soon turned into a hard pounding. She opened the bathroom door, but without her contacts, everything was a blur. Amanda didn't see any indication of someone else in the house, and Amelia looked comfortable and peacefully asleep.

Suddenly, Amanda was startled by something that sounded like footsteps on the roof of the house. Worried that someone was trying to break in, she called Chris at work. Chris came home and investigated but found no sign that anyone had attempted to break in.

One evening as the family enjoyed a barbecue in the back yard, Chris caught sight of something inside the house. Chris told Amanda to keep Amelia outside while he checked. He took his gun from the locked safe and began checking the house. He wasn't able to shake the feeling that something was on his heels, but nobody was there.

Later that evening after Chris had left for work, Amanda was finishing up the dishes when she heard something tapping on the window. It began as a simple finger tapping but then turned into something more sinister, like scratching. As Amanda stepped away from the kitchen sink to look, she heard the living room door slam shut. As she reluctantly went to check on the door, one door after another in the house sounded as though it was slamming shut as well ... however, not a single door moved.

Amanda later told Chris that she couldn't help but wonder if they had done something to cause her grandmother's spirit to still be in the house. Chris wasn't convinced ... until the sound of breaking glass brought him to the hallway. There, he found one of the family photos had been dropped onto a picture of Amanda's grandmother. The nail was still good; the picture would've had to have been lifted off the nail in order to drop in such a manner.

After his boss expressed concern for his increasingly distracted state at work, Chris told him about the things that had been going on in the house. Chris' boss surprised him by saying that his wife, Lisa, was a psychic. While Chris had never lent much credence to psychics in the past, he hoped that this might alleviate Amanda's fears.

When Lisa arrived at the house, she immediately felt the history and could sense the family connection. Lisa was drawn to Amelia's bed and pointed to a spot in Amelia's room, asking if Amelia had spoken to anyone standing there. Amanda was floored: it was precisely the spot where whoever Amelia had been speaking to that night would've been standing. Lisa assured Amanda that the presence was kind and gentle and that the spirit was protecting the little girl.

When Lisa turned to leave the room, Amanda's heart stopped as she heard Lisa whisper the words "sugar pie." Amanda’s grandmother had used that phrase to refer to Amanda.

While Amanda was still trying to adjust to the idea of her grandmother acting as a guardian angel for them, Lisa walked into the den, where she soon got an overwhelming, horrible feeling. Something aggressive was yelling and screaming at her. Something was trapped and attempting to claw out the side of a box. She looked at Amanda and Chris and informed them that they had human remains inside the den closet.

Chris pulled out box after box until Lisa identified the one that gave her the sensations. Chris pulled out a wooden box with Amanda's great-aunt Almarie's name on it, which contained the urn of Almarie's ashes.

Amanda's grandmother had had a twin sister, Almarie. After her husband died, Almarie had come from Las Vegas back to Whittier to live with Amanda's grandmother. Almarie was a stern, difficult person and made Amanda's grandmother’s life miserable until she passed away a few months later. Lisa told Amanda and Chris that Almarie blamed them for her being stuck in that wooden box ... and they had to get it out of the house or the troubles would continue.

Chris and Amanda decided to put the ashes in the garage overnight and would determine what to do with them the next day. However, Almarie wasn't going to give them that much time ...

That night, as Chris was at work, Amanda heard the fingers tapping on the window again. Soon, red fingernails just like her great-aunt's clawed at the window. Amanda ran to the phone to call Chris, but during the call the phone line cut out.

Amanda then heard the door shut behind her in the den. When she looked out the den window on the patio, she saw the deathly figure of her great-aunt climbing onto the roof over Amelia's room! Amelia started to cry for her mother, but Amanda couldn't get out of the den; the door wouldn't budge.

Finally, Amanda heard footsteps coming toward her: it was Chris, finally home.

When they were sure Amelia was safe, Chris and Amanda decided that they couldn't wait until the next day. They grabbed the box and, remembering that Almarie was always happiest near a casino, went to the nearest one and scattered her ashes to the wind. They felt the departure of her malevolent presence immediately.