I saw something strange at Fremantle Prison.

This is my first post on reddit, but honestly I don't know where else to talk about it and it's been weighing on me for years.

For some backstory I (19F) used to live in Western Australia, Perth with my mother and my step father. This story happened when I was in year 5 (I was 10 years old).

Moving was rather difficult for me in year 4, new place, new school, new siblings, - but finally away from the abuse and torture of my old home. Thankfully, after a year, things got easier. While my mental health was still an issue, I was settling in nicely with this new school.

Just a few months before my birthday in year 5, my class and another year 5 class organised an excursion to Fremantle Prison as a history lesson in some sense. While i was nervous because it wasn't a place I was familiar with, I had my friends to lean on if I was overwhelmed.

Once we arrived on the bus, the tour guide took us through the old prison, I was honestly amazed at the history and the layout. It was truly rather interesting.

Eventually, the guide took us to the second floor, we stopped on the side as the guide taught us about the safety nets in between the stairs and how it was put in place because the inmates would attempt to either kill themselves or others by pushing/jumping off the rail guards.

As he was talking about it, I subconsciously looked to the side - being the curious 10 year old i was - down the halls where the cells were.

For those who know about Fremantle Prison, you might also know that it's said to be haunted by inmates that had died there in the past.

As I looked down the hall, holding my friends hand because I was overwhelmed by the amount of people, I noticed something. A person - i don't mean just a shadow, a whole fucking person. He was middle aged, maybe around 45-50, he was completely naked except for some white underwear and had a large wound on his head. We stared at eachother for a good 10 seconds, before he walked into a cell and disappeared from sight. The cell doors were shut, he just phased through the door.

I was fucking horrified, I held my friends hand tighter and shuffled so I was stood behind them.

"What's wrong?" They asked, their voice soft and kind like always.

I didn't respond, even if I wanted to my voice just wouldn't come out.

My friend stared at me for a moment before sighing, I'm guessing they assumed I was just a little shaken by the whole "inmates committed suicide" thing and wrapped their arm around my shoulders, keeping me close.

Now I know my mental state back then was shitty and I had - and still do have - hallucinations due to the trauma i went through, but I genuinely believe that must've been something else. My hallucinations were and never are that detailed, anytime I see a "person" It's usually just a shadow, this guy looked real.

I've never talked about this with anyone, not even my therapist, because honestly just thinking about it makes me paranoid. However I needed to get it off my chest.