My Strange Experience #7

I was visiting my sister's house. My sleeping quarters was in the basement. My sister's bedroom was immediately above my bedroom and her daughter's bedroom was right next to hers. My sister's husband was on an out-of-town job. The first night I was so tired from my drive that I immediately fell asleep, even though I noticed how dark it was down there in the basement. It was pitch black dark. I mean is was pitch black. No light at all down there. I could not even see the outline of the door or anything at all from the window up near the ceiling. On the second night we all went to bed around midnight. About ten minutes later, as I was drifting off to sleep, I suddenly heard a cackling sound that seemed to come from off in the distance. It sounded like a bunch of witches that you would hear in a horror movie. I immediately assumed my sister was watching TV in her bedroom. I was drifting back to sleep when I heard the cackling again. I got out of bed and walked to the stairs that led upstairs. Pitch black. I crept up to the top of the stairs listening. The house was completely dark and silent. Neither my sister or her daughter was watching TV. The next morning I asked my sister if anyone lived in the house next door. She said no, it had been vacant for several months. I asked her if she'd heard any strange noises after we had gone to bed. She said no. My niece thought she'd heard some dogs after going to bed.