What's she trying to protect me from?

The first experience I had was when I was about 8 yrs old. I was usually the first one home and was alone for about 15 minutes before my brother and sister got home. I had a ritual of coming in the back door and letting my dog outside to go to the bathroom, then I went to the bathroom. I did this every day. Everything was just as it normally was until one day I let my dog out, I went to the bathroom and when I came back out my dog was back in the house in a corner and the back door was shut locked and chained and no one else was home. We also had stairs in the basement that led to the ceiling but there was no door there. Occasionally I heard someone walking up and down those stairs. I spoke with someone who is into the paranormal about that incident and they informed me that a young woman had died relatively close to my house by her mother's boyfriend and that they were trying to protect me. I was not scared by any of this, but still cannot explain what she was trying to protect me from.

Submitted from: Mindy, Missouri