97 jetta alarm not arming

hey ya'll, my stupid alarm on my JIII isn't arming, I turn the key and the arm light goes on, but I don't get the horn letting me know it's armed. If i open a door while the light is on and the horn hasn't gone off, the alam doesn't go off, the armed light keeps blinking. I know that my door sensors are ok, I've tested all that to see if the lights go off for sure when the doors are open, etc. etc.

Anyone have thoughts? I've tried opening/closing all my doors and trunk a bunch, fiddling with the door sensors, I think that the issue is that something is making the alarm think a door is still open. I have the feeling the culprit is my trunk, as I have to find that "right spot" to close it sometimes, otherwise it just sits unclosed. I also have to change my damper arms for the trunk, they're totally shot, but I doubt that the pressure they add could be adding to my problem. It had not been arming itself for a few days, then it randomly started to again, and today when I came into work, I got something out of my trunk and closed it, turned my key and my alarm didn't arm. Opened and closed the trunk, and the alarm armed itself. Now it's not again.. its' driving me nuts! I thought it could be the Alarm Control Unit, but now I think it is a sensor in the trunk. I have seen on other forums that there is a sensor you can remove in the trunk that tells the car when it's closed, but all I see is a large black box behind the latching part of the trunk that controls the unlatch from inside the car. Does anyone know what I should be looking for?

Also I should mention that even when I close the trunk and the alarm doesn't arm, the cluster does not show that the trunk is open, and i know that that light on my cluster works.

Thanks everyone.