Itīs been just over ten years since these events took
place, and not until recently, and thanks to "Castle of
spirits", have I finally come to understand what in fact
might of happened to me.
During my student years I was living in a small two floor
house in the north of England. I lived alone and I had
never experienced anything strange in the house until one
cold winter morning.
I had set my alarm clock at the usual
time and I would normally have woken up to make my way to
college. However, that morning I woke up somewhat earlier.
I did not spring from my bed, I hardly ever do that, but
instead I felt conscious and aware, but did not open my
eyes. I knew where I was, what time it would probably be, I
even started thinking about the first classes I would have
that morning. Suddenly I heard the creaking of the carpeted
wooden steps that led to my bedroom from the floor below.
My initial response was to lay very still and listen, and
soon enough I felt the tension growing in my body.
Obviously someone had broken into the house and was making
his way to my bedroom. In what seemed a totally conscious
state of mind I prepared myself for the worst and clenched
my fist, ready to attack and defend myself from the
possible intruder. As you can imagine my plan was to jump
ever so suddenly from my bed, just as I felt the footsteps
coming closer, and meet the unwanted visitor face on. It
was in that precise moment, in what seemed like a split
second, that I saw a dark silhouette standing between the
half open door of my bedroom. It was almost like a flash,
as by then my eyes were wide open and the figure was no
longer there. Shaking and dissoriented, I tried to work out
what had happened. I even searched the house, with much
caution, but it was totally empty. The days passed and
slowly I began to forget about the incident, trying not to
let it overwhelm my fears. Soon after some rather strange
things ocurred in my house.
The first was the TV. One day I was in the kitchen
preparing dinner. In the background I could hear the News
at Ten, and as I was cooking my mind just drifted into
various non-important thoughts, and soon enough I made my
way back into the lounge next to the kitchen, and sat down
to watch some TV whilst having dinner. My suprise, and
sudden rise in adrenaline came as I realized I was now
watching another channel. My first reaction was to find the
remote, which was on another table. It was impossible that
I had changed channel, and I was utterly sure of having
left it on the BBC news. Not understanding what had
happened I made the effort of not giving it much more
thought and went about trying to eat my dinner. This
incident never happened again.
On another occasion I was cleaning the house and as usual I
liked to have some background music, if anything to
encourage me to finish my chores. I had recently bought a
music tape and I thought I would make a copy of the last 3
songs of the A side, which were the ones I had discovered I
most liked. I would use a compilation tape that I had
already been listening to, and where I had space somewhere
in the middle to include the 3 songs over others that I had
become bored of. I fast forward to the end of the third
song and pressed record on the recordable tape deck. I
returned to my duties with the last 3 songs playing in the
background. For the next few days Iīd listen to it a couple
of times, until one day whilst on the bus listening to the
tape on my walkman, I suddenly realised that something
seemed odd. I had recorded songs 4,5 and 6 in the order
that was in the original tape, but at the time and
especially when I arrived home I realised that they had
been recorded as 6,4 and 5. This is totally impossible as
one tape deck plays and the other records, and in no moment
did I stop and fiddle with the recording. It took me a
couple of days to find out as I wasnīt entirely familiar
with the order of the tracks on the album, but clearly they
had been taped in the wrong order. I immediately called a
close friend and explained what had happened, making him
listen to the original tape and the songs on the
compilation. He knows me since we were kids and knew I
wasnīt trying to play a silly trick on him. He initially
didnīt understand what I was fussing about, but when he
finally realised he didnīt want me to continue speaking
about it and advised me to get rid off the tape. Over the
years I lost the tape, and I still canīt understand what
happened.
The final incident is perhaps less strange but still
dubious. Some time after the before mentioned incidents, I
happened to come across a cat that seemed to always be
hanging around my back garden. As Iīm somewhat fond of
these furry animals and he clearly seemed to be a stray, I
took it upon myself to adopt him. He quickly settled in and
during the first two or three weeks everything was fine. He
was a sweet cat, playful and tender and I was really glad
to have adopted him. Then soon after he started acting very
strangely. The first time I noticed him staring at the
ceilings I totally ignored it as I imagined it was normal
cat behavior. However, everyday that passed it got worse.
From then on I would almost always find him in the lounge,
under a chair, staring at an area of the ceiling. This
would happen for a long period of time, and although I was
tempted to take him to a vet and find out what could be the
problem, I was soon to leave the city to continue my
studies in another University. I finally left the cat in
the capable hands of some nearby neighbours. Although this
behavior is probably normal in some cats, I must admit it
helped to make me feel altogether uncomfortable with that
house.
For many years this story has rested in the back of my
mind, occasionally I would tell it to friends, especially
those avid of a "scary story", but over the years I seem to
have become sceptic about these issues. The first incident
about the black shadow was the one that has most disturbed
me, as Iīve had similar experiences, but browsing
through "Castle of spirits" I have finally come across a
coherent explanation: Sleep Paralysis. I intend to do some
research on the subject as it might explain other
frightening experiences Iīve had. As for the TV, the tape
and the cat, I still donīt know what might of caused them,
but I guess that was such a long time ago that Iīll just
keep it as curious memory.
Contact me here: trymaxwell@hotmail.com
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