Black Mass

My roommate Lynn (not real name) and I had finished our nightly game of Yahtzee & decided we should get to bed. We both had to work in the morning and it was already midnight. I smoked the rest of my cigarette while Lynn was in the bathroom brushing her teeth.

I went to my room and got in my pj's. Lynn had her bedroom door open & was watching TV when I went into the bathroom. On my way out I called out, "Good night."

I got to my room, put my clothes in the hamper & made sure the closet door was closed tight. I was terribly afraid of closets since seeing the movie "Poltergeist" as a child. It was my habit to sleep on the side of the bed furthest from any closet.

I wasn't really very tired so I worked out a couple crossword puzzles to relax. The house was quiet & before long I was feeling drowsy. I put the puzzle book down, took off my glasses & turned off my bedside lamp. I was looking forward to a good night's sleep. I drifted to sleep rather quickly, then out again. I kept my eyes closed in the hopes that I would fall asleep again soon. As I lay there, half awake, I felt a pressure over my whole body. It was like a person was laying on top of me & I couldn't move. I started to panic, thinking maybe someone had broken into the house or something. I opened my eyes & the pressure subsided, but then I saw it. A black mass standing beside me. I pulled the blankets over my head- trying to bide some time to figure out what to do. I had two choices- shove my way through this "thing" or crawl out of bed by the closet. Neither choice seemed good to me, but I knew I had to get out of the room.

I quickly decided to skip the closet side as I threw the covers off of me. I was going to have to shove through this black mass to get out. I jumped out of my bed & ran to the door. I was about to run through it, but I paused long enough to realize that I was dizzy & confused. I shook it off, only to realize that I had been about to jump out my bedroom window, rather than run through the door.After regaining my senses I made my way out of the room. I got to the hall & looked toward Lynn's room. She was sitting up in bed with all her lights & her TV on. She looked catatonic-pale as if she'd just seen a ghost. I ran in her room and said, "What are you doing up?" Instantly my fear came back as she told me about the black mass that had awakened her. We both couldn't believe it.

We didn't get any sleep that night. Since then I have felt the pressure holding me down in bed a couple of times. I don't know why this happens, but its very frightening.