Stalking The Shadows

I've had several experiences with strange happenings and the unexplained over the years. And I've come to the conclusion that our minds protect us from the unknown. We block out memories that we don't accept at the time, and years later they pop up again. Incredibly this memory came back to me after reading about someone else's experience with shadows. So here is something that happened to me almost 20 years ago that has come back to memory.

I was about 9 years old, we lived in New Jersey back then and I spent most of my time inside since it wasn't one of the best neighborhoods. At that time in my life I was having a lot of problems going to sleep at night, mostly on account that my parents would leave all the lights in our apartment off at night.

Pitch black is the best way to describe the summer vacation nights in that old apartment, with very little light coming in from the street lamps. I remember that I would wake up late at night with some strange but distant noises. I thought it was only my imagination since it didn't bother my younger brother, who shared my room, but still I had a feeling someone was there in the dark.

Weeks went by and every night I would either wake up with some kind of noise, or a cold feeling, or with strange nightmares that would force me to wake up. I never told my parents since they were die hard non-believers in the supernatural, which would have made me look insane or an exaggerated liar. So I tried different methods to deal with it including; watching TV late at night, pillow over my head, and exhausting myself so not to wake up. But non-of it was the answer. So I did what I did best at that time, learned to adapt and survive to the surroundings.

If I had learned to avoid gangs of bullies, drug dealers and all-out-guys who for no reason wanted to pound me... I could learn to avoid these things that were happening at night. So I decided not to be pushed around in my own room and use the best weapon I had their, ?The Dark?. So I would wake up between 12 to 2 a.m. at night and learned every hiding place there was. After a few nights I had the whole area mapped in my head, I knew every hiding place in all the rooms, the closets, the kitchen and bathroom.

So I lay in wait one night in a corner to see what I could see. And then they came, I was surprised but I never felt fear (pretty strange for a 9 y/o not being afraid of the dark). I could just barely make out shapes in the shadows, they weren't that large but still it was impressive. Some of the shadows actually looked like part dog shaped, others seamed like lizards, and some were just formless shadows moving. They weren't too many, five at the most, but were all moving around the apartment. I stayed in that corner for almost an hour until they left.

The next night I decided to fight back, where I got the courage to do that I don't know. So I stayed hiding again the following night until they came. When I saw them I decided to do something most people wouldn't even think of doing, I decided to sneak up on them. So I moved through the dark and got behind one of them and just ask "Could you get out please"? Amazingly it turned around as if it were looking at me. It scattered across the room but all I could find to say was, "I'm not impressed now leave." This happened a few more nights until the activity seemed to stop.

But about a week later I had woken up at about 2 a.m. and felt the need to slide very quietly out of my bed and hide in a corner, which I did as quickly as possible. Then I saw "him," whoever that was. He was human form but completely dark like the other shadows. The only thing I could make out is that he had a hat, but nothing else. He walked to the edge of my bed and bent over looking for me. Again I felt no fear and figured he would go away like the rest so I said out loud, "Get away from my bed." He turned his head to me and then just vanished.

The next night I had awoken at the same time with the same feeling, again I slid slowly out of my bed but decided to hide under the table in the kitchen, since with the door open I had a good view of my room from there. Again the shadow man showed up, first he went to look in the corner where I had hidden the night before and then went to my bed to look for me. This time I had decided to play the stalker. I had come out of my hiding place and sat down in the doorway of my room with my legs and arms crossed. Then I let out a low-level chuckle and waited for him to turn around again. He again disappeared but I still felt his presence, so I gave out my message, "Stop trying, this is my room. You can never find me here, but I can always find you. Leave and don't come back ?cause I don't fear you.". I believe he left soon after I said that. After that night I never got that feeling again, I had no problems sleeping at night. School started again and my nights were very calm.

But like I said over the years I had forgotten about those nights. I never told anyone about it, but I never felt afraid in the dark after that either. I guess that sometimes courage is the best weapon against these things.