October 2009 Archives
Spooked
I have been in some pretty crazy situations the past few years. From being pushed, to rocks getting thrown at me, to hearinng disembodied voices in a reformed sanitarium – I have pretty much encounterd it al when it comes to paranormal activiy. Nothing phases me anymore. Most times I am just happy something has happened. Because for every case paranormal activity does happen there are plenty more where I have sat in a room trying not to fall asleep. You know what I am talking about.
So, last night my reaction to what happend probably surprised me more that it did anyone else. Even through everything that I have experienced in my years of paranormal investigating it seems that I still occassionally get a case of the jitters. My boyfriend wasn’t sure whether to laugh at me or support me. Probably both.
Last night around 1 a.m. I was getting ready for bed. I turned off my computer, went to the bathroom, brushed my teeth and got into my jammies. I said goodnight to the boyfriend who was on his computer messing around with the CSS for my new personal website (coming soon.) He barely looked up to say goodnight as he is just that much of a techno geek and I headed into the bedroom to lay down for the night.
I laid down in my bed and five minutes went by. I realized I was still kind of awake. So, I debated in my head whether or not I should get up and do something or if I should try and bore myself to sleep. Looking over at my window I noticed that the the wood blinds are totally shut.
Now, the blinds that I have are strange. They look old-fashioned. I guess they would be considered wooden window shutters than blinds. They zig-zag like an according with a metal latch that closes them. You don’t have to use the latch to keep them shut. So, I don’t.
I like to keep the blinds open at night because they look out into a big green lawn of nothing and the light in the morning helps me wake up. If I close the blinds my room is a super dark cave and it’s very hard to start the day. I would rather sleep it away. I love me some sleep.
There is a point to my blind/shutter habits. So, I am wide-awake and wondering if I should get out of bed or stay there. The warmth of my duvet pretty much made the choice for me. However, like previously stated, I did notice that the window shutters were closed. For a moment, I thought that I should get up and open them to make sure that I woke up next day, but laziness prevailed and I decided to try and fall asleep instead of worrying about waking up. Cover warmth is an awesome seductress.
A few minutes went by. The only light came from the boyfriend’s computer streaming from the living room down the hallway. Part of me was zoning out while my mind was going over the days events. I noticed that the hallway closet was open. Not a big deal. I don’t have a problem with closet monsters.
However, I do have a problem with a six foot dark silhouette standing in the hallway staring at me. Creeped out, I sat up and gave a good look. The shadow was gone but the “air” in the room had changed. There was a heavy feeling that I can only associate with paranormal activity. Anyone who has ever been in a haunted house knows what I am describing. It’s like the whole room was under water and it was hard to breathe.
Nervous, I felt the need to go back into the living room. The boyfriend was now playing some archaic video game from the 80s. He likes to do stuff like that when I am not around. I plopped myself down on the couch and he inquired what I was doing up. I told him there was a tall, six foot, male ghost with shoulder-length scraggly hair in the bedroom. His name was George and he said he was there to protect me. I thought he was lying.
Nonplussed, he just looked at me. This was not a big deal in my household. Seeing and talking to the dead people is on the list of things I do. He looked at me confused. Unsure of my easiness. I told him that the room got heavy and it creeped me out. He laughed it off as we were both big, bad-ass, non-afraid paranormal investigators. He figured I probably drank the Kool-Aid. I explained that I was going to sleep on the couch until the weird feeling went away. He resumed his video game play.
Twenty minutes or so must have gone by. With the presence of my boyfriend and his annoyingly cheerful video game I dozed off into a light sleep. The couch is not the most comfortable pieces of furniture and I longed for the snuggly feeling of my duvet. Sensing the house, I decided that the heavy feeling was gone and the room was safe.
Curious, my boyfriend went with me into the bedroom. Mind you, he wasn’t there to protect me. Probably more there to mock me and to see if he could figure out why I had been so spooked. And then to mock me more when he realized it was nothing. I mean, I would have done the same thing. That’s love for ya.
I walked to the bedroom and tentatively went inside. The weird, creepy feeling had gone away. Relieved I headed for my bed ready for sleep. Until, I noticed the window shutters. Both sides were wide-open. Not just a little bit open with wiiiiiiide open.
Now occassionally the wind rushes through the house. Big Arizona desert winds. On those occassions my right shutter does open a spell. Not much. It just kind of sways back and forth until the wind stops. The right shutter never opens though. Never. It’s the way the window is set. There is a wall butt-up against my apartment and it keeps the air flow from that side of the window. Actually, it keeps the air flow from becomig to menacing. We never get the full affect of those big, desert winds, thankfully.
I think what creeped me out more was that my boyfriend noticed that the windows shutters were open. He stared at them with consternation. Stupidly, I asked him if he had opened them while I was sleeping.
Obviously, he answerd with a big negatory. He said he never left the living room or his computer. I knew this to be true because the video game music was the background for my nap on the couch. He had to have been playing the game for the music to be blaring.
I stood in the bedroom for another couple of seconds while my boyfriend stared at me. Weirdly, I wasn’t quite sure what to do. Now, I do believe that my shutters were open by the six-foot ghostie guy. Again, there is this feeling that lingers after paranormal activity has happened. It’s a strange, quiet, calm that is otherworldly. The room had that vibe. It was clear of the creepiness but now it held…silence. I am not sure which worse worse.
Honestly, I was confused and a little bit frozen with fear. Forcing myself to be brave I got into bed. I asked my boyfriend if he would lay with me for awhile until I wasn’t so spooked. He actually laughed at me and told me he couldn’t believe that I was scared. However, he sat at the foot of the bed and rubbed my legs and told me that it was going to be okay.
In those few moments where I was shaken and afraid I really had no idea what to do. After I calmed down a bit and thought it through, I imagined this was how the normal population felt when they were confronted with a paranormal situation. There is this feeling of helplessness and panic that sets in. It’s not a fear of being hurt. It’s the fear of the unknown. A feeling of not being in control of the physical world.
With my boyfriend rubbing my legs, I was able to calm down quickly and asses the situation. What would I tell someone in my situation. I have been in private residences and businesses with wrose activity and I have had to coach people through their fear.
I went through all the typical things you tell people in paranormal situations and none of it made me feel better. But at the same time sleep was looming and my boyfriend wanted to play more video games. I told him I was fine and a few minutes later I fell asleep.
What is strange to me is that when faced with paranormal activity in my own apartment I flipped out. When I am knee-deep in it out in the field my pulse barely rises. The adrenaline sets in and I simply do my job.
It just goes to show that no matter how seasoned you think you are, there are always going to be times when you are just simply spooked.
