My True Paranormal Experiences

Up until about this year, Summer has always been filled with surprises. Ranging from vacations to a brand new firework used at a Fourth of July celebration, summer always come with new events.

But some surprises come unexplained. Now, I’ll tell you right now that I do belive in the paranormal, and I truly feel that there is life beyond this one, and that a spirit can go on forever. Even if they spend their time on Earth for the rest of their spiritual lives. I guess you can say that I’m not ashamed of beliving in the paranormal. Because in my opinion, life goes on.

The thing about the paranormal is that you really don’t know what to expect. We’re all human, and we can’t predict what’s going to happen next whether we like it or not. That’s what’s spooky about ghosts and other beings that we are not aware of.

Spirits to me are unpredictable, mostly because we can’t see or hear what they are planning for us. It could be as simple as a settle whisper in your ear to something being picked up and thrown across the room by an invisible force. Both are equally terrifying, to me. I’d like to think you’d agree.

The first surprise I had came at me pretty hardly, catching me off guard. It was a few nights after we had gotten my new room furnished after it was painted, and it would be my first night alone in the basement. I pretty much thought I’d just watch television all night with my dog at the time, which is what I went through with.

My shih tzu terrier (hopefully that’s how you spell it), Cosmo, hobbled onto my bed after I flickered the TV on, curling up by my side, sitting on my hand. Coincidentally, his soft underbelly lay over my hand, making me feel a little uncomfortable because I would be unable to move if I wanted without bothering him. So before he could begin snoozing, I was just about to slide my hand from under him, but at that moment I felt a vibration come from his stomach, which signaled that he was hungry. That was my assumption.

So I moved out from under him like I wanted, telling him to stay and I trailed out to the finished living room in the basement. The only thing that could be heard was my door squeaking shut mixed with the sound of my television fading out, and my bare feet touching the tiles of the unfinished part.

It was dark, so I looked around for Cosmo’s cage where his food would be stored, and when I turned my head to the right, I expected to see nothing.

Now, this is a moment when the quote, “expect the unexpected”, should have come into my mind.

Upon turning my head, a dim light from the tiny windows gave the basement some light, so I was able to see the figure.

It was a girl- around my age, maybe a little younger, at the time, -who looked particularly angry, locked me into a stare down for a couple of seconds.

I didn’t react for a moment, only tilting my head at the stranger, then realizing; it was definitely a stranger.

My jaw dropped after the sudden realization, and I looked over her features. She sported a disturbing look, her dark hair clumped together, dripping. Like she had just come out of the water from drowning. Not only that, but her skin was grey; dead-looking, with small, dark cuts all around her flesh. Her brows bent in the way a person would look if they were not only pissed, but furious. Her black, lifeless eyes stared into my soul like daggers, and I followed her extended, sleeved arm. It was pointed at me.

Now, the observation only took me a matter of seconds, but I bolted right out of the room, back into my own, breath shaky, my fingers trembling. I slammed the door shut, blocking it with a heavy tote of toys, nearly flying into bed and burying myself and Cosmo under the blankets.

I only had one question in my mind, then. What the hell was that?

The next few weeks went normally, though I lost sleep every night thinking about that freaky event. It didn’t help that I was a gullible eleven year old, and to this day, I’m honestly not sure if it was my imagination or not. But that’s beside the point.

The issue with sleep loss progressed as the weeks passed, and soon enough, I would be doing all-nighters, sometimes by myself. I felt better with my sister in there with me, even Cosmo, but most nights I was alone. Which scared me, but I tried not to think about it.

A few nights later, another event happened. It wasn’t as intense as the night I saw the little girl, but I think that I saw her again.

I was just falling asleep, my eyes becoming heavier and finally my eyelids folding over, and me falling asleep like normal.

Now, it was odd because that night I feel asleep earlier than usual, about midnight. I didn’t think much of it, just that I found it positive. But around what felt like 3 AM, when I’d regularly fall asleep, I felt as if I was thrashing around, like it was beyond control. I couldn’t open my eyes and I felt bitterly cold hands clamped around my forearms, the force that had me moving so violently.

Being as tired as I was, I couldn’t open my eyes all the way. But from what I saw, It was a grey figure, the same clumpy hair from the girl a few weeks back. I could feel freezing water dripping on my lips, my cheeks, and my eyes. I could see it violently moving from left to right, its hair flailing as it went. It was like it was in slow motion, though my body was at full speed. I didn’t know what was going on, but I was trying to scream for my mother, brother, some one, but nothing came out. Just a muted squeal, like the figure had another hand ringing my neck.

I sort of gasped awake, though I already was, just my eyes widening, able to sit up. The hands were no longer there, and I darted my gaze around the room for something, but nothing was there. But there was a small flaw. My tote had been moved, my door cracked open. I could feel my body tingling then, my body going cold and my cheeks flushing. It was her. I knew it.

From that night on, I forced myself to stay awake so I could keep watch. Every night I’d sneak Cosmo into my room, food and water provided. And just for extra safety, I ended up building walls every single night. My idea was that if I can’t see her, she can’t see me, though I was almost sure I was wrong.

Luckily I had succeeded a whole week, with the help of frustrated tears and constant intake of soda, but the last night I ended up passing out, just as I began getting into a show of That’s So Raven. I ended up passing out with the usual safety precautions of my flimsy wall, and two totes stacked on top of each other in front of my door. Yes, two. I was not letting her get in.

I woke up in the middle of the night, around 1:30, seeing that my TV had mysteriously turned off, but Cosmo lay curled up at my feet, almost like he was keeping guard. I gave him a scratch behind the ear, greeting him groggily, and getting out of bed to get a glass of water. Just as I stood, Cosmo seemed to disappear. It scared me, and I frantically searched for him.

My queen sized bed was spaced out at the time, making me think that maybe he had fallen between the cracks and that he’d get out, so I stopped my panicking and went on with my task.

I moved the totes out of the way, filing out into the hallway, nearly running up the stairs, skipping steps as I went up. The hollow sound of my feet hitting the wooden stairs made me scramble up there, thinking I was more noticeable, so I skipped the top step, making the turn into the kitchen, relieved to be up the stairs. I didn’t dare look down the staircase just out of pure fear.

After getting my water, I reluctantly went back down, forcing myself to keep my gaze forward, not letting it travel left, right, or behind me.

Finding myself back in the safety of my room I looked around for Cosmo, expecting he’d be in the small room. But he wasn’t. I began to panic again, crying and thinking the menacing little girl had gotten to my little dog. I decided there had to be an explanation as to why Cosmo was not in my room.

I got the balls to search everywhere, even the room I first saw her. He was nowhere to be found in the basement. More tears running down my cheeks, I hurried up the stairs, checking my brother’s room, my oldest step-sister’s. Not finding him there, either, I finally check my older step-sister’s, relieved to find my little Cosmo by her side, curled up, Hope still asleep.

I didn’t bother taking him back with me, since I was afraid since I panicked so much, the little girl would take him, so I speant the rest of the night staying up and wondering how, exactly, he got in there. There was no possible way that he could have gotten out, a small dog could not push those heavy totes, I barely could. But the only thing that the answer pointed to was her. The little girl. I began to question what she wanted from me.

A year passed and I had no further experiences, and I ended up moving out of the house with my blood family for personal reasons, and I was relieved to be out of there. I just hoped that my step sisters, my friends would be safe. So I prayed to God that he would protect them no matter what, because I really didn’t know what she wanted. I left the house feeling happy and relieved of my struggles with sleep.

But it didn’t end there. After half a year of being happy with my renewed life with just me, my mom, and my brother, our bonds restored, I was positive about life. My fear of spirits and the paranormal began to fade away as quickly as it came and everything was normal again. I was finally sleeping right.

It was the beginning of next summer, then, and one early morning, I was fresh out of the shower, a towel wrapped around me, on my way to my room, not a care in the world. But it was that morning, when I woke up around 6 or 7, I got an odd vibe that I wasn’t…alone. I woke up, the room’s feeling odd, the lighting seeming a little off. It was like the whole atmosphere had went grey. Literally. The lighting was…weird. Not thinking much of it, I rolled out of bed with a yawn. This was a warning.

After the shower, I had gotten dressed and had the radio up at a quiet volume, scrubbing my hair with the soft towel when it suddenly started making weird noises. Like something was messing with the signals. It was a little unnerving, but again, I didn’t think anything of it.

All of a sudden, I heard a whisper. It said my name. It was lagged, drawn out slowly. My brows furrowed and I turned, seeing nothing there, but the atmosphere seemed to become colder. “Hhhholleiiiiighhhh….” It said again. I felt chills slide down my spine, and I bolted out of the room, hair still damp. For whatever reason, I felt almost drained, so I ended up sleeping on the floor of my mother’s room because I felt I had nowhere else to go.

When I woke, I had that horrifying feeling again that I only felt at my old house. Was this place haunted too? Or…could she have possibly followed me? With that thought, I speant the rest of my nights staying up, on the living room couch, the television on again. It never changed, like I had thought it had.

A week later I was scheduled to meet with my Dad and his girlfriend, Beth in Minden, where they’d take my brother and I to Holdrege, Nebraska.

I was particularly close with Beth, her being my go-to-with-anything person. I had never told my mother or father about my experiences, Beth and my younger brother were the only two people I had ever admitted it to.

The weekend that followed, was the weekend the Casey Anthony trial aired on CNN, and I watched along with Beth and my father.

Feeling closure in this house, I didn’t expect anything to happen. But I was truly shocked at the images that appeared on the screen. The little girl, who was Caleigh Anthony, was her. The figure I had seen at my old house. The one who nearly choked me to death.

The facial expression I gave must have made it obvious, because Beth asked what the problem was.

“That’s her.” I answered, my cheeks flushing. And just like that, Beth’s Jaw dropped also.

Soon enough, I began asking Beth what I could do for her, sensing the child wanted something from me.

I had always been a compassionate soul, it’s how I grew up, and I remain that way. I’m willing to help anyone, anything, with their issues, whether it’s family or personal problems.

Beth, being the spiritual lady she was, simply told me to help her move on.

After that weekend, still shocked at my new revealation, I tried to sleep in my room again. I felt sort of comforted, having missed my bed.

I didn’t make an effort to build a wall or anything, since I had given my old stuffed animals to Goodwill. So I simply lay on my stomach, my head facing west.

I ended up turning to lay on my back, opening my eyes and accidentally looking forward. I had a lamp on that night, which gave off enough life I could see her. There was little Caleigh. Shocked, fearful, I looked away, closing my eyes shut.

“I’m dead…” A little, innocent girl’s voice whispered. That was it, and I ran out of the room, scared out of my mind, out to the living room again.

Eventually I couldn’t take much more. I told my mother, who at first thought I was crazy, but realized how real this was for me. So one night, she called up a priest, who later that night came to our apartment, and into my room in private. The priest spoke to Caleigh, making her realize her time was over in this world, telling her to move on.

Since that night, I have had no further experiences. I know it’s sort of a short ending, but at least it’s over now. Well, at least I think it is. You never know, do you?