Things that GO BUMP In My (night) Life.

This is another next installment of my encounter with the mysterious visitor.

I was going to leave it as it was…with that little glimpse last week. But a few of you asked for more. I am, after all a giver. Albeit a giver of creepiness.

We lived in this town house for about 3 years.

I wrote about my first memory of the visitor, and I don’t remember exactly, but this did not happen until we had lived here for a while, possibly within a year. I think. A lot of my memories about ‘time’ are fuzzy.

Remember I was around 13 at the time. I was really focused on boys, lip gloss and my new curling iron.

I do remember that night in those details.

And then, I remember this night in these details.

I think the time frame between that first visit and this one were only a few weeks apart, but like I said, my time frame is fuzzy.

On this next night of my memories, I was asleep on the couch. This was a 3 story townhouse. The living room, dining room and kitchen were on the second floor. Our bedrooms were on the third floor and the basement was, um, in the basement.

So I was asleep on the couch on the 2nd floor. I remember I must have fallen asleep reading or something, because I still had on my corduroy pants and a t-shirt. It was the middle of the night and dark.

Mom was now working nights.

I can’t recall if my brother was even home or if he was upstairs in his room with his headphones on sleeping to some funky music. (he loved techno before it was cool)

I remember waking up hearing the footsteps upstairs again.

Just like the previous visit, I could hear them start by my bedroom, go past my brothers room and head to my Mom’s room.

Then they went back in the same direction.

I did not know what to do. I had no bed to dive into this night.

I was on my own.

I reached down by my feet and pulled up my yellow fuzzy blanket. I was thinking…thinking about what I could do. Run out the front door? I could probably make it out there, but then what? Scream? Scream what? Murder?

I did nothing.

I froze.

I froze, hoping this would just stop.

Just go away.

I could hear the steps upstairs…going up and down the hall, the speed picking up just like that first night.

Back and forth.

Then, my worst fears were about to come to fruition.

The footsteps were now coming down the stairs.

Slowly.

My heart was in my throat.

I pulled the blanket up over my face.

I remember thinking: oh my gosh, I am going to be face to face with this, this thing. I was imagining it was a green alien creature. (Ever since I had seen Close Encounters of the Third kind I was terrified of aliens.)

The footsteps came down the stairs slowly, then stopped.

When I say you can hear every move in this wood framed town house, I am not exaggerating. You can hear every move.

The steps then slowly went back up the stairs.

ahhhh…maybe I would live after all.

I could hear the footsteps upstairs making the same back and forth track in front of our bedrooms…at a quicker pace again.

And then…

back down the stairs IT came.

Right towards me.

I don’t think I was breathing.

I had the blanket tight over my face. NOT moving. NOT breathing. My eyes shut tight.

My brain was screaming: GO AWAY! LEAVE ME ALONE!

But my mouth said nothing. Not a word.

I heard the steps come across the outside of the coffee table…then around the coffee table between the couch and the table.

I just knew if I opened my eyes I would see something through the fibers of my old blanket. I just knew it was standing RIGHT there in front of me!

But I could NOT open my eyes.

I wanted it to go away.

Leave me alone!!!!!

It moved past me.

It went back up the stairs…speedier.

Across the bedroom hall. Speedier.

Down the stairs. faster still. Around the coffee table..next to the couch and back up the stairs.

It was running through our house at a frantic pace.

It was not a pounding on the floor, it was just a constant creaking of steps. Light and steady steps.

I was terrified, I don’t remember how long this lasted…maybe 10 minutes or it could have been an hour.

But the visitor made the same pattern this whole time.

Up and down the stairs. Across the bedroom hallway.

Around the coffee table, next to the couch.

Then in an instant, it just stopped.

It just went back up the stairs and did not come back down.

I still could not move. I waited for it to start again.

It did not come back this night.

I could not get up from my safety spot.

I laid there with the blanket over my head until I could see the sun peeking through the window through my blanket.

My body was so stiff and sore because I had literally froze myself in fear. But, I survived.