I have an odd story for the group. I don’t know if this actually was paranormal but due to some strange things in my childhood, I have always wondered. For the curious, I’ll try to briefly lay out those first experiences.
One was my older brother, N, who woke up almost every night screaming that he saw an elderly man who was bound with chains standing at the foot of his bed. Now you could chalk this up to nightmares or imagination, but it lasted a long time and when I asked him about it, he was very serious.
At the same time, I was having very vivid dreams of people I didn’t know coming to me in my dreams and just talking to me about life and little things like that. Again a child’s imagination, but when I discussed them with my mother, much to my surprise she recognized them! She recognized their clothes, looks and demeanors from my detailed descriptions. It turns out that the two I remember most were my grandfather (father’s side) and my great-grandmother (mother’s side). Both had passed on by the time I was born.
The third thing is that I truly believe the house I lived in at that time was haunted, but that is another story and I promise I will try to post that one later. Finally though on to this story.
I was 14 years old and living in Goldsboro, North Carolina. I had an invitation to stay at a friend’s house and I was walking there at about 2 to 3 am. Why was a young girl walking the streets that late at night? Well, I didn’t have the best situation at home and I grew up in a rough neighborhood so being out late didn’t bother me. I tell you this because it helps explain my reaction later.
Anyway, (for those familiar with the area) I was walking down Fedelon Trail (just off north William Street) and had just walked over the railroad crossing by the rubber gasket factory (the name escapes me). The factory was shut down at night but was still brightly lit by a row of streetlamps. The row of lamps extended the length of the property, a distance of about a quarter mile. Behind me and beyond that was pitch black.
I had walked to about the the fourth light when I got this overwhelming sense that I was no longer alone. I don’t know how to describe it, but the entire atmosphere changed. The very air seemed heavier and the night around me seemed suddenly darker and menacing. Due to the circumstances mentioned above, I have learned to trust my instincts and they were flashing Danger. So I whipped around with my always handy knife in my hand. I was honestly expecting to see a living person with nefarious intentions following or trying to sneak up on me. But of course, there was nothing there. Still my inner voice insisted that there was something there, so I stood very still for a long time straining my eyes into the dark beyond the lamps.
If there was someone there hiding in the shadows, I wanted them to know that I knew and I was ready if they came for me. After a long while, I gradually became aware that the darkness directly over the tracks was just wrong. There seemed to be a huge mass/cloud there that was darker than the night and it seemed to be moving, ever so slightly but shifting. On top of that there was an almost knee-weakening sense of malice from that direction. Well there was nothing to be gained by standing in the middle of the road all night. My friend’s house was still quite a distance and I was tired. So eventually I turned and began walking again. That’s when the most frightening thing of all happened.
As I approached the fifth light, the first light (just by the tracks) went out. I was already kind of hyped up so I noticed immediately. I turned back around and watched as the second then the third then the fourth went out in succession. Then the fifth light (the one I was standing under) went out too. Needless to say that freaked me out. So I turn back around and started again to hurry on my way. My eyes are on the lamps in front of me as I viewed them as just a bit of solace from the darkness now pressing at my back. But just as I step under the glow of the sixth it goes out too with a small pop. OK, I tell myself, an electrical thing, nothing more. But it happened again with the next and the next. All the way down the line. Just as I reached them, they went out. Not before or after.
When I got to the end of the row and realized that I was going to have to walk in true darkness now, with no lights for comfort, I finally entertained the thought that what was happening might not be just a fluke. So I stopped, got on my knees and started concentrating really hard on encasing myself in white light. A trick I had learned from trying to deal with the house I was staying in. It seemed to work. After a while the air seemed lighter and if nothing else it made me calmer. When I felt a little better, I got up and continued my walk.
The really weird thing? When I had traveled down the road a little bit and gotten away from the area, I couldn’t resist a peek back. When I did,I watched in amazement as the lamps came back on one by one. Starting with the one closest to the tracks and ending with the last one in my direction. I got this feeling that something wanted me to see that. So electrical fluke and imagination or an actual paranormal experience, you decide. I know how I still feel about it.
Sent in by Hokte, Copyright 2011 TrueGhostTales.com