I am going to talk about my experiences in an apartment that I lived in for two years with one of my best friends during college. At this point in my life, I was going through a major transition period. It was a big step for me to be away from home. I felt very happy at times, but other times scared, depressed, and lonely as I began to understand who I was as a person. I would say that I am an extremely sensitive person. I feel like I can understand people's moods and personalities instantly, and am very affected by words and actions of others. I act almost completely out of emotion and gut feelings.
I often felt uneasy in the apartment, but it didn't always bother me because I really enjoyed being around my friend. She was very accepting of me and very confident in herself. This was an attractive quality for me to be around and something that I wished to learn for myself. There was one specific area that bothered me the most in the apartment. This area was in front of the front door. I always felt weird about turning my back to it. I tried not to think about it too much. I just told myself that I was paranoid about intruders, or that this was the threshold beyond the safety of the apartment. This space, as well as the hallway outside, had a very distinct and unpleasant smell to it that seemed to come and go. My room was in direct view of this space. I couldn't shut my door at night because of my cat, so I would leave it open a crack. I always placed a small cat sculpture on the floor to keep the door in place. I felt safer somehow knowing that it was there, even if it weighed next to nothing and could be easily pushed aside.
Odd things would happen every now and then in the apartment. I often saw my cat sitting and watching something I couldn't see move around the apartment. I told myself that they were just bugs flying around, or that he was just doing what cat's do. On three occasions, I saw what I think was the ghost of a cat, or a small animal. The first time it happened, I was sitting on the couch late at night trying to finish a project for school on my laptop. My cat was sitting beside me asleep. Beyond the screen, I noticed a small blur the color of burnt umber. As soon as I looked directly at it, it was gone. My cat seemed to have seen it also, as he had woken up and was staring intently at the spot.
The second sighting happened late at night. I had finished a school project and had turned out the lights. The only light in the apartment was a blue glow from my computer. I heard loud noises coming from the hallway outside. Assuming it was our noisy neighbors, I went out into the living room to make sure the door was locked. In the reflection of the light from my computer in the window, I saw the shape of a long haired cat. I turned to see my cat, and turned around to look at the real image behind me. Just as I turned, my computer went to sleep, leaving me in complete darkness.
The third sighting happened also late at night. I walked into my bedroom in the dark. As I approached my bed, I saw a small black shadow leap off of it and disappear.
Other occurrences would happen in the apartment. Stains would appear on the carpet, small things would disappear for weeks and reappear in obvious places. I also collect rocks and have them displayed all over my bedroom. My grandparents gave me some rocks they had collected from the Island of Delos. My cat would always play with only these rocks. He would knock them over and bat them around, and even hide them. I always felt like I was being watched. I would frequently see movement in the periphery of my vision, or glimpses of moving shadows. I didn't want to think about it too much out of fear. I just assumed I was seeing things. I also returned home one night to find the lamp in our living room on. This lamp was in the spot that made me uncomfortable. I went into my friend's room to ask her about the lamp because we rarely ever turned it on. She told me that she had not turned it on, and seemed a little freaked out by it. She is an extremely logical person. This being the first physical evidence of something happening I think freaked her out. She told me not to be afraid, because if it were a ghost, it could only have power if I were afraid.
The sleep paralysis in the apartment happened very frequently whenever I took naps during the day. I would wake to hear noises like someone trying to get the front door open. One time I was sure it opened and could hear footsteps and voices. My eyes would be open, but my body was completely frozen. Sometimes I could work my way out of it by wiggling my fingers and toes, then feet, then legs... Until my whole body could move. This happened so many times, I lost count. Some times I would wake up feeling a pressure on my chest. It felt like my insides were settling in a strange way. It was a very uncomfortable feeling.
The scariest incident happened one late afternoon. I woke up paralyzed to the door opening. I heard my roommate's voice. I called out to her to come in here so I could prove to her what was happening to me. She answered. I don't remember exactly what the voice said, but I knew it wasn't something my friend would have said to me. I tried furiously to move, but couldn't. I was so scared. The voice asked why I wasn't answering. I replied "Because you aren't Kaity." The voice began to laugh and fade away. I could finally move. I was so scared.
While living here, I became very depressed. I was miserable and very self-loathing. I wasn't eating properly and was very skinny. I became a very angry and impatient person, and my grades were suffering. My creativity had also suffered. I would skip class and sleep all day. This was very uncharacteristic of me. I left for a month over Christmas break. The negativity was gone instantly and I felt like my old self living at home. I remember returning one day to grab some clothes I forgot. I walked into the apartment. The air was heavy and ominous. I had some white sage and burned it while walking through the apartment. After doing this, I left. I returned after break and jumped immediately into classes. I was in a design-build studio this semester and was working with three of my really good friends on a project. I can't remember being happier and more confident in myself. I was rarely ever home except to sleep.
When we moved out in the summer, we spent the last few days with no furniture. The apartment was completely empty. I began to feel very anxious. The air seemed to be moving at times and I felt like I was being watched from the corners of the rooms. It was like we upset the place by moving all of our things. When the move-out day came, I handed over the keys, left, and never looked back.
Today, I live on the other side of campus. I still feel like I am being watched sometimes and on occasion will see shadow people in the buildings on campus. (I will write about this in another story.) I am in a new stage of my life and feel like I have since grown from these experiences two years ago. I like to think that I am a better person because of it. I talked to one of our neighbors before moving out. She said the people who lived there before us had a lot of animals. She said they were very gross and unpleasant people. I feel like there is definitely an unpleasant energy present there.
Thank you for reading my story. I am curious to know how others interpret my experiences, or to hear of similar accounts.
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