Jack

First off, I want to say I am sorry for this being so long, but I can assure you there are many details to this, and if I did not include it all, nothing would make sense.

I have experienced activity since I was young. My mother used to tell me I would sit up in my crib and talk to who she believed to be my deceased great grandmother. However, as the years went on, I started to think this being was entirely different. I stopped feeling much around the ages 5 and 7, and before the age of 5 I don't remember anything so I cannot say what happened to me during that time other than the stories my mother would tell me.

At the end of second grade, I moved into a house in Gladstone, Oregon, on 82nd drive. It was a one-story house with an attic and a very spacious basement. It had three bedrooms and bathroom, a large front room, a kitchen/dining room, and a small laundry room. There were two front doors, one on the very front of the house leading out to a deck which wrapped around to the right (when facing the house from the street) and on the side was the other door.

I lived with my mother, at first her husband then later her boyfriend Jeff, Jeff's friend Brian (and multiple other teens who were homeless and drug addicted), and my brother James. James' room was more like a closet with windows and was at the front of the house on the left side. The bathroom was very small and was right next to that, then my room with a walk-in closet that also had the door to the attic in it. Our doors lead into the front room. Going farther back in the house there was archways that lead into the kitchen but before this archway, directly to the right was a door to the basement. Going into the kitchen the far wall had a counter across the entire thing with the sink in the middle, a stove and the fridge at the very right, next to the doorway to the laundry room. The door to the third bedroom, my mother's room, was at the left of the kitchen. We also had a very spacious backyard with tall yellow grass.

When we moved in, I was still in second grade and because I wanted to finish my year there (which was only a month or two), I was rarely at the new house. However, once summer started I stopped going to the old apartments I lived in and was left at the new home frequently with my brother.

At first things were very mellow. I felt very uncomfortable in the house, very scared, and my insomnia (which I have had since I was a babe) had seemed to worsen. I would feel like I was being watched from my window at night so I would always be facing the wall when I was in bed. At times, I would hear whispering and such as well.

Then I developed ability to sense when someone came up to me. Like, if my back was turned or my eyes were closed and James approached me I would instantly know it is him without even turning around. I would feel this multiple times, as time went on. In addition, when I was nine, during the end of summer, my mother and step dad divorced and he left, this ability started to come to its fullest and I was entirely aware it was there. Then my mother started bringing drug-addicted teens into the home after she started dating Jeff.

Jeff was nice for the most part, far better than my stepfather and James and I got along with him well, but I always felt very uncomfortable around the other people we would allow in the house. I remember trying to explain this to my mom but she would never believe me, which was very usual at that time. Therefore, I had to grin and bear with it.

Over the next month or so, a lot of activity was happening in the basement only. Things would move or disappear completely, or we would hear shuffling/movement and when we would look there would be no one down there. Then one time we heard music playing from the basement. We had a plug in radio down there that had been broken for a while. There were also no electrical outlets down there so to us this was odd. And because of this, Jeff and his friend Brian (who was living there at the time and was actually very nice) decided to perform a Séance (they had no idea what they were doing) while no body was home. They set up at the kitchen table with a single candle next to the basement door. Before that, the basement was where the only activity happened. I was told that at the time, the whole house became very cold and the candles on the table went entirely out and the flame of the candle by the basement door shot up and turned blue. They ended up blowing it out and put everything away without another thought.

After this was when things hit the roof, things no one could really explain. I do not know the exact order, but the first one I remember it the kitchen incident. Everyone was sitting in the front room watching TV, and it was a dial TV and we had no remote for it. All of a sudden, the room got very cold and the TV shut off. And, as everyone was murmuring and wondering what happened, some rattling in the kitchen started and all the drawers and cupboards flew open. There was a complete mess on the floor and we all were startled. We had no words. Therefore, we just picked it all up and ignored it.

The next big occurrence was when we got a dog. I do not remember his name, but he was a very sweet dog. He loved James and I and loved to play with us. While he never got violent with us, he got very violent to others and tore up the place a lot, which was very unusual for him when he first came to the house. His behavior took a total U-turn. We just thought this was because of the new house and the people who came in and out, but I always believed it was because he was feeling the same things I was, because at this point I started to feel more people than there really were in the house. This made me quite nervous.

Soon there were more things happening, like glimpses of people who would be there one second, gone the next, things going missing, unexplained whispers... One time Brian, who ended up staying longer than expected with us, had been attacked in the shower. He had rather walk the few blocks to his grandmother's house to take a shower, than take one there.

Then I met Jack...

I had been feeling a very unusual presence around for a while, but I had never thought it over and just ignored it because I was not scared of it. The night I met Jack, I had been having bad insomnia again for weeks, and I was lying wide-awake for hours just staring at the wall, when I suddenly felt a presence behind me. At first, I thought it was my brother, who would sometimes come into my room, but I soon realized the presence I felt was not James', he has a sort of chaotic one, at least at that time. This presence felt different and, thinking it was one of the guys that was staying the night there (I always felt they were going to hurt me due to my horrid past with my step dad) so I rolled over to ask them what they wanted but what I saw was a tall, dark shadow of a man standing beside my bed. I had no curtains on my window and the light the shined in from the street illuminated the entire room but this figure was completely black. I was not capable of distinguishing any features on this figure other than it being a man, and his eyes that seemed to glow and change colours at a rapid pace. I stared for minutes at this man, first I was uneasy, then scared, then this very calm, very protective feeling washed over and through me and I felt so safe and happy that I almost cried. Then that vanished and I felt empty and scared, which was followed by me jumping up and off the bed, THROUGH this figure and racing to my bedroom door. For some reason and I do not know why, I had the urge to turn back to this man, and when I did, I saw he was still there. Standing in the same spot as before, only difference was his head was turned around on his body and was staring directly at me. I remember screaming and running out.

Thinking back, I remember a sadness gleaming in his eyes, as if he was crying, and I am ashamed of how I treated him.

When I told my mother, she hardly believed me and soon things became too difficult, because not only were we having paranormal occurrences, but also the house itself was pretty, much breaking and we were not able to use it much and we had to move.

We moved into the Fox Pointe Apartments in Milwaukie, Oregon and my brother and I started at the Riverside Elementary school. No special events happened here and we soon moved out and to Washington State. We only lived there for a few months then moved back to the apartments from before, only this time in a different unit. This figure I had seen had a very distinct presence which had been burned in to my memory, and over time I would feel it. However, once I moved in to the apartments he made himself known more. He would purposefully stomp through the halls, or tug on my hair. In addition, depending on my mood, he would touch my neck. If I was happy, he would tickle my neck, very lightly where it would send shivers down my spine. However, if I were upset, or angry, which happened more times than not, he would touch my neck, massaging it, pretty much saying that he was there, that I was not alone.

Also at this apartment, I had a fire and we had to move to a new unit in the complex.

While living in this new apartment I entered middle school and became friends with a girl named Emily. At first we did not hang out much unless in school, but then I started spending nights with her at her mother's house, which spooked me, but I was fine because I always felt that man around.

Soon Emily opened up and told me about her experiences with the paranormal, and how she would always see shadow people. They scared her a lot, and then she told me about all the different types and stories she has been told. Then I opened up myself and told her about that house on 82nd drive. In addition, she told me she believed that there were not only ghosts, but demons as well. I held back on telling her about the man I saw, because I was not ready to tell anyone yet. However, she had believed everything else I had told her, and then later, when I had a sleepover with her at her dad's home, believed me when I told her of the evil presence that lived there.

I would always get sick when I was over at her dad's, and feel like I was being watched. These were very apparent in my expressions and the way I always seemed to shake when I was over there. However, at one point, I would not stay in the back part of that house unless someone was with me.

When I stayed over at her dad's with her, I always felt safest in the front room. The shaking and the feeling of being watched continued, but I did not feel like it could harm me so long as I stayed within that room. Then soon it felt like the entire house was shaking when I got there, and the feeling went from being evil/mischievous, to outright angry. The thing in that house wanted me, and because it could not enter the front room, it burst into angry fits. There was multiple times where I would look to the archway to the kitchen and just see a vibration in the air there, as if there was a glass wall and someone was pounding violently on it. Then the house would shake, but only I felt it. Emily had noticed this every time, my change in character and the shaking and we would talk about it, and I would tell her what it feels like.

I was very scared of this place because whenever I was there, I would never feel the protection of the "ghost" I had, in a way, become friends with.

Speeding up a few years to when I entered high school, the things at that house continued, but Emily's dad moved out that year and I never had to confront that creature again.

During Freshman year of high school, we had another fire at my apartment, only this time I was actually in it and it is a day I would never forget. Two young boys who lived in the unit next to us had knocked off their couch on a heater, which then caused the fire. They died, while the mother and the baby had to jump from the two story window to the parking lot below, they both survived (the babe was caught by a man who had just been passing and the woman landed on her feet breaking her legs and such). Nothing paranormal came from this other than the very distinct sadness I felt from my "friend".

We were once again moved to a new unit, bottom floor, facing the small playground. This was where my "friend" became more persistent, he was always playing tricks, still doing the stomping and pulling of my hair (until I cut it at least, which I think he was upset over), but he was still very gentle, very kind, when my mother upset me, or when I was scared. Because, he was not the only thing there anymore, I felt multiple other beings, mean ones who he kept away, but I still felt the presence of and it disturbed me.

I started to become physically sick in this house, and my insomnia, which had cleared up a bit, had come back in full force. My mother was very irritable because not only was she taking care of James and me; she was also taking care of my sister Emily and my brother Anthony, as well as our lazy roommate Jeremy.

Nothing of real importance happened much in this apartment, not until I met my now best friend Brittany. I met her the summer after freshman year at the elementary school park just down the road where I lived. Her house was located directly behind the school and so, she frequently went to the park to hang out and we soon became very close, and her family loved having me over. In addition, because she was my best friend, I confided in her everything that had happened up until then. She was actually the first person I told about my "friend" (I later had the confidence to tell Emily too).

A new school year started and Brittany and I ended up with many classes together and one of them was Sophomore English, which we had first period on day ones. She then introduced me to Alyssa, who I also am best friends with and Britt, Alyssa, and I have been together since then. Then a new student came about a fourth into the school year, and because I had art with her as well as English, I befriended her, and introduced her to Brittany and Alyssa. We all were friends, we got along well enough, and all was happy.

Then I asked to have a sleepover with this new girl, Mallory, and she agreed. That night is a night that will stay with me forever, exactly like the night I met my "friend". Unlike Brittany, Alyssa, or Emily, it took me no time at all to open up to Mallory about my paranormal experiences, I figured it was only because I was used to opening up by this point, but thinking now, that wasn't the case. I felt, unconsciously, that she had experienced things before that the others had not, but that I had. Therefore, I opened up, I told her about my "friend", we talked more about our experiences, and then I told her, "I actually feel something in this house." And she said she knew already, that no matter where she goes, there is always something there. She told me not to worry, because it was just a joker, but for some reason I felt uneasy.

That night I fell asleep thirty minutes after her, around two or three in the morning. I had a dream I was talking to a young man, and I remember feeling uneasy talking to him, and felt the need to run, but then the man had reached out his hand and touched my left arm... And a current of electricity ran down the length of it and I awoke with a start, my arm hurting and a black figure with its hand outstretched to my arm, grinning above me. However, in the next second, I blinked and it was gone. The only remnant being the pain in my arm. I woke up the next morning and told Mallory, but she had no idea what it could have been and that she had never experienced that before. I then left later that day with the sense of a new, lurking presence that sent chills down my spine.

Then summer came and I was at Brittany's house the majority of it, nothing really happening between Mallory's and that time other than the usual.

Then one of the nights I stayed over, the lights in Britt's room were flickering. And the TV would turn off, then turn back on a minute or two later. I started to feel overwhelmed, because I was not feeling my "friend's" presence there; I was feeling the one I felt from Mallory's. I tried telling Brittany and her mom, but they just kept telling me it was the wiring, nothing bad is going to happen. Then the lights in the back part of the house went out, and we decided we should just go to bed, that we could not do much for the time being.

Then a few hours later I'm being shaken from my sleep by Brittany, she's screaming in my ear, saying there's a fire, wake up, but I kept pushing her off, because in the middle of her frantic shaking, I felt fingers sliding along my cheek, with the whole static electricity feel and a voice whispering in my ear; "You'll be fine, go back to sleep. Shhh."

At first, I was just going to roll back over and fall back asleep, but then something shook my soul and forced me out of the bed. I came to in the front room where I looked around shivering. I then stupidly went back to grab a blanket but then ran outside and sat across the street in a daze. The entire day I never came out of that daze. I know the one that wanted me to go back to sleep was the entity that came from Mallory's, but I have no idea whether my "friend" was the one who shook me awake that time or if it was just Brittany, but it was as I was not even alone in my body anymore.

Later that day I told Brittany and she said that I had been acting odd and that the thought of it being something useable was scary to her. She did not really want to think about it, so we just forgot about it for then and enjoyed the day. However, after she was able to move back into her house and a few days passed, she texted me and she said she was scared. She kept seeing and hearing things right outside her window, but nothing would be there, and she would feel things in her room at night. After awhile she told me she was so scared of there being something under her bed at night, that when she got up to leave she'd jump all across her room just to avoid putting her feet down next to the bed.

My mom always told me I was empathetic, and that was why I had these experiences myself and would always feel overwhelmed in large groups. So thinking this, I told Brittany, because I was around her frequently, that she may be feeling what I would be if I were there. Basically, my gift was rubbing off on her, or my own aura is staying behind, leaving a mark, opening things that shouldn't be opened.

Moving forward, we decide this must be it and continue being with each other, because you're not really friends if you're not willing to go through the same stuff the other is, are you?

Well, I then started hanging out with Alyssa outside school a lot and having weekend long sleepovers at her house and such. Now, unlike Brittany, Alyssa has experienced many things similar to what I have and it was always a common ground between us. The small mobile home-like house she lived in with her mother wasn't too bad for me. I would see things out of the corner of my eyes, and I once "dreamt" (not sure if it was real or just a dream) of a little girl standing by Alyssa's closet door, just staring at me. Then she said "mam" and disappeared out the bedroom door. That spooked me, but I've experienced children spirits many times, and other than telling Alyssa about it, I thought nothing of it.

At this place I would feel my "friend". There was no question about it, he was always there. He also moved on to playing with Alyssa, not just me, this being his way of saying, "I like her". But this change the first time I stayed at Alyssa's grandmother's/dad's house.

The house was a medium sized house from the outside and was very cozy in. You'd walk up the porch and through the front door was the living room with a single door leading to Alyssa's grandma's room. Then to the right there is a doorway that leads into a hallway like kitchen, that then had a door leading to the back of the house, where there was a small room where her great-grandmother (a very sweet old lady) stayed, and farther back to another sort of living room, the bathroom, and stairs that lead up to a loft room where Alyssa slept. There was also a door to the attic here.

I would feel my friend all the way up until I stepped inside the door, and if I left, he'd be there instantly. This made me nervous, but I knew he was always somewhere outside, waiting for me.

In this house I felt two different presences, one was a kind old man who stayed by Alyssa's great-grandma mostly, only leaving her side to stand at the door to her room when I would pass by. He left a very calming feel to me. Which was great. But there was also a lurking entity, who was evil in all senses of the word. This being scared me so much. I felt like it wasn't in just one spot, but that it was consuming the entire house.

I'll write an entirely different thing about this, because this story is supposed to be about my "friend".

About five or six months after all this, I decided it was time to give my "friend" a name. I had called out multiple names before this time but none ever stuck nor felt right. This time I actually sat down for his opinion.

I started naming him different things and every time I'd get the feeling of no, a sort of rumbling feel in my gut. Then finally I came across the name Jack. And my entire body warmed and he touched the back of my neck. I knew this was what he wanted me to call him. I then asked him if it was his real name, and that rumbling came, and I knew he would rather be called Jack then his real name. Ever since I've called him Jack.

When I told my friends, Brittany was amazed that I was able to communicate with him, but Alyssa had looked a bit uncomfortable. She then told me her grandfather, the one I felt in her house all the time and who I've come to look forward to when going over, his name was Jack.

Now before you say that grandpa Jack and Jack are the same, I want to explain that their presences are two different feelings. Grandpa Jack is just a friendly, almost fatherly feeling, he's lukewarm, and he never left the room where Alyssa's grandmother was (not unless necessary). Jack has a very bipolar feeling, sometimes he's playful, sometimes he's angry and the air gets cold, and sometimes (most of the time) he's loving. I'm consumed by an overwhelming heat that he presents when I'm sad or angry. No one else has made me feel this, it's how I know it's him. And no matter what, he always has that familiar feeling. And it's hard to explain, but it's as if I've always known this feeling.

After awhile I decided I was going to wear a cross necklace at all times. I was frequently being attacked by others, being scratched, choked, hit. I just felt that wearing the cross would help prevent that just a bit, and it did, but I also think it closed out my connection with Jack. I stopped feeling anything all together (except the evil thing at Alyssa's). And I know Jack did somethings that would let me know he was there, but I did not, what-so-ever, feel his warmth. I couldn't feel his fingers if he ever touched me, I didn't hear his footsteps. There was nothing.

Soon though, I felt a bit better, and wasn't so uneasy about my surroundings, and because I was also having an allergic reaction to the chain my cross was on, I decided to take it off. Presences rushed to me but I held my ground. They were more curious feelings than menacing.

I was sitting at the computer, listening to music and checking some emails, when I felt fingers on the back of my neck. I jumped slightly and looked around. Then I thought it was maybe my hair just tickling the back of my neck, so I put it up high on my head in a bun, no stray strands. And then it happened again. That familiar warmth spread through me and I smiled to myself, continuing on with what I was doing before. This happened only a few days ago.

I mainly wrote this because I want to know who he is. He's not a family member, I've never met anyone named Jack before. And I've never lost someone death wise. And then at the same time his presence seems to be too strong to be that of a normal human ghost. And I don't believe in angels, not completely at least. I want to know others' opinions.

If you can help me, I'd love for you to comment. I really have no idea who he is. And while I know he isn't mean to me, I've sometimes had the thought of him having a hidden agenda. Thank you!