In the spring of 2009, we moved into an old heritage home that had been renovated into 5 seperate apartments. The second I saw the house I fell in love; it had so much character, with its high ceilings and dark solid wood doors and paneling throughout.
From the moment we moved in, I would get this feeling like some one was staring at me. I chalked it up to the fact that I had never lived in an apartment before, and that I just needed to get used to living so close to other people.
About two months after moving in I became pregnant with my youngest son (my oldest was two at the time). As soon as I became pregnant, my (now) ex became extremely verbally and physically abusive. I wasn't allowed to leave the house, and he made it difficult for me to see my friends or family.
I was isolated and alone in my own personal hell, with no where to run. So when I began to see things and noticed that items weren't where I had left them, I blamed it on the constant stress that I was under.
I would constantly see flashes of a yellow flowered dress (nothing in my apartment was yellow or had flowers). I saw flashes of this dress in every room in my apartment, it wouldn't last long a second or two, just long enough for me to understand what I saw, and then it would be gone.
Because the house was renovated into separate apartments, and they used the origional solid wood doors; not everything fit quite like it should have. My bathroom door sat a good inch or two from the floor, and the carpeting from the hallway came into the bathroom about 4 inches.
One day when my ex was at work and I was home alone with my oldest son, I needed to use the washroom, so I placed my son in his playpen. As I was in the middle of doing my business, I heard footsteps. At first I thought it was some one walking upstairs, but when I looked towards the bathroom door I saw the carpet moving in the hallway like some one was walking. I called out to my ex, thinking that he had come home early from work, but got no reply. Then I was panicked thinking my son had gotten out of his playpen. But when I opened the door I saw my son was where I had left him, and no one else was in the apartment. I was shaken, and it took me months before I was able to pee without my son being in the bathroom with me, because I was terrified to leave him alone.
One night when I was 7 or 8 months pregnant with my youngest son, I felt something unusual touch my stomach...
I have always been a stomach sleeper, but when you are as pregnant as I was at the time, sleeping on your stomach isn't an option. I tossed and turned and finally found a comfortable spot on my back. I remember thinking how hot and thick the air seemed in our room, given the fact that is was a cold December night in northern Ontario. I had just began to relax when I felt a cold hand touch the left side of my stomach. It took me a minute to process what was happening... I could feel all 5 fingers and the palm as if the hand was spread out. But the hand wasn't facing the right direction; it was as if some one was standing at the side of my bed with their hand on my stomach.
I shot up in bed, looking around but no one was there. My ex had been facing the opposite direction but I asked if he had just touched my stomach any way. He told me no, that it was probably just the baby kicking. This was my second pregnancy and what I felt was most definitely NOT the baby kicking! He told me that I was crazy and delusional and to go sleep... I don't think I slept at all that night. I curled into a ball with my knees up and arms around my stomach, determined to protect my unborn child from whatever was in my apartment
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