The Hunchback Shadow Man

As a teenager (18 years back), I had the opportunity to bloat my piggy bank by babysitting my neighbor's twins. They were 7 years old and pretty naughty but did all the things at the right time (eating/sleeping/playing etc). Never had problems with them and loved to babysit them. Once, I was asked to take care of them for 8 hours (3pm to 11Pm) on a Saturday.

The kids usually go to bed by around 9 ish and I thought I will have 2 hours to watch some TV shows. So, I was preparing the bed for the kids in their rooms when one of them asked if I could stay in the room with them. When I asked him why, he said he is scared to sleep alone and said that his mum usually stays in until they both sleep.

I accepted and agreed to stay in until they sleep. So I just started to narrate a bed time story when I heard someone walking in the hallway. It was quite surprising because Mrs. Beckerman told me she would reach home by 11 and it was around 9:15 Pm. I called out her name and I had no response.

So, the curious young blood of mine, wanted me to go check who that was. I obliged to my curiosity and stopped reading the story to the kids and stood up, when I heard the noise again. This time, more like running, but just outside the door. The hallway is a straight line with rooms on both sides leading to the living room. I immediately opened the door and did not see anyone.

Slowly getting scared inside, I brushed aside my assumptions and turned the lights on in every part of the house. I wanted to be brave as it would be hard to control the kids if they get paranoid. So I checked the house for any intruder but no one was there. I bolted the doors again and walked back to the kids room. And suddenly, I felt someone behind me. Like a cold heavy breathing. I turned back and no one was there. I once again brushed my thoughts aside, and just told myself, that my mind is tired.

This time, the hallway seemed a bit cold and that's not something that is common in Kansas by August. Nevertheless, I checked the temperature of the apartment and it was set to fixed at 75° but the temperature of the house was 63°F. I was surprised because things were normal a few minutes back. I adjusted the temperature and waited until the temperature improve to 73°F. After that, I went to the Kids room. One of them asked my why I look so tense. I did not want to frighten the kids so did not say anything about my feeling. To lighten the mood, I made them sing and dance for a while but that made them even more tired, so they quickly fell asleep. So, by 10:15 Pm I still had 45 minutes for Mrs. Beckerman to return.

While I was trying to forget what happened earlier, the sense of being watched suddenly started to creep in. I decided to watch TV to divert myself. The moment I switched on the TV, I felt someone right next to me on the couch. I turned to my right, and no one was there. But the feeling would just not go away.

The reclining chair on the corner of the room started to shake as if someone touched it. I immediately turned my attention to the chair and noticed something that I cannot explain properly. It was a dark dwarf life shadow, that just went past the chair. I was shocked, but then since there are trees in the neighborhood and the lights are on in the apartment, I immediately told myself that it is the shadow of the trees and I did not want my mind to believe that it was anything else.

And then I turn back to the TV, I heard a loud bang in the kids room and suddenly one of the twins stated to cry. I ran to the room to see if he was alright, only to find him on the floor. He said, the old man pushed him from the bed again. I was shocked. I told the kid that there is no old man in the apartment, and it was just me and them. The kid showed his leg and I could see the imprint of a hand on the leg. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I ruled out the possibility that the other twin pulled him down as the mark on the leg was not from a kid's hand and it was as big as mine. I went out of the room to check the apartment, but as it happened before, the hallway was empty and no one was to be found. I locked the kids's room from inside and sat next to them.

I comforted the kid and put him to bed and stayed in the room when I started hearing the footsteps again. I shouted by requesting, whoever it was, to leave the kids and go out of the apartment. The footsteps stopped right outside the door. I was not sure whether to open the door or not. After some 5 minutes, which seemed like eternity, I opened the door and saw the same shadow (the one I saw next to the chair earlier) on the wall unmoved. I kept staring at it for a few seconds when it slowly moved away and disappeared out of the hallway.

Now, I was totally convinced that it was not the shadow of a tree because the hallway does not have any windows and the only light that falls in the hallway is from the light that was on. I started to panic and immediately called Mrs. Beckerman and she said she will be home in less than a minute. It was a big relief for me.

I immediately narrated all the incidents to her as soon as she got back home and she rushed to the kids room to see what happened to her son. She fell on her knees and started to cry. And then she said, this is not the first time she is experiencing this. Thus far, the entity has never harmed her or the kids so she never felt it as a trouble. But now, since it was able to touch/harm the kids, she was getting very worried.

I called my mom, a tarot card reader with a bit of experience in communicating with spirits, to come to Mrs. Beckerman's house immediately. As soon as my mom entered the apartment, even before we narrated the story to her, she started to stare at the hallway and asked us if everything was ok. I was shocked to see my mum react this way, because she did not take her eyes off the hallway while asking us a few questions. This scared the me, but still I kept asking my mum why she was staring at the hallway. She refused to answer and told, Mrs. Beckerman to sleep at our house with the kids for the night.

The next morning, my mum and Mrs. Beckerman, invited a priest to their apartment to have it blessed. Post that incident, Mrs. Beckerman stayed there for a couple of years before she decided to move out of the colony, owing to the transfer of her job from Kansas to Texas.

Recently, 5 years back, when my mom and myself were having a discussion about how hard it was for her to raise me when I was young, I suddenly remembered this incident. Since I was old enough to understand her now, I asked her why she acted in such a way at Mrs. Beckerman's house that night. She explained that she saw a man, who had a hunch back looking at us from the hallway. The man looked very upset and angry that she immediately felt a bout of negative energy run through the her after entering the house. She, sensing that it was not advisable to stay there until the entity was controlled, asked Mrs. Beckerman to bring the kids and stay with us.

I was speechless for a minute and then told my mom that I am proud of myself that I still managed to safeguard the kids and surviving two hours of hide and seek with the hunch back old man.

I do not know who it was or have I ever seen that thing again. But those 2 grueling hours in the apartment has given me every reason to not forget the incident.