Visits From a Stranger

The first time it happened, I shrugged it off as any other sleep paralysis experience. I've had many. They're all very different with one common theme. There's always a person I can see whether it be a child, adult, or something otherworldly. I could never talk back, scream or move. I could only watch and wait until it was over. This story however, is different from the others. She kept visiting me. She kept getting closer.

My boyfriend and I were getting ready for bed one night in our quaint three bedroom house in a quiet neighborhood in Rhode Island. The bedroom faced the stairs and we usually kept the door closed. This night we kept it open for reasons unknown. I also always sleep on the side of the bed next to the wall, but this night I slept towards the doorway. Again for reasons unknown.

It started as footsteps coming up the stairs. I awoke facing the doorway. I could only see darkness and hear the slow creaking of footsteps coming up towards me. For a moment I though there was an intruder and maybe I forgot to lock the back door, which is at the bottom of the stairs. But I never heard the door open. I only heard footsteps.

Finally, the footsteps reached the doorway. I saw dirty, wet feet. It was almost as if this person crawled right up out of the ground and made her way to me. I could tell it was a girl but I could see nothing but her feet which were caked in dirt and her white dress she had on was dripping wet. I was terrified but as in any sleep paralysis episode, there is nothing you can do but wait. I tried to wake up my boyfriend by attempting to reach over to him and scream but I felt as if I was only making moaning sounds and that my spirit body was turning over to push him awake while my phsyical body stayed put.

And as soon as she came up the stairs to greet me, she was gone. I woke up. I didn't sleep the rest of that night.

Shortly after this episode, our other roommate moved out and we moved bedrooms to the one at the end of the hall. Thankfully this one was not near the stairway but the farthest room from it. The door was at the end of the hallway and if you walked into the room, the foot of the bed would be on your left. I felt like I was sleeping more peacefully in this room, but something still felt off. I also know the house was not haunted. It was me. I was haunted. I always have been, by various spirits/demons/ghosts/entities, since as far back as I can remember. Sometimes I feel as if I'm too close to them. Maybe sometimes they think we're friends.

One night, I awoke in my sleep paralysis state. I was on my back but I could see the door to the bedroom, which was open. I couldn't move or speak as usual. Then she came in. First, she was just walking back and forth at the foot of the bed. She wasn't looking at me, only straight ahead. She paced back and forth about four or five times before leaving the room. I thought she was gone but I was still paralyzed. Then she came back and she paused at the foot of the bed. She turned to face me. For whatever reason, I could not exactly see her face, it was blurry. I could make out her thin, shoulder length black hair. Her white dress dripping wet. This time I could smell the wet dirt on her. Then I woke up. Once again, she was gone.

The third encounter was much more interactive. I had moved to Buffalo, NY and was attending graduate school. I was single now and living with a terrible roommate who I didn't know before moving in with her. We had a nice apartment, but terrible energy resonated throughout the space because of my roommate. I tried to ignore it, but I was not comfortable or having a good time there. Then it happened again.

I was facing my door which I know I closed because I always had it closed before going to bed. I never wanted my roommate to be anywhere near my space due to her negative and disturbing nature. But in my sleep paralysis state, it was open. There she was, standing there in her wet, dirty dress with her wet, black hair, holding up a wedding dress. She was static. Then she dropped the dress at the foot of my bed, and ran to my nightstand where she frantically started writing something down on a piece of paper. I could only hear the scratching of pen on paper and I could feel the stress she was emitting.

She eventually stopped and went to leave, but before she left, I was somehow able to sit up and scream, "WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME!?". She turned around to face me, and she ran. She sprinted and jumped on me in my bed and let out a blood curdling scream. The second she landed on me, she was gone.

The fourth encounter was the worst one of all. I can still feel her touching me.

I went to Portugal in 2019 by myself to visit a friend and explore Lisbon on my own. It was a good experience to travel alone and have no plan. I needed it at that time in my life. I made my way up to Porto on a train and stayed in a hostel for a couple nights. I met a German man there who was also traveling alone and we became fast friends.

My last night in the hostel, which was shared with about seven other people, I woke in the middle of the night, but I wasn't exactly in sleep paralysis mode. I heard our door open and I thought maybe someone had stayed out late and was just getting back. Then I heard what sounded like bare feet on a tile floor. It sounded as if someone had got up to go to the bathroom. I tried to fall back asleep but I felt uneasy. Then all of a sudden, I couldn't move or speak. I saw the curtain to my bunk flutter as if someone was opening it. I heard someone come up my ladder to my bunk. I knew it was her. She grabbed my leg at my shin. Her whole hand was wrapped around it and I felt her wet, cold fingers on my skin. She jumped into my bunk and was crawling up to my face. She stopped to meet my eyes. Somehow, I woke up and she was gone.

I thought I was going to die that night. I haven't seen her since. I worry that if I do, it will truly be my end.