When I was around 13 years old, my parents went through a divorce. Not wanting to live with either of them, I chose to live with my sister who was 23 and married at the time.
It was summer break and during the day I would hang out with my friends and play various sports. At night, I would spend my time watching movies and shows on my sister’s couch.
One particular night, I was watching a show and eventually drifted off to sleep. It must have been around 3 a.m. when I suddenly awoke. I sat up on the couch and noticed figures darting across the living room. I rubbed my eyes as I tried to focus on the figures. They seemed like small shadows moving rapidly back and forth.
My pulse began to quicken as I couldn’t comprehend what I was seeing. Out of the darting shadows, three human silhouettes appeared and stood in a horizontal line less than six feet from me. My heart began to beat uncontrollably fast now. I distinctively remember the silhouette in the middle was taller than the other two. They had no faces or features and appeared as outlines of people.
The middle one began to slowly approach me. I couldn’t believe what was happening and I knew it wasn’t a dream. I needed to do something, anything. As my eyes were fixated on the approaching apparition, all I could do was dart my hand across the couch in search of the TV remote. I hoped that if I turned the TV on, the light from the screen would make them vanish.
I mustered up the courage to quickly turn away and look for the remote. Luckily, I found it in an instant and turned the TV on. I quickly turned into the direction of the apparition and it was now mere inches from my face. It reached out and placed its hand on my head. It’s touch sent goosebumps all over my body. It felt as if electricity was coursing through my veins. I tried to scream to wake my sister and her husband up but nothing came out. It felt as if I was paralyzed. I couldn’t breathe. Just as I felt like I was going to faint from the lack of oxygen, everything vanished.
I frantically gasped for air as if I had just nearly drowned. I got up and ran to my bedroom. I closed and locked the door and sat in the corner of the room watching the door. I remember the door knob slowly began to turn. The slow turns grew into more violent turns. The entire door started to shake aggressively. I yelled at the top of my lungs for what felt like an eternity.
The shaking subsided as I could hear my sister’s husband get out of his bedroom. He knocked on my door and I quickly opened it. I never told him or my sister what happened though. I simply said I had a terrible nightmare. That was my first encounter with the silhouette, one in which I will never forget.