Siani
Despiser of religious nuts
I've had a number of weird experiences, which have left me rather bewildered, to say the least. I forget the precise date of this particular experience, other than it being the end of 1989, or possibly early 1990. I recall it was a winter month. At the time, I shared a house with some students. The two who lived upstairs will play a role later in this story. I've changed the names in this account, for privacy reasons.
One of my closest friends at the time was an artist - I'll call him Joe. He started dating Heather, and she and I became quite friendly. Sadly, Heather had a lot of emotional problems, and was a self-harmer. She was only 17, and I, being about 7 or 8 years older, kind of took her under my wing a little. If ever she had a problem, or had had a bust-up with Joe or her parents, she would often turn up at my house very late at night.
At 3 AM one morning, my doorbell rang. I was annoyed, not at being woken up, but because the doorbell had sounded. I was a nocturnal creature during those days. But my friends and I were always respectful of my housemates, so late-night callers would throw small pieces of gravel at my window instead of ringing the doorbell, so as not to wake my house mates.
On this particular night, I got out of bed and peered out of my window. I saw what looked like Heather, smiling, waving, and gesturing to me to let her in. But something was very wrong with the figure standing below.
The first thing I spotted was that Heather was wearing a tatty old pair of boots that I knew had been tossed into the garbage weeks ago. I also noticed that her face was a very strange colour. It was a bluey-grey colour. She was a pale-complexioned girl, but I'd seen her many times at that location, from that angle, at night. I can promise you she was never blue-grey. There was also a strange plastic-like sheen to her face. Her actions were weird too. Her gesticulations seemed speeded up and jerky, and her facial expressions also seemed speeded up and jittery. There was something almost frantic about her grin, and the way she kept pointing at the door and indicating for me to come and open it.
The strangest feeling came over me as I looked down at 'Heather'. Think of the way your mouth numbs and stiffens when your dentist gives you an injection. My whole body felt like it had been zapped with novocaine, slowly freezing. The more the Heather thing tried to persuade me to open the door, the more some primeval instincy shrieked at me not to let it in. I began to retreat from my window, shaking my head. But every effort I made to move, felt like some clumsy, slow-motion back-track. I felt as if I was trying to push through very thick, stodgy jelly. When I tried to speak, I had difficulty forming the words. It was as if my powers of speech had been severely compromised. After a struggle, I finally managed to say 'No. You're not Heather. F*** off'.
The thing at my door fell still for a second or two, and simply stared at me, with an expression of what seemed like disappointment.. Then, to my utter disbelief and horror, it began to spin, very rapidly, until it resembled a slightly glowing, light silvery-blue vortex. It shot straight across the road, until it reached the garden wall of a house opposite. It then turned through a 90° angle and shot up the pavement. When it reached a junction with another road, it took another 90° turn and shot out of sight, behind the houses on the neighbouring street.
After that, I turned on all my lights and closed my curtains. I was pretty freaked out, but decided it must have been some sort of weird, sleep-walking dream. I've never been a sleep-walker, but I always try to look for logical expanations for everything, however insane or bizarre it seems. I fell asleep when daylight came. When I woke up, I managed to shrug the whole thing off.
When Joe paid me a visit that afternoon, I realized Heather had been with him the whole night. I was relieved, as at one point, I worried I may have denied her sanctuary from some kind of danger, whilst I was in a weird, soporific fugue. I had utterly dismissed the whole thing as a dream, when the students who lived upstairs arrived home from college. They cornered me, and one of them, puffed up like an indignant rooster, said 'would you please tell your friends not to ring the bell at three o'clock in the morning? It's not fair. We have to be up for early lectures'. My housemate confirmed the time of the doorbell ringing, as the same time I was woken.
A couple of months later, Heather suddenly ditched Joe for another guy, and broke his heart. He attempted suicide, and Heather and I haven't spoken since. I discovered she had also been spreading malicious lies about me.
Does anyone have any idea what that Heather thing at my door was? Did her nasty side manifest itself as some kind of apparition? Was it some evil entity masquerading as a friend, trying to lure me out into goodness knows what kind of trap? Did some benevolent entity try to warn me of her duplicity, by showing me a fake Heather? Or did I simply just dream the whole thing, despite independent corroboration of the doorbell ringing? If it was a dream, could it have been a prophetic warning about a false friend? Or maybe it was nothing at all, and I'm reading too much into it in hindsight? I really don't know...
One of my closest friends at the time was an artist - I'll call him Joe. He started dating Heather, and she and I became quite friendly. Sadly, Heather had a lot of emotional problems, and was a self-harmer. She was only 17, and I, being about 7 or 8 years older, kind of took her under my wing a little. If ever she had a problem, or had had a bust-up with Joe or her parents, she would often turn up at my house very late at night.
At 3 AM one morning, my doorbell rang. I was annoyed, not at being woken up, but because the doorbell had sounded. I was a nocturnal creature during those days. But my friends and I were always respectful of my housemates, so late-night callers would throw small pieces of gravel at my window instead of ringing the doorbell, so as not to wake my house mates.
On this particular night, I got out of bed and peered out of my window. I saw what looked like Heather, smiling, waving, and gesturing to me to let her in. But something was very wrong with the figure standing below.
The first thing I spotted was that Heather was wearing a tatty old pair of boots that I knew had been tossed into the garbage weeks ago. I also noticed that her face was a very strange colour. It was a bluey-grey colour. She was a pale-complexioned girl, but I'd seen her many times at that location, from that angle, at night. I can promise you she was never blue-grey. There was also a strange plastic-like sheen to her face. Her actions were weird too. Her gesticulations seemed speeded up and jerky, and her facial expressions also seemed speeded up and jittery. There was something almost frantic about her grin, and the way she kept pointing at the door and indicating for me to come and open it.
The strangest feeling came over me as I looked down at 'Heather'. Think of the way your mouth numbs and stiffens when your dentist gives you an injection. My whole body felt like it had been zapped with novocaine, slowly freezing. The more the Heather thing tried to persuade me to open the door, the more some primeval instincy shrieked at me not to let it in. I began to retreat from my window, shaking my head. But every effort I made to move, felt like some clumsy, slow-motion back-track. I felt as if I was trying to push through very thick, stodgy jelly. When I tried to speak, I had difficulty forming the words. It was as if my powers of speech had been severely compromised. After a struggle, I finally managed to say 'No. You're not Heather. F*** off'.
The thing at my door fell still for a second or two, and simply stared at me, with an expression of what seemed like disappointment.. Then, to my utter disbelief and horror, it began to spin, very rapidly, until it resembled a slightly glowing, light silvery-blue vortex. It shot straight across the road, until it reached the garden wall of a house opposite. It then turned through a 90° angle and shot up the pavement. When it reached a junction with another road, it took another 90° turn and shot out of sight, behind the houses on the neighbouring street.
After that, I turned on all my lights and closed my curtains. I was pretty freaked out, but decided it must have been some sort of weird, sleep-walking dream. I've never been a sleep-walker, but I always try to look for logical expanations for everything, however insane or bizarre it seems. I fell asleep when daylight came. When I woke up, I managed to shrug the whole thing off.
When Joe paid me a visit that afternoon, I realized Heather had been with him the whole night. I was relieved, as at one point, I worried I may have denied her sanctuary from some kind of danger, whilst I was in a weird, soporific fugue. I had utterly dismissed the whole thing as a dream, when the students who lived upstairs arrived home from college. They cornered me, and one of them, puffed up like an indignant rooster, said 'would you please tell your friends not to ring the bell at three o'clock in the morning? It's not fair. We have to be up for early lectures'. My housemate confirmed the time of the doorbell ringing, as the same time I was woken.
A couple of months later, Heather suddenly ditched Joe for another guy, and broke his heart. He attempted suicide, and Heather and I haven't spoken since. I discovered she had also been spreading malicious lies about me.
Does anyone have any idea what that Heather thing at my door was? Did her nasty side manifest itself as some kind of apparition? Was it some evil entity masquerading as a friend, trying to lure me out into goodness knows what kind of trap? Did some benevolent entity try to warn me of her duplicity, by showing me a fake Heather? Or did I simply just dream the whole thing, despite independent corroboration of the doorbell ringing? If it was a dream, could it have been a prophetic warning about a false friend? Or maybe it was nothing at all, and I'm reading too much into it in hindsight? I really don't know...
