belloflostsouls.net
Part of this story is true. Part is left to your imagination. But which is which?
It wasn’t murder, not in the traditional sense. It was a serene backdrop: Galveston Bay at twilight, absolute stillness and quiet on land beside the two story house. Pam and I sat in our car taking in Kemah’s coastal atmosphere. The only thing moving on this evening was the ghostly shadow we saw upstairs.
As we sat back and took it all in, we wondered if this was normal behavior for this Airbnb or was it a special evening just for us.
We sat there in quiet conversation though I’m not sure why. After all, no one could hear us. Or so we thought.
And then it hit me; the scene was something akin to a Twilight Zone episode, an Alfred Hitchcock production or an Edgar Allan Poe novel. I reminded Pam of what I thought to which she just responded with a nervous chuckle.
About this time our shadowy friend seemed to move slowly from one room to another, shutting off the light as he left.
It was quite haunting to witness, somewhat justifying Pam’s nervous chuckle moments ago.
As our friend made it into the next room, the lights came on and “Uncle Edgar” reappeared in his ghostly form. I dubbed him Uncle Edgar because this scene reminded me of something right out of a Poe novel and years ago I learned I am a descendant of the late author.
The next few minutes saw Pam and me stay in the car just witnessing what was going on inside. I wanted to go in and investigate but Pam wanted just to stay put. Admittedly there was a very uneasy and eerie feeling about this whole episode.
Was the shadow just a shadow or was “it” real? Was it actually a ghost or Edgar Allan raised from the dead?
Rationally I knew that a shadow was not real; it was merely a reflection of someone real cast by the right direction of light. As I moved nearer to the house, having gotten out of the car to take a closer look, I noticed the splatter of blood on the wall. While disturbing as this was, more disturbing was the sight of what appeared to be a knife held by the shadow.
“What the . . .” I thought. The shadow had stayed still all this time. “Had the person behind the shadow seen me?,” I pondered. What was his or her next move? Where was the victim of the stabbing? These thoughts, and more, raced through my mind as I stood there, frozen.
Just as I began to move, I saw the shadow’s arm quickly thrust downward in a sharp manner, only to be repeated several more times.
I stood there, stunned. I could not believe I was witnessing another murder take place. As quickly as this happened, the shadow suddenly left the room as it turned out the lights.
I didn’t move a muscle, not knowing what to do next. I had witnessed one murder and saw the aftermath of the other. However, I don’t know if there were any before we arrived.
Where was the shadow going? Would there be another victim? Why was this happening? Questions to which I did not have answers.
What to do next was decided for me as I heard what sounded like shuffling coming from down the hall. Was it the shadow shuffling or the person whose shadow it was? I was about to find out.
Since I couldn’t resist, I headed down the hallway behind where I first heard the shuffling. As I rounded the corner leading to another hallway, I came face to face with the shadow and his ax which was already being swung in my direction.
In one quick motion I leaned back and ducked to try and avoid his ax. Good thing I did since instead of hitting me his ax left a deep and indelible incision in the wall.
I couldn’t believe what was happening. First time a shadow tried to kill me; much less with an ax!
As I began to back away, the shadow abruptly turned around and headed in the opposite direction, after having retrieved his ax from the wall.
From my perspective it appeared the shadow was on his way to his next victim. Who would it be and how could the shadow be stopped?
So I did what came naturally, uh sort of, out of curiosity. I followed it. Cautiously.
Interestingly, it never looked back. Maybe he wanted me to follow? Soon enough we were at the next room. It was dark but with a lone candle lit by the mirror on the dresser.
As I stood in the doorway, the shadow motioned me to come to the side of the bed where I noticed someone was sleeping underneath the covers. The shadow made a sweeping motion and the covers slowly moved to reveal a male person presumably already dead. In fact, he looked like he had been dead for days.
I stood there stunned as I looked down on the body and saw . . . myself!
I immediately felt as if I was in an episode of the Twilight Zone. But I wasn’t. This was really happening or so I thought. I looked up at the shadow and asked, not really expecting a response, “How could this be?; I mean I can’t be dead and alive at the same time!”
Unless we were co-existing in two different dimensions, perhaps this is best left for another discussion on another day.
The shadow remained silent while hovering above and to the side of the bed where the other me lay dead.
All of a sudden the shadow made another sweeping motion over the bed and me, and before I knew it, I found myself sitting back in the car alongside Pam. Startled, she asked me what happened and I told her she wouldn’t believe me.
Frustrated, she just blurted out “Let’s get the hell away from here.” So off we drove, totally bewildered at what we experienced. I knew I was leaving with more questions than I had answers. I also knew I may never find out.
To Be Continued . . .