March 16, 2007

Shadow Figures on Sycamore Street

Rate this encounter:[an error occurred while processing this directive] Curt, St. Paul, Minnesota, 1999 - 2000

On Sycamore Street in St. Paul, there is a house that has a unique basement apartment that I was told was once a stopping area for truck drivers. It is unique in the sense that it has its own individual entry way from outside, plus you can enter from the upstairs portion of home (no one lived upstairs during the time I lived there). The most unique thing about it, though, is that it has a sauna, and a long counter along the east side of the apartment that spans nearly the entire length of the unit. The counter also has built in stools, much like you would find at a cafe. Behind the counter are the usual stove, refrigerator, sink, etc. My bed was at the end of this counter, on the north side of the apartment. The west side of the apartment is open and airy, with plenty of room for my couch, chairs, TV, etc. The entryway is at the south end of the apartment. If you know where Sycamore Street is located in St. Paul, you'll know that that street is located along the southern end of a huge cemetery. I forget the name of the cemetery, but I've heard stories about an "angel of death" and other freaky occurrences that have happened at there.

Well, my apartment was located in the basement, and directly across the street from the cemetery. I had never been a believer in ghosts until the day I moved into that apartment. The occurrences, or whatever they were, happened literally my first night there. I had just gone through a break up, and lived alone at the time. I was lying in my bed around 10:30 PM watching the TV. Remember, my bed was along the north wall of the apartment, or in other words, maybe thirty feet from the cemetery, and it was in a basement. Anyways, as I was watching the tube, all of a sudden realized I could see my breath. This was weird because I didn't feel cold, and the room seemed abnormally warm. In fact, I remember pulling my bedcovers down because I was getting so warm. All of a sudden, a dark woman (she looked like a shadow) came through the wall at the foot of my bed and looked at me. She had no face. Then she turned and walked back through the wall toward the cemetery. This freaked me out, and I left immediately. I drove to Oakdale to stay at a buddy's place.

The next evening I had my buddy come over so that I wouldn't be alone when I got home. We hung out and were playing video games until about nine or ten that evening, when my buddy asked me if I could turn down the heat. I said that I didn't feel warm, but I would check the thermostat. While I said that to him, his face went pale because he said he could see my breath. That very same second the same strange figure entered through the wall from the cemetery, followed by two additional shadow figures. They seemed to run or float right through him. As this happened his hat flew off, and his eyes rolled back into his head for just a second, and then he fell to the floor and began to mumble about the "fires below." His voice didn't even sound like himself any more. Then he stopped mumbling and just went limp. I thought he was dead. The shadow figures had disappeared after they ran through/into my buddy. When he awoke a few seconds later he acted really weird and wanted to move in with me. But I told him that I was moving the heck out this place, forget the lease! Then he grabbed my arm very hard and said that he had to move in! He said "they" would hurt me if I didn't let him move in. I told him that we should go outside and talk about it. I just wanted to get out of there! We went outside, and as soon as we got out, my friend dropped to the driveway and started shaking. Just then, the three shadow figures seemed to float out of him and disappeared heading into the direction of the cemetery.

I asked him if he was okay, and he said, "Yeah, when are we going to go inside? I want to see if we see anything like you told me about last night." This freaked me out because he didn't even remember the occurrence, although it just happened minutes ago. Needless to say, I packed up my TV and clothes the next day during the daylight and moved out. I was so freaked out that I left my couch, bed dressers, etc. I shudder to think what would have become of me had I stayed there that second night all by myself! And if anyone is living in that apartment now or is thinking about it: do not do it. You'll be able to tell the apartment from the description.