So, I got to speak with a few fellows (friends of a new friend) the other night, and jeez, I had no idea what I was walking into. What started as a casual night of a few drinks and a couple games of pool quickly took a hard left as soon as I responded honestly to the seemingly innocent question of "what've you been up to lately?" with mentioning that I was trying to put together a paranormal investigations kit, and suddenly it seemed like an open mike night for das heebies und jeebies. Let me break off a couple of the stories I heard from these guys (again, no judgement on whether they happened or not, the interesting aspect of it is that all of these stories came unbidden from a group of relatively mundane-seeming guys). Keep in mind, I may be misremembering certain details, but for the most part, these are the stories as they were told to me, with commentary as I feel like it.
-One of them claimed that ever since they were a young child, a Grigori (guardian angel) had followed him and watched over him to keep him safe from harm, including pushing his brother back from a balcony that just happened to fall when he was not two feet from it...from a purely objective viewpoint, I could see this as possible, but more likely just a coincidentally lucky jump at the last second being attributed to divine intervention. Still, I suppose that this instance really comes down to whether you believe in guardian angels, the idea of which I have a fairly open mind towards. I'd give this one a six out of ten in believability that the cause of what happened was truly supernatural in origin.
-This same guy claimed that once, while he and his brother were playing about in an old cave, he'd heard a couple of loud knocks (which he personally attributes to a knocker, a small dwarfish fairy/spirit that makes it's home in caves and mines and "knocks" to warn of imminent disaster) that sent him and his brother running for the entrance, where shortly thereafter the cave collapsed behind them, sealing the cave entirely...I'm alot more skeptical on this one. Specifically, while I love the romantic concept of fairies, I find them hard to believe in, and especially when the "knocking" could just as easily be explained by the last few shifts of the cave before it came down. However, to defend the "believer's" side, if we talk about how the oceans are the most unexplored place on earth due to their vastness, couldn't the same argument be leveled against the very bowels of the Earth? If ever there was a place for spirits to chill out in undetected, that environ across the board would be a prime spot. But, hypotheticals aside, I call bullsh-t on this one. Two out of ten.
-Same family, this time from the other brother; once upon a time, they were playing in their house when they heard the stairs creaking as if someone was walking up them. Going to investigate, they watched an indefinite haze advance up and quickly disappear in the attic, where they quickly followed, and saw a man in white muttering agitatedly to himself as he paced back and forth while holding a knife. Suddenly, then man looked directly at them and screamed "NO!" while slitting his own throat, causing the head to roll off his body and thump against the floor as it rolled towards them, then vanish as it drew close. Needless to say, they didn't stick around for very long to see if anything else happened...while certainly smacking of a certain violence and suddenness, I'm apt to sort of disbelieve this one. Why? Because it sounds too Hollywood-ish. Seriously, the setting, the timing, the archetypes and framing of the situation...you could almost see someone with a video camera going through these self-same motions to make one of the "boo" shots of some new wave horror movie. I'm inclined to think that this was more likely a late night movie that's half-remembered by both brothers and being confused for the real deal. On the other hand, if it really did happen, then they have balls the size of the Dakotas to see something like that and not let it phase turn their hair permanently white. Two out of ten.
-Supposedly the patriarch of this family, while in the military, was walking back to a hotel room one night when he turned and saw a jet black dog with glowing red eyes the size of a small pony following him. Immediately, he turned and ran for sixteen blocks, arriving at his hotel room and barricading his door as his room filled with the sounds of pounding and shredding wood. Eventually, it stopped, and on checkin on the condition of the door from the hallway, he saw that large claw marks had been rent into it, and that it was torn half to pieces...I think this one is a bit too contrived as well. It follows the classic setup for most "Black Dog" legends, that a terrifyingly large hellhound appears out of nowhere and follows a hapless victim until they either arrive home or are torn to pieces. However, according to the legends of the black dog, you can either try to outrun it (very bad idea, as they're usually fast enough to catch almost anything), or continue walking quietly and do your best to ignore it, knowing that if it can tell that you notice it's presence, then your life is forfeit. It's the wrong environs for such a thing (they're traditionally found in moors, highlands, and long roads winding throughout the United Kingdom, Scotland, and Ireland), but there have been rare tales of other traditionally Anglo-Saxon spirits appearing to certain bloodlines even when their members are transplanted to different areas. Two out of ten.
-While the brothers were playing with plastic swords, one of them apparently tossed a toy sword through the other. Like, the sword dematerialized and rematerialized after passing through the body of the brother. They know it rematerialized because it hit a third brother in the head...I got nothing for this one. I've heard of partial and full dematerialization occurring in powerful psychics or in times of extreme duress, but I'd be more likely to chalk this up to a very unusual throw that barely missed the one brother, while still appearing to be a direct hit. Three out of ten.
-While one of the brothers was in their room getting ready for bed, he noticed an arrow drawn on the window. Puzzled, he looked closer and noticed letters being drawn on the window, eventually spelling out "TURN AROUND", to which he did (rookie move, dude!), and on seeing nothing, turned back to the window, whereupon he saw a dead girl swinging outside of it...again, seems kinda theatrical. If I lived in a house where all of this crap went down, I'd be making popcorn and charging admission. Two out of ten.
-While these self-same brothers were watching TV in the dark one night, they heard a skittering behind the couch they were sitting on. After telling Brother Number 1 to sit still, Brother Number 2 "felt something take control of him" and make him grab behind the couch and quickly throw -something- into the wall in front of them. After hearing a sharp thud and a human sounding scream, he immediately turned on the lights, and the brothers saw a shadow skitter under the entertainment center, but when checked, there was nothing there...the idea of human/animal hybrids like this so-called "rat-thing" are common across cultures (werebeasts, mummies in Egypt, and witchcraft in the US, to name a few instances), so the inspiration for such a story is not found wanting. However, to go back to the cynics view, I see it as more probable that the one brother grabbed something and tossed it into the wall, and that the scream came from the other already-anxious brother upon hearing the unexpected noise, and the skittering shadow was simply a case of their eyes becoming readjusted to the light. Then again, they say that they'd never heard it's like before, so there's that strike against that explanation. Two out of ten.
Continued tomorrow...
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