Winding Stream Trail PT1 - The Lady In Black

This is going to be the first out of several entries to do with Winding Stream Trail:

When I was twenty-three my first husband and I purchased our very first home together, the year was 2013. We were newly married and decided it was time for a home of our own. By the time we had settled on this one particular house we had been on the market for a few months, most places we had looked at were either located too far from work or family so this house was centered close by to everyone and the commute to work was short enough, so it was perfect. It was definitely a fixer-upper, it was built in the 60's, so because of it's age and the amount of work it needed done to it, we got it for a really cheap price (around 60k) if I remember correctly. It was a two-story house with 2 bedrooms and bathrooms with a full basement, two car garage, and a beautiful sunroom. In the backyard was an under-ground pool with water so green it looked black, the whole yard was fenced in and extremely over-grown. The house sat on a very wooded and secluded plot of land. So wooded, that even from the street you would have a hard time spotting the house unless you were really looking for it. 

The first six months went off without a hitch, I acclimated to the house and my new surroundings pretty well. I can't remember exactly what started it but after a while when I was home alone thing's started happening, small thing's. I would get this strange and overwhelming feeling of being watched by someone or something. I would hear strange noises around the house as if someone were walking around when I was the only one home. At first I just chose to ignore it (if you have read any of my past posts you will see this is one of my coping mechanisms, ignore it and it will go away) though most of the time, unfortunately for me, isn't the case. 

It was close to Christmas and I remember my husband at the time (we will call him B.B.) and myself were out visiting with his family who had come into town for the Holidays. That particular year we had a terrible rain storm, so bad it was like a monsoon. Because the weather was so bad we decided to stay overnight with his family members at his aunts house and make the journey back home the following day. When we arrived home the following day we were grateful we didn't have any downed trees or damage to the house (huge pine trees spanned the entire yard, front and back). Or so we thought. Our washing machine and dryer were located in the basement. I have never been a fan of basements ever since I was a little girl. So I usually had to haul the clothes hamper from our room upstairs down into the basment to do laundry. When I got down into our basement it had completely flooded out from the rainstorm the night prior. Everything that was down there was completely destroyed. We instantly felt the pains of being first time home-buyers. 

In the following days we contacted the home insurance company to make a claim. After work one afternoon B.B. asked me to take photos of all the damage in the basement to send off to the insurance company. I was home alone and loathed going into that basement especially when I was home alone but I knew it needed to be done so I grabbed my digital camera put my big girl pants on and made my descent down into the basement. When I reached the door I expected to be met by water but since a few days had passed most of the water had been absorbed by the walls and excess had leaked out through the garage door and into the yard. There wasn't much light down there due to the basement not being wired correctly and the drop ceiling made it impossible to install any lights. So I opened up the door that lead into the garage, used the only source of light from the basement bathroom and began snapping pictures of the basement. At first everything was fine but then I snapped a picture and what I saw absolutely baffled me entirely. In this particular photo there appeared to be what looked liked long white ghost hooks falling from the ceiling. The kind of hooks they use in slaughter houses to hang meat onto. I snapped a few more pictures to see if more would show up but they didn't but I was able to catch a few more light anomalies (like orbs) flying around in the photos but nothing like the hooks from the first photo I took. (I wish I still had these photos to show as proof but unfortunately so much time has passed they have been lost over the years). 

After a few more minutes of snapping photos that same overwhelming feeling I mentioned before came rushing in on me. Except this time it wasn't just a feeling. Standing there alone in the basement in this big house with no one else around, I heard the distinct sound of a voice standing right next to me. I couldn't make out what it said or if it was male or female but I knew I heard it. My eyes widened with fear as I scanned the basement, I could feel the heat rising in my cheeks as my heart started to pound out of my chest. Something was down in that basement with me and I was wanting no part of it. I instantly ran through the door that lead into the two car garage and called B.B. frantically trying to tell him what had just happend and what I had just captured on camera. Naturally, he played it down and shrugged it off. To him it was all in my head and nothing more. Admittedly, I was frustrated and annoyed and felt dismissed entirely. 

Fast-forward about a week or two, by this time I had all but forgotten about the basement incident. Life was back to normal and continued as usual and I was getting ready for bed on this particular night. I was usually in bed way before B.B. I would lay in bed watching TV as I fell to sleep with the volume turned down really low because I am a light sleeper. The only real noise in the bedroom was from the fan blowing on me to keep me cool. If you have ever been to GA then you know how hot it can get in the summer months. Eventually I fell to sleep but my peaceful slumber wouldn't last. I woke to that old familiar feeling of being paralyzed and unable to move or speak. Except this time I was seeing everything around me. My eyes scanned the room and at first I didn't see anything until  my eyes shot to the foot of the bed where my feet were. 

Sitting there at the foot of my bed was a woman. I was instantly scared and didn't know what to do so I just kept staring at her. She had long black hair that spanned down the length of her back. She was wearing what looked like a solid black kimono or dark monk robes. I couldn't see her face at first because of the way she was seated and positioned. Then after a moment or two she began to move. She turned her head to look at me and when she did I noticed she had white bandages wrapped around where her eyes should be. The wraps appeared to be covered in a dark substance almost like dried blood. She began crawling towards me (grudge style) and when she began doing this, for some reason, my reaction was to look away. She didn't like this it all and it did nothing to deter her, not even a moment later I was face to face with this thing. When she reached my face (I could feel her hair on my skin) her mouth opened, it was circular and black and when I say she started trying to suck my soul out like a dementor from Harry Potter, I literally mean I could feel this as it was happening. At first I was just letting it happen it felt weirdly peaceful. I remember thinking to myself briefly if this is what dying feels like then it is actually pretty peaceful. A few more seconds pass and it's like I snap out of whatever daze I am in and realize I need to fight back or I may die. 

When I say I was instantly filled with rage and void of fear I mean it was like a switch flipped. I was no longer scared of this thing and in fact I was extremely pissed off. I literally heard myself cussing this thing out and telling it to get off of me. I was all fight and no flight. A few moments later I was able to get myself out of it, my brain and body were once again on the same track. I sat up out of bed, my heart racing and B.B. was sound asleep next to me. My eyes darted and scanned the room to make sure nothing was there and that it was safe and of course I didn't see anything there. This would be my second run-in with sleep paralysis and my first experience with the lady in black.