Weird Experience
This reallyhappened and I've never found a "logical" explanationso this seems a good place for it.
One night about 9 years ago I was sitting in the gazebo of mychurch, St. Mary's, in Muncie, Indiana. It was getting on towardevening and I had been sketching the church when I saw the churchdoor open. The mass had long been over, the last people havingleft about 20-30 minutes before; and I saw my boyfriend walkingout with a priest.
I put my things into my bag and headed toward the building tospeak with them. My boyfriend had planned to be out of townaround noon that day to participate in a weekend lecture seriesin Colorado, so I was quite surprised to see him. The priest wasan older man, one whom I'd never before met. They didn't seem tonotice me as I came up to them, and they were speaking in suchhushed tones that I couldn't hear them even when I was quiteclose.
The next thing I knew I felt something dark and cold surround me,like the deadly cold wind before a tornado...those from themidwest will likely know what I'm talking about here - it's aneerie, other-wordly kind of feeling that makes your skin crawl. Istepped around the two men and walked into the church, crossedmyself and genuflected before sitting down briefly. The feelingthat something was very wrong never left me.
I left after perhaps 5 minutes and both my boyfriend and thepriest ignored me as they had before. I began to walk toward myhouse, which was about 6 blocks away, and when I glanced backover my shoulder as I was about half-way down the church's drive,my boyfriend was walking after me. I became very scared and Istarted running, afraid to go home but not knowing where else toturn. I'd always found the church a sanctuary and to have itbecome a frightening place itself was more than I could bear.
I ran toward the campus and kept looking back over my shoulder,each time seeing Don as far behind me as he had been at thechurch grounds... but he wasn't running to keep up. Finally,after what seemed an eternity, I came to the campus and soughtrefuge behind Benificence, the main statue at Ball State. As Icrouched down behind her I looked for my boyfriend, who wasnowhere in sight. I stayed there for the better part of an hourbefore running to the nearest phone booth and calling a friend ofmine to see if I could stay the night rather than return home.
I know this sounds very silly, but when I woke up the nextmorning I was convinced the whole thing was a figment of myimagination. Mind you, the strongest drug I'd ever had wasalcohol, and that a mere glass or two for the occasional specialdinner. I was a studious girl, not given to hysterics, and I hadno reason on earth to create that sort of scenario out of myimagination alone. My boyfriend and I were also quite close sothe terror I felt - and his utter silence throughout the entireepisode - was completely foreign to me.
Don must have decided against going, perhaps he had laryngitisand that was why he could neither lecture nor call out to me. Hewasn't running after me because I was being silly...and there isnothing sinister about an elderly, visiting priest.
Monday morning I saw Don and he told me how much fun he'd had,how he'd seen a few old colleagues and former classmates, and howhe'd been invited to speak at yet another lecture series becauseof his performance at this one. I never mentioned the incident tohim...I also spoke with the church secretary who told me therehad been no visiting priest that she knew of and Father Gradyhadn't mentioned that any old seminary friends of his had come by...
Who was the old priest? Why did I see my boyfriend, who was 2,000miles away at the time? Why did the church I'd always seen as aloving haven become an ominous place to me?
When I mentioned this incident to a fellow I knew, many yearsafter the fact, he told me that Dragon Paths crossed over thechurch grounds and that a group of white witches had performedcleansing rituals on the yard and in the gazebo one midnightshortly after my incident.
It remains, in my experience, disturbing and unexplained....