CHAPTER 1
Are Your Really Alone?
Do you ever have a feeling that you are not alone when you are? Or that you are being observed? What about seeing that image flash before you, as if someone, or something, ran from one room in your home to another? Do you set something down on a table, and a moment later it is missing, only to be found after you have given up looking? How about hearing distinct noises that upon investigation do not exist, and could not exist? Have you felt a touch, or a tickle on your neck or hair? What about unusual odors when the source cannot be located? Does your furniture move without you moving it, such as a rocking chair rocking, or a toilet seat in the up position when it was purposefully closed? Do your pets react to something that you cannot see or hear?
My name is Matthew Miller. I am sixteen years old and the foregoing events reflect unexplained conditions that I experience regularly in my home. I am uncomfortable living with these experiences. The night sounds, and physical contact with my body, haunts my sleep on a regular basis. At times, I have been startled awake, believing that I had just been kissed, or my face, or hair, softly touched. When I look around, I see nothing but my room.
It is my desire to understand how, and why, these experiences occur. What I do understand is that the experiences are inconsistent and unpredictable. At night, I silently watch for shadows and movement, and listen for unusual sounds that might invade my bedroom and my sleep. What I have seen, and heard, lacks a logical explanation and results in my loss of sleep and personal comfort. My parents believe that I am dreaming without being aware that I am asleep. They have no explanation as to why my sister, Keri, experiences similar events in her bedroom. One evening, my sister woke me up and let me know that she had been touched and the touch startled her awake. She refused to say where she was touched.
I personally do not believe in spirits, guides, ghosts, orbs, apparitions or the sinister world of the undead. I abhor listening to people that claim to talk with the departed, or have visions of things yet to come. I am a pragmatist, and a realist. What I have experienced is real, and I cannot accept any explanation that suggests that it is all in my imagination, or arises in the spirit world. Neither explanation is acceptable to me, or my sister Keri.
My home is not old, or unusual. It is not located near a cemetery, and I don't have neighborhood vandals, or pranksters, interfering with my life. The house next door has been vacant for some time, but has no bearing on my life. My family consists of my father, Joseph Miller, my mother, Carolyn Miller and my fifteen year old sister, Keri Miller. We are just ordinary people who occasionally attend church and try to live honest and godly lives. I would suggest that we are a close and loving family. We are so ordinary that I wonder what, or maybe who, might be interested in our lives.
Many of the events that I have experienced have also been experienced by my sister at one time or another. Like me, my sister is tired of not understanding who, or what, is entering her dreams and touching her body as she sleeps. At one point, Keri blamed me for trying to scare her. That night, she woke up after being touched and grabbed for me – but I wasn't there. Keri checked and I was asleep in my bedroom. Keri reported the incident to me and said, "I went back to my bed and was trying to get back to sleep when I felt something brush through my hair. When I reached for my hair, I felt something touch my lips. I heard a sound, but couldn't understand the sound, or find the source of the sound. It almost seemed like laughter."
Rarely do I see, or feel, something happen to me when it can also be observed by my sister, or one of my parents. I often wonder why my sister and I experience events, independently of one another, when very little has happened to our parents. My parents are forever saying, "Matthew, leave it alone. It's your imagination playing tricks on you." They tell Keri the same thing when she experiences unexplained events.
I am in tenth grade in high school and Keri is in the ninth grade. We attend the same high school. I turned sixteen and obtained my driver's license, along with the use of one of the family cars to drive me and Keri to school. The very first time we drove to school, I told Keri to fasten her seat belt. She pulled over the belt, but refused to fasten it because it would wrinkle her new dress. I was upset, but told Keri to sit still so I wouldn't get a ticket. About half way to school, the belt was pulled out of Keri's hand and the buckle clicked locking her into her seat. Keri screamed and told me what happened. I could see in her face that she was scared.
I replied, "Good. It should be buckled." At the time, I wasn't hearing what Keri was telling me. When I finally thought about it, I felt around the seats to see if I could feel anything.
Keri replied, "I was just sitting and holding the belt buckle in my hand when something held my arm and yanked the buckle out of my hand. I felt the buckle lock, but I saw nothing unusual. Did you buckle my belt?"
I replied, "I didn't touch your belt. Maybe next time you will listen to me and buckle your belt."
Keri left me a note on my locker, which read, "Matt, I am going home on the bus tonight. That was just too creepy this morning." On my way home, I held my seat belt to see if the same would happen to me, but nothing happened.
I sat with Keri that night and discussed the events haunting our lives and affecting our sleep.
Keri said, "You and I need to figure this out because mom and dad do not believe these things are happening to us."
I mentioned that whatever was haunting us seemed to be benevolent and not harmful in any way. I use the word `haunting' for lack of a better descriptive word for the happenings that we have experienced. I remembered a quotation from Arthur Conan Doyle said that,
"Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth".
Keri then asked, "What is truth when it comes to what is happening to you and me?"
I replied, "I have a quote for `truth'".
"[T]ruth' is that fleeting moment in time when an event first appears and can be explained satisfactorily. Truth, being a simple construct, or moment in time, means that it is perceived by different people having a different perspective in time of the same event. As such, what is truth for one may be a falsehood to another." J.A. Gauthier
Keri and I were determined to find the truth behind the events that so devilishly interfered in our daily lives.. We recognized that there were different forces acting upon us and our home environment and we needed to isolate the forces by logical groupings for our planned investigative purposes. I wanted my `truth' to be consistent with Keri's truth; whatever the truth may be.
In the first group, we listed the physical realm, which included objects that move without our assistance. A good example would be car keys that we would hang on a hook by the entry door. When we returned to get the same keys, the keys are no longer hanging in place and could not be found. However, the following morning, the keys would be hanging on the wall where we had left them. No one in the family would admit to re-hanging the keys.
The same physical anomalies occurred with cell phones that we would lay on a table, but wouldn't be there when needed. In a period of one month, I went through a box of twelve writing pens. I would lay my pen on my desk, next to my writing tablet, but it was never there when I needed it. I would replace the pen with another and the following morning, I had two pens on my writing pad. No one would claim responsibility for the missing pen.
The second grouping was the observable realm. This would include shadow images and movement of light and darkness throughout the home. For example, seeing the shadow image moving from one room into another room. Seeing an object move by itself, like a rocking chair, or a faucet turn on without assistance. Our television regularly turned on without us being present, and when watching television, it would randomly shut off, or channels would change. We often accused each other, but then we would see the television remote resting on a table beyond our reach.
The third realm was what we thought of as the invisible realm. This realm dealt with the physical touching of our bodies, and our sense of not being alone in our home and bedrooms at night. We would feel a tickle on our necks, or touching of our hair when we sat watching television. I would feel the touch, but when I looked, my sister's hands were on her knees and she couldn't have touched me.
The final realm was the sound realm. We regularly heard unusual sounds, including what appeared to be whispers, laughing, singing, talking and even soft mechanical sounds. Keri would report that she would hear the whispers, singing and similar talking sounds while in her bed. I would hear similar sounds, as I would try to sleep, and especially after an event like being kissed or touched on my mouth.
Keri and I decided that we would begin an investigation of each realm and hopefully identify what might be touching our lives.
Keri jokingly said, "If I am going to be touched, then I want to know who, or what, it is that is touching me."
I looked at Keri and said, "Let's just hope that it is a male and not a female or something much more sinister."
Keri screamed and replied, "The thought of that makes my skin crawl."
We decided to set up infra-red motion cameras in each of our bedrooms. Our parents were not happy that we removed the money from our bank accounts, but we were on a mission and had to know what was happening to us at night. The cameras were connected to our laptops and activated automatically.
Our first night was a complete bust. Nothing out of the ordinary happened and both Keri and I had a good sleep. We set up the second night and noticed that the cameras had activated overnight in Keri's bedroom. When we looked at the recorded video, we saw what appeared to be a boy's hand turn the camera away from Keri's bed. Keri reported that she was touched that night.
I asked her where and she said, "In my bed, Duh!"
I replied, "No, where were you touched on your body?"
Keri replied, "It's none of your business. I was a little upset with her and she said, "OK, I was touched on my chest and I felt like I was kissed, but I saw no one."
I commented, "Your camera doesn't show anything except the hand that moved the camera. It looks like a boy's hand, but I can't be certain."
Keri replied, "You are right. I also think it looks like a boy's hand. It is too big for a girl's hand."
Keri then said, "Matt, come here. I want you to move the camera like we saw on the video." I moved the camera and we looked at the video. The hand looked identical to my hand. Keri hit me in the arm and called me a creep.
Keri said, "I want you out of my bedroom now!"
I left, trying to reassure Keri that it wasn't my hand.
On the way out of Keri's bedroom, she said to me, "If you touch me again like that, I am telling mom and dad!"
I replied, "I promise you, I didn't touch you."
The next night, my camera was moved and I awoke to what felt like a soft hug and kiss to my lips. I played back the video and observed a girl's hand moving the camera away. I called in Keri and she repeated the motion. Keri was shocked that the hand moving my camera was identical to her own hand, including the ring on her pinky finger.
Keri said, "OK Matt, now I believe you. Someone, or something, is in our bedrooms at night touching us. We have to figure this out."
I suggested that we hide the infra-red cameras so they couldn't be found or moved. Keri and I carefully placed our cameras in each of our bedrooms and then laid down for sleep. In less than ten minutes, Keri felt something touching her hair and then slowly running a hand, or what felt like a hand, down her neck and arm to her fingers. Whatever it was, it touched her pinky ring and spun it around her finger. Keri was then kissed and she screamed for me.
I ran into Keri's room. She explained what had happened to her. Keri said, "It felt so real. I know that I wasn't dreaming it."
I suggested that we check the camera. However, when we went to get the camera, it was gone and the computer back-up was empty.
Keri looked at me and said, "No way! I know we put the camera there."
Keri and I checked the camera in my bedroom. Although I hadn't felt anything that night, my camera filmed something dark quickly moving across the room and then it disappeared. I said to Kerry, "What in the hell was that?"
The decision was made to use both cameras in Keri's bedroom that night. We filmed from two directions in hopes of catching whatever, or whoever, was touching Keri at night. Keri couldn't sleep, as she lay on her bed, closing her eyes, and hoping that nothing touched her that night. Keri laid awake for nearly four hours when she finally fell asleep. In the morning, Keri and I checked the cameras, but nothing occurred.
We repeated the cameras in Keri's room the next night. Keri yelled out of her room and said, "Matt, can you hear me?"
I replied, "I can, so go to sleep."
I then laid down and fell asleep. I awakened to soft touches to my cheeks. I could only describe the touch like someone feeling my beard stubble. I continued to lie quietly and I felt another kiss on my lips and a tickle under my chin. I was sure that I heard laughing sounds before the contact ended." I checked in Keri's room, but she was asleep.
In the morning, I explained what happened to Keri and she laughed and said, "Don't complain Matt. At least you are getting kisses in your sleep. Maybe you won't need to find a girlfriend."
I replied, "I want the cameras in my bedroom tonight." I set up the cameras with Keri's help and I was ready for sleep. I had been lying awake for several hours when I felt my ear get tickled. I quickly reached up to my ear to grab whatever it was tickling me, but nothing was there. Within a few minutes, I felt something touching my hair. I could only describe the touch to be like someone was running fingers through my hair. I reached again, but found nothing. I explained to Keri that I had been lying motionless to see what else might happen. I soon felt fingers reaching inside my mouth and touching my tongue. It felt like someone used a finger nail to scrape my tongue. I coughed and the hand was quickly withdrawn, but followed by a finger pushing into my nose. I explained, "I swatted my nose, but again, nothing was there." I continued to lie quietly when I was kissed. I reached up with both arms to catch whoever, or whatever, it was, but again, nothing was there."
Keri said, "Let's look at the recording." Keri and I were surprised to see me reacting to something. We could see my hair move and even saw my nostril flare out as if something was stuck in my nose. We watched carefully, but couldn't see anything, or anyone. Keri poked me and laughed as we looked at me getting kissed.
Keri said, "Matt, you have a smile on your face. How can you smile when you have no idea who, or what, kissed you?"
Keri and I showed our parents the video, but they rejected it outright, alleging that I was simply performing for my sister.
The next night, Keri and I decided to try her room one more time. We hid the cameras and Keri crawled into bed, waiting on something to happen. Keri quickly froze, as something reached under her blanket and touched her nightgown. Keri's blanket was pulled away from her body and her nightgown slowly moved up her legs. All of a sudden, the motion stopped and Keri couldn't understand what had happened. She quietly waited and she heard some whispers in her ear and then received a kiss. Nothing more happened.
In the morning, Keri and I saw everything that Keri reported. When our parents saw Keri's video, they immediately became concerned about Keri, and who or what was trying to molest her in her bed. Our father said, "I can't call the police. What could they do? There was nothing there. Did either of you fake this video?"
I explained, "Keri and I have been trying to get you to understand what has been happening to us at night. It is not a dream as you now saw. We don't know what is next, but for Keri, she has to be concerned about someone trying to touch her under her nightgown."
My mother replied, "I'm sure that it is nothing. Just sleep like normal tonight and you will see that all is fine." That night, Keri asked me to sleep next to her bed. She wanted me in the room just in case something happened to her again. I grabbed a camping cot and slept next to Keri, while listening for any unusual sounds. Nothing happened. I continued to sleep in Keri's room for a week, and when nothing more happened, I returned to my own room and the events stopped.
