The voice followed me...

This happened when i was about 8 or 9 years old. My mom had some classmates in college, who had grew up in African Tribes . One day she came back home with a few pieces of traditional African art they gave her . She said it was cultural, meaningful and nothing more than that … But this was only the beginning

The First Week was fine. But the house started changing…

We had already lived there for 3 years but nothing strange or scary ever happened. But suddenly the kitchen sink started to turn on by itself. I remember hearing it run at night when no one was in the kitchen…

But then the doors would start to open , very slowly , very quietly, . I watched the upstairs bathroom door creak open on its own one afternoon . I literally stared at it waiting for someone or something to step out.

No one did .

But the strange part was my Mom started to hear things too. Rythmic knocks at around 2AM , so soft and spaced apart almost like a drumbeat. It came from the basement. but no one ever went down there.

The house started to smell like something that wasn’t supposed to be there . Thick tobacco, incense, like something was burning in the other room .

“The smell would come out of thin air and flood the whole house”.

Sometimes it made my eyes water … but my mom would always laugh it off.

but then came the mirror.

We had a bathroom at the end of the hall. I almost always avoided it because everytime i would walk by i would see something standing in the reflection. Not outside the mirror but inside it. Dark, still, like someone waiting and as soon as i looked at it , completely gone.

The African art my mom had hung up on the walls started falling off, one piece at a time. Sometimes in the middle of the night. Sometimes while we were standing right next to it. The nails didn't break. The frames were strong. They just woudn’t stay on the walls.

But the worst night.

The night my Mom got rid of it.

I still remember it almost minute by minute…

It was around 2AM again. I was fast asleep in bed , i don’t know if i was dreaming but i heard drums. Loud. Way louder than before . Almost as if they were being played outside my room.

“I sat up . wide awake . but the sound stopped…”

I didn’t move . I was frozen. Then i heard the floor creak . Once . Then again. Like someone walking slowly across the room.

I thought it might be my mom . but yet again i did not hear the door open…

I turned around heart racing 100 mph

There was nothing.

The room was pitch black , but i swear right where the door should've been i saw something.

A tall , faceless figure that didn’t move, didn't jump, just stared. It looked like black smoke , shaped like a person standing still in front of my door.

I wrapped the blanket around my body and sprinted out the room. Ran through the "shadow figure" and out into the hallway.

The second i got out , I heard my mom’s voice call me from downstairs .Like she’d just woken up.

“I ran towards the stairs and behind me, my bedroom door slammed shut so hard it shook the wall”

I screamed.

I darted down the stairs , the living room was dark . No one was there , but i heard my mom’s voice right ? but she’s now calling me from the kitchen . The light was on.

I ran in. But no one there…

She called me again . But this time at the bottom of the stairs. But…

Nothing.

Then I heard footsteps. Running up the stairs fast

But my name was called again , not rushed. Calm. Too Calm.

The backdoor opened behind me…

I Froze . Started Crying.

My Mom looked at me in shock , i just coudn’t get my words out and her boyfriend stepped forward and asked if someone else was in the house.

But silence …

We heard it together

Running upstairs . Towards my room …

He pulled out a gun and ran up without a word…

I stayed downstairs, shaking, still wrapped in my blanket , I begged my mom not to leave me alone. She didn’t . But she did go down to the basement that night and threw out every single piece of african art in the house...

Every last one …

I slept on my moms bedroom floor all week...

And for years after , until i was twelve , i slept every night with the blanket wrapped around my entire body . head to toe . like i was hiding .

Because deep down i still felt something was waiting in the dark.

This real life experience was messaged by Jalen and is the one thing he can never forget …

Have you seen something you can’t explain ? dont keep it to yourself . Submit your story to my Instagram DM…

Thanks for reading this scary experience and as always.

This has been Missing Minute.

And i’ll see you in the Next Case File.