Author: M. Fernandez

Warning: This story contains sexual content.

I have never told anyone about this experience before. I still have nightmares to this day although they've gotten less frequent. If any of you are queasy by nature, especially women, don't read any further.

In the summer of '92, I was a vibrant, sexy, swinging-single Hispanic woman without a care in the world. I was firmly grounded in "reality" and didn't believe in the paranormal. All that changed one weekend when I was staying at a motel in San Francisco. The most ironic thing about this experience is a conversation I had with a friend of mine the same day. She was conservative (to say the least) and made a comment about my clothes (really tight black halter top, black shorts, black Teva sandals) and how I was just asking to get attacked by dressing like that. I blew her off. Little did I know what would happen that night and how close to the truth she was.

I got the motel room on a Thursday night. My boyfriend was going to come up the next day to spend the weekend in the city with me, so I was in a really good mood. The incident started at about 10pm. I was sitting at the table by the motel room's window studying for an exam. All of a sudden, I felt a chill on my legs cold enough to give me goose bumps. I looked up to see if I had left the door open but I hadn't. I checked the window to see if it was open. No luck there either. I ignored it and went back to my books.

At about 10:45, I decided to call it a night. I sat down on the bed to get undressed. Just as I undid one of the velcro straps on my sandals, I thought I heard a noise near the bed. It sounded like a footstep scuffing across the carpet. I glanced over in that direction but didn't see anything. Being the non-believer I was, I paid it no mind and kept undressing. As I was pulling my shorts off, I was startled by a scrape against the door. I thought maybe my boyfriend had come to town early. I asked who it was and got no answer. As I continued undressing, there was another scrape. I asked who it was again and still got no answer. Now I was getting annoyed. I put my shorts back on and opened the door. No one there. I took a look down either side of the hall and still didn't find anyone.

I wanted to know who was playing the prank, so I put my sandals on and headed outside to check the parking lot. Absolutely no one in sight. I couldn't see anyone across the street either. Figuring whoever it was had ducked into one of the other rooms, I went back upstairs to go to bed. I walked straight into the bathroom to wash my face. This was one of those large bathrooms that had the sink on the opposite wall from the door. While I was walking towards the sink, I thought I heard another scuff on the carpet, but again I wasn't sure because it was drowned out by my sandals clomping on the floor. I took my watch off before sticking my hands under the water and went on about my business, satisfied to put the door and carpet scrapes out of my mind. As I finished rinsing my face, I looked up into the mirror and just for a moment, I saw something. It was like a quick flash of energy out by the bathroom door. It was just there for a moment so I couldn't really tell what it was. What I definitely did know is how it made me feel.

As soon as the flash disappeared, I felt an overwhelming sense of dread. Even though I knew there wasn't anyone in the room with me, I could feel someone nearby. Someone or something absolutely evil. It completely freaked me out. I felt my heart suddenly start beating about a thousand miles an hour. That was it I wanted out of there. I figured I would just go to sleep in my car and me and my boyfriend could get another motel room the next day. I dried my face in a hurry and started putting my watch on as I walked out. I got it on and looked up just as I was reaching the bathroom door. There it was.

Hovering in the bathroom doorway was, for lack of a better word, an apparition. It was white and transparent. It had a somewhat human-like head with black spots for eyes and a mouth. It had short stubby arms with long tendril-like fingers. The rest of its body was less formed it looked like a small patch of fog.

Needless to say, someone who had never believed in the paranormal was completely shocked out of her skin. I shrieked and jumped back a step. At that point, the apparition grinned at me and got this sparkle in its' eyes. The evil feeling in the room intensified and I realized it was coming from him. That was when I lost it. This thing was blocking my path out of the motel room and it was obvious it didn't have pleasant intentions for me. I was just about to scream when the apparition raised its' right hand and clenched it into a fist. The scream died in my throat instantly. At the same time, I felt a cold, tingly grip wrap around me. My arms locked straight at my sides and my legs locked at the knees, making my whole body as stiff and straight as a telephone pole.

When I tried to run out of the room, I stood perfectly still. I couldn't move a muscle, but I could still feel every inch of my body. I tried to cry out again but couldn't make a sound. Worst of all, I couldn't take my eyes off that horrible thing in front of me. After another moment, the apparition opened its hand and I felt the grip let go of me. But I still couldn't move. With the grip gone and my body still stiff, I teetered on my heels and then fell straight backwards. I hit the floor like a lead weight, cracking my head so hard it felt like someone had taken a baseball bat to it. I laid there, paralyzed, staring at the ceiling, unable to even blink my eyes. I still felt the evil presence. I screamed in terror inside my own head but my body didn't react.

Then the lights went out. I could see some light from the bathroom door that was getting brighter. Then the apparition was there floating above me. It stared down and looked me right in the eyes. By now obviously, I had completely given myself over to sheer terror. I used every ounce of willpower I had to try to get up off the floor and run away. Still smiling, the apparition started floating down towards me. All that willpower of mine shifted into trying to at least look away from it. Nothing happened. I tried to scream again. No use. As it came closer and closer staring at me hungrily, I lay silent, stiff as a board, and stared right back at him. It stopped about halfway and looked me up and down. I saw a snake-like tongue stick out of its' mouth and lick its' lips. I was nauseous. The thing didn't want my soul or my life force or any of that stuff you see in the movies it just wanted my body, and it made me sick.

About then was when I noticed another problem. My eyes were starting to burn because the damn things wouldn't blink! They got hot and sticky but stayed wide open no matter how hard I fought.

The apparition swept its hands through the air and my body suddenly lost its stiffness. I went completely limp, but I was still paralyzed. Then it came closer. It stopped with its' face about 2 inches above mine. It stuck out its tongue and licked me on the left cheek. I actually FELT it. It was the same tingly sensation as when the apparition first grabbed me. Then I felt its tendril-like fingers playing with my breasts. I wanted to slap this horrible thing away from me with every fiber of my being but all I could do was lay there and look it in the eye. I was its' plaything and there was nothing I could do about it.

As the apparition continued to fondle me, my head continued to throb in pain from the impact with the floor. My eyes were burning worse and worse. They quickly got to a point where they stung so bad I wouldn't have been able to resist crying out…if I could. Tears flooded them. The apparition ran its disgusting tongue across my neck. Then, it committed the ultimate violation. It stuck its' wispy hand down my shorts and INSIDE of me.

That was the point where I very nearly lost my sanity, both from shock and rage. This horrible creature was sexually molesting me and all I could do was lie there and stare at it. It was like being trapped in a corpse. Time seemed to blur from then on. My eyes were in burning, agonizing pain and leaked tears down the sides of my head. The apparition just kept playing with me, having the time of its' afterlife.

Finally, the thing had its' fill of me. It withdrew its' horrible touch and looked me in the eye. It had a fully satisfied expression on its' face. It leaned down and ran its' tongue around my lips once, then started floating upwards and away. It disappeared through the ceiling and was gone.

I was left alone in total darkness. The only sound I could hear was my own breathing. All of a sudden, all the lights came back on. The sudden brightness was painful to my eyes, but I still couldn't close them. The apparition was gone and the room was quiet. There was no sign of anything that wasn't part of the "real world". Was that the end of my nightmare? Could I breathe a sign of relief that the hell I had been put through was past? Nope. Even though the apparition was gone, I was still paralyzed on the bathroom floor. With that being the only problem I had left, I concentrated every ounce of energy on trying to move, but it was useless. I was just as catatonic as when that thing had been hovering over me. My brain started racing I wondered why I was still affected when the creature had gone.

Slowly, a new fear began dawning on me. What if this was his lasting curse? What if the apparition had fixed me so I would be a vegetable the rest of my life? The possibility seemed very real. I laid there for what seemed like forever, feeling and listening to my own breathing and letting my thoughts run wild in terror. The pain in my head went away, but my eyes were dry, cracked, and still wouldn't even consider blinking. Looking back, I have to say that I was more terrified AFTER the apparition left me because it seemed with every passing moment that my paralysis was permanent. While countless other guests slept peacefully in the rooms around me, I laid on a hard floor and stared at a spot on the ceiling, horrified at the thought that this was all I may ever be from now on.

Finally, after what seemed like eternity, my eyes blinked once. I forced them to blink again, then fluttered them wildly. I closed them firmly it was the most welcome feeling I had ever had. My breathing started racing and I realized. I was able to control it again. My immediate thought was to jump for joy, but the rest of me was still paralyzed. I did my best to calm myself and kept trying to randomly move parts of my body. After a few more minutes, I was able to wiggle my fingers and toes. Another few minutes, and I started slowly moving my arms and legs. It took me about another 5 minutes after that to sit up and try to pull myself to my feet. My legs, still only partially functioning, gave out and I leaned on my hands against the counter. I gave it another few minutes before trying to stand again, and this time it worked.

Finally free of the paralysis, I walked out of the bathroom and exercised every inch of my body, making sure everything was working right. I looked at my watch and was shocked to find that two hours had passed since I had first seen the apparition! It couldn't have played with me for more than 15 or 20 minutes, so I laid on that floor alone for over an hour and a half. Its' paralyzing abilities had one hell of a lingering effect. Once I was satisfied I was back to normal, I packed up faster than ever before or since, got the hell out of that room, threw the key in front of the office door and drove off like a bat out of hell. I've never been within a mile of that motel since.

I drove to another part of town and stayed the night in a parking lot, but there was no way I could go to sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the apparition's face smiling at me. I called my boyfriend the next day and made up a story about the bed being too hard and not getting any sleep so he wouldn't question the bags under my eyes. I never spoke about what happened.

Every now and then, I still see the apparition's face. Every now and then, I wake up from a terrible nightmare in a cold sweat. I pray that I won't ever be visited by such a hideous creature again. I find it disturbing that a creature from another plane can render a living, breathing human being utterly helpless with a gesture. I hope there might be some way to prevent this one day, but for now I'm just happy to be alive and fully functional.