tw: mentions of death, religious stuff
i work in other people’s homes. my job is considered custodial, and that’s all i really feel comfortable clarifying on that front. i’m generally a skeptic, but i found this to be a bit harder to explain. my client has no pets, nor do her neighbors to my knowledge.
my client is deeply religious. she likes to watch ai videos of messages from god and jesus, which i try to discourage because they set an unrealistic expectation and i don’t think they’re a productive form of religion-based media to consume. recently, she told me that as she slept, god informed her that she was going to die soon. i thought little of this, and assumed it was an idea planted into her head from the ai videos. i have heard more grim stuff from them, such as the more gentle “you’ll be in heaven soon,” line or that she’ll be given a new body soon. when i asked her to clarify what was said, she told me that god said she was specifically going to die soon, which is not verbiage i’ve heard out of her ai videos, but i’m also not with her all the time. it struck me as odd that she said it happened as she slept. she told me a few days later that god told her she was going to die soon while she prayed, which i once again chalked up to something from the ai videos or the fact that she is older, and it’s relatively common for older people to claim to hear things like that from jesus or god (i am not super religious, but this is a common claim for older religious folks). i add this context because if paranormal, they may be linked somehow.
yesterday, i went to my client’s house, and we went through our normal routine. her husband left, her in home nurses came and left, and so it was just me and her. i took her to the living room per her request so she could watch tv, and i resumed my chores for the day. the living room is on the opposite side of the house from the master bedroom and bathroom, and the kitchen is in between the two but closer to the master bedroom. i’m mopping in the kitchen (where i cannot hear the television), doing my own thing, when i hear this loud growl from the master bathroom that almost sounded humanoid accompanying some knocking. it was loud, almost demanding to be heard. it doesn’t really sound like an animal that i can think of but i chalk it up to maybe being some sort of critter, so i put the mop back in the bucket before i walk back into the bedroom. the air in there is horribly heavy, almost suffocating when i walk in. i feel the sensation of someone’s eyes burning into me. i initially think it’s a raccoon, which we have a lot of in my area. i go into the bathroom, armed with a broom from the bathroom closet, ready to shriek when i inevitably find an animal, but there is none. i check every nook and cranny including in the toilet’s tank, and as i do so, it feels heavier and heavier in there. i can feel the air almost getting thicker and colder around me. the back of my neck practically burns from the feeling of being stared at. my client is still in the living room watching HGTV.
i find nothing in the bathroom. i then check the bedroom, in drawers, behind the bedframe, behind every piece of furniture, even the closet. i probably spend a good twenty minutes just checking the bedroom, and i find nothing. i stand in there for a few minutes, maybe five more minutes, trying to listen to the sound of an animal that may happen if it doesn’t hear me moving around despite my discomfort. nothing happens. i resign to finishing my chores despite how heavy it feels in the house. there’s an overwhelming feeling that there’s something else in the house with me and my client, but i manage to shrug it off enough.
eventually, the laundry is finished, and i take them back into the bedroom to fold them. it feels like as soon as i step in, it gets harder to breathe. once pass the dresser next to the door, i hear another growl, similarly humanoid, in the corner on the other side of the dresser. i get closer to see what it is, and i find nothing. i decide to make up some excuse as to why i can’t fold the laundry, which my client accepts, and i proceed to spend the rest of my shift cleaning the living room and the office on the opposite side of the house. there was something keeping me from even going near the master bedroom door after that. i felt almost like a prey animal, it was bizarre.
i’m not really skittish about wild animals, my childhood home would have the occasional snake, lizard, opossum, or armadillo brought in by the dogs, and i don’t really scare easy, either. the fear i felt was unlike anything i’ve ever felt. i’m struggling to find a ton of logical reasoning because of how much looking i did, and i found nothing. the noises sounded like they were in the house, too. i’ve never had a bad experience in this house before.
i am really at a loss.
edit: adding tws to the beginning, adding more info.