Beware the Static Terror

She woke up. Oh no, not another day of waking up early from sleep. It had only been about three hours since her head hit the pillow. She shifted, laid down again. Time to get some sleep again. Closing her eyes, she took in a deep breath and tried to drift back into dreamland. But then she felt something. Very slight at first, but it was like a static electricity blanket buzzing over her entire body. Dread engulfed her and a panic set in.

In her mind a setting took place. It appeared to be a kitchen to a fancy restaurant or hotel. She viewed the space through her own point of view. There was a man standing in front of her. He was dressed in a white button-down shirt, black vest, black pants, and a black bow tie. His face was out of her view. He spoke no words, but she was greatly afraid of him. She felt as though he was familiar to her, like a nightmare from her past. She was trapped; there was nowhere to run. It felt like she was still awake and aware, what was going on? In her head he grabbed at her, trying to pull her towards him. She tried to fight him off, but he wouldn’t let go. She felt him jostle her harder the more she pulled away. Who was this man? Why did he want to hurt her. Why was the static making her feel more and more numb?

His anger flared up it seemed, and he suddenly took her by the shoulder and shoved her into a rack of coats. He held her there, and she began to gasp for air. Then suddenly in the world outside this dreamlike state, she heard a roommate step into the bathroom next to her bedroom. She tried to scream for help, but no sound could come out. She felt as though she were suffocating and couldn’t escape.

Then, just as quickly as the static came, it left. She felt silent tears in her eyes as she finally sat bolt upright in bed. Sleep paralysis? Yes, that must be it, right? She turned to her phone sitting next to her on the nightstand. She froze. The phone was all out of whack, malfunctioning in a way that had never happened before. She. restarted it and then noticed a pair of headphones on the shelf below. They had been turned on. There was no way that could have happened by coincidence. She hadn’t used them in months. This left her confused and terrified. What was the static blanket that she felt? Who was the man in her mind? Why did he hate her so much?

The event reminded her of something she experienced in Germany years prior. She was a young college student, doing independent study in northern Germany. Her dorm was next to a cemetery. It was peaceful and nice to go through when she had been stressed. There was an afternoon when she had stopped in front of a set of headstones. The area in front of one felt warmer than the areas around the others. She thought it was strange, but she didn’t think much of it. She went about the rest of her day without a care in the world. That night at about 03:00, she woke up, feeling sick, then turned on her side. She felt a tingle of what she thought felt like static electricity covered her entire body like a blanket. Her eyes were closed tight, because something felt not right. Then in her mind she saw images of a man driving a car on a mountain road. He appeared to be in his mid-twenties with long brown hair flowing in the wind. Then, still in her mind, he appeared in front of her, holding a bouquet of red roses. Though it felt like a dream, she was still awake. She began to feel something pulling at her shoulder, like it was trying to pull her onto her back. She dared not open her eyes. It felt like if she did, she would see something she didn’t want to see. She sat, there, trying not to be pulled over. Suddenly it was like a bright light was in the room. It was like sunlight there had been sunlight behind her eyes. Then it faded away to dark again. All she could do was turn on the light. She kept the light on for the rest of the trip, terrified that it would happen again.

Did this man follow her? Had she angered him in Germany? All she knew was that the static brought a horror she wanted to hide from.