If you ask me what happens when you die, I’ll still say “Nothing” even if what I've seen tells me otherwise.
To preface this story, I spent the greater part of my childhood in-between the Catholic church and a Methodist church. Doing my duty in Catholic Sunday school, doing the summer camps at the Methodist church, community service, and all the normal small-town Texas religious activities. I had been taught by my mother that there is a God, an afterlife, and don’t sin because it’s bad and Hell is hot. I had a healthy fear of God and eternal damnation if I didn’t do and say the right things. All of the normal boxes and topics. But my father was not so convinced.
My Dad is not a religious man really. Not that he detests it; it just wasn’t important enough to him to investigate it. His side of the family has always told us stories from when I was a kid about how I would “predict the future” and how my sister would talk to people that weren’t there. Both of my siblings and I have been visited on the night a family member died, where they told us they had passed and it was going to be okay. All this to say I have had experiences I can’t explain, and have toiled with the question of “How do I make sense what I have seen if I don’t believe in a God or don’t believe there is life after death?” I still don’t have an answer and I’m almost 30.
The story I’m going to tell you about is real. I wish I was creative enough to make this up, but I'm not that good of a writer. Some POVs are from my experience, other employees, and some from others who visited the property before I knew them. I have told this story many times, and each time I feel like I remember something more.
After high school, I commuted back and forth to a university about an hour away. It was there that I met my ex-boyfriend. We were 18, in love and when it came to the end of our freshman year, we both decided to transfer to the same college in North Central Texas. This town was even smaller than my hometown and much more rural.
Not long into our sophomore year, we met some friends who all lived on a ranch north of town. We all had horses, loved the same things and would spend almost every day together. My boyfriend and I ended up working on this ranch for almost our entire relationship.
This ranch is 100 acres, with the back 20 heavily wooded. There were always about 40 horses there, and back then there was a very small group of people who came in and out. It is located off one of the main highways leading out of town and bordered by cattle ranches. The girl who owns it would always tell us about a little girl she would see in the windows or walking down the halls. Two of the residents told me separate stories of someone calling their name while they were sleeping but nobody was home. I didn’t think much of it. Cliche ghost stories everyone has. An old lady, a little kid. Whatever.
Towards the end of our almost 4 years together, my ex was in an accident on the ranch where he tore is ACL. He was so dedicated to work, or so I thought, that he slept on the couch in the main house for quite some time after his surgery. One night I found messages on his phone that revealed he was sleeping with other women, one who lived on the property. When confronted, he went into normal excuses and backtracking, but eventually told me about the "shadowman" that lived in his room upstairs.
He went on to tell me that this creature was about seven feet tall and would slink down the stairs and sit on the third step from the bottom. It would whisper to him from there night after night for weeks. Telling him how awful he was, that he should repent for his lies, and how he knew the gun was upstairs in his closet and that he should use it on himself. I was so flustered at the time I didn’t take him seriously and honestly forgot about it until later.
We eventually broke up; he left to move back to East Texas, and I stayed in town but worked somewhere else by then. The whole situation was nasty, and we all ended on bad terms. I moved my horses and didn’t visit the property for some time but stayed in contact with the girl who owns the property. It was about 3 months after everything happened when I got the phone call from the owner, let’s call her Taylor, at 11:15 pm on a Thursday night. I’m out at the bar in town, being DD for my friends, and I pick up the phone to her frantic breathing and crying. She whispers, “He’s here. I heard his footsteps walking down the barn isle, and when I was in the feed room it stopped outside and asked me if I “need help with anything?” and I know it isn’t him. It can’t be. But it’s his voice. I shut the door and locked it, but I don’t know what to do.”
I didn’t need an explanation. My ex-boyfriend had a very distinct footfall and always wore heavy steel toed boots. You could hear him before you saw him, even on dirt or grass. He also had one of the deepest voices I have ever heard, so didn’t need clarification to put the pieces together. It would have taken me 30 minutes to drive out there, and her top hand lived closer, so I told her to call him and have him get to her before I did.
As I was getting ready to head that way, Taylor called me back and said her employee was there. He scoped the property and found that nothing was out of the ordinary. I didn’t end up going out there that night and admittedly I was scared and didn’t want to. I took to the internet, looking up anything that could explain what happened. With what I found, and based on our location, I suspected it was a shape-changing spirit but didn’t want to accept it.
Three months later, it showed itself again. This time it was a normal Texas summer night and Taylor, the owner, was out of town and only had one man working on the property. He was new to the job, maybe a month or so in, and had no previous experience with myself or my ex. (It is important to note here that I did not post pictures or videos of my ex and I together on social media EVER at his request). Taylor calls me around 10:30 pm and tells me this story quickly before she forgets the details.
She goes on to say she just got a phone call from the man working for her, and how he left the property and refuses to come back until it’s light outside. He tells her that he was in the back pastures, the ones closest to the woods, and he was filling water troughs. The two troughs are about 50 feet from each other across a long middle alleyway, each next to swinging gates that lead into the separate pastures. There were no horses in either at the time; they had planned to move horses the following day, and he wanted to have the water fresh and ready to go.
It was his last chore of the night, and it was late, so he had pulled his truck up enough so that the headlights could illuminate both water troughs at the same time. He says the wind picked up slightly, and he heard rustling in the grass to his left in the pasture across the alley. He looked over and saw a tall, human shaped shadow walk across the headlights, stop at the gate, hang its arms over the top rail and it ask him, “Hey there, need any help?”. He dropped the running water hose, hopped the fence to stay as far away as possible and drove the truck backwards down the alley and left the property.
I told her as soon as she is back in town, I am coming out there to talk to this man. So just a few days later I did just that. I didn’t bring it up until I was about to leave. I simply said, “So Taylor said you had a bit of an experience the other night.” He immediately tensed up and said quickly that he wasn’t interested in talking about it. I said that was fine, but I wanted him to listen to something really quick, and without hesitation I pressed play on the video I had pulled up of my ex-boyfriend talking to me while we were in the car. He shouted at me to turn it off and told me that is the voice he heard the other night and who the fuck was that. So, I explained very briefly and left shortly after.
I know it was awful of me to do, but selfishly I had to know if whatever this was sticking to one person. I spent some time thinking and concluded that whatever this thing was had absorbed so much negative energy and emotions from my ex that it had more than enough to use for itself.
The creature was relatively quiet after this for a long time. Taylor had originally been terrified of whatever this was and wanted nothing to do with it. She would text me once or twice a week and tell me she heard footsteps in and out of the house when nobody was there, she would see a light bobbing up and down in the pastures late at night like someone was walking around checking fences, and once she told me she went to let her dogs out that evening and looked out the door to see a coyote staring at her from across the fence. Unmoving, unblinking and unafraid of her or her dogs.
But as the months went on, she seemed to change her mind. She said that whatever it seems to bring her comfort now. And now that she lived alone, it was nice to think about having something else there other than her and the little girl she saw occasionally.
About a year goes by before it acts out again, but this time it wasn’t physical. Taylor called me one afternoon, and it seemed like a normal conversation. Before we hung up, she told me she had a weird dream the night before.
In her dream she said she was lying in bed upstairs, reading a book when one of her employees, let's call him Colton, called her name from the kitchen. Her dogs excitedly rush down the stairs in front of her, but when she goes to walk down the stairs, all three are frozen on the bottom three steps. As she walks closer, they begin to growl, hackles raising. She admitted that she thought it was a weird reaction, seeing as her dogs loved Colton and that he was always nice to them.
As she lowers herself onto the last step, she turns to see an empty room, except for my ex-boyfriend sitting in a chair facing the stairs. She asked him why he was here and where Colton was. He laughed and replied, “Had I used my real voice, you wouldn’t have let me in or come to see me, right? I am so happy to see you.” She said she turned around ran back to her room and as soon as she sat on her bed she woke up.
She seemed to not take the dream very seriously, but I was scared for her. I don’t care what anyone says, dreams are powerful and that whole situation made me extremely uneasy. The creature was quiet again after the dream but kept up the small shenanigans.
Halloween rolls around, and I’m with a bunch of new friends at a party, and we’re swapping ghost stories as one does per the occasion. It comes around to my turn, and I tell this story. One of the girls, Madison, grows paler as I talk and when I’m done, she said she had something to add to my story.
It’s important to mention this group of friends doesn’t know Taylor personally, only by name since I would occasionally mention her in passing. They also didn’t know me when I worked at the ranch, and they also didn’t know my ex. And once again, I didn’t post anything about my relationship online so there was no way for them to know what my ex looked or sounded like.
Madison tells me that about a year ago, her and her boyfriend went out to Taylor’s place to ride their horses with some friends. She said they pulled to the gate, and while they were waiting for the code, she happened to look down into the creek bed below. She said there was a man there, dressed in a plain grey Hanes t-shirt and red basketball shorts and he wasn't wearing shoes. He had longer blonde hair, and was sitting criss cross on the dirt, looking into the water, unmoving.
She asked him if he was okay, and she said he responded “You shouldn’t be here.
Bad things happen to people that come here.” She looked over to her boyfriend to get his attention, but when she looked back, he was gone.
When she described what the man looked like, my body went cold and I immediately felt sick. Like poop my pants right then and there sick. Everyone was quiet and I did the same thing I did with Taylor’s employee all those months ago. Wordlessly, I pulled out my phone and found that same video and played it for her, his voice sparking the same reaction in her that it did with other man. She confirmed that it was the same voice. I then told her the outfit that thing was wearing was the same thing my ex would wear to bed. I could see him walking around the house in it like it was yesterday. I quickly gathered myself and went home.
Now the following is me being incredibly stupid, and I see this now but at the time I thought it was a good idea for whatever reason. I took Taylor to dinner one night not long after Halloween, with the plan of after I dropped her off, I would confront this thing. I dropped her off at her house and began my drive back to the road. I stopped far enough back from the front gate that I could see it and the side of the creek. I kept my Jeep running, walked outside, and sat on the hood. I called out to this thing, “Alright, I know you’re here. Everyone tells me they see you, and they hear you. You walk around and do whatever you want. Well, here I am. The one person who you can’t fool. So, what are we going to do about it.” I sat there for 30 minutes in the dark. Waiting and watching. There was no wind, the air was stale. Nothing happened, not even the horses were moving around. Oh, to be young again. I was so lucky and stupid.
Once again, I got a phone call from Taylor a few months after my late-night mission. I know, it's repetitive but bear with me. She tells me that the previous night she was out doing night checks on the horses and saw a medium sized dog noticeably limping around by one of the barns. Now it’s the country so a random dog here and there isn’t abnormal. When she called out to it, it froze and stared at her. As she walked closer, it didn’t move until she got about 10 feet away and took off. Not limping or favoring anything, it ran under a row of trailers parked against the wall of the barn. The walls are stark white, and with the flood lights, you can see everything around them. There was no way the dog could have run out from under the trailers without her seeing, but when she bent down to look for it, there was nothing. Not even paw prints where it had slid under.
She then tells me that one of the boarders at the facility had told her she saw three giant shadows against the same wall the night before. Like 8- or 9-foot-tall human shaped shadows that didn't move whether you moved closer or father away. The boarder told her she would be paying for someone to feed her horses at night now because she was so scared. She told me this in a tone that was so nonchalant I couldn’t believe it. But I could, because she wanted this thing to stick around.
A few weeks after this, I got a text from Taylor that says “We had a boarder horse die last night. I can’t understand why or how it happened, but it's really bad looking.” I am an Equine Veterinary Technician, so this piqued my interest. I asked her to send me a picture. This horse was older, maybe 24 years old. He had traveled the country as a high school rodeo horse, been in parades, and had guns shot off of him for competition. A real been there done that kind of horse.
He was on his side, legs straight out like he was mid run. From this horse’s throat latch, down his neck into his chest was a giant, gaping wound. It looked like something took their hands and ripped straight down. It was a bloody mess. They said they found hair on a fence post and assumed he tried to jump but didn’t make it. My question was, what on earth could have spooked this horse so bad that he tried to run and jump over a fence to get away? This horse has seen and done everything. Now horses are prey animals, I know this. And anything can scare them, but I didn’t believe something normal scared him. But I wasn’t there, and I had nothing to prove otherwise. The situation was awful and my speculation wouldn’t have done any good, so I let it go.
A few months later I found myself at dinner with Taylor and one of our mutual friends. We laughed and had a great time, until Taylor bought up this whole situation. Our friend listened uncomfortably while Taylor laughed and told her all about the weird shit that has happened over the years. I tried to interject to let it be known I think it is weird and scary and I wanted no part in it.
This friend had recently been working with an animal communicator who is the real deal. I had heard stories and seen her work. While we were chatting, she had texted her and sent her the picture, telling her about this horse that had died and wanted to know her thoughts and to see what she could find. Our dinner concluded and we paid and went our separate ways. I was about a 10-minute drive back to my house from the restaurant. I started my truck and pulled out of the parking lot. About a minute later, the right side of my face went completely numb, and almost immediately I got one of the worst headaches I have yet to experience in my life.
I am almost crying in agony and can hardly see out of my right eye as I pull into my driveway. I shut the truck off and as I go to open the door my phone rings, and I look to see the friend we just had dinner with calling. I answer and before I can talk, she says, “I know your head really hurts, and you can’t see out of your right eye. She told me. She knows what happened to that horse. Whatever is on that property is furious that she knows about it, and it’s coming after you. It wants you. This isn’t good. Come to my house, I’ll be waiting and I will try and help you.”
At this point, I’m scared out of my right mind. I don’t know what to do other than go inside and try and find some medicine. My roommate at the time was religious. One of the rare few not rub it in your face kind of people. As soon as my hand touched the doorknob, my head stopped hurting. It was like I was completely fine and that never happened. I credit that to my roommate honestly. She is devout, and I’m sure it has some influence on the vibes of our house. I don’t really have another explanation, so I went with that. We’re still roommates today.
I ended up going over to my friend house that night, where she explained to me that the horse that passed away had told the communicator that something terrifying and dark had scared him. That he felt like he couldn’t get away. I knew it was whatever lives out there. She told me that the creature wants me and my soul. That’s why it took the shape and sound of my ex. It figured it could get what it wants that way. And now that’s it’s been seen by someone who knows what it is; it is unmeasurably angry.
We went over ways to protect myself, and I was told “I don’t care what you believe in or don’t. This is a demon, and it’s real. So, find something you do believe in or find something to protect you and work on it every day.” And so, I did. I think.
It has been some time since whatever lives out there has done anything of note. Taylor still texts me weekly about little things that happen. Like yesterday, for example, she texted me and told me she heard someone downstairs with her, but nobody was there. Maybe the protection rituals worked, and it chose someone else. Maybe the runes I got tattooed were the right choice? Maybe Taylor’s acceptance is feeding it all it needs? I don’t know.
I’m still not sure what I believe. If you ask me what happens when you die, I’ll still say “Nothing” even if what I have seen tells me otherwise. The great mystery of life goes unanswered for now. If anything new happens, I’ll make sure to update this thread but for my sake I hope that chapter stays closed and far away from me.