One Guest I Never Expect

     I'm normally not one to be frightened by ghost stories or by ghost experiences.  Spirits have never really spooked me that much, not even as a child.  But there was one spirit, in particular, I encountered as a child that I would never forget, even though it was gone from my closest memories.  Many things frightened me as a child, but none frightened me more than a spirit that I encountered one fateful day at a local cemetery in my hometown.  One of my more distant relatives was being buried in a cemetery one Fall evening, and much of my extended family was at the funeral.  Many of us were in mourning, but I was in fear of a figure I witnessed hiding just beyond the direct line of sight.  

     I was sitting towards the back with my family when I saw it, a large humanoid shadow figure with long extending arms, a blank facial expression, and piercing white eyes.  I saw the figure try to reach for my younger cousin's cradle, reaching over, again and again, just trying to get its hands on her.  But it was never able to without revealing itself.  What drove me from being a little scared and wanting to tell someone, anyone about this figure to simply being too terrified to talk was how it looked directly at me and put a finger to its lips indicating silence.  I was maybe three at the time, so nothing I said was going to ever be believed by any adult.  I simply sat there, terrified at what I had witnessed going on.  The spirit was relentless, even trying to reach for me once, but it was never able to take any of the children.  I left that day, too terrified to tell my parents what I had experienced, and too terrified to ever hold on to the memory of what happened that day.  I was too afraid to go to the cemetery for many years after that day.  That was, until recently.

     I had driven past there many times with my best friend as we normally drive around town, slowly breaking past my fear of the cemetery.  For me, I never had a problem going past any other cemetery or even working other ones, it was simply that one that unnerved me.  As we were heading past there one evening, I thought I saw that same figure, the one that tried to kidnap one of the children that fateful day, peeking out at me just beyond the fence.  It freaked me out, but I remained calm and drove past the cemetery.  It sent a chill down my spine that I hadn't felt in years.  The reason I had never liked to go to that cemetery and the memory of why came rushing back to me with the appearance of its face, its soulless and lifeless face.  I went back home that evening thinking that it was all over and that the spirit would not be able to haunt me as long as I didn't go to the cemetery again.  That belief was shattered a few weeks ago when I confronted the spirit once more.

     Again, I was out driving with my friend and we decided to go to the cemetery to look at some of the gravemarkers and so I could see if there were any ghost-type Pokemon I could catch in Pokemon go.  Yes, I did go to a cemetery just for that.  After realizing that I had next to no internet signal and that the game would continue to freeze up when we walked through the cemetery, we decided to head back to my car and leave.  As I drove away from the cemetery, I saw that figure again in my rear view mirror, only this time, it was far past the fence and slowly making its way towards me.  I sped off, not telling my friend anything of what was happening and drove all the way across town to get away from it.  After we sat down to a meal at a local pizza restaurant, I was calm again.  

     My friend had asked me about what had just occurred and I made up an excuse about how I was seeing something.  I have been known to hallucinate sometimes, and this was a believable excuse for him and convinced him that I was fine.  I ate my food in near silence, thinking about what had just happened and what might have happened to the figure now that it had left its home.  However, I quickly forgot about it as the night wore on.  We spent the rest of the evening around town, doing random things in my car to pass the time.  By the time midnight arrived, I had dropped off my friend at his apartment and was driving off.  On my way home, I ended up heading down a street I assumed would take me towards my neighborhood, only finding it to be a dead end.  I turned my car around to exit the dead end street but felt my blood turn to ice as I saw something I would never forget.

     The same figure that haunted the cemetery for all of those years was now staring straight at me, only now I could see it more clearly.  The spirit was distorted in appearance, but I could now make out its features.  The spirit was a woman who appeared to have died young.  Her attire suggested that she lived during the late 19th century and had died from some form of mutilation.  She was a vengeful spirit who was now haunting me.  I rushed to my senses as she made a rush towards my vehicle.  I sped off down the main road past all of the other side roads and began to weave my way through my neighborhood, doing my best to throw her off of my tail.  I had succeeded after ten minutes of doing this and headed straight home.  I tried my best to find sleep that night, but it never arrived.  That spirit had left her cemetery to come and attack me, to haunt me.  It left me at unease and I hoped to never have to see her again, and since that day I haven't actually seen her again.  

     I drive by the cemetery now and no longer see the spirit there.  She appeared to have left the cemetery that night to hunt me down but ended up losing me in the process.  I finally felt safe from her and no longer worried about having to avoid her again.  Since the night where she chased me, I haven't seen the spirit at the cemetery.  Up until a few nights ago, I was convinced I had completely gotten rid of her.  But just a few nights ago I saw what I think was the same spirit in its old, distorted appearance staring at me from down my street.  Every time I come home and I see that same spirit watching me from down my street, never leaving, and always staring.  I can truly say that I'm not much of a person who enjoys visitors, but I surely wasn't expecting to have a guest haunt my presence this long.  As much as I try to avoid this spirit, I feel now that she will never truly leave me.  Even when I leave my home, I still feel that she will be the one guest I never expect.