Bathrobe

In 1997, I graduated from high school and couldn't get into college. I was living in a village I'd grown tired of, but then an aunt from the city invited me over, saying she was alone in a two-bedroom apartment and could either work or take courses. I was incredibly grateful. I took an accounting course and started babysitting a friend's child, which paid well. Everything seemed fine, but for some reason I was afraid of being alone in that apartment. I also noticed that my aunt tried not to sit at home alone.

And one day I found out why (I still get goosebumps from the memory).

It was midday. I came home from class very tired, there was still time, and I decided to rest a little before work. But instead of going to my room, I lay down on my aunt's ottoman in her room. I lay down on my back and dozed off. And suddenly I felt someone or something shaking me terribly hard by the chest. I felt uneasy, I tried to stand up, but I couldn't feel my legs. Then I tried to scream, but it was as if all the strength had been sucked out of my body. The shaking made me feel sick, nauseated. And then I remembered that when encountering evil spirits, you have to swear. Somehow, I began to move my lips. I don't know how long it took me to utter the first curse word, but as soon as I did, I immediately felt better. Then I squeezed out another word, and another... And then it was as if I was released, but my body still wouldn't obey me. I opened my eyes and froze in horror—a chair stood opposite me, and in that chair sat a robe.

I knew it was someone's image, but I couldn't see it. The robe sat (!) in the chair, and I stared at it, unable to do anything else, unable even to close my eyes. 

I don't remember what happened next. I must have simply passed out. But I know for sure it wasn't a dream or a delusion. I wasn't sick, nothing like this had ever happened in my life. No house spirits had ever touched me, I hadn't seen anything otherworldly, and I didn't believe in horror stories.

When my aunt came, I asked whose robe it was. She said it belonged to her mother-in-law. Her mother-in-law had died several years ago. They didn't like each other at all, but they lived together and argued constantly. I still couldn't figure out what I'd done wrong to her mother-in-law. Or was she trying to scare me into running away from my aunt? She succeeded—that same day, I packed my things and moved out...