The Lingering Scent of Vanilla

"... The first thing to hit me was the strong scent of vanilla. I commented to Mike about the vanilla scent asking if it were a new car freshener. That's when Mike just came out with it: He had an attachment!"

In this story, a friend had a paranormal experience in his early twenties under a bridge known for suicides. Fast forward years later, he wants to experience the same "thrill" of having a paranormal encounter, but this time he makes a serious mistake and the spirit attaches to him.

Another Trip to the Bridge

Last year, I hosted a small impromptu dinner of a few friends. It was October with Halloween drawing near. Our discussions around the table centered around ideas of what costumes we were going to wear on the 31st, if we were going watch the latest Paranormal Activity movie and the retelling of ghost stories. As usual for this time of year I told the story of the uninvited passenger to my guests, and how it was the closest encounter with the paranormal I had ever had. My friend, Mike, shared a similar experience where a back seat of his car depressed on its own as if someone had sat down. (I posted his story a few days back.)

It was well past midnight when Mike's face lit up and he goaded us to take a drive to the bridge where he had his experience. 

"Do you wanna go? Do you wanna go?", he chided. 

We all figured, "Why not?" and got into his four-door sedan. We were soon headed for West Seattle. But not before we grabbed some coffee at a nearby 24-hour drive-through Starbucks, of course.

We arrived at the bridge sometime before three o'clock and parked at one end. We walked across surveying the depth of the narrow ravine that it spanned peering out into its darkness trying to figure out the road below. We all could sense an air of despair that cold Autumn night. The west sidewalk of the bridge had “hot spots” where you could feel it more strongly. Is this where the jumper in his story contemplated the last moments of their life? Once three o'clock approached closer, we filed into Mike's car and made our way to the road below.

We were surprised that there were other people who wanted to witness something (or, so we thought) and get a sighting of the ghost as we did. Since it was a weekday, there were only one or two other cars. Mike parked off to the side of the narrow street and we could see the bridge loom tall above us. Mike turned off the lights and turned the engine off as we waited for the appearance of the specter of a suicide. It was cold that Autumn night, so we stayed in the car sipping on our coffees and chatted instead of venturing outside. We were apprehensive and felt safer among our own company than that of outside. Once three arrived we quieted down and waited expecting to catch a glimpse of someone or something paranormal.

Fifteen minutes must have passed without much fanfare. Mike drove back to my house and recounted his story, how he dared the spirit to show itself. There were so many cars parked on my street that he was able only to find a spot a couple of blocks away. We got out of the car and entered my house where we talked for a few moments more. When our other friends left, I walked Mike back to his car. On our way we passed the eerie house that had not been occupied for months on my block. I jokingly warned him that he might have an attachment as a result of our foray to the bridge. Little did I know what would become of my warning.

Nice Perfume. Is it Vanilla?!

Feng Shui talisman

 

The following week, Mike came by to pick up me at work for a coffee break. He came over within a few minutes because our office buildings were mere blocks away from each other. I hopped into his car, and the first thing to hit me was the strong scent of vanilla. I commented to Mike about the vanilla scent asking if it were a new car freshener. That's when Mike just came out with it: He had an attachment! (Or, an "atachamente" as we liked to joke from a Filipino film we had recently watched.)

During coffee we talked about how it attached to him and from where. We speculated that it did not come from the bridge but from somewhere in between. He said that he had started to notice something after dropping us off at my house that night. The spirit followed him to work the next day where his coworkers noticed the strong scent, commenting on his "choice" of cologne. Later that day, when he came to the realization that it was indeed a spirit attachment, he asked that the spirit leave. It started to emit the scent of something burning, instead. He asked me what it could be, but I had no answers to give. 

The experience that I had with a strong scent from a spirit lasted less than an hour. In addition, the spirit in my car was not following me, but my friend Tina. I had no idea of what to do. The best I could do later that day was to snap a shot of and send him a Feng Shui talisman, a wall hanging that prevented wayward spirits from entering the space where it was deployed. I figured that if it helped Tina in the past, it would help Mike. He set it as his smartphone's wallpaper and printed it out. Then, he hanged the printed copy in his room. Mike reported that it worked well. The smell, or the spirit for that matter, never ventured there.

In the following days after our talk, Mike continued to smell the scent of vanilla and experienced different phenomena. Luckily, none of them were malicious or caused him any bodily harm; it was a nuisance at worst. The family dog, he mentioned, did act peculiar as animals do since they are far more sensitive to the paranormal. The dog would growl at something Mike could not see. Or, the dog would not come out of his kennel out of fear. While his parents were out running errands, he took the dog out for a walk. He returned home to a typical occurrence in many paranormal stories: All the kitchen drawers and cupboard doors in the house open!

Unattachment

Not knowing what else to expect, the week after, he contacted a pastor from his church and explained the situation. The pastor was very empathetic and advised him to beware of such things in the future. That evening, the two of them prayed to release Mike of this attached spirit. After his pastor's visit, the scent of vanilla stopped and life returned back to normal. Yet, things weren't back to how they used to be for Mike.

 Mike recognized that he had become more sensitive to the unseen world; this sensitivity was more acute. A couple of months afterward, he mentioned how he could sense something behind a tree we sat by at a local park. He is now aware that he can inadvertently attract spirits very much like my friend Tina. And, especially, he knows now that it is the most unwise to invite spirits because, as he learned, they might overstay their welcome.