The Uninvited Passenger
Since it's October with Halloween at the end of this month, I decided to detail an experience I had with the paranormal around this time of year several years ago. The odd fact of the encounter was that it was not associated with any particular place. It was, in fact, connected with a particular person.
In the late Autumn of 2004, just before Halloween, I was in between jobs. I was not overly worried about my employment situation because I knew that it was just a matter of time. I had enough experience in my field that I was receiving e-mail messages from recruiters and companies that I could extend my "vacation" as I thought of it. Instead of looking over my messages or searching through job listings, I spent much of it with two friends: Tina and Yvette.
"... It was the drive that morning when something followed us..."
Since the three of us were unemployed, we would spend hours together in my apartment. It's as if we formed our own coven, and my apartment became our gathering place. For the two of them, it was an ideal spot. It was a getaway because they lived with other people and did have much personal space. Tina lived with her boyfriend and our friend's family (as I mentioned before); Yvette, with her boyfriend and another roommate.
My apartment complex was near a small strip mall with various shops, a Barnes and Noble and grocery store. On occasion, we would walk across the street and hang out at the mall reading books and drink coffee. We were definitely night owls, so we'd meet in the early evening and enjoy each other's company into the wee hours of the morning. The building I lived in was not the best insulated, however. I could hear my neighbors all around me that if I could hear them, they could hear us. So I did my best to keep the noise down because the girls could get rowdy. I recently passed by a few times over years and saw the property fenced off, then the buildings demolished, and finally, more modern buildings owned by the University of Washington.
I shuttled the girls, since neither of them owned cars. Tina lived in Mountlake Terrace, which was under a 30-minute drive north of Seattle. Yvette lived even further north, however, near Mill Creek, adding another 15 minutes to my circuit. I gladly drove because I enjoyed their company and felt lonely most of the time. I usually picked up Tina first, but dropped her off last when going home. I preferred Tina's company over Yvette's, who was overly dramatic, so much she loaned my phone once and broke it over an heated conversation with her boyfriend. Even if she was fun to be around most of the time, it would be a relief to drop her off first.
Most of our nights were routine, but what was the most memorable was something that happened after one of our meetings. I have a vague recollection of what we did or what we talked about that night. Likely, it was about Yvette's struggles with her boyfriend, which was always what she (ab)used her Tarot cards for. Nevertheless, I imagine we did our usual: We read each others' Tarot cards; we had coffee; and we read a few books at the Barnes and Noble across the street. But it was the drive that morning when something followed us.
"... To tell you the truth it's this girl sitting next to me, and she won't shut the fuck up!... The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end..."
We got into my car with Yvette in the passenger seat next to me, and Tina, behind her. As we recounted what we read at Barnes and Noble or discussed another one of Yvette's problems with her boyfriend, the car began to reek of perfume. It was a very feminine, sweet scent, very apt for a woman which came from the rear of the car where Tina was sitting. It was so strong that it seemed as if an entire bottle were spilt! What immediately came to mind was that Tina was rummaging in her purse and managed to spread it all over the back seats.
"Great!", I thought cringing. "Now, I have stay up to clean her mess up!"
For as long as I've known her, Tina could be clumsy. Once or twice she spilled a drink in my car. It was one thing to spill a can of Coke, but the idea that she spilt perfume bothered me to no end. I could only imagine how difficult it would be to remove.
I glared at Tina through the rear-view mirror and asked her with a bit of irritation in my voice, "What the hell?! What did you spill back there?"
Yvette, too, commented on the smell that now started to become stronger. Tina replied to us both reassuringly that she did not spill anything, "It's not me!"
I asked her again, "Are you sure you didn't spill anything?!""How can I spill perfume when I don't even have my purse?”, she insisted. “When you picked me up, I just put on some sweats - I didn't need it!"
I don't remember what Tina was wearing or what she brought, so we went at this for a while: I would ask about the perfume, and Tina continued to deny it. Yvette and I insisted that she was to blame and that she was lying or kidding with the two of us. It was hard to take Tina seriously sometimes because we both knew her to be very playful and laid back. This time the tone of Tina's voice grew more and more insistant each time.
With resignation, Tina said, "I don't know if you two are going to think that I'm crazy, but it's not me! To tell you the truth it's this girl sitting next to me, and she won't shut the fuck up!"
I took one look at her through the rear view mirror again, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end as I felt a presence directly behind me in the seat that was supposed to be empty. I darted my eyes away from looking through the mirror again on the off chance that I would catch a glimpse of our new "companion". I do not know how I managed to keep my calm throughout the drive that night while we sped up I-5.
The questions soon turned into "How did she get in the car?", "Why is she here?", "What does she want?!” Tina didn't know. Instead, she revealed to us her secret ability, an ability that she had when she was younger.
The questions soon turned into "How did she get in the car?", "Why is she here?", "What does she want?!” Tina didn't know. Instead, she revealed to us her secret ability, an ability that she had when she was younger.
Scrying is the general term for what is commonly known as “crystal-ball gazing”, except you can use other objects with a reflective surface such as mirrors or the surface of water. In a dimly light room, you intently stare into the mirror, crystal ball or water, and take note of the images that appear. Tina was able to see much more than Yvette and I when we tried, but we didn't think too much of it - we thought it was because of the cannibis she had a few minutes ago.
Since that night, Tina said the ability grew stronger, so she hid this ability from us. She thought that we would judge her or think that she was out of her goddamn mind. It was because of this, spirits would notice and sought her out as she would later see. That morning, the spirit of a young woman decided to invite herself into my car because she sensed Tina.
As usual, I drove to Yvette’s house with the idea that I had an additional passenger - I did not know what else to do except continue with the drive. Yvette was extremely relieved to get out of the car, not because of the spirit, but because of the smell! Yes! The smell permeated the car and only grew stronger. She opened the car door gagging and coughing. Tina apologized to me and went into more detail about how she dealt with her gift while we headed to her house.
Years ago a medium, a psychic friend, told me that I, too, could be followed as Tina was. I dreaded the idea that the spirit, who was still with us, would now follow me home instead. Much to my relief, Tina assured me that the spirit was only interested in her. When we arrived at her house, we talked about the next day and what she was going to do, how she was going to deal with her new "friend". No sooner did Tina, leave the car did the scent vanish.
During the drive home, my eyes kept darting to the rear-view mirror; I kept inhaling deeply through my nose making sure I could not smell any more perfume. I wanted to make sure no one, no spirit was hitching another ride with me. While I kept sniffing the air, I could only smell the dank scent of tobacco from the cigarettes that I smoked all the way home to keep my sanity. I did have trouble falling asleep that morning. After what had happened, I was driving on a huge rush of adrenaline.
Once I arrived home, I said a few prayers for protection and waited until the sun came up before going to bed.
(c) 2012 - Joseph S. Maza
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