Protecting My Grandfather

This is the first time I can ever recall having a paranormal experience. I was 12 years old and my mother sent me to live with my grandmother in Guayama, Puerto Rico while she tied up some loose ends in Florida, to later make the move herself.

I was sent from Florida in the 6th grade 2002-2003 School year, to live on top of a mountain in the middle of a jungle with my very strict and religious grandmother, her youngest daughter (my, at the time, 17 year old aunt), and my great grandfather who was bedridden and cared for by my grandmother. I got along great with my aunt who was more like a cousin to me.

I was originally going to move to the city of Carolina with my Aunt/Godmother but she only had sons. So while my older brother got to live with my aunt in the city and its amenities I ended up in the jungle with my grandmother because it wasn't proper for me to be in a house full of boys! (Though they were my COUSINS who I adored. No one argues with Grandma and her old fashioned ways unless you wanted a huge cooking ladle flying straight toward you!)

For some background, I had heard stories about my grandmother and the various paranormal experiences she has had in the past. My grandmother is a very old fashioned Catholic woman. I have always heard that the deeper into religion, prayer, faith etc that a person is the more they are "tested." She had a total of 10 children though she miscarried her 9th late in the pregnancy. She and her younger brood use to live in an old priest's home by the church, and the ghosts of the priests still climbed the stairs and went about the house as though they lived there! She regarded them for what they were, and never feared the dead. If something strange occurred or someone was ill she took to her rosaries.

My great grandfather was bed ridden and had a touch of dementia. The only person he really recognized anymore was "Igna" short for Ignacia, my grandmother. She took excellent care of him and he lay in bed keeping cool with his little fan all day looking out of his window or listening to an old radio station.

My grandmother rarely went in to town except when she needed to buy things that she didn't have on her small farm, rice, grandpa's medications, etc. On these days my aunt would look after my grandfather or on rare occasion, I would.

One day, my grandmother left to the pueblo (city) to get her things and asked me to feed grandpa his pureed vegetables and make sure to go to him if he called. My grandfather was a riot! In his younger days he was a bit of a ladies man. As he got older, he found God and became a church going man. In his last years dementia settled in and though he was restricted to his bed all day, he wasn't always there... At least, not in his head. There were times where he would whisper to me, "Young girl, please get these ladies out of my bed! I am an old man and I can no longer perform!" I felt so bad for him! He looked so ashamed! So hiding my smile of course, I would shoo the "ladies" away...

This day though, I heard him calling, "Iggggnnnaaaaaaaa!" I went in to the room, and he eyed me suspiciously and said, "Who are you?" I told him, "I am your great grand-daughter! Igna is my grandmother, don't you see the resemblance?" I was always told by older family members how much I resembled my grandmother. I was a little gruff with him because I knew how stubborn he could be with my grandmother. So I said, "It's time to eat abuelo (grandfather), drink this for me." He gave me another curious look but he obliged. He lay there watching me as he drank, as though he was considering something in his head.

After he finished, I wiped his mouth clean and adjusted his pillow and sheets around his gnarled limbs. I said, "Okay abuelo, get some rest..." but as I turned to leave he GRABBED my wrist. It was crazy because here was this weak old man, who reached out so quickly to keep me where I was! I looked at him and in that instant I knew he was afraid. His eyes were pleading with me. He whispered to me, "The devil is standing in that corner!" He looked ever so slightly over my shoulder. "Please, don't let him hurt me!" Now, this alone scared the crap out of me! I wasn't going to tell him he was a crazy old man of course; his face was so sincere! Who knows what it was that his eyes were seeing... I slowly turned around and THANK GOD, there was nothing standing in the corner. Even so, I spoke very boldly and I said, "Devil, GET OUT of here! My grandfather is a man of God and you have no business here! You let him rest now and BE GONE!" I turned back to my grandfather and reassured him all was well now and that the devil had gone and only then did he let go of my wrist and let me leave the room.

About a week or two later I would see what it was that I challenged that day... The house we lived in was built by my grandfather and the main bedrooms were located to the left of the house. If you came in through the front double doors and made an immediate left, there was the hallway entrance. Then there was a door for mine and my aunt's room, further down was the door to my grandfather's room, and the last room was my grandmother's, followed by the bathroom at the very end of the hall with another exit/entrance to the hallway that lead into the dining area.

It was early evening and my aunt and grandmother were watching novelas in the living room. I wrapped my towel around me and walked out of my room, closed the door behind me, and looked up to make my way to the other end of the hall to take a shower. Immediately, I froze. There in front of my grandfather's door, also appearing to be startled by ME was a shadow figure. It appeared to be solid black shadow. This creature was approximately 4 ft tall with long scraggly hair that went to approximately its elbows. It held a cane and seemed to have a bit of a hunchback. There were no discernible facial features as it seemed to be made of darkness. I knew though, that this thing was not a good thing. This thing was scary and foreboding and evil and I knew it did not belong there in the hallway or inside my grandfather's room, which seemed to be its destination.

I stared at it for a beat, terrified, then turned right around and flew out of the hallway into the living room where my grandmother was! I told her and my aunt that there was something in the hallway! I described it to her and, being who she was, she believed me. She immediately got up, found her rosary and prayed probably for the rest of the evening well into the morning. She was praying mostly in my grandfather's room, praying for his protection and for ours as well. The thing was nowhere to be found and not seen again.

Looking back, I feel like I might have challenged this thing when I told, who I thought was no one, to leave my grandfather's room that day. Maybe that is why it appeared to me. Maybe it was challenging me back! I don't know. That may not be the case because it seemed as though it was walking into my grandfather's room and I kind of caught it in the act, and it froze upon seeing me there as well. I don't know... I saw one more entity before leaving that house altogether but that's another story. Thank you for reading.