Screaming My Name At Night

About six months ago is the first time this happened. I moved back in to my parent's house in Orlando, Florida while I finished my BA degree. Most of my classes were in the evenings or night so I didn't usually get home until almost midnight a long time after everyone else had gone to bed. On this night, it was about 3am when I finally crawled into bed. Everyone in the house has been asleep in bed for many hours. I turned on my TV but turn the sound almost all the way down. (I can't sleep in silence.) I roll over onto my right side and begin drifting off to sleep. I know I'm almost completely asleep because I have that weightless feeling though I can still hear what's going on around me. The TV is just a soft murmur in the background.

All of a sudden, someone screams my name into my right ear, the ear that is touching the pillow; "JEN!" I jump off my bed like it was on fire and am standing in my room that is only illuminated by the TV Still, no one in the house is awake and they sure aren't in my bedroom, no one other than me is in my bedroom. I stand there, breathing hard and shaking because I was so startled. I look around and can't see anything so I try to calm down and crawl back into bed.

Now, sometime about 4 weeks ago again just coming home late from class, I crawl into bed and do my nightly routine. TV Is on, but barely loud enough to hear. I toss and turn for about 30 minutes. I have this strange feeling I'm being watched. I get back up and look around the house just to make sure the doors are locked, everyone's in bed, etc. Finding nothing, I return to my room. Though I still feel like I'm being watched, I force myself to try to fall asleep since it's already almost 3am. Again, just like before, as I begin to feel weightless though still aware of what's going on around me I start to drift off.

Then it comes again but this time it's my full name; "JENNIFER!" But unlike last time I don't jump out of bed scared. It was screamed in a way that sounded impatient. It reminded me of the way my mom used to yell at me to get up for school when I was a kid after she had already told me many times to get up; impatient. VERY impatient and getting even more impatient every minute. However, it was a man's voice. Automatically, I answered just as anyone would when they heard their name yelled so loud. "WHAT!" I yell back, also sounding impatient and highly irritated! At first I did think it was my dad yelling at me, and I waited to see if he'd respond. When he didn't, I got up to walk towards their room. But their room was dark, and he was snoring. I walk back to my room puzzled.

2 weeks later the same thing happens. Drifting off to sleep my name is screamed. Now I'M highly irritated. I again yell back "WHAT!?" Again, nothing. So I this time, I sit up in bed and figure... Well... Something or someone is here and they're being annoying and I'm done with this. So I say "Look... Stop screaming at me! Just tell me what you want or go away! You're pissing me off!" Of course nothing or no one responded.

Now it's about a month later and I'm done with my classes. I'm usually in bed and asleep by midnight. This morning (10/28/09) about 5:15am I hear what sounds like my dad walking by my room saying "what's that noise? It sounds like a bell ringing?" I ignore him thinking he was speaking to my mom, asking her if it was her cell phone ringing because her ringer sounds a little like a bell. I look at the T.V. Which now is frozen on a channel and the time on the news station says 4:38am though the real time (from the clock on my bedside table) says it's after 5am so I know it's not noise from the T.V. When I finally get up around 11:00, I ask my mom why her phone was ringing so early in the morning. She tells me her phone didn't ring the 1st time today until about 10:00am and that she didn't hear my dad say anything about a bell. When my dad gets home from work I ask him what he was talking about that morning, what bell or sound was he referring to. He tells me that he said nothing about a bell all morning and didn't even talk except to ask my mom if she wanted coffee when they were in the kitchen (which is on the opposite side of the house from my room and I would not have heard any of their conversation anyway).

So what or who keeps waking me up?! Why do they keep doing it and why are they so concerned about a stupid bell ringing? (Which I never heard ringing, I might add) I'm just thankful they aren't screaming my name anymore!