This is the story of a man who witnessed an entity so evil and powerful, he was unable to speak even decades later as he laid on his deathbed. A few details have been changed to protect identity. If anything, similar has happened to you or someone you know personally, I’d like to hear about it, might help us understand what happened that night.
We are uncertain of the year; we know it was between 1965 and 1967. On a very small and warm island not too far off the coast of Florida, a man, let’s call him Antonio, became very wealthy through the success of a business. On this specific island, witchcraft is a common practice. Some avoid it, some use it for personal gain, and others would use it to intentionally harm others. It is said that Antonio was a strong believer in the practice, and it was through witchcraft that he attained his wealth.
He used a part of his accumulated wealth to construct a home large enough for his family, which was composed of his wife, and his 2 sons whose wives also came to live in the large home. There was only 1 child in the home, a young newborn boy, 2 months old. Yes, the home was huge.
I am writing this story in a way to hopefully captivate your attention but am being very careful in making sure that all that is written here is as accurate as possible. All details recounted here, are a composition of the information I gathered from those who were present that night.
1st Encounter
To fully understand the night of the incident, we must start with the first encounter. According to what we know the first encounter occurred during a hot summer morning. The structure of the family during that time dictated that the men were to be at work during the day, and so present in the home were only two of the women and the newborn baby. They report being on the first floor and hearing slow footsteps on the 2nd floor. Break-ins were common in the neighborhood, so the ladies remained quiet. They heard furniture being moved around, and assumed whoever was upstairs was in search of valuables. The noises didn’t last long, the ladies quietly snuck out of the home, and ran to a neighbor’s house.
When the men got back home, Antonio became furious. There was no doubt in his mind that it was an attempted robbery (even though absolutely nothing was missing or out of place), and so he hired the main character of this story, let’s call him, Patrick. Patrick was an armed security guard, very well known for being an extroverted happy party guy who worked extremely hard, everyone loved Patrick. His security team was comprised of himself and 2 other men. Again, it was a small community, so the family knew Patrick and his team.
2nd Encounter; Patrick’s Team
It is reported by Patrick’s team that for the first few weeks, nothing out of the ordinary happened. Nonetheless, Antonio kept the men on his payroll. The job had become so boring to the team, that the men would take turns guarding the house 1 at a time, while the other two guards would head to a nearby home where they would have drinks and flirt with the ladies in the neighborhood.
Both of Patrick’s team members, quit after one of them, Lucas, was left alone for the very first time. Lucas explained that after they had left him alone, he and the girls heard noises coming from the 2nd floor like what had been reported the first time.
Lucas slowly pulled out his firearm and quietly signaled to the girls to remain silent. Lucas began to make his way up the stairs, one slow and quiet step at a time. He could hear the running and walking around still happening. He continued, another step, and that’s when he heard the furniture loudly and violently being thrashed all around. The noises were so loud he assumed there must have been at least three people in the room. He continued to slowly make his way up the stairs, all while hearing glass shatter, wood breaking and many other noises. When he finally reached the door to the room, all the noises abruptly stopped. He quickly burst the door open, firearm pointed, only to find everything in its rightful place, window closed and locked, not a soul in sight. He describes having felt an extremely eerie feeling and a cold air all around the room as if he had walked into a freezer. Lucas explains that he is a strong believer in witchcraft. He went on to say that for an energy to be working so strongly during the daytime it must be extremely powerful and very evil. After much conversation with the team, two of the men quit, and Patrick was left on his own.
3rd and Final Encounter
After the 2nd encounter. Antonio decided to have the home blessed. He hired one of the most well-known priests on the island. Not only did they bless the home, but every person residing in the house as well. Antonio made it mandatory for everyone to attend church on Sundays. During this process Antonio and Patrick became close friends, to the point where Antonio had agreed to keep Patrick on Payroll and have him guard the home on his own.
Patrick was 32 years old at the time of the 3rd encounter, remained silent for the next 50 years.
The men were working late on this particular Friday, and so the three women were home during this late-night encounter. Patrick, had developed a romantic relationship with the next door neighbor and would occasionally head over to see her. The homes were pretty close to one another so he was confident he would hear the girls call him if they needed him.
The ladies explain that while at home that night, they were discussing the previous encounters. They found it strange that both encounters had occurred in the same room, the room where the mom and her newborn would sleep. Discussing the encounters instilled them with fear, and so they remained together in the living room downstairs, until they fell asleep.
They are unsure how long they were asleep. What they do remember is being awoken by the mom of the baby, eyes wide and filled with tears and she slowly and quietly whispered, “it’s happening again.”
All the lights in the home were off except for a candle that the priest who blessed the home had told them to keep on every night. The small orange light that came from the candle provided just enough luminance for the girls to see each other as they cried silently listening to the footsteps happening yet again right above them.
Soon the thrashing of the furniture began, the footsteps faster and more violent, one of the noises was so loud that it scared the newborn baby to the point where he let out a loud, long cry. The mom tried to cover his mouth as soon as she could, but they all knew it was too late. The noises upstairs stopped, silence, stillness. They all tried to breathe quietly, still holding the baby’s mouth closed, but despite mom’s best efforts, another cry escaped from the baby’s lips. The ladies screamed loudly as they heard the upstairs door burst open and heard what they describe as hundreds and hundreds of stomping footsteps running down the stairs towards them. They immediately try to escape through the front door and saw that coming down the stairs were hundreds of small red intensely focused eyes. No faces, no expressions, just hundreds of shadows with glowing eyes bouncing and coming for them.
Till this day they have no idea how they were able to make it out of the home. They were screaming so loud that a few neighbors had stepped out of their homes to see what the commotion was about. Many of the neighbors however, closed their blinds and locked their doors, for they had heard the rumors and believe the family had been cursed.
Patrick heard the screaming and met the girls outside; he urged them to run into the neighbor’s house as he ran towards the danger. The girls watched from the window, waiting for Patrick to emerge from the darkness. They are unsure how long they waited because every second felt like a lifetime. They heard a gunshot. Then another, and another. Then many shots, too many for them to count. Then silence. They waited and waited, but Patrick was nowhere to be seen.
After many hours, Antonio and his sons arrived. The girls spotted their car and told them what happened. They all ran into the house, guns drawn, to look for Patrick. All the lights in the home were still off. When they entered the home, they called for him, but there was no response. They made their way upstairs and found Patrick.
He was standing with his back towards the door and face inches away from a wall.
Slowly swaying back and forth.
Empty gun in his hand by his side.
They ran towards him and turned him around. His eyes had an empty blank stare, it’s as if he was looking right past them. They called his name a few more times, until he finally, very slowly made eye contact with Antonio. Patrick blankly stared at Antonio, still swaying back and forth, tears started to fall from his eyes, he began to sob uncontrollably, shaking and screaming. He lost all control and pushed the men away, screaming loudly he ran back towards the wall and began to bang his head on it repeatedly. Blood started to fill his face, none of the men were able to hold him down no matter how hard they tried. Patrick pushed them all off again, and as the men stumbled back, Patrick quickly placed his gun to his head and pulled the trigger as fast as he could many, many times. The gun, luckily, was empty. The men quickly charged and tackled Patrick to the ground and were finally able to gain control and take him to the nearest hospital.
The Aftermath
The next day. The family sat in the kitchen, trying to understand what might have happened. Everyone wanted to leave the home, but Antonio insisted they stay. During the conversation, one of the sons noticed that Antonio seemed to be holding back information, and so he confronted him in front of the family.
Antonio became angry. He yelled at the family that they were ungrateful. That everything he had done was for them, and he left the house. His wife remained. She knew what was going on, and explained it to everyone.
Antonio had become tired of being poor. He heard stories of a man who lived deep and high in a mountain, everyone claimed that this man was very skilled in the art of witchcraft. So Antonio went to visit this man.
The wife isn’t entirely sure what transcribed between the two. She knows that Antonio came home that night with two animal skulls, a brown and green liquid, and a jar with a black liquid. The wife saw him drink the brown and green liquid. She also believes he showered with the black liquid because she saw him enter the bathroom with it and found black residue on the shower floor. The skulls she has no idea what he did with them nor what animal they were from.
Patrick’s return
After two weeks, Patrick was released from the hospital. He no longer smiles, he doesn’t speak, and doesn’t engage with anyone. The doctors claim that aside from the head injury, and a few scrapes and bruises, there is absolutely nothing wrong with him. Many people have tried to engage with him, asking him to speak, to write about what happened, to draw it out. He doesn’t engage with them in any way. He doesn’t go into Antonio’s home but rather stays next door. Antonio, feeling responsible for what happened makes sure that all the expenses of the home including food are paid for.
Every morning at exactly 7:46 AM, sun, rain, doesn’t matter, Patrick sits on a rocking chair, facing and staring at Antonio’s home. When the sun begins to set, he stands up, and walks into his home backwards. Did it every day, without missing a day until he turned 80 years old. At 80, he became too sick and was unable to get out of bed. He would groan and cry in pain but never said a word. Patrick passed away at 82 years old.
Some believe that when Antonio visited the mountains, he made deal with the devil himself. A deal he was not able to uphold. The story of Patrick is but one of many of the strange encounters that happened to Antonio and his family. I guess that’s why they say to be careful when dancing with the devil, for a dance with the devil can last forever.