When I was around 17 years old, I started feeling weird things around me.

Whispers in my ear calling out my name, sensing somebody sleeping next to me on my bed, shadow of a person in my room, clothes disappearing when I keep them on the bed. I just ignored them all thinking I’m just assuming stuff.

One day, I was very sick. I was asleep and when I woke up, I wanted water. My mom passed by and stood by my room door and I asked her for a glass of water, she quietly gave it to me and left the room. While I was drinking it, I saw the front door open (my bedroom was facing the front door) and my mom entered the house. I was so confused, simply because my mom just gave me water and went off, so how can my mom now enter the house from the main door? When I asked her she said she never gave me water!
 
So I assumed it must be some good spirit/jinn that just helped me out and I ignored it again.
But then on whatever used to happen, I was never harmed. The blanket would suddenly be put on me while I was asleep. I used to get patted on my head, strokes on my face. All these, I just assumed were things made up in my mind.

Then the voices started getting stronger. I would hear words like “come with me”
“Live with me”
“I want to marry you”
“You are my sweetest” stuff like that.

I used to tell these to my best friend over the phone about these voices and we used to laugh so much about it (we were young and crazy and never took these things seriously)
We named that voice  “Jinnu baby” 
As soon as I kept the phone, that same voice imitated my laugh sooo loud that my mom comes into the room and scolds me to stop laughing like an animal, its late in the night and that she will confiscate my phone!

That night I was hugged so tightly and the words “I’m sorry” were whispered into my ears.
I kind of ‘freaked out’, got up and switched on the lights and called my best friend again, she as usual teased me about it and told me to just shut up and go to sleep.
The next day, I was using the laptop and as I switched it off, I saw my reflection on the laptop screen with a figure standing behind me! It was a short person with hair to the shoulders. I freaked out and looked behind me and there was nothing.

A few nights later, as I was sleeping, I had a dream that this person- who looked fair but grey, short, hair to the shoulders, grabs me by my arm and takes me to a world which is completely grey, dull, filled with misery and depression, broken ruins and buildings. I tell him to please let me go as my arm hurts! He just pulls me into a broken house and shows me to a lady and speaks something gibberish to her and she gives me a big smile and pats my head. I see a small boy on the floor who was dragging himself on the floor since he couldn’t walk. I beg that person to please let me go.

I suddenly wake up and my arm hurts so bad, I switch on the light and I see the mark of 5 fingers on my arm. 

A few nights later again. I was asleep and I saw this person next to me on the bed! I pushed him off my bed! I still remember he was remarkably soft! I ran to my mom and told her about it and slept in my mother’s room that night. She started calling people to get this checked by someone.

I started reciting really loud and it stopped. I used to run to my mom each time is happened and sleep with her that night. 

We  found someone who had come down from the Middle East who deals with these paranormal encounters.

We went to her and I was taken into a room for a face to face encounter with this spirit. I couldn’t see anything since it was so dark. But I could hear his voice and I recognized his voice so well.

He was apparently a spirit/jinn who had been with me for a few years. He said that he first got an amazing smell from me which would have been the smell of my perfume and was attracted by it and by my hair (I had kept my hair open) That’s when he followed me home.
 
He said he loves me and wants me to come into his world with him.

That lady asked me whether I was taken to a different world in a dream or anything. I said yes! She said that it was the other side and he took me there to show me to his family. I heard him crying sooo loud when she started praying and was telling him to leave.

I was apparently on the verge of being possessed or taken away through death to his world.
It was such a horrid moment for me which I will never forget. I even felt sorry for him 

After she got rid of him, my mom and I had to do a ritual prayer for 7 days. After that it was all gone and done. It’s been 13 years since this happened but I’m still doing that ritual prayer every single day so that I wouldn’t have to encounter anything like that ever again in my life or in our house or with  my daughters.

Then came the next part- the side effects. 
My veil to the other side  opened!

We are all apparently born with a veil where we cannot see the spirits/jinns of the other side. They are all amongst us but we cannot see them. They aren’t allowed to make contact with us.

As a child, I’ve had a weak veil. I could see spirits once in a while if only they chose to reveal themselves to me. I used to see stuff as a kid and tell my mom about it and she is the only person who believed me. 

There were things I told her, when she used to dig into the history, found out what I’ve seen is right.
We lived in a house before where I used to see a lady with long hair and anklets in the nights walking around the house. I was so afraid to use the washroom and always slept with my parents due to it. Later we found out that many years ago a lady as such died in that house and we had to do a cleansing ritual.

At the age of 10, we travelled abroad for a wedding and stayed at a serviced apartment where I played downstairs with 3 kids everyday. The security told my mom not to let me play alone as it’s not safe! No matter how much I told everyone I played with 3 other kids, no one believed me since I was the only child in that building and the security mentioned that I was talking to myself. 
These little things kept happening to me during my childhood and I used to tell my friends in school about how I can see people when  others can’t.

. As a result of all that, my veil was completely opened. It was told that it was completely opened because of what happened to me and also because I was given an insight to their world.

I would then see all kinds of spirits, the good, the bad, the weird, funny, everything!

I used to go on the road and see people with grey faces and white clothes walking around in BROAD DAYLIGHT! Black clothing with very white faces and red eyes. They would only look at me. It was like they all knew that I’m the only person who can see them.

Once, my SIL had come down to Sri Lanka, we went to visit a new young mom who had just had a baby. As we went and as I entered, I see an old lady in their house who looked sooo wicked! Dressed in white with a grey face standing by the stairs. She looked soooo angry! I smiled at that lady who didn’t even smile back. She kept staring at me until we were taken inside to see the baby. We left within 5-10 minutes and that old lady was still standing there staring at me in anger.

As we left I asked my mom who that old lady was. My mom said there was no one, my SIL said she never saw anyone too. My mom immediately called up that girl and asked her randomly through conversation as to when her mom will be home and whether there was anyone else at home, she said there wasn’t anyone and that she was alone when we came. My SIL fell sick that day as she was terrified and she advised me to do something about it soon before something extreme happens again.

My mom didn’t want me to have that previous experience once again and called up the lady who helped me out before. She said she will be coming to Sri Lanka only after 3 months.

During those 3 months, I had several traumatic experiences of seeing all these kinds of spirits/jinns every single day. I would see black shadows, grey people etc.
My mom never let me out of her sight during those 3 months, I would go out with her and ask her “mummy can you see this person?” It would scare the living daylights out of her as she wouldn’t be able to see it. 
Now being a mom myself I can imagine what she must have dealt with!

However, that lady came after 3 months and told me the spirits can sense that I can see into their world and it’s disrupting them as I’m a part of their world and my world. She also told me with this, I can help people by talking to the spirits and be the kind of person who has that ability but it’s not safe for a young girl. I refused to have that kind of ability, and wished to end this!

She had to do a 7 day ritual prayer along with me and it finally stopped  she told me that my veil is finally closed.
It was so nice and peaceful to never experience any of that nonsense again, but I feel that sometimes I can sense things better than  others. I’m married now with 2 kids and I can sometimes hear things which others can’t. See something which others can’t, but definitely can’t see spirits like how I used to.

Now the scariest part is that, I think my older daughter has inherited it from me and has a weak veil. She tells me stuff which I used to tell my mom as a kid. We went to a boutique hotel here in SL a few years ago and at 3am I go to the washroom and come out and my older daughter stands in her cot and tells me there’s a carrot standing behind me! I was horrified! I woke my husband up and he freaked out and my daughter laughs and laughs saying there’s a carrot with red eyes and big teeth standing by the washroom door and then she points to different parts of the room showing where this “carrot” goes about. This goes on for like 30 minutes and then we finally manage to put her to sleep. She was around 2 years old.
I didn’t sleep that entire night mainly due to the reason that she could see something which I couldn’t?!!!! My daughter wakes up in the morning and looks around and tells me sadly that the carrot isn’t there anymore! It was then that I knew that she too must have inherited a weak veil like mine.
Now she’s 6 years old and randomly tells me some weird stuff.

She’s confused the exact same way as I used to be. I just really hope it doesn’t go beyond what it is right now and just halts here and doesn’t progress any further.
 

*Name withheld