I was 16 years old and it was the summer of 1996. During that break I had the privilege of working the late shift at our town Wendy’s. I had spoken to my girlfriend, Tracy, (who’s parents were out of town all week long) earlier that evening and planned to drop by after I got off of work at three am. Tracy told me that she might go to a friend’s house and if she did so while I was in transit she would page me (yes I had a pager, cell phones were not yet cheep enough for a teenager to afford) and that would be a signal for me to show up at that house instead.
I grew up in Richland County, South Carolina and Tracy lived in the next county over, Kershaw. Because I had lived there all my life I knew several ways to get to her house, the shortest of which was Zion Church road. The road is a windy path through dense woods that not many people used. The trees grow together above it in most places making it almost impossible see the sky. It was paved once, long ago, because grass had grown up on both sides making it the width of a one lane road. It is important to mention that at this point in time there weren’t any houses or neighborhoods on the road at all, only a single, old, one room church house, surrounded by a small cemetery.
Three am came and I got off work and headed to Tracy’s house. I am driving down Zion Church road, I slow down to go around the big bend right before you see the church and the first thing I notice is my headlights reflecting on what looks to be broken glass all over the road. The next thing I see is an old white pickup truck with the front all smashed in, windshield busted, headlights busted, and a guy about my age standing in front of it. The guy had on blue jeans and a white tee shirt, blood was all over his face (looked like from a broken nose) and hands. I pulled up next to him and rolled down my window and asked him if he needed help. He looked at me and shook his head no. The look in his eyes when he looked at me scared the crap out of me and still does to this day.
I hit the gas and made it to Tracy’s house in less than three minutes. Right as I pull in the driveway my pager goes off…meaning that she was at her friend’s house, I turned around and went right back the way I came up Zion Church road. I passed the spot where the guy was in the road less than ten minutes after I had been there before. No guy, no glass, no truck.
Now I am sure in the window of time that I was gone someone could have come to pick him up, towed the truck, and cleaned up the glass on the road. But how could he have contacted them? There weren’t any houses with phones within walking distance. He could have had a cell phone but to this day there isn’t a tower out there and no one can get a signal on that end of the county. The only explanation I can come up with is that maybe he hit another car they were able to drive and get help. I also want to mention that I didn’t recognize this kid and that says something. I grew up in an incredibly small rural town and went to high school with the same kids that I went to kindergarten with. I knew most of the kids in my age group because even if they didn’t go to my school they went to a neighboring school that we played baseball or football against. Who knows? After ten years I still puzzle over this.
It took me several years to drive down Zion Church road again, even if it was a great shortcut. I was home one summer from college (I am pretty sure this was in 2001) and had just begun using the road again. One late night my best friend and I were headed to a bar Kershaw and came around the same bend as before. There by the church stood a man-like something in the graveyard. It was dark, pitch black, like a shadow but my head lights didn’t penetrate it, it seemed like the light beams went around it. We both saw it in passing and did not stop to check it out. Again there might be a perfectly reasonable explanation for this but I am at a loss to come up with it.
When I was home a couple of weeks ago my friend and I drove down Zion Church again. Someone has bought all of the property around it, built some housing developments, the old Zion Church still remains but is now fully restored. These experiences are the only things even remotely paranormal that have happened to me. I welcome any thoughts/comments/questions on them.
I grew up in Richland County, South Carolina and Tracy lived in the next county over, Kershaw. Because I had lived there all my life I knew several ways to get to her house, the shortest of which was Zion Church road. The road is a windy path through dense woods that not many people used. The trees grow together above it in most places making it almost impossible see the sky. It was paved once, long ago, because grass had grown up on both sides making it the width of a one lane road. It is important to mention that at this point in time there weren’t any houses or neighborhoods on the road at all, only a single, old, one room church house, surrounded by a small cemetery.
Three am came and I got off work and headed to Tracy’s house. I am driving down Zion Church road, I slow down to go around the big bend right before you see the church and the first thing I notice is my headlights reflecting on what looks to be broken glass all over the road. The next thing I see is an old white pickup truck with the front all smashed in, windshield busted, headlights busted, and a guy about my age standing in front of it. The guy had on blue jeans and a white tee shirt, blood was all over his face (looked like from a broken nose) and hands. I pulled up next to him and rolled down my window and asked him if he needed help. He looked at me and shook his head no. The look in his eyes when he looked at me scared the crap out of me and still does to this day.
I hit the gas and made it to Tracy’s house in less than three minutes. Right as I pull in the driveway my pager goes off…meaning that she was at her friend’s house, I turned around and went right back the way I came up Zion Church road. I passed the spot where the guy was in the road less than ten minutes after I had been there before. No guy, no glass, no truck.
Now I am sure in the window of time that I was gone someone could have come to pick him up, towed the truck, and cleaned up the glass on the road. But how could he have contacted them? There weren’t any houses with phones within walking distance. He could have had a cell phone but to this day there isn’t a tower out there and no one can get a signal on that end of the county. The only explanation I can come up with is that maybe he hit another car they were able to drive and get help. I also want to mention that I didn’t recognize this kid and that says something. I grew up in an incredibly small rural town and went to high school with the same kids that I went to kindergarten with. I knew most of the kids in my age group because even if they didn’t go to my school they went to a neighboring school that we played baseball or football against. Who knows? After ten years I still puzzle over this.
It took me several years to drive down Zion Church road again, even if it was a great shortcut. I was home one summer from college (I am pretty sure this was in 2001) and had just begun using the road again. One late night my best friend and I were headed to a bar Kershaw and came around the same bend as before. There by the church stood a man-like something in the graveyard. It was dark, pitch black, like a shadow but my head lights didn’t penetrate it, it seemed like the light beams went around it. We both saw it in passing and did not stop to check it out. Again there might be a perfectly reasonable explanation for this but I am at a loss to come up with it.
When I was home a couple of weeks ago my friend and I drove down Zion Church again. Someone has bought all of the property around it, built some housing developments, the old Zion Church still remains but is now fully restored. These experiences are the only things even remotely paranormal that have happened to me. I welcome any thoughts/comments/questions on them.