Strange Happenings in Louisiana

I live in an apartment complex across the street from my university, so it's almost 100% college students who live here. There is one 40-something man who lives here as well, and he's kind of in the story.

It started last Wednesday, I think. I live with my girlfriend and two other guys we knew in high school. There's a shuttle that runs back and forth between the apartment complex and the university, since so many college kids live here. Well, if you are walking to our apartment from the bus stop, you can see our balcony and two bedroom windows.
Wednesday, my girlfriend and one of the guys who lives here were walking home from the bus stop and looked up at our apartment. Normally we keep all the blinds shut because the buildings here are close to each other and people will peek in your windows, but they noticed that the blinds in my girlfriend's room were open. They could clearly see me, sitting at the desk next to the window. I was looking at the computer. They called my name and waved to me, and they said I just sort of looked at them and then got up and walked away from the window. The thing is.. I wasn't home. I was in class. Sure enough, they got to the apartment and came in and I wasn't here, and they were all freaked out. They told me about it when I got home, and it kind of scared me too, since they saw this ghost thing that was pretending to be me, but we all kind of stopped talking about it.

Nothing interesting happened on Thursday, but Friday night all four of us were home and we were sitting in the living room watching TV. It was really late, probably between 2 and 3 AM. All of a sudden, we heard this horrific noise coming from the parking lot. It sounded almost like a pig being slaughtered. It was a series of really loud grunts and groans with occasional high pitched squeals. We all looked at each other in terror for a few seconds and then ran out onto the balcony to see what it was. Once we got outside, the noise was even louder, but it ended pretty quickly. Two of the guys ran downstairs to look around the parking lot but didn't see anything, and there were no other people about from what we could tell.
The next day, I was standing at the bus stop and heard two girls talking about the noise that had woken them up last night. "Sounded like an animal being tortured." I said I heard it too, and that we had looked outside but saw nothing. They seemed freaked out.
On Saturday, maintenance found two dead cats in the bushes next to one of the gates. I only know this because they sent out notices to everyone, trying to make sure no one was missing their cat or something.

Then, there was last night, and that was the thing that made me come here. I woke up in the middle of the night for no particular reason, and heard that it was POURING rain. I love when it rains at night, so I went to look out the window at the storm for a few minutes.
To my horror, there was... something, in the parking lot. I don't know what the # it was. It looked like a tall man wearing a big coat, but there was just something not human about it. It was huddled against a lamp post that has been broken since we moved in, so I could see its outline but not any detail. I ran back to the bed and shook my girlfriend awake, bringing her to the window. By the time my girlfriend got to the window, the thing had moved and was crouching between two cars. My girlfriend thought it was a man being shady and called management, but no one picked up the 24-hour line. (That's happened before though when we called to report noise, so it isn't that freaky). The thing was moving around in between cars in the parking lot, staying mostly in the shadows.
I went out on the balcony and after a few minutes she followed me out there. We watched it for a minute or two and then I just yelled, "Hey!" at it. It stood up at full height, and was definitely too tall to be a normal sized man. It looked around for a minute and fixed its eyes on the building across from us, and then crouched down again and bolted out of the parking lot.
I looked up at where it had been staring on the building, and sitting out on his balcony smoking a cigarette was the 40-ish year old guy I mentioned before. He saw the whole thing too. I yelled, "What the # was that?" but he didn't answer me, just kept staring at where it had gone.

The next night, the people who live on the third floor (directly above us) just came down and asked us why we were banging on our ceiling, which would have meant they heard banging noises coming from their floor. We said we weren't banging on the ceiling, and they went back upstairs. It was a guy and a girl. Like two minutes later the guy came back and told us that when they walked back in their apartment, one of the dining room chairs had been turned over. Before he even left, the girl was back, saying that she heard more banging noises coming from the floor. But since their floor is our ceiling, you would assume that if something banged on either one, both of us would be able to hear it. No one heard anything in this apartment.
They went back but I think they were a little spooked.

We went and talked to the 40-ish guy right after that. He's a little bit of a redneck and really superstitious. Says he's felt weird lately. He thinks the other night was actually the second time he saw the thing, the first time being a few days before. Apparently he was up really early in the morning, when it starts to get light but before the sun comes up, and out his window he saw something just standing by the front building of the apartment complex. Just standing there. He's pretty convinced they were the same thing.
He's got a gun but doesn't want to shoot it, since this is mostly student housing and we aren't allowed to have guns.
He also said he's been having dreams that something was watching him through the window, but has no indication that the dreams are of whatever's been in the parking lot. He could just be dreaming about it because he's been thinking about it.
He told my roommates to stay inside and said to make sure our blinds are always closed. That's pretty much it.

Any ideas as to what it is??

How tall do you think the creature was? Did it have a big head? Do you think it killed those cats? That is a strange story.

I'd estimate about 8ft probably. I think it may have had something to do with the cats, but campus security doesn't think so.

Interesting story - it might be an idea to arm yourself with a camera. If this 'thing' is showing itself more often you may be able to catch it on film.

I was watching the parking lot tonight, as was the guy across the way. I did have my girlfriend's digital camera ready, and he had his gun I'm sure, just in case. Nothing out of the ordinary tonight, but I want to know if anyone knows of something similar so that I know better how to deal with whatever it possibly is.

reply to post by euwhajavb


Have any of you been using a ouija board?

If so, burn it.

reply to post by euwhajavb


Are there any swamps nearby? If so, are there any local legends relating to 'things' that may live in the swamps?

None of my roommates have. Why is that the common explanation for anything on this forum? If it's something strange, it's the quiji board. I doubt the man across from us has been either, he's very superstitious it seems. We're not dabbling in the arts.

Originally posted by thebox
reply to post by euwhajavb

 

Are there any swamps nearby? If so, are there any local legends relating to 'things' that may live in the swamps?

Well it is Louisiana, but it's also LSU. I'm not familiar with any stories, I moved here from Georgia a few months ago.

Originally posted by euwhajavb
Well it is Louisiana, but it's also LSU. I'm not familiar with any stories, I moved here from Georgia a few months ago.

Hmmm... Jackson County -

On Walker Road, witnesses have claimed to see the apparition of a tall man dressing in black attire walking through rooms in their homes during any given hour of the night or day. Residents have also made reports of strange noises and vibrations that comes from the ground; sounding and feeling as if some invisible train were coming through.

Source

And other strange happenings in Saint Tammany County -

At the old SSA School, many people have reported hearing disembodied screams and voices, unearthly noises and the sounds of someone breathing behind them. Fleeting shadows have also been seen here and many have made reports of glowing orbs floating about.

Source

reply to post by euwhajavb


No, that is just my take on this.

But stay away from it anyway.

Originally posted by kawacat
reply to post by euwhajavb

 

No, that is just my take on this.

But stay away from it anyway.

Will do.

reply to post by euwhajavb


Wow that is such a strange story! I have no idea what to say. There are so much unexplained things in this world.

This lake about an hour from where I live has things like this that happen all the time. Just very odd things. hmmm...

reply to post by thebox


I'll have to ask around about this whole thing tomorrow. I'll see if anyone else has seen anything in the complex, their thoughts, etc.

reply to post by Key2life


What happens at the lake?

so it was in your apartment? arm yourself immieditly even if its a paintball gun

Just wanted to chime in. I don't normally comment on things like this but wow. Its 03:00 and that is one seriously creepy story. So much for sleeping. Please keep us up to date on how this progresses. i am intrigued to say the least. Thanks for sharing.

S + F

reply to post by LurkerMan


Well, I don't know for sure if it was the same thing. My roommates said it was me in my girlfriend's room.

reply to post by WWJFKD


Yeah it's late (or early) here too, but I haven't been sleeping well, for probably obvious reasons lol

Originally posted by euwhajavb
I'll have to ask around about this whole thing tomorrow. I'll see if anyone else has seen anything in the complex, their thoughts, etc.

So just to clarify for those of us outside of Louisiana, you're in Baton Rouge?