Years ago, I woke up around 2 am and felt a presence in my room. I tried to move but I couldn't. It was pitch black and all I heard was a sinister voice breathe heavily and then say my name..."Aaaadaaaam"
As you could imagine, this moment scared the hell out of me. After about 30 seconds or so, which felt like an eternity, I was able to finally move my body, jump up, grab my phone, and flash the light around my room. Nothing was there, I was by myself.
I've thought about this moment countless times and even typing this out it still gives me the chills. I've thought about whether it was a dream but I remember having my eyes open and staring into a dark room. I remember that feeling of being paralyzed. It wasn't in my head.
I told no one about this situation because I just wanted to move on. Plus this never happened to me again. However, for years, I would have these nightmares of being attacked by animals like snakes & spiders or dreams of being shot causing me to literally jump out of bed scared.
Months later I would get into a relationship with a woman who would do small odd things like be in another room and say something but it wasn't to me. She tried hiding it for a while but would later admit to me that she was clairvoyant.
Normally my B.S. meter would go off but I never got that sense from her. She wasn't crazy, she was very stable and competent. She would open up to me about how she doesn't see the dead but she hears them. It's something she's experienced since she was a child & tries to manage.
The way she explained it to me was there are spirits that can tell who can hear them, so they go towards them and try to speak with them. One time she was in the bathroom and she yelled "NO!". It was a former friend's dead relative who tried talking to her.
All of this sounds insane but I 100% believe her. She didn't broadcast it, she actually hid it. I gathered that many people in her life didn't know this about her claims. All of this is relevant because of what she would one day tell me.
She knew I was agnostic at the time but one day she looked at me at told me "Adam because you're not of faith, you're easier to attack. They know who is not a believer and who isn't."
I never told her about that night but it was like she sensed it. It was unprovoked.
I told her about my frequent nightmares and she said that I should pray before I go to bed. I started doing this and I felt more at ease in my home. I was less fearful and there was less tension. Even though nothing spoke to me again, I would feel something odd in my presence.
I know there is evil in this world because I felt it. I felt a malevolent force and heard it speak to me. As agnostic as I wanted to be, I couldn't ignore this. Since that time, God has shown himself in a multitude of ways guiding me back into his arms.
Today, I'm a believer and I plan to get baptized this year. That moment changed my life and I believe God put her in my life to help guide me back to him.
Everything happens for a reason.
I had a similar experience but it was a beautiful chorus of voices combined into one, and I was wide awake standing in a hotel lobby that was full of people. The music said my name and I looked around to see who else heard and everyone was just going about their business. I was in a very dark place at the time and I believe this music vibrates the air around us, but we have to have our defenses completely down to hear it. That was several decades ago and I hope to hear it again some day. I also heard a story directly from a law enforcement officer (in a college religion class) in Virginia who, with his partner, responded to a rural call that there were squatters in a barn. They arrived and a pentagram was drawn in the dirt, and a burning smell was still in the air from candles. His partner went to cross the symbol to get to a door on the other side and he jumped back and said it was icy cold. He thought his partner was joking and went to cross. He said it was a cold, evil feeling he got as soon as he started to cross. Needless to say, they retreated. There is evil and there is beauty and light. Go towards the beauty and light.
Have you heard of something called sleep paralysis? What you describe sounds just like it. I've experienced it too.
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/21974-sleep-paralysis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysis
I only share this in hopes you find it interesting or helpful, not to dispute your beliefs or anything like that. Wish you the best with your baptism.