English Original
A few years ago, when I was 18, I was dating a girl in Edinburgh. The city is rich in history, making ghost tours common. One tour, "City of the Dead," is particularly famous for its well-documented case of a poltergeist known as the Mackenzie Poltergeist. After reading the book by the tour's founder, I was eager to experience it.
The tour begins with stories around Edinburgh, but the real adventure starts at the Covenanters' Prison, a small cemetery. Here lies the Black Mausoleum, home to the poltergeist. Many visitors report cold spots in the tomb, and some have left with unexplained cuts and welts appearing later. A key part of the tour involves being locked inside the tiny mausoleum for ten minutes. While inside the sandstone tomb, I felt things touching me and heard scratching noises on the walls and ceiling. While such experiences might not be uncommon on this tour, what happened afterward truly haunts me.
After the tour, I left the graveyard to walk home. As I exited, I felt a heavy presence accompany me—a weight on my back, though not physically there. This sensation lasted the entire long walk home. Back at the flat, we thought we were alone except for the cats. Soon, however, I sensed a man's presence standing in the kitchen. Being sensitive to such things, I knew it wasn't my imagination.
Carrying the cat for courage (as the girl stayed behind), I moved toward the kitchen and entered the hall. Our flat was usually warm as a furnace, but a freezing cold spot in the hall took my breath away. I retreated to the bedroom. The truly frightening part was that my girlfriend, who isn't usually sensitive, described feeling the same presence in the hall—matching my impression of a tall man with long, greasy hair, though I couldn't see his face.
To this day, I don't know what followed me home. I was terrified then, and I'd rather not find out.
中文翻译
几年前，我18岁，在爱丁堡与一个女孩约会。这座城市历史底蕴深厚，鬼魂之旅十分普遍。其中有一个名为“死亡之城”的旅行团尤为著名，因为它记录了一个证据详尽的闹鬼事件——麦肯齐骚灵。在阅读了该旅行团创始人所写的书后，我满怀期待地参加了这次旅程。
旅行从爱丁堡的城市故事开始，但真正的冒险始于“盟约者监狱”——一处小型墓地。这里矗立着黑陵，据称是骚灵的栖身之所。许多游客在墓中感到刺骨寒意，有些人离团后身上会莫名出现割伤和红肿。旅程的一个关键环节是将所有参与者锁在这座小陵墓内十分钟。在砂岩筑成的墓穴中，我感到有东西在触碰我，并听到墙壁和天花板传来刮擦声。虽然这类体验在这次旅行中或许并不罕见，但随后发生的事才真正让我毛骨悚然。
旅程结束后，我离开墓地步行回家。刚走出墓地，我就感到一个沉重的存在跟随着我——仿佛有东西压在背上，却又并非实体。这种感觉持续了漫长的回家路。回到公寓，我们以为除了猫，只有我们两人。但不久，我便感觉到厨房里站着一个男人的存在。我对这类事物比较敏感，因此确信这不是幻觉。
我抱着猫壮胆（女孩不愿同行），走向厨房并进入门厅。我们的公寓通常温暖如炉，但门厅里一个冰冷的区域让我倒吸一口凉气。我退回了卧室。真正可怕的是，我那通常不敏感的女友也描述在门厅感到了同样的存在——与我感知到的一个高个子、长油腻头发的男人形象吻合，尽管我看不清他的脸。
时至今日，我仍不知道那天跟着我回家的是什么。当时我被吓坏了，至今也不愿深究。