u/dudewhatf

I recently spent one night at the Santa Maria Inn for work. My colleague and I had adjoining rooms, and we both struggled to fall asleep. I finally dozed off sometime before midnight.

I dreamt I was exploring the hotel and found what looked like a giant rectangular 1970s conversation pit, filled with the same antique couches the hotel actually has instead of cushions. As soon as I stepped down into it, I felt a negative energy. When I tried to leave, an invisible force pulled the left side of my shirt and I was paralyzed. I tried calling out to my colleague, but no words came out. I started praying and was able to run.

(Later that day, my colleague told me she barely slept, only dozing for about 20 minutes. In that time she dreamt she heard me calling her, but when she opened her door, the hallway between our rooms kept stretching and she couldn't reach me. When she finally did, my room looked different. It had a second bed and a creepy Halloween mannequin hung on my door. She got into the second bed and said I looked calm and collected, and the dream ended. She stayed awake the rest of the night.)

Back in my dream, a giant dark shadow was chasing me. He seemed to have dreads, and though I couldn't see his face, he looked like a shadowy version of the creatures from Alien vs. Predator. When I reached my colleague's room, the door was gone, replaced by what looked like lower kitchen cabinets. Inside were three young women who said I could hide with them. Once I got in, I watched the shadow man's legs walk right past. When he was gone, I thanked them and left.

Suddenly I was in a large, crowded city. I passed a group of cops standing around an open ditch with a man's body inside. I could see his arm, stomach, and chest, all covered in blood. I said a quick prayer and RIP as I walked away. Then a train appeared in front of me. I didn't board it, but the ground I stood on moved with it, and I was transported back to the hotel.

There, I run into my mom and she was screaming at me, extremely upset, and I didn't know why. She grabbed my arm and, with incredible strength, dragged me back to the pit while I begged her not to because of the negative energy. Now it was full of people mingling like at a party. She kept yelling while I kept pleading. Then I made eye contact with an African-American woman across the room with big eyes, long straight black hair, and a dark purple outfit. She came over and started talking to my mom (I don't remember about what) while I kept begging to leave. Suddenly she transformed into an alien with dreads, similar to the shadow man but less scary, and I finally broke away and ran.

Then I woke up into sleep paralysis. I knew I was awake but couldn't open my eyes or mouth or scream. I was lying on my back, which was even scarier since I'm a side sleeper and never sleep that way, and I felt my whole body being pinned down. I prayed again until I could move. Too scared to open my eyes, I rolled over, pulled the blanket over my head, and slept about another hour.

When I got up to shower before leaving, I noticed a red mark on my right shoulder that wasn't there before I went to sleep. It looked like a scratch running from my shoulder down to my chest. It wasn’t painful or anything, but extremely freaky. Needless to say, we will never stay there again. We would much rather drive farther and stay a few towns away.