Scary Stories For A Rainy Night - Ep. 399 - Jagged Knife

Summary

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Scary Stories For A Rainy Night – Ep. 399 – Jagged Knife

Podcast: Scary Stories and Rain
Host: Being Scared
Release Date: June 6, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode features a collection of chilling, true stories narrated against a backdrop of calming rain. The tales revolve around creepy encounters, both in real life and the digital world—ranging from ominous nights in the wilderness to sinister internet interactions. The host maintains a gentle, storytelling tone, gradually building suspense and unease, making each story perfect for late-night listening or as a cautionary reminder to trust one's instincts.

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Key Stories & Discussion Points

1. The Camping Encounter – Unprepared in Inyo Canyon

[01:27–14:35]

• Two friends from Los Angeles decide to go camping soon after high school, equipped with minimal experience.
• A series of naive mistakes: leaving late, having no clear campsite plan, lacking flashlights (only lighters), and showing up exhausted at midnight led them to camp at the entrance of a hiking trail (where camping is prohibited).
• The next day, after nearly being caught by rangers, they find an official campground and settle far from other campers.
• During the night:
  • They notice something tapping a friend's foot from outside the tent, at first dismissing it as wind or loose gear.
  • Suddenly, both sense footsteps approaching — slow, deliberate, unmistakably human.
  • The footsteps stop right outside the tent, and a click signals a flashlight turning on, its beam tracing the tent zipper just inches away.
  • The narrator, sweating and terrified, shouts, “Who’s there?” The flashlight switches off, but the presence remains.
  • Pretending his friend is awake and armed, the narrator whispers, “Yeah, loaded. There’s one in the chamber,” buying precious time.
  • After a tense silence, the unknown visitor eventually retreats; in the morning, they discover bootprints circling their campsite, confirming the threat was real.

Notable Quote:
“From my fuzzy line of sight to the burning embers through the nylon tent became obscured by something outside the tent.”
(13:10, Narrator)

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2. Marketplace Trap – A Close Call in Australia

[14:35–17:57]

• A woman recounts nearly falling into a potential ambush after responding to a “free table” ad on Facebook Marketplace.
• Odd details pile up: the seller asks if she’s coming alone, vanishes from Facebook, and insists she come to an abandoned motel at the edge of town, requiring her to “walk to the back to get reception.”
• She follows her intuition, decides to leave, and later discovers the entire ad and the messages have disappeared.
• The story highlights listening to gut instincts and the dangers that can lurk behind seemingly innocent online transactions.

Notable Quote:
“Am I overthinking this or did I just avoid something sinister?”
(17:50, Narrator)

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3. The Unexplainable Shock – Mystery in the Living Room

[17:58–19:49]

• The story details a narrator suddenly being violently electrocuted while lounging at home, gripping a lighter encased in metal.
• The episode is so intense they force themselves to stand up, at which point the sensation abruptly stops.
• Friends are skeptical, but a burn mark in the shape of the lighter remains as proof.
• Unanswered questions linger about what caused the experience, lending a supernatural edge to the tale.

Notable Quote:
“I started being electrocuted. And I don’t mean shocked, like some static electricity or something. I mean my entire body started convulsing uncontrollably.”
(18:33, Narrator)

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4. The Guesthouse in Georgia – Poisoned Hospitality

[19:50–24:05]

• An American recounts a strange experience in Tbilisi, Georgia, involving suspiciously over-friendly hosts at a guesthouse.
• After boasting about a visiting girlfriend, he is encouraged to drink with his hosts; soon, he is drugged and passes out.
• Awakes to find his belongings moved, window shades open, TV blaring—clear signs someone had entered during his blackout.
• Feeling endangered, he leaves early and later learns that the son had been digging a foul-smelling pit (allegedly a septic tank), fostering disturbing suspicions.
• Ultimately, he credits this brush with danger as the motivation for a major life change.

Notable Quote:
“I should have paid more notice to the very intentional placement of the shots that he filled for us, but I pushed those misgivings aside and had the shot after a very traditional toast.”
(22:33, Narrator)

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5. Stalker from World of Warcraft – Layers of Danger

[24:06–54:02]

• A female gamer describes years of internet interactions, focusing on an escalating online relationship with a supposed 19-year-old from World of Warcraft.
• The relationship turns alarming when, after refusing to meet, the suitor’s behavior becomes obsessive and spiteful, sending messages from multiple accounts.
• He's persistent, eventually tracking down her physical address and showing up outside her school—revealed not as a college-aged peer, but a man over 30.
• A neighbor and her husband intervene, preventing a possible abduction. Authorities are involved but, due to fears about foster care, a full investigation is avoided.
• The stalker steps up attempts, even showing up at her home multiple times, breaking into the basement, leaving weapons in his rental car, and ultimately attempting to pose as an undercover police officer to gain entry.
• The man is finally arrested and deported; the story ends with reflections on online predators and lessons learned.

Notable Quotes:

• “You go cold when you’re terrified is absolutely true. It could have been a summer’s day at 95 degrees and my bones would have been cold.”
  (34:48, Narrator)
• “He told me to get in the car or he would light my house on fire.”
  (36:36, Narrator)
• “Just like that, savior number two joined the battle as her husband stepped out, a man that looked like he had been through a war or two with a booming voice: ‘I’ve killed men for less reason. You better leave right now.’”
  (36:58, Narrator)
• “From what the lady cop told me, what permitted such fear in the car was multiple weapons, some sort of rope, and handcuffs. And the guy that ran back into the dense woods was wearing a mask.”
  (43:19, Narrator)

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Memorable Moments & Atmosphere

• The episode consistently weaves tales of ordinary people thrust into extraordinary and frightening circumstances.
• Low-key, conversational narration creates intimacy—and amplifies the suspense.
• Listeners are encouraged to trust their instincts and be vigilant, especially regarding online interactions and real-world meetups.

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Timestamps for Important Segments

| Timestamp | Story/Segment | |---------------|---------------------------------------------------| | 01:27 | Camping Gone Wrong intro | | 07:51 | Creepy footsteps and tent encounter heightens | | 14:35 | Marketplace Trap begins | | 17:58 | Mystery Electrocution | | 19:50 | Guesthouse in Georgia | | 24:06 | World of Warcraft Stalker: Online grooming begins | | 34:31 | Stalker confrontation and neighborhood rescue | | 41:34 | Aftermath: home invasion attempts | | 54:02 | Episode Outro |

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Overall Tone & Lessons

• Calm, reflective, and honest. The host provides space for each story to breathe, never rushing the narrative.
• Many stories underline the dangers that can lurk beneath everyday situations, emphasizing:
  • Trusting intuition and recognizing red flags
  • The unpredictable nature of human malice—offline and online
  • The lifesaving impact of quick-thinking bystanders

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Closing Thoughts

This episode delivers a variety of real-life horror stories, ranging from chilling close calls in the wild and urban landscapes to sinister games of trust and deception facilitated by the internet. Each story is a stark reminder to remain cautious, stay aware of one's surroundings, and never underestimate the importance of following one's gut feeling.

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Transcript

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Hey, before this episode begins, I just want to let everyone know that my film that I've been producing for the last two years, Gale Yellow Brick Road, is now streaming on Chilling. So if you weren't able to go see it in theaters a couple months ago, no worries. Click the link in the description to this video or just search Chilling in your app store and you can watch Gale Yellow Brick Road tonight at home. I really hope you enjoy. Please leave an honest rating and review on IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes. Thanks again. Hey welcome back to the podcast. I really hope you enjoy this episode and if you'd like to hear more stories like these with a different background sound, please check the description to check out my other two podcasts and if you want to get rid of all of the ads, you can subscribe for just 2.99amonth. Last thing I really appreciate you being here and I'd really love if you would follow the podcast and come back again soon. Thank you so much. I hope you enjoy. It was the summer right after I graduated from high school, a good friend and I decided to try our hand at camping. We grew up in the greater Los Angeles area, so our knowledge of the great outdoors was nothing beyond the couple of years that we had in Cub Scouts of America when we were in elementary school. In other words, we had almost no idea what we were doing. We packed a tent, a couple sleeping bags, supplies, etc. And headed off in his car. We grew up in the 80s, so this is a time before the wide prevalence of cell phones and the existence of other portable digital devices. We drove north on the 395 for about six hours and then headed westward into the mountains in the area of Inyo Canyon. First mistake we did not plan on which place to camp. We played it by ear like fools. Second mistake we left in mid afternoon so it was pitch black darkness when we arrived in the general area. We had driven off the main road and onto a dirt road in order to find a spot to camp. The dust from driving on the dirt road overwhelmed the headlight high beams. When we finally decided to pull over and set up camp. It was around 11:30 at this time and we were exhausted and famished. Any place was a good spot to camp for us given our only reason to do so at that point was our hunger and exhaustion. Third mistake we did not bring flashlights. We only had Bic lighters for our cigarettes. We tried to set up the tent using our lighters and the headlights of the car which was parked about 10 to 15ft away. The wind was blowing so the lidar constantly went out after a few seconds, either directly because of the wind or indirectly because the wind would push the flame into our thumb. Clearly we were being complete idiots. We finished setting up the tent, but at that point I was too tired to eat. My friend managed to make some instant ramen. We smoked a cigarette in the car, then crashed out in the tent. We awoke to a very cold morning. It must have been around 5:30. Immediately upon exiting the tent we realized that we were camped at the entrance of a hiking trail. There were at least two no camping signs, invisible distance from us. We dismantled the tent and cleaned up and cleared out that morning. We ended up buying some cheap flashlights and a nice hot meal in a very small town. It wasn't really a town, but more like a few storefronts with shops on a main road about the length of an average city block. We went into some office, though I don't recall exactly what it was. It might have been a park ranger station or the office headquarters for a campground. In any case, we found and reserved a site for the night. The campground was basically like a large circle with campsites along its outer circumference with each campsite being about 50 yards from its neighbor. In the middle of the circle was a common bathroom and shower. We circled around it once and I think we saw one family that was all set up with a tent and camper. We found our spot and set up camp camp which was quite far from them. That night is when we had the creepy encounter. My friend and I were laying in the tent shining our flashlights upwards and chatting. Our new flashlights eventually gave out. Yes, broke. Our fire pit was about 6ft from the opening of our tent and it was just a glowing ember. We probably should have completely put it out and we probably shouldn't have had the tent so close. Close. In any case, there we were chatting away and having a good time. My friend began to be distracted with his foot after the third or fourth time he got up to check his foot. I asked him what was wrong. He told me that something was tapping his foot from the outside of the tent. His foot was against the side of the tent, so from the outside you would have been able to see a bulge in the tent's side where his foot was. It was as if pebbles were being thrown at his foot through the tent. There it is again. 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At some point my friend bolted up and said, f this. He grabbed his pipe, stuffed it full and took the biggest, deepest drag I've ever seen a person take. About one or two minutes later he was out. Smoking is not my thing, so I was alone in the tent. As far as conscious bodies are concerned. I was sitting up at this point and I had taken out the only weapon I had, a Swiss army pocket knife. I took out the big and small blades as well as the ice pick in the middle and held it like some ridiculous melee weapon. I could see the glowing embers of the fire pit through the sheer nylon material of our tent tent and I was able to roughly but barely discern some of the rocks around it. I watched and listened intently. The footsteps came closer and at the same slow pace. With each step I could hear the dirt and rocks underfoot crunching and grinding. At some point it was clear to me that whoever it was was standing between the tent and the fire pit. From my fuzzy line of sight to the burning embers threw the nylon tent became obscured by something outside of the tent. The footsteps stopped right at the front of our tent, about 6 to 8 inches from the entrance to the tent. It was silent for about one minute, and then I heard a click. At exactly the same time I clearly saw through the nylon tent wall a flashlight turn on. I was able to see not just the flashlight, but but the outline of the hand holding it. The flashlight was shining on the zipper entrance into the tent, just inches from the zipper. Blood drained out of my head and my palms instantly became dripping in sweat. I yelled, who's there? There was some fear in my voice, but it was mostly aggressive in tone. Whoever it was, the person immediately turned off the flashlight. I didn't move, but neither did they. The person just stood there, inches from the tent's only entrance. My friend is out, totally unaware of what's going on. Nevertheless, I pretended that he was still awake and whispered just loud enough to be audible to our visitor. Yeah, loaded. There's one in the chamber as if my friend was awake and asked me about a weapon. Fourth mistake we did not have any real weapon for self defense. It felt like an eternity, but after sitting still for at least 10 minutes I heard feet slowly turning in the dirt then slowly walking away from the tent. I stayed up the whole night and it wasn't until the light of dawn came through the tent that I crashed out the heat inside the tent. Tent woke us up and it was near noon by this point. We went outside to inspect the site but found nothing missing. However, we did find boot prints all over our campsite and leading away from the campsite and outside the campground. That was the last time I camped in a tent. So let me preface this story by explaining that I live in a regional town of Australia. There is no trafficking problem here, it just doesn't exist. There's no gang activity, no unsolved murders and no missing people or unsolved crimes. Just to give you the lowdown of the sort of area that I live, this happened today and I'm still unsure whether I should do anything about it or if the police would even bother I flip furniture as a hobby. I like to pick up free or cheap worn out furniture, repair it, repaint it, and then resell it. It keeps my mind occupied. Facebook Marketplace is usually my go to to find stuff. So this morning I found a post for a free tape. I messaged the person asking if I could pick it up today. As I am messaging them, their Facebook profile picture disappeared. I thought that was weird, but maybe they had just changed it. They agreed to a time and gave me the address. No worries, it's on the edge of town. They send me a random obscure message asking if I'm coming alone or if I'll have somebody with me. Me, I'm not married or anything and this is slapping me in the face with red flags. But I think maybe the table is heavy and they just think that I might need some help to carry it. I respond with no, it's all good. I'll be fine. No response back. I have this uneasy feeling that something isn't right with this. I have never felt this way before and I don't know why I do now. But I figure it's the middle of the day, I've got my phone and I'm driving and this is a safe town. Maybe I'm just overthinking the whole thing. So I hop in my car and head to the agreed place. I couldn't find the exact address on my gps, which I thought was odd but nevertheless I find the street. There's nothing there and by that I mean there is a creek that runs by the side of it. Empty lots with bushland and tall overgrown grass. A disused isolated somewhat motel and three warehouses. By this stage I am feeling really off. Everything inside me is saying there is definitely something wrong with this situation. I'm paying a little more attention to that feeling but keep going. Two of the warehouses have no signage but there's a couple of cars out front and I can tell that they're used as businesses of some sort of their address isn't the one I was given though, even though the motel looked like it hadn't been used in years. I see a man sitting on the step of one of the units smoking. I think to myself that's a bit creepy, but maybe he owns the place and is doing some work there and is just taking a break. Or maybe he's a squatter. So I drive down the street a little further and find the last warehouse. The address is where pickup is meant to be be so this must be it. I start thinking maybe they got the number wrong. I mean this place has tall weeds surrounding it, garbage in the front, and surely hasn't been used since it was built. I might like free furniture but I'm not an idiot. I decide I don't want it anymore and message the guy that I was sorry but I couldn't find the place. I get a message back asking if I'm the one in the truck and telling me that they saw me drive down the road and they ask again if I'm alone. There's no cars or any sign of life at this warehouse and by now my intuition is screaming at me to get out of there. Yes, I'm in a truck but I don't see anyone. I message a reply and say yes, sorry I couldn't find the place. I'm leaving. I get no response for about an hour. No sorry, nothing. A little bit later the only response I got was it's the old motel. You have to get out of your car and walk to the back of it to get reception. That same worn down isolated motel with overgrown weeds that hasn't been used for years. The same one with the weird guy sitting on the step. I assumed that guy was the person messaging me. I message back and say it looked like that motel hadn't been used in years. I get no response. Nothing. So I head home and sit down for a drink and to google this place again. I have forgotten the exact address he gave. So I go back to messenger to find it, except it's gone. So I go back to Facebook Marketplace and the whole ad is gone. It disappeared as if it never existed. What do you think? Am I overthinking this or did I just avoid something sinister? One time, my two friends and I were chilling in my living room. My two friends were both sitting on my chair about six to seven feet away from me and I was reclining back in my La Z. Boy. I was getting drowsy and thought that I might take a little nap and I started getting a little cold. I need to mention that I had been unconsciously holding onto a cigarette lighter in one hand that had a metal lighter case on it. Since I was beginning to get a little chilly, I crossed my arms in order to warm up. The second that I did, I started being electrocuted. And I don't mean shocked, like some static electricity or something. I mean my entire body started convulsing uncontrollably. I remember in that instant putting every ounce of my focus and energy into attempting to stand up. And after a few short seconds, I was able to. The moment I was able to, the electricity stopped shocking me and I stood there flabbergasted, not sure what just happened. And that's what's even weirder is that neither of my friends even noticed what had just happened. When I told them, they didn't believe me. And it didn't make sense since I hadn't been touching or even near touching anything electrical or that could conduct electricity. My one friend turned the chair I'd been sitting in over and helped me look everywhere around me for some kind of explanation as to how it might have happened. We never found anything. But a few minutes later, as I sat trying to convince them both that it really happened, I opened my hand and set the lighter down. And on my hand sat a little square burn, the same shape as the metal lighter that I had been holding. Suffice it to say, that was the craziest thing that's ever happened to me. The burn was proof that it really happened. And I still have no clue clue how I was able to get my body to stand up or how I knew that's what would make it stop. But it did. I still have no idea how it happened, how I got shocked so dramatically from sitting in a cushioned chair, but it happened. I was living in Tbilisi a few years ago, the capital of the Republic of Georgia, running a kind of legally ambiguous consumer credit operation. When I figured it was time, I took a much needed weekend getaway in a nearby small town. The town I settled on is an extremely popular tourist location given its beautiful location along a river, nestled in a deep valley valley and rife with ancient churches. With many options for potential guest houses, hotels and rentals, I decided to not book in advance and to just traipse around until I found something appropriate. I found a very adequate guest house perched on a hill with about a 1 acre plot. Upon entering the guest house, I was greeted in typical Georgian fashion by an incredibly hot, hospitable elderly woman and her son who seemed to be in his early 30s, who resumed his yard work of filling a large hole that he said was a septic tank with a foul lingering smell. After a brief introduction, again in typical Georgian fashion, the hostess offered me tea, homemade wine, bread and cheese, all of which were much needed and fantastic. I am an American but my family came from Eastern Europe so I speak Russian as most Georgians do, so we were able to chat a lot. Our conversation progressed from basic get to know you bits to more personal information like whether I'm seeing anyone or who I am dating, which does come up in surprising frequency when you meet sweet grandmothers who want you to meet their granddaughters. At the time I was dating a fellow ex boy Pat from a Western European country. When I told the hostess that I was seeing someone, she seemed thrilled and asked me to show her a photo. She reacted with an ah and nodded in approval, commenting on her physique in a way that would probably be inappropriate if it wasn't a cute old grandma. I was then pressed by the hostess as to why I didn't invite her and how that isn't what a good boyfriend would do. Put on the spot like this. I lied and said she was very busy with a work project which she wasn't, but would be arriving later in the evening. The hostess was elated by this news and called over her son and asked me to show the photo of the girl I was seeing. Early in our conversation it was established that I do not speak in Georgian. The son saw the photo and affirmatively nodded and spoke in Georgian to the hostess briefly and then turned to me with a beaming smile and a thumbs up and said in English, very pretty, you lucky brother. He then in Russian asked if I texted her to invite her. 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Where is Daredevil?

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I feel liberated. We're going to take this city back over medicated in an all new season. Now streaming only on Disney plus They're hunting us.

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It's time we started hunting them.

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Marvel Television's Daredevil Born Again, now streaming only on Disney plus, said that I did text her and reiterated that she was arriving in a few hours. It was. It was around 4pm at the time, in a beautiful golden hour glow that lit up the surrounding mountains and valley. The sun said that he would join us and asked if I liked Cha Cha. Cha Cha is the very strong national liquor of Georgia, ranging from 30 to 75% alcohol content and made from distilled grapes. I had become quite the savant of Cha Cha and despite some strange feelings about their fixation on the food female visitor, I obliged. Cha Cha's not for the weak hearted, but I was very used to consuming it. At the time. I should have paid more notice to the very intentional placement of the shots that he filled for us, but I pushed those misgivings aside and had the shot after a very traditional toast. Around 20 minutes later I felt exhausted and ill and excused myself to my room saying that I needed a quick nap. Walking to my room, I knew something was amiss. As mentioned in the beginning, I was fronting a questionable business and I did have a weapon in my bag and made a mental note to take it and put it under my pillow. But as one can imagine, it isn't easy to remember things even on short term when you're apparently drugged. Despite failing to collect my weapon as the afternoon sun was blaring into the room and I wanted darkness passing out at around 4:30pm I awoke to darkness at 4:45am with a raging headache. My window shades were partially opened despite me closing them before passing out. They were opened with about 2ft of space visible to the outside. My bags were not in the position I left them and the television was on and on high volume despite me never using it and the door was only partially closed. I peered out the window and didn't see anything, so I quickly went to my bag, retrieved my weapon and went to the bathroom with the intention of calling my co workers or a driver to pick me up. I had no cell service and no wifi despite having perfectly fine reception this day prior. I went back to the bed with the weapon under my pillow with zero desire or inclination to fall back asleep. After an hour or so of pretending to be asleep, I saw the sun peer through the window to get a look inside. At this point I was certain it was not my imagination playing tricks on me and that I was in trouble. I came out around sunrise to find both the hostess and her son sipping tea on the deck and I told the hostess that my girlfriend was arriving soon on a bus and that I would bring her when it arrived. I grabbed my backpack and left my other bag to give the impression I wasn't fleeing, got service immediately after leaving the property and called a partner to pick me up. Old school businessman who was floating the money that I had run the lending operation with. I told him the story and he said he would handle it and he did handle it. I still think about the foul smelling hole the son was digging, maybe the last guest. Weeks later I decided that wasn't the place or business for me and applied to law school on the other side of the world. As a female who's been on the game for 15 years now, I have met a load of creeps but only a few have made me feel unsafe. To start off, I've always had a laptop since I was in high school, a luxury back then I worked hard to earn enough to buy one. My mom always took my money that I earned for things less than respectable, but luckily money I made in tips were in cash so it was easier to hide it from her. At first my mom was mad that I bought myself a laptop, but she soon forgot. Like everything else, my dad could care less and my older brother already had his own. So I started playing World of Warcraft with him at 14 and back then girls playing were unhurt heard of. So I got the usual creeps who usually backed off after hearing my age but not this one guy. This guy loved that I was underage. I was about 16 and used to creepy guys at this point. No longer a noob at the game or fending off the creeps. It was no surprise that a guy in my guild started hitting on me. Now I was 16, stupid. But I knew I wasn't to going going to find love on World of Warcraft where you know, no one in real life. Plus I had this ultimate crush on a guy that I couldn't have because he was my brother's best friend. So it was easy to turn guys down despite being desperate for one. But that all changed after my brother's friend went off to college. I had a part time job with my brother's friend, but girls at work surrounded him and I became demoralized that I would never find love. Cue the 19 year old guy on World of Warcraft who made me feel wanted. I had a camera phone so I could send and post pictures at that age and back then I mostly used Facebook, MySpace and Photobucket. I lost a lot of weight my sophomore year so I posted confidently bikini pictures and sexy pictures thinking that I would lure the attention of my brother's friend whom was 19. So when this guy who was also 19 liked me, it didn't faze me. He looked the part in his photos and his younger brother was my age. So I thought he was extremely attractive in his photos and even proved it was him and his pictures by holding items I asked for. He started paying my World of Warcraft subscription, which in the long run I realized was to get my home address and my real name. I was so stupid and heartbroken over my brother's friend. Years of teaching myself online safety and the ability to be strong against flirts was all but lost in the fog. We would talk for hours on Ventrio and he would make me feel pretty. I was completely blinded by this point. He sent me gifts and I didn't even question how he had my address. Then he offered to drive and pick me up as only then did I suddenly get cold feet. I had a good friend on World of Warcraft, someone my brother met on PAX and joined the guild and is still one of my best friends to this day. He's six years older than me but never creeped on me. Was more like the protective brother that I lacked. He caught on to it through conversation and was my words of wisdom in a time that I was lacking any of my own. He saw something was fishy when I couldn't. I told my friend I was Scared to meet him because dumb teenager logic, I thought he would not like me. My friend chimed in that I shouldn't meet anyone off the Internet at my age. I told him about the gifts and I swear I have never been scolded like that before in my life, not even by my own parents. But he always cared like that. He wondered why I would give my address to someone I never met and the expensive gifts that I received were not something the average 19 year old could afford. None of this ever clicked for me of course, because I was lonely and trying to prove something to myself that I could get a boyfriend. So just like that I told the guy it wasn't wise to meet in person and my parents said I wasn't allowed to. That's when he went dark. At first it was pestering over and over, guilting me over the gifts he gave me and encouraging me to defy my parents while he kept bothering me. It never once occurred to me that he would lose his cool. While my friend was worried about the guy having my address, going as far to drive the 11 hours to my house and explain the situation to my dad as I refused to tell him out of fear of getting intrusion trouble at the time. All while taking his spring break in my state instead of his own with his friends. There's a reason he's still one of my best friends. He has a little sister of his own as well and she's my age, so his protective nature is natural. Eventually he made me block the guy and that was that. This guy was so angry he would go on different accounts to accuse me. Of course, gold digging and using him. Luckily my friend was smart enough and had the foresight to change my World of Warcraft password and even paid for my account for me taking this guy off of it entirely as one of this guy's threats was to delete my account. But it did not end there. It got worse as he would consistently find ways to message me and tell me how horrible I was till about a month had passed. Passed. I was walking home from school about a two mile walk in the wealthy suburbs of New England, which I had done for years. Many kids did it as it was a very safe town with no crime. Without a second thought I took off with my 100 pound backpack, put my headphones in and started my 20 minute walk home. It was cold so I had ear muffs over my headphones, only drowning out the sound more. I swear if I could talk to myself as a kid I probably would just slap myself for being so stupid because the World of Warcraft guy knew that I walked home every day as I had talked about it before. He knew my address and I never thought twice. I was on the back roads walking home and honestly easy to map from my school to home as it was pretty straightforward with only one turn after at halfway home. In between songs I heard a vague crunching sound of tires rolling over gravel on the road. Slowly I turned around to see a tinted black car and you couldn't see much of the person driving. I jogged out of the driveway that I was standing in front of, assuming it was waiting to turn in, but it didn't turn in, the roads were dead and it did not make sense for him to not go around. I swear the saying that you go cold when you're terrified is absolutely true. It could have been a Summer's Day at 95 degrees and my bones would have been cold. My heart just sank and my breathing was uncontrollable. I felt like I had no control over my body as I realized this guy was following me. My blood ran cold and my hands were shook as tears formed and my skin felt tight. My body felt like it wasn't ready to fight or flight but simply freeze there and die. It only got worse as the second time I turned my head to see the car stop. I stopped. My world stopped. I couldn't stop staring, just froze and breathing like all my school books were on my chest, crying silently. My eyes hurt with no tears or sound as I just stood there. The door opened after what felt like hours but only seconds, maybe a minute. And it was in fact him. It was the attractive guy from the photos, not a catfish. But something seemed different. At first I thought it was his angry expression, but soon realized he was definitely not 19, more like in his 30s. I could barely think over the loud sound of my heart racing as it froze me in place. I thought I was about to throw up as he spoke to me, told me to get in the car or he would light my house on fire. I honestly just couldn't move, couldn't reach for my phone as his words turned me to stone and somehow we both failed to notice the little old lady on her porch watching this play out. Suddenly I hear her yell get away from that girl right now before I burn you alive. We both turned to meet her eyes, a completely serious, angry small lady about 60 or 70 with white hair. I think she noticed my frozen in fear state as she told me to get over to her quickly like that. I ran over to her tossing off my heavy brick of a backpack. It was obvious he was unsure what to do next as he stood there and watched me run to her. Must have been a sight, this tiny thin old lady standing in front of a teenage girl yelling at this man to go away. Just like that. Savior number two joined the battle as her husband stepped stepped out, a man that looked like he had been through a war or two with a booming voice. I've killed men for less reason. You better leave right now. He got into his car and drove off as I simply collapsed. All that fear just came out as I cried harder and harder as my brain sifted through the past few months of mistakes. After calming me down enough to speak and non hyper hyperventilating words, she asked me if I knew him. I told her kind of, but only online from a video game, not real life. Of course, explaining it wasn't easy. She got on the phone with the school counselor. Her daughter apparently told her my name. I was well known to her daughter, ironically, but it was only 250 or less kids in the school and the town itself was small. Many staff at our school had family in town. Kids at school they were related to either by their own children or their siblings children. It was the kind of town if you didn't leave by a certain age, you were stuck there. So honestly, it seems ironic but not entirely a huge surprise. The counselor was well aware of my family and my mom's addiction as Child Services had been involved involved a few times. She came by in about 10 minutes to pick me up and asked me a ton of questions. Of course knowing I didn't want to involve the police as I was scared of being taken away from my parents again.

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We weren't rich, but we were more well off than many. Though my mom worked, my dad kept my mom in a tight budget to keep her from buying prescriptions from Canada she wasn't prescribed. She knew all of this and knew though it would be rough, I was better off than foster care, which was a gamble with losing odds at best. Plus, two more years and I would be off to college anyway. So we didn't involve the cops, but she made me promise to take the bus to every day and to inform my dad of the situation. She also called my dad at work to inform him and had a teacher make sure I got on the bus every day until I graduated. It really sucked, but I understood if it ended there, it would be nice. But there's still more to the story. Two days after this, my dad had to fly out for business. My brother was off at college, so it left me and my mom, who promised my dad she would stay sober while he was gone. But I was used to helping her while she was intoxicated. It was like taking care of a child. But I was on edge as every creek in that big house from the 60s. The cat stirring at night, the dog barking outside set me on edge and I barely slept. My friend from World of Warcraft called every night making sure I was okay. For the past month I lived in the middle of the woods next to a huge river in my backyard, so there was still a lot of wildlife outside in the dead silence of cold months. Running water is an important source of water when the lakes freeze. I had been used to all the bumps in the night, cats coming and going and dogs barking at every animal in the yard, but it all seemed new to me as I laid in front bed trying to drown out my fears. The house I grew up in was a six bedroom house. I had a little sister too, but she stayed with my grandma in another state per court order, while I was allowed to choose due to her only being 9 and me 16. The other rooms were used as a game room, an office for my dad, and a guest room, mostly for when my sister visited my grandma, so she had a room to stay in. So in a large house like that in the middle of the woods, it was scary to virtually be alone because my mom was defenseless. I was letting my last cat inside for the night and I noticed at the end of the long driveway between my neighbor's house and our house was a parked black car. I quickly shut the door and locked it after my cat got inside. I made sure all five five doors were locked and even put cardboard on the glass doors to the pool, hoping that if someone broke them, it would delay him if he was in fact in that car. I went and turned off all the lights and got all my cats into one room so I knew they were safe. Here's the thing about my dog. He's untrained for the most part, but was basically a giant puppy in his mind. He growled at strangers, not barked like at animals. We had to keep him outside if we had guests, but he never bit anyone and if you spent enough time around him, he would eventually accept you. He didn't growl at all strangers either, so he wasn't the most reliable guard dog, but he was big and he had a deep bark. I mulled over what to do as I sat there in the dark with my dog, waiting for a shadow to pass by the wind window. I eventually went upstairs to my mom's room and woke her up from her sleeping pill slumber. Groggy and still kind of intoxicated. She did not quite grasp what I was telling her until I started crying. She kind of sobered up and asked me to get her some coffee and I did, all while I'm watching my dog's every move because I knew that he would be able to sense something before I did. As my my mom sobered, the fear in her eyes grew. Eventually she got the idea to call my neighbors and ask them if they knew the car. After they all said no, two of the men left their house to go check the car. The car was empty. At closer inspection, they noticed it was a newer car, a Lexus, and in the passenger seat was a laptop. The car was locked, but with a flashlight you could see somewhat into the tinted windows. They never told us why, but something they saw in the car prompted them to call the local sheriff. There was only one and he lived in town. He drove over about 15 minutes later, ran the plates, and asked all the neighbors about it. Apparently it was a rental car from Ohio and he was calling to see who it was rented to, but the offices were closed. He stuck around in his car for about an hour until someone came out of the woods and ran back in. As the cop shined his spotlight on him, I couldn't see what he was pointing at with his light as it was on the side of my house and I was looking out the front. I guess he called for backup as three other cop cars showed up in five minutes from the neighbor in town, at which time a lady cop got out of her car and I asked to speak with her and for her to call my counselor at school to explain who that might be. I was pretty shy back then, but something about a female cop made me feel more comfortable to open up to. I told her the gist of the story and then she called my counselor who backed up my story but also was explaining why I was scared of cops because of my history with foster care and not wanting to go back. At which time time a mostly sober mom joined me, hugging me, doing her typical apologetic routine but also offering much needed comfort as she called my dad too. Eventually the lady cop asked if she could take a look around the house to see if things were secure and get any information from my laptop about him. In her search she found something I didn't think about checking. The basement door was not just a unlocked but open. It's never unlocked so I did not even think to check it as our backyard floods in the spring due to beaver dams and it's got extra seals and stuff to prevent the basement from flooding again. But the stuff that was sealing it, which was mostly sandbags and stuff, were set aside. But the door at the bottom of the stairs was locked even though it did have some damage like someone tried to pick it. But he did have access to half the basement that was storage and the other half used to be used for my brother's parties. The door between the sections was like a front door, not an indoor door as in the summer. My dad left the hatch open to dry out the basement and adjust pool settings as it was basically the pool house and the cats loved it so it also had a few cat beds the same. The section that led upstairs was locked from the inside and the wall and door were not drywall and were made of cheap material but the lock and key heavy door was brick. Upon noticing this, my dad confirmed that he had not left it open. My suspicions that black car was his was pretty much confirmed. As we walked through the house to make sure everything was still safe. She got on my laptop as they searched the wood woods. I gave her everything I had, his photos, username and she even checked to see if his credit card was still on my account but it wasn't but the last few digits were. She then asked to take my laptop for a few days as she thought she could get some good evidence from it. I asked her to please not damage it and return it as soon as possible because I used it a lot. This was before smartphones so it was all that I had. After a few hours and the onlooking neighbors had gone to bed, the cops came back empty handed but left one cop outside of our house and they towed the guy's car. From what the lady cop told me what permitted such fear in the car was multiple weapons, some sort of rope and handcuffs. And the guy that ran back into the dense woods was wearing a mask. So eventually I try and lay down to go to sleep, but pretty sure I was going to call out sick tomorrow and kept all my cats inside for the day. I was too restless to sleep. Every sound scared me. My mom slept with the dog in her room and my cats slept in my room most nights by choice as my room was usually the warmest. At 3:30am I heard a knock at the back door and I heard a man say that he was an undercover police officer and to open the door. I was still awake as I walked downstairs to make out a guy standing in the dark. He had a weapon. As he saw me, he demanded that I let him in. Now as he needed to speak with me, something felt off. My gut knew it before I did that this guy's voice seemed forced, like someone purposely making their voice deeper. And why was he at the back door? So I turned on a light outside and sure enough, it was him. I just screamed and as quickly as I did, he started pounding on the door hard. It wasn't a loud horror movie scream, but more like a gasp. I don't think the fear in my body body had a loud scream to let out, but the banging was pretty loud as I ran to the front to see the officer was still outside. He was, but he wasn't getting out of his car. I didn't want to run outside as I am not the fastest runner, so I turned the porch lights on and off a couple times, but still nothing. After a minute my dog came bolting down to the door, barking and growling, nearly foaming at the mouth, soon followed by my mom who was angry and was threatening the man. Somehow during all this, the cop outside had snuck around back and had his weapon pointed at him, yelling at him to put his down. I hid as the rest went down, but he was arrested. No trial needed me to attend and my statement was enough. Come to find out, he wasn't even American. The car was rented under his friend's name and after all that was done, he was deported back to Canada. I assume something with his passport would prevent him from coming back to the usa as the cop reassured me that he couldn't come back to the usa. Now, I don't know what exactly he was charged with, but I think my dad said activated assault with a deadly weapon, attempted kidnapping and something else. And it also turned out that he was 32 years old, not 19 so I assume me being a minor carried another charge and life moved on from there. I had plenty of creeps before and after, but he was by far the worst. From World of Warcraft. I experienced a couple more creeps from streaming, but I'm an adult now and much better at staying safe. Safe online.

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