Loading summary
Transcript6 lines
- [00:00]
A
Hey, it's Christy from Lululemon and I'm here at the office checking out the Shake it out shorts. These have been my go tos and I kind of think of them as a middle ground between a true run short and a more playful, athletic, sporty short. They have all the performance you want for running, so a comfy liner, our lightweight swift fabric, even a pocket for your keys. But what I really like is the flowy fit and layered hem. It gives it a little bit of volume, a little bit of fun, so they feel as good on a run as they do just at coffee afterwards. You can find the Shake it out shorts in store now or online@lululemon.com want smoother, brighter skin without adding another complicated step to your routine? Try Daily Microfoliant from Dermalogica. This exfoliating powder activates with water to gently polish away dull, flaky skin, leaving it feeling smoother and looking brighter. It's gentle enough to use every day, so keeping your skin looking healthy and fresh is easy. Ready to see the difference? Visit dermalogica.com and use code SMOOTH at cart for an exclusive gift with your $65 purchase.
- [01:03]
B
Hey everyone, Please check the timestamps as some of today's stories are incredibly dark. I always have the darkest stories labeled in the pinned comment. For those who may want to skip any without any more interruptions, let's begin. The story took place back in April during a visit to my home country, Pakistan. I'm an 18 year old girl born and raised in the UK. My dad had been wanting us to visit his parents back home for a while. We hadn't seen them since 2008 when I was only 2. During my aunt and uncle's wedding. He thought Eid would be the perfect time to go, not just to celebrate with family, but because it could be our grandparents last Eid given their age. So we booked a one week trip. I was excited, but nervous too. I didn't remember much about flying or being in a different country before the trip. My mom gave me and my sisters a heads up. The men over there aren't like the men in the uk. They stare a lot. It'll make you uncomfortable. We all just laughed it off, not thinking much of it. But my mom couldn't have been more right. We arrived in Pakistan and we were warmly welcomed by family. With Eid only a few days away, shopping was a must. So my mom, aunt and sisters and cousins and I headed to a nearby bazaar. For those who don't know, a bazaar is A busy South Asian marketplace where you can find everything from clothes and jewelry to food and trinkets all in one place. The one we went to was crammed with tiny shops packed side by side. Barely enough space to walk and absolutely swarming with people, especially men. We stopped at a clothing shop right near the entrance. The selection wasn't great, so my mom and aunt decided to check out a few other shops nearby. That's when my sister. Let's call her Yasmin and I noticed a man. He was standing by the entrance, on the phone, but staring at us with this intense, unnerving look. We brushed it off and tried to catch up with the rest of the group, getting jostled by shoppers and kids racing past to escape the crowd. Yasmin and I ducked into a nearby store while keeping close to where our mom was. But then we saw him again. The same guy, now following us. We told each other that it was probably nothing and even joked about it. But something about him just stood out. While most of the men wore traditional shawar kamees, this man looked like he was part of some sketchy business. Navy blue blazer, deep purple buttoned up shirt, matching pants, slicked back hair and a perfectly groomed beard. Weird. He looked too polished, too out of place for a busy bazaar. As we moved from one shop to another, he kept trailing us. We tried staring him down to send a clear message, back off. But no matter where we went, he was there. Always pretending to be on the phone, but never actually speaking. We eventually told our oldest sister, let's call her Zara. And to our surprise, she already knew. She said she didn't want to alarm us, but what she said next gave me chills. She had seen him outside the bazaar before we even entered, meaning he had followed us in. Not only that, but she noticed he had two phones. My mind instantly went to sex trafficking. Everything started to click. The fake phone calls, the odd behavior, his unnatural presence. Yasmin and I were officially on edge. We told our mom, who immediately cut the trip short. She and our aunt agreed to wrap up shopping and get out of there. Outside, while my little cousins were being treated to ice cream, I spotted him again. He passed right behind me, and as he did, I felt it. A light, sickening touch on my upper thigh. I froze. He walked off like nothing happened and approached a group of men on motorcycles. I don't know what he said to them, but suddenly all three of them turned to look directly at me and my sisters. I was furious. Every part of me wanted to Scream, to confront them, to punch the smug expressions off their faces. But instead, I turned to my sisters and mocked them loudly, trying to shake it off. They laughed it long, but the staring didn't stop. I wanted to seem calm in front of my family, but my eyes burned and not from the heat. Finally, my uncle arrived in his little rickshaw. There wasn't enough room for everyone, so my mom told me and my sisters to go ahead without her. I didn't want to leave her behind. I felt like I was abandoning her. But she reassured us. You're being dramatic. Another uncle is coming to get me. When we finally got home, there was a major sense of relief. Yasmin, true to her nature, started cracking jokes about the whole thing. I laughed along, but inside I was still reeling. That man had followed us through a packed market, stalked us silently, touched me without fear with my family just a few feet away, and had the audacity to make it seem normal. Even now, weeks later, I can't shake how close it felt, how real the danger was, how easily things could have gone differently. This is the second encounter. Eid DAY at the fun Fair unfortunately, my unsettling experience with creepy stockerish men didn't end at the bazaar. Just a few days later, on the first day of Eid, a day that was supposed to be filled with celebration, laughter and joy, it happened again that evening. My little cousins were eager to go to their local fun fair, wanting them to enjoy themselves. We all agreed and headed out as a group. But as soon as we arrived, I noticed something odd. There were far more grown men than children there. The atmosphere felt less like a family fair and more like a crowd of bored men lingering around for all the wrong reasons. Once inside, my sister Yasmin and a few of the older kids split off to go onto the bigger rides. I stayed behind with my older sister, Zara, my younger sister and our little cousins. While we waited in line for one of the kiddie rides, I happened to glance behind me and instantly I regretted it. I accidentally made eye contact with a man standing a few feet away. The look in his eyes made my stomach turn. I don't know what he saw in that split second moment, but whatever it was, it must have registered as an invitation, because from that point on, he latched onto the opportunity like a leech. To my discomfort, he got into the line behind us for a ride that was clearly meant for children. That alone felt off. My sisters climbed into one of the little spaceship shaped cars, and to no surprise, he sat down in the run right behind them. I chose not to go on. I wasn't in the mood for rides, especially not with that man so close. As the ride started up, my eyes were glued. Not to my sisters enjoying themselves, but to him. He didn't blink. He just sat there, eyes locked on me. Almost like he had timed it so I had to look his way. My entire body was tense. The fun, festive atmosphere around me felt distant, irrelevant. All I could feel was that piercing stare. When the ride finally stopped, I quietly pulled Zara aside and told her what was going on. She looked over and she saw it too. He was still staring. She tried to reassure me. He's not going to do anything, she said calmly. But her words didn't help much. I wasn't expecting her to cause a scene or confront him. But I needed more than empty comfort. I needed to feel safe. And I didn't. Even when he tried to subtly duck out of view, I could still feel him watching me every time I looked around. Somehow he was still there. Lingering, hovering, stalking. Eventually I was persuaded to go on one of the more gentle rides with my little sister. She just to take my mind off it. But the second we were done, we agreed it was time to leave. We stepped outside the fair to wait for my uncle to pick us up. And that's when he walked right by us, cool as ever, pretending like he hadn't just spent the last hour and half glued to my every move. He didn't look back. He didn't say anything. But I knew. And I think he knew I knew too. After that, my sisters and I decided not to go out again. During the remainder of the trip, we stayed home with family or only visited other relatives houses. I wanted to feel the warmth and spirit of Eid. I wanted to enjoy Pakistan. But instead I had two disturbing encounters and just two outings. Both left me rattled. Both made me feel unsafe in public spaces. That should have been harmless. To say I was unsettled would be an understatement. If anyone out there is listening to my story, especially fans of true, scary experiences like this, please remember these things aren't just stories. They happen. Always trust your instincts. Stay aware of your surroundings and never ignore that gut feeling. Your safety is everything. I'm a 20 year old girl in college. This happened when I had been living with my two friends, Jimma and Natalie in an apartment dorm on campus. These are fake names for the sake of privacy. Jimma and Natalie were my two closest friends and I trusted them completely. Until Natalie started dating my ex boyfriend, Adam. Aside from the betrayal alone. There was a reason why I left him in the first place. Adam was toxic and controlling. He was very attentive, which was really nice, but it became overbearing pretty quickly. He'd want to be together 24 7, would get angry if I didn't text back, and constantly accused me of cheating. This mainly stemmed from me being in the performing arts and having to play opposite guys pretty often. It was ridiculous. The productions were professional, and Adam constantly accused me of cheating with my scene partners. I wouldn't put up with it anymore, and I broke up with him. Finding out that Natalie was dating him was a bomb in itself. I didn't talk to her for a few days, and she eventually cornered me. She tried to lecture me, saying we should act like adults and not to make it weird. I thought she had a lot of audacity to say that and even more audacity to start bringing him over. I'm a fairly involved student, and usually we'd come home late and. And still I managed to always come home to find them sitting on top of each other on the living room couch. And what I found odd was every time, the door to my room was always cracked. It was like clockwork. And the more it happened, the more weary I became. My clothes were also going missing, specifically things I needed. A dress approved for my sorority event, Gone. An outfit I'd planned for a paid music event, Also gone. I confronted both Jemma and Natalie about the missing clothes, and they both said that they didn't have any idea in regards to the door. Natalie said it was probably just the cold air pushing it open. The weather was changing from fall to winter. I just let it go. The following week, I had a graded performance. Performance majors have three a semester, and this was one of them. I got ready in my room and I went to leave. The door wouldn't budge. Dread hit me like a bucket of ice. My stomach twisted as I frantically started pushing at the door to no avail. It wouldn't open fully. Panicking, I started yelling and banging my fists on the door. I realized this was pointless. None of my other roommates were home. They all had classes. Shaking, I decided to call campus security for help. They sent someone over. In 10 minutes, I heard our apartment door open and footsteps enter from the other side of the door. The security guard told me the strike plate was slightly misaligned, just enough that the latch had caught when the door closed. Happens sometimes, he said, loosening the screws and shifting it back into place. The door opened immediately after I was still worried about missing my graded seminar. But the security guard informed me that he logged the incident and it would be excused by my professor. While I was relieved at that, I was still furious. This had never happened before, and I found it incredibly suspicious that it only happened when I had to be somewhere important. That's when it hit me. I keep a calendar on our shared fridge so anyone in the common space can see it. Someone did this deliberately. I went into the kitchen and tore the calendar down. When Jemma and Natalie returned, I was angry. I told them about what happened and they both looked shocked. Jemma offered to check all the doors, but Natalie said I was overreacting, that this sounded more like anxiety and paranoia. That stung. I have a diagnosed anxiety disorder, which they're both fully aware of. Well, on the calendar visible to everyone, it says final seminar. I snapped. It's a little convenient that it happened when I had a graded assignment and that my clothes are still going missing. How is that anxiety? Do you have something to admit, Natalie? You think I did this? You're really trying to make me into the villain just because you can't handle the fact that your ex moved on. Or does your messed up brain think he's doing this to you? I lost it. Natalie and I got into a heated argument that was so bad to the point Jemma had to interfere. I angrily told them both I would be moving out and I locked my bedroom door before I left. I went out for a drive and ended up going to Kroger. I needed groceries for the week and I needed to escape. I was really done with everything and pissed at Natalie. I went inside the store, mulling over everything that had happened. I got what I needed, then walked to the parking lot to leave. What I saw nearly made my heart stop. That all too familiar feeling of uneasiness started to spike. I felt lightheaded and I knew I was having a panic attack. There were two handprints pressed into the glass on my driver side window. Two distinct handprints that looked like someone was peering into the window. I was frozen in place, unable to move. This just proved my biggest fear. I took a picture for evidence in case no one believed me that something was wrong. Then I hopped inside my car and started driving back to the apartment. My hands were shaking and I floored it back to the apartment. I had nowhere else to go. I pulled up to the apartment and went to grab my phone. When I looked at my notifications, Airtag has been detected traveling with your device. Before I could do anything, the sound of Glass shattering rang out. I screamed only to see Adam reaching through my broken driver side window and unlocking my door. He had this crazed look in his eyes as he yanked the door open and grabbed me out of my car. I was screaming at the top of my lungs. He looked furious. Stop being so fucking difficult. He snapped at me. I tried being patient. I tried to let you live your life, but I had to fix things. You just had to keep doing this music and performing bullshit. I remember I was shaking violently, sobbing so loud my throat felt raw.
- [16:33]
A
Sh.
- [16:34]
B
He said, trying to soothe me. I wouldn't do this if I didn't love you. You need someone to help you when you spiral. I kept trying to thrash against him, but he seemed to get angrier the more I attempted to get away. Across the street I heard yelling and I saw a man running towards us. Hey, let go of her. The man yelled running over. Hey, we're fine. I'm just fighting with my girlfriend. Adam called back, tucking me closer. I already called the cops. The man yells, approaching us at a full spring. Adam dropped me like it burned him and he sprinted off into the darkness. The man came over to see if I was okay. Once I got an accurate look, I saw it was an upperclassman. He looked older and was incredibly concerned. He asked me if I was okay and I told him everything. That was my ex boyfriend and I had suspicions he had been stalking me and it all escalated tonight. The cops soon arrived. The guy really hadn't been lying. I talked to them and explained what happened. They documented the broken window and had asked if he'd broken it with his hand. I told them yes and I showed them the airtag still on my car, which they took in as evidence. They eventually found Adam. I filed a restraining order against him and the university issued me an emergency relocation so I was no longer living with Jemma or Natalie. Speaking of Natalie, the police questioned her and I soon found out that Natalie had given him her spare key at the beginning of the semester. We all got spare keys and Natalie had given hers to Adam. Apparently it was because he was her boyfriend and she thought he should have access to where she lived. She claimed she didn't know it was this bad and tried to play innocent. She tried to message me shortly after everything unfolded, but I ended up blocking her. I had no intention to speak to her again. Jemma, on the other hand, ended up moving out as well. She didn't want to live with someone who actively put her roommate in danger. Things eventually did calm down, but the whole thing left me pretty shaken. I've grown a habit of constantly checking the door locks before I go to sleep, especially to my own bedroom. But I think things have gotten better overall and I make it a point to prioritize my safety to those listening. I highly encourage you to listen to your instincts. If you feel something is wrong. Do not let anyone minimize your feelings. My story starts out back in March 18, 1995. I'll never forget the date or what happened to me that day. Over the years, I've pushed it out of my mind and I really don't dwell on it, but I never expected any of the events of that day would come back to haunt me. Almost three decades later, a friend suggested I write it all down as a way of dealing with it. So here goes. March 18, 1995 I was a 17 year old high school senior. I desperately wanted a car, but unlike the majority of my friends, my parents weren't going to give me a car. My parents and I made a deal, the same deal they'd made with my three older siblings. If I saved money to buy a car and pay for six months worth of insurance, they would match the amount. My plan was to save $1,500 because at the time, with their agreement to match, $3,000 would buy me a pre decent used car. This meant getting my first job. I was working at a party store for about eight months. I was there almost every day after school and worked all day. On Saturday and Sundays we sold party supplies, but our main business was balloons. Balloons for birthday parties, weddings, graduations, you name it. It wouldn't be odd for us to blow up a thousand balloons on a Saturday or Sunday. For that reason, employees would get to work about an hour before the store opened to get started on the early pickup orders. The majority of the employees that worked with me were in their 20s. I was the youngest, but after about four months there, I'd been entrusted with keys to the store and the responsibilities of opening and closing. I was pretty proud that they'd think so well of me to give me the responsibilities so soon after starting, but I soon realized that it was a way for those in their 20s to leave early or come in late. I didn't care because at the time, the more hours I worked, the closer I was to getting a car. On this particular day, a Saturday, I had been informed no managers were coming and my co workers might be a little late. The previous day was St. Patrick's Day and they'd all be out late partying. I checked the schedule the day before and There was a 10am pickup and a 10:15am pickup. The store opened at 10am and knowing I'd have little to no help that early, I decided to get there at 8:30 to get a head start. I lived about six blocks away and walked to work. Two blocks from work, I stopped at McDonald's to pick up a hot chocolate and breakfast sandwich. It was March, but the weather had been pretty nice, so I remember wearing a jean jacket and a Nirvana in Utero T shirt. It was chilly as I was walking to work, but I believe the weather report must have said it was going to get warmer. That gave me the excuse to wear the T shirt I had gotten the previous weekend as a birthday gift for my older brother. This was the only day I'd worn this shirt and this detail is important. Later on I got to work, unlocked the door and let myself in. Going through the door, I almost dropped my hot chocolate and spilled it over my hand burning my fingers. But I didn't have time to really react. There was an alarm behind the register and he only had 30 seconds to turn it off. So I rushed in, set my drink and food down on the counter before going behind the counter to punch in my code. I made the mistake of screwing up with the alarm code my first week of opening duties and my manager totally flipped out because the police showed up. After I shut off the alarm, my hand was still stinging from the hot chocolate I'd spilled, so I grabbed my stuff off the counter and headed towards the back room. In the back there was an employee break room, an area where we kept extra stock items, a manager's office, and a bathroom. I put my things down and headed to the bathroom to wash my hands. I came out of the bathroom, took off my jacket and was just about to sit down and eat my breakfast. I looked down at my beige T shirt and I realized hot chocolate had dripped on it. Annoyed, I got up to go wash it off in the bathroom when I thought I heard a beep. There was a beeping sound anytime the front door opened. Maybe one of my coworkers came through and showed up early to help out with those orders. I yelled out, hey, I'm back here. No answer. I waited. I didn't hear anything. I called out, hey. No response. Suddenly it hit me. I was so concerned about getting in and spilling my drink, I didn't remember locking the door. Great, I thought was some customer inside. Thinking we were open, I walked into the store and looked around and I saw no one. I said, um, Hello? But no answer. The lights were out. The only light was coming in from the windows outside. Maybe someone realized we weren't open and left. I walked to the front and looked down each aisle and saw no one. I got to the door, pushed, and it was open. I cursed myself and immediately locked it. I turned around to head to the back room. I made it to the back wall and turned to head for the back room when I was suddenly pushed to the ground from behind and someone was now on top of me. I was stunned. I know I screamed at some point only because the ladies who worked at the supercuts next door told the police that's what alerted them something was wrong. As they were walking past our store from the parking lot, the person on top of me covered my mouth and said, hey, don't scream. I was frozen. I felt something cold go under the back of my shirt and I heard him say, relax, Relax. At the same time, the store phone started to ring. The obnoxious loud chirping was echoing so loud, but I was hoping it would scare him away. But he stayed on top of me. I think that's when I started to cry. And then I tried to kick and move, but I wasn't going to be able to get to it. I heard a strange sound of something ripping. I could feel something cold going down my back and I was afraid I was being stabbed. The phone stopped ringing and all I could think of was I wouldn't see my family again and I wanted my mom. Suddenly I heard pounding on the front glass door and windows. I couldn't see anything from the floor. The next thing I knew, the person was off of me and they went into the back room. I heard the crash door open and slam shut. I was afraid to get up, so I stayed face down on the carpet for a minute or two. What if he came back? The phone rang again, but the pounding on the door had stopped. I knew I had to get to the phone. When I stood up, I walked toward the front of the store and I saw one of the ladies from next door looking through the glass doors. She saw me and she started to yell something and she was pulling on the door. I ran to the door, unlocked it and let her in. I was crying and nothing she was saying was registering. But the cops showed up minutes later. From what I was told, they heard the scream. Thought maybe a coworker and I were playing around. But just to be sure, they tried to call their manager had seen me walk past their store about five minutes prior, and she knew I was inside, but she hadn't seen anyone else come in and assumed I was alone as I was most Saturday mornings. When I didn't answer the phone, they walked over to check on me and they could see part of my legs and feet in the back of the store. They were banging on the door, not sure what was going on. When I didn't come to the door, they went back next door and one called the police while the other tried calling our number again. The police interviewed me. They called my manager and parents. Everyone pretty much came all at once. I remember my mom brought me a sweatshirt and I remember wondering why she would bring me a shirt and saying I didn't need it. Finally, the police officer pointed out that the shirt I was wearing had been cut open, more than likely by the scissors that were on the floor in the back aisle. I then realized that was what I felt on my back. I had to give my shirt to the police as part of the evidence. I wasn't a good witness because I saw nothing. There were no cameras in the store or outside the store. They dusted the store for prints. I remember seeing black powder on the front and back door. No one was ever arrested though. My dad checked in with the police department almost every week for two months. But they made it clear they had no leads. I stayed home for about a week. I gave up keys along with the responsibility of opening and closing the store. I only worked on weekends so I would leave when the store closed early. I didn't want to be there after dark. I started college that fall, left the party store and got a part time job as a bank teller. It took a long time for me to stop jumping at shadows. Fast forward three decades later, I still work at the same bank. Well, it's the same bank building, but the bank has changed ownership four times over the last 30 years and I'm now a branch manager. Last October, a man walked into the bank that said they were looking to change banks and wanted information on our checking accounts. We spoke for about five, 10 minutes and during that convo I learned that his name was Mike. After a while he said, you look familiar. Are you from Chicago? I told him I've lived here all my life. He asked where I grew up and where I went to school. I told him I went to Taft High School. He said, that's crazy. So did I. I asked him when he graduated and what his last name was. He didn't tell me his last name, but he began mentioning names of people I knew and I had hung around with it's wild how many of the same people we knew. But I felt bad for not remembering him. We talked about teachers, including the football coach who taught typing class. After a bit he said he had to go, but he mentioned he always wondered what happened to me. I didn't know what to say since I couldn't remember him. So I said, well, it's a small world. Cause here we are talking all these years later. There was an awkward silence and he suddenly stopped smiling. And then he said, you don't remember me, do you? I felt uncomfortable and I felt bad, so I just said, I'm sorry, I don't. That was so long ago. I don't have the best memory. He didn't say anything, but just kept looking at me. I laughed and said something along the lines of, well, I hope you decide to open your account with us and we'll have more time to catch up. And I handed him my business card. He didn't really say anything in response. I sensed he was annoyed or angry. He got up from the chair and headed for the door. I walked toward the door with him and said something like, it was great chatting with you Mike. Hope to see you soon. When we got to the door, he then stopped and said, the thing I always remember about you is wearing a Nirvana and Utero shirt. Weird, huh? He walked out and I thought, seriously, it took about 10 minutes to hit me. I wore that shirt once. I had a full blown panic attack at work. I couldn't even drive home. I called my husband freaking out and he said to Uber home and he and my son would come get my car later. I went home and went through the yearbook, but I couldn't find Mike. There were a couple of guys that sort of looked like him, but they weren't named Mike. And what could I really tell the police about something that happened 30 years ago? My husband and kids say that I'm not overreacting, but they might just be trying to make me feel like my fears are justified. I don't know. But I started carrying pepper spray and I never walked to the parking lot without a coworker. I'm constantly checking to see if Mike is around wherever I go. I haven't seen him since. I'm a 28 year old male and this happened six years ago. I was in a New Jersey beach town for work where my team and I were at a client site each day during February. We were all staying at a hotel. Now this beach town was a complete ghost town this time of year and it was Creepy to begin with. I had been out to get food the previous night and there was an eerie silence about the town with all of the beach shops being closed down and seeing almost no one anywhere. The second night I get off work at 9pm as it's our busiest time of the year. Having been in a small conference room at our client site for 12 hours that day, I wanted to get outside a bit and get some food. I leave my hotel room around 11pm and decide to drive to Wawa again. There are basically no cars on the road anywhere and it's just a strange feeling overall. These towns are usually very busy and full of life in the spring and summer months of the year, but I had never really been in a Jersey beach town during the winter like this. I eventually get to an intersection and see a large van with a large man driving. He stared directly at me with a scary look for the duration of the light and I started to get nervous. This was maybe the second or third car I had seen on the road While making this 10 minute drive to Wawa. By the way, Wawa is a gas station. For those unaware, I go straight when my light turns green and he turns right, following directly behind me, telling my car extremely closely. Alarm bells start going off in my head, but part of me is thinking this can't actually be happening. Like what are the odds? Me being nervous, I test to see if he's actually following me and turn into a random small gas station with one car in the parking lot without putting on my signal or anything. Sure enough, he pulls in as well. I park my car to the right of the one car sitting in the parking lot and he parks to the left of the car. I wait there for about 30 seconds to see if the man is going to get out of the car and go inside the gas station. This would have confirmed to me that maybe it was all in my head. However, he doesn't get out of his car and he keeps his car running. I back out of the parking spot and start driving the opposite way very fast and I see him in the process of doing the same. After about a minute a cop pulls me over for speeding. I don't think I've ever been so happy to be pulled over. I considered telling him what had happened, but I thought he would just think I was crazy. He let me off with a warning, thankfully, and the guy following me was nowhere to be seen. I get back to my hotel and to my horror I see the exact same van waiting there in the parking lot. It was so late and I needed sleep as I had another 12 hour work day the next day. So I parked quickly in a spot closest to the hotel entrance. I heard his door open as I ran into the hotel, not looking back. Thankfully, the man did not enter the hotel as there were staff right at the desk inside the entrance. I never saw the man again and ended up eating hotel food every night. The rest of the week I was there. To this day I have no clue what that man's intentions were, but they couldn't have been anything good. This happened literally under an hour ago. As of the time I'm typing this, I'm a 22 year old woman who's visually impaired. My vision makes it difficult for me to see images, videos, GIFs and all that, and people have to describe images to me when they send them. Otherwise I won't know what to look for and won't be able to piece together what my eyes are looking at. But sometimes it's unfortunately too easy for me to understand images. This information is important. Later I was in a Discord call on a YouTuber server with a few people just talking about random stuff. Someone in the call left and right after I got a friend request. I ignored it for the time being because I was focused on talking and I can't add friends on Discord if I'm on a call because it glitches out and disconnects me from the call. Anyway, I left the call a few minutes later because I wanted to record my own story time, one I've been wanting to share for a while but was too lazy to. So I left the call, added the random person back without checking their profile, then recorded my video literally right after it was done exporting to my files. I heard the Discord call ringtone and swapped windows to see a name that was literally just a bunch of X's with a period in the middle. I clicked the decline button and was going to start working on the thumbnail when I heard the call ringtone again. I declined again and finally looked at the chat it was coming from. To my complete shock I saw literally a dozen groups that I'd been added in. Also side note, given my visual impairment, I'm always zoomed in into my screen so I can't see the full screen all at once. So I started reading the chat as fast as I could and these two randos I wasn't even friends with were pinging me and demanding I join the call. They were saying things like I know what you did Tabitha. Join the call right now. And sprinkling in some threats as well. I'm a stickler for drama, even though I was being spam called and spam added to groups. So I started responding to them, kind of going off and cursing at them. I know I should have just blocked them and removed myself from the group chats, but like I said, stickler for drama. Remember when I mentioned how I struggled to see images? Well, not this time. These people kept pinging me and sending images, videos and gifs of people jerking off, which made my stomach churn. At this point I was already shaking almost too much for me to type as I get very easily overwhelmed if there's too much going on. I tried to leave as many groups as I could, but for each one I'd leave I'd be added to two or three more. I eventually realized that this started happening right after I added that random person back. So I went to their DM and asked them if they were the ones spamming and harassing me. Then I sent another message saying if so, fuck you. They responded simply with what? And I explained what was going on. They then asked me if they were adding me to the group chats and in all honesty they weren't, so I said no. But this all started happening after I added you back. I then went off in their DMs and went into the settings trying to figure out how to disallow messages from anyone whether I have them friended or not. Discord recently updated the user settings menu and I couldn't find how to turn off messages from everyone. That only served to make me panic more and I was going into a full blown silent, barely able to breathe panic attack. I was shaking so badly at this point and my heart was pounding. I also have a condition called nystagmus which means my eyes move uncontrollably. My nystagmus was getting worse, which happens when I'm experiencing intense emotions like Joy, anger, pain, etc. I eventually went into the general chat of the YouTuber server and responded to someone who mentioned me asking how I was doing. I said I was okay aside from currently being harassed and having a panic attack. Some random person whose username was ROT asked what happened and I explained briefly. All the while I was going back and forth between the server and the person I added back who I'll call hello since that's what their username was. When they added me and I'm not going to say what they changed it to. This person named hello started threatening to have me swatted. Spam pinging me and sent me 30 of the same image of an old man laying down and doing something with himself that doesn't take a lot of brain cells to guess. I started to feel sick and started going off on this asshole, cussing them out and calling them out on their bullshit. My address isn't anywhere online and I'm 100% sure about that. I watched my friends and Discord calls with my permission of course, try to find me on websites and the address they find isn't anywhere close to mine. It's not even a residence. It's an office that my mail goes to. But this rando didn't have my last name nor my address. They were already telling me to look out my window and see what's out there in 30 minutes. Guess what? It's been over an hour and nothing. I kept being mentioned in the YouTuber server. Spam added to groups and spam called. I was in user settings trying to change the people who can message me from everyone to only friends and couldn't figure it out at the time because Discord gave the user settings a lobotomy so the menu looked different. I had to exit settings so I could turn my status, which is usually online, to do not disturb so I could ignore the calls. I eventually asked around to have random people not be able to message me and finally I found the setting and switched it off. Then I went and told hello that they're full of shit and I was going to block them. The last thing I saw before blocking them was obese bitch, get a job with no punctuation. I finally wasn't being added to group chats anymore. I managed to calm down and remove myself from the ones I've been added to and block as many accounts as I could and that's the end of that. Guys don't add people that you don't know back, or anyone who doesn't have mutual friends or servers with you. Be careful who you do add, even if they do have mutuals with you. The Internet can be a scary place and even though I knew I wasn't going to be swatted or harmed any further than online harassment, it still really shook me up. My grandparents are Dutch immigrants in New Zealand, and in the 1970s they had a caravan that they took out camping to a rural part of the north island for a little family fun camping trip. My mom and siblings would have been 10 or younger at the time. They were way out in the middle of nowhere, near a lake in the rainforest, and after the kids had gone to Sleep. My grandparents had stayed awake a little While, just reading etc. While having a couple cup of tea they started hearing strange noises like footsteps outside and twigs breaking, maybe a hushed voice, but they thought they were going paranoid. They were getting a bit freaked out at this point, but assumed it was nothing and they'd be safe. Grandpa told me he couldn't go to sleep and suddenly heard a definite footstep right outside the caravan door. He peeked out of the window of the caravan and it was completely pitch black back and no moonlight whatsoever. But he could see the glowing cigarette of what must have been a pretty tall man standing right at the door of the caravan. He could still hear the other footsteps too, even though whoever was smoking the cigarette outside the door was standing dead still. He told me he'd never been so scared in his life, but that he had to do something because he and his wife and four little kids were sleeping inside the caravan. And so he grabbed his butcher knife. He was a butcher by profession, Lord knows why he had it. On a family camping trip he opened the door to confront or yell or do whatever he could to scare the people away. But when he opened the door he saw no one and heard no noise. He thought he was going crazy, but he saw the cigarette butt on the ground right outside the door, freshly finished. He got into the car straight away. He had everything ready to go, luckily because he had already planned on beginning driving early the next morning anyways. He then drove everyone away and found somewhere else near a town to stay instead. This story freaks me out every time I think about it. I was 16 at the time and I had barely just got my license. I had a friend in school, a girl whom most considered boy crazy. But to my disappointment, she wasn't interested in me. A typical, popular, good looking girl who was into jocks and I was the nerdiest kid in the class. But we were very close and she would tell me all of her struggles and then delete the messages. Mostly because the guys she liked were very possessive. In the dead of the night, in the winter, I got a call from her. This was very unusual, mostly the calling, but also it was a school night and it was very late. She was speaking in a hushed, shaking voice and she asked me to come pick her up. I knew something was wrong, but she had to hang up after giving me the address. This was before the GPS and I barely knew how to get to school. But I printed out a MapQuest route to her boyfriend's house in a different city. She asked me to Bring her clothes, specifically a shirt, underwear, and some sweats. I pushed my car out of the driveway and coasted until I was sure my parents couldn't hear it. I got to the house and she came out, obviously trying to make as little noise as possible. She was naked, makeup smeared from crying, hair matted. She got in the car and told me to take off, and then she put on the clothes. I asked her what happened, and all she could say without breaking down is she went to her boyfriend's birthday party and then woke up like this with no memory. She woke up in the middle of the room with all his friends and him, also naked. I took her home and snuck back into the house two hours before I had to get up for school. We never spoke of it again. I didn't think much of it then, but 17 years later, I have my own kids and a daughter who's the light of my world, and I can't tell this story without crying. She's been married now with kids to a seemingly good guy for a decade. We don't talk anymore, but I still check her Facebook from time to time, and I really hope she's okay now. A female friend in college disappeared from a party at another university in the city town 25ish miles north of our school. She had arrived with another friend who I believe had driven at some point. She had split off to play cornhole or something and was later inexplicably gone. Phone calls went to voicemail, the police were called, but she was simply missing. About 10 days later, she was found by a homeless man who had witnessed her crawling up to a bus stop in the city begging for help. She had a broken leg and an arm and she was in very bad shape. At the party, she had her drinks secretly drugged and was then let off by a group of men into their vehicle. She was taken to an apartment where she was drugged, repeatedly raped, and locked in a small room in between with a bucket to use as a bathroom. At one point, after being injected with heroin and raped, she somehow managed to convince one of her captors to allow her to use the actual bathroom to clean herself up. This bathroom had a small window to the outside, and with the shower running, she managed to squeeze out and she fell from the third story into a large bush. From there, she crawled from the apartment complex to the road and bus stop, where the homeless man saw her and called the police. Many cars stopped upon seeing her, making her captives unable to recapture her. Three men were later arrested for the atrocious crime. After Surveillance cameras allowed police to locate the apartment which she jumped from. She returned to our university almost two years later, graduated and became a nurse. She was obviously traumatized, never partied again, carried a gun everywhere she could, and somehow moved on with her life. It was a terrifying tale none of us ever forgot. She was an 18 year old freshman when the incident happened.
- [46:19]
A
Tomorrow morning is knocking. Stock your fridge now. How about a creamy mocha Frappuccino drink? Or a sweet vanilla smooth caramel maybe? Or a white chocolate mocha? Whichever you choose, delicious coffee awaits. Find Starbucks Frappuccino drinks wherever you buy your groceries.
- [46:39]
B
This is 100% true. As it happened to me, it's probably more spooky than scary. I'll let you be the judge. Many years ago, before there were cell phones, we had these things called pagers strapped to our hips. Yeah, this was a while ago. Someone would pager you with their phone number and you would call them back when you got to a phone. As an uncalled technician working in the audio visual field, my pager would go off all the freaking time. Like most people who use pagers, our clients knew that if you followed up your number with 911, that would indicate to the technician to stop what they were doing and call right away. Although I was always busy, I Rarely ever got 911s. One afternoon, traveling from Orlando to St. Petersburg via Interstate 4, my pager goes off with a number I don't recognize, followed by the911. I find the first exit and pull into a little truck stop looking place outside of Plant City to use the payphone. This takes maybe three minutes tops. I walk in, ask for some change and head to the wall where there are four payphones to choose from. I pop my quarter in and dial the number displayed on my trusty pager. It rings, rings and rings. I'm thinking to myself, what the hell? Who would pager me with a 911 and not answer their phone? It's just about then that I notice another ringing sound in addition to the one in my ear. I pull the handset from my ear and two phones over on the wall, another payphone is ringing, but with an incoming call. I hang up my headset and the ringing stops on the other phone. I walk a few paces over, pick up the handset and look at the phone number printed above the buttons. I look at the number on my pager, I look at the number on the phone, I look at the number on my pager again and I look at the phone again. Except for the 911. They are identical. I kinda lose my breath for a second and then make my way over to the girl at the counter and ask if she saw anyone use the payphone. She said that I was the only person in the store in the last hour. The whole episode probably took 15 minutes but man, I was freaked out. The hair on the back of my neck was standing straight up and I just wanted to get the hell out of there. I got about 10 miles down the highway and came upon a scene that looked like a bomb went off. A four car pile up involving a tractor trailer hauling a load of steel that had come loose, state troopers and paramedics just arriving. I pulled over to the side and helped the best I could, but it was all pretty much over once it began. I have no idea why I got that page or from whom or what, but I'm convinced that if I hadn't I would not be alive to write this today. I, a 29 year old female, had a very strange encounter with an older man back in college. Like many college students, I was struggling for money. I lived in an area most would consider wealthy. It was a very popular tourist destination for rich families. As a result of that, I decided it would be a good idea to go onto a sugar baby website to try and earn a passive income. I've heard horror stories from prior sugar babies and would get cold feet when talking about meeting up with the men online. At one point I decided to suck it up as I needed money to pay rent and made plans to meet up with one of the men. It was nothing extravagant, just a trip a few hours out of town to a popular hot spring. I was still nervous and extremely cautious as the trip approached and made sure all my friends had my location and all the information about this man in case something were to happen. The night before the trip, he had reached out to confirm the plan and wanted to make sure I felt as comfortable as possible. He asked if I needed him to come pick me up and if I wanted my own room at the hotel just in case I wasn't wanting to stay in a room with him. I told him I'd drive myself so I'd be able to leave freely at any time and said I'd like my own room. Driving to meet him, the nerves kept growing. I should have listened to my gut. When I arrived at the hotel it wasn't anything but what I expected. It was a tiny, dingy motel with about 10 rooms and looked almost abandoned. I saw the man standing outside talking who I assumed was a worker. They seemed friendly, like old pals. I got out of the car and went to meet the man face to face for the first time. He was nothing like I expected. He looked very dirty and tired. He asked if I wanted to take my things to the room and as he opened the door I saw two beds, one of which already had his belongings scattered about. I asked about the separate room to which he informed me the motel was sold out for the night so we'd have to share. I should have gotten in my car and left, but I was tired after the long drive and it was getting dark. Sharing a room with a stranger seemed more logical than driving hours home on roads I wasn't familiar with with for miles and miles without cell service in the dark. After I put my belongings in the room, the man suggested we go to dinner. He said it was just down the road and he would drive. I agreed and got into his truck. I immediately noticed how disgusting it was. There was mud everywhere and all the plastic was caked with a thick layer of what I assume was dog slobber and hair. He got on the main road for the town and drove towards the restaurant. My understanding was that it was just down the road. I was incorrect. We drove for about 30 minutes before arriving at the next town over where the restaurant was actually located. Sitting down to eat, I was filled with dread. I didn't want to be there any longer, but it would definitely be too late to drive home. Once I got back to my car, I ate quickly and tried to keep the conversation polite and friendly as this man seemed to be someone I wouldn't want to anger. When we got back to the motel, I was searching for anywhere else to stay in the area, but everything was something I couldn't afford. He then offered to take me to the hot springs and I agreed again as being in a public area felt the safest. After arriving at the hot spring, he enlightened me as to why he picked that specific location. A girl he used to see worked there and he wanted to make her jealous. After a while it seemed that he realized she no longer worked there and wanted to go back to the motel. Back in the room he began talking about his life and I started to think that maybe he wasn't as creepy as I had thought. Maybe he's just a lonely old man who wanted some company. I became more relaxed as the conversations went on until he started talking about his ex wives. I'm a little fuzzy on the exact details of the conversation as I became tense and panicked with every sentence he added, what I do remember is that his first wife was murdered and he came home to find her body and the second one had gone missing and the police believe she was killed and hidden somewhere. I very calmly excused myself to the bathroom and texted any male friend I had asking them to come to me. It was almost 2:00am at this point and no one was willing to make the drive. I did have one friend who called me and told me to leave the call running as long as I needed until I could leave. I came out of the bathroom and let the man know I was going to sleep. He said it was a good idea since it was so late and headed into the bathroom. He came out after just a few seconds holding an old straight razor. He asked if I would be willing to help him shave his face before bed and made a comment about how nice the razor feels on his neck. I declined and I told him I was really tired and would be going to bed. I put my phone on the charger with the call still running, set my alarm for sunrise and I tried my best to pretend to be asleep. For the next few hours. I could hear him walking around the room and rummaging through his belongings. I made certain at one point he was standing at the foot of my bed watching me sleep. As soon as my alarm went off I got up, ran to the bathroom and changed. When I came out of the bathroom he was fully dressed and the front door was wide open. His whole demeanor had changed from the night before. He was angry. I grabbed all of my items and headed towards the door. As I was leaving he threw some money at me and yelled that I needed to get all of my shit out of the fridge which was just a half empty bottle of Gatorade. As I was pulling out of the parking lot I noticed a surprising lack of vehicles for a place that was supposed to be sold out. When I got home I went to delete my profile off the site and I saw I had a message from the man. He said he wanted to let me know how nice it was to spend time with me and he wanted to come visit me in the near future. Yeah, totally not happening.