← Southern Cannibal's Scary Stories
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- [00:05]
Emily
I was in my backyard and I had heard someone pull into my neighbor's driveway. I thought it was the wife. We were supposed to go shopping, so I climbed up on my fence to see what she wanted to go. We were supposed to go shopping, so I climbed up on my fence to see when she wanted to go. And I realized it was a car that I didn't recognize. It was an older silver car. I hopped down and was being nosy. I watched through a knothole as a guy in a police uniform knocked on their door. I realized that he had a Taser right in his hand, but nothing else. He looked into their front windows and then he just went back to his car. During this time, I texted them both telling them what was going on. The husband was on his way home and had stopped by my house. When he got home, he had a video of the guy walking up to the door with a Taser in his hand. He called the police and sheriff, who both confirmed that no one had reported going to that address. A sheriff deputy came out and looked at the video and took a statement from me. He said even if it was an officer serving papers, that they wouldn't do that in an unmarked car and that none of the local law enforcement cars matched that description. The neighbors thought that maybe their adult son had a warrant or something. But again, law enforcement wouldn't show up in an unmarked vehicle for that in my area. I described the guy and told him he appeared to be wearing a police uniform, not a sheriff uniform. We don't even have a police station in my town. The sheriff patrols my area. We have no idea who this guy is or why he was there, but it's really making all of us very uncomfortable. This happened when I was 16, during a family vacation in Turkey. We were staying at a fancy all inclusive resort. 5 stars, big hotel complex, nice place. Overall. Everything was going great until one evening after dinner. We were going to head out again later that night and I realized that I had left my jacket in the room. So I went back alone to grab it. I took the elevator and right before the doors closed, a man stepped in with me. I pressed the button for the third floor. He didn't press anything. When the elevator stopped, I got off and so did he. I started walking down the long hallway toward our room. It was a big winding hotel layout with lots of branching corridors. But as I walked, I could feel him behind me getting closer and closer. My gut then suddenly screamed. If you don't run now, you're going to die. I've Never felt dread like that in my life. So I sprinted the last stretch to our room, slammed the door shut and just stood there trying to catch my breath. I was shaken, but I figured that was it. Creepy guy, overactive imagination. Nothing actually happened, right? Wrong. I stayed in the room for a bit, just trying to calm down. Then just as I was thinking about heading back out, the hotel phone rang. I picked it up. It was a man's voice. He told me I was beautiful. He started asking my name. I was in shock. He started telling me about the disgusting things that he wanted to do to me. It was pretty vile and explicit. I hung up immediately. My heart was racing. I was crying and now trembling. And then the phone rang again and again non stop. That's when it hit me. I saw which room that I went into. Despite me sprinting, he had still managed to track exactly where I was staying and that was all he needed to call the room. I didn't want to leave the room though, because I was just way too scared. I couldn't stop imagining him just waiting outside or finding another way in. I felt completely trapped. Eventually, after I didn't show up, my parents became worried and came back to the room. My dad walked in just as the phone rang again. This time he picked it up. The moment my dad said hello, the line went dead. The guy didn't call again and I never saw him again. The hotel was big enough that maybe he was staying in a different wing. We'll never know. My parents kind of brushed it off. They told me to not make drama. The creepy stuff happens sometimes and it's over now. So let's just move on to this day. Twelve years later, dim and or quiet hotel hallways still make me feel incredibly uneasy and I hate walking to hotel rooms all on my own. I'm a 19 year old female from the UK. However, this incident happened to me when I was 16. At the time I was in sixth form studying a course I didn't particularly enjoy. Because of this, I would usually skip at least one day every two weeks. Although I couldn't just stay at home because I didn't want my parents to get suspicious. So oftentimes I would just sit on random buses and ride them to their termination point and back. And due to my age, my bus pass was free so I didn't have to worry about paying. On this particular day I had gotten onto a bus where the last stop was a shopping center which I had planned to go to. I had gotten on the bus around 10am so aside from me Pretty much everyone else on the bus were old people. I was sitting in a seat where I wasn't facing forward, but sideways. I like sitting here because there is no seat directly next to me. Instead, there was just a place to put your bag and then another seat. I only mention this for the sake of context. Anyway, I'm riding the bus and everything's going fine until we stop at a particular stop. The door is open and this man gets on the bus immediately. When he gets on, my nose is hit with such a vile stench that I actually gagged. The man's clothes were extremely dirty and disheveled. He looked to be in his early 50s, was bald and definitely on something. He got on the bus and didn't pay, and he sat in that seat next to me. To my dismay. I know that he wasn't sitting directly next to me, but the stench was genuinely overbearing. Now, I don't want people to think that I'm making fun of a potentially homeless person. I'm not. I understand that he may not have had access to clean himself, but at the moment, I was just in shock. As the bus began to move, the man pulled out a bottle of Jack Daniels from his backpack and started gulping it down. I looked at him for a second before turning away, but apparently he noticed me because after he finished, he then asked, what you want some? And he offered me the bottle. I just quickly said, no, thank you, and just stared straight ahead. Come on, have some, he said again, whilst bringing the bottle close to me. I quickly said, no thank you again, and stated I was underage. And this weirdo actually says, oh, come.
- [07:24]
James
On, I won't tell anyone.
- [07:26]
Emily
But I just ignored him. Now, keep in mind, there's other people on the bus who are seeing what's happening, but no one's even trying to help me. Now, you might be thinking, why didn't you just sit somewhere else? Firstly, there were no other empty seats, and secondly, I was scared that if I moved, he would do something, so I stayed put. Eventually, he stopped asking me and began muttering to himself incoherently. The bus kept going on as this man just kept muttering to himself about so many different things and taking swigs from his bottle. I was so uncomfortable. I felt trapped. Even though I literally wasn't. My anxiety was through the roof. After what felt like hours, we finally reached the shopping center. As the bus stopped and the doors opened, I quickly got up, but before I could go anywhere, I felt a man grab onto my hand. As I processed the situation, I then Yelled at him to let me go. I tried to pull away, but he had such a strong grip on me. He wasn't even saying anything, just gripping onto my hand and staring intently at me. By this time, all of the passengers had gotten off, although some were watching from outside the bus. Luckily, the bus driver had heard me yelling and had come out from his seat. He then screamed, hey, what the hell are you doing? This actually startled the man and he let me go. As he did, I took my chance and started running towards the shopping center. I made it inside and ran into the women's bathroom. I washed my hands about five times. I felt so disgusted and confused, like what was he trying to do? I sat in a cubicle, just terrified. After about five minutes, I reluctantly exited the bathroom. I took the escalator up to the second floor for a weekday. I thought that the shopping center had quite a lot of people. Not insanely crowded, but not quiet either. Anyway, as I'm walking across the second floor, I'm now just window browsing at the shops to my left and I look to my right at the bottom floor over the ledge and guess who I see walking down there? Yep, that weirdo guy from the bus. I don't even know how, but he had looked up at the same time and spotted me. He gave me a weird smile and started running towards the escalator to come upstairs. At this point I literally panicked and I ran into the Apple store which was on my left. I just blended in with the people in there hoping he wouldn't notice me if he passed by. There was security outside the store, but I really didn't want to draw attention to myself due to my anxiety. I then see the man pass by the Apple store and thank God he didn't see me as he just kept walking. I took this chance to run to the escalator and go back down. I ran back to the entrance and waited for my bus and eventually got on. Looking back at this experience, I know that I should have told the security outside the Apple store about what was happening. But hindsight is 2020 for 16 year old me, this was a terrifying situation. I have never seen that man again and I hope it stays that way. Stay safe everyone. I was 18 at the time of this incident. I was a freshman in college and away from home for the first time in my life. I had a relatively strict upbringing and attended a single gender school. This information is relevant because I hadn't truly dealt with awkward or inappropriate encounters with men regularly enough to know how to navigate them. At this point in the year I had been mingling with guys and going on dates for the very first time in my life. I started seeing a really nice guy who was a few years ahead of me in school, genuinely very kind and we hit it off. We had been talking and going on dates for a few weeks when he invited me and my friends to an event party he was launching with a few friends. My friends and I went, danced until our feet were sore and just had a really great time. At the party. The guy I was seeing asked if I would come over and spend the night. When everything wrapped up, I agreed, letting my friends know what was going on. The party came to an end and we all told each other good night and let one another know when they got back to campus. The guy and I spent the night together at his place, but he let me know that he had to wake up early for tutoring in the morning and most likely he would be gone before I left. I said that was okay, I would let him know when I left and I blocked the door behind me. I should mention that I didn't have any overnight items, no extra clothing, no toiletries, nothing. So I just had the short burgundy sweater dress that I had worn to the party on in my purse. I could have and should have asked to borrow sweatpants and a jacket considering it was November in the north, but I didn't. Instead, when I woke up the next morning I just requested an Uber and waited outside until the driver was a minute away. My Uber was a middle aged Asian man driving a minivan, so I believe that he was definitely a guy just doing this as a side gig given the vehicle and his age. When I was about to get in, he requested that I sit in the passenger seat because the back door on my side had jammed and so I didn't have to dodge traffic on the other side. I said that was fine and climbed into the passenger seat. Upon me getting into the car, he began with niceties of hi, how are you doing today?
- [13:07]
James
Where are you headed? Is the heat okay?
- [13:10]
Emily
Then he brought up my outfit and state of my appearance being are you ready for a party? I tried to laugh it off and say I was just staying at my friend's overnight. After we had gone out, he said it was a little too cold for that attire. I just laughed and agreed. I think he brought up not being used to the cold since he was from a certain southeastern Asian country and I started talking to him about what brought him to the us. I mentioned some information that I knew about his culture, which excited him. He then asked if I was Asian, to which I replied no and just really enjoyed history and learning about other cultures. I can't recall how it came about, but he brought up my outfit again. This time, however, he brought up how it looked good on my body and how I was a very pretty girl, as you can imagine. I started getting really uncomfortable by this and not really knowing what to say. I just said thank you and just tried to focus on how much time remained until I got back to campus. It felt like it took forever. Then he asked if he could hold my hand. I just froze and I didn't know what to say or do. Ethan placed his hand on mine while my hand was resting on my thigh. I just got very quiet and froze. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't even process what was happening. I only remember snapping out of it when we were turning into the parking lot by my dorm. The map showed him pull up directly at the front entrance of the building. He pulled up, stopped, and he turned to ask me if this was my dorm. I sheepishly said yes. He asked if he could have my number, but then he said he could just get it from the Uber app. He then proceeded to ask me the most disgusting question. Can I kiss you? I just froze up again, tensing up to the point that I felt I couldn't breathe. He leaned in and he kissed me on the side of my mouth. Since my head was turned towards the other direction, I wanted to vomit. I immediately snapped back after he did that and ran out of the car into the building. Once I got into my room, I immediately contacted Uber support. This was back when they actually still had customer service agents responding to inquiries and complaints. The representative I spoke with suspended the driver's account due to my complaint and others. I should have pressed for more information about the other complaints, but I just wanted to be done with this. Uber also credited me my ride and gave me a few free rides as well. I'm not sure what happened to the Uber driver after that. He didn't contact me or appear on my campus afterwards. This encounter was one of various traumatic events in my life. I blamed myself, thinking that I should have worn something different. Then maybe he wouldn't have felt provoked to do that to me. But I've realized that predators will just take advantage of you regardless of what you're wearing, since it's about how vulnerable you are, not your outfit. This experience, including others, made me incredibly vigilant about my safety and how to defend myself from Predators. However, I wish that I never had to experience that to learn how to the story happened to me when I was around seven or eight years old. I was in central London with my older sister and my parents. For people who don't know what I mean by central London, it's basically like downtown where all the landmarks, big shops and restaurants are. The day we were there was a Saturday, meaning it was extremely busy and crowded. Now I personally hated going into central London for this reason, and I still do, but my parents were keen on going out on this day, so all of us kept going from restaurant to restaurant, checking the outdoor menu to find something that all of us could really enjoy, but mainly for me and my sister as we were pretty fussy about it back then. We got to one restaurant and my parents and sister were reading the menu as I kind of just stood off to the side as I did with every restaurant we stopped at. I was looking around when I noticed a man sitting at the outdoor table of the restaurant we were stopped at. He was staring at me. When I looked at him, I immediately looked away. I looked back a couple of seconds later and he was still staring at me. Except this time he kept raising his eyebrows weirdly and giving me a really weird smile. It was creepy. I was so confused. So I kept looking at him for maybe another 15 seconds and he kept raising his eyebrows and smiling creepily at me, which genuinely started to scare me. Eventually I stopped looking to look at my family again, but I realized they weren't even next to the menu anymore. I started to freak out as I looked around, but I couldn't see them. This kind of induced a mini panic attack in me as I had been lost in a theme park by myself not too long before. I looked back to the man and he was again raising his eyebrows and smiling creepily. But this time he stood up and started to walk towards me. I immediately turned right and ran and by some miracle I found my family. They didn't even notice I was gone and I didn't bother to tell them what happened because I knew that they would just blame me for it. Looking back on it now, I'm not entirely sure what he was planning on doing considering we were in such a busy place. One of my friends I told suggested that maybe he would have pretended to help me find my parents but then actually kidnapped me. I personally think he was just trying to scare me, but I guess who really knows, right? I just hope if he was an actual creep that he didn't manage to hurt any other Kids, I know that this isn't as scary as other stories, but it really just creeps me out thinking about all of the possibilities of what could have really gone down. Thank you all for listening to my story. This is pretty tame compared to some of the other stories I've seen around here, but it's been on my mind recently. Back in 2015 or 16, I was working for a startup in San Francisco and living in Berkeley when I had a weird encounter at a corner store. I'm from New York and I drove my car across the country to have with me. It still had my New York plates on it. I stopped after work one day at a corner store to grab some Arizona green teas because I'm addicted to. And when I parked, a black van pulled up and parked behind me. It was the exact kind of van you'd stereotype with creeps. I went in, grabbed some snacks and the teas, and this older white guy approached me. He says that he saw my New York plates and was just really curious about what brought me out here. I didn't really share much besides just work. He then asked if I had family in the area, which set off my alarms. I had a couple of formative experiences as a kid that makes me incredibly suspicious of men. And, well, I'm generally hyper vigilant by nature. I remember just getting out of the interaction as quickly as possible and going to the counter. I specifically remember telling the clerk, if the cops come around asking about my murder, it was that guy. I'm 6 foot 3 and was probably about 315 pounds at the time, so I'm not exactly common prey for serial killer types. But this guy set off that instinct in me and I left. I got in my car and drove away only to notice that he had left the store almost immediately after me. I don't think he even bought anything. Also, and he started following me. The van was very distinct and my guard was already up. And as I mentioned, I'm hypervigilant by nature. So I noticed this creep right behind me. I started to think that this dude was genuinely trying to follow me home to see where I lived. So I took a random left and he also took the left. I then took another left. He took the left as well. I took another left again and once again he did the same thing. Finally I completed the square around the block and I think he got the hint that I was onto him and he actually stopped following me. Now I drove in the opposite direction and just kept driving until sundown. Before I went home. I even asked my landlord to swab parking spots with me so I could park off the street and out of sight. I probably should have reported suspicious behavior, but instead I just got super baked with my roommates and slept with a hammer close by. Maybe I was just being paranoid, but I've never gotten that prey kind of feeling that I got, and it still bubbles up in my memories from time to time. But yeah, if someone gives you chills, I think it's better to be paranoid and safe than sorry. Always keep your head on a swivel out there. Let's rewind about nine years back, when I was 19 and still living in the town I grew up in. It wasn't the worst place in the world, but it had its share of problems. Good neighbors, sure, but some rougher parts too. At the time, the local Walmart hadn't quite slipped into the sketchy category yet, but it was getting close. You could feel it even if you couldn't explain. Was a typical summer night. Humid, quiet. Probably around 11pm Walmart was still open 24 hours back then. My buddy we'll call him J and I were sitting in my car in the middle of the lot, surrounded by other parked cars, just hanging out and listening to the Human Condition by John Bellion. Talking about life, women, dreams. The kind of stuff 19 year old guys talk about when they're convinced they've got the world halfway figured out. That's when I noticed her. A woman, mid-40s maybe, walking slowly toward the car. Nothing alarming. At first I assumed that she was heading to her own vehicle, but she wasn't. She stopped right in my passenger window, leaned down and tapped. Three taps exactly. Please help me, she said, her voice shaky. I need your help. I cracked the window just enough to hear her over the music. Jay leaned in. What? He asked. My car. It broke down, she said. It's over there. I need help. We looked where she pointed around the dark side of the building near the edge of the lot. Barely lit shadows swallowing everything. I could see the vehicle she was talking about. A van. You know the exact van I'm talking about. Windowless, white rusted pedo van with the side doors. Everything the stranger danger PSAs always told you to avoid as a child. Still, we were 19, slightly into cars, definitely into the idea of being helpful. Where exactly is your car? I asked again, cautiously. She gestured again. Just over there, please. I hesitated. Okay, you start walking over. We'll follow you in the car. I went to lock the doors just in case, but she moved faster in one fluid motion, she yanked back the door handle and pulled it open. No, she said, climbing into the backseat. Drive over. Jay and I froze. Um, can you get out of the car? I asked. Yeah, j added more firmly. Get out of the car. But she didn't move. No, I need you to drive me. There are guys over there. They're creeping me out. Just drive me to the van, please. I need you to drive me there now. Please. Her voice was urgent, but something about it was just off, too desperate, too rehearsed. I slid my hand down beside the sea where I kept a small breaker bar. My heart was pounding. I'm gonna ask you one more time, I said, my voice low. Get out of the car. And then she snapped. I'm not getting out of this car. You said you'd help me. I need you to drive me to the car. Please. You promised. Drive over there now. I looked at J. His face was pale. I knew that she wasn't leaving without a scene or worse. So I did the only thing I could think of. I put the car in reverse and drove straight into the front entrance of Walmart. People were still going in and out. Bright lights, cameras, safety. She leaned forward. This isn't where I told you to go. Drive to our. I mean my van. Drive to the van. That slip there. It was our van. That's when I was done. I threw the car in park, grabbed the breaker bar, jumped out of the car and screamed, get the hell out of my car now. She flinched, looked around. Without another word, she bolted, ran toward the van. The side door slid open before she got there. She jumped right in. The van peeled out of there like a bat out of hell. To this day I don't know what her end game was, but I know it wasn't good. I was lucky. We were lucky. And now, Well, I can still carry. That's a story for another time though. But let's just say I never want to be that unprepared again. I live outside of the United States. About 15 years ago I went to visit my family in the US For a family reunion, so we had to find accommodation for everyone. I stayed with my grandmother while others found alternative places to stay. A man who lived close to my grandmother offered to let my brother and his wife stay with him. He had a three bedroom house and he lived alone, so he said he would be happy to let them stay in a spare bedroom for free. They happily agreed. I went with them to see what the place was like. My grandmother lived way up in the mountains, kind of in the middle of nowhere. And so did this man who was also a long haul trucker. When we pulled up in front of his house, we all talked about how beautiful it was. I wanted to stay there too, and we wondered if he would let me stay in one of his other rooms. That all changed when we entered the house though. While the place was lovely and clean, there was a horrible stench. It stank of rotting mead and solvents with a touch of air freshener. We could not get away from that smell. The room that they would be staying in was accessed through a sliding glass door. The view was amazing. The smell was not. Nor was the locked door that led to the rest of the house. There were two sturdy locks on the door, A deadbolt and a padlock. It was a bit disconcerting to note that they were there to lock something or someone in in addition to keeping people out. When my brother asked about the locks on the door, the lht just said, I have cats.
- [28:59]
James
I don't like them to get out. There are mountain lions and opossums and eagles around here.
- [29:04]
Emily
My brother later told me that he thought about joking how big are your cats? But he thought that might not be a good idea. To access the kitchen, we had to go back outside, walk around to the other end of the house and go in another door there. While the long haul trucker was telling my brother and sister in law to feel free to use anything in the kitchen and living room, I had a look at the inner door that led into the living room. Sure enough, there was a deadbolt and padlock on it. Of course, the stink was really bad there too. Despite all this, my brother and sister in law stayed there for a week. They stayed out of the place for as long as possible, only returning to sleep. My brother said that the guy was weird, but he didn't think that anything horrible was going on. He probably doesn't clean up after his cats. He said. Cat food smells like that if it's left out for too long. We saw the cats while we were there, so that was a possibility. But what struck me as odd was the fact that the cats were out and free roaming. One was even outside. My brother and sister in law had no other problems during their stay there though. A couple of years later, I went back to visit my grandmother on my own. The long haul trucker came over to her house and after we all talked for a while, he actually brought up my brother's previous visit.
- [30:27]
James
I just want to say I'm sorry for how bad the house smelled.
- [30:30]
Emily
Back then he said, I want you.
- [30:33]
James
To know that it's all cleaned up now.
- [30:35]
Emily
This struck me as strange because we hadn't talked about that smell at all. When I said that there was no need to apologize to me because I hadn't stayed there, he got upset.
- [30:46]
James
No, it wasn't good, he said, and I want you all to see that it's all cleaned up now. You should all come over and see it.
- [30:54]
Emily
I assured him that I believed that he really had cleaned up and that I didn't need to see it. He kept insisting that I go over to see it, though my grandmother insisted on it too. So I went with the guy to see it. He continued to insist that I see every room in his house. He was extremely complimentary and fawned over me. It just felt weird. His house was very clean, though, and the locks were gone. The cats were still there. Also, I should mention that this guy had also tried to entice my niece to go over to his house on another occasion. He kept telling her about his private gym and all of the equipment he had over there. He just kept saying, you can ride.
- [31:35]
James
On my exercise bike. You can ride it as much as you want to.
- [31:39]
Emily
When I said that she was probably too little for his stationary bike because she was eight years old and he was a large man, he said that she could adjust it. So I said that I was interested in seeing a stationary bike that could be adjusted like that. Then he said, oh, that's okay.
- [31:55]
James
You don't need to see it. My house is a mess anyways.
- [31:59]
Emily
But then he continued to ask my niece if she wanted to play on his exercise bike. When I called her mother's attention to this, the long haul trucker stopped asking. My grandmother passed away years ago, and while I miss her dearly, I don't miss having to deal with that creepy guy. I am an alcoholic and I have been sober for nine years. That is without a doubt, my proudest accomplishment. I started getting help during my sophomore year of high school. Looking back, I'm so grateful for the timing. If I had hit rock bottom later, things would have only gotten worse. My parents actually transferred me to a different school so I could start fresh and meet new people. By the time I turned 18, a few months before graduation, I had already been sober for over two years. This was around the time that I had started aging out of most teen recovery programs. A lot of the counselors I worked with only focused on youth cases, so I had to start finding adult support groups instead. I grew up in Los Angeles, but not the touristy part. My neighborhood had liquor stores every few blocks and corner shops with thick Plexiglas windows. Alcoholism was really common and normalized. So once the teen programs ended for me, I had started going to early morning AA meetings on Tuesdays and Thursdays. They were held in a small church near my school. I didn't have a first period on those days, so it worked out perfectly. After the meetings, I would usually stay for a couple of extra minutes to write in my journal or just sit in silence. One morning this guy had stayed after the meeting and asked me what I was writing. I told him I was journaling. He said he liked the idea and wanted to try it himself. After that, he had started sitting next to me at every meeting. We would talk a bit afterward. He seemed normal. He was also about my age. He knew I was about to graduate and asked if I had planned to keep coming to that group during the summer. I told him that I wasn't sure yet. I had just gotten a job across town and was looking into meetings closer to where I would be working. I could tell he didn't love that answer. Sometimes you can just really see disappointment on people's faces. I used to talk a lot in these meetings. I didn't go just sit in silence. I brought energy into that room. I like to think that I helped people feel a little better. I think he felt that too, and I think that's why he didn't want me to leave. People have told me that I talk too much, so maybe I'm just flattering myself and everyone else just wanted me to be quiet. But I'd like to think that I was making a difference. He asked again when I would be switching to a different group. I said that I didn't know yet. I told him that I planned to keep coming though through the end of the school year. I do not remember if I ever told him the name of my school, but I always wore royal blue and gold. He knew that I went to school nearby, just around the corner from church. It really wouldn't have been too hard to figure out then. In the last two weeks of senior year, everything got wild. We had senior Ditch Day, late night hangouts, sleepovers, goodbye parties, etc. I missed the AA meetings at the church and then I switched AA groups altogether at graduation. Everything was great, but that guy showed up. It was so off. He didn't know me like that. I had never invited him. We were not close. But there he was, smiling at me from the back like it was Completely normal. He came over afterward and said that he brought a gift. It was a box of chocolates and a note about how much he would miss me. He said that I should drop by the meetings again sometime. I uncomfortably just said something like thank you. But I never went back. That whole situation was just way too weird. I didn't want to see him again. But then he showed up at my new job. I was working at the cosmetics counter in a big department store. The cosmetics department usually had its own cash register. The first time he walked by, I noticed him. Then he came back again the next day, and then the day after that. He never spoke or asked for help. He just wandered around near my station, looking over at me like it was no big deal. He didn't even try to be subtle. Eventually I told one of my co workers, the type of woman who does not play around with stuff like this. She walked right up to him and asked what he thought he was doing. She called him out in front of everybody. She said that she knew exactly why he was there and that it was really creepy and toxic. A few shoppers turned around to see what was going on. His face turned red and he walked away without saying anything. We told our manager afterward. The manager was glad we spoke up, but reminded us to let her know right away next time. There was no next time though, since he never came back. I haven't seen him since. Hopeful. He just got bored and moved on. I really don't care to find out what he wanted though. Let me just say that I was young and dumb when I met him. I'm 18 years old. I met him when I was 16. I was never in a relationship before him. I was a bigger girl and just had an extremely hard time getting guys to like me. I met him on Snapchat. I didn't realize it then, but he had love bombed the hell out of me. I was so lost in the feeling of being wanted that I ignored the extreme red flags. After only a week of talking, he convinced me to meet him at his house to hook up. He lived almost an hour away from me and I was a new driver. Anyways, how we met is not the point. He showed extreme signs of being a narcissist and even admitted to me that he believes himself to be a sociopath. But I never let the red flags keep me from leaving him. He was possessive over me and he manipulated me into believing that he was the only one there for me. Made me cut off my friends and even made me distance myself from my family. He Cheated on me so many times. I caught him three times. He admitted to me that out of the 18 months we were together, he was faithful for three, which is totally bullcrap. He cheated on me the entire time. I have evidence of this. But in the end, he kept lying to save his own ass. I have extreme abandonment issues due to my father. My abandonment issues aren't only about me. I have a deep fear of abandoning people who need someone. I thought he needed me. He was going into the marines. His ship date was late June of 2024. A few days before he shipped off, I proposed to him. I know I'm freaking stupid. Don't get me started on how much I hate myself in this situation. But if you've ever been emotionally and psychologically abused, you can understand that you simply cannot think about yourself and your safety. You think about what is best for your abuser so that they are happy, so that they don't have a reason to abuse you. We made it through boot camp. We sent letters all 13 weeks. It felt so magical to know someone loved me enough to stay true to our relationship through something as difficult as a long distance military relationship. I loved him so much. I saved money to drive down to California to see him graduate. It was amazing and what I thought were the best days of my life. He was still quiet and reserved. He always was. I never saw a problem with it because he was his true self when he was with me. When he came home from California, he lived with me. He had a bad relationship with his parents and he made me believe that he had nowhere else to go. This was my own mistake because once he moved in, I was truly trapped. He did ra Late August, late October, he shipped back off to California for his schooling and so started our long distance again. One morning in March of this year, I woke up and checked my phone. If you've ever been cheated on and stayed, you just become paranoid. He had two Instagram accounts, one of which he actually blocked me on. I created another Instagram account just to watch his followers and his posts. He had started following more and more women on that day. He had posted on his main account a story that was hidden from me. He posted a joke about cheating on your dumb girlfriend. You don't joke about crap that you've done. So again, I sent him a message explaining just how unfreaking funny it was and how he knows how much that crap traumatized me. Afterwards, I was done. I had messaged the girls. He followed on his other account and learned that he was on Dick dating apps. After that it was the end of us. There were three days of us communicating. On April 22, I took his belongings to his parents house and I blocked him. I told him to never contact me again. Everything was silent for a few weeks. I was healing. This man abused me for almost two years. He made me believe so many nasty things about myself and my family. I would go into more details but at this point this crap is a novel. One late night in April, I got a text on my phone. Package arrived. I was confused and responded with a question mark. The number told me that there was something on my porch. When I opened my door there was a notebook sitting there. Mind you, it was 11pm at night so I'm freaked the hell out at this point. Front to back, this notebook was filled with letters from my ex. I refused to read it. He had gotten out of the marines on an other than honorable discharge and he moved to the city next to mine. He hated my town and how desolate it was. He moved 20 minutes away from me just so he could be close. He could have moved anywhere but he moved to a town that he hated just to be close to me. Also, he doesn't have a car so he rode his bike 13 miles just to drop this on my porch. I gave the notebook to my parents and messaged the number back to never contact me again and to never come near my house or else I'd be calling the authorities. I blocked the number. That night I slept in my parents bedroom. I cried so much. At 1:30am I got another message on my phone from a different number than before saying can you honestly tell me you've enjoyed this past month? It took this psycho three hours to have a new number and start texting me again. I sent a very long nasty message describing just how great my life was without him and again told him not to contact me. I had to change my number, my garage code and my front door code. A few weeks later I got three more letters in the mail from him. All very possessive and nasty. One was a suicide note describing exactly how and why he killed himself. I called his city's dispatch and sent a wellness check. He was alive. He told the officer that he was just upset. I had done a lot to try and get him into some sort of mental care. He refused. Time and time again I told the officer to tell him directly that if he contacted me again in any way that I'd be falling for stalking in a harassment rob horse. Lo and behold, a week or so later I get a Message on Facebook from a very, very fake account. All of its posts and information were clear indicators that it was him. Unfortunately, I had to read that notebook that he left on my porch. And holy freaking crap. When I say that he's crazy, he really is freaking crazy. In the notebook, he admitted to lying to me about attempting suicide, lied to me about being hospitalized, and he lied to me about going into psych. He said it was better for me to just believe us breaking up made him suicidal. He also admitted to a lot of illegal activity and that he cheated on every single girl he was with. The whole notebook traumatized me even more. I went to the police station and filed a report. Two days after I filed the report, I got more letters in the mail from him. One where he admitted watching me from a hill outside of my house. And the other was him trying to return our engagement rings that I left with his belongings. He told me that it was smart to change my phone number, but that I couldn't change my address. So he would just keep sending me letters until he won me over again. The last two letters were sent from a different state, which means that he moved away. I'm very happy that I don't have to worry about my physical safety anymore. But every week I get more and more letters. He's obsessed with me, and I simply don't understand why. He cheated on me because some part of his messed up brain wasn't satisfied with me. And now that he's without me, he's literally going freaking crazy. I never want to see that man again. I'm terrified of him. I still look over my shoulder thinking he'll be there. Even though he moved. Every time I get a call or text from a random number, I think it's him. And I start panicking. And that's with me even changing my number. I have nightmares of him. He mentally messed me up so bad. And I can only realize that now that he's gone, I hope he stops sending me letters or that he goes to jail. This will happen to another girl if he's not punished. I want justice for myself, but I also want to protect that future girl. I truly freaking hate him and I wish the worst for him. Sam.