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So good, so good, so good.
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I'm a man in my 20s that lives alone on the very top floor of an apartment block. I've had short hair for the last 10 years of my life. The longest hair on my head is maybe an inch long, if that even. However, across my house I kept finding long hairs on the floor. Like long brunette hair, at least 5, 6 inches, sometimes longer and they would be everywhere. Bathroom floor, in the shower, in my cupboard, in my kitchen, on old clothes, living room floor and sofas, etc. I've been single since November and clean often enough that I'm certain it's not my ex girlfriend's hairs. Plus the color doesn't match anyway. She had solid black hair. These are more a light brunette. Plus finding them in places like the shower where running water is hitting all the sides five times plus a week. Yeah, I don't know. Anyway, I waved it off as well. I work with a lot of people and use the gym and bus sometimes, so naturally hairs are going to stick to my clothes. Well, one day this past April I finished my early morning gym session and got the call that I didn't have to go to work that day. So naturally I started to walk home all happy that I had the day to myself. I'm on the fifth floor, the uppermost floor of the building and the apartment is in such a way that there is only one apartment per floor. I start to hustle up the stairs and don't use the elevator since I'm sweaty from the gym. Anyway. Just as I whip a ride to go up the last set of stairs from the fourth floor to the fifth floor, I I see my neighbor's daughter coming down the stairs. She's from the third floor. We lock eye contact. We've never spoken before. Mostly because we've never had a reason to, but also because, out of respect, I didn't want to make her uncomfortable. Since she's 19, 21ish and I'm slightly older, the most interaction we've had is that I've spoken to her mother and father before. When bumping into each other on the stairs, I gave a confused hello. At this point I'm thinking maybe she went to knock on my door to ask for something. A cup of sugar maybe. I really don't know. I was expecting her to reply with something like oh hi, do you have any xyz? Nope. She gave a silent hey and brushed right past me. Only then, when the smell of my own shampoo hit me did I notice her hair was wet. Like fresh out of the shower a minute ago wet. Now, I'm not saying she showered in my house or that I have a stalker that's been living in my house while I've been at work. She very easily could have just been there to ask for something and most generic brand shampoo smell the same, but don't the pieces all fit a bit too well? Her hair color matches the hairs I would find around my apartment and like I said before, they were everywhere in my bed and in my sock drawers. And if it really is a case of me having a stalker, how did she know I came home early enough to bolt out of the shower in time? Our apartment doesn't have cameras, it's an older building from before the year 2000. And why would she be stalking me for how long has she been doing this? We've never dated, never had a proper conversation. I maybe saw her 20 times in the past two years given that I work and she presumably studies or works too, as all these thoughts are buzzing through my head and I'm standing outside my door for a solid two minutes grappling with what just happened. I go to turn the key to my door and it opens without me having to unlock it. And I know for a fact I always double lock my door. It's the type with a lock near waist level and a second more secure lock with a different key around shoulder level. I drop my bag, throw off my shoes and run to the shower. And yep, it's wet. I haven't showered since yesterday morning. I'm a confrontational person. Not that I go looking for fights, but I'll definitely pursue an answer if something is bugging me. So back down the stairs to the third floor I went. I knocked on the door of my apparent stalker and her family. She opens the door but with the chain still on it. I see half of her face from behind the door. Yes, can I help? Were you at my door or inside? I don't want to make this a police thing now, but you came down the stairs and I know you were inside. I just had to get something. It won't happen again. Okay, bye. See you. Door closed. This happened last month. I've been cleaning my house every weekend closely now and got the locks changed and put a motion sensor camera above my door. It only films and triggers on the steps coming up to my door so so the fourth floor apartments still have their privacy. So far so good. I don't think she's been inside since, but looking back I think she'd been living in or going into my apartment or whatever since January because that's my earliest memory of finding the hairs. She never took anything of value like my laptop or the few watches I have. Seemingly she just showered and ate some of my food and laid in my bed. I guess I do now also always take the elevator and avoid the third floor like the plague. I'm not really worried about my safety because one I'm £200 and do a lot of fighting trading and two the new camera has never gone off since installed other than myself triggering it when I'm home. Finally three I told the old retired husband and wife on the fourth floor that I suspected a robber was trying to break into my apartment last month. I didn't want to start spreading rumors and gossip and I asked them to keep an ear out when I'm at work. I really feel fine and safe, just creeped out like my personal space had been violated. Someone dmed me to check my coats and bags for airtags as to how maybe she knew I was coming home early that day. I don't have a lot of stuff so I think I would have 100% found it by now given how often I clean. But I'll definitely do another sweep of my stuff. Part 2 hi y'.
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All.
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Following my last post a week back about me catching a neighbor coming out of my apartment having used my shower. My cousin's husband is a police officer, so I went to him directly about filing a report. He came over to my apartment first as I gave him a visual breakdown of what happened on the stairs and changes and on things I noticed in my apartment since January. Primarily just hairs everywhere and missing food and how my door was unlocked. That day though I did a thorough clean following the events on the stairs. My police friend was still able to find some hairs and so he bagged those up. I gave him my statement in detail and some dates the best I could when I remember finding the first hair, when I first noticed food going missing, etc. Also, he advised me to not talk to the family, not even with a friend, to avoid any confusion or get lawyers involved or muddy the waters with accusations. With all that done, he left and came back two to three days later. He and his partner went to talk to the family on Sunday because they knew both parents would likely be home then. Long story short, she confessed to everything immediately and broke down in tears and apologized once. My police friend brought up how five months of entering someone's house, even with keys, is still very much an offense and how she could easily end up with a sentence of some should I pursue it? That the sentence could very easily involve the inside of a jail cell regardless if she stole something or not? I don't know how true this is. It might have just been my friend and his partner pressing and exaggerating for a confession, but it worked. They talked for an hour with the parents and her all in the same room to get answers from her. Then the same day he came up to mine with his partner and they gave me the breakdown answers to commonly asked questions. How did she get in or have her own keys? The locks on our doors are the type that use a code on the lock barrel that only the manufacturer or partnered approved locksmiths have access to. She knew this because her parents got the locks changed when they first moved in and in fact she used the same locksmith from all the way back then. The locksmith presumably remembered the family and apartment but just didn't pay attention to it being the fifth floor this time instead of her own third floor. So he came over and took the barrel out, saw the code, went and made a set of keys and done. I was none the wiser. Both my locks on my door are different brands, but presumably they operate in the same way so having two locks made no difference. What was she doing in my apartment? Anyone who said she needed space, you were right. She has two younger step siblings and her mother is a tutorial, so at any given point there's always some kids around the house. She would say to her parents she was going out to study or work or a girlfriend's house and use my house as a hotel while she studied or relaxed. The reason she used mine was partly because she knew it would be empty, but also because my schedule was predictable as I work on average 95 like everyone else but leave the house at 6630 to get Jim done too. That essentially gave her the house from 6 to 5.
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How long?
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My guess was right, it started in January once she figured I'd broken up with my girlfriend. At the time around November, my girlfriend would stay at mine when I went to work and back sometimes. So yeah, that would have been an interesting situation if they had ever crossed paths. So then how did she know I was coming home early that day and that I wasn't going to work straight after the gym like usual? And so she bolted out of the shower or on the days I didn't go to the gym. How did she know to not come in? Twofold. Firstly, I go to a commercial gym in my country and so they have an app. Regardless of if you're a member or not. One of the things the app lets you see is how many people are in each branch so you can see how full it is. All you have to do is download it and scan the QR code at the entrance by the turnstiles to add it to the MyGems tab. It literally shows you like Branch 21 with the address 18% full. She would refresh the app in the morning and if it went up by one around six 6:30am and she heard me go downstairs or use the elevator, then she would know the house is empty. Now for the creepiest, most messed up bit of it all. She had put an airtag on my car. She insisted that she had only put it in recently and initially just presumably gambled that I wouldn't be home sooner than expected. Or maybe she just put an ear to the door. But then one thing led to another and yeah, I don't know how much I believed this. Again, this could be an attempt to not look so guilty. That day when we clashed, she refreshed the app and saw I left the gym. But when my car didn't move, she connected the dots and tried to leave asap. Once she heard me coming up the stairs she didn't have time to lock up and so we met on the stairs with my door remaining closed but not locked. The airtag was stuck under my car the using my shower. She claims she didn't do it always just on hot days or days she couldn't at home. I deny or confirm this. Like I said previously, being a gym goer I'd shower five times a week. How did her parents never notice? Well, the dad leaves for work 5am ish since his bus route starts at around 6 the mom is up around 6 or 7, but since she's preparing for her own students for the day, plus her own kids to send to school, she wasn't too bothered what her eldest 20 year old daughter was really doing. She'd just say I'm going to the college library or I'm going to my girlfriend's and that was good enough. Did she have a thing for me? Like a crush? My police friend didn't really say anything about this. Presumably he never asked since it's not as important as other details or it never came back. It makes little difference. How's my standings with the family right now? Well, the mom and dad both apologized to me, the mom via text and the dad in person at my door. He offered to pay for the camera I installed as his daughter was the direct cause of it, but it was cheap off of Amazon so I said no, it's fine. We had a 1015 minute conversation and he was very apologetic and explained his daughter had always been extremely quiet and well behaved so something like this never would have crossed his mind in a million years. He added that his daughter's never had a boyfriend, or at least that he knows of, and she only has a few friends so her social interaction skills aren't necessarily top notch and that even when guests would come she would hide away in a spare room. So to the few people who predicted that maybe Covid and lockdown led to her not having good social interaction skills, you were half right. He once again offered me money for my troubles like missing food, new locks and cleaning, etc. But I felt bad enough already so I declined. He did also ask if I would press charges and I again said no more on that below. He said he will send his daughter to apologize to me in person when the situation has calmed down as she's apparently very, very tense and upset, hasn't left her room in days. Am I going to press charges? No. I mean, I'm still not happy about the situation, especially the damn airtag on my car. But the family is apologetic as well as the culprit herself, and honestly, no one is going to gain anything from this if she goes to jail. I would like an apology though for anyone that cares about the extra detail. She got the airtag as a gift a while back from her parents because she kept losing her stuff. Have I seen her since? No. She won't apparently leave her room and is terrified that I'll press charges, though presumably her family's told her that I won't. How do I currently feel? Well I was never especially worried or nervous, just really, really creeped out about the whole situation. I felt like I'd been a parasite host and somehow never even noticed until then. I currently still feel a little angry and a small part of me is thinking to seek revenge. But any revenge I seek, like money or slander, is truthfully going to impact the parents more than her. Do I feel bad for her? Truthfully, no. She's not 10, she's 20 or something and educated. So yeah, you should feel remorseful, feel guilty and scared, get over that hump and we'll talk. Plus, there's loads of spaces for young adults like public libraries, inner college spaces. By no means was my house the only viable option. And finally, did she use my bed or wear my clothes? Believe it or not, yes she did. Any advice I can give? Check your wi fi devices. If I had checked that, I would have noticed her phone and laptop all the way back when obviously my wi fi modem is in my house and so she helped herself to that. Again, it's one of those things. I mean, how often does one check their wi fi devices? Truthfully, with all my family visiting me and their devices, I probably wouldn't have noticed one extra phone amongst the existing 10 plus, but I 100% would have noticed the one extra laptop. So let that be a lesson to all. And yes, I have officially removed her devices from the list and I definitely changed my password.
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One of the biggest nightmares of my life has happened. I don't even know how to start. Well, I live alone, I'm 21 years old and I live in a low income apartment because I'm in college and the money doesn't allow me to buy a newer one. Well, it all really started when I was in my normal routine. I woke up, made coffee for myself and then I went to work. That week I had left earlier because there was a power outage at work. I left at 3pm, took my bus and got ready to go straight to college. It's a bit far from where I lived, so it was always a challenge to take a crowded bus every day. I was pretty lucky this time since the bus was almost empty. Everything went normally. I had my classes, went to a friend's house and went home. Up to that point everything was normal until I came back by Uber. I'm too scared to take the bus. Late at night I arrived in my apartment, entered my building and I saw a man sitting in front of some apartments. I had never seen him there before, but I let it go because he could be a relative of a resident. Well, I went inside in my apartment, I was watching TV as usual and it was around 11pm I was going to sleep when I heard a very loud noise coming from outside of the apartment. I was in shock because it sounded like a door slamming. I even saw my door slightly open. At that moment, my soul left my body. I didn't even think twice. And I called my friend who lived about two blocks above me. He came, but we didn't see anything. We looked in all of the rooms of my apartment and there were no traces until we decided to check the building security camera. We spoke to the security guard and he said he would inform the supervisor about it. Then we saw on the camera the same man I saw earlier trying to open my apartment door. He succeeded, but when he was entering, someone probably heard him. He then ran to the building's exit. Well, at that point everyone in the building already knew. We called the police. The police searched the entire building and asked almost everyone if they knew that guy from the video. Absolutely no one knew that guy. Then I asked how the security guard didn't see that the guy entered the building. He said that so many people passed by at that time, I even forgot his face. And remember it was a low income apartment. So I had no hope from the security guard. So I kind of left it to the police to see if they could find anything. Well, to this day nobody knows who he is. I always try to talk to the police to see if they ever found anything out. They always just say they're still looking, but nothing. I really think this guy followed me on some day of my crazy routine and waited for the moment to do something that miraculously didn't happen. I'm a woman in my early 20s and I've lived in New York my whole life, so navigating the MTA at any time of day or night is second nature to me. For context, my one way commute from the city to home is about two hours each way involving two trains, a 30 minute bus ride and then a dimly lit five block walk home. After doing it for so many years, I usually don't think twice about it, but there are two nights I still replay in my head all the time. The first instance happened on the train I had just stepped on right before the doors closed, so I stayed standing near them. I had my headphones in, but I could faintly hear a homeless man saying something to me. At first I ignored it, assuming he was talking to himself, but he kept staring directly at me. So I took out one earbud and said uh huh. That's when I clearly heard him say bitch. You fucking bitch. My heart instantly started pounding. I still remember how hot my ears and face felt. It was like all the blood rushed straight to my skin. I started trying to make eye contact with other passengers, silently hoping someone else would acknowledge what was happening. But nobody would hold my gaze for more than a second. Everyone just looked away at the next stop, even though it wasn't my stop. I got off and quickly moved into the next car over. I spotted a family standing together and stayed near them thinking please don't let them come out and see me. The most unsettling part is that this honestly isn't even unusual while commuting in New York. Most of the time you keep your head down and try not to engage with whoever the aggressor is. Still, I kept glancing through the train windows waiting to see if he followed me. Two stops later, I finally saw him step off the train. I didn't even realize I'd been holding my breath until the doors closed behind him. The second instance happened when I was in grad school. I had night classes that ended around 8.30pm, so by the time I caught the bus home it would be usually well after 10. Late night bus rides always feel different, quieter, more unpredictable. Usually the drivers only stop if someone pulls the string or requests it. That night, ironically enough, I was listening to horror stories during my commute and the specific story I was listening to was about a woman being followed. So when I got off the bus, I remember lowering the volume and becoming extra aware of my surroundings. The final part of my commute requires me to walk past a couple of stores before turning down a Dark residential dead end street with terrible lighting. One of the stores I pass is a Popeyes. I remember debating whether or not I wanted Mac and cheese. But I had already passed the store and was almost at the end of the block before then deciding to turn around and go back. That's when I noticed the man from the bus. Up until that moment, I hadn't paid attention to him at all. But the second I changed directions, he literally stopped walking like he froze. Then he just stared at me, wide eyed. It immediately made me uneasy, but I tried to brush it off and went into the Popeyes anyway. They barely had anything left because it was so late, so after a minute I left and just continued heading home. It wasn't until I was halfway down the block that I noticed him again. He was standing right at the entrance of the dark street. I had to turn down. Just standing there, waiting. At that point, my pace slowed immediately and I called my brother. He's usually never home, so the fact that he answered honestly felt like a miracle. I think he could hear something was wrong from my voice alone, because the second I told him I was by the Popeyes, he said he was coming to meet me. Knowing my brother was on the way, I finally turned down the dark street and passed the man. And then I heard footsteps behind me. The man had started walking too. He stayed behind me, matching my pace, and then quietly said I love you, before mumbling other things I couldn't understand. At that point, I decided it was safer to stay somewhere with light. So I walked back to the store area and waited outside a liquor store nearby. Since I live in the neighborhood, I recognized a lot of the men who usually hung around there. And I remember scanning the area hoping to spot a familiar face. But that night I didn't recognize anyone. That's when the man approached me again. Can I help you? He asked. He kept moving closer while saying it. I said no very loudly and more than once. And honestly, if he genuinely thought I was lost and wanted to help, that would be one thing. But I was clearly saying no over and over and he just kept advancing toward me anyway. Then I noticed he was wearing latex gloves. This was post Covid, so my immediate thought was, if he's that cautious, why isn't he wearing a face mask too? And it wasn't even cold outside, so the gloves looked completely out of place. Then he started saying, you need to go home, you need to go home. Almost like he was trying to pressure me into walking past him again. A few seconds later, he walked into the liquor store, and the second I saw him move further inside, I turned the corner where my brother was finally walking toward me. The entire situation probably lasted five minutes at most, but it felt so much longer than that. That's the strange thing about moments like these. They happen fast afterward when you replay them in your head. But while you're living through them, time barely moves. Study and play come together on a Windows 11 PC and for a limited time, college students get the best of both worlds.
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June 30th terms at aka mscollegepc Marvel Television's Wonder man an eight episode series now streaming on Disney A superhero remake. Not exactly what we'd expect from an Oscar winning director. Excellent Simon Williams audition for Wonder Man. I'm gonna need you to sign this. Assuming you don't have superpowers, I'll never work again. If anyone found out, my lips are sealed. Marvel Television's Wonder man all eight episodes now streaming only on Disney plus. I know trust your gut gets repeated constantly online, but about six months ago at Dulles airport, my body reacted to a stranger with such intense fear that I still think about it regularly. I'm a 24 year old male and my husband is a 29 year old male. About six months ago we flew from the west coast back to the east coast on a red eye. We landed at Dulles early in the morning, exhausted and kind of delirious in that weird post overnight flight flight way. If you know Dulles airport, you know the pickup situation can be chaotic. Arrivals get backed up constantly, so instead of waiting downstairs, we took our luggage upstairs to departures because pickups there are usually way faster. It was cold outside, but after hours in airports and on a plane, the fresh air honestly felt nice. We leaned against those concrete barriers outside the terminal. The while my husband called his mom who was driving from Potomac to pick us up. Traffic was bad so we were just standing around waiting. That's when a man came over. At first there was absolutely nothing strange about him. He looked like a completely normal late 20s or early 30s tech guy. Clean clothes, fleece vest, AirPods in, well groomed, maybe slightly dirty nails. Honestly the type of person you wouldn't look twice at. He told my husband he liked his jacket. My husband thanked him Then he complimented mine too. I awkwardly said something like, thanks, man, you too. Even though his outfit was pretty generic, he smiled and sarcastically replied, I'm sure you do. It was subtle, but something about the tone felt slightly off. Still, none of it seemed alarming. We made small talk. He asked where we were headed, and we said we were staying with family nearby. He started talking about family too, except every comment he made had this bitter self deprecating edge to it. At one point, he said something along the lines of friends and family not mattering. Anyway, we tried being nice about it. Just casual conversation with a stranger while waiting for a ride. Then something changed. I cannot explain this properly without sounding insane, but the atmosphere shifted so suddenly that I physically felt it. I got chills all over my body. Not anxiety, not nervousness, actual primal fear. The guy's expression changed completely. He was still talking normally, but the way he was looking at us suddenly felt deeply wrong. The only way I can describe it is that he looked at us like he wanted to hurt us. There was this intense anger behind his eyes that absolutely had not been there before. I remember noticing he had no luggage at all, just a backpack, which struck me as odd because he'd mentioned getting off a long flight. Then somewhere in the conversation, he casually said, I don't have a home. Again, none of this sounds terrifying written out, but standing there in that moment, every instinct in my body was screaming at me that something was wrong with this person. My husband usually gets absorbed in these conversations and doesn't really pick up on weird vibes immediately. But I knew I needed to get away from this guy without escalating anything. So instead of abruptly saying we were leaving, I quietly walked back inside the airport and down the ramp toward the arrivals, leaving my husband outside talking to him. I made up an excuse. I had to go to the bathroom, and he just said, oh, the bathroom, huh? I know that sounds terrible, but I genuinely thought if I had acted alarmed or made it obvious I was scared something very bad would happen. Once I got downstairs, I called my husband and told him as calmly as I could, you need to come inside right now. Something is seriously wrong with that guy. While I was on the phone, I could hear the man say, oh, is that your friend? Tell him to come back out. My husband wrapped up the conversation, politely saying something like, nice meeting you, man. And the guy responded in this cold, almost mocking voice, yeah, I'm really sure you mean that. The way he said it genuinely made my stomach drop. A minute later, my husband finally came back inside the second I saw him walk around the corner. I felt relief wash over me. Before I could even explain myself properly, he immediately said, no, I get it. That felt really fucking scary. That was the moment I knew I wasn't imagining it. We waited inside until my husband's mom arrived. The second we got into the car, she had started asking how we were excited to see us after we'd been away for a while. And honestly, I was really relieved to see her too. Not just because we hadn't seen her in some time, but because it genuinely felt like she had unknowingly pulled us out of something awful. The entire time we were driving out of the airport, I had this horrible adrenaline still running through me. I immediately started trying to explain what had just happened, talking too fast, trying to describe why the interaction had scared me so badly. But the more I had tried explaining it out loud, the more impossible it sounded. Nothing had technically happened. The guy never threatened us, he never followed us, he never even raised his voice. And yet I have never felt a stronger instinctual fear response in my life. I think part of what frustrated me so much was that I couldn't properly communicate what had felt so deeply wrong about it. Not to her, not fully to my husband, although he felt it too. And honestly, not even to myself. As we drove out of the airport, we passed the same man sitting alone further down the terminal. He didn't look over at us, but I remember staring at him through the car window, feeling like we had narrowly escaped something that I still can't explain. I'm a mill who travels for work, sometimes based in a large city in the uk. I work in sales and sometimes my work takes me to other areas of Europe or the Middle East. What I'm about to share happened to me in Dubai two years ago now, and I'm only now ready to share it because it still sends horrible chills down my spine. I was staying in Dubai for four nights solo. It was my first and last time in Dubai because I refused to go back. Anyway, when I arrived and got checked into my hotel, I spent that first night alone watching my iPad, sleeping and FaceTiming with my friends and family. The next night I decided to explore the city after my work meetings because I get lonely easily and it's not a feeling I deal with well. I decided to head out to a bar not far from my hotel and I ordered a beer. This was how I met a man who we'll call Kevin. He started our conversation and we got to chatting. He was suave and he carried himself Very well. I'm gay, but don't make this easy to spot for safety reasons, especially traveling. Kevin was my type and I found myself hanging on his every word. He asked me why I was in Dubai and correctly guessed where I was from based on my accent. He told me he was here for work too and we ended up talking for over three hours. When we were leaving the bar, we swapped contact details. Kevin was the kind of guy who made you feel at ease. He laughed in all the right places and said all the right things. He was one of those guys who listened to what you were saying instead of just being loud and abrasive. It felt like we'd been best buds for years. When we left the bar, he suggested we meet up again and I agreed. Sure. As I walked home, I felt like skipping, but I also was not about to try to be anything other than friends with Kevin because I prefer to keep a low profile and I didn't want a relationship at this point because I was career focused anyway. The next day at my word conferences, all I could think about was Kevin. When I made it back to the hotel, I was about to enter my room when I had heard someone shout my name from down the hall. I turned, recognizing that voice and sure enough, it was Kevin. He told me there had been a mix up with his reservation and his hotel needed him to leave his place early. It was then that I noticed he was holding a black bag in his hand. I had told him the hotel I was staying at because he had mentioned where he was and looking back, I shared this information quickly without thinking. Back in the bar. Now here he was holding his bag, staring at me. We laughed about what a crazy coincidence it was and he told me he was trying to get a room here since I was here and he knew me and thought it would be fun if we shared a hotel. We had laughed and joked for a few minutes before I went into my room and Kevin said he was heading back down to reception. I showered and got changed. Then I lay on my bed and fell asleep for a bit. I had agreed to meet up with Kevin at the bar again, so when I woke up and saw it was 10pm, I shot up because I was late meeting him from falling asleep. I wasn't sure if he would knock on my door or WhatsApp me. But when I tried to find my phone, I couldn't find it. I didn't feel I had time to find it. So I ended up just leaving and heading out to the bar. When I arrived, I searched for Kevin But I couldn't find him anywhere. I decided to have some drinks and chat with some other people. But I didn't swap contact details with any of them. And when I left the bar, I felt much more relaxed about everything. I still had my iPad, so if I needed to contact anyone, I could just use that. It was at this moment it hit me that I could check where my phone was using my iPad since it was linked up. So I decided I'd do that when I got back to my hotel room. However, when I arrived, I was unnerved. There was a note slid under my door and simply said gingers or mingers? I was so confused and I felt spooked. I hadn't shut my door behind me, so it swung open. As I stood there reading the note, I was just about to close it when Kevin appeared. He sounded upbeat and light, but I almost jumped out of my skin. He joked I looked like I'd seen a ghost and asked me what the score was. I apologized for standing him up earlier and explained I'd fallen asleep and had been late to the bar and I'd lost my phone and had him unsure how to contact him or find him. He laughed and he told me it was alright and he assumed that was the case. He told me he had knocked on my door to say he wouldn't be coming to the bar because he too was tired and since I hadn't answered, he figured I'd went and felt stood up. He said that was why he'd stopped by. It was then that I noticed he still had his black bag to describe it. It was like a black drawstring gym bag. Before I could say anything, he was quizzing me on what had happened to my phone. I found myself inviting him in and explaining I'd searched everywhere on my bed and floor and couldn't find it. He asked if I'd checked under the bed or the pillows and I said I had. He started to help me search and when I checked under the bed, it was suddenly right there. If I had been more sober, I could have felt a lot more uneasy because I know for a fact that my phone was not under that bed. I vividly remember crawling right under the bed and I swear on my deceased brother's grave that the phone was not there. I was completely dumbfounded. I wasn't steaming drunk, but I was a little over tipsy. And when I found it, Kevin started to cheer like woohoo. And he suddenly whipped his bag open and pulled out a bottle of vodka. I was wondering what was in there. I sat down on my bed and just kept saying that I thought my phone was lost. Kevin assured me it was all okay and he sat in one of the chairs in the room and asked me if I wanted to have some drinks with him. I ended up agreeing and I showed him the note. In the UK the word minger means ugly for context. It dawned on me when I was talking to Kevin that someone I'd spoken to at the bar had red hair. So it was like the note was saying they saw me talking to an ugly redhead. This freaked me out because it made me think, was I followed by someone and if so, by who and why? Kevin tried to make me forget about it and looking back, he was really encouraging to keep me drinking and really downplaying everything again. I think I was too drunk to realize how weird and bizarre a lot of things happening right then actually were. Kevin told me it was probably someone playing a joke on me from work. I had mentioned to him that someone at my conferences was a prankster, so this didn't seem too out of the ordinary. Especially because most of the people in my conferences were staying in this hotel anyway. Me and Kevin sat there drinking and talking for a few hours. It was late and I was getting more and more drunk, but Kevin was too. He ended up asking me if it would be okay if he stayed the night in my hotel room and I agreed again, sure. I ended up falling asleep. Kevin was still on the chair. I ended up waking up with that horrible feeling you get where it feels like you're falling off a cliff. I sat bolt upright in the bed and I felt this overwhelming urge to throw up. I ran to the bathroom and puked for what felt like forever. When I was finished and went back into the bedroom, Kevin wasn't there. Bleary eyed, I searched everywhere and I couldn't find him. I figured he'd changed his mind and left. I had placed my phone on the bed next to me and it was still there, thankfully. But I didn't open it to check the time. It was still dark outside and that told me everything I needed to know. I felt rough as shit. I must have fallen back asleep because I woke up later to a strange noise from the foot of my bed. I felt like I was dreaming. I opened my eyes and I could make out the faint silhouette of someone crouched down at the bottom of the bed as if they were kneeling down and holding their head up in their hands. I was so tired and half awake I felt like it wasn't really in front of me, and the next thing I knew, the figure had pounced onto the bed and onto me. I felt sick with terror as I realized the strange figure was Kevin. His eyes looked insane and I couldn't breathe as he started trying to strangle me. I tried to kick him and lift my arms to shove him, but he was pinning me down hard and grinning like a maniac. By the sheer force of God, I managed to throw us both off the bed. And I grabbed one of the empty glasses from the table next to it and thumped him over the head with it. I then ran to the hotel door, but just as I got there, I heard Kevin run up behind me. And then it all just went black. I awoke to a pounding headache and I was now back on my bed. My head felt swoozy and the room was spinning. I sat up and the room was completely trashed. My phone, iPad, and wallet were all gone, as well as half of my clothes from my suitcase. My shirt was ripped open, but I definitely wasn't assaulted in that way by Kevin because it was something that I could just feel hadn't occurred. Still, my shirt being open spooked me for a moment until I realized everything else was still on and I felt okay. Maybe it popped open in the struggle. I hate to say it, but my head was pounding so much and I felt so stupid that I ended up passing out again. And when I finally came to, I didn't report the incident right away. When I came to, I was able to take in just how destroyed and trashed the room was. It hit me that I'd have to cancel all my credit and debit cards because he must have stolen my wallet. He left my passport, which I thought was strange at the time, but looking back, I think this was to toy with me. He left me a note. I still have it to this day, tucked away in an envelope I never got rid of. He told me if I went to the police, they'd know I was gay and kill me. He wrote about how when we met at the bar, he could smell that I was just like him and he didn't appreciate being cheated on with. See you next Tuesdays at the bar. It was then that it fully hit me. Kevin must have been watching me, spying on me. And he must have been the one to leave that note. The guy was clearly deranged. He knew my hotel. He knew exactly where to slip that note under my door. And he must have wanted to get me drunk and do God knows what. In a fit of jealous rage, I thought I'D gave no inclination that I was gay. I still rack my brain trying to figure out how he figured it out. Maybe he saw the flickers of attraction in my face when I looked at him, but I thought I'd hidden it well, like I always take care to do. He warned me that he knew where I lived because he had my phone and he knew my family and friends had all their details. He told me that if I ever cheat on him again, he'll have no choice but to finish what he started. That if I tell anyone about what happened, he'll find out because he's always watching me and that I belong to him. I was so freaked out I went home, canceled all my cards and reported my belongings as stolen and went to the police in the uk. They tried to find Kevin, but it was useless. He wasn't booked under that name in the hotel. I didn't want anyone in Dubai or at my work knowing I'm gay, and this meant that the case didn't progress much Back home. I only told my closest family. Only my mom and siblings know about my sexuality alongside one close friend. Things were quiet for a few months and I know that I've since developed something akin to PTSD because I'm extremely hypervigilant and paranoid now. The reason I'm even bringing this up now is because I'm afraid Kevin really is watching me. I went on a date a few months ago. I'm writing this in early April and I don't know when I'll submit it, but I had a date in February around Valentine's Day. I met a cool guy and all went well on the first few days. He stayed over eventually and when I woke up the next morning and went outside to smoke, I saw a sheet of paper taped to my door. All it said was remember? I called it off with this new guy. I showed him the note and explained things and he looked spooked and he said he understood why I wanted to call things off. But we have stayed in contact. We text often in video call. He doesn't want to end things and neither do I. But I'm really convinced Kevin is watching me and just knowing that sends a shiver down my spine. I'm trying to move out of the city. I'm trying to switch jobs, but it isn't easy. Life in this city is tough, the rent is high and buying a property here is a no go for me. I'm hoping writing this story will help me to figure out what to do next. Every day I'm on High alert and on edge because I'm petrified. Kevin is watching me. He told me he was from a totally different area of the country from me when he recognized my accent. I'm terrified and I no longer trust anyone, not even my own judgment. I was blinded by Kevin's charm and good looks. I really hope no one listening to this or reading this ever makes the same mistakes that I did. In the summer of 2021, my boyfriend and I were staying at Tulalip Indian Reservation. The house we were renting had terrible phone service. To get a signal, we would have to walk or drive to the main road. It was about a mile long down the hill. No street lights. Our relationship was very toxic. We fought all the time. And when we did, he would take off and leave me at the house. No car and no cell service. This was one of those times. My boyfriend had been sitting in his truck listening to music. When I looked out the window, his truck was gone. I walked down to the main road. That was usually where I would find him. Just parked there where he had phone service, probably texting other girls. He wasn't there. So I started walking toward the gas station and I'm trying to call him. The gas station is another mile away. It is very dark. I think it was like midnight or 1am as I'm walking, an old blue pickup drives by and comes to a stop about the equivalent of a block away. He doesn't say anything and I can't even see him. The driver opens their door. A car comes towards us. He closes his door and drives off. I shrug it off. About five minutes later, the truck comes back, this time driving towards me on my side of the road. He's driving very slowly. The windows are so darkly tinted I cannot see the driver. I noticed what I had thought was a canopy is actually made out of wood. Another car passes and he takes off fast again. I turn around and start back to the house. Here comes the truck again. The wood thing looks like a cage or big wooden box with a door. He again stops about a block away and pulls over and opens his door. And again when a car comes, he takes off. My boyfriend is not answering my calls. I am just getting back to the private road that heads up to the house. Here comes that damn truck again. I pass the road and keep walking. I don't want whoever this is to know what road I live on. I don't want to lose phone service. And once I start up that road, there will be no traffic to scare him off. This time I had Started taking pictures of him. I wish I still had that phone that I took those pictures on. I text the pictures to my boyfriend and my best friend saying if something happens to me to look for this truck. The truck takes off yet again. I thought maybe I was safe and he got scared because I took his picture. I called my best friend and asked him to stay on the phone with me. I had started walking back toward my road. I figured I was safe. The truck had not come back. Right when I had started up my road, the truck came back again. I started running faster than I have ever ran in my life. I ran up this hill and into the woods. I can see headlights go by. The truck continues straight up to where all the houses are. I keep running up towards the house but stay close to the tree line. It's dark enough that I can see the headlights from pretty far away. I hear the truck coming back before I see him. By this time I am around the corner and I'm not too far from where the houses are. I dug down behind a tree and bush. The truck goes back down the hill very slowly. Once it feels safe, I start making my way back to the house. This truck comes back. I am ducking behind people's fences and broken down cars in their yards. The sky is just relentless at this point. I made it safely back to the house and I could hear every time that truck came back and he was circling. He would drive by about every 25 minutes, very slowly for the next three hours at least. By then my best friend had driven an hour to get there. My boyfriend finally checked his messages five hours later and came home acting all worried. Whoever that dude was with a wooden cage built on his truck, I really hope I don't encounter them again. And for those of you wondering why I didn't call 911, the US Marshals had a warrant out for me at the time, so calling the police was not an option. I have to give some context to start this off. I live in a complex. My unit is technically conjoined. Same building but split in half if that makes any sense. So all our yards are side by side and the garden beds in all of the backyards are roughly 2ft taller than ground level. I'm a 22 year old female and I live with two other people in my dock. I know there's a person that watches me from my garden at night when I'm outside and when I'm inside. I can hear them sometimes and I've seen them move before. It started around six months ago and I think they are getting braver. The first instance I remember I was taking my dog outside at night to do his business and I sat down on a hanging chair I have in my backyard closer to the garden watching tiktoks on my phone when I could have sworn I heard someone cough. I paused my phone, looked around and tried to listen for any noise, but I didn't hear anything. That is, until I was just about to press play and I heard what sounded like someone stepping on something crunchy leaves or sticks. I'm not quite sure. This immediately made me get this sick feeling in the bottom of my stomach, so I quickly went back inside with my dog. Little instances like this have been going on rather consistently since then. However, a couple of nights ago there was a weird new thing that happened. I was getting the creeps as per my routine lately and went to go inside buttoned. As I closed my back door I saw this little white light peeking out of the bushes. This immediately struck me as weird because the streetlights behind my unit glow orange and we don't have any garden lights so I couldn't figure it out. I saw that twice in a row and I haven't seen it since. Maybe it's a camera. Recently I saw you for the first time since you started watching me. You moved when you thought I wasn't looking and accidentally moved partially into the soft lighting. I know you're just watching me as I type from the safety of my lounge room. I know because I just saw you again and you're getting closer. So to the person watching from my garden, please go away.
- [53:44]
B
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- [54:15]
C
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