Scary Stories For Dark Dreams - Volume 06 | ATRD Podcast
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If you have a story you would like to hear featured on this podcast, please go to astheravendreams.com and click the button to submit your story. Also, if the platform you're listening on has the option to rate this podcast, please consider doing so. And thank you. I like to believe that I'm a fairly careful person, and that I do a pretty good job keeping myself out of trouble and away from dangerous situations.

That said, as much as I've done a good job at keeping myself safe, I have one thing that happened to me that was genuinely terrifying. And while I wasn't personally hurt, it still messed with my head. It was one of those moments that you never think you'll end up in the middle of, and afterwards, it just kind of sticks with you and creeps up into your mind while you're lying in bed at night.

The day that this happened, it was in the middle of summer. I had literally just turned 18 a couple days prior, and had spent a couple of days at my friend's house in a nearby town. I was actually driving home in the mid-afternoon. I think it was around 3pm or so. I had the windows down and the wind blowing through the car because of how nice it was, and was just jamming out to some summer pop song enjoying the drive.

As I was driving down a quiet and slightly rural road, I noticed that there was a young woman down the way with her thumb outstretched. Which I honestly didn't know was a thing people did. I thought that the whole thumb thing out on the road was a movie cliche, but there she was. She looked to be in her early 20s, long dark hair, and a simple and quite cute sundress.

Though I was always warned about the dangers of picking up strangers, something about her seemed harmless. She almost looked like my little sister, just older. So, I guess part of me saw some familiarity in her and immediately thought, if my sister was out on the road like this, I would want someone to stop for her to see if she was okay.

I decided to stop and see if she just needed a quick ride down the road, or if she needed to go a long distance. She told me that she was needing a ride to a specific gas station about 10 miles up the road. It was in the direction that I was going, and I would have passed by it anyways, so I told her to hop in and said that I could get her there. At first, the conversation was incredibly casual and friendly.

She told me her name, I told her mine. We chatted about the weather and how absolutely gorgeous it was that day. She made a comment about the song that was playing on the radio. I don't remember what song it was, but it was some Top 40 song and she was nodding along to it singing quietly.

She even told me a bit about who she was, how she was a bit of a vagabond, and she was doing an experiment to see how far she could go on the kindness of others. This was before van living was a thing, so it was a bit of a foreign concept to me, and I was shocked that it was working out the way that it was for her. After a bit of chatting and friendly back-and-forth...

She started talking about how much she liked to listen to true crime podcasts and such. It started with her saying that, being out and alone like this, she listened to them to be aware of the horrible things that could happen. But then she started talking more and more about various murders, cold cases, and such to the point that I could tell that she was a bit obsessed.

I don't mind true crime stuff. It's not my favorite, but I was willing to hear her out because she was very clearly passionate about them. However, it shifted from her talking about the podcasts to her talking about very specific cases in very, very vivid detail. The way that she got excited when she talked about the people dying...

It made me feel a bit uneasy, to say the least. She then turned to me and literally asked, "What do you think it feels like to die?" If she had just made the comment, it would have been one thing, but she said it, turned to me, and just stared at me like she really wanted an answer. I sort of just stammered and mumbled that I didn't know, and that I guessed it would just be painful.

She laughed and commented that it would probably be the best feeling you could ever have, because, in her words, it would be the final explosion at the end of all the buildup and hype. Then, it got worse. She turned back to me and said, I wish that I could find out what it felt like without actually dying. And she seriously smiled at me, like she was expecting me to volunteer to help her.

I just sort of said, "Huh, yeah," and tried to keep going without making eye contact, thinking that maybe she would get how creepy she was being. But she followed that up with, "If I asked you to help me, would you?" I was pretty obviously taken aback, and I told her that I would not be able to help her and said sorry, and that I just kind of wanted to focus on driving.

She fell back into her seat and said, "Well, alright," before just turning to focus back onto the road ahead of us. This made the whole situation feel super awkward and heavy. Like, how do you come back from that kind of comment? Well, her idea of coming back from the comment was to literally throw the door open and jump out of the car while I was going 50 down the road.

She opened the door, undid her seatbelt, and just jumped out onto the road while I was going full speed. I slammed my brakes and screamed as she jumped, the whole situation playing out in a horrible series of chaotic seconds. I threw the car in park, grabbed my cell phone, and then ran over to check on her. She was pretty messed up, but was definitely still breathing.

I called 911 and told them about what happened. They sent an ambulance and a few police officers, as this was definitely a suspicious situation. For some reason, the memory of them lifting her onto the stretcher to get her into the ambulance is seared into my brain. Just seeing them trying to lift her gently so as to not further her injuries, I could tell that she had broken a few things, though, and it was not pretty.

I had to explain to the police that she wasn't a friend, and how I had just picked her up and was giving her a ride. They looked at me like I was crazy. Part of me thinks they were debating whether or not they were thinking I shoved her out of the car. I explained what she said right before she jumped, and after a while I think they got the idea, and maybe they realized, with how distraught that I was, that it wasn't my doing.

They did call me back a few days later and asked me to come in to give an official statement, and I was actually informed that they were treating this as an attempted suicide and that they were needing my statements to help get her into a mental health hold. I gave them what they asked for, and that was the end of it. I have absolutely no idea what happened to this girl, and I'm terrified to think that she may not be with us anymore."

She was such a sweet young lady when we started talking, but she switched over to the crazed person in literally a second. I do hope that they were able to get her the help that she needed, and that she was able to continue on her trip to wherever she was going. But this event really instilled a strong lesson in me about not judging a book by its cover.

Back in 2017, I was in a pretty healthy relationship. Charlotte and I had been together for almost three years, and we were thinking about our future. We started looking at apartments together, and if things continued to go as well as they had been, I was going to save up to propose to her.

However, even though a lot of the places we looked at were her choice, and she seemed so excited about this, she then threw a huge curveball at me. She told me that she had a great career opportunity in Oregon. We lived in Missouri. At first I thought, okay, a cross-country move is a huge step, but I was willing to do it if it meant a better life for the both of us.

And even if it was kind of scary, moving out of state can also be exciting. But, much to my surprise, her plans did not involve me. She said she wanted to make a life for herself out there first, before she thought about a long-term relationship. And before I could even recommend it, she shot down the long-distance thing saying that she couldn't guarantee that she wouldn't cheat.

It hurt, but at least she was honest. I didn't know how to feel though. I understand wanting to do what's best for your own good, but why even consider apartment searching then? Why lead me on to believe that we had a future together? Overall, I was definitely upset and heartbroken, but I moved on, and wished her the best. But I wasn't the only one caught off guard by this. Even some of her family found it odd.

I was actually pretty good friends with her younger brother, and that's how I met her. And he was telling me how their parents were shocked that she just left everything behind. They were worried that maybe something sinister was going on, and forcing her to leave out of fear or something. But she assured everyone that that was not the case.

She even showed us pictures of her new place and shared links to the place that she was going to be working for. It was an illustration company. Knowing that she was at least okay, we tried talking here or there, but I think overall it just made me feel worse, so we agreed it was best to cut ties. Now, it's been several years since this event happened. I've entirely moved on, and I'm happy.

I decided to make some changes in my life too and got a new job. I met a girl named Valerie that worked at the same place as me, and I could instantly tell that there was a connection. We went on a date, hit it off immediately, and we've been together for about four years now. Charlotte wasn't even a thought in my mind. I was still good friends with her brother, but we hardly talked. But that was just life.

So, needless to say, I wanted to propose to Val, and when I got hints from her and her friend, I took it as the go-ahead. Things definitely felt different, but in a good way compared to Charlotte. And to make it the second best day of my life, she said yes.

At that point, life started moving pretty quickly, so when I was waiting in line to get coffee, I didn't notice the people around me until I heard my old nickname, making me look around. That's when I saw Charlotte. We hugged, and I asked her what she was doing there. She explained that she was thinking about moving back, but was just visiting for a week. We quickly caught up for a bit, and she suggested that we grab a coffee or lunch together sometime.

I agreed. I gave her another hug, and then I left. I even went home and told Val that I had run into her. We were very open with each other, and she knew of Charlotte, so she saw no issues with us catching up either. It was probably a few days after that that we met up at the same place. We sat and talked about the past years.

She showed me so many pictures of Oregon and places that she went, and even a few famous people that she met through her work. So I asked her, since things were going so well, why she would ever want to move back. Her answer was vague, but said something about being able to work on her own time now and how she wanted to be closer to her family. Then she turned the conversation on me, and I told her that I was engaged.

She looked surprised, but also said that she was happy for me. As we continued to talk, I noticed her becoming more and more hands-on. She would touch my shoulder, go down my arm. She would grab my hands and even rub my leg with her foot. It was, well, it was a weird feeling, to say the least. It reminded me of who she was when we were together.

I mean, I didn't feel anything as I was in love with Val, but the thought was in the back of my head. Was she trying to do something? Was this her flirting with me? I tried not to think about it, and we parted ways after a few hours. When I saw Val that evening, I even told her what had happened, and she found it odd. And then she mentioned that maybe there was a hint of jealousy from Charlotte,

but otherwise she wasn't really worried about it. So, again, we moved forward with our life, and I got random casual messages from Charlotte. My phone number never changed, after all. However, we started having strange events occur, and honestly never really connected them at the time. Val ended up moving to another location under the same business that we worked for, so we were no longer driving together.

However, I had to take her to work one day because we went to leave one morning and her tire was flat. It wasn't like it just lost air or like there was a nail. I didn't even have to look for the cause. Towards the backside of the tire, there was a pretty big puncture in it. It wasn't a clear cut like a knife, but it wasn't mangled like the tire had just exploded. Not to mention, there was no additional damage to her car either.

We were confused, but I just took her to work and told her that I would take care of it. Val had a pretty new car. I went with her to test it out, and it was only a few years old at the time. But she ended up having a pretty scary issue with it.

We kissed each other goodbye one morning and left for the day. When we got to work, we usually texted each other one more have a nice day with me usually being the first one, as my drive was shorter by about 15 minutes. When I didn't get a text back, I thought it was odd, but then just assumed that maybe she had forgotten or someone stopped her on her way in, both of which have happened before.

So, after I got in and to my desk, I was prepared to text her when she called me hysterical. When I finally got her calmed down, she explained what happened. She said that she noticed her car hesitated a little when she shifted from reverse to drive, but ignored it as it soon went away. She thought maybe she imagined it, but made a mental note to tell me about it when she got to work.

However, she didn't make it to work because as she rolled up to a red light, her brakes kicked back and did nothing else. She went right through that intersection at about 30 miles per hour, instantly t-boning a van. Her airbags deployed and she was obviously shaken up. She told me that the police were already there and that tow trucks were on their way, so I left work immediately to go be with her. The sight was pretty terrifying.

and I felt so bad that she had to be in that situation, and alone to boot. The van had a woman and her toddler in it, but both were in their seatbelts and the kid in the car seat, so they were okay as well, just a bit shaken up. After the scene was cleaned up, we went home and she walked me through the situation again. It definitely sounded like something happened to the brakes, so...

After they towed the car back, I had someone come take a look at it to see if they could diagnose the issues. They were certainly able to, and they told us that one of the brake lines had been cut, and it was obviously done by someone that was not trying to replace a line or done by accident. He said you could see where they tried to cut it in multiple spots until they finally got through. We were terrified and confused. Who would try to do this?

Val was such a kind person, and it's not like she had any enemies that came to mind, so I just didn't know how to handle this. But then, she asked me if I thought Charlotte would do something like this. I also didn't see Charlotte as the type to do that, and while we talked, it was still very casual conversation. She shouldn't have even known where we lived.

While I was questioning this, she brought something to my attention that she hadn't really told me about. She said that she had gotten a few calls at work, like they were transferred to her office line specifically looking for her, but when she would answer, they would just hang up. She thought it was weird, sure, but nothing scary or worth mentioning. Then, a few days prior to the accident, she got another call and this time the person talked.

and said something with a slight giggle, like, "'Nice car that you've got,' and then hung up. I was horrified. I didn't want to think about Charlotte possibly doing this or even entertain the idea, but then I remembered the way that she acted when we met up. I honestly could not rule it out, so I called her while Val was in the room so that we could hear her voice."

I played it off like I thought that she called me and was returning the call, so it didn't last long, but I could tell by the look on Val's face that it was the same voice. I was furious. Why would she try to do this? She was the one that left me behind. Now, almost a decade later, she wants to ruin my life? As mad as I was, I started coming up with a plan. I bought a camera, and I had it set up to face our driveway.

Then, I texted Charlotte asking to go get coffee again. When she showed up, I was not friendly at all like I was the first time. I asked her point blank if she was following or stalking my fiance. She looked at me like I was crazy and denied it, but then I mentioned her stupid phone calls. She had this dumb grin on her face and actually said that she was just trying to have a little fun, but she was pretty easy to track down.

She admitted to the calls, but would never fess up about the car. But after I chewed her out some, she started to show her true colors. She said that I was the one in the wrong. That I was supposed to wait for her to come back and have a relationship with her again and her only. That was never the case. She broke up with me. She ended it because she obviously had plans to hook up with other people.

Why did I have to wait around for her? I was supposed to just be alone all those years? Hell no. I told her that she was crazy, and that she needed to leave us alone because we were happy, and that I would never be with her again, or even once to talk to her ever again. And I left that place feeling much better. I knew that we wouldn't really be able to take legal action though unless we had proof,

and that was where the camera came in. I had this feeling that she was going to try something again, and I was right. It was three or four days later, and we checked the camera, as we do every time before we leave, and we were also sharing a car at the time. There she was, clear as day, walking around and inspecting my car. She then proceeded to pour something in my gas tank,

Wiped off the side and the cover, for prints, I assume. And then she climbed on top of the hood, pulled her pants down, and squatted. I'll let you fill in the rest. Charlotte had lost it. I had never seen that side of her, and I was frustrated, and obviously embarrassed, that I ever let her back into my life. Sorry the story ended up being so long, but to wrap it up, we pressed charges.

We filed a restraining order, and were at least able to sue her for the damages to my car. As expected, we never heard from her again. And thankfully, her brother had no ill will towards me either. He said that she complained to him about me being engaged, and he basically told her to get the hell over it, like I did, because I had to move on. In the end, I think exes are better left at that.

No friends, no contact, just old memories. Good or bad, I suppose. Hi Raven. This event actually happened to me fairly recently, and I wanted to share with you after listening to some similar experiences, so here it goes. I'm in my late 40s, and the closest to a serious long-term relationship I've had was with my kid's father.

I got pregnant at 16, which forced us into a marriage per our parents' demands. We were still kids ourselves and barely knew each other, so it was definitely difficult at first. But we slowly worked on ourselves to make sure that we were there for our little girl. Then we had another girl that wasn't necessarily planned, but was also very welcomed.

However, I had her when I was 30, so my girls are about 15 years apart. Thankfully, they get along regardless of the age difference, and I am incredibly blessed for them. Now, their father seemed to have two sides to him, so while he seemed ecstatic about our second daughter, I guess he was having a midlife crisis and had burned through a bunch of our savings on his friend's wife...

whom he also sort of had an affair with. Anyways, long story short, we got a divorce. The girls both chose to stay with me, so good riddance. So, even though I've only been legally divorced for the last two years, I was already emotionally divorced or alone for years prior. I was feeling pretty lonely, especially with one daughter already being grown up and have moved out.

So, my oldest, Lacey, actually suggested that I put myself out there and try my hand at love again. I'm not the best with technology, but I can get myself around a computer. She came over and got me set up on one site that she had also been using herself. I had a few younger guys message me, but it was way too weird to me that these guys were interested in me because they were too close to my daughter's age.

But I did finally come across a guy named Bill. He was actually two years older than me. He had three kids close to the same age as my younger daughter, and said that his wife had died a few years prior, so he was looking to start over. We started talking through the site, and then even started talking over the phone. He seemed very family-oriented, which made me feel even better about him.

I also shared with him about my little family and how I ended up here. I told him about my two girls, and he also seemed very interested. I've noticed while scrolling through people that there weren't a lot that were interested in a woman with kids at home, so I was relieved more than anything when he asked about my daughters. He asked how old they were, their names, he asked about things they were interested in, and he seemed like he genuinely cared.

which was already winning me over so after about a month of talking i finally got up the courage and agreed to meet him in person we met at a local coffee shop which we were both familiar with and frequented often when we met we hugged and then i noticed he looked around me and asked where my daughter molly was my youngest i told him that she was in school as she was 15 at the time

It was a slightly odd question to me, as I knew he had kids around the same age, so I assumed they were in school as well. I did let it go, however, as we did talk about her a lot, so I assume he was just wanting to meet her too. We just talked for a while before we eventually decided to leave. He was very kind, very funny, and he had a very distinguished look.

He reminded me of a slightly overweight Robert Downey Jr. So, for my age, I thought if this worked out, then I'd gotten lucky. We had continued talking, and we met up for dinner a few nights after. This time, Molly was at a friend's house after a sporting event, so she didn't join us. Bill, again, made a comment about this, and I explained the whole thing to him, and he just seemed kind of disappointed.

I know now that it was just me being clouded by the situation, but again, I thought it was kind of sweet that he was so interested in meeting my kids. So, I told him that we could look into scheduling something so we could both bring our kids, and he seemed to like the idea. It was probably about two weeks later, and the church that I volunteer at was doing a potluck dinner.

Molly and I were already planning on going, and everyone was invited, so I thought I would ask Bill to join us, since there would be plenty of kids for them to play with too. He happily agreed. We planned to meet there that night. However, when we all arrived, I saw him get out of his jeep with what I assumed to be his youngest, who was only around eight or nine.

I asked him about the others, and he said that they were all busy doing something else, so he just had the youngest. I knelt down to say hello, knowing their name already, but they were really shy. That was understandable. Bill quickly cut our conversation off, though, to ask where Molly was, and I told him that she was already inside helping out. So I escorted him into the church and went to get Molly to introduce her.

Molly knew that I had been talking to Bill, so she also knew what he looked like and a little about him from what I had told her. She's also a very kind and outgoing girl, so when she approached us, she smiled and said hello. Bill immediately pulled her in for a hug. She hugged back and even laughed about it. Again, I thought it was a sweet moment and I was really happy that they both seemed okay with each other.

But then, as the night progressed, I started noticing things that were making me uneasy. As we sat and talked while eating, he was talking to Molly even more than he was talking to me. He was asking her similar questions that he asked me on our coffee date. He asked her what she was interested in, what she liked to do, her goals and aspirations, all of it. Again, it just seemed like he cared about her feelings, but...

Then it got weirder. He started asking her, with me present, if she had a boyfriend. Molly and I were really close, so I knew that she was kind of seeing a boy at the time. They'd basically gone to their school dance together. She answered him, saying yes, and he said, "'Ah, well, a boy's lucky to have a beautiful girl like you.'"

She smiled and thanked him. He continued to ask her more, but when I tried to ask about his son, he would barely answer me, and Bill would answer for him or stop me from being able to talk to him, which I found really odd. Feeling a bit weird, I decided to grab all of our plates and take them into the kitchenette.

I wasn't gone long, but when I came back, Molly jumped up and said that she was going off to help in the back, and then rushed off. I thought it was odd, but decided to leave it alone for the moment. I went to sit down again, but Bill then stood up saying that he had to leave, and after a quick half-hearted hug, he was gone. And with that, the whole night ended with this really weird aura.

On our way home from church, I noticed that Molly was extremely quiet, which was unlike her. I asked her if something was wrong, and after a deep breath, she said no. I know her too well, and I know that there was something wrong, so I pushed, refusing to take that as an answer. Thankfully, it didn't take long to get it out of her. She said that she didn't like Bill, and that she didn't want me to see him anymore.

She then explained the situation at the church, and it made me sick to my stomach. Bill had asked her if she was a virgin, and if she had ever experimented with a boy or with herself. She told me that she didn't know how to respond, so she just sat there, and he told her that if she was ever curious, she could come talk to him about it. There were other little things he said, but as soon as she saw me coming, she jumped out of the conversation.

I was horrified and disgusted. I had no reason not to believe her. Both of my girls were happy that I was willing to find someone, so she wasn't the type to try and sabotage this, especially with this insane of a story. I apologized immensely to her and told her that it would never happen again. I messaged Bill that night and tore him a new one, and I told him that I was reporting him as well. He never messaged me back.

I reported it to the authorities, but to my surprise, they couldn't even track the guy down. I had printed out his profile, so at least I had a photo of him, but his profile had since been deleted. His phone number had also been disconnected, and after looking into this guy further, it all seemed made up. I don't know who I actually met, or even if that kid was his.

I was horrified that I brought this stranger around my daughter, and I kept my promise and told myself and my girls that if I ever meet someone else, I will make sure to do a thorough check on him before they meet. But, to be honest, I think I'm pretty happy with just my girls for the time being. So, this is something that happened to me when I was much younger.

I recently watched a YouTube video that reminded me of this, and I wanted to share it with you. Back whenever I was about 8 or 9, I believe, I went to an Easter egg hunt with my family at our local church. Now, at the time, we lived in the middle of nowhere within the Midwest, and the state or county had recently started projects to expand the area.

It was mostly just open acreage, but wasn't even being used for agriculture, so I guess they just saw a lot of opportunity. Signs and fencing started going up all over where they were going to be building an apartment complex, some sort of strip mall, another grocery store, and even planned on expanding some of the roads. I was a kid, so I didn't really understand all of it,

I just remember my dad not being too keen on the idea, and my mom was constantly being optimistic about it. I just thought it was cool, because our teacher mentioned that we could be getting a new school eventually. Sorry for the run-on there, but it is a little relevant to my story. We attended the same church for as long as I could remember, and every year, they held an Easter egg hunt as well as their normal Easter service.

On this year, with one of the apartment complexes being completed and applications being accepted, the church wanted to do something bigger, to hopefully attract more attendees. They had signs everywhere, and kept mentioning that the egg hunt was going to be huge, and it was. I remember my family, which consisted of my parents, myself, and my little sister all being there.

I had an older brother, but he was too old to do the egg hunt, so he was with his friends from church at the time. We all went to the yard behind the church to prepare for the hunt. The yard out back was huge. There were trees scattered within the flat grassy area, and then further back was another line of trees. I think that there was a walking path back there, but I also never went, so I wasn't sure at the time.

They hid the eggs all over the place. Within the yard, in the grass, the bushes, in crevices of trees and branches. There was a small side parking lot that was blocked off because they had a few booths over there for games and food, and there were even some eggs hidden over there too.

Us kids had free reign of the area to hunt them, but were told to try to leave the ones just sitting in the grass for the very young kids. Which was fine. I was very competitive at things like this, and maybe even candy motivated. They weren't all candy though. Some had small trinkets in them, coins or small bills, and some had bible verses.

So, since they weren't all candy, that meant that I wanted to get even more, to increase the chances of the candy that I got. Anyways, as the egg hunt began, my parents told me that I could go wherever I wanted, while they held back to help my little sister. So, I immediately went by the parking lot and got a lot over there. I even grabbed a few that I found from the trees.

I liked to climb the tree in our front yard, so it wasn't hard for me to do the same to get the eggs. Now, because I was looking at my bag quickly filling up, it motivated me even more to continue and I thought of the genius idea to check all of the trees. I climbed up several of them, and I found even more. This led me further away from the main group and closer to the forest of trees in the far back.

And before I realized it, I had made my way in to those trees. After searching a few more and no longer finding any eggs, I decided that I probably went too deep and that I should leave. However, as I looked around, I couldn't figure out which way I had come from, which way was the way out and which way was getting deeper. And even worse, I didn't see a path anywhere like I was expecting.

I thought maybe I could remember a tree that stood out to me, one with some kind of memorable markings or anything, yet I found nothing. I continued to walk aimlessly, but it was getting me nowhere. Being so young, the only thing I had left to do was scream out and cry. I fell to the ground and sobbed for a bit, thinking of all the different things that could possibly happen.

At the time, I didn't think about just continuing to walk in one direction until I found an exit. I just assumed that I would get deeper into the woods and get even more lost. As I sat there, I opened one of my eggs and I ate a piece of candy. While I did this, I heard a crunch from the ground and looked up. Near a tree that was a few feet ahead of me, there was a woman standing there and looking at me.

Seeing a random person in the woods with me startled me at first, but the lady herself wasn't scary at all, nor did she throw off any red flags. In fact, I remember thinking that she looked like she was straight out of a fairy tale. She was wearing a wispy dress, it's the only way that I know how to explain it, as well as a fluffy and patchy knit jacket. She had long braided copper colored hair that also looked frazzled towards the top,

She had a brown burlap bag strapped to her back, and was also carrying another bag by hand. Her face looked kind and concerned, though. After my initial jump, I asked who she was, and she just asked, "'Are you lost? You shouldn't be in here by yourself, but you know that already, don't you?' I confirmed that I was indeed lost, and explained how the Easter egg hunt had distracted me."

She slowly approached and said that she wasn't going to hurt me, and began to dig around in one of her bags. Then she sat down across from me and handed me something wrapped in paper. I stared at it for a moment, and she told me that it was a sandwich and that I could have it, as a way to prove that she was nice. Again, a few things here, I was nine years old.

I guess you could say that I wasn't really talked to about stranger danger due to the small town that we lived in and that everybody knew everyone else. I guess they didn't really find it was necessary. I'm not sure of their reasoning, but this is me explaining my next actions. Also, I had breakfast that morning and we wouldn't be eating until later for our Easter dinner. Combine that with running around and climbing trees...

Yeah, I was pretty hungry. I unwrapped the sandwich and took it apart to see that it was just bologna and cheese and mayonnaise. I didn't like mayonnaise though, so I scraped it off the best that I could and just ate it with one slice of bread. As I ate it, she just watched me with her chin resting on her hands. As I finished it, she started asking me about things such as my name, my age, if I had any siblings, where I went to school, just simple things.

As I answered her, I started feeling more and more relaxed and calm. I don't feel like it lasted very long, but after some talking, I asked who she was, and if she was lost too. She just smiled and said, "I'm just Lucky." I remember at the time thinking that must be her name, partially because we used to have a dog named Lucky, and I told her this. This made her laugh, and she seemed happy to hear me talk about Lucky.

Shortly after, she then told me that my parents were probably worried about me, and that I should go. I agreed, but then made a comment about not knowing how to get out. She gave me another one of her soft smiles, took my hand, and said that she would help me, and started leading me in one direction. We came up to a tree that had a lot of vines wrapping around it, and she stopped.

She told me to keep walking in the direction that we were, and to not turn whatsoever, and to not look back. She then said I would find my way out before I could count to a hundred. At my age, I thought that that was an odd thing to say, but I just smiled, bragged about my counting skills, and began walking. It wasn't long after that that I found a break in the trees, and I could hear a few people shouting my name, but...

Right before I continued walking, I heard the lady clearly say "Goodbye Chase" and since I wasn't good at following directions, I looked back, but the lady was gone. However, one of the reasons I looked back was because of what she had said. My name is Alexander and I had told her that earlier, but I hate the nickname Alex, so a lot of people call me by my middle name, which was Chase.

If anything, I would have expected this lady to call me Alexander or maybe Alex, but not Chase. How would she have known that? Perplexed, I continued through the trees and nearly fell over a small ledge of dirt. I saw a few people that I recognized standing around and several people shouting my name, including my mother. She sounded frightened, so I shouted back for her and everyone turned to look at me.

My mom ran over to me and asked where I had been, and I just told her that I got lost in the woods. She quickly disciplined me for going in there, but then just asked if I was hurt or anything. I shook my head and told her about the lady that had helped me out. She looked at me confused and looked back towards the trees, but then just picked me up and brought me back over towards the church. The thing I hadn't realized at the time...

was that it had been several hours since I went into those woods. It certainly didn't feel like I was gone that long, but that's why everyone was so concerned. They were about to call 911. Later that night, I tried to explain to my parents what had happened, and I described the lady that helped me. I remember the look on their face was one of disbelief at the time, probably thinking that I exaggerated some details, but it was all real.

Every detail I remember about her was so vivid that I have not forgotten. I've been in those woods since I've gotten older, both alone and with my older brother, but I've never seen that woman again. I've even talked to other people that have gone into those woods, and they said they've never experienced anything like this before. However, since that experience, every time I've gone in there,

I've had this strong sense of peace and felt safe, like there's someone that is always watching over me. I've been flirting, if you will, with online dating for probably the last four or five years now, and before you start to feel bad for me, it wasn't consistent. I would go on a few dates that seemed fine, and then something would end up happening or we just wouldn't click.

So I would quit, get rid of the apps, and delete my profiles. I would then try again, and unfortunately the cycle would keep repeating. But I wasn't willing to give up yet. I still wanted to find someone that I could spend the rest of my life with. So I cleaned myself up, and again, updated my profiles, ready to start searching. This was early 2022.

I guess I was feeling more confident about myself and the state of the world as I went on another hiatus from mid-2020 until close to the end of 2021 for obvious reasons. I had a few matches, some that ended pretty quickly at the chatting part, but others I was actually able to go out with.

However, there was one girl that really drew me to her, and I thought I was the luckiest man around when she actually agreed to a date. This girl's name was Callie, telling me that it was short for Calliope. She had long, wavy hair that probably went about to her mid-back in a copper-blonde color. She had soft green eyes that complimented the freckles on her face, but her smile and her laugh...

was really what did it for me. It was adorable. She had some kind of dumb joke on her profile too, which I had answered it correctly. It's already off to a good start when they don't take it too seriously. We talked for a bit, and then we even video chatted a few times before we actually went on a date. The first date went perfect. We had dinner, then we walked around a nice dog park and got ice cream nearby.

It's normally here where I feel good about things, but will then get a message through the dating site saying that it won't work and I would start over. However, Callie surprised me. She said that she would love to do something again. So eventually we had our second date, and we went to a movie and arcade which was a lot of fun. We started learning that we had a lot in common, especially in the type of music that we listened to.

So when she asked me if I wanted to go to a concert with her for a band that we both enjoyed, I agreed. I even offered to pay for both tickets, or just mine, but she refused, saying that she had already bought them. Now, I had never really gotten this far in the process, so I don't know how long this normally took for others, but this all happened within the span of a month.

So I dressed a little down from what I normally wore, picking a band shirt and jeans, and when I picked her up, she was wearing something similar, although it looked much better on her. We decided to grab a few slices of pizza before the show, and went to a local pizzeria that was probably about 45 minutes away from the venue.

Unfortunately, as we were enjoying our pizza and each other's company, she got an email or a text about an electrical fire occurring at the venue, and until they knew it was safe, all shows would be cancelled starting from that night forward, until further notice. We were both pretty disappointed, because I think we were both really looking forward to it.

After moping for a bit, I suggested that we still drive around the area as we may have been able to find the band members at a local bar or something. However, she had better ideas and suggested that we just go back to my place. This was not something I would have ever offered nor have expected.

The reasons should be obvious, but being a guy, I never wanted to suggest anything, and I really didn't have much self-esteem. But she insisted, saying that we should make the most of the night. So, after we finished eating, we left, stopping only to get some cheap wine at her recommendation, and headed back to my place.

Once we got there, I played some music from the same band that we were supposed to see, and I even put on a previous live performance of theirs on YouTube, trying to be funny or sweet, I guess. After we talked for a while, things heated up, so we ended our night in the bedroom. That night was fantastic, and since we didn't work the next day, I was looking forward to spending the day with her.

Yet when I woke up that morning, the spot next to me was empty. I thought, no problem, maybe she just got up before me and was in the bathroom, or even maybe she beat me to making breakfast. So I got out of bed, walked past the bathroom to see the door open. I went to the kitchen, and I noticed it was empty too.

I got a little discouraged at first, thinking maybe she had left, but her purse was still sitting on the coffee table. Then, I heard a loud crash and realized I didn't check the spare room, which I had made into my makeshift office. I quickly ran to the room, opening the door, and a flood of emotions ran through me as I saw Callie standing over what was my laptop, holding a hammer.

and her face was a splotchy, crying mess. When I was finally able to talk, I blurted out, what the hell happened? I know, I'm dumb. It was obvious, but for some reason I still didn't want to believe it. In a shaky voice, she made comments about me seeing other people behind her back. I was confused by this because I hadn't been, so I tried to figure out what exactly she was talking about.

She said she noticed my dating profile where we met and saw that I had gone on other dates other than her. However, I guess what she failed to see was that I hadn't gone on any other dates since I went on the first one with her. There were ones prior, yes, but I had two more lined up around the same time that we met, but I had cancelled them because I was into her.

For some reason, none of this worked for her. Or maybe it was just too late. I don't know. But she kept screaming about how I was a liar, and how I was just using her. I again tried to reason with her and calm her down, but nothing was working. She snapped, and she said that I was going to pay for hurting her. And she then charged at me with the hammer.

I ran out of the room, holding the door shut behind me, hoping to just buy a little bit of time to think about what I needed to do. That's when I could tell that she was swinging the hammer at the door. I let go of the door and made a mad dash to the front door, running out of my apartment and only my boxers. I ran down the stairs and started banging on the door to another apartment.

There was an older lady that answered, and my god, I still feel awful to this day for doing this, but I ran in, begging her to call the cops, and trying to explain what happened. I think that she was already about to call 911 on me alone. I stayed by her front door, stopping myself from looking around her place, hoping that my pathetic self looked harmless to her,

until I heard the police knocking and calling out. I opened up the door, and I told them what happened, and I led them to my apartment. They made me stay outside so that they could get my side of things, while another cop went in to get her. After a short time, it was a small apartment after all, I heard shouting and what I assumed to be people struggling. They finally came out with her in handcuffs.

She had on one of my t-shirts that she had slept in, but also the zip-up jacket that I had worn the night before. When she saw me, she instantly became enraged, and they had to calm her down again to get her into the car. They then had me walk through my place to see if anything was taken, or if anything else was damaged.

She ended up finding my cell phone and breaking that, and she also smashed a picture that I had in my living room of myself, my mom, and my sister. My dad died when I was young, so they were the only two people that were really significant to me. Oh, and they also found her hanging off of my balcony, talking about how she was going to jump. I lived on the second floor, so she may have had some broken bones if she did, but that was about it.

Not to mention, it was grass below my patio, not concrete. After all was said and done, I think I was just confused and disappointed more than anything. I didn't press charges, but she had actually bitten the officer that had detained her, so they had their own charges to file. I don't know what exactly changed or happened-

nor will I probably ever know, but I felt bad for her more than anything. There was obviously something wrong, or maybe something traumatic had happened to her to cause her to be like that, but I think she probably could have used help more than charges. In the end, I just got a cheap phone until tax season and replaced them both at that point.

I don't really know whatever happened to Callie, as she never tried to contact me after that, but I really do hope that she's doing better. But yeah, I'm also taking a break from dating. Again. Hello, Raven. I've been a fan of your stories for a while now, and I've particularly enjoyed the trucker stories that you've done.

And while my story may not be a trucker story, it was one where I was on the road, and I thought I should go ahead and share it with you and your audience. This was a long time ago. I don't want to say when exactly, as it would date me, and I don't like to think about how old I am. Let's just say it was a number of years ago at this point.

I've never shared this story anywhere else online, but maybe by sharing it, I could help out others that could be in potentially dangerous situations. It was sometime in the middle of autumn when this happened. It wasn't too cold yet, but it was starting to hit that point in the fall where it starts to rain a lot, and the rain is really cold. Like when the weather is wanting to shift over to snow, but it isn't quite there yet.

You live in the Midwest, you know what I'm talking about. It was starting to get dark, and I was driving home from a long day at work, and I was just kind of staring off at the road trying to keep myself from dozing off until I got home. The sun was starting to set, there was a light fog that was trying to lift itself up through the rain, and really, it was just a lovely autumn scene.

I live a bit out of the main town that I'm near, so I have to take some back roads to get to my neighborhood, meaning that I don't really run into a lot of traffic, be it other cars or foot traffic. I rounded one of the corners near my home, and as I did, I noticed a man walking a bit up the road with his hand outstretched, like he was waving at me. My first thought was, this guy needs help.

and I've always been a compassionate guy. So, despite the inherent risk, I figured there was no harm in at least pulling over to see if he was okay, or if it was an emergency. I couldn't have lived with myself if I drove by and then found out that it was something serious that I could have helped with. I pulled over, and I rolled down the window asking the man what was going on, if he needed help. He looked like a pretty normal guy,

Longer, slicked back hair, probably in his late 20s or early 30s, business casual looking clothing, and a well trimmed but thick beard. This may sound weird to some, but if I had to stereotype him, I would say that he looked like the kind of guy that would work at Best Buy for the Geek Squad. I know that sounds kind of weird, but that's where I would place him if I had to.

As soon as I rolled down the window and asked if he was okay, he leaned into the window. He asked if he could get a ride to town, which was about six or so miles in the opposite direction. I asked whereabouts in town he needed to go, and he mentioned a small apartment complex on the opposite end, which wasn't too bad.

I knew the area, as it was the complex that I lived in before I bought my house. So, I told him that I could go ahead and give him a ride. He mentioned that he didn't have any money or anything that he could give me for it, and I told him that I didn't care. And I was just happy to help him get out of the rain. He shot me a smile, thanked me for my generosity, and then pulled the door open. He tossed a backpack into the pack and sat in the passenger seat.

Now, I'm a pretty big guy, so I wasn't really feeling threatened by him. He seemed pretty relaxed, so really it was just a matter of getting him there and trusting that he wouldn't pull anything crazy. I pulled into a driveway, turned around, and headed back, and while I was driving, I tried to make some small talk.

He seemed pretty willing to talk about things, so, again, I wasn't really getting any red flags. I asked him his name. He told me that his name was Alan. I asked him why he was out walking in the rain like that, and his answer was vague, but was basically, I was told I wasn't welcome where I was anymore. I assumed that this meant that he was just kicked out, and I wasn't going to push it.

After this, though, I noticed that his answers started getting shorter, or he would just chuckle slightly when I would say something and his focus just stuck to the road that we were driving on. Like, his eyes almost started to look vacant, and his smile was just a flat frown as he kept his head looking forward. After driving a bit more, the rain really started to pick up, and it was getting to a point that I was struggling to see where I was going.

I mentioned that the storm was getting pretty bad. He sort of grunted in response, and I followed it up with, uh, if you could, just point out where I need to turn. I don't want to miss it. After I said that, he lifted his hand and motioned to a parking lot by what used to be a gas station, but was vacant at this point. He softly asked me to pull over into the parking lot, and I confusingly obliged.

I wasn't sure why he wanted me to do so, but I guessed that he'd had his reasons. I pulled in, parked the car, and assumed that he was going to say something or just get out. He sat there for a few, very uncomfortable seconds. Like I mentioned, I wasn't physically threatened by this man, but this was, well, it was unsettling.

The dead look on his face, the fact that he was just sitting there silently and staring at nothing. I asked if he was okay, and I could see that he was starting to cry, like tears were welling up in his eyes and falling down his cheek. I felt bad, but at the same time, this whole thing was very weird. After just staring for a few more seconds, he turned to look at me with an unnerving intensity.

the tears still streaming down his face. He very quietly asked me what my name was, and I told him, just saying, ''Oh, it's, uh, then, my name.'' He kept a stare on me and nodded slowly, like he was agreeing that it was my name or something. A few more silent seconds passed by until he spoke again, and when he did, he said, ''Well, I want you to know that you're lucky.''

"You're not the one that I'm looking for tonight." He then reached behind himself to grab his backpack, shoved my door open, and just walked away from the car out into the storm. I was left shaken and confused, completely unsure of what the hell had just transpired. I watched him walk out into the rain and continue down the road, but after a few seconds I realized that I needed to get away from there.

just in case he changed his mind. I threw it in reverse, and I drove off with my hands tightly gripping the steering wheel. I spent the rest of the drive home with my heart racing, just trying to process what he meant and who he was. Over the years, I have oftentimes wondered about Alan and what that meant. Who was he looking for? What was he planning on doing to the person he was looking for?

And what would have happened if I had been that person? The memory of the whole thing still haunts me, and it made me way more cautious when dealing with strangers. I can tell you that I've never picked up another hitchhiker since that day. I'm not saying that every person is like Alan, and maybe he wasn't even saying that in a threatening way, but I am saying that being vigilant and trusting your instincts can potentially save your life.

Or keep you out of these kinds of situations. My simple act of kindness could have potentially been a brush with something malicious. And because of it, I now have this chilling story of a hitchhiker that scared the hell out of me. Hello. Long time lurker, first time poster here.

After having spent hours reading so many truly terrifying tales on this forum, I finally decided that it wouldn't hurt to share my own, and that maybe it could help others stay out of similar situations. This happened to me a very long time ago, and it still haunts me to this day, and it's the reason that I vowed to never get into a car with a stranger ever again.

I won't even get an Uber because of the possibility of something like this happening again, and I'm way beyond college-aged now. At the time, I was a deeply broke college student. I had made a very dumb mistake of going home to my very unsupportive parents for the holidays that year, and that was a mistake that I will never live down because of all this.

It's not really relevant to the story, but I'm not the person that my father wanted me to be. I live a lifestyle that he abhors, and he was very clear that because I am quote-unquote different, he no longer loved me, and that, to him, I was dead. Then, that year, I thought I would go ahead and get a bus to make the long trip to them to surprise them for Christmas. That lasted about a day."

My father refused to talk to me, and the only time he did say anything to me was to tell me that he wished I would keel over so that he never had to see my face again. Of course, my mother was never willing to go against his wishes, so she just sat there and let him say it. Sorry, this was a bit of a tangent, but it does show that my home life was tumultuous, to say the least. Longer story short, after that first night, my father told me to get out, so I did.

I grabbed my bag and I walked out the front door. The only problem with that was that I didn't have a lot of money and now I needed to get all the way back to my apartment, which, if I had to walk, was going to be a very, very long walk. Add that on to the fact that this was December and it was snowing. It was more likely that I would end up dead on the side of the road about a quarter of the way there. So, I did the next best thing.

I decided that I would trust some random stranger to get me at least part of the way there, or somewhere that I could afford to take a bus to get closer and then repeat the cycle. After about an hour of walking and waving down cars as they passed, an older rusted pickup truck actually slowed down and pulled over to the side of the road. I was a little hesitant, but the cold wind was absolutely making me less susceptible to red flags.

When I got to the window, it was a middle-aged looking man with a scruffy beard, older, slightly tattered clothing, including the generic lumberjack plaid overshirt. He looked like someone you would expect to drive an old, slightly rusted-out pickup truck in the middle of December in the Midwest. He reached over, rolled down his window, and asked where I was headed.

I told him that my destination was where I lived, but then said that I would appreciate literally going anywhere in that direction. He then said that he could probably get me about halfway if I could spare a few bucks for gas. I told him I could do that and tossed my bag into the back under his tarp, and then I hopped into the passenger seat. As we began down the road, the conversation was cordial enough.

He was making small talk about himself, what he did, asking me what I was doing out in the cold. I told him that it was a family thing, and that I was no longer welcome at home anymore. He sort of scoffed when I said that, and then said something about how parents aren't supposed to abandon their kids. I noticed that, as he was talking though, he kind of kept glancing over at me,

His eyes lingering a bit, his hands kept hitting the seat near my leg. I was really hoping that I was just imagining it, and maybe he was just really relaxed with strangers and talked a lot with his hands. But I kept my guard up a bit more than normal. My instincts were starting to tell me that something was a bit off. After a little while, he kind of circled back to the family question.

asking me what the family dispute was about because I had been a bit vague when he asked the first time. I mentioned that my dad was less than accepting of who I was, and he kept prying, asking what it was about me that my father had an issue with. I tried to dance around it a bit, but after being asked numerous different ways, I had to just tell him that it was because of my sexuality. My dad was unhappy with the fact that I was gay.

and that because of it, he had disowned me. I will say that when this happened, the world was a lot less accepting of people, which is why I was a bit evasive of the question. After I said this, the man nodded, and basically reiterated that a parent should never abandon their child, which made me let my guard down, just a little bit, thinking that maybe he was on my side.

Of course, the bells started ringing when the man took a turn onto an exit ramp off the highway, and then started down a bit more into a remote area. As he drove, I started to take in everything around me, noting various buildings and landmarks just in case things went south.

"'I won't say what he said to me next, "'but I will say that, despite his comments about how it was wrong that my parents didn't accept me, "'he very clearly did not accept me either, and he knew that my life was in his hands. "'Then he mentioned that he was sorry for what he had to do, "'because I seemed like a nice enough kid, but he didn't have a choice.'

I tried to play dumb and ask him what it was he meant, and he kind of just laughed and started to reach for something in the center console of the truck. I knew exactly where this was going to go, and thankfully at this point he had pretty much slowed down to a stop, so as he reached, I unlocked my door and I hit the ground running.

As soon as I jumped out, I could hear him screaming at me, yelling about how I wasn't going to get far, and that me running was just going to make it hurt more. I ran in the direction of where I knew the nearest buildings would be, and I did what I could to hide in the trees off to the side of the road to make sure that he didn't find me. I have no idea how the hell I got away, but I did.

Honestly, I'm not even sure if the man really looked for me or if he had just accepted that I had gotten away and that he had successfully scared the hell out of me. The part that really sucked was that I had to leave my bag in the back of his truck, so I lost all of my clothes. I had my wallet on my person, so at least he didn't get that. I took a few minutes in the woods to catch my breath and just waited out.

but then started off toward the gas station that I had noted earlier. Thankfully, nothing further really happened. I got to the station, and I told the clerk what happened, and he offered to call the police for me. I took him up on this offer. The cops showed up, and I tried to tell them what happened, but of course they didn't really seem to care.

Because I was making a report on this though, they did offer to drive me to the station, and then from there I could at least get to the bus stop and wait for the next bus. If nothing else, the guy had driven me quite a bit closer, so it was much easier for me to get home from there. I never hitchhiked again after that, like I mentioned above, and I got a really good lesson on trusting people.

Some people have this deep, ingrained hate that they will not let go of, no matter how friendly they are. Obviously, I got home okay after that, but I pretty much never went anywhere that wasn't available by a bus, and I got my own car soon afterwards, so that I could just drive myself.

To anyone out there that reads this, please do be careful, and remember that not everyone, no matter how polite, will be a good person. Trust your gut, find alternative ways to travel, and do everything you can to avoid situations that don't feel right. This happened a few years back when I was visiting with my family for Easter.

I was living on my own at this point, but since my grandmother's birthday wasn't April, we typically did a small Easter and birthday get-together with my parents and siblings. This year I was bringing along my girlfriend, who I had been with for almost a year, so that she could meet some of my family, so I was pretty excited about that. And thankfully she was too.

My grandparents lived in a quiet little neighborhood that was basically like a retirement community. They lived in what was essentially condos, because they were connected but they were also more house-like, more so than an apartment. They had their own buildings and even backyards and patios. It was a pretty nice area, and their neighbors were your fairly typical retired people who

They left you alone for the most part, but would always make sure to greet anyone they saw coming or going. I had been there and stayed overnight a few times when I was younger, so I had fond memories of the place. So we went over there on Sunday afternoon. It was about an hour's drive for us, and we got there a little earlier than anticipated.

My parents were already there, so I introduced them and my grandparents to my girlfriend, Whitney, and we all just sat around and talked for a bit. Shortly after, my siblings started to show up one by one. My younger sister and older brother both had a kid, so my grandparents were pretty excited about hiding eggs for them.

After the egg hunt, we had dinner about an hour or two later, and then we all just kicked back while the kids dug into their Easter baskets. At one point, my grandpa, my dad, and I were sitting in the living room talking while the rest of the family was scattered about. My dad was mid-sentence when we heard what sounded like someone softly tapping on the door. It stopped my dad as we listened to see if there was maybe one of the kids playing around,

when the knocking happened again. So, my dad got up and went to the front door to see who it could be. Yet when he opened the door, there was no one there. So we went back to our original thought of, it was probably someone messing around, and continued our conversation. Shortly after, the tapping happened again. So my dad shouted towards the kitchen and asked where the kids were.

My mom responded that they were out back with my sister and Whitney playing, so my dad got up and walked into the kitchen and continued their conversation. My grandpa and I sat there silently for a moment until Whitney walked back into the room and asked me what that knocking sound was. It caught me off guard at first because I asked her what she meant, and after she explained the same five-knock pattern that happened twice, which was similar to what we heard,

However, what we heard was a quieter tapping sound. What she actually heard startled her and my sister, as it sounded like a very loud banging. The condo was decent sized, but it definitely wasn't big, so if there was a loud banging we should have heard it too. After talking to a few others there, my mom and grandma in the kitchen said they didn't hear anything. My brother who was in the bathroom didn't hear anything either.

nor did my brother-in-law, who was out front smoking. My sister and Whitney heard a loud banging out back, and the other three of us in the living room just heard a tapping. It was odd to us that those of us that did hear something was so vastly different, yet those in the kitchen, who were in between the living room and the back door, heard nothing.

With no explanation, we just continued with our night, shrugging it off as something that was just weird. As it started getting a bit dark, everyone came back inside, but we had the screened back door open because it felt nice out. As we were all talking between the living room and kitchen table, we then heard another knocking. This time, everyone looked towards the door, telling me that everybody heard it.

My grandpa made a joke about my sister-in-law being late to the party, and we all chuckled as he walked to the door. Yet again, when he opened the door, there was nobody there. He walked out front looking around and then came back in with a look of confusion. There was no one out there. We all had heard it clear as day, but my grandma tried to make light of the situation, saying that someone must just be playing a prank.

My dad didn't like that idea, though, and said that he wanted to walk around to see if he could spot someone. My brother-in-law agreed to go with him, and they shut the door behind them. Shortly after they left, as we were starting back up the conversation, we were all startled by a blood-curdling scream. It sounded like a woman screaming for her life. I think we all pretty much jumped up when we heard it and looked at each other to make sure everyone was okay.

This then caused my brother to head for the door, and I followed closely behind him. I was worried that something had happened outside, or maybe my dad and brother-in-law found something or someone. As we walked out, I didn't see anyone in the front yard, and the street was seemingly clear, other than a few parked cars on the side. That's when we heard it again, a very loud and piercing scream, but I couldn't pinpoint a direction that it was coming from.

I called out for my dad with panic in my voice when I saw him and my brother-in-law approach the front yard from the privacy gate that separated the front from the back. He ran up to me and my brother and asked if we were okay and what had happened. We then explained to them that we had just heard the scream and wanted to make sure they were okay. They pretty much told us the same story. However, they said that they only heard one scream, and that was the second one.

How the hell could they have not heard the first one when it was clear to us in the house? They said that they walked around the entire condo and didn't see anything. They told me to go back inside and call the cops, while the other three continued to walk around. I ran back inside and grabbed my phone to call the police with trembling hands. I remember trying to stay calm as I looked over to Whitney and the rest of my family to tell them that I was just calling as a precaution.

It felt like hours before the police finally showed up, but it hadn't really been that long. My dad and brother-in-law greeted them in the driveway and explained what had happened. There were two that came, and they actually called for a few more so that they could check the surrounding area. They had us all stay inside, but my brother-in-law didn't really leave the front stoop. So, this is where things went from terrifying to bizarre. They came back and asked us all specifically what we heard.

When we heard it, and from what direction did it sound like it had come from? We all described the exact same thing, except when it came down to where it sounded like it had come from. My dad and brother-in-law claimed that they never heard the first scream, but the second one sounded like it was coming from the front. While we were inside, those that were at the kitchen table, closer to the open back door, said that it sounded louder from back there.

If so, it makes even less sense how they hadn't heard it. But for me, I could not pinpoint a direction. Both times, it sounded like it was right in front of me. Like, I had my eyes closed, and if I were to open them, I would see who the screams were coming from. The cops were trying to pinpoint a direction, but we really weren't that much help, so... They said they were going to ask some of the neighbors, because clearly they would have heard this too.

but they came back shortly after and said that the about dozen or so other homes they knocked on claimed that they did not hear anything. Not a peep. They also said that they didn't have anyone tapping or knocking on windows or doors either. I think if it weren't for all of us having such a similar story, they would have probably thought that we were lying. So they looked around a bit more and even drove by a few nearby streets, but...

When they found nothing, they said that they would have to leave. They then told us to call back if it happened again, or if we spot anything suspicious. After they left, we were all dumbfounded by the situation, and had lost any kind of party mood. We all started dispersing and going home.

My mom later informed me that they ended up staying the night there, because after we had all left, they started hearing what sounded like someone pounding on a window in one of the rooms. But once again, there was no trace of anybody. The grass hadn't been pulled down near the windows, there were no marks or smudges on them. My grandma was getting worried and my dad didn't want to leave them alone, so they stayed. However, that was the last event that they'd had for the night.

Thankfully, I guess. We all kept an eye on the news for a while, wondering if there was going to be a report on someone who was injured, killed, or kidnapped in the area, but nothing ever came of it. My grandmother even went and talked to some of the neighbors herself, and they all told her the same thing. They had never heard anything. It was definitely a freaky situation, but it was the only thing that ever happened in the area.

It was, however, enough to spook my grandma enough to want to move, which they did, a year after that. We still to this day have no explanation for the screaming or the knocking, but I just hope that there wasn't someone really out there in distress. And honestly, it's something that sticks with me to this day. My story starts back whenever I was 19 years old.

As a lot of young girls do, I didn't have the best self-esteem, and I clung to people that showed interest in me, be it just platonic or romantic. This is when I met a man named Rich. He was about 12 years my senior, and at the time, I just saw him as a good friend. I was working at a local thrift store, and he came in there a few times, and

and in fact, I think I caused him to frequent there more often. He was always kind to me, and seemed to actually care. He would always ask how work was going, how my week had been. I was wanting to go to college, but I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to major in yet. When we were slow, he even talked about what I was interested in and tried to help me find my way.

I had never really experienced this kind of attention, so I guess that I was falling for it. It started as me just hanging out with him after work, as friends. He had taken me out for dinner many times, and I even went to his house, as I was still living at home. My parents had even met him, and why they never questioned their 19-year-old daughter hanging out with a 31-year-old man was beyond me.

Then, things turned romantic between us. I truly felt that I had found my prince, and that we would have this happily ever after life. At the age of 20, less than a year after we met, I became pregnant. He even assured me that he would always be there to take care of both of us. He welcomed me to move in with him officially, and even convinced me to quit my job, promising me that we would be financially fine.

That way I could focus on being the best mom I could to our child. Everything was going as he promised, too. The whole time that I was pregnant, we were in that honeymoon phase. He did everything for me. He went to all of my appointments. He helped me when I was sick. He even catered to my silly cravings. Then when our daughter Adelaide was born, I fell in love all over again. Even after she arrived, we were doing great.

We were both happy, she was healthy, and we learned how to be the best parents that we could be together. We did have a few moments here or there, like when she would wake up throughout the night or when nothing we would do would seem to comfort her, but I just thought that was the nervousness and stress of being a parent. My grandmother, though, she's been the rock throughout my life, and she was on speed dial any time I had concerns.

Needless to say, she helped me through a lot, but things started slowly turning sour day by day, and it really broke me. It would start as Rich having to work late a lot, so I saw him less. When he would come home, he seemed to be in a bad mood or just really didn't want to talk about it.

He was an electrical engineer, so I'm sure that it was stressful, as all jobs have their bad days, but he just never seemed to want to talk to me about anything anymore. Then, he started calling me to say that he wouldn't be home for dinner, and telling me not to wait up for him.

Again, he would claim it was all work-related, but I had my doubts when he finally arrived home at midnight, or even later, and just passed out on the couch. In fact, I started seeing him less and less as a whole. I would see him off in the mornings, but that was about it. Even on the days that he was off or had an event to go to, he did not want to be around me. He stayed out and he didn't have me go with him.

He used to take me and Addie to his parents' place on occasions, but when I got ready to go once, he got mad at me for assuming and then left us there. It got to the point that the only time I ever left the house was to get the mail or occasionally get groceries after nagging him about being low. He failed to realize this because he was hardly home to eat with us.

He became verbally abusive. He mocked me when I tried to ask him for the simplest thing or for any kind of intimacy from him. I craved our conversations, our silly little inside jokes, or even just holding each other on the couch. I became severely reclusive and depressed. I hardly talked to my friends or family. I certainly didn't get to go anywhere or do anything because I didn't even have my own money.

Hell, I even tried talking to him about going to school so I could help to pay for things, and he wouldn't have it. He would shoot it down every time, saying that it was too late for that now, and that I was stupid for even considering it. As I mentioned earlier, the only thing other than my little girl that kept me going was my grandma. I talked to her about everything, and when I stopped calling her weekly or seemed to want to talk very long, she surprised me with a visit.

and brought her homemade chicken casserole and some groceries. I broke down and told her what had been going on, and she told me that I needed to give him an ultimatum and stick to it. Rich was definitely verbally abusive, but never physically so, and she definitely gave me the strength to do it. To wrap up the sob story, I guess, the ultimatum kind of did not go in my favor, or at least not how I would have wanted. He kicked me out.

He told me that I was just ungrateful and that I could leave. I tried talking to him about Addie, but that's when he dropped it on me that he couldn't care less about her, as he didn't believe that she was his kid. He was my first serious relationship, and I was still a virgin when I met him. Heartbroken,

I packed up a few things that I had and that were important to me and all of Addie's things and I moved in with my grandparents until I got back on my feet. Fast forward about four years and I'm still with my grandparents but we're all happy. My grandfather had an accident so I decided to stay to help my grandma take care of him. They loved spending time with Addie and watching her while I was in school.

Yes, I did finally start school again, and I was working part-time, and I loved it. I was happy with my life, even as a single parent. Addie even started going to pre-K, and I would pick her up before I went to class in the evenings. That's where things went downhill again. The school that Addie was going to was very big on security, and that's why I chose them.

So, when I got a call from them saying that someone who was not authorized attempted to pick her up early, they called me immediately. Only my grandparents and my sister were on the authorized pickup list. I left work and went to the school when I saw cop cars everywhere. I had to show my ID and be checked before they even let me in. Little did I know that the cops were actually there because of me.

The principal described the guy that attempted to get Addie, and when they refused to let them, saying that they would have to call and ask me first, the person stormed out. That's when they called me. Shortly after that, they had a lockdown as they saw the same guy walking the fence of the play area where the kids were about to be released for recess. Rightfully so, they feared that he may try to do something to the kids, or even abduct Addie.

As you may have guessed it, it was Rich. I hadn't gotten as much as a phone call from him in years. And here he was, trying to take our kid from school. Our kid that he said he wanted nothing to do with. They had me identify him later that day as they caught him hanging around the school and had him in custody. After a lot of back and forth with him and the cops, it came down to him wanting a relationship with his daughter.

Now, nearly five years later, he suddenly cares? I hated it. I felt like it was him trying to control me again, but once again, my grandma talked me through it and said to keep an open mind. There didn't need to be anything between us other than being parents to the same child. But if he's changed, maybe he could actually be a good father. So...

After a lot of lawyer talk, we worked out supervised visitations. If I wasn't present, my sister and her husband were there. If he would try to take her from the school, I didn't trust that he wouldn't try to take her if they were alone. As expected, he used this time to try to get back with me. When that didn't work, he would become angry and end the visitation.

When my sister and brother-in-law went, he brought another girl with him and was too busy with her to pay attention to Addie. I guess it was just an attempt to make me jealous, I guess. One of the last times that I saw him, it was just me again, and when I finally put my foot down telling him that I was there for Addie, not him, and that I didn't want a relationship with him, he leaned in and tried to kiss me. When I pulled away, he slapped me.

saying that it would be the biggest mistake that I have ever made and how I wasn't thinking about our daughter. I grabbed Addie, who had been playing alone at the park, and we left. I was ready to get a stern talking to for ending his visitation early, but I never got a call. This was obviously his main motive, as, once again, I never heard from him.

He stopped showing up to visitations, he wouldn't answer my calls, and even his lawyer gave me the whole "don't call me, I'll call you" line, and that was it. It's been three years since then, and I know it probably sounds bad and selfish, but I hope that I never hear from him again. Addie deserves to have a father in her life that cares for her, and not just be used as a way to get to me.

Until then, my grandfather has honestly filled that role really well, and I can't thank him enough. I just have that fear in the back of my mind that he's going to show up one day and attempt to talk to her again, and I hope that she's never in a position to allow that to happen. The story is really reaching back to a time before all the dating sites were really a thing, and way before smartphones and apps were the center of our lives.

Back then, before everything was so simplified, I used to be a long-time member of a certain IRC. For the kids out there, that's Internet Relay Chatroom. These were chatrooms that were more or less embedded on websites, and they were pretty much anonymous, in the fact that all you really had to have was a display name, and not much else.

Hell, most of them had a feature that would let you join in as an unnamed guest, and the rooms would sometimes be filled with "guests 04-235" and such. They were a lot of fun, and I kind of miss those days, but nowadays the internet is all about "look at me" specifically, so the idea of anonymity being a core concept is relegated to pretty much just the dark web.

Now, despite the fact that there was this layer of anonymity with IRC chatrooms, it was actually quite common to quote-unquote find love while chatting with these people. There was a direct messaging system too, so you could have conversations one-on-one, and you could get to know the person on the other end pretty well, even if there was no way to confirm literally anything they told you or said.

I'm certain that some of the people I spoke with that were interested in me were probably 60 year old guys pretending to be women in their 20s. And that's okay. I could safely say that this was a long time ago, or that that was the old me. Now, there was one person that I spoke with in these chat rooms that I actually did have a bit of a relationship with.

albeit only for a couple of months. Her username was the title to an Evanescence song, with some X's and numbers thrown in the mix, but I can safely say that her actual name was Taylor. Taylor was a year older than me at the time. I was 21, and she had just turned 22 when we met and had started speaking. I don't remember why we started talking one-on-one, but we did.

And after a while, things seemed to get to a point where we both wanted to start a relationship. Now, long-distance relationships back then were a bit different than what they are in 2023. Long-distance phone calls were expensive, and cell phones had set text and talk minutes, so it wasn't like you could be as close to the other person as you can in the current year.

Because of this, we had our IRC conversations, and we also had emailed each other a few times. And, before anybody mentions that Taylor was probably one of the 60-year-old men that liked to roleplay as a young woman, I actually knew that Taylor was legit. We had sent pictures to each other, including pics to prove that we were real.

This was essentially a picture with the date, time, and our username written on our hands in sharpie and covering one of our eyes. Yes, things were that complex back then. You had to be creative to come up with something that was difficult to fake, to prove that you were who you said you were.

Now, all of this is to say that Taylor was gorgeous. She was exactly what you would think of when I say 22-year-old girl with an Evanescence username that likes to talk in IRC rooms. Dyed black hair, bright blue eyes, liked the color black on everything, had a few face piercings. And let me tell you, I instantly fell in love with her.

I even told her that she was literally the girl I was looking for in life, and she thought that that was the funniest thing ever. From there, we did say that we were dating, actually. We would chat every night, send pictures of ourselves through email, and while things never went past PG-13, this was the happiest I had ever been in my life. We had our little relationship for almost three months on the dot.

and everything seemed great, until there was a stretch of time that she just didn't log in. I didn't see her in our chat rooms, and I would email her, but she wouldn't reply. I was genuinely upset, thinking maybe something happened to her, maybe she wasn't really as interested in me as she had claimed. I was almost heartbroken, thinking I had messed this up, and that this was a once-in-a-lifetime thing that I had just ruined.

I kept emailing her every night, just hoping she would see them or maybe send a response like, "Oh, my internet was out for a few days, sorry about that." Or, "I was out of town." I was basically holding out hope that she would say anything to bring it back together. And then, I did get a response. But it was a rather strange one. It was just, "Hey, hop on IRC.

It actually made me almost giddy to hear from her again, so I did what she requested and logged in. Immediately, she sent me a DM saying hello. I replied, asking how she was and if she was okay. She completely ignored those messages and just said, ''What's your address? I want to send you something.'' I have to pause here to say that I was dumb.

And I was in love with this girl, so I didn't hesitate at all in giving this random internet person my address. Nowadays, I would be lambasted for doing something so stupid, and rightfully so, but back then, there really wasn't this concept of internet strangers are not your friend.

So I responded to her, told her my address, thinking that this was maybe the start of us moving into something a little more serious. Of course, the response that I got back was not what I expected, nor what I wanted. The message that I got back from Taylor was clear as day, and I actually remember it word for word. This is Taylor's husband. Stop messaging my girl, or else you'll be next."

And that was it. What I would be next for was anybody's guess, but this was pretty clearly a threat. I mentioned that she never told me she was married, and then mentioned that she and I were really good friends, and if he was really her husband, I would respect that. After a few moments of silence, they logged out of the account, leaving me confused, devastated, and just overall feeling kind of betrayed.

That was the last time that I ever spoke with that account. They never logged back into the server, and Taylor never responded to any of my emails. So, that was effectively the end of my relationship, but not the end of the story. About two weeks later, I actually got a package at my house. The return address just said Taylor. There was no address or city or anything like that. It was just her name.

I hesitated to opening it, thinking that it was going to be something messed up, and... well, it was. When I opened the box and moved all the packing materials, there at the bottom of the box was a kitchen knife, and on the blade of the kitchen knife was a hard, crusty, brown-red substance that I assume was blood. I immediately called the police, asking them to send an officer to my house, because I had gotten a package with a potential murder weapon.

That was a really fun story to try to explain to the officer when he got there, not going to lie. I had to tell him that I had met a girl on the internet, and that we were dating, but then her real-life husband had threatened me after I gave him my address, and then today the package showed up. I feel like if I had to tell this story to an officer this year, it would be less strange-

But back in 2003, it was like explaining foreign concepts, and they had a lot of questions. I ended up having to go to the station to pretty much be interrogated, and after answering questions for about four hours, they decided that I was probably telling the truth, and they took the knife, saying that they would look further into it.

I don't know what they were looking into. All I had was her first name, online username, and a picture of her. I have no idea if their investigation ever went anywhere, nor do I know if that blood was human, but it was definitely sent to me as a threat, and it told me what he meant when he said I was next. All of this was 20 years ago, and looking back, I do kind of miss the old internet.

Hopefully this can trigger some nostalgia for your older audience and maybe educate your younger audience on how things used to be. Remember kids, don't tell strangers where you live or you may end up with a bloody knife in your mailbox. About 10 or so years ago, I had a stint in my life where I was really lonely. Though I think maybe desperate is the better word.

I guess I should say that I've had a few serious relationships throughout my life, but I hit 30 and a major level of depression because the man that I thought was going to be my husband decided that he wasn't ready for commitment and we had to go our separate ways.

This was after a four year relationship, mind you, and while he said it was a commitment issue, I'm pretty sure he was just wanting to see someone else. It is what it is, and sure I'm bitter about it, but I have to accept it and move on. He's not who this story is about though, so sorry for the tangent. Anyways, I was just out of that relationship, and then I turned 30 about two months later.

And as mentioned, I had a pretty deep low in my life. I was in that "I need companionship now" mentality, and I immediately leaned into making a profile for one of the online dating sites back then. I don't remember which one. It was whichever one was most popular back in 2011. Probably Plenty of Fish. I remember it being a bit confusing,

That's, and it kept trying to match me with people that were nothing like me. Nothing like reading a bio that it suggested to you, and have it be the polar opposite of yourself. I know that opposite's tracked, but when it says, no tall women and no women that like Harry Potter, and my bio literally mentions that I'm taller than average and a huge Potter fan, it almost feels like a joke.

So, after scrolling through all the BS, matching with a couple of guys, messaging a few people, and really feeling like this was all a very hopeless venture, I finally found a guy named Dan. Dan was exactly what I was looking for in a man, physically. And all of his interests seemed to line up with mine. He had long black hair, looked to be taller than me, which was nice, although never a deal-breaker,

and all of his pictures had him wearing some pop culture referencing t-shirt that told me he was absolutely into the things that I was into. I marked that I was interested, just hoping that he would mark the same on me, and much to my pleasure, he did. I instantly sent him a DM and started off with something corny like, "'Your hair is gorgeous. I wish I could get mine to be as shiny and straight as yours.'"

I know, that sounds dumb, but I actually was kind of jealous. He responded almost immediately with some joke response about how he had made a deal with the devil to have hair like that. His off-kilter humor was actually one of the things that made me really like him, and I was excited to get to know him. I may have been desperate, but something in my heart was telling me that Dan could be the one.

Like, he could be exactly what I was looking for, and maybe we could have a future together. Having these thoughts after just a few conversations may not be healthy, but there was really just something about him. We ended up talking on the phone a few times, and I started liking him even more. He had a beautiful singing voice.

He told me that he used to be in a band that was kind of popular locally, but that they never went anywhere on the big stage. He told me that his last job was actually at an animal clinic, where he was tasked with keeping the animals company if they had to stay overnight or needed to be taken care of outside of the normal medical work. The more that he told me, the more I absolutely adored this man.

And after a while, I started having this weird nagging feeling in my mind. Why was he single? He was attractive, talented, entertaining, and he loved animals. He was, overall, a really great and interesting guy. So why had nobody scooped him up and put a ring on his finger? I actually brought this up to him, and he mentioned to me that things were complicated.

I asked, "How complicated?" Mostly because that wasn't really an answer that I was looking forward to. He responded by saying that he'd had a wife, and that things had recently gone sour, so he no longer had a wife. That kind of made sense to me. He was married and things went bad, so he was out looking for someone else to fill that gap in his life. I could relate.

We ended up talking about our past relationships, or more so I ended up talking about mine. He seemed a bit evasive, but I just assumed that he wasn't really feeling up to discussing it because it was so recent. I was okay with that. It was nice to vent out some of my frustrations, and he was really good at listening and helping me see things more clearly. Then the big day arrived.

We had agreed to meet up for coffee on a Saturday morning at a local coffee shop. I got there, and he was already seated in the back waiting for me. It was actually really nice to see him in person. He looked just like his photos. He had the same personality. He was the same funny and entertaining guy that I had come to know over these past couple of weeks. This was actually a huge relief, because I was worried that I was going to get catfished.

We enjoyed our coffee and companionship for a few hours, and then I had mentioned that it was getting to be midday, and that I should probably be getting home at some point. But I would absolutely love to meet up again and maybe have dinner or something. This is when he mentioned to me that he'd had a great time as well. Then he kind of shyly looked down at the floor like something was wrong.

I asked if he was okay, and he looked up and mentioned that he needed to ask me a favor. I said of course, not really thinking about what the favor could be, but he then mentioned that he actually needed me to give him a ride somewhere if I could. I realized that he was already there when I got in, so I hadn't seen him pull up, and he actually seemed rather embarrassed at this request, which was almost cute at this point.

I felt comfortable enough with him that having him in my car, driving him a few blocks or miles to his apartment, it really wasn't that big of a deal. Plus, I was honestly thinking this could be a long-term thing if it kept up like it had, so I was more than willing to do so. I told him that was fine and just kind of mentioned that I didn't know that he didn't have a car and told him that he didn't need to be embarrassed about it.

He thanked me, and we headed out to my car and we went to get him home. As we were driving, and he was pointing out where to turn, he started telling me more about his past, and how things had been really rough recently. I asked if the divorce had been a bad one, and he then dropped a bombshell. He mentioned that he and his wife actually hadn't gotten divorced.

This killed me inside, and it kind of made things make more sense. He wasn't actually divorced. He was still married. Sure, they could have been separated, but if he wasn't divorced, then it was likely that they could get back together or try to fix things, and then there would be no room for myself in Dan's life. I kind of shut down a bit after this,

and I just listened to him tell me about how bad things were between him and his wife, not really paying attention to where he was telling me to go. Then, he had me turn one more time, a turn into the parking lot of a police station. I parked and just kind of looked around confused. I asked why we were at the police station, and it was then that he went really quiet and just sort of looked at the building and away from me.

This whole situation was really weird, and I was honestly starting to feel a bit freaked out. This is when Dan looked over at me and said that he really enjoyed the short time that we had together, and said that I was a lovely lady, and that he was certain I would find somebody. He then said that he was about to go into the station and confess to doing something that was really, really bad.

and that he was going to prison, most likely, for the rest of his life. He said that if things had gone differently, he would have loved to have spent more time with me. I asked what he had done and what he was talking about, and he just sighed and said that it was an accident, that he never actually meant to hurt anyone, and then he pushed my door open and walked into the building.

I just sat there watching him walk into the department with his head held high and stop at the front desk. I watched the whole thing play out from right there in the lot, watched him talk to the desk clerk, watched an officer walk up to him cautiously, and then watched as the officer put him in cuffs and pulled him away from the desk. A few minutes later, another officer actually walked out to my car and spoke with me. He asked me if I knew the man that I had just dropped off.

How I knew him, if I knew what had happened. I told him that we had just met a couple of weeks ago and that we had actually gone on our first date that morning. I was more or less interrogated by this officer in the parking lot about Dan, and I told him all that I knew. He told me that Dan had just walked in and told them that he needed to confess to murdering his wife.

I obviously didn't know anything about that. I thought he was divorced. After a bit more talking, they gave me a card, took my info, and then let me leave. At this point, it was a little more clear to me how Dan had a wife, past tense, but wasn't divorced. And then, it occurred to me that I had had coffee with a murderer, and I even drove him to the station to turn himself in.

I really don't know if our date was just him trying to get free coffee and then a ride to the station, or if he was really interested in me. But either way, it was the most terrifying thing that has ever happened to me. Not because he was a creep to me, but because he was perfectly normal the whole time we spoke during our date. This man was a murderer, but he seemed like a calm and complacent guy that was all there.

That was just a normal person. This was the only time I ever went on a date with someone that I met online, and I actually shut down my account after that. Before going into anything, I have to say this. I do not affiliate to any religion or cult. My belief is that all life is to be respected, and that all life forms possess an energy that one should be considerate of.

Two years ago, my boyfriend and I decided to go camping on Easter morning. The weather was unusually warm and sunny, so why not spend it outdoors? We packed our stuff, got the dogs in the car, and set to the road. It was very spontaneous, so we didn't really plan where we would set up camp. Just a general direction in a national park. More in Europe. The forest was breathtaking.

We drove up a dirt road along a small river for about an hour. It was a rough ride and we couldn't find any spots as on our left was a rock wall and on the right a river valley. To this day, I say the place presented itself to us. I was frustrated that we were wasting light and demanded that we stop at the next turn. We got out to stretch our legs, took the dogs and noticed they kept going down to the river.

We followed them and found the most beautiful clearing under a riverbank, right at a shallow bend of the river. We had a clear view up and down the river, but otherwise you would have no idea we were there. It was hidden away from the road. It felt like home. We found an old stone hearth, which made a beech sapling grow on it. I replanted the sapling somewhere safe before making the fire. My grandfather taught me from a young age to respect the forest."

Before the meal, I made a small gift to the forest with some tea. It just felt right. The day passed nicely, and as the sun went down, it got cold very fast. At some point, we put out the fire and got into the tent for warmth. The one thing that will always stay with me from this outing is the pure darkness. It was so dark that I had to check with my fingers if my eyes were closed or not. I had never experienced anything like that.

and I hope that I don't any time soon. It was deeply unsettling. During the night, I could barely sleep. The sound of the river was incessant yet low, like a constant buzz. What kept me awake, though, were the strange sounds around the tent. I understand that nature is weird and has a lot of weird sounds. More than once, I heard something brushing on the tent, like someone would trace their hand down on it.

Top to bottom, on the left, then on the right, and then behind, all over it. I just played it off as leaves or bugs falling from the trees. The next part is what really freaked me out. I started hearing muffled voices, sometimes paired with the brushing, other times on their own. There were a few voices, all obnoxiously happy. I could hear loud laughter, singing, people talking loudly-

I couldn't understand a word, but their happiness felt off, menacing at times. At the same time, I felt like I was being watched, like something was towering over us and counting my breaths. I felt the need to cower and hide. I barely moved all night. This kept going the whole night. Close to the morning, it seemed to quiet down, and I was able to sleep for an hour.

I woke up at the first light, and I was so relieved that it was day again. I felt it in my bones. I felt as if a pressure had been lifted. I just felt liberated. At that point, I didn't mention anything to my boyfriend about the voices. I wasn't concerned that he would call me crazy, but I felt the urge to shut up, like I shouldn't speak about it there. The rest of the morning went by quietly.

Just before getting the last bags, I stopped just near the clearing and said, ''Thank you for having us.'' To the forest. It felt like the right thing to do. Not a second after, a bird started singing in front of us, like it was answering me. I whistled back and it sang back to me. I kept this going for a few more times. By the time we were loading in the car, the canopy above us was full of singing birds. It did not feel natural in any way.

Those birds were huddled around us, like sending us off. It felt like a goodbye. I can't put it into words, but I felt so melancholic. Hurt, even. For a moment, I felt like I was leaving home. Not for home. Once we left the woods behind, both of us relaxed. I wasn't even aware that I was so tensed.

I asked my boyfriend how he felt about the experience, and he said that he heard the brushing too, and a few voices once or twice. He confessed that he too felt very uneasy during the night, and that the bird thing was very peculiar. I don't know what all these things were, but I know that I felt a presence with us the whole time. I felt watched. I tried to reason it out, but somehow even the memories about it...

feel off. This recently came up again with a group of friends, so I decided I would share it with more people. About four years ago, I started dating a girl that I met online named Kendra. We matched, she messaged me first, and we actually hit it off pretty quickly. We started officially dating after the third date, and everything seemed fine.

She was pretty fun to be around, even if we were just chilling at home. She was very open about herself and her past, which was nice that she was open, but it also made me let my guard down at first. I kind of felt bad for her. She explained how she didn't have a good childhood, as her mother was very abusive to her, and she didn't know her father, so she moved in with her boyfriend at the time when she was 16.

She then explained how she got pregnant, and how her boyfriend didn't want the kid, and suffocated their baby at like two months old. She seemed pretty happy, but obviously had some issues, but definitely nothing I thought was a deal-breaker or anything like that. But then, as the months went on, her stories became wilder and wilder. The stories that she would tell me were so bizarre that they were becoming hard to believe.

especially when they were brought up in situations that would benefit her. Like, if I was planning on going somewhere with friends or family, she would make me feel bad about her childhood trauma and say that she didn't want to be left alone. When I did suggest that she come along with me to take my dog to the park or something, she would decline, saying that she couldn't walk or stand long due to her condition.

She claimed that she'd had some kind of infection in her leg that permanently damaged the muscle or the bone, so she couldn't walk long distances. Yet, she dragged me to her friend's parties where she stood and danced for hours. She also claimed that she had to dye her hair black because the light color absorbed too much sunlight and was giving her a brain tumor. She said that this was directly from her doctor,

and that she could have surgery and have her head shaved, or just keep dying her hair. Look, I don't know why I stayed with her at this point, but I guess I just thought that maybe she still had things to work out from her childhood, and that I could help her move on. I had no reason to not believe her about her family or her baby either, so I guess I tried to just move past it.

However, it started to take its toll on me as she was starting to have an excuse for literally everything, and it was kind of obvious. When it was something she wasn't interested in or wanted to do, she had an excuse, and when I would tell her that I was still going without her, something would happen to try to stop me. For example, every Wednesday me and a few of my friends would gather for game night.

We were all off on Thursdays, so it was easier than on the weekends, and I never missed. I invited her to go, but she didn't want to. I told her that I would call her then whenever I left, and she would call me halfway through complaining that she wasn't feeling well, and that she wanted me to pick something up for her, or that she needed me to take her to the ER because she'd had an accident, like cutting her finger or something.

Even when I was with her and her friends, if I got into a conversation or we started having fun, she would be very dramatic and grab her leg or stomach or something. And of course, everyone would turn to ask her if she was okay. So now the attention was on her. Illnesses were a common tactic with her. I started to learn pretty quickly who she really was. The whole time that I was with her, she didn't even have a job.

She pretty quickly started to leech onto me and my wallet, but I ignored it, believing that I was in love. When she didn't get her way, she threw a fit, and we would make up in the form of me buying her something. I really started to put things together and grew more suspicious when she invited me with her and her sister to lunch and shopping, because she thought of me as her bank account.

Along with telling me that she was abused, she also claimed to be an only child. When I mentioned this to her, she became angry and wouldn't give me a straight answer, other than that I was obviously remembering things wrong. I know for a fact that she told me she was an only child, because she used the sob story many times that she had no one, because it was always just her with her abusive mother. So, being curious...

I went with her to meet this mystery sister. To my surprise, they looked very much alike. I have siblings too, and I know we all look similar, but these two looked like they could be twins. And that's because they were. The only real difference was her sister had a darker blonde hair color and a mole above her eyebrow.

Listening to them talk about things made me feel like a lot of the things Kendra had told me were a lie. There were things that her sister would even bring up and she would get upset and say that she didn't want to talk about it. I caught both of them looking over at me at times, so after that day, I went home with a lot of questions, and I really debated on how to bring them up. Turns out, I wouldn't have to do much.

As the next day, her sister sent me a message request on Facebook. She was kind, and it just started as a nice-to-meet-you kind of thing. Then, after a few hours, she said that she had some questions for me. She asked me if Kendra had mentioned their childhood to me, and I said yes. But, after us both beating around the bush some, it was finally revealed that she was never abused.

In fact, Kendra was the abuser. They were actually twins, and they did have a younger sister. Kendra would constantly attack both of them, and as a teenager, she had even hit her mom. Hell, her parents were married, and her dad was still alive. She was never kicked out, but rather she went to a juvenile detention due to threatening her little sister with a knife, and she never had a kid.

Her sister apologized as she knew that she was a habitual liar and wanted to know what all I knew, or at least what I was told. I thanked her for being honest, and I took the rest of the day to really think about what to do. I finally got up the courage and told her that we needed to talk. I asked her if I could come over. I figured it would be easier to leave her place than kicking her out of mine.

I went over and told her that I wanted to talk to her about some things that she had told me, and I confronted her about the lies. I told her that her sister had told me everything, and that I wanted to give her one last chance. I wanted to hear the truth from her, and I wanted to know why she would lie about any of it.

Instead of coming clean, she just doubled down on the lies and tried saying that that was her half-sister and that she was just trying to take me from her. Her sister even told me that she would probably try that too. I told her that I'd had enough and that we were done. If she couldn't be honest with me, then this was not going to work out.

I guess one thing that I didn't really take into consideration, though, was when her sister mentioned that Kendra was the abuser. So, when I turned around to grab my jacket and leave, she started screaming and ran towards me, jumping on my back. We went back and forth like this, of me struggling to get her off of me.

She had her legs wrapped around me and had a tight grip on my hair with one hand, while punching me in the head and shoulders with the other. I finally managed to throw myself backwards onto her kitchen floor, where she let go, but before I could get to my feet, I was hit in the head and knocked out cold. The next thing I remember were cops and an EMT standing over me in her house, asking me a bunch of random questions.

Once they checked me out to make sure I was okay to stand, I was placed in cuffs and thrown in the back of a squad car. After being taken back to the station, I was finally questioned and given the opportunity to explain my side of things. I told them why I was there, how I knew Kendra, what led to me being on the kitchen floor, but I didn't know how I actually got there. They asked me if I had physically harmed her,

I explained that other than pretty much just dropping her on the floor, as well as myself, I hadn't touched her. After a few hours, they finally let me go, but not before telling me how they got involved. Apparently, she hit me in the head with a meat tenderizing hammer, so they told me that I should still go to the hospital to check if I had a concussion afterwards. Then, they were called by a neighbor as she was running up and down the street outside screaming for help.

She told them that I had barged into her place in a fit of rage after she broke up with me, and that I had attacked her. They checked us both out and took pictures, and since I had multiple marks on my back, head, shoulders, and face, and she had, well, not a single scratch or bruise, they seemed to believe me. They suggested that I stay away from her, though, and I promised that I would do just that.

I went home and I talked to a few friends about what had happened, and even messaged her sister to let her know what she did. Kendra tried calling me a few times, but no. All to voicemail for her. She stopped trying pretty quickly, thank god, and I just moved on living to tell my crazy ex tale. Well, that is, until this past Christmas, when she actually tried to add me on Facebook.

No. Heh. Immediate block. Easter is not a religious holiday for my family. My family just tend to give each other a chocolate egg and hang around the house doing nothing to celebrate it, especially as the younger kids got older and became teenagers. And I was included in that group. There was one Easter event that we used to do that was stopped after this incident occurred.

The adults in the family would wake up really early, or stay up really late drinking depending on the night, and hide easter eggs around the garden. We would all get tiny baskets to carry and to stash our eggs. My family would go all out. Occasionally we would invite cousins or friends over to take part in the events, and I loved it. They would be tiny eggs, big eggs, and it was the envy of all the local kids.

I also need to add that I don't have a small backyard by any means. I live on a quarter of an acre block, and yes, the Easter egg hunt took place on it, so we were out there for a long time. That, and there were a lot of trees and shrubs to hide in. This is important for later on. Like the rest of the kids, I grabbed my basket and sped off in the hunt of sweet, sweet chocolate.

I may have pushed past my younger brothers, and I'm not the first to deny it is survival of the fittest when it comes to getting the chocolate goodness. At the end of the driveway was a boring-looking man holding a bunch of Easter eggs. He was hiding behind one of the trees, talking to himself, and just laughing. I'd love to say that there was something really off about him, but he just looked so... average. Almost non-threatening.

He didn't notice me at first. I was going to call out for the adults in the family that someone had stolen our eggs. When he did notice me, he told me that he had even more chocolate like this in his car. And I know that my reaction is weird, but I laughed. This was one of those weird style of pranks that members of my family would play on each other. I know, we all have a pretty sick sense of humor.

He actually looked angry that I laughed at him, and that only made it more funny. Again, we have strange senses of humor. He told me to hurry up and come with him. I told him no and to give me back all the chocolate that he stole. He argued with me, and he was getting really mad. Like he had somewhere to be in a hurry, and he wanted me to come along with him. Not a chance.

Some of the younger kids heard what was happening and came to see what the fuss was all about. It was only when he asked them and tried to grab one of their arms that I knew that something was up. I screamed and made as much noise as possible. He tried to tell me to shut up, he offered me money, and then he threatened me and tried to drag me away by the arm. I struggled to get away, and he actually left marks on my arm. The rest of the family did manage to chase him off.

Fortunately, no one got seriously hurt. Now, the outcome of what happened. The police never found the guy. They took statements and the community was warned about him. I have no idea who he was and I haven't seen him since that day. Rumor around town was that he was someone that was caught once torturing small animals and that he was now moving on to human prey.

There were also rumors that he was seen stealing random items off of clothing lines and trying to spy on women while they changed. Typical small town gossip that may or may not have been true. Either way, no one saw him again. The unfortunate outcome is that now we don't do the Easter egg hunt and we're just given our chocolate eggs.

I do miss how it used to be, how it was something fun that we all did, and I hate how one creep managed to change something so special. I hate how it ruined a family tradition for us, but better that than one of the kids getting grabbed. I worry about what could have happened if one of the more gullible kids had come up, and I dread to think of what that absolute creep's intentions were.

The last thing I remember from it is seeing a bunch of chocolate eggs all stomped on and mashed up into the grass. I don't really like to eat the chocolate anymore.