Scary Stories For Dark Dreams - Volume 02 | ATRD Podcast
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My husband Kent and I took a trip out of state one year for our Independence Day celebration. We decided on a road trip to the west coast, to a national park that we've both been wanting to go to for years. We were both very outdoorsy, but also very amateur too.

We were not professionals by any means, but we loved being out there with nature, seeking the serenity of it, and not to mention the allure of an adventure into a new place. So, with our bags packed, and excitement in our hearts, we set off to enjoy each other's company, and immerse ourselves in the breathtaking beauty of steep cliffs, and trees taller than we could even fathom.

The drive itself went fine. We took all of our precautions and car maintenance before we left, so no issues there. We got to the park on a Sunday, which was the weekend before the 4th. It was during the week, so we wanted to go before then, knowing it was probably either going to be insane or just closed. We had our bags with us, with some pretty normal hiking equipment.

and we even had a small insulated bag with some cheap hot dogs and a few other small food items. We were wanting to find a good spot to maybe have a small barbecue or fire to ourselves. After about an hour of walking and sightseeing, we came across a beautiful fenced area that looked like it may have been an old campground.

I say old because there was a bordered off place where you would see tents and a grill, but it looked really run down, like it was abandoned. However, with that in mind, and the breathtaking view, Kent said that we probably wouldn't be bothered this far up, so we decided to call it dibs. We sat under a nearby tree in the shade for a while, resting and just enjoying each other's company.

That was until our stomachs started talking too. We started pulling out our food and blankets when we realized we didn't bring any type of utensils. Our condiments were all in packages, and we didn't bring anything like potato salad, of course, so bringing something to grab the dogs from the grill didn't even cross our mind.

so Kent set out to find some good sticks that we could use instead, making our meal even more authentic-slash-camping style, I suppose. I stayed behind getting our stuff ready and trying to prepare the fire. As I busied myself with prepping our small food bar, I listened to the sounds of the birds chirping, the squirrels scurrying around the trees, and his footsteps slowly fading out.

However, that's when our seemingly perfect day darkened. While Kent was searching for our utensils, I heard what sounded like a soft thud. I didn't think anything of it at first, just assuming it was maybe nearby rocks falling, or even my husband dropping something, knocking something over, or maybe breaking off a branch. No big deal.

But when I called out to him asking a question, and did not even get as much as him asking me to repeat myself, I became a little concerned. I doubted that he would have gone somewhere far enough to not be able to hear me without telling me. So, I dropped what I was doing and again called out for him and got no response. I started walking back by the trees when my heart dropped. I saw him laying nearly face down on the ground.

I ran up to him, turning him around when he started groaning. I was nearing a panic attack, not knowing what to do. We were way up here on a mountain, pretty much alone. How was I supposed to get him help by myself? I was maybe 160 pounds at the time, and I couldn't even pick him up. I softly tapped his face and grabbed his hand, trying to get him to wake up, fearing to shake him too hard just in case he'd hurt his spine or neck.

Thankfully, he finally came to, but he was still groaning in pain. I tried to ask him a million questions at once. "What happened? What hurts? Are you okay?" He just said that his ankle seemed to give out and he fell to the ground, hitting his head on something. He also said that his ankle was now in excruciating pain, so I pulled up his pant leg to see a huge, purple and swollen ankle.

If he didn't break it, it was definitely fractured or dislocated or something. After confirming that he was feeling alright otherwise, other than a headache, and that he had feelings in his legs, I helped him up. He used me to lean on and I brought him back to our blanket where I had him sit down. That's when I noticed the blood on his head. A first aid kit was something that we packed, but it too was pretty basic.

I pulled out an antiseptic wipe to clean his head, and I tried my best to bandage it with the gauze that we had. Then I gave him a small one-time-use ice pack to put on his ankle. While I thought I had the situation somewhat under control, my mind finally started to process the gravity of the situation that we were in. We needed help, and I was going to have to be the one to go get that help. The cell signal was shoddy at best.

This was in the early 2000s, so we had some pretty crappy flip phones. Kent realized this too and said that I needed to go back down to let someone know. But to be honest, I was worried about leaving my husband alone. If he'd hit his head hard enough to get knocked out, I was worried that he might have a concussion or something else might happen while I was gone. He did his best to assure me that he would be fine, but ultimately, I knew that I didn't have a choice.

I had to go. I gave him a hug and a kiss, wiped my face and told him that I would be back as soon as possible. I quickly walked down the path that we had used to get there, and I tried to stay calm, but the tears would not stop. I was so afraid. I was afraid of leaving him there alone. I was afraid of the idea of us being in an unfamiliar place, far from the comforts and conveniences of home.

not to mention a car and a hospital. As I sprinted down the path, hoping to not fall myself, every rustle of leaves and every snap of a twig sent my imagination into a frenzy. I couldn't help but envision every nightmarish possibility. Each step that I took felt heavier and heavier, knowing that it was to help my husband. After what felt like an eternity, a glimmer of hope emerged from the dense foliage.

I spotted a family setting up a tent. I began crying at the sight of the other people, and immediately approached the adults and explained what happened. The woman started pointing me in the direction of a ranger cabin nearby, and asked me if I needed any help. I don't know what else they could do, but the man agreed to go back up so that he wasn't alone. I felt bad, not wanting the woman to be by herself, but she at least had the two kids with her.

I continued down the path to thankfully find the nearby ranger cabin that was on the path opposite of the way we went. Someone was there, allowing me to explain what happened, and they quickly grabbed some things and called in for an ambulance. Thankfully, they had a small golf cart-like vehicle, and we were able to get back much faster. I was so relieved when we got back to see him fully conscious and aware of what was going on.

but his ankle definitely was not looking any better. The man with the family and the ranger helped get him into the passenger seat of the cart, and I quickly scrambled to pick up our stuff. My thoughtful husband was still trying to pick stuff up while he waited. The ranger allowed me to hold on to the back of the cart, where there was basically just a small cubby place to put items, so that I could get down to the entrance with them quickly.

By the time that we got down there, the ambulance was already waiting to whisk us away. I drove our car behind the ambulance and in that moment, I marveled at the sheer power of human compassion of these complete strangers who were willing to stop and help us in our time of need. When we arrived at the hospital, they did x-rays and determined that he did dislocate his ankle, so they were able to fix it without surgery at the least.

They also did a scan since the fault did knock him out to make sure that he didn't have a concussion, or worse, internal bleeding, and again, he was fine. Thank god I didn't think about that possibility at the moment of the event. Once he was in the room, I had pizza delivered to the hospital, and we just celebrated our night there. He felt bad for, in his words, ruining our trip.

but I was more than happy just knowing that he was okay. We stayed at a nice nearby hotel that had a pool that we swam in and still enjoyed our vacation. Thankfully we both got home okay and had one hell of a story to share with friends and family, but for that moment I was terrified, not knowing what to do in the situation. We're a lot more careful now whenever we go hiking and go into places unknown to us

but we're also much better prepared for emergencies. So stay safe and stay hydrated, friends. Hello. I've been a trucker for about 20 years now, doing both local runs as well as long hauls.

I listen to a lot of podcasts covering similar topics like yours, and thanks to my wife, she introduced me to your channel and she convinced me to send in a story that happened to us a while back. We work well together, and there's never a dull moment between us. This was something we experienced on one of our trips.

I was getting pretty close to my 11th hour driving, and my wife wanted to sleep in our cab instead of a motel. I had made some upgrades to the cab and added some simple amenities, so it was pretty comfortable. We were on a pretty flat and open area of the highway, so we stopped on the side and set out my cones for safety.

One thing I did have in my cab was a refrigerator as well as a small portable grill, so we would often bring along our own food to make. We pulled out some hamburger patties and the grill and started making a late dinner for us. The night was actually quite peaceful and the only light on us was from our flashlight or my clip-on light that I used when under the hood.

We could hear the sounds of crickets chirping and the smell of petrichor coming from the nearby vegetation. There was a massive storm the night before after what locals told me was a pretty long drought for them. As we indulged in our meals, we talked and relaxed in our chairs, staring into the trees and taking in the simple joys of existence. When our conversation started getting shorter and shorter, we knew that it was about time to pack up and head to bed.

That was around the time that something started to feel unusual. I was trying to figure out what it was when my wife said, ''Do you hear that?'' I remained quiet to see if I could discern what she meant, but I didn't hear anything. But that was her point. Unlike how it was just a few minutes ago, it was completely silent. There wasn't a single cricket chirping,

No sound from the slight breeze and trees swaying, not even a low hum coming from our light. All I could hear was our talking and my breaths. We both agreed that it was an odd occurrence and chalked it up to maybe another storm coming, and mentally we both understood that we should hurry up and get back in the cab. As my wife was getting ready for bed, I was at the front in the driver's seat putting my wallet in the glove box.

There was something in the distance that kind of caught my eye. It was a light. There was nothing but darkness surrounding us just prior, other than the one car that had passed by. As mentioned, we were on a pretty flat stretch of highway, but I could clearly see a light just peeking up from the distance in front of us. As we were on the road, I told myself that it was just an oncoming car, turned off the cab light, and walked towards the back.

From the time it took me to walk back to the bed and sit on it, that car should have passed us, but I never heard the sound. So, I asked my wife if she heard or saw anything, and she declined. This had my interest piqued, so I stood back up to look out the front window, and there it was. The light was still sitting there, like I had seen earlier. This time, I was telling my wife what I was seeing, which caused her to join me.

We both stared at this light trying to determine what it could be, and thought maybe it was another vehicle that was stopped on the side of the road too. We thought about it for a moment, my wife being the altruistic person she was wanted to see if maybe they needed help, whereas I've heard and seen way too many stories of similar situations, and told her that we were not going out there.

She suggested that we could just drive up to it, but that would involve me having to get out, get my cones, and really, to be honest, I was tired and being way too lazy to do that. So I told her that we should just leave it alone, and if they were still there in the morning, we could check it out. She reluctantly agreed, and we both went to bed, but I still couldn't shake this thought that there was something more to that light."

After my wife had drifted off, I still laid there awake wondering what it could be, so I ended up getting up to look again. It was still there, but this time, it was different. Prior, it was the normal color that I would expect for headlights. This was now a deep yellow color.

The odds of it being another car in the exact same spot, right out of view with different colored headlights just seemed very unlikely. Something told me that I needed to do something to have a record of this, so I went to grab my phone and get a picture or video of it. As I quietly returned and opened the camera, I watched the light shift slightly and change from yellow to red.

This caused me to freeze and just watch. That's when I felt the vibration in the floor beneath my feet. I looked back at the light and watched as it grew wider and taller, until I was hit with a bright neon red light. I couldn't look directly at it, it was so bright, but as it rose up, I could see a metal shape of some kind of vehicle, but I couldn't make out what it was.

And as I was trying to shield my eyes from the light, it slowly grew darker, until I was able to look again. That's when I noticed the road was now shrouded in that red light. It was almost as if the source of the light was now directly above us, but the light was still so intense. Not only was it bright, but you could almost feel the heat coming from it. What the hell could possibly cause something like that?

Lastly, in nearly an instant, I saw the light flash back to the deep yellow that I had seen, and the rumbling had stopped. I didn't understand how my wife hadn't woken up to this. It was almost like an airplane was flying very low to the ground. It was that kind of rumbling. With the light now directly above us, my curiosity got the best of me, and I opened my driver's side door to try and look for the source of the light.

I looked straight up and could make out what looked to be a dark triangle hovering above us. The light was definitely coming from this thing, and I felt as though I had just outed myself. I quickly shut the door, and I went back to bed, praying that what I saw wasn't real and that I was just dreaming. I was hoping that my prayers were answered when I was awoken by my wife, but something was wrong. She sounded startled.

and I was on the floor, not the bed. When I finally came to and had my bearings, I assured her that I was fine and asked what had happened. She said that she woke up to an intense high-pitched ringing sound, and when she looked over at me, she saw me sitting on the floor. She was terrified, but by the time I came to, the sound was gone and I never heard it.

In fact, even with the rumbling in the ground, it was still silent all the way through. But one of the many parts of this that was bizarre was that I remember walking back to the bed again and getting in it, yet I was on the floor. We climbed back into bed, and I told her everything I had seen, and she did the same, even though she was asleep through most of it.

We both got up and looked outside, but it was now completely dark. There were no yellow or red lights anywhere. The road was empty, and we could even hear the wind and crickets again. Then we checked the time and realized that it had only been about two hours. I believe that I laid in bed for about half an hour before I got up, so all of that happened, and then I guess I passed out for about an hour, to an hour and a half.

After convincing my wife that I felt fine, I thought that it was best to just try to get some sleep. I felt exhausted. When we awoke the next morning, I slowly drove in the direction of the light, and there was nothing there. The road was fine. The grass on the side wasn't even flattened like something had been there. We talked about it a bit more as we drove, and we both agreed that it was possibly some kind of military aircraft, I guess.

We didn't talk about it for the rest of our trip. In fact, we made sure that we were both in bed, and we only stayed at rest stops and never on the side of the road, secluded from others. It wasn't until we were back home in the privacy of our own house that we finally said out loud what we thought. With the lights, and the way that it hovered without any sound, that was no aircraft that we were familiar with.

but we were both still pretty terrified to think about what it could have been, not to mention what could have possibly happened to me since I didn't actually make it to the bed. And honestly, I think I would rather stick to encountering weird people than something that I can't see or arm myself against. In the summer of 2012, I went on a camping trip with my church group.

There were 12 of us kids, all around the age of 10, give or take a year, and 6 adults, all crammed in between two vans, and we drove about 8 hours to a national park in Arkansas. I'd been camping a few times before with my parents and two siblings, so it was nothing new to me, and I was actually pretty excited about the trip.

It was, however, the first kind of trip like this that I've taken that wasn't just a lock-in at the church, so I didn't realize how planned and following a strict schedule it was going to be. The camp was going alright otherwise. It was early June, but it wasn't too hot. We were going to be there from Thursday to Sunday.

We got there in the evening on Thursday, so after setting up all of our tents, we had dinner, went over our itinerary for the weekend and the rules, and then we were left to do whatever we wanted that night, as long as we stayed within the campgrounds. Since I couldn't go very far, I instead looked for a good branch that I could keep as a walking stick, and, out of boredom, tried to sharpen one end to a point with a rock.

For Friday, they had all these planned activities such as icebreakers and team building exercises. Some of the activities even involved water balloons, which was a plus as it helped us stay cool. They were fun, at the least. I did have a few friends that were there too, so we teamed up on the activities. We again had some downtime in between these and the church sermons, but as always, we couldn't leave the campgrounds.

So, my friends and I found a way to keep us entertained. Our church wasn't very big, so there weren't a lot of extra things planned for us. We were just expected to be entertained by each other and the small things that we were allowed to bring. Like books. No electronics. I was excited for Saturday because we were going to actually be taking a hiking trail around the park. It was fun, but still a very by-the-book hike.

We were split into two groups, so I was with five other kids and two of the counselors. It was still nice, but we stuck to the trail and listened to the counselor talk about their experience there back when they were a kid, and they talked about some of the stuff they had done, and then they tied it all back to our lesson or sermon for that day.

Needless to say, it was fun, but I still wanted to be able to just explore on my own. That's how I've always been. I wanted to experience things for myself. I wanted to encounter wildlife as it was, not something set up for people to take pictures with on a designated path. So when we stopped to take a quick break on the trail, I made the decision to explore a little bit.

Everyone was sitting around having their snack and talking. I stood up and started pacing nearby, looking at the surrounding area. When the counselors weren't looking in my direction, I walked off a bit deeper into the trees beyond the trail. Before I realized it, the trail and my group were completely out of my sight, and I was deep within the thicket of trees.

I knew that I just needed to turn around and walk back the way that I came from, but in the meantime, I wanted to see what was around. I saw a tree that was covered in English ivy, but also some of the tallest trees that I'd ever seen. I even found a small runoff that had crawdads in it, as I caught and then released one. That was what I wanted to experience while I was there, and I was happy to finally get to do it.

I took a small pebble and a leaf from the ivy and pressed it into my little wallet, and then told myself that I should head back, knowing that they'd probably noticed I was gone by now. As I started walking back, I noticed a couple of things. One, it seemed like it was taking longer to return, but maybe that was just because I didn't want to go back.

And, too, I wasn't recognizing the things around me like I did getting there, and that one was a bigger deal. At some point in time, I must have turned, and the once familiar surroundings now felt alien and foreboding, causing almost a sense of dread. I didn't see the start of a trail anywhere. I couldn't hear anyone talking.

I did my best to remain calm and thought that it would be best to just walk in one direction, and eventually I would have to make my way out, even if it wasn't in the same place as my group. I continued walking the path that I was creating when I started to hear the crunch of leaves on the ground ahead of me. I perked up a bit as the fear started to subside, thinking that I may have found my way out, but that was quickly trampled when I saw the source of the sound.

It was a bear. It hadn't noticed me as it was facing away and moving something around on the ground, but I was frozen in fear. This was a church camp, not Boy Scouts. Nor was I ever in Boy Scouts. I had no idea what to do when you encountered a bear. I was in the middle of these woods with no one around except a huge, powerful creature more than capable of tearing me to shreds.

It hadn't noticed me, so the only thing I could think to do was hide before it did spot me and then wait it out. I slowly walked backwards and looked around when I saw a tree with some kind of growth on it. It had some low branches, but they were sturdy enough for me to stand on. I slowly climbed up the tree, trying to make as little noise as possible, but every slight crunch under my shoes or snap of a little branch made my stomach drop.

I was finally up high enough that I deemed myself safe, and stayed as quiet and still as I could. The bear lingered for what felt like eternity, shuffling through the brush and rocks on the ground. I was thinking that I was going to have to stay up there overnight. I just prayed that an adult would be crazy enough to do what I did and show up to bring me back to safety. I was up there for about half an hour.

I was counting the seconds and marking them into the tree since I had nothing better to do. That's when I started hearing more crunching, but it wasn't from the bear. I started looking around when I saw a figure come through the trees. I started crying and wanted to scream out to them, but I was worried what the bear would do if it saw either of us. Of course, my kid brain decided to risk it, and I started screaming for help. Both the bear and the man stopped.

The bear had stood up on its back legs and looked like it was sniffing the air. I kept screaming my location and warned the man about the bear. As he slowly approached, he stopped by a different tree when he actually spotted the bear. Then, he started yelling, whistling, waving his arms around. To my surprise, the bear actually got back down on all fours and swiftly started walking off.

When he was just out of view, the man approached the tree and told me to come down, asking me my name. I answered him as I tried climbing down the tree and nearly jumped into his arms. He told me that people had been looking for me, and I just started bawling. I was so scared in those moments, and I really didn't expect to be searched for, or at least found anytime soon.

He led me back to the trail and used a walkie-talkie to report that I'd been found. He gave me some water as we walked the path and just talked to me about myself and the park, which helped me calm down. He told me about how making yourself look big and loud was a good way to get a bear to leave, and I'll never forget that, though I hope to never run into another bear, unless it's at the zoo.

We finally made our way back to our campsite, and I hugged and thanked the man for helping me. Tears streamed down my face with this mixture of gratitude and sheer exhaustion. I then ran over to one of the counselors, hugging them as well. They all explained how they noticed that I was missing when they started walking again on their break. I'd been gone for nearly three hours. I definitely got a stern talking to about the situation,

I lost my free time that night and had to help set up for dinner, but I didn't mind. I was just glad to be back with familiar faces and not lost in the woods, helpless. That night, as I just lay there in my sleeping bag, the events definitely were playing in my mind. I could remember the smell of the trees, the grass, the dirt, the sensation of the water. I remembered the pure terror sneaking up on me as I realized I was lost-

and that defeat that I felt when I saw the bear. All of this ingrained itself into my memory. It was a stark reminder that, sometimes, rules are there for a reason. And the reason for the rules that I broke that day were to protect me from the untamed wilderness. I went home that Sunday a little more mature, and I promise you, I never ventured somewhere like that alone, ever, again.

Back when I was in elementary school, for a little while, things were kind of awful to be completely honest with you. For most people, those days are just fun and learning, making new friends and enjoying being a kid. Unfortunately, my elementary school career, I guess you could say, was marred by one boy, Jake. Jake was a towering figure, at least when I was nine.

He was 10, but was in the same grade as me, and he was fairly well known on the playground as the biggest bully ever. I feel like all schools have that kind of legend. A bully that pushes everyone around, but for some reason no one wants to do anything about them. Jake was, as I mentioned, 10, in a class of 9 year olds. You can assume why.

He'd been in trouble randomly here and there, but for the most part, the adults just turned a blind eye to him. He would push someone down, make them cry, do anything to cause other kids pain, and it would always be just an accident, and they would just ignore him. Most days, I did everything I could to remain invisible to Jake. He was like a T-Rex. If Jake didn't see you, he wouldn't target you.

But unfortunately, my luck didn't hold, and my card was pulled. He would follow me into the bathrooms and make fun of me, punch the doors and the stalls, throw his threats at me while staring at me through the crack in the door. He once yanked my backpack so hard that he almost dislocated my shoulder.

One time when we were going out to recess, I was running out the door and he shoved his foot out to trip me, making me slam face first into the concrete, giving me a major scrape on my face and breaking one of my teeth. Thankfully it was a baby tooth, so it wasn't a permanent break. But then, then something changed. There was a new kid, named Tim, that joined our class.

I remember Tim as being an incredibly charismatic kid, and on his first day he told me that he loved my t-shirt. It was Spider-Man. It was my favorite shirt. I was kind of starstruck when this new kid gave me a compliment. Look, I was a simple kid. Tim was also 10, and was somewhere in the middle of my size and Jake's size. And we became pretty good friends pretty fast.

Because I had a friend around me more, I think Jake was a bit hesitant to do anything for the most part, until the day where things came to a head. It was recess time, and after the whole incident with me landing on my face, I had made it a point to exit the building slowly and pay attention to my surroundings, to make sure that he couldn't get to me. But Jake was a predator.

and he was watching me like a hawk that had spotted a tiny field mouse minding its own business. He caught me, cornered me, and based on his face, I honestly thought I was going to get a beatdown. At some point in my getting cornered, Tim must have seen what was going on, and he made the decision to intervene. He stepped up to Jake and shoved him off of me, telling him to leave me alone.

Jake's face twisted into a snarl, and I watched him as he balled his fist up, and he held his stare on Tim. Tim started yelling at him about how stupid he was, how weak he was, insulting Jake to the point that I could see the tears starting to well up in his eyes. Tim kept going, kept talking smack on this other boy. I'm assuming that he thought that exploiting Jake's low self-confidence would get him to break.

Get him to walk away? I don't know why he thought this. I'm guessing he just assumed it would work. Some sort of reverse psychology. Bully the bully and the bully will stop, or something. Then he said something to the effect of, I bet your dad doesn't even love you. I don't think Tim expected what happened next. Jake apparently was not the type to take this kind of comment sitting down.

He wasn't going to cower, and he wasn't going to take it. I watched as Jake lunged at Tim, his face bright red. He attacked him with a ferocity that I had never seen. His fists were pummeling Tim repeatedly as he tried to defend himself. At this point, I was no longer scared for my own safety. I was scared for my friend.

Instinct finally took over. I turned around and I ran as fast as I could towards the door, where the teachers were huddled. I could feel myself crying thinking that if I didn't go fast enough, Jake was going to kill Tim. I interrupted the teachers that were talking about god knows what. I shouted at them, both of them jumping and looking in my direction asking what was going on. My words just stumbled out of my shaking body.

"'Jake! Tim! Fighting! Help!' The two teachers ran with me over to the side of the school where Jake was still pummeling Tim, all while sobbing. Tim looked horrible. His face was bloodied. He was curled up as best as he could, and Jake was standing over him with his chest heaving and his face soaking wet. The teacher screamed at him to stop, and in that moment...

The madness just seemed to halt. Jake stood up straight and turned slowly to see me and the teacher standing there, watching him in horror. She went to grab Jake's arm and pull him away, and like clockwork, Jake tried to say something like, I didn't mean to hurt him. We were playing. Some BS lie that he really thought would work. It didn't. Tim was pretty messed up.

groaning on the ground, bloodied, obviously in pain. They ended up calling an ambulance for him, and while he was pretty badly beaten, he survived. Though he had a broken nose and major black eyes when he came back to school. The aftermath of all this was intensely stressful. They had to ask me what happened since I had reported it,

I had to tell them about how Jake was going to beat me up, and then Tim stood up to him, and then how Jake just went absolutely feral on him. Jake ended up getting expelled from the school. I guess they couldn't ignore the fact that he had put a kid in the hospital with his bullying. Tim was suspended, and had to go through some kind of disciplinary thing, but he was allowed back in class. After that, Tim and I were the best of friends.

I actually asked him why he'd stood up for me like that when he knew Jake was going to attack him, and he laughed about it. He said that he didn't like watching me get beat up, and that he had imagined the whole thing going totally different, with him standing up like a hero and Jake cowering down and running away. The incident left one hell of a mark on me. It was a visual that I struggled to get out of my head.

I'm glad that Tim was mostly alright, and that the school finally did something about the class bully. And I'm even more glad that I never saw Jake again. Hello. I wanted to share an experience that I had when I was a preteen that was pretty creepy, and also taught me a valuable life lesson early on in my life. I believe it was 2005.

My twin sister Katie and I were the typical young girls. We liked to do our hair and makeup, hang out with friends, and most importantly, we liked to shop, and especially at the mall. Our local mall was our favorite place to go and hang out, even if we didn't have money to spend. It was seriously some of the best times that we had. This event happened on one of those shopping days.

"'Katie and I would often go together with our mutual friends, "'but this time she wasn't going with me, "'as she hadn't been feeling well. "'So it was just going to be me and two of my friends. "'My friend Amber's mom picked me up, "'and we met our other friend Savannah there. "'Our day there started out pretty typical. "'We probably walked the whole floor talking "'before we even decided to go into the shops.'

Most of the time we didn't have much money to spend, so we would try on outfits pretending like we had an infinite wallet and would walk out with wishes and a wells. We more so just enjoyed being able to have some independence as we walked around by ourselves. As we were walking through the shops, I noticed an older guy sitting on a bench, seemingly watching us intently.

At first, I brushed it off, thinking that he was just another judgmental adult who didn't like our choice of clothing and style. I had short pink hair, Savannah had hers half-shaved, and Amber was just in her normal emo garb. So, yes, we kind of stood out, but we loved the way that we looked. We were also used to getting stared at, but it normally didn't bother us.

So, we continued on our wandering spree as normal. However, that feeling of being watched continued to linger. It felt different than the normal stares that we got, and it was making me feel uncomfortable. So, I would look around the stores, and outside of it, and I would see none other than that same guy that I saw earlier just staring at us.

I couldn't understand why he was not only staring at us, but obviously following us at this point. No matter where we went, it seemed like this guy was also within my view, but also trying to keep his distance. But the more I thought about it, the more I started to entertain the idea that maybe this guy was some kind of undercover security or something, and he was just doing a crappy job.

This thought made sense to me, but also angered me, as I assumed he thought we must have been thieves or up to no good since we weren't buying anything. So, in hopes of getting him off our backs, I decided that I should buy something. I bought a cheap pair of earrings and a little keychain, thinking that my plan was genius and that he would just go away. That, obviously, didn't happen.

This guy continued to follow us and again was making me feel uncomfortable. I hadn't mentioned him to my friends up to that point, but now fed up with it, I finally asked my friends about him. They did not make me feel any better about this situation. They said they also saw the guy, but as they walked around, they noticed the only person his attention was on was me.

They didn't mention this to each other until I brought it up, thinking the same thing. That he was just being judgmental. Until I brought it up. They watched as he would crane his neck to keep me in his view as I walked around. Now, creeped out, we thought up a scheme to hopefully lose him. We decided that we would all go into a store that he would have no business going in. So we headed for a store dedicated to young girls.

We all walked in and one of my friends said that he did seem to stop at the entrance. We agreed that we would try to spend a decent amount of time in there, hoping that he would just move along. After some time, I think we were in there for about half an hour, trying things on and making a purchase on some popcorn to share, we left the store. Savannah and Amber walked out first, thinking, if anything, I would be safer alone in the store.

When I didn't immediately see the guy, I walked out and directly to my friends. As I approached them, I heard someone yell out, "Hey!" I turned around to look, and it was that same guy, now approaching me, with a happy look on his face. I stood there frozen, not knowing what to do, and when he got closer, he berated me for not saying hello sooner or introducing him to my friends.

I was bewildered. I had never seen this guy in my life, and I had no idea who he was. I still didn't know what to say or how to respond, so as I stood motionless with a deer-in-the-headlights look, the guy grabbed my arm with one hand and had his other arm out, like he was trying to pull me into a hug and still smiling. I started pulling back, struggling to break from his grip.

but he only squeezed tighter, now hurting my arm. My friends immediately came to my defense, yelling at him to let me go. As he loosened his grip, his face dropped to a frown, and he shouted, "'But I love you, Katie!' I was again caught speechless. All of us were. But then I muttered that I wasn't Katie. I didn't know what was happening at the time, so I just asked."

"How do you know my sister?" His saddened look quickly changed to confusion or annoyance, maybe as he began to doubt me. He accused me of lying and began shouting that I had led him on and broken his heart, now getting the attention of others. The guy quickly noticed this and backed off, walking away with his head down.

There was an adult that worked in the store that we had just left that approached us, asking us if we knew that guy and we explained what had just happened. They suggested that we come back in the store so they could contact security and told us to call our parents. Once our parents and security arrived, we explained what all had unfolded during what was supposed to be a simple trip to the mall. Security and the police never saw the guy after that,

but it wouldn't be the last time that we heard from him. When we got back home, my parents called my sister out of her room and made me explain to her what happened that day. As I recalled my experience, I watched the color drain from her face, and her expression changed from one of confusion to shock. When I finished, my parents asked my sister if she was familiar with the guy that matched the description,

and why he knew her, and said what he said. That's when everything finally came out, and made sense. My sister broke down, and explained how she had been frequenting games with popular chat rooms, and talking to people. One person was particularly interested in talking to her, and did so every time she was in the game.

It seemed lighthearted and friendly at first, until they took it to emails. The guy claimed to be 16, and we were 15 at the time, so she didn't see anything wrong with it. She shared a photo of herself. It was a normal one, nothing inappropriate. Like a school picture.

Because she had pink hair at the time, the guy she was talking to delayed sending her photos saying he was ugly, and didn't want to scare her off. She convinced him that she wouldn't judge, and when he finally sent the pictures, she could tell that he was a lot older than 16. The guy was clean-shaven, including his head.

He tried to tell my sister that he just looked older than 16 because he had cancer, and that's also why he was bald. My sister, still wanting to not be mean, just assumed he was lonely and wanted friends. But she slowly distanced herself from him, knowing that she probably shouldn't be talking to someone so much older. But the emails from him just kept coming.

He slowly threw the comments of how beautiful she was, and how he wanted to meet her and make him the luckiest guy alive. When he kept asking her to meet up, she always told him that she couldn't. That day, she had no idea he was going to be at the mall, nor did she have any idea how he knew to show up at that mall.

She legitimately wasn't feeling well, and had no plans on going with us that day, and after my parents checked her emails, they confirmed that she never mentioned it to him either. She did, unfortunately, tell the guy the school that we went to, and that she liked to go to that mall, but that was it.

It's still a terrifying thought to this day that that guy may have been walking around our school, or even the mall daily, trying to find her. That's exactly what we assumed happened, too. The only picture Katie had sent of her was with her pink hair. However, once it faded, she tried purple, and I ended up using her leftover pink.

So, with me now having pink hair, and us being identical twins, I could see how he could mistake us, not knowing our differences that made us… well, us. My sister got in trouble for sending pictures and giving a stranger personal information, but my dad also took over her email to lure the guy out, and it worked.

My dad proposed a meetup, but the guy wanted it to be in a more secluded area due to the event that unfolded at the mall. When they met up, my dad called the cops once he spotted him, and he told them to get there quickly before he did something that he regretted. Years later now, and I don't think my parents are completely honest as to what all went down there, but what I do know is that the guy was arrested and went away for a long time.

It was definitely an eye-opener for both of us, and as I mentioned in the beginning, we learned a valuable lesson. We were heavily monitored with online stuff, but I can honestly say that I appreciated it. Running into a grown man that I had never met, him trying to pull me away from my friends, saying that he loved me, it was all terrifying.

And I hate to think about what could have happened if I was alone, or if my sister was there. Hello. I wanted to share an event that happened to me and my friend back in 2014. I live in a part of the US where fireworks are banned, so unless we went to my grandparents' property that was over an hour away, the only thing that we could really do was have a cookout and/or go see a fireworks show.

This particular year, my parents decided that they wanted to have a smaller celebration at a somewhat local fireworks show. And by a smaller celebration, I guess they meant my mom and dad, my two twin older brothers, and a couple that were friends of my parents. My brothers were 18, so they hung out with each other a lot, and then my parents had each other and their friends, so me being 14...

I was feeling a bit left out. After throwing some hints their way, they allowed me to invite a friend to join us, so I chose my best friend, Holly. And with us also being at that age, we also wanted to look our best, so before we left for the park, we did our hair and makeup, and wore our cutest, patriotic outfits that we could. We were feeling good about ourselves, and also kind of grown up, so we were pretty excited."

However, when we arrived, I had to help my parents pull out the chairs and the food and drinks before anything. Shortly after, two more of my parents' friends showed up, who had a kid close to my brother's age, so they started talking to him too. I was pretty annoyed at this because, if Holly hadn't come, there would be even more people in our small gathering and nobody for me to hang out with.

I'm used to my parents doing that. It was still annoying, at least at my age. So when they started talking, I told my mom that Holly and I were going to walk around the park for a bit. She said that it was fine, but to be back at a certain time so that we could eat and watch the show. With that, we grabbed our purses and phones and walked off. Again, we were feeling on top of the world.

Holly was just like me whenever it came to our hobbies and interests, so we thought that we would walk over to the small water park nearby, maybe get our feet wet, take some pictures, and just talk. We at least prepared to get wet since it was so hot, so we had our bathing suits on underneath. As we approached the water park, we spotted two boys hanging out at the skate park, which was pretty much in the same area.

They looked younger, or at least close to our age. We both commented on them being there and continued to the water. We may have been a bit louder than normal, with our screaming and laughing, partially trying to get their attention too. Not long after, we looked back and noticed that they were walking over here making comments. They sat by us and started talking to us. They asked who we were here with,

why we were alone, and pretty much just some innocent things like that. We explained that we just wanted to escape my family for a bit. They briefly talked about themselves, telling us their names, which I don't remember anymore. They told us they were 16. We told them that we were 14, so they were pretty close to our age. After talking for a while, they asked us if we wanted to go with them to hang out some more.

We asked where, and they said it would still be in the park. It was just behind the parking lot. Holly and I looked at each other and thought since it was still going to be in the park, then we should be fine. However, I knew that it was getting close to the time that my mom expected me back, and if I wasn't, I would probably get in trouble. I didn't want to be embarrassed in front of my friend and our potentially new friends, so...

I told them that I needed to go back to my family first. They teased us, in a friendly way, making fun of us for needing permission and having a curfew. I denied their claims and just clarified that it was more about letting them know that we were going to be out longer. I even told them that we were having a cookout and offered to bring them back something. I was 14. I didn't really know what to offer a cute boy that was interested in me,

so I guess I thought a hot dog and soda would suffice. They declined though, and said that they would just wait there. So, we waved them off and made our way back to my family. When we returned, I saw my brothers and the other guy in the field behind our car throwing a football, and there were two more new people there that I didn't recognize. We were greeted by my mom, I was introduced to the new people, and then we were free to eat and do whatever we wanted.

By the time we finished eating, the sun was setting and the sky was transforming into the dark blues. Everyone was starting to find their seats, so we thought it was a good opportunity to dip. I once again told my mom that we were going to walk around, and since it was getting dark, she told us not to go far. I know my mom. She was way too preoccupied with her friends there and just said something to sound like a caring and in-control parent, but I knew that it was BS.

So, as we started walking to the field, I gave a look to Holly and we both laughed, knowing that we were going back to the water park. We were both hopeful that the boys were still nearby, and were talking about who we thought were cuter and the other normal 14-year-old girl banter. As we got closer, we saw that they were in fact still there, now sitting on one of the railings and smoking.

Now, I've caught my brothers smoking too, so I know what it looks and smells like. I wasn't interested in it, but I thought that maybe we would look cooler hanging out with them. We greeted them, and they again confirmed that we wanted to chill with them elsewhere, and we agreed. We followed behind them, past the parking lot on the other side of the water park, and down a small embankment.

One of the boys pulled out a phone, turned on their flashlight, and shined it down a large cement tunnel. I've seen these before on construction sites, but I still don't know what they were for. I also didn't realize how large they were until I was standing right next to one. They stood to the side and held out an arm, ushering us into the tunnel. We walked in it at first, and it was pretty cool.

Looking at Holly, I think we were both kind of nervous, but there was an opening on both sides, and it seemed like a nice place to get away. We all started talking again, about random stuff, and one of them asked what school we went to. We told them the middle school, and they mentioned a high school that we hadn't heard of. They said it was in a different city, though, so it made sense to us. They said that we looked older, closer to their age.

and mention that they thought that we were hot. Again, it was a nice feeling to me. I just had a guy confirm that he liked me, and neither of us had been in a relationship before. That's when one of them said that they brought something, and walked out of the tunnel. I saw them lean over behind the tunnel, and they came back in, wiping off a bottle. He said that he had taken it from his house, so he knew that it was good.

We had never drank before, so it made me feel a bit nervous. He offered it to Holly first, and she declined. So when he offered it to me, I declined too. Again, they both started teasing us, saying that we were scared or too perfect to try it. They both took swigs of it, but then turned back to us.

I guessed that I was bad about peer pressure, because as their teasing and pressure continued, I caved in and grabbed the bottle from them, taking a big gulp. It was horrible. It tasted like what rubbing alcohol smelled like. It burned my tongue, throat, and nostrils as I swallowed. I handed it back to them, coughing, as they started laughing. I told them they should get something better, because that tasted awful.

I was trying to play it off, but I think that I failed. I looked over at Holly, and she laughed too, but I could feel that she was feeling a bit awkward. I thought that things were calming down when they asked us if we wanted to play a game. We just kind of smiled and said sure. One immediately suggested we play truth or dare, and the other one agreed. And then the one facing me said, I'll go first. I dare you to take your shirt off.

as he stared smiling directly at me. Not knowing how to react in this situation whatsoever, I just laughed. I told them I wasn't going to do that, and they started laughing at me again, teasing me about it. They made comments about us being there with them for a reason, and that they thought that this was our intentions. Holly and I both disagreed, saying that we just thought we were going to hang out.

Then the one in front of me stood up and got really close to my face. I could feel him breathing on me. He was that close. I was terrified at this point. They claimed to be 16, and it was entirely possible that they were lying, especially now seeing just how much bigger he was compared to me. I didn't know what to do. I felt if either of us tried to run, they would very clearly be able to catch us.

We didn't even know that they had the alcohol on them, so who knew what else they could have had. The guy in front of me started laughing, and as fear gripped my heart, I could only muster what I normally did when I was terrified. I started crying out and called out for my dad. Except, I became quite a baby in these situations, and embarrassingly, I exclaimed, "'Dad!' This caused the guy standing in front of me to look out the tunnel quickly."

That's when I realized that he probably thought I was yelling for him. I looked up to see his face, and he honestly looked concerned. So, I decided to go with it. I yelled out, "'We're down here, Dad!' Holly quickly grabbed my arm and joined in on shouting for our dad. The boys made another bullying remark about us, telling us to run off before we got in trouble, and we didn't waste any time."

We ran out of the tunnel and climbed back up the parking lot, looking back once to see if they were behind us. They weren't, but we couldn't see anything a few feet in front of us due to how dark it was. We hurriedly made our way back to my family, where they were all laughing and having a good time. We climbed in the back of my dad's SUV so that we could calm down and catch our breaths. We were both deeply shaken by this.

thinking about what could have possibly happened if I didn't have my little outburst there. We both kind of mutually agreed to never let something like that happen again, but we weren't going to tell my parents, either. I was terrified of those boys finding us, or possibly running into them in the future, but I was also worried about getting in trouble if I told them that I drank alcohol. That's just where my 14-year-old mind went.

We ate a bit more, me trying to cover up a smell that I thought they might notice, and stayed very close to my family for the rest of the night. We never physically saw those boys again after that night, but I did recognize one of them from somewhere. I was going through my brother's yearbook later that summer, and as I flipped through I saw the face of the boy that was standing in front of me.

It immediately brought back the memories, and I asked my brother if he knew him. To my surprise, he did. He said he used to be on their baseball team but was kicked off after getting into some trouble. I asked what he did, and he said that he didn't know for sure, but the rumors were that he beat up his girlfriend at the time or something. Then he mentioned how he didn't like him because he thought he was a weirdo, or something was off about him.

He asked me why I asked about him, and I just told him that he looked familiar and left it at that. I then went to my room and tried to recover from a panic attack alone. One of them was at least 18, and they claimed to be 16, most likely because we said we were 14. They were practically adults, and they were totally okay with doing what they did to us.

I still have not told anyone to this day, and I know that was probably stupid, but I really didn't know who to tell and what, if anything, could be done. They didn't technically do anything to us, and it would have just been us versus them. I told Holly about what I found, and she also agreed that she didn't want to tell anyone or even talk about it. So we just hid it deep inside.

And now, I guess I'm sharing it with you. If anyone takes anything from this, let it be this. Always, always trust your gut. Especially young boys and girls that may have self-esteem and confidence issues. And an adult, young or old, should never want to party with a kid alone. So, this was something that I witnessed two years ago.

I still don't understand what happened, and I think that's why it stuck with me even more, not having those answers. Anyways, here goes. It was early December, as I'd been delaying my holiday shopping. We actually still have a decent mall in my area that's typically pretty busy. I prefer going there when I have shopping to do for multiple people, as I can usually buy for everyone there.

I went alone this time around, hoping for less distractions. When I'm with others, I tend to talk a lot and lose direction, possibly forgetting things. I hadn't quite been in the holiday spirit that year, so I wanted to get everything done and over with in one day. Anyways, I started down my list and after getting through about four stores, the hunger pangs started reminding me that I didn't have breakfast.

So, I thought that I would treat myself to lunch in the food court before I continued. I found myself a spot after ordering and sat down, waiting to be called. While I was waiting, I started reading an e-book on my phone and continued reading it as I ate. I was at a point in the book where I didn't want to stop reading and had successfully zoned out the world around me in that brief moment. It was once I finished the book that the world came back to me.

I started looking around, just to watch people and to judge how busy it had gotten, when I noticed one guy in particular sitting at another nearby table. Something about him caught my attention, and was telling me that I should keep an eye on him. He was a little on the older side, but I would say no older than 50s. I'm not the best at guessing age, but with him it was a bit more difficult.

His build, movement, and lack of visible wrinkles made me think that he wasn't very old, but even with his mask on, I could tell that he had a full salt-and-pepper beard. His hair was short and thinning, but scruffy-looking, and also had the salt-and-pepper look to it. I guess that was my main reason for thinking he was older. But his looks weren't really what caught my attention. It was his actions.

He was hunched over a small laptop, seemingly engrossed in it. I watched as he would get close to it, squinting, and then he would back up and look around the food court. When he looked around, he seemed to have this restless energy about him, like he was anxiously waiting for something. Or someone, maybe? I didn't think much of it, just telling myself it was someone probably doing some kind of work.

and maybe they realized the mall was a bad choice for that. There was nothing else substantial going on, and I knew I needed to finish my list, so I threw away my trash and continued on. I think it took me a few more hours to get through the rest of my list, as well as looking at a few things for myself when I was ready to go. However, I wanted to get one more thing.

I personally cannot resist Cinnabon, so I had to get myself a treat for the road. As I made my way back to the food court, I looked around as I waited and saw the same guy from earlier was at that same table, doing the same thing he was when I first spotted him. But this time, he now looked more stressed.

And being closer to him, based on where I was standing, I could see the dark bags under his eyes. He looked very exhausted. It caught my attention because he had to have been there for the last four hours or so. He was clearly tired, so what was he doing there? Why not just go home and rest?

Curiosity got the best of me, so I wanted to try to peek and see what he was looking at or doing on his laptop. I started walking casually towards the trash can, conveniently behind him, but I was distracted when I saw him quickly look to the right, pushing his chair out some. It startled me a bit, thinking maybe he realized what I was doing, until I noticed the direction in which he was looking. As I followed his gaze,

I saw a group of teenage girls walking by, laughing and chatting away. Looking around, I couldn't see anything else that he could have been staring at. There was a shopping kiosk that was there the whole time, and it didn't make noise or light up. And there really weren't any other people near the girls that he could have been looking at instead. That kind of made the situation turn for me. This middle-aged man stopped in his tracks to watch these girls.

without taking his eyes off of them. He closed his laptop, and he quickly stood up, causing the chair to screech. I grabbed my order, and haphazardly stacked it on top of my bags inside my shopping caddy, now more invested in this situation than my own belongings. By the time I did this, the man grabbed the laptop, putting it under his arm, and started to quickly walk towards the girls.

Something was telling me that I needed to follow him, because if I didn't, something bad could happen. The girls had a head start, being pretty far ahead, followed by the man, maybe about two stores behind them, and then I was close behind him with my phone out, ready to either record something or call 911. I can't explain why I didn't call for help before, other than just wanting to know what he was going to do.

I didn't think he had a weapon on him, as he wasn't wearing a big jacket, just a sweater with a scarf, so I wanted to find out what was really going on here. As the girls slipped into one of the stores, the man stopped and slowly paced nearby. I rolled over towards a nearby map to hopefully make it look like I wasn't following this guy, but then I saw him start to walk slower towards the store.

I watched from where I was as the girls walked out of the store, looking in each other's bags. The man quickly picked up his pace until one of the girls noticed him. They were all wearing masks, but I could tell the girl went from smiling to a more serious look. She then nudged another girl, motioning to the man now approaching them. The other girl looked shocked when she saw this guy, and while I couldn't see the guy's face, he did put his hands out in front of him.

almost as if in a way to say, stay calm, or someone trying to explain themselves. As everything around me seemed to slow, I watched the man reach into his pants pocket and pull out a piece of paper. He unfolded it a few times and then held it up to the girls, gently shaking the paper. Then, what I didn't expect, the girl he seemed to be directing his words to pulled down her mask,

and had a look of shock on her face. I watched as her expression softened, and she shook her head. Then the man's shoulder slumped, as if he had just given up. After a few more words, the guy shoves the paper back in his pocket, and before he walks away, the girl reaches into her purse and hands the man something. As he takes it from her, he looks around as if to see who may have seen this, and quickly puts it in his pocket too.

Afterwards, the girls and the man part ways, with him walking back in my direction and then past me. I watched as he went to a bench, sat down, and just stared forward at nothing in particular. The girls had already walked off, maybe a little less cheerful than when they started. This did not play out at all like what I expected, but I still have no idea what I witnessed.

What was on the paper that he showed the girls? Why did one of them look so concerned, yet the other girl seemed shocked, and almost as if she recognized him? And why did whatever was said seem to ultimately crush this man? I know that I probably could have approached the girls and asked them what it was about, but I thought that that would just be too awkward and nosy.

I'm also a guy, so I didn't want to be the creep in this situation, so I didn't even consider that an option. I know that this may not necessarily be creepy, but the eeriness of the situation and the unanswered questions make me think that you would be interested in this too. Besides, maybe others will have some theories as well. I still have no answers, and of course...

I haven't seen the man or girl since. In the end, I just hope that everyone is okay. I saw that you were going to make a video about malls, and I remembered a story that my mom actually told me many years ago. This was something that happened directly to her, and she talked about it often enough with friends and family. Everyone's retelling was the exact same way that my mom would explain it,

and she's really not the type to dramatize things, so I absolutely believe it. So, here it goes. I am the second oldest kid in my house, and this took place about six to eight months after my mom had me, so yes, I was still a baby. She was a stay-at-home mom for most of my childhood, until she got a part-time job to give her something to do while we were all in school.

But when I was born, my older brother was already in all-day kindergarten, so it would just be us during the day. One of those days, my mom wanted to get out of the house, and what could be better than a small shopping spree for some new clothes after having a baby? So she bundled me up, packed the stroller in the car, and headed out to the mall for some retail therapy. When she arrived, everything was going as planned.

and she had already stopped at a few stores. After a couple hours, she said that I started getting fussy, so she went to the food court to get herself something to eat, and to feed me in the process. She pulled the stroller close to her so that we were facing each other, as she relaxed and fed us both. While sitting there, she was looking around the court, and she noticed a woman sitting a few tables away with her eyes locked on us.

She said that she had seen people staring at her before, especially while she fed me, so she ignored it at first. But then as she scanned the area, she would find herself going back to look at this woman, and she was still staring at us. But it was her expression that really caught her off guard. While her gaze was undoubtedly on us, she said that her expression seemed blank and devoid of any emotion.

At first, even though the gaze itself was pretty odd, she tried to let it go thinking maybe she just wasn't all there, or was just innocently staring off. She finished eating and throughout would glance at the woman as she continued to stare at us. Being who she was, my mother tried to show kindness to the woman by smiling at her. She described her as an older woman.

Her skin appeared smooth from a distance, but she had deep wrinkles in her forehead and around her mouth. She had stringy, shoulder-length hair that looked like it needed to be washed and brushed. She thought maybe she needed someone to show her kindness, and it seemed to relieve some of the discomfort. When the woman's eyes brightened, she smiled back.

With any uneasy feelings now diminished, my mom packed up to leave the food court and finish her shopping trip. She said that as she walked around the outer square, she kept getting that feeling like she was being watched. She stopped in the children's clothing store, and when the feeling wouldn't dissipate, she looked around. That's when she spotted that same woman from the food court.

She quickly looked away from her, pretending that she was looking for something specific, but it was too late. The woman had approached my mom smiling and just complimented me, saying how cute I was. She thanked her, and they both awkwardly stood there for a few moments, until the woman also complimented my mom, saying that she looked great for just having a kid.

Again, she thanked her, and as the woman continued smiling and not moving, she wished her a good day and walked away to complete her purchase. As she walked toward the checkout counter, the woman followed her, and when she parked the stroller next to her as she was checking out, the woman was right there, smiling at me, cooing, and then trying to touch me.

My mom was a little less overbearing with me as she was with my brother, her first child, as in she was typically okay with people touching my hands or feet or just wanting to hold me, even though she wouldn't let strangers hold me, of course. But she said that she started feeling uncomfortable with how involved the woman was with getting with me. So, once she was finished, she quickly made her way out of the store.

hoping to soon lose sight of the woman or vice versa. However, it wouldn't go the way that she wanted because she spotted the woman following close behind. She explained to me how she felt like something bad was about to happen, and she really didn't know what to do. This was a long time ago, so she didn't have a cell phone at the time. The only thing she could do was to either find somewhere that she would feel safe, or to try to leave.

However, where she was located in the mall was on the opposite side of where she'd parked. At that point, she just wanted to leave, so she picked up her pace, pushing along the stroller and actively trying to keep an eye on this woman. As infants do, though, I apparently started crying and would not let up, so my mom tried to pull me out to hold me while steering the stroller one-handed. This, of course, slowed her down some, and the woman once again approached her.

At first, she acted like she was trying to be helpful, commenting that I was upset and offering to help. My mom declined, telling her thanks but no thanks. But the woman was adamant. She offered to hold me so that my mom could rest, and she said that she didn't mean to, but she kind of laughed as she again said no thank you. It was one of those nervous laughs you do when someone asks you or tells you something shocking.

so this seemed warranted. Why would anyone just hand over their infant to some random stranger? Apparently this woman didn't appreciate that, though, as her previous demeanor changed and her eyes went back to the ones she initially saw in the food court. They were dark and nearly glazed over as she began spewing a barrage of comments and questions at my mother.

She asked her if she even knew the father. My parents are still together. She said that I didn't look a thing like her. I'm actually a spinning image of my mother now, and even questioned if I was even her real baby. My mom is still walking at this point, and not responding to the woman, now slightly offended, and still very much worried about her sudden change. Finally, my mom snapped, and yelled at this woman to leave her alone.

The woman seemed surprised that she spoke up and quit moving, so she took advantage of this to put me back in the stroller so that she could get out of there quicker. But the woman didn't stay silent for very long. She immediately started shouting, "She stole my baby!" My mom quickly turned around to confirm what she already knew. This woman was now pointing at her, making a huge scene and accusing my mom of having kidnapped me.

My mom was horrified. As the woman ran towards her, she once again grabbed me to hold me tight, fearing that she would try to take me, or that someone else would, believing this old woman's story. As more and more people began looking around, my mom left the stroller behind and ran with me into a nearby store, asking someone to call for help.

They were all starting to look out into the walkway to see what was happening, and she said that someone already looked suspicious of her. Right then, she told me that she feared people would not believe her. She told me how one of the ladies working there agreed to call 911, but demanded that she stay where she was, this again confirming her fears that they may not believe her.

While the woman was on the phone, the crazy lady caught up and ran into the store that my mom was in, screaming to give her the baby, but she was now holding what looked like a large kitchen knife, and she was swinging it at anyone that got close to her. My mom was terrified that she may actually hurt someone that worked there, or me, so she just squeezed herself into the back corner, trying to make herself as small as possible.

as she wrapped herself around me to protect me. Thankfully, the knife wielding didn't last long as one of the mall security guys got there and practically wrestled it away from her. She was held nearby but out of the store until police arrived. My mom can joke about it now, but I can still see her get choked up a bit when she talks about this part. She really told me how afraid she was waiting for the police to arrive.

She didn't know how she was going to be able to prove to them that I was her baby. She had the stroller with our belongings in it, but she feared that they would think that she just took off with me, leaving the stroller behind. She didn't have any identification for me, just her own ID in her purse. She asked to use the phone at the store to call my dad, hoping that he would be able to get my birth certificate or some newborn photos.

anything to help prove her case. While she was able to call him, thankfully she ended up not needing anything other than her ID. When the police arrived, they took statements from a few people nearby, including my mom, and they asked her if either of us was hurt or needed medical attention, and she said no, so they basically told her that we could leave.

She was confused by this, remembering how she was happy they believed her, but also concerned that they didn't do much to check. What if it played out the same way, but they believed the old woman instead? The police assured her and explained why they believed her. Apparently, this woman was actually known to them. She had issues with substance abuse, and she had a few kids herself.

However, they'd all been taken away by the state because of neglect and abuse. She'd been using so long that she now seemed to be paranoid and accused everyone she saw that had young children of stealing her kids. This wasn't the first time that she had done this to someone. Just the first time in this mall, apparently. She was also only in her 30s. But my mom said that she looked much older now.

My mom said that she left there feeling relieved, but also remorseful for the girl. She, thankfully, never saw or heard from her again. But she also wouldn't go to the mall alone anymore, and that was the same reason that she wouldn't let any of us kids go alone or with friends either. We always had to have an adult with us. Like I said, we'd joke about how I was almost kidnapped or how I was a stolen baby, but

But I can't imagine how anyone would handle that situation, and I hope that I never do, either. I wanted to tell you about one of the most unnerving and confusing experiences of my life. I've been a bit hesitant to share this story with anyone, because I know that it makes me sound like I'm crazy, or like I've had a medical episode.

But I want to say that, to the best of my and my doctor's knowledge, I am perfectly healthy, and my brain works in a way that can be described as... mostly normal. It actually happened in the summer, last year, 2022, and I can remember the whole thing like it happened yesterday. My family had gotten together for a cookout at my grandmother's house,

since we hadn't been able to really do so for the entirety of the previous two years. What was supposed to be a fun night with family and some of my uncle's barbecue ended up being a creepy experience that has haunted me ever since. My grandmother's house was a stereotypical cozy grandma house. It was on the edge of town, so it wasn't in a heavily populated section of our state, but it wasn't necessarily in the middle of nowhere.

It was big enough for her to have raised five kids several decades ago, and it was the family meetup spot. On that day, the house was full. Everyone had showed up, and the night was lively. My uncle had been at his grill all day, making all the barbecue he could for everyone, making way too much, as always, but enjoying every minute of it.

We were all sitting outside, eating our burgers, and enjoying the smell of the grill as it slowly burned out. The sun was setting and the yard was covered in a really lovely orange glow that just kind of sprawled out. At one point, I found myself alone outside in the backyard, just reclining in a lawn chair and enjoying the calmness of the moment. I don't recall why I ended up alone.

I think maybe some of my cousins were heading out, and everyone went inside to say goodbye or something. But I was just sitting there in the chair, watching the sun set and sipping on my cream soda. I remember that I suddenly started feeling like I was going to get violently ill. One second, I was perfectly fine and content, and then I felt this sharp pain in my stomach, and got hit with that stomach rush that you get right before you throw up.

I sat up and leaned forward just in case I did end up getting sick, but as I did, I could feel my heart racing and my head pounding. The air around me started to feel really heavy. I could feel myself starting to sweat more, and honestly, I thought that I was about to have a massive heart attack. It really felt like I was about to die.

It was then that I looked up and noticed that there was a light above me. I looked up slightly and saw what I thought was a flashlight shining on me at first, but it wasn't. It was a light that was in the sky. It was... sizable. I'm not sure of how large exactly, but decent in length in all directions.

It looked to be triangular with rounded edges, and while I couldn't tell how far away it was, it seemed to be hanging above me. I squinted at it, trying to focus more on it than the weird physical feeling that I was dealing with, but the world around me started feeling like it was spinning. I was struggling to breathe, I was struggling to stay upright, and the surge of panic was rushing through me.

I actually tried to call out, to yell for someone to come help, but I couldn't. My voice was getting caught in my throat and the words were dying before they even formed. In that moment, time seemed to stretch and blur, making me feel almost like I was underwater.

I know that sounds strange, but the air was so dense and heavy that it felt like I was physically underwater, but mentally detaching from my body. My mind was screaming to move and run, but my body was completely frozen. My eyes were locked on that spectral object hovering above me. It physically felt like I was being stretched, like completely split apart.

But not like I was being cut, just being pulled yet staying still. I know that this is confusing, and this is what I mean when I say that it makes me sound crazy, but I can't find words to properly explain what was happening. But then, just as abruptly as this all had started, it was over. Of course, it wasn't just done. No, it had to get even more confusing.

I was feeling like I was dying, staring at this light detaching from reality, and then I was standing in the bathroom of my grandma's house, staring at myself in the mirror. I wasn't doing anything. I was just standing there and staring at myself absentmindedly. Strangely enough, when I fully regained full control and focus of myself, I noticed that the faucet was running, the door was completely locked,

and only one of the two sets of lights in the bathroom was on. I just stood there, frozen, trying to piece together what all had just happened. My head was pounding and my heart rate was definitely elevated. I looked around in confusion with my mind trying to grasp the situation. I had just been outside, alone, staring at that light...

And now I was inside the house, a good couple hundred feet away, staring at myself in the bathroom mirror with the sink running. Nothing made any sense there. I stumbled out of the bathroom and back into the main parts of the house. The house was alive with the conversation of various family members, all just chatting and laughing, as if nothing had happened.

I tried to act normal for the rest of the night, but my mind kept going back to that light, and that horrible feeling that I had while it was over me. I wanted to tell someone about it, but how could I? It sounded ludicrous. I have actually never told anyone in my family about this whole thing, no matter how much I have wanted to. The only thing I've mentioned to anyone was to one of my cousins.

and I just asked her if I seemed a bit out of it or acted strange. She told me that I seemed fine, that she couldn't recall me being weird or anything. Every time I visit my grandma's house now, I can't help but look up in the backyard and half expect that ominous light to come back. I don't know what it was. Some kind of supernatural being? An alien craft?

Was I possibly abducted by some entity and then placed back in the bathroom like that? Maybe. I really don't know. I will just say that nothing else has been different that I can notice. Beyond me just thinking about the whole thing, so... I don't think that it changed me if it was something supernatural or paranormal. Maybe I'll get answers someday. I really don't know, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

Hello, Raven. I hope the story is good enough for your school stories. It is. So, in school, I was bullied a lot. I was a chronic new kid that was chubby and tall, and this seems to be the target for bullies. This was when I was in middle school, so early 90s, and I was living in northern Nevada. To get to the story, I was about 12 and 200 pounds. So, yeah. Bully magnet.

There was one kid that hated me. He was the kind of guy that loved to intimidate everyone. He was big enough that he even scared the teachers. It was split up into periods with different subjects taught per hour. This bully, let's call him Chad, decided that I was the one that he wanted to cheat off of in math. This was not a good idea. I have never been good at math. I was barely passing.

Like every little bit of extra credit was keeping me passing. Chad would sit next to me and copy off of my work, and then when he would get the grade back, he would beat the crap out of me after school. This was extremely stressful, and I didn't know what to do. Now, my brother was eight years older than me, and I asked him for advice. He told me to stand my ground, and that was it.

Not how to stand my ground, not where to stand, nothing. Not much help there, so I asked my friends. Not much help there either. They were all terrified of Chad. Now, let me explain Chad a little bit more. Chad was 16 to my 12. He had failed enough that he could drive himself to middle school. He had an after-school job working at some ranches.

So he was also buff. Like, high school, weightlifter, buff. There was no way that I could take this guy. No matter how hard I fought back. So not knowing what to do, I got mad. I had always had a temper problem. There's a baby picture of me trying to punch my brother. I couldn't be more than a year old in that picture. My mom had told me to hold my temper because that was the only reason my brother picked on me.

He loved the reaction. I figured Chad was the same way. I had not been giving him any reaction. I took my lumps as best I could and just walked off when he was done. This time though, when Chad came to beat me, I put my back to the wall and decided to tell him off. Putting your back to a wall is a bad idea. When he hauled off and punched me, my head bounced off the wall. That really hurt.

Like I should have had a serious head wound. When I saw his fist coming again, I dodged. I moved my head enough just to the side so that he hit the wall. Something hit me below my eye, and I heard a brutal scream. When I looked at Chad, his face was contorted and his arm was deformed. He'd broken his own arm trying to hit me. He was going to hit me hard enough to break bones. Like, holy crap.

He just looked over at me and said, "This isn't the last time that we do this." After that, I started getting physically fit, not wanting to be the target anymore. Chad came back to school, but with his arm in a cast. He wasn't willing to fight at the time. What he saw, though, was me slowly getting more confident. I didn't manage to lose any weight, but I did manage to move the weight around. I got stronger and better.

Mostly, though, I got confident. I got more sure of myself, and it got to the point where I was not bullied anymore. When Chad got the cast off, he met me at the same place. I put my back against the wall again, only this time, I was smiling. I knew that I couldn't beat him, but I knew now that I could hurt him. I asked him if he wanted to break his arm again against the wall. He hesitated, and then walked off.

I was no longer worth it, I guess. Heck, I was willing to fight him. I knew that I would lose, but I just wanted him to know that I was ready this time. We avoided each other after that. He left me alone, and I left him alone. Rumors got spread that I broke his arm, so the other bullies left me alone too. I never corrected the story, but I didn't encourage it either. I just said nothing and left it to the others.

That about covers it. Sorry for rambling. I hope that you enjoy the story, and thank you again for the opportunity to tell my story. I have a summer camp experience that seems like it would be worth sharing, so I wanted to send it your way to see if you would want to use it for your channel.

I've written this story for another channel in the past, so hopefully that's okay, but I'm rewriting it here, so odds are it'll sound a bit different anyways. When I was around 14, I spent a summer in a camp near the northwestern part of the US. They still do the summer camp, and I actually help out now that I have a kiddo old enough to get involved-

But I was part of something at the camp that was legitimately scary, especially as a teenager. Most people think summer camp and think of the marshmallows, bonfires, swimming, and some friendly games and such. And I would say that those are the typical things that people get to enjoy when they're at camp. Me, on the other hand, I almost feel like I was cursed when it came to going to the summer camp. I went five times.

From 11 to 15, and like I mentioned, I help out at the camp now as a grown man and things have been okay, but every year that I attended as a camper, something went wrong. I won't get into every year, I have one story in particular that I want to tell you, but I want to give some slight evidence to the fact that I was cursed. First year, half the camp fell ill with food poisoning, including myself.

and we all spent a few days throwing our guts up. Second year, I was swimming and managed to break my forearm, resulting in having to leave early. Third year, we had an incident with one of the fires that actually led to the camp losing one of the cabins. And of course, it was the cabin that I stayed in. Now, the fourth year, and the story that I would like to submit. This happened during what I have to say was my favorite night there. Mystery night.

The counselors decided that they needed to create something engaging to really test our smarts. And it was just a fun and spooky game for all of us to solve. We all stayed up later than normal, they gave us a story, and we had to go over the campgrounds and immediate woods to solve the mystery that they'd created. That year, the mystery leaned more into being a scavenger hunt. Each clue would lead a bit further into the woods to really add to the creepy factor.

My team was feeling confident. We'd been the first to solve pretty much each step of the mystery so far. It was scary in the woods, dark, quiet, filled with only the sounds of night critters. But my excitement was pushing me through the thoughts of how scared I should have been. After a while longer, the three of us on our team had found what was the last location. It was an old well in the woods that was ancient.

partially crumbling and barely held together. It was lovingly known as "The Wishing Well" to the camp, though I don't think any of us campers really considered it to be a fortunate thing. It was ugly, covered in moss, and mostly destroyed. I approached the well to grab what was our final clue when I heard it. As I reached, there was this low groaning sound pouring out of the well.

It was a guttural sound, human-like but kind of distorted. I remember being terribly freaked out, thinking it was some kind of spirit or monster or something. We all stood there staring at the well like, what was that, when we heard it again. The sound was seriously terrifying, this low, gurgling, rumbling moan. The three of us took off back to camp, noping out of there as quickly as we could, but

The head counselor approached us with his jovial smile, asking if we got the last clue, but at this point we'd forgotten about the competition and were just going on about the creepy sounds from the well. We were frantic, but able to tell them what we heard, and of course they all laughed at us, saying that we were just imagining things. After we kept trying to explain it, one of the counselors, Ted, decided that he would go with us to look so that we could be sure nothing was out there.

We got to the well, and we were explaining that there was this really weird groaning sound, and we stood there waiting for it for a few minutes. After nothing happened, Ted started to say that it was probably the wind or something like that, but he was cut off by the groaning sound as it echoed out of the hole in the ground.

I remember watching the blood drain from his face as he stared at the well, and we all started in with, "See? We told you it was real!" He immediately told one of the other boys to go get the head counselor, and he ran off to get him while we stood there watching Ted carefully lean over the well with his flashlight. The head counselor showed up with his mag light and was able to see what was down there. He told Ted to call 911 immediately.

To cut this a bit shorter, the authorities showed up to the camp, and what happened next was beyond shocking. After a couple of hours, they were able to pull a man from the well. He was half-starved, dehydrated, had a few broken bones, and was barely conscious. He'd been down in that well for at least a day or two.

He'd apparently gone hiking and gotten lost and somehow fell into the well, left to the mercy of fate and time. To say that we were shaken is a bit of an understatement. The mystery night was overshadowed by the sight of that man, broken, barely clinging to life. He did, thankfully, survive, but the memory of those groans echoing from the well? It was nightmare fuel. The well has since been rebuilt by the camp.

probably to prevent that from ever happening again, but when I'm out at the camp helping in the summers, I tend to avoid it altogether, in the off chance that I have a repeat of that night. I used to be a trucker back in the early 2000s until somewhere around 2014, and I loved it. I was never the type to stay in one place for too long.

I feel that I also tend to hit completely opposite ends of the spectrum. While my job was in a male-dominated field, and I knew how to work and fix my own rig, I also liked to pamper myself. It wasn't uncommon to see me with my hair, nails, and makeup done while I was behind the wheel. Don't worry, never while driving. It definitely surprised a few people when I explained that I was the driver that pulled in,

Some people tend to have a very stereotypical portrayal of what a trucker looks like, so I understand that I didn't fit the bill. Sometimes, I would even be hit on, but I was used to it. One thing I hated, however, was the demeaning comments. The ones where people tried to gatekeep who could be a trucker, which is where this story comes from.

This was one of the longest halls that I had been on, as it stretched across four states. I saw a lot of cool places and met some very sweet people. I was just about to hit Georgia, and I wanted to stop somewhere local to grab something to eat. I ended up finding a cute little diner that was off the highway, with signs saying that they were trucker-friendly, usually meaning that they had accommodating parking for them, and they did.

I pulled in, got a much needed stretch and then headed in. I ordered what was probably the best country fried steak and enjoyed my time. My server even stopped for a while and talked with me about my travels. But after a bit, I started to notice this guy that was sitting at a booth a few down from me. I guess I walked by him when I entered, but I didn't pay him much attention.

It became a bit more obvious that he was there, because he was facing away from me and kept turning around to look at me. At one point I was trying to be friendly but also acknowledge that I knew he was looking at me, so I held my coffee cup up in a "cheers" like manner. He nodded and then turned back around. It was when I was nearing the end of my meal that this guy walked over to my table.

He then asked me where my old man was, and I told him I didn't have one. Again, I got similar questions like this as people didn't think I was the driver, so I always replied honestly. I'm also not easily intimidated. He looked surprised and then started asking me how long I had been doing this, and again I stayed polite throughout the conversation, even when his questions started to seem more like a test.

That's when he dropped the old "You're pretty young to be out here by yourself" and made other comments like "Why wouldn't you want to be home making a family?" Now, my parents can attest to this, but I have a bit of a mouth on me. Always have. And the comebacks just kind of roll out before I get the chance to stop them. So, I said something along the lines of not wanting to be tied down to an apron.

He didn't seem to care for the comment, and replied with something along the lines of how young women shouldn't be in this field. I was done amusing this guy, so I stood up and walked over to the counter where the register was, and I paid for my meal. As I was putting my wallet away, the guy walked over and was rambling on about how women try to push themselves into every field, and then complain about the work and some other lovely comments like that.

I again smarted off with something about how he complained more in the ten minutes we talked than I had ever heard a female trucker complaining in my lifetime. I guessed that he didn't like that one, because he shut his mouth with nothing more to say than a chuckle. I thanked the waitress and I walked out. I was pulling something out of the back of my cabin when I heard the guy shout out to me.

I was about to leave, so I decided to give him one more chance to just not be that guy from the diner, but I don't know which one was worse. He then asked me if I wanted him to take care of me, and then offered to take me home with him. I more or less told him to go fly a kite, and then got in my truck laughing.

He stood there off to the side of where I was parked until I was on the road, and he was out of my view. I chalked it up to another story to tell my friends and family and moved it to the back of my mind. At this point, I'm back on the road and just moving along like normal when I had a truck come up behind me.

You're constantly looking at your surroundings when on the road, because you're behind the wheel of a potential death machine, so I took note of this in case he passed me. As expected, the truck got closer and closer until it got over. I slowed down a bit to give it more time to pass, but then noticed that it was keeping speed next to me.

So I looked over at the driver and, wouldn't you know it, it's the guy from the diner. I gave him a look like, what do you want? And he made a kissing face at me and then slowed down to get back behind me. I was curious more than anything that this guy just happened to be going the same direction as me and that he was able to catch up.

I had to have a good head start on him, which told me that he was going a lot faster than he probably should have been. That was the first dangerous action that I noted. The fact that he came up next to me and then slowed back down to get behind me made me think that he was just trying to intimidate me, but this was also pretty dangerous, especially if there was a vehicle behind or in front of us.

We were on a two-lane road with passing spots, so he could have easily hit somebody. I didn't waste any time, though, and immediately radioed it in to tell them what I was experiencing. They wanted info on the truck, but I unfortunately didn't see anything other than the front of it being a dark blue. They told me to get off at the next exit to see if he keeps going, and to let them know if this escalates.

That's exactly what I was wanting to prevent. Instead, I started to slow down, thinking maybe he would at least get in front of me so I could get his information. And it seemed to work. He got over, sped up next to me, but this time he had a bit more of an annoyed look. He continued accelerating until his trailer was almost past me, but not entirely. Notice what I said there?

I don't know if this was done on purpose or if he just wasn't paying attention, but when he started getting over in front of me, no turn signal, and then the back of his trailer hit me, I couldn't slow down enough to prevent it, and it caused the front of my truck to move. I know how to handle a truck, so I had it under control pretty quickly, and I slowed down even more so that I could stop on the shoulder.

I noticed the truck didn't have any markings on it, so I immediately radioed the license plate number and what just happened. And they said that they would look into it. I went ahead and called 911 as well to report his ass. He really did not need to be on the road. I stayed on the side for a while to give us some space, as this guy actually kept going.

Once I finally got back on the road, I reported that it was clear and tried to get back to my drive. However, maybe half an hour in, I see a truck in the distance on the side of the road, and as I pass it, I see the dark blue front. I didn't know what this guy's intentions were, beyond just trying to scare me, but I didn't want to give him the chance again. So the moment I saw the next exit, I took it.

I stopped at a gas station nearby and just reported that I was going to stop for a bit after seeing that same truck. I was usually ahead of schedule anyways, but I would have rather been a little behind than deal with this guy and his dangerous actions. I went in to grab a drink and some things for the road, but when I came back out, I saw that same guy pulling in.

I just swiftly walked back to my truck, trying to pretend like I didn't even see the guy. As I sat in my truck, thinking of my next move, this guy walked up next to my door and shouted at me. I looked over and rolled down my window and waited for him to speak. He made some comment about how that was why we shouldn't be on the road, because we didn't know how to act under pressure.

I basically just told him that what he was doing wasn't normal and that he was just being a creep. His reaction was to open his jacket a little, showing his piece, and said, "Maybe I should just shoot out a tire then, while you're driving. See how you react to that." Then he laughed. He really laughed. I rolled up my window and called the cops, now having a good reason.

He eventually walked away, I think he went into the gas station then back to his truck, but I just waited there until a cop showed up. The cop was given a description of my truck, so he pulled up next to me, and I got out and explained a bit more of what was going on. He went up to this guy's truck, who was sitting in it at that point, and asked him to step out. I got back in mine, but rolled my windows down to hear what happened.

The officer asked him to step out of his vehicle but to leave the weapon, and the guy claimed that he didn't have one. This continued for some time, but then the guy actually fired at the officer. I immediately ducked while I listened to shuffling and the cop also radioing something in. I ended up dropping to the floorboard in an effort to shield myself in case this guy started firing.

After a while, I started hearing the guy yelling about how his rights were being violated, or something like that, so I looked up and saw that the cop had him pinned to the ground with two other officers nearby. I watched as they shoved him into the back of their car, and after looking through his truck, they then came over to ask me some more questions. They were trying to figure out why he would threaten me the way that he did, and really, their guess was as good as mine.

We started with an innocent conversation, but then he quickly became aggressive and demeaning for no reason. My assumption is that between not taking his crap and turning him down, I must have been the one that got to him. I ended up leaving there a lot later than anticipated, but at least I was able to leave with both me and my truck in one piece."

While I may not have shown it on the outside, that guy definitely made me feel a bit on edge after hitting me. I knew that he had no intentions of leaving me alone, and I don't know how long it would have continued or escalated, if I wouldn't have stopped. Unfortunately, I know that people like that are everywhere, but I do my best to not let fear dictate my life on the road, or dissuade me from what I love doing.

But no matter what, even if you can defend yourself, it's important to never be afraid to seek help if you find yourself in situations like this. I have a story that I have never shared online, mostly because it just never really felt like something I should share, but you convinced me that I should go ahead and get it out there. So here you go.

This is probably the most terrifying thing that has ever happened to me, and it happened on what was a fairly normal day otherwise. It happened about five years ago, in the middle of the summer. Back when this happened, I was attending evening classes to get an associate's degree, and after class, I went to work. I worked as a box truck driver for a company that produced car parts, mostly just the plastic ones though.

It may sound strange to some, but the biggest part that we produced, and what was probably our biggest money maker, were bumpers. For what they are, they're ridiculously expensive, and they break pretty easily. Anyways, my job amounted to nothing more than overnight parts delivery guy. I got to drive this box truck filled with parts to each of our partner dealerships in town, and I would unload the parts for them.

It was a pretty lonely job. It was an overnight job, so no one was ever at the dealership, so it was just me, my truck, and whatever audiobook I was listening to at the time. It was, for lack of a better word, fairly mundane.

On the night that this happened, I actually remember that I was listening to the audiobook version of Ready Player One because the movie had just come out in theaters and I wanted to hear the book before I went to go see the movie. I was just driving along, plotting out my route and glancing at the delivery log to see which locations I needed to go to that night when, out of nowhere, this car came blowing past me on the small two-lane each-direction highway.

It didn't surprise me. People hate being behind trucks. I just didn't really expect to see anyone else on the road this late. They gunned past me on the left, the headlights glaring in my side mirrors and before I could even react or really process the car, they cut sharply in front of me. I swerved hard, narrowly avoiding a disastrous collision.

My heart was pounding, my palms were sweaty on the wheel as I veered over to the shoulder of the road. Interestingly enough, the other car also pulled over just in front of me. Part of me assumed that maybe they wanted to apologize, or maybe they were freaked out, or maybe they were about to go off on me in a bit of road rage, but nothing happened.

I sat there in my truck trying to catch my breath, and they just sat there a bit ahead of me, not moving or really doing anything. After about four minutes, two of the car's doors burst open and two figures jumped out. I assumed that they were going through the motions of the previously mentioned road rage, but then I noticed that they were wearing ski masks.

I barely had time to process this before I saw them sprinting towards my truck, guns in hand. I was struck with this paralyzing fear. I really only had two options. Floor it and risk getting shot, or do whatever the hell they demanded. I was a delivery driver, not a hero, so I decided that it would be less risky to just comply. I put my hands up and I climbed out of the truck,

my hand shaking and my breath ragged. The masked men did not waste any time. They nudged me out of the way and two of them jumped into my box truck and then sped off. The third person that hadn't left the car then gunned off down the road, following the truck, leaving behind nothing more than the screeching of their tires. Then there was me, just standing alone on the side of the highway.

watching the taillights of both vehicles as they disappeared into the distance, and thinking about whether or not I was going to get reprimanded for this. As I thought about that, and about work, my mind stepped over to, who do I even contact about this? I then realized that I still had my cell phone in my pocket. I pulled it out and dialed 911 and tried to explain everything that had just happened.

I must have sounded insane because I remember the operator asking me to calm down, telling me to breathe, and then asking the same question a few times to clarify what I had said. She stayed on the phone with me while I stood there in the same spot the robbers had left me, just waiting for the police. Within a few minutes, I could hear the sirens coming my way and thankfully they saw me just standing there and realized that I was the one calling.

They took my statement and information, and one of them offered me a ride back to the warehouse while the other officers mentioned that they would drive up ahead to see if they could find the truck. Worse yet, they did find it, but it was not the outcome that I had hoped for. They found the truck only about 15 miles up the road, abandoned off the side of the highway, and set ablaze.

The truck, the parts in the back, and everything inside the truck was completely destroyed. The metal frame was completely warped from the intense heat of the fire. To this day, I have no idea why this happened. Why me? Why did they take my truck? I can only imagine they did this for the haul, but the truck was very clearly marked as an auto parts delivery truck.

And I can't think of any modern parts that would net that much cash that would be in a truck like that. I guess maybe catalytic converters, but I can tell you that my list had zero of those. So if that's what they were going for, then I was a poorly chosen target. Beyond that, it just felt so damn random and pointless. Either way, it was the most terrifying experience of my life.

and I struggled to get back into the cab of another box truck without thinking about that visual of them running at me with shotguns pointing up at me. The fear, the confusion, that mental feeling that I might actually die for some bumpers. I was just a dude driving a truck and doing my job, and it was painful to be pushed so suddenly into this nightmare.

I do still work for the company, and I did move up when I got my degree, but I now work in Warehouse, and the only thing that I drive for them is the occasional forklift. As a kid, summer camp is synonymous with freedom, adventure, and summertime fun. My experience, on the other hand, is nowhere near fun.

My time at the summer camp, back whenever I was 12 years old, took a horrendous turn just three days into camp, when I decided that I wanted to take a hike alone, a decision that quickly turned into the most painful thing I've ever gone through. The summer camp that I went to was this neat little bible-focused place in the middle of the woods, tucked away in the middle of nowhere midwest.

I'd gone to this camp once prior and had no problems. This was my second time going, and because I was 12, I was part of the "young teen" group. This meant that during the time at the camp, we were given free days to, in their words, "find ourselves and venture into God's glory." Basically, go out into the woods with friends and enjoy nature.

Now, I didn't have any friends there, which meant that I did my hikes solo. Despite this, these were my absolute favorite days of camp. I loved going out and identifying the plants, the birds, the bugs, all that. They would give us a checklist that we could fill out for a prize. I never found out what that prize was because I never saw a chipmunk while I was there.

Which, thinking back, I guess I could have just checked it off and said that I saw one. Tangent aside, I had a great time just being out by myself. It was on one such hike that my day took a sharp turn, both literally and figuratively. Walking along the narrow dirt path, my foot got caught on a large tree root, and I was sent tumbling down into the small gully to the side of the dirt path.

It wasn't a large ditch or anything, but it was enough that the fall was definitely going to hurt. I remember feeling the dirt slip out from underneath me, having a sudden jolt of pain, and then an overwhelming feeling of fatigue. To put it bluntly, I had fallen down and somehow hit my head and basically knocked myself out cold.

When I woke up, the forest seemed really weirdly silent, and like it was spinning. Dazed, I tried to piece together what exactly had happened. I was laying face down on the ground, my arm throbbing in pain. I was incredibly confused and woozy for all of ten seconds, which is when the real pain kicked in. A burning sensation spread across my face and my arm.

The intensity of it was enough to make me jump up to my knees from where I was lying. I brushed my hand across my face to figure out why I was in so much agony when I came to a horrifying realization. Fire ants. I had fallen face first into a fire ant mound.

I started screaming, my shouts echoing through the woods as I jumped up and sprinted back to camp, slapping and brushing at my face and arm in a desperate attempt to get these ants off of my skin. The pain just kept feeling like it was getting worse and worse, and I just remember thinking for some reason that they were burrowing under my skin, that's how bad that it hurt.

When I got back to the camp, one of the counselors saw what was going on and immediately rushed me to the shower room, not wasting a moment to get my clothing off and blasting me with cold water from one of the detachable shower heads. Each and every drop of the water was a small bit of relief as it washed away the ants. I was literally sobbing as I watched those little bastards go down the drain. Of course, that wasn't the end of it.

I don't know if you know this, but fire ants contain a venom called piperidine, something I looked up while typing this out. It's a nasty venom, that when you get too much of it, such as when you're stung by hundreds of these suckers, can and will cause major issues. This was the day that I learned that I wasn't allergic to them, which was probably the only mercy in all of this.

I did however get horribly sick, throwing up, struggling to sleep through the pain, dealing with various other issues. The swelling and blistering on my face were so bad that I could barely open my eyes. I remember one of the kids coming to visit me in the hospital, and he joked that my face looked like hamburger. That comment alone added a whole new level of terror to this.

As mentioned, I wasn't allergic, thankfully. If I were, I can tell you that this story would have had a much more grim ending, one that someone else would have had to have written. I was left with a number of scars from the blistering and scabbing on my face, and I still actually have these scars all this time later. The right side of my face is definitely not my good side, is all that I'll say to that.

To this day, I cannot stand the sight of ants. Each tiny little bugger reminds me of that hike and what they're capable of. I guess all I can say is, if you decide to go hiking out alone on a summer day, try to watch your step. And if you see a mound of dirt that's teeming with activity, just stay away from it. Because the consequences might just leave you scarred. This happened in middle school.

Back then I had taken a home economics class with Ms. Clark. Home ec was a boring class, a lot of really basic stuff, but there was like half a quarter where we got to learn actual cooking skills, and I was pretty eager for that because I loved cooking at the time. Ms. Clark was a stern and older woman, but was honestly more bark than bite.

And while she would yell at the students, she would typically never follow through with any of her threats. Maybe if that weren't the case, then this all wouldn't have happened. But it did, and nothing can change it. For the most part, the cooking parts of Homek, we were doing more baking than anything. And we didn't need to use any utensils that could be considered more dangerous than a whisk.

However, during this particular week, one of the lessons was knife safety, and we had to use larger knives to cut and chop vegetables. We were divided into groups, and we had four stations that were each assigned with their own recipes. I was in a group with Tommy, a girl named Emma, and Troy.

Now, Troy was a bit of an oddball. He was actually the class clown, always doing stupid things to seek attention, but his antics would often go beyond what was normal or safe. He would push things further and further until he actually got in trouble, because he thought it was funny. In most cases, it was annoying, but not a huge deal. In this situation, however, it became a major problem.

Our station had to make a vegetable stir-fry, which meant a lot of chopping and slicing. Troy was in charge of cutting carrots, but he was obviously getting bored with it. As we were all doing our parts, he picked up his knife and began swinging it around in the air. "Look at me! I'm a ninja chef!" he yelled out with his eyes wide and looking like an absolute idiot.

I laughed nervously, but it was clear that this was not okay behavior. He kept swinging the knife like he was fighting off some enemies in a video game or something. He kept swinging closer and closer to all of us, which definitely freaked all of us out. "'Troy, cut that out right now, or you'll be out of this class for good!' Ms. Clark's voice boomed out from the other side of the room. Troy froze and had a look of defiance on his face."

He lowered the knife and muttered something under his breath, but the warning seemed to have done its job. For a while, things went back to normal. We all continued our cooking, Troy even went back to cutting up the carrots, but he was clearly unhappy with being told to stop playing his little game, and I could tell that he wasn't done. The second that Ms. Clark turned her back and was assisting another group-

Troy grabbed the knife again and he starts swinging it around again, making what I guess were ninja noises. This time it really wasn't funny. It was downright terrifying. As if in slow motion, I saw Emily walk past Troy. Her back turned and she was completely unaware of the danger. Troy's arms swung wide and then the unthinkable happened. The knife connected with Emily's face.

And more specifically, her eye. A scream ripped through the room, causing everyone to jump. Emily's hand flew to her face, blood running in between her fingers. Chaos ensued. Ms. Clark rushed to Emily's aid, her face pale and her hands shaking. Troy dropped the knife and his face went pale as the realization of what he'd done slowly dawned on him.

The school nurse was called, and Emily ended up being rushed to the hospital. Troy was taken away by the school's security officer. He actually looked more shocked about what had happened than most of the class. We were all left in the room with a bunch of half-cooked food, and blood spotting the floor where Emily had walked. We just sat there in silence. That image though, the visual of Emily getting hit with that knife...

and the sound of that scream that she let out, those were haunting. In the end, Emily actually lost her eye. Troy was expelled, and none of us ever saw him again. When Emily was able to come back, she was a good sport about having to rock an eyepatch, claiming that it was going to be the newest fashion statement. But it was such an unfortunate situation, one that absolutely could have been avoided,

Had Troy not been an idiot? The home ec class wasn't the same after that. Knives were handled with trepidation, and we were no longer allowed to be split into our own groups. We did everything as a demonstration in front of the whole class, one at a time instead. I think everyone learned a harsh lesson that day, about how fun and danger share a very fine line, and how quickly things can go wrong.

Way back whenever I was in elementary school, we had an event that, back then, actually scared the hell out of me. Mostly because it was creepy and unexpected. It was actually on my birthday, that much I remember, which meant that it was October 14th. I can even remember that it was during social studies, because I was insanely bored out of my mind, and I'm pretty certain that I was starting to fall asleep.

I remember jumping when the loudspeaker popped on, making that painful crackling feedback noise, and then the principal's voice came over, sounding a bit unnerved. That's when we got the alert, one that I genuinely didn't expect. Attention all students and staff, we are on lockdown, this is not a drill. Please remain calm and follow all lockdown procedures.

Our teacher immediately went and shut the door, locking it and turned off the light. She then motioned us all to the back of the room, trying to control the fear and chaos that was starting to erupt. We all knew what lockdown meant, and I think even at that age, we were all aware that a threat in the school could mean any number of things. As we all stayed cowering in the back corner of the room,

One of the other kids made a comment about how many cop cars were outside. We all watched as the officers suited up and pulled out what I think was riot gear, basically. I was young, so I just remember them having really big guns and a shield from the trunk of their car. I think something about this made it all worse. The big guns made my mind think that there was a gunman in the school.

and that he was going to come barging through the door at literally any second. I kept thinking that they needed to hurry up, that if they kept going so slow, things were going to get really bad. After a while longer, minutes that felt like a slow and agonizing eternity, the principal came back over and informed us that we were still under lockdown.

but they mentioned that the police were in the building and were in control of the situation, but that we needed to stay locked down until we were released. Of course, we were still on edge. A group of 20 kids huddled in the back corner of a classroom, thinking we were going to die, or witness some kind of gory scene when we got out of lockdown. All we could do was wait.

Of course, none of that happened. I'm still here, and thankfully not terribly scarred, seeing some messed up situation, then walking out, but the real situation was actually pretty terrifying. Apparently, there was a man that was fleeing from the police, and he'd run into the school through the front door, which at the time wasn't set up with a remote lock or anything.

He'd run into the building, and straight into the gym, which was right by the front door. Thankfully, at the time that he entered, there were no classes in the gym. But the teacher was in there, and he immediately pulled his gun and took her hostage. He took her into her office, and he held her there, claiming that if the cops tried anything, he would shoot her.

The cops had been chasing this guy in connection with a series of armed robberies. He'd actually hit three different gas stations overnight and into the morning, and he'd taken refuge in our school of all places. While we were all sitting in our classrooms, ignorant to the reality of what was happening, the cops were yelling at this guy trying to get him to let our gym teacher go, and trying to end this whole situation with nobody dying.

I don't know how, but they did get him to give himself up without hurting her, thankfully. This was the only lockdown that I ever had to live through, and for that, I am thankful. I feel awful for our gym teacher, and she took some time off after this, but I'm also thankful that there wasn't a class in there at the time, because if there were, this guy with a gun would have had a lot more options as far as hostages went.

And I'm not sure how the police would have been able to handle this dude threatening to shoot a bunch of children if they didn't let him go. I think we were all a bit traumatized by this, because it was scary. But it could have gone much, much worse. When I was around 10 or 11, my parents sent me to a nice little summer camp.

I don't want to use its real name, because I don't know if it still exists, so we'll just call it Whispering Pines Summer Camp for the sake of the story. I only went to the one here. It was something that one of my parents' friends had mentioned, and my parents thought that it would be a good way to help me socialize and develop. It was your basic old school and rustic camp, tucked away in the forests of the northeast.

The cabins were super old, but the lake was really nice though. A bit cold for my taste, but it was still really pretty. I can remember the woods like it was yesterday too. It was just really gorgeous and lined with pine trees. One night, about two weeks into camp, I woke up abruptly. I wasn't sure why, it wasn't like I'd had a nightmare or heard a noise or anything.

but I had this really weird feeling deep in the pit of my stomach. It was like I woke up and needed to get up, but had no idea as to why. I sat up on my bed and looked around to see if anyone else had been awoken, but no. They were all still asleep. The cabin was dark, but the moonlight was shining in through the curtains and was illuminating a good portion near where my bed was. I remember it being almost ethereal, I think is the word.

as it just shimmered down into our cabin. As I sat there, something made me feel like I needed to get up and go over to the window. I didn't think there would be anything out there, but for some reason, I felt like I needed to go check. I jumped up to my feet and trotted over to the window to look outside. For the most part, all I could see was the gorgeous moonlit pine trees.

But as I focused a bit more, trying to get the sleep out of my eyes, I noticed a figure in the fringe of the treeline. It was a bit hazy with the moonlight, but as I stared, I started to see what was unmistakably my own likeness, just standing there, as if it were staring at the cabin, staring at me. I blinked, rubbed my eyes, but yet it was still standing there.

It was almost awkward, just standing there and standing at the window, staring at what looked like me standing out in the trees. We just stared at each other for several moments, until I started thinking, "I should go see who that is out there." I almost felt like I was drawn to the door, moth to the flame kind of thing.

I tiptoed to the door, trying to make as little noise as possible, trying to not wake the counselor up. I opened the door and stepped out onto the stoop of the cabin, and much to my surprise, the figure was still standing there, unflinching, and not shifting its gaze at all. Now, I want to reiterate that this figure was me. I don't mean that it looked like me,

I mean that it was an exact copy of me. It had the same hairstyle. It was wearing the same Whispering Pines t-shirt that I went to bed in. The same Disney character pajama pants. This figure was an exact copy of me. Just standing there in the woods, watching me walk out of the cabin. I stopped at the bottom of the stoop, probably 35 or 40 feet from this thing.

and my heart was racing. Part of me wanted to call out, to confront this copy, but something in my mind was telling me to go back inside, not go anywhere near this thing, and that I needed to forget this ever happened. I started walking up the cabin steps, never looking away from this thing, and I walked back inside the cabin. When I got back to the window and peered out,

This figure was still standing there and looking in my direction. I got back into bed, and I just thought that if I went to sleep and forgot about it, it wouldn't hurt me. Morning eventually did come, and when I got up out of bed, everything felt normal again. The camp woke up to another day of their activities and such, and for a moment, I was thinking that I just had a really weird dream.

That is, until I got outside. There, in the very spot where the doppelganger had been standing, was the gruesome sight of a dead rabbit. It was a mess. I won't describe it, but just say that it was nothing shy of unsettling. The sight of it made me feel sick. The whole thing that happened that night before kind of flooded back with a vivid clarity.

To this day, I still have no explanation for what happened that night. Why did I see myself standing there in the woods? What did it mean? And what was with the rabbit? There are far too many unanswered questions for me to be comfortable with this situation. This may have been a long time ago, but it was truly the creepiest experience of my life, one that will forever be etched into my memory.

Back whenever I was in high school, there was one section of the school that I hated being anywhere near. It always gave me the creeps. It was in an older part of the school and it was in the lower section, so the lights were way more dim than anywhere else in the entire school. It almost looked like a hallway from the back rooms, to be honest with you.

dim, off-white paint, locked doors on both sides, and seemingly always empty. I was thankful that I rarely had to go to that section of the school, but there was a point where I had to spend a good amount of time down there, and I swear that some of the scariest stuff happened.

Near the middle of my junior year, our school decided to hold some after-hours study programs for students so that we could get through our midterms. They started this about a month before the midterms, and being the person I was, I decided I would take full advantage of it, mostly because I was god-awful at pre-calc.

Most nights there would be other people around, friends that I could talk to when walking down that way, toward where they were holding the study halls. So I never felt too uneasy about staying later. But, as is the cliche, there was one evening that was different. I was really head down in my math and listening to some music, trying to really wrap my head around rational functions and such, and I had lost track of time.

I paused and looked up at the clock. Much to my surprise, it was almost 8pm, and the study hall was empty. The other students were gone, and the teacher was just sitting in his office staring at his computer screen, looking like he was ready to go. I hastily packed up my stuff and headed out of the study hall, thanking the teacher for their help. He reminded me to make sure that I locked the door behind me as I was the last one out.

That's when I realized I needed to go up to get my jacket from my locker, which meant that I needed to go through that hallway and up the stairs, instead of just going out the back exit. I sucked it up and decided that I would just go through the creepy hallway because I was at school. I was 17, and there was no way I was going to let something like the dark scare me. This was a dumb choice on my part.

I got about halfway down the hallway, and I swear I heard someone say my name. I turned around thinking that it was the teacher that had been helping me, calling me for whatever reason, but when I turned to look, no one was there. I stood there confused, but shrugged it off, and turned to head the rest of the way down the hallway, and I swear when I turned back around, I saw what looked like a living shadow standing at the end of the hallway.

I don't mean that I just saw a shadow. I mean that I saw a person that was a shadow. Or a shadow that was a person. I'm not really sure how I should say that. I watched as this person shadow walked out of the hallway and into the part of the building that I was going towards. When I saw that, and added that to hearing my name, I decided to say "nope" and I ran back down the hallway to the back door.

I was not going to face whatever paranormal nightmare was taunting me that night. I'm not one to shout about how a place is haunted or whatever, but what I saw was not of this world. That shadow thing was not an actual person. I went to a few more study sessions after that, but I was never the last one out, and I was out of that building before 7 p.m.,

I also did everything I could to avoid that hallway, because I didn't want to see whatever that was again. I never mentioned it to anyone, because they would likely just laugh at me and tell me that I was seeing things, or, I guess, manifesting my own fears into some kind of hallucination. But I know what I saw. I can't explain it, but whatever it was, I instinctively knew to be terrified of it.