12x17: Knives

[00:00:00] If you missed the previous Live Lets Not Meet shows up north, don't worry, we are currently

[00:00:04] working on locking down dates around the states for 2024.

[00:00:07] I'll keep you updated along the way.

[00:00:09] But until then, don't forget to mark your calendars for May 4th so you don't miss our

[00:00:13] next livestream episode of Lets Not Meet.

[00:00:16] I'll be there with a whole gang of podcast guests to share some of our creepiest stories

[00:00:20] live at 7pm pacific at twitch.tv slash cryptic county.

[00:00:25] Follow us now so that you don't miss it when we go live.

[00:00:27] We're going to have guests from Drinking the Kool-Aid, Scary to Sleep, Knife Point Horror,

[00:00:31] and that's why we drink and more to be confirmed.

[00:00:34] Again, that's May 4th, 7pm pacific at twitch.tv slash cryptic county.

[00:00:38] Oh, and don't forget, this podcast contains adult language and content.

[00:00:43] Listener discretion is advised.

[00:00:44] If you have a story to share, send it to LetsNotMeetsStories at gmail.com.

[00:00:48] Enjoy the show!

[00:00:57] This happened to me many years ago, but it still seems like yesterday.

[00:01:26] I was driving with my girlfriend to her parents' house to celebrate her father's birthday.

[00:01:31] Mind you, the trip from where I live to her parents was a 6 hour drive.

[00:01:38] Before we set off, we packed our things up, gifts, some other small stuff and whatnot,

[00:01:44] and then we were ready to go.

[00:01:47] The journey was fine at the beginning.

[00:01:49] There wasn't much traffic and the weather was nice considering that it was the start

[00:01:54] of spring.

[00:01:56] Out of nowhere, I got a flat tire.

[00:01:59] This wasn't the problem, I'm a handy guy, so I replaced it, but it took a while and

[00:02:05] the evening was quickly approaching.

[00:02:08] When we continued driving, I was using Google Maps since the road that we were on was

[00:02:13] new to me.

[00:02:15] My girlfriend wanted to take a nap since she worked a long day the day before.

[00:02:21] She told me to wake her up when we were getting close to her parents.

[00:02:24] I let her know that I would and then she fell asleep.

[00:02:29] Google Maps was showing the road was going to go through some woods.

[00:02:32] I had a suspicion that maybe the map wasn't showing the right way since Google Maps tends

[00:02:38] to do that from time to time.

[00:02:40] It just changes the direction of the route out of nowhere.

[00:02:44] Now when I reached the forest that Google was guiding me through, I came across

[00:02:48] a small parking lot.

[00:02:50] It was very old and it seemed like nobody had used it.

[00:02:54] There were patches of overgrown grass and the road leading to the park near the lot was full

[00:02:59] of holes.

[00:03:01] This was when, surprise surprise, Google changed its mind on which direction I needed to go

[00:03:07] in.

[00:03:08] So, I stopped in the parking lot to reassess.

[00:03:12] There wasn't anybody around so I turned off the engine and left the headlights

[00:03:17] on.

[00:03:18] When I was checking my phone for Google's new directions, I was so focused on sorting

[00:03:23] out the directions that I wasn't really paying attention to what was going on around me.

[00:03:29] And then suddenly I saw three men appear from the forest in front of my car.

[00:03:33] They were very close by and they were approaching stealthily.

[00:03:39] They were heading straight toward my car.

[00:03:42] I turned the engine back on and reversed the car out of there, driving as fast as I could.

[00:03:48] As I was backing out of there, I caught a clear glimpse of one of the men's faces as

[00:03:54] he was following my car.

[00:03:56] It was very creepy.

[00:03:58] He had absolutely no emotion in his expressions but his eyes said it all.

[00:04:04] His gaze conveyed evil intentions.

[00:04:07] My girlfriend woke up from the car's sudden movements and she started asking me what I

[00:04:12] was doing.

[00:04:13] I let her know that we had to stop since Google Maps was rerouting us.

[00:04:18] I also told her about the men who had come out of the forest and one of them was following

[00:04:23] us.

[00:04:24] I was shaking as I told her this while I continued driving so she knew that I wasn't

[00:04:30] messing around.

[00:04:31] I told her I didn't care where we went since all I wanted to do was escape this

[00:04:36] forest as soon as possible.

[00:04:38] As we made our way out of there, I was looking at my rear view mirrors every couple of minutes.

[00:04:44] It was one of the creepiest things that has ever happened to me.

[00:04:47] I have no idea who those men were and I'll never know.

[00:05:07] This happened around 1987 or 88.

[00:05:12] The house I was renting was a murder house.

[00:05:17] That fact has nothing to do with the story but it's worth mentioning that yes, I rented

[00:05:22] a murder house for a while at one point in my life.

[00:05:26] I had been living in the murder house for around four months with no issues.

[00:05:31] I was living there with my best friend Joe and apart from us constantly pranking each other,

[00:05:37] it was fine.

[00:05:38] Joe and I also worked together at station supervisors on the London Underground.

[00:05:44] Joe was almost seven years older than me but he and I were great friends.

[00:05:49] We both 100% mutually friend-zoned each other from the start and we both shared

[00:05:55] a love of pranks.

[00:05:57] Remember they got a little bit out of hand sometimes but it kept us both on our toes.

[00:06:02] The only issue I had with Joe was that he would take my stuff sometimes.

[00:06:08] For instance, if I bought a pizza and I put it in the fridge for when I got home from

[00:06:12] work, I would come home, open the fridge and find a note that said, I took the

[00:06:17] pizza.

[00:06:18] Here's $20 so you can buy another one.

[00:06:22] He did this with everything.

[00:06:24] Only after he had had a few beers.

[00:06:27] Also he once drank a quarter bottle of brandy, one that I had been saving.

[00:06:33] I was so mad that I punched him right in the arm as hard as I could.

[00:06:38] Joe just laughed whenever I would react like this and he had the kind of laugh that

[00:06:43] made me laugh too so things always blew over quickly between us.

[00:06:49] Neither of us really took anything seriously for more than a minute.

[00:06:53] The next time I bought brandy, I put the bottle in the drawer under my bed so that

[00:06:58] he couldn't get to it.

[00:07:00] After hiding my brandy, I had gone to bed and was sleeping when suddenly I was

[00:07:05] woken up by my bed moving.

[00:07:09] I opened my eyes and I saw that Joe was in my room.

[00:07:13] He was a little drunk and he was opening the drawer as carefully as a big clumsy

[00:07:18] drunk could.

[00:07:20] He wanted to get my brandy.

[00:07:23] He saw me open my eyes and started laughing.

[00:07:26] Shhh, just sleep.

[00:07:28] I'm just here for the brandy.

[00:07:31] Somehow I managed to restrain myself from breaking the bottle over his big drunk

[00:07:36] head.

[00:07:37] I handed him the bottle with a tired and nagging, just fucking take it and fuck

[00:07:42] off.

[00:07:44] He took it from me and stumbled out of my room.

[00:07:47] I told him never to come into my room and wake me up like that ever again.

[00:07:52] The next night I started shutting and locking my bedroom door while I slept.

[00:07:58] A couple of nights later, I was woken up by the sound of somebody jiggling my

[00:08:01] door handle.

[00:08:03] Screw Joe, I thought.

[00:08:05] The door was locked and he couldn't get in.

[00:08:08] I ignored him for a while, hoping that he would give up but the door handle

[00:08:12] continued squeaking and moving.

[00:08:16] I very quietly crept out of my bed and put my hand on the lock.

[00:08:20] I was planning on carefully unlocking it, then wrenching the door open and

[00:08:24] throwing myself at an unsuspecting Joe screaming like a banshee.

[00:08:29] I thought that it would be funny.

[00:08:31] I silently stifled a giggle as I thought about my prank.

[00:08:35] But I managed to remain deathly silent since it wouldn't work if he heard

[00:08:39] me unlock and open the door.

[00:08:42] I had one hand on the little lock ready to twist and then the other hand

[00:08:46] on the handle.

[00:08:48] I counted down in my head, three, two, one.

[00:08:52] And right then, I had a little impulsive thought that convinced me.

[00:08:57] I was too tired and I didn't want to prank Joe after all.

[00:09:02] So then I retreated to bed pretending to be asleep and figured eventually he

[00:09:07] would stop fiddling with my door handle.

[00:09:09] So that's what I did.

[00:09:10] I got back in my warm bed and went off to sleep.

[00:09:15] I was woken by Joe some hours later.

[00:09:19] Like a Joe shouted as he knocked on the door, come out of your room really

[00:09:24] carefully and don't freak out.

[00:09:26] Also don't touch anything.

[00:09:27] I've already called the police.

[00:09:30] He sounded different than he usually did.

[00:09:33] I carefully unlocked my door and slowly opened it.

[00:09:38] I looked outside of my room and noticed that every knife that we had

[00:09:42] in the house was on the floor right outside of my room.

[00:09:47] They were arranged in a semi-circle facing my door.

[00:09:52] We both liked to cook and had two sets of deadly sharp chef's knives

[00:09:57] and a set of steak knives.

[00:09:59] So yeah, we had a lot of knives.

[00:10:02] And right now they were all on the landing carpet pointing directly

[00:10:06] at my bedroom door.

[00:10:08] I asked Joe if he heard any commotion in our house

[00:10:12] and I asked if it was him trying to get in the room at around 1 a.m.

[00:10:17] He looked at me wide-eyed and told me that he hadn't even been home all night.

[00:10:23] His shift started at 11 p.m.

[00:10:25] And the night foreman hadn't showed up for his shift

[00:10:28] so Joe had volunteered to stay for a double.

[00:10:32] He finished at around 6 a.m. and arrived home

[00:10:35] to find that a downstairs window had been forced open

[00:10:38] and a lot of our things had been strewn about.

[00:10:42] The police arrived and weren't even that bothered by the break-in

[00:10:46] since nobody was hurt and nothing appeared to have been taken

[00:10:50] and nothing apart from the lock on the window was damaged.

[00:10:55] It was so odd though.

[00:10:57] Tons of things around the house were moved around

[00:10:59] and our stuff was newly situated in weird shapes and patterns.

[00:11:04] Now I shudder to think of what would or could have happened

[00:11:07] if I decided to follow through with my prank by wrenching the door open

[00:11:11] thinking that it was Joe on the other side.

[00:11:27] I was around 12 when this happened

[00:11:29] and I still get scared when I think about it.

[00:11:32] I used to live on a busy block where I would babysit for the bartenders

[00:11:36] who worked at the bar nearby and had kids.

[00:11:40] It was easy money as the bar was right down the road

[00:11:43] so once they were done with work

[00:11:45] they could quickly come to get their kids.

[00:11:48] One night I had three more kids than usual

[00:11:51] but since it was a Friday I understood.

[00:11:55] I had the kids lying down upstairs

[00:11:57] so I decided to watch a movie in my living room.

[00:12:01] The TV was on the wall

[00:12:02] and the couch was between the door and the windows.

[00:12:06] When I grabbed the remote

[00:12:07] I saw someone in the reflection of the TV

[00:12:10] behind me looking through the window.

[00:12:13] It was a man who looked to be about 45

[00:12:17] staring blankly into my house.

[00:12:21] I placed the remote down

[00:12:22] and pretended not to see him as I picked up my phone.

[00:12:26] The first thing I did was call my mom

[00:12:29] who was a bartender at the time.

[00:12:31] I tried to make it look like I was scrolling TikTok

[00:12:34] or something when in reality

[00:12:36] I was watching this man's every move.

[00:12:39] When I saw him turn around to leave the porch

[00:12:42] I was given some relief

[00:12:44] until I heard the bushes rustling

[00:12:46] on the side of my house.

[00:12:48] I knew exactly what he was doing.

[00:12:51] There was a big window on that side of my house.

[00:12:54] It was low and wide enough

[00:12:55] for him to climb in and out of.

[00:12:59] Adrenaline started surging right away

[00:13:02] so without thinking straight

[00:13:03] I dropped my phone and screamed

[00:13:06] he's trying to get in.

[00:13:08] Then I ran to my kitchen

[00:13:10] grabbed the biggest knife that I could find

[00:13:12] and ran back to the window.

[00:13:14] When I got there, the man was right in front of me.

[00:13:19] He didn't even seem phased

[00:13:21] that I had met him at the window

[00:13:23] even though I had a knife.

[00:13:25] He was angrily yelling

[00:13:27] and he obviously wasn't scared

[00:13:29] since he reached for the window

[00:13:31] and tried to pull it up

[00:13:33] but I slammed it back down

[00:13:34] and locked it at the top.

[00:13:37] He looked at me, almost disappointed.

[00:13:41] Like I was the one in the wrong.

[00:13:43] And just then I saw bright lights swarming in

[00:13:47] and I heard another man shouting at the guy

[00:13:50] who was trying to get in through the window.

[00:13:53] When I shouted and dropped my phone

[00:13:56] my mom panicked and tried to leave

[00:13:58] to run to my aid

[00:14:00] and so did the man who approached the guy

[00:14:02] outside the window.

[00:14:04] I don't remember much after that

[00:14:05] I only remember unlocking the door

[00:14:07] to my mom who hugged me instantly.

[00:14:11] I recently asked my mom

[00:14:12] if she remembered the incident

[00:14:14] but she said that she didn't.

[00:14:16] However, my little sister said she did

[00:14:20] and she had a few more things to share.

[00:14:23] While she was supposed to be asleep in her room

[00:14:26] she was playing around on her tablet.

[00:14:29] Her room was above the porch

[00:14:31] and she could see the man from her window.

[00:14:34] She said that she saw him walk up to the porch

[00:14:36] so she thought that he was a neighbor or maybe an uncle

[00:14:40] but when she heard me scream

[00:14:43] she got frightened then snuck over to the stairs

[00:14:46] and sat on them waiting for me.

[00:14:48] She heard me screaming at the man

[00:14:51] and she got a better view of the situation.

[00:14:53] She said that the man who came with our mom

[00:14:56] to help us was known in our neighborhood

[00:14:58] for being quiet and keeping to himself

[00:15:00] so he frequently went to the bar where my mom worked.

[00:15:04] He was ex-military and loved to box.

[00:15:07] My sister said that she saw him run down the street

[00:15:10] towards the man at the window.

[00:15:12] He chased him into the alley

[00:15:14] where he threw a few punches

[00:15:16] and an old couple who lived nearby called the cops.

[00:15:20] The next day my mom went

[00:15:22] and found an actual adult babysitter

[00:15:24] to watch us when she had busy nights

[00:15:27] and luckily we never saw the man

[00:15:29] who tried to climb into our window ever again.

[00:15:33] ["The Man Who Tried to Climb Into Our Window"]

[00:15:47] When I was 16 years old

[00:15:49] I was doing an apprenticeship in carpentry.

[00:15:52] Occasionally when there was no woodwork to do

[00:15:55] I would be given the job of going around different sites

[00:15:58] that were owned by the company with a maintenance man

[00:16:02] to fix and maintain anything that needed repairs

[00:16:05] on different properties.

[00:16:08] The man that I worked with

[00:16:09] who we'll call Dave for privacy reasons

[00:16:12] was a polite, hardworking man.

[00:16:14] However, he had an odd manner about him.

[00:16:18] For example, I remember that he would often drift off

[00:16:22] and stare into space or go off topic.

[00:16:25] During conversations,

[00:16:27] sometimes he'd change the topic to my mom.

[00:16:31] For context, he was married to my mom many years ago

[00:16:35] and the two of them had children together.

[00:16:38] At the time I had just assumed

[00:16:40] that Dave was being polite

[00:16:42] and asking about her well-being.

[00:16:44] But at times his questions were rather intrusive.

[00:16:49] He asked, is her partner nice to you?

[00:16:52] Is he controlling?

[00:16:53] Is she happy with him?

[00:16:56] It was like he was trying to scoop information

[00:16:58] while remaining subtle.

[00:17:01] Not subtle enough in my opinion.

[00:17:03] Anyway, after a few months of doing odd jobs with Dave

[00:17:07] I learned that Dave had been in a relationship

[00:17:10] with a lady who was living 15 minutes away from him

[00:17:13] and they had been together for a year.

[00:17:15] I didn't think anything of it.

[00:17:17] In fact, when I found out that he was in a relationship

[00:17:20] I expressed that I was happy for him.

[00:17:23] I figured that maybe that might keep him off the topic

[00:17:27] of asking odd forward questions about my mom.

[00:17:32] As the months passed, I continued working with Dave.

[00:17:35] Then I started to notice that he would always

[00:17:38] take the same route to jobs

[00:17:41] even when his preferred route would be longer

[00:17:43] for us to take.

[00:17:45] I never questioned it

[00:17:47] but the question was on my mind.

[00:17:50] I always wondered, why was he driving the specific route

[00:17:54] to get to every job we needed to go to?

[00:17:56] And his behavior when driving around these areas

[00:17:59] was so odd.

[00:18:00] He would always drive very slow

[00:18:02] as if he wanted to see who was walking around the streets.

[00:18:06] His eyes often scan the sidewalks

[00:18:08] and elsewhere on the road.

[00:18:10] And he was always quiet

[00:18:11] like he was deeply fixated on something.

[00:18:14] One time when we were driving on this route

[00:18:17] Dave asked me a question that completely caught me off guard.

[00:18:22] He asked, how do you go about calling somebody

[00:18:25] who has blocked your number?

[00:18:28] I told Dave that the only way was to turn off

[00:18:31] your caller ID so that when you called the person

[00:18:33] the screen just said no caller ID.

[00:18:37] The question made me feel off

[00:18:40] and answering his question made me feel like

[00:18:42] I was an accomplice of something.

[00:18:45] I tried to brush it off and I told myself

[00:18:47] that I shouldn't feel too bad

[00:18:49] since what I told him was public information.

[00:18:52] If he wanted to know, he could easily Google it.

[00:18:55] And besides, it's not like I showed him exactly

[00:18:57] how to turn his caller ID off.

[00:19:00] So I shrugged it off and we went about our work.

[00:19:04] A few weeks later when we were working together again

[00:19:07] he left his phone on the driver's seat of his van

[00:19:10] and it was unlocked.

[00:19:12] I noticed that he had a text message open.

[00:19:15] Whoever he was trying to text

[00:19:17] wasn't receiving the messages

[00:19:19] since they were notifications indicating

[00:19:22] that they hadn't gone through.

[00:19:25] I remember seeing messages that said,

[00:19:27] please talk to me, I don't know where I've gone wrong.

[00:19:30] If you explain to me why you left,

[00:19:33] I won't message you again,

[00:19:34] I just need to know what I did wrong.

[00:19:37] I know I should not have read these texts

[00:19:40] and I certainly wish that I hadn't

[00:19:42] but that's when things began to add up in my head.

[00:19:46] The specific route to jobs,

[00:19:48] the questions about caller ID,

[00:19:50] the relationship he seemed to keep under wraps,

[00:19:53] the messages I realized he was a stalker.

[00:19:59] At the time, I felt very worried

[00:20:01] about who I was in this vehicle with.

[00:20:04] I instantly spoke to one of his children,

[00:20:06] my half-sister about the whole situation.

[00:20:10] She was shocked and ensured that

[00:20:12] she would have a conversation with him about the whole thing

[00:20:15] and told me not to worry.

[00:20:17] Months later, there was an article in our newspaper

[00:20:20] about a stalking case

[00:20:22] with Dave's full name and personal details.

[00:20:26] It mentioned his court appearance

[00:20:28] and the restraining order that had been placed against him.

[00:20:32] He had been messaging and calling this person

[00:20:35] that he said he was in a relationship with.

[00:20:38] It turns out she was an ex-partner

[00:20:41] and he was knocking on her door at night

[00:20:43] and sending gifts to her.

[00:20:46] He also followed her in the woods

[00:20:48] while she was walking her dog

[00:20:49] and even pretended to bump into her at the grocery store

[00:20:53] even though seeing her there was deliberate on his part.

[00:20:57] He was essentially trying to contact his ex-partner

[00:21:00] by any means necessary.

[00:21:02] His family was aware of his behavior

[00:21:05] and he never told them about his court appearance

[00:21:07] until it concluded.

[00:21:09] He was very secretive

[00:21:11] and I no longer have any contact with him

[00:21:13] but I've always felt there was something off about him.

[00:21:17] So it just goes to show you

[00:21:19] that you should always trust your gut about people.

[00:21:22] Anybody can have a secret life

[00:21:24] and I'm glad things ended up how they did

[00:21:27] but I'd hate to think of how much further

[00:21:29] he would have gone with his stalking

[00:21:31] if I didn't bring this information

[00:21:34] to his daughter's attention.

[00:21:37] The Story of Belgium

[00:21:44] This story comes from Belgium

[00:21:46] and took place in 2020

[00:21:48] during COVID-19 confinements.

[00:21:51] I was 20 back then.

[00:21:53] At the time, because of the severity

[00:21:55] of the pandemic in Belgium

[00:21:57] the law stated that you could only go outside

[00:22:00] to exercise, practice sports or go to work.

[00:22:03] So I got into the habit

[00:22:05] of meeting with my friend, Soli.

[00:22:08] We would go out for runs

[00:22:09] or to practice all kinds of sports in general.

[00:22:12] The both of us were quite fond of urban exploration

[00:22:15] and knew about this spot

[00:22:17] in the outskirts of Brussels

[00:22:19] consisting of an old sports and wellness center

[00:22:22] where we hung out after going for a run.

[00:22:26] To get to this spot

[00:22:27] you must go through a hole and a fence on a street

[00:22:30] cross a small portion of the woods

[00:22:33] and then come up on a football field

[00:22:35] and tennis courts.

[00:22:37] Then up the hill from there

[00:22:39] is the Sports and Wellness Center

[00:22:41] which is an old four-story building.

[00:22:44] It's a really big center.

[00:22:46] The whole center takes up an entire street block.

[00:22:50] On that day, we had just finished a 5K run

[00:22:53] and then went to our spot as usual.

[00:22:56] We were walking to the building

[00:22:58] since it was about to rain

[00:23:00] and we saw two teenagers sitting on the edge of the roof.

[00:23:04] I remember thinking that it bothered me

[00:23:06] since we were planning to go to the roof as well

[00:23:09] so we went to the hall area to wait for a bit

[00:23:12] in hopes that the other people would leave.

[00:23:15] In the hall area, there was a clear view of the kitchen

[00:23:19] which you have to go through

[00:23:21] if you want to get to the roof.

[00:23:23] From there, you can also see

[00:23:25] into another smaller hall and the dining room.

[00:23:29] Soli was rolling himself a cigarette

[00:23:31] whilst I pulled up two chairs next to an office table

[00:23:35] for us to sit.

[00:23:37] This next part still gives me chills.

[00:23:40] As I was setting up our seating area,

[00:23:43] I remember that I started to feel unwell

[00:23:46] as if I were being watched.

[00:23:49] That's when I looked at the kitchen

[00:23:51] and I saw for a brief moment,

[00:23:53] a head sticking out of the corner

[00:23:55] of the frame staring right at us.

[00:23:58] It was a man.

[00:24:00] I couldn't say what age he was,

[00:24:02] but the one thing I do remember

[00:24:05] was that he had an exaggerated, happy expression on his face

[00:24:09] like he had just found exactly what he was looking for.

[00:24:14] At that moment, I just froze

[00:24:17] and I leaned towards Soli slowly

[00:24:20] all while keeping eye contact with the man.

[00:24:23] I told Soli very calmly

[00:24:25] that we had to go immediately.

[00:24:28] I tend to make a lot of jokes

[00:24:29] to all of my friends, especially Soli.

[00:24:31] So when he saw the look that I had on my face,

[00:24:34] when I told him we had to leave,

[00:24:36] he didn't say a word.

[00:24:38] He just picked up his backpack and stood up.

[00:24:41] Then we ran back outside.

[00:24:44] We saw that the two teenagers were still on the roof

[00:24:47] so we asked them if the man was with them

[00:24:50] or if they had seen him.

[00:24:52] But they said no, they hadn't seen anyone.

[00:24:56] They said that they had come by themselves.

[00:24:58] They were alone.

[00:25:01] We told them it was probably better for them to leave as well

[00:25:03] since we were unsure of what the man in the lobby was up to.

[00:25:08] Then we decided to leave

[00:25:09] since we did our due diligence by telling them what we saw.

[00:25:13] Then as we were walking towards the wooded area to leave,

[00:25:16] I turned back and saw this silhouette

[00:25:19] standing in front of the staircase leading up to the roof.

[00:25:23] I was shocked since nothing like this

[00:25:25] had happened to me before.

[00:25:27] I never shared this story of my scary sighting

[00:25:31] since I was so fearful that no one would believe me.

[00:25:34] My friend, Soli was the only one who was with me

[00:25:37] and he didn't get a chance to take a look at the man

[00:25:39] but he was just as scared as I was.

[00:25:43] I hope those teenagers were all right after that.

[00:25:46] I remember finding local articles afterward

[00:25:48] about some teenagers who were chased by a man

[00:25:51] in an abandoned building.

[00:25:53] But there wasn't enough information

[00:25:55] for me to confirm that it was the teenagers

[00:25:58] that I saw in that building.

[00:26:01] But I have a gut feeling it might be.

[00:26:05] ["The End of Time"]

[00:26:08] ["The End of Time"]

[00:26:22] When I was younger and attending college online,

[00:26:26] I got my first department.

[00:26:28] I had three jobs, one of which was third shift

[00:26:32] so it took a lot to keep me afloat

[00:26:34] but I was more than ready for independence.

[00:26:37] While I was having a great time in my new apartment,

[00:26:40] I did have one problem, my new downstairs neighbor.

[00:26:45] The other tenants in the building

[00:26:46] were a bit older than I was at the time.

[00:26:49] One of them was this older man

[00:26:51] who had been living there for over 20 years.

[00:26:54] The other was an older woman with a small kid

[00:26:56] who had been there for three to four years

[00:26:58] and then there was an empty apartment unit

[00:27:01] downstairs which was occupied

[00:27:03] by my new downstairs neighbor

[00:27:05] sometime after I moved in.

[00:27:07] I tend to keep to myself so I never really spoke

[00:27:10] to any of them until I noticed

[00:27:12] that the new neighbor was moving in.

[00:27:15] The new neighbor was a man who seemed

[00:27:17] to be close to my age or maybe slightly older.

[00:27:20] My experience living there was all right

[00:27:23] since the other people living there seemed nice

[00:27:26] and after meeting our newest neighbor,

[00:27:27] I was happy to possibly have someone to say hello to.

[00:27:32] That possibility quickly turned sour

[00:27:35] when our casual hellos turned into snide remarks from him.

[00:27:40] Whenever I'd be taking out the trash,

[00:27:42] he'd say something like,

[00:27:44] your trash really smells under his breath

[00:27:47] or he'd remark on how my sister wasn't wearing a bra

[00:27:51] when she came to visit me.

[00:27:53] Naturally, I was grossed out and annoyed

[00:27:55] that he had to comment on that.

[00:27:57] I would be grossed out and annoyed

[00:27:59] if he had said that about anyone

[00:28:01] but was especially uncomfortable

[00:28:03] since he was commenting on my sister.

[00:28:06] I told the landlord about all of these remarks

[00:28:08] but nothing came of it, of course.

[00:28:11] Then one day, I was asleep

[00:28:13] when someone came banging on my door.

[00:28:16] I had no idea who it could be

[00:28:18] so the spike in my anxiety was beyond high.

[00:28:22] Since I was living alone,

[00:28:24] I was never expecting a knock that wasn't planned.

[00:28:28] I went to the door and it was the downstairs neighbor

[00:28:31] saying that I was being too loud

[00:28:33] and I needed to stop harassing him.

[00:28:36] I explained through the closed door

[00:28:38] that I was asleep and not making any noise

[00:28:42] so he left and stomped down the stairs

[00:28:45] while muttering something about me being a bitch.

[00:28:48] My heart felt like it was beating out of my chest

[00:28:51] but I went back to bed

[00:28:53] only to hear him tear back up the stairs

[00:28:55] and bang on my door again.

[00:28:58] When I addressed him for the second time,

[00:29:01] he said that I was still harassing him.

[00:29:03] He said that he was calling the cops

[00:29:05] because I was still making noise.

[00:29:08] I told him to ask the other upstairs neighbors

[00:29:11] because I know that there was no way

[00:29:12] it could possibly be me making the noise.

[00:29:15] He thanked me as he stomped off

[00:29:18] but he was cursing and calling me a bitch yet again.

[00:29:22] I informed the landlord about the interaction right away.

[00:29:26] I told him that one of his tenants

[00:29:27] was acting hostile towards me

[00:29:30] and I didn't feel comfortable or safe.

[00:29:33] All he said was that he would look into it

[00:29:36] and then I heard nothing for a week.

[00:29:39] Turns out it was the older neighbor

[00:29:41] who had been living there for 20 years

[00:29:43] that was making all of the noise.

[00:29:45] He was hitting his floor with the stick

[00:29:47] like you see in one of those classic cartoons

[00:29:50] since the rude downstairs neighbor

[00:29:52] was playing his music too loud.

[00:29:55] I swear he should have known that it wasn't me

[00:29:59] as the older neighbor was right above him.

[00:30:01] I have no idea why he even came to me

[00:30:04] with a noise complaint

[00:30:05] as I was on the other side of the building.

[00:30:07] It was like he wanted an excuse

[00:30:08] to come and speak to me specifically or something.

[00:30:11] Things only worsened in the following months though.

[00:30:15] One day, I walked out in a snow suit

[00:30:18] so that I could go out and play in the snow.

[00:30:20] I'm a big kid at heart.

[00:30:23] When my downstairs neighbor saw me

[00:30:25] he had to remark on my clothing being unnecessary

[00:30:28] which was confusing since we had gotten three feet of snow.

[00:30:33] I forgot what I said in response.

[00:30:34] I probably told him that it wasn't any of his business

[00:30:38] but he said, fuck you.

[00:30:40] I went outside and played in the snow

[00:30:42] but it gave me little enjoyment

[00:30:44] because I kept thinking about our interaction

[00:30:47] so I went back inside and got ready for work.

[00:30:51] As the day continued, the snowstorm got worse.

[00:30:54] After I came back from my night shift

[00:30:56] I saw the downstairs neighbor was alone in the parking lot

[00:31:00] with his car on and the windows up.

[00:31:03] I was on high alert as I carefully walked up the alley

[00:31:07] to the entrance of the building.

[00:31:10] The second I closed the door to the upstairs

[00:31:13] I heard loud wall shaking music.

[00:31:17] It was him, he was blasting his music

[00:31:19] in his car at max volume during a snowstorm at 3 a.m.

[00:31:23] He did that until eight in the morning

[00:31:27] and I later found out it was to spite the older neighbor

[00:31:31] for telling him he was playing his music too loud

[00:31:34] in his apartment.

[00:31:36] Everything just kept escalating from there.

[00:31:39] His cursing in the hallway and music playing

[00:31:42] only became louder.

[00:31:44] The police were constantly knocking on all of our doors

[00:31:47] asking us about noise disturbances

[00:31:50] and there was a firm mutual hatred amongst the neighbors

[00:31:54] at that asshole who kept all of this up.

[00:31:57] But the worst part is yet to come.

[00:32:00] I had just gotten back from another night shift

[00:32:04] and it was 3 a.m.

[00:32:05] I was dragging my tired feet over to the mailboxes.

[00:32:09] As I was looking through the ads and letters

[00:32:11] his door opened.

[00:32:13] My stomach tightened as I hoped

[00:32:16] that I didn't have to interact with him.

[00:32:19] Then my stomach quickly dropped

[00:32:21] when he started speaking unintelligibly.

[00:32:23] He stood there gurgling and mumbling.

[00:32:26] I asked him, what?

[00:32:30] Then he repeated these strange sounds only more aggressive.

[00:32:34] I felt that something was more off than usual

[00:32:38] so I got out of there right away.

[00:32:41] I just walked back out the door and headed to my car.

[00:32:44] I decided I'd rather sleep in my car

[00:32:46] than possibly be attacked in the hallway.

[00:32:49] Now as I was having this thought,

[00:32:52] I heard a window above slam open.

[00:32:55] I froze then spun back around to see that it was him

[00:33:00] and he was looking for me from his window.

[00:33:03] I stood there for a moment listening to him

[00:33:05] as he was yelling out to me.

[00:33:08] I knew that this was my chance to sneak upstairs

[00:33:10] past his door and rush into my apartment.

[00:33:13] So I ran back inside past his door

[00:33:16] and ran up the flight of stairs to the second floor.

[00:33:19] Right as I reached the top of the stairs,

[00:33:22] his door swung open with a slam so loud that it made me jump.

[00:33:26] Then he started muttering some more

[00:33:29] as he started walking up the stairs after me.

[00:33:32] My heart was beating out of my rib cage

[00:33:34] as I was simultaneously fishing my keys out of my bag.

[00:33:38] And just like a classic horror movie

[00:33:40] I kept fumbling with my keys

[00:33:42] trying to find the correct one in the dark hallway

[00:33:46] as I heard him walking up the last couple of steps.

[00:33:50] I told myself not to panic

[00:33:52] as I finally spotted the correct key

[00:33:54] and slid it into the keyhole.

[00:33:56] Then I swung the door open

[00:33:58] and practically launched myself inside before slamming

[00:34:01] and locking the door behind me.

[00:34:04] I paused and held my breath

[00:34:06] as I heard him outside about five feet away from my door.

[00:34:10] He just kept muttering gibberish

[00:34:12] until he called me a bitch

[00:34:14] and walked back downstairs and out of the building.

[00:34:17] I watched him through a crack in my window blind

[00:34:20] as he was pacing back and forth outside.

[00:34:23] Then he started screaming before walking off into the night.

[00:34:29] The next day I got a text from the landlord.

[00:34:31] He said that the downstairs neighbor

[00:34:33] was arrested and won't be coming back.

[00:34:36] And he attached a link in the text.

[00:34:39] I raised an eyebrow

[00:34:40] as I followed the link which took me to his mugshot.

[00:34:43] There was also a description of his activities

[00:34:46] which included theft from a nearby store,

[00:34:49] threatening cops that he would shoot them

[00:34:51] and punching one of them.

[00:34:53] I never saw him again after that.

[00:34:55] I only saw his family coming to move his stuff out.

[00:35:00] So to the rude neighbor downstairs,

[00:35:02] let's not meet again.

[00:35:05] The next day

[00:35:18] This happened around 2021 in India.

[00:35:22] It was around the period of COVID

[00:35:24] when lockdowns were still very much enforced.

[00:35:27] My dad used to live in another city.

[00:35:30] My brother was in college and my mom

[00:35:32] as a government employee

[00:35:33] was an essential worker

[00:35:35] so she still had to go to her office every single day.

[00:35:38] So this basically left me alone from 10 a.m.

[00:35:40] until about 6 p.m. daily.

[00:35:43] We used to live in an apartment unit

[00:35:46] that had two doors to choose from to enter through.

[00:35:49] One was the main door

[00:35:50] and the other door was located in the primary bedroom

[00:35:53] which was my parents' room.

[00:35:55] We had a doorbell outside of the door

[00:35:57] in my parents' room.

[00:35:59] It was connected to a light bulb

[00:36:00] so whenever someone was giving that door a ring,

[00:36:04] it would blink.

[00:36:05] So one day at around noon,

[00:36:08] I was in my room which was adjacent to my parents' room.

[00:36:11] I don't know how to explain it

[00:36:13] but I just started to get this weird feeling

[00:36:16] so I went to check on their room.

[00:36:19] I went into their room

[00:36:20] and saw that the bulb was blinking

[00:36:21] indicating that somebody was ringing the bell

[00:36:24] outside of their door.

[00:36:26] My mom used to tell me to ignore it

[00:36:28] especially if I was alone

[00:36:30] since if somebody we knew was coming over,

[00:36:33] they would know to go to the main door.

[00:36:35] I continued to stand there for a moment

[00:36:38] watching the bulb blink

[00:36:40] but then it suddenly stopped

[00:36:42] and whoever was outside of that door

[00:36:44] started pounding on it.

[00:36:46] They were pounding so hard

[00:36:48] that the door was straight up rattling

[00:36:50] but the thing was

[00:36:52] due to there being a metal gate

[00:36:54] in front of the door on the outside,

[00:36:57] it was very hard to maneuver your hand

[00:36:59] through to knock on the actual door.

[00:37:02] Even then as a teenager with smaller proportions,

[00:37:05] I couldn't even fit half of my palm through the gate

[00:37:08] so I was confused as to how someone was able

[00:37:11] to reach through the gate and bang on the door.

[00:37:14] I got scared so I called my mom

[00:37:17] who told me not to panic.

[00:37:18] I was very weirded out

[00:37:20] so I made sure that my parents' door

[00:37:22] was completely locked before going downstairs

[00:37:25] to chill in my brother's room away from the noise.

[00:37:29] It was one of those days

[00:37:30] where my mom had to stay late at work until 8 p.m.

[00:37:34] So I was alone for a long time.

[00:37:37] I stayed downstairs for a while

[00:37:39] since I was too scared to go back upstairs to my room.

[00:37:42] Around 6 p.m., my aunt came

[00:37:44] so I felt a bit better

[00:37:46] since someone else was in the house with me.

[00:37:48] I also had a private tutor at that time

[00:37:51] and my teacher was supposed to come

[00:37:53] at around 7.30 p.m.

[00:37:54] so I felt even better

[00:37:56] knowing somebody else was going to come over

[00:37:58] and be at home with me as well.

[00:38:01] Our main door had a big window just beside it

[00:38:04] so whenever someone was at that door

[00:38:07] we used to look out the window

[00:38:08] to check who it was before opening.

[00:38:12] My aunt had a habit of opening the door

[00:38:16] without looking through this window.

[00:38:19] Later that day someone came to the main door.

[00:38:21] There was a man outside of the door

[00:38:23] and when she opened it,

[00:38:25] he said he was there to deliver a cake

[00:38:28] to me specifically.

[00:38:31] She left the man at the door

[00:38:32] and went to my brother's room

[00:38:34] where I was still hiding out

[00:38:35] to let me know that the cake delivery had arrived.

[00:38:39] The thing was, I had not ordered a cake

[00:38:42] so I followed my aunt to the front door

[00:38:43] and looked through the window.

[00:38:45] I saw a man wearing a cap.

[00:38:48] He was hiding his face

[00:38:50] and holding a very small box.

[00:38:53] Now a cake box is typically a square

[00:38:56] and pretty big

[00:38:57] so it was very confusing

[00:38:59] since he didn't appear to have a cake at all.

[00:39:03] I looked out the window

[00:39:04] and asked the man who the delivery was from.

[00:39:07] He didn't give me a name.

[00:39:08] He wouldn't even provide me

[00:39:10] with the name of the cake delivery company

[00:39:12] that he was supposedly working for.

[00:39:15] All he said was that the cake was for me.

[00:39:18] I called my mom and asked if she had ordered a cake

[00:39:20] or anything but she had no idea

[00:39:22] what I was talking about.

[00:39:24] Meanwhile, this guy was still standing outside the door

[00:39:27] and he was growing impatient.

[00:39:29] He said, just open the door and accept the box.

[00:39:34] Just then by some sort of miracle

[00:39:36] my teacher walked up to the door

[00:39:38] and asked what was going on.

[00:39:40] When the dude saw my teacher

[00:39:41] he ran up the stairs

[00:39:43] which was peculiar since we lived

[00:39:45] on the first floor of the building.

[00:39:47] After he dashed up the stairs

[00:39:49] my aunt and I opened the door

[00:39:50] and let my teacher in.

[00:39:53] Later when my mom came home

[00:39:55] she asked the security guard at our apartment building

[00:39:57] about the delivery guy who came to our flat.

[00:40:00] It turns out he was away from his post for half an hour

[00:40:04] and the timing lined up

[00:40:06] when this guy came to our door.

[00:40:09] Our building didn't have CCTVs in it

[00:40:12] so he was able to enter the building undetected

[00:40:14] and no one ever saw him.

[00:40:17] This shook me so much

[00:40:19] that I asked my mom to at least try

[00:40:21] to make it home from her office quicker

[00:40:23] than she normally does.

[00:40:25] I'll never know who this man was

[00:40:27] or what he was trying to deliver.

[00:40:30] To the mysterious cake delivery man

[00:40:32] let's not meet.

[00:40:49] The final story contains scenes of domestic abuse.

[00:40:52] Listener discretion is advised.

[00:40:55] I was just a sophomore in high school

[00:40:57] when I fell head over heels

[00:40:59] for the new quiet kid

[00:41:01] and thought that he was my forever.

[00:41:03] We were high school sweethearts

[00:41:05] and eventually I went on to marry this guy

[00:41:07] just one week after graduation.

[00:41:10] It's crazy to think about now

[00:41:12] in hindsight especially now that I realize

[00:41:15] how many red flags there were.

[00:41:17] I feel like I was aware of the red flags all along

[00:41:20] but I ignored them

[00:41:22] since I was so young and eager to be grown up.

[00:41:26] On the night before my wedding day

[00:41:28] I was going over last minute wedding details

[00:41:31] with my mom

[00:41:32] who is easily one of the most caring

[00:41:34] and selfless people I know.

[00:41:36] I remember asking her if she would be mad

[00:41:39] if I decided that I didn't want

[00:41:40] to go through with the wedding.

[00:41:43] My mom thought that I was messing with her

[00:41:45] and in that moment

[00:41:47] I felt that I couldn't tell her the truth yet

[00:41:49] so I took a deep breath

[00:41:51] and forced a believable chuckle.

[00:41:55] She genuinely thought that I was pulling

[00:41:57] another one of my pranks

[00:41:59] but in reality

[00:42:00] no one knew what was going on behind closed doors

[00:42:04] since I was essentially his PR team.

[00:42:07] Only two hours after saying our I do's

[00:42:11] he was throwing me out of his truck

[00:42:13] in his parents driveway

[00:42:15] cussing and yelling

[00:42:16] that he wanted to divorce

[00:42:18] before recklessly driving off.

[00:42:20] So much for the honeymoon phase.

[00:42:23] When I ran inside

[00:42:24] my dad came out of my parents bedroom.

[00:42:27] He couldn't understand a single word

[00:42:29] I was saying through my sobbing

[00:42:31] but he was trying to ask me what was happening.

[00:42:34] My dad was pissed

[00:42:36] but relaxed

[00:42:37] as he tried to rationalize the situation.

[00:42:41] Maybe he forgot something

[00:42:42] or he's pulling a bad joke on you

[00:42:44] or something like that.

[00:42:46] My dad theorized.

[00:42:48] Then we saw his truck

[00:42:49] flying into our driveway

[00:42:51] so my dad smiled and continued.

[00:42:53] See, he's right there.

[00:42:56] I wiped my tears as I walked to the door

[00:42:59] and agreed that yes

[00:43:00] it must have been a prank after all

[00:43:03] but on the inside I was screaming.

[00:43:06] I was so embarrassed about it

[00:43:07] since I thought this was making me look crazy.

[00:43:11] I still couldn't give my parents

[00:43:13] the bigger picture of what was going on.

[00:43:15] If I wanted to save this relationship

[00:43:18] they could never know the truth

[00:43:20] so I went with him.

[00:43:22] Months went by

[00:43:24] and my husband started being sweeter than ever

[00:43:26] since we had to be long distance

[00:43:28] due to him being away

[00:43:30] with the military for training.

[00:43:33] Meanwhile, I could tell that my parents

[00:43:35] were starting to see the cracks

[00:43:37] that I had been working so hard to glue together.

[00:43:41] I felt like I had to hold it together more than ever

[00:43:45] since I was in the process of packing my life up

[00:43:48] and moving to Texas to be with my husband soon.

[00:43:52] I remember shortly before moving to Texas

[00:43:54] my mom picked up my phone that was on the table

[00:43:57] since she mistook it for hers.

[00:43:59] She saw this huge message from my husband

[00:44:02] and just started crying

[00:44:04] begging me to stay because he wasn't a good person.

[00:44:09] But I assured her that the message she read

[00:44:11] was way out of character for him.

[00:44:13] This was a lie.

[00:44:15] I said that he was just lonely.

[00:44:17] I knew that she didn't believe me

[00:44:19] but she also knew I was going to do whatever

[00:44:22] regardless of her concerns.

[00:44:25] After just a few weeks in Texas

[00:44:28] I knew my life was in danger.

[00:44:30] On Thanksgiving day, my family called to check up on us

[00:44:34] and tell us to have a happy Thanksgiving.

[00:44:37] The moment I hung up

[00:44:39] the man I thought was my soulmate

[00:44:41] started cussing at me

[00:44:43] and saying that I needed to stop talking to my family

[00:44:45] because he was my family now.

[00:44:49] When he said this, I let out a little chuckle

[00:44:52] as I thought that he had to be joking.

[00:44:54] But then he picked up the champagne glasses

[00:44:57] from our wedding that I had specifically made for us

[00:45:00] and threw them directly at me.

[00:45:03] Glass shattered all around me.

[00:45:05] I was shocked.

[00:45:06] I didn't know what to do.

[00:45:08] So I walked over to the broom

[00:45:09] and started sweeping up the broken glass.

[00:45:12] I was hoping that was it.

[00:45:15] But as I was sweeping,

[00:45:16] he kept picking up framed pictures

[00:45:18] and throwing them at me.

[00:45:20] That night broke me.

[00:45:22] I stopped seeing him as my other half

[00:45:24] and more as a monster,

[00:45:26] a monster that I was now stuck with.

[00:45:29] I became very depressed

[00:45:31] and he loved every second of it.

[00:45:33] He would break me down over and over again

[00:45:35] and bask in my reaction

[00:45:37] when he managed to get me to snap.

[00:45:41] A few months after Thanksgiving,

[00:45:43] one night, he completely lost his shit

[00:45:46] over the washer and dryer people

[00:45:48] since they messed up their schedule.

[00:45:51] He started pacing back and forth,

[00:45:53] mumbling a bunch of words.

[00:45:55] I couldn't quite make out what he was saying.

[00:45:57] He then demanded that I call and I fix it.

[00:46:01] He grabbed me, sat me down on the couch

[00:46:04] and told me what to say,

[00:46:05] adding that I better not fuck it up.

[00:46:09] He was paranoid.

[00:46:10] He said that they were only acting like this

[00:46:13] because he was a soldier.

[00:46:15] Then he started blaming me,

[00:46:16] even though I wasn't involved

[00:46:18] in making the appointment with them.

[00:46:21] He yelled at me for hours

[00:46:22] before going into the bathroom,

[00:46:25] but I stayed on the couch,

[00:46:26] still processing everything that was going on.

[00:46:29] Then he tore out of the bedroom and snarled.

[00:46:33] You're so fucking stupid.

[00:46:35] This is all your fault.

[00:46:36] Did you plan this with them

[00:46:37] just to make me look dumb

[00:46:39] or are you really that fucking dumb?

[00:46:43] I just stood there.

[00:46:45] I was too shocked to say anything.

[00:46:48] He continued, that's what I fucking thought.

[00:46:50] You're no fucking good.

[00:46:52] You're an ungrateful bitch.

[00:46:54] I then blurred it out.

[00:46:56] You know what?

[00:46:56] I'm done.

[00:46:57] You don't do anything except bitch at me

[00:47:00] and blame me for everything.

[00:47:02] All you do is cuss and yell at me for no damn reason.

[00:47:06] And with that, he looked at me

[00:47:08] with the look that I've heard so many other victims

[00:47:11] try to describe.

[00:47:13] And just like them,

[00:47:15] the best way I can describe it is,

[00:47:17] there was a darkness in his eyes.

[00:47:20] I felt like I was looking into emptiness

[00:47:22] and thinking about it still gives me nightmares.

[00:47:26] Without further hesitation, he lunged at me

[00:47:29] and threw me against the wall choking me.

[00:47:32] I slowly started to see black,

[00:47:34] but he let go for a second

[00:47:35] and then slammed my entire body on the floor.

[00:47:38] I'm not sure if I actually blacked out

[00:47:41] or if my brain just tapped out

[00:47:43] to shield myself from processing what was happening.

[00:47:46] Either way, when I came to,

[00:47:48] he was holding me by my shoulders

[00:47:51] and repeatedly slamming me into the wooden floor.

[00:47:55] This was during the day so our windows were open.

[00:47:59] Neighbors were outside,

[00:48:00] but my screams were ignored by everyone.

[00:48:03] I was pleading for somebody to call the police.

[00:48:06] I was yelling for help repeatedly.

[00:48:09] My fighter flight eventually took over

[00:48:11] and chose flight.

[00:48:13] So I got out of his grasp,

[00:48:15] got up from the floor

[00:48:16] and ran to the main bedroom,

[00:48:18] locking the door behind me.

[00:48:20] From there, I frantically called my mom

[00:48:22] because honestly, I just needed to hear her voice.

[00:48:25] At that moment, I was unsure

[00:48:27] if that would be the last time

[00:48:28] I would speak with her or not.

[00:48:31] My poor mom didn't realize the nature of the call

[00:48:33] until it was too late.

[00:48:35] She was with my sister and my dad when I called

[00:48:38] and she put me on speakerphone immediately

[00:48:40] since that was pretty standard for our calls.

[00:48:44] I was always on speakerphone

[00:48:46] so they could just talk to me like we were all together.

[00:48:50] Instead of launching into a normal call,

[00:48:52] all of them just heard me screaming for my life

[00:48:56] and they heard my husband in the background

[00:48:58] calling me awful names

[00:48:59] and yelling at me to unlock the door.

[00:49:02] They were confused

[00:49:03] but my dad was ready to come kill this asshole

[00:49:07] and then it stopped.

[00:49:10] There was no more banging in the background.

[00:49:12] The only noise was me,

[00:49:14] softly crying,

[00:49:15] trying to calm my mother over the phone

[00:49:17] since she was freaking out.

[00:49:20] As soon as I realized I was all right,

[00:49:23] I knew I needed to leave as quickly as possible

[00:49:26] and as safely as possible.

[00:49:29] I knew if he were to catch me,

[00:49:31] I may not make it out alive.

[00:49:33] When I walked out of the room,

[00:49:35] my husband was sitting in the living room

[00:49:37] with a blank stare

[00:49:39] like nothing even happened.

[00:49:41] This was a theme throughout our three year relationship

[00:49:45] but I decided I could no longer ignore his behavior,

[00:49:49] especially since it seemed to be escalating.

[00:49:52] So I quickly made an escape plan

[00:49:54] and put it into action.

[00:49:56] I got myself up at 2 a.m. so I could make a run for it.

[00:50:00] My keys to my Pontiac were on the kitchen table

[00:50:03] and he was asleep in the bedroom.

[00:50:06] He was sleeping in there alone

[00:50:08] since he had banned me from the main bedroom

[00:50:11] several days earlier.

[00:50:14] I busted out of the spare bedroom

[00:50:16] that had been my prison

[00:50:18] and I made a beeline for the front door

[00:50:20] as quietly as possible.

[00:50:23] It was a nine and a half hour drive to my home state

[00:50:26] but I only stopped once in Dallas to fill up on gas.

[00:50:30] With every mile that I put in my rear view mirror,

[00:50:33] I felt more and more reassured

[00:50:36] that I was finally free.

[00:50:38] I feel like I'm forever scarred

[00:50:41] but most of those scars have healed or faded away.

[00:50:45] I made the right move.

[00:50:47] I'm glad that I got out when I did

[00:50:48] because I 100% believed that had I stayed

[00:50:51] I'd be six feet under.

[00:50:53] So to my ex-husband who I fled from

[00:50:55] that late February night,

[00:50:57] let's not meet again ever.

[00:51:07] Thanks for listening and make sure you stick around

[00:51:09] after the music for your extended ad-free version

[00:51:11] of this week's episode.

[00:51:13] If you're a patron, if you'd like to get access,

[00:51:15] head over to patreon.com forward slash

[00:51:18] let's not meet podcast

[00:51:19] to sign up and support the show today.

[00:51:21] You'll get access to all kinds of bonus content

[00:51:24] with stories you won't hear anywhere else,

[00:51:25] all ad-free.

[00:51:27] This week you have heard

[00:51:29] worst downstairs neighbor ever by Acid Rainfall,

[00:51:33] Knives by Leica29.

[00:51:37] I was working with a stalker by Spiritual Way 7315,

[00:51:42] man trying to get me to open my door by Nice Human,

[00:51:47] the man who tried to get through my window

[00:51:49] by explanation number one,

[00:51:52] the men in the forest by Eddie226,

[00:51:56] creepy encounter during urban exploration

[00:51:58] by environment, healthy 14 and finally,

[00:52:02] he was my high school sweetheart by Public Alarm 2275.

[00:52:07] All of the stories you've heard this week

[00:52:09] were narrated and produced

[00:52:10] with the permission of their respective authors.

[00:52:12] Let's not meet a true horror podcast

[00:52:14] is not associated with Reddit

[00:52:16] or any other message boards online.

[00:52:18] If you have a story to share,

[00:52:19] send it to let'snotmeetstories at gmail.com.

[00:52:22] And finally, don't forget to check out

[00:52:23] the new episodes of my other podcasts

[00:52:25] like Odd Trails and The Old Time Radio Cast

[00:52:28] at crypticcountypodcasts.com

[00:52:30] or wherever you get your podcasts.

[00:52:32] Oh, and don't forget on May 4th at 7 p.m. Pacific

[00:52:36] we'll be live at twitch.tv slash crypticcounty

[00:52:40] performing a full episode of let's not meet all on video.

[00:52:44] There will be plenty of guests

[00:52:45] and lots of scary stories.

[00:52:47] You won't want to miss that again.

[00:52:48] That's twitch.tv slash crypticcounty

[00:52:51] on May 4th Saturday at 7 p.m. Pacific.

[00:52:54] Everyone stay safe.

[00:53:26] I discovered this podcast about six months ago