13x12: Early 2000s Internet Predator

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_01]: This podcast contains adult language and content.

[00:00:03] [SPEAKER_01]: Listener discretion is advised.

[00:00:05] [SPEAKER_01]: If you have a story to share, send it to letsnotmeetstoriesatgmail.com.

[00:00:10] [SPEAKER_01]: Enjoy the show.

[00:00:41] [SPEAKER_01]: So, to preface, I would like to state that this story is probably going to be read

[00:00:45] [SPEAKER_01]: like the plot of a campy 80s horror movie.

[00:00:49] [SPEAKER_01]: However, the story is true.

[00:00:52] [SPEAKER_01]: I'll be changing names, locations, and some details in order to protect the privacy of the innocent.

[00:00:58] [SPEAKER_01]: A buddy of mine and I tried to camp twice a month now that I have a vehicle that can

[00:01:04] [SPEAKER_01]: be trusted to get me to some of the more remote areas in our state.

[00:01:08] [SPEAKER_01]: We planned a camping trip for a weekend in late February 2022.

[00:01:14] [SPEAKER_01]: We chose a fairly remote location that we had been to the previous weekend.

[00:01:19] [SPEAKER_01]: That previous weekend, we were the only people to be seen within a mile of our campsite.

[00:01:25] [SPEAKER_01]: We got there on Friday night and set up.

[00:01:28] [SPEAKER_01]: The story I'm about to share took place the following night, Saturday night.

[00:01:33] [SPEAKER_01]: It was about 9 p.m., so the sun was long gone, but the moon hadn't fully risen yet.

[00:01:39] [SPEAKER_01]: It was pitch black out, other than what was illuminated by our fire.

[00:01:44] [SPEAKER_01]: Suddenly, from the otherwise quiet woods around us, we heard a man screaming.

[00:01:50] [SPEAKER_01]: We listened intently, silently exchanging anxious glances.

[00:01:55] [SPEAKER_01]: At first, we were hoping it was someone who would be intoxicated and having a little bit too much fun,

[00:02:01] [SPEAKER_01]: but it quickly became obvious that this wasn't fun.

[00:02:05] [SPEAKER_01]: This wasn't somebody having a party and screaming.

[00:02:08] [SPEAKER_01]: This was pretty jarring to hear in the middle of nowhere in the woods,

[00:02:12] [SPEAKER_01]: at least five miles from the nearest cell phone signal.

[00:02:15] [SPEAKER_01]: Plus, we hadn't seen anyone in hours.

[00:02:18] [SPEAKER_01]: The scream continued for what felt like hours, but in reality it was probably only five minutes.

[00:02:24] [SPEAKER_01]: My buddy and I had no idea what to make of it and started feeling extremely paranoid.

[00:02:31] [SPEAKER_01]: We gathered up anything that we could find that was remotely close to a weapon

[00:02:35] [SPEAKER_01]: while trying to come up with explanations for the screaming as we kept our eyes on the forest around us.

[00:02:43] [SPEAKER_01]: After about 15 minutes of fear-induced paranoia,

[00:02:46] [SPEAKER_01]: I nearly fell out of my seat as I watched a flashlight and lantern slowly approach our campsite.

[00:02:55] [SPEAKER_01]: I greeted the stranger with a general,

[00:02:57] [SPEAKER_01]: how's it going? before he was even lit up by our fire.

[00:03:02] [SPEAKER_01]: He responded quickly but flatly by asking if we could do him a favor.

[00:03:08] [SPEAKER_01]: That depends on the favor, my buddy and I said in unison,

[00:03:12] [SPEAKER_01]: feeling obviously tense and clutching our weapons close to us.

[00:03:16] [SPEAKER_01]: The stranger proceeded to ask if he could hang out for a second by the fire.

[00:03:21] [SPEAKER_01]: Given that there were two of us and one of him,

[00:03:23] [SPEAKER_01]: plus a myriad of weapons we had gathered around us at our camp within arm's reach,

[00:03:28] [SPEAKER_01]: we decided to agree and let him hang out.

[00:03:32] [SPEAKER_01]: After a moment of awkward silence, I asked him what the hell was going on.

[00:03:36] [SPEAKER_01]: He proceeded to tell me and my buddy that he was camping down the trail with his buddy

[00:03:41] [SPEAKER_01]: and he said that his buddy snapped and tried to kill him.

[00:03:46] [SPEAKER_01]: Wait, what? I asked before I even finished processing everything in my head.

[00:03:52] [SPEAKER_01]: Is that the screaming that we heard earlier?

[00:03:55] [SPEAKER_01]: The man slowly nodded, blankly staring into the fire and continued.

[00:04:02] [SPEAKER_01]: We were just hanging out, man.

[00:04:04] [SPEAKER_01]: We came up earlier today and my buddy just freaked out.

[00:04:07] [SPEAKER_01]: He started screaming and screaming and just wouldn't stop.

[00:04:11] [SPEAKER_01]: Then he attacked me.

[00:04:13] [SPEAKER_01]: He lunged at me.

[00:04:15] [SPEAKER_01]: My friend and I kept quiet as we waited for him to carry on.

[00:04:20] [SPEAKER_01]: I told him to just back off and chill, you know?

[00:04:23] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, he kept coming after me and it started getting pretty violent.

[00:04:27] [SPEAKER_01]: I was sure that he was going to kill me so I grabbed my car keys and my lights and I ran.

[00:04:33] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't know what to do, man.

[00:04:34] [SPEAKER_01]: He just chased me when I ran.

[00:04:37] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't know what to do.

[00:04:38] [SPEAKER_01]: Neither of us have any firearms or anything but he does have a hatchet.

[00:04:42] [SPEAKER_01]: My friend and I looked at each other for a second, completely astonished.

[00:04:46] [SPEAKER_01]: Then something horrible dawned on me.

[00:04:49] [SPEAKER_01]: Wait, he chased you? I asked.

[00:04:52] [SPEAKER_01]: Like he's on his way here right now?

[00:04:55] [SPEAKER_01]: The man slowly nodded in response and,

[00:04:58] [SPEAKER_01]: right on cue as if some terrible horror movie came to life.

[00:05:02] [SPEAKER_01]: We heard screaming from maybe 30 to 40 feet from our camp.

[00:05:06] [SPEAKER_01]: It was coming from the main trail.

[00:05:08] [SPEAKER_01]: The screaming voice said,

[00:05:11] [SPEAKER_01]: I just want your fucking balance, Gary.

[00:05:14] [SPEAKER_01]: I want your balance.

[00:05:15] [SPEAKER_01]: Gary, where are you?

[00:05:19] [SPEAKER_01]: I had never in my life heard a man scream like he was screaming.

[00:05:23] [SPEAKER_01]: I've never heard anything like it in my life.

[00:05:27] [SPEAKER_01]: It was brutal, guttural screaming that was shrill to the ears yet deep in pitch.

[00:05:34] [SPEAKER_01]: The sound of somebody gone completely mad.

[00:05:36] [SPEAKER_01]: And the way that he said the stranger's name would switch erratically from

[00:05:40] [SPEAKER_01]: long and sing songy to short, guttural punches of sound.

[00:05:46] [SPEAKER_01]: We instantly killed our lights, became silent, and listened.

[00:05:51] [SPEAKER_01]: By some miracle, the madman didn't notice our camp

[00:05:55] [SPEAKER_01]: and continued to walk down the trail, screaming the entire way.

[00:06:00] [SPEAKER_01]: We ended up chatting with Gary for hours.

[00:06:03] [SPEAKER_01]: We listened as the screaming got further and further away.

[00:06:08] [SPEAKER_01]: Come to find out, they had just taken four and a half to five grams of magic

[00:06:12] [SPEAKER_01]: mushrooms each and his buddy was fine for the first three hours,

[00:06:16] [SPEAKER_01]: but then he suddenly snapped.

[00:06:19] [SPEAKER_01]: It seemed as though Gary's friend thought that he could kill Gary

[00:06:23] [SPEAKER_01]: and steal his good trip.

[00:06:27] [SPEAKER_01]: We heard the screams get further and further away

[00:06:30] [SPEAKER_01]: as they continued over the next two hours.

[00:06:33] [SPEAKER_01]: By this point, it was 11 p.m.

[00:06:36] [SPEAKER_01]: The moon had fully risen and it was below 30 degrees Fahrenheit.

[00:06:41] [SPEAKER_01]: The guy looking for Gary had no jacket or flashlight, according to Jerry.

[00:06:46] [SPEAKER_01]: Now my buddy and I were way too drunk to drive away from our campsite

[00:06:50] [SPEAKER_01]: to get cell service as it was snowy and icy

[00:06:53] [SPEAKER_01]: and required two to three miles of highway driving after getting off of the trail.

[00:06:59] [SPEAKER_01]: Gary was still lightly feeling the effects of the weed and mushrooms

[00:07:03] [SPEAKER_01]: that he had consumed, so he couldn't drive either.

[00:07:07] [SPEAKER_01]: We had to decide to let the guy wander,

[00:07:10] [SPEAKER_01]: hoping that he'd sober up and find his way back.

[00:07:14] [SPEAKER_01]: And he did.

[00:07:16] [SPEAKER_01]: He eventually found his way right to our campsite.

[00:07:20] [SPEAKER_01]: We suddenly heard more yelling after about an hour of hearing nothing.

[00:07:24] [SPEAKER_01]: Finally, about 40 feet from the campsite, we heard,

[00:07:27] [SPEAKER_01]: Hey, help! Please help me, I'm lost.

[00:07:31] [SPEAKER_01]: We saw a man approaching our camp from the woods.

[00:07:35] [SPEAKER_01]: My friend and I told Gary to hide just in case

[00:07:38] [SPEAKER_01]: and we greeted the man with my 12 gauge shotgun

[00:07:41] [SPEAKER_01]: and my buddy carrying his AK-47 style rifle.

[00:07:47] [SPEAKER_01]: We grabbed our flashlights,

[00:07:48] [SPEAKER_01]: put them on the brightest setting and shined them right at him.

[00:07:53] [SPEAKER_01]: He was about 6'3 and approximately 300 pounds

[00:07:57] [SPEAKER_01]: We talked to him, decided that he was calm enough to walk with

[00:08:01] [SPEAKER_01]: and helped him get back to his camp.

[00:08:04] [SPEAKER_01]: He seemed remorseful.

[00:08:06] [SPEAKER_01]: He said that he had blacked out and didn't remember anything that happened,

[00:08:10] [SPEAKER_01]: but he knew that he had some sort of falling out with his friend Gary.

[00:08:14] [SPEAKER_01]: We escorted him back to his camp down the trail and settled him in,

[00:08:19] [SPEAKER_01]: then returned to our camp and told Gary that if anything else happened,

[00:08:23] [SPEAKER_01]: we would help him out.

[00:08:25] [SPEAKER_01]: It ended up being a happy ending.

[00:08:27] [SPEAKER_01]: We made friends with Gary and I got his phone number

[00:08:30] [SPEAKER_01]: to make sure that he got back into town safely the next day.

[00:08:34] [SPEAKER_01]: He safely returned to his wife and kid,

[00:08:37] [SPEAKER_01]: who were actually planning a camping trip to take together soon.

[00:08:41] [SPEAKER_01]: To Gary's friend who wandered around the forest screaming like a deranged maniac

[00:08:46] [SPEAKER_01]: trying to murder Gary and steal his good trip,

[00:08:49] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't know what your psychosis-filled mind was thinking but,

[00:08:53] [SPEAKER_01]: for the love of God, let's not meet again.

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[00:10:49] [SPEAKER_01]: Back in my freshman year of college, I was a fairly trusting person which got me into a lot

[00:10:54] [SPEAKER_01]: of bad situations.

[00:10:56] [SPEAKER_01]: I may have been pretty naive but I was also very lucky.

[00:11:00] [SPEAKER_01]: However, there was one incident that will always remind me to have better situational awareness.

[00:11:07] [SPEAKER_01]: I was walking back to my dorm from class in the early evening.

[00:11:10] [SPEAKER_01]: I was speed walking actually, since I had another class at night and wanted to get back

[00:11:15] [SPEAKER_01]: to my dorm to relax beforehand.

[00:11:17] [SPEAKER_01]: I had my earbuds in, listening to music, and I passed a very tall, broadly built guy on the

[00:11:22] [SPEAKER_01]: sidewalk as I was coming up to my dorm.

[00:11:25] [SPEAKER_01]: I only took notice of him for a second because he was walking rather slowly

[00:11:30] [SPEAKER_01]: and taking up the middle of the sidewalk.

[00:11:32] [SPEAKER_01]: I had to step off of the sidewalk and into the grass to get around him,

[00:11:37] [SPEAKER_01]: but I don't think that I did this rudely.

[00:11:40] [SPEAKER_01]: Seeing him was such a small blip in my day that I probably would have forgotten about

[00:11:45] [SPEAKER_01]: him entirely if the following events didn't occur.

[00:11:50] [SPEAKER_01]: After sidestepping this guy, I crossed the street.

[00:11:53] [SPEAKER_01]: I walked up to my hall's entrance and swiped my key.

[00:11:57] [SPEAKER_01]: The resident advisors warned us dorm occupants not to allow other people to tailgate

[00:12:03] [SPEAKER_01]: as we entered.

[00:12:05] [SPEAKER_01]: Tailgating means letting someone follow you through the door into the building

[00:12:09] [SPEAKER_01]: after swiping your card.

[00:12:11] [SPEAKER_01]: Sometimes the person following you might not have authorization to enter the building,

[00:12:16] [SPEAKER_01]: which isn't ideal.

[00:12:18] [SPEAKER_01]: But no one followed this rule and I always had a tough time with closing the door

[00:12:23] [SPEAKER_01]: on someone right behind me since I didn't want to seem rude.

[00:12:27] [SPEAKER_01]: As I opened the door, I noticed the guy I had just passed was close enough to me

[00:12:32] [SPEAKER_01]: to grab the door and let himself in.

[00:12:35] [SPEAKER_01]: I allowed this to happen and genuinely thought nothing of it since that was something

[00:12:40] [SPEAKER_01]: that I and many others in the building always did.

[00:12:44] [SPEAKER_01]: I lived on the fifth floor, which was a girl's only floor.

[00:12:48] [SPEAKER_01]: The genders were separated by floors so floor four and floor six would be

[00:12:53] [SPEAKER_01]: the two men's floors closest to mine.

[00:12:57] [SPEAKER_01]: After we walked into the building, this guy and I got in the elevator with

[00:13:01] [SPEAKER_01]: a few other people.

[00:13:01] [SPEAKER_01]: I pressed the button for the fifth floor and I noticed he hadn't pressed a number.

[00:13:07] [SPEAKER_01]: I still figured this was fine, maybe he was getting off on a floor before mine

[00:13:12] [SPEAKER_01]: and someone else in the elevator already pressed the button for his floor.

[00:13:17] [SPEAKER_01]: We stopped at the second floor and a couple got off of the elevator,

[00:13:21] [SPEAKER_01]: but he stayed on.

[00:13:23] [SPEAKER_01]: We stopped again at the fourth floor and the only other person besides us

[00:13:28] [SPEAKER_01]: in the elevator left.

[00:13:30] [SPEAKER_01]: Then we were alone.

[00:13:33] [SPEAKER_01]: That's when I started to feel weird.

[00:13:36] [SPEAKER_01]: He wasn't standing too close or anything, but he seemed to be looking anywhere

[00:13:40] [SPEAKER_01]: except in my direction or at me as we ascended to the fifth floor.

[00:13:46] [SPEAKER_01]: I did think it was odd, but I still figured it could be explained away

[00:13:51] [SPEAKER_01]: as a mere coincidence.

[00:13:54] [SPEAKER_01]: We then stopped at my floor and I stepped off first,

[00:13:57] [SPEAKER_01]: relieved to leave the confines of this elevator and continue on my way.

[00:14:03] [SPEAKER_01]: Now, my building was Y-shaped upon leaving the elevator.

[00:14:07] [SPEAKER_01]: There was the option to go left or right down two separate wings.

[00:14:12] [SPEAKER_01]: I went left as my dorm was in just about the corner of the left wing.

[00:14:18] [SPEAKER_01]: That's when I noticed that he stepped off the elevator as well

[00:14:21] [SPEAKER_01]: and was now following me.

[00:14:23] [SPEAKER_01]: I even picked up my pace and he kept up with me.

[00:14:27] [SPEAKER_01]: He wasn't exactly hurrying, but it felt like he wasn't walking

[00:14:31] [SPEAKER_01]: with a destination in mind.

[00:14:33] [SPEAKER_01]: He could have easily passed me if he wanted to,

[00:14:37] [SPEAKER_01]: but he remained steady at a slight distance behind me.

[00:14:41] [SPEAKER_01]: I knew I was being followed.

[00:14:44] [SPEAKER_01]: I started to panic when I reached my door,

[00:14:46] [SPEAKER_01]: especially since I realized how empty my floor was at that exact moment.

[00:14:50] [SPEAKER_01]: I could tell that he was going to officially catch right up to me

[00:14:55] [SPEAKER_01]: just as I opened my door so I decided it would be better to stay in a public space

[00:15:00] [SPEAKER_01]: in case I needed to scream for help.

[00:15:02] [SPEAKER_01]: I also had the option to run further down the hall

[00:15:05] [SPEAKER_01]: and go down the stairs at the end of the wing.

[00:15:09] [SPEAKER_01]: If I opened my dorm, it would be too easy for him to overpower me,

[00:15:13] [SPEAKER_01]: come right in and lock the door.

[00:15:16] [SPEAKER_01]: I always kept my keys in my pocket, but as he approached,

[00:15:20] [SPEAKER_01]: I swung my backpack off my back so that I could leave it if I needed to run.

[00:15:25] [SPEAKER_01]: I then fumbled around inside as if I were searching for my keys.

[00:15:29] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't know why I was trying to act cool as if I wasn't scared.

[00:15:34] [SPEAKER_01]: I probably did this just because I still thought there was a possibility

[00:15:38] [SPEAKER_01]: he might pass me and actually be visiting someone who lived further down the hall.

[00:15:44] [SPEAKER_01]: That's when he stopped, just two yards away from me.

[00:15:47] [SPEAKER_01]: He stood there for a moment, and I ignored him,

[00:15:50] [SPEAKER_01]: hand fumbling uselessly around the inside of my backpack,

[00:15:55] [SPEAKER_01]: didn't look up.

[00:15:57] [SPEAKER_01]: He then turned and walked back down the way that he came,

[00:16:01] [SPEAKER_01]: and I heard the elevator door open.

[00:16:03] [SPEAKER_01]: This finally made me feel safe enough to open my dorm door

[00:16:07] [SPEAKER_01]: without fear that he might come charging back down the hallway,

[00:16:11] [SPEAKER_01]: so I hurriedly got inside and locked the door.

[00:16:14] [SPEAKER_01]: I immediately called my mother, just in case.

[00:16:16] [SPEAKER_01]: I just needed to feel not totally alone since my roommate wasn't home.

[00:16:22] [SPEAKER_01]: I gradually calmed down and I waited until my roommate returned.

[00:16:27] [SPEAKER_01]: I skipped my next class since I didn't want to walk in the dark.

[00:16:30] [SPEAKER_01]: Initially, I had felt good about my quick thinking,

[00:16:33] [SPEAKER_01]: but then I realized one really bad important detail.

[00:16:37] [SPEAKER_01]: I should have kept walking.

[00:16:39] [SPEAKER_01]: I shouldn't have stopped at my door because now he knew which dorm was mine.

[00:16:45] [SPEAKER_01]: Thankfully, I haven't seen him since,

[00:16:47] [SPEAKER_01]: but to the stranger who inexplicably followed me from the street to my dorm

[00:16:51] [SPEAKER_01]: when I was a freshman, let's not meet.

[00:17:03] [SPEAKER_01]: This happened when I was going to university.

[00:17:06] [SPEAKER_01]: I was working the late shift at the time to pay for university

[00:17:10] [SPEAKER_01]: and generally got home at around midnight.

[00:17:13] [SPEAKER_01]: I was sharing the house with my mom.

[00:17:15] [SPEAKER_01]: I parked my car in a garage that had remote-operated entry.

[00:17:20] [SPEAKER_01]: From the garage, it's possible to go straight into the house

[00:17:23] [SPEAKER_01]: through a door that connects the garage with the basement.

[00:17:27] [SPEAKER_01]: I ordinarily did this every day except for Thursday,

[00:17:31] [SPEAKER_01]: which was when I would go around the house to pull our trash cans up to the street

[00:17:36] [SPEAKER_01]: and then enter through the main door.

[00:17:39] [SPEAKER_01]: Our house was surrounded by tall bushes so you couldn't see much of the street,

[00:17:43] [SPEAKER_01]: and we were living in a small rural village where we knew all of our neighbors very well.

[00:17:48] [SPEAKER_01]: On one Thursday night, I was returning home from my shift.

[00:17:52] [SPEAKER_01]: When I drove onto our street, I noticed an unfamiliar car with its headlights on.

[00:17:57] [SPEAKER_01]: Since I know my neighborhood so well, I was confused about the car.

[00:18:02] [SPEAKER_01]: I was especially confused by it since I couldn't see the license plate

[00:18:06] [SPEAKER_01]: or the person sitting in the car clearly.

[00:18:09] [SPEAKER_01]: Their lights were blinding me.

[00:18:12] [SPEAKER_01]: I proceeded to the house, opened the gate and the garage door with my remote,

[00:18:16] [SPEAKER_01]: and drove inside.

[00:18:18] [SPEAKER_01]: From that point, I could only see the street through the gate

[00:18:21] [SPEAKER_01]: since the bushes were so high on both sides.

[00:18:25] [SPEAKER_01]: Ordinarily, I would have walked outside to grab the trash can

[00:18:28] [SPEAKER_01]: right after pulling into the garage, but that day,

[00:18:31] [SPEAKER_01]: I had a long voice message from a friend, so I stayed in my car to listen to it.

[00:18:37] [SPEAKER_01]: Seven minutes into the message, I lifted my gaze to look into my rear view mirror

[00:18:41] [SPEAKER_01]: and I saw a man standing in my driveway behind my car.

[00:18:46] [SPEAKER_01]: He wasn't moving at all.

[00:18:48] [SPEAKER_01]: He just stood perfectly still and watched me.

[00:18:53] [SPEAKER_01]: I panicked and locked my car doors right away.

[00:18:56] [SPEAKER_01]: Then I grabbed the remote and hit the button to close the extremely slow garage door.

[00:19:02] [SPEAKER_01]: I sat there for a moment.

[00:19:04] [SPEAKER_01]: I was too scared to leave the car since I wasn't sure

[00:19:08] [SPEAKER_01]: if he would be able to enter the garage before the door was all the way down.

[00:19:12] [SPEAKER_01]: I also had to call my mother because I know the door

[00:19:16] [SPEAKER_01]: into the basement was locked since I had planned to use the main door.

[00:19:21] [SPEAKER_01]: She later told me that she immediately went to the window.

[00:19:25] [SPEAKER_01]: She has an overview of the street from there,

[00:19:27] [SPEAKER_01]: but she couldn't see the man or the car from the window that she looked out of.

[00:19:32] [SPEAKER_01]: I told myself it was probably a neighbor who didn't realize what they were doing.

[00:19:38] [SPEAKER_01]: I figured that had to be it and I just didn't recognize who it was in the dark.

[00:19:43] [SPEAKER_01]: But I asked around later on and nobody owned up to it.

[00:19:47] [SPEAKER_01]: As I asked around, I was told that the unfamiliar car I initially saw when I pulled into my street

[00:19:54] [SPEAKER_01]: had been slowly driving around the neighborhood for the past few days.

[00:19:59] [SPEAKER_01]: My mom thinks that it was somebody who wanted to catch me off guard

[00:20:03] [SPEAKER_01]: and force me to let him into the house to rob us.

[00:20:06] [SPEAKER_01]: She thought that this person was waiting behind our tall bushes

[00:20:09] [SPEAKER_01]: and got impatient or confused when I didn't exit the car right away.

[00:20:14] [SPEAKER_01]: Thankfully, nothing like this has happened again and I'm grateful for that since it's

[00:20:19] [SPEAKER_01]: really unsettling to see an unknown person unexpectedly standing in your driveway,

[00:20:25] [SPEAKER_01]: especially after midnight.

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[00:22:14] [SPEAKER_01]: Now back to the show.

[00:22:28] [SPEAKER_01]: I traveled to Seoul for a week by myself back in 2018.

[00:22:33] [SPEAKER_01]: I was still completing my studies at that time

[00:22:35] [SPEAKER_01]: and I was doing a semester abroad in Kyoto.

[00:22:39] [SPEAKER_01]: Seoul is expensive, so I decided to book a room in a hostel.

[00:22:44] [SPEAKER_01]: It was supposed to be a mixed dorm for six people.

[00:22:49] [SPEAKER_01]: Upon arrival, I found out that I was going to be sharing a room

[00:22:52] [SPEAKER_01]: with five other men who were already staying at the hostel.

[00:22:56] [SPEAKER_01]: During this time in my life, I was still quite naive,

[00:22:59] [SPEAKER_01]: so I didn't think much of it.

[00:23:01] [SPEAKER_01]: Besides, the hostel was already fully booked.

[00:23:05] [SPEAKER_01]: There was one guy from Japan, one from Korea,

[00:23:09] [SPEAKER_01]: two guys from China, and a German guy in my room.

[00:23:13] [SPEAKER_01]: The German guy gave me weird vibes from the beginning,

[00:23:17] [SPEAKER_01]: especially by the way that he stared at me.

[00:23:19] [SPEAKER_01]: But I brushed it off since I knew that I would be out and about all day.

[00:23:24] [SPEAKER_01]: Every day, he would ask if I wanted to hang out

[00:23:27] [SPEAKER_01]: and go see the sights together, which I prefer to do on my own,

[00:23:31] [SPEAKER_01]: so I always came up with an excuse.

[00:23:33] [SPEAKER_01]: One time I accepted his invitation to explore Gangnam.

[00:23:37] [SPEAKER_01]: It was just awkward.

[00:23:39] [SPEAKER_01]: We had very little to speak about outside of making small talk.

[00:23:44] [SPEAKER_01]: When I would get ready in the morning,

[00:23:46] [SPEAKER_01]: as in apply makeup and do my hair,

[00:23:48] [SPEAKER_01]: he would just stand there and watch, saying nothing.

[00:23:52] [SPEAKER_01]: I found this to be annoying,

[00:23:54] [SPEAKER_01]: so I asked him if he had anywhere else to be several times,

[00:23:58] [SPEAKER_01]: but he just shrugged.

[00:24:01] [SPEAKER_01]: One time we ran into each other at a cafe in the city center,

[00:24:05] [SPEAKER_01]: which I found strange because what are the odds?

[00:24:09] [SPEAKER_01]: I was weirded out by him for the entire week,

[00:24:11] [SPEAKER_01]: but I did my best to avoid him.

[00:24:14] [SPEAKER_01]: The other guys in my dorm room were very nice though.

[00:24:17] [SPEAKER_01]: We even went out for dinner one night.

[00:24:20] [SPEAKER_01]: On my very last day, I woke up earlier than I needed to,

[00:24:24] [SPEAKER_01]: so I drifted back to sleep.

[00:24:27] [SPEAKER_01]: The next time I woke up,

[00:24:29] [SPEAKER_01]: the German guy was sitting by my bedside and caressing my arm and shoulder.

[00:24:34] [SPEAKER_01]: I felt so disgusted that I immediately sat straight up

[00:24:38] [SPEAKER_01]: and asked him, what are you doing?

[00:24:41] [SPEAKER_01]: I always thought of myself as someone who would scream

[00:24:44] [SPEAKER_01]: and curse at someone in a situation like that,

[00:24:46] [SPEAKER_01]: but I was completely dazed and shocked.

[00:24:51] [SPEAKER_01]: He then went on to confess his love for me,

[00:24:54] [SPEAKER_01]: how he wanted to meet up when we got back home.

[00:24:57] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm from Germany as well, by the way.

[00:24:59] [SPEAKER_01]: He then told me how special I was.

[00:25:03] [SPEAKER_01]: When I pointed out that he couldn't possibly be in love with me

[00:25:06] [SPEAKER_01]: since it had only been a week,

[00:25:08] [SPEAKER_01]: he insisted he just knew it

[00:25:10] [SPEAKER_01]: and that he wanted to show me his affection.

[00:25:14] [SPEAKER_01]: This made me nauseous.

[00:25:16] [SPEAKER_01]: Of course, he was leaving the same morning I was

[00:25:19] [SPEAKER_01]: and offered to go to the airport together.

[00:25:22] [SPEAKER_01]: I insisted on taking the later bus,

[00:25:24] [SPEAKER_01]: and he, thankfully, left it at that.

[00:25:27] [SPEAKER_01]: I couldn't wait for him to just go and leave me alone.

[00:25:30] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm glad that I didn't run into him at the airport

[00:25:33] [SPEAKER_01]: since, at some point, I burst into tears

[00:25:36] [SPEAKER_01]: because it had been so exhausting,

[00:25:38] [SPEAKER_01]: warding off his advances all week.

[00:25:40] [SPEAKER_01]: I was upset that, even after gently telling him I wasn't interested,

[00:25:44] [SPEAKER_01]: he still fucking touched me while I was sleeping.

[00:25:49] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't even know how I managed to remain so calm and polite to him,

[00:25:54] [SPEAKER_01]: but honestly, women are conditioned to act that way

[00:25:57] [SPEAKER_01]: because who knows what would happen

[00:25:59] [SPEAKER_01]: if we ever opted for a more aggressive approach.

[00:26:03] [SPEAKER_01]: In hindsight, I think at the first inkling of discomfort,

[00:26:07] [SPEAKER_01]: I should have pressed the hostel to let me switch rooms,

[00:26:10] [SPEAKER_01]: but I figured I never had good enough defense

[00:26:12] [SPEAKER_01]: until that very last morning.

[00:26:15] [SPEAKER_01]: I haven't doubted my instincts since, and I never will.

[00:26:34] [SPEAKER_01]: This happened three years ago when I was 22.

[00:26:37] [SPEAKER_01]: I went to the local coin-op laundromat.

[00:26:39] [SPEAKER_01]: I went there late, at around 10 p.m., since I had been studying.

[00:26:44] [SPEAKER_01]: The laundromat is pretty small,

[00:26:46] [SPEAKER_01]: closer to the edge of the beach town I live in.

[00:26:49] [SPEAKER_01]: The town is pretty well known for having drifters

[00:26:52] [SPEAKER_01]: and people experiencing homelessness,

[00:26:55] [SPEAKER_01]: but people are friendly,

[00:26:56] [SPEAKER_01]: and even though there is an excessive drug use problem,

[00:27:00] [SPEAKER_01]: I've never really felt scared.

[00:27:03] [SPEAKER_01]: Everything was going fine until I moved my laundry from a washer to a dryer.

[00:27:09] [SPEAKER_01]: I was listening to music on my headphones, but it was rather quiet.

[00:27:13] [SPEAKER_01]: Suddenly, I just got the feeling that someone was watching me.

[00:27:17] [SPEAKER_01]: I can't really explain it.

[00:27:19] [SPEAKER_01]: I just felt a sudden presence.

[00:27:22] [SPEAKER_01]: I turned around, and there was a man standing just a few feet from me.

[00:27:26] [SPEAKER_01]: He had pink hair, and he was wearing a full face mask,

[00:27:31] [SPEAKER_01]: like a ski mask, along with a hoodie, gloves, and sunglasses,

[00:27:36] [SPEAKER_01]: even though it was dark outside.

[00:27:39] [SPEAKER_01]: The gloves and sunglasses are what made me feel particularly uncomfortable.

[00:27:45] [SPEAKER_01]: I assumed maybe he was a drifter or just high on something,

[00:27:51] [SPEAKER_01]: but I didn't want to be rude.

[00:27:53] [SPEAKER_01]: Seeing him so unexpectedly put me on edge.

[00:27:56] [SPEAKER_01]: So I tried to laugh it off, and I told him he surprised me.

[00:28:01] [SPEAKER_01]: He immediately started talking, but a lot of it was disjointed,

[00:28:05] [SPEAKER_01]: and it didn't make any sense.

[00:28:08] [SPEAKER_01]: He was talking about coming up from Brazil

[00:28:10] [SPEAKER_01]: to bring his brother money to get a classic car.

[00:28:15] [SPEAKER_01]: None of it made sense,

[00:28:16] [SPEAKER_01]: but he would ask me questions and wait for me to respond,

[00:28:20] [SPEAKER_01]: so I tried to go along with it.

[00:28:22] [SPEAKER_01]: I still thought he was just high or something,

[00:28:24] [SPEAKER_01]: but he was standing between me and the only door leading out,

[00:28:29] [SPEAKER_01]: which gave me this gut feeling that he was blocking the door on purpose

[00:28:32] [SPEAKER_01]: as he was talking with me.

[00:28:35] [SPEAKER_01]: As he inched closer to me while talking, that gut feeling got stronger.

[00:28:41] [SPEAKER_01]: I knew that logically something was off,

[00:28:44] [SPEAKER_01]: but mostly I just had the feeling in the pit of my stomach

[00:28:48] [SPEAKER_01]: that I needed to leave and keep him talking until I could.

[00:28:53] [SPEAKER_01]: I started to edge to the side,

[00:28:55] [SPEAKER_01]: but he stayed in front of me only intensifying my gut feeling.

[00:29:00] [SPEAKER_01]: So I started to grip my keys in the attack position just in case.

[00:29:05] [SPEAKER_01]: He talked more and then backed off a little

[00:29:08] [SPEAKER_01]: as he took his backpack off, which was a child's unicorn backpack.

[00:29:13] [SPEAKER_01]: He put it down on a nearby dryer.

[00:29:18] [SPEAKER_01]: I looked over at the door just for a second,

[00:29:21] [SPEAKER_01]: and when I looked back at him,

[00:29:23] [SPEAKER_01]: he was pulling something out, but I couldn't see it.

[00:29:26] [SPEAKER_01]: He quickly put whatever it was behind him.

[00:29:31] [SPEAKER_01]: While I never caught a glimpse of what he was hiding,

[00:29:34] [SPEAKER_01]: I did see the other items in the backpack,

[00:29:38] [SPEAKER_01]: and there was duct tape.

[00:29:40] [SPEAKER_01]: Instantly, it was like an alarm went off.

[00:29:43] [SPEAKER_01]: There was no more worrying about being rude

[00:29:45] [SPEAKER_01]: and no more second guessing myself in thinking that he was just off, but harmless.

[00:29:53] [SPEAKER_01]: It was like this cold, numb dread was washing over me.

[00:29:58] [SPEAKER_01]: I almost felt calm, like I knew the next steps.

[00:30:02] [SPEAKER_01]: I knew I had to do something.

[00:30:04] [SPEAKER_01]: Time seemed to move in slow motion,

[00:30:07] [SPEAKER_01]: and he turned back toward me and took a step forward without saying anything.

[00:30:11] [SPEAKER_01]: I gripped my keys as tightly as possible and tried to mentally prepare to fight.

[00:30:16] [SPEAKER_01]: I remember being afraid that I would move too slowly or be too weak, like in a nightmare.

[00:30:23] [SPEAKER_01]: But then all of a sudden, the door to the laundromat swung open and a woman walked in.

[00:30:29] [SPEAKER_01]: She barely even looked at either of us as she went to get her laundry.

[00:30:34] [SPEAKER_01]: It was like a scene in a movie when a moment of intensity gets interrupted by something

[00:30:38] [SPEAKER_01]: innocuous, and suddenly it's over.

[00:30:42] [SPEAKER_01]: With that, he turned around, picked up his unicorn bag, and left.

[00:30:47] [SPEAKER_01]: I was so scared, I stayed put for a minute.

[00:30:51] [SPEAKER_01]: I waited until I could get my laundry and then I went home.

[00:30:55] [SPEAKER_01]: I didn't report it to anyone.

[00:30:57] [SPEAKER_01]: I never knew what to say since there wasn't a chance for anything to actually happen.

[00:31:02] [SPEAKER_01]: But when I think about it, I think the scariest thing is that

[00:31:06] [SPEAKER_01]: he left as soon as someone else walked in.

[00:31:09] [SPEAKER_01]: If he was just crazy, that wouldn't have mattered.

[00:31:14] [SPEAKER_01]: I think a stranger's laundromat timer saved me from something terrible.

[00:31:19] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't go to the laundromat anymore.

[00:31:22] [SPEAKER_01]: I just decided to join a laundry service.

[00:31:25] [SPEAKER_01]: The extra cost is worth never having to go back.

[00:31:28] [SPEAKER_01]: So to the man with the pink hair and the unicorn backpack, let's not meet again.

[00:31:42] [SPEAKER_01]: My story begins with a nightmare.

[00:31:44] [SPEAKER_01]: I'll start by describing the nightmare first.

[00:31:47] [SPEAKER_01]: It was very short, but my brain has always registered it

[00:31:50] [SPEAKER_01]: as a very clear memory just due to how scary it was.

[00:31:55] [SPEAKER_01]: I was no older than six and my twin brother and I had a bunk bed in a room

[00:32:00] [SPEAKER_01]: at the furthest end of the house that we grew up in.

[00:32:04] [SPEAKER_01]: In the nightmare, I was in my bed looking out the window at the red sky.

[00:32:08] [SPEAKER_01]: It was the kind of red sky that is generally seen in early dawn hours before sunrise.

[00:32:15] [SPEAKER_01]: The next thing I remember in this nightmare is that a man with vivid blue colored eyes

[00:32:21] [SPEAKER_01]: and a bald head appeared at the window and stared right at me.

[00:32:27] [SPEAKER_01]: The nightmare ended there, but I've never been able to forget

[00:32:31] [SPEAKER_01]: just how much I screamed about it.

[00:32:34] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't know where my brother was at the time when I woke up screaming.

[00:32:37] [SPEAKER_01]: The only thing I can remember from when I woke up was having my mom come into my room

[00:32:43] [SPEAKER_01]: and get me to take me to her room down the hall to calm me down.

[00:32:48] [SPEAKER_01]: I only remember that detail so well because I wondered where my dad was at the time.

[00:32:56] [SPEAKER_01]: Fast forward to this past May and my father was in the ICU

[00:33:00] [SPEAKER_01]: at the hospital in the country he lives in, Columbia.

[00:33:04] [SPEAKER_01]: My twin brother and our oldest sister were staying in a hotel

[00:33:08] [SPEAKER_01]: about a five minute walk away from the hospital.

[00:33:11] [SPEAKER_01]: One night, after a long day of being there for our dad and the extended family,

[00:33:17] [SPEAKER_01]: my siblings and I returned to the hotel and sat together

[00:33:21] [SPEAKER_01]: to have a couple of beers and try to relax.

[00:33:24] [SPEAKER_01]: We started discussing things and trying to unwind.

[00:33:27] [SPEAKER_01]: Somehow, the discussion of nightmares and dreams came up

[00:33:30] [SPEAKER_01]: and I brought up the above story.

[00:33:34] [SPEAKER_01]: Without missing a beat, my sister explained that my nightmare had really happened.

[00:33:39] [SPEAKER_01]: There was a bald man with blue eyes that looked through my window.

[00:33:44] [SPEAKER_01]: She remembers the whole thing.

[00:33:47] [SPEAKER_01]: My sister was five years older than me and my brother,

[00:33:50] [SPEAKER_01]: so this would make her around 10 or 11 years old when this happened.

[00:33:54] [SPEAKER_01]: Her bedroom was adjacent to the bedroom my brother and I shared.

[00:33:58] [SPEAKER_01]: Her room faced our front lawn and the street,

[00:34:02] [SPEAKER_01]: while our room faced the neighbor's house and their driveway

[00:34:05] [SPEAKER_01]: as well as the very low fence between our two houses.

[00:34:09] [SPEAKER_01]: While she didn't get into too much detail about the days before this happened,

[00:34:14] [SPEAKER_01]: she said that she had been followed by this bald man in a truck

[00:34:18] [SPEAKER_01]: as she rode her bike home from school a couple of times.

[00:34:22] [SPEAKER_01]: At this time, she was a latchkey kid

[00:34:25] [SPEAKER_01]: since my brother and I had to go to a special school

[00:34:29] [SPEAKER_01]: about 45 minutes away from our hometown for a speech impediment that many twins have.

[00:34:35] [SPEAKER_01]: My mom had to pick us up rather than be home for my sister after school,

[00:34:39] [SPEAKER_01]: but she was never home alone for more than an hour.

[00:34:44] [SPEAKER_01]: That afternoon and the evening were pretty normal as she remembers it.

[00:34:49] [SPEAKER_01]: My dad came home from one of his jobs.

[00:34:51] [SPEAKER_01]: He worked as a part-time cop and worked in a local hardware store.

[00:34:55] [SPEAKER_01]: We all had dinner, did homework, played, and did the usual family things before bed.

[00:35:01] [SPEAKER_01]: That night at around 1 a.m., this bald-headed man had parked down the street

[00:35:07] [SPEAKER_01]: at a small industrial park and walked up to our house.

[00:35:12] [SPEAKER_01]: He then tried to get in through my sister's window which woke her up.

[00:35:16] [SPEAKER_01]: She screamed when she saw the man nearly opening the window since it wasn't locked.

[00:35:22] [SPEAKER_01]: My dad stormed in and tried to shove the guy out

[00:35:25] [SPEAKER_01]: and tried to hit him with the nightstick that he had,

[00:35:28] [SPEAKER_01]: which caused this guy to run off only for a short time.

[00:35:33] [SPEAKER_01]: He came back moments later and tried to get into the window of my room instead.

[00:35:38] [SPEAKER_01]: He tried opening the window but it was locked.

[00:35:42] [SPEAKER_01]: My sister said that after I screamed,

[00:35:44] [SPEAKER_01]: my mom went into my room to get me and my brother while my dad tried to go after the man.

[00:35:49] [SPEAKER_01]: My dad ran out the front door to chase him,

[00:35:52] [SPEAKER_01]: but to no avail as the guy hauled ass out of there through the backyard.

[00:35:58] [SPEAKER_01]: The way our backyard was situated had it backed up right against a small rail yard

[00:36:03] [SPEAKER_01]: that is part of the aforementioned small industrial park where the guy parked.

[00:36:08] [SPEAKER_01]: Between our small neighborhood and that rail yard was a bunch of very dense trees

[00:36:14] [SPEAKER_01]: that always made the backyard very dark.

[00:36:17] [SPEAKER_01]: My dad didn't want to go get attacked or otherwise blindsided by the man

[00:36:21] [SPEAKER_01]: so he went back inside our house and called the police.

[00:36:24] [SPEAKER_01]: He also called our elderly neighbors to make sure that they were okay

[00:36:27] [SPEAKER_01]: while my mom looked after us kids.

[00:36:30] [SPEAKER_01]: That's all my sister could remember from that night.

[00:36:33] [SPEAKER_01]: Neither of us could recall anything else that happened after that,

[00:36:37] [SPEAKER_01]: so the story just kind of stops right there.

[00:36:40] [SPEAKER_01]: My father sadly has since passed so we aren't able to ask him

[00:36:44] [SPEAKER_01]: and asking our mom never dawned on me and my siblings until fairly recently

[00:36:49] [SPEAKER_01]: so I may ask her about it soon but for now to the bald headed creep

[00:36:54] [SPEAKER_01]: from the nightmare who was actually 100% real

[00:36:58] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't know what you had planned for my family but let's not meet.

[00:37:14] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm a 26 year old female and this happened about a month and a half ago

[00:37:18] [SPEAKER_01]: when my 36 year old boyfriend and I decided to go to the store to get oil.

[00:37:23] [SPEAKER_01]: We were looking for a very specific oil so we had to make a 45 minute trek

[00:37:28] [SPEAKER_01]: from our neighborhood out to a bad part of the city.

[00:37:32] [SPEAKER_01]: This bad part has the only European store that has the actual stuff that I grew up using.

[00:37:38] [SPEAKER_01]: My family and I are from Ukraine but we live in the US

[00:37:41] [SPEAKER_01]: and it's difficult to find authentic places that have exactly what we had.

[00:37:47] [SPEAKER_01]: This specific store is the only place I've ever been able to find

[00:37:50] [SPEAKER_01]: that not only has the oil but also has the exact brand that I grew up with.

[00:37:55] [SPEAKER_01]: We were driving on a three lane road.

[00:37:59] [SPEAKER_01]: We needed to get into one of those middle lanes where you could make a turn.

[00:38:04] [SPEAKER_01]: We got into our left turn lane and a black car

[00:38:08] [SPEAKER_01]: blitzed from the far right lane through the middle lane to cut us off at the left lane.

[00:38:14] [SPEAKER_01]: My brother and I were confused by this maneuver especially since after cutting us off

[00:38:18] [SPEAKER_01]: they came to a complete stop at the green light.

[00:38:22] [SPEAKER_01]: My boyfriend gently honked in a polite way.

[00:38:26] [SPEAKER_01]: He didn't lay on the horn or anything like that but he did honk twice just in case the

[00:38:31] [SPEAKER_01]: driver was distracted or on their phone since the light was green.

[00:38:36] [SPEAKER_01]: They went forward and we went through the light as well.

[00:38:40] [SPEAKER_01]: After our turn we went into the parking lot directly to our right

[00:38:44] [SPEAKER_01]: to get to the store we were going to.

[00:38:47] [SPEAKER_01]: The car that had cut us off was in the far left lane

[00:38:50] [SPEAKER_01]: and after we turned they hastily crossed back over to the right through two lanes

[00:38:55] [SPEAKER_01]: and drove over the sidewalk to get into the parking lot we just went into.

[00:39:00] [SPEAKER_01]: They got behind us and nearly rode our bumper pressing their horn the entire time.

[00:39:07] [SPEAKER_01]: My boyfriend decided to stop a few feet further from the store instead of parking right in front

[00:39:12] [SPEAKER_01]: of it. My boyfriend had his camera that records what is going on in the front and rear

[00:39:19] [SPEAKER_01]: of his vehicle and at that point I realized his car camera wasn't on.

[00:39:24] [SPEAKER_01]: Usually it starts recording when it feels motion so I gave it a tap

[00:39:29] [SPEAKER_01]: but it didn't turn on which meant that it was somehow disconnected.

[00:39:33] [SPEAKER_01]: As he was trying to get the camera plugged back in the car pulled up next to us

[00:39:38] [SPEAKER_01]: and I saw three guys who appeared to be 18 to 20 years old.

[00:39:43] [SPEAKER_01]: They rolled down their window and I saw the driver reach for something.

[00:39:48] [SPEAKER_01]: I was freaking out so I screamed, just drive go just go.

[00:39:53] [SPEAKER_01]: So my boyfriend slammed on the gas pedal and we drove off.

[00:39:57] [SPEAKER_01]: The black car followed.

[00:39:59] [SPEAKER_01]: My boyfriend suddenly began doing donuts in the parking lot to try and get their

[00:40:04] [SPEAKER_01]: car to back off while I was screaming call the police we need to call the police.

[00:40:10] [SPEAKER_01]: I managed to dial 911 as he did one last donut before impulsively pulling out of the

[00:40:16] [SPEAKER_01]: parking lot. The car was still chasing us when I finally got through to the dispatcher.

[00:40:21] [SPEAKER_01]: The dispatcher asked where we were and I totally blanked and stuttered that we were being chased.

[00:40:26] [SPEAKER_01]: Thankfully my boyfriend yelled the name of the road we were about to pass.

[00:40:31] [SPEAKER_01]: He worked for Uber for seven years and he knows every street name by heart which came

[00:40:36] [SPEAKER_01]: in handy since the dispatcher then started directing us to the closest police station.

[00:40:42] [SPEAKER_01]: We stayed on the line with the dispatcher the entire time as those guys continued coming after

[00:40:46] [SPEAKER_01]: us. Finally when we were about three to four blocks away from the police station they

[00:40:51] [SPEAKER_01]: realized where we were going and swerved into a random road on our left.

[00:40:56] [SPEAKER_01]: We were disconnected from the dispatcher but they called me right back and stayed on the

[00:41:00] [SPEAKER_01]: phone with us as we pulled into the station. We explained what happened to the officer at

[00:41:06] [SPEAKER_01]: the station and he was really nice. He offered to escort us back to the store in case the guys

[00:41:11] [SPEAKER_01]: went back there. He followed us there and we showed him the tire marks that were left over

[00:41:16] [SPEAKER_01]: from the chase. As he did the paperwork for our police report we grabbed the oil that I needed.

[00:41:23] [SPEAKER_01]: After that we cut our day short thanked the officer and went home.

[00:41:27] [SPEAKER_01]: My boyfriend said that he was amazed at how quickly I made all the right decisions

[00:41:32] [SPEAKER_01]: in such a high pressure situation. He was even surprised that I thought to call the police

[00:41:37] [SPEAKER_01]: since he's aware I have a history of being assaulted by two on-duty police officers.

[00:41:43] [SPEAKER_01]: Ever since that happened to me I've been too terrified to call or speak to any officer

[00:41:48] [SPEAKER_01]: but this situation was just too terrifying and I knew I needed to prioritize our safety.

[00:41:54] [SPEAKER_01]: This was so stressful and scary it made my chest hurt but I'm also happy that we stayed

[00:42:00] [SPEAKER_01]: safe. As I've been sharing this story with our friends my boyfriend keeps joking.

[00:42:07] [SPEAKER_01]: All of that just for some damn sunflower seed oil. He wants us to keep that bottle and keep

[00:42:13] [SPEAKER_01]: refilling it as a memento of dealing with that just to get one thing. I genuinely hope that

[00:42:19] [SPEAKER_01]: I never run into those three guys again. Let's Never Meet. Tickets are still available

[00:42:39] [SPEAKER_01]: for the Let's Not Meet live tour. I'll be in Salt Lake City Utah on September 19th,

[00:42:44] [SPEAKER_01]: Seattle Washington on October 9th, Portland Oregon on October 30th,

[00:42:49] [SPEAKER_01]: Houston Texas on November 9th, and Dallas Texas on November 10th. You can get tickets

[00:42:53] [SPEAKER_01]: at letstotmeetpodcast.com slash tour or follow the links in the show notes. I'll see you there.

[00:43:09] [SPEAKER_01]: Remember the early days of the internet? As a refresher this was when AOL software upgrades

[00:43:14] [SPEAKER_01]: arrived in the mail on a CD-ROM. Family members shouted across the house at one another

[00:43:21] [SPEAKER_01]: if an incoming call on the landline interrupted the painstaking 10 minutes that it took to get

[00:43:27] [SPEAKER_01]: from the sign-in screen to hearing, you've got mail. And let's just be honest, the emails

[00:43:33] [SPEAKER_01]: we were receiving back then were mostly multicolored chain letter emails, especially

[00:43:39] [SPEAKER_01]: the ones that included the urban legend about a serial killer camping out in a young girl's

[00:43:45] [SPEAKER_01]: shower and killing her guard dog. These seem silly in hindsight, but in real time,

[00:43:51] [SPEAKER_01]: I remember truly pondering the threat against my luck for at least seven years if I didn't abide

[00:43:58] [SPEAKER_01]: by the message's command to forward it to at least seven friends. Social media was also in

[00:44:05] [SPEAKER_01]: its infancy back then. Zenga was the go-to haven for teens and tweens to vent their angst

[00:44:12] [SPEAKER_01]: while informing the world that they were currently listening to Screaming Infidelities

[00:44:17] [SPEAKER_01]: by Dashboard Confessional, and of course, everyone was friends with Tom on MySpace.

[00:44:23] [SPEAKER_01]: In those days, finding everything there was to know about a person online,

[00:44:27] [SPEAKER_01]: something anyone can do today with just a few keystrokes and a credit card,

[00:44:31] [SPEAKER_01]: was a lot harder to do. But not for Cory. I was 16 years old. At the time, ambiguous and

[00:44:40] [SPEAKER_01]: exotic usernames like Pina Colada 33 or Brunette Baby 87 were all the rage. As naive as we early

[00:44:49] [SPEAKER_01]: screen name pioneers were, at least the anonymity was smart. AOL Instant Messenger didn't

[00:44:56] [SPEAKER_01]: exist as a standalone messenger service just yet, so it was MSN Messenger or Bust. But

[00:45:04] [SPEAKER_01]: if you had a true AOL account like I did, you were set up with all you needed to discover

[00:45:09] [SPEAKER_01]: this new hyper-connected free-for-all world of the early 2000s worldwide web. First, you had your

[00:45:17] [SPEAKER_01]: own email inbox. You also had a whole page to create a personal profile, and on top of that,

[00:45:24] [SPEAKER_01]: you had access to chat rooms on just about any topic or hobby that you could possibly imagine.

[00:45:29] [SPEAKER_01]: It was exhilarating. Until it was terrifying. One afternoon, I jumped into one of these chat

[00:45:36] [SPEAKER_01]: chat rooms. A random chat participant asked ASL, to which I replied, 16 Female Boston.

[00:45:44] [SPEAKER_01]: I then sat and watched the exchange between two total strangers scrolling up my screen

[00:45:50] [SPEAKER_01]: for several minutes, hoping to find my opportunity to finally chime in and chat some more.

[00:45:57] [SPEAKER_01]: Ultimately, I got bored and decided to leave the chat without typing another word.

[00:46:02] [SPEAKER_01]: As I was deciding what to do on AOL Next, I heard that all too familiar bleep,

[00:46:09] [SPEAKER_01]: and an instant message appeared on my screen.

[00:46:12] [SPEAKER_01]: You didn't say anything after you answered ASL. The message read, Why?

[00:46:18] [SPEAKER_01]: Who is this? I responded, confused by the username. I didn't recognize it.

[00:46:24] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm Corey, he responded. I'm 16, in the eighth grade,

[00:46:30] [SPEAKER_01]: in Lake Charles, Louisiana. How about you?

[00:46:34] [SPEAKER_01]: 16 and in eighth grade? Yikes. And yet I was intrigued.

[00:46:39] [SPEAKER_01]: So did you get held back twice or what? I teased.

[00:46:44] [SPEAKER_01]: The conversation began and we struck up a brief online friendship that afternoon.

[00:46:49] [SPEAKER_01]: He shared a photo of himself with me. He had a freckled face and brown hair,

[00:46:55] [SPEAKER_01]: nothing that I would rate above a five on hot or not.

[00:46:59] [SPEAKER_01]: Yet despite the friendliness, I refused to tell him where I was from or anything personal about

[00:47:04] [SPEAKER_01]: me beyond my first name and age. I knew little about the dangers of the internet,

[00:47:09] [SPEAKER_01]: but I wasn't dumb either. The username was a fruity drink and some numbers which was safe

[00:47:15] [SPEAKER_01]: enough, I figured. For context, I should mention that I did have one of those AOL user profiles.

[00:47:22] [SPEAKER_01]: Its standard features allowed you to include a profile picture and fill out a questionnaire

[00:47:28] [SPEAKER_01]: with fun facts about yourself. The photo I uploaded was of me with several friends

[00:47:34] [SPEAKER_01]: with no indication which one was me. A few days later, Corey messaged me out of the blue.

[00:47:41] [SPEAKER_01]: You're beautiful, he said. What? I thought to myself as I hesitated to respond.

[00:47:49] [SPEAKER_01]: Brunettes with green eyes, man, he continued.

[00:47:53] [SPEAKER_01]: Somehow despite my photo containing three other friends, he accurately identified me.

[00:47:59] [SPEAKER_01]: I would love to see you sometime, he concluded.

[00:48:03] [SPEAKER_01]: I felt my skin prick as goosebumps started to form.

[00:48:06] [SPEAKER_01]: I politely told him something to the effect of that not being possible and quickly logged off.

[00:48:14] [SPEAKER_01]: The following week on Friday, I was sleeping over at my best friend's house.

[00:48:19] [SPEAKER_01]: I was logged into my account in the background as we

[00:48:22] [SPEAKER_01]: thirstily roused cute guys on a hot or not. Then suddenly there was a bleep.

[00:48:30] [SPEAKER_01]: Who is messaging you? My friend asked. I knew who it was. It was Corey.

[00:48:36] [SPEAKER_01]: Hey, I think I figured it out. You live in Houston. Your parents' names are James and

[00:48:42] [SPEAKER_01]: Sarah Miller. You live at 1655 South Grand. He said all of this with information that was

[00:48:50] [SPEAKER_01]: accurate for me. My parents' names, my city, and address are all made up here,

[00:48:56] [SPEAKER_01]: but I wanted to give you an example of how in-depth that he went with reciting

[00:49:01] [SPEAKER_01]: information to me. You know that feeling that you get when you're on a rollercoaster

[00:49:07] [SPEAKER_01]: and during a sharp drop your heart jumps into your throat? That's exactly how I felt at

[00:49:13] [SPEAKER_01]: that moment. Fortunately, we managed to find that AOL did in fact have a block user feature,

[00:49:22] [SPEAKER_01]: so I figured after a few clicks that would be it. I could say so long to that creepy 16-year-old

[00:49:28] [SPEAKER_01]: middle schooler with scarily good online sleuthing skills, but the block didn't last long.

[00:49:35] [SPEAKER_01]: The next day a scream named similar to Corey's messaged me. I quickly blocked it,

[00:49:41] [SPEAKER_01]: but this happened five more times, so I finally went dark for a while.

[00:49:47] [SPEAKER_01]: Sure, I missed the thrill of seeing the yellow envelope appear in my virtual mailbox,

[00:49:52] [SPEAKER_01]: but spending some time offline was better than the possibility of being harassed by Corey.

[00:49:59] [SPEAKER_01]: A few weeks later when I got home from school, right when I walked through the door,

[00:50:04] [SPEAKER_01]: I found out I had a phone call. My sister was a baby at the time, 14 years my junior,

[00:50:11] [SPEAKER_01]: so she had a nanny who stayed with her during the day while my parents were at work.

[00:50:17] [SPEAKER_01]: It's for you, my sister's nanny said with a quizzical look on her face. Who is it? I asked.

[00:50:24] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't really know, she replied. Some boy with a twang in his voice.

[00:50:28] [SPEAKER_01]: It sounded like he was from East Texas or Louisiana.

[00:50:33] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh God, I thought to myself before muttering. Hello? Into the phone. Hey, pretty thing,

[00:50:40] [SPEAKER_01]: it's Corey. Hey, so my friends and I are all into the show Jackass. We're thinking of making

[00:50:46] [SPEAKER_01]: a trip over to Houston and doing some pranks around there next week. How hilarious would it

[00:50:51] [SPEAKER_01]: be if we surprised you at your front door? I choked out a nervous laugh. I mumbled an

[00:50:58] [SPEAKER_01]: excuse about having a quiz to study for and quickly hung up. For the next few weeks,

[00:51:04] [SPEAKER_01]: I slept with a knife under my mattress. I was terrified that I would wake up to a strange boy

[00:51:11] [SPEAKER_01]: from Lake Charles on the balcony outside my window. I was astounded, how did he get my phone

[00:51:19] [SPEAKER_01]: number? But just as quickly as he seemed to invade my sense of security, he essentially

[00:51:27] [SPEAKER_01]: disappeared. There were no more instant messages, no unexpected calls to my home,

[00:51:33] [SPEAKER_01]: and two months passed. It felt glorious and safe. So the knife finally went back to its

[00:51:41] [SPEAKER_01]: respected kitchen drawer until the phone rang during the first week of summer break.

[00:51:47] [SPEAKER_01]: I picked up the phone and was greeted with a curt but twangier, Hi. Who is this? I demanded.

[00:51:55] [SPEAKER_01]: It's me, Corey. He responded. To be clear, this wasn't the same voice I had heard

[00:52:02] [SPEAKER_01]: two months prior. That voice was dripping in southern syrup. It was sketchy and full of

[00:52:07] [SPEAKER_01]: mischief. The tone of this new voice was different, it was cold. It was older. I knew

[00:52:15] [SPEAKER_01]: I was speaking with a full-grown man. I'm sorry I haven't been able to talk to you.

[00:52:21] [SPEAKER_01]: He hurriedly blurted out. I feel terrible. But the police came to my house. They took

[00:52:26] [SPEAKER_01]: my computers away from me. I can't say why, but don't worry. I'll come to Houston very soon.

[00:52:33] [SPEAKER_01]: I didn't even dignify that with a response. I hung up on him with a very satisfying click

[00:52:39] [SPEAKER_01]: that is now lost as many of us no longer have landlines.

[00:52:44] [SPEAKER_01]: That was the day I decided to retire that fruity drink-inspired username.

[00:52:49] [SPEAKER_01]: I deleted that account entirely and created a new one. I embarrassingly told my parents

[00:52:55] [SPEAKER_01]: I had made a huge mistake, despite having shared nothing that could easily have revealed

[00:53:01] [SPEAKER_01]: my personal identity. Even if I had, the threat back then wasn't what it is now.

[00:53:07] [SPEAKER_01]: This was nearly 25 years ago. People simply didn't have the online presence that they

[00:53:13] [SPEAKER_01]: do today. As a teenager with no social media yet, I was virtually a ghost.

[00:53:20] [SPEAKER_01]: But still, I was convinced I was somehow culpable for this stranger. This man, a predator who

[00:53:28] [SPEAKER_01]: clearly had advanced knowledge of computers and the internet. He singled me out and made it

[00:53:34] [SPEAKER_01]: his mission to learn everything about me through whatever means possible. He was determined to get

[00:53:40] [SPEAKER_01]: to me. I'm only grateful that even at 15 I knew better than to trust this freckle-faced kid

[00:53:46] [SPEAKER_01]: from an online chatroom pretending to have fully benign intentions.

[00:53:52] [SPEAKER_01]: Over two decades later, I still wonder where Corey ended up. Hopefully behind bars.

[00:54:15] [SPEAKER_01]: Stick around after the music to hear your extended version of this week's episode if

[00:54:19] [SPEAKER_01]: you're a patron. And if you'd like to sign up and get instant access, head over to patreon.com

[00:54:23] [SPEAKER_01]: forward slash let's not meet podcast to support the show. You'll get access to the

[00:54:28] [SPEAKER_01]: extensions at the ends of all of our episodes with bonus stories you won't hear anywhere

[00:54:32] [SPEAKER_01]: else. And all our episodes are ad free. Again, that's patreon.com forward slash let's not meet

[00:54:39] [SPEAKER_01]: podcast. This week you have heard my encounter with a would be axe murderer by hundmeister420,

[00:54:46] [SPEAKER_01]: the fifth floor by 8bitfarmer, random person in my driveway by southern builder121,

[00:54:53] [SPEAKER_01]: the hostile creep in soul by simperedom96, no more laundermats for me by cannibal birdies,

[00:55:03] [SPEAKER_01]: my earliest memory of a nightmare turned out to be real by best massage agent,

[00:55:08] [SPEAKER_01]: barely escaped a group of guys in a car by flowerlily97, and finally early 2000s internet

[00:55:13] [SPEAKER_01]: predator by kf1746. All of the stories you've heard this week were narrated and produced

[00:55:19] [SPEAKER_01]: the permission of their respective authors. Let's not meet a true horror podcast not

[00:55:23] [SPEAKER_01]: associated with Reddit or any other message boards online. If you got a story to share,

[00:55:27] [SPEAKER_01]: send it to let'snotmeetstories at gmail.com to hear it on the show. Make sure to check out

[00:55:32] [SPEAKER_01]: the new episodes of my other podcasts like odd trails, cryptic encounters and the old

[00:55:36] [SPEAKER_01]: time radio cast at crypticcountypodcasts.com or wherever you get your podcasts. Finally,

[00:55:42] [SPEAKER_01]: don't miss the upcoming shows. I've got a show this week on September 19th in Salt Lake

[00:55:47] [SPEAKER_01]: Utah, then I'll be in Seattle Washington on October 9th. October 30th, I'll be in Portland,

[00:55:53] [SPEAKER_01]: Oregon, November 9th in Houston, Texas and finally November 10th in Dallas, Texas. You can get

[00:55:59] [SPEAKER_01]: tickets at let'snotmeetpodcast.com slash tour or simply follow the link in the show notes.

[00:56:04] [SPEAKER_01]: I'll see you all next week. Everybody stay safe.