13x14: A Stranger in Canada

[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 LetsNotMeetsStories at gmail.com.

[00:00:09] [SPEAKER_01]: Enjoy the show.

[00:00:41] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm a 20-year-old female and this happened about 6 years ago to me and two other friends.

[00:00:47] [SPEAKER_01]: I was 14 at the time of this story and my friends and I planned to go see the new

[00:00:52] [SPEAKER_01]: Jumanji movie.

[00:00:54] [SPEAKER_01]: This was my second time seeing it but I was very excited because my mom had decided

[00:00:59] [SPEAKER_01]: that I could finally start getting dropped off when I hung out with my friends instead

[00:01:04] [SPEAKER_01]: of having her or another parent supervising.

[00:01:07] [SPEAKER_01]: After she dropped us off, we went inside, got our tickets and snacks at the concession,

[00:01:12] [SPEAKER_01]: and then we went into the theater to decide where we wanted to sit.

[00:01:16] [SPEAKER_01]: This was just before theaters assigned seating.

[00:01:20] [SPEAKER_01]: You used to be able to just sit wherever you wanted.

[00:01:23] [SPEAKER_01]: Of course being teens, we wanted to be in our own little world so we sat in the

[00:01:28] [SPEAKER_01]: back so we wouldn't interrupt other movie watchers with our snickering and jokes.

[00:01:33] [SPEAKER_01]: There weren't that many people there, there were maybe three groups of kids with various

[00:01:37] [SPEAKER_01]: other adults around them but I didn't pay too much attention to them.

[00:01:42] [SPEAKER_01]: Soon after we got settled in, the trailer started and that's when a man walked in.

[00:01:48] [SPEAKER_01]: I didn't pay any attention to the man either but I noted that he was the last

[00:01:52] [SPEAKER_01]: person to enter the theater.

[00:01:53] [SPEAKER_01]: I can still remember exactly what he looked like to this day.

[00:01:59] [SPEAKER_01]: He must have been in his late 20s or possibly early 30s.

[00:02:03] [SPEAKER_01]: He had dark eyes, reddish brown hair and a short beard.

[00:02:08] [SPEAKER_01]: He was wearing running shoes, jeans, a white baseball hat and a jacket over a t-shirt.

[00:02:13] [SPEAKER_01]: He did a quick scan of the theater and he stopped when he saw us.

[00:02:18] [SPEAKER_01]: Once he fixated on me and my friends, he started making his way up the steps.

[00:02:23] [SPEAKER_01]: We were one row from the very back and he sat directly in front of us.

[00:02:29] [SPEAKER_01]: He sat in the seat right in front of my friend who was sitting between me and our other friend.

[00:02:35] [SPEAKER_01]: This was the first red flag.

[00:02:38] [SPEAKER_01]: Soon after, the movie started.

[00:02:41] [SPEAKER_01]: I immediately tried to focus on the movie but not long after it started,

[00:02:45] [SPEAKER_01]: the man started fidgeting with his hat.

[00:02:47] [SPEAKER_01]: So at times, his hat would face forward and then sometimes backward.

[00:02:52] [SPEAKER_01]: That would not have been a problem if it weren't for the fact that every time he adjusted his hat,

[00:02:58] [SPEAKER_01]: he would completely turn around and stare at us before smirking and turning back around.

[00:03:04] [SPEAKER_01]: This continued for nearly the entirety of the first half of the movie.

[00:03:09] [SPEAKER_01]: He also sporadically giggled to himself quietly even when the movie was in no way comedic.

[00:03:16] [SPEAKER_01]: The vibes were just so off with this guy.

[00:03:19] [SPEAKER_01]: His suspicious behavior caused me to completely lose interest in the movie.

[00:03:24] [SPEAKER_01]: I couldn't help but remain focused on what he was doing.

[00:03:27] [SPEAKER_01]: Soon enough, he changed tactics and every time a character in the movie told a joke

[00:03:32] [SPEAKER_01]: or said anything remotely funny, he would full-on belly laugh then turn around toward us.

[00:03:39] [SPEAKER_01]: Then he started fully standing up from his seat and turning around to face us

[00:03:44] [SPEAKER_01]: so that he could smile creepily before sitting back down.

[00:03:49] [SPEAKER_01]: I was so tensed up that I stopped eating.

[00:03:54] [SPEAKER_01]: My friends had started exchanging uneasy glances with me

[00:03:57] [SPEAKER_01]: and I could tell that they were just as uncomfortable as I was.

[00:04:01] [SPEAKER_01]: I remember clearly that my friend on my left grabbed my arm as the movie was getting closer to the end.

[00:04:08] [SPEAKER_01]: I replied and told her,

[00:04:09] [SPEAKER_01]: I know I've been watching him.

[00:04:12] [SPEAKER_01]: I knew I needed to come up with a plan.

[00:04:15] [SPEAKER_01]: It was almost the end of the movie,

[00:04:17] [SPEAKER_01]: so I turned and grabbed both of my friends' arms and whispered to them as quietly as I could.

[00:04:23] [SPEAKER_01]: Right when the credits start, I want you all to run to the bathroom.

[00:04:27] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm going to call my mom and have her come get us, okay?

[00:04:31] [SPEAKER_01]: They nodded and looked just as terrified and uneasy as I felt.

[00:04:37] [SPEAKER_01]: About five minutes later, the credits started

[00:04:39] [SPEAKER_01]: and the moment that they did, we bolted out of there as quietly as we could.

[00:04:44] [SPEAKER_01]: Of course, in my mind, every horror movie scenario was playing out,

[00:04:48] [SPEAKER_01]: especially since I was the last to leave the row.

[00:04:52] [SPEAKER_01]: When I got to the bottom of the stairs,

[00:04:53] [SPEAKER_01]: I impulsively did just about the dumbest thing that I could have done.

[00:04:57] [SPEAKER_01]: And please go easy on me about this, I was young and scared.

[00:05:01] [SPEAKER_01]: I stopped and turned to face the seats

[00:05:03] [SPEAKER_01]: as my friends ran out ahead of me to get to the bathroom.

[00:05:08] [SPEAKER_01]: The theater was now empty, except for him.

[00:05:12] [SPEAKER_01]: He was now in our row, crawling around and looking under the seats.

[00:05:17] [SPEAKER_01]: This felt like it lasted for several minutes,

[00:05:20] [SPEAKER_01]: but in reality, it was probably just a couple of seconds.

[00:05:23] [SPEAKER_01]: I was petrified.

[00:05:25] [SPEAKER_01]: I couldn't move at that moment.

[00:05:27] [SPEAKER_01]: Once his head popped out at the end of the row, his eyes focused on me.

[00:05:31] [SPEAKER_01]: And they were so wide that I could see the whites from several rows below

[00:05:37] [SPEAKER_01]: at the bottom of the theater.

[00:05:38] [SPEAKER_01]: He immediately got up and started running toward me,

[00:05:41] [SPEAKER_01]: which subsequently unfroze me and I bolted out of there.

[00:05:46] [SPEAKER_01]: I was running away from him so fast that I was skidding on the slick carpet.

[00:05:50] [SPEAKER_01]: I could see my friend peeking out from the side entrance of the women's restroom

[00:05:54] [SPEAKER_01]: as I was about four theater entrances away.

[00:05:57] [SPEAKER_01]: But I noticed that my other friend wasn't with her.

[00:06:00] [SPEAKER_01]: When I got to the bathroom, I needed to steady my breathing.

[00:06:05] [SPEAKER_01]: When I was somewhat breathing normally again,

[00:06:07] [SPEAKER_01]: my friend and I walked deeper into the bathroom

[00:06:09] [SPEAKER_01]: and I shakily asked her where our other friend went.

[00:06:14] [SPEAKER_01]: My friend told me that our other friend

[00:06:15] [SPEAKER_01]: shot off to the concessions where other employees would be.

[00:06:20] [SPEAKER_01]: This might have been my first option,

[00:06:22] [SPEAKER_01]: but I knew this theater well enough

[00:06:24] [SPEAKER_01]: to know that there was only a 50-50 chance

[00:06:27] [SPEAKER_01]: that an employee would be there at that moment.

[00:06:32] [SPEAKER_01]: After a few minutes of calming down,

[00:06:34] [SPEAKER_01]: we decided to take a peek out of the bathroom entrance

[00:06:36] [SPEAKER_01]: to see if he was still around.

[00:06:39] [SPEAKER_01]: I kid you not, this guy was pacing back and forth

[00:06:42] [SPEAKER_01]: in front of the bathroom door.

[00:06:45] [SPEAKER_01]: He had an angry look on his face.

[00:06:48] [SPEAKER_01]: He stared directly at me when I poked my head out.

[00:06:51] [SPEAKER_01]: We finally called my mom close to tears

[00:06:54] [SPEAKER_01]: and told her what was going on.

[00:06:56] [SPEAKER_01]: She immediately left whichever store she was at

[00:06:58] [SPEAKER_01]: and came to pick us up.

[00:07:00] [SPEAKER_01]: We waited another minute before we took another look outside

[00:07:03] [SPEAKER_01]: and thank God he was gone.

[00:07:05] [SPEAKER_01]: That's when we finally saw our friend

[00:07:07] [SPEAKER_01]: standing near the front of the theater next to an employee.

[00:07:10] [SPEAKER_01]: It turns out, she had just been standing by the co-worker

[00:07:14] [SPEAKER_01]: and watching the man running after me

[00:07:16] [SPEAKER_01]: before pacing in front of the bathroom.

[00:07:18] [SPEAKER_01]: She never said anything to the employee

[00:07:20] [SPEAKER_01]: since she was too scared.

[00:07:23] [SPEAKER_01]: We hovered around the employee until my mom got there.

[00:07:26] [SPEAKER_01]: We finally saw her pull up so we raced out to her

[00:07:29] [SPEAKER_01]: and told her to get us out of there quickly.

[00:07:32] [SPEAKER_01]: After telling her what happened,

[00:07:33] [SPEAKER_01]: she told us we must have misunderstood this situation.

[00:07:37] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm still kind of pissed at her for that.

[00:07:39] [SPEAKER_01]: But maybe she was just trying to comfort us.

[00:07:42] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't know.

[00:07:43] [SPEAKER_01]: All I do know is that that man did not have good intentions

[00:07:46] [SPEAKER_01]: and we had every right to be just as afraid as we were.

[00:07:50] [SPEAKER_01]: Just thinking about the whole bizarre situation

[00:07:53] [SPEAKER_01]: gives me the same goosebumps I had while I was in that theater.

[00:07:57] [SPEAKER_01]: Stay safe everyone and trust your instincts.

[00:08:00] [SPEAKER_01]: They're usually right.

[00:08:15] [SPEAKER_01]: About a year ago, I headed to a nearby lake

[00:08:17] [SPEAKER_01]: which is a place I usually go to for my therapy sessions

[00:08:21] [SPEAKER_01]: since it's typically pretty serene and peaceful.

[00:08:24] [SPEAKER_01]: About 90% of the area can be seen by the busy road.

[00:08:28] [SPEAKER_01]: However, there are a few blind spots.

[00:08:31] [SPEAKER_01]: When I got to the lake,

[00:08:33] [SPEAKER_01]: I pulled into my usual parking spot

[00:08:35] [SPEAKER_01]: and immediately got this weird feeling

[00:08:38] [SPEAKER_01]: when I saw another car parked kind of hidden under a tree close by.

[00:08:43] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm a female in my 20s, so I'm always on high alert.

[00:08:48] [SPEAKER_01]: I made sure to keep an eye on the car

[00:08:50] [SPEAKER_01]: as I was getting my stuff together.

[00:08:53] [SPEAKER_01]: As I was watching it, at first there was no one in the car.

[00:08:57] [SPEAKER_01]: But then a couple of seconds later,

[00:08:59] [SPEAKER_01]: I looked at it again and a man was suddenly sitting upright

[00:09:03] [SPEAKER_01]: in the driver's seat staring directly at me.

[00:09:06] [SPEAKER_01]: It was like he came out of nowhere.

[00:09:09] [SPEAKER_01]: I was pretty wary about going out into the grass by the lake,

[00:09:14] [SPEAKER_01]: but I continued to slowly pack up my stuff

[00:09:16] [SPEAKER_01]: while keeping an eye on the man in the car.

[00:09:20] [SPEAKER_01]: When I opened my car door,

[00:09:22] [SPEAKER_01]: the man immediately got out of his car and stood in front of it

[00:09:24] [SPEAKER_01]: doing an awkward stretch with his eyes glued to me.

[00:09:29] [SPEAKER_01]: The lake is very close to a popular amusement park,

[00:09:33] [SPEAKER_01]: so it's not uncommon for travelers to stop at the lake to rest.

[00:09:37] [SPEAKER_01]: So I tried to reason with myself

[00:09:39] [SPEAKER_01]: and decided to just sit in my car for my therapy appointment.

[00:09:44] [SPEAKER_01]: I still had about 15 minutes before my appointment,

[00:09:47] [SPEAKER_01]: so I moved into my back seat and closed and locked the doors.

[00:09:51] [SPEAKER_01]: But I rolled one window down because it was kind of hot in the car.

[00:09:56] [SPEAKER_01]: I opened my laptop and looked over at the man again.

[00:10:00] [SPEAKER_01]: He was opening a nearly empty bottle of windshield wiper fluid

[00:10:03] [SPEAKER_01]: and pouring it into his car as he continued looking at me.

[00:10:08] [SPEAKER_01]: His whole vibe was sketchy and creepy,

[00:10:12] [SPEAKER_01]: so I was debating on leaving.

[00:10:14] [SPEAKER_01]: The man then pulled out his phone and did something on it

[00:10:18] [SPEAKER_01]: before continuing to fill his washer fluid with the now empty bottle.

[00:10:24] [SPEAKER_01]: Then suddenly a white van pulled up into the parking lot right behind me.

[00:10:30] [SPEAKER_01]: Before anyone had a chance to do anything or get out,

[00:10:33] [SPEAKER_01]: I immediately climbed over the console into the driver's seat and started to pull away.

[00:10:38] [SPEAKER_01]: The van was close to my car,

[00:10:40] [SPEAKER_01]: but there was still enough room for me to back up and pull out of there.

[00:10:44] [SPEAKER_01]: A couple of seconds after I pulled away the van followed

[00:10:47] [SPEAKER_01]: and the man got back into his car.

[00:10:50] [SPEAKER_01]: I panicked, but was able to pull out onto the road between two cars

[00:10:54] [SPEAKER_01]: so the van wasn't able to catch up with me.

[00:10:57] [SPEAKER_01]: I made sure that no one was following me as I drove home.

[00:11:01] [SPEAKER_01]: The two vehicles could have been unrelated,

[00:11:04] [SPEAKER_01]: but seeing the van pull up so suddenly after I watched the other man using his phone

[00:11:08] [SPEAKER_01]: was just so sketchy.

[00:11:10] [SPEAKER_01]: Plus, they left right after I did in an attempt to head in the same direction.

[00:11:16] [SPEAKER_01]: As someone who has been assaulted, this was a genuinely scary experience

[00:11:21] [SPEAKER_01]: and I feel like I dodged a bullet or worse.

[00:11:39] [SPEAKER_01]: I like to surprise my wife with a bottle of wine sometimes

[00:11:42] [SPEAKER_01]: when I'm at the store grabbing something special for dinner.

[00:11:45] [SPEAKER_01]: Oftentimes, I have no idea what to get

[00:11:48] [SPEAKER_01]: or they're out of the kind that I know she likes,

[00:11:51] [SPEAKER_01]: but that's not a problem anymore thanks to naked wines.

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[00:11:58] [SPEAKER_01]: to the world's finest independent winemakers

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[00:12:05] [SPEAKER_01]: Now, I don't have to worry about finding the right bottle

[00:12:07] [SPEAKER_01]: because we always have one just in time.

[00:12:10] [SPEAKER_01]: My wife now has a new favorite.

[00:12:12] [SPEAKER_01]: It's the Scott Kelly Oregon Chardonnay.

[00:12:14] [SPEAKER_01]: She always asks for it.

[00:12:15] [SPEAKER_01]: Plus, she has so many others she wants to try for future deliveries.

[00:12:19] [SPEAKER_01]: She took their quiz and it matched her with a number of bottles

[00:12:22] [SPEAKER_01]: that she absolutely loved.

[00:12:24] [SPEAKER_01]: It's very convenient.

[00:12:26] [SPEAKER_01]: What's also great is that we can pause shipments

[00:12:28] [SPEAKER_01]: or cancel anytime whenever she needs a break

[00:12:31] [SPEAKER_01]: or we take a week off and go somewhere.

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[00:12:47] [SPEAKER_01]: slash meat for six bottles of wine for $39.99.

[00:12:51] [SPEAKER_01]: Now back to the show.

[00:13:29] [SPEAKER_01]: We're in the middle of a meeting for our records window.

[00:13:31] [SPEAKER_01]: In my state, we're considered public records.

[00:13:34] [SPEAKER_01]: Anyone can come in and request copies of files from any case

[00:13:38] [SPEAKER_01]: unless it's juvenile, confidential,

[00:13:40] [SPEAKER_01]: or otherwise sealed by the court.

[00:13:43] [SPEAKER_01]: I was asked to cover the records window

[00:13:45] [SPEAKER_01]: from 4 to 4.30 p.m. that Friday

[00:13:47] [SPEAKER_01]: so that our records clerk could leave a little early.

[00:13:51] [SPEAKER_01]: At around 4.15, we had a frequent flier,

[00:13:55] [SPEAKER_01]: as we called them.

[00:13:55] [SPEAKER_01]: This man, who was frequently coming in,

[00:13:59] [SPEAKER_01]: showed up to get copies out of his case.

[00:14:02] [SPEAKER_01]: I should note the way that the office is set up.

[00:14:05] [SPEAKER_01]: We are set up kind of like the DMV.

[00:14:08] [SPEAKER_01]: You have to come into the main entrance

[00:14:10] [SPEAKER_01]: and go down a long hallway until it opens up to a lobby.

[00:14:14] [SPEAKER_01]: From there, straight ahead, are the elevators.

[00:14:18] [SPEAKER_01]: The district attorney's office is to the left

[00:14:20] [SPEAKER_01]: and the COC is to the right.

[00:14:22] [SPEAKER_01]: There's a separate set of doors

[00:14:24] [SPEAKER_01]: that need to be opened in order to enter our lobby.

[00:14:28] [SPEAKER_01]: In our office, there's an L-shaped counter with windows.

[00:14:32] [SPEAKER_01]: The records window is around the corner tucked in the back.

[00:14:35] [SPEAKER_01]: There are also three public terminals

[00:14:36] [SPEAKER_01]: that anyone from the general public can come and use

[00:14:39] [SPEAKER_01]: to research cases in my county.

[00:14:42] [SPEAKER_01]: Okay, back to the man I see in the office regularly.

[00:14:46] [SPEAKER_01]: We'll call him Joe.

[00:14:48] [SPEAKER_01]: Joe has an open family case.

[00:14:51] [SPEAKER_01]: He comes in about once a week

[00:14:52] [SPEAKER_01]: to get copies out of his family's case

[00:14:54] [SPEAKER_01]: or whatever he's actually doing.

[00:14:57] [SPEAKER_01]: It's really none of my business.

[00:14:59] [SPEAKER_01]: He came up to my window sometime at around 4.15

[00:15:02] [SPEAKER_01]: saying he requested some documents.

[00:15:06] [SPEAKER_01]: When documents are requested from public terminals,

[00:15:09] [SPEAKER_01]: they go through a queue,

[00:15:10] [SPEAKER_01]: which I then go into and select them to print.

[00:15:13] [SPEAKER_01]: So I went into the queue, glanced at the documents,

[00:15:16] [SPEAKER_01]: and asked,

[00:15:17] [SPEAKER_01]: Do you have 11 pages?

[00:15:19] [SPEAKER_01]: He said yes, so I went ahead and printed them.

[00:15:23] [SPEAKER_01]: I wrote out a little slip for him

[00:15:25] [SPEAKER_01]: with the number of copies and his total owed.

[00:15:29] [SPEAKER_01]: I gave him the slip

[00:15:30] [SPEAKER_01]: and directed him to go back to a cashier window

[00:15:33] [SPEAKER_01]: where a cashier could process his payment.

[00:15:36] [SPEAKER_01]: I went to grab the copies off the printer,

[00:15:39] [SPEAKER_01]: which jammed,

[00:15:40] [SPEAKER_01]: so I had to mess with that for a minute.

[00:15:42] [SPEAKER_01]: Then I counted the pages

[00:15:44] [SPEAKER_01]: and took them to the cashier window.

[00:15:45] [SPEAKER_01]: I then went back to my computer

[00:15:47] [SPEAKER_01]: to help the next person in line.

[00:15:50] [SPEAKER_01]: The next customer was easy.

[00:15:51] [SPEAKER_01]: Her records were printed and prepaid.

[00:15:54] [SPEAKER_01]: After the second customer,

[00:15:55] [SPEAKER_01]: my coworker,

[00:15:56] [SPEAKER_01]: who I often refer to as workwife,

[00:15:59] [SPEAKER_01]: will call her Lynn,

[00:16:00] [SPEAKER_01]: asked me if I wanted to go thrifting

[00:16:02] [SPEAKER_01]: at Plato's closet after work

[00:16:04] [SPEAKER_01]: and my answer was yes, let's go.

[00:16:07] [SPEAKER_01]: Right as we were discussing this,

[00:16:09] [SPEAKER_01]: I was in view of the record's window,

[00:16:12] [SPEAKER_01]: but I wasn't right at the window.

[00:16:13] [SPEAKER_01]: I saw that Joe had returned to this window,

[00:16:17] [SPEAKER_01]: so I went up to the counter and asked how I could help him.

[00:16:20] [SPEAKER_01]: He flatly stated,

[00:16:22] [SPEAKER_01]: you must be new.

[00:16:24] [SPEAKER_01]: Now I'm not new.

[00:16:26] [SPEAKER_01]: I've been at the job for almost four years

[00:16:27] [SPEAKER_01]: and in the legal field for almost 10.

[00:16:31] [SPEAKER_01]: I replied,

[00:16:32] [SPEAKER_01]: no, I'm not new.

[00:16:34] [SPEAKER_01]: What can I do to help?

[00:16:36] [SPEAKER_01]: He then made a snide comment

[00:16:37] [SPEAKER_01]: about a paperweight that I was using.

[00:16:40] [SPEAKER_01]: That's a fancy paperweight you have there.

[00:16:42] [SPEAKER_01]: It was a gift from my three-year-old niece,

[00:16:46] [SPEAKER_01]: a painted rock.

[00:16:48] [SPEAKER_01]: Sir, what can I do for you?

[00:16:50] [SPEAKER_01]: I asked again.

[00:16:51] [SPEAKER_01]: You gave me the wrong case,

[00:16:53] [SPEAKER_01]: he insisted.

[00:16:55] [SPEAKER_01]: No sir, I said.

[00:16:56] [SPEAKER_01]: I printed off what you put in the queue.

[00:16:59] [SPEAKER_01]: You don't need these four pages?

[00:17:01] [SPEAKER_01]: He shook his head.

[00:17:02] [SPEAKER_01]: So I tossed the other four pages that he didn't need

[00:17:05] [SPEAKER_01]: and adjusted his pricing slip

[00:17:07] [SPEAKER_01]: to reflect seven pages total,

[00:17:09] [SPEAKER_01]: then sent him back to the cashier.

[00:17:11] [SPEAKER_01]: At this point it was 4.30,

[00:17:14] [SPEAKER_01]: so we were closing up.

[00:17:16] [SPEAKER_01]: So I left and headed to Plato's closet.

[00:17:19] [SPEAKER_01]: It took me about 15 minutes to drive over there.

[00:17:23] [SPEAKER_01]: I beat Lynn there,

[00:17:24] [SPEAKER_01]: so I sat in my car for a few minutes

[00:17:26] [SPEAKER_01]: before going inside to start browsing.

[00:17:28] [SPEAKER_01]: She came in a couple of minutes later,

[00:17:31] [SPEAKER_01]: stating that she was caught behind a train.

[00:17:34] [SPEAKER_01]: Once she joined me,

[00:17:35] [SPEAKER_01]: we started shopping and chatting.

[00:17:37] [SPEAKER_01]: As we were moseying,

[00:17:39] [SPEAKER_01]: the door to the shop opened

[00:17:40] [SPEAKER_01]: and for some reason,

[00:17:42] [SPEAKER_01]: I looked at the door.

[00:17:44] [SPEAKER_01]: And there was Joe.

[00:17:46] [SPEAKER_01]: I knew that it was Joe

[00:17:47] [SPEAKER_01]: since he always wears this dumb sock monkey hat.

[00:17:51] [SPEAKER_01]: When I caught a glimpse of that,

[00:17:53] [SPEAKER_01]: I got Lynn's attention and asked,

[00:17:55] [SPEAKER_01]: um, are you seeing what I'm seeing?

[00:17:59] [SPEAKER_01]: I then pulled Lynn into an aisle

[00:18:02] [SPEAKER_01]: and ducked down.

[00:18:04] [SPEAKER_01]: She is short,

[00:18:05] [SPEAKER_01]: but I am tall

[00:18:06] [SPEAKER_01]: and I wear heels a lot,

[00:18:07] [SPEAKER_01]: so it was easy for me to watch his dumb hat

[00:18:10] [SPEAKER_01]: as it bobbed around the store.

[00:18:12] [SPEAKER_01]: He looked like he was rubber-necking

[00:18:14] [SPEAKER_01]: as he made his way to the back of the store.

[00:18:17] [SPEAKER_01]: From there,

[00:18:17] [SPEAKER_01]: he grabbed a pair of shoes

[00:18:18] [SPEAKER_01]: and glanced at them

[00:18:20] [SPEAKER_01]: before continuing to rubber-neck.

[00:18:22] [SPEAKER_01]: I kept an eye on him

[00:18:23] [SPEAKER_01]: and as he moved,

[00:18:25] [SPEAKER_01]: Lynn and I moved in the opposite direction.

[00:18:28] [SPEAKER_01]: She and I were legitimately hiding

[00:18:30] [SPEAKER_01]: behind clothing racks

[00:18:31] [SPEAKER_01]: trying to dodge him.

[00:18:33] [SPEAKER_01]: He then moved around

[00:18:34] [SPEAKER_01]: the perimeter of the store,

[00:18:35] [SPEAKER_01]: still rubber-necking.

[00:18:37] [SPEAKER_01]: He was clearly looking for something

[00:18:39] [SPEAKER_01]: or someone.

[00:18:41] [SPEAKER_01]: He never spotted us

[00:18:43] [SPEAKER_01]: and we couldn't see him anymore,

[00:18:44] [SPEAKER_01]: so we thought that he finally left.

[00:18:47] [SPEAKER_01]: We tried to check the parking lot

[00:18:49] [SPEAKER_01]: to see if he was gone

[00:18:50] [SPEAKER_01]: so that we could come out of hiding.

[00:18:52] [SPEAKER_01]: We were scared,

[00:18:54] [SPEAKER_01]: but we tried to shake it off

[00:18:55] [SPEAKER_01]: and just chalked it up to coincidence.

[00:18:58] [SPEAKER_01]: But then I realized

[00:18:59] [SPEAKER_01]: we were talking about the whole situation

[00:19:01] [SPEAKER_01]: right in front of him.

[00:19:04] [SPEAKER_01]: And Lynn?

[00:19:05] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, she's not quiet.

[00:19:07] [SPEAKER_01]: She gets scolded on a weekly basis

[00:19:10] [SPEAKER_01]: for her loud, boisterous voice.

[00:19:13] [SPEAKER_01]: The next day I called my boss

[00:19:15] [SPEAKER_01]: and told her what happened.

[00:19:16] [SPEAKER_01]: I also told her

[00:19:18] [SPEAKER_01]: that I was going to call the police

[00:19:19] [SPEAKER_01]: since I felt so uneasy about it.

[00:19:21] [SPEAKER_01]: I called the non-emergency number

[00:19:23] [SPEAKER_01]: and left a message with dispatch.

[00:19:25] [SPEAKER_01]: I got a call from an officer

[00:19:27] [SPEAKER_01]: a few hours later

[00:19:28] [SPEAKER_01]: and explained what happened.

[00:19:30] [SPEAKER_01]: He asked me for Joe's name,

[00:19:32] [SPEAKER_01]: but I didn't know Joe's name offhand.

[00:19:34] [SPEAKER_01]: The officer then told me

[00:19:36] [SPEAKER_01]: that he would call me back on Wednesday

[00:19:38] [SPEAKER_01]: when he was back on duty.

[00:19:41] [SPEAKER_01]: I was able to get Joe's name

[00:19:42] [SPEAKER_01]: in the interim

[00:19:43] [SPEAKER_01]: and called the officer back on Monday

[00:19:45] [SPEAKER_01]: to leave him a voicemail.

[00:19:47] [SPEAKER_01]: Monday was fine

[00:19:49] [SPEAKER_01]: and I was out of the office on Tuesday,

[00:19:51] [SPEAKER_01]: but on Wednesday

[00:19:52] [SPEAKER_01]: Joe came back to my office.

[00:19:54] [SPEAKER_01]: He came at about 4.20

[00:19:55] [SPEAKER_01]: to file documents into his case.

[00:19:57] [SPEAKER_01]: He took 20 minutes

[00:19:58] [SPEAKER_01]: to file two affidavits

[00:20:00] [SPEAKER_01]: and a motion.

[00:20:02] [SPEAKER_01]: This should have only taken a minute,

[00:20:04] [SPEAKER_01]: but he needed something notarized.

[00:20:06] [SPEAKER_01]: After he left, I had a bad feeling.

[00:20:09] [SPEAKER_01]: So I called the officer

[00:20:10] [SPEAKER_01]: and told him about what happened.

[00:20:12] [SPEAKER_01]: The officer told me

[00:20:13] [SPEAKER_01]: that if he came back the next day on Thursday

[00:20:15] [SPEAKER_01]: to call

[00:20:16] [SPEAKER_01]: and they would come down to talk with him.

[00:20:18] [SPEAKER_01]: Luckily, the PD is right across the street

[00:20:21] [SPEAKER_01]: from the courthouse.

[00:20:23] [SPEAKER_01]: Thursday rolled on by

[00:20:24] [SPEAKER_01]: and there was no Joe until about 4.25.

[00:20:28] [SPEAKER_01]: When he be-lined it

[00:20:29] [SPEAKER_01]: for the computer in the corner,

[00:20:31] [SPEAKER_01]: I messaged my boss

[00:20:32] [SPEAKER_01]: since we had already put a safety plan into place.

[00:20:36] [SPEAKER_01]: The sheriff's deputies, who worked security,

[00:20:38] [SPEAKER_01]: were notified

[00:20:39] [SPEAKER_01]: and as three deputies followed him into my office

[00:20:42] [SPEAKER_01]: I called the PD

[00:20:43] [SPEAKER_01]: and two officers came down to question him.

[00:20:47] [SPEAKER_01]: He admitted to being at Plato's closet

[00:20:49] [SPEAKER_01]: and explained that he was shopping

[00:20:50] [SPEAKER_01]: for his two young daughters.

[00:20:52] [SPEAKER_01]: His daughters were only 9 and 11

[00:20:54] [SPEAKER_01]: so I knew that they did not fit

[00:20:56] [SPEAKER_01]: into the clothing sold at Plato's just yet.

[00:21:00] [SPEAKER_01]: However, Plato's does have a sister store

[00:21:02] [SPEAKER_01]: called Once Upon a Child

[00:21:03] [SPEAKER_01]: which he did end up going to.

[00:21:06] [SPEAKER_01]: He showed the police officers

[00:21:08] [SPEAKER_01]: a receipt from his car from Once Upon a Child

[00:21:11] [SPEAKER_01]: that was stamped at 5.07 p.m.

[00:21:14] [SPEAKER_01]: the day that I saw him.

[00:21:16] [SPEAKER_01]: He denied hearing my conversation with Lynn

[00:21:18] [SPEAKER_01]: regarding going to Plato's after work.

[00:21:20] [SPEAKER_01]: He stated that he left my office

[00:21:23] [SPEAKER_01]: at 4.15 and took his children to go shopping for clothes

[00:21:26] [SPEAKER_01]: but he didn't have his children with him

[00:21:29] [SPEAKER_01]: at the courthouse or at Plato's.

[00:21:32] [SPEAKER_01]: He also asked the officer immediately

[00:21:34] [SPEAKER_01]: and unprompted,

[00:21:36] [SPEAKER_01]: did she call you?

[00:21:38] [SPEAKER_01]: He asked this in reference to me.

[00:21:40] [SPEAKER_01]: He also stated that he believed

[00:21:42] [SPEAKER_01]: his ex-wife was setting him up.

[00:21:45] [SPEAKER_01]: So, since my office is a public office

[00:21:48] [SPEAKER_01]: and he has made arguably legitimate reasons

[00:21:51] [SPEAKER_01]: to need to be there,

[00:21:52] [SPEAKER_01]: there wasn't anything officers could do.

[00:21:54] [SPEAKER_01]: They issued him a verbal warning

[00:21:56] [SPEAKER_01]: and put him on standby.

[00:21:57] [SPEAKER_01]: The kicker is that he could opt into his case electronically

[00:22:03] [SPEAKER_01]: but made a big deal about not being able

[00:22:06] [SPEAKER_01]: to opt in a few months ago.

[00:22:08] [SPEAKER_01]: We told him if he was having issues

[00:22:10] [SPEAKER_01]: he needed to call the court support line

[00:22:12] [SPEAKER_01]: and they would be able to remedy the situation.

[00:22:15] [SPEAKER_01]: Instead, he chooses to come in

[00:22:17] [SPEAKER_01]: and pay the extra $1.25 per page

[00:22:20] [SPEAKER_01]: instead of a one-time $20 fee.

[00:22:23] [SPEAKER_01]: It's just so silly to me.

[00:22:25] [SPEAKER_01]: He's filing extremely high-level types of documents

[00:22:29] [SPEAKER_01]: to represent himself.

[00:22:31] [SPEAKER_01]: If all this wasn't freaky enough already,

[00:22:33] [SPEAKER_01]: last year his roommate filed a restraining order against him

[00:22:36] [SPEAKER_01]: followed by his roommate's girlfriend

[00:22:39] [SPEAKER_01]: alleging sexual harassment.

[00:22:41] [SPEAKER_01]: I won't go into details regarding that though.

[00:22:44] [SPEAKER_01]: Let's just say it's more than messy.

[00:22:47] [SPEAKER_01]: He has returned to my office

[00:22:49] [SPEAKER_01]: since all of this has started

[00:22:50] [SPEAKER_01]: and I've been nervous ever since.

[00:22:53] [SPEAKER_01]: As I already mentioned,

[00:22:54] [SPEAKER_01]: the police officers can't do anything.

[00:22:56] [SPEAKER_01]: Another incident needs to happen

[00:22:58] [SPEAKER_01]: between us outside of my office

[00:23:00] [SPEAKER_01]: for me to be able to file a restraining order.

[00:23:03] [SPEAKER_01]: In the meantime, I've ordered a home security system

[00:23:05] [SPEAKER_01]: and signed up for self-defense classes.

[00:23:08] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm also purchasing mace

[00:23:09] [SPEAKER_01]: and looking into handguns.

[00:23:11] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't know what else to do.

[00:23:13] [SPEAKER_01]: But I do want to make a couple of notes

[00:23:15] [SPEAKER_01]: to give a little bit more background knowledge.

[00:23:18] [SPEAKER_01]: I work with a lot of crazy customers.

[00:23:21] [SPEAKER_01]: I've had drunk people try and accost me in court.

[00:23:24] [SPEAKER_01]: I've had to call for deputies

[00:23:26] [SPEAKER_01]: because people are agitated

[00:23:27] [SPEAKER_01]: or look like they're going to fight.

[00:23:30] [SPEAKER_01]: And a fight did happen a couple of weeks ago.

[00:23:32] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm also a very confrontational person at work.

[00:23:36] [SPEAKER_01]: We deal with a lot of people on their worst days.

[00:23:38] [SPEAKER_01]: I deal with a slew of domestic violence victims.

[00:23:42] [SPEAKER_01]: I am a restraining order clerk for the office.

[00:23:45] [SPEAKER_01]: I did office training in 2021

[00:23:47] [SPEAKER_01]: on restraining order processes

[00:23:49] [SPEAKER_01]: and the front counter staff knows

[00:23:52] [SPEAKER_01]: that they can come to me if they need help dealing with someone

[00:23:55] [SPEAKER_01]: regardless if it's my case type

[00:23:57] [SPEAKER_01]: or my problem or not.

[00:23:59] [SPEAKER_01]: I've had people flat out threaten me

[00:24:01] [SPEAKER_01]: and all I did was call for security

[00:24:04] [SPEAKER_01]: and laugh after they left.

[00:24:06] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm not trying to flex.

[00:24:07] [SPEAKER_01]: This is just important to note.

[00:24:09] [SPEAKER_01]: Joe gives me anxiety that I didn't know existed

[00:24:13] [SPEAKER_01]: and I've read enough of his divorce case

[00:24:15] [SPEAKER_01]: to know why his wife is divorcing him.

[00:24:36] [SPEAKER_01]: Have you heard about Sinalytics yet?

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[00:26:30] [SPEAKER_01]: This story takes place when I was 18

[00:26:32] [SPEAKER_01]: and my boyfriend Jake was 21.

[00:26:34] [SPEAKER_01]: I spontaneously decided to go to Canada

[00:26:37] [SPEAKER_01]: to go bar hopping.

[00:26:39] [SPEAKER_01]: It was a few hours away from our home.

[00:26:42] [SPEAKER_01]: After getting settled into a hotel,

[00:26:45] [SPEAKER_01]: we went to the first bar that we could find.

[00:26:48] [SPEAKER_01]: We had a drink there

[00:26:49] [SPEAKER_01]: and then went to search for a different bar.

[00:26:52] [SPEAKER_01]: Jake and I were chatting and walking

[00:26:54] [SPEAKER_01]: when a man in a big puffy coat

[00:26:57] [SPEAKER_01]: stopped us and introduced himself as Ian.

[00:27:00] [SPEAKER_01]: He noticed that we were speaking English

[00:27:02] [SPEAKER_01]: so he invited us to go bar hopping with him.

[00:27:06] [SPEAKER_01]: We agreed and as we got to know him

[00:27:08] [SPEAKER_01]: we found out that he lived just a few hours from us.

[00:27:13] [SPEAKER_01]: After we stopped in at a few other bars

[00:27:15] [SPEAKER_01]: we met up with two of his friends

[00:27:17] [SPEAKER_01]: and went to a strip club.

[00:27:20] [SPEAKER_01]: Ian paid for our cover charge

[00:27:22] [SPEAKER_01]: and drinks with the huge wad of cash.

[00:27:25] [SPEAKER_01]: It was a little jarring

[00:27:26] [SPEAKER_01]: since I had never seen that much cash before.

[00:27:30] [SPEAKER_01]: Jake and I started talking about weed

[00:27:32] [SPEAKER_01]: so Ian invited us back to his hotel room to smoke.

[00:27:36] [SPEAKER_01]: I knew that I had way too much to drink at that point

[00:27:39] [SPEAKER_01]: since I got sick in the bathroom after just one puff.

[00:27:43] [SPEAKER_01]: Thankfully Jake wasn't that drunk

[00:27:45] [SPEAKER_01]: so we eventually made our way back to our hotel.

[00:27:48] [SPEAKER_01]: It was a crazy night.

[00:27:50] [SPEAKER_01]: The next morning, after having a hangover breakfast

[00:27:54] [SPEAKER_01]: we were walking to our car to leave

[00:27:56] [SPEAKER_01]: when suddenly Ian and his friend started calling our names.

[00:28:01] [SPEAKER_01]: We all remarked how strange it was to run into each other again

[00:28:05] [SPEAKER_01]: and Ian invited us all for a smoke at his friends house.

[00:28:10] [SPEAKER_01]: We went along with them

[00:28:11] [SPEAKER_01]: and went to a shady looking run down apartment.

[00:28:14] [SPEAKER_01]: As we were smoking somehow

[00:28:16] [SPEAKER_01]: we got onto the topic of how Ian makes so much money.

[00:28:21] [SPEAKER_01]: Without directly saying it

[00:28:22] [SPEAKER_01]: I could tell that he was involved

[00:28:24] [SPEAKER_01]: in drug smuggling possibly over the border.

[00:28:28] [SPEAKER_01]: Ian suggested that I could make some good money doing the same.

[00:28:32] [SPEAKER_01]: My heart dropped as he pitched this to me

[00:28:35] [SPEAKER_01]: and I immediately felt uncomfortable and unsafe.

[00:28:39] [SPEAKER_01]: I then knew that we needed to get out of that apartment,

[00:28:42] [SPEAKER_01]: that city and that country.

[00:28:45] [SPEAKER_01]: Jake looked over at me

[00:28:46] [SPEAKER_01]: and he saw how freaked out I was.

[00:28:49] [SPEAKER_01]: We casually played it off

[00:28:51] [SPEAKER_01]: and said something like,

[00:28:53] [SPEAKER_01]: Haha, yeah okay.

[00:28:56] [SPEAKER_01]: We were acting like we thought he was joking

[00:28:58] [SPEAKER_01]: so that we could allow him to backpedal

[00:29:01] [SPEAKER_01]: but Ian's friends were nodding their heads

[00:29:04] [SPEAKER_01]: and suggesting where I could hide the goods.

[00:29:07] [SPEAKER_01]: Jake panicked and gave Ian his real phone number

[00:29:11] [SPEAKER_01]: as we said our goodbyes

[00:29:12] [SPEAKER_01]: so we could get started on the long drive home.

[00:29:16] [SPEAKER_01]: As Jake was driving

[00:29:17] [SPEAKER_01]: we saw Ian's car behind us.

[00:29:20] [SPEAKER_01]: We thought that this was strange

[00:29:22] [SPEAKER_01]: so we made a few turns

[00:29:24] [SPEAKER_01]: which resulted in us getting a little lost

[00:29:27] [SPEAKER_01]: but he was still right there.

[00:29:30] [SPEAKER_01]: Jake made a few more erratic turns

[00:29:33] [SPEAKER_01]: just to lose him since we both did not

[00:29:35] [SPEAKER_01]: have a good feeling about it.

[00:29:37] [SPEAKER_01]: Finally as we made it across the border

[00:29:39] [SPEAKER_01]: there was no Ian in sight.

[00:29:42] [SPEAKER_01]: It was a weird drive home.

[00:29:44] [SPEAKER_01]: A week or two later

[00:29:46] [SPEAKER_01]: Ian called Jake.

[00:29:47] [SPEAKER_01]: Now I have no clue what was said

[00:29:49] [SPEAKER_01]: but what I do know

[00:29:51] [SPEAKER_01]: is we never picked up an incoming call from him again.

[00:29:55] [SPEAKER_01]: After we figured out what Ian was up to

[00:29:58] [SPEAKER_01]: I got that deep gut sinking feeling

[00:30:00] [SPEAKER_01]: that something bad was going to happen

[00:30:03] [SPEAKER_01]: if we were in his presence any longer.

[00:30:06] [SPEAKER_01]: Always listen to your gut feelings.

[00:30:23] [SPEAKER_01]: I live in a county that was pretty rural

[00:30:25] [SPEAKER_01]: until the last 10 to 15 years.

[00:30:28] [SPEAKER_01]: The biggest town in the county is pretty crowded now.

[00:30:31] [SPEAKER_01]: In fact, it's overcrowded and I hate it.

[00:30:35] [SPEAKER_01]: So I moved from there to the countryside.

[00:30:38] [SPEAKER_01]: I like where I have relocated

[00:30:40] [SPEAKER_01]: except that it can be very creepy at night

[00:30:43] [SPEAKER_01]: since it's dark for miles and miles

[00:30:45] [SPEAKER_01]: and there are no street lights.

[00:30:48] [SPEAKER_01]: One thing about this county

[00:30:49] [SPEAKER_01]: is that the main roads always get packed up

[00:30:52] [SPEAKER_01]: especially when there's an accident or an emergency

[00:30:55] [SPEAKER_01]: so it pays to stick to the back roads.

[00:30:59] [SPEAKER_01]: The back roads, just like any other rural place

[00:31:01] [SPEAKER_01]: are less populated and they're dark

[00:31:04] [SPEAKER_01]: with a lot of trees and no sidewalks.

[00:31:07] [SPEAKER_01]: Anyway, a few years ago

[00:31:09] [SPEAKER_01]: something happened that almost made me stop using the back roads.

[00:31:13] [SPEAKER_01]: I was driving home a bit late one night

[00:31:15] [SPEAKER_01]: I decided to take one particular back road

[00:31:18] [SPEAKER_01]: that shaved 10 minutes off my commute.

[00:31:20] [SPEAKER_01]: I was on my way home.

[00:31:22] [SPEAKER_01]: I was tired I had to get up early

[00:31:24] [SPEAKER_01]: so I was trying to go fast

[00:31:27] [SPEAKER_01]: and get home as quickly as possible.

[00:31:29] [SPEAKER_01]: The road is a little more populated

[00:31:31] [SPEAKER_01]: than some of the other back roads

[00:31:32] [SPEAKER_01]: but it's still very scary in some stretches

[00:31:36] [SPEAKER_01]: because there are huge trees

[00:31:38] [SPEAKER_01]: that are alongside the road.

[00:31:40] [SPEAKER_01]: The trees are old and overgrown

[00:31:43] [SPEAKER_01]: so their branches stretch across the road

[00:31:45] [SPEAKER_01]: which has formed a tunnel of sorts.

[00:31:48] [SPEAKER_01]: I was zipping along and rounded a curve.

[00:31:51] [SPEAKER_01]: Up ahead I saw what I thought was

[00:31:55] [SPEAKER_01]: a giant decorative flag

[00:31:56] [SPEAKER_01]: like the kind of flag that people put up in their yards.

[00:32:00] [SPEAKER_01]: It was fairly tall and large

[00:32:02] [SPEAKER_01]: it was in the middle of the road.

[00:32:05] [SPEAKER_01]: As I got closer when my headlights hit it

[00:32:08] [SPEAKER_01]: I realized it wasn't a flag

[00:32:09] [SPEAKER_01]: it was a person, a woman.

[00:32:13] [SPEAKER_01]: She was wearing a red fez

[00:32:14] [SPEAKER_01]: I live somewhere where a fez

[00:32:17] [SPEAKER_01]: isn't something that you see every day.

[00:32:19] [SPEAKER_01]: She was also wearing a long, flowing white dress

[00:32:23] [SPEAKER_01]: with an orange reflective sash across her chest.

[00:32:27] [SPEAKER_01]: It was more than a little strange

[00:32:30] [SPEAKER_01]: and the fact that she was in the middle of the road

[00:32:32] [SPEAKER_01]: was even stranger.

[00:32:34] [SPEAKER_01]: As I drove past her it only got weirder.

[00:32:38] [SPEAKER_01]: As dark as it was

[00:32:40] [SPEAKER_01]: I could see that she appeared to be about 60.

[00:32:43] [SPEAKER_01]: She had glasses on

[00:32:44] [SPEAKER_01]: and I could see her bright blue eyes.

[00:32:47] [SPEAKER_01]: She looked in my passenger window as I drove by

[00:32:51] [SPEAKER_01]: and she started doing this weird bouncing movement.

[00:32:55] [SPEAKER_01]: I thought that she was going to try

[00:32:56] [SPEAKER_01]: and lunge at my car to get in.

[00:32:58] [SPEAKER_01]: Mind you, I was going pretty fast.

[00:33:01] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't know what it was about her

[00:33:03] [SPEAKER_01]: but she really freaked me out.

[00:33:06] [SPEAKER_01]: I didn't think that she would rob me

[00:33:07] [SPEAKER_01]: honestly

[00:33:09] [SPEAKER_01]: I didn't even think she was human.

[00:33:11] [SPEAKER_01]: I genuinely thought she was some kind of soul snatcher

[00:33:14] [SPEAKER_01]: or a skin walker.

[00:33:17] [SPEAKER_01]: I can't adequately describe how creepy she really was

[00:33:21] [SPEAKER_01]: so I sped past her as fast as I could.

[00:33:25] [SPEAKER_01]: I kept glancing in the back seat

[00:33:27] [SPEAKER_01]: to make sure that she hadn't materialized back there.

[00:33:30] [SPEAKER_01]: I also prayed and recited scripture.

[00:33:33] [SPEAKER_01]: It was spring

[00:33:35] [SPEAKER_01]: so it was slightly warm out

[00:33:36] [SPEAKER_01]: but I felt a bone chilling cold throughout my body.

[00:33:42] [SPEAKER_01]: I finally made it home and ran inside

[00:33:44] [SPEAKER_01]: to tell my mom about what I saw.

[00:33:47] [SPEAKER_01]: I got in just as my brother was telling my mom

[00:33:49] [SPEAKER_01]: about a weird lady that he saw when he was driving.

[00:33:54] [SPEAKER_01]: It was the same one

[00:33:55] [SPEAKER_01]: but he saw her at the intersection of the highway

[00:33:58] [SPEAKER_01]: and the back road

[00:34:00] [SPEAKER_01]: whereas I saw her further down the road.

[00:34:03] [SPEAKER_01]: We both had the same reaction.

[00:34:06] [SPEAKER_01]: She also tried looking in his car

[00:34:08] [SPEAKER_01]: and she bounced around as he passed her.

[00:34:13] [SPEAKER_01]: He said that there was a car in front of him

[00:34:16] [SPEAKER_01]: that sped off so fast when they drove past the lady.

[00:34:20] [SPEAKER_01]: My brother was freaked out

[00:34:21] [SPEAKER_01]: and said that he refused to travel on that road anymore

[00:34:25] [SPEAKER_01]: not even during the day

[00:34:27] [SPEAKER_01]: and he still doesn't go down that road.

[00:34:30] [SPEAKER_01]: Eventually I found out that the lady is a human.

[00:34:34] [SPEAKER_01]: She lives in the woods.

[00:34:36] [SPEAKER_01]: At one time her family lived on the road where we saw her.

[00:34:41] [SPEAKER_01]: Her father was ill and she tried to take him to the hospital

[00:34:43] [SPEAKER_01]: and he died on the way there.

[00:34:46] [SPEAKER_01]: After that happened

[00:34:47] [SPEAKER_01]: I think she lost the house or got kicked out.

[00:34:51] [SPEAKER_01]: I have friends who live off of that street

[00:34:54] [SPEAKER_01]: and when I was talking about her

[00:34:56] [SPEAKER_01]: they knew exactly who I was talking about.

[00:34:59] [SPEAKER_01]: Unlike my brother

[00:35:00] [SPEAKER_01]: I do still go on that road

[00:35:03] [SPEAKER_01]: but I haven't seen her since.

[00:35:05] [SPEAKER_01]: I really hope she's okay

[00:35:07] [SPEAKER_01]: but I also really do not want to run into her again.

[00:35:20] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm a female in my mid-20s

[00:35:22] [SPEAKER_01]: and this happened when I was at the local grocery store

[00:35:24] [SPEAKER_01]: almost a year ago.

[00:35:27] [SPEAKER_01]: It was winter time

[00:35:27] [SPEAKER_01]: so at that time it got dark by 5pm where I lived.

[00:35:33] [SPEAKER_01]: I was in an aisle taking my time

[00:35:35] [SPEAKER_01]: looking at the options in front of me

[00:35:38] [SPEAKER_01]: when this guy who appeared to be in his late 20s

[00:35:41] [SPEAKER_01]: or early 30s came up right next to me and just stood there.

[00:35:46] [SPEAKER_01]: He had light features, glasses and a scruffy beard.

[00:35:50] [SPEAKER_01]: I didn't really think about it all that much

[00:35:52] [SPEAKER_01]: or even look at him at first

[00:35:54] [SPEAKER_01]: since I figured whatever he's probably just browsing as well

[00:35:57] [SPEAKER_01]: but after a few seconds

[00:35:59] [SPEAKER_01]: I noticed that he wasn't moving

[00:36:01] [SPEAKER_01]: or doing anything.

[00:36:04] [SPEAKER_01]: He was just standing there.

[00:36:07] [SPEAKER_01]: When I finally looked at him

[00:36:09] [SPEAKER_01]: he was already staring at me

[00:36:11] [SPEAKER_01]: and for half a second

[00:36:12] [SPEAKER_01]: I thought that he might say something to me

[00:36:15] [SPEAKER_01]: so I stood there

[00:36:16] [SPEAKER_01]: just looking back at him

[00:36:18] [SPEAKER_01]: but he never spoke.

[00:36:21] [SPEAKER_01]: So I just turned and walked away.

[00:36:24] [SPEAKER_01]: I remember thinking, okay that's weird

[00:36:26] [SPEAKER_01]: but I figured he was probably just an awkward guy

[00:36:29] [SPEAKER_01]: who doesn't know how to talk to people.

[00:36:32] [SPEAKER_01]: Then not even 30 seconds later

[00:36:34] [SPEAKER_01]: I was in another aisle

[00:36:36] [SPEAKER_01]: and I saw him out of the corner of my eye again.

[00:36:39] [SPEAKER_01]: He was now coming down the aisle I was in

[00:36:42] [SPEAKER_01]: and staring directly at me

[00:36:45] [SPEAKER_01]: so I walked away as fast as I could

[00:36:47] [SPEAKER_01]: and went straight to the self-checkout

[00:36:48] [SPEAKER_01]: with whatever I had.

[00:36:51] [SPEAKER_01]: While I was in the self-checkout

[00:36:52] [SPEAKER_01]: I was looking over my shoulder the whole time

[00:36:54] [SPEAKER_01]: making sure that he wasn't behind me

[00:36:56] [SPEAKER_01]: and I didn't see him anywhere.

[00:36:59] [SPEAKER_01]: So I walked out of the store

[00:37:01] [SPEAKER_01]: I was feeling relieved as I assumed

[00:37:03] [SPEAKER_01]: I was just being paranoid

[00:37:05] [SPEAKER_01]: I wasn't ever in any real danger.

[00:37:09] [SPEAKER_01]: As I was walking out

[00:37:10] [SPEAKER_01]: I decided to look behind me once more

[00:37:12] [SPEAKER_01]: and there he was

[00:37:14] [SPEAKER_01]: right behind me.

[00:37:16] [SPEAKER_01]: I then noticed he didn't have anything in his hands

[00:37:19] [SPEAKER_01]: and he was heading towards the door right on my heels.

[00:37:23] [SPEAKER_01]: Without even thinking

[00:37:24] [SPEAKER_01]: I just stopped dead in my tracks

[00:37:26] [SPEAKER_01]: I looked right at him again

[00:37:28] [SPEAKER_01]: and he was already looking at me

[00:37:31] [SPEAKER_01]: then he shifted his gaze downward

[00:37:33] [SPEAKER_01]: looking at his phone

[00:37:34] [SPEAKER_01]: and walked past me out the door

[00:37:38] [SPEAKER_01]: I was scared at this point

[00:37:39] [SPEAKER_01]: my head was spinning

[00:37:40] [SPEAKER_01]: I didn't know what to do

[00:37:42] [SPEAKER_01]: I could see my car since I parked close to the exit

[00:37:45] [SPEAKER_01]: thank goodness

[00:37:46] [SPEAKER_01]: so I called my fiancee and I sprinted as fast as I could to my car

[00:37:50] [SPEAKER_01]: I jumped in locked the doors

[00:37:52] [SPEAKER_01]: and looked for the guy

[00:37:54] [SPEAKER_01]: When I found him he was aimlessly just walking around the parking lot

[00:37:58] [SPEAKER_01]: weaving in between cars

[00:38:00] [SPEAKER_01]: he was pretty far away from me at that point

[00:38:02] [SPEAKER_01]: and I had my fiancee on the phone

[00:38:04] [SPEAKER_01]: so I was feeling somewhat safe again

[00:38:07] [SPEAKER_01]: I watched him walk around for another few seconds

[00:38:09] [SPEAKER_01]: before I got out of there

[00:38:11] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't have any idea what the guy was doing

[00:38:13] [SPEAKER_01]: or what his motive would have been

[00:38:15] [SPEAKER_01]: maybe he was just a weird guy

[00:38:17] [SPEAKER_01]: who didn't know how to interact with people

[00:38:19] [SPEAKER_01]: but maybe he was a predator

[00:38:21] [SPEAKER_01]: with dangerous intentions

[00:38:23] [SPEAKER_01]: who thought that I looked like easy prey

[00:38:25] [SPEAKER_01]: for a robbery

[00:38:28] [SPEAKER_01]: The thing I really can't wrap my head around

[00:38:30] [SPEAKER_01]: is the fact that each time I noticed him

[00:38:32] [SPEAKER_01]: he was already locked in and staring at me

[00:38:34] [SPEAKER_01]: he wasn't discreet whatsoever

[00:38:37] [SPEAKER_01]: and I would think a dangerous predator

[00:38:40] [SPEAKER_01]: might at least be a little more inconspicuous

[00:38:43] [SPEAKER_01]: He also didn't buy anything from the store

[00:38:45] [SPEAKER_01]: which I've never really understood

[00:38:48] [SPEAKER_01]: There's a lot that I didn't feel right about

[00:38:50] [SPEAKER_01]: and I'm having a hard time trying to rationalize this experience

[00:38:54] [SPEAKER_01]: It was definitely a creepy encounter

[00:38:57] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm a 17 year old girl

[00:39:12] [SPEAKER_01]: when I was 14

[00:39:13] [SPEAKER_01]: I liked older guys

[00:39:14] [SPEAKER_01]: and by that

[00:39:15] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't mean guys that were a year or two older than me

[00:39:18] [SPEAKER_01]: I mean 3 to 4 years older

[00:39:20] [SPEAKER_01]: I met my ex at this time

[00:39:22] [SPEAKER_01]: he was 17 when we met

[00:39:25] [SPEAKER_01]: and he was a really sweet guy

[00:39:27] [SPEAKER_01]: until he started opening up about his mental health

[00:39:30] [SPEAKER_01]: and drug addiction

[00:39:32] [SPEAKER_01]: Don't get me wrong

[00:39:33] [SPEAKER_01]: I never judged him for his instability

[00:39:35] [SPEAKER_01]: but he never took his prescription

[00:39:38] [SPEAKER_01]: which resulted in him throwing tantrums all day

[00:39:42] [SPEAKER_01]: He was verbally abusive to me

[00:39:45] [SPEAKER_01]: and overall didn't care about me

[00:39:47] [SPEAKER_01]: I was with him for 2 years until he blocked me

[00:39:50] [SPEAKER_01]: about a year ago

[00:39:52] [SPEAKER_01]: basically ending our relationship

[00:39:54] [SPEAKER_01]: I never heard from him after that

[00:39:56] [SPEAKER_01]: until 2 months ago

[00:39:58] [SPEAKER_01]: I came home from school one day

[00:40:00] [SPEAKER_01]: and I looked in the mailbox

[00:40:02] [SPEAKER_01]: since an envelope caught my attention

[00:40:05] [SPEAKER_01]: It was unusual for my family and I to receive envelopes

[00:40:08] [SPEAKER_01]: unless it was a bill or junk mail

[00:40:12] [SPEAKER_01]: but I could tell that this wasn't an envelope for bills

[00:40:16] [SPEAKER_01]: it was one meant for letters

[00:40:18] [SPEAKER_01]: I pulled it out of the mailbox

[00:40:20] [SPEAKER_01]: tucked it in my purse

[00:40:21] [SPEAKER_01]: and went inside the house

[00:40:24] [SPEAKER_01]: After I said hi to my mom

[00:40:25] [SPEAKER_01]: I went into my room

[00:40:27] [SPEAKER_01]: I pulled the envelope out of my purse

[00:40:29] [SPEAKER_01]: There was no return address, postage

[00:40:31] [SPEAKER_01]: or anything on the envelope

[00:40:34] [SPEAKER_01]: The only thing written on the envelope was my name

[00:40:37] [SPEAKER_01]: I opened it and started reading the letter as best as I could

[00:40:40] [SPEAKER_01]: but the handwriting was awful

[00:40:42] [SPEAKER_01]: The person who had sent this to me

[00:40:44] [SPEAKER_01]: was telling me that they regretted letting me go

[00:40:47] [SPEAKER_01]: and wanted me back

[00:40:49] [SPEAKER_01]: After I finished the letter

[00:40:51] [SPEAKER_01]: I thought that one of my friends was playing a prank on me

[00:40:54] [SPEAKER_01]: so I brushed it off and put it in my drawer

[00:40:57] [SPEAKER_01]: I laughed about the situation

[00:40:59] [SPEAKER_01]: Later that night I was about to go to sleep

[00:41:01] [SPEAKER_01]: when a call came through

[00:41:03] [SPEAKER_01]: and an unknown number showed up on my screen

[00:41:06] [SPEAKER_01]: I looked at the screen confused

[00:41:07] [SPEAKER_01]: because I hardly ever received weird calls from unknown numbers

[00:41:12] [SPEAKER_01]: I didn't want to pick it up

[00:41:14] [SPEAKER_01]: but I thought that maybe it was one of my friends

[00:41:16] [SPEAKER_01]: When I picked it up, I heard breathing

[00:41:20] [SPEAKER_01]: I said hello

[00:41:22] [SPEAKER_01]: There was no answer

[00:41:24] [SPEAKER_01]: Beatrice? I continued

[00:41:26] [SPEAKER_01]: Are you so bored that you're pulling pranks on me?

[00:41:30] [SPEAKER_01]: After a bit of heavy breathing from the other end

[00:41:33] [SPEAKER_01]: I heard a male's voice ask

[00:41:36] [SPEAKER_01]: Who's Beatrice?

[00:41:38] [SPEAKER_01]: I hung up and my eyes widened

[00:41:41] [SPEAKER_01]: as I stared at the ceiling in disbelief

[00:41:44] [SPEAKER_01]: but I just put my phone on silent

[00:41:46] [SPEAKER_01]: and went to sleep

[00:41:48] [SPEAKER_01]: I didn't think for a second that this phone call

[00:41:51] [SPEAKER_01]: was about to be the beginning

[00:41:53] [SPEAKER_01]: of my biggest nightmare

[00:41:55] [SPEAKER_01]: I woke up the next morning and missed several calls

[00:42:00] [SPEAKER_01]: They were all from that same unknown number

[00:42:03] [SPEAKER_01]: This scared me

[00:42:05] [SPEAKER_01]: I opened up my phone and saw messages

[00:42:07] [SPEAKER_01]: from the same person asking me to pick up

[00:42:09] [SPEAKER_01]: and to talk to them

[00:42:11] [SPEAKER_01]: I tried to ignore it

[00:42:13] [SPEAKER_01]: but the calls and messages continued

[00:42:14] [SPEAKER_01]: even after I was at school

[00:42:18] [SPEAKER_01]: When I was outside the school gates

[00:42:20] [SPEAKER_01]: and smoking a cigarette with my friend

[00:42:21] [SPEAKER_01]: I got a call again

[00:42:23] [SPEAKER_01]: I answered and sternly asked

[00:42:25] [SPEAKER_01]: Dude, who are you? Why are you calling me?

[00:42:31] [SPEAKER_01]: The caller sat in silence for a few seconds

[00:42:33] [SPEAKER_01]: and then said my friend's name

[00:42:35] [SPEAKER_01]: My friend heard their name

[00:42:37] [SPEAKER_01]: and asked me who I was on the phone with

[00:42:40] [SPEAKER_01]: The guy on the phone said

[00:42:42] [SPEAKER_01]: I can see you

[00:42:44] [SPEAKER_01]: So I looked around

[00:42:45] [SPEAKER_01]: but I didn't see anyone other than my schoolmates

[00:42:49] [SPEAKER_01]: There were only six other people around us

[00:42:52] [SPEAKER_01]: and nobody was on a call

[00:42:53] [SPEAKER_01]: I was creeped out so I just hung up

[00:42:56] [SPEAKER_01]: but I finally recognized the voice

[00:42:59] [SPEAKER_01]: and it was my ex

[00:43:01] [SPEAKER_01]: I told my friend that he had been calling

[00:43:03] [SPEAKER_01]: and texting me from an unknown number

[00:43:06] [SPEAKER_01]: since the night before

[00:43:07] [SPEAKER_01]: and I didn't know what to do

[00:43:09] [SPEAKER_01]: She said that I should just ignore the calls

[00:43:12] [SPEAKER_01]: But as time went on

[00:43:13] [SPEAKER_01]: I started to get more letters

[00:43:15] [SPEAKER_01]: and sometimes there were even flowers

[00:43:18] [SPEAKER_01]: left for me right next to my fence at home

[00:43:21] [SPEAKER_01]: For context, my ex was from another city

[00:43:24] [SPEAKER_01]: In fact, by the end of our relationship

[00:43:26] [SPEAKER_01]: he was living in a different country

[00:43:28] [SPEAKER_01]: and I never even told him where I lived

[00:43:30] [SPEAKER_01]: He knew what school I went to

[00:43:33] [SPEAKER_01]: but not my class schedule

[00:43:34] [SPEAKER_01]: or so I thought

[00:43:37] [SPEAKER_01]: Then I started to have single roses

[00:43:40] [SPEAKER_01]: left for me on my desk

[00:43:42] [SPEAKER_01]: when I got to school

[00:43:43] [SPEAKER_01]: This was happening about once a week

[00:43:46] [SPEAKER_01]: When I asked my classmates about this

[00:43:49] [SPEAKER_01]: they told me that they never saw the person

[00:43:51] [SPEAKER_01]: who brought the roses

[00:43:52] [SPEAKER_01]: since the rose would just be there

[00:43:54] [SPEAKER_01]: before anyone else even arrived

[00:43:57] [SPEAKER_01]: I got very paranoid

[00:43:58] [SPEAKER_01]: when I started to receive pictures of me

[00:44:00] [SPEAKER_01]: with my friends outside of the school gate

[00:44:02] [SPEAKER_01]: Sometimes I would get photos of me

[00:44:05] [SPEAKER_01]: when I thought that I was alone

[00:44:08] [SPEAKER_01]: I was terrified

[00:44:09] [SPEAKER_01]: whenever I saw an unknown number

[00:44:11] [SPEAKER_01]: pop up on my screen

[00:44:13] [SPEAKER_01]: especially when there were pictures attached

[00:44:15] [SPEAKER_01]: to the message

[00:44:17] [SPEAKER_01]: I could barely leave the house

[00:44:19] [SPEAKER_01]: after I found out that he knew my school schedule

[00:44:22] [SPEAKER_01]: After that, I asked one of my classmates

[00:44:24] [SPEAKER_01]: who lived nearby to pick me up in the morning

[00:44:26] [SPEAKER_01]: and take me to school

[00:44:28] [SPEAKER_01]: I finally had enough

[00:44:31] [SPEAKER_01]: I called my ex on the number

[00:44:33] [SPEAKER_01]: that was saved on my phone

[00:44:34] [SPEAKER_01]: but he never picked up

[00:44:36] [SPEAKER_01]: I started texting him on the apps

[00:44:38] [SPEAKER_01]: that he didn't block me on

[00:44:39] [SPEAKER_01]: and told him that he needed to stop

[00:44:42] [SPEAKER_01]: But then I started to see him

[00:44:44] [SPEAKER_01]: on the street

[00:44:45] [SPEAKER_01]: on public transport

[00:44:46] [SPEAKER_01]: and outside my school

[00:44:50] [SPEAKER_01]: Then one day

[00:44:51] [SPEAKER_01]: my classmate who had been driving me to school

[00:44:54] [SPEAKER_01]: got sick and couldn't go

[00:44:56] [SPEAKER_01]: so I had to take the bus

[00:44:58] [SPEAKER_01]: When I got on the bus

[00:44:59] [SPEAKER_01]: I saw my ex's blonde wavy hair

[00:45:02] [SPEAKER_01]: and froze

[00:45:04] [SPEAKER_01]: I literally wanted to cry

[00:45:07] [SPEAKER_01]: In my country

[00:45:08] [SPEAKER_01]: we aren't supposed to talk to the bus driver

[00:45:10] [SPEAKER_01]: while he's driving

[00:45:11] [SPEAKER_01]: but I had no other choice than to ask to be let off

[00:45:15] [SPEAKER_01]: I also asked him not to let my ex off the bus

[00:45:18] [SPEAKER_01]: I explained the situation

[00:45:20] [SPEAKER_01]: and he was thankfully understanding

[00:45:22] [SPEAKER_01]: and didn't let him off the bus

[00:45:25] [SPEAKER_01]: My ex was banging on the glass doors

[00:45:27] [SPEAKER_01]: and screaming to be let out

[00:45:29] [SPEAKER_01]: at the stop where I was deported

[00:45:32] [SPEAKER_01]: But the driver kept the door shut

[00:45:34] [SPEAKER_01]: and drove off

[00:45:35] [SPEAKER_01]: I sighed in relief as they pulled away

[00:45:37] [SPEAKER_01]: and started crying

[00:45:39] [SPEAKER_01]: while I waited for another bus

[00:45:42] [SPEAKER_01]: I haven't seen my ex since school ended

[00:45:45] [SPEAKER_01]: but I'm scared that he might come back around

[00:45:47] [SPEAKER_01]: when school starts again

[00:45:48] [SPEAKER_01]: The police won't do anything about it

[00:45:50] [SPEAKER_01]: even though the letters that I've been receiving

[00:45:53] [SPEAKER_01]: have become threatening

[00:45:56] [SPEAKER_01]: I carry a pocket knife with me when I go out

[00:45:58] [SPEAKER_01]: and I even changed my phone number

[00:46:00] [SPEAKER_01]: but I don't know what else to do

[00:46:02] [SPEAKER_01]: My ex has a twin brother

[00:46:04] [SPEAKER_01]: which I knew about before all of this started happening

[00:46:07] [SPEAKER_01]: and fairly recently, it occurred to me that

[00:46:10] [SPEAKER_01]: maybe his brother is also involved

[00:46:13] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm starting to think that they're in on this together

[00:46:16] [SPEAKER_01]: and that's why I see him so often

[00:46:35] [SPEAKER_01]: Seattle, Washington, your live Let's Not Meet show

[00:46:37] [SPEAKER_01]: is on the way. I'll be there on October 9th

[00:46:40] [SPEAKER_01]: at the triple door

[00:46:41] [SPEAKER_01]: I can't wait to see you all make sure you get tickets

[00:46:44] [SPEAKER_01]: You can also get tickets for the rescheduled show

[00:46:46] [SPEAKER_01]: at Salt Lake City, Utah

[00:46:48] [SPEAKER_01]: on October 23rd

[00:46:50] [SPEAKER_01]: then Portland, Oregon on October 30th

[00:46:52] [SPEAKER_01]: Houston, Texas on November 9th

[00:46:54] [SPEAKER_01]: and Dallas, Texas on November 10th

[00:46:55] [SPEAKER_01]: Get those tickets at Let's Not Meet podcast.com

[00:46:58] [SPEAKER_01]: slash tour or follow the link in the show notes

[00:47:00] [SPEAKER_01]: I can't wait to see you all there

[00:47:10] [SPEAKER_01]: This happened during the summer of 2018

[00:47:13] [SPEAKER_01]: I was 22 years old and that summer

[00:47:16] [SPEAKER_01]: I was lucky enough to get a summer internship

[00:47:19] [SPEAKER_01]: in London

[00:47:20] [SPEAKER_01]: The company generously provided a housing stipend

[00:47:24] [SPEAKER_01]: to all interns traveling a certain distance

[00:47:27] [SPEAKER_01]: from home, so I found a dorm type housing situation

[00:47:31] [SPEAKER_01]: Keep in mind, my job was paying for this

[00:47:34] [SPEAKER_01]: The building that I lived in was in Green Lanes

[00:47:38] [SPEAKER_01]: and it was meant for people who were staying in London

[00:47:40] [SPEAKER_01]: for short term

[00:47:42] [SPEAKER_01]: You could pay rent week by week

[00:47:45] [SPEAKER_01]: This place had suites with a private room

[00:47:48] [SPEAKER_01]: and bathroom and a shared kitchen

[00:47:50] [SPEAKER_01]: which is what I had as well as rooms without a bathroom

[00:47:54] [SPEAKER_01]: and a kitchen

[00:47:55] [SPEAKER_01]: The details about how the building was set up

[00:47:57] [SPEAKER_01]: are important to the story, so please bear with me

[00:48:00] [SPEAKER_01]: Various points of the building could be

[00:48:02] [SPEAKER_01]: accessed and people who were staying there

[00:48:04] [SPEAKER_01]: were given just one key card

[00:48:06] [SPEAKER_01]: This key card unlocked the entrances

[00:48:09] [SPEAKER_01]: to the building

[00:48:09] [SPEAKER_01]: whichever specific hallway your room was in

[00:48:12] [SPEAKER_01]: and your suite or bedroom

[00:48:15] [SPEAKER_01]: This key card could not access any

[00:48:18] [SPEAKER_01]: of the other hallways in the building

[00:48:19] [SPEAKER_01]: just whichever hallway you were staying in

[00:48:23] [SPEAKER_01]: To get into the building

[00:48:24] [SPEAKER_01]: you had to enter through a metal gate

[00:48:26] [SPEAKER_01]: from the street onto the property

[00:48:27] [SPEAKER_01]: which also included a little backyard

[00:48:30] [SPEAKER_01]: and some bike racks

[00:48:31] [SPEAKER_01]: From there, you'd use the key card

[00:48:33] [SPEAKER_01]: to get into the building

[00:48:34] [SPEAKER_01]: and then again at the elevator

[00:48:36] [SPEAKER_01]: You then had to use the key card

[00:48:38] [SPEAKER_01]: to get back into the hallway

[00:48:40] [SPEAKER_01]: and lastly to get into your room

[00:48:42] [SPEAKER_01]: Now with all of that out of the way

[00:48:44] [SPEAKER_01]: let's proceed

[00:48:46] [SPEAKER_01]: I had been living there for about 3 weeks

[00:48:48] [SPEAKER_01]: and even made a great friend from

[00:48:50] [SPEAKER_01]: India who was in London

[00:48:52] [SPEAKER_01]: to complete a 6 month pastry course

[00:48:54] [SPEAKER_01]: at some hot shot baking school

[00:48:56] [SPEAKER_01]: She and I headed off

[00:48:58] [SPEAKER_01]: the second that we met

[00:49:00] [SPEAKER_01]: We'll call her Pryah

[00:49:02] [SPEAKER_01]: Pryah and I had another friend

[00:49:04] [SPEAKER_01]: in the hostel who was a 30 year old

[00:49:06] [SPEAKER_01]: man from Spain

[00:49:07] [SPEAKER_01]: who was in London for a marketing training

[00:49:10] [SPEAKER_01]: course that his company was paying for

[00:49:12] [SPEAKER_01]: The three of us

[00:49:14] [SPEAKER_01]: made a ritual of gathering

[00:49:16] [SPEAKER_01]: each night to smoke, drink

[00:49:18] [SPEAKER_01]: wine and watch the World Cup

[00:49:20] [SPEAKER_01]: We would just chill

[00:49:22] [SPEAKER_01]: in general since we clicked into this

[00:49:24] [SPEAKER_01]: trio so seamlessly

[00:49:26] [SPEAKER_01]: They're both great people

[00:49:27] [SPEAKER_01]: We were a great little trio

[00:49:30] [SPEAKER_01]: The particular night

[00:49:31] [SPEAKER_01]: that this all went down was like any other

[00:49:34] [SPEAKER_01]: I returned from work

[00:49:35] [SPEAKER_01]: got off of the bus on my block

[00:49:37] [SPEAKER_01]: and was approaching the metal gate

[00:49:40] [SPEAKER_01]: to my hostel

[00:49:41] [SPEAKER_01]: Standing at the corner was a man who appeared

[00:49:43] [SPEAKER_01]: to be in his early to mid 30s

[00:49:46] [SPEAKER_01]: with very unique

[00:49:47] [SPEAKER_01]: hair I had never seen

[00:49:49] [SPEAKER_01]: him before but this didn't strike me

[00:49:52] [SPEAKER_01]: as unusual since people

[00:49:54] [SPEAKER_01]: came and went constantly at this place

[00:49:56] [SPEAKER_01]: He was fiddling with

[00:49:57] [SPEAKER_01]: the magnetic key card just like mine

[00:49:59] [SPEAKER_01]: I knew that he was in the right place

[00:50:02] [SPEAKER_01]: since the key card that he had

[00:50:04] [SPEAKER_01]: had the building's logo on it

[00:50:05] [SPEAKER_01]: It seemed like his key cards

[00:50:07] [SPEAKER_01]: magnetic strip was malfunctioning

[00:50:10] [SPEAKER_01]: So I said hello introduced

[00:50:11] [SPEAKER_01]: myself and helped him get inside

[00:50:14] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm cursed

[00:50:15] [SPEAKER_01]: with a very friendly and sunny

[00:50:17] [SPEAKER_01]: disposition

[00:50:18] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm very easy to talk to

[00:50:21] [SPEAKER_01]: I can find something in common

[00:50:23] [SPEAKER_01]: with just about anyone which has often

[00:50:25] [SPEAKER_01]: led to men I've rejected

[00:50:27] [SPEAKER_01]: cursing me out for quote

[00:50:29] [SPEAKER_01]: leading them on

[00:50:30] [SPEAKER_01]: when in reality I'm just being nice

[00:50:33] [SPEAKER_01]: to them

[00:50:35] [SPEAKER_01]: This guy started to flirt with me right away

[00:50:37] [SPEAKER_01]: so I casually dropped the fact that

[00:50:39] [SPEAKER_01]: I had a boyfriend

[00:50:41] [SPEAKER_01]: Undeterred he asked me for my number

[00:50:43] [SPEAKER_01]: and I naively gave it to him

[00:50:45] [SPEAKER_01]: since I figured he had probably

[00:50:47] [SPEAKER_01]: just moved in

[00:50:49] [SPEAKER_01]: He seemed nice and since I had a pretty

[00:50:51] [SPEAKER_01]: great group to chill with

[00:50:53] [SPEAKER_01]: I figured it might be nice

[00:50:55] [SPEAKER_01]: to invite him down to smoke with us

[00:50:57] [SPEAKER_01]: The only thing is

[00:50:59] [SPEAKER_01]: as embarrassing but hilarious this is

[00:51:01] [SPEAKER_01]: besides my own phone number

[00:51:03] [SPEAKER_01]: I only know one

[00:51:05] [SPEAKER_01]: other number by heart

[00:51:07] [SPEAKER_01]: my mother's

[00:51:08] [SPEAKER_01]: So literally without thinking

[00:51:10] [SPEAKER_01]: when I was asked for my number

[00:51:13] [SPEAKER_01]: I recited my mom's phone number

[00:51:15] [SPEAKER_01]: reflexively without realizing

[00:51:16] [SPEAKER_01]: it until about 10 minutes later

[00:51:19] [SPEAKER_01]: when I got back to my room

[00:51:21] [SPEAKER_01]: My mom frantically called me

[00:51:22] [SPEAKER_01]: and screamed who are you giving

[00:51:24] [SPEAKER_01]: your number to over there

[00:51:26] [SPEAKER_01]: I instantly understood what

[00:51:28] [SPEAKER_01]: had just happened and replied

[00:51:30] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh I'm sorry mom I did the

[00:51:32] [SPEAKER_01]: phone number thing again and accidentally

[00:51:34] [SPEAKER_01]: said your number instead of mine

[00:51:36] [SPEAKER_01]: She responded

[00:51:38] [SPEAKER_01]: Okay that's fine but you need to be careful

[00:51:40] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't know who the fuck he is

[00:51:43] [SPEAKER_01]: but you need to stay the

[00:51:44] [SPEAKER_01]: fuck away from him

[00:51:47] [SPEAKER_01]: Turns out

[00:51:47] [SPEAKER_01]: he started texting my mom as though it were me

[00:51:50] [SPEAKER_01]: and she knew what was up

[00:51:52] [SPEAKER_01]: right away

[00:51:53] [SPEAKER_01]: She politely replied oh I'm sorry

[00:51:56] [SPEAKER_01]: this has happened before

[00:51:57] [SPEAKER_01]: my daughter accidentally gave you my number

[00:52:00] [SPEAKER_01]: here's her number

[00:52:02] [SPEAKER_01]: and then

[00:52:03] [SPEAKER_01]: he started sending her voice

[00:52:05] [SPEAKER_01]: memos on whatsapp screaming

[00:52:06] [SPEAKER_01]: what kind of fucking games are you

[00:52:09] [SPEAKER_01]: playing with me

[00:52:10] [SPEAKER_01]: I heard the message they were aggressive

[00:52:14] [SPEAKER_01]: so I texted him

[00:52:15] [SPEAKER_01]: and said hey

[00:52:17] [SPEAKER_01]: let me explain my mistake

[00:52:19] [SPEAKER_01]: no one is playing games with you

[00:52:20] [SPEAKER_01]: you need to watch your mouth

[00:52:23] [SPEAKER_01]: once he realized I wasn't

[00:52:25] [SPEAKER_01]: playing with him he reverted to being a gentleman

[00:52:27] [SPEAKER_01]: and by that I mean

[00:52:29] [SPEAKER_01]: he messaged me and said

[00:52:30] [SPEAKER_01]: come check me

[00:52:33] [SPEAKER_01]: which I assumed is

[00:52:34] [SPEAKER_01]: British slang for come see me in my room

[00:52:37] [SPEAKER_01]: so at this point

[00:52:39] [SPEAKER_01]: I decided not to fuck with this guy since

[00:52:41] [SPEAKER_01]: his reaction to my honest mistake of mixing

[00:52:43] [SPEAKER_01]: up my phone number was wildly aggressive

[00:52:46] [SPEAKER_01]: I politely declined

[00:52:47] [SPEAKER_01]: his invitation to go check him

[00:52:49] [SPEAKER_01]: and then he demanded

[00:52:51] [SPEAKER_01]: to know which hallway I was

[00:52:53] [SPEAKER_01]: in as well as my room number

[00:52:56] [SPEAKER_01]: this freaked me out

[00:52:57] [SPEAKER_01]: as all women know

[00:52:59] [SPEAKER_01]: men can be fucking scary

[00:53:01] [SPEAKER_01]: I remember thinking

[00:53:02] [SPEAKER_01]: thank god his keycard doesn't have access to my hallway

[00:53:05] [SPEAKER_01]: even if he knows which one I'm in

[00:53:08] [SPEAKER_01]: after realizing

[00:53:09] [SPEAKER_01]: I wasn't going to give that information up to him

[00:53:12] [SPEAKER_01]: and also realizing

[00:53:13] [SPEAKER_01]: that he's creeped me the fuck out

[00:53:15] [SPEAKER_01]: he began threatening me

[00:53:17] [SPEAKER_01]: he was sending voice memos

[00:53:20] [SPEAKER_01]: on whatsapp screaming at the top of his lungs

[00:53:22] [SPEAKER_01]: calling me all kinds of awful names

[00:53:24] [SPEAKER_01]: he even said

[00:53:26] [SPEAKER_01]: that he would literally kill me if he saw me again

[00:53:29] [SPEAKER_01]: mind you

[00:53:30] [SPEAKER_01]: it had only been about 30 minutes

[00:53:32] [SPEAKER_01]: since I met this man in the first place

[00:53:35] [SPEAKER_01]: so then

[00:53:36] [SPEAKER_01]: I was like well shit

[00:53:37] [SPEAKER_01]: I did the only thing I could do

[00:53:40] [SPEAKER_01]: I immediately contacted hospital

[00:53:42] [SPEAKER_01]: management and reported everything

[00:53:44] [SPEAKER_01]: I provided them with all of the screenshots

[00:53:45] [SPEAKER_01]: and voice memos

[00:53:47] [SPEAKER_01]: and there was no arguing on their end

[00:53:49] [SPEAKER_01]: they kicked him out right away

[00:53:52] [SPEAKER_01]: and told me that the police were now involved

[00:53:54] [SPEAKER_01]: though no one ever spoke to me about it

[00:53:56] [SPEAKER_01]: I assumed they didn't have to

[00:53:58] [SPEAKER_01]: as management had the screenshots

[00:54:00] [SPEAKER_01]: and voice memos to show them

[00:54:02] [SPEAKER_01]: I was however told that the police came

[00:54:04] [SPEAKER_01]: at around 9am

[00:54:06] [SPEAKER_01]: the following morning

[00:54:07] [SPEAKER_01]: but here's the thing

[00:54:08] [SPEAKER_01]: even after I reached out to hospital management

[00:54:11] [SPEAKER_01]: I continued to get more threatening messages from him

[00:54:14] [SPEAKER_01]: and he sent me those messages at 10am

[00:54:17] [SPEAKER_01]: so

[00:54:18] [SPEAKER_01]: he was still sending me threats

[00:54:20] [SPEAKER_01]: after the police had spoken to him

[00:54:22] [SPEAKER_01]: and escorted him away from the hospital

[00:54:25] [SPEAKER_01]: when I went to work

[00:54:26] [SPEAKER_01]: I was afraid so I told my boss what happened

[00:54:29] [SPEAKER_01]: she was a great boss

[00:54:30] [SPEAKER_01]: and mentor

[00:54:31] [SPEAKER_01]: a brilliant attorney and I really bonded with her

[00:54:35] [SPEAKER_01]: honestly I was telling her about it

[00:54:36] [SPEAKER_01]: because I was shaken up more than anything

[00:54:38] [SPEAKER_01]: and I trusted her

[00:54:40] [SPEAKER_01]: I just wanted a trustworthy ear to listen

[00:54:42] [SPEAKER_01]: I wasn't expecting any help outside of that

[00:54:44] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm extremely happy however

[00:54:46] [SPEAKER_01]: that I did talk to her because

[00:54:47] [SPEAKER_01]: after I finished telling her everything

[00:54:49] [SPEAKER_01]: she replied wide eyed

[00:54:52] [SPEAKER_01]: you're not staying at that place

[00:54:53] [SPEAKER_01]: for another fucking minute

[00:54:56] [SPEAKER_01]: she was thinking what I was thinking

[00:54:58] [SPEAKER_01]: what's going to stop this creep

[00:55:00] [SPEAKER_01]: from waiting for me outside of the

[00:55:02] [SPEAKER_01]: hospital and attacking me

[00:55:03] [SPEAKER_01]: she came home with me straight after work

[00:55:06] [SPEAKER_01]: and helped me pack all of my things

[00:55:08] [SPEAKER_01]: and she rented me a comfortable

[00:55:10] [SPEAKER_01]: hotel room for three nights

[00:55:11] [SPEAKER_01]: which she generously paid for herself

[00:55:14] [SPEAKER_01]: within those three days

[00:55:16] [SPEAKER_01]: she helped me find a very nice apartment

[00:55:18] [SPEAKER_01]: on Airbnb

[00:55:19] [SPEAKER_01]: that I shared with one very nice roommate

[00:55:21] [SPEAKER_01]: for the remainder of my time in London

[00:55:24] [SPEAKER_01]: I was so thankful for her amazing

[00:55:26] [SPEAKER_01]: initiative but was sad

[00:55:28] [SPEAKER_01]: to leave my hostel friends in our cozy

[00:55:30] [SPEAKER_01]: nightly routine behind especially

[00:55:32] [SPEAKER_01]: so suddenly

[00:55:33] [SPEAKER_01]: all of the shit from meeting this guy

[00:55:35] [SPEAKER_01]: to moving out of the hostel went down

[00:55:37] [SPEAKER_01]: within about 12 hours

[00:55:39] [SPEAKER_01]: in the following weeks

[00:55:41] [SPEAKER_01]: Pryah did in fact see the guy

[00:55:43] [SPEAKER_01]: lurking around outside the hostel several times

[00:55:46] [SPEAKER_01]: he was easy to spot

[00:55:48] [SPEAKER_01]: due to his very unique hair

[00:55:51] [SPEAKER_01]: I think my lucky star is that

[00:55:53] [SPEAKER_01]: I never had the chance to introduce him

[00:55:55] [SPEAKER_01]: to Pryah because who knows

[00:55:56] [SPEAKER_01]: maybe he would have targeted her

[00:55:58] [SPEAKER_01]: once I moved out

[00:56:00] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm grateful that that will always remain

[00:56:02] [SPEAKER_01]: a hypothetical

[00:57:33] [SPEAKER_01]: and make sure to check out the new episodes

[00:57:35] [SPEAKER_01]: of my other podcasts like

[00:57:37] [SPEAKER_01]: Odd Trails, Cryptic Encounters

[00:57:39] [SPEAKER_01]: and The Old Time Radio Cast

[00:57:40] [SPEAKER_01]: all at crypticcountypodcasts.com

[00:57:43] [SPEAKER_01]: wherever you get your podcasts

[00:57:45] [SPEAKER_01]: Seattle I'll see you on October 9th

[00:57:48] [SPEAKER_01]: at the triple door

[00:57:49] [SPEAKER_01]: it's the same place that we had our first show

[00:57:51] [SPEAKER_01]: the last time I was in Seattle

[00:57:52] [SPEAKER_01]: then I'll be in Salt Lake City for our rescheduled show

[00:57:55] [SPEAKER_01]: on October 23rd at Metro Music Hall

[00:57:57] [SPEAKER_01]: then Portland, Oregon on October 30th

[00:57:59] [SPEAKER_01]: Houston, Texas on November 9th

[00:58:01] [SPEAKER_01]: Dallas, Texas on November 10th

[00:58:03] [SPEAKER_01]: you can get your tickets at letstotletsnotkneepodcast.com

[00:58:05] [SPEAKER_01]: slash tour or follow the link in the show notes

[00:58:07] [SPEAKER_01]: I'll see you all next week

[00:58:09] [SPEAKER_01]: everybody stay safe