5x16: Tales From The Seedy South - Let's Not Meet

[00:00:00] This podcast contains adult language and content. The stories in this show can be disturbing and frightening for some. Listener discretion is advised. If you have a story to share, send it to letsnotmeetstories at gmail dot com. Enjoy the show.

[00:00:16] My name is Andrew Tate and this is season 5 episode 16 of Lets Not Meet, A True Horror Podcast.

[00:01:14] So this happened way back when I was 18 and just getting used to living apart from my family for the first time. I was a freshman in college at UC Santa Cruz. If you've never seen this school,

[00:01:28] then here's some quick background on the layout of the campus as it features prominently in the story. The dorms and buildings are interspersed across the campus in groupings that are nestled within what is basically forested areas of redwood trees and other fauna. Some areas are more dense

[00:01:47] than others but the campus is known for this and it made for a very beautiful place to go to school. A few months into my freshman year, I had gone from my dorm to my friend's dorm across campus.

[00:02:02] On the way there, I had taken one of the campus' buses to get me close enough and then I walked the rest of the way myself. However, I stayed rather late into the night playing games,

[00:02:14] talking, and taking part in another substance that I was still very new to and overusing to put it lightly. This was a Friday so I reasoned that it was okay to overdo it on the weekends since I was normally

[00:02:30] a very good student and what was the point of being young in college if you didn't have some fun every now and then? I don't quite remember the time but I believe it was about two in the morning

[00:02:42] or so when I left my friend's dorm. The buses had long since stopped running and I had a ways to go to get from her dorm to mine. I've always prided myself in having a good sense of direction.

[00:02:58] I've traveled a lot with my family throughout my life and it taught me how to read maps quickly, never look lost on the outside, and think on my feet. In the first few weeks of school, I had

[00:03:10] memorized most of the campus map so I had a good notion of which way that I needed to go. The only problem was the quickest way back was to cut through some rather heavily wooded areas

[00:03:22] of the campus. Those areas were not well lit and I didn't have a flashlight on me aside from the light feature on my phone. After weighing my options for just a moment, I decided the quickest

[00:03:36] way back was best. In my extremely high state of mind, I reasoned that if early man could navigate the woods at night by moonlight then I probably could too. Side note, I'm a female barely five foot

[00:03:52] four and I have never been able to move quickly. I'm built for strength not speed. To say this was a bad decision is an understatement. I set off with an overabundance of enthusiasm and even sang

[00:04:07] a few Beatles songs as I went. New students had been told repeatedly at the beginning of school that mountain lions were a very real threat and a possibility on campus and although attacks were

[00:04:22] rare, it was still in our best interest to remain out of the woods at night. If we did have to venture in there however, we were cautioned to try and make our presence known by making noise.

[00:04:35] Usually that would be enough to scare off one of the big cats before we even saw them. There were plenty of deer around and they knew enough about humans to generally avoid us. I had hoped my

[00:04:50] singing and heavy footfalls were doing the trick as I made my way towards my dorm. Maybe 10 minutes into my walk or so, I began to get the sense that something or someone was watching me.

[00:05:05] My singing faltered and I slowed my pace as I turned my head to see if I could spot any movement. It was too dark under the tree cover to make out much past a few feet in any direction.

[00:05:20] I kept walking but I stopped singing and strained my ears to listen. The distinct sound of leaves and twigs snapping behind me nearly had my heart pounding up into my throat immediately.

[00:05:35] I tried to calm myself and reason that perhaps it was just another student. A mountain lion wouldn't make that much noise, would it? I turned around and kept trying to walk backwards at the same time

[00:05:49] but nearly tripped over roots and rocks as I did so. Even in the pitch blackness of the woods, I could still sense something out there behind me. Hello? I finally asked. Is someone there?

[00:06:06] I felt like one of those dumb co-eds from a horror movie my friends loved to watch. There was no answer to the question and my stomach started to drop. That wasn't a good sign, was it? If I had been following someone on campus in the dark,

[00:06:25] I would have let them know if they asked. Why wouldn't they respond? Hello? I tried again, stupidly. Are you heading to North Campus? Again, silence. Silence. Now my guts are twisting into knots. Wait, calm down. Maybe I had imagined the noise.

[00:06:50] Maybe I was imagining the feeling too. I was high as a kite. Wasn't paranoia a side effect of THC for some people? Yeah, that had to be it. I steadied my breathing and set off towards my

[00:07:03] dorm once more but kept a brisk pace. If I could just get back fast enough, I could crawl into bed and laugh about this in the morning with my roommate. But as soon as I took off,

[00:07:17] I heard it again. The crunch of leaves and the sound of footsteps. They were unmistakable now. Shit, what the hell am I going to do? The closest building at this point would be one

[00:07:30] of the dorms up ahead, but there was still some woods between me and that safe space. If someone jumped me now, I doubted anyone would hear me. Should I call someone? Who could I call?

[00:07:43] My parents lived over 400 miles away. The local police were off campus at least 10 minutes from being able to drive here, full speed much less find me in the trees. A lot could happen in one

[00:07:56] minute, much less 10. Without thinking, I veered left and suddenly decided to head for the road that wound through the campus. At least that had streetlights. Didn't some of those lights have emergency call boxes? And did they call campus security? I couldn't remember. Whoever

[00:08:18] was behind me must have guessed what I was doing because they picked up their pace. I semi-jogged at this point until I broke through the tree line and onto the sidewalk,

[00:08:28] then the road itself. I darted to the middle of the road and then began running up the center lane towards my dorm. I pulled out my phone and called a male friend of mine that lived in my

[00:08:40] dorm. I'll call him Josh. Josh answered almost immediately as he was up still watching TV. Can you come outside and meet me on the road? I asked him nearly out of breath. I could hear

[00:08:54] him sit up in his bed. What's wrong? You're not here. Where are you? I was nearly in a panic now as I tried to explain to him what was going on. As I talked, I glanced back and to my right

[00:09:09] where the tree line hugged the sidewalk, I saw someone moving along just beyond the trees nearly keeping pace with me. I bit back a scream and repeated my request to Josh almost

[00:09:24] begging him at this point. He agreed and I listened to him rustle around his room before opening the door and hurrying down the hall and then down to the main stairwell just before pushing through

[00:09:35] our locked door. It required a key card to get in. Shit! Josh hissed. I left my key card. Please tell me you have yours. I was nearing our dorms now and I could see the lights from the side of

[00:09:49] the building. I was so tired at this point but I pushed with the last bit of energy that I had to sprint up the small hill towards Josh who was standing outside our building in just a t-shirt

[00:10:01] and basketball shorts. He turned to me, bewildered, and I yanked my key card out from my back pocket. He mentioned for me to go inside but instead of following me he rushed past me down the hall and

[00:10:13] disappeared into the woods. Now I did scream but in fear for Josh's safety. He was a big guy around six foot two with a semi-solid build but I had no idea who was out there. They could have a night

[00:10:30] for worse on them. I hovered near the door watching the trees where Josh had entered but glancing around the courtyard as well just listening. After what seemed like hours, Josh jogged around the opposite corner of the building. I heaved a sigh of relief before snapping at him.

[00:10:51] What the hell were you thinking? He shook his head as he caught his breath and then explained, Sorry that was just instinct. As you came up the hill I saw them. Well, I saw kind of an outline

[00:11:05] past the trees and I just got so pissed. Who stalks someone through the woods like that? Fucking asshole. Did you find them? I asked almost afraid of the answer. Josh shook his head again.

[00:11:19] It was definitely a guy but he was wearing dark clothes and he moved way too fast. Sorry. I thanked Josh profusely for his help and he walked me to my dorm before returning to his.

[00:11:33] I reported my incident to the campus security the next day. I knew there wasn't much that they could do for me but at the very least I wanted it on file in case something did happen to someone

[00:11:46] later so a pattern could be established. I wish I could say that that was the first or last time I was harassed by a male but unfortunately it wasn't and my encounters actually got worse from

[00:11:59] there. This one seems the most frightening to me in a lot of ways because I never saw their face and I still don't know what they wanted or what they would have done

[00:12:10] if they had gotten the chance out there in the dark of the redwood trees. So to the creepy guy who stalked me in the woods of the Santa Cruz mountains all those years ago, let's not meet.

[00:12:36] I've listened to this podcast for a while now. As terrifying as some of these stories are, they've helped me to process some of my own traumas so thank you to everyone who shared

[00:12:47] and that's why I'm doing this. I hope it might be helpful for someone else. This happened to me when I was 18 or 19. I'm a woman. I was in college at the time and lived in a suburb about 20 minutes

[00:13:01] outside of the main city. To get to school, I had to drive to the train stop and then take the train downtown. At the time, I had classes two days a week from probably 9 to 3 p.m. I was on the train

[00:13:17] home one day and on the phone with my boyfriend. The stop that I had gotten off on was at the mall. From the mall, you go upstairs or an elevator to a large bridge that takes you across the highway to

[00:13:32] the parking lot where you park. I got off the train and noticed a man in all black immediately. His hood was up. I went up the stairs and walked across the bridge. I had taken notice of this man

[00:13:47] but I wasn't concerned and was focused on my conversation with my boyfriend. I got down the stairs on the other side of the bridge. My car was at the far end of the parking lot because most

[00:14:01] people got on the train early before me and leave before me. So there weren't a lot of cars on the way to mine except for right in the front. I noticed that he was still behind me and there

[00:14:15] weren't any cars on the way to my car by the time I had walked through the parking lot and that's when I said, someone is following me to my boyfriend. He was immediately concerned and asking questions.

[00:14:29] I turned around and knew what was happening when we locked eyes. I started running. He started running. I'm not saying anything to my boyfriend because I'm focused. I got to my car, opened the

[00:14:44] door, sat down and tried to shut the door. I wasn't fast enough. He got to the driver's side and held the door open with his other hand on the car. My boyfriend was screaming through the phone at this

[00:14:57] point because I hadn't answered. I locked eyes with this person again. He was in all black, hood up, pale skin with dead eyes. We were in that position for probably 20 seconds just in silence.

[00:15:15] I didn't realize how serious the situation was at that time. He squinted his eyes but took off running. It took me a couple of seconds to explain to my boyfriend what was happening.

[00:15:29] What I did notice is that he had a limp. I knew that was the reason why he couldn't keep up with me when he started running. This is important for later. I went home. I lived with my parents at the

[00:15:43] time and they were furious and just as scared as me. We talked about having my dad or boyfriend sit on the train and watch to see this happen again. We decided against it because we didn't know who

[00:15:58] this person was and if they had a weapon or something. My dad bought me a baton, a taser, and mace. I didn't ride the train for a week and a half. Unfortunately things got much worse though.

[00:16:13] I didn't want to waste gas money and at that age that was really important to me. On the other day that I went to school, I got off the train. He saw me on Monday and I think this was Wednesday.

[00:16:29] He was waiting though. I was not on the phone this time. I ran up the stairs and he started chasing me again. He couldn't keep up with me because he was limping. My legs turned to spaghetti

[00:16:45] on the bridge and I couldn't run very fast. You never know how you are going to feel in this kind of situation until it happens to you. I'm tough and I would think I wouldn't turn to mush but I

[00:17:01] was turning into mush. I had my phone out and I called my mom while running. No answer. I called my dad and said, it's him. He's here. I don't know what to do. He said, get your mace out, stop,

[00:17:17] turn around and spray him. I did just that. It didn't hit him but he ran right past me. So I ran to my car, got in and locked the doors. I gathered myself and drove out of the parking lot.

[00:17:32] He was pacing in the field right next to the stairs. After talking with my dad, we decided I should call the police. Funny that didn't hit me earlier, right? Your mind doesn't think

[00:17:46] logically in these situations or at least mine didn't. They sent a police officer and we spoke in the parking lot of the Starbucks and he took my report. They said they would patrol the area.

[00:18:00] It gets even worse. That night around 12 or 1 a.m., I get a text from an acquaintance from high school saying, pepper spray. What? I had just tried to mace someone that day

[00:18:16] and he texts me that. I was awake and starting to look out all of my windows. This person was an acquaintance but he lived in my neighborhood. He had been to my house for parties and I had

[00:18:30] driven him home from school a couple of times. I would never suspect him because he was the class clown. I woke my parents up and the next day they changed the locks. I called the police officer

[00:18:44] that took my report. He called him. All the officer said was, this woman is working with me on something and seems like you know something about it. Well he denied anything. The cops said he was vague

[00:18:59] on purpose and told him if he ever contacts me like that again, he would be charged with harassment. I never heard from him again. We lived in the same neighborhood. The guy who chased me was not

[00:19:11] the guy from high school though. When I started thinking about it, I remembered that the guy from high school had contacted me a few times since graduation in the middle of the night asking to

[00:19:23] hook up. I never texted back and laughed at it because he was the class clown and I didn't take it serious. I knew he worked at a fast food restaurant close to both of our houses. I never

[00:19:36] went there again. Every time I went to the grocery store in our neighborhood, I was looking for him. Every time I went anywhere, I was looking for him. I was terrified of what would happen if I saw him.

[00:19:48] I looked on social media. I didn't have any accounts. I used a friend's account and I looked for the guy who chased me but I couldn't find him. Did they plan this? What were they planning to do?

[00:20:01] The guy from high school obviously had to be in on it if he knew about the mace. This tortured me for a long time and it still does. At the time, I worked at a place that was

[00:20:12] at the very mall where our train stop was. I had told my co-workers about this. One of the girls eyes lit up and said, a guy with a limp chased her and got away. I also worked with a girl

[00:20:29] that I went to high school with and she knew the guy that I went to high school with as well. She said our group of guy friends who used to hang out because of my ex but no longer, stopped

[00:20:40] hanging out with this person because he would ask them to take their pants down or take his out. I hung out with one of these guys about a year later and he said that that guy from high school

[00:20:52] was diagnosed with either schizophrenia or bipolar or something. Just to be clear, I am a mental health professional and this behavior is not common for someone with those diagnoses but it could contribute to unusual behavior. I still don't know who chased me. I don't know

[00:21:10] what has happened to the guy that I went to high school with. I search his name every so often. Not knowing who he is, why he did it, what's their plan, it's terrifying. It's eating me up inside.

[00:21:24] So to both of these assholes, fuck you and people like you for making other people like me feel like this. Let's not meet. First it was for my sake and now it's for yours.

[00:21:57] I was 21 years old and had just left my boyfriend. I'll call him Tom. We had lived together for two years and had a three-month-old daughter so it wasn't a simple breakup. I had to restart my life

[00:22:11] basically so I was living in my mom's basement until I got a place of my own. I didn't have much or any of a social life throughout my whole relationship so I was

[00:22:22] trying to regain my bearings there as well. In the age of social media, no sooner does one's relationship status reflect single when a handful of people would come out of the woodwork with

[00:22:35] messages. At that point in my life I was still very much a people pleaser and I wanted to see the good in everyone. Honestly I wish I were still that way but the world has proven me wrong so many

[00:22:50] times since that I approach with much more caution now. Anyway one day I received a message from a guy, I'm gonna call him Tony. I knew Tony's name and he looked familiar but I couldn't put my finger

[00:23:05] on where. He messaged me with the typical, hey beautiful how are you? And I responded with some typical good and you? A bit more small talk and it came to light that I knew who he was

[00:23:21] through my recent ex. They worked together. He went on to tell me that I was too pretty for him and that he always thought I could do better. 30 year old me sees all the red flags but 21 year

[00:23:37] naive me just went along with it. Now I didn't trash talk my ex to him as that's never cool but I thanked him for the so-called compliment and went on. He then asked me if we could hang out

[00:23:49] one day. Again I was trying to regain my social life as well as fill my time with anything that I could on my days that my daughter was at my ex's. I agreed in the same nonchalant way

[00:24:04] that he asked. He asked if that weekend worked. I told him that I had work which was true. I was a single mom at the time so I was working two jobs to try and save for my own place. So he asked

[00:24:18] about the following weekend. Same story. I had to work my second overnight job. This went on back and forth for a bit and every date he suggested was a strike. Then suddenly something switched.

[00:24:34] He went from hey beautiful to you're just like the rest of them. You're a tease and a whore. No wonder Tom left you. You just want to lead people on and never follow through. I hope you

[00:24:49] never find happiness. You don't deserve it. You slut. I was blindsided. Mind you I may have met this guy in passing maybe once. Other than that he just knew my ex. I couldn't believe the sudden

[00:25:05] change and immediately thanked my crazy ass work schedules for letting me dodge that massive bullet. The next day I was talking to Tom during my exchange of our daughter. I asked what he knew

[00:25:19] about Tony and let him in on the conversation that I had with him. Tom sighed and said please don't. It has nothing to do with us but he's unstable and I've heard a lot of horror stories about him.

[00:25:32] He's bad news. I agreed and told him not to worry. I wasn't going anywhere near him. A few days go by and Tony messages me again. I didn't know the power of blocking people just yet.

[00:25:48] He asked me if I was free the following Saturday. I'm sorry what? He still thought I was going to meet him for a drink? Absolutely not. I then figured out how to block him and called Tom and

[00:26:02] told him. I was a little shaken up even if I didn't know why. Tom repeated himself basically and said that he would handle it. We were on pretty good terms considering. We were learning to co-parent and trying to do the friends thing. The next day Tom called me

[00:26:22] and said he had a conversation with Tony at work. He made it seem like it was his idea and delivered it like a I really don't want you dating my ex type thing instead of a you scared the shit out

[00:26:37] of her thing. He told me I shouldn't have to worry about it and he was right. I didn't hear from him again. The following Sunday, the day after Tony had asked one last time for a drink, Tom called me.

[00:26:55] I could tell something was off in his voice. I had my daughter so I knew it wasn't about her. I calmly asked what's wrong? He went on to explain to me that Tony had been arrested

[00:27:09] in the middle of their shift. I asked why and he went on to say that from what he could gather it had to do with a girl. After the story came out in the news we found out that the night he

[00:27:21] asked me to go out with him, he had raped and brutally beaten a girl then left her for dead in the street. I was in shock. I started crying because I know how close that was to being me.

[00:27:36] I thanked Tom over and over for standing up for me. I know that even 21 year old naive me wouldn't have agreed to go out with him after he called me such awful things but if there's

[00:27:47] something I can guess about rapists is that they don't care about consent. He was convicted and put in jail for the crimes and I do believe the girl made a full recovery physically. Physically. I couldn't tell you if he's been released yet but I really hope he hasn't.

[00:28:09] Either way creepy overreactive guy who clearly can't get a woman to like you, let's never meet. My name is Mina. I'm a 22 year old gal born and raised in Arkansas. This story happened four years ago and it still haunts me to this day.

[00:28:38] It was a summer evening like any other. I had just gotten off of work and needed to return some hairspray to the local Walgreens. I was driving on the right side of a double-laned roundabout when

[00:28:50] all of a sudden a truck drives up next to me and starts with your typical degrading cat calling. Though my window was down I pretended not to hear him. In my experience acknowledging this

[00:29:04] kind of behavior only escalates things further. However it starts to go on for an uncomfortably long time so I devise a new plan. I was going to speed up knowing he would match my speed and then

[00:29:18] abruptly slow down to turn into the parking lot not giving him a chance to switch lanes and follow me. The plan worked swimmingly and he was stuck at a red light in front of the store. I figured

[00:29:32] that was the end of it but as soon as the light turned green he cut off the person in the right lane and pulled into the Walgreens parking lot almost hitting me and continuing to yell things

[00:29:45] like, you really think you could get away from me so easily? I ran into the store completely shaken up. I had no idea what had just happened or who this man was and in the midst of my hasty escape

[00:30:00] I realized I had left the hairspray that I needed to return back in my car. I debated going back out to get it and thought surely he was gone. I stepped outside and he was back at the stoplight.

[00:30:17] I guess he must have seen me as I exited the building because the screeching sound of tires filled the air as he ran the red light driving through opposing traffic and nearly causing

[00:30:29] several accidents. I ran back inside filled with utter panic. I looked at my phone and realized it was only on seven percent. Rookie mistake. I called my then boyfriend to tell him where I was and what

[00:30:43] was happening just to ensure someone was aware of the situation. Afterwards I ran to the checkout clerk to explain what was happening and asked if anyone could escort me to my car. He laughed in

[00:30:58] my face while he and the customers in line joked about how it must be nice and wish someone liked me enough to stalk me like that. I couldn't believe it so I decided to poke my head outside

[00:31:13] to see if he had left. Not only was he still there but he had diagonally backed up his truck to where my driver's side door was completely blocked and the front of his truck was facing

[00:31:25] the storefront. I was baffled as to what I was seeing. Once again I ran back inside trying to assess the situation and figure out my next move since my phone was just about dead and the

[00:31:38] employees were clearly not sympathetic. Just as I was gathering my thoughts a man walks in meeting my eyes for a split second before quickly averting my gaze. In my attempt to completely ignore his existence I realized that I had never actually caught a glimpse of this man's face

[00:32:00] but in that moment I knew it was him. He had this seedy look in his eyes and forehead sweat beads that reeked of depravity. I stood frozen and watched as he walked up and down every single

[00:32:15] aisle. However, I thought it was strange that he wasn't looking at me not even for a quick glance but he wasn't pursuing any items either. He was just unwaveringly staring upwards.

[00:32:31] I looked in that same direction to see what he was so fixated on and that's when I remembered that Walgreens has mirrors on the walls and the ceiling. I quickly realized he was watching me

[00:32:46] he was watching me through those mirrors. My heart dropped. Suddenly my fight or flight mode kicked in and as soon as I saw him turn the corner I booked it out of the building faster than I knew

[00:32:58] I was capable of. I unlocked my car jumping in the passenger side as his truck was still blocking my driver door. I remember I didn't even put my seat belt on I just threw the car into reverse

[00:33:10] as I looked behind me to pull out and saw that he had ran out of the building to try and chase me to my car. He had the scariest look on his face a look of dark desperation that had completely

[00:33:24] contorted his face. In that moment I genuinely did not care if I hit this man. I was so profoundly terrified. He jumped out of the way after he realized I was not stopping and I proceeded

[00:33:37] to hit the gas until I was out of that damned parking lot. Now I was so hysterical that it wasn't until I was well on the interstate that I realized the piece of shit had somehow managed

[00:33:47] to follow me. At this point I think I blacked out and Dale Earnhardt took over my body because I sped and weaved my car through traffic like my life depended on it. I still don't know how I

[00:34:00] didn't get pulled over. Hell, I wish I had. Maybe he would have left me alone sooner if he had seen some flashing lights. But I somehow eventually managed to evade him. I drove to my best friend's

[00:34:12] house and sobbed grateful to be in the arms of a loved one. Afterwards I had debilitating nightmares for two weeks and didn't drive with my windows down nor go anywhere alone after dark

[00:34:25] for months. I couldn't help but think what if I had been just a little bit slower getting to my car and what would he have done if he had caught up to me? And damn it, I never did get to return my

[00:34:40] dang hairspray. Anyways, I refuse to live in fear but I would be lying if I said that the memory of that night didn't go through my head every time I pull into a parking lot. So to all of you listening

[00:34:54] remember to be alert, be safe, and say a big fuck you to obligatory politeness. Oh and to the sketchy ass redneck as well as the shitty Walgreens employees who laughed at my plea for help, let's never fucking meet again.

[00:35:24] My sister and I are big fans of your podcast. The stories always remind me of my own let's not meet stories so I thought I'd share one. In 2018 to 2019, fresh out of college,

[00:35:38] I got my first job as a news reporter at a county newspaper in a small coastal town of Texas. Not even six months into the job, my boss told me something strange was happening at the hospital

[00:35:53] and that he thinks there was a high-speed chase down the highway. Breaking news time, I raced over to the local hospital where I saw a vehicle with its hazards on blocking the emergency

[00:36:07] room exit. Police refused to tell me anything at first. It turns out the man had shot his brother in the face then drove him to ER where the brother died within minutes and the man was arrested.

[00:36:22] The next day I asked my co-worker who was born and raised in that specific area if the neighborhood where the shooting happened was safe other than the obvious murder that had just happened.

[00:36:35] She swore it was so off I went in the middle of the day to knock on doors and try to figure out exactly which house the shooting happened at, if there were any witnesses, and if anyone had any

[00:36:49] idea what the motive might be. Everyone I talked to asked what a young lady like myself was doing alone there and kept telling me I should leave. At first I thought they were annoyed by the nosy

[00:37:05] journalist. Finally, one of the witnesses to the murder told me flat out I better leave before it gets dark because most people in the neighborhood are drug addicts of crack, heroin, etc.

[00:37:19] and I'd probably get raped or at least mugged. I left right as the sun was disappearing over the horizon. Five days after the shooting I went to the local jail to interview the man accused of

[00:37:32] the murder. When I got there the jailer told me that I had better be extra careful as the man was coming down from a cocktail of drugs and was sometimes aggressive without being provoked. During the two-hour interview the jailer kept checking on me asking if I was okay

[00:37:53] and he had a prison guard stand right behind the accused the entire time. The man himself seemed very jumpy and talked about the cocktail of narcotics that he was on. I also interviewed

[00:38:07] his family later who told me about drug deals he would do in the house. It was implied that he may have been both buying and selling. This is all important. Later I had to go back to the

[00:38:21] neighborhood again to interview witnesses this time with a bodyguard, one of those guys who worked in the back running the printing press. My friend was proudly sober but he had later recognized all kinds of signs of drug and gang activity and said to never go back there again.

[00:38:42] The same day the attorney general of the county called my boss and cussed him out for sending me there not once but twice reminding him he has a daughter my age. Ultimately it seemed the man who

[00:38:56] shot his brother was just high as a kite and had grown paranoid from the excessive drug use. A few weeks after the investigation was published in the paper I got a call to the landline at the

[00:39:08] office. The man on the other end said in a seemingly panicked tone that he had more information relating to the murders that he thinks I should know. I said I could meet at a coffee shop and he said

[00:39:24] actually could you come get me? I was taken aback. I'm sorry sir I can't do that but we can meet at a coffee shop. He sounded more panicked. You have to come get me please someone is trying to kill me

[00:39:40] but if you come I can tell you so much. I started writing the conversation down now. Sir I can't come get you if that's the case I would be in danger too but let me call 911 for you. The man

[00:39:56] seemed a little irritated now. No no police you can't trust the police you don't understand someone is coming and they're going to kill me please can you help? I stated again that I could call the

[00:40:11] police for him but that was it. If he could just tell me where he was I could send emergency services. He started acting weird now. He didn't want to tell me where he was and finally told me

[00:40:25] the name of a town that was over an hour away. Then he hung up. Immediately I called the head of the county's narcotics task force. I read back to him the conversation that had just occurred.

[00:40:40] The head of the NTF cut me off. Do not go out there. You didn't go out there right? You're not going to meet him right? I was surprised. No sir of course not. I'm just

[00:40:55] concerned that this person might be in danger. The NTF head paused then said miss from my professional experience I believe he was trying to lure you out somewhere to try and kill you.

[00:41:07] I was stunned. Kill me? Why? The little dominoes started falling into place in my head. My grip on the phone was white and I started shaking. The NTF head assured me I did the right thing by giving

[00:41:22] him the information and the call ended. For the remaining six months that I worked on that job I couldn't sleep. I had severe hypervigilance. I was constantly checking to make sure the windows

[00:41:35] and doors of my place were locked. Incidentally I had just moved to a new place but still it was a small community. My name and face were both public. I jumped at every little thing.

[00:41:49] I had nightmares and to clarify I couldn't even publish any of the details about the possible drug dealing going on in the community since there weren't credible sources to back it up. The only

[00:42:01] part about the drugs I mentioned is the fact that the murderer was high when he was arrested and that the narcotics task force struggled to investigate the neighborhood because of its position between

[00:42:14] the underpass and a river that had it locked in. There was no mental health support either. I already had PTSD before this. Now I'll gladly never go back to journalism. Whoever that man was if you really were trying to kill me let's not meet.

[00:42:40] We have an exciting event coming up uh towards the end of March I believe it's March 27th. Yes March 27th at 7 p.m pacific standard time we're going to be doing another live stream event

[00:43:15] it'll be the season five finale of Let's Not Meet a True Horror Podcast. All of our friends are coming back to tell a story on video we're all going to be there for chat to hang out with

[00:43:26] everybody and have a great time. It's going to be again 7 p.m pacific standard time over at twitch.tv forward slash pizza tate. I know it's a little silly we changed the url and screen name since

[00:43:38] the last time we streamed one of these finales live. I use the channel mainly for video games and I didn't want anybody coming over there confused as to why I'm not telling creepy stories

[00:43:48] and I'm just playing Nintendo and cussing all night. So follow the link in the show notes and follow me on twitch again that's twitch.tv forward slash pizza tate and join me on March

[00:43:59] 27th at 7 p.m pacific standard time with Shelby Scott of Scare You To Sleep, Sora Narnia of Ninth Point Horror, Sapphire Sandalo of Stories With Sapphire as well as Christine Schaefer of And

[00:44:12] That's Why We Drink. We're all going to be there it's going to be a really great time don't miss out. Thank you for listening to this episode of Let's Not Meet, a true horror podcast this week

[00:44:21] you have heard Stalked Through The Woods by PretzelBites17. A story from a listener that asked to remain anonymous. The time I avoided what could have been the worst date of my life

[00:44:35] by listener Sarah. Tales From The Seedy South by Mina Adams and finally That One Time Murder Led To More Murder by listener Agnes M. All of the stories you've heard this week were narrated and

[00:44:50] produced with the permission of their respective authors. Let's Not Meet, a true horror podcast, is not associated with Reddit or any other message boards online. As always if you want to hear that story on the show send it to letsnotmeetstories at gmail.com and if you want

[00:45:05] to get bonus episodes every single week, a sneak peek at all of the upcoming podcasts as well as other bonus material and exclusive merch head over to patreon.com forward slash let's not meet

[00:45:17] podcast to support the show and join today. I'll see you guys next week for a brand new episode.