9x23: The Island and All of Its Disappointments - Let's Not Meet

[00:00:00] This podcast contains adult language and content. If you have a story to share, send it to letsnotmeetstories at gmail.com. Enjoy the show. My name is Andrew Tate and this is Season 9, Episode 23 of Lets Not Meet, A True Horror Podcast.

[00:00:26] I recently picked up the habit of listening to this podcast while working in a laboratory. Working with microbes can be boring sometimes, but this podcast definitely helps keep things interesting. While I enjoy knowing that people who have shared their experiences made it out safe,

[00:01:08] it has brought back some unpleasant memories of my own experiences that I've tried to suppress for so long. Today I will be sharing one of them. I hope letting it out into the open will gain some kind of peace of mind for me.

[00:01:23] I'm currently 26 years old, I'm a pharmacist, but the story I'm about to share happened when I was a 20 year old student. Some quick insight into my life before I continue. I'm a female Muslim and the youngest of my siblings, which all together has made me overly

[00:01:41] protected and sheltered. I have never felt unsafe nor have I had to care for my surroundings. I genuinely believed that all people had the same upbringing that I had, to always be nice and cause no harm.

[00:01:57] I was constantly surrounded by my older siblings, parents, and a small community. In simpler words, I was young and naive. I was a good student, I was part of a pharmaceutical research team at my university which happened

[00:02:14] to receive a one month research scholarship at one of the finest universities in Indonesia. Just my luck, the entire scholarship was deferred to another university in a different country, which I'll refer to as the island.

[00:02:32] Don't get me wrong, the island is nice, but needless to say, I was very unhappy with the change in plans. I even considered a downgrade, but I took the opportunity for a 20 year old who has never left home.

[00:02:48] I remained optimistic and excited to finally be on my own as a grown up in a foreign country away from everything that I was used to. I headed to the island with my friend who was also a researcher.

[00:03:01] We were excited and ready to have the time of our lives. This trip was during the month of August, which is a time when most residents of the island left and vacationed somewhere less painfully hot.

[00:03:13] I remember asking our guide when we got there why the island was so empty. The guide answered, why would anyone want to stay in the heat of August on the island? Boy was he right.

[00:03:28] Being a fully covered woman with a hijab on an island with 102 degree weather, to say the least, was unbearable. It was so humid I could see water droplets suspended in the air.

[00:03:42] Now I'm flexible, I'm an easy going person, so I tried to look past all of the unpleasant sides of this trip and make the most of it, but it was difficult. I wasn't enjoying myself whatsoever, especially since everyone else who was a part of this

[00:03:57] scholarship was spending their time on the beach and in the water. That was literally the only thing to do in that part of the island. I really wanted to enjoy it all, but I just couldn't breathe under the hijab and the heat.

[00:04:12] I started spending most of my time with my friend inside the empty dorm room. My friend didn't seem to mind being indoors all the time, clicking away on her mobile screen. I, on the other hand, was upset about wasting time indoors.

[00:04:27] I was ready to do anything to make this trip count, so I convinced her to wake up early so that we could walk to the beach before sunrise. I wanted to spend some time outside in the cooler air and watch the sunrise with my friend,

[00:04:42] then return to the dorm before it got too hot. She agreed, along with this other guy who we'll call Adam. Adam was a nice guy we befriended on the island, and he decided to join our small adventure. I set my alarm and woke up at 2.45 in the morning.

[00:04:59] I got dressed and went to check on my friend to see if she was ready. I banged on her door, and called her cell phone fifteen times, but nothing. I wasn't concerned. I've seen this girl sleep before. It's like she goes into a coma.

[00:05:14] I decided then I was still going, with or without her. I rang Adam to see where he was. He picked up the phone, mumbled his apologies for not coming, and said that he was too sleepy to do anything.

[00:05:28] Determined and pissed, I carried my backpack and ventured towards the beach. Quick reminder, I was stupid and naive. Walking alone in the middle of the night in a foreign country as a female was the dumbest thing I had ever done. I didn't realize the danger until it happened.

[00:05:48] When I was halfway through this twenty minute walk, I reached the main road where I had to cross to enter a neighborhood of empty villas that led to the beach. I looked to my right to see if any other cars were coming before crossing to the other side.

[00:06:04] All of a sudden, a rusty white car appeared with two middle-aged men inside. My eyes met the guy in the driver's seat. Time stopped for a second, and I started to realize what a bad idea all of this was.

[00:06:20] The driver smirked, and my heart sank into my stomach. I crossed the road and started walking faster. I was so mad at my friend and Adam, and the entire stupid trip to the island. I knew I couldn't call anyone.

[00:06:35] My friend was in her sleep coma, and I would be dead before she even picked up. My head rushed with a million thoughts, and a tear rolled down my cheek. Then I heard the rusty white car turn from the main road and enter the empty neighborhood

[00:06:52] that I was walking through. I froze. I couldn't think. It was pitch black, and all that I saw was the light coming from the headlights of their car behind me. Then I heard one of the guys say something in their own language, and all I understood

[00:07:09] was the word, stop. I continued walking and pretended to be invisible. The guy says in this sing-songy voice, we see you. Both of the men laughed. I couldn't get my legs to take another step. I froze again. The car stopped too.

[00:07:31] They sat there watching me from behind while I panicked. Then I heard the doors of the car open. The adrenaline in my body kicked in, and fight or flight had taken the wheel. I noticed the villa to my right had lights on inside.

[00:07:48] I headed to the door and knocked. As cool and confident as I could be, I took my phone out and pretended to call my imaginary friend inside this villa. I made sure to be loud enough to be heard. At first, I couldn't get any words out.

[00:08:05] My voice was shaky and pathetic. It sounded so fragile. I could barely hear myself. I was disappointed in my weakness, but then frustration and fear helped me become louder. Still, on my fake phone call, all I said was, I can't believe you got me out this late,

[00:08:27] and you're taking so long to open the door. I'm right outside. I said some other things to imply that a man was inside the villa waiting for me. By some kind of miracle, these creepy men bought it.

[00:08:40] They got back into their car, and they drove by slowly while gazing intensely in my direction. So intensely that it made me feel like I was naked, even while fully covered. They drove away, and I could tell that this villa was empty.

[00:08:57] As I said before, residents of the island always leave during the hotter months. I needed to find another solution, as I knew that those two creeps would circle back again soon. I felt like I couldn't make it back to the dorm or go to the beach.

[00:09:12] I had to think fast, so I ran towards the backyard of this empty villa and desperately looked around. I found two large bins that I could fit into. I jumped inside one of them, hugging my knees and trying to be as silent as possible.

[00:09:28] I was mouthing every prayer that I knew. After a few seconds, I heard the car driving along the street again. They drove back and forth three more times until they finally stopped. I heard the car doors open, and the men stepped out.

[00:09:45] My breathing grew heavier, and my heart was beating so hard it was about to leave my chest. I heard the men talking to each other, but I couldn't understand a single word. They sounded angry and frustrated. One of them yelled the word, bitch.

[00:10:01] They were walking around looking for me. After what seemed like an eternity, they finally gave up. They got back into their rusty white car and drove away. I stayed inside the bin, crying and hushing my own tears in complete shock.

[00:10:16] I remember feeling extremely sleepy and wanting to rest my head for a few minutes against the wall of the bin. I closed my eyes and allowed myself to have a few moments of sobbing and exhaustion until my breathing regulated itself. The sun was rising at this point.

[00:10:34] I could finally see my surroundings. Feeling safer, I climbed out of the bin. I jumped out and I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket. Adam was calling. He felt bad for bailing on me and bought breakfast. He was heading towards where I was, almost at the beach.

[00:10:52] He wanted me to meet him. I broke down completely and started bawling my eyes out, speaking in three languages at a time. I told Adam everything that happened. He tried to calm me down while we were still on the phone.

[00:11:06] When we met up, he ran to me and apologized profusely. He said that he didn't think I would try to go to the beach by myself. Adam took me back to my dorm after I told him the whole story and calmed down.

[00:11:19] He made sure that I was safe and well on my own. All while my friend was still fast asleep. After this incident, I only had ten days left before returning back home.

[00:11:31] I spent the remainder of the time in the laboratory, in the dorm, or with the rest of the group but never alone. I never saw the sunrise on the island. I also never saw those two creepy men who tried to do God knows what to me again.

[00:11:46] I returned home where I never mentioned this story to my family or anyone else, pretending I had the time of my life. This story is about the last time I didn't trust what my gut was saying about a person.

[00:12:12] For some background, my medical school divided up students into two big groups. These groups would go to the same classes and labs, but the groups didn't interact with each other, at least not that much. During our first year, my roommate, Anne, started dating one of our classmates, John.

[00:12:32] John and Anne were not in the same group that I was. I only interacted with John when I was at our apartment. He seemed nice, he was intelligent, funny, and personable.

[00:12:45] I didn't have a reason not to like him, but I had a gut feeling about him and I didn't want to be around him. I forced myself to include him in conversations and gatherings and just be okay with it. I figured my gut feeling had to be wrong.

[00:13:04] After about a month or two of Anne and John hanging out, the three of us went to a dance hosted by our school. We got ready and pre-gamed together. It was a lot of fun at first.

[00:13:15] Eventually, I separated from them to be with some friends but met up with them when it was time to leave. We took the elevator down to the parking lot. I was sober at this point. John appeared to be sober as well. Anne was not.

[00:13:32] I looked over because I felt eyes on me. John was staring, looking me up and down. I wanted to throw up. He made a comment about mine and Anne's bodies being combined on the same person and it would make the perfect woman. It was graphic.

[00:13:51] I wanted to scream but all that I could muster was an empathetic, no. I honestly can't remember if he even responded. I remember seeing Anne's eyes well up with tears. She remained silent. I drove us back to our apartment in complete silence.

[00:14:10] The whole time I was driving I was thinking of how I could get Anne away from John. This comment really scared me. I knew what John was after and with Anne being drunk I was confident John would take advantage.

[00:14:26] When we got to our apartment, Anne immediately took her dog outside for a quick walk. She took John's phone so that she could use the flashlight because her phone had died at the dance. John stayed inside. I could tell that Anne was pissed.

[00:14:43] Meanwhile, I wanted to get away from John so badly that I locked the door and took a quick shower. When I got out of the shower I heard Anne yelling. After I put on my clothes I walked into the living room and Anne was screaming at John

[00:14:58] telling him to get the fuck out. He was apologizing and begging to stay. I happened to be 3-4 inches taller than John so I'd like to think that he was probably intimidated by me. I calmly told him he needed to leave. He just stared at me.

[00:15:17] He then attempted to plead his case with me but I told him again, leave and he left. I followed him out with pepper spray in hand. I made sure that he got into his car and he drove away. When I was back inside Anne grabbed me and sobbed.

[00:15:35] She told me that while she had his phone she looked through his messages. She found out that he had been sleeping with another woman. Their last meeting was as recent as two weeks prior. He also had nude pictures of other women on his phone.

[00:15:50] Anne also found out that John had been buying and using cocaine. After Anne returned from walking her dog she came back inside and confronted him. After this John started leaving letters for Anne at our place. Her name was written all over them with different colored pens.

[00:16:10] He wrote various phrases in different colors for emphasis. The notes were mainly John telling Anne how much he loved her. He also sent me a message telling me that he had no idea what happened that night because he was so drunk. Gross.

[00:16:24] Eventually this fizzled out but things got worse. I met a friend who told me that prior to everything that had happened with Anne, John had been assaulting other women in the class.

[00:16:38] He had forced himself on one of our classmates at a party and had to be dragged away. He was also attempting to pull my friend into an Uber while making vile sexual comments to her. Her story only confirmed everything that I already knew about John.

[00:16:55] During the third year of the program, students are sent to different hospitals for clinical rotations. John was sent to a hospital far away from me. He started pursuing another student at his hospital site. When she continually rejected his advances, his actions escalated.

[00:17:13] He urinated on her car and attempted to break into our apartment multiple times. The last time he tried breaking into our apartment, the security camera that she set up caught footage of him. He was arrested. No one knows much about what happened to John after that.

[00:17:30] I'm honestly not sure if the school had expelled him or what. But at graduation, I saw that he was omitted from our class list. I heard from a former classmate that he was back in his hometown working at a fast food restaurant.

[00:17:46] While I'm glad to hear that he was not allowed to become a doctor, I'm very afraid for any woman who crosses his path. I feel sick thinking about it. Every time I have a gut feeling and I doubt myself, I think of John and how I was right

[00:18:00] not to trust him. John, Let's Not Meet Again. I recently discovered this podcast, being a lover of scary things my whole life. I'm addicted and I realized after some thought, I experienced my own let's not meet situation a long time ago.

[00:18:34] It just hasn't been in the front of my mind for a while. I decided to send this in as it feels okay to speak about it now. This was back in 2010 or 2011 when I was 17.

[00:18:48] I had my driver's license and I was dating a guy who we'll call Jason. He lived a few towns over from me. I would drive about 20 minutes to see him. Being as this was my first relationship outside of my small town, it was a pretty big deal

[00:19:02] for me. My small town only had about 3 shops, a grocery store, a hardware store, and a dairy queen. I wasn't a popular kid. People were weirded out by me because I was very depressed. I was an anxious child.

[00:19:18] I was bullied most of my years in school and I had been stuck with the same people since kindergarten so when I came across a guy who was interested in me and in a different town, I was very excited.

[00:19:33] During the late summer, Jason and I were trying to have all the fun that we could before school started. We went to a popular state park 30 miles from where I lived that had a bit of everything. We loved going there.

[00:19:45] There's a huge man-made lake in this park that has a lot of activities to do around it, camping, boating, fishing, and even a beach which was really just some sand on the shore of this man-made lake.

[00:19:59] Being from the Midwest and not a coastal state, it's what we had. Usually we would bring friends or Jason's younger sister out with us, but on this day everyone was busy with other plans so we decided to go and have an afternoon alone at the beach.

[00:20:17] We went swimming for a little bit before driving around the lake to where there were many individual fishing spots. We settled on this spot that seemed like it would be good to fish from as it was close to the water's edge.

[00:20:32] This spot looked as if it was more set up for a picnic since it had a couple of picnic tables and one of those cast iron grills stuck into the ground. The area was a circular shape with a small gravel parking area along the open edge.

[00:20:48] We parked and we went to sit at the tables to get a better look at the water. I was wearing cargo shorts and a bikini top with a zip-up hoodie. My hoodie was unzipped as we had just been swimming and I wanted to wear it because

[00:21:02] it was a little chilly out when we got out of the water. My boyfriend was wearing a t-shirt and basketball shorts along with converse shoes. We were talking and sitting on one of the picnic tables.

[00:21:15] As we were talking, a truck pulled up next to my car and parked facing our direction. We thought nothing of it since there were two picnic tables in this area. As we were sitting there, Jason leaned in to kiss me.

[00:21:29] It was only a short kiss since the strange truck was just sitting there watching. The table happened to be oriented to where the lake was on one side of us in the gravel parking lot while at a distance was on the other side.

[00:21:43] A man got out of the truck that was parked next to my car. He seemed to be middle-aged. He was wearing pretty non-notable clothing, just jeans and a green t-shirt. He was standing next to his truck.

[00:21:56] We still thought nothing of this but we figured he had to have gotten out for a reason. A few minutes passed and the man was still standing there. We never looked directly at him, but out of our peripheral vision we realized he was facing us and just staring.

[00:22:16] This is where we started to get a little weirded out because not only was he staring at us, we were alone with this man. Jason and I had the quietest conversation about the situation and tried to figure out

[00:22:29] a plan to move past him to get into our car. We didn't want to go while he was standing between my car and his truck, especially because he was blocking my way to the driver's side door.

[00:22:43] We tried not to look directly at the man because we didn't want to make it seem like we noticed him. After about 15 minutes the man was still standing there. Jason and I were busy talking so we honestly just forgot about him.

[00:22:57] By then, Jason shifted from sitting on the table to being on his feet. He moved to be closer to me. I leaned towards Jason so that I was looking directly at the parking area.

[00:23:09] A little more time passed and I subtly peeked around Jason to try and see if the man was doing anything. My eyes must have been wide as saucers because Jason immediately asked, what's wrong? The man was still standing in that same exact spot. Then things took a turn.

[00:23:28] I focused a bit more and I saw that the man had undone his pants. He was doing exactly what you think he would be doing, and I don't mean pissing in broad daylight. At this point I was panicking but I tried to stay quiet. I whispered to Jason.

[00:23:46] I told him what he was doing. I didn't care if this man knew that I could see him anymore and neither did Jason. I typically carried a knife around with me, but this being a chill beach day, I didn't carry a bag of any kind.

[00:24:02] Of course, this was the one time when I didn't have my knife on me. Since there were shooting areas around the park that was open year round, we figured that this guy could be carrying a gun for all we knew. I felt truly powerless in this situation.

[00:24:18] Jason frantically looked around. It seemed like the man finally knew that we knew what he was doing. I guess it just stoked the fire or maybe he assumed we didn't care because he continued. Jason whispered, stay here, don't move. I've got a plan.

[00:24:39] Jason casually strolled off to a little alcove among the trees. As I said, the area was circular in shape with an opening. Imagine instead of cutting an orange in half, you just cut the top part off.

[00:24:54] There had been a storm a few days before that left some fallen branches and things in many places throughout the park. There was a big fallen tree branch off to the side that was about 5 or 6 inches in diameter and it was about 6 feet long.

[00:25:09] It almost looked like a small tree. I kept my eyes glued to the man out of fear but I broke my gaze when Jason suddenly let out a yell. Jason reappeared in front of me with the 6 foot branch in hand running directly at the

[00:25:25] guy as he screamed and yelled. He was holding the branch above his head as if he were ready to beat the shit out of the man. I have never seen anyone scramble so fast to get into a car. The man didn't even bother with his pants.

[00:25:42] He left them undone as he got back into his truck. He quickly started the truck and backed out. Jason dropped the branch and yelled at me to jump in the car so that we could follow the man and file a report with the park rangers.

[00:25:54] We jumped into my car and quickly caught up to him. I'm pretty sure that the man thought Jason and I were going to stay behind because he had been driving the speed limit until we showed up behind him.

[00:26:05] At this point, it was about 6 in the evening so the sun was looking like it was going to set soon and the park was beginning to clear out. The roads in the park had varying speed limits ranging from 20 to 35 miles per hour.

[00:26:17] The man started speeding going about 45 when he realized that we were right behind him. We tried to keep up with him so that we could gather information about his vehicle. The man hit a turn faster than I was willing to go.

[00:26:30] I wanted to avoid rolling my car so I slowed down and he was able to lose me. I still remember his vehicle to this day. It was a two-door Ford Ranger from the early 2000s. The color was dark green but the tailgate was a burgundy color.

[00:26:46] Unfortunately, there was no license plate on the back of that truck which was the main thing the park rangers seemed to focus on when we filed our report with them. Without the license plate number, they couldn't really narrow down exactly who the truck belonged to.

[00:27:01] All the park rangers still went out to patrol the park mainly focusing on the area that we last saw him. We gave them my phone number and physical description of the man then headed out.

[00:27:13] When we got to Jason's town, we hung out at a park by a church in his neighborhood trying to make conversation about anything except for what just happened. I got a call from an unknown number and it was a nearby area code so I answered.

[00:27:27] It was the ranger station. The ranger on the phone said that they patrolled the whole area but never found the man in the dark green truck. They made a report with the local police station to keep an eye out for the vehicle and they

[00:27:38] included the description of the man. They apologized to us for having to experience that in their park stating that they rarely have incidents like this happen. They said that we were very brave for chasing him down and appreciated that we had a decent description.

[00:27:56] I was glad that they took things seriously and didn't think that we were just some dumb teenagers. Jason and I split up a year after this. He actually passed away in the fall of 2018. I used to wonder every once in a while if Jason remembered this happening.

[00:28:12] I always wondered if he had ever gone back to that park. We never went there together after this but I personally have been back to that state park many times since. I haven't told many people about this, just my best friend and my fiancé.

[00:28:27] It still feels disgusting and almost violating when I think about it. All we wanted to do was be teenagers and enjoy the rest of our summer but this man left a lasting sick feeling in our stomachs.

[00:28:41] So to the creepy man who got off by watching teenagers sitting in a park, let's never meet. This was during the summer after my junior year of college. The college that I went to was very big and well known in my state.

[00:29:08] If you were to picture my college, it has a busier side where the roads are always filled with cars and college students walking around. Then there was a quiet side that was a little rural where you could rarely see anyone or any cars.

[00:29:25] During this summer of 2018, I worked in the office for a summer program. I worked the second shift which started at 2.30 in the afternoon and ended at 10.30 at night. The summer program office was located on the quiet rural side of the college.

[00:29:44] I lived on campus so when I finished my shift, I would walk home every night. Due to my college being so big, all of the students are subscribed to an email list maintained by the campus police.

[00:29:57] Whenever there was a crime, students would get an email or text about the incident for their safety. One time we got a notification about an attempted kidnapping of a college student. This incident happened in a dark parking lot on the rural side of the campus.

[00:30:14] She was walking around listening to music, not being super aware of her surroundings. A man pulled into the dark parking lot and tried to shove her into his car. He threatened her with a knife but she fought back and was able to get away.

[00:30:30] That parking lot was right next to the summer program where I was working. Of course, being a girl who is very observant and watches a lot of crime shows, I guess I've learned from a lot of these stories, I don't walk home listening to music at night.

[00:30:47] I try to walk on streets with many cars and people on them. If I'm alone, I walk in open areas with a lot of lights so I can clearly see my surroundings. I make eye contact with all of those around me especially if they are suspicious so it

[00:31:02] sends them a message. I also have a phone tracker app so my friends and family always know my location. One night I was ending my shift and getting ready to leave. It felt like any regular evening. As always, I was mentally prepared to protect myself before walking home.

[00:31:23] My walk home wasn't too far. I would say it took me about fifteen minutes. I had to cross two busy streets but the other streets that I crossed were usually quiet. I took my usual route.

[00:31:37] I exited the office building and followed a brightly lit street down the hill before I hit the first busy street. This hill was always eerily quiet. In fact, it was the street where a Jane Doe was found dumped behind bushes back in the

[00:31:53] early 1900s so yes, I was always on the lookout for my surroundings as I walked. As I got to the first busy street, I saw a gentleman on the left near the opposite side of the crosswalk.

[00:32:07] I remember taking note of what he was wearing because it was an odd outfit to wear during a hot summer night. He wore a white hat and had these white pants with a black stripe down the sides.

[00:32:20] He was looking down and pacing back and forth which I thought was odd so I watched him as I crossed the street toward him. When I was two to three steps from being at the end of the crosswalk, he noticed me and

[00:32:34] he acted like he was going to cross from my left to my right side towards the other crosswalk. When I stepped onto the sidewalk, I stopped for a second and I faced where I wanted to go.

[00:32:47] At that moment, this man shifted his direction and walked toward where I wanted to go as well. Where I wanted to go was a dark stretch of road right before I hit the second busy street.

[00:33:00] The walk down this dark stretch was about one hundred yards and it was the quietest part of the walk to get home. I didn't panic though. I calmly thought, hmm, that's odd. I hesitated a couple of seconds and I let him go first.

[00:33:16] He was probably about fifteen to twenty-five feet ahead of me when I started walking. I continued to watch him carefully as I walked. He kept turning his head from side to side to get a side glimpse of me. He was trying not to make it obvious.

[00:33:34] He was acting like he was looking for something. Then I noticed he slowed his pace. That's when I started to panic. He was walking abnormally slow and I one hundred percent did not want to pass him.

[00:33:48] I didn't want him to be behind me and try to ambush me so I slowed my pace. My heart started to pound hard because I was in the middle of a dark street with this man. I was scared that he was going to turn around and attack me.

[00:34:05] With this being my usual route, I was familiar with my surroundings and I thought about my options. I was prepared to scream if I needed to. I kept him in my sight at all times and I didn't blink.

[00:34:17] I was holding my breath trying not to make a sound so that he didn't know exactly where I was. He was in front of me so his back was still turned to me. I thought of how scary it would be if I decided to walk ahead of him.

[00:34:32] I was begging and praying for nothing to happen. I hoped that if I kept my distance and I didn't lose sight of him, I would eventually get to the second busy street safely.

[00:34:43] The man picked up to a normal pace again which was a slight relief but I continued to keep my distance. When I finally got to the end of this dark street, he stopped and turned left onto a busy street.

[00:34:56] Being a college student that walked around campus all the time, I could tell this man did not have a destination or route. I could tell that he was just randomly guessing where to go next because he appeared to be staring into space as he made these decisions.

[00:35:12] When I finally got to the busy street, I felt much safer. I saw students walking around and the street was very well lit. I looked to my left and I saw him walking away.

[00:35:23] This was a bigger street and I crossed so that I would be opposite of him. Then I turned left. I immediately called my roommate and I stayed on the phone with her the rest of the way home.

[00:35:35] I looked around my surroundings just in case he was somehow following me home but I didn't see him. When I got home, I was sweating and nervous. My roommate didn't think that it was anything serious and thought that I was overthinking things.

[00:35:52] Well, the next morning I checked my email. There was an email from campus police. It was about a sexual assault incident that happened the night before. This incident happened on the same big street where I saw the man.

[00:36:11] And the same time that I was walking home which was nearly 11 at night. The description of the attacker matched the man that I saw. White pants with a black stripe. I showed the email to my roommate and she was in shock.

[00:36:30] Thanks to my gut instinct, I was able to prevent something seriously dangerous happening to me. And to that man wearing the white pants with the black stripes, let's not ever meet again. I'm not one to scare easily.

[00:36:59] I can count on one hand how many times I've genuinely been scared throughout my life. My sister and I grew up watching scary movies together from the time that I was old enough to talk.

[00:37:12] Because of this, I very much enjoy engaging in activities with high levels of creep factor like going into the woods and hiking at night. I always welcomed the chance to be scared though it rarely ever happens.

[00:37:27] On this particular day, I was terrified for my life which was a big fucking deal. I live in the Pacific Northwest. The forest is a lush wonderland during the spring and summer months teeming with wildlife and outdoor enthusiasts alike.

[00:37:44] The forest is even paradise in the fall offering much needed relief from the summer heat not to mention the leaves changing from green to a gorgeous red or fiery orange. The forest can be creepy during this time of year for many different reasons though.

[00:38:00] None of which have anything to do with Sasquatch. Not long ago, I decided to go for a hike on a crisp fall day. The sky was gloomy and the air was quite chill but it wasn't enough to keep me out of the woods.

[00:38:15] When I arrived at the trail, there was only one other vehicle besides mine. I was glad that the weather seemed to have kept most everyone inside. I felt like I had the trail all to myself even though there was another car in the parking lot.

[00:38:30] The chance of crossing paths with whoever owned that car seemed unlikely. Once I began to hike, I have to admit that I was a little on edge. There were warning signs of bear activity posted at the start of the trail and if there

[00:38:44] was any chance of crossing paths with a bear, this would be the time of year for it. Typically, I never hike without a gun especially a loaded gun because the area was rife with bears and other predatory wildlife.

[00:39:00] But it was a spontaneous decision to go hiking on the way home from an afternoon at the shooting range. My magazine happened to be empty but I took a gun with me anyway.

[00:39:11] As I made my way up the trail, I noticed several piles of bear scat on the ground which made me hyper aware of my surroundings. Suddenly I heard a noise coming from the tree line alongside the trail. I immediately froze and when I did this, the noise stopped.

[00:39:27] After a moment, I continued up the path and instantly heard the noise again but this time I saw movement from the corner of my eye. I was sure that I was being stalked by a bear but it wasn't long before I realized I was

[00:39:39] actually being stalked by a man. Realizing that I had noticed him, this older man and his dog walked onto the trail from inside the tree line and approached me at a section of the trail that intersected with five or six other trails.

[00:39:56] The man was of average build but seemed fairly out of shape and his appearance was overly neat. He had this creepy smile on his face and I didn't understand why he was smiling at me in such an odd way.

[00:40:10] He greeted me and asked how my day was going. We made a bit of small talk and then he asked me if I was hiking alone all while maintaining that creepy smile throughout our entire exchange. Stupidly I told the man that I was hiking alone.

[00:40:26] Then he asked if he could hike with me. I didn't know this man from Adam so I declined his offer. At that moment he purposely dropped the leash from his extremely well behaved dog.

[00:40:40] I'm not an expert on dog breeds so I didn't exactly know what kind of dog it was but I was familiar enough to know that it was a hunting breed. The dog ran up to me and sniffed.

[00:40:52] This all seemed very odd like it was some sort of training exercise and I was some sort of prey. I felt like I needed to get out of this situation immediately. Before we parted ways he asked me which way the main trail was so I pointed him toward

[00:41:08] the direction of the parking lot. Thinking that he must have been trying to get back to his car, right? I continued hiking up a different trail that I chose from the intersection and as I headed

[00:41:21] up the path I turned my head back and I saw the man was still standing there. In that same spot that I had left him. I kept going and once I got around the first bend I looked behind me again.

[00:41:36] This time I saw the man coming up that same path that I was on. I was shocked. Why was he on the same trail as me? Not only had I pointed him in the direction of the parking lot which was the opposite

[00:41:48] way of where I was going but there were five or six other trails that this man could have chosen why did he choose mine? I was getting nervous. I was already on edge from the bear activity warning signs and now more intense feelings

[00:42:04] of dread began to wash over me. I quickly started going back over the encounter. I thought about all of the red flags that I chose to ignore, the way that he seemed

[00:42:14] to be stalking me like an animal through the tree line, asking to hike with me, and that creepy smile. I didn't know if this man was out for a brisk hike and a friendly conversation or

[00:42:27] if he meant to cause me harm but I didn't want to find out so I put as much distance between the two of us as possible. I huffed it up the trail going as fast as I could.

[00:42:39] Each time I glanced over my shoulder the man was following behind. He was keeping the same pace that I was which I knew had to be purposeful. I was pushing myself as hard as I could which meant that he was doing the same.

[00:42:55] After several minutes of this it was apparent that he was definitely following me. At that point I considered all kinds of horrific scenarios. It's worth mentioning that I'm a pretty big guy so if this man who was much smaller

[00:43:10] than me intended to cause me harm he would need alternative means to overpower me. I continued my intense pace up the trail while planning my next move, to get off the path.

[00:43:23] Either side of the trail had a drop or wall so I was forced to stay on it until finally I spotted a tiny game trail. It looked too small for me to squeeze through so I continued on the trail which turned into a long uphill straight away.

[00:43:39] By this point I was overcome with sheer exhaustion. I had reached the apex of my physical ability to go any further. My only option was to turn back to the small game trail that I had passed 20 feet back.

[00:43:55] Before I turned back I spit on the ground several times to try and throw off the scent for the dog. Thinking back I realized that this man must have dropped that leash earlier when I met

[00:44:07] him so that the dog could sniff me and have a scent to follow me. I turned back and squeezed through the tiny game trail that was hardly big enough for a small animal, let alone a large man.

[00:44:19] It wasn't long before I started going uphill so I climbed up that trail until it became too steep for me to go any further. To the right of the trail was a large rocky mound of dirt with some sort of vegetation

[00:44:32] growing on top of it which was my only option so I crawled over the rock mound trying not to leave any tracks behind. Once I made it over the mound there was nowhere else for me to go except for the slight depression in the ground.

[00:44:48] As I was sitting on the cold damp ground in this depression up a small and incredibly steep game trail in the middle of nowhere I began taking stock of the situation and how it had gotten out of control.

[00:45:02] I realized how ridiculous this whole thing was and I started thinking that maybe I was just being paranoid. But what if I wasn't? Three worst case scenarios came to mind. The first worst case scenario, once the man realizes I'm no longer on the trail he'll

[00:45:18] look around for me. Second, he stops at that small game trail that I was hiding on. And third, he and his dog actually walk up that small game trail. Sure enough the first worst case scenario played out.

[00:45:33] From where I was sitting I couldn't see the man but I could hear his footsteps coming back down the trail. Then I heard him stop at the entrance of the game trail. By now I was thinking that surely this man wasn't going to try and squeeze through this

[00:45:49] tiny game trail with his dog. Just as that thought entered my mind, I heard it. He was climbing up that game trail. All three of my worst case scenarios had come to pass. I was being hunted. Come on where'd he go? Come on boy where'd he go?

[00:46:10] I heard the man say. I decided to get my gun out even though it wasn't loaded. I planned to use it as a visual deterrent to try and scare the man off if nothing else. I pulled out my gun as I heard him getting closer.

[00:46:26] My heart jumped into my throat when I heard the man and his dog pass the point where the trail became too steep and narrow that you had to get on your hands and knees to get over this rocky hump that I was hiding behind.

[00:46:39] I started to think of all the things that I did wrong. I told the man that I was hiking alone. I wasn't listening to my inner voice. I didn't tell anybody where I was going and I had an unloaded gun.

[00:46:51] The man's dog had followed my scent up that game trail to the point where the rocky mound was the only thing separating us. They were so close I could hear the man breathing, which meant that if I could hear them they could probably hear me.

[00:47:10] I pulled my sweater over my face with one hand and tried to muffle my terrified breathing while I clutched my gun with my other hand. I heard the man ask again, where'd he go boy?

[00:47:26] The dog was rustling around and I could tell that that dog wanted to keep going but the man must have seen how difficult that it would be to continue because I heard him say, no way.

[00:47:37] After what felt like an eternity, I heard the man and his dog head back down the game trail. My panic started to slowly dissipate but I was still terrified. I heard him get back onto the main trail so I continued to listen.

[00:47:52] I wondered if he was going to head back up towards the straightaway to look for me or go back down the way that I would need to go to return to my car. A wave of relief came over me when I heard them continue up the straightaway.

[00:48:08] After waiting a few minutes to make sure that I didn't hear him come back down, I crawled over the rocky mound and squeezed my way back down the steep game trail.

[00:48:18] As soon as my feet hit the ground, I ran, practically all the way back down to the parking lot, all on pure adrenaline. I looked over my shoulder and flinched at every noise that I heard on the way back down.

[00:48:32] I'm relieved to say that I made it back to my car safely without crossing paths with the man and his dog or getting eaten by a bear. I haven't gone back to hike that particular trail ever since that terrifying day.

[00:48:48] So to the creepy man and his dog who hunted me like an animal, congratulations, you scared me, but let's not ever meet again.

[00:49:35] The Huge Stick by Koala Bear Trust Your Gut by Peng And finally, Hunted in the Creepy Woods of the Pacific Northwest by Ron All of the stories you've heard this week were narrated and produced with the permission of their respective authors.

[00:49:51] Let's Not Meet, a true horror podcast, is not associated with Reddit or any of the message boards online. As always, if you have a story to share, send it to letsnotmeetstories at gmail.com. And don't forget to check out the new episodes of my other podcasts, Odd Trails,

[00:50:05] The True Paranormal Podcast, as well as the old-time radio cast over at crypticcountypodcasts.com. I'll see y'all next week. Stay safe.