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People say I’m crazy, insane, and belong in the asylum. I don’t know why. I tell people that they visit whenever I am in the deepest of holes, when the neglect comes to the surface, or when I’m bored. I tell them that they don’t talk much, they are mostly just there. They can be on the floor, the walls, the ceiling, the sky, the dark. They look different from the people you see everyday. Like people, though, they come in different shapes and sizes, tall, short, large, small, and all inbetween. What really makes them different is that you can’t see their features. I like to call them the shadow people, because they look like someone's shadow. Before you tell me they don’t exist, they do, I swear. If they don’t exist, then why do I see them everyday? If they don’t exist, then why do they whisper to me every time I am sad, mad, or frustrated? If they don’t exist, then who do I talk to every night? That reminds me, they are also good listeners. They don’t interrupt, they don’t laugh at me, they don’t walk away, they don’t even move an inch. I talk to them in the morning, in class, at the field, but I especially talk to them at night. At night, it’s easier, they are around longer, its also the time when we are in private. I talk to them about my problems, my victories, and everything in between. They listen to everything. They don’t talk about themselves though. They never do. Everyone says, “lock her up in the asylum,” or, “she is insane,” or even, “stop lying for attention.” I’m not lying, I swear they are real. The only thing that I don’t like about them, is that they can become scary sometimes. Like sometimes, maybe after every day or 2, they get mean, scary, frightening. I am sure they are just messing with me though. When they get scary, they screech, a frightening, demonic, screech. They scratch me until my arms and legs get bloody. They yell at me sometimes too, with the same demonic and frightening voice. “You're worthless,” or, “You are going to hell.” At the end of it all, I am shaking and crying. After all that, they say sorry and leave. They come back after a few hours though and we go back to normal. My mother and father think I scratch myself on purpose. My sister thinks I just watched a scary video to cause the shaking. People at school think that I am crying for no reason. But I'm not. Like I keep telling everyone, it's the shadow people. Kids at school hate me. Why? I don’t know. It might be because I am the only one that can talk to the shadow people. Or that I am the only one that can eat with the shadow people. Or maybe it’s because I am friends with the shadow people. But they say that they aren’t real. That they are just in my head. That they are fake. I tell them they are real, and they don’t believe me. THEY ARE REAL. THEY ARE REAL. THEY ARE REAL. PLEASE BELIEVE ME, THEY ARE REAL, RIGHT? They are real, I swear.
Its 3:29am as I write this. My best friend and I went on a late night drive to Mc Donalds everything was fine until our way back home. We heard a scary noise once we arrived in my village. It didnt sound human or like an animal. A bit like a woman but still not human. It was a scream not too far from us. We were scared. I had tears in my eyes. When we arrived at my place I asked him to escort me to the front door and he did. After I went home, changed my clothes and went to bed I heard growling first from what sounded like inside the building and then on the street outside my window. I cant sleep im too scared to. Im right now on a call with my girlfriend telling her how scared I am. I hope it will become day time soon. That thing sounded like a vendigo or a skin walker. Before this happend I wasn’t sure if I should believe in those things but now I do. What should I do this situation?
I’m a stay-at-home dad, and I usually do nothing most of the time since my kids went to summer camp for 3 weeks, about 3 days ago. I was thinking about getting a job since I didn’t wanna be a lazy bum just sitting around the house while my wife was hard at work. Then I saw my neighbor, he was taking out the garbage. Which isn’t odd, I mean it’s just taking out the trash after all. Until I saw how many bags he had. He had about 4-5 garbage bags that looked full. But I shook it off, maybe he was a slob and finally cleaning up, or just neglecting to take the trash out, who knows? And I continued with my day. The next day though, at around 4 PM I believe. I saw him taking more trash bags out, this time there were like 6 of them. I was starting to get confused, thinking about how is there still so many full trash bag’s in that damn house? I know I shouldn’t pry on people’s lives, so I didn’t bother. I mean, maybe he just got tired and procrastinated to take the rest out later. I just stopped my head from wrapping around it and just applied for part-time jobs. I entered resumé and I’ll just wait until one calls me back. Which took longer than expected. Tomorrow at 9, I still haven’t heard anything back, other than a few rejection letters from a couple. I looked out my window to see what my neighbors were doing, and I saw him. Doing the same thing as the last 2 days. He only had about 3 bags this time around, but my curiosity was getting the better of me. I needed to ask him what the hell was up with the bags, I shouldn't snoop, but I wanted to know. Maybe it was just a normal reason, who knows? I didn’t even change outside of my pajamas, I just ran up to him while in my bed-wear and flip-flops, which I hastily put on. I ran up to him and asked him “Why are you taking so many full trash bags out lately? I don’t mean to intrude on your privacy, but I wanna know.” And he had an unreadable face as he responded with something along the lines of “Don’t worry about it, and it’s none of your business”. I also noticed the horrendous smell of the bags, but I didn’t think anything about it since it was garbage after all. But I saw some sort of red liquid slightly leak through the seem of the bag, and that’s when I quickly left. I was too paranoid for my sake, and it wasn’t helping anyone else. I also had a text saying that my wife was gonna be staying at her female friend’s house for the night after work, and I told her to send a picture when she got there safely. And at around 12:40 AM, she did just that. Since she works so late sometimes, she just crashes at her friend's place which is closer to her place of work. But later at 2 AM, I couldn’t sleep after seeing a mysterious red liquid dripping from the bags, so I decided to go through his trash. Because I might have a murderer next door and I haven’t noticed. I take the heavy trash bag out of the bin, I’m strong too, get it still was a challenge to get out of the bin. I ripped the bag open and saw a lot of legs and arms in the bag, I was horrified so much that I accidentally screamed at the top of my lungs and instantly fled the scene afterward’s, I knew there wasn’t a way he didn't get woken up by that scream. I locked myself in my house, locked the windows, closed the blinds, and called the cops. I hastily told them the situation and said they would be there in about 2-3 minutes to arrive at the neighborhood. And I waited in my home terrified. Then I heard it, I heard the noise which still haunts me from this day on. The knock on my bedroom window. I looked and saw my neighbor staring into my essence of being, with a Bowie knife in his hand. He knew I knew, and he wasn’t gonna let any witnesses go. I instantly dashed out of my room, and I heard him punching the glass, breaking and cracking it with his bare fist. I ran out through the front door and started banging on the other neighbor's doors to wake them up, but that didn’t work. I saw him chasing after me, and I ran through the street screaming for help at the top of my lungs. I saw very distant flashing lights slowly approaching, and that’s when he fled the scene, over to his house. Probably to get his belongings and skedaddle out of this town like the bastard he is. I continued running toward the lights. And slowly but surely, the police car got close enough for me to tell the officers the hellish experience I went through, and pointed them at the evil bastard’s house. And I couldn’t sleep in my own house after that, so I stayed awake the whole night. I refused to sleep until I knew he was caught, and a couple of days later, I finally got it. He was arrested at the Canadian border after trying to smuggle in some drugs with him, and he was taken by the U.S. police and sentenced for what is to be believed as 24 counts of murder. He was sentenced to 475 years in jail for his crimes. Much information about the case isn’t out yet, but that’s fine. I want nothing more to do with him. I still have a lot of trouble sleeping at night, and I'm on sleeping pills as well. I'm usually just thinking that if he broke out, I’d be his first victim. And that I'd brutality pay for his jail time. [The End.] [This is my first horror story, so I hope you enjoyed it!]
I am 16 years old and I live in a small village in austria. It started when i was in school and my teacher came in and told us that there is a Clown in Our area. We didn't think much of it until we saw him 2 hours later. He was standing in the schoolgarden. The cops were allerted and they assured us that He is gone. In the afternoon me and my friends were outside just chilling and then we saw him again. He had a knife He was just standing there. Than he walked away. And we have never seen him or heard of him ever again
The incessant dripping of a leaky tap jolted me awake. I blinked, trying to get my bearings in the dim room. But as my eyes adjusted to the murky light filtering through the blinds, I froze. Hovering inches above my face was the visage of a clown. Not the cheerful, balloon-toting variety. This was a hobo clown, with streaked, half-washed off makeup, a bulbous red nose, and a hat that had seen better days. His eyes were unreadable, and his smile... That smile seemed plastered on, an unending curve of unsettling mirth. My heart raced. Every rational fiber of my being told me to scream, to get up, to defend myself. But fear pinned me down, my voice trapped in my throat. The clown didn’t move. He simply stared, that smile never faltering. As the seconds dragged into minutes, my panic began to mingle with confusion. What did he want? Finding a shred of courage, I managed to croak out, "Who are you?" His eyes seemed to twinkle, but he remained silent. "Why are you here?" I pressed. The clown slowly sat back on his haunches, giving me a bit of breathing room. Then, in a voice raspy from disuse, he replied, "I'm here for the show." My mind raced, trying to make sense of his cryptic words. "What show?" He chuckled, the sound sending shivers down my spine. "Life, sir. The grandest show of all. You see, every person I visit has a story. Some tragic, some comedic. And I, well, I'm just here to watch." I blinked in disbelief. "You watch people?" He nodded slowly, his hat bobbing with the motion. "Yes. Everyone's a performer in this circus of life." Though terrified, curiosity got the better of me. "Why me?" His eyes grew distant, reflective. "Because tonight, you made a choice. A choice that altered the path of your tale. I wanted to see how it unfolds." Memories of the previous day's events rushed in—quitting my job, ending a toxic relationship, deciding to move cities. Choices that had felt liberating. "But why the clown getup?" I asked. The hobo clown tilted his head. "Ah, appearances can be deceptive, can't they? Just like life. One moment you're laughing, the next you're crying. The duality of existence." I lay there, absorbing his words, the absurdity of the situation becoming increasingly evident. After a pregnant pause, he stood up, his movements graceful. "Well, I best be going. Other stories await." I sat up, still processing. "Will I ever see you again?" He grinned, that smile somehow more genuine now. "Perhaps. But remember, every choice you make writes a new chapter. Make it worth the watch." With a tip of his hat, he disappeared into the shadows of my room, leaving me with a heart pounding with fear, and a mind swirling with introspection. The hobo clown was gone, but his enigmatic words remained, a haunting reminder of the choices we make and the stories they tell.
it was like a vein, but it can move anywhere and looked very big. my brother reported headaches and an excruciating world of pain in his head. 2 weeks have passed and my brother started screaming from the top of his lungs. my mother panicked, thinking something had happened to him, and rushed towards the place where he was. she was then in horror of what she saw. my brother had is eyes being bitten off clean, and from what the thing was, it was eating the eyes. my school bus arrived later, I rushed to the school bus and started the day scared. after school I learned that octopuses can fit into very small spaces, I knew what it was then, it was an octopus, and octopus squeezed into my brothers head, and is eating his eyes. I told my mom to request a head surgery ASAP, after 2 weeks of waiting the day arrived, the doctor told my brother to lay in the bed, and injected something that made him unconscious. once the skin of the forehead was removed, it had been exactly what I thought it would be. it was an octopus, still munching into an eye of my beloved brother. the doctor sent it to the ocean after replacing they eyes and stitching back the fore head. after going back home with relief, I then got a news notification, saying that a person, reported had a cuttlefish in his brain. after reading the news I knew that this octopus species, does not work alone., and this was not the last we would see of them in terms of tragedies.
Every night at 4:09 AM someone or something knocks on my door. It all started on a dark Saturday night. I was laying in bed with my fast asleep snoring husband. I couldn’t sleep because of his snoring so I decided to read some stories on Reddit. When I checked the time it was 4:07 AM. Shit. I had been reading stories for 3 full hours. I set my broken phone on my white nightstand and decided to try to fall asleep. In my trying to tune out the snoring of my husband, thats when I heard it. 4 whole knocks on my front door. I checked the time, 4:09 AM. I was startled because of the noise and the fact that how could someone be knocking at the door so late? And if it was the neighbors that isn’t possible too because they left for a 2 week vacation a couple of days ago. I decided to ignore who ever it was because I sure as heck wasn’t going to get up at 4:09 AM see who it was and open the door. I couple of minutes later I drifted off to sleep. When I finally woke up I turned expecting to see my beloved husband beside me either sleeping or awake I saw something more horrifying. Something even after therapy that you were never going to forget. I saw my husband, my poor sweet old husband was surrounded by a pool of blood. He was missing what it seemed like 4 limps and he had 409 stab wounds all over his body. I screamed so hard I think I broke some glass and my neighbors even on their vacation in Hawaii heard me. When the police saw me they immediately knew I wasn’t the one who murdered him. He was a strong, tall and buff man. He was my man. And now he was gone. The funeral was a complete blur. I only remember crying hard while his mom and my mom held me. When I got home that night I decided to sleep on the couch. I couldn’t bear sleeping in that bed knowing that my husband was murdered there. It didn’t make sense to me how I didn’t wake up. How I didn’t hear anything. When I finally feel asleep thats when I heard the exact same 4 knocks. When I checked my watch it was exactly 4:09 AM. I decided to open the door. I thought maybe it was the neighbors had flown early to console me. When I opened the door all I saw was a package and a note. On the note it said: -it was me. I was the one who murdered your husband. If you don’t want to lose someone close to you again keep opening the door every night when I knock 4 times. You will continue to open the door until the very night I stop. I brought the package inside and when I opened it i was horrified. Inside the package were my dear old husband 4 missing limbs.
I was around 4 at the time and I have no idea what I remember this I lived in a old house and my sister and me slept in the same room she got top bunk I got bottom. So living in that house was normal but one night I heard a knock on our bedroom door my sister was asleep. I ignored it but then the hallway lights turned on and I got up and checked since my dad liked to mess around and prank us. But nothing so I went back to bed. Then I heard it again *tap tap tap* the knock and I got up and then mist started coming into the room I tried waking up my sister and all she did was mumble it got cold. Then a ghost in rags came in it looked like a elder lady and I stayed frozen in fear and hid under the covers like a normal child but then when I look up again her face was pretty close to mine and she looked horrifying and she opens her mouth and she was going to do something but then,my sister wakes up and the ghost disseapers to this day I have no idea what the ghost was going to do but once I told my dad this story he said he never felt right about the room me and my sister slept in so ya. Great parenting there dad
Me, (25 F) Is still terrified of this story even though it happened in 2010. Quick context: This was my sophmore year of highschool, and it was also my first year in this particular highschool (which i will not name for safety reasons). I met this girl whom i will not name, but call j. Me and J kicked it off pretty quickly since we had a lot in common. We both liked cheer, grades, and friends. She was my only friend the whole year. 2011, Febuary 16th was when everything changed quickly. We both got into huge argument over some dumb reason. Not 100% sure it was about this but im pretty sure it was over some popular guy who went to our schol, afyer that argument we didnt talk for a whole week since she didn’t show up to school. When she finally came back i was ready to apologize but.. Something felt strange around her? She had this HORRID smell that smelt like rotten stuff, and garbage. Her clothes had multiple rips in them and her face looked so pale. I came up to her and she just stared at me like i was some random old man. I told her honestly that i was very sorry for our arugumemt, But there was no respone. She just stared at me…I then looked sround and everyone one else was staring at me like i was a physco or something. Some random girl came up to me and said, and i quote “who are you talking to? Do you need to go to the guidence councler?” I looked at her, looked back..And i was gone..Time skip 2 weeks later and j still didnt show up..I turnd the news on and they said they found an unidentified teen girls body that has been decaying for at least 2 months..I looked at the screm and it was j..?? (I forgot to mention i was the school weirdo cause i was always talking to “ghosts.”
When I was a kid, my family went to a lot of garage sales. You find the coolest stuff—to a kid, anyway. Lava lamps, old joke books, cigar boxes—these things are treasures when you’re single digits. One Saturday morning, I was wandering someone’s lawn of junk while my mom haggled over second-hand clothes. I usually looked for books, though I was still learning to read. I liked the way they smelled, liked the crisp type on the yellowing pages. Every one felt like a treasure chest, and you never knew what would be inside. But what caught my eye that day wasn’t a book. Instead, I happened across an old, honest-to-God, ink ribbon typewriter. My mom was skeptical when I tugged on her sleeve and pointed to the clunky machine, but I suppose my enthusiasm convinced her. After a few more minutes of haggling, we left with a box full of clothes, a scuffed pair of shoes, and the typewriter in tow. \* I loved that thing. I spent hours typing away, giggling with glee every time the type guide slid home with a ding! Spelling wasn’t one of my strong suits, so what I produced was barely comprehensible, but it didn’t dampen my joy a bit. Eventually, the ink ribbon ran out. I begged my mom to buy another, but she refused. Instead, the typewriter went into the closet, and eventually, I forgot about it. \* My mother kept everything. “Packrat,” is what she used to call herself. I understand it—when you’re scraping by your whole life, you don’t want to get rid of something you might need one day. But it means cleaning out a house takes a long time. I didn’t find the typewriter until a few weeks in. It was sitting on the top shelf of the hall closet, nostalgic and neglected. Despite my recent grief, I smiled seeing it. There were good memories in this place, buried under the pain. I took it down, and with it came a rain of pages. The typewriter had sat on top of a pile of paper, now scattered around my feet. Some of the pages were fresh as untouched snow. Others were yellowed and wrinkled. But—I discovered as I picked them up—they were all blank. Shuffling them into line, I brought them to the kitchen for safekeeping. And there, under the old iron chandelier, I realized there were indentions. Someone had written on them, but not in ink. Curious, I dug around in the junk drawer until I found a pencil. Starting with the oldest page, I gently shaded over the indentations, revealing the hidden words. They were disjointed, some letters and even whole words missing. But the jist of it remained. *don t know why I ev n try with th t girl. S metimes I jus thi k ab ut driv ng aw y in the mid le of night and nev r coming ba k. She d wake up and wond r where I gone Wou d she cry If sh did she d deserv it* My mouth went dry. I kept shading, revealing more messages, accumulated over years. *Lit le c nt thinks she s al that Who doe she think she s struttin around in that tiny sk rt like a whor* *Why did I ha e a kid It s only mad my life wo se I can t go anywhe e or do any hing I wish she d never be n born* *Ka la s been in the hosp tal for thre we ks and it s been so nice arou d the ho se wit out her S metimes I dre m she di d and I wak up and I m disappointed I was thinkin ab ut putt ng so ething in her food maybe blea h but that d mn nurse is so nosy She s always a king what I m doing and goin on and o about how swe t K yla is I just wa t to say Well then YOU be her mot er then* In the end, I sat at the center of 53 papers, filled from end to end with hidden vitriol, finally revealed after 30 years. I guess I never really knew my mother after all.
Bro i don’t even know what happened but i was still awake at 3 am yk and i had to pee so i went to the bathroom downstairs while the lights were out so i turned on my phone flashlight (it was 3:31 am) and then when i was done it was 3:33am, so i was going back to my room and had to turn out the flashlight otherwise i would probably walk into a wall or some shit so i grabbed my phone out of my pocket and tried to turn on my flashlight but it just won’t turn on no matter how many times i clicked on it and fyi my flashlight always works, it has never not worked before so it kinda creeped me about that it just stopped working at exactly 3:33 anyway that’s it
Dr. Elena Ivanova and Commander Jack Mitchell had been orbiting Earth aboard the International Space Station (ISS) for six months. Bound by science and the vastness of space, their nationalities as a Russian cosmonaut and an American astronaut seemed insignificant . The beauty of Earth from space fostered friendship rather than division. One fateful day, as the pair was conducting an experiment, the emergency communication line buzzed to life. Jack's face paled as he listened to the message from NASA. Minutes later, Elena received her orders from Roscosmos. The Earth, their home, was at war. Nuclear missiles had been launched by both Russia and the US. The blue planet they had been admiring was now being engulfed in mushroom clouds and radiating an eerie glow. The silence that followed was palpable, each absorbed in the weight of their own thoughts. Then came their respective final orders—each was to eliminate the other. A precaution, both agencies argued, to prevent potential retaliation or sabotage aboard the ISS. Eyes locked, a million words passed between them. The weight of their orders, the gravity of their situation, loomed large. The ISS, once a symbol of unity, had now become a microcosm of Earth's chaos. Jack made the first move, slowly moving towards the medical bay. Elena, equally hesitant, positioned herself between him and the station's communication array. "Jack," Elena whispered, her voice quivering, "we've shared stories, dreams... We've watched over Earth together. This... This isn't us." Jack's gaze was tormented. "I have my orders, Elena. Just as you have yours." A tense silence settled, both knowing that the limited resources on the ISS would make it a battle of wits rather than strength. Days passed, each taking turns sleeping, always keeping a watchful eye on the other. Elena considered tampering with the station's oxygen levels, while Jack thought of locking Elena out during her next spacewalk. But each time, the shared humanity held them back. One evening, as the desolated Earth rotated below, Elena approached Jack with a proposition. "What if," she began, "instead of eliminating each other, we find a way out together? The ISS has escape pods. We could aim for a neutral zone on Earth." Jack, looking down at the scarred planet, hesitated. "Do you think there's even a 'neutral' left down there?" But hope, often born from despair, nudged them forward. The duo worked diligently, recalibrating an escape pod's trajectory for the least affected area on Earth. However, as they were about to board the pod, a wrenching thought struck Elena. "Jack, if we go down there as a Russian and an American, we'll be targets. Maybe we should—" Jack interrupted, "Stay? And wait for resources to run out or for one of us to finally crack?" Silence. Then, with a resolute nod, Elena said, "No. We go down together, as humans." They boarded the escape pod, leaving behind the ISS and the weight of their orders. Hurtling towards Earth, they knew the descent would be perilous, the world unfamiliar. But they clung to a shared hope, that their unity, in the face of division, might be a small beacon in the aftermath of a world torn apart. They were not cosmonaut or astronaut, Russian or American, they were two souls, bound by a shared planet and a shared destiny.
Me and my boyfrend loking in TV clock is ticking over from clock ⏰ is 3:32 is 1 minute im go house of me boy frend is go bed . Im not okay i hear horor sound. Like and subscribe for part 2
This is the story of what happened to me –to Susan and Peter as well- years ago, when I was a child, inside the closet. Susan and Peter were my older brother and sister. They had been forcing me to play hide and seek again. I hated hide and seek, because that was when the really vicious side of Peter and Susan’s bullying came out. They made a point of jump-scaring me and reaching out from their hiding places and grabbing and pinching me. I had told Mom about it, and she told me to stop being a snitch and a wuss, and be grateful that my older siblings wanted to play with me at all. However, Mom wasn’t with us when that particular game was going on. As the pandemic raged on in the big city, we had been sent to live in the country with a relative, whom we called Auntie. I am not even sure, thinking back to it, if she really was a relative or not. Ed, my second brother, was immunocompromised, and we couldn’t risk staying in the city. Here, at Auntie’s place, the nearest neighbour was five acres away. It was a small house. The boys had to bunk in the basement, and Susan and I were given the only spare room. I could write so many more scarystories just about what Susan said and did during those nights we had to share. But this is the one special story where I was able to get away from her. Auntie was a “writer” and although part of the agreement with my parents was that she provide bare minimum homeschooling for us, she was remarkably unenthusiastic about it. We were left mostly to our own devices, running feral around the property. At least, Susan and Peter did. Ed was a nerd and mostly had his nose stuck in his laptop. And so I was left alone to deal with Peter and Susan. For some reason, they didn't bother Ed much. “Lucy! We’re coooooming!” hooted Susan “Ready or not” yelled Peter. Auntie was out for the day, which made them extra loud, and I desperately wanted them not to find me. The house was still unfamiliar to me, and I couldn’t think of a good hiding place. Hide and seek in a new place is actually awful. I found myself standing outside Auntie’s bedroom door, and I went inside, my heart beating fast as I could hear the pounding of Susan and Peter’s feet on the stairs, coming up to this floor. Auntie’s closet was an obvious place to hide, and as the sound of their feet grew closer, I realised I had no other choice. I pulled open the closet-door and slipped in among the musty-smelling dresses and scarves hanging in there. I held the closet door close but I was very careful not to fully shut it, as I knew how foolish it would be shut myself inside a closet. And yet the hanging dresses and scarves, which felt luxuriously silky seemed to draw me into the closet. I took a small step further in, my other hand reaching out to feel the back of the closet. The bedroom door opened and I heard Susan cackling “Lucy, you stupid bitch, you might have tried. You’re in the closet, aren’t you?” I took a step back deeper into the closet. “You’re no fun Lucy!” I heard Peter say in a low threatening voice, far more menacing than Susan’s shrill cackles. “You have to do better than this.” I let go of the closet door and took a couple of more steps inside the closet. A cold draft swept around me, and a soft white light was shining in the wrong direction. Although I was confused, I was more scared of what was waiting outside the closet for me than whatever was happening inside the closet. I stepped deliberately towards the light. “We’re coming to get you Luuuuucy!” they both sang, and the closet door began slowly opening. I felt something cold and crunchy beneath my feet, and with two more steps, I was standing in a snow-covered forest of dark evergreens. A creature with a friendly smile and kind brown eyes stopped and looked at me curiously. “Are you lost, Daughter of Eve?” I looked back over my shoulder. I could make out the gleaming silky dresses and scarves through the branches. It looked like they were moving, wrapping themselves around Susan and Peter- and I could see their arms and legs flailing around. Almost- as if the dresses and scarves were attacking them. I could hear the sounds of them shrieking, but I couldn’t tell if it was from pain or anger. The snow-covered trees muffled the sound. My feet were getting wet. I blinked. I glimpsed a bright red sequined scarf wrap itself around Susan’s neck and pull, her eyes bulged horribly and her fingers scrabbled at the scarf. A shiny black dress lay on Peter’s back, the sleeves wrapping around his arms and pulling them backward sharply, his mouth was open and he was screaming, but the noise was becoming fainter and fainter, and the snow-covered branches were moving, obscuring the scene. I stared in terror, unable to move. “Ahem”. The creature waiting for me coughed politely. “I…I’m not lost” I stuttered. And then I burst out “But I am starving! Peter took my breakfast. And my feet are soaked.” “Oh dear,” said the creature. “That won’t do, will it. Come with me, I have absolutely tons of the yummiest brunch you could imagine, strawberries and waffles and loads of maple syrup, and we’ll have a lovely time together. And I can get you fresh dry socks and boots- I don’t believe your feet are that much smaller than mine. And then I’ll bring you back right here, so you can go home.” It held out its furry paw to me. I reached out, took its paw, and smiled at the kind creature. “Ok! Let’s go.” And we trotted off together, under the snowy trees, chatting away like old friends. I returned home later. No-one realised I had gone for hours. Susan and Peter had been taken away, and the rest of my life turned out quite nicely with them no longer around to hurt me.
So there is this thing with a terrible screech, it sounded like nails on a chalk board. Anyway, it’s been in my neighborhood for about have a month now. No one can really leave, well they can but just have to time it right when the creature is in the woods near are neighborhood me and my parents have gotten passed it’s few times, other people haven’t been so lucky. The air has had this rotting smell do to the blood and corpses. The weird thing I’ve notice is it ate the legs, head, and arms, just leaving the torso obviously. The creature doesn’t really break into any one’s houses but I think that happened once at misses sears house, I hope she died quickly and painlessly. Oh what a nice lady she was, she baked us cookies really treated us like her grandchildren, nothing ever bothered her, I’m tearing up just righting this. A thick fog has rolled in and more casualties. The monster seems to be growing more violent by the day. Soooo today I looked out my window and saw the monster. It wasn’t that scary in my opinion it looked mostly like a Wendigo and I didn’t even believe in that sorta thing lol. The situation has been getting better the Wendigo thing hasn’t been seen for a few weeks and he fog has gone away so if there is anything else like this I will make another post
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\----------------- TW: light implied SA and a bit of gore/violence \------------------- I took out the trash. I suppose I should start this like many others do by telling you a bit about myself. I live in a college town. You know the type; during the school year the few roads in town are packed with young students stumbling from bar to bar exploring their new found independence; filling hookah shops with clouds of smoke, loud and rowdy in the same streets that the regular citizens avoid September through June. Then during breaks the older folks, who had lived there before the rambling university truly blossomed and overtook its populous, climb out of their time capsule homes to cautiously fill up on supplies avoiding any of us stragglers no matter how quiet we are. The town is kept alive by the elders who peaked in college and never left or those of us who remain on the outskirts with nowhere to go. I grew up with a single mother who didn't try, and an uncle who made me afraid of the outside world. The moment I got my acceptance letter though it was like finding my golden ticket amongst a million chocolate bars. Finally I would be free of the dark hellscape that had consumed me for 18 years. A naturally petite young woman I was raised to be quiet, delicate and timid. I wasn't to speak unless I was spoken to, and on the rare occasion I did the sting of a hand was quick to fill my red cheeks with raw regret. Everyday the same routine, wake up, wash away the putrid turmoil of the night, eat breakfast alone if I was lucky, quietly go to school, clean up the mess of the day left by the so-called adults in my life, prepare dinner and eat it without breaking eye contact with my plate. I felt each bite I swallowed hit my stomach as knots formed constantly afraid I'd have to hear his voice asking me 'how my day was?' The drag of their forks across the white ceramic unnervingly breaking the silence. I was quick to do the dishes so I'd have enough time to lock myself away and get lost in my assignments until the knock came. Each night without fail it was always on time. Three swift knocks was my signal that it was time to go to bed. Knock Knock Knock Time to face the darkness that I'd trained myself to get lost in. I'd shower away the safe moments of the day, climb under my covers and prepare for the nightly onslaught of horrors that awaited me. I hid the letter from everyone the day it arrived. I had no friends to tell, and no family I wanted to know. Quietly I began packing things up that were important to me. Little by little they'd disappear into the bag under my bed. The only bag I planned to take with me. I scraped together what money I could find lost in the sofa cushions or left drunkenly tossed on an end table. The time came to make my escape, I bought a one-way bus ticket and ran. My first year I'd managed to collect enough with financial aid and loans to live in a dorm. I got a job as a server at a little restaurant in town that was decently popular on the weekends. Unfortunately tips were hit or miss with the college crowd. Still something was better than nothing. I saved every dollar I made so that when this year came I would be able to rent a house with the few friendly acquaintances I had. It's not much, a small kitchen, two tiny bathrooms, a decent living room, and 3 bedrooms. My roommates have all left for the Summer and I haven't spoken to anyone in my family for two years now. I revel in the peace and quiet every night. Being able to turn on the tv and watch a show at my leisure, blast my music while I sing in the shower, dance while I avoid daily chores and watch makeup tutorials on the internet. This is my life now, no one else's, no one can take this from me ever again. I won't let them. I will never be commanded by a knock again. Days are wonderful. They're easy and smooth, and the warm summer sunlight comforts me even on the ones I'm trapped under the fluorescent glow of the restaurant lights pouring cups of lukewarm coffee for the regulars and serving up the pie of the day. The nights are different. My instinct for routine sinks in as an effort to avoid them. My boss does his best to make sure my shifts are earlier in the day, and if they aren't I can usually find someone willing to trade me. People like the dinner shift they'll make more in tips. I don't care about the tips when it comes to survival. A part of my routine is that whenever I get home from work I take the trash out. That way it doesn't have to sit in the kitchen; the pungent odor of filth mingling with the stale humid summer air that settles across the house. Everyday my routine is the same and every Wednesday the blue plastic can gets dragged down the driveway to the curb for Thursday morning pickup. Things were different on this Wednesday though. I'd seen him in the restaurant before, and I knew he was a student who most likely lived somewhere in my neighborhood. Dorms closed during the summer, but the homes typically brimming with students around me were still available to rent although sparsely populated. I was cautious of most everyone, but especially men given my past. He ran his fingers through his dark brown curls and smiled at me ever so slightly from across the room. He was certainly handsome, and if I had to guess probably a senior or maybe even a grad student. My coworker Tina sauntered over, she was in her mid 40's and genuinely hated her job, but worked to escape her kids on the Summer mornings. "He's asking for you. Go ahead and take him," she said nodding to the stranger’s table. My hands began to shake as I slowly walked over. Beads of sweat forming on the back of my neck causing my hair to stick to it. I shakily poured him a cup of coffee sloshing it over the edge, I rushed and apologized as I went to wipe up my mess. His hands were warm as he gently took my wrist, "it's ok," he said ever so softly. His eyes were so kind and soothing. This was something I'd never noticed in other men before, and it made me feel so wonderful. My cheeks filled with blood as a heat like the sun consumed me. The tremors that had wracked my body subsided as his calming voice filled me with peace. He released my wrist and slid his soft fingertips ever so softly over the back of my hand as he moved to take the rag from me and wipe up the spill. He quickly cleaned up the mess and placed the cloth back in my palm. "There, all better, now if you don't mind I'd really like a slice of peach pie." His smile was so perfect it left me speechless. I couldn't do anything more than nod and return with his slice. He quickly ate in silence and before I knew it he'd slipped out of the restaurant leaving $40.00 on the table with a note simply saying, "see you soon." I gratefully pocketed my generous tip and returned my apron to the hook behind the kitchen door. Tina stopped me as I was pulling my tote bag out of my locker. "Hey kiddo," she handed me a brown bag that smelled like the diners fried chicken, "one of my table's had an emergency and left before I could bring their order out. Boss told me to just go ahead and take it. Do you want it? This one meal won't go far with my family." I greedily took the bag from her and slid it into my tote squeaking out a polite "thanks," before leaving. The sun was still bright as I stepped out onto the eerily quiet street. Summer in this town was so different from city life. "Oh! Hi," a familiar voice spoke from behind me. I turned and was consumed by his deep brown eyes, "hi," I said ever so softly. I wasn't sure how to speak to him. This young man wasn't like my uncle or any of the other men that had passed by me in life. "Sorry, I swear I'm not stalking you," he laughed scratching the back of his neck, "I just stopped into the bookstore and kinda lost track of time. Now I'm about to sound like a stalker, but do you need a ride home or do you want to get some food?" My guard went up instantly, suddenly the safe haven I had felt in his presence was becoming invaded by the prickly spines of anxiety that had haunted me all my life. I had to convince myself he was just being nice and there were no ulterior motives. My hands gripped the strap of my tote tightly as the walls of my horrific past closed in around me. Reminding me that I cannot trust men. "Thank you, but I'll be fine. It was nice meeting you," with that I turned to make my way home. The entire walk home I kept looking over my shoulders in paranoia being met with the empty world around me. I sidled up the driveway spotting the overflowing trash can at the side of the house. I knew I should take it down now, but no one else had theirs down yet. The heat was causing a volatile odor to escape that would surely attract animals from far and wide. The rumble in my stomach made me aware of just how hungry I was as the bag of chicken crinkled in my tote. I bypassed the trash for now and went straight to the microwave happy to reheat my free meal. Once it was done and the comforting aroma of the diners' fried chicken filled the house I plopped down on the well-used second hand sofa and picked a new romcom to stream while I gobbled it down with ferocity. Food was so expensive so any protein I could get was always welcome. I must have dozed off in a food coma because I woke up to the glow of the streaming service menu and a scattering of greasy bones and crispy crumbs around me in the dark room. The night sky peered at me through the open curtains. I stood up to quickly draw them closed afraid of someone watching me. It was then I caught sight of the neighbor's blue plastic can on the curb a few doors over. "Fuck," I mumbled remembering my own can overflowing with putrid garbage. I scooped up the bones and tossed them into the grease stained brown bag on the kitchen table flicking on the light as I stumbled down the side stairs to toss out the bird remains. I shoved the lid down as hard as I could before I started dragging the can down the driveway. The plastic bottom scraping loudly letting the whole world know I was not in sync with my normal routine. As I fought with it wiggling it to the edge of the curb I caught a shadow out of the corner of my eye. My heart raced, the pulsating blood rushing to my head the only sound I could hear. Who or what did that shadow below to? I steadied my breathing as I convinced myself it was just some large rodent attracted to my trash can filled with a week's worth of shame and mistakes. I quickly walked back up the driveway and felt a rush of relief as I stepped over the threshold onto the linoleum. Spinning on my heels I rapidly bolted all of the security locks on the door. Each click brings a wave of peace over my tense body. I pressed my head against the doorframe as I closed my eyes and steadied my breathing. I opened my eyes to turn back to the tv ready to fill my brain with more useless media. The dark night sky greeted me through the window as the panic came back. I closed it right? No I couldn't have. I must have gotten distracted. I rushed over to the window gripping the curtains with white knuckles as I took another lingering look out over the street. The empty road glowed under the yellow street lamps. Shadows of trees looming long into the night. Their branches like extended fingers tickling at the edge of my imagination. My full trash can, the only addition to this play of shadows since I last looked out. Darkness filled the windows of every home around me. I pulled the curtains tightly closed making sure any sight of the outside world disappeared from my view. I sat back on the sofa as I heard a slight creak come from somewhere in the house. No. It was in my head. It’s just the house settling. It’s old and me sitting on the couch obviously triggered a board somewhere else to move. That was it… but what if? No. No one followed me home. I was sure of it. I was always sure of it. I kicked my feet up on the sofa staring at the glare of the kitchen light on the tv screen. “Damn it,” I said under my breath, but no sooner did I swing my feet back to the floor that the light flicked off. I dug my fingers into the cushion of the sofa. No. This isn’t happening. I quickly hashed out a plan, run, grab a knife out of the block on the counter and flip on the light. Confront them. That's what I had to do. Adrenaline took over as I turned and vaulted over the back of the couch, my feet landing on the cool kitchen linoleum with ease. My instincts to live consuming my thoughts as hot blood pulsated through my veins. My hand firmly gripping the wooden handle of the knife. Ready to sink the cold steel blade into my intruder. I flipped on the light switch and was met with darkness. I flipped the switch again and still nothing. The damn light had just burned out. I dropped the knife with a clatter as I laughed to myself leaning against the counter with relief. Closing my eyes to steady my breathing. How could I be so stupid? Creak I held my breath, this was not my imagination. I had not moved. This was not the house settling. I scrambled to reach for the knife as I worked to steady my breathing. That was when I heard it. Ever so softly it echoed down the empty hall. Knock Knock Knock The spines of anxiety assaulted me with their stabbing pain breaking through my safe little bubble. No. Not again. Tears of rage welled up in my eyes as my grip on the knife tightened. “No,” I whispered. Knock Knock Knock “Fuck off!” I screamed, finding my voice for the first time in my life. This monster had ruined my life, I wouldn’t let him control me anymore. I slowly walked down the hall towards the sound. Knock Knock Knock “Get out,” I whimpered again as I got closer to the room, the knocks from within growing louder. The thought of seeing him made me sick. The greasy chicken turned in my stomach. Knock Knock Knock Knock Knock Knock Knock As the pace of my heart quickened the knocks became rhythmic. My hand shook as I reached for the knob, the knocks pounding in my ears. I screamed as I flung open the door to an empty laundry room. The knocks ceased simultaneously. I was losing my fucking mind. Knock Knock Knock I flew down the hallway stopping at the front door, seething with rage as I peered through the peephole. A head of curly brown hair sat under the moonlight. I latched the safety chain and carefully pried open the door, “what?” I asked bluntly. “Oh hi,” his smile was no longer warm or comforting. It was terrifying. He slammed his body into the door as the little chain keeping me safe from the outside world snapped. The brute force of the door knocked me to the floor. No, not again, this wasn’t happening again. I struggled under his weight. His hands pawed at my wrists buckling them to the ground. I kicked with my knees trying to hit anything as I heard his shoes squeak against the wood floor of the foyer. His hot breath like rotten peaches on my face as he held me down. Before I could realize what was happening he stopped. I felt the warm trickle of his blood drip down my arm. I caught my breath as I released the knife in his abdomen. Pushing him off of me. The metallic stench of death filled the room as his heart struggled to beat. Fighting against all odds to keep the blood circulating in his system. I stood up staring at him as he lay on the floor of my foyer, his crimson life source staining his tan jacket and pooling around him. Droplets of it soaking into my white blouse. “Who are you?” I asked, kicking him in the stomach. He groaned, “I work with your uncle. Where is he? He’s been missing for over a week.” I looked away, “I don’t know. I haven’t seen him in two years.” He gasped, failing to pull the knife from himself, “he came to see you.” “He didn’t know where I was, no one knew,” I said as the rage boiled inside of me. “That’s a lie. How do you think I found you? He told me about you bitch. He told me what you are. What you do!” I dropped to my knees and began crawling towards him. My bare feet slapping against the wood floor. My hands instinctively poised into a claw-like grasp. Animal instinct kicking in as I scurried in a spider-like motion. The smell of his warm blood filled my senses. “He told you what I do? Did he tell you what he does? Did he tell you what he did to me? I’ve been really good since I got away. I’ve been smart about everything. I know how to control myself when I need to without the extra pressure from my dear sweet uncle on top of me.” I whispered into his ear as I sucked his blood off of my fingers. Slowly savoring the warm fresh taste. “Please just let me go,” he whimpered. “Even if I did it wouldn’t matter, you’d die,” I listened to the beat of his heart slowing with each pump. “He taught me you know? It’s how you survive when you have nothing. It keeps you alive, and keeps you healthy. The best part is it’s free!” I let out a cackle in his ear as I ripped the knife from his abdomen. “Please,” he gasped out his breathing barely a shallow whisper. His face was the familiar pale and tawdry look that all of my prey had the moment before everything went dark for them. “Do you want to see my uncle? I can take you to him? The can is a bit full, and his meat was far too tough to even bother with, but I can take you to him.” I laughed as I slipped my hands under his arms dragging his lifeless body to the kitchen. \-------- The sun rose peeking at me ever so gently through the curtains, a soft kiss of warmth over my sweat soaked brow. I leaned the blood drenched axe against the table as I wrapped up what parts of him weren’t salvageable in trash bags. I stripped off my clothing and stepped into the shower to wash away the putrid turmoil of the night. I lugged the bag of fresh garbage to the curb lifting it on top of the pile of rotting flesh buried in bags beneath. It’s a good thing the trash man hadn’t come by yet. Leaving this out for a week in the Summer heat might attract some attention. I wandered back into the house. Carefully carving away the selection of fatty meat I had chosen and frying it up in my cast iron skillet. Food was so expensive any protein I could get was always welcome. Today was a good day because today I took out the trash.
She hummed to herself as she worked. Sam was in her office, sequestered away in the corner of the storage area, camera feeds adorning the wall to her front. Lost in thought and work. She glanced off at the cameras again, all very calm. The store was peaceful at this hour, the perfect time to gaze off in the darkness of night. It wasn’t five more seconds before she heard a knock on the door to the right, shattering the sense of tranquillity. It was David, one of her subordinates, panic in his eyes. Sam quickly leaned over to the handle and gave it a pull. He was breathing heavily, a stream of sweat rolling down his face. “Did you see anyone go into the bathroom on cams?” he asked her in a panicked voice. “No, it’s been clear for a least fifteen minutes,” she replied, surprised at his distress. “I heard a crash coming from front of house, sounded like someone slipping and falling.” “Oh shit, did Mike hear it too?” “Yeah, so did Evelyn, and she was near front counter at the time.” “Ok then, let’s go check it out. Maybe a customer came in without any of us noticing. You know they'll sue us if they hurt themselves.” Samantha stood out of her chair and stepped out into the store. She saw Evelyn working the fry station, with a concerned look on her face. She saw Dave close behind as they walked across the grease-slick floor, past the prep table, and to the front counter. She saw Mike distressed at the register. She saw the bathroom, seething in anticipation. “Hello?” she called. “If you are hurt, please let us know!?” Nothing. She walked over to the women’s door, as Dave did the same for the men’s. Pulling down on the handle, the door opened. The light was harsh, shining with a fluorescence comparable to the sun. Lying on the ground, was nothing. The room remained calm, except for the glimmering bulb above her. “Anything on your side? All clear for me.” Dave called from the other room. “No, it’s clear here as well,” she responded. The calm restored. “David, were you just fucking with me?” she asked in a harsh tone. “No, we all heard that,” he replied earnestly. “I’m gonna go check the cam recordings,” Sam said as she began walking back to her office. “If there really is nothing, I’m going to be a lot more pissed than I am right now.” Sam entered her office and began searching through the recordings. She panned back about 20 minutes until she saw it. Brutal, blinding light beamed from under the bathroom door. David was afraid. He heard it. He heard that scream. He must have. Why wasn’t something there? Why wasn’t there an accident? There should have been. Rather than nothing. Samantha was euphoric. The light wasn’t scary, it was a friend. She shouldn’t be afraid. She loves the light. The light loves her. The light comforts. The light accepts. Join the light. A shriek cried out from the office. David nearly fell over from the shock. “Sam? Mike? Evelyn?” Nothing. He rushed over to the office, a thick coat of sweat covering his body. He banged on the door, “Sam!” he screamed. She wasn’t there. Only an overwhelming white light pounded from the office window and into his eyes. Suddenly, the glass shattered forth, cracking into countless pieces as they flew into David’s soft flesh. He slumped forward, crumpling into the ground with a squelch. A pool of blood began to collect on the floor, mixed with little chunks of David's burning hot body.
So when I was like 5 I was asleep and my mom was up my mom looks outside when she went into the kitchen and she saw a shadow man standing in our backyard it was staring at out house so the next day we woke up and called a lot of people and we had a ceremony at my house and we asked out neighbors about what happened and our neighbors said that saw it to the neighbors said it was just staring at our house for like an hour without us noticing my mom couldn’t go to sleep that night we never saw it again
Congratulations! Your weeks of hard work and dedication to the Kaktovic Private Hospital have finally paid off! Thanks to your weeks of hard work, you have been assigned to watch over Patient 42, one of the more... interesting patients here in the Pysch Ward. To ensure the safety of you and the rest of the facility, we have some rules and instructions that we recommend you follow. To listen to these rules and instructions please press 1. To hear about the compensation you are receiving for your work here, please press 2. To contact- You have pressed 1. The instructions are as follows: 1. Patient 42 is to be in her room at all times. The reinforced door should already be locked. If the door is unlocked, she will escape. She will find you. You can not stop her. Refer to rule 8 for further instructions 2. Never look at Patient 42 directly for more than 3 seconds. She can sense it, even through a camera. Failure to do so will result in the patient growing violent, breaking open the door, and tracking you down. She will find you. You can not stop her. Refer to rule 8 for further instructions. 3. Make sure to always keep your eyes on the cameras, never looking away from them. You may blink, but not for too long. We realise that this may be difficult for some people to stare at a couple of screens for 8 hours straight, so we have kindly provided you with high caffeine energy drinks. They will be located in the mini fridge underneath the desk. Do not check the caffeine content, as we can assure you it is a unlethal amount. If you do find yourself looking away however, she will escape. She will find you. You can not stop her. Refer to rule 8 for further instructions. 4. If Patient 42 begins to scratch or bang on the door, press the yellow button next to this phone. This will deliver a 3.21 megavolt shock into the patient, and although she may look harmed by it, we can assure you that, to her, it's just a little zap. If you do not deliver the shock, she will break the door down. She will find you. You can not stop her. Refer to rule 8 for further instructions. 5. If at any time patient 42 begins to scream, cover your ears, close your eyes and drop to the floor quickly. This is the only exception to rule 3. The frequency she emits is powerful enough to make your ears and eyes explode. She may scream for 5 seconds or 5 hours. To check if she has stopped screaming, open your eyes. Can you feel them about to pop? If so, close them before it's too late. If not, quickly hurry to check the cameras. She should be crying. This is normal. Do not feel sympathic. If you fail to follow this instruction, she will use it as a chance to escape. She will find you. You can not stop her. Refer to rule 8 for further instructions. 6.At 12pm, it will be her lunch time and at 7pm, it will be her dinner time. There will be a green button located on the wall to your right. Only press it on these exact times. Failure to do this will result in scenario 6a or 6b. Her food should automatically be dropped in through the roof. Do not be alarmed by what she is eating. 6a If you've fed her too late, she will grow restless and escape one way or another. She will find you. You can not stop her. Refer to rule 8 for further instructions. 6b If you've fed her too early she will grow immune to the 3.21 megavolt shock you may attempt to administer as she breaks down the door. She will find you. You can not stop her. Refer to rule 8 for further instructions. As a way of gratitude she may decide to keep you alive. This does not exempt you from any consequences. As there will be some... extreme disciplinary action after your shift is completed. 7. If you notice that she is not in her room, you have failed one of the steps listed above. She will find you. You can not stop her. Refer to rule 8 for further instructions. 8. In the result of an escape, you are to hit the red button underneath your desk. This will trigger a total lock down of the hospital, and keep her, as well as yourself, isolated from the rest of the hospital. She may come from the vent above you. She may come from the door behind you. You may run, but you can not stop her. If you press the button for any other reason, there will be extreme disciplinary action after your shift. 9. Throughout your shift, you may be slowly begin to go insane. The most common signs of this are: a decrease in the need to blink, swallow and breathe; severe sweating; restlessness; repeating anything more than once; hallucinations; extreme decrease in all senses; and smelling burnt toast. To prevent total insanity, we recommend you shock yourself every few hours with the yellow taser you are equipped with. We can not help you if you go insane. We can not help you if you go insane. 10. By the end of your shift, another employee will enter to take over. Make sure they are prepared and ready to perform their duties. Once you have confirmed that they are ready, you may exit the office and go home. 11. It is expected that you will not tell anyone what you do here at Kaktovic Private Hospital. You signed up for this. You may not resign, and any missed shifts or discrepancies will be noticed. If you do not meet any of the expectations that we have set, you will erased from existence. No one will find you. No one will remember you. No one will remember you. Thank you for listening. If you need the instructions to be repeated, please press 1. To hear about the compensation you are receiving for your work here, please press 2. To contact the reception for any questions regarding your work, please press 3. To contact complaints department for any complaints around working conditions, pay, or unpaid overtime please press -----------------. Once again, thank you for working at Kaktovic Private Hospital, we hope you enjoy your shift. Goodbye.
Hello there, if you are about to use my computer, if I either offered or you asked. These are rules for using my computer 1: if you log into the laptop the wallpaper should be of a light house with a yellow light on if not refer to rule 2a-2b 2 a: if the wallpaper is of a lighthouse with a red light on, do not freak out, leave the lid open and grab the hammer from the the dresser and smash the screen. 2 b if the wallpaper is of a lighthouse with the light turned off, death is imminent. 3 never take the laptop off of the desk something... Unholy lives under it and it will kill you if you move the laptop from the desk 4 if the cat was on the bed when you walked in take the laptop with you to the bed and sit next to him he will protect you from the demons. 5 if the cat gets on the desk with you or sites on the computer, let him he can sense if something out of your control is coming and he will fight them off 6 if the cat isn't in the room at all, bash your skull in with the previously mentioned hammer, without the cat there is nothing to protect you from them, the demons will make your death way more painful then if you do it yourself 7 if you survived the demons,and finished whatever you needed to do you will turn off the laptop and walk out of the to, you won't remember the experience but you will know that the you got done what you intended
Aughhh...Henrietta! You moron....how did you end up in the barn? You're not supposed to be in there that late at night....ugh. I didn't want to waste my time, I told you to stay out of the barn! Now I have to waste my time writing out these rules... Why do I care if you're in the barn? Because that's not a normal barn, obviously!!! 1. So....you're in the basement, and it's late at night. Prepare for Hell. First things first, don't fall asleep. You'll be too vulnerable if you fall asleep. 2. You're going to see a tall scarecrow in the corner of the room. That's your friend for tonight (I say friend, I mean a looming threat...) The first thing you should NOT do is attempt to run out that door, it's locked and you won't be able to open it...and that'll make the scarecrow attack you quicker, we don't want that. 3. If the scarecrow turns to look at you, stare at him until he turns his back once more. 4. If the scarecrow talks to you, ignore it...He'll be able to get you under the influence easier if you speak to him. 5. If the scarecrow EVER approaches you, nothing can help you then...just prepare for the worst. Keep these rules though and you're less likely to have him approach you!... 6. Stay out of the hay bales, trust me....just stay out of the hay bales...unless you want to be ruthlessly torn apart by the shadows. 7. Stay in the light. Light is your best friend...Darkness is your enemy within this barn... Those are all the rules I have for you to survive...follow them to the finest detail to ensure your survival... Please...survive this night and NEVER go into the barn again after this Henrietta!
I had just lost my job. I could barely afford to feed myself. I almost lost all hope... until I heard about The Factory. The factory was a meat packaging facility based in my area. I had never really heard much about the factory, but when I saw an ad online for the position of a nighttime security guard, I knew I had to look into it. The pay wasn't very good, but it was my only option. I applied for the job. Later, an unknown number called and told me that I got the job. It turns out I was the only applicant. They asked me a few questions and then sent me the coordinates for the factory. My shift was to begin at 7 p.m. and end at 3 a.m. Later that night, I was driving toward the location of the factory. I arrived 25 minutes before the shift began. The parking lot in front of the factory was completely deserted except for a few cars here and there. I entered the building and walked to the front desk. "Hello!" The receptionist told me with a smile, "I assume you're the new security guard coming today?" "Yeah, that's me." "Great, your office is on floor B2, first door on the right," she said, handing me my office keys. I walked to the elevator and went inside, pressing the button for floor B2. My office was right where she said it would be. I unlocked the door and went in. The office had one desk facing the wall, with monitors stacked on top. There was a glass window next to the door that let me see out into the hallway. I sat down in my chair, and I noticed one of the drawers had a sticky note on it that read "Open Me:)". I opened the drawer and found all the equipment I would need for the job. a taser, flashlight, and walkie-talkie. There was a folded piece of paper at the bottom of the drawer. I picked it up and read it. **Rules to guard the factory** If you are reading this, you have been assigned to guard the most dangerous floor of the factory. It is of the utmost importance that you read these rules if you want to survive. Disclaimer: Rules are not guaranteed to help you survive. The owners of the factory will not be held responsible for any injuries or loss of life while in the factory. 1.Every night at 8 p.m., two workers will bring livestock down to your floor. Your job is to make sure nothing gets out while they are delivering the product. Do not make any comment on the appearance of the livestock. 2.Ensure no workers leave the facility except for the ones mentioned above. 3.In case of a containment breach, take the shotgun from the safe below your desk and deal with it. Try to kill it without damaging the meat. Our customers will not appreciate bullets in their meat. 4.If a worker tries to leave, use the taser. 5.Every hour, you are to play the audio tape in the left drawer over the PA system. This keeps the livestock happy. **~~6.Hugh the janitor is allowed to leave at any time.~~** 6.Following incident 4R, Hugh will not be allowed to leave under any circumstances. That's all. Thanks for choosing The Factory for your work. Good luck.
Evening lad, you may have noticed that it seems that it's gotten darker faster than how it usually does. It's because of an event that happens in our neighborhood. They don't tell you about this when you just get a house here, but there's an event that happens every now and then. (which could end in your death if you don't follow accordingly) So: what is this event? The choppers. Helicopters, whatever you call them. Every now and then you'll hear the sound of something in the sky, something that seems to come and go. This is the choppers. They are airplane/helicopters that fly over the neighborhood every now and then. In any normal situation a helicopter wouldn't be a big deal, but trust me friend: these things aren't what they seem. They aren't metallic. They usually come for around and hour or so, but they can last longer. And if you want to survive: you'll need to follow these rules. Now, it's important to be at the right place at the right time. Example: you do not want to be outside when the event starts. Here's a few rules to follow to avoid that: 1. If it gets dark at 6, you shouldn't stay outside for long. 2. If you feel a sence of pure calm and tranquility you should probably run towards your house, that's how they get a lot of people. 3. If it's a workday or so, be wary. They know what days people are going to be out. But now, what exactly happens during the event? These things will fly, and try to find people. They are massive, you will know when they are above you. What happens when they find people? They make them disappear. No blood, no bones, they just make people they find stop being real. That may seem horrifying, and it is. So here's the rules to not be erased. 1. Don't go outside. It's simple really, you hear the choppers coming, and you go inside. 2. Don't let anything from outside get in. Don't let anyone inside. And cover up the windows. If they see you or another person they will stay longer. 3. They search by sight, not sound. This doesn't mean you should be blasting loud music though. It just means you should allow yourself to breathe. They only search by human sight though, if they see a light they won't suspect anything. But if you turn on a light, or you turn a light off while they are watching they will take notice of that. When the event starts don't do anything they would be able to see. 4. Don't pay attention to any sounds you may hear in your own house. The panic that they force you to feel can make audio hallucinations happen. If you hear something in your own house, you didn't. 5. Hide yourself, not your things. They have learned that we can make lure houses and now they search only for humans. We leave signals of life in an empty house and it keeps the rest safe, so you need to remember: you are what they are looking for, they won't care about already on lights or sound. They want you. 6. Don't make motion. That will make you easier to find. The less you move, the less they'll see. 7. Don't come out even when it's done. If it's night when they leave, then it should be day when you leave you house. You will never know when it's truly over, they will wait. You got that? I made the list as simple as possible so that you can understand quickly. Didn't you notice? It got dark at 5:59 pm today. Good luck, Lad.
Hello! If you are getting this letter that means one of two things You are now in 6th grade or you have transferred to our school in that case welcome! We have separate sets of rules for school and being in a vehicle being taken to or from school, Please follow these rules based on the letter, A bus, B Car, C at school, 1A) The bus will arrive at 7:08 and leave at 7:09 never late never early, if it's not there at 7:08 please go inside, This will never happen on your first day, We have insured this after all you need to meet your guide/mentor. 2A) Sit on even number rows such as 2, 4, 6, ect, Odd number rows such as 1, 3, 5 shouldn't be sat on unless your mentor specifically told you. 3A) Once you have met your mentor always sit next to them on the bus, they know more than you and will protect you if things go south. 4A) on the second day and after, open your laptop before you get in the bus and use it once you are on the bus until you have arrived at school. You may do anything on your laptop during this time, The laptops will always have Wifi on the bus and in a 10 feet radius from the bus if there is no Wifi, tell the bus driver "I can't I feel sick" They may try and convince you to come on, hold your ground, A fist fight will be better than going on, don't worry the bus driver won't remember a thing that happened yesterday, or anyone on. 5A) only talk to your mentor and everyone they deam to be safe if you disobey this rule you must be quiet and slowly get away from them, don't speak on the bus for the next 2 days. 6A) Ignore any screams, crying, begging, if any occur. If you see someone reacting, calm them down, "it's annoying don't you think?" THEY MUST AGREE. 1B) Leave the house by 7:20 keep the porch light off until then. You don't want the bus driver to think they left someone behind. 2B) Keep the driver's door locked at all times. Best if the original driver is still there when your at school. 3B) please be quiet, it's safer that way and makes the ride less horrific. 4B) Keep your face blank. Same as your mentors. If you see someone not as in, another passenger, or the driver please remide them that rule breakers are not tolerated. 5B) This way of transportation shall only be used for 250 days, until you have graduated college in your respective field. 1C) Do not listen to any music genre bellow Rock, Pop, Country. These genres they hate, you don't want them to associate you with it. 2C) Meet your mentor as soon as you get to school, only today you may be late to class. 3C) Be prepared to be pushed, shoved, or even stabbed if you don't get out of the way. We recommend doing this to others if you may be late to class. 4C) DON'T BE LATE FOR CLASS. If you are Text your mentor and RUN TO YOUR CLASS. If you can't find it go to the designated Safe room, It will be the safest place to be. 5C) Your computers are your easiest way to find safe spaces, always have it open in an emergency unless your mentor specifically told you to. 6C) If you get Ms. Bliss, Be thankful. Many try to be in her classes, She is very Kind and caring If an emergency breaks out and your mentor texts you to leave the class she may deliver a screech, DO NOT LISTEN TO YOUR MENTOR IF THIS OCCURS, IT IS NOT THEM. 7C) Mr. Bliss is very strict and hated for plenty of reasons. Study, take notes, Do whatever you can do to stay on his good side, unless you want a fate worse than death. 8C) RESPECT mentors, they know more than you and are superior, always. Train to be one! It will be most appreciated. 9C) if you know someone disobeyed the rules, Do not trust them. It's not them Thank you and please enjoy our WONDERFUL school! You may soon be one of the mentors if you follow all these rules to the dote! 😁
UN announcer: K17-PXVI has dominated the world. Starting in Russia, it quickly got to high population countries like China and India causing it to infect billions of people in a matter of months. Because of some reason this virus can suppress the hosts immune system enough that it can take control of the victims brain, forcing them into a homicidal state. There is a 100% mortality rate and no cure. The symptoms of K17-PXVI is a Fever above 40C or 105F, violent coughing, sudden aggression and inability of speech. Afterwards, the victim will have epileptic seizures and eventually die. After about 1-2hrs the victim will regain “consciousness” without a pulse and begin to attack everything and everyone around them. Here are some rules so that you can survive. Rule 1. Don’t go to any largely populated cities. Every country on earth has been confirmed to at least have 1 case of K17-PXVI and largely populated cities are bound to have many victims. Go to less densely populated regions like the Outback if you are in Australia and the Amazons if you are in Brazil and attempt to build a civilisation there. More people, more infected. Rule 2. Do not drink any water from rivers and especially bottled water packed past 1st of January 2023. The virus travels by water and air. Rivers and lakes should be a last resort in case you run out of water. Also, the infected may hide underneath the water since they do not have lungs. The bottled water thing is very important as all water packed past the date is probably all infected with that virus. Rule 3. If anyone you know is showing signs of being infected, terminate them immediately. This is incredibly hard to do but by letting them live you are only delaying the inevitable and putting yourself in danger. If you are showing signs of the infected, commit suicide right away. Death is honourable and mutation is not. Beeeeep… WE ARE CURRENTLY GETTING ATTACKED BY MANY INFECTED, BROADCAST MAY SHUT OFF AT ANY TIME. The United States of America is now bombing every single country to stop the further outbreak of K17-PXVI. The missiles have been confirmed to contain nuclear warheads. Seek shelter in an underground place immedia- Beeeeep…. HELP HELP HELP HELP HELP HELP HELP HELP HELP HELP HEL- We are happy. Join us. We will do it together. BOOM! The missiles hit and only a few people survived. Is this the end? No we will make it out alive. PART 2 COMING SOON.
Congratulations. You pissed me off so much I want you to be punished. If you want to survive in case, here are some tips. 1. I will send you a message before I start attacking. 2. My first attempt is trickery. Notify family to not trust me if I do anything that seems like I'm trying to get in the house. 3. If I fail trickery, I may try deal making. I might make very nice deals that your family might even consider taking. 4. If the previous fails, I may try another way, some being disguising myself as things to lower suspicion, threats, bluffing. 5. If none of these work, I may have to just break in and do some not very family friendly things. 6. If you get through all of these previous ones, next is dealing with my creatures 7. First comes george, george will never physically appear. Avoid darkness during george's attacks. 8. Second is something I don't even know. You'll get tired and go to your room. Once inside, you'll hear odd noises that may lure you down. I can't even figure out what happens next. 9. Third, a mouse may come inside. His name is Roberto. If Roberto is present, that means I am taking a break. Use this to rest too. 10. I am a reasonable person, even when royally pissed. It may be possible to make a deal to avoid getting harmed 11. I may go to a window and stare at you from a distance. I don't know why I do this sometimes. Nothing seems to happen if I do this. 12. You can try to run away from your house, but it's unlikely you can escape me. I am a fast person. 13. There is no rule 13. 14. If you fail to prevent me from getting in, you may simply allow me in and take whatever beating I give you. It's better to resort to the addendum if you annoyed me enough I might LITERALLY kill you. 15. Never try to fight me off. If I take a bad blow, **he** will come to punish you instead. Good luck, by the way, I love black olives. You might just be able to leave a bunch on the porch and I'll get too distracted to remember that I'm angry at you. Addendum: If you NEED to defend yourself in failure to stop my advances, the only way to do so is to take a non-lethal way of taking me down. **He** will not be angry if you stop me without making me cry from an injury.
Welcome to r/ruleshorror. I welcome you as a fellow member and I will be your guide to the rules about browsing this page. 1. Do not ask the mods for anything unless absolutely necessary, they do not like being disturbed. 2. Under absolutely no circumstances should you join their discord, that is where they lurk. 3. They do enjoy lurking around 1-4 AM, this is a bad time to be awake, but if you are, follow this: 3A. Make sure everything, including your door, is locked, They will try to force their way in. 3B. Make sure your all other electronics, including phones, are switched off, unless rule 13 is involved. 3C. Do NOT make a post, this will give them your location. 4. Ignore any disconnected from reality objects, they mean no harm. 5. Do not attempt to turn off your device while here, it will also give them your location, 5A. If you screwed up 3C or rule 5 do not be afraid, call me, immediately, you know the number, there might be time. 6. If any of these rules are broken refresh your page or refer to 5A. 6A. If there is an ad with a picture of a hiding spot in your room, immediately hide in that spot, it is the safest and it is me attempting to help you. 7. As you should know from reading these posts, do not under any circumstances leave your room, if you are not in YOUR room, go there, quickly. 8. Keep a gun close, it will be useful for defense against them. 9. If you come across a rule post labeled "Rules for surviving the mods" do not click on it, it is a trap and has false information. 9A. if you do end up clicking on it, believe nothing they say, and follow rules 6, and 10. 10. If you have curtains close them, they will protect you a little bit longer. 10A. If you do not have curtains, make sure the windows are at least closed. 11. If it starts getting a little hot make sure you have a fan or anything to cool you down, calmly lower the temperature until set at the right temperature of 67. 11A. If higher or lower then 67, change it back, before its too late. 11B. If you cannot lower the temperature turn on a fan, its your only chance. 12. Make sure you have a blanket incase they decide to come in. 13. If you hear crawling around your room, stay calm, do not make eye contact, calmly turn on the television, and just watch something, it will make them think they have the wrong person. 13A. Do not turn off the device, only power on the television, after they leave, you are clear to turn it off. 13B. If you do not have a TV or cant turn it on, turn on your phone and scroll through youtube, this works slightly worse, but still works. 14. Your family may ask to come in, do not open the door unless they knock four times. 15. Be sure to follow the rules, and reddits rules, as they do not like when rules are broken. 16. Be sure not to wake your family, they will try and open the door, we do not want this. Thank you for reading my rules, and make sure to call me if there are any problems, you know the number.
Thank you for choosing our open midnights position Of 6p-6a. We do offer a first-night trial run to see if you like it or can handle it. Here at Shadow Oak, we offer the nightly pay of 350$, we do pay nightly. Your pay will be in a lock box in the locked kitchenette behind the desk. It will only allow you to open it after your shift ends at 6:00 am. If you leave before that you will not be paid. It is also not safe to leave before 6:00 am as they will try to leave with you, some have succeeded in leaving with staff who try to leave before 6:00 am. here are some rules and information to keep you safe. 1. Everyone will be in bed no one should use a call light except room 205 that's Mrs. Davis she'll ring at 8 pm, 10 pm, 12 am, 2 am, and 4 am she just gets confused turning her light off, and shut her door she does not harm. any other lights DO NOT answer! 2. There is a small cat pig she'll keep you safe if you don't see her once every hour refer to rule 7. Bring treats and she'll keep you safe. 3. the kitchenette is the only locked and safe place don't worry about getting Pig in there the residents know her and like her. 4. ALWAYS make sure you lock the kitchen behind you. 5. You are the only aid here. There is one nurse but she will lock herself in the nurse's station and sleep the whole time she's been here for ages. WHATEVER you do DON'T wake her up she won't help you. 6. If you hear scratching or screaming no you didn't ignore it. 7. If you see someone comes out of any of the rooms except room 205 it's Mrs. Davis(like I said she gets confused) redirects her to lie down if it is anyone else or any other room and locks yourself in the kitchen till 6 am no matter what. they won't hurt Mrs. Davis they know her if they are out at the same time leave her. turn the light out and stay clear of the window. 8. Don't let them see you. 9. If you see anything don't bother calling the cops they won't respond to our building. 10. if they happen to see you refer to rule 7 and pray to whatever you believe in. 11. Someone in red scrubs will try to come and take over the shift at 5 tell them sternly but kindly that you have it under control and have to stay your whole shift. You're going to hear and see things that aren't human if they catch you they are going to do unthinkable things to you. Remember to bring treats for Pig, Mrs. Davis is the only safe one, lock the kitchenette and don't let them get you. Hope you have a goodnight and want to return as we pay well hope all is QUIET for you.
Basically, I asked one of my friends to give me a one word prompt for a rules horror story. She said "Gromit". Thank you for babysitting Gromit! Here are a couple rules to keep in mind: #x200B; 1. Don’t pressure Gromit into coming out of his room. He is very shy, and doesn’t like new people. 2. Remember to feed Gromit everyday at 4:03pm. Never before, never later. He can get angry when things aren’t regular. 3. If you hear scratching on the door, don’t worry. Gromit’s just playing. Best not to disturb him. 4. Remember to go into Gromits room at 4:03pm. He really likes new people, especially when he’s hungry. 5. If Gromit starts to misbehave, try and run away. I’m sure it won’t help but it’s better to try and escape. 6. Remember, Gromit loves you. He loves you so much, he wants you to get closer. Even when you leave, Gromit can see you. Come closer. Gromit won’t mind. Gromit knows you want to see him. Gromit knows. Gromit always knows.
Welcome, this email is intended to thank you for volunteering as the new project manager at Radar Post 435. Before you begin, there is a list of rules and provisions to see to it that you succeed in your task of running the post efficiently and safely. 1) Keep at your monitor from hours 0800-1600. Should you leave your monitor, you will not see tomorrow. 2) If an object is detected on the monitor, run to the bunker, you will have three minutes before [REDACTED] arrives. 2I) Should you not make it to the bunker before it arrives, hide, except in restricted areas referred to in section 8. Avoid direct eye contact. 3) Should a light go out in any rooms adjacent to the monitor room during duty hours, DO NOT look into the room or shine a light into said room, it's best to avoid eye contact with it. 4) Should the light in the monitor room go out during duty hours, quickly cover your eyes and wait for the sound of the switch being flipped. Once the sound is heard, resume your duties at the monitor. 5) There are four bedrooms in the facility. Sleep in whichever you feel least comfortable, it knows that we need comfort to sleep well and will try and lull you into sleeping in its chosen den. 6) During the night, keep all doors in a three room radius locked, this will help you hear it if it begins hunting. 6I) Should you wake to hear it, climb out of your window to the rear of the room, and RUN to the bunker. It is IMPERATIVE that you do not look back at said window. IT WILL BE WATCHING! 7) There will be a fully stocked mess hall in the facility. Be careful, if the food smells too sweet, it is laced with a chemical secreted by it, causing hallucinations, insanity, and eventually total organ failure. Should any food be suspected to be compromised, dispose of it immediately. 8) There are numerous doors throughout the facility that are marked around the edges with a yellow line of an unknown substance, these rooms are off limits. Under no circumstances should one enter these rooms and if you survive what's in the rooms, you will be [REDACTED] by the company. 9) Other Radar Posts will frequently contact you with the radio in the monitor room, THEY ARE NOT REAL. Should a message be broadcast on the radio it will be in Morse code, for it has not learned to speak in it yet. 10) Should at any point you see headlights near or on the horizon, it is not the company. We will only visit the facility by helicopter. These lights are traps to make you look in the wrong direction. Avert your eyes and continue with your duties. 11) Should the bunker airlock be breached at any time, pray that it loses interest in you, it has carved 10 feet of steel reinforced concrete like butter and IT CAN SMELL YOU. 12) If you notice any red lights on throughout the facility, evacuate and do not return. Pray we can find you on the barren wastes before it does. The company would like to remind you that this job is highly confidential. Anything you witness in Radar Post 435 is under NDA protection that will need to be signed below before beginning work. The fate of all we know hangs in the balance, good luck.
There's only 1 channel, it's an old TV which is why it's free, it doesnt need to be plugged in and as long as you follow these rules you'll have endless hours of entertainment: 1) make sure you know what it is you want to watch, you must turn on the TV at the time the show starts and off once the last credits roll off screen 2) never have another electronic device in the room while the TV is on, it will jump over to it, and you will soon lose yourself to it 3) if you turn on the TV and there's static, DO NOT touch the screen, turn it off immediately with the remote provided before you begin to rip off each one of your nails 3a) if the remote is not where you left it, place a black sheet over the TV and keep your eyes closed tight as you leave the room, do not open them no matter what you hear or feel 4) if you turn it on and there is a black figure in the picture place a ring of white sage around the TV then smash screen, do not look at it directly again no matter what it tells you, it is not trapped, you are, go upstairs untill the next morning, do not open the door, it is not your family, there screams arnt real, if you survived the screen will be fixed 5) if you turn on the TV and it begins to rattle, run, do not hesitate, its coming, do not return, you are not safe, put the TV up for free to good home, it is old, no one will think twice, tell them to walk in and take it, it's there's :)
So, you've decided to drive on the highway. Follow these rules to ensure your safety. 1. ALWAYS keep your headlights on. They can not get infront of the car if the headlights are on. 2. Lock the doors. 3. If you hear scratching or tapping on the car roof, step on the gas pedal and speed up to **150 miles** **an hour**, it will fall off the roof. 4. You are the only "real" car on the highway, if you see another car in your rearview mirror, ignore it. 5. If you see someone sitting in the backseat, try to ignore it as much as possible. It cannot hurt you if you dont acknowledge its existence. 6. Do NOT pick up any **hitchhikers.** If you do, you are as good as dead. 7. You can only stop at a gas station ONCE. Buy everything you need and buy gas if you are running low. 7a. If you already stopped at a gas station, ignore any more gas stations that might appear on the side of the road. It is a trick to lure you in. 8. If something tries to open your door while you're driving and its unlocked, try to kill it. 8a. If you have a firearm, consider yourself lucky. You might scare them off for a good 2-3 hours before they come back. 9. Do NOT exit the highway, drive straight forward. You can leave once the clock hits 4:30 AM. 10. You might want to listen to the radio, you can. However do NOT listen to **96.6 FM.** 10a. Listening to **96.6 FM** will grant them access to your car even if the doors are locked. You will not survive. 11. If you cant exit the highway before 4:30 AM. You failed to escape this hell. You will spend your entire life in here. **There is no hope left.** 11a. If you do manage to escape, you will be able to travel to anywhere in the whole world, once. 12. If you run out of gas, pray that it'll be a quick death. 13. If the highway abruptly cuts off to a grass field, continue driving. The road will come back eventually. 14. Everything in this post is a lie, **there is no way out.** *Remember what you did in* ***1998***. This is your purgatory and you will stay on this highway for all eternity.
Hi Collin, Thank you for accepting the night shift on such short notice! I really appreciate it. Our previous rangers had some... difficulties during the night shift... but I can assure you that you will be getting a big bonus this Thanksgiving. Anyway, I know you only started a couple of months ago and the night shift is a bit more difficult then what you're probably used to, so let me give you some tips and ground rules so you can keep the park, and yourself, safe! 1. Once you clock in at 10pm, make sure to head towards the big tower north overlooking the whole forest. You'll be spending a large portion of your 8 hour shift there. Inside it'll have everything you need. Radio, clipboard, raincoat, flashlight, flare, anti-scent spray and the shotgun in the black case just next to your desk. Make sure to radio in to your buddy, Jake. He'll be on the southern tower on the other side of the park. You and him will have a fair bit to do throughout the night. 2. Your primary job is to watch over the park, and keep the animals within safe, while it may get boring, do not fall asleep. You must remain alert at all times. If something were to happen while you were asleep, it could result in: Damages to the park; Your immediate resignation; Your buddy being put in Danger; Danger to anyone camping or hiking in the park; Putting yourself in Danger; Death. 3. You may also feel hungry during this time, so we've giving you some nutritious natural protein bars to snack on. Do not bring your own snacks. It will smell them. 4. Make sure to apply your anti-scent spray every hour. It will smell you otherwise. 5. If you see smoke at any time, just let your buddy know. You and him will keep and eye on it. It could just be some campers after all. If you see fire however, you will notify your buddy he will notify the fire department. They will be there by morning. 6. Do not be alarmed by any distant screams you may during the night. Although it may seem humanoid, it's just the sound of the wilderness during the night. If the screams grow closer, you will grab your shotgun, turn off the lights and hide under your desk. Open fire at any sight of movement. It will be your only hope at survival. 7. If the power goes out at any time, you will just have notify your buddy and take a look at the generator about 1km down the trail. Make sure to grab your flashlight and, if it's raining, your raincoat.. Although you will feel tempted to use the quad bike, do not. It will hear you. It will catch you. Take a walk instead. Make sure to follow the trail. Once at the generator, take a look at it. Can it be fixed? Or has it been ripped from the ground. If it is the former, there should be a toolbox attached. Fix it. If it is the latter turn off your flashlight and quietly follow the trail back to the tower and repeat the last steps of rule 6. 8. If you see your buddy's lights go out in his tower at any time, do not check up on him. Turn off the radio. It has already gotten him 9. At 1am you and your buddy will need to check up on the areas of the fence line perimeter. Your buddy doing the northern area and you doing the southern. Normally you and your buddy would only have to check one area at 2am but our last two rangers unfortunately were unable to do so due to some unforeseen events. Report any damages done to the perimeter fence line on your clipboard we have so kindly provided. If your buddy has been taken you will have to check the Northern area as well. If you manage to stumble across fresh blood. Turn off your flashlight and quietly go the other way. It is in the area, and it may already know you're there. Ignore any movement you may notice in your peripheral vision and walk faster. You will have a small chance of survival. Make sure to get back to the tower by 4am. It is most active during the final parts of the night. 10. It cannot be stopped during this time, so turn off the lights. If you hear any movement nearby you will turn off the radio, grab your shotgun and hide under your desk. It isn't much but if you stay silent and perfectly still, you may have a slim chance. Whatever you do, do not look at it. It can sense your gaze. If you are completely sure it is gone, you may come out from your desk and turn on the radio. 11. If you smell burnt pork during this time it knows your there. Leave your tower immediately and run to the southern tower. If you have somehow made it to the southern tower, repeat rule 6. If your buddy is still alive, use him as bait. His sacrifice will keep yourself alive. 12. Once it is 6am you will have completed your shift. You are free to go home. There will be a park ranger to take over after you, so no need to worry. Let your buddy know over radio, or by using your flare. 13. You will not talk about what you do at this park during the night shift. Failure to follow this rule will result in jail time and potentially death. Once again, I just want to thank you for accepting the night shift here. I'm sure you'll grow to enjoy it. Thanks and kind regards, Mary Smith, Head Ranger of Johnhog Valley
1. Start with a greeting, say something simple like hello, and address the owner, DogeMan (or Doge.), in your greeting, failure to do so results in a kick from the server, this is the least of your problems. 1A. Rejoin the server if you are kicked, failure to do so should result in you stabbing yourself, as what they will do will be worse. 2. If you need to hop off or want to hop off for any reason, include a goodbye and a good reasoning. 3. Never mention these rules in the chat, as Doge will not take kindly to you trying to help others. 4. If you require help, message me using the private chat, as doge will only hunt you faster if he knows you need my help. 4A. He does not care if I try to help, as its more of a challenge for him. 5. Barricade any doors and windows incase of emergency. 6. Do not attempt to attack doge, as he does not keep kind to this, failure results in the same way as rule 1A. 7. Do not attempt to go to the cords 69, 69, 69, as he finds these funny and will lurk around there. 8. Make a base, for the love of god, it protects you somewhat. 9. Do not attempt to kill the ender dragon, he wont let you, failure results in rule 6. 10. Keep a gun on you, he is still human.. after all. 11. Do not follow any rules that are fully lowercased, as these are tricks for doge. 12. be sure to tell everyone in your server these rules. 13. Follow the minecraft rules, common sense. Thanks for reading, have a fun time on the server.
Howdy! And congratulations, because you just got invited to Randy's birthday party! Here are the rules for Randy's birthday party, have fun! Rule 1: The kid's name is Randy, don't even dare call hom by other names, Not even "Randall" or "Rand" Just Randy Rule 2: The deeper connection you have for Randy, the better gift you have to give, for Example: If you are just an acquaintance or simply a classmate that doesn't have a deep connections with Randy, You can give him a board game, If you are the best friend of Randy, You have to buy a gift worth at least 5000 dollars. Otherwise, refer to the final rule Rule 3: You can only go inside of Randy's house only if you have to go to the bathroom, Otherwise, there's no reason for you go there. If you go inside the house and you do not have to pee/poo/puke, refer to the final rule Rule 4: Randy might have a dog. If the party is at a Sunday or a Friday the dog isn't here. If the party is at a Monday the dog is only passive, and won't do anything. If the part is at a Wendsday, Tuesday or a Saturday, you need to avoid eye contact with him. If the party is at a Thursday, refer to the final rule. Rule 5: When in trouble, Always talk to Randy's dad. He knows what's going on, and at times he can give you tips Rule 6: Never trust Randy's mom, She is sweet and looks more charming than Randy's dad at first glance. But she is without a doubt a witch with makeup. If she offers you cookies. Avoid eye contact with her and stay away from her as long as possible, otherwise. You're done, and refer to the final rule Rule 7: Also, I forgot to mention that you can go inside Randy's house if he's inviting you and the party attenders to watch TV. Let him pick the channel he wants. No matter how tasteless and unbearable it is. Rule 8: Randy's father can get pretty arrogating at times. Just stay patient. Otherwise he'll stop supporting you and even have a 10% to kill you. Rule 9: Randy is a pretty polarizing figure. He's incredibly insecure, and don't even think about making jokes to him. Because his mother will take care of you. Rule 10: Always let Randy eat the largest slice of cake. Don't even ask why. If you don't let him. Refer to the final rule Rule 11: Randy has a baby brother, he is more evil than his mother. He planned this entire charade. He controls everyone. Rule 11.5: If you are stupid enough to approach Randy's brother. Always keep an eye out for him. Because he is the most unpredictable little satan there is. Rule 12: If you here your cellphone ringing. Don't answer it. Don't even pick up the phone, let it ring. If you accept the call, refer to the final rule, if you decline it. Refer to the next rule Rule 12.5: If you decline the call break your phone, and throw it in the trash. I know it's a grave lost for you, but you need to live. Rule 13: When the party ends, Handshake Randy, don't make any other gestures. If you do, refer to the final (and next) rule The final rule: If you see this. You failed, the only option left is to start a rampage from Randy to his Dog. Then, you got to fight the baby, Find any weapons. Although you can kill him: If you spare the dad nothing would change. Either ask him for the pistol he keeps in his pocket or grab it from his dead body. And just start to shoot the living hell out of the baby. If he'll fight back, and the pistol has no bullet's left. Strangle him to death, leave this forsaken place, and don't return. You hear me? If you don't want to do any of this. You are dead.
Congratulations, I don't trust many people to come over to my house. Make yourself at home, nothing bad will happen. Just don't break any of my rules and you'll be ok. Rule 1: My mom's word is the way. If she asks you to do anything, DO IT. If you don't, then you may be led on a dark path. Do not worry though, she is merely trying to keep us safe, she is not the one to worry about. Rule 2: Every rule except for rule one will only be necessary to follow after ruffly 6:00 PM. I say ruffly because every night it changes, but the earliest is 6. Rule 3: Don't feed my Chihuahua any food. He may develop an insatiable hunger. If this does happen, pray he does not smell you. Rule 4: If He looks at you, don't move, don't breathe, don't make any signal that you exist. Fear not! If he does notice you, just say his name in a calm voice. This will confuse him. Rule 5: If He is not in the house sleeping, do not look outside. You may risk making direct eye contact. Rule 6: After 10:00 PM, he will definitely be asleep. Do not wake him, or he might get cranky. Rule 7: If He gets startled and barks, cover your ears IMMEDIATELY! After 10 seconds let me know if you heard more barking. Either two of the following may happen. Cenario 1: You didn't hear barking in your head. Good, continue on as if nothing happened. Cenario 2: You heard the bark echo in your head. Well $#!+. You can either cover your ears with lit fire, he does not like heat. Note that you only have to ward of his infection, no need to burn your ears of. If not followed perfectly, your ears will blow of your head and he will eat your insides. Final Rule: Do NOT, come into my mom's room if she is petting Him. My mom is kind, and she would NEVER risk your life to ask you a favor. This can only mean one thing, that is NOT my mom anymore. No need to panic if you do enter the room. Just ask to use the restroom, and don't come back. Lock yourself in the bathroom for about 2 hours. Then, I will come and find you. If I have a cloth tied around my eyes, it is safe. I will give you a blind fold to cover your eyes. Do not under ANY CIRCUMSTANCE remove the blind fold to look around (even if you think my mom asked you to). Just hold my hand and follow me to the bedroom. We will be safe there. If I come find you in the bathroom without a blind fold, andy ears are gone, then that is not me. If you wish for your own body to not be hollowed as mine has, R U N...
As soon as I read that note, I felt a cold shiver down my spine, causing me to panic further. Mother used to always say a shiver down your spine means someone has stepped on your grave. With that final thought, the flickering lights immediately shut off, casting the visiting room into complete darkness. I didn't care about the other poor souls here who were visiting, in this matter it was fight, flight or freeze, survival of the fittest. So I immediately kicked into action. I ran through the still open metal door which all the prisoners ran through, thinking to myself *"He couldn't have given me a map with this note, would've come in handy."* I just began wandering blindly, looking for any signage, but of course, these grey, dull, damp prison walls had as much colour and decoration as a blind mans bedroom. I say grey, if my memory serves me correct, about 3/4s of the wall was grey. The other 1/4 was just a darker grey. So I'll give them props, at least they tried. As I continued to wander I eventually came across another metal door, I looked to the top and seen that there was a small green light above it. So.. The doors are never locked? Just magnetised? That doesn't seem practical for a prison. I opened it, and almost immediately I heard my dad's voice. At first only a whisper, calling my name. *"Bishop! Come on, you're nearly here!"* A sense of security began to dawn over me, something I only ever felt when I was 20. Like the embrace of the woman I once loved. I completely forgot about rule 2 of the note, how these things cause auditory hallucinations. If it wasn't for the growing volume, combined with a ringing in my ears, I would've been dead. I looked around and couldn't find much in place of anything to hide in, beyond a table and chair. Anything is better than nothing so I put the table on it's side and tried to obscure the view of the hallway I was in. I jumped behind it and lay down. After a few moments, the creature must've been close, the ringing turned to a piercing screech, the voice no longer my fathers, rather a shrill, excruciating but yet monotone version of his voice, only this time it screamed *"Come out! It's safe, son! I'll bring you back to my cell now."* And then... The worst part. I could feel its presence. It must've been on the other side of the table, probably just confused by the table, dad did say these things patrol, so it must've thrown it off it's route. At this point the voice was so loud it was about to rupture my ear drums. That's how it felt anyway. I mentally begged and pleaded with every deity I could think of in that moment. Begging to once again give me that feeling of security that I emotionally craved in the real world, but needed in this very moment. After what'd I'd say was a few moments, the creature finally left, and the voices grew more distant, never leaving though. Always staying a permanent whisper. At that very moment, I had an idea, maybe a stupid one, but it worked. That thing, went back the way I came in, meaning at the other end of this hallway, maybe I'd be closer to intake. I haven't been to jail but I figure the warden would want his office away from the prisoners so, it was a chance I was willing to take if it meant I could finally feel the embrace of my father, so. In my head, these things patrolled the prison, but the warden, he patrols the offices. Makes sense, I figured. So I just bolted. Ripping open every door in my way, occasionally having to hide again from the voices. I swear at one point I could feel the breath of these monsters on me, how I survived I still don't know. As I proceeded on my journey, I bumped into another visitor. Nothing too much of an exchange, he proceeded to tell me his experiences, I handed him the note and sent him on his way, while I traversed my own... Until... Not even 2 minutes later, the voices came back. Just not in the same way. I could hear the other visitor. George his name was, he said. George, was.. Talking to someone. But then. ***"Prisoner. Why are you out of your cell? I must remind you. Being out of your cell is an upgrade to death row! So now. What is your last request for a meal?"*** The voice boomed, but yet, sounded as if it had been smoking 60 a day for decades, croaky, but somehow still eloquent and well articulated. I couldn't hear Georges last request, coherently anyway through his cries of fear. What immediately followed was the worst sounds that place ever graced me with. The squelching of flesh being ripped open, torn apart. But no cracks of bones, it's as if he was ripped open and his bones were destroyed or eaten whole. In that moment, I broke. Tears flooded from my eyes, down my cheeks and into my beard before dripping to the floor. It was only then that it was setting in that this isn't a bad dream. This is all happening and it's potentially life or death. I was lucky, I managed to proceed to intake and find a uniform without further incident. Until I came to the wardens office. Cautious of my fathers warnings I tried to be as silent as possible while passing his closed door. But then I got curious. I listened in, it sounded as if he was having a meeting... But... He sounded human. He sounded normal. The same accent as everyone else in this area of the country. His voice was gentle, soothing, he himself sounded well-read and articulate. His words were beautifully put together, I genuinely got a feeling and thought of I want to meet this man. I snapped out again by the voices of my father creeping into my mind louder and so I just ran in the opposite direction. In my travels I came to a junction almost, I could go straight or turn right and as the voices approached at an alarming speed I turned right. In through a blue double doors to be greeted with metal tables, connected to metal stools. Only seconds later I was joined by one of these things. It stayed just out of my line of sight, almost teasing me out my peripheral so I couldn't get a good look at the thing. ***"Prisoner. Take a seat! It's past feeding time but we have something new on the menu, we need a tester to tell us how it is. Please sit for a few moments while we prepare it for you."*** I took a seat and just thought to myself *Fuck, now I have to eat every last bite of this shit.* After what seemed like hours, but in reality probably only minutes the "guard" came back with a blue, plastic tray and set it before me. It looked pretty normal, rice, potatoes and slop, a carton of what I hope was milk, and... Some... Mystery meat? If dad wasn't joking in his letter, then this was definitely a body part of another prisoner, but thankfully all the portions were small, after all prisons only need to keep people alive from food, not over indulge them. Everything was fine until the meat. It tasted... Salty... Gamey... It was dripping in blood like an uncooked steak... Every bite made me retch and gag but I pushed on. I was so close but yet so far to my freedom. I agonisingly ate every bite, leaving only a few crumbs. ***"Prisoner, where is your cell?"*** the voice boomed. I struggled to find words, only looking to the tray in front of me. *"Cell... Ce... Cell 29... Wes... West Wing.."* ***"Okay, Prisoner. I will tell my colleagues. You have five minutes to return to your cell, or you will be sent to Death Row. You shall not be harmed until the five minutes is up."*** I don't think I ever ran so fast, from that table, banging on every door I could trying to find the West wing but by the grace of God I found it. I was so glad, and thank god for the fact every cell door was numbered. I ran up the metal steps to the landing of the second floor, searching for my dads cell. I began knocking frantically. *"Dad, it's me, Bishop, open up!"* All I got back. *"What's the secret knock! Do the knock."* My mind... Blanked. I gave the paper to George earlier. *"Dad I'm sorry, I gave the rules to someone else to help them try survive. Can you write it again?"* He obliged. A few seconds later he slid another small piece of paper under the door and I bent over and picked it up. Only when I got to my feet did I hear the sounds of my mothers voice start to creep in. I knocked three times, delayed it by a second then two more. At this moment I didn't care if I died, but if I died I was bringing dad with me. The voices got louder but thank fuck in the nick of time my dad opened his cell door, pulled me in and barricaded the door again. I tried to talk to him, but he would just keep shushing me and made me sleep in the terror and silence of the night I had just had.
Welcome to the finest museum ever where we have the best service and all of art you could ever imagine. Oh i almost forgot! Here are some rules that you have to follow if you dont want to be stuck here forever or die. 1.Please and i mean PLEASE do not buy anything from the gift shop. 2.If you were to encounter some unusual events such as: -Looping art -No other people near you -Lights going out -No paintings on the walls That means you have gone too far into the museum,Please try your best to go back to the entrance. If you cant then... Good luck! 3.We do not sell ice cream. If you were to see anyone selling ice creams please do your best to ignore those who are selling them. If you were to eat the ice cream lets just say that your mind will be blown... 4.We have tied a button to your wrist. Please press this button to notify a staff member of your location. And no that button wont save you if you get too far into the museum. 5.If you were to get lost please press the button. And a staff member will be at your location shorty after. And after they are there. Notify them of your situation. 6.On the same note, please be respectful to our staff member. If not they might make you take their place. 7.While yes we have bathrooms in this museum. We however do not have bathrooms close to each others. If you were to find bathrooms like this please alert a staff member. They will get the situation sorted out. 8.Buy our ice cream. You will be begging for more. 9.If a staff that has more than 1 badge or a red badge approaches you. Please say you are waiting for another staff member and do not​ follow them. 10.If you want to exit the museum please press the button on your wrist and say the following once the staff member has reached you "lleh siht evael latrom siht tel esaelp" and they will lead you to the exit. Please remember rule 9. 11.Exit before 5 hours. Dont worry if you dont have a watch we will give you one. But you must return it. And you might ask "What happens if i stay after 5 hours?" Well the staff members would get hungry and we would have to fire them. Please enjoy your time here! And dont forget we dont use money here instead we use organs. How else do you think we keep our staff members at bay!
Hey! Glad you could make it to my little camp out. Now, before we head to the back paddock to set up, I need to lay down a couple of ground rules... 1. Make sure that you've brang at least a sleeping bag, spare change of clothes, deodorant and a toothbrush. The sleeping bag so that you won't get cold and vulnerable and everything else to keep yourself clean. Being clean keeps Mother happy. You don't want to upset Mother. I cannot save you from Mother 2. Do not bring your mobile phone. Mother dislikes them. You don't want to upset Mother 2. Even though this does sound counter-intuitive, make sure to not buckle your seatbelt when you enter the paddock basher. This will ensure that you can quickly exit the car if needed. 3. Once we're down there, make sure to help me set up the tent, otherwise I may refuse to protect you from anything that may pay a visit during the night. 4. I have put all of our cows in a paddock up near the front and the chickens in their coop before yoour arrival. You may go visit them at any time before sunset as long as I am there with you. If I am not present, wait patiently for me. They aren't very friendly to humans. 5. Do not enter the creek at any time. Although the water may look clear and still, a lot is happening underneath the surface. The same goes for the forest just outside the fence line. We have an electric fence for a reason. 6. You will collect sticks for the fire before we go up for dinner. They don't like fire, or the light. 7. At 6pm, we will go up to the house for dinner. Bring your spare clothes with you. Make sure to refer to rule 1 when we are in the car and be clean and tidy once we reach the front door. If you fail to be clean and tidy once Mother opens the door, she will not be happy. You don't want to make Mother unhappy. 8. We will eat dinner at the table, with a knife and fork. If you spill anything or make a mess, you will say to Mother: "I'm deeply sorry, I will clean this up immediately." You will then proceed to clean the mess up and afterwards, change clothes. You don't want to make Mother unhappy. 9. If you finish dinner, early, you will remain seated and wait for me to finish. If you finish dinner after me, I will the in the car, waiting. As you exit, make sure to leave your plate and utensils in the sink, and compliment Mother on the dinner. You don't want to make Mother unhappy. 10. By the time we get back, the sun will have set. You will not leave the campsite unless I say otherwise. They thrive off darkness. 10. Feel completely free to leave the campsite after the sun has set, we are very friendly. 11. Do not make too much noise. We will play card games until 11:52pm, and speak in a voice just above a whisper. If he wakes, there is no where to run. We will suffer the consequences. 12. You may hear the faint mooing and the occasional cock-a-doodle-doo, but if it seems to be growing closer, we will quickly and quietly rush into the tent, close it and continue our card game. The coop and front paddock are locked. If you don't enter the tent quick enough, you will be greeted by them. You will become one of them. 13. If you hear the sound of whispers, we will enter the car and continue our card game. Do not open any windows and ignore any thumps or scratching. It cannot break the car. 14. If you notice any sounds of splashing or movement from the creek you must notify me immediately and we will leave the paddock. Nothing good comes from the creek. Everything good comes from the creek. He cannot catch us if we're quick. You will exit and never come again. You will never see me, Mother or father ever again. 15. Once it is 11:52pm we will enter the tent and go to sleep in our sleeping bags. If it forced us into the car, we will quickly exit the car and have 7 seconds enter the tent and close it. It will not attack the tent after 11:52pm. However, if you did not bring your sleeping bag, they will get you. 16. You will have until midnight to fall asleep. If you fail to do so, your sleeping bag will not save you from them. 17. If you wake up from a nightmare, it means you have failed to follow one of the rules above. I recommend you wake me so I can finish you off before she arrives. 18. If you wake up without experiencing a dream or a nightmare, you will have seconds to go back to sleep. If you fail, she will come. Do not run. It will be better if you don't struggle. 19. If you wake from a dream, it will be morning. You will patiently wait for me to wake up. Do not- Please wake us. We will be ok. 20. Once we are awake we will go to the car and drive up to the house. You and us will have breakfast with Mother. Make sure to follow rule 8 and 9. 21. When we are back at the campsite you will help us pack up. Failure to do so will result in Father ensuring that you stay. Permanently. 22. We will drive us back up to the house where we will wait for your mother pick you up. 22. Feel free to stay a little while. We will take very, very, very, very good care of you.
Hey! Thanks for coming over to my house! When you showed up at school, I thought you were a bit off. But you’re a cool person. Here are some rules if you want ~~survive~~ come back again! Don’t let my parents know I gave you these rules. I will get ~~beat~~ punished for it! 1. Please, and I mean please knock on the door only 3 times. 1 of 3 people will open the door. 1a. If I open the door feel free to come in! Just don’t make eye contact with my parents. 2a. If my dad opens the door you need to run. Run as far as possible. I don’t care how long it takes, just get to your house safely. He would kill you if you do not. He doesn’t like unexpected visitors. 3a. If my mom opens the door just simple say, “I’m sorry.” and once she shuts it, knock again. 2. If you get past that without ~~dying~~ getting in trouble, you may see my sister. I will take you up to her room. She will keep us safe. 3. If you manage to anger mother and father, please go to sister. They will not hurt you, as they wouldn’t dare do such a thing around their perfect girl. 4. Once it hits 7:19 pm ON THE DOT, make sure to put your belongings in MY room. 5. Don’t leave anything in the closet. They will get it. 6. We need to be asleep by 11:48 pm. If you’re not, pray to god they won’t hear you. 7. I usually keep a knife by my desk. It’s only if they hear me. If they do end up hearing you, swiftly kill yourself. It’s better then what they have planned for you. 8. If you were able to survive till morning head downstairs. We are free to do what we want, till 7:38 am. As long as we are quiet! 9. As soon as mother and father wake up, go sit at the dining room table. Mother prepares breakfast very fast, but it does have poison in it. Pretend to eat the food. 10. Once you’re done “eating” give your food to the dog! She isn’t affected by the poison. We have no idea how or why, but we’re just happy she isn’t! 11. You may only go back up once to collect your belongings. More than once will result in your demise! 12. After you collect your stuff, feel free to leave! 13. Get to your car quickly as possible. Trust me. The longer you stay in the house, the more time THEY have to get to you. Anyways, thanks for staying over! Feel free to come over whenever you like! ⱧɆⱠ₱₥ɆⱧɆⱠ₱₥ɆⱧɆⱠ₱₥ɆⱧɆⱠ₱₥ɆⱧɆⱠ₱₥ɆⱧɆⱠ₱₥ɆⱧɆⱠ₱₥ɆⱧɆⱠ₱₥ɆⱧɆⱠ₱₥ɆⱧɆⱠ₱₥ɆⱧɆⱠ₱₥ɆⱧɆ₭₱₥ɆⱧɆⱠ₱₥ɆⱧɆⱠ₱₥Ɇ - Jocelyn.
Good job convincing the boss you're a good fit for the job. Here are some rules you should follow. 1. Unless you are in the back, do not talk unless you're taking someone's order. 2. If you need anything, ask me, I might be losing my mind, but I am still kind of sane. 3. Don't go to the boss' office unless the following happens, 3a. The boss calls you to his office. 3b. A customer asks for him. 3c. You need to collect your paycheck 4. Payday is every other friday and the day before holdays. 5. You get holidays and weekends off, if you are sick message the boss the proof and he will excuse you 6. You do not recognize the customers. 7. If you are going insane you can take some of my meds, but if they stop working on you, resist the urges, and go to the pharmacy next door to psychosis meds. 8. You're going insane if you, - Get the urge to claw your eyes out. - Get the urge to kill someone. - If you start to hear voices in your head. - Repeat anything more than twice. - Repeat anything more than twice. - Repeat anything more than twice. - Start to get things incorrect. 9. Keep a gun on you. It's useful. 10. GET OUT OF MY HEAD 11. If you see yourself, shoot it. 12. If every customer looks the same, leave. 13. If the boss gets mad at you, say goodbye to your family. 14. If any of your family arrives here, it's not them. 25. If your friends arrive here, tell them to leave before it's too late. 16. Have fun!
Rule 1. Don't pay attention to any to the movement in your peripheral vision, Its human nature to respond to movement but don't look at it, They dislike attention Rule 2. Stay with your group, If you don't have a group then establish a safe room, to establish a safe room, you are going to need to close all windows and doors, close the blinds. if you have a group stay together, They dislike large groups. Rule 3. Around 6 PM they will collect outside your door, where ever you are, your trapped Rule 4. After 8 PM They will block off every entrance possible, so do not leave the room Rule 5. Don't keep a room dark for too long, always have a light source, They can collect in darkness. Rule 6. At around 1AM You will hear the door splinter. Ignore this as it is an illusion to get you to open the door. Rule 7. If you have fell asleep and woken up after this point ignore everything after this, the only thing you can do is pray that you have a quick death. Rule 8. At around 3AM you will hear scratching at the doors and windows, This is another illusion to let them In. Don't fall for it, they love to pick off stragglers Rule 9. At 5 AM They will do a last effort to get to you, Barricade all doors and windows until the school starts, thats when they retreat.
The college I attended was in a very tiny town in Eastern Washington. So Eastern, in fact, it was only about 10 minutes from the Idaho border, but that's not really important here. There was not much to do in Pullman... other than drink and go to parties. I had never really been much of a party goer myself, so I was one of few not spending every single weekend getting hammered. One of those weekends, I had spent pretty much the whole day in my dorm room and was antsy for some social interaction. I hadn't done much that day other than study and I wanted to at least get out of my dorm. I texted my best friend at the time and we decided we would go to the football stadium to look at the stars. The football stadium, at the time, remained open 24/7 and at the time we left, it was around 12am so the stadium lights had shut off and we had a beautiful view of the stars. We walked to the stadium in great spirits, and had a wonderful night talking and laughing. On the way back, everything changed. By the time we were leaving back to our dorm rooms, it was a little after 2 in the morning. We were walking down the main road, when we see a jeep approaching. Nothing too unusual, however the lights were off, so my best friend, not knowing how to SSDGM, used her hands to make a flashing signal at them telling them their lights were off. As soon as she did this they got only a short distance past us when we heard them slam on their breaks and turn around, driving up the wrong lane of traffic to come back. We were right by a sky bridge at the time this happened, which had stairs leading up to the bridge. We ducked behind the stairs, but the jeep was driving back and forth... looking for us. We ended up having to play a sick game of duck and hide on the stairs until the jeep finally parked. When they did, we had gotten to the top of the stairs and laid ourselves flat on the sky bridge, hiding in the shadows. We had a clear view of them and as soon as we were flat on the ground, we see five men get out of the jeep. Not just that, but they each had a baseball bat. These men were checking the bushes and surrounding areas... again, looking for us. I called the police and quietly explained the situation. After about ten minutes of the men searching and whistling and swinging their bats around they finally left. Not long after the police showed up, but there wasn't much they could do but offer us a ride home in their cruiser. I have no idea what those men's intentions were, but I am so glad I never found out. So, to the creepy five men on Stadium Way... let's not meet.
at first i wasnt going to share this story but now i’m more over the situation. before we start. judge me all you want but i know i can be a bit stupid. its only bc i don’t like to force myself to live on edge bc of the sick people in this world. i live my life as freely and fearlessly as i possibly can. at the time of the story i was 23. my birthday just passed the 29th of november making me 24 now. i’m only 5’2 and about 170lbs. i’m strong enough to help move furniture but not strong enough defend myself the way i would like. you would think as a someone who survived an attempted sexual assault i would learn some self defense but i’ve lost a lot of motivation and self worth since. the abusive relationship really made it worse. that’s beside the point. soo to start. i won’t get into major details but i had just moved to jackson, tennessee from miami, florida because i had just gotten out of an extremely physically, emotionally, and mentally absuive relationship that lasted 3 years. about sometime in june my current boyfriend and i had been doing a trips pretty much every weekend. we would visit a new hiking amp; waterfall area. although there isn’t a night life, tennessee is amazingly beautiful. we went to this place called “narrows of the harpeth”. this was one of the underwhelming places we’ve been but still relaxing. after we found a cool place to sit and swim after hiking for 2 hours; a few shots and one blunt later it was time to make the hour trip back to jackson. i put my shoes on and i slip my dress back on which is a little bit above the knee length like if i bend too far forward my lil bum would be on display. i own my body and sexuality so showing some skin never really bothers me and i don’t really think about it bc i just expect people to respect me as i respect them and the way they dress. anyways... on the way back to the car, i, being the tipsy dumb ass i am, managed to trip and fall and scrape my leg pretty badly. it’s actually scarred now. anyways, i tell my boyfriend we need to go to walmart once back in jackson so i could throughly clean my wound with hydrogen peroxide and neosporin. my boyfriend says ok. an hour later we are at walmart. mind you it is only about 9PM, going on 10PM. not late by any means. we get what i need but bc i am still tipsy and pretty high from the blunt i finished in the car ride home i get distracted SOO easily and remembered that my boyfriend got me the wrong size case for my iphone 11 pro, he got the max instead of just the pro. i wanted an idea of what i could trade it for and he wanted to look at some of the games as well as a gaming pc for me. so i am happily tipsy and excited to find a new case which if you have ever been to walmart the cases and are never in order and often causes you to bend down to look at things. there was a man looking at the cases and i just said “excuse me sorry can i look at those cases your standing in front of” he just looked at me with a blank yet dirty look nodded and stepped over. as i am happily looking through the shelf about 5 minutes in and this lady and what i assume are her two children approaches me. mind you we are in the middle of a pandemic and i am thrown off by how close she is to me especially with her baby that looks no older than 9 months. i step back and she just grabs my arm and says “OMG!! wow i havent seen you in forever. look at that hair wow.” amp;amp;amp;amp; her grip tightens. at this point my heart is racing my face gets so hot and i am visibly scared. that’s when my boyfriend says “everything ok babe?” he looks at me equally concerned. i am thinking to myself “does this lady know my mom?? who is she?? is she an old family friend i dont remember?” mind you i’m originally from ohio. we have family here but i don’t know any of my family that lives in tennessee. also my mom loves to brag about her kids so im trying to shake this weird feeling but her daughter keeps looking behind me so i go to turn around and she goes “no don’t turn around walk with me please trust me” idk why but i felt she was being genuine and i just followed her. we step over to the side by the baby clothes which is still in front of the electronics and she says “baby i am so sorry to scare you but there are three men surrounding you. they went by the laptops talked and then i noticed the guy taking photos and videos of you while you were bent over looking at the cases. the other man was the tall guy next you and i don’t know where the third man went” all i can remember is this high pitch ringing in my ears, my stomach flipped and i felt like i was going to be sick. i never knew what people meant when they say “everything slowed down” but in that moment everything moved in slow motion and i was freaked out to the point that i have no clue what she said after. it was as if blacked out for a moment and then quickly came to realization that the family and my boyfriend were looking at me visibly panicked. i turned around and there he was. he is hispanic shorter than me maybe about 5’1 but he was very much built also looked to be about 40. the other man who was white about maybe in his 40s, was about 5’11. i’ll never forget the dead blank rage in that mans hispanic mans eyes. like his first meal in 5 days had been stolen from him and he was ready to kill in order to have it back. thats when i saw the white man walk over to him. they said something both looked at me, looked back at each other said something else and started to walk slowly towards us. at that point we all turned and headed for the registers and that’s when i thanked my lucky stars bc there were about three cops at the front of the store. by the time i rudely pushed past people to get to self check out, with tears in my eyes and franticly repeating excuse me to anyone who got in front me of, i looked back and saw them just standing there but with the third guy this time. my heart sank and i wanted to pass out at that moment. i guess it looked like i was going up to the cops because they high tailed it once they saw me get close to the cops. me being high as shit and being a black woman i wasnt going to chance the cops turning this around on me bc i was simply stoned and tipsy. my only thought was “get to the car. get to the gun. don’t stop. run.” my boyfriend said he could barely keep up with me and at one point i had grabbed his hand so tight he had to force the grip off bc it felt like i was “going to crush his hands” and before anyone bashes my boyfriend. i don’t expect a man to be my savior. also he isn’t the angry confrontational type. he is very calm and level headed. he wouldn’t even hurt a fly unless i asked him to get rid of it for whatever reason. i just knew i was the target and i am putting him at risk. i knew they could easily jump him and one of them could over power me after taking him out. i probably looked crazed half walking and running past everyone but i didnt care. i wasnt going to become another missing sister. we made it to the car safely and peel out of there. i’ve never seen him drive so fast as he is beyond careful and would never speed. we sat at a sonic for about an hour to make sure we werent being followed. we recounted everything that happened. i just couldnt believe we both were too tipsy to notice that i had become prey in somewhere as simple as a walmart. i’ve never felt so stupid and irresponsible in my life. i never want to experience that fear and panic in my life agin. i didn’t even get the chance to thank the lady who pretty much saved us. sometimes we talk about it. what if the lady didn’t see what that guy was doing? even if we catch on, there were three and we only saw two at first... i think of the horrors.. that night i had a nightmare that the men attacked us in the parking lot. creepiest part of the dream was the third man shoved me in the trunk and as i went to look at his face all i could see was a featureless face. i woke up in tears that night realizing i didn’t get a clear look at the third guys face. it took me nearly a month to enter a walmart again. since i have moved states and have only been to walmart once since moving here. so to the creepy men that stalked me, upskirted me, and basically followed me even when they knew i was around other people. i genuinely hope we never meet again bc the gun i carry on my person now has three beautiful hallows that would enjoy meeting you all.
So I'm a bartender at a gentlemans club. Our uniform, if you can call it that, is a very short skimpy black dress and black bra. Due to my uniform being the way it is I do my best to not have to go out in public directly after work due to dirty looks or perverted comments that I just don't have time for. Back before the current state of the world I had just gotten off work, it was around 2:30AM and I decided to run to my local walmart to grab some dog food and other household items I needed thinking there really wouldn't be anyone there besides staff. I ran in with a jacket to try and be a little modest and went directly to the pet isles. There was a guy stocking the shelves, I gave a wave and smiled and proceeded looking for my dogs brand of food. I grabbed a 20lb bag and the stocker asked if I needed help (I'm not really a small girl but I have a slight frame, like I'm tall but have a small waist). I told him I was fine but thanked him and headed to the grocery section. I was in the freezer section when my stocker/stalker showed up again, this time with another guy. They were just standing there watching me decide which pizza to pick and when I turned to leave stocker asked again if I needed help. I told him no but thanked him again and smiled. I then made my way to the check out isles. On my way out I saw a man heading out about 10ft behind me. I quickly walked to my car, threw my purchases in the passenger side and jumped in and locked my doors. I was worried he would try and talk to me and I just wanted to go home. I felt dumb after realizing the guy went to his own car and wasn't even near me and started my 15 minute drive home. I was about halfway home when I noticed this black car behind me taking all the same turns as me. I live in a rural area and while it's possible he lived nearby there aren't many people that take these roads. I turned a road after mine and he made the same turn, it leads to a dead end road with a cow farm so I knew he was following me. I get to the end of the road and do a quick 3 point turn and speed back out to the road, he's still behind me. I called my boyfriend and told him what was going on and that I didn't want to drive home where he would know where we lived and asked him to meet me at walmart. I speed the whole way there hoping a cop is sitting somewhere and will pull us over. Black car guy is still on my ass. I pull into the Walmart parking lot and park under a street lamp. Black car pulls into the spot across from mine and I'm just freaking out. About 15 second later I see my boyfriends truck and he pulls (more like drifts) up next to me, asks if I'm ok and I point to the car. Now my boyfriend is not a small man he's about 6'4 and huge, like his arms are the size of my head, he's very intimidating but a very quiet and kind man. He gets out of his truck and starts to walk over to the car and yells to them "you need to talk to her or something? Guy in the black car takes off. I dont know if it was the man that was hanging out with the stocker or what but I don't go out after work anymore. So guy in the black car that tried to follow me home, lets not meet.
This happened to me my junior year of high school, and has almost forgot until my dad brought it up a couple days ago. Figured I’d share as I found a screenshot related to this after my dad reminded me. So I live really close to a shopping center, like 3 minute away. Before school, maybe once or twice a week, I’d stop by to grab donuts or orange juice. I go to this store A LOT, so I recognize a decent amount of employees. One day before school i decide to stop by and grab donuts. The layout of the entrance is important. As you walk up to the doors, there’s a huge set of shopping carts that an employee is normally working at by collecting carts from the parking lot. As you’re walking away from entrance and out of the store, if you turn left you go into the main, large parking lot. You can walk straight instead to the side of the building, where there are around 20 parking spots. There’s an exit on the side of the building that’s closer to my house and less crowded than the main road, and I drive a truck so I used to park on the side. It’s well lit, cameras, next to another store, etc. so I’ve never felt isolated. Anyway, I park on the side like normal and walk into the store. As I pass the grocery carts in front of the doors, there’s an employee there who I don’t recognize. He says good morning to me, I say it back, nothing weird. I go into the store and get my donuts, pay, and walk out. I see the guy again and he’s just staring at me. Ok, kinda weird, but I keep walking to my car. I get to drivers side of my car, open it, hop in, set my food down on the passenger side, and turn to reach out and close the driver door. As I put my hand out, another hand stops the door from shutting and the employee from earlier steps IN BETWEEN MY DOOR AND I. Alarms are going off in my head. He asks what my name was and I (stupidly) gave him my real name because I was panicking. My name is super common, such as Sarah. (Not my real name, but as equally common) He asks for my phone number and I said no, I have to get to school and I’m running late. He wouldn’t take no for an answer and would NOT move. I give him a fake number and he finally backs out of my door, I shut it immediately and take off. I got to the parking lot of my school and called my dad to tell him what happened and what the guy looked like, and he went down and reported it for me. I thought this was the end but it got weirder. A couple days pass and I get a direct message on Instagram from this guy. No way he knows my last name, just my first which is again, SUPER common. I got this DM during my history class, in which we sat in groups of four. I tell the people at my table what happened, and without brining up what he looks like or his name, a girl at my table also named Sarah pulls his Instagram page up and asks if it’s him. It was, and I asked how she knew. Apparently he had DM’ed her as well, and another girl in our class also named Sarah. I had one or two other friends with the same name, so I ask them if they got a DM from this guy too and sure enough they did. One of the girls with my name works at the store with him, and said he was INSANELY creepy around her all the time. Like following her to the break room any time she’d go in, find excuses to be around her, switch shifts to work at the same time, asking her out every other shift. She tells us he was 21 at the time, which we were all 16/17 making it even creepier he’s going for all these high school girls with the same name.
It was around 2015 and I was living in Seattle. I worked in an office that allowed me to bring my dog to work: a 100 lb German Shepherd. He's a big sweetheart, but looks quite scary to strangers. After work one day, I got on the bus home, which was around a 45 minute ride. I noticed someone staring at me and didn't think much of it. While it's unsettling to be watched, I've had my fair share of odd conversations on the bus and it wasn't out of the ordinary to encounter weird behavior. I honestly don't remember too much about his appearance, but I do remember thinking he looked fairly normal and didn't seem high or drunk. My bus stop was on a busy street in a bit sketchier part of town, but it isn't frequently trafficked. When we reached the stop, my dog and I set off on the short trek home, only a few blocks away. As I exited the bus, I noticed the man who had been watching me had exited too. Something was off about him. He seemed intent on keeping stride with me, trailing closely behind. I've heard advice somewhere in the past that you shouldn't go straight home if you're being followed. I'm sure that's situation-specific and sometimes it's safer to be in your home, but nothing had happened besides having my personal space invaded and didn't feel immediately unsafe, so I opted not to lead this stranger straight to my door. I knew that my partner at the time wasn't at home, so I decided the best plan was to weave through my neighborhood for several blocks to try to lose him. I think a part of me was also wanting to be sure I was being followed at all or if this person just happened to be walking in the same direction. After several blocks, it became clear he was following me. I was weaving around erratically and he was walking the same path. Neither of us spoke to one another and I was becoming more and more frustrated that anyone would follow a woman home. The streets were quiet and I couldn't see anybody around who I could signal to for help. I don't think I would have been so surprised this was happening if I was alone and without my dog. I can't imagine anyone in their right mind following someone with a large German Shepherd. I started walking faster when I rounded a corner and quickly ducked into a walkway hugging a duplex a block from my house. I was hoping the pathway would wrap around the house completely so I could get out of the line of sight of this person, but was met with a fence to my face and didn't have time to backtrack. I was ultimately cornered in this nook between a house, a fence, and a hedge. I crouched down with my dog and waited for the guy to pass us. I watched as the man strolled by the walkway, seemingly not noticing us at all. He didn't turn his head or even gaze in our direction. I decided that we'd stay there for a few minutes just to make sure he was gone. Of course my dog was as calm as ever, just chilling on his side taking a nap. Super helpful. About 3 minutes went by. Just as I was thinking it was safe to head home, the man stepped into my line of sight. He didn't make eye contact with me just as he hadn't the first time he walked by. He was moving calmly and deliberately, and slowly came to a stop as soon as he was right in front of me, just off the curb. He was about 2 yards away, facing me and not directly looking, with just a sidewalk and a grassy strip between us. I watched him as he started to unload his pockets. He had a number of metal objects he was taking out, placing them in a line. To this day, I’m not sure what they were, but I’m glad I didn’t find out. At this point, I called 911 and told them what was happening: that someone was following me and showing erratic behavior. The cops made it there quickly, and as soon as they pulled up the dispatcher advised me to get out of there. I hightailed it out of my "hiding" spot and took a non-direct path home since my house was technically in the line of sight of where I was crouched. I don't know what ended up happening with him but fortunately never saw him again. I'm not sure if he was on drugs, mentally unstable, or both. I don't know if he had malicious intent. I do hope that he got the help he needed, but to the man who followed me home: that wasn't cool, and let's not meet.
At age 12, I started babysitting for family friends who had three daughters ages four to seven. They lived in a cul de sac where nearly every home housed a young couple with children in elementary school. The neighborhood was extremely close knit, like the 1950s American block party communities. They had a communal policy on using one another’s toys - any kid could use a play structure in someone else's yard any time without asking. Shortly after I started working in the neighborhood, they revised the rule to "anytime a family is not using a babysitter to watch their kids" to ensure I would not get overwhelmed supervising a swarm of kids I wasn't paid to watch. It was thus more or less known when parents were going out and leaving someone else in charge of their children. I was welcome to take the girls to play in any other yard as they wanted. Their parents even gave me permission to let them play in someone else's yard or sandbox independently if I needed a short break. Being an avid Baby-Sitters Club reader, I didn't leave the girls outside unsupervised ever. I would wait until someone else wanted a water or bathroom break, and then corral everyone inside temporarily. Similarly, when the girls wanted to play in the treehouse owned by an older couple a few doors up the street, I climbed up - despite a slight fear of heights - and crouched in the little house with them - despite feelings of claustrophobia - to follow my own rule. I don't recall whether my everyone inside, everyone outside together rule preceded the first odd interaction I had with the immediate next door neighbor or not. But when the police questioned the girls I babysat years later, they said nothing bad ever happened when I watched them because I set up that weird, sometimes annoying, rule. One day while playing basketball with the girls in the driveway, the next door neighbor came outside in a baseball cap and sunglasses, and sat down on his second story deck to read a paperback. I later noticed he'd turned his chair around 180 degrees to face us and the basketball hoop. I couldn't tell if he was looking at us. He had no reaction to me staring at him, flipping pages in the book like someone would when reading. This behavior repeated every time we played basketball for the five years I watched the girls. Eventually, once I noticed him in the chair, accessories on, I would suggest a game we could play inside or in the front yard but out of view. The strange neighbor was familiar to me as he went to my church. I have never seen someone kneel in a pew, head bowed and hands folded, with the same level of intensity before or since. Once when my family was seated behind him, the priest came over to ask me to lead the children's mass during the homily because the usual person was out sick. This guy turned around and glared at me like I personally set out to interrupt his prayer time. When I worked in the church nursery during various masses, I would often make eye contact with him as he waited in line, outside the nursery door, to use the restroom. From what I gleaned from our family friends and other people in the neighborhood, the odd basketball observer was a nice guy who gave up his apartment and job in the city to move in with and care for his sick, elderly mother. Since everyone thought he was great, and since he went to church (this was before the Catholic sex scandal broke), I figured I was in the wrong for finding him creepy. Even as young as 12, I was used to guys in their 40s and 50s asking me to go somewhere with them, or driving by slowly as I walked/biked/jogged to make lewd comments. I figured I was projecting those experiences onto this awkward, quiet guy who was not doing anything wrong. For instance, I was certain that if the guy next door was a creep, he would not miss the opportunity to watch with his sunglasses on and book in hand while the kids and I went swimming each summer when the family opened their above ground pool. But he never set foot out on his deck when the kids and I donned swimsuits to play in the pool or backyard. I was more convinced I was conceited and mean. Then when I was 15 or 16, I caught him looking in the window as I cleaned up after movie night. The girls and I put on a film after bath time, and instead of watching it “theater style” in total darkness, we kept some lights on so I could braid the girls' hair. The big screen TV we used for movies was located in an addition on the house with floor to ceiling windows. Though my parents were OCD about shutting blinds and curtains when the sun went down to prevent people from seeing in, our family friends had no window treatments on the big, modern windows. When I turned off the last light in the room, a floor lamp right next to a window facing the neighbor’s house, I could see into the darkness outside where the weird man sat on his deck in a chair in line with the window I was looking through. I looked over my shoulder and realized he had line of sight on where the girls and I sat on the floor during the movie. As I looked back towards the house, I glimpsed him hustling inside. I would have doubted I'd seen him at all if had he not left the chair in an unusual spot. After watching him turn the chair around to read during many a basketball match, I knew where the chair sat that night, facing the window into the family room, was not the chair's usual position on the deck. After that incident, I would suggest playing board games in another room or insist on watching movies theater style to ensure he could not peep on what we did at night. Once the girls were asleep, I avoided the family room entirely because I was paranoid about being watched. If I wasn’t in the kitchen doing homework or reading, away from all windows, I’d walk around the original first floor footprint of the house, where all the windows had curtains. The first time the parents noticed my change in routine they insisted I could watch TV or movies in the family room. I didn’t mention anything to them because I was worried my concerns were silly and conceited. When I was 17, my family heard an evening cable news story about a man in our town caught in a police sting operation in which a woman pretended to prostitute her two year old. When they raided his house, the police found a ton of child pornography on his computer. Our family friends called a couple weeks later. They wanted to know how I knew the young man next door to them was not safe. He was the guy I'd heard about on TV. As they described it, the police found his blog where he wrote about his obsession with one of the girls who lived next door to him. It detailed his fantasies involving her and his plans to act on them, things like lying in the treehouse for hours hoping to corner her when she climbed up alone to play. Many of his entries focused on taking advantage of or kidnapping the girl while the babysitter was in charge. In his head babysitters were like the ones in old movies, talking to friends on the phone or making out with a boy they invited over instead of caring for the children. As it became clear I did neither one of those things, his plans evolved to killing the babysitter, taking the girl, and getting out of Dodge. After talking to the girls to ensure they were not victims, the police suggested I might know something to have acted the way I did. All the pieces - the frequent run-ins at the church when I had children in my care, or the weird things he did when he knew I was watching the kids next door - all fit together cohesively. I was relieved I was not mean-spirited or imagining things. I was perhaps conceited - the focus was not on me but on the children - but I was not crazy. I recognize I was not the person most at risk in this situation and yet, suburb pedo and would-be murderer, let's not meet again. Pro tip: read The Gift of Fear and The Baby-Sitters Club series. Edit 1/18/21: Added a few details to help clarify the longevity of the interactions. Thank you for all the kind words and thoughtful questions!
Warning, potentially offensive language and content ahead but I will censor it if necessary, I just felt it explains the situation at hand and the setting. Not saying that using slurs or offensive language is right in any way. It also came out longer than I expected, because I’ve only ever told this story to my girlfriend before now. This happened nearly a decade ago now. At the time of this story, I was 15, M, 5’5 and 132lbs (60kg) I was a wrestler so I always knew my exact weight and kept myself extremely lean, but still had a fairly muscular build. I lived in a fairly small town of 50-60k people, and in my off season I did whatever I could to be somewhat active and outside. I had a friend, let’s call him blaze who was really into disc golf and always asked me to come play with him and smoke a doobie while we were in the more secluded parts of the course. He was a couple years older than me but no bigger than I was, just a not so great influence for me at the time. This small town only had two disc golf courses, one at a very public park near a middle school, or one at the edge of town in an older park that was much bigger. Obviously we weren’t smoking for everyone to see, so the edge of town sealed off park it is. Little did I know that on Thursday afternoons, this park happened to be my towns spot for gay men to meet and hook up in the parking lot. I live in the Midwest US, so these were not your stylish, young, pretty guys. It was mostly guys aged 30-50 who were pretty big and aggressive yee yee looking. So we finished the course and the joint, walking out of the woods anything but sober. We typically either just chilled in the grass, or played catch after we finished up until my buddy was more normal and ready to drive back. We noticed that there were way more cars in the parking lot than when we got there, and a lot of older guys sitting on trunks of their cars or on tailgates, loosely grouped together. This very large hairy man in a tank top, and his tall, thin friend dressed like a biker gang member started to do the wolf whistle towards me and my friend. I got pretty uncomfortable, not because gay men whistled at me, but because we had to walk in their direction and I could feel the eyes of way more guys on me than I wanted. For a testosterone filled, weight room junkie teenager, I did not feel very safe here knowing there were at least 30 guys in this group and I could see in my peripheral that a fairly large portion were eyeing us closely as we walked toward the parking lot. I’ll make it clear that I am not a fighter and I would never intend to hurt anyone aside from self defense, but I was definitely confident in myself to hold someone off. Us two were just so outnumbered and not in a sober state of mind so anxiety made things much worse. A couple of them said some gross catcall like things, more whistles, and that “WEEEW” noise that rednecks make when they are excited about something or instigating (similar to “woo” but if Eric cartman screeched it). I think they had the idea that we were some people they met online and were coming to meet up. Being high, I didn’t care what was going on, I just wanted to be safe and not the center of attention. When we got closer, the big hairy man who did the first wolf whistle said something like “you think you could handle this?” And I just mumbled no thanks and tried to keep walking. He yelled back “What was that, boy?” To which I just said more clearly “no thanks, I’m not into that.” He seemed offended and angrily said “not into WHAT?” All I said was “sorry I’m not gay” and he seemed to be offended by the word gay, again asking me to repeat myself in a very aggressive tone, so I corrected myself and said I’m not homosexual. Things escalated from here real quick. The man stepped forward from leaning against a truck and grabbed my wrist, he said “we can fix that real quick.” Don’t get excited, I didn’t do some cool fight move to attack him, just a simple wrist roll and using that momentum, a quick push of the elbow to turn him around so that he would have his back to me and I could get by without anything more. He said “touch me like that again and we will get the both of you.” Another guy made his way over to blaze who was much less the calm and chill type of stoner that I was. I can only describe what he did as one of those kicks or side steps off a wall, but to that guys chest/abdomen. He started to run and yelled “fuck off, f******.” Very quickly, bunches of guys began to stand up from their seats on the outside of their cars and motion our direction. I started booking it for the car too, and mr. skinny biker man was running right after us. Thank god it was just him running and not multiple chasing us, or this story might be different. I was faster than blaze so I got ahead of him, and picture us running across a parking lot to his truck that was facing us, backed into a stall. I got around to the passenger side quickly with blaze still about 100 feet from the truck. He tried to cut to the right and make it to the driver side of his little S10 but skinny cut him off and sent him to the left (passenger) side. I ran around the back of the truck as fast as I could to the driver door, and blaze slid his keys across the roof to me. I hopped in, well aware that I did not want to be driving right now in this state of mind, much less in such a crazy situation, and even more less someone else’s vehicle. Still without thinking I started it and skirted out of the parking lot while skinny banged on the bed of the truck chasing. That’s not the end. A truck and a car are on their way right behind me, skinny jumped into the car that was in the back and the chase began. Terrified and still high, I cut through the grass of the park to get to the main road more quickly, thinking I would lose them that way. These guys raced right over the speed bumps and around the bends in the park road right up to the main road, and they were driving so fast I would have gotten T-Boned if I didn’t smash the pedal to the floor at the right time. I’m so stressed I start silently crying while driving, thinking of how horrible the possibilities could be. Contact wearers know that when your eyes are dry (from the smoke), then they rapidly get moist, contacts tend to drift a bit until they find their place again. This is definitely not ideal for someone with awful vision driving twice the speed limit down a road in the middle of town. So I started turning down residential streets and weaving in and out, being tapped on the shoulder by Blaze to keep my speed up because the two were still right on my rear bumper. I even made some risky U-turns and they followed right along. This chase lasted over 10 minutes of me frantically driving through main streets, residential, back alleys, and everything I could try to get away. I was so scared that the best case scenario ended in us getting pulled over and myself obtaining a permanent record for DUI by the ripe age of 15.. Luckily, a stroke of luck and a surprisingly quick reflex came to my aid. Blaze yelled “COP” and pointed to a parking lot to our left, where there was a police cruiser probably just waiting to catch someone speeding or running red lights on the semi-busy road we ended up on. I whipped into the parking lot and parked a couple stalls down from the cop. The truck prepared to turn but stopped in the middle of the road, so quickly once he realized what was going on that the car following him had to swerve and popped a curb, catching the officers attention. He backed out and the two vehicles split different ways and were out of sight before he got out of the parking lot. Never went back to that park any time other than the mornings after that. So thankful that nothing bad came of the incident and we made it out completely unscathed. No idea what they would have done, but people engaging teenagers in a car chase could not have good intentions in mind. It was my first time in my life being sexually harassed too. You would think being in a car chase might be fun or exciting, but I just felt so powerless and like I had no control, like nothing I could do would both get these guys away from us and simultaneously not get me arrested. I just discovered this sub today on my main account but was nervous to post this from it due to the nature of it. Still wouldn’t go anywhere near that place after noon again. Edit: I should also mention that you cannot have a drivers license in my state at the age of 15 so that was another one of my fears of being pulled over. I had “farmers” permit that allowed me to drive to work or school, or under the supervision of someone 18 or older.
I live in Toronto, and this happened five years ago in the early morning of Sunday, March 8, 2015. It was two days before my dad, brother (9 at the time) and I (13 at the time) went to India. At around 5:00, we were jolted awake by the security alarm in my grandparents' flat. The blaring voice was instructing everyone to vacate their apartments and go down to the lobby. It was relentlessly penetrating my mind, and gradually making me less tired and more curious. We went down to the lobby to be met with more pajama-clad residents. In front of the lobby is the D-shaped entering room of the condo. It has a telephone which you can use to call a resident of the condo. The lobby was slanted to the right of this room. Slanted to the left of the entering room is the condo's office building. It has three mini-stairs and a ramp to the left of the stairs. In that room, in front of the ramp and the mini-stairs was a shirtless man holding a shovel. He seemed to be yelling, but behind the glass I could not hear what he was saying. Honestly, it took my brain a few moments to realize what was actually happening. The man kept swinging the shovel through the air, but he didn't actually hit anything. The police came a few minutes later and took him away. I myself have autism, and I sincerely hope that the man got the help he needed. When we went back to the flat, it was probably 5:30, but I was anything but tired. I ended up watching the ATP tennis tournament in Barcelona.
As a wild teenager, I had my fair share of lucky misses. This one in particular scared me to my core! I was at a friends house one evening, we were all getting stoned and drinking, you know stupid teenage stuff. I was wearing a white mini skirt, a glittery halter top and knee high white heeled boots.. Yes.... I was that girl. At around 12am, I knew I had to be home but there was no one sober enough to drive me. I asked my friend for a hoody and some pants and then I decided to walk the 30+ minutes to my house alone. I had done this walk many many times so it felt safe enough to do so... except I hadn’t done it at midnight...alone... Within the first 10 minutes I pass the main intersection with no issues and as I’m about to walk around the corner down the main road into my area, a large green van pulls up beside me. Me being stoned and paranoid my fingers automatically dialled (111 - New Zealand’s police number), as I dialled the police a young islander man jumped out of the passenger seat and yelled at me to “GET IN THE VAN”. At this very moment I had my phone to my ear and the operator picked up and asked “Fire, Ambulance or Police” I replied “Police please” upon hearing this the young man jumped back into the van and they sped off down the road. I continued to tell the operator a man just tried to get me into his van and that I was stoned walking home. I ended the phone call because I knew I needed to keep my battery from dying as I still had 20+ minutes to go before I reached my house. At this point I’m terrified and my stoners paranoia is at an all time high, I mean at an all time high! This is a long straight road with only 2 bends in it however you can see most of the road from anywhere on the foot path. After the van incident I started to jump into driveways and hide behind bushes whenever I saw headlights. After doing this consistently for about 15 minutes I started noticing a white sedan had passed at least 3 times... thinking I must be seeing things I continue to hide whenever I see headlights and make my way closer and closer to my street. I finally reached the empty paddock opposite the primary school and I saw headlights again... thinking on my feet I quickly jumped over the 6ft high fence into the open paddock. There was a massive tree in the middle of the paddock so I ran and hid behind the tree. A minute or so later, the white Toyota sedan pulled over directly in front of the paddock fence and out jumped 5 full grown men.. The first thing they said was “Where is she?!” “WHERE IS SHE?!” They started searching the street for me and were peering over the fence into the paddock. Panicked and absolutely shitting myself, I dialled the police.. once I got the operator I just keep repeating my name, address and current location. The operator finally calmed me down enough to ask me what was happening, I told her 5 men in a white sedan out on the street were searching for me as if they wanted to kidnap me. I knew they were looking for me as I was the only person walking the street at that time. She told me the police were on their way and to remain hidden.. Finally, I heard the police sirens what felt like an eternity later but was probably about 5 minutes.. they drove straight past the men and they all scattered back in the car and fled. By this time I’m pretty sure I nearly wet myself and I’m balling my eyes out to the operator saying they drove straight past!! Suddenly I hear a man saying “Hello, excuse me girl? Are you okay?” I went silent... The man said “Were those men looking for you? I live across the street and I could hear you crying.” I peered out from behind the tree and said “yes, are they gone now?” He said “yea when the police went past they fled” he then offered to take me to his house and keep me safe until the police came. So I hung up on the operator and climbed the fence and went into this guys garage. He was a lovely guy, was just working on his car in the garage a few doors down from the paddock. He offered me a warm drink and a cigarette to calm my nerves. After 10 minutes it became evident the police weren’t coming so he dropped me home. At that age, I was young, dumb and I definitely would’ve gotten kidnapped if I wasn’t a paranoid stoner with a true crime passion. Stay weird, be safe and happy holidays. S 🥳
I went to college in a historic, mid-sized city in Florida and at the time lived in a duplex downtown, maybe 3 blocks from campus. The city is known to be pretty safe and I lived in a pretty decent area with large, historic homes near me. This story takes place around 3 years ago. A little backstory that will become relevant: The duplex I lived in had a front door that locked, and then both the upstairs and downstairs units had their own locking door. I lived downstairs and had two roommates, but this specific night only one of my roommates was home. We knew the girls that lived upstairs but only really spoke to them in passing. When they moved in we emphasized how important it was to us for them to keep the main front door locked, and they did a good job of doing so. So me and my roommate are in for the night, knowing the front door is locked, and smoke a few joints. At some point we hear a knock at the front door and quickly realize the girls upstairs had ordered a pizza. Later on, it becomes evident that they never locked the front door after receiving their pizza. So we finally go to sleep in our own rooms, and since I had queen bed, I would often sleep with my phone and laptop next to me in my bed. A couple hours after I fell asleep, I woke up to a man standing over my bed. As soon as I realize I’m not dreaming, I notice that he is quickly moving my phone and computer off of my bed and moving my comforter, trying to get into my bed. I start to ask him who he is, what he’s doing here, and just generally confused, as I was still slightly high from before I went to sleep. The only thing he said to me (multiple times) was that he was “just trying to get in bed.” At this point I begin to panic, as my mind obviously goes to the worst. I was hoping that maybe my roommate had invited some random tinder guy over and that he had gone to the wrong room, but the more I questioned him, all he had to say was “I’m just trying to get in bed.” I own pepper spray and a stun gun, but I had accidentally left them on a shelf that the guy was standing in front of so there was no way I would be able to grab them without escalating the situation. Realizing I need to do something quickly, I blurted “there are 5 people who live in this house, and if you don’t get the f*** out now, I will scream and they will all be here within seconds.” Luckily that was all it took to scare him off, I don’t know if had brought something with him or if he stole something from me, but I saw him grab something in the dark and run out of my room. As soon as he left my room, I shut the door and locked it, and tried to find my phone. I couldn’t find it anywhere, but then quickly realize that between my room and the front door, is the room of my friend that was home. As scared as I was, I was terrified that the guy had maybe gone into her room. So I grabbed my stun gun and a pocket knife, counted to 3, and ripped open my door. I ran into my roommates room, and she was fast asleep, and there was no evidence of the guy. I told her what happened, and she asked me if I was sure I wasn’t dreaming. I began to question myself until I walked out of her room and saw that our front door was wide open. I went to my room to search for my phone and finally find it hidden under a pile of clothes across the room from where I had left it. That sent a chill up my spine, as i immediately knew for a fact someone had been in my house and room while I was sleeping, and long enough to hide my phone, which only worsened my suspicions of his intentions. I ran back to my roommates room, who at that point believed me, barricaded ourselves into the room, and called 911. Within minutes, there were police cars swarming our street and yard and they yelled for us to quickly leave the residence and run towards them. At least a dozen police officers came running in and searched every inch of our apartment, and woke up the girls upstairs, and searched their apartment to ensure the man had left. The officers then had me write a statement and I gave them a description of the man, and to this day I’ve never heard a single thing about the case. I feel incredibly lucky with the outcome of the situation, but the thought of his intentions terrifies me, and additionally the fact that he was never caught scares me, as I would hate for anyone to have to go through the pure fear that I did. I will add, there is a chance that he was on drugs or mentally ill, and had no bad intentions, however because he was never caught, I will never know, and my mind will always assume the worst. To the man who now keeps me up at night, let’s not meet.
So for a little background here, I have played the drums for 11 years of my life so I've gotten pretty decent at marching percussion and playing the drum set. I'm currently a college student who obviously needs money so I took up two jobs that had to do with teaching drumming to kids. The first job which I only recently left because of the pandemic, was an amazing opportunity at a school district to be a part time music teacher. I loved that job. This story has to do with the other music job I took up which was at a non-profit, that I don't want to name for legal reasons, that resides in my town. #x200B; So at this non-profit there are two main coordinators in charge who happen to be an older married couple. The husband was in charge of the science and art side of the facility while the wife, Bernice, was in charge of the music side of the facility. So she was in all aspects my boss and also one of the piano teachers. I taught drum set with a high school friend of mine named Jay. There was a guitar teacher who I was also friends named Ray and an elderly piano teacher named Marie. So that was the entire music department at the facility. #x200B; I started the job when their last drum set teacher suddenly left to pursue his dream career in the bay area. Bernice really needed me to start immediately so I did but during my interview she had been very nice and cordial but I sometimes noticed how rude she was to other employees. Most of the people working on the science side were merely high school students and one of them may forget a small thing like forgetting to put a screwdriver back where it belonged, and she would degrade them. She would say things like "How will you keep a job, if you can't do simple things like this? Are you even using your brain? I should fire you for this kind of incompetency but I won't because I'm a nice person". I would see this kind of stuff go down and I could never say anything because honestly I really didn't think it was my business and I didn't want to get yelled at either. I will also briefly explain that she also revealed that she was very religious and homophobic and I was very obviously not straight. #x200B; I tried to ignore these outbursts but they started to get to me. I would try to talk to those kids afterwards and reassure them that they could only do their best and that should be good enough. A few months into the job I even tried to talk to her about it but that was a HUGE mistake. I said that maybe she shouldn't be so hard on them since they are still just kids. She had been cheerful and smiling but once I finished that sentence, she got quiet, her expression went blank, and her eyes turned cold. If looks could kill, I'm sure I would be very dead. After a few seconds of silence she suddenly yelled "MIND YOUR BUSINESS! THOSE UNGRATEFUL BRATS NEED TO LEARN THEIR PLACE AND SO DO YOU!". #x200B; I was absolutely stunned. I had no words. I have never been yelled like that by a boss in any of my jobs before so it really just shook me. I just sat their with what I'm guessing was a look of shock. She then immediately went back to smiling and simply said "I think you have a lesson with little Timmy in 5 minutes don't you? Better get ready for it". And she said it with a fucking smile on her face like what the hell. I just got up and got ready for my next lesson. After that, I began to get yelled at by her pretty much every week for the smallest thing. Maybe if I finished a lesson a minute early or I forgot to fill in my time sheet right away. I endured months of this until finally I had enough. I lasted a year and a half until I finally quit. When I quit she encouraged me to call or text anytime which seemed so odd considering she had yelled at me every day for the last week I worked. I thanked her for the opportunity she gave me and left without incident. Or at least I thought it was without incident. #x200B; Before I left my position, I recommended to a parent to have their kid get lessons from a friend of mine because her son was an absolute musical prodigy who needed more intense training to grow as a musician. She thanked me and I connected them and he is actually still getting lessons with ,my friend and I get occasional videos of his progress and I'm just so proud of him. Only 10 and he can outplay me easily on drum set. However the mother of the student accidentally told Bernice the reason why her son was leaving the non-profit and said that I had recommended it. That happened in the middle of January 2020. By the end of January my email inbox had been flooded with emails from Bernice. They ranged from her needing me to come back to sign a form to obviously being mad about recommending the student leave the non-profit. Every day there were at least 10 emails and on bad days there were upwards of 30 emails. I blocked her email after 2 weeks because I knew it just wasn't going to stop and I finally had some relief. Then I noticed she tried to friend me on Facebook and follow me on Instagram. When I blocked those accounts, it was her husband's accounts that tried. I then blocked those as well. She tried it AGAIN and used the non-profit's social media pages to follow me. #x200B; I had no idea why she was being so persistent and did not know what to do. It seemed to calm down so I thought she gave up but a week later I had random accounts trying to follow me on all my social media. I asked my friends that I had worked with if they could see her doing this while she was in the office. So Jay and Ray went into the office when she had a lesson and looked on her monitor and there were a bunch of tabs open. They sent me snaps of what they found and all these tabs were the different faceless accounts on Facebook and Instagram that had been attempting to follow me. They closed them all out and when she asked about it, they feigned ignorance and said they had been looking for sheet music and the tabs had accidentally been closed. They said she looked super pissed but then suddenly asked them if they had me on social media and they just said they didn't know and tried to walk out. Before they walked out, she asked them if they would tell her what lies I had told them and they said she didn't know what she was talking about. She got even more pissed and yelled at them to stop acting stupid and to tell the truth and they again told her that I never said anything about her or the non-profit. She suddenly went on a whole tangent about how I was gonna steal all the students and the non-profit would have to shut down. #x200B; From here she never spoke to them again about it, but after this I did notice I started seeing her whenever I went to Wal-Mart in town to get groceries and such. I'm telling you 8/10 times that I would go, she would be there. She never spoke a word to me but she always just kind of lurked. One day my younger sister said Bernice spoke to her while she was at the McDonald's inside the Wal-Mart when she went after school to grab food with friends. Luckily my sister knew who she was so she knew not to give any information to her when she asked if she was my sister and how I was doing. My sister kindly said she didn't know who she was and didn't feel comfortable talking to her and then proceeded to ignore her. Bernice just smiled and then left but my sister called me shortly afterwards and asked to picked up from Wal-Mart because she rightfully felt super uncomfortable. I sped over from my college and got there within 15 minutes and she ran out and got in my car and we sped off. As I left the parking lot, I could see Bernice's car had pulled out of a space and was following us. I knew it was her car because I had seen it every time I went to work and it had a logo for the non-profit on the side of it so it was hard to miss. I realized she had been waiting in that space to either follow my sister back to the school or in this case follow me who had picked her up. #x200B; I drive a bright red Honda Civic so it's pretty easy to see even from a distance so I knew I had to lose this crazy lady because I had no idea what her intentions were. So I decided to take some side street and drive all kinds of random ways through our town and then I even got on the highway that takes you to the closest major city and then got off a random country road. It was insane because this woman was persistent as hell. She caught up and kept up with me until i got to the highway. Once I got on, I easily was doing 80-90 MPH and weaving in and out of traffic to lose her and eventually I did. I then parked in-between some orchards off one of the country roads I took. My sister had been on the phone with our mom the entire time who had then proceeded to let our town's police know. We got on the phone with them and they told us to drive to the police station and there would be someone waiting to help us. So I made my way back to town while constantly checking my mirrors for Bernice. We made it and I gave a statement and they made a report and then asked me to describe the car. I said it was a burgundy SUV with the non-profit's logo on the side. They said it should be easy to find and they went straight to the non-profit to find her. Sadly Bernice had an alibi waiting for them when they got there. She showed them the security footage of the front of the facility and the burgundy SUV with the logo had been sitting in it's spot since she opened so there was no way she could have followed me according to the police. They said there was nothing more they could do and it was left at that but I KNEW what I had seen. It was messing with my mind for days until finally i got my answer on how the hell she pulled off that stunt. #x200B; Jay informed me two weeks later that Bernice had announced that they had bought an IDENTICAL SUV with the logo and everything for the non-profit. I was stunned. It was the same make, model, and color of the other SUV. Even the license plates were almost identical only having two digits differ from the original SUV's plate. Bernice had played the cops into thinking I just had an over active imagination. She knew exactly what she was doing. I was just so frustrated by this point. Eventually I emailed her and told her to stay away from my family and I because I was never going to be talking to her again and clarified that I had no intention of taking any students from her. Hell I'm not even a goddamn music major so why would I even want to continue doing anything music oriented. Her reply was almost instantaneous. "Sounds good dear. You take care now and be sure to tell your sister that I said hi :)" #x200B; Bernice I really hope we never meet again.
When I see r/LetsNotMeet stories, I always think of think of an encounter I had while I worked at Subway in my teen years. I was maybe 16 at the time, and am a very petite girl. This particular night, I was working alone, and we closed at 10. It was snowing and the middle of winter, so it was super dark around 9:50pm when this took place. Over the course of the last hour, I noticed a man pacing the store and I didn't really think much of it because there were a lot of homeless people that stayed behind the Subway to go through the trash at the end of the night. I always brought out stuff to them whenever I could, so I thought maybe he was just trying to get a free sandwich or something. I let it slide. 10 minutes before close, this man walks in and starts pacing the front of the store. He was in a wife-beater tank top in the dead of winter, so my first thought was that he was high on drugs. Then, I noticed he was holding a crowbar. I tried to act calm, like I didn't see it. We didn't have a phone near the front, and I didn't want to run and be obvious. I grabbed a knife off the bread bar, and politely asked him if he needed anything. He came right over to me and leaned over the side of the counter by the register. Not in front of me, but BESIDE me, like where the drinks are. He was in my personal space now and I was terrified. He made nervous small talk with me for a bit and then suddenly grabbed my arm and blurted out, "so do ALL Subway employees have access to the safe?" I panicked and said, "no, but we all have access to this button under the register that calls the police if someone is trying to rob us. And if I recall, there's always an officer across the road at the King Soopers". I had my hand under the register drawer. He immediately turned around and said there was no need for something like that, and then promptly left. Good thing, because there in fact was no button under the register. We didn't have any safety precautions, so if he wanted to hurt me and get that safe there was nothing I could've done. I was lucky to think quickly in that situation and lie to the man, otherwise I don't know what would've happened. To crowbar man, r/LetsNotMeet again.
Hello all, it certainly has been a while since our last report! We’ve had a lot going on, and we’re eager to make these reports a more regular thing again. So with that, let’s get into some stats: # I. Current Black List Stats **Total number of offenders listed to date**: 281 (Up 57 since the last report) **Total number of Young Offender Outreaches we sent since the last report:** 28 **Total number of offenders given Legacy status:** 26 **Total number of offenders currently submitted into the 90 Day Evaluation:** 1 **Total number of offenders who have passed the 90 Day Evaluation since the last report:** 5 \*These numbers are current since the *last* Watchdogs report (June’s report). As we continue to move forward, these numbers will be updated more regularly. # II. What We’ve Been Up To It’s been six months since our last report and we’ve been very busy since then! A lot of our members have left the team to pursue other interests, and we have been pretty shorthanded, especially battling the ongoing pandemic. We’ve taken this opportunity to do a lot of internal restructuring, reevaluating, and streamlining some of our processes. As a reminder, we have removed the “cooperative” column in the Black List. We felt that this column was causing more drama and arguments than it was really worth. We’ve decided we will begin checking up on any Young Offenders we may reach out to. This is to ensure that they are continuing to uphold their word to follow copyright laws, and continue to ask for permission before using stories. This will also help avoid having these offenders be reported to us again later. Additionally, we’ve decided that moving forward, all of our future reports will be done quarterly. This will give us more time to gather information and data, and allow for some “slower” months. These reports will also be done in a more “newsletter-like” style, rather than a post that reports on whatever is going on in the community. In the future, we would like to provide you all with more unbiased facts, rather than an “opinion” of events. Also, we’ve updated some of the information in our sidebar and our wiki pages. Be sure to check them out so you can stay up-to-date on our processes! Because we are stretched pretty thin right now, we would like to take this opportunity to let you know what you can do to help make things easier for us: * Before you make a post to report a channel or a page that may be violating copyright laws, please check to see what the oldest activity on the account is. If the oldest post/video is under a year old, the offender will fall into our “Young Offender” category and different steps will need to be taken. If you have a Young Offender to report or are unsure of how old the account is, please send us a modmail instead of making a post. We have had a huge increase in posts about Young Offenders. The posts will need to be removed, adding extra steps to our process. * If we send you a message, please answer it. The more information you can provide us with, the better. If you are unsure if you gave permission to a channel, please check your records before replying. We rely heavily on your replies to help us piece together what the situation is. The sooner we hear back from you guys, the sooner we can get to work doing what we do best! # III. Want to Join the Team? We’re still looking for new members! If you want to give back to the Reddit horror community and enjoy working in a group setting, please consider joining the team! No experience required, we’ll train you on everything you need to know. Keep an eye out for applications coming soon! # IV. Do you know another language? Don’t want to join the team fully, but still want to help out from time to time? We’re always looking for people who know other languages and are willing to assist us! No application required, please feel free to modmail and let us know what language you speak and how often you want to help out. Any help is appreciated! # V. Did you know? The reason that your personal information is gathered by YouTube in the event that a copyright strike escalates and needs to be taken to court. This way, YouTube already has the pertinent information pertaining to both parties involved in the DMCA. # VI. Community Survey That’s all we have for now! We hope everyone has safe and happy holidays, and we’ll see you again in the new year!
This happened a few years ago, but still freaks me out when I think about how differently it could have turned out. My hubs, baby and I used to live in not the greatest apartment complex. There were three sections of the complex, with a total of six apartments (3 on top 3 on bottom) in two different buildings within each section. I lived in the upper level middle apartment of the second building in the second section. I got along with my neighbors fine, we actually all moved into our apartments within a few weeks of each other. To my left is a woman we will call Barb, in her 50's and lives alone. Barb is a drinker and a big participant of any substances that make her feel good. Has a rotation of man friends that come and go. All fine by me, she gives me no issues so i really dgaf about what she does, but it needs to be mentioned for story purposes. I already mentioned that these weren't the best apartments. They were income based, old and cheap. I'm pretty sure the walls were insulated with newspaper if they had any insulation at all, so you could hear basically everything from both surrounding apartments and a lot from the units below. Only time it really became an issue is during nap time and night time when something would either prevent my one year old from sleeping or wake him up. It didn't happen often, and when it did I was always able to go knock on the noise culprit's door and handle it with no issues. Since my child was still a baby and I was constantly exhausted, 90% of the time his bedtime was my bedtime. Our bedrooms were on the opposite end of the apartment from living room/kitchen/balcony/barb's apartment. We also slept with both a noise machine and a fan to drown out any noise disturbances during the night. This particular night, though, my husband was off work and we decided to watch a movie. There was a party going on in the first building of our section. Barb was "friends" with the party throwers and we could hear her in and out of her apartment door several times as well as all party people who were outside smoking. At some point during the movie I fell asleep using my husband's lap as a pillow. Around 2AM loud laughing from Barb's apartment wakes me up. I get up to pee and brush my teeth before coming back to kiss my husband good night and get in bed. Do my business and making my way back up the hall to living room from bathroom to tell husband good night, I hear knocking on barb's door followed with what sounds like her door exploding off it's hinges and flying into the wall that separates her apt and ours. My husband and I both say "wtf" at the same time and kind of just freeze. We hear barb and a man talking and it sounded like normal talking, they weren't yelling or anything; so we chalk it up to barb and her guest having a little too much fun at the party and shrug it off. I get in bed and quickly fall back asleep. No more than 10 minutes after getting in bed, I wake up to what sounds like heavy furniture being body slammed coming from Barb's apartment. Irked af from the second slumber disturbance and knowing this is going to wake my kid up, I make my way back to the living room planning to put my slippers on and knock on Barb's door and kindly ask her to stfu. I first walk out onto my balcony to smoke a cigarette while hoping she realizes how loud whatever the fuck she's got going on is and fix it without being asked. The body slamming furniture only gets even louder while on the balcony, so I assume they've worked their way through her apartment and are body slamming her bedroom furniture now. Even more irritated now, I decide Barb's too blitzed to realize how loud she is being and I'm going to have to remind her that none of us are deaf in my apartment so she was going to have to move her furniture fight somewhere else or reschedule for normal furniture fighting hours which are obviously during the day. I stand up and take a few steps toward barb's bedroom window where our small bucket for cigarette butts sits on the ledge of my balcony. Her bedroom window and the closest edge of my balcony to her window are only inches apart. She could easily crawl out of her window and onto my balcony or vice versa. And that's when I hear it.... muffled screams like someone is holding a hand over a mouth and a man's voice say in a very low voice, "if you don't shut the fuck up I'm going to kill you. You fuck n----rs, so you're going to fuck me and like it." Ohhhh FUCK, is my first thought. I fly inside the sliding door from my balcony and grab my phone to call 911 while telling my husband Barb is in trouble. He goes out and bangs on her door, nobody comes and it's locked because he tried the door handle after not being answered. I'm standing between the living room and kitchen on the phone with 911, and husband walks outside and leans over to see if he can see anything through Barb's windows. The blinds are closed but a couple of blinds slats are broken, leaving a small crack big enough for my husband to see someone laying on the floor halfway in her bedroom and halfway into her bathroom, and another person standing over them. He tells me and I relay it to 911 operator while also adding if the police aren't here soon we were going to bust the door down ourselves. She calmly asks me not to do anything like that, to stay on the line and that the police were in route and would arrive soon. About two minutes later we hear several pairs of boots coming up the apartment stairs to get to the second level our apartment are on, and then LOUD pounding/knocking with "___________ POLICE DEPARTMENT, OPEN UP!" I crack my front door to peek out and tell them we can still see two people in the back bedroom of Barb's apartment. There are four uniformed police officers with their guns drawn, and the one standing in front of my door tells me to get back inside and lock the door. Yes sir. I go back inside and stand right inside my balcony door to watch for anything, like barb trying to escape the man or the man trying to escape the cops. Hear another round of police pounding at barb's door going unanswered, and then the sound of the door being kicked in. Fire and rescue have shown up by this point and the whole complex is lit up with lights coming from emergency vehicles. We hear a small scuffle, and then the screen door of her apartment creak open. I look out of the peep hole and see a man in handcuffs being led down the stairs and then EMT coming up the stairs with a stretcher. A few minutes later we hear her screen door creak open again, and I see EMT carrying a stretcher with someone in it and open my door. Barb is unconscious and in bad shape. Her face and head are bloody and swelling, the exposed skin of her arms are already bruising. As I'm staring at her in the stretcher going down the stairs in disbelief, the same police officer that told me to get back inside and lock my door walks out of Barb's apartment and asks if he can speak to my husband and me. I say yes and invite him inside, where he thanks us for calling 911 and tells us he has little doubt that we saved Barb's life. Asks what we heard and I reiterate the whole story from beginning to end as he takes notes. He thanks us again, and leaves. Barb calls me about a week later from the hospital to thank me. I ask how she is and she tells me that she has a fractured skull and bleeding on her brain, broken cheekbone and jaw, broken ribs, and lots of bruising all over her body, but feels lucky to be alive and thanks me again. She also tells me the man is someone she has known for several years. That he had showed up to the party right before she went home to her own apartment and was mad she didn't want to sleep with him and even madder that she had been super flirty with a POC at the party. Several months later, the ADA prosecuting the man calls me and asks me to tell her everything from that night. So, I tell her from start to finish, too. She asks if I would be willing to testify in court, and I tell her whatever she needs to lock that animal up. A couple of weeks after that, I come home and have a summons on my door to be a witness in the case, but the court date listed has already passed. I call the ADA back and explain, both worried about how me not testifying hurt the case in putting him away and also if I had a warrant out for my arrest for no showing. She tells me that the date was wrong, but that I'm also not needed. Catch up with Barb a few weeks after that and she tells me that my recorded call to 911 was used during court and that the guy got 15 years in prison.
I posted this on another sub but deleted it because it didn't really fit there. Anyway, this happened back when I was 10 so details are kind of fuzzy. My older sister who was about 12 and I were left with our eldest sister who was heavily pregnant at the time and our cousin who was visiting on a break from the Marines. We lived in apartment that was close to a school track you could see it from our apartment it also had two storage garages on the far side that if we went to we'd be out of sight, my sister and I would frequently go there to hang out. Just trying to lay out a picture. My eldest sister and Cousin let us go to the track as long as we stayed on the bleachers that were in their direct view remember this . We agree and go to just play on it with our sister and Cousin stepping out to check on us every once in awhile. About an hour minutes into it these teenage boys come along maybe, about 16ish, and sit on the bleachers. It's nothing unusual the there's a lot of apartment complexs around so obviously lot of people living around. They start asking us questions you could think normal questions. How old are we? Are we sisters? Did we live around here? Where exactly did we live? Did our parents know where we're were? Look I may have been a stupid kid but I wasn't about to show them exactly where we lived we just told them close by. A detail I forgot to put in the other post is they tried to convince us to come with them to one of their apartments to play video games with them. We kept telling them we couldn't. I got uncomfortable and convinced my older sister to go with me to get a drink from the water fountain that was on the storage garages hoping the boys would stay there but they said they wanted to get some water to and walked with us. Now most this next part comes from the point of view from our sister and Cousin. So were walking to the garages boys following us still trying to convince us to go hang out with them we get there and of course were out of sight from our sister and Cousin, the last time they checked on us were were at the bleachers with the boys they didn't think much of it this time when our sister steps out and doesn't see us anywhere she gets panicked because again there were older boys around us. She calls for my cousin who can obviously do more if anything is happening. They get to the track and they see one of the boys reach for me as my sister is getting a drink and the other two stand behind my sister my Cousin starts dead sprinting towards us he's fast runner always had been. Our sister screams at us to come to her and we all turn towards her my Cousin is more then halfway to us with a look mixed with anger and like a predator heading for its prey. They boys book it, running to the exit of the track one of them. The one that reached for me decides to, for some reason, climb over the fence instead of using the opening 2 feet away from where he closed. I'll never understand why it slowed him down significantly. We go with our sister, Cousin is still chasing the boys and we get home basically right when our parents and uncle and aunt do and we get put in our room while our sister frantically tells the adults what happened a little while later my Cousin gets back to wherever he ended up at adrenaline running through him but he's calm. My parents call us out and they ask us about the boys and if they said or did anything we tell them what happened they are furious with us for leaving and they explain to us those boys had bad intentions. My sister doesn't believe that but I mean we were oblivious to what they were doing or tried to do and our dad has our Cousin tell us what happened while he was chasing them down. Now, I'm pretty sure it's written in a marines DNA to be protective and always throw themselves into dangers situation especially for family. Here's what happened. Two of the boys are ahead but the one that made the dumb mistake was pretty far behind his friends my cousin was hot on his heels and I guess the boy decided he wasn't gonna get away so he decided to stop and pull a knife out on my Cousin about the size of a palm, my Cousin has seen worse unarmed more dangerous people with bigger weapons. Cousin smiles at the boy and easily unarms this kid and pins him to the ground, his friends are long gone, Cousin takes out his hunting knife and says "Man I wonder which one would do more damage. Here the thing I don't want to show you but you will find out if I ever see you near my cousins ever again I PROMISE you that" the kid says sorry and swears up and down he'll never come around again. Cousin let's him up and walks back. My Cousin asks us "What do you think they were planning? ONE of them had a knife and the other TWO probably did as well I can promise you they had no good intentions. We TOLD you two to stay on our sight and that's exactly why!!" Our parents do call the cops and we give them as an accurate description of the boys as we could and If I remember right one or two of them were found a couple days later. This story has a good ending nothing happened but I often think back to that day and wonder what would be different if our Cousin and sister went unaware of us being gone? or what if my crazy marine Cousin wasn't there? What if they were a minute to late? So to the boys who more then likely had bad intentions towards us let's not meet. Probably better for your life that way anyways.
Okay I can shorten this if it’s too long So I posted this story almost two years ago and took it down because I felt a bit uncomfortable with it. I work in a therapy center with children who have special needs. When I first posted the story, I was still working at the center where this happened. I got worried that someone could figure out where it was and cause trouble, so I took it down. Anyway, I’ll just start telling you what happened. At the time, I worked in a therapy center where I taught children with autism. The kids were and are the best part of the job. I would work with kids between the ages of two and thirteen. And the range and intensity of certain symptoms varied a lot, I worked with kids who could go to school and no one would even know they were autistic. I also worked with kids who had comorbid disorders that made it difficult for them to feed or wash themselves. Some kids would be at the center from morning to night, and others for only a few hours. I loved them all, and was very protective of them. Something that always bothered me about the center was it’s location. It was in between a medical office and a strip mall. And although the center was lined with hedges, we were very much exposed to the public. The building had once been a bank, and the playground the kids used was actually the drive thru for that bank. It was fenced in, but there was a path that cars could drive around the building on. People who were lost would often drive this path and take a long look at the kids as they played. Which also bothered me. And occasionally pedestrians would walk this path to get to the strip mall. But the people on foot would make a real effort not to look at the kids. The weather was nice that day so we gave the kids some extra time on the playground. I watched two of our older boys chase each other when out the corner of my eye I saw someone walk up to the fence. I turned to the person and alarm bells were already going off in my head. Yes, we did sometimes get pedestrians but they never ever walked up to the fence. This man was standing only inches from the fence, staring directly at the kids as they played. I made eye contact with my coworker, who gently instructed the boys to play further away from the fence. She did this so she could bring them in if the man did anything else. Well, I walked up to him and said “Are you lost?”. This man was very tan and his skin looked dry. His hair was a sandy blonde and his blue eyes looked beady and wide at the same time. He was very thin, and wore an ill fitting polo shirt and pants tucked in with a belt. There was a logo on his shirt that I couldn’t read. When he spoke, it was almost like he was sleep talking. Thus stammering mutter that had a slight European accent. He said something along the lines of “do you service adults”, and “I’m looking for help for an adult”. The whole time he spoke to me he wasn’t really looking at me. This creep was still looking at the boys. Which made me real effing mad, but I kept it together. The guy seemed kinda off, and I couldn’t tell if he genuinely wanted services or if he was maybe high in something. I didn’t want to be cruel to someone who might be suffering, but these kids were my top priority. I told him “This place is for children, not adults”. He muttered something else before he took out some envelope from his pocket. I could see there was a card inside with bright colors, like a gift card to a children’s store or play place. He tried to slide it to me and I politely refused. This guy wasn’t leaving and he was still focused on the kids. I just wanted to distract him so I could warn the rest of the center about this odd guy, so I blurted out “If you go around the building we can give you some information about services”. In hindsight that was probably stupid, but I was too scared to just tell him to leave. This guy had just come out of nowhere to stare at some kids? Something was really wrong. If he walked around the building my hope was we could lock everyone down while he was busy. He nodded his head and started to walk around the building. We rushed the kids inside, locked the back door, and I started running around telling people not to open the front door. Of course everyone was like “What? Why?”. I blurted out “Weird German guy”, and that was enough for them. My supervisor made the decision to talk to him with the front door cracked. He apparently asked her the same thing and she told him what I told him. She then told us that he had gotten into a car with a man wearing an orange polo. I had no idea he wasn’t alone. That scared me. The worst came the next day. My supervisor had called the police to report the odd behavior and the officer knew exactly what we were talking about. Apparently, this man and his companion were a part of a cult called Avatar Course. Avatar Course is like an offshoot of Scientology, but they put more focus on positivity. A lot more. These people stare at people to try to cure them of disease with positive thinking. They’ll stand on the road, in parking lots, anywhere. Staring. So when this creep was staring at the boys, he thought he was curing them of autism with positive thinking. There was a convention happening at the time, which is probably why they were out trying to “heal”, people. The card he tried to hand me was probably his business card advertising the event. And I think he wanted to know if we had adults because he wanted to recruit them. I suppose I’m glad he wasn’t a sexual predator, but that’s a pretty low bar to jump. Avatar Course guy, let’s not meet.
Honestly my story is not too bad, though I would still rather never meet this person again. I was stalked, but not because they were into me, because they were into my best friend, Emma. Emma is gorgeous, like to obscene level and has always had guys and girls fawning over her. She had a friend named Mike, Mike is who this story is about.         I met Mike through Emma and it was clear immediately that Mike was obsessed with her. She was actually into him too for a bit but she wanted something not serious. Mike came on hard and heavy so Emma distanced herself from him. She distanced herself even more after he made some shocking comments about his opinion on sexual assaults mostly being fake.        When Emma and I graduated high school we had planned to move into together but due to a family situation she only stayed at our place about two days a week and never on a set schedule. She also could not keep a job to save her life. Her family life was chaotic and made it where she would have to leave at a moment's notice. Emma also had several places she crashed at, family, friends, my family, it depended on her situation and any odd jobs she was working. She did a lot of odd jobs, babysitting, yard work, elder care, catering ect. Nowhere stable and often she wouldn't know what she was doing until that day.      After Emma distanced herself from Mike I started to realize he was at my work often. Like three or so times a week. It would not have been too weird except my work was a department store for women and children. No men's clothes at all in this store. At first Mike would just come in, do a lap and leave. It was weird but I honestly just thought he was walking the mall, lots of people do that, as my town has practically no entertainment.      Then Mike started hanging out in my store and talking to me while I worked. Always talking about Emma. How is Emma, why is she avoiding me, those kind of questions. I was evasive, giving one word answers, trying to telling him I needed to work. My manager scolded me for having "friends hanging while working". When I explained I did not want him there and that he wanted to know about my friend my manager (he was awesome) asked if I wanted him to talk to Mike. I said yes, relieved. After that Mike went back to doing a lap and leaving until my manager eventually stationed a big Loss Prevention guy at my register as a deterrent. It worked, no more Mike at work. I had won.     Except I had not counted on Mike being extra creepy. He started showing up at my house. Couple of points, Mike did not have a car, and I lived in a different town than Mike, my family and my job, about 20 min by car away. No public transportation in my town or in his. Uber did not exist in this area then either, and Mike didn't have a job as far as I knew. Mike knew where I lived because when I first moved in we had a house warming party and accidentally made the Facebook invite public.      Mike started coming over at random times, sometimes early in the morning, sometimes in the evening always asking to speak to Emma, I always told him Emma wasn't there, even if she was. For her safety I advised her to not come to the house anymore, and to tell Mike she wasn't interested. Which she did, bluntly no more distancing and blocked him. In this time I moved in a new roommate, a coworker who while also female had a gun and a big boyfriend. Mike started coming by less frequently, and anytime he did I would tell him that he wasn't welcomed.     Now I know I should've called the cops but there were two things preventing me. One I was from a not grand family who avoided cops for the most part. Two my new roommate was a criminal law major and she was already concerned about how that would appear for her career. Not great reasons but for a 19-20 year old it was enough reasons for me to not mention it.        Eventually I stopped seeing Mike but I would still occasionally spot him places I was. The mall, my town's grocery store, in my dog's favorite park. I stopped posting on Facebook around this time, cause even though Mike was blocked he was clearly still able to see my posts. I also got the creeping suspicion that he was coming by my house sometimes. My stuff on my porch would be moved, at night my motion sensor lights would go off, and I kept finding Mike's cigarette buds. Atleast it was the same kind he smoked.      My roommate had been there about 4 months when one night she had her boyfriend over when someone started pounding on the door. When her boyfriend answered he saw someone who looked like Mike running away. The next day my roommate and her boyfriend went out of town for a concert. She gave me her gun, even though I felt safe cause she had gotten a dog that she was training a guard dog.     I started watching a cooking show in the living room and at some point I fell asleep. In the middle of the night I woke up to my dog and the guard dog losing their minds, barking like mad at the window, there was a tall figure that bolted as soon as I sat up. I grabbed the gun, opened the door and yelled "I know thats you, I have a gun and I'm calling the cops,". Which I didn't do, I just locked me and the dogs in the bathroom and called my dad. Who luckily was not angry about being woken up in the middle of the night. He drove over and advised calling the cops and filing a restraining order. Which we called the cops but they said since nothing was broken, and there was no evidence, there was nothing to be done about it.      Luckily after this I heard through the grapevine that about a week after the incident with the dogs Mike's family sent him to live with a relative in a different state. He did come back a couple of years ago but he was wise enough to only contact me once, when I got to tell him that Emma was not only happily married but not at all interested in talking to him. I reminded him that I was willing to call the cops if he ever came near either of us again. He never did and I don't see him anymore. Though he did try to befriend my husband on Facebook, all it took was another block for him to go away.      So its been about 5 years since I last saw you, Mike, let's not meet.
Ok this is my first ever post so don't judge plz. I'll try to make it as short as possible too :) This story happened in 2006, but I only learned what happened in 2017 from my mom. I was born and raised in Bordeaux, France so French is my first language. At the time this happened, I was 3 (so 2006) and slept in an upstairs bedroom pretty high up (like it was impossible to climb through my window without making a ton of noise). The house we lived in was also very old, and the front door was this massive wooden carved door that also made a ton of noise when you opened it. So the only way to get in was to go through the backyard door, which was locked EVERY NIGHT. So this was a regular night; me and my parents eat dinner at 8PM, my mom reads me a bedtime story, and I go to sleep. It's also good to note that my mom was pretty heavily pregnant at this point (8 months in), so she had trouble sleeping and woke up frequently as it was almost summertime and pretty hot during the day/ night. I fell asleep, and towards 1AM I think, I wake up to a man standing in front of me, on the side of my bed. There's a little bit of light filtrating through the window from the street, so I can see that his eyes are open and pointed straight at me. I don't remember what I said exactly, but it must have been something like "Dad?" And the guy just replied "You're so pretty." Now mind you I was 3. So I did what I new how to do best; I didn't say anything, turned away from him and pretended to be sleeping. At this point, I clearly remember praying he would just leave, because I knew from his voice that it was NOT my dad. Somehow I went back to sleep but got woken up by a loud noise later on. It was still dark but I could hear my parents talking downstairs. I thought they were just doing adult stuff and went back to sleep because I was tired af at that point. I got woken AGAIN by my mom swinging open my door asking me if im ok. I was super sleepy in that moment, which is probably why I said "yes" instead of talking about the guy in my room. I remember her walking to my bed and giving me the biggest hug of my life and kissing me on the forehead. I fell back asleep in her arms some time later. Now flash forward to a couple of years later, 2017, when we're at dinner (again) with my parents and talking about all the dumb stuff me and my brother did when we were little. I suddenly remember the incident and for some reason get the urge to ask my mom about it. So I ask and I say "Hey remember that time when you opened the door in the middle of the night when you were pregnant with my brother and asked if I was ok? that was weird right?" I'm laughing but my guts tell me there's something I don't know. My mom goes pale and turns to me like "You mean the time I saw a man exiting your bedroom in the middle of the night and chased him down the house?" ... im sorry... WHAT?? I guess since it happened when I was little and very sleepy, my brain didn't really process the thing as something that really happened. This whole time, I just thought I had dreamed it. Hence the laugh when I asked. So basically, that night, my mom couldn't sleep. She heard a noise (voices) and thought it was only me sleep-talking when it was really me and the guy having this little "conservation" mentioned earlier. I guess her mother instinct kicked in, because she got an eery feeling and a few minutes later, decided to go check it out and opened her bedroom door. Just as she does that, a man is standing at the top of the stairs, right in front of her bedroom door. His back is to her, and she's just speechless. The guy turns to her, they make eye contact, and he just starts running down the stairs. My mom grabs her heavy-a\*\* NOKIA flip phone and just throws it at him. My dad then wakes up and notices his wife isn't in bed anymore and he hears noise down stairs. He flips out. At this point, my mom is chasing the guy down stairs, just throwing shit at him. The guy jumps over the railing of the stairs, darts left towards the backyard door (which was wide open), and jumps over the fence into the night. (The fence was also very fckin high, and to this day my parents have no idea how he jumped so high in ONE JUMP. Like he just ran and jumped over it like Spider-Man.) My dad finally reaches the bottom of the stairs and asks my mom wtf is happening, she explains it to him and they decide to call the police. Just then, my mom remembers she heard voices in my room and goes "OMG HE WAS IN MARIE'S ROOM" (Marie being me) She darts back upstairs and sings open my door, to which I wake up. she asks me if im ok, I reply "yeah why?" She was freaked out and hugged, you know the rest. The cops came and swept the house. My dad's cellphone was missing, along with both their wallets. My mom's phone hadn't been stolen since it was in their room and she threw it at the guy when she was chasing him. The weirdest part of it all is that my room was at the very end of the hall and not accessible any other way, which means he was trapped in there if someone found him there. This means that he **specifically** came into my room. And if he came in to steel things, why did he come into my room and just looked at me sleeping? I also find it weird that he didn't do anything to me, as crazy as it sounds. Like he could have done anything but he just... stood there??? In the end, the investigation proved that my mom had forgotten to lock the door that night, which is how he got in. They never found the guy and probably never will, which scares me a little ngl. We moved out since then but this still scares me to this day and the fact that anything could've happened that night chills me to my core. Thanks for reading and remember to lock ur door(s) guys :) TL;DR: a guy watched me sleep while he was robbing my house and my pregnant mom had to chase him down the house while throwing stuff at him.
I had just transferred schools and I took a new position as a high school librarian. There was a little snack bar run by the cafeteria workers in the student center. Bill was the guy who manned the register for this snack bar. He was a short man in his late 50’s. He always had a smile for anyone who came to visit. He really loved when the adults of the building came by to get food or drinks, and he would try to start a conversation with anyone who would stop to talk. He seemed sad and lonely. Over the first few months of stopping by there for my morning tea, he would always ask me questions. I was in a serious relationship at this time. I had been with my partner for six years and we had a child together. He seemed genuinely interested in getting to know me. I never got any weird vibes from him. He seemed like a sweet father/grandfather type figure. Over the summer between my first year of working and my second year, my boyfriend and I broke up. I didn’t talk about it at work, when I could help it. It was painful to talk about because we had been together for so long and had a child. I was trying to date online. I was on the main ones: facebook dating, tinder, plenty of fish, and bumble. I live in a pretty small town, so the same men were on all the same apps. I went a few dates, but overall the entire process was a disaster. I only stayed on the apps for that first fall semester of my second year and then deleted all of them to remain single. During this time, Bill’s attention started to change. He would get very excited when I came down to get my morning drink. He knew about my breakup and would ask me how dating was going. I did not remember telling him that I was single, but I assumed I must have let it slip at some point in our conversation. I would come back in the mornings and tell him about all of my terrible dates. I remember telling him that I was giving up on dating. He tried to hold my hand, to try and comfort me. I immediately jerked my hand back. I told him I was fine with my life and that I won’t date again until I am happy with just myself. Each morning that I went back, I noticed that he kept trying to find excuses to touch me. I had hair on my clothes, or he needed to fix the alignment of my jacket. I started to get very creeped out from his attention. I stopped going down to get a drink. I told him I didn’t have time in the morning anymore because the library was getting more kids needing me to check out books before school started. Since I wasn't coming down to see him, he started coming down to see me. He started by just bringing me tea. If I was not at my desk, he would leave it for me to find. At first, I didn’t mind it too much. Things just appeared and I didn’t have to fake a smile when he came by. After a few weeks, it stopped being just tea. He started to bring me food too. “We just got a shipment of oranges in,” he said. “I picked out the very best ones for you. I know how much you love oranges…” The gifts became bigger and bigger until he was bringing me full meals from the cafeteria. I started trying to think how I could get this to stop while also being polite. I had to be nice, right? Over time, I couldn’t even eat the food. I would give it away or trash it the moment he left the room. The next time he came down with his arms filled with free food for me, I told him that I didn’t want him to bring me anything because I was on a diet and I was bringing my own food to school. “You are perfect just the way you are,” he said with a big smile. I replied with a thank you. Why do I feel the need to be nice to creepy people? When he would try to bring me down food, I would thank him and remind him that I did not want any more food. When he would come in and I wasn’t at my desk, I would duck down and hide until he left. The students started to ask what was going on. I am a grown woman, the person in charge of these students, and I’m hiding on the floor behind a stack of books to avoid talking to him. The students even said that they did not like him. The students had nicknamed him, “The troll.” It was such a fitting name. Over time, he understood that I didn’t want any more food from him. I had a month of glorious silence. No visits, just awkward waves in the hallway if I passed by. And my second year as a librarian ended. When the third year started back up, I had a lovely summer without a thought of him. I walked into the library on the first day with a present on my desk. I open the package. It is a coffee tumbler and a gift card to starbucks. No name or card to say who gave it to me. I wasn’t sure it was him, so I went down to ask. He said that he wanted to buy me something special and to have my school year start off with a smile. I accepted the gift and thanked him. I’m not saying no to some free drinks. I shouldn’t have taken it. I know that now. The gifts didn’t stop. At least once a week, he would bring me something. Each gift got more expensive and I became increasingly more uncomfortable. By October I told him to stop. Do not bring me anything, do not buy me anything. It makes me uncomfortable and I will not be buying him anything in return. He didn’t listen. He kept bringing me things. I knew he couldn’t afford this on a cafeteria worker’s salary and I told him that. Just. Stop. I started to get angry at him. I was no longer smiling or saying thank you, but I realize my biggest mistake now. I took the gifts. I took them because I don't have a lot of money and the gifts were truly all the things I loved. I should have never accepted them. I started to confide in other coworkers how uncomfortable the whole situation made me. Most of them would reply, “He is single and really nice. He obviously likes you. I know he is older, but maybe you should give him a chance.” I did not. With each unwanted gift, he would say, “I know you told me no gifts, but I just had to get this for you.” On valentines day of my third year working at this school, a giant gift basket was on my desk. I brought the entire thing back to him. I told him to take it back, that this was just too much. I guess that it was about $150 for the entire thing. I told him to keep it. He said that if I took this, it would be the last gift he promised. I took it and made him repeat it again that this was the last gift. I did not get the chance to test this. By the next month, the entire country shut down for COVID. I had to still be on campus to work, despite all the students being remote. In April, he came by my desk with a goodbye gift. He was quitting the job because they could not pay any of the cafeteria workers without students on campus. He was moving away. I cried with him. Partly because I’m empathetic when others cry and mostly from my relief. He was leaving. I never had to speak to him again. The next day, I had a friend request and a message from him on facebook. I didn’t respond or accept the request, but it did fill in some gaps in my knowledge. He had a car as his profile picture and I remember the picture from all my dating apps. That's why his demeanor changed. He saw me on all of the dating apps and I had ignored him. For 8 months I thought it was over. I didn’t think about him. School started back up this past August with students back on campus. It was a relief not to worry about seeing him or finding random things on my desk. In October, my work phone started ringing. I was busy so I didn’t answer. After the person called about five times, I finally answered, thinking it was a very urgent parent. It was creepy troll Bill. He HAD to talk to me. He was in love with me. He spent every day thinking about me - and oh, by the way, he is married with grandchildren. Guess who is ready to leave his wife for me? Crazy Troll Bill. He kept me on my work phone for 45 minutes. I listened. I was nice. In hindsight, I have no idea why I kept talking to him. I told him that I was not interested in him in that way. He begged to be friends. I said fine. He asked me to accept his friend request and I did. He tried messaging me the next day, but I left it on read. Two weeks later, I get a message from the front office that a representative from a company needs to talk to me. I rarely get sales reps coming in person, especially after COVID. I go up to the front and it is the troll in a suit, large bags under his arms. The secretary thought he must have been a regular, because she recognized him but could not place from where. He asks to come in and talk to me, but with COVID and safety rules, no one is allowed in the school. I go outside in the cold to talk to him. He explains that he just wanted to drop off a few gifts for me. He proceeds to take each item out of a bag. He tells me where he was, how it reminded him of me, and why I had to have it. He bought things for my kid, no where close to what he needs for his age. I’m panicking. My stomach hurts. I feel like I am trapped, but outwardly I am polite and nice. He asks to hold my hand while he reads the poetry he wrote for me, but I refuse and move as far away as I can manage. The poem he reads references a picture of me. He has the picture printed out. He said it is his favorite of mine. I’m 14 years old in the picture. How far back did he go on my facebook??? And this man used to work in a high school??? I tell him again that I do not have any interest in him. He says, “That’s okay. I just need to be near you. I will take any attention that you are willing to give me. I just need to be in your life.” He goes in for a hug. I try to get away, but I am trapped between a tree and a bench. With his height, his face is buried in my breasts and his hand tries to sneak under my shirt. I can hear him trying to smell my hair. I am instantly sick. I sent him a facebook message the moment I am back inside the school. This time, finally, I am not nice. I tell him, “No more gifts. Period. None. This is a matter of consent. I do not consent to any more gifts. You say you care about me, but you do not respect my wishes. No more gifts.” After he responded, and I was confident that he actually understood my words, I blocked him. I changed the setting on my profile to make it harder to find. In November, a box arrived at the school. A subscription box that will be sent every month. There isn’t a name who it is from, but I know who sent it. I went to speak with the police on campus, but guess what?! Not much they can do since I do not have proof that it is from Bill. I have called the company, but they cannot help because I am not the account holder. The school is aware of the situation. They will hopefully remember him if he tries to see me at work again. The day before my birthday he called my work phone 4 times. On my birthday, he called the phone more than 5 times. I did not answer. Yesterday, the second package arrived at the school with my name and the school address. I hope the story is over, but it might not be. I make sure I am not followed when I leave work, but I do not have any clue what kind of car he drives. I have a special way I drive home now, where everything is single lanes, hopefully making it easier to see if I am followed. I always check the caller ID before I answer my work phone. I am afraid of anyone who expresses an interest in me now, because “crushes” are not cute anymore. I wait for more things to be delivered to the campus. I live in a constant state of panic, because what if he meant it? What if he has to be a part of my life whether I like it or not? So, to Bill, the creepy cafeteria troll, Let’s not meet again. Update: It has been a year since my post, and thankfully I have heard not a word. I don’t get the feeling like I’m being watched anymore. I’m not scared every time my phone rings. I saw him at a grocery store, but I do not think he saw me. I simply don’t shop at that store anymore. Place was expensive and frofro anyway.
It's my first post on Reddit, I thought it would be nice to talk about what I experienced a few years ago. I apologize in advance if there's a few mistakes, English isn't my first language. #x200B; I was 18 yo and decided to take a gap year to reflect a bit on my studies and to have new experiences. I ended up going a year abroad in Toronto, Canada, to learn a bit of English because it's always useful. I contacted an education company that put me in contact with my foster home and soon enough, I was ready to leave. It was the very first time I was travelling alone and that far from my country (I'm from Europe) so I was quite stressed out in the beginning. But as time passed and as I began to make friends, I started to feel quite at ease very quickly with my new environment and fell in love with the city. It wasn't rare that I left and wandered a bit on my own to explore new places. But when I was alone, I always came back before it was dark because I wasn't to comfortable. Plus, being a girl, the people I was living with didn't want me to be outside too long at night. #x200B; One day, I decided to pay a visit to my first foster family that was living in North York and I was currently living in Scarborough with my third family (I had to change family 4 times and ended up living in different areas of the city throughout the year) So I obviously took the subway. #x200B; To give you an idea of the length of the events, the trip was supposed to take something like 1 hour but with the traffic and the recurrent problems on the lines, it lasted 2 hours or so. I first took the subway on the green line at Kennedy, then change at Saint George to take the yellow line and go north to Sheppard West and then get out and take a bus to finally arrive to their house. So I basically had to go from East to North, passing by the center (I invite you to look at a map of the Toronto's subway so you can clearly understand my path). #x200B; So i'm waiting for the subway at Kennedy. It was in the middle of the afternoon so everything was very crowded. But from the corner of my eye, I see a man kind of looking at me. I ignore it, thinking that it wasn't anything and that I was probably just paranoid. But I wasn't really comfortable so I just put my headphones on and stared at my phone. The subway arrives and everybody gets in. I found somewhere to sit (which is a miracle considering how crowded the subway was) and just minded my own business. After a few minutes, I stop looking at my phone, wanting to look outside because we were passing on a bridge and I really liked the view. But as soon as I turned my head, I saw the same man, standing up and staring directly at me. When he saw that I saw him, he smiled at me. #x200B; I was a bit concerned but not scared. Because even though I had been there for only three months, I knew that there were a lot of weird people in this city. Not wanting to be rude, I smiled back and then stared back at my phone not wanting to meet his eyes again. #x200B; I really began to worry when the subway arrived at Saint George. The subway stops, I get out, start walking to take the subway on the yellow line and then wait for it to come. When I turn my head to see when he's supposed to arrive, I see the same man as before, still staring and smiling at me. I'm not smiling at him anymore and quickly avoid eye-contact. After a few minutes, the subway finally arrives. I jump in it, and change wagon, wanting to be as far as possible from him. Time passes and I don't see him in the crowd near me so I'm a bit better. Also, I remember feeling silly for thinking that someone was following me. #x200B; The subway finally arrives at Sheppard West and I start walking to catch my bus. Doing so, I'm reaching for my pass but make it fall on the ground. So I stop, pick it up and who am I seeing when I get up? The creepy dude, walking towards me, staring and smiling again. I changed direction and started walking faster, hoping to reach the bus stop and having more people around me. I get there but he gets there as well and I can feel him looking at me. At this point, I was completely freaked out. Not only because I was scared as hell but also because I didn't want him to know where my foster parents were living, considering that the bus stop was really close to their house. The bus arrived and we all got in. There weren't any sitting places so I went standing close to the door. That's when I thought of a way out. I knew that people were going to press the button for my stop because a lot of people where going off there. So I waited patiently for my stop. Someone else pressed the button as I anticipated and I waited that a maximum of people went out of the bus. Then, when the bus started to close his doors, I jumped out of the bus and started walking in a random direction so if the creepy dude was looking at me, he wouldn't know where I was going. I was very lucky that the bus driver didn't reopen his doors. #x200B; After walking for a bit, I turned around and started heading to the house of my foster parents, relieved that it was finally over. I spent a few hours there and decide not to talk about my recent experience. I didn't want them to worry or to drive me home, them being quite old and tired most of the time. Time passed and I decide to head home. I thanked my family, wished them a happy evening and went outside to the bus stop across the street. After a few minutes, the bus arrived, I get in, look around for somewhere to sit and then I froze. #x200B; The man was sitting in the back of the bus. I didn't move for a few second, then, went to sit next to a lady in the front of the bus, completely panicked. I was wondering how he could have ended up in the same bus as me. It couldn't be bad luck, he followed me for 2 hours before that. At the time I had no idea, but now, I think that when I got out of the bus, he got out at the next stop (that isn't far away from mine, so we can kind of see if there's people waiting at the next stop) and waited for me to take the bus again. That day, I was wearing a bright yellow mustard color hoodie, so I think he knew it was me, even from the distance. #x200B; The bus started driving and I felt helpless because it was clear to me that I wasn't paranoid and that this man clearly wanted something out of me. The big mistake I made here wasn't to alert the people on the bus, they could have help me get out of this situation by scaring the guy off. But as I said, I was panicked and wasn't thinking clearly. When we arrived at the station, I almost started running down the stairs to try and catch the subway but arrived a little bit to late. He arrived a few second after and went to sit down on a stone bench, still looking and smiling at me. The all time, I was desperately thinking of a way out of this situation. Then the subway arrived and I think I've never had that much luck in my whole life. #x200B; When the doors opened, I saw two of my friends (one of them being a guy that is quite built) sitting in the wagon. They told me afterwards that they were going Downtown to go to the gym together. I got up and ran up to them, explaining the situation that I was in. The creepy dude went and sit close to us in the wagon and when he saw that I knew them, he got out at the next stop. #x200B; I never saw him again afterwards and I never wish to experience something similar in my life ever again. I had never been followed before that, and this experience had taught me to always have my keys in my fingers when I'm walking alone, even now. #x200B; TL;DR: A random dude followed me for more than two hours, then I sowed it, then I saw him again and finally got away when I cross two of my friends by chance.
Okay, so, I'm about to tell the scariest thing that ever happened to me. The thing is, I'm not an english-speaker, and even though I manage, I'm not sure about all the technical scuba diving vocabulary. I'll do my best but please be indulgent ! It happened last year between Christmas and New Year's Eve (I'm from the French Carribean so it's not unusual to scuba dive during christmas holidays). My family and I (25f) booked a few dives. They're all really good scuba divers, better than me. They passed a few scuba diving levels that allow them to participate in way more technical dives that I'm allowed to do. I enjoy scuba diving as well and I'm able to do almost every "casual" dives but I don't feel safe diving without an instructor yet (even more if it's a dive with decompression stops required). If anyone isn't familiar with scuba diving, here's a quick explaination : you can dive safely until a certain deep before the pressure becomes dangerous. If you dive below that point (which is roughly 20 meters or 65 ft) you have to do decompression stops during your ascent. It means that you have to stop while going back to the surface a certain time to let your body adapt itself to the pressure. If you ride up too quickly you may catch decompression sickness which can lead, in worst case scenario, to death. So, we decided that I could manage a little private lesson with an instructor first, prior to more exiting dives with my family. So, the first day, my family was enjoying a dive on a technical spot that I wasn't feeling up to while I was alone with my instructor and retrieving my old scuba diving reflexes. Everything went okay. We were on a beautiful coral reef, there was many begginers on the boat and I was by far the more experiented here. So finally my instructor deciding that he could manage me with another student (which was truly a begginer) and after a small briefing with every safety rules and hand sign (which is the only way to communicate underwater), we begun our descent. I quickly retrieved all my old reflexes and was enjoying myself, going back and forth to the instructor and the begginer driver, during at least twenty minutes. Everything was perfect beside one thing : it was a windy day and there was an heavy swell. It's less of a problem underwater that it is for "surface swimmer", the only thing was that it requires more physical effort to swim and so my air bottle was emptying a little quicker than usual, which is normal. I signed to my instructor that I was running thin of air, and he nodded. It was at this level far from being critical. It was at this moment that I saw a young man swimming towards me. It wasn't the instructor, nor its student, I've never seen him before, but he was in full scuba diving gear and we were the only dive boat on the spot so I assumed he was with us and I just didn't pay attention to him on the boat. He was swimming fast towards me, and then signed me that he was out of air. When an air failure happens in scuba diving, there is a very strict procedure : you have to help the person no questions asked because every second is vital (if you faint underwater, you drown). On your gear, you have two breathing devices (regulator, octopus, I'm not sure about the english word), a main device and a spare device. So, I handed the guy my spare breathing device, which means that we both were breathing on my gear, consuming twice as air as I was consuming alone. I waited till the guy seemed calmed down and tried to hand sign him to go see my instructor. He nodded a no, and signed me to star our ascent. I understand this is the procedure (I was a little low on air and above the decompression stop level so the right thing to do was going up to the surface before having an air failure but I've had to tell my instructor first). The guy was very reluctant and it was strange because it would have taken us like thirty seconds to tell the instructor and he would have started an ascent with us. During this time, I was panicking as seeing my own air level going down, and I saw that our instructor was staring at us quizzically and swimming towards us. It was at this moment that the guy let go of my spare air device and started swimming away, breathing again in his own breathing device. I was totally lost and started my ascent with my instructor. Once at the surface, because of the tides, I was feeling dizzy and nauseous so my bizarre encounter wasn't the first thing that I debriefed. It was after I calmed down and the boat driving us towards the beach (without the strange guy) that I ask my instructor about what happened. "Oh, I don't know, maybe a guy who lost his group and needed some time to calm down." I replied : "Okay but why did he told me that he was out of air ?" My instructor told me that I probably misunderstood his hand signing, that he was probably not telling me he was having an air failure because he left breathing in his own device. I'm sure I saw him do the "air failure sign", but okay. The next day, I joined my family during my dive, and the instructor was different (it was a girl this time, Charlie). I've had time to think about that guy and I was worried about him, so I told everything that happened to Charlie and asked her if she knew the guy and if he was okay because I didn't saw him going back to the surface. She asked me to describe him, which I did and she told me "Oh, that's Marvin ! No, don't worry about him, he's preparing himself to become a scuba diving instructor. Everytime he has a day off from the restaurant he's working in, he ask us to drive him on the coral reef the morning and to pick him up the afternoon. I ate at his restaurant this noon and saw him. Don't worry." I was feeling relieved and told myself that it was just a comprehension issue with Marvin. The rest of the week went without any incident. I was doing more and more technical dives, and everything went very smoothly. Charlie was a wonderfull instructor. Never saw Marvin again, that being said. Until the last dive. It was on New Year's Eve. We planned the best dive on that day : it was on a shipwreck, and I felt trained enough to try it without any instructor, just my family and I (it was Charlie's day off). It was fairly deep for a begginer like me (30 meters at its downpoint, around 98 ft). My first day male instructor was there and told us that he would be exploring the shipwreck too, so we would cross him and he would help me if he saw that I needed it. It was very comforting to know, and my family felt comforted too when I told them that. So, we begun our descent, and started swimming around the shipwreck. We crossed our old instructor twice but everytime, I signed him that everything was okay. It was at that moment that I saw Marvin swimming towards me. At this moment I was about 5 to 10 meters above my downpoint (still staying under my decompression stop level though). I was a little surprised, and even more surprised when he signed me again that he was out of air. I was mistrustful but if there were any chance that it would be true, I couldn't not help him. So, I handed him my spare breather (this time, I've had many air left so it wasn't a problem). He took him, started breathing in it, and took my arm. I reached to see is air level instruments, but he prevented me for seeing it. Then, he signed me to start an ascent with him. I immediately signed NO. I wasn't at my deepest when he reached my but I have been deeper during this time, and I've had a decompression stop to do. I saw that my father saw us, but he quickly looked away, probably not understanding what was going on. I tapped at my diving computer (a device which calculates when and how long to decompress) to signify it to him, he shrugged, smiled and me, and started swimming up, still holding me. I was paralyzed for a few second, and the thing that helped me react was that my diving computer was telling me to stop and decompress NOW. I then understood that I was in danger, that if I let him do what he wanted, I would DIE from the bends. I then started screaming... Only to remember that no noise can be heard underwater. I started wriggling frantically as I saw my father and sisters way below me, my diving computer alerting me more and more intensely. At that moment my father saw us, and he reacted. He swam very quickly towards us, and I managed to hit the guy as my dad grapped my ankle and suddenly dragged me deeper. The guy then quickly swam away. My dad dragged me deeper again, and then we waited for a very long decompression stop, to ensure that I would be okay, then starting heading towards the surface very slowly and cautiously to the surface. On the surface, I started crying frantically and went back to the boat. My father then told me that he thought Marvin was my old instructor and this was why he wasn't surprised at first. I then told it to my old instructor who took it more seriously this time and told me to show him Marvin when he would go up to the surface. Thing is, he never did. Next day, on new year, we went a last time to the scuba diving club because my little sisters had a diploma to collect, and we saw Charlie. Still chocked, I told her what happened with Marvin and then, she stiffed. She told me that Marvin was at the restaurant yesterday, for New Year's Eve, and he didn't went scuba diving. Which means that this guy wasn't Marvin. And at this day... I still not know who he is. And what he wanted. And why he tried to kill me, maybe twice. So, Not-Marvin... I still don't know if I'm going to scuba dive during the upcoming holidays, but if I do... I'll let you alone with your "air failure" !
Before I start telling the story, I have to say that this happens over 3.5 years when I was between the ages of 15 and 18. All people in this story have been changed for privacy reasons. I grew up in a pretty good sized town (high school grades always had between 800 and 1,000 students). The town was about 45 mins to an hour from the 2nd biggest city in the state, which is known for 3 rivers and many bridges. I have 2 older brothers which means obviously I am the youngest of 3 boys. Our mother was the general manager at my grandpas golf course (by no means were we well off in any way but were far from poor), and our father was in the state police, a Lt. at the time of everything happening. Cop dad was hard on us when needed but we all 3 learned to always be respectful no matter what unless extreme situations call for not being it. I will say that due to a very dark history I’ve never had a close relationship at all with my brothers or parents. Even with all of that, Ill admit that this made my dad and I be slightly close even for very short time periods, and that we only had 1 thing in common, that we’d each protect the ones we love at all costs even if it meant our lives (him with my mom/family and I with my girlfriend/nieces nephew) When I was 15, I went to the downtown area getting food and ice cream with friends at a place about a half of a mile from the high school football stadium. Being that we were only 15 years old, going into our 10th grade year of high school and almost 16, we all rode our bikes to meet up. My hometown was split up into 6 Wards, the restaurant was 1 to 2 miles away (I lived in 1st ward). When we came back outside to leave to do something else, I realized that my bike was missing. As soon as the group and I checked the immediate area, I called my dad knowing that he was home from work, and he flew down to where I was. We all figured he’d be pissed at us (which he wasn’t at all). All of my friends got on their bikes to go off in different directions towards their own homes to look for the bike. As my dad and I were driving towards the part of town we lived in, we saw a group of 3 (2 males, 1 female) walking down a side street towards the street we were on (1.5 miles from the restaurant). The group was pushing my bike as they walked, causing me to snap to attention and say loudly “they have my bike”. My dad stopped immediately and put the car in park in the street, we jumped out and I laughed inside due to seeing my dad go from usual to COP DAD. Well he had the girl and 1 guy stand at the wall with their faces touching it, and he slammed the guy with the bike to the ground. I grabbed the bike and put it in the bed of the truck. Since it was only 2 of us against 3, my dad told me to “get in the truck, so they don’t see your face”. I said “fuck that”, and it wasn’t until years later that I came to regret that. The cops came and arrested all 3 of them. Fast forward to 2.5 years later, I was 18 years old and home from my freshman year of college which was spent at a military college across the state from home (which stuff I learned during my time at the school will help out). I was out jogging around 6pm one night on the side walk next to the road when a car flew past me, sat at the stop sign until I past them. Luckily I was close to home and memorized the cars details or as much as I could. The vehicle drove and went a lot slower, and I walked into the house when they were passing. I did not think anything wrong with the situation other then someone driving fast and slowing down upon realizing someone was jogging. Fast forward 1 week, and I just finished up another jog, walked into the house thru the front door which leads right into the kitchen (which has a big window that looks out to the driveway, front yard, the street stop sign. As soon as I walked to the sink by the window to splash some cold water on my face, I heard a loud “boom” from outside sounding like an M-80 exploding then 1 second of silence, then 3 loud booms in quick succession which thanks to being a hunter I knew was gun fire. I dropped down, crawled to the door, grabbed the baseball bat my brothers and I used before and ran out the door even though I knew a bat had a 0 chance of winning against a firearm, but I was hoping that id surprise them. When I got outside they were driving away and I recognized the vehicle from a week earlier that sat at the stop sign when I was out jogging. Thankfully no one was at home at the time, since who knows where they’d be standing or what would happen. After the Police came and I had given my statement, we waited. Since the town was big for a town, it was also small enough that a lot of people knew everyone. The towns police, my brothers all joked with me, asking things like “did you try being a hero when no one was around?’ or would ask if I was crazy due to running outside towards gun fire without a gun. Well 2 or 3 days had passed when we had received the call from the cops saying that they had caught the guy who shot at the house. As it turns out, it was the same guy who stole my bike 2.5 years earlier. After finding that out, my dad and I looked at each other without saying anything. We didn’t tell my mom about it being the same guy, and that they had seen me finish up and walk into the house luckily by chance. The guy had received 10 years for attempted murder with a weapon, attempted assault, but due to not a single person being injured in any way no assault charges of any kind were charged towards him. So we went on with our lives, and I became an EMT during college working on weekends, then finished school. When I was 26 years old, I had stopped by the parents house when I was in the area. I walked into the kitchen, and on the kitchen table was the towns newspaper which the front page read something along the lines of “Local Woman missing, Vehicle found abandoned and burned”. As I started reading the article for a second, I almost immediately ripped the kitchen table off the frame with rage. The article said that the missing woman’s boyfriend for some period of time was THE SAME GUY who had stole my bike, and shot at my parents house with me in the front window. He wasn’t arrested or charged with any crime related to the missing woman at that time. I left and went back to my apartment an hour away, and made sure I was always carrying a pistol (except when I was working on the ambulance). Even thru all of the rage I was feeling, somewhat paranoid thoughts of he maybe following me still even if its unlikely. My parents left their house for a week to stay at my grandpas house (which was empty due to him living at the golf course). Life went on from there, I still work as an EMT in the 2nd biggest city in my state. The guy who shot at my house, is currently in prison on charges of crimes not related to the murder of the lady in my hometown.
I love a good creepy/ghost story and always have one memory that comes to mind when I listen to r/LetsNotMeet stories. Problem is, it’s always seemed very tame. But some part of me clearly wants to share it badly enough that it dredges this memory back up without fail. So I thought I’d go ahead and give it what it wants... #x200B; I was about thirteen at the time, living in a middle-class suburb with a decent reputation despite increasing drug activity/be reports over the last several years. It had always seemed like a strangely quiet place to me, but I didn’t have many friends and was growing up in a neglectful environment, so I can see in retrospect how I might have come to feel this way. I would ride my bike around for hours, seeing very few people outside their homes, and this led to an overwhelming sense that while outside, I was both completely alone and always being watched. One year, I somehow managed to befriend another kid in the neighborhood who lived just a couple streets over from me and we’d travel back and forth from each other’s houses almost everyday. It was nice to have someone to be with. Made me feel less vulnerable, I guess. Plus she was a few years older than me which was a bonus. We’d decided to hang out after school like we did everyday and just cruise around with nothing better to do—me, on a Razor scooter, and her on a bike, constantly teetering between all-out races and chiller, conversation-heavy spells. (Oh, another important bit of info is that by this point I’d already been diagnosed with severe generalized anxiety and had learned—through my *stellar* homelife—not to ever trust my gut.) We were making our way up a hill for the third or fourth time when a white, windowless van *(I know. Biggest cliché)* pulled out of a driveway several houses behind us. Obviously, we thought nothing of it. It was a large neighborhood. Even if there weren’t loads of people outside, there were still cars traveling constantly in and out. Admittedly, being young, dumb teens, we were totally hogging the road and didn’t even realize until noticing that the van was driving quite slowly behind us. I remember calling for my friend to move to the curb so this guy could go around us. And she did. But the creep-mobile didn’t change course. It stayed, several yards behind us, crawling along at the same pace as we were. This is when that sinking, anxious feeling started to kick in for me, but I was quick to remind myself that my brain was broken and so odds are nothing was actually wrong. Besides, my friend didn’t say anything about it, so it must have been fine. I mean, she *had* stopped talking all of a sudden, after hours of us yammering on. But it was probably nothing. Thankfully, we were about to round the corner to the street her house was on so that gave me enough optimism to push the fear as far down as I could. After all, the van didn’t turn! We both looked behind us to see and half-embarrassedly smiled at one another for being worried about 'something stupid'. Still, I couldn’t help myself and stole another glance over my shoulder. That was when I saw the van had gone into a driveway and was now backing out of it, turning to follow us down this new street. We must have come from my house because I specifically remember thinking that *that* was where we had to get back to even as we neared her own. At this point, with the van still creeping along behind us and no one else in sight, we’d both started to panic. *It’s okay,* I thought. *At least we’re together. Safety in numbers and all that.* That, of course, was when I looked over to see my friend peddling furiously toward her own house. I must have called for her again or something and gotten waved off because any composure I’d managed to hold onto completely disappeared by now and I bolted down the street as fast as my scooter could carry me, knowing that the end sloped downward and would help me speed away. The next bit happened too fast to completely remember, but long story short, I was so busy looking behind me as I raced down the hill that I came about a foot away from hitting a car. And whoever was driving that van must have seen the other car or something because the next time I turned back, they were long gone. The car in front of me drove off, somewhat irritated, and I ran full-speed back to my house, throwing my scooter down as soon as I hit the driveway and racing inside. I don’t think I said anything afterward. I convinced myself that I was *‘just being paranoid.’*
*EDIT: NO to podcast and YouTube video requests, not really ok with people clout chasing off of my trauma. Ok, quick note, this happened years ago, I was 19 and stupid when this happened. I was in university, I was living in a major city for the first time, on my own for the first time, completely unaware of the realities of urban life, and unaware of how to hold my own as a woman in social interactions. I look back on it now and kind of cringe, I'm embarrassed. I lived about a 15 minute walk from the nearest city train station. This train station had a shopping mall above it. So I walked there one evening to get groceries at the supermarket in the mall. At the time I had a little 2 wheeled cart to take my groceries home. I like to do one big shop rather than go alot, so this was my way of doing that without a car. Now, I had a tendency to overestimate what this cart could hold so I'd usually end up carrying a couple things. So flash forward to me waiting at the elevator . Cart is full and I was carrying 2 bags with like a loaf of bread and some lighter type things that I can carry on the walk back. This is where the stalker in question gains relevance in this story. There's a man also waiting for the elevator. Middle aged and lanky, didn't really think much of him at first. We start making small talk as we get in the elevator. And then this guy starts to be creepy. Telling me that I'm really beautiful. Being as young and naive as I was, I actually said " thanks for the compliment but I'm not interested." I really thought that would shut him down. I regret that now. Because adult version of me would have told him to fuck off and leave me be, and that his old ass had no place ogling young women. But , I grew up in a conservative town, and it really is a thing that women are taught to please people and always be polite, so that was where I was at in life. So in that elevator, there I was trying to shut down the conversation politely. It genuinely was going through my mind that I didn't like this, I was uncomfortable but I can't be mean to him, I can't be rude, what do I say? I was worried about being mean to him when I should have been worried about my own wellbeing. We get to the ground floor, and I just feel relieved that now I can lose him. But the man persists. He asks me if I'm married. I'm not kidding, he asked a 19 year old if they're married. I made up a fictional boyfriend. I fake laughed " No, me and my boyfriend aren't married, we want to wait a few years" I don't remember the exact phrasing but he starts to drone on that my "boyfriend" doesn't know what he's got and he could treat me well, essentially. Then the man tells me that he needs a wife in his life. He told me he had a wife back in China that he was estranged from for a long time since moving to Canada, that he just got divorced from her. So what do I even say to that? Thats just weird, that's just oversharing. So I tell him I really have to go. Then he asks me " wait, let me help you carry" I was a bit shocked by that. I told him " I'm fine, I do this all the time, they're not heavy, and I don't live that far away" Now, he starts pressing about where I live. He says "Oh really? You live around here? I do too at xyz drive" I did not tell him where I lived, thank God. I just told him, " yup, this is my stop so I have to go now" He insisted, saying he was worried about me (?????!!!!!) I was confused by that, he doesn't know me. It took me assuring him to get out of that. I told him I'm here shopping all the time, this trip won't be any different. He told me " OK, ill see you next time then" I said " ok, bye bye" and just turned and got going, got tf out of there. Or so I thought. I started just speedwalking up the hill home, not looking back, just really all around feeling gross and uncomfortable and anxious. It wasn't until was about 5 minutes into the 15 minute walk that I clued in. Once I got away from the noise of the train station, I realized I could hear him behind me. I was so fucking dumb, honestly. I remembered he had winter looking boots on, and it wasn't winter. Well I could hear clompy boots, so it had to be him. Suddenly I was just terrified. Fight flight or freeze, and I think freeze kicked in. I just kept walking, I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to give myself away, I didn't know what he would do if I stopped either. I turned my head just enough to catch him in my peripheral vision. It was him. My heart was racing. He was following me home. So many things were running though my head. I knew I couldn't go home now, so what to do? The route I lived on was actually a major 6 lane boulevard so its not like I could run across the street and head back to the train station. If I wanted to cross I would need a crosswalk, and that involved stopping and waiting for a traffic light to change which I also didn't want to do, I needed to keep space between us. I kept walking. I tried to see if I could lose him by heading down a cul-de-sac that loops back out to the main boulevard. HE KEPT FOLLOWING through the whole residential cul-de-sac. There was no questioning it now, I was in trouble. I thought at this rate stick to the main road so at least he is in plain public view and can't try any shit. I walked right past my house and kept going, I knew there was a gas station a few blocks up, so that was my stopping point in my mind. I got to the gas station and went in. I figured if he followed me in I could tell someone and call the cops. He didn't, luckily. I could still see him out the window, on the sidewalk at the edge of the parking lot. He ended up just going over to the bus stop, having a smoke and walking on. When I couldn't see him anymore, I left the gas station. I called a cab to get home safe, it know wasn't far to go but I was rattled. I considered the whole thing over. But that wasn't the last time I saw him. I kept seeing him at that train station for months. One time I was in the elevator and saw him when the doors opened. He was running toward the doors waving his arms " wait for me dear!" I would close the doors and ride the elevator all the way up, and then hide. I kept ducking inside stores when I saw him. Staying inside the elevator when I saw him. Hell, I even rode the train past my stop if I saw him on the platform. Eventually I just did stop seeing him, thankfully. But here's the thing that I still feel embarrassed about to this day: At no point did I call the police, or even tell anyone. I can't entirely explain, I guess i just thought I didn't have enough for it to be a crime, or anything notable. I had no name, only a vague description. I didn't know him it was just a spooky stranger. But I never told the folks at the gas station. I never told the cab driver. I never told the transit security, which I really could have if I was seeing him at the train station repeatedly. I just lived with that terror for months. So creepy divorcee, let's not ever meet again.
Long time reader, first time writer. English is not my first language so please don't judge my writing skills too hard. #x200B; This story happened around 2017, I was 18 or so and lived in a dorm in Kyiv. It was built at the stupidest place possible for a student's dormitory — in a quiet neighborhood between your regular 9-floor houses with strollers and old ladies sitting on benches. This was kinda uncomfortable and logistics were awful (especially at night with the nearest subway station being at 30 minutes walk distance). #x200B; So long story short, I had my final second-year exams coming and I was studying non-stop with all-nighters and a fridge full of Red Bull (what can I say, German was pretty hard). During one of these nights, I felt this unbearable craving for Dutch stroopwafels — guess my brain was finally going crazy without sugar and enough sleep. #x200B; By that time I was really tired of studying and desperate for a walk (and a cigarette). My roommates were sleeping and my best friend was deep in her books, also studying. So I went out to get some waffles. Alone. At 1:30 am. Yeah, I know. #x200B; Actually, it wasn't something unusual — we went out a lot, even in the middle of the night. It's not like we lived in the most dangerous Kyiv neighborhood (it was the second or a third dangerous I guess). So I grabbed my wallet and cigarette case (mental note — this is an important detail) and went out. #x200B; Another important detail — we had some kind of a curfew in our dorm. After midnight doors were always locked and you couldn't open them unless someone from the inside buzz you in. Usually, it was some grumpy lady from the dorm administration — if you were unlucky enough — and it took them literally forever to open the door (they were usually just sleeping even though it was a regular night shift they were paid for). Seriously, I knew a girl who waited for 15 minutes outside in the middle of the night (in January!) and still was yelled at for being late. #x200B; Anyway, I went out. It was a pleasant May evening, warm and quiet. I put in headphones, lit the first cigarette, and headed to the ATB. It was the nearest (even though not the fanciest) 24/7 market within a 10 minutes walking distance. #x200B; While approaching the market I noticed a man. He stood at the bus stop which was strange, because it was like an hour since the last bus, and the next one would be here almost at 6 a.m. So I figured he either was drunk or had nowhere to go and was about to get ready to call it a night and sleep at a bus stop bench — or was simply waiting for a taxi at a visible spot. #x200B; The only way to cross a street without making a huge detour was to take an underground crossing near the bus stop. My craving for Dutch waffles was unbearable and it was kind of a big street with a lot of lights and cars going here and there even in the middle of the night, so I took it. Yeah, I know (2). #x200B; Before going down the stairs I looked back at the man and realized three things. 1. He didn't look like a homeless person. His clothes weren't fancy but they definitely were clean and were the right size, his face was clean, he was shaved and generally decent. 2.He wasn't drunk or high as far as I could see. He stood firmly on his feet (he stood on his feet! Definitely not too drunk), there were no bottles or anything near him, his face was concentrated, his eyes were completely sober. 3. He looked directly at me. I stopped for a second to put out a cigarette and throw it in a trash bin. I looked at him and his eyes were just. so. intense. He didn't blink, his gaze away didn't dart away. He just looked right at me with this completely focused stare like he tried to remember everything he saw. #x200B; He then nodded. I nodded back and went for my Dutch waffles. I was afraid he would follow me into the underground crossing, but he stayed there. When I looked back, he was still staring at me. After a while, I was coming back with waffles in both hands. #x200B; I honestly forgot about the man on a bus stop — it's not like he was the only strange person I met during my prior two years living in Kyiv, and also I was tired and really concerned about my German exam tomorrow. So yeah I was coming back the same way and it didn't occur to me that the man was still there until I saw him again. #x200B; He stood at the same spot — exactly the same look, exactly the same heavy stare. I kind of started to feel nervous, my instincts were screaming to get the fuck out. This time I wasn't looking directly at him, and I proceeded a little bit quicker. #x200B; As soon as I passed him, lighting another cig, I heard footsteps behind. I tried to convince myself that he just decided to finally call it a night, but come on — why now? Why just after I passed by heading to a poorly lighted, empty, small street? #x200B; I began to walk quicker and quicker. His footsteps became quicker too. We were entering an empty, quiet street. It was still like 5 minutes walk to my dorm. It was almost 2 a.m. My hands were full of waffles. My own stupidity was never so obvious. #x200B; At some point, I was almost ready to run. I even began to, but then the man called me out: "Excuse me, young lady! Don't be scared, you just dropped your cigarettes, here they are" #x200B; I didn't stop. I was kind of panicked, tired, I hadn't slept more than 4 hours a day in a week. I didn't stop, but I looked back. #x200B; And yeah he did had a pack in his hand. Pack of the exact Winstons that I smoked. I slowed down. And then I realized one thing. #x200B; I had a cigarette case back then, cause a — it was cool, and b — I didn't want to smoke too much (you can only put 10 cigs there so I was sure I won't smoke too much during one day). I didn't carry packs around. Never. #x200B; And then the man smiled at me and started to walk towards me. Really fast. Oh boy did I run. #x200B; As soon as I started to run, he started to run too. My heart sank. I was terrified. I really wanted to scream, but decided to save my breath (I'm really, really, really not a good runner). #x200B; He was quick and the distance between us was getting smaller and smaller with every second. I went full panic mode. I knew that after the next turn we had a straight road leading to my gorm. Without any lights. Perfect sprint material. #x200B; I also knew that even if he wouldn't get to me on that road, I still wouldn't be able to open the door right away and I would probably be beaten, raped or who knows what else before anyone would even bother to open the door. I had no time to call the police or someone inside. #x200B; Meanwhile, the man was just running behind — silently, without any words, and fucking menacingly, because I turned around one time to look and I swear he was smiling. Barking dogs don't bite — and this man sure was about to bite. Something about him was completely off — eerie smile (while running like a fucking Usain Bolt), complete silence, and these focused, unwavering eyes. For a moment there I was sure I'm about to die. #x200B; But then I took the last turn and saw another man. For a split second, I thought it was an accomplice of the one behind me — but then I realized it was another student, Alex, from the third year, the one I saw a couple of times in a dorm. All I could think about was "Thank. fucking. God". #x200B; I ran faster. I screamed hysterically something like "Stop Alex stop please stop Alex please stop". Thank god he stopped and turned around. The man behind me went slower. #x200B; I didn't turn around before I reached Alex. When I did, I saw him standing by the turn — breathing hard but still fucking smiling. I started to tug on Alex's sleeve to get him going to the dorm — I was positive that man will now run to catch us both after a quick time-out. But he just fucking waved to us. I don't know, why I remember this, but it wasn't like a cool kind of wave — he waved clumsily, like a kid who is learning to give his mama "bye-bye", clapping his palm with his fingers. #x200B; And then he ran off. #x200B; That's basically all — we got into the dorm without any further adventures, rushing inside while I tried to explain (not very successfully) what happened. Alex kind of read the mood and I didn't even have to hurry him. I honestly don't know what would happen if he wasn't there — I thanked him like a million times after that. #x200B; I never saw that man again despite living two more years at the same dorm. I was terrified, but I still ate my waffles. After that I got a pepper spray — still haven't used it, but now I feel a lot safer. Now it's just a scary story I tell my friends or Tinder dates when we run out of topics to talk about and the silence is too awkward. #x200B; But something is still bugging me. The pack that man had in his hand were Winstons. The exact same Winstons I smoked. It never occurred to me until some time later that there could possibly be two explanations: either this was a pure coincidence, or he checked the cigarette I put out before going down the underground crossing and bought exactly the same pack while I was buying my waffles. And tbh the last one scares the shit out of me. So, the creepy man from the bus stop, let's not meet ever again. #x200B; TL;DR: I went out to smoke and get Dutch waffles AND got chased by the man who tried to lure me with a pack of Winstones. Edit: edited minor typos and made TL;DR clearer.
When I was younger, I’d say 15 or 16, I’m almost convinced I came face to face with something evil in a dream. My parents are divorced and have been for a long while now, and I’d go back and forth between their care with my sister. My Mom’s house was always fine, but my Dad’s basement apartment had this weird oppressive atmosphere I couldn’t shake and the woman he was renting from who lived above was incredibly strange. I’d hear organ music or a weird droning from upstairs past midnight regularly, and there was always people coming in and out of her house. I’d had weird dreams and nightmares at my Dad’s place before, but this was something else. What I am about to describe to you still raises the hair on my arms even now that many years have passed. The dream began with what I thought at the time was me waking up in a cold sweat from another nightmare, and the apartment was dead silent. This was weird to me because when I looked at the clock by my bedside it was only a bit past midnight and my father was usually up playing guitar or on the computer at that time. This was my first sign something wasn’t right, my second was when I looked at the floor of my room and found something odd: the light filtering in from outside through my window was a bright red. I became aware of a panting noise then, and looked over to where my bedroom door was slightly ajar, that same red light coming from behind it. I felt myself stiffen in fear and I couldn’t move as I watched my door open further, pushed by the snout of a large black dog that walked in and stood by my bedside. The dog had shining white eyes and appeared to be half-wolf, it’s tongue hung out of it’s mouth and dripped saliva as it looked at me. In an expressionless baritone voice, that dog spoke directly into my head and said “I am the Devil. Follow Me.” What I mean by this is that the Dog’s jaw never moved while communicating this to me, I just looked in it’s eyes and those words came to me. I felt a compulsion to leave the bed and follow even though I was terrified, so I stood and walked behind the black dog as it left my room and entered the kitchen/dining room. As we left my room, I felt my stomach twist as the air temperature noticeably dropped. My Mom and Dad (who weren’t speaking at the time) along with my sister, my step-father and my step-mother (who had never met) were all seated at the dinner table facing each other wordlessly with empty plates in front of them. The light above the dinner table bathed them all in the same red light that streamed through the window in my bedroom. The black dog turned to face me and said “welcome to hell” while everybody at the table did the same with blank, expressionless faces. At that point I woke up for real and discovered the time was actually 3 AM. It’s safe to say I didn’t sleep for the rest of that night, and didn’t tell anyone about that nightmare until almost a month after I had it.
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Hello r/TrueScaryStories Long time lurker, first time poster on here. Two days before Easter, I (20M) was staying at my cousin's house. I won't say where, save that he lives in northern Wisconsin, while I am from southern Wisconsin. My cousin, who I'll call Steve, was staying up late, talking about some personal biz with me till almost 1 AM. He had fallen asleep on the couch about 5-10 minutes prior, during which I was just one my phone. It was at this moment that I felt something sinister, like something was there with us (there obviously was not). It was at this moment that my friend's printer started beeping, and began printing. You have to realize that I am not friends with Steve's parents, and I was really worried about waking them up. The weird feeling plus being wary of his parents made me run across the room to try to turn off or unplug the printer. Right next to the printer, I mess with the controls but the paper is almost out. Three sheets of paper shoot out, only allowing me to see a glimpse of what was on them. It seemed like they were completely covered in ink. It was only when I picked them up did I realize what was on them. I was right in that they were all completely covered in ink, the last sheet the faintest. But in the corners of each of the sheets was an image, a *horrific* image, which I don't want to say here. Just bad. I dropped the sheets like a hot pan, and was shaking. Then it happened. A loud, aggressive band came to the window next to the door (one of those smaller windows in stacks of three). The printer is adjacent from the front door, and I looked over suddenly. For a second, I could see nothing out on the porch--there was no light on. But almost immediately I could make out something near the window, a few feet off--then, a sheet of paper was slammed on the lowest window with the same image on it. I gasped audibly, but when I looked back, it was gone. I heard rustling in the bushes which are on the front of the house, meaning whatever it is was had begun moving around the back. If I was a bit braver, or if Steven woke up, we would have opened the door to find out what the hell had done this. But, shaken as I was and in fear of his parents waking up angrily, I left the room quickly. I tried waking up Steve, but he was groggy and didn't understand for a few minutes. He listened, but soon nodded off again till the morning. I could not sleep. I left the next day for home. I talked to Steve's parents about the whole thing over text--the freaky part (at the time) was that they could not find the sheets of paper which had printed, but about a week later, it turns out they had somehow slipped under the furniture in the room when I dropped them. Their ultimatum was that it was a vandal (they live in a high-crime area) and that proof of this was a hoodie they found in the bush. But this still doesn't explain the situation with the printer. Well, reddit? Is this paranormal or a really elaborate prank? - Your pal in Wisconsin
I'd like to start out by saying that I want this story to be a learning experience for those of you out there that are about to embark on your independence. If you are about to move away from home for the first time, then you will have a lot of curiosities about the world you are just now starting to experience. Everything will feel different, strange, exciting, and maybe even scary. Believe me when I say that I have always been a cautious person, even in my rebellious teenage years. I always thought that nothing traumatizing could ever happen to me because I am intelligent, cautious, and always make the right choices. Well, even though having these traits should help you on your journey in life, you can never be prepared for the unexpected, because even I have made stupid mistakes that seemed like the right choice at the time, but looking back now, I don't understand how I didn't see what was coming. This experience took place in my college years between 2007 and 2010. My name is Derek and I grew up in a small town in Oregon called Canyon City. It was a beautiful town right outside of Malheur National Forest and the population was roughly 680 people back then. I lived out in the country for most of my childhood a few miles outside of town really close to the National Forest. I was never able to have very many friends because I lived so far away from everyone who I went to school with, but I learned to love playing in the forest around my house with my little brother Brian and I found myself happy with what I had. I knew I wanted to stay in the woods my whole life because its what I grew up with, so that's why when I graduated high school in 2007, I decided I wanted to study environmental science and become a forest ranger. The college that I was looking at going to was Central Washington University, and although that meant I would have to move away from the area I loved, it had a really good program for what I wanted. After touring the school, however, I learned that the entire town is surrounded by wild life parks and forests and a lot of outdoor activities, which made me feel better about going there. However, I was warned that a lot of people have gone missing in the woods around this town as its easy to get lost. It has gotten really bad within the last 10 years though. Unfortunately, most of them never turn back up. The population of this town, which is called Ellensburg, Washington, was about 20,000 people and felt like a really big change for me. However, growing up without friends I figured I'd have more opportunities in a big town like this one to find people with similar interests as me. After my first few weeks of school, I learned that most of the people who went to this school went here for the outdoor and environment programs just like I did, which meant that we all had a lot in common and a shared love for the outdoors and nature. However, I quickly realized after socializing and hanging out with a few people I went to class with that a lot of people at this university were also big partiers. In fact, it wasn't uncommon for a bunch of drunk college kids to go out camping in the middle of the woods outside of town and never find their way back. I never had to worry about that, however, because I definitely was not a partier. I should also say that I grew up in a very strict Christian family, which kind of made me stay away from parties and such while I attended university. So after my first month or so at college, I still found myself without a single friend. My roommate at the time was also a very heavy partier and he invited me to parties all the time when we first met, but quickly realized that his lifestyle was very different from mine. Although we didn't really talk much, I do have to give him credit for actually trying with me a lot. He is the reason I found my good friend Alex. My roommate heard of a social gathering in the gymnasium going on one weekend where the individual university groups and clubs would gather behind their own booths to try and recruit new members. After hearing about this, I figured I had nothing better going on in my life at the moment so I headed on over to the gymnasium in hopes of finding an outdoor club or something that would interest me. I found myself in disappointment for a while. There were a lot of clubs and groups that were mainly for outdoor and nature lovers like me, but I always lost my interest once that started talking about partying or drinking during their excursions. I went to about four or five different booths where it was all the same story. I soon realized that there was one kid about my age going to all of the same booths as I was and then leaving in disappointment. While looking for more groups, I felt someone tap on my shoulder, and sure enough it was the kid who had been following me to the same booths. "Can't find anything either, huh?", he asked. "Nah, not really anything for me here I guess. There's always too much partying involved for my taste," I replied. He giggled a little bit before saying, "You must be a raised Christian, too, I bet." "You got me there," I said with a smile. We started talking a bit about ourselves. He introduced himself as Alex and we began to realize our similar interests and what exactly we were looking for in a group. We also began to talk about forgetting about joining any of these groups and having our own fun until we were interrupted by someone who must have been listening to our entire conversation. "I know just what you guys need." We both turned around to find a really tall and strong looking guy who had dark black hair and dark blue eyes looking down at us. He had a very bright white small and appeared to be a very charismatic guy. "You guys are exactly what we look for in my group: people who love Jesus as much as they love the outdoors." Being the Christians that we are Alex and I both seemed intrigued immediately. "I take it with those looks I'm getting that I'm right on the money with this one, aren't I?" the man asked. "Well now we're getting somewhere," Alex replied. The man introduced himself as Dustin, and he walked us over to a booth way in the back corner of the gym where a few other guys stood around chatting. The sign on the booth read "Amor Creationis". Dustin must have seen our confused faces while reading the sign. "It means love of creation" he said. "We all love the beautiful nature in this world that God created and we love God as well." Now with that summary of the group in mind, I knew this is exactly what I had been looking for my entire life. Looking at Alex, I could tell he felt the same. We eagerly signed some papers and read some pamphlets in order to become official members of the group. Never had I felt so happy to be a part of something in my life. It was the first time I had ever felt accepted and everyone I met in this group felt like my close friend. In the early days of being in Amor Creationis, everything felt normal and it was all fun. We went on nature walks, went kayaking, zip lining, and did almost every single outdoor activity you can think of within my first month of being in the group. There were about 40 of us in total in this group. The leader of the group was named Zach. He was much older than us but it wasn't weird or anything because he started the group back in 1999 with his best friend Danny, who was also still in the group. I guess the success of Amor Creationis with outdoor loving Christians was so big that they decided to stick around for us college kids. For that reason, we all respected Zach for what he had done for us and what he had created. Everything seemed fine for the first couple of years of college. I studied a lot for my classes, had a part time job, and three times a week I would meet with my group mates somewhere out in the forest and we would do different activities. Things started to change in the fall of 2009, however. Now that Alex and I had been in Amor Creationis for a few years now, we were considered "loyal followers of the Lord's creations" as Zach and Danny called it. It wasn't unusual for Zach to expect more out of the upperclassmen in the group. They always went on extra excursions and met a few more times a week than the rest of the underclassmen. Now what they did with their extra time together Alex and I never knew. We were always just told that once you had put in enough time with the group that you would be allowed "extra privileges." Until the time came for Alex and I to earn our "extra privileges" we never really cared about what those privileges were. At the start of our junior year, Zach and Danny called Alex, me, and a few other juniors who had spent the last couple of years in the group, to a meeting. We were told the time had arrived for us to be considered loyal to the group and we could now earn our extra privileges. Dustin, who was the guy who recruited Alex and I, was also there. He was handing us all bibles, crosses to wear around our necks, and purple stoles with crosses on them to also wear around our necks. Meanwhile, Danny was lighting candles around a cross that they must have made from wood and staked in the ground between two trees. Zach started off the meeting by saying something like, "Hello followers. The time has come to learn and understand the true meaning of Christianity. Tonight, you shall be one with the Lord." Alex and I kind of glanced at each other with smiles on our faces thinking that Zach was just being funny. As it turns out, Zach was not kidding. He began to list out names of supposed atheists that lived in town or went to college. He even had pictures of them too! Before I got too weirded out by what was going on, Zach said, "Now it is our duty to attempt to show these guys the beauty of the world as we see it. How do you do this you may be asking yourselves? I have assigned each one of you an atheist to convert. It's simple, all you have to do is get them to come to our meeting next week, Danny and I can take care of the rest." Now the way he said all of that kind of made me get a little sick in my stomach, but I had known these guys for two years now and I knew they always meant well. What was the big deal if they just wanted to do their Christian duty and try and spread the word? Now apparently Alex had different thoughts than I did. While everyone was packing up from the meeting, he stopped me before I could head out and he seemed really uncomfortable and he was also shaking. "What the hell is going on here?" he asked. "What do you mean?" I replied. "Do you not see what is going on? The stoles, the candles, the crosses! This is starting to feel like a cult to me man!" Alex was really trembling now. I just told him he was overthinking everything and there wasn't anything wrong with what we were doing. But before we could finish talking, Danny came by to see what was going on? He had a very sinister look on his face. Alex hurried up to reply and said, "Nothing Danny, we were just discussing one of out classes that we take together." I looked at Alex strangely as I planned on having Danny explain to him that there was nothing to be worried about, but I had a feeling that with the sinister look on Danny's face that that may no longer be the case. I brushed if off though and headed back to campus. Now a few days had passed and I hadn't heard from Alex. I thought we were going to plan on recruiting our assigned atheists together, but I figured he had made other arrangements. I had forgotten all about our run in with Danny the other night until someone started knocking frantically on the door to my dorm at 1 o'clock in the morning. Looking through the peek hole I saw it was Alex. He had his eyes full of tears and he was standing in a really weird position. He was looking side to side really fast as if he was trying to look for someone. In a panic I opened up the door and Alex practically ran me over as he stumbled in. He was breathing very hard and said, "God man, you have to help me." Before I could ask him what was wrong he lifted up his shirt and showed me his back. There were deep red marks on his back with blood dripping out of them. It looked as if he had been whipped. He started crying as he explained what happened. Apparently Danny, Zach, and Dustin had been hiding in the bushes along a trail that Alex runs on every evening. The grabbed him and drug him in the woods behind the trail and whipped him for calling Amor Creationis a cult. They told him not to tell anyone about the encounter and that he better have his atheist with him that week "or else." Now I couldn't believe what I was hearing, but the whip lashes proved it all. I rubbed some Neosporin on all of his lashes hoping it would help and then I told him I was calling the police. He quickly stopped me telling me how bad of an idea that was and that Zach also warned him about the ramifications if he were to call the cops. Alex said that he didn't know what the ramifications would be, but the way Zach said it made him never want to find out. "What's the plan then?" I asked. "I guess we just find our assigned atheist, get them to come to our meeting, stick it out until graduation and then forget the whole thing ever happened because I do not want to go through this ever again!" he said as he tried to keep the tears from falling down his cheek. I really felt sorry for Alex and scared at the same time because after knowing all of these guys for a couple years it came as a real shocker. They were all the most charismatic people I had ever met. I guess that's why they could trick a couple of kids like us into joining them in their so called group, which I now I was beginning to associate with a cult. Thinking of myself being in a cult was chilling me to my bones because I have heard stories of what happens when you try and leave a cult and now I couldn't wait for graduation. Now the day had come for the much anticipated meeting. It was a struggle for Alex and I to get our atheists to come to the meeting, but Zach also said there would be free food and fun activities for them, so once we threw in those details to our speeches, they were convinced. Now Zach had directed us to tell the atheists to meet at the certain spot 15 minutes before any of us got there, which seemed weird to us but after what Alex had gone through, I think we were both done questioning stuff for the time being. Now this next part of the story is why I warned all of you in the beginning to be careful and cautious when you first go out into the real world on your own. You never know who you'll meet, who to trust, or what people are capable of. And let me tell you, I struggle with trust issues now because of what happens next and it still haunts me to this day. Upon our arrival I had a very sick sense in my stomach. I'm not sure what it was about the forest that day, but it all seemed a little dark and moody to me. We walked off trail to the location Zach had told us to meet and as we inched closer to the sight, Alex and I stopped dead in our tracks. "Great job you guys!" Zach said with his bright smile! "I didn't think either of you had it in you, but you got us those atheists, and look now! They are converted!" I felt sick to my stomach. I looked at Alex and saw in his face the most fear which one could ever express through their eyes. I looked back at the hell that was before me and I remember feeling my heart in my throat unable to say a word or think a thought. The atheists that had been instructed to meet at this sight just 15 minutes before us were all had towels over their mouths and were hung on crosses imitating Jesus hanging on the crucifix. Alex threw up right beside me. "Oh relax," said Danny. "They're only tied to the the crosses with ropes." "What the hell guys!?" screamed Alex. "Why would you think any of this is okay? You all are sick and cruel and definitely are the opposite of what I consider a Christian!" My stomach flipped as I saw all Zach's, Danny's, and Dustin's reactions to Alex's statement. I could tell he made the wrong choice of words and the next thing I knew, Danny and Dustin started chasing Alex through the woods. Everything that was going on seemed blurry to me as it all happened so fast. In the middle of it all, one of the kids that were tied to the cross somehow got loose and ran off as fast as they could. Zach hurried up and tackled the kid and the next thing I knew, he grabs a rock off of the ground and smashes the kids head in with the rock. I immediately vomited and a few of the other members there with Alex and I that night ran off. Suddenly, one of the older guys tied up to the cross started to vomit and since they had a towel tied to their mouth they started choking. I rushed over to help the guy but then I heard, "Let him suffer! Let him die! It's his own fault for not having faith in the Lord!" Zach was walking toward me with blood all over his face. The face that I once knew to be so kind and friendly and full of charisma was now bloody and full of evil. I slowly backed away from him. It was only me, Zach, the man choking to death, and two other men tied up to the crosses left at the scene now. "Now," continued Zach. "What do you say we go gather up those weasels who took off from our ceremony and get them back to finish what we started?" Stuttering, I said, "O-okay." "I'll go find your friend and you find the rest of the guys. Got it?!" he said in a stern voice. I waited for him to disappear and made sure it looked like I was walking in the direction that everyone else ran. I then rushed back and untied both men from the crosses. They both looked at me in relief and in fear. "What the hell are we doing here!?" one man yelled. "I'm calling the police!" "Good luck getting any service," the other man replied. While he tried to call the police, I examined the man who choked to death on his own vomit and the other kid laying on the ground with his head smashed in. I began freaking out on what I had done. I don't really remember much of what else happened that night. I did have to talk to the police and they searched for everyone lost in the woods the following couple of days. They found Alex and all of the other guys who arrived with me that night. They also found Danny a few weeks later, but he was already dead when they found him. They caught Dustin as well and I know he was arrested and is still in jail to this day. However, Zach has never been found or heard from again. After Amor Creationis disbanded, there were never any disappearances in those woods ever again. Now Dustin never confessed, but I believe they were the cause of those disappearances for the last 10 years. Who knows how many atheists they have abducted or what else has gone on in those woods. I stayed in contact with Alex for quite a while afterwards and we both still have nightmares to this day about Zach finding us to get his revenge. Being out in the woods has never been the same since that day, especially by myself. And like I said, I still struggle with trust issues to this day. You just never know who anybody can really be, or what they might be capable of.
My cousin, lets call him Alan. Passed away at a very young age, he passed in 2014 at only 18 years old. I was only 10-11 at the time, so i didn’t quite understand. Yet knew he was no longer with us. He died in a very tragic car accident, he wasn’t wearing a seatbelt and got his head mangled in the steering wheel. There were two other people in the car, who were wearing seatbelts and survived. (FYI, wear your seatbelts) Just to preface, this was on new years eve. (I believe, it was so long ago now.) But he ended up in the ICU while the other passengers had full recoveries. Anyways, he ended up dying in such a terrible way, our whole family was obviously distraught. A few days earlier for Christmas, My parents ended up buying me an iPad. I was so excited. After Alan passed, we noticed my iPad was very buggy. Every time we spoke about him, or mentioned his name, suddenly the A key would stick and repetitively type “AAAAAAAAAAAA”. Then backspace and delete, like nothing happened. Me and my mom were once in our kitchen, talking about how she wanted to bring it to the apple store and get it looked at. Considering it was brand new and worth big money at that time, she didn’t want me to end up with a buggy iPad. After we had that single conversation, it never happened again. Also on many occurrences, our cabinet doors would open in our kitchen. I always knew it was Alan, saying hello. Since then, I didn’t have an experience with him until last march. Just so happens that me and his brother were on mushrooms together, in the same house he used to live in. We were at the dining room table talking about him. Just then when his name was mentioned, the basement door (only about 6 feet from us) Swung open, like Alan was joining in our conversation, telling us “i miss you too”. Not too creepy, just a little paranormal action from a loved one.
So this has been nagging for the past couple of weeks now and I wanted to share this story. So when I was 7 I did karate on Monday nights with my little sister and afterwards my dad would always take us to go get McDonald’s, it was one of those nights and I was looking down when I suddenly had an urge to look up at the right side window that was right above me, When I looked up I saw an old lady looking into the window staring at me when I realized she was staring at me I screamed, this got my dads attention and he asked what was wrong and I responded that their was an old lady staring at me through my passenger seat window, and he looked over and saw her, that’s just about when we were getting our food and my dad pulled out of their really quickly, the weird thing is though she started following us and then we got onto the main road she turned back around and went back to her car, This is where it gets a little weird the next day on the bus I tell all my friends what happened to me the previous night like it was no big deal. Hell my sister and I made jokes referencing it for years until a few weeks ago when I thought about how weird it was really, because she was at least a couple cars behind us so if she needed car help why come to our car and why come stare at me instead of going and asking my dad for help?
In our show we have heard many scary tales of individuals haunted tales. But one that has stuck out recently is a tale of a mom and her son being haunted by a demon. It begins with the two moving into a house in Green Mountain that was left a mess from the previous owners. One owner was brother who refused to leave and left a bedroom that had all sorts of objects inside it. From the story, the mother knew this tenant did not want to leave the dwelling and could feel an evil presence whenever she walked in the basement where the room was located. From the first day to her last day in that house, she knew she was in for a fight for her life. The occurrences began when one of her family members was scratched when the mother was showing them around the house. Then the son started to get most of the action. From falling asleep to noises of scratches against the headboard to being pulled awake. If you want to hear the full story come listen to the podcast because it only gets creepier.
My only ever sleep paralysis story happened when I was very young and it wasn’t until I was much older and discovered what sleep paralysis was that I realised it wasn’t just a bad dream that stuck with me …. I must’ve been around 2 or 3 and I know that sounds very young but it must’ve been around that time because I was still sleeping in my cot in my parents room … I often read other peoples sleep paralysis and I find it hard to believe such extra ordinarily similar experiences are just forged from our brains imagination on coincidence … is sleep paralysis a glimpse into a darkened dimension where we are followed by dark spirits? … I remember staring into the ceiling and trying to cry whilst a black figure with white dots for eyes .. almost smeagol looking would creep towards me . It would always start where the bedroom door was … lit up by the lights in the kitchen corridor and creep towards me and under my cot where I couldn’t see it but I could feel it’s fingers poking my back and remember feeling overcome with horror and it would crawl back to the door in a cycle for what felt like an hour .. I also have faint memories of when I was a little older (6 or 7) walking in the middle of the night and opening my front door to see the front yard and the road and watching …again a Sméagol looking figure creeping towards me … when it would reach the stairs of the house my dad would close the door and the next morning I’d wake up in my parents bed it’s crazy because it seemed to real in my head but I refuse to believe my parents saw me do that and have never spoken to me about it
This was when I was around 4 or 5 maybe I remember I would always used to lay in bed and see the thing that I called “the Fire Lady” she used to sit by my bed and just watch me she was in a wedding dress that was burning up with flames coming off her I always used to go to my older sister bc I couldn’t sleep I remember she used to sit there looking at me with fully black eyes whispering stuff I couldn’t remember what she was whispering or if I could even understand it but she always kneeled down next to my bed or be in the corner of my room Has anybody had something like this happen
My grandparents house is pretty old. It was built in 1980 or higher than that. Once when I was 8 I was going into one of the rooms and tried to open the door. It wouldn’t open. Well it would but it felt like someone was pushing it closed to be funny. I was laughing as I thought someone was trying to not let me in and then the door swung open. I looked around and there was no one. I checked every where but nothing. I never thought about it then but now I think about it a lot. I told my mum about it and she said when she used to live there, at night there would be scratching on peoples doors and when they checked there was nothing. Today nothing strange happens. But I wonder. There’s this little cupboard door thing above the bathroom that NO ONE has ever opened. What if this little ghost is still lurking in the house but has decided to rest…
So when i was a kid i live din this house with my dad and it was quite small , 1 floor , cramped but strange. One day living in the house i had a nightmare in where i was somewhere , is cant remember exactly but in the dream there was a doll of a small goat and i couldn't move or anything and the goat would put me through physical pain. This lasted for a long time and eventually i moved house to where i had one last dream of it telling me it would stop doing this and that was the last time i saw it.
Once Upon a Time, back when I was about 20, a friend of mine got into some trouble and went to jail. He needed someone to go and stay at his place and take care of his elderly dog and keep his bird fed. I immediately accepted, as I really didn't want to live with my mom and her new, younger boyfriend. Now, here is where I should probably mention that my friend was into some not-so-great things, that's how he ended up in jail. So naturally, that meant that some pretty shady characters we're going around up there. Those characters usually waited until after I went to bed to start coming around and helping themselves to whatever they desired. That was bad enough on its own, but since my friend couldn't pay his electrical bill from jail, there were also no lights. Since the bedroom I was staying in had a deadbolt and another lock, I felt okay in there. I of course realize now how stupid and naive I was back then. After all, I'm only 5 ft 3 in and back then, I only weighed about 100 pounds. I guess my desperation for Independence drove me to brave it. I would literally wake up the next day to find Footprints outside the living room window and I even found the phone line cut outside once! While all that was going on, my friends creepy-ass, teeth missing, pervy landlord, started randomly showing up. The landlord only lived like three football fields away. Apparently, my friend couldn't pay rent from jail either. He also didn't want me to tell his landlord that he was in jail, so I had to keep giving some stupid excuse about him being away at family's. But, that excuse only went so far, and probably knowing full well that it was bulshit, the landlord started showing up even more! And when he did, he started saying nasty things like, "My wife and I would be pretty excited to have you over, especially in a bikini!" Soon enough though, the landlord started being angrier and more frustrated, each and every time he would show up. He would just show up at any given time, and since I didn't drive at the time, I was usually there for these unfortunate visits. Eventually, he just started straight up walking in, not even bothering to knock anymore. I told him that was illegal, but he didn't seem to care at all. Remember earlier in the story, I mentioned that I slept in a locked room? Well unfortunately, on that particular morning, I had already got up and made a trip to the kitchen for some water after the sun had already came up. Because of the daylight, I didn't bother locking the bedroom door again, I just closed it. Not long after I had fallen back to sleep, a strange, slight noise woke me up. It was a sort of soft clicking sound. I gradually opened my eyes, but I didn't see anything so I tried to go back to sleep. But then, I suddenly started back awake, as I could just feel another presence in the room with me! As I slowly focused my eyes in the light, I saw the old landlord standing over me and mouth breathing with a creepy grin on his sinister face! I instantly bolted upright, whilst grabbing the bed sheet and pulling it over my body. And then I went from zero to 60 in less than 1 second! I jumped up out of the bed and yelled, "What the f**K do you think you're doing right now?!" All the while, I continued walking towards him angrily. He backed right the heck up and practically ran out the front door. I locked it behind him screaming, "I'm calling the cops!" The cops came out, but since I had no proof and he didn't hurt me, they really couldn't do much. To this day though, I'll never forget the sound of the old landlords mouth-breathing as he leaned over my sleeping, unsuspecting body!
(This is my friends story) I’m 24M that lives alone in a major city. I’ve always had sleep paralysis, but things started changing as I got older. My paralysis has gotten worse and strange things are now happening. I truly don’t even know if this is related. Recently I’ve noticed Items in my room would move around or disappear. I thought I was just being forgetful, so I would just brush it off. I started getting weird vibes a lot at night.. like the hair on the back of my neck would stick up. I feel like I’m being watched or wasn’t alone. One night I heard a low guttural growl coming from the floor. I looked and saw nothing. I thought it had to be my apartment settling or a neighbor. I heard the growl again and saw something hunched in my corner staring at me. It looked liked one of those creatures from The Decent but it had black evil eyes and black curved nails. Panic and fear rush over me but I’m frozen. The thing would just stare at me in a low crouched position and growl… reminded me of a predator stalking prey. Sometimes I would be too scared too move and other times I was paralyzed in my bed. I can never scream for whatever reason. The thing would move from corner to corner… the worst part is that sometimes it would be standing at the foot of my bed. It’s about 7 ft tall. It just stares at me. Nothing gets rid of it. I have to wait till it simply disappears. It visits me every night and my health has really suffered.
This may not be as scary as it is disturbing, but this will always send a chill down my spine as I remember this as I had no idea what was happening. This story starts when I (f) was around 12 or 13. I was diagnosed with a few anxiety disorders, one being social anxiety which made me very vulnerable and unable to say no to things that made me uncomfortable as I was a really big people pleaser, especially to strangers. I had an art Instagram account where I would post five nights at Freddy's art I made. Never got any notice from this account as I would delete my Instagram accounts due to mental breakdowns so this account was new. The only people who followed were my friends or other accounts that found me through the tags though most of them were bots. One day however I got a private message from an account that had just followed me, I answered the message and the person introduced themselves. I'm going to call this guy V. V started small talk and it eventually went into introductions. I told them my age and that I was going to be graduating middle school, and they told me that they were 17 or 18, and were going to be graduating high school. We would then eventually begin to talk about high school and FNAF. V would talk to me for a day, but then eventually they asked me if I knew what “Arm Pictures” were and if I took them. Of course I did not know what these are so I asked and just as I thought, they were just pictures you took of your arms. I remember feelings weirded out but brushed it aside because it wasn't anything devious, (so I thought.) V then proceeded to show me pictures of these arms taken in certain positions like they were trying to reach for something, some of the arms were coming out of blankets, it made it appear that the arm was trying to get out of quicksand or something dragging it in. They said that these pictures were taken by them, but asked if I wanted to see some taken by someone else as they were a lot better, and I said yes because I was scared to say no even though it was getting weird. They sent the pictures and a lot of them were in the same positions as the ones they took before, except they were a lot more dynamic and had better angles and photo quality. I didn't know what to say except “oh cool! It looks like they are grabbing something” or something on the lines of that, and they replied with something like “yeah, that's what I really like about these pictures. They look like they are drowning and trying to reach for help, like they are hopeful.” I really did not know how to feel, I just thought it was a strange interest and I did not want to be rude or anything. However, V asked if I could take arm pictures and send it to them. A part of me did not want to, but I really did not want to say no, and told them sure. I thought there was no harm in doing this and I wasn't doing anything else, so why not. I took pictures of my arms with no thought put into it, and sent them. They replied saying that these pictures were good, but requested me to take pictures of my arms in a specific pose, poses like the arms in the photos before. And I did. I would take a few more pictures with them instructing me on how to pose them or what arm they wanted, and how many arms they wanted in the photo. I would eventually have to go and so I said goodbye and so did they. I did not talk to V for the rest of the day. The next day they messaged me asking how I was doing, and we made small talk, until he asked for more arm pictures. I was at school so I told them that they would have to wait till later. V asked if I could just go to the bathroom and take them but I responded with “you'll have to wait until I get home.” I had a doctor's appointment on the Friday of that week as my doctor wanted to track my sleep around my anxiety disorders or something along the lines of it, so I had to wear a special sleep tracking bracelet that I couldn't take off due to if I did, it would mess up the bracelet from recording efficient data. V then messages me again at night, asking me for more arm pictures, and I take some of my arm with the bracelet and if you thought things were weird before, it just gets weirder. V asked me to take the bracelet off and retake the pictures, but I said no this time as I explained I needed to wear this bracelet for medical reasons. But they kept insisting I take it off. I said no and that I was going to go to bed, but they told me not to go yet and kept begging to take it off. I was starting to feel really uncomfortable, but also guilty as I felt bad saying no to this guy. This was the last interaction I had, as I would delete my profile the next day (from a mental breakdown separate to this) and I never talked with V ever again. As I read this now there are so many red flags going off, but at the time I couldn't see them. I did not understand what fetishes were (I was 12/13 so why would I) and the lack of education on stranger danger that I received was a factor too. I only knew you weren't supposed to send naked pictures to people online, but arm pictures? It's just the arm… right? I'm an adult now, currently seeking trauma therapy for recently diagnosed PTSD around childhood trauma and separate grooming trauma, and looking back on this experience now with a new lens, I realize how disturbing this is. I was 12/13, and god only knows what this person was doing with the pictures of my arm.
I'm just wondering if anyone would like to share their true scary stories with me that doesn't mind me sharing them on my YouTube channel. You may remain anonymous if you want. Just let me know if you do or not. Hope this post is ok to post on here.
I remember when I was a kid sometime before the age of 8 on a Easter morning I was just waking up and my sister and I were laying in my mothers bed and I saw a tall, skinny, bald, and hunched figure walking across my bedroom. I remember it was light grey or white and kind of resembles a human or a skin walker. The only demon I can find that resembles it even a little bit would be the dover demon. I remember seeing it one other time during the day walking across my yard while I was staring out of my screen door from the couch as a kid. I thought it could have been my dad since he was tall and skinny but when I looked over he was on the opposite side of where the “demon” walked. I was just wondering if anyone else had an experience similar to this? Or am I just imagining things?
So it was a year ago in the summer, this lady in her like 30’s knocked on my door (I was alone at the time) she told me that there were kids down the block having free cotton candy and she asked if I was home alone after that, I said no and she said could she talk to the person in my house (Probably to confirm that there was someone in there, probably to know if she can take me and probably kill me if there isn’t at home) I said she was busy and closed the door right after that and locked it. She started knocking for 10 minutes than the knocking stopped and she left.
I saw my friends band play last weekend for the first time, met everyone else prior except the vocalist, wish I never met him. Before their set he walked in with a weird looking pig mask and everyone started screaming at him to leave but i thought it was just a mask haha naive me. Right after their set he walked right up to me and he smelled absolutely gnarly, like rotten meat. He ended up messaging me online and asking me out to buy me dinner/drinks and I said no. MF then began BRAGGING about having multiple dead animals in his car for months. He had multiple rotting pig heads and an entire coyote corpse in his car with him since early Feb. And he tried showing these off and then bragging about them. He also dumped them in the parking lot for all to see because he finds it funny. I’m actually a bit terrified and traumatized I hope he doesn’t talk to me again. Forgot to mention that he was also talking about cutting his wrist open to make his music set more appealing. He’s a huge Mayhem fan 🤮 even the other BM bands were disgusted by him. I’m grossed out and I keep smelling fantom dead animals corpses blegh. Has anyone else met someone who keeps rotten animal corpses to fester or just me
My great grandfather, great grandmother, their 4 kids and dog, moved into this old farmhouse in rural central Illinois. I never personally encountered the farmhouse, as all this occurred in the late 70’s-very early 80’s. Here are the real terrifying encounters my family members had in this house: When they first moved in, a woman came up to them at the grocery store. She told them that their dog would die, that the house was evil, and that bad things would happen to them. Basically some Amityville horror shite lol. They brushed it off as though she were trying to scare them because she wanted the house, etc. Note: My great grandma had a previous husband whom she had 5 of her 6 kids with. Only 4 of the kids ever lived in the farmhouse. My grandma, my great grandmas daughter and 4th kid, was the result of an affair with the great grandpa who is in this story. That’s a whole different story but the bloodline thing is crucial to this story. After the lady had told them all the things that would happen to them, every single thing happened. They honestly thought she was a witch who cursed them because of how accurate she was on what would happen. Not long after they moved in, their dog died from being hit by a car. After that, my great grandpa turned mean. So mean, that all the kids hated him, even some of the adults. He went full dad from Amityville Horror, besides the trying to kill his family thing. (That they know of) My grandma wouldn’t leave that house. It’s as if it had a gravitational pull on her. They believed that my great grandpa and my grandma, were possessed by the house. My aunt carrie (the youngest child) swears up and down that she saw Dracula in that house. To elaborate, all the adults were playing cards downstairs. My aunt was younger at the time and was playing near the hallway. When she looked up, she saw what she describes as Dracula looking back at her. She was hysterical. My great grandpa actually had to slap her across the face just so she would calm down. No surprise, they didn’t believe her. Another incident is when my great grandpa yelled for all the kids to come downstairs. I guess there was a door that led to the second floor stairs that you entered and exited out of. The kids couldn’t find the door. It disappeared. My great grandpa was getting impatient and was yelling at them. He couldn’t hear them at all. They said they were on the other side shouting that they couldn’t find the door. Something else similar to that happened to my great grandmas niece. She had gone upstairs and walked past where she thought the kids were playing. They were being loud so she opened and stood at the door and went to yell at them, but of course, no one was there. I know, how cliche. But when she went downstairs and described to my great grandparents which room and door it was they said “There’s no room there. It’s a door that leads to the outside. It’s also boarded up so there’s no way you could have opened it.” So if she had actually opened that door and even tried to “walk into the room” she would have fallen from the second story of the house. She was so freaked out that she left and never came back after that. She swore there was a room and door there. The house obviously liked to play with your mind. My uncle took a picture outside of the house with his hands kind of posed. When he got them back from the developing place, they said they needed to show him something. In the proofs of the pictures, his posed hands were being held down by something. I wish I could find the pic to add to this. Now, here is where more bloodline comes in. My great grandmas ex husband and baby daddy married her new husbands daughter and had 2 children. So, it was a messed up family circle. Since they were all intertwined, my grandmas ex husband/step son in law and step daughter/her kids step mom/step sister, would stay with them sometimes. The first and last time they stayed in the farmhouse was when they were asleep on the second floor. Some family was downstairs playing cards when they heard a bed squeaking violently. Now you know what they thought was happening and they were a little disturbed. They tried to ignore it but it was nonstop. One of the adults went to tell the ex husband and his new wife to please quiet down. When they knocked and there was no answer, the adult reluctantly opened the door. The ex husband and new wife were sound asleep and fully clothed. The next morning when the ex and new wife were told about what happened, they slept in their camper for the rest of their visit. There was also this reoccurring red spot that no matter how much you scrubbed it, it would always come back. I’m sure there’s much more stuff but these are the most reoccurring things that I’ve heard. Unfortunately, the only person who could tell you anything she’s experienced in that house, was my grandma, who has since passed. Note: Years later, they found out that my great grandmas oldest daughters, husbands, uncle (try saying that 10 times fast) actually hung himself in the basement. He had done that years before they moved in. My family only stayed there because they were not financially stable enough to leave. After they finally moved out, a new family moved in. The new family stayed there for a week and then stayed in their RV for the rest of the time till they could find a new house. After that family moved, the farmhouse burned down. I’m not really sure if the house caught on fire or if it was burned down on purpose. I’ve drove past where it was located so many times. It’s all cornfield now. The old grain silos that sat with it are still there but that’s it. I’ll always wonder what happened to make the farmhouse so evil.
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Me and my brother were playing outside in our front yard at the time I was probably 13 and he was 11 and their was this white van that turned on it’s turn signal and dipped into the entrance of the driveway then pulled out back onto the street then came back and did the same thing twice scared the shit outa me the scary part is is that my dad was outside at the time so I wonder what would happen if he was inside
So this story isn’t all that scary once you find out what’s going on in the end, but was very unsettling at the time. This happened last summer, my husband’s best friend flew out from LA to visit us in rural Iowa. My husband grew up in LA, but I was raised here and this is where we decided to settle down. We wanted give our friend the full rural/small town experience, and one thing you don’t realize when you’re from the city is how completely pitch black it is out here, with no street lamps or city lights to illuminate the night. It’s something my husband commented on whether he first moved here. There is a dense forest that covers several square miles just outside of town, it’s a protected wildlife reserve. There are a lot of legends about this forest being haunted, because it was the site of a bloody battle between Native American tribes, and also a burial ground. The creepy old stone tower and dilapidated amphitheater in the middle of the woods are said to be especially haunted. There is also a pond in the heart of the forest that the locals refer to as “Deadman’s Lake”, because somebody drowned in it several years ago and the body was never recovered. I’m not sure if it was accidental or a suicide, I’ve heard many different renditions of the story. I don’t believe in ghosts, and I’m not afraid of the dark or the woods, but my husband’s friend does. This park technically closes at 10pm, but we decided to risk it and took our friend into the forest at midnight on a moonless night. We visited the tower first, I’d never seen it at night, and the sight of its black silhouette against the starry sky, surrounded by gnarled, dead trees was an unsettling one that set the mood for the rest of the night. After a little convincing, we got our friend to follow us into the tower, up the old creaky spiral staircase. We spent some time surveying the surrounding scenery and enjoying our view of the clear night sky from the tower’s rooftop lookout. The view was magnificent, and I thought it looked magical, but our friend just seemed to be getting more nervous by the second. We hiked back down the long dirt trail to the car, but kept hearing what sounded like footsteps coming from the trees on both sides and from behind us. Our friend was scared it could be something paranormal, I was worried about drug dealers or meth heads, since there is a large population of sketchy people and frequent meth lab busts in this area. My husband and I both had our 9mm pistols strapped to our belts, but we didn’t want to have to use them. We picked up our pace back to the car and drove further into the forest, to the place where the trail to the old amphitheater begins. Our friend was really on edge now, since the trees are much denser in this part of the forest and it is incredibly dark. We convinced him to follow us down the steep, rocky trail to the amphitheater. When we arrived, I noticed a tall structure standing in the center of the amphitheater that has never been there before, but it was too dark to tell what it was. I had been using only the light of my smartwatch to guide my way, so as not to ruin the eerie illusion created by the inky darkness of the forest with a flashlight beam. At this point, even my husband was becoming uneasy and wanted to turn back, but I had to know what that mysterious object was, which had appeared in the last two days since my last hike to this part of the forest. I carefully made my way down into the center of the arena, and drew closer to the structure, my husband and our friend following closely behind. When I was a couple feet away from the object, I lifted my wrist to illuminate it with the light from my watch, and I felt a sense of dread and fear wash over me. Standing before me, was a 10 foot tall wooden arch, wrapped in red silk, and adorned with animal bones and red roses. The skull of a deer with massive antlers was mounted at its peak. A smaller object that sat lower to the ground that I hadn’t seen before looked to be some kind of stone alter. Suddenly the rustling noises coming from the forest on all sides that I had previously chalked up to animals or the wind seemed much more threatening. My first thought was that a malicious cult or band of Satanists were lying in wait to sacrifice us to a demon, as ridiculous as it sounds, but in that moment it seemed possible and likely. All three of us jumped and turned toward the direction of our car when we heard a car door close and saw the faint glow of headlights peaking through the trees. We rushed back up the trail, expecting to find some crack heads attempting to break into our car. We didn’t know whether to be relieved or apprehensive when we saw a DRN truck parked next to our car, and the officer scanning the trees with his flashlight. He greeted us and asked what we were up to. We told him that we were showing our friend around, and he informed us that the park was closed. He noticed our firearms and asked for our permits and IDs, which we gave him. He went back to his truck to run our info and returned minutes later with an $80 dollar ticket for being in the park past closing. After that we spent about 15 minutes having a friendly chat with the officer, when he asked “so what’s the amphitheater like at night?”. I told him it was “really creepy”, and proceeded to describe what we had witnessed. The officer chuckled at the terrified looks on our faces and told us that a Wiccan couple had rented out the amphitheater for their wedding tomorrow, and had been by today to decorate. So a bit of a disappointing ending, I was relieved at first, but also disappointed. I plan to return to the forest on another dark night, but this time I’ll go alone, and I’ll go in on foot so the DRN can’t find me.
Hey guys, so two days ago my grandmother visited us to celebrate easter. As we were talking she started to mention that she thinks she's being watched by her neighbors. I asked her what makes her think that she's being watched and she said that everytime she's in her bedroom trying to sleep she keeps hearing someone saying her name. At first i thought like okay she's 86 years old maybe it's just her imagination. But she mentioned that she even can recognize one of the voices as the voice of the neighbors wife's. The voice keeps saying "get out of your bed" and "don't sleeps to long". I really saw that she was worried. I asked her some more things about these neighbors. After some time talking about rather normal information she said that one time after she had some kind of stressful situation with the neighbors that this guy was walking with his fucking gun in the backyard and looked at her. I have to mention here that I live in Germany and it's not normal here to do this. Also he's an ex Bundeswehr Officer that was kicked out because he treated the Soldiers so badly. I'm really worried about all this but i really don't know what to do. Everyone thinks she's telling bs but i believe her because i know this guy and he's a psycho because as we were kids he was constantly watching me and my cousin. So yeah i'm pretty busy right know thinking of how to solve all of this.
I used to date a lawyer a few years back and he owned and ran this motel. The motel is located about 40 minutes from my historic County. Being a lawyer, he often allowed some of his clients that were on probation to stay there if they were homeless. That gave his clients on probation a means of providing a stable address for court purposes and for the safety of those clients. One of those clients had happened to have grown close to the lawyer. You see, they had both had their spouses leave them after so many years, so this shared heartbreak bonded them. They would usually be seen sitting and drinking together on the motel's front patio, lamenting their lost wives. Well as you know, the lawyer"s friend was there because he was indeed on probation and needed a place to stay for that reason. He was on probation for the same reason a lot of people in these small rural communities are, drug charges. But, the guy had been pretty much complying as far as drug testing and random searches were concerned. After a long week of dealing with probation and his own clients' lack of concern obeying their probationary terms, the lawyer was exhausted and sick of it all! So naturally, the lawyer was both perplexed and irritated upon receiving a call that his friend had failed to come in that day for his drug test, and that he wasn't there in his motel room when probation came and knocked. This wasn't the lawyer's friends recent pattern of behavior, but he had been known to pull that sort of stuff in the recent past. Exasperated and generally annoyed after his long week, the lawyer knocked only once before entering using his master key. The lawyer gave a sigh of exasperation as he stared into the pitch blackness of the room before him. As he was carefully feeling his way over to one of the bedside lamps, an odd smell caught his attention. The faint smell of chemicals and maybe iron? Flipping on the lamp switch, the lawyer blinked in the sudden brightness and looked around the room. But his breath caught in his throat as soon as he looked behind him on the bed. There, on the double bed, lay his friend obviously passed away. The iron smell that emanated from the body was that of blood and fluid. He estimated that his friend had probably been laying there that way for at least 2 days. I remember him calling me very upset, after of course first calling 911. For a few weeks, we eagerly awaited the autopsy results. When they came back, they weren't a shocker. The lawyer's friend was on probation for drug charges, so it was kinda expected that his death had to do with such. The man's heart has failed, as well as his kidneys. Years of prolonged drug use and ignorance to the doctor's warnings, had finally cost him his life.
Recently I got back into contact with my cousin (Lets call her Cee) and someone has been creeping around her property. My cousin and her dad live in a rural area with few people and they are farmers. They also have a family friend who lives near them who also is a farmer and helps with their cows. A couple weeks ago a strange car parked in the middle of the road. A tall man got out and was dancing around the fields behind her house and singing. This was at around 3am and her father was out at a barn with a family friend taking care of their cows. The strange man soon came to their front door and started loudly knocking on it. Cee had locked all the doors and windows in the house so he could not get in. She had also locked herself in the room and had just texted her dad. Her dad and the family friend were coming back to the house to investigate when the man went over to Cees window and tried to open it. Cee had noticed this and locked herself in the attic. Once her father and their friend saw the man, he ran back to his car and drove away. On Easter, we saw a strange car park in the middle of the road and Cee confirmed it was the same car. We stayed away from it and it drove away. Hopefully we can figure the situation out. If anything new happens I will give an update.
It all started when he first came as a new student to our school. When he first entered the classroom, he creeped me out. Maybe it was the way he was wearing all black with his hood covering the majority of his face or that he never looked up even once. "Weirdo", I thought to myself. I don't want to be rude, just saying. After about two weeks, he started acting weird. He started to whisper to himself at random during class. And for some reason, it felt like I was the only one who heard it. Maybe he wasn't whispering to himself at all and I was just imagining things or overreacting. I never even heard what he was ranting about anyways. Well, it started at lunchtime when my friend Diego, approached me and said, "You know about that new kid Max right?" "Yeah that weirdo?" I answered. "Well...", Diego responded with excitement. "I feel kind of bad for him since he has no friends so I was thinking that you and me can try to talk him into being friends with us!" I looked at him like he was crazy. It wasn't that Max was "weird", I mean he kind of was, but he gave me a bad vibe, like he was a danger towards the school. So I said no. But Diego wasn't buying it. It took numerous tries to get him to talk me into befriending Max. Eventually, I gave up and decided to give it a try. I tried to tell myself that he wasn't "weird" it was just my mind being paranoid. Little did I know that that was a huge mistake. After school, me and Diego made a plan to talk to him the next day at lunch and then invite him over to Diego's house if it went well. So that's exactly what we did. Once we had spotted him sitting in a small table in the corner of the cafeteria, Diego went to go approach him, while I kept telling myself to ignore the bad feeling in my gut and follow my friend. I felt safer if I was with my best friend anyways, so nothing bad could happen. I sighed and then followed Diego towards Max's table. "Hi, I'm Diego and this is my friend Andrew. I- we were wondering if you would like to become friends with us, since we felt bad that you always sat alone." I tried my best to keep a friendly smile until Max looked up from the ground to us. My smile immediately faded when I saw his face. His eyes were bloodshot, his skin pale, and his lips were cracked with a small trail of blood coming from one of the cracks leading down to his chin. I tried my hardest to ignore that and put back on my friendly smile. Max was probably just... I don't really know how to explain it. I glanced towards Diego, who seemed a little shocked as well but thought nothing of it. That's when Max spoke. I could barely hear him over the cafeteria noise but his voice was very shaky, hoarse, and quiet. "Sure", was the only word that came out of his mouth. "O-okay, good! I'm glad! Um... I was wondering if, after school, you could maybe stop by my house and we could you know, hang out to get to know each other better. Andrew will be there." Diego said, his voice slightly shaky. I could tell he was a little scared as well. Later on, Diego and I learned that Max could come over after school, which made me feel even worse, but like I said, it was just my mind overreacting. Right? Max probably wasn't weird or creepy at all, it's just what he looked like what scared me. I told myself to calm down and say that is was nothing. But I was so, so wrong. A couple of hours later, I made my way to Diego's house. I knocked on the door, and to my surprise, Diego opened it with Max by his side. It kind of freaked me out, but I ignored the feeling and said hello to my friends. We showed Max a little tour of Diego's house and then went to his room to hang out. Surprisingly, it went pretty well for the most part. I even forgot about the bad feeling about Max. That was until Diego asked him if he wanted to stay the night. Max was silent for a moment and then slowly nodded, suddenly looking more pale than he was before. I thought it was weird that he didn't mention anything about his parents letting him stay over for the night, but then told my myself that they probably didn't care. After about twenty minutes of playing video games and eating junk food, we took one of Diego's spare sleeping bags and lended it to Max. Then we played some board games until it was getting late. We set up our sleeping bags in Diego's room and then talked a little before deciding to go to sleep. However, after about ten minutes of trying to fall asleep, even though I was tired, I decided to go on my phone for a while. But for some reason, Max was the only thing that came through my head. I then realized that it was a little unusual that Max never really spoke the time that I have been here. He didn't show any emotion either. I was slightly freaked out, but eventually managed to fall asleep. I probably woke up in the dead of night to someone laughing like a psycho. I thought it was a dream at first, but it sounded too real. Although I was freaked out, I turned over and almost screamed at the silhouette I saw standing above me in the darkness. It surely wasn't Diego, because I saw the outline of him sleeping across from me. It was Max. I was sure this was just a prank. "Wow um... very funny guys...get to sleep already", I said, my voice shaky. It wasn't a prank. Max didn't budge. I started to get really freaked out when his laughing just got louder and louder. My heart was beating faster than ever, and I pulled the covers over my head and shut my eyes, begging for the laughter to stop. And then suddenly, it did. I was relieved, but at the same time, I was still scared and just wanted to wake up Diego and get out of this house. I tried going back to sleep, but I was too scared to do so. After a long few minutes later, I was beginning to doze off, until Max started to scream. I froze, too scared to move. That's when the lights flicked on and I took the covers off of my head. It was Diego, who looked like he had just seen a ghost and Max, who was still standing above me who was still screaming, while the biggest open smile I had ever seen was plastered on his face, along with blood dripping from his mouth towards his chin. He wouldn't stop screaming, and I glanced a look of terror towards Diego, and he looked as equally as scared I was. We both just stood there, unsure what to do. Then, after what it felt like a decade, Diego ran out of his room, probably towards the downstairs to call his parents then the police for some reason (his parents were visiting Diego's older brother who was in college at the time). Then Max suddenly stopped screaming, and the whole house fell eerily silent. I then realized that I was alone. With Max. I didn't know what to do. I wanted to run out of the house and never come back. But before I could do that, Max pulled out a knife. I don't know where he even got it from. Then he lunged towards me with the knife and tried to stab me with it while laughing like the psycho that he was. I screamed, trying to fight him off, but I was too weak and too scared. Luckily, I managed to somehow get him into a chokehold but unfortunately, he still somehow stabbed me in my arm. I screamed in pain and released my grip on him. Max wasn't done. He lunged at me again, but before he could stab me, Diego came out of literally nowhere, and tackled Max to the ground. Max had finally stopped laughing at once and just stayed quiet. The house fell silent until we heard sirens coming from outside. I'm not going to go into detail about everything else that happened with the police, but one thing I will mention is that when the police came back from searching the house, Max was nowhere to be seen. Police believed that he escaped through the open window that was in Diego's room, but they are still not certain, and neither am I. Also, yes my arm is okay. I still don't know what happened with Max, but I never saw him again after that. I tell myself that he had a mental illness, or was just really trying hard to scare us, which worked. So yeah, I still get the chills every time I think about that day and I learned to always trust my gut.
I work a lot with commercial and corporate jingles. I had a bit of a breakthrough a few years ago when I made a tune that was picked up by a major coffee chain. I’m not gonna divulge exactly which, but let’s just say you’ve heard it. I know you have. So when I was contacted about making a musical piece for a movie project, I was immediately on board. Things had been slow for a couple of weeks, and my backlog was thinning out. This job would put me back in the green, for sure. And that’s how this started. I’ve switched a few names around for anonymity, but I think I can still get the point across. #x200B; They reached out to me through my business e-mail. It was sent from some kind of private server, with the sender listed just as “515”. They did sign it though, using the name “Mark.” No last name. They did send me an advance though. A *hefty* one. It was supposed to be a quick job – a 3-minute song used as the end credits to a solemn piece. They provided me with references, a few samples, and a contact. Savanna, or just Anna – a jazz singer who lived in my immediate area. She was to provide backup vocals. It was a bit strange though. No one talked to me in person. No one called or double-checked my credentials. They just wanted this done, quick and easy, with no questions asked. I wasn’t even allowed to see the movie, or the context in which the song was played. All they told me about it was; “It’s the end credits. It’s really sad.” #x200B; I always start with a few simple notes. B4 to E5, D5 to G4. Four solemn notes. I started working it into chords, trying out different tempos, and adjusted along the way. I always end up re-doing the intro later anyway, so I put it on hold and moved on to the main verse. It took me about two days to get a decent outline done. It was melancholic, with this hint of nostalgia. I had to remake parts of the pre-chorus as I realized the music box samples were a little too much. I bounced around a few ideas, such as adding a horn section, or maybe a violin, but I kept returning to a simple reverbed piano – nothing else. Keep it simple, stupid. Never forget. The only thing I lacked were the vocals, so I called up Anna. #x200B; When working piano mixes, I spend entire days just re-listening to anything by Elton John. I get kinda lost in it at times. When I first went to meet Anna at the Morning Swirl Café, her first impression of me was sitting in my car singing along to “Your Song” while she waited across the road in plain sight. Not the best impression I’ve ever made. Not the worst. From the moment I met her, Anna, was a professional. A proper handshake, a brief introduction, and she was ready to go. We took my car back to my home studio, letting Elton John move from Your Song to Rocket Man, to Tiny Dancer. As we turned into the parking lot, we were both engulfed – singing an impromptu duet of “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”. She outclassed me by a mile, but it was all in good fun. That car ride was all it took for us to become best friends. #x200B; I showed her my home studio, discussed my ideas, and asked for feedback on a few passages in the post-chorus that I wasn’t all too sure about. She came at me with a lot of ideas right out of the gate – suggesting a vocal bridge and a tempo change. We just started jamming. We spent all day experimenting, mixing, trying out key- and tempo changes. It was a lot of fun, and we lost ourselves in the work a couple of times. We also spent at least an hour listening to samples and shamelessly dishing about our favorite movie scores. Anna might seem like a bit of a stick-in-the-mud at first, but once you got her talking about her true passions, she was an unstoppable music nerd. My kind of people. Somewhere around dinner time, we called it a day. At least work-wise. We decided to get some take-out and watch Sound of Music, just for fun. We were about halfway through two servings of chicken tikka masala when Anna turned to me with a curious look. “You know… I got no idea what this is for,” she said, pointing at our barely balanced pile of notes. “It’s good, don’t get me wrong, but… I don’t like not knowing, right?” “Yeah,” I agreed. “Like… what if it’s something bad?” “What do you mean?” she frowned. “I mean… it could be like an Alex Jones kind of deal. Something crazy.” At that, she shook her head, leaning back into the musings of Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. “That’d suck,” she sighed, poking the takeout rice. “That’d really, really suck.” #x200B; It was an uncomfortable thought. Something the two of us making together, ending up misused as something vile, or political. That night, long after Anna had left, I decided to try to and reach out to Mark at “515” again. I sent him a message asking him to clarify the purpose of the score – as in the context which it would be used. I described that I didn’t want it to be used in something inherently negative, or controversial. Within just a couple of minutes, I got a response. I figured it was automated, seeing as I’d contacted him at one in the morning, but it turns out it wasn’t. It read; “I can’t tell you anything about the project, but you retain any and all rights to the song, including the manner of which it is used after the initial broadcast.” A suspiciously generous offer. That would mean I’d keep getting unhindered royalties, and I could pull it from being played at the drop of a hat. I’d never been allowed that kind of control before. If anything, it made me even more suspicious. #x200B; During our next jam session, we re-did a couple of vocals and started matching it up to some background instrumentals. After playing through it a couple of times, and sensing some minor mixing issues, I brought the e-mail up to Anna. It didn’t seem to put her at ease. “I don’t even know what that means,” she laughed. “Have these people worked with professionals before?” “No idea. Never heard of the, uh… 515 before.” “What’s that?” “Their e-mail. The account ending with 515.” “That’s…” Anna checked her phone, holding it up to me. “That’s not what I got.” #x200B; Her e-mail looked completely different. It was sent from a private Gmail-account through some kind of auto-generated contact form on Anna’s website. I figured whoever filled it out had accidentally let it auto-fill, meaning it used a private e-mail rather than a company one. There was an e-mail address, written as a single word; “Markalton”. “Markalton. As in… Mark Alton? Mine was from a Mark too.” “I thought it was, like… a fake name. A nickname.” “I don’t think so,” I said, shaking my head. “That’s our employer.” “We gotta cyberstalk him.” “We just gotta,” I agreed. #x200B; We put our work aside and started checking our socials. There were a handful of people who matched Mark’s full name, but it was hard to see which one we might be dealing with. We excluded a few of them, figuring we probably weren’t working for a college undergraduate or recently divorced ex-plumber in his late 60’s. No, we were working with someone with a little technical know-how and a job that could pay for anything – even a pair of sassy freelance musicians. We couldn’t find anyone matching the description on our first go about – but looking a little closer, we found the account of one May Alton; possibly his wife. She had a fancy house out in Nebraska, with three dogs and a pool. From context, we could tell her husband was pretty well-off. She also name-dropped him as Mark a couple of times in the comments. Finally, Anna elbowed me, and showed me her phone. An Instagram post of the Altons, in some kind of recording studio. “This has got to be the guy,” she said. “Right?” “Could be, yeah,” I agreed. “Sure looks like it.” “Can’t tell what he’s working on though,” she sighed. “They haven’t been active in a while.” “I guess we just… gotta dig deeper, right?” “I guess we do,” smiled Anna. #x200B; Long after we’d called it a day, we kept in touch. I tried to find some kind of LinkedIn, while Anna was trying to get access to May Alton’s private Facebook profile. Somewhere around my third re-listen of Elton John’s “Blue Eyes,” Anna called me up. It was close to midnight; not a time which I expected a sudden call. “I talked to one of her workmates and got an invite. Turns out May has friend-of-a-friend kind of setting, so, uh… I can see it all,” Anna said. “You gotta check this out”. I received screenshots of May Alton’s profile, showing what’d been happening as of late. Maybe it could give some insight into what kind of project we were actually working on. #x200B; What I saw was a long series of posts illustrating the married life of May and Mark Alton. How they moved from their house in Nebraska to some kind of military housing in the outskirts of Ohio. There were cryptic messages about things being “tough”, about having to give away their dogs, and “living among boxes”. They didn’t seem to settle down and were ready to move at the drop of a hat. There were strange questions too. Things like… where to find water filters, and what weather sites were the most accurate. May posted about trying to learn what wild mushrooms were edible, and what roots could be used as a homemade pain remedy. She started obsessing about her teeth, about the thought of having them suddenly break, with no way to have them fixed – despite living in a town with plenty of licensed dentists. At one point, she’d made the mistake of posting one of her google searches as a Facebook post, simply reading; *“ocean boiling temperature Fahrenheit”* #x200B; “What the hell does that even mean?” I asked Anna over the phone. “Ocean boiling?” “Keep… keep reading,” she said. “That’s not all.” She sent me a few more screenshots. Some of which were less than a week old. Pictures of tarp-covered boxes. A hand-dug latrine. And finally, what looked like an old quarry – with lines of trucks loading something into a kind of underground tunnel. It was barely commented, framed as her showing her friends she was okay, with bits and pieces of information revealed in the background. We got confirmation on the very final image, where she and Mark was standing next to a moving truck, with a long dark tunnel ahead. At the very corner of the truck was a notice about government property, followed by a sticker that simply read “515”. #x200B; We just sat there in silence for a moment, trying to figure out what we were getting involved in. This sure as shit wasn’t no simple movie, or a hobby project. Whatever they were working on was large in scale, and none of it seemed to involve an actual movie. There were no cameras, no actors, no movie sets. This was something else completely. Something chilling crawled up my spine, as something dark settled in my stomach. An uncomfortable thought. Something in the back of my mind surfacing. It didn’t take long to find exactly what I was searching for. It was hidden away under an outdated members list on the wayback machine. It couldn’t be a coincidence. It just couldn’t. Turns out, Mark Alton was a government liaison for one of the largest public access TV channels in Ohio. #x200B; The next day, I met up with Anna at the Morning Swirl Café. We got ourselves a couple of cappuccinos and positioned ourselves way off in the back. I told her about my findings, and she didn’t seem to know what to make of it. After pondering it for a while, she whispered to me; “How much time we got left to deliver?” “A few days,” I said. “Not sure about a specific time.” “You know… I’m willing to bet that if this guy is paying for music, he’s probably paying for video editors too.” “What’re you thinking?” “I’m thinking someone at that channel is being paid to work on something that’ll give us an answer.” She had a point. This seemed like sort of a rush-job, chances were another freelancer was involved. #x200B; We went back to my home studio, putting the final version of the song on hold for the time being. Instead, we started making calls. We took turns going down a list of names that seemed influential enough to know what we were talking about. Most of the time we were left either on hold or hit a brick wall. A few of them simply didn’t know who Mark Alton was, and some of them refused to talk about him and his work. They were very cordial about it though. Finally, we got through to one of the program directors. He, in turn, had personally recommended a video editor for one of Mark’s unnamed “projects”. We got a number and an e-mail address to a man named Christian – a supposed freelance video editor who’d worked with Mark previously. #x200B; It took us a few tries and a few bounced calls before we got through to him. Anna was the one who did it, putting Christian on speaker phone. After the initial greeting, Anna got straight to the point. “Christian, I think you and I are working on the same project. We didn’t get that much of an initial briefing, so we thought you might be able to fill us in on the details,” she said. “Could you send us a copy of your final project render?” “Sure,” he said. “I finished it up last week, I think Mark is adding the text later.” “What text?” Anna asked. “Right now it’s just a… collage. A slideshow. But, uh… we’re adding the final touches in post.” “What final touches?” The line went cold as Christian considered the question. After a while, he let out a soft chuckle. “Honestly, I don’t have the slightest idea.” #x200B; He sent us the project file not long after, but we were having trouble getting it to load correctly. After a bit of back-and-forth, he simply linked us a cloud link of the project folder, giving us direct access. I told him it was necessary since we were to upload the final export of the song there either way. Christian didn’t seem to mind. When we finally sat down to watch it, I couldn’t help but to feel my pulse rise. The name was pretty standard, just “final render”, but there was something to it that just tickled my brain. As I clicked it, Anna immediately pressed pause. “Should we?” she asked. “You sure?” “No idea,” I said. We shared an uncertain look, as she pressed play. #x200B; There was no sound. This is where our song was supposed to play. The clip opened with a drone shot of a sunflower field; showing a mix of vibrant yellow and dark blue. The camera faded into a melancholic low-saturated view of the Columbus city skyline. The picture faded into a view of various people, moving in slow motion. A young couple praying. An older couple reading a bible. Children holding hands, looking up at the sky. Every now and then, a large and sudden text would appear, simple stating “PLACEHOLDER”. A 30-second long clip of a woman waving goodbye to the ocean. A family stepping into a cellar, passing bags back and forth. An American flag at half-staff, unstirred by wind. A sky growing darker. A final white text against a flat black background, simply stating “PLACEHOLDER”. Then nothing. #x200B; We played it over and over again, trying to figure out what we were looking at. Anna was the first to come up with something. “Looks like one of those late-night end of broadcast things.” “Don’t they usually play something uplifting?” I asked. “Yeah,” she nodded. “Yeah, they, uh… they do.” This wasn’t uplifting. If anything, it felt apocalyptic. Like an unspoken threat. My eyes lingered on the clip of the woman waving goodbye to the ocean – such an insignificant gesture. Maybe that’s all this was. Some kind of insignificant gesture to an overwhelming, unstoppable force. Something as vast as the ocean. #x200B; When Anna and I finally called it a day, I stayed up long into the morning hours, playing that video over and over. Watching the terrified faces of the family running into the cellar. Watching the clouds darken, bathing the world in gray. Christian had done a great job putting it together – I could tell none of it was stock video. It gave me this enormous sense of dread, like I was missing something obvious. Something terrifying. I stepped out on my balcony just as the morning sun broke the horizon. And I swear – the clouds looked darker that morning. Darker than usual. #x200B; I woke up around noon to the sound of an incoming e-mail. I’d already missed two from Anna, but this third one caught my attention. It was from Christian. “You can just talk to Mark yourself,” it said. “Send me the final song export, and I’ll hook you up with some contact deets.” While Anna and I could still work on a few more details, I was too curious. I sent the mix we had immediately, uploading the final export to the online project folder. In return, Christian sent me an e-mail and a phone number to Mark Alton himself. #x200B; I considered whether I should really call. I thought about it for a long time. Not only could it jeopardize the job itself, but more importantly, I might not like what he had to say. This wasn’t just any project – this was… shady, at best. I just sat outside, watching the dark clouds on the horizon. I decided I needed answers. It took him four rings to answer. #x200B; I had no idea what to say. For a few seconds, I just sat there, breathing into the phone. Finally, a voice on the other end spoke up. “I know who this is,” he said. It was a tired voice. Someone who hadn’t known rest for a long time, or possibly slept at all. “I wanted to talk to you about the job,” I said. “I hope you don’t mind.” There was a deep sigh on the other end. “Might as well,” he said. “Hold on.” #x200B; I heard him get up, wander about, and return. As he did, there was the sound of something being poured just to the side of the phone. Finally, as he picked up, he smacked his lips with a relieved sigh. “Alright,” he continued. “Looks like we’re airing it.” “You weren’t sure?” “You know about the Turner Video?” he asked. “The CNN one?” “Never heard of it.” “It’s, uh… a kind of goodbye,” he said. “In case the worst comes to pass.” “Has it?” “Has what?” “Has… the worst come to pass?” There was a short pause as Mark swallowed something. He chuckled and put a glass down. “Yeah,” he said. “It has. I’ll upload the texted version in a bit.” “For broadcast?” “For broadcast.” #x200B; As the conversation faded into nothing, I updated the project folder. Sure enough, there was a final composition. I clicked it. #x200B; There were only four lines in total, all seemingly written by Mark himself. “THANK YOU FOR BEING BRAVE” “THANK YOU FOR BEING HUMAN” “WE FAILED YOU” #x200B; And finally, as the screen faded to black; **“EO EMERGES”** #x200B; I stayed on the final screen for a long time, feeling my heart rise in my chest. I was getting text after text from both Anna and Christian, both asking me if I’d seen it. Asking me what it meant. Asking me what the hell we were doing. I couldn’t bring myself to answer. I looked it up; The CNN Turner Video. Turns out it is a sort of just-in-case video to be shown at the *literal end of the world.* #x200B; The clouds on the horizon looked darker. There was a moisture in the air that I’d never felt before. Something electric. Hundreds of birds flocked over the horizon, dancing silently, as if in mourning. A text file was added to the project folder stating a time for broadcast. 13 hours. #x200B; I just sat there, feeling like I’d shrunk. I didn’t know whether to cry or scream. It all seemed so helpless, and everything looked different in this light. The news sites were reporting several new environmental record lows. Images of dead fish washing ashore in New England. Birds falling out of the sky in Florida. It’d started to seem so commonplace as of late; but looking at it again, I should’ve seen the signs. It wasn’t just record lows; it was all-time lows. At some point, I heard a car. Looking down from my balcony, I could see Anna parked out front. She honked at me, over and over, causing onlookers to stop and stare. “Get in!” she yelled. “Come on!” #x200B; I didn’t hesitate. I ran down the stairs, leaving my front door wide open. I didn’t stop to lock, to turn off the lights, to grab my charger. I just burst into a sprint. Anna had already started the car when I got in, speeding off as soon as my feet left the ground. As I struggled with the seat belt, I gave her a wide-eyed look. She was sweating bullets, her eyes wide. She’d figured it out too. #x200B; We kept going north, watching the clouds gather, feeling the winds grow stronger. As soon as the warnings started to pile up on the radio, Anna shut it off. Before I even asked her, she looked at me and said; “I can’t hear it again. I just can’t.” “Me neither.” After a while, we stopped looking at the signs and the maps. Anna broke the speed limit, driving anywhere and nowhere. For hours on end, we just kept going – hoping to outrun whatever this was. #x200B; There was a storm brewing. A cold storm, leaving specks of frost on the windshield. Water wasn’t draining away fast enough, making the roads impossibly slippery. But despite the deafening sound of ice spatter against glass, I could hear Anna’s shallow breaths. Just as shallow as mine. We were driving, desperate, hoping for a miracle. Anna was zigzagging through traffic, passing straight through every red light, struggling to keep the car straight. At one point, it looked like she was on the breaking point. She was barely keeping her eyes open; thin tears streaming down her face. “What the fuck do we do?!” she screamed, slamming her hands against the instrument panel. “What the fuck do we do?!” I didn’t have an answer. Instead, I just shook my head, stuttering for the right words. I got nothing. #x200B; As we got back on the highway, she completely lost control. A flash flood caught up with us, slinging the car all the way around, making the wheels spin and screech – failing to catch ground. As it drifted, we saw flashing lights in the distance. Firetrucks had to throw themselves on the handbrake; unable to pass through a 2-feet tall flood washing across the highway. Anna and I stepped into the storm, immediately feeling the shivers dig into our spines. A few cars behind us didn’t manage to stop in time, front-ending one another into a car pile-up. We hurried off the road as the sound of screeching metal chased us away. #x200B; Hand in hand, we kept going. Into a field, across a dirt road, and ending up at an abandoned hay loft. We settled in. We couldn’t go any further. We were frozen, drained, and panicked. This was it. For the next few hours we just sat there, waiting for whatever would come. Our phones were silent, but the wind was howling outside. There were no funny quips, no friendly banter. Just two terrified people, watching the sky break apart. #x200B; I remember that feeling. I think about it every day. That deep rumble worming its way to the surface. Not an earthquake, but something… deliberate. I remember hearing explosions in the distance – something resembling a powerful cannonade. In the small crack of the barn doors, we could see flashes in the distance. Some of which were lightning strikes – some which weren’t. Then it all went quiet. We sat there, in the dark. The storm subsided and the trees went silent. I could barely hear the world over my runaway pulse. I didn’t know what it meant, but I could feel it. #x200B; Eo emerges. An invulnerable, inevitable, cold. An end to more than I could fathom. Something so definite, so incomprehensible, that not even despair was sufficient. We held our breaths, locking our hands tight – shivering. It was all we could do. #x200B; I don’t know if it was just seconds passing or entire minutes, but at some point I felt my phone vibrate. With the passing of the storm, cell coverage returned – if barely. News alerts about flash floods and a highway pile-up. A hurricane warning, urging everyone to stay indoors. #x200B; And at the bottom of the screen, an update to our online project folder. The timestamp had changed. *To ‘cancelled’.* #x200B; I have no idea what happened that night. I don’t know what kind of 11th hour magic they managed to pull off, but I never heard from Mark again. We got paid though, but I’ve since deleted everything about that song from every backup I own. I want nothing to do with it and reminding myself of it even existing causes this dark feeling to sink into me – like slowly falling into an eternal well. Hence why I’m writing this. I want to put an end to this and move on. My therapist says that my obsessive need to watch the news for “signs” is tearing me to pieces, and I trust that she’s right. So I need to put an end to this. To acknowledge what I experienced, and how close we were to something I can’t begin to imagine. After that night, the bond that Anna and I shared is something unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. It’s like we were melded together; our lives intertwined from that day going forward. I have this feeling that whenever this airs, for real, I want her to be there with me. It’s like it was meant to be. That we’re living on borrowed time. #x200B; I hope I never get an answer to what was supposed to happen that night. But I know that the next time I hear that song will be my last.
I saw a finger where it shouldn’t have been. Moving dishes around in an old cabinet, and rearranging for the shifting of the seasons, I saw it twitching in the shadows of the corners of the wood. Oh, all the gods! what will I do? I saw a finger where it shouldn’t have been. I thought it was a worm at first, a fat writhing many-jointed multi-legged thing squirming in the dark of the oak, past paper packed plates soon to be neatly stacked behind display glass. I saw it there. Moving like a fat white maggot, not thinking or considering well I went to grab it, to remove it and excise it from the old estate sale find. But it entwined its grimy digit around mine and held it it there. And I made a guttural noise, an involuntarily call from the quivering evolutionary sirens of the lowest part of the pit of my stomach. It hooked my finger tight and tried to pull it back and I lurched in revulsion. And as it writhed it touched the light. Half rotted. No fingernail. Black like soot and now gyrating and trying to keep me pinned. I pulled away fell to the floor there. And I admit I cried out in terror then. I did. And ran to the kitchen to grab a knife and sever the foul thing and find its source. With a small flashlight from a drawer with old keys, I warred my will to flee and came again to the old antique cabinet, stained in tones of brown and red. And I looked, and I found nothing. I moved all the plates and shifted the old thing away from the wall and inspected it for cracks and incursions. I ran my hand up and down along the old paint of the house and exclaimed some curses then, I must admit, I did. For I had seen it truly, right where it shouldn’t have been. And so some weeks passed, and some days more. I sold the old cabinet and the dishes too, and I may have nailed some metal to the wall. I’d like to deny that and say it wasn’t true. And I would but for the second time, putting on an old boot, pulling at the sides to loosen up the leather enough to fix it on my foot. It caught me there again, squirming up from the darkness of the sole. Now fast like a centipede and stronger still it inched like gliding upon ice up my arm and into my shirt. And I squealed and tore the shirt from my body, spun around and then hit the ground like I was aflame. And I heard a crunch and thought for certain this foul game was done. And I spun and saw a streak of blood smeared toward a small crevice in the wall. That fleshy wretch had fooled me again and I groaned and yelled and determined I would burn my house down to the ground. Burn it down to cinders and stone and hot red ash. But I thought better of it. I stayed with friends and after a couple weeks I implored them to search. And being assured maybe it had died- if things like that could die, I returned. And it was peaceful for a while, and nothing at all was out of place. But then, in the creeping itch of a long night I went to scratch my ear and found it there, spiraling and trying to get in. I woke up in a mad frenzy. I launched myself off the bed and grabbed at the back end of the finger. It slipped away and eluded me. It shot across my neck and face, and I thought, “It’s going for my eyes!” I quickly covered both of them and began to spasm my body against the walls of the room in the darkness. I knocked over a lamp and heard it crash, and then books and finally a table too. In my misery, feeling it beginning to pry apart my ocular shield, I slammed my head against the wall. Once, twice and finally black. I fell unconscious from the hit. And when I awoke it was daylight. The only thing around me was the scene of the carnage and madness. The wreck of a room in the sun drenched aftermath of the struggle. And I want to believe it’s over now. Maybe I emerged the champion of this grotesque contest. But something is amiss. I feel an interior squirming, and an undeniable second presence somewhere in my spine and I know not what to do. For a I saw a finger where it shouldn’t have been.
#x200B; All this time, all this goddamn time, it was responsible for this. It was the one who…I’m getting ahead of myself. I’ll pick up where I left off last. It was a gruelingly slow process, but we finally managed to repair that phone I found. #x200B; #x200B; I didn’t know your blood could both boil and chill, but mine found a way. Even though the screen was still cracked, we could still use a cable to hook it up to Malcolm’s TV on mute of course. However, when we turned it on, we were met with a blast of static. That drove up the panic meter to full. #x200B; #x200B; “Turn it off. Turn it off,” Dean urged, gritting through his teeth. #x200B; “It’s not working,” Malcolm replied, frantically hammering his thumb on the power button. “How is it even making static?” #x200B; #x200B; It only got louder as if it sensed our fear. I was nearest to the window so I peeked through the blinds to see the creatures now lumbering in our direction. #x200B; #x200B; “They’re coming this way,” I said. #x200B; #x200B; I turned back to the others. #x200B; #x200B; “Fuck this,” Mickey said and raised his gun. #x200B; #x200B; That’s when the static began changing. As it did, my hands trembled almost like I instinctually knew what was about to appear. #x200B; #x200B; “No, it can’t be,” I said. #x200B; “Zane, what’s wrong?” Stella asked. #x200B; #x200B; The familiar image of a pink cobra-shaped cloud with ruby-red eyes greeted us on screen. When it did, the sounds of the monsters outside ceased. I glanced back outside and saw the creatures were hesitating. It was as though they were scavengers and some larger predator had awoken nearby. That’s how we knew it wasn’t merely a video on the screen. #x200B; #x200B; “Ludus,” I said im a breath I didn’t know I was holding. #x200B; #x200B; Its face changed into an expression vaguely resembling a smile. #x200B; #x200B; “I see so the other player failed. No matter, as long as there are others, this game is not yet done.” #x200B; #x200B; It’s eyes focused unsettlingly on me. I wanted to avert my gaze. Instead, I stood firm. #x200B; #x200B; “Ludus,” I said in a breath I hadn’t even realized I was holding, #x200B; #x200B; It must have heard the venom in my voice because it feigned offense. #x200B; #x200B; “Zane, is that any way to speak to….An old friend?” #x200B; #x200B; Those words made my legs feel like jelly. This thing apparently knew me. Despite the dryness now in my throat, I managed to force out a response. #x200B; #x200B; “I consider you many things. A friend will never be one of them.” #x200B; “Is that so? That’s too bad. Perhaps I need to jog your memory.” #x200B; #x200B; My vision suddenly began doubling. This was followed by the worst migraine I’ve ever had. It was like someone was power-drilling directly into my temple. Dean and Stella kept shouting my name, but they may as well have been miles away. Then I was barraged with a flash of images. There was a statue by a lake of one black snake and one white snake intertwined. There was a maroon house with a treehouse in the front yard. Then I saw what I can only assume was a child’s room, judging by all the toys lying about. There were voices The last thing I got from that experience were two voices. #x200B; #x200B; I couldn’t understand them because they were distorted and yet they were familiar to me. After that, everything went dark. #x200B; #x200B; “Zane,” I faintly heard Dean yell, “Shit, he’s having some kind of seizure.” #x200B; #x200B; He and Stella kept shouting my name, Ludus cackled and my vision returned. My rapid breathing slowed down and I could see again. Dean and Stella helped me up. #x200B; #x200B; “I hope you had a pleasant nap, Zane,” Ludus said. #x200B; #x200B; I was too weak to respond. #x200B; #x200B; “Enough of this shit,” Mickey growled and raised his gun. “Tell us how to get out of this now.” #x200B; #x200B; #x200B; Somehow, I didn’t think Ludus was intimidated. #x200B; #x200B; “That’s exactly what I was about to do. First, let me tell you all about the original player. He made a bet with me. If he won, his debts would be wiped away, but you already know how that turned out. A stipulation was that when the game started, something of his would go missing. In his case, it was the memory of our conversation.” #x200B; #x200B; “So you cheated,” Stella said. #x200B; “I only initiate the game. Whatever that causes to happen is out of my control.” #x200B; “What exactly was this game?” Malcolm asks. #x200B; “A scavenger hunt of sorts, there were previously three items to find. Now there are four. Since your situation is less than ideal, nothing will be taken from you upon joining this game.” #x200B; #x200B; “How generous of you,” I sarcastically replied, my strength slowly returning, “but it’s still pretty stacked against us with those things outside.” #x200B; #x200B; “Fair enough, they shall be moved before we start. Let’s say, I scatter them in different areas. None will be near your current location. How does that sound?” #x200B; #x200B; "If we win, will the people who vanished come back?" #x200B; Ludus thought for a moment. #x200B; #x200B; "As I said, how a game behaves once it begins is out of my control. They might return. They might not. I tire of talking. Do you accept these terms or not?" #x200B; #x200B; I looked at the others. Dean nodded. #x200B; #x200B; #x200B; “Fine, we’ll accept the challenge and beat you.” #x200B; #x200B; Ludus chuckled. #x200B; #x200B; “When did I say I would be the one you would be facing?” #x200B; “Wait, what do you mean?” #x200B; #x200B; ‘The other played against an underling of mine. I do hope you have fun with them. Before I go, I’ll say that you’ll know what you are looking for when you see it. The game will officially begin when you step outside. If you complete your task before it reaches this home you win and if you don't, well, at least you tried.” #x200B; #x200B; Malcolm’s TV shut off, leaving a strong air of apprehension over us. #x200B; #x200B; “What now?" he asked. "First, we need to survey where we need to go and what we have to work with," Dean replied. #x200B; #x200B; We took inventory while Mickey used his binoculars to see out the windows. For our weapons, we each only had a handful of special ammo. Considering, the odds, this would take careful treading. Mickey informed us that he noticed rays of light going to the clouds from four separate locations. We could only assume these were the items. #x200B; #x200B; “There was something odd about the last one, though,” he said. “It was moving.” #x200B; “That’s going to be a pain,” Stella said. “Is there anything else we should know?” #x200B; “See for yourself, Check the sky.” #x200B; #x200B; Using Mickey’s binoculars, we saw something stirring far off on the other side of town. It almost seemed to be swimming among the storm clouds. Its size was incomprehensible and we were glad its true appearance was obscured. After some discussion, we decided the best course of action would be to split into different groups. #x200B; #x200B; “Who’s going with who then?” I asked. #x200B; “Hang on,” Malcolm replied, “I want to come with you.” #x200B; #x200B; This was surprising. #x200B; #x200B; “Malcolm, I hate to be blunt, but we’re not even sure about our chances and we’ve been doing this kind of stuff for a long time. You’d be more of a liability than anything,” Dean said. #x200B; “I know the layout of this town better than any of you. I’ve been sneaking around before any of you arrived so I have a better understanding of those things’ behavior.” #x200B; #x200B; He had a point. #x200B; #x200B; “I don’t know how to use a gun, but I can run fast. If one of you covers me, I can help you out.” #x200B; “Could you give us a second to discuss things?” Stella asked. #x200B; “Sure.” #x200B; #x200B; #x200B; It took a lot of back and forth to settle on the decision to bring Malcolm along. #x200B; #x200B; "Listen," Dean said to him, "Since you know the layout of the town, are there any shortcuts you know of?" #x200B; "Yeah, a few, let me jot them down real quick." #x200B; #x200B; Once we each had a note of the routes we'd be following along with some supplies, we headed to the front door. Dean and Stella would be grouping up. Malcolm would be with me and Mickey would be going solo. #x200B; #x200B; "Are you sure you don't want to come with one of us?" I asked. #x200B; "Don't worry. I can be stealthy when I need to. Now, let's move out." #x200B; #x200B; Stepping outside acted as a trigger for the thing in the sky on the other side of town. It began moving in our direction. Based on its speed, we estimated we only had about two hours to win. We wished each other good luck and then split up. I followed Malcolm. #x200B; #x200B; "How many bullets do you have again?" he asked as we jogged. #x200B; "Eight in my gun and two fast loaders." #x200B; "Is that regular or the special ammo you guys told me about?" #x200B; "Special, I have a lot of the regular kind too, but it doesn't do much against them." #x200B; #x200B; Our destination was the local elementary school. Meanwhile, Dean and Stella were heading to the fountain with a statue of the town's founder. Mickey was going to the movie theater. It took Malcolm and I half an hour just to reach the school. That was with shortcutting through the forest. #x200B; #x200B; "Stay low," he instructed as we got closer. #x200B; #x200B; We used the trees as cover and soon reached the schoolyard. #x200B; #x200B; "Oh no," Malcolm murmured. #x200B; #x200B; In front of the school were the creatures. There had to be at least a hundred and seeing them made my chest tighten. #x200B; #x200B; "Do you think we can sneak around them?" I asked. #x200B; "No good, there is a tree that stretches to the roof, but we'd need to get past the clearing for the road to reach it." #x200B; #x200B; I looked around and then upward at the power lines which I noticed went past the school. #x200B; #x200B; "Hey, Malcolm?" #x200B; "Yeah?" #x200B; "Do you want to hear a really stupid idea?" #x200B; #x200B; The only good thing about our situation was that no electricity was circulating through the power lines. #x200B; #x200B; "Did you say stupid?" Malcolm asked. "I think you meant insane." #x200B; #x200B; We were currently walking on the powerline with our arms held out for balance. This was the most nerve-racking thing I've ever done. Between the monsters below, how high we were up, and the fact it was pouring meant a single slip would be game over. Growing up, this sort of thing was a routine part of my training. #x200B; #x200B; Unfortunately, there’s a limit to how much practice can teach a person. Dean has taught me that there’s no better educator than experience. Granted, that wasn’t the first time I’d been in this sort of predicament. The difference was I had to look out for someone who wasn’t nearly as experienced with this kind of thing. #x200B; #x200B; A majority of balancing is mental. You have to keep your nerve. This was easier said than done especially under our given circumstances. Despite each step seeming like a mile, we eventually made it to the tree that connected to an upper classroom window. #x200B; #x200B; “Hang on, is it even going to be unlocked?” I whispered, now scolding myself for not considering this sooner. #x200B; “Yeah, they tend not to bother locking them during the hotter months. I need to hurry up with this because I don’t know how long that branch will support my weight.” #x200B; #x200B; Malcolm grabbed a knot in the tree and then hoisted himself over. There was a tense moment when it jounced and he managed to hold on. He shot me a thumbs-up and then knelt down. With a grunt of effort, he lifted the window. Risking a glance, I noticed some creatures were wandering toward our area. #x200B; #x200B; “Come on,” Malcolm urged. #x200B; #x200B; One step on the bough and we both heard a sharp crack. Instinct saved me then. I didn’t think. I just dove for the window, landing on a classroom floor. #x200B; #x200B; “Shit, that was close. Are you okay?” #x200B; “I’ll be fine. Close the window.” #x200B; #x200B; I used a desk to pull myself to my feet. Outside, the creatures were gathered around the fallen limb as if expecting it to do something. #x200B; #x200B; “Good thing they aren’t that bright,” Malcolm said. #x200B; “With their numbers, they don’t need to be.” #x200B; #x200B; #x200B; We went out into the hall and there we saw backpacks and books scattered all over the floor. Students were leaving and then fell victim to Ludus’s twisted game. Malcolm stopped and picked up one of the books. I saw it belonged to the Magic Treehouse series. I remember Dean got me a stack of those for my eighth birthday. #x200B; #x200B; “I didn’t want this,” Malcolm said. #x200B; “What do you mean?” #x200B; #x200B; #x200B; During our stay at his house, we talked a lot. It wasn’t about anything important, more things to keep ourselves distracted. Now, it seemed that he wanted to open up more. #x200B; #x200B; “I always wished people would just leave me alone. Maybe that’s why I was the only one it missed.” #x200B; #x200B; I’ll be the first to admit I’m not the best at comforting someone. Maybe it’s because I’ve been through so much shit it’s made me emotionally numb in some areas. I’ll try, though and I’ll listen. #x200B; #x200B; “I’ve been doing this sort of thing for over a decade now. Sometimes things like this just happen. Whatever the reason you survived, don’t let it go to waste.” #x200B; “You’re right.” #x200B; #x200B; With a sigh, Malcolm put the book down. #x200B; #x200B; “I didn’t want people around, but I still wanted them around. Sorry, that probably doesn’t make any sense.” #x200B; “No, I get exactly what you mean.” #x200B; #x200B; Locating the item in question didn’t take long on account of the glow it gave off. It turned out to be a flask that we found sitting on the principal’s desk. #x200B; #x200B; “I take it he wasn’t too fond of his job,” I quipped. #x200B; “From what I heard, he always had a bit of a drinking problem, but his job certainly didn’t help.” #x200B; #x200B; Malcolm went into the office and was about to grab the flask. Another thing I learned growing up was to trust your gut. #x200B; #x200B; “Wait,” I called out. #x200B; #x200B; He stopped. #x200B; #x200B; “Is something wrong?” “Doesn’t this seem a little too easy?” #x200B; #x200B; He looked at the flask and then back to me. #x200B; #x200B; “What do you propose we do then?” #x200B; “Let’s search around first for something that might help us.” #x200B; #x200B; Doing so gave us a pair of car keys. #x200B; #x200B; “That could work,” I said. #x200B; #x200B; I made sure my gun was ready and then signaled to Malcolm. #x200B; #x200B; “Here’s goes nothing,” he told me and grabbed the flask. #x200B; #x200B; The resulting noise could have woken the dead. It was like someone hooked up an airhorn to the world’s largest megaphone. It didn’t take long for the noise of shattering glass to reach us. Leaving the principal’s office, we made sure to stay low. #x200B; #x200B; “They’re probably coming in from the front and back entrances. There’s another exit on the basement level.” #x200B; #x200B; Malcolm once again led the way with me ready to give him cover. By the time we reached the door connecting to the basement, we could already hear them in the connecting halls. We descended the stairs and then booked it to the exit. Before we went out, we looked out the window to survey the area. The creatures wandering about outside meant we’d need to come up with a plan fast. #x200B; #x200B; “I’ll draw their attention and you find the car the keys go to. Got it?” I asked. #x200B; “Yeah, I’ll try to hurry up with that.” #x200B; “Alright, count of three we head out.” #x200B; “Okay. I’m ready when you are.” #x200B; #x200B; We pressed our shoulders against the double doors. #x200B; #x200B; “One…Two…Three!” #x200B; #x200B; Pushing them open, our plan was to beeline for the car. Unfortunately, we were met with a horde of those monsters. #x200B; #x200B; “Get the car started. I’ll hold them off,” I shouted, then fired at them. #x200B; #x200B; Most of them took the bait and focused on me. Unfortunately, some were still going for Malcolm. Aiming from that distance was already hard enough. The rain on top of that meant I may as well have been firing blindfolded. I figured if I aimed high and fanned my shots, I could hit some of them without putting Malcolm in the line of fire. #x200B; #x200B; Luckily, this worked and I saw them crumple to the ground. However, with the horde after me, I couldn’t protect him for long. They followed me in a circle around the building. I wasn’t running for long, but I was straining just to stay ahead of them. #x200B; #x200B; I considered squeezing off a few shots behind me and decided against it. The last thing I needed was to not be able to see where I was going. My lungs felt like they were going to burst at any moment. That’s when Malcolm pulled ahead of me and put down the back windows. One of the monster’s hands nearly got me and I had to duck to avoid its swipe. #x200B; #x200B; In a last burst of speed, I dove into the backseat. #x200B; #x200B; “Floor it,” I screamed. #x200B; #x200B; One of them tried jumping in after me and managed to grab my leg as the car was moving. Cursing, I fired directly into its head, making it let go and causing its lifeless body to roll on the road. #x200B; #x200B; “Hey, I don’t see the other lights. Does that mean the others succeeded?” Malcolm asked. #x200B; “I’ll check.” #x200B; #x200B; One of the supplies we bought was our radios. I turned it on and spoke into it, informing the others we had the object we were looking for. Dean and Stella responded right away followed by Mickey. #x200B; #x200B; “We got ours too. It was a silver dollar someone threw in the fountain,” Dean said. #x200B; “Are you still there?” I asked. #x200B; “No, we’ve barricaded ourselves in a nearby store,” Stella answered. “I don’t know how much longer we could hold them off.” #x200B; #x200B; Malcolm and I gave each other worried looks before I responded. #x200B; #x200B; “And what about you Mickey?” #x200B; “I found mine and it’s one of those old film reels and right now I’m holed up in a projection booth. If they find me, I’ll go down fighting.” #x200B; #x200B; This meant it was up to us to find the fourth item. That thing in the sky was already over us. We knew we didn’t have long until it reached Maclolm’s house. #x200B; #x200B; “Okay, everyone hold on a little while loner,” I said, “We’re going to finish this!” #x200B; #x200B; We drove to the light of the fourth item. According to Malcolm, it was currently coming from the park. #x200B; #x200B; “What could it be?” I asked. #x200B; “I don’t know, but if it’s moving we might have another fight on our hands.” #x200B; #x200B; That was the understatement of the century. When we got to the park, they were there and their numbers made what we faced at the school feel like child’s play, no pun intended. #x200B; #x200B; “How are we going to get past them?”Malcolm asked. #x200B; “Can’t we just drive around them?” #x200B; #x200B; He considered this and shrugged. #x200B; #x200B; “I suppose it’s worth a shot.” #x200B; #x200B; #x200B; We had to drive through the fence in order to get into the park. More of the creatures were inside. #x200B; #x200B; “Of course, they’re here too,” Malcolm breathed. “How many bullets do you have left?” #x200B; #x200B; I checked and cursed under my breath. #x200B; #x200B; “Half in the revolver and another fast loader so twelve in total. Do you see what we need to find?” “No, I-” #x200B; #x200B; Malcolm coked his head. Confused, I leaned forward to check what he was seeing and saw a cat running on the grass with a bright aura surrounding it. #x200B; #x200B; “That’s not what I was expecting,” I said. #x200B; "This is horseshit. There's no way we'll grab it in time." #x200B; #x200B; There were some gas station bags in the principal's car. I reached into them. #x200B; #x200B; "What are you doing?" #x200B; "Seeing if there's something in here that can save us." #x200B; #x200B; My hand grasped something that made me gasp. #x200B; #x200B; "What is it?" Malcolm asked, concerned. #x200B; #x200B; I pulled out a half-full bag of beef jerky. #x200B; #x200B; "Hell yeah," Malcolm laughed, looking back at me. "We got this in the-" #x200B; "Look out," I shouted, pointing. #x200B; #x200B; It was too late. We crashed into a tree, causing the windshield to shatter, Malcolm to hit his head on the steering wheel and me to lurch forward and bump my head against the dashboard. Groaning we tumbled out of the car, the bag of beef jerky still in my hand. #x200B; #x200B; "Shit, we were so close," I said. #x200B; #x200B; The monsters were headed for ours, ready to do, I don't even want to think about what, to us. #x200B; #x200B; "I'm sorry," Malcolm told me. "I fucked it up for all of us." #x200B; #x200B; The jerky fell out of the bag and onto my chest. At that moment, there was a meow near us. We glanced over. The cat was trotting over. It climbed onto me and picked up a piece of jerky in its mouth. #x200B; #x200B; The creatures were nearly on us when a flash of light washed over us. In the sky, the entity was becoming more visible. #x200B; #x200B; "Close your eyes," I ordered as I was squeezing mine shut. #x200B; #x200B; There was this sound like moving concrete and then we no longer heard the rain. We opened our eyes to find our attackers along with the rain gone. We sat up and tossed aside our coats. #x200B; #x200B; "Does this mean we won?" Malcolm asked. #x200B; #x200B; It seemed that way, but there was only one way to find out. I turned on my radio again. #x200B; #x200B; "Everyone, are you alright? What do you see?" #x200B; #x200B; For a brief while there was no response, and then Dean, Stella, and Mickey told us the people in town were back. #x200B; #x200B; "We won," Malcolm exclaimed, laughing again. "We fucking won." #x200B; #x200B; He fist-pumped and winced. #x200B; #x200B; "I'm happy too, but we might want to take it easy." #x200B; "Yeah, that's probably a good idea. Hey, look there's people here too." #x200B; #x200B; Right away, we could tell something was off. The main reason being we were by a crashed car in the middle of the park and none of them were the least bit curious. My radio crackled and I answered. #x200B; #x200B; "Hey, there's something off about-" #x200B; "Is this prize not what you were expecting?" #x200B; #x200B; Ludus's snide voice came from the speaker. My grip tightened. #x200B; #x200B; "What did you do?" #x200B; "Me? Nothing, it's simply what the game chose to give you." #x200B; #x200B; Malcolm snatched the radio from my hand. #x200B; #x200B; "No, we beat your stupid game fair and square so you put these people back the way they were now," he screamed. #x200B; #x200B; Ludus only laughed. For a moment I thought Malcolm was going to smash the radio. While I would have preferred it if he didn't, it would've been understandable if he did. #x200B; #x200B; "The circumstances of this contest were unusual which meant the prize of it was bound to be as well. However, if you really want to fix everything you can always issue another challenge." #x200B; #x200B; Malcolm drew in a breath and then shut off the radio. Over the next few hours, we contacted HQ. They sent some people over and the town was put under quarantine. Medics checked on us and thankfully our injuries were minimal. As the others were explaining what happened, I talked with Malcolm. #x200B; #x200B; "Do you think you guys will be able to help these people?" #x200B; "We can try. Are you planning on staying here?" #x200B; #x200B; Malcolm thought for a moment and shook his head. #x200B; #x200B; "No, there's not anything left for me here. I want to start somewhere fresh." #x200B; #x200B; I smiled. #x200B; #x200B; "Best of luck." #x200B; #x200B; We shook hands and parted ways. I watched him leave. #x200B; #x200B; "You seem to be taking everything well," Dean said as he came up behind me. #x200B; "Hey, we have to celebrate the small victories when we can, right?" #x200B; "Good point, come on. HQ is giving us a lift back to our state's airport." #x200B; "What about Stella?" #x200B; "She said she'll drive. Oh, and she told me to tell you she hasn't forgotten about the puppy." #x200B; #x200B; I rolled my eyes. Of course, she didn't. #x200B; #x200B; "I'll get back to her about that after I talk with Brice and Sheila." #x200B; #x200B; Dean patted my shoulder. #x200B; #x200B; "Good man." #x200B; #x200B; There was another meow and I felt something brush against my leg. The cat was back. #x200B; #x200B; "I think he likes you." #x200B; #x200B; On his tag was the name Herbie. It's been over four hours since then. During the trip back I typed this all out. I'm home now and Herbie is with me. It's a shame about his original owner, whoever they were. #x200B; #x200B; Still, I suppose it is a nice change of pace and he seems friendly enough. I want to show him to Sheila and Brice. Speaking of, I sent them a text letting them know I'm back. I know I'll have a hell of a lot of explaining to do tomorrow. For now, I'm going to enjoy my own bed for the first time in a month. #x200B; #x200B; #x200B;
I managed to find the second part of the report which contains the rest of Ms. Varn's record of her time in the mansion. Unfortunately, I can't include anymore of the police interview because the entire thing has been redacted in the copy I found. Anyway, please consider providing an anonymous tip if you possess any relevant information to this case. Case File: #2023-109 Date: September 25, 2023 This report documents a significant development in our ongoing investigation into \[REDACTED\] in rural areas, previously believed to be unrelated. A recent \[REDACTED\] these cases. Ms. Varn was found in a severely weakened state and is currently receiving medical care. Part Two of Samantha Varn’s written account of the events: When my eyes fluttered open once more, the room remained dimly lit, but a heavy shroud of sickness had settled upon me, blurring the edges of my awareness. New and unsettling symptoms had joined the fray, deepening my concern. A cold sweat bathed my clammy skin, and my limbs felt leaden, as if weighed down by invisible chains. Each breath came with an effort, the air thick and oppressive. I turned my gaze to the bedside table and noticed an arrangement of items, including note in Michael’s handwriting explaining that the glass of water and pills were meant to alleviate my fever and nausea. It was then that I realized Michael’s side of the bed was vacant. But I didn’t have time to figure out where he’d gone. This sickness was tightening its grip on me, and I was running out of time. I couldn't remain passive any longer. If I was being poisoned, I needed to get medical attention, and soon. Contemplating my limited options, I weighed the risks of attempting an escape. The mansion was located in a secluded area, and I couldn't be certain how far I could get on foot in my current state. The thought of fleeing into the unknown without a clear destination filled me with dread. But perhaps I could find Michael’s keys in here somewhere? As I began to rise from the bed, my eyes caught something peculiar in the dimly lit room. There was a subtle glint of red, the same glint I had dismissed the other night as a trick of the eyes. In the darkness, I couldn’t figure out what exactly it was coming from, but a sense of foreboding crept over me. My footfalls were hushed as I cautiously approached the far corner of the room. There, the elusive red glint finally resolved into focus, leaving me initially bewildered. Before me, the only discernible object was a well-loved stuffed bear, innocently seated in its customary corner. Why would a stuffed toy emit such an eerie red light? From the depths of my foggy mind, a distant memory surfaced—a voice, my mother's voice, "Sam, be cautious when you stay at places you're not familiar with. I read a horrifying story about Airbnb owners secretly putting hidden cameras in their rentals. They hide them in things like smoke detectors and alarm clocks…” I stared at the bear, and it was then that I realized that the bear was staring back. And someone, whether it was Eleanor, Victor, or even Michael, was watching. Panic surged within me as I contemplated my next move. I was certain that my expression had given away my realization, so I needed to come up with a plan, and quickly. In a swift, deliberate motion, I decided to knock over the bear before moving to the center of the room. My footsteps were loud and deliberate, making it sound like I was heading for the exit. This could my best chance to fool whoever was watching into thinking I had left the room. Then, as silently as I could, I maneuvered my body under the bed and hid there, trying to steady my rapid breaths. The seconds ticked by like hours as I strained my ears to catch any sign of movement or conversation outside the room. It wasn't long before I heard hushed voices coming from another hallway in the direction of the bathroom. My heart pounded even harder as I listened – Eleanor and Victor were searching for me. “We can’t let her escape.” Victor hissed, his voice laden with urgency. Eleanor agreed, and I listened as the two of them conferred in hushed tones. With each passing moment, their voices grew fainter as they moved farther down the corridor. This was my chance. I couldn't stay hidden under the bed forever, and I needed to learn more about what was happening in this mansion. I eased myself out from under the bed and silently made my way to the door. I still had no idea where Michael was, but I couldn’t just stay here, so I’d have to take the risk that I might run into him as I moved throughout the mansion. The hall outside was lit only by moonlight, and I could hear the faint echoes of footsteps in the distance. It seemed Eleanor and Victor gone downstairs, likely thinking I was heading for the front door, so for now, I was relatively safe on the upper floor. Still, the urgency of my situation pressed upon me, like a vice around my chest. If they were closing in on the exits downstairs, any attempt to leave would prove futile. Escaping was out of the question, but with every passing moment, my need for medical attention grew more urgent. My only hope rested in finding information about an antidote, something, anything that could save me from the poison coursing through my veins. I stood there in the suffocating darkness, contemplating my limited options as panic began to bubble within me. Michael, Eleanor, and Victor were deeply connected to this place, their secrets hidden within its walls. I needed to think like them, to consider where they might have concealed information about the antidote. As I mulled over our shared experiences in this nightmarish mansion, one place stood out in my mind: the room with the suspicious open door. It had seemed significant to Michael, that much was clear. There must be a reason why he didn't want me to see it. With a sinking feeling, I realized that if this room held the answers I needed, it might also be locked. I needed to find the key – the key to my possible salvation. But where would I start looking? The upstairs was vast and labyrinthine; it could be anywhere. Worried I'd been standing in one place for too long, I continued to move forward, my steps muffled by the plush carpet. While walking, my mind wandered back to the night I had first noticed the red light in the corner of my room, and the eerie figure I had glimpsed in the hallway. At the time, I had dismissed it as a trick of my imagination, but now, with the weight of suspicion on my shoulders, I considered another possibility. What if someone had been watching me that night? If they were so concerned about me leaving the mansion, perhaps… perhaps it was Victor who I’d seen, making sure I didn’t do anything I wasn’t supposed to. After all, Michael had been in bed with me, and the figure had been far to tall to be Eleanor. I froze in place, anxiety coursing through me as I wiped the sweat from my forehead with trembling hands. If my suspicion held any truth, Eleanor and Victor's bedroom might be located down that very corridor. Perhaps they had the key? It was worth a shot. Returning to the corridor, I proceeded methodically, checking each door with the utmost care, determined to remain as silent as possible. But it didn't take long before the distant sound of approaching footsteps reached my ears, injecting a renewed sense of urgency into my quest. I fumbled with sweaty hands, jiggling one doorknob after another, my desperation mounting. Each failed attempt added to the torment of impending discovery. The footsteps were nearly upon me, their rhythm growing ever more menacing. With a final, desperate push, I tried one last door, and it gave way with a soft creak. I slipped inside the room, my heart in my throat, and closed the door as gently as I could. My heart raced, and my breath came in shallow, frantic gasps as I moved deeper into the room. Beyond the door, the footsteps grew closer with the sound of impending danger. My eyes darted around the room, my blurry vision making it even more difficult to see the outlines of furniture and objects in the darkness. But I needed to hide. I reached a hand into the darkness, trying to feel my way into the room to find something I could tuck myself behind. My fingers brushed against a cold, hard surface, and I realized I had found the edge of a heavy, wooden wardrobe. With cautious movements, I eased myself behind it, crouching low to the ground. The footsteps paused just in front of the door, and my heart felt like it might leap out of my chest. I pressed my back against the wall as the doorknob finally turned. A sliver of moonlight from the corridor spilled into the room, casting eerie shadows on the floor as the door creaked open slowly. I listened, frozen in terror, as the figure on the other side of the door stepped into the room. And then, with a sharp click, the room's light was switched on. The room's light burst forth, and for a brief moment, I was blinded by its sudden intensity. From what I could see, it turned out I’d managed to find Victor and Eleanor’s bedroom, but it was too late. I was certain I would be found, that my heart would betray my presence with its deafening thuds. But then, just as quickly as the light came on, it was gone again, and whoever had entered the room shut the door behind them. Waiting for the footsteps to disappear, I remained crouched behind the heavy wooden wardrobe. My eyes darted around the room, strained and blurry, as I wondered where to look for the key I needed. Perhaps a dresser or a desk held the key? Silently and unsteadily, I rose to my feet and began to explore. I decided to start with a large wooden dresser on the far side of the room. It loomed like a monolith in the darkness. My fingers fumbled in the obscurity as I cautiously pulled open the dresser drawers one by one, searching for anything that might resemble a key. The drawers yielded a trove of clothing, neatly folded and organized, but no key. I felt a growing sense of frustration and anxiety as I realized that time was slipping away, and I was growing weaker by the minute, a sensation of pins and needles now spreading from my fingertips to my toes. I couldn't help but wonder about the nature of the drug they had administered to me. What purpose did it serve? If they wanted me dead, why hadn’t they done it while I was sleeping? For a moment, I considered surrendering to the numbness and fatigue that threatened to overtake me, but then, just when hope seemed to be slipping away, my fingers brushed against a cold, metallic surface buried beneath a stack of letters on the small writing desk. I grasped it and pulled it free, my heart pounding with anticipation. It was a key, its edges worn and tarnished, but it held the promise of answers. Now came the most daunting part of my plan—making my way through the maze of hallways and finding my way back to where I had seen the open door. Even in the daylight, it had been a bewildering route, but in my current state, it felt like a near-impossible task. But what choice did I have? I couldn’t stay in here forever. For all I knew, I could be dead in the next hour if I didn’t figure out what they'd given me. With the key clutched tightly in my hand, I ventured out of Victor and Eleanor's bedroom and into the dimly lit corridor. Every step was a struggle, every corner an obstacle to be overcome. The mansion seemed to conspire against me, its layout designed to confound and disorient. My vision continued to betray me, and the numbness in my limbs only grew more pronounced. I was somewhere deep within the maze of hallways when I heard footsteps again. My heart raced as I strained to listen. There were two distinct sets approaching this time, and panic surged within me as I realized that every door in this hallway was locked, leaving me with no place to hide. I had no choice but to turn back. I’d done my best to etch every corner and turn into my memory. Left at the end of this hall, then another left. Through the third door, and turn right. I walked briskly, my senses on high alert. But as I reached what should have been the next move, dread settled in. Something wasn't right. There was supposed to be a door there, an unlocked door leading back to the bedroom. My heart pounded louder as the voices of Michael and Eleanor grew louder too, drawing nearer with each passing second. I was trapped at a dead end, and there was nowhere to hide. I pressed my body up against the wall, flattening myself into the wallpaper as though I could merge with the shadows. My mind raced, searching for any last-minute solution, but the darkness offered no solace. My heart felt like it might explode as their figures came into view. Michael and Eleanor walked side by side, their voices hushed as they continued their conversation. Michael's voice carried a tone of solemnity. "…We mustn't underestimate the significance... Eleanor hummed in agreement. “It’s been passed down through generations, and now it falls to us to carry it out." Their voices faded as they turned in the opposite direction, and I released a breath I didn't realize I had been holding. I wasn’t sure if I could take another close call like that, so I had to move quickly. Once the sound of footsteps receded, I pushed through the darkness. At this point, with no energy to spare, I didn't bother keeping track of directions. But I could tell, after passing through numerous dark rooms and corridors, that I was getting close when the wallpaper changed. The familiar pattern I had seen before came into view, and my heart leaped with hope. But it didn't last long. “Samantha, where are you?” Michael’s voiced reverberated off the walls, bouncing at me from every direction. I spun around, panic gripping me like a vice. I couldn't tell where his voice was coming from, or how far away he was. It was as if the very walls were taunting me, distorting sound and space. "Come on out Samantha!” he called again, the desperation in his voice cutting through the darkness. I swallowed the lump forming in my throat, my body trembling from fear and exhaustion. The poisoned haze in my mind was becoming more pronounced, and I could taste the metallic tang of blood in my mouth. Holding back sobs, I pushed forward as Michael's voice continued to echo through the corridor, now mixing with Eleanor and Victor’s shouts and taunts. “There’s no way out, Samantha…” “Why don’t you make all our lives easier and just tell us where you are?” With the key still clutched tightly in my hand, I stumbled through an open set of double doors into a large room, the world spinning around me. My legs gave way, and I collapsed to the floor, gasping for breath. My vision swirled with darkness and disorientation. I laid there for what could have been one moment or thirty, time a muddled blur in my addled mind. The room around me seemed both familiar and strange, its details dancing in and out of focus. Shadows played tricks on my exhausted senses, and I fought to regain control over my trembling limbs. But this room… there was something so familiar about this room… Through the haze of my delirium, I managed to lift my head and focus on the outline of potted plant sitting quietly in the corner. Recognition flooded my foggy mind, and I knew in an instant that this was the room with the door I'd glimpsed before. I’d found it. I’d found it. Just one more push and I’d be inside. I began to crawl across the floor, digging my nails into the carpet, the teeth of the key pressing into my palm. Each movement felt like an agonizing effort, and I could no longer remain silent amidst my suffering. I groaned between ragged breaths and licked salty tears from my lips. But I was so close now. Just a couple more feet. Gritting my teeth against the pain and exhaustion, I ignored the fact that Michael’s voice was growing louder. I ignored him telling me he knew where I was and that he was coming for me. Pushing myself onto my knees, I fumbled with the key, my shaking fingers struggling to find the right position. Michael's voice grew nearer, echoing in the corridor, and I could hear the faint click of a flashlight being turned on. With every second that passed, my desperation increased, my breaths coming in short, frantic gasps. The key refused to cooperate, slipping from my grasp as I fought to steady my hand. Michael finally reached the room, his flashlight falling upon me as a a vicious shout left his lips. But then I managed to find the right angle. The lock turned with a satisfying click and I reached up for the doorknob. He must have lunged forward, because I felt his fingers brush against my shoulder, a desperate attempt to grab hold of me. But it was too late. Adrenaline coursed through my veins, and I flung myself through the open doorway with all the strength I could muster. The lock clicked into place just in the nick of time, and I leaned against the door, gasping for breath. All around me, dust hung in the air like a shroud, and old furniture was draped in heavy, moth-eaten cloths. Cobwebs adorned the corners, weaving a tapestry of neglect. I scanned the faded posters of women plastered on the far wall. They were a bizarre collage, a montage of women, all of them young and beautiful. But I recognized some of them. These weren't just posters of random women; they were missing persons posters. These were women whose disappearances had made headlines, their stories filled with despair and unanswered questions. As the chilling realization settled over me, Michael's desperate fists hammered against the old wooden door. With every thud, I clutched the key even tighter, my knuckles turning white from the tension. I turned to face the door, watching as it rattled on its hinges with each furious blow; it protested with eerie, mournful creaks between his cries of fury and desperation. But the door held steadfast, its ancient lock offering me a sliver of sanctuary. As I stared and my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I could finally make out a carving above the door, made with crude yet deliberate strokes into the wood – a Roman numeral, 73. A memory stirred within me, like a faint echo from the past, a glimpse of clarity amidst the chaos. Eleanor's laughter, that hint of nostalgia in her voice. "I couldn’t bear to change it," she had said about her bedroom. “That’s very sweet.” I had smiled then, amused by the quaintness of it all, unaware of the sinister truth lurking beneath the surface. But now, in this moment of desperation, I remembered their words. Michael and Victor reminiscing about "73," about an old rope ladder. It was more than a mere memory; it was a clue, a way out. I began to search the room. My eyes scanned the corners, the walls, and every inch of the floor for any sign, any hint of that ladder Victor had mentioned. Outside, the pounding on the door continued, growing more frenzied by the second. By now I could tell that more fists had joined the fight, their combined efforts shaking the ancient door in its frame. Amidst the chaos, I heard Victor's voice, a calm and deliberate contrast. "It’s no use – we need to pick the lock.” My heart skipped a beat as the words reached me, followed by the sound of something being jammed into door. I frantically moved aside moth-eaten cloths and inspected the room until my fingers brushed against something hard and rough. I followed the sensation and uncovered an old wooden chest hidden beneath layers of dust and fabric. My heart pounded as I opened the chest, and there it was—a coiled rope ladder, weathered and aged, but intact. There was no time to be relieved. I raced to the window, my heart pounding as I fumbled to attach the rope ladder as behind me, I could hear the doorknob jiggling. With the ladder in place, I wasted no time. I descended, rung by rung, bathed in the silvery glow of the moon as I made my escape. The ladder didn't reach the ground. I had to jump from at least ten feet. But then my feet were in the cool, damp grass and I ran. The world outside was a blur, my vision clouded by the poison and exhaustion, but somehow my legs kept moving. The mansion was secluded, hidden away from prying eyes. But as I sprinted through the darkness, I saw a faint, distant light. I couldn't tell how far I ran or how long it took. Time and distance became meaningless in my frantic escape. My mind was a haze of fear, pain, and confusion. Eventually my legs gave out, and I collapsed. I gasped for breath, my chest heaving, and my body trembling with fatigue. But the faint light I had seen was now closer, and I could make out the shape of a house. I crawled towards the light, my vision dimming.
My name is James. I live in a pretty hillsy part of the UK, and this is the story of how I found out my dad was a serial killer. It started in '92. The year I was born. My parents had a horrible divorce, and the end result was me living with my father, Clayton. It was made more horrible when my mother disappeared three years later. I can't remember her at all. I look a lot like my dad, and my mum was the opposite of my dad. As far as childhoods go, mine was pretty good. I watched Disney every day, my father was a train conductor, and I attended small public schools where you were friends with basically everyone in the class. That's irrelevant, I guess. A more important fact is that seven people, over the course of my living there, went missing (well everyone knew they were >!dead!<). It was a tragedy. Three of them died on two seperate Halloweens. A little girl and two little boys; all three only five. The police were on the hunt for this villain, but they never found him, only chopped up meat photos emailed to them by non-traceable accounts. The other four people were adults, one homeless, the others working in boring jobs. I moved out in 2012, but had regular calls with my father. Until recently, that is. In the corner of a photo he sent me of his taxes, I could see a Reddit profile on his iPad. I laughed it off at the time but soon became curious of his account... beachaphile\_59. My dad is 59, so the name didn't surprise me, but today when I went to search his profile it did. He only has about 5 posts dating back to March 1st of this year. His oldest post in r/TrueOffMyChest (copied and pasted) \- **I crashed my car into my ex-wife** This might violate your Terms of Service but this is a confession from me I need to get off my chest. Thirty years ago, my wife and I had a messy divorce when our son was only a month or two old. I was really bitter about the whole thing. My wife was a... well think of the worst word you can. A couple years later she was out on a road since her car broke down. It was stormy and I was drunk. I crashed into her. I didn't know if she was hurt or not but I took her into my car. \- The reason why the post hadn't been taken down was because it had basically no audience engagement. One upvote and one comment with three upvotes, which simply read: "op wtf is wrong with you what happened next" The next post was in r/AskReddit \- **Is hiding dead people a crime?** \- It had 14 upvotes, but there was a comment on it with twenty-three upvotes saying: "Why do you need to know?" My father defending himself saying: "book i was reading". There were six other comments, four repeating the "why" question and one said, "Well idk why you need to know but there is a crime for 'preventing lawful burial'. Hope that helps!" The other one linked a Quora post. My father's next two posts were innocent ones about cooking, neither of which got more than two upvotes, and zero comments. My father's final post was the most chilling. In a subreddit that he just made. *19 days ago.* *-* **I'M GOING INSANE AH AHA AJHAAA** I KILLED THEM ALL HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA first was my wife and i ran her over stuffed her into my car and threw her into the woods then that one boy. I HATE children. He asked for candy and I lost it I took him inside and stabbed him to death think about the worst word you can that was what he was, the girl too was concerned so she had to go THEN THAT UGLY SCUM OF A HOMELESS GRUB WHO TOLD ME HE SLEPT WITH MY WIFE. he had to go i ran him over, they ll be together in hell And the last four i murdered while I was drunk HaHa \- So now I hide in my room on Reddit. I know this is my father. He is a serial killer.
TW: guns and alcohol I wasn’t expecting any mail that day, but still, I wasn’t too surprised when a letter fell through the flap in my door onto the floor. I just walked over and picked it up, thinking it was a bill or something like that. It was actually an invitation to a party. I didn’t exactly know the person whose name was on the invite, but I figured it was a friend of a friend. The rest of the day was normal. When I woke up the next morning, I ate my breakfast, went to work, came home and sat down to watch TV. Then my phone went off, reminding me that the party was in half an hour. I quickly got changed and examined the invitation one more time to get the address. After that I was in the car and on my way. On the drive, I noticed that I hadn’t ever been this way. It was deserted and although my GPS still recognized it as a road, it was lagging out. Like, the little car icon was disappearing for seconds at a time before reappearing again. “Weird,” I thought, but I continued the drive anyway. When I eventually saw the house where the party was, I was shocked. This was more like a building dedicated solely to parties than a house. There was a pool, a grill, and it had a huge backyard. The house was at least 3 stories tall and massive. I hopped out of my car and walked up to the door. It opened before I could knock and I pushed on it slightly. Already the stench of alcohol hit me in the face but it wasn’t surprising. I opened it all the way and saw what could only be described as a rager. People were dancing to the EDM that filled the air. There was a white folding table with red plastic cups that I assumed were filled with drinks. I walked over and picked one up. I didn’t recognize anyone there, but I wasn’t gonna leave just yet. A girl strutted over to me and asked me to get her another drink. “Umm… okay?” I said, picking up another cup from the table and handing it to her. “Thanks” she slurred and turned around. She then threw the contents of the cup onto another girl. What came next was a flurry of swears from the girl who was drenched in beer. “Are you kidding me, Carla? It’s my birthday!” The girl screams. Carla then smirked and said “Oops, it was an accident, I promise.” But the wet girl wasn’t buying it. She pulled out her phone and called who I could assume to be her partner. She was unintelligible as she yelled at him to get over to the party. I just took a sip of my drink but almost spilled it all over myself as a huge, burly man burst through the door with a shotgun. I immediately ran out of the room and found the back exit. I was feeling dizzy, the eminent danger almost making me fall. I heard screams from inside and I jumped into my car and drove away. As soon as I got home I just hopped into my bed and went to sleep, trying to forget what I’d just witnessed. I would’ve called the cops but I was already panicked enough and I thought there might be scenarios where I could be at fault. The next morning I got onto my laptop and searched up the address of the party. A news article popped up first, it read: 13 PEOPLE KILLED IN PARTY SHOOTING! Recently there was an altercation between two girls at a party. This led to a boyfriend of one of the girls, who had a criminal record of assault and even an attempted murder charge, to bring a shotgun to the party and shoot and kill 13 people. Another 2 were injured. I couldn’t believe that they had written a news article about it so fast, but then I looked at the date at the bottom of the post. 14th August, 2013. I was confused as the previous nights events had only happened one night ago. I continued digging and learned that there was no record of anything happening at that house in over 8 years, so what happened there? How did I go to a party there and experience events that happened 10 years ago? I don’t have words to describe my panic and worry that something is wrong with me. Has this happened before to anyone? I’ve tried to use any app or search website I can but there’s nothing. I can’t think of anything better than to post it here so that maybe I can get help. Maybe someone will have a reasonable explanation for why this happened. But even if someone can make it all make sense, one thing’s for sure: I am NOT going to a party again.