10x08: The Coolest Cats - Let's Not Meet (Ft. Astonishing Legends)

[00:00:00] This podcast contains adult language and content. If you have a story to share, send it to letsnotmeetstories at gmail.com. Enjoy the show. My name is Andrew Tate and this is Season 10, Episode 8 of Lets

[00:00:16] Not Meet, A True Horror Podcast. I've been debating submitting my own story for some time now, but I figured there would never be a good time to submit, so hey, no better time than the present,

[00:01:01] right? Let's set the scene for a moment. I was fresh out of basic training and advanced individual training. I had just arrived at my very first duty station, Camp Casey in South Korea.

[00:01:15] During the first day or two, I was shown around the base and of course I met the important people if I needed things. One of those people was Creepy Sergeant, a name so lovingly bestowed by my

[00:01:28] friends in my unit. When I first met him, he was very friendly and offered to finish showing me around the base since I was one of the only people on the base who had a car. This would

[00:01:39] help the tour of the base go faster than me and some other non-commissioned officer hoofing it around for miles. I was absolutely delighted and excited to hopefully make a new friend. He showed me around the base, where the post exchange was, where the commissary was, and

[00:01:56] where the battalion that my unit happened to be attached to was. He explained how things worked around the base and offered to take me off base to show me around the immediate area.

[00:02:06] This was exciting because I wasn't able to go off base without a non-commissioned officer and I didn't know anyone in my unit except for my first sergeant, my captain, and my platoon sergeant and

[00:02:18] none of them would take me off base. Understandably so, as I later learned, but that has no place in this story. So he showed me around town and took me out for ice cream in the next town over. We had

[00:02:32] a great time. I thought that I had made a new friend. We exchanged numbers and he took me back to my barracks. He called multiple times, maybe 8-10 times per week over the next few weeks. It was

[00:02:44] to the point that I asked him to stop calling me and blocked his number. Mind you, I was 19 and he was 30. He was constantly asking me to go on dates and he kept running into me. Even at 19, I knew

[00:02:58] that this was wrong and the scariest part to me was, he had keys to the entire base. Even though I had told him that I would like him to stop contacting me and blocked his number, he found

[00:03:12] other ways of getting in contact with me. He had somehow found a friend of mine who we'll call Adam and found another friend of mine's phone number. We'll call them Ethan. He called Ethan from Adam's

[00:03:25] phone and told Ethan that it was Adam. Now, Ethan knew that I was having a hard time with this non-commissioned officer in particular. Ethan is the one who nicknamed him Creepy Sergeant after all. So, we'll go ahead and stick with that. So, Ethan handed me the phone saying,

[00:03:45] it's someone named Adam calling for you on my phone. I said, oh okay, weird but sure. Hey Adam, what's up? It was Creepy Sergeant. I asked him how he got Ethan's number to which he replied, it's not important. I asked him how he knew Adam. He vaguely responded,

[00:04:09] oh, I met him and he knows you. Why was he talking about me to strangers? I thought to myself. Then Creepy Sergeant said, all I can think about is you. Now, stuff like this continued

[00:04:24] all of August and September. I arrived at Camp Casey in the middle of July. Then my unit went to the Gunnery. We were gone for a while, returning two days before Halloween.

[00:04:35] I heard from the people who stayed behind from going to the Gunnery that the dude had been looking for me and left his name and number for me. I brushed it off as I had spent a month in

[00:04:47] the field and was ready to change into civilian clothes and go out with my friends. We decided to celebrate Halloween and got all dolled up in 8-inch platform heels and leggings, pretending

[00:04:59] that we were 80s hair metal groupies with ratted out hair. We went out and hit the town. We got a little hammered, meaning absolutely trashed. It felt like true army style even though we weren't

[00:05:12] supposed to be drinking at all due to being underaged and under orders not to drink in general. We were at our second favorite club and I, being 19, was dancing on the bar with the lovely ladies

[00:05:25] who ran the place. I was having the time of my life, singing and dancing and just being happy that I was no longer muddy and disgusting wearing clothes that aren't army combat uniforms.

[00:05:39] I looked towards the door and I scanned the bar to see if there was anyone else that I knew there and I saw Creepy Sergeant. He was just sitting there at the table, no drink, staring at me.

[00:05:52] At that point, I had enough. I went and told him to get lost and escalated things to the point that military police were called about it. So, I calmed down and got out of there.

[00:06:05] I went back to my barracks and slept. When I woke up, I was still hammered. I went for a battalion run and then it was time for work. I went right to my platoon

[00:06:16] sergeant and explained to him what was going on with Creepy Sergeant. Luckily, he had heard from the people who stayed behind from going to the gunnery that this man had been stopping by looking

[00:06:27] for me the whole time that we were gone. We went and talked to our captain and he reached out to Creepy Sergeant's unit and told them he was no longer allowed to bother me. His unit assured

[00:06:38] our captain that Creepy Sergeant would no longer contact me. He stopped driving by and I didn't see him nearly as much after that, but I still ran into him often enough that it was annoying but

[00:06:51] not enough to claim that he was still harassing me. Eventually, I got pregnant and I ran into him at the dining facility on base. He noticed that I had a bump and asked pretty invasive things for

[00:07:05] someone I didn't want to have anything to do with. How'd that happen? Who's the dad? Is he in the picture? Are you dating anyone? That sort of thing. I was standing in line for food and there wasn't a

[00:07:17] way out of this situation. He then told me, I'll take care of you and the baby. I'm really well off from a rich family. I responded sarcastically, oh my god, why didn't you say anything? I love money.

[00:07:33] He gave me a smug look without saying anything and I told him, seriously, fuck off. You aren't even supposed to be talking to me. I'm 19, you're 30. Find somebody your own age to annoy and pursue.

[00:07:45] I am not interested. Mind you, I said all of this very loudly and people were looking. He turned around and left the dining facility and that was the last I ever heard from him.

[00:07:56] So while my story had a fairly fortunate ending, it was still unnerving to go through. I was afraid to go outside of my barracks in the event that he would be waiting for me. Whenever my phone rang

[00:08:07] with a call from one of my friends, I was worried it would be Creepy Sergeant on the line. So, Creepy Sergeant, let's not meet. I'm a long time listener and first time story submitter. This happened a few months ago.

[00:08:36] I decided that I needed to start losing some of my pregnancy weight after my son was three months old because I was still wearing maternity clothes and I just didn't feel good about myself.

[00:08:46] I started going on daily walks, sometimes twice a day, and only in the evenings would I take my rescue dog, Odin, with me. My fiancé and I rescued Odin when he was just a year old from Romania.

[00:09:00] He was a street dog and was in dog fights so when we first got him, he was very scared of men but warmed up to me during pregnancy. He grew extremely protective of me.

[00:09:13] When we brought my son home, we were worried that he wouldn't cope well with a baby in the house as we were informed that children in Romania weren't nice to street dogs, but luckily Odin

[00:09:24] took to my son immediately. During my third week of going for walks, I had my son strapped to my chest in his sling. We were both wrapped up, sharing body heat as in England it gets very cold in the winter.

[00:09:39] Odin was on his lead walking beside me, stopping every two minutes to sniff something as we were walking through a large field by our house. I remember I was listening to this podcast when I

[00:09:52] felt my throat get dry and my stomach tightened. At first, I put it down to my anxiety having increased through my pregnancy, but there was just something that made me feel like I was in danger.

[00:10:05] It was around 7 p.m., so it was already pitch black and the only sources of light that I had were the street lights and the light on my phone. Odin started to get a bit manic, looking around

[00:10:18] frantically, and his innocent snuffling of grass turned into heavy panting. I began to walk back towards my house, but I almost had to fully drag Odin because he was cementing himself in place, staring across the field into the darkness. I paused my podcast and I looked around as

[00:10:39] naturally as possible, but I could feel myself beginning to sweat and my heart rate was increasing. And that's when I heard it, a long, low-pitched whistle. It would repeat with about a 10-second

[00:10:54] delay in between each whistle. Odin, come, I said in a commanding tone and pulled him one more time. We were getting close to the pathway that would lead back to my house.

[00:11:07] We were only five minutes away, but it felt like miles. Odin stuck to my side, pushing himself against my leg while he kept looking behind us every couple of seconds. The whistling started

[00:11:21] to get louder and closer. This made me start to tear up. My fiancé was working late and wasn't going to be home until 10 p.m., and my neighbors across the road were on holiday, so I knew I

[00:11:35] wasn't going to feel safe until my fiancé got home. Hey, a gruff voice called out from behind me. Odin began to growl and my grip on his lead tightened as my other arm moved to my son,

[00:11:50] holding him tightly. Luckily, he was fast asleep. I don't know how I'd cope if he were awake and crying. I knew I couldn't run because it would wake my son up and I was forcing myself

[00:12:02] to stay calm. Hey, I'm talking to you, he called out again. I started praying internally for him to be talking to somebody else, but I was unfortunately the only person there.

[00:12:17] You'll stop when I fucking talk to you, you bitch, he yelled, his voice echoing down the empty street. I froze mid-step. Odin's fur stood up on end as he turned to face the stranger. I looked down

[00:12:32] at Odin, who was standing hard as a rock and growling lowly. Odin, guard, I said sternly as I turned my face to the man. Can I help you? I said in a calm tone, even though my voice was

[00:12:45] probably trembling and I was close to tears. You're really pretty, so is your baby. I've seen you a few times at night and I finally got the chance to talk to you, he said with a smirk, stepping closer

[00:13:01] to me. Odin let out a singular bark and I gripped his lead. He's not friendly, don't come any closer, I warned. The man laughed at me and he stepped closer again. Odin then lunged and he barked with

[00:13:18] so much fury. I had never heard him like this before. I want to take you home, the man said. I only now noticed that his hands were in his pockets and my arm wrapped tighter around my

[00:13:32] still sleeping son. That's not going to happen, I want you to leave me alone, I said firmly as I turned and began to speed walk towards my house. The whole way back to my house, Odin was watching

[00:13:44] this guy over his shoulder, but this guy was still saying things to me. I grabbed my keys from my pocket and lightly jogged across the road. I shoved the key in the lock and rushed inside.

[00:13:58] I immediately locked the door and as I latched the chain to the door, the man tried the door handle. I kept all of the lights off inside the house and I told Odin to go upstairs and I let go of his lead.

[00:14:13] I made sure the back door was locked before sneaking upstairs and shutting Odin, my son, and myself in my room. Our bedroom is at the front of the house with two big windows looking

[00:14:24] out to the street. Odin lay beside my bed, lead and harness still on, and somehow my son was still asleep. I put my son in his crib and took Odin's harness off. I called my fiance and told him what

[00:14:39] was happening. He was working half an hour away but he immediately left work and stayed on the phone with me as he sped home. I sat beside the window and watched as this man paced back and

[00:14:51] forth in front of my door, stopping every few minutes to bang on the door and shout, let me in, you bitch! The 30 minutes that it took for my fiance to get home felt like a life sentence

[00:15:08] but I soon saw his truck speed around the corner and stop in front of our house. The man saw my fiance and practically shit himself. He stumbled back a bit and then sprinted

[00:15:19] off into the field. So to the man who targeted me with my son and dog in a field at night after watching me for god knows how long, let's not meet again. The next two stories will be narrated by our guests this week,

[00:15:50] Scott and Forrest of the podcast Astonishing Legends.

[00:16:50] I've been listening to Let's Not Meet for a long time now and have always enjoyed listening to these stories but I never thought I'd have a story of my own until this happened. A couple of months ago,

[00:17:02] I was coming home from my long-distance girlfriend's house. It's about a five-hour drive. I'm a huge fan of cars so I notice everything about cars. I usually notice their make, model, and other little things. This one particular evening as I was driving home, I was entering

[00:17:19] the highway behind a newer white Escalade with a crack on its bumper right next to its backup sensor. I remember saying to myself, I guess that sensor didn't work very well. As I was driving,

[00:17:30] the driver of the white Escalade was in the slow lane. I have a lead foot so I decided to go around him. As I was passing him, we made eye contact and he smiled. I quickly darted my eyes away and

[00:17:43] continued my drive. About an hour down the road, my gas light came on so I decided to pull off at the next exit to get some gas. I pulled up to a gas station on top of a hill and noticed that I

[00:17:57] was the only car there other than the employee who was inside. I put my card in the pump and started filling up my tank. While my car was filling up, I decided I would wash my windshield.

[00:18:09] That's when I noticed another car come up the hill to the gas station. It was a white Escalade. The driver got out and I noticed that it was the same exact guy I had passed and made eye contact

[00:18:21] with. My eyes darted to the back of the Escalade and I confirmed it was the same car with the crack on the back bumper. The driver walked about five feet from me and started talking to me in a very

[00:18:32] low voice. He held out his hand and showed me a gold ring. He said, I have run out of money and gas. If I give you my gold ring, can you fill up my car? As he was talking, my eyes darted back to

[00:18:47] the white Escalade and I noticed about four other men in the vehicle. The windows were tinted but I was still able to make out their silhouettes. Now, I'm your average-sized male and at the time I was

[00:18:59] 28. I started to panic internally as I realized I had to say something to this man and I still had about four hours left of my drive to get home. I mustered up the courage to talk and said,

[00:19:12] I'm sorry but I only have enough money to get home. The man begged for just a little gas saying he'd give me his gold ring. He took one step forward. I thought to myself, if I have to,

[00:19:24] I will run into the gas station. The gas nozzle was still in my car and he was just on the other side of that. I said, I'd love to help you out, I just don't have the money. As I said that,

[00:19:37] the gas pump clicked and I quickly put the nozzle back and got in my car, locking the doors. When I looked up, I noticed the white Escalade was driving away. My heart raced and I spent the

[00:19:48] next several minutes trying to calm myself down. I texted my girlfriend and she called me immediately and I told her the whole situation. Her parents asked me if I got the license plate but in my

[00:19:59] shock, the thought to do so never even occurred to me. As she and I were talking, I realized that the guy in the white Escalade had followed me for over an hour. I don't know how but I became his

[00:20:11] target. I'm not sure if it's because I looked at him while I passed him or maybe it was the fact that I was a young man traveling all alone with an out-of-state license plate. All I know is that

[00:20:21] from that day on, for the next several weeks and especially that particular drive home, every white Escalade I saw, I panicked and looked for the crackback pumper. I haven't seen that man or that white Escalade in particular since and my girlfriend and I now

[00:20:38] live together so luckily I don't have to make that drive anymore. But to the man in the silhouettes in the white Escalade, let's not meet ever again. I am a male college student in my early 20s

[00:21:08] and I just recently moved to the city. I'm a short guy, only 5'5", fairly skinny and I have a pretty androgynous style which from my experience makes me a target. Being from the

[00:21:18] suburbs, I've never had any incidents happen to me that caused me to be seriously concerned for my immediate safety so this was the first time I've ever been in this kind of situation. Anyways,

[00:21:28] it was around 9 30 p.m and three of my female friends and I were walking home from a rehearsal. Being a bigger city, there were a good amount of people still outside but the sidewalk that we

[00:21:38] were walking down was fairly empty. Being in a large group, we weren't too concerned so we happily continued chatting and making our trek back to our dorms, about a 15 minute walk from where we were.

[00:21:50] We started across the street but it wasn't until we were halfway across the crosswalk that we started hearing a man shouting profanities about women, clearly very angry. If you're familiar with any big cities, you should know that it isn't uncommon to every so often cross

[00:22:04] paths with people who are intoxicated or just mentally unwell. More often than not, these people won't engage if you ignore them or they will engage but give up after they know that they

[00:22:14] aren't going to get a reaction. So we knew to just keep walking and mind our business. Unfortunately, this wasn't one of those instances and as soon as he saw my female friends,

[00:22:25] he entered total rage mode. At that moment, we knew that he was about to take his frustration out on them. We picked up our pace but this only angered him more. He was now briskly following

[00:22:37] close behind us, shouting things like, are you scared? And yeah, you'd better be scared. I'm gonna fuck all you women up. He was very close on our tail and for all we knew, he could have easily

[00:22:48] been armed. To our advantage, our college's student center was about 10 feet away from us, praying that it was still open. We ran inside, hoping that he would stay back as this was a guarded entrance with security at the front desk. Additionally, he can't get through without a

[00:23:03] student ID. This guy clearly had a mission though and kept angrily following us, now shouting, this is how you end up getting shot. We briskly walked in through the security gate, hoping that he would choose to give up and not trespass but naturally, he didn't. He began going

[00:23:20] off on the security guard as she noticed the situation and called for backup. He approached her as she was on the phone, mumbling some kind of threats to her now but then, funnily enough,

[00:23:30] he had the audacity to start flirting with her as if he were going to win her over somehow. Clearly it didn't work and she was now making her way out from behind the security desk in order to

[00:23:41] get him to stay back. This only angered him more and he began to threaten to shoot her if she didn't go back behind the desk. He looked over to my friends who were huddled in the corner,

[00:23:51] trying to keep their distance. He shouted at them again for being scared and spewed off some more misogynistic comments. He then approached me. I was standing right between the security guards

[00:24:01] and my friends. Swiftly and boldly, he stomped through the gate and got up in my face. His breath strongly smelled of alcohol and his eyes were dilated and bloodshot. He told me he was on ecstasy

[00:24:13] and just smoked a ton of weed, then started laughing about it as if we were buddies or something. Did he think I was on his side? Immediately his focus went back to my friends. At that point,

[00:24:24] we didn't know what to do. We felt helpless. Backup hadn't arrived yet and the building was completely empty except for us and the security guard who was doing the best that she could given

[00:24:34] the situation, trying not to set him off more. Before he could reach my friends, more security walked in. He was quickly cuffed and taken out of the building. We all just stood there, visibly shaken, not knowing what the hell just happened. We were escorted home from there. Apparently,

[00:24:52] from what security told me afterward, this guy has assaulted students before and has been told multiple times to stay away from the campus. Since he didn't physically assault us, we couldn't press

[00:25:02] charges, but given that he trespassed, we're hoping that he gets more than just a slap on the wrist. Whether or not he was actually armed or all talk is questionable, but no one, especially young

[00:25:14] female college students, should have to be in that kind of situation. Frankly, I'm disappointed in myself that I wasn't more helpful, but again, I'm a small guy. This man could have easily messed me

[00:25:25] up, armed or not. I just hope that this doesn't happen to anyone else. Seriously folks, always be aware of your surroundings, even in groups. The buddy system is great, but it won't deter everyone. And to the man who harassed us, please, let's never meet again.

[00:25:53] I'm a 28 year old woman. Back in my early adult years, I was very outgoing, which is why I believe I ended up running into a lot of bizarre and dangerous situations. These situations still happen so frequently even now. It's challenging to leave the house, even just

[00:26:09] to buy groceries. I'm practically agoraphobic. This experience continues to stay fresh in my mind when I leave the safety of my home. When I was newly 21, I broke up with a very long-term

[00:26:21] first love type of relationship during the spring. Summer was ending and my best friend also had just ended her relationship with a long-term boyfriend. She and I were practically codependent back then.

[00:26:35] Being single, attracted 21 year olds, we decided to get all dolled up and go out to the local punk bar for free drinks, heavy flirting, and maybe a few regrets. I got dressed up in a goth outfit

[00:26:46] and my friend dressed in basically the opposite fashion. When we arrived, we entered the grungy smoky bar. The place was packed and the music was great. We went ahead and bought our first drinks

[00:26:59] and headed into the swaying crowd of punks, goths, and alt girls. My best friend and I swayed along with them. While we were enjoying the band, I noticed on the other side of the room,

[00:27:10] in the only five seats in the whole place, there was a group of people sitting and just staring at us. I decided that I was just being paranoid. Maybe they all zoned out at once and they

[00:27:22] happened to rest their gaze on us. I told myself that that's what was going on and I was just putting a little too much thought into it. I turned back towards the band playing for a couple of

[00:27:35] minutes, but I kept feeling eyes burning through me. I kept feeling like I was being watched. I glanced over. They were still staring. There was one woman and four men in this group. It even looked like maybe the chatter they were having amongst themselves was about us. They

[00:27:54] would cup their hands around their mouths and lean into each other as they spoke. I'm sure they were shouting, but with how loud the music was blaring it seemed like whispers.

[00:28:05] They were talking like this all the while keeping their gaze locked on us. I thought that it was weird and decided to just keep them on my radar because none of them looked familiar to me.

[00:28:16] It was just odd. A couple more minutes passed and my best friend tapped me, leaned in, and asked, by any chance did you notice those people staring at us? I got a little concerned when she admitted

[00:28:29] to noticing the same exact thing. This wasn't just a general case of paranoia. I replied, I'm glad you noticed. I don't know any of them. I still thought that it was a slight possibility

[00:28:43] that we may have just been paranoid. We looked great that night. Maybe they just thought we were pretty. Maybe they liked our outfits. Maybe I knew them from somewhere and I just couldn't remember.

[00:28:55] The band played for a few more minutes before taking a break. People started to recede outside to smoke and some people just left. My legs were getting tired and I decided that I could use

[00:29:06] another drink, so I bought us our next round and we sat down in two of the five chairs as we nursed our drinks while giggling and chatting. We were so caught up in our conversation that we forgot

[00:29:18] about the people who were sitting in those seats staring at us. We didn't even notice them come back into the disheveled venue, heading straight towards us. A heavy coarse smoker's voice rang out,

[00:29:32] you two are the coolest cats in the bar. This woman said with the four men behind her nodding in agreement. She then offered, why don't you come with us? We have weed and we want you

[00:29:45] two to come smoke with us in the back of our van. My friend and I both were bona fide stoners at the time, so typically both of us would have been happy about this but something wasn't sitting

[00:29:57] right in my gut. My friend was very trusting of people. She's bubbly, positive and an excited individual. I on the other hand have always been what I call a realist and what others may refer to

[00:30:09] as a pessimist. I was much more skeptical of these people. Sure, my friend quickly accepted as she shot out of her seat as if it were spring loaded. She was absolutely ready to walk out of that bar

[00:30:23] with these strangers. I stared daggers at her hoping that she would catch on as I thought that this was a horrible idea. I started making up excuses on why she and I weren't interested.

[00:30:37] Something just didn't feel right. I had to at least stall a minute to feel them out. This city that we live in is number two on the human trafficking list in our entire country.

[00:30:48] As I said, there were four men in this group and they decided to let this woman talk to us. Maybe they thought that it would make us let our guards down or something. These four men who could easily

[00:31:00] overtake five four me and my friend who's only five foot. Ah man, I wish we could but I don't really want to waste your weed. She and I smoked a ton before coming here and it would be like

[00:31:12] pouring water into a full bucket. I insisted this in the most chill voice that I could possibly manage. Oh, we just want to hang out with you two. Come on, just come to the van. We have plenty to share.

[00:31:25] She persuaded. Where do you plan on smoking? I inquired, still not getting any better vibes. Well, we plan to drive to the strip mall parking lot, she replied. In all my years of watching

[00:31:40] True Crime and such, I knew a good rule of thumb is to never go to a second location with somebody that you don't know. I don't think that's a good idea. I work in that strip mall. I didn't. And there

[00:31:53] are cops constantly patrolling in the parking lot. I just don't want to get in trouble with them. The woman continued to try and persuade us to go with them and get into their van.

[00:32:04] I came up with excuse after excuse trying to wear her down and make her realize that this is not going to happen. Her persuading began to get increasingly aggressive each time I shot back

[00:32:15] with an excuse. Red flags were flying left and right, practically slapping us across the face. My friend was confused about why I was making all of these excuses and I think she finally caught on

[00:32:28] when I was outright lying about things. My friend fell quiet when the woman and I went back and forth. This raspy voiced woman finally realized I wasn't the one and as soon as the band started returning

[00:32:42] to the stage, she and her posse slipped out the door and didn't return. I immediately started explaining to my sweet friend that red flags were flying and my gut was screaming no. I also

[00:32:56] scolded her about being so ready to hop into a white van with strangers who simply promised free weed. The night continued on. We got our free drinks and we stayed to sober up. We were still

[00:33:08] on edge from the group's sketchiness. On top of all of this, an entirely new person who looked severely out of place in a dirty old punk venue was the one buying me drinks so we didn't want

[00:33:19] to stay any longer than we had to. We walked back to the car once we felt sobered up. A few cars down, I saw the white van. They started their van as soon as they saw us. We could see five people

[00:33:32] in there staring at us. We didn't want to see what was going to happen next. We jumped into my 90s Ford Explorer and got the hell out of there. I guess the moral of the story is listen to your

[00:33:44] gut and don't run off into any unknown white vans even if they try to lure you inside with free weed. Raspy voiced woman and your henchmen, let's not meet again. I joined my school's camp trip to Malaysia when I was 14. I no longer remember where it was exactly

[00:34:17] but it was pretty close to Penang. I loved camping and this trip was pretty unique. The campsite was aimed to provide authentic experiences in Malaysia. I know it sounds touristy but it was an

[00:34:32] interesting premise. Instead of camping on land near the beach, the campsite was on a beach. It was on stilts about 500 to 800 meters away from the shoreline. The campsite recreated those floating villages that existed around Southeast Asia. There was a small hall with showers and

[00:34:52] bunk beds over the ocean blue. The toilets were just outhouses that emptied into the salty brine below. You could even watch your business float away. Incredibly gross but memorable I guess. 100 teenage girls signed up to sleep there for a week and experience village life doing things like

[00:35:14] climbing coconut trees and flying kites. Midway through the stay, my camp leader allowed my group to use our sleeping bags to sleep on the wooden square. We were lulled to sleep by the slow gentle

[00:35:28] waves. The wooden boards floated over the high tides warping and sinking with our collective weight. The night sky was full of stars. The sea breeze was cool and fresh. A few girls woke up to

[00:35:44] use the toilet. We had to go in groups of three wherever we went. I rolled in my sleeping bag and watched the shore. I saw something floating on the waves. It was triangular and shrouded in black.

[00:36:00] I was too groggy to care so I went along with the girls to use the outhouse. In the outhouse, something felt off. I felt like I was being watched in that cramped space. It didn't really make sense.

[00:36:15] I looked down into the ocean below which stood still. The dim light of the outhouse shone on something floating below me. A shadowy figure was attached to a line. The end of the rope

[00:36:30] was attached to a metal object stuck on the floorboards at the edge of the hole. I nearly tripped on it while I walked by. I thought that it was probably just a nail.

[00:36:43] The figure held onto the rope and was yanking it gently against the push of the waves. I realized the figure was floating on the triangular thing that I saw floating in the

[00:36:56] water earlier. My mind clicked with an eerie thought as I realized it was a person. A real breathing person on a man-made raft holding onto a rope with a hook and I was blocking his way.

[00:37:12] This shadowy figure looked at me from down below, the whites of his eyes looking into mine. I couldn't scream but I felt a rush of blood in my ears as the man smiled at me.

[00:37:25] I backed out of the outhouse and walked back to my group. The girls with me didn't notice that I was now shaking. My camp leader picked up on my shaky hands and asked me to step aside.

[00:37:37] I told him what I saw. The camp leader nodded silently like a big brother and sternly told the group to enter our bunks quickly and silently. My group never caught on to what happened but they

[00:37:50] noticed my pale face. I brushed it off as seasickness. Sleeping on the top bunk I saw torch lights running around the perimeter of the campsite. The official story shared with the campers to explain the increased activity that night was that one of the outhouse's floorboards

[00:38:07] broke and the camp leaders were trying to assess the damage. We completed the camping trip and returned home. On the bus back home my mind raced about that night. How long had that man been

[00:38:20] watching us? My group was in the main square for an hour and a half. He could have been scouting around four areas to climb into the campsite if he was planning to climb up through the outhouse

[00:38:32] waiting for his moment. Did he watch as the girls used the outhouse too? You could see the ocean below so he would have a very clear view. This really sent chills down my spine to think about.

[00:39:05] I'm a delivery driver for a popular pizza chain in Arkansas. I work the closing shift so I make deliveries as late as 1am sometimes. I should mention that I'm a short 32 year old woman and

[00:39:18] I'm a mother of two young daughters. I have yet to rebuild my life in the last 18 months after a divorce from a very controlling marriage that kept me from being able to work for a whole 8 years.

[00:39:32] Being out so late at night has obviously put me in quite a few scary situations. I deliver to a lot of rural areas, in the pitch black far off of main roads and very often down

[00:39:44] secluded pothole laden roads that you can only drive about 5 miles per hour down or you will seriously mess up your vehicle. So I'm very used to creepy vibes and nothing typically gets to me,

[00:39:58] that is until a few weeks ago. It was unusually cold, I think it was about 5 degrees Fahrenheit and it was around midnight. I had a delivery up so I quickly threw my coat and gloves on,

[00:40:11] grabbed the order and hopped into my car. My delivery was about 8 minutes from the store which was pretty average. I set my GPS, pressed play on whatever music I had queued up and off I went.

[00:40:25] I pulled into a quiet middle class neighborhood and saw nothing out of the ordinary. I rounded a corner leading to my destination. The house was right at the end of the road. The only two houses

[00:40:37] on this road were spread far apart so this house's only neighbor was not very close. I pulled up to the curb in front of the house. My immediate thought was, okay this is dark and strange,

[00:40:52] why are there no lights on inside or outside of the home? Most people leave the porch light or some other light on when they order food. I have delivered to some homes that don't have outside

[00:41:03] lights but usually those customers will meet me outside with a flashlight on their phone so I can easily find them. I triple checked the address because I didn't want to knock on somebody's

[00:41:15] door after midnight if I was at a house that wasn't expecting me. I would hate to wake somebody up and scare them or even possibly endanger myself if the homeowner got a little defensive.

[00:41:28] After I was completely sure I had the correct address, I walked up to the house. I couldn't pull into the driveway because there were five or six cars parked in the driveway and on the front lawn. It's not uncommon for people ordering pizza to have company over

[00:41:44] or to have big families so I didn't think that seeing that many vehicles was very strange at first. I got closer to the front of the house and I looked to my right to check my surroundings

[00:41:54] before I knocked on what I assumed was the front door. To my surprise there was a glass door and I could see through the door that a very dim light was on so I paused. I took a few steps closer to

[00:42:10] the glass door and I saw a man on the floor. He was on his knees with his back to the door. I almost gasped when I saw him because it was so unusual. He wasn't looking at a phone or anything

[00:42:25] there was nothing in his hands he was just kneeling with his arms at his sides. Then I noticed the interior of the house. It was very outdated on the inside. It looked like

[00:42:37] nothing had changed since the 70s. I saw tacky orange carpet and a dimly lit lamp on the tiny side table. I noticed that the room was pretty empty. There was just a tattered couch next to

[00:42:51] the man that was kneeling and a table with a lamp. That was it. Why was this man in that position on the floor instead of waiting on the couch? And why were there so many vehicles in front of this empty

[00:43:02] house where this man was seemingly alone? I decided to lightly tap on the glass door to try and not startle the man who obviously didn't hear my car door shut or my footsteps approaching.

[00:43:17] I tapped and he slowly rose from his position and turned around. I smiled with my biggest customer service smile I could so that I wouldn't show him that I was seriously freaked out. He

[00:43:31] slowly opened the door and I asked him, how are you doing tonight? In the most polite tone possible. He just stood there and didn't respond to my question making me feel even more uncomfortable.

[00:43:46] As a reminder, I was also freezing in single digit weather. I read off what the order was to him. He just continued to look at me with these emotionless unmoving eyes that seemed to look

[00:44:00] right through me as if I wasn't even there. Now in this business, I deliver to a lot of people impaired by the influence of alcohol or an assortment of other substances. And I can tell you

[00:44:14] after being married to a man who relapsed multiple times on hard drugs and meeting impaired people on a nightly basis, this was not the same as the strung out people I was used to encountering. This was a cold presence, colder than the breeze blowing right through my coat.

[00:44:34] He then uttered his first words to me, which sent every hair on the back of my neck on edge. He said in the most robotic tone without moving his face, would you like to come inside? It's cold.

[00:44:50] My eyes widened and his eyes finally moved. They flickered slightly downwards to meet my eyes. I replied, no thank you. I'm fine. Here's your pizza. He didn't try to take the pizza from me.

[00:45:06] Instead, he asked me again, are you sure? You look cold. You could step in just for a moment. I decided to rephrase my reply in a professional manner and I said, I'm sorry, sir. I'm not allowed to enter the residence of a customer. Here's your order.

[00:45:25] He finally took the pizza from my hands, looking very upset about my refusal. His face boiled with rage. I stepped back, turned around to go to my car and said, have a nice night.

[00:45:39] He hollered at me in a very aggressive tone. Don't you want a tip? Of course, I needed a tip. After all, I was working hard trying to support my daughters the best I could.

[00:45:51] So I turned around and I looked at him once more. I asked if he needed a receipt slip to add a tip or if he had cash. He asked for the receipt. So I grabbed it out of my car. Heart pounding,

[00:46:06] I walked back up to his house. This was a mistake. I should have just gotten into my car and driven away. But as I said, I needed to work hard to support my kids.

[00:46:18] I needed every dollar that I could make. So I made the dumb decision to go back to him. I handed him the receipt with my pin that I carry in my pocket. He suggested that I should step inside for a minute. I decline again. And then he stepped

[00:46:36] around the corner where I could not see him. I looked around the room from outside of the door. I could feel eyes on me. Nothing felt right. Everything was too dark and too quiet.

[00:46:50] And nothing about this interaction had been normal. Why was he taking so long with the receipt? After what felt like forever, he slowly lurked back to the doorway and handed me the receipt

[00:47:03] with my pin. This is where I was really about to be in for a shock. I reached my hand out to take it from him. And as I pulled my hand away, he proceeded to reach his hand out and tried to

[00:47:19] grab my wrist. I jerked away as fast as I could, just as his fingers brushed against my skin. Now I was looking at him in shock for what felt like five whole minutes, wondering what the hell this guy thought he was doing. He looked so furious. This once

[00:47:38] emotionless man now looked like he was surging with adrenaline and rage. I got back to my car as quickly as possible, listening carefully behind me to make sure that he wasn't coming after me.

[00:47:50] I locked my car door as fast as I could and I floored it out of there. Panicked and shaking, I called my boyfriend crying as I angrily told him what happened so that I could process it myself.

[00:48:03] He told me to take a picture of the man's name and address and then warn other female drivers and my manager about this man's behavior, which I did immediately when I got back to the store.

[00:48:17] I'm frustrated to say that management did not take my experience as seriously as I wished they had, but they told me that I wouldn't be forced to return to that address again in the future.

[00:48:28] I'm not sure what that man wanted from me. Why was he so insistent that I come into his house and why did it anger him that I refused? Why were there so many vehicles in the driveway?

[00:48:40] Was somebody around the corner of that house waiting for him to bait me? Whatever his intentions were, I'm sure that they were not good. So to that creepy man, kneeling strangely while seemingly alone in the dark, let's not meet ever again.

[00:49:23] I want to give a special thanks to some of those that backed our campaign for the TV pilot. We filmed a pilot for the podcast last year and we're currently working on some of the final

[00:49:37] editing for that episode. However, it would not have been possible without all of you wonderful listeners that supported the campaign. And for those that donated at the level for a shout out

[00:49:48] on a let's not meet episode, I want to give a special thanks to Kaylee Murray, Isis Chin, Danielle Lee, Tanya Udy, Ernie and Amber, Laura Rakowski, and Ginger Hunter. We have plenty more

[00:50:03] rewards that I need to get to a huge list, but I'm making my way through it slowly. Thank you so much for your patience. And again, thank you everyone for all of your support.

[00:50:13] We're really excited to finally finish up this pilot episode and get started on the next one. Don't forget if you're a patron, stick around after the music for your extended ad free version

[00:50:22] of let's not meet. And if you want to get access head over to patreon.com forward slash let's not meet podcast to sign up and support the show today. You'll get access to hours upon hours

[00:50:33] of bonus content instantly. This week you have heard the story of creepy Sergeant by Anonymous, my rescue dog protected me and my son by the devil's duplicate, the white escalate by Adam followed by an aggressive drugged up guy by Connor. Coolest cats by Jess attempted break in

[00:50:53] at the floating campsite by the lone one 21. And finally, a sketchy delivery by Kimbra 1128. All of the stories you've heard this week were narrated and produced with the permission of their respective authors. Let's not meet a true horror podcast is not associated with Reddit or any other message

[00:51:10] boards online. As always, if you have a story to share, send it to let's not meet stories at gmail.com and don't forget to check out the new episodes of my other podcasts. Odd Trails my true paranormal

[00:51:22] podcast, the old time radio cast and welcome to paradise. It sucks all at cryptic county podcasts.com we'll see you next week. Stay safe. Following story happened around 15 years ago when