14x16: The Sinister Apartment (feat. Kaydra Brannan)

[00:00:00] This podcast contains adult language and content. Listener discretion is advised. If you have a story to share, send it to letsnotmeetstories at gmail.com. Enjoy the show.

[00:00:41] I grew up in a very small town next to the Mexico border in America. My family taught me about being cautious of human traffickers and drug traffickers in our area due to the events that had occurred, and this definitely helped with how I acted.

[00:00:59] When this happened, my best friend and I were both 14 and in high school. We decided to take a walk at a nearby park. It was a very popular park within walking distance of both of our houses. So off we went. As we were walking and talking, a grown man who appeared to be in his 40s approached us. He said that he was new in town and he didn't know where anything was.

[00:01:26] My friend and I shot each other a slightly nervous look. But we kept our cool. We didn't engage much in conversation, but we could tell that it was going to get more and more uncomfortable. He asked if we went to the local middle school that was down the street. And I said that we were high schoolers, but didn't mention which school we went to. It already bothered me that a grown man wanted to talk to who he thought were a couple of middle school kids.

[00:01:56] Then I noticed something and gave my friend a signal with my eyes. There was another man behind us. He had been following us. I wouldn't have noticed him if the guy that I was talking to hadn't given this guy a smirk when I confirmed that we were underage. This man kept his head down when I looked back. He was wearing a hat, seemingly intentionally hiding his face.

[00:02:25] As we walked around the park, the first guy kept asking questions while the second guy made a point of not straying too far away. He kept his distance, but didn't even try to act like he wasn't following us. This was getting to be too much for me. The first man's questions were either about our small town or our lives in that town. Nothing too invasive until he asked for our phone numbers.

[00:02:53] This was almost ten years ago, so while smartphones were a thing, my friend and I were broke teens. I had a flip phone. My friend claimed that she didn't have a phone. I can't remember if this was true or not, but I do remember knowing that I couldn't pull the same thing since I was fiddling with my phone. I'm not even sure why I was doing this. It was a flip phone, so there wasn't much to do on it in the first place.

[00:03:22] So I just remarked that I'd rather not give my number out. Oh, come on, he said. Why not? You girls can show me around town. I explained that I only had a limited number of texts and minutes to use, which was why I didn't give my number out easily. This was when I noticed how dark it was getting outside. He asked us so many questions that we were in that park until it was getting dark.

[00:03:50] We were too scared to try and walk home and away from the fairly populated park since there would be less people for us to run to if things got worse. Plus, these guys were much bigger than us, but I knew we couldn't keep delaying so we decided to just bite the bullet. I told him it was getting too dark and we had to start heading home.

[00:04:14] Then I directed my friend towards the edge of the park in the direction of our houses, but that didn't stop him. He kept following us and said that he could drive us home so we wouldn't have to walk. I lied and claimed that I lived just down the block, even though we were five very long blocks away from our homes. A 20 minute walk according to Google Maps. He said, I wouldn't feel right letting two young girls walk home alone.

[00:04:42] He then pointed at a nearby parking lot and continued, Look, my car is not too far, just let me drive you home. This was when I noticed that the second man who had been lingering at a distance was suddenly only two to three steps behind us. This gave me a terrible feeling and I knew I did not want to keep dealing with this. I then firmly said no and let him know it would be faster if we just walked.

[00:05:11] Then I quickly said bye and sped off. My mom raised me to be polite and honestly, I wish she hadn't. That being said, please do not be polite to men who creep you out. I was young when this happened, but if this happened now, I wouldn't have been so polite. When my friend and I walked across the street, we saw both men rush to the parking lot.

[00:05:40] I didn't think much about them hurrying away at that moment. I only remember feeling relief washing over me since they weren't following us anymore. However, that relief was very short lived. While we were walking on the left side of the road, we noticed a van turning onto the street on the right side of the road. It was them. Thankfully, since they were on the opposite side of the road, all they could do was stare at us as they drove by.

[00:06:09] We were feeling a bit wary when we saw them take a sharp turn at the end of the block, so we crossed the street just in case. That ended up being the right decision since they turned around and came back onto the road. So then we were on the right side of the street and they were on the left. Thankfully, due to the size of the streets in our neighborhood, they couldn't simply turn around and start driving on the opposite side.

[00:06:33] After they turned around, we were on the receiving end of more stairs as they drove past and took another sharp turn at the end of the block. After they disappeared from the road, there was nowhere that we could go in the middle of this long block, so we decided to hide and hope for the best. We ducked behind a car that was parked in somebody's driveway and waited. An old lady spotted us and seemed suspicious, but she didn't say a word.

[00:07:02] She just watched the street as the van cruised by again. We couldn't see them from the angle we were at, but we knew it was them. As we were hiding, the van drove along the road much slower. We felt like it took them forever to give up their search and leave the block. They left. You should be good to go now, the old lady said.

[00:07:28] We thanked her for the hiding spot before running towards our houses. My friend lived closer to the park than I did, so after I made sure she was home safe, I ran all the way to my house non-stop. I kept my eye on the street for the van, but I never saw it again. To this day, I've never been more scared than I was on that night when I ran those two blocks home by myself.

[00:07:53] I often like to go out running in summer or whenever the weather is nice. This happened a week before I was supposed to start high school.

[00:08:21] One day, I thought about going running and decided to run in the evening while the sun was still up, since it wouldn't be as hot as during the day. I figured this was best since there wasn't any chance for it to get hotter. I came to this conclusion earlier in the day and forgot about it until around 9pm. Now, since school was about to start, it was the end of the summer, so the sun was already setting sooner than I was used to.

[00:08:48] But I figured, eh, I'll only be out for an hour or so, it'll be fine. I had been putting off running and I didn't want to put it off again, so I was quick to justify going out later than planned. I should probably mention that I'm a girl, and a lot of girls I know change which side of the road they're walking on if they see a subtly disorderly looking guy walking around.

[00:09:12] For some reason, I was never as concerned about this and I swore I was ready to take on the first rogue who tried anything with me. I also live in a less populated area of town, in a neighborhood where almost everyone knew everyone else. So I was feeling extra certain of my safety. Naive, I know. So I went out and started my run. It was fine.

[00:09:39] It was getting a bit dark, but I could see the running track so it was all good. But I started to feel a bit off when I saw a pair walking in front of me. When I got close, they turned out to be some teen guys and I ran past them with no problem. When I finally reached the point of my run where I turned around, it had already gotten pretty dark.

[00:10:02] My turning point is a cemetery, which is creepy, but it has benches so I never felt weird about taking a break there. Once I reached the cemetery, I drank some water from my bottle and stood under a tree next to the gates of the cemetery. But I didn't sit down where I usually did. The bench that I typically sat on is next to a fence, but the darkness finally made me a little weary about being alone. I was worried about having someone jumping on me.

[00:10:32] It's pretty funny that that's what scared me the most at the time. After I caught my breath, I stayed for a few more minutes just listening to the wind. That was when I saw someone on a bike pedaling past the cemetery, taking the route I would usually take while running back. By the time I left my resting place, it had gotten dark. It was dark enough that I could barely see two meters in front of me. So I slowly started running back.

[00:11:02] And after 15 meters or so, I started hearing voices. I continued and after a few more meters, I could hear someone talking. My thoughts immediately jumped to a conclusion and I thought there were at least two people in front of me. So I slowed down even more until I got close enough to hear what was actually being said. Keep in mind, it was completely dark and the road I was on didn't have any streetlights.

[00:11:31] I couldn't see a thing. I finally got close enough to make out the words being said and my heart sank at what I heard. I can't recall what was said exactly, but I heard a male voice say something along the lines of, I see this girl. I could just pull her into the bushes. There were tall bushes lining one of the sides of the running track.

[00:11:59] So like I said, my heart sank, but then I immediately launched into fight or flight mode. I remember hearing my heart beating in my ears. I was full of adrenaline, the bad kind. I knew I couldn't stop since this guy would know that I heard what he said. So I continued to walk. The running track was separated from the road by a small grass field. Thank God.

[00:12:28] So I went to the side of the road to create some distance between us. Then I saw a square of light, presumably a phone, and I heard him jump on his bicycle and pedal away. It turned out he was talking on the phone, but just because he turned out to be alone didn't mean I was any less scared of him. I walked along the side of the road for a few minutes until I was sure he was far away from me.

[00:12:58] And then once I got back on the running track, I sprinted home like crazy. The entire way back, I was shaking with fear and looking at the bushes and the cars that passed me with delirium. I remember squishing my water bottle in my hand, ready to smack anyone who came close to me. When I finally reached the first road with streetlights, I felt like I escaped death.

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[00:15:43] During my junior year of college, I went to a party across campus that was happening at the Creative Writing Department. I was blasted on edibles, but the scene was lame, so I just grabbed some munchies and dipped. As I was walking back to my dorm, I realized that I was obliterated. I was probably the highest I had ever been in my life up until that point. It was around 8pm and dark outside.

[00:16:10] It was pretty deserted despite it being relatively early, but probably because it was blisteringly hot and nobody wanted to be outside. As I was passing by a dorm building that I didn't live in, a man appeared out of the darkness and said, Did I ever tell you that you look like Jesus, man? I was very confused. As far as I knew, I had never met this man before in my life.

[00:16:37] So I was trying to figure out if I had known him from somewhere, and being high made the whole interaction even more surreal. No, I don't think so, I replied. I'm sorry, where do I know you from? He then said, Oh, I guess you don't know me. Uh, I have a friend who lives here. Can you get me into the building, man? This immediately sent a red flag up in my head.

[00:17:06] The man looked like he was in his 40s. The school that I went to had very few non-traditional students, and his opener was just so bizarre. It basically already told me that this guy was trying to be deceitful. After I stared at him bug-eyed for an awkwardly long time, I think he could tell that I was scared shitless. He was wearing a sweatshirt and a jacket, which was another red flag, considering the heat.

[00:17:36] As he reached for something under one of his arms, time slowed down, and I thought that I was about to be mugged, or worse. He then opened his jacket and said, See? No knife, no gun. I'm a good guy. You don't need to worry. This only made me think that I did need to worry. There were so many less sketchy ways for him to explain himself if he legitimately had a reason to need to get into that building,

[00:18:05] which I couldn't do anyways, since the keys I had only worked to unlock the dorm building I lived in. What I did next might not have been the smartest choice, as I'm not very athletic or fast, but I just sprinted out of there at full speed. I was way too afraid to even look behind me. I didn't even want to check for what was going on until I got inside of my building. Luckily, it didn't seem like he followed me.

[00:18:35] Now, I was on the school paper's writing staff, and as part of that, I would routinely check in with the campus police to see if anything interesting was going on that was worthy of writing a story about. A few days after my encounter with that sketchy guy, the officer that I would usually talk to told me that they had to arrest a man trying to break into a dorm. The break-in happened in the same building that I interacted with that guy in front of.

[00:19:05] They were able to make an arrest for the break-in, so I asked if the person they arrested matched the description of the weird guy, and the officer confirmed it was definitely the same guy. Turns out, his girlfriend, who was easily over 15 years younger than him, lived there, and she texted him to break up with him. He tried to get into her building to confront her, and was found trying to open a window on the main floor about 20 minutes after my run-in with him.

[00:19:34] In hindsight, I feel bad that I didn't call campus police on the guy. Calling them wasn't even on my radar. Not that I wanted to be around cops while I was high out of my mind. Anyways, I'm glad that it did end as well as it could have, for all involved. This happened during a dark winter evening.

[00:20:04] It was the December after I had just turned 18. I was in a relationship with a guy who lacked communication skills. Needless to say, my boyfriend and I were prone to getting into arguments, and this night was no different. After many tears were shed, I decided to go for a walk. Now, I live on the back roads of a small village. The roads by my house aren't lit, and there isn't a distinct path to walk on.

[00:20:33] There are only small patches of grass on the side of a fairly busy road. It was about 6pm, and pitch black since it was the winter. Once I reached the bridge to the motorway, I took a break at the top. As I watched all of the cars go by, I wondered where everybody was headed. There's a homeless shelter near this bridge, but I've never had any strange encounters other than seeing an odd, stumbling, drunk man every once in a while.

[00:21:03] I felt a set of hands wrapping around my waist, tight and strong. As a hopeless romantic, I thought that it might be my boyfriend who found me and came to apologize. However, it was not him. I then felt a man pressing up against me, and he wasn't alone. He turned me aggressively towards his friend.

[00:21:33] They both appeared to be around 30 years old, and smelled of cigarettes. They were holding shopping bags that clinked whenever they moved. The man who was holding me didn't speak English, but his friend did. They spoke in Polish amongst themselves, and were laughing. I had never been in this sort of situation, so it really wasn't the ideal time to find out that my stress response was to freeze. I felt paralyzed.

[00:22:02] I was quite literally unable to move and unable to speak. They complimented my hair and my eyes, even though we were in the dark. They asked me for my name, where I lived, and what I was doing out so late. They kept talking to me, asking me any questions that came to their mind. I felt it was best for me to answer, and not to show fear, though the man behind me most certainly felt me shaking.

[00:22:31] They asked me if I wanted to go with them, and I told them that I was 16. This felt right in the moment, but I doubt they cared about my age. The man then tightened his grip on me. I wanted to scream, cry, or yell, but it was just us on this bridge. Hardly anyone ever crossed it, so I told them that my boyfriend was about to come, which was a white lie that ended up saving me.

[00:22:58] As they kept asking questions, the man's hold on me loosened, and once I was free, I ran as fast as I could to the other end of the bridge, going the opposite way of where they were going. I had never run so fast. Once I was sure I was far away from them, I sat on a bench in the village and screamed and cried. A few people walked past me, but nobody even cared to try and help.

[00:23:26] So I called my boyfriend, and he walked me home. I will never walk alone in the dark ever again. And to this day, I have not crossed that bridge, no matter how bright it is outside. To the two men on the bridge, let's not ever meet again.

[00:24:01] I want to preface this by saying that while I don't live in the safest neighborhood, I have lived here all my life without feeling unsafe. Neighborhoods like mine, which are impoverished and predominantly minority, are often labeled as dangerous, but they foster a strong sense of community among the residents. One night, I was walking home after leaving my apartment to buy something at a nearby store.

[00:24:27] I live in a city that never sleeps, and it was around 10 or 11 pm, so it was just a regular night consisting of me going to the deli to get snacks. There wasn't anything weird, eerie, or dangerous about it. As I entered my apartment building, a man hurried to catch the door before it closed behind me. It was common for people, including myself, to forget their keys or need to use the intercom to enter,

[00:24:54] so I just held the door for him despite not recognizing him and sensing that he was intoxicated. My building has two sides, so I assumed he lived on the other side since he wasn't a familiar face. Like I said, I've lived here all my life and I knew most of my neighbors. As I walked into the lobby, there was another boy waiting for the elevator. Thinking back, I don't believe I recognized him either.

[00:25:22] When the elevator arrived, the boy and I walked in, and at that last minute, that man grabbed the door to join us in the elevator as it was closing. It was then that I began to feel uneasy. Because the man had entered at the last moment, he was able to see the elevator floor button that I pressed. His finger hovered over the button of the floor I had just pressed, as if he was also going to press that one until he noticed it was already pressed.

[00:25:53] I immediately felt my stomach drop, as I definitely knew he was not someone who lived on my floor. Thankfully, the boy in the elevator was going to the floor higher than mine, so I knew that he would be around once we reached my floor. When we got to my floor, the man exited the elevator and held the door open, expecting me to exit after him. I hesitated, silently staring at him without moving.

[00:26:23] Something inside me urged me to stay in that elevator. Once he realized I wasn't getting out, he let the door shut, and I immediately heard the door to the stairwell, open, followed by the sound of his footsteps, going straight down the stairs to exit the building. I stared at the boy wondering if I should say something, but I was worried he would think I was weird for staying in the elevator, even though we passed my floor.

[00:26:53] I didn't say anything. When we reached his floor, he silently got off, and I took the elevator back down to my floor, then went straight to my apartment and locked all my doors. What scares me the most about this is that my parents were out of the country, so if that creepy man had forced his way into my apartment, I would have been on my own. I have never had a feeling of intuition or uneasiness like that before.

[00:27:21] Looking back, I wonder if the boy was some kind of guardian angel. My mother told me about an incident that happened to her when she was a little girl during the Great Depression. She has remembered it all her life and can recall it as though it happened just yesterday.

[00:27:51] My great-grandmother lived with my mother and the rest of their family at the time. The town that they lived in was mostly farmland and a railroad that ran through the center of town. One day, my mother's aunt's boyfriend, who happened to be a used car salesman, was feeling generous after a big sale and was celebrating with a few drinks. He handed my great-grandmother a $20 bill and told her to spend it wherever she wanted.

[00:28:19] And $20 was a lot of money back then. Excitedly, my great-grandmother decided to walk to the grocery store about a mile away to get some treats for the family. So she took my mother's hand and they walked to the store together. At the store, two rough-looking men were loitering out front, but my mother and her grandmother didn't pay much attention to them.

[00:28:43] They got their items and when my great-grandmother handed the clerk the $20 bill, the two men peered inside and appeared to take notice of the change that was handed to her. My mother and her grandmother walked out of the store calmly and started to walk home. They cut across the fields, but it was getting dark by that point. They had only walked a little way down the road when my great-grandmother suddenly felt frightened.

[00:29:10] As she turned around, she saw this beat-up pickup truck following them without its headlights on. So she grabbed my mother and pulled her into the cornfield. Then, in a whisper, she told her to get down as low as she could and move as quietly and as quickly as she could. They both moved deep into the cornfield and at one point, my great-grandmother instructed my mother to lie down on the ground and not make a sound.

[00:29:41] My mother remembers seeing a light from a lantern or flashlight bobbing up and down and all around them as she heard cornstalks rustling while the two men were searching for them. After what felt like hours, especially to a little girl, my great-grandmother told my mother to get up and they finished their journey.

[00:30:05] In those days, newspapers and radio broadcasts often reported people being assaulted or sometimes killed for just a few dollars or even pennies that were in their pockets. My mother has not stopped thinking about what might have happened to her and her grandmother had those two men found them in that desolate cornfield.

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[00:31:09] This encounter occurred when I was 19 years old. I had just closed the store that I was working at with another co-worker. They offered to drive me home, but since I lived right across the street, I thought that I was safe to walk home. The apartment that I lived in was in a building that my uncle owned and it was above his auto shop. It was around 9.30pm. It was really dark out, and the roads were empty.

[00:31:37] Right after I crossed the street, a dark blue minivan pulled up beside me out of nowhere. This somewhat startled me, so I looked at the driver in confusion. I was carrying some bags of stuff that I bought from work, and the guy driving the van noticed, and he asked if I needed a ride. I kindly declined his offer, told him I lived close by, and continued walking. The guy started slowly following me, and continued,

[00:32:07] Are you sure you don't need a ride? I don't mind. He asked again, but I kept declining as I continued walking. He remained persistent, which really started to creep me out, so I began walking faster. I ignored him, as he repeatedly shouted at me, Come on, get in the car! Get in the car! I was afraid to run inside the apartment, since I really didn't want this creep to know where I lived.

[00:32:35] So I planned to just loop around the building and lose him. Thankfully, I noticed that the auto shop's lights were on, and the garage was open. My uncle must have been working late at the shop, so I walked as fast as I could towards the garage, and the van sped off in a hurry as soon as they saw me heading for the open garage. I told my uncle about what happened, and waited a few minutes before walking back out to go up to my apartment.

[00:33:04] Once I was inside, I locked all of my doors and windows, and I stayed in the living room until my dad came home. Thankfully, I never saw the van again. I finally bought some pepper spray after this incident. I typically always had my weighted pocket knife on me, but I happened to leave it at home on that day. To everyone, even if you only have to walk two minutes to get to your destination,

[00:33:30] even if you think you're safe, please treat it like it's a 20 minute walk in a very sketchy town. Always be on high alert, and continue with caution if you need to go anywhere alone. If you don't feel safe walking alone, don't be afraid to ask friends or family to give you a ride or tag along with you. It might just save your life.

[00:34:03] This happened when I went out with a friend to look for some houses to rent and move into with my wife. We looked at a massive house first, and everything was fine. Another friend of ours arrived, and said that there was an apartment up the road. He suggested that we go there, since he was going that way too. So we went, and when we got there, I greeted the owner who invited me inside to look at the place. I went inside alone while my friends stayed outside.

[00:34:33] This was when things started to get weird. As we went upstairs, the owner stated the rent amount, but said that he would rent it to me at a discount for $100 less per month. A discount in this economy? Why would he do that? Once we were upstairs, I noticed that the apartment next door had this eerie atmosphere.

[00:34:58] The windows were open, and the only lighting coming from inside seemed to be coming from a TV. I even thought about asking if the eerie apartment was also available. But the owner asked me to continue looking at the apartment that we were in, so I shrugged it off. This apartment was simple. Two bedrooms, a small kitchen, and a small bathroom. All of the rooms were small, but it had a balcony which provided very good ventilation.

[00:35:29] I liked the place, and was already beginning to consider renting it, when the most sinister part happened. The owner went to use the bathroom. So I went outside and stood in the gap between the apartment that I looked at and the eerie apartment. Suddenly, out of nowhere, this blonde woman appeared from the eerie apartment. She seemingly materialized at the window and whispered,

[00:35:58] It was something that I couldn't fully hear or understand, but I did catch the end of it. She was saying, Don't rent it. And she repeated herself, Don't rent it. By the time the owner came outside, the blonde woman had already left the window. Her warning gave me goosebumps, so I just thanked that guy and said that I would think about it. I even wrote his number down to be polite,

[00:36:27] even though at this point, it was out of the question. I don't have any idea what that was about, but it just felt too sinister. The blonde woman appeared out of nowhere, and her warning left me with a bad energy. I told my wife about all of it, and even with the discount, she didn't want to move into that apartment either.

[00:37:08] I'm a 27-year-old female, and this happened about six years ago. At the time, I was working in a bar, so I got off work pretty late, usually around 3am. Since I lived quite close to the bar, I would always walk home after my shift. There were two different routes that I could take. One was along the street where most of the city's bars and clubs were, and it was usually pretty crowded.

[00:37:35] Since I was exhausted and didn't want to see any more people that night, I took the other route. It was much quieter and also darker. As I was walking, a group of drunk guys appeared. They blocked my way. I made it clear that I had no interest in talking with them, so they eventually let me pass. A nearby taxi driver must have seen what happened because he rolled down his window and asked if I needed a ride home.

[00:38:04] I declined, saying that I didn't have too far to go. But he insisted, saying that he wouldn't charge me. I thought maybe he was just looking out for me since he had seen the incident with the drunk guys. So I made the naive decision to accept his offer. After I got in, he asked for my address. And then we started driving. I offered to pay him, but he refused.

[00:38:31] Shortly after, we arrived in my neighborhood, but instead of stopping, he just kept driving. I asked where he was going, and he acted like it was an accident, saying he was just looking for a place to turn around. The thing is, he kept driving for a few minutes until we ended up in an industrial area where he pulled into a dead end.

[00:38:56] At this point, I was terrified, but I didn't know what to do, especially since my phone had died earlier. I just said, well, this is a perfect opportunity for you to turn around. He looked at me, and I think he got scared to follow through with whatever he had planned. After a moment, he simply said, you're right, turned the car around, and drove me back to my place.

[00:39:27] My heart was pounding as I got out of the car, but I was grateful that nothing terrible happened that night. I know it wasn't a good decision to get into the car in the first place, and I still don't fully understand why I made that decision. I think I just got lucky in the end.

[00:39:57] I'm 21 and from the UK. My family and I live in a town called Margate where nothing really happens. At least, that's what I thought. When I was 15, my younger brother, who's a year younger than me, and I were up all night watching YouTube and playing Fortnite. We played all night until about 5am, which was when we realized we had school and should probably get a little bit of sleep. We lived in a flat which had three stories.

[00:40:25] Our room was on the top floor on the left. Even after getting up to our room, we still talked for a while, even though we knew that if our mom found out that we were still up, we would be dead for sure. After about 10 minutes of talking, we heard somebody walking slowly up the stairs. At first, I assumed it was our mom. Maybe she was trying to catch us.

[00:40:48] I'm sure you remember that feeling as a kid, quickly shoving your Nintendo DS or your phone under your pillow and closing your eyes in a split second. I'm pretty sure we've all done it at some point. So my brother and I proceeded to lie there and wait for the perfect moment to close our eyes. As we stared between the cracks of the door, we saw a human figure that appeared to be around 6'5", creeping past our door.

[00:41:18] My brother and I stared in complete shock as we heard some rustling in the other room. I told my brother to keep the game paused, but he never listened and resumed as he said, Don't worry, it's fine. Right after he said that, the figure sprinted down the stairs, opened the door, and slammed it shut. I immediately called my mom, terrified. She and I went to go check the door.

[00:41:46] This was the most horrifying thing that I had ever witnessed and my brother and I always finish each other's sentences when sharing this story. To this day, I wonder why that person never came into our room.

[00:42:14] I grew up in northern Ontario in a small town called Blind River. At this particular time, I was around 6-7 years old, and this was in the 80s. My parents owned a grocery store that had two more locations in the next two towns over. So, they would get a shipment of groceries at the main store and then load up their van with stock to bring to the other two stores. They had a big brown van.

[00:42:41] They took the seating out of the back so that the whole thing was empty with a metal floor. Back then, the rules of the road weren't as serious. Or at least, I assume they weren't, since I remember lying in the back of the van on my stomach. I remember peeking out of a hole in the floor of the van to watch the road. The hole was from where the seating was previously bolted down. My younger brother and sister were often in the back of the van with me.

[00:43:10] We always had random stuff back there to help us relieve our boredom as we made our way back home after delivering the stock to the stores. One night, my brother and sister stayed behind with our dad for some reason, so it was just me and my mom driving the stock out to the stores. I was excited since this meant I got to sit in the front seat with her. After my mom and I had delivered all of the food, it was pretty late.

[00:43:38] It was getting dark, and my mom hates driving at night, so we made a quick stop to get some gas and use the restroom before heading home. All the towns in this particular area are along Highway 17, and as soon as you get on the highway, each town only takes about 4 minutes to pass through. Once we were about 10 minutes down the highway, I heard a sound coming from the back, so I turned to look.

[00:44:04] There was a man sitting on the floor with his eyes shut. Now, I never thought for a second that this was something to be creeped out by, so I casually said, There's a man back there. The highway seemed particularly dark that night, and remember, this was the 80s, so there were no cell phones to use to call for help. There also wasn't another car to be seen, so she couldn't even flash her high beams to get anyone's attention.

[00:44:34] My mom was 5'4", 110 pounds, and she knew that she didn't have anything with her to protect herself, so every worst-case scenario was playing out in her head. She stayed calm and said, No, there's not. It's just us. And continued driving.

[00:44:55] After we exited the highway, when we stopped at the first traffic light, the man just opened the back door, slipped out of the van into the darkness, and then disappeared into the night. We never even acknowledged this happening. But my mom did later tell me, that she was trying to act like she didn't know someone was back there in case he happened to lash out.

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[00:45:56] When I told my friends this story, they urged me to share it with a wider audience. This happened back in December, about a week before Christmas. I'm a 32-year-old guy currently using my GI Bill to go to college in a city in one of the states in the Mountain Time Zone. I'm busy with school and work, so I don't have time to go out and socialize all that often,

[00:46:22] which means I have to rely a lot on the apps to go out on dates. As such, I matched with this really cute girl around my age. We had a good conversation, so we proceeded with scheduling a date. We decided to go to this restaurant with a bar that wasn't too far for either of us to drive to. She was very pretty in person, and we got along great. During our date, I found out that she worked at the police station, essentially,

[00:46:52] as an office assistant. I also learned she had a roommate, whom she said was out of town for the holidays. She added that she hated being alone since she had a crazy ex-boyfriend who stalked her. I was a little uneasy at that, and I told her as much, but she said that the guy was harmless, so I guess I just kind of let it go. We had a few more drinks, and we were at the restaurant for about another hour, when she suggested that we go back to her place.

[00:47:23] I wasn't going to argue she was attractive. She insisted on driving, but I told her I was fine. She then said that I shouldn't drive since I had been drinking, and she told me she saw too many DUIs at her job. I understood what she was saying, but I only had two drinks, so I was sure that I was fine. But she insisted again. I thought that it was strange, but I didn't really care at the time.

[00:47:50] When we got to her house, she walked up and just opened the door. She didn't unlock the door. It was already open. I found this to be very odd since her roommate was out of town, and she said that she had a stalker. She started feeding her cat, and as she was doing that, I noticed a bowl of cereal on the kitchen counter. I touched it. It was still cold, like it hadn't been out for very long. The cereal also wasn't very soggy.

[00:48:20] I asked her whose cereal it was, and after she hesitated, she said that she had a snack before heading to the bar. Obviously, this didn't make sense at all, but before I could say anything, she kissed me and wrapped her arms around me, seductively, while asking me to take her to the room. Again, I was quick to stop caring about my suspicions of the bowl of cereal. She was very attractive.

[00:48:50] We started fooling around, and I went over to close the curtains, but she told me to leave them open. A few minutes later, we were in bed. Now, my back was to the window, and she let out this huge gasp. A scared gasp. Her eyes were on the window, so I turned around, and I saw somebody there staring at us in a hoodie. That person then took off, and I heard footsteps running on her back deck.

[00:49:18] I immediately jumped up and ran out to make sure that her doors were locked, and of course, the front door was not. The person outside reached the door right when I locked it, and began shaking it. Now, I was about to open it because I was ready to fuck this guy up, or at least try to, but she told me to get back into bed with her. Are you insane? I screamed. He does this all the time, she explained. He'll go away.

[00:49:48] Is this your ex? I asked. Yeah, but you don't need to worry about it, she replied. At this, he began banging on the side of the house from the other end. She didn't seem phased, or even scared at all. She just kept trying to get me back to her bed. I didn't want to call the cops because since she worked at a police station, for all I knew, this guy was a cop.

[00:50:16] I also couldn't just leave because my car was at the bar. I was terrified. So, I then started calling her out. I called her out about the door not being locked, and how the bowl of cereal appeared to be much fresher than she said it was. I openly called her a liar. She couldn't come up with any logical answers, so I had no idea what I was in for. I shouldn't have said this, but my fight or flight had pretty much fully kicked in,

[00:50:45] and I told her, if this is a robbery or some kind of setup, I promise I'll kill both of you. I'm not a hard ass. I'm not a tough guy. I'm not anything like that, but my fear told me to let her know that no matter what was going on, they'd have a fight on their hands. My thoughts of what was going to happen next were all over the place. I quickly ordered an Uber off of my phone, but I didn't tell her.

[00:51:13] I just kept arguing, asking what was going on, hoping to keep her in her room as I stayed right next to the front door so that I could leave right when the Uber got there. Luckily, I never took my pants off, and my jacket and shoes were right by the door, so I was able to get dressed quickly. The Uber showed up, and without saying anything further, I slipped out the door and ran as fast as I could. When I looked back at the door, she was just standing there.

[00:51:45] Now, I've been thinking about this ever since it happened, and I honestly have no idea what was going on. I don't believe that she was just a girl with a crazy ex, especially considering all of the factors I shared. I feel like it was a setup for a robbery, or some weird fetish type thing. I don't know. This is something I'm very disappointed in myself for. I mean, I'm a nine-year Navy vet, and I allowed myself to get into a situation like this.

[00:52:14] Anyways, I reported her account on the dating app I met her on during my Uber ride back to the bar, and I told the bartender about her as well just in case they ever saw her again.

[00:52:44] Thanks for listening, and send your stories to letsnotmeetstories at gmail.com if you want to hear them on the show. If you're a patron, stick around after the music for your extended version of this week's episode. If you'd like to get access, go to patreon.com forward slash letsnotmeetpodcast to sign up and support the show today. You'll get access to ad-free versions of all of our episodes at a higher bit rate, and bonus content with stories you won't hear anywhere else every single week. Again, that's patreon.com forward slash letsnotmeetpodcast.

[00:53:14] Thanks to my guest, Kadra Brennan, for coming on the show. Make sure to check out her podcast, Perplexity, a mystery podcast. It's in their third season. The show is hosted and produced by Kadra Brennan, bringing you tales every single Wednesday that will have you perplexed. From true crime, to the paranormal, to dark history, and the unexplained, Kadra brings mysteries that will leave you wanting more. Perplexity, a mystery podcast, is available wherever you get your podcasts, and you can even watch her on YouTube.

[00:53:43] Be sure to check out the new episodes of my other podcasts, like Odd Trails, Cryptic Encounters, and the Old Time Radiocast at crypticcountypodcasts.com or wherever you get your podcasts. And don't forget to follow me on Twitch at twitch.tv slash crypticcounty for my live streams. This week you have heard, Dear Man Who Tried to Talk to Two Teenage Girls, Let's Not Meet Again, by Stachixie.

[00:54:09] Why You Shouldn't Run Late at Night, by Axie996. Did I Ever Tell You You Look Like Jesus, by Silver721. Me and Two Men on a Bridge Alone, by AlternativePhil5516. This happened a few months ago, but I still think about it and get chills, by AdventurousBrief469. A Night in the Great Depression, by HorrorDealer.

[00:54:35] When I was 19, a stranger tried to get me into his van, by I'm Here for Nothing. The Sinister Apartment, by FalseCode3364. Accepted a Free Ride from a Taxi Driver, by Z. Voble. 5AM Break-In, by OKResponsibility1668. A Creepy Childhood Memory, by Christina.

[00:55:00] And finally, Worst Hinge Date I've Ever Been On, by AcceptableInjury754. 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 boards online. I'll see you all next week for a brand new episode of Let's Not Meet. Everybody stay safe.

[00:55:54] Firstly, I wanted to say that I love the podcast.