7x09: You Can't Call The Cops - Let's Not Meet

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

[00:00:20] My name is Andrew Tate and this is Season 7, Episode 9 of Lets Not Meet, A True Horror Podcast. I haven't told this story to many people, excluding my partner, friends, and my mother,

[00:01:02] but ever since I found Lets Not Meet, I wanted to share my story on the podcast. I also wanted to write in because I haven't heard any stories from Finland on the show. For backstory, this happened last summer in 2020. I was 21 at the time and keen on

[00:01:23] trying new things as the pandemic had put a stop to my regular partying and activities. I was single at the time and spent some of those days on Tinder swiping for possible hookups or adventures. I matched with an American girl living here who seemed like the type

[00:01:43] that I would like to hang out with. We started talking a little bit and decided to hang out. The summer was beautiful, very hot but beautiful, so we decided to stay outside, smoke some weed because she was willing to share her stash with me, and just chill. I

[00:02:05] was excited, free weed and a new friend sounded like a great night for adventure. But what I didn't know was that this night would leave me scared and anxious for a very long time.

[00:02:20] We decided to meet around 8pm in a shopping mall pretty close to where I lived at the time. I usually do not hang out with people during the night, I love my nighttime routine

[00:02:33] and calm evenings. But like I said, in 2020 I was looking for new experiences so this wasn't out of the question for me. The girl I was meeting with, let's call her Elle, told

[00:02:49] me that she had a place in mind, her favorite smoke spot. I was all in and let her take the lead. We walked into the forest that had a jogging track and a sports court in the

[00:03:03] vicinity. She led me off the track into a clearing in the woods and I could agree with her that it was a nice spot. The clearing was fairly large and had some small cliffs

[00:03:17] and rock formations that you could sit on. There was graffiti and the coals of a bonfire so clearly this was a spot other people would spend time. The clearing wasn't covered in

[00:03:30] trees but it was lined with them and the track was the only way out of the clearing. The entrance of the clearing was covered by the trees and lined with thick bushes and it wasn't like an official entrance. It was just a small track people had created

[00:03:51] over the years. We walked around this clearing before settling down on top of one of those rock formations. From our place, we could pretty much see the entire clearing except for what was behind us. Not paying mind to not see what was behind us, we started packing

[00:04:13] a pipe and turned on some music. We started smoking the pipe and chatting about things like school, what Elle was doing here, and the summer. She then proceeded to tell me about something creepy she had experienced in that wooded area. She and her friend had

[00:04:32] been hanging out there, much like we were at that moment, when they had seen a man pleasuring himself and watching them. I was immediately grossed out and anxious because if that had happened before, there was a chance it could happen again. I awkwardly tried to laugh my

[00:04:54] anxiety off and hit the pipe just a little more. At this point, we both had probably taken a few hits each but I was a lightweight and already started feeling it. We talked

[00:05:07] some more and my eyes scanned the clearing when I thought I saw someone. I got Elle's attention and asked her if she was seeing what I was seeing. What she told me made my

[00:05:20] blood run cold. She confirmed that she also saw what I was seeing. Next to the entrance and exit to the clearing, hiding in the bushes was an old man. He was crouching down doing

[00:05:36] God knows what, staring right at us. There was no one else in the clearing and we were practically smack dab in the middle of it. So there was no way he was there for anyone else. Obviously, we freaked out. I started frantically gathering my stuff as Elle was

[00:05:55] starting to hyperventilate and explained to me that that man was the same one she had just told me about. My heart fell to my ass as I realized what kind of situation we were in. We quickly gathered our belongings and frantically tried to figure out what to do.

[00:06:16] We didn't have the courage to walk towards him, towards the only entrance to the clearing because who knows what he was hiding behind the bush. The only logical solution to us, two half-stoned girls, was to delve into the woods originally behind us. Elle fell

[00:06:35] in step after me and I took the lead, holding onto my phone and a switchblade that I bought years ago and kept with me to open packages during the move. That dull switchblade was

[00:06:48] our only weapon if the man tried something with us and I was clutching it like no tomorrow. I initially bought it for self-defense purposes but never imagined I would actually have to

[00:07:02] use it. I started questioning what I would even do with it. Could I stab a person, even in self-defense? As we continued our walk out of the clearing and into the woods, I remember Elle's words shocked me. He's following us. He's not leaving. She told

[00:07:22] me this in a choked up voice. I had had some hope that if we just left the clearing, he would leave us alone but no. We were walking deeper into the unknown woods and he was

[00:07:35] following us. I was trying to figure out from Google Maps if there was another exit but I couldn't find one. At least not one marked on maps anyway. Determined to show him that

[00:07:49] I was not afraid, I put on my bravest face and voice and just kept walking, hoping that he would leave us alone. Behind me, I hear Elle's panicked voice saying things like

[00:08:00] he's getting closer. Oh my god, it's really him. To say my heart was pounding out of my chest is an understatement. I felt my legs shaking. I felt like throwing up. At that moment,

[00:08:13] my mind was flooded with all of the terrible cases that I had heard of and that only made my fear even worse. During our walk, we were speaking in hushed voices trying to avoid showing him that we were scared. We agreed on calling 112, the emergency number, if the

[00:08:34] situation didn't resolve somehow soon. We continued our walk and Elle told me that the man was getting even closer. I never looked back after taking the lead because I didn't want to cry. I knew that I would start bawling if I really saw him. I dialed 112 because

[00:08:54] our situation was looking worse and worse. The woods around us were thick, hard to walk through and there was no track anywhere. No reason for anyone except us and the creep to be there. From behind me, Elle whispered, he's about 5 meters away. This made my last

[00:09:15] drop of confidence vanish. When we started our walk, he was around 25-35 meters away from us. He was getting close. And we were lost in the middle of the woods alone with the

[00:09:29] creep with intentions to do who knows what. As I finally pressed call on my phone and called that emergency line, we stumbled into a small clearing in the midst of some trees.

[00:09:45] As a man's voice on the phone answered, I turned around and to my surprise I was faced with another man. This bald middle aged man. He was sitting on a fallen tree trunk, smoking

[00:09:59] a cigarette just in the middle of the woods. I hung up 112, too startled by the presence of this random man. I asked Elle if I should talk to him and ask him for help. We agreed

[00:10:12] that this was our only option for any help. I walked up to this cigarette smoking man and told him that there was a man following us and if he could be with us just for this

[00:10:23] moment and maybe go tell him something. I hate being dependent on men especially, but in this moment I swear this man was our guardian angel. Begrudgingly he got up and walked towards where we came from. At this moment the creep was crouching behind some bushes again hiding.

[00:10:43] The man jogged towards this creep and he took off running back towards the clearing and away from us. The bald man walked back to us and I thanked him for helping us and tried

[00:10:55] to steady my breath. Elle started crying and I hugged her and tried to comfort her. The man sat back down on the tree trunk and proceeded to tell me that, that man is no trouble. He

[00:11:09] doesn't mean any harm. I was shocked and just nodded as I thanked him again and steered Elle and I away from this man. We walked slowly back towards the clearing, me still gripping my switchblade and when we made it out of the clearing without spotting the creep, we

[00:11:29] could finally breathe. We walked towards the sports court that was close to the trek and finally saw some dog walkers and other people. Elle was crying hysterically and I can only imagine that I looked like I had seen a ghost. We walked all the way back to

[00:11:48] the mall that we passed on our way to the woods in the first place and contemplated calling the cops or informing them. In the end we decided not to call the cops because

[00:11:58] we had been smoking pot which is not allowed here. In hindsight we should have called them, especially after what I found out next. I posted about this incident on my Instagram story and a friend of mine swiped up and told me that those specific woods were known

[00:12:17] for sexual encounters with weird creeps. I felt sick as I read the message. Who knows what that man could have thought of us being there since neither of us knew of this status

[00:12:29] in the woods. As the adrenaline went down I felt angry because of the man who had helped us. Of course the creep isn't going to harm you and therefore it isn't dangerous but to us he

[00:12:42] could have done some serious damage. This encounter haunts me to this day. I purchased some pepper spray. I always keep it on me now if I go anywhere new alone. I have bad anxiety about going anywhere

[00:12:56] alone at night. I have for a whole year after this incident but I'm starting to feel better with my blade and my pepper spray. It's going to take more than just a creep to mess up my life.

[00:13:09] So to the creep following me and my friend deep into the forest, planning lord knows what, let's not ever meet again. For some backstory, I was always a troubled child. Not a bad child as I never misbehaved,

[00:13:45] just troubled. Troubled by my parents drug addiction, neglect and emotional abuse. By the time I was 13 my parents addiction hit a boiling point. My family was constantly being evicted. We were always homeless. I was living out of a single duffel bag. Here's where my story

[00:14:10] starts. When I was around the age of 14, I had just started high school. I decided to leave my family to couch hop between different childhood friends. I was tired of being homeless, starving

[00:14:24] and suffering. I felt like I would be doing them a favor by giving them one less mouth to feed. And they just let me leave. One of the first friends to let me stay with them was a childhood

[00:14:38] friend of mine who we'll call Kayla. I stayed on an air mattress on her bedroom floor for about six months before her mom decided that she wouldn't be able to harbor any random kids anymore. Painful,

[00:14:53] but fair enough. I was grateful to have gotten a taste of being in a normal family. Kayla was an only child with two parents who both worked, so the family was pretty well off.

[00:15:07] They would take me out to eat at nice restaurants and then take me to the movies and then the fair. I trusted her parents, including her father, who was always kind to me. He got me Christmas

[00:15:21] He got me Christmas presents, made sure that I felt welcomed. After leaving them, I would stay at two more friends' houses until I was 15. I had gotten kicked out of another friend's house because they didn't want to be responsible for a child that wasn't theirs.

[00:15:41] Painful, but again, fair enough. I go back to live with my parents who are staying in a hotel by the beach. I stay with them for a week, taking the bus for hours at a time to make it to school.

[00:15:56] My parents ended up being arrested and at 3am police showed up and took my two younger brothers and me. We ended up in foster care until we turned 18. Now I thought my life couldn't get any worse,

[00:16:13] but this is where things get crazy. Kayla's parents are worried about me, especially her dad. He starts encouraging Kayla and her mom to include me in their family outings and bringing

[00:16:28] me food for lunch. I'll admit it felt nice to be cared for and included, but then her dad starts showing up at my bus stop at 5am, offering me rides to school and telling me that he cares

[00:16:45] about me. Keep in mind I lived extremely far from my school. Him showing up at my bus stop was a huge red flag, but I was young and greedy for some parental love.

[00:17:01] I didn't mention this to anyone because I didn't think too much of it. I stayed quiet until he started giving me money, saying that a girl my age needs to have some spending money. I brought

[00:17:14] it up to Kayla who immediately pointed out a red flag. Her dad was not at all caring or gracious with her. He didn't give her money like that or treat her so kindly. I'm forever grateful

[00:17:30] to her rocky relationship with her dad because any other kid that age would have blamed or shunned me for taking advantage of their parent. She brings her boyfriends at the time into the issue,

[00:17:45] who both are shocked and disturbed by the news. The biggest red flag was not the money or the rides but the fact that he would create an account on a popular social platform for younger kids

[00:18:00] just to contact me because I didn't have a connected phone at the time. Everyone had a suspicion that he was trying to groom me or was interested in me physically, even though I was naive and doubtful. Kayla and her boyfriend formulated a plan to expose his

[00:18:21] intentions with me. Kayla's boyfriend logs into my social media and chats it up with her dad pretending to be me. To not ruin the plan, I stay off of social media all day. Unknown to me, her dad exposes himself, revealing his true intentions. He asks questions about me,

[00:18:46] talks about how he wants to go jet skiing with me to a private island where it would just be the two of us. Nobody would be able to interrupt us. Also unknown to me, her boyfriend had sent a

[00:19:00] random photo of a girl in a bra from the internet, her face covered, intending to trick him into exposing himself and it worked. The next day while making my way to the bus stop, her dad shows up

[00:19:14] in his car, so happy to see me and wants to take me to school. My blood runs cold, I'm scared and anxious. I have no idea what went down over social media. I had gone to bed early and they were going

[00:19:30] to fill me in at school the next day. All I know is I'm alone with a man who could easily overtake me and has unclear but very shady intentions with me. Being a people pleaser and scared to upset him, I get into the car. His smile is ecstatic,

[00:19:52] sickening. He's talking about how lovely our conversation was last night. Was that photo really you? You're beautiful. I can't wait to go jet skiing with you. I can't wait to have you alone all to myself.

[00:20:10] On the outside, I had an awkward smile plastered on my face but on the inside I was screaming, what the fuck happened last night? What photo? I need to leave. The ride to school was the longest ride I'd ever been on.

[00:20:26] The panic in me was bubbling. I was about to explode. When we arrived at my school, the sun hadn't even risen yet. It was so early, not a soul was there and the doors were locked.

[00:20:43] He encouraged me to wait in the car to take a nap since we got there so fast and nobody was there yet. A stupid people pleaser and scared shitless, I closed my eyes and wait. I pretended to be

[00:20:58] asleep so that he would stop talking, praying that he would keep his hands to himself. Ten minutes had passed before headlights of a car caught my attention. People arriving. Escape time.

[00:21:13] I managed to spit out a lame excuse for having to get to some club activities, grabbing my things but then he stops me. He leans in like a romantic movie where two lovers finally get together.

[00:21:31] Fuck no. His lips barely graze my cheek before I'm saying bye and throwing myself out of the car. To cut a long story short, we expose him to his wife who kicks him out. I confide in my

[00:21:45] social worker who claims he's reporting this as sexual abuse. Kayla's dad lawyers up the moment he is kicked out, formulating a story to put all of the blame on me. But in the end, nothing comes out of it. Nobody had even reported him to the police.

[00:22:07] This should be the end of my story but it's not. Her dad moves to a different state where he now owns a BDSM club room and makes a lot of money from his business. Nobody hears anything from

[00:22:20] him for months. I blocked him everywhere until one day it happens. The police call Kayla's mother. Her dad had started a relationship with a woman much younger than him, closer to my age than his

[00:22:35] own. He ended up strangling her to death during an argument. That was years ago. I'm older now and I know what an absolute idiot I was. This man changed the way I see men forever.

[00:22:52] I will never let my future children near anyone like him. I will never forget those red flags. To make things worse, I heard from a friend that he got out of jail recently.

[00:23:05] Nobody knows where he is and Kayla and her mom plan on moving in case he comes to look for them. So to my friend's dad who thought he could have a relationship with a 15 year old

[00:23:18] and would end up killing a woman around my age who could have been me, let's never meet again. The story happened around 3 or 4 years ago. I was 16 or 17, I'm now 20. I live in Minnesota.

[00:23:51] It's a pretty high risk for sex trafficking because I live next to a very big canal or quote unquote port where around 26 giant cargo ships come in and out every day. It's a seaport

[00:24:06] so it's easy to go missing. There's a big park right there and it's popular for tourists and it gets pretty busy. There are 3 main streets that are filled with small shops, restaurants,

[00:24:20] and hotels. After that, there's one last street in the park that has a movie theater on it and it's much less popular. My friend Haley and I used to walk around and hang out in Canal Park almost

[00:24:35] every day longboarding and just doing other teenage girl stuff. We felt very comfortable there by ourselves. On this particular day, it was a warm summer weekend and the streets were pretty busy.

[00:24:50] My friend and I had been at the park for probably a couple of hours by now and the sun had gone down. We were walking down one of the streets when I saw a man in dirty jeans with a trench coat

[00:25:02] crossing the road. It was significant at the time but I just happened to notice it. We kept walking and a few seconds later that same man that I saw cross the street said something behind us

[00:25:15] to get our attention. We stop and turn around to see a dirty skinny man probably in his 50s in this tan colored trench coat. My first thought was that he was a tourist and he was going to ask

[00:25:30] us for directions somewhere but instead he said, do you think my friend's voice is sexy? Now he was alone. Haley and I look at each other with great confusion and ask him, what?

[00:25:48] He then repeats the question, do you think my friend's voice is sexy? Haley and I look at each other again with this guy's crazy type of look. We both stumble on our words because like I said,

[00:26:06] he's alone and we don't really know how to respond. We both kind of say that we can't hear his friend's voice. I thought maybe one of his friends dared him to do this or it was a prank.

[00:26:18] I was very innocent as a young kid and I didn't think anything sinister about it until his next words. They were, yeah he's over there if you want to come with me. He pointed to a dark alleyway.

[00:26:35] Finally the red flags were flying. Absolutely not. Haley and I both shake our heads and say no. He says it's okay and turns away. Now we continue on our way and turn the corner towards the movie

[00:26:51] theater. I immediately noticed that the street was dark and now desolate. The once comforting crowd of people was now behind us and out of sight. I get really uneasy just thinking back

[00:27:08] about how we should have turned around and gone back to where all of the people were at, but we kept on our path. The street lights were broken and there wasn't even a person in sight. We walk

[00:27:21] for about a minute and I look behind us. The trench coat man was following us. I told Haley and we started booking it to the movie theater. I ran track back then and Haley wasn't as athletic,

[00:27:36] but we kept pace with each other not letting one or the other fall behind. As we're running I look back again and he's now chasing us, running too. I could see his coat

[00:27:48] flapping in the wind. I yelled, he's running! And even though I was already running as fast as I could, I felt like I lost control of my legs and my feet were flying down the sidewalk,

[00:28:02] not thinking about anything besides getting inside that theater. I'm not sure when he stopped chasing us or where he went, but when we got inside of the theater the coat man was nowhere in sight.

[00:28:14] We debated calling the cops, but instead we called her grandma to come pick us up. We should have called them though or told the workers at the theater. We talked about it until her grandma showed up and then we went back to her house.

[00:28:30] The scariest thing is not knowing if he had a weapon or what his intentions were. What if we went into that alley? It's terrifying to think about. It didn't stop us from going out though, we just made sure to always have pocket knives on us and

[00:28:45] be extra cautious in our surroundings. But to the trench coat man, let's not meet again. I was 22 and had just signed the lease on my very first apartment. I was so excited. It was far

[00:29:13] enough away from my hometown to feel independent, but close enough that a last minute weekend visit to my parents was not an ordeal. At this point in my life you could just assume that on

[00:29:28] Friday night my friends and I would be at one of our houses for pizza, movies, and games until about one or two in the morning. I remember it was the second week I was in this apartment. We were at a

[00:29:42] friend's house per usual, having a blast. Around 12.30 or 1 I decided to head home. I said good night to my boyfriend at the time and he told me to call him when I get home since it was late.

[00:29:58] When I pulled into the parking lot of my complex I called my boyfriend to let him know that I made it safely. As I got out of my car I turned around to see a very large man standing by the

[00:30:11] trunk of my car. He was staring at me. We made eye contact for what felt like minutes. Might have just been a second. I froze. So many thoughts ran through my mind. Do I scream? Do I

[00:30:28] tell my boyfriend who I'm still on the phone with? No, because the guy is mere feet away from me and he would hear everything. I would have to pass by him to walk to my apartment building.

[00:30:42] At this point I had two choices. Get back into the car and hope that he does not open the doors before I can lock them or run past this guy and book it to my apartment hoping he doesn't follow

[00:30:56] me. My adrenaline-filled mind made the snap decision to speed walk across the parking lot, up the stairs to my door and do my best to make it look like I wasn't freaking out or scared shitless.

[00:31:11] When I rounded the corner of my building and out of his line of sight I made the mistake of glancing over my shoulder to see where he was. He was walking towards me, following.

[00:31:24] I ran as fast as I could. I remember only when I made it up the stairs and to the other side of my locked door that I was still on the phone with my boyfriend. As I caught my breath my

[00:31:37] heartbeat slowed down and the beating in my ears died down. I could hear my boyfriend yelling, what is happening? Are you okay? While I was explaining the whole thing to him,

[00:31:50] that man that was at my car followed me to my building. I turned the lights off to my apartment so it looked like no one was home. I peered out of the many blinds of the furthest window from

[00:32:02] the stairs, as far away from my front door as I could get. I watched as the guy, whoever he was, walked up the stairs towards my door. When he reached the landing, he slowly looked at each door

[00:32:20] and then stopped. He just stood there for minutes. I don't know if he was waiting for something or someone to walk out or what, but then he approached my door. He didn't know again.

[00:32:38] He just stood there. I backed away from the window and told my boyfriend, he's outside my door. I don't remember what my boyfriend said after that, other than to offer to come sleep on my couch

[00:32:51] that night. I immediately said yes and suggested he bring something to defend himself if this guy was still lurking when he got here. Thankfully before my boyfriend got to my place, this guy

[00:33:05] made his way downstairs. My boyfriend and I stayed on the phone the entire time in case something terrible happened or they crossed paths or something. They didn't, thank God. He calmed me

[00:33:19] down and slept on my couch that night between me and the front door. The next day I sent a Bolo email to the complex office letting them know what had happened, which they forwarded to adjacent

[00:33:34] tenants so that they would be aware as well. Ladies, some advice for moments like this when all you do is freeze and feel extremely unprepared. Always check your surroundings and blind spots before you exit your vehicle. Carry pepper spray on your keychain. Keep some form of defense by

[00:33:52] your bed or in your nightstand. For me it's a 12 inch heavy flashlight and a pocket knife. Also take some self-defense classes in your area. Things like this put my mind more at ease knowing

[00:34:04] that I can now defend myself if I end up in a worse scenario. I know this was long-winded, so I appreciate the opportunity to share. Hopefully this will help others feel prepared as well. This happened during a beautiful summer day in Spokane, Washington.

[00:34:37] Our summers here are very beautiful and worthy of being around a body of water as much as possible. I decided to take my dog swimming at the river, just her and I. Typically I don't go to the

[00:34:50] river alone, but today I just felt like going by myself. I wouldn't be alone anyways as the river is always crowded with people during the summertime. I got my dog ready for the short

[00:35:04] ride, grabbed a few beers to throw into my backpack and headed out. I only live about 3 minutes from the spot on the river that I was going to. This is a detail that is important for

[00:35:16] later. So I'm driving to my spot with a delightful summer breeze in my face, my favorite music is playing and my best friend is sitting right next to me. We got to the river, we find a spot to park

[00:35:29] and then head down to the water. It was pretty packed with people and I didn't really feel like sparking up conversations with strangers so I chose a spot to the far far left under a bridge

[00:35:42] and away from the crowd. I set my backpack down, pulled out a beer and found a large stick to start throwing for my dog. We played fetch for probably close to an hour before I noticed a woman to my

[00:35:55] right approaching my dog and I. She looked friendly, walking up with a smile and a wave, sort of. She had a bag of Doritos and a beer in one hand and her camping chair in the other.

[00:36:10] I smiled at her and went back to throwing the stick for my dog. I assumed she was just relocating but then the woman said hi in a very friendly tone. I smiled and said hello back. I'm a very

[00:36:25] social person and rarely turn down the opportunity to engage in a friendly conversation with a stranger so the warm hello I had given her turned into her setting her chair up right next to me

[00:36:40] and we began chatting. I don't recall exactly what I said as I was still throwing my stick for my dog halfway paying attention, making sure to glance over every so often to make eye contact

[00:36:52] as she was just talking away. She told me that she worked at a nearby casino, she had children, dogs just like mine and I remember feeling like she was trying to relate

[00:37:03] to me in any way possible asking me questions like do you have kids? How many dogs do you have at home? Are you single? What do you do for a living? If there was anything that stood out about this woman

[00:37:16] is the way she looked at me. She was fixated on me, staring at me without looking away. You know that feeling you get when someone is staring at you to the point of it feeling

[00:37:30] uncomfortable? Yeah, even though I felt very put off by her awkward gaze I still kind of figured she was just socially awkward and saw me by myself as a window of opportunity to make a new friend

[00:37:44] to have a beer with. She sat there and chatted for what felt like forever but was probably just 45 minutes or so not taking her eyes off of me. I had consumed a few beers out of my backpack at this

[00:37:57] point and when I went to reach for a fresh cold beer she jumped up and said, oh I need a new one, you've got to try this stuff I have. She then looked over her shoulder and yelled, hey babe

[00:38:10] bring me one of my beers. I was taken aback by this, rather shocked because she had been sitting here this whole time drilling me with questions, engaging me in conversation, showing me photos of

[00:38:22] her dogs and kids on her phone but never mentioned that she was here with someone or that she was married or anything of that nature. Even though this was a bit of a red flag I was still very

[00:38:33] friendly. The man approaches the two of us, he just walks up and shakes my hand and starts complimenting my dog. Seriously these people would not stop gawking over my dog. It was very odd,

[00:38:46] almost like they were obsessed over her. Anyways he ends up bringing over all their stuff, coolers, blankets, chairs, more beer. I feel like they've now invaded my personal space but I still smile and engage in conversation. I remember moving my backpack over about 5 feet to the left,

[00:39:06] getting closer to the embankment. This was my way of giving them the visual cue that I wanted my personal space. But after about 10 minutes he walks over, pulls out a pipe and starts smoking

[00:39:19] marijuana. He tries to pass it to me but I politely decline. It just isn't for me, especially with two complete strangers. He passes it to the woman, she takes a few hits then passes it back.

[00:39:30] He starts to talk again about how beautiful my dog is and says that he has a dog at home that would love to play with her. Before I could really react to this comment,

[00:39:42] he was getting into his truck and yelling out his window that he'd be right back. I was getting very nervous at this point because the woman had talked about this dog at home,

[00:39:54] a big dog who has too much energy and has been in some fights here and there. That's why they leave him at home alone. My dog is a medium sized boxer and lab mix. She's a lover, rather timid

[00:40:10] around other dogs and I was anxious that their dog might startle her. I got up and started walking over to the water, trying to throw hints that I just wanted to hang out with my dog. I was hoping

[00:40:22] that the woman might get the hint and go back to her original spot but she didn't. She got up and walked over with me, talking to my dog and petting her. About 10 minutes go by and her husband

[00:40:32] returns with the dog, this high strong enormous pit bull with a chain around his neck for a leash. Don't get me wrong, I adore pit bulls. There was just something about this dog.

[00:40:44] As soon as he gets out of the truck, this gigantic dog is trying their damnedest to get to my dog, so full of energy and strength that he pulls her husband to the ground.

[00:40:57] Which means he has to let go of the chain. Long story short, this dog tried to attack my dog. The husband was now bleeding from falling down and from trying to get the two apart.

[00:41:09] Needless to say, I'm done now. I want to go home. He gets their dog back into the car and I start to pack my things up. He tries to start up another conversation, almost in a panic that I'm ready to

[00:41:20] leave. They both try their best to get me to stay but I'm determined to get out of there. So he then tells me his wife needs to get my number so that our kids can play together.

[00:41:33] But there's no fucking way I'm ever going to hang out with these weird people again. But to remain friendly, I hesitantly agree and give her my phone number. I was trying to keep it light so that I could just get the hell out of there.

[00:41:45] I grab my bag, leash my dog and start heading to my car. Once I was in the parking lot, I felt relieved. I loaded my pup into the car, threw my backpack into the trunk, and climbed into the front seat and started my car.

[00:42:03] Now after getting a song of my liking on the radio, I put the car into reverse when I noticed that the couple is walking towards my driver's side door. I went to back up but realized that they had parked their truck directly behind me.

[00:42:18] I was stuck. The woman stayed back a bit as her husband approached my window. I cracked at a bit, but he said, hey, why don't we follow you home? We're worried about you getting home safe.

[00:42:31] Mind you, I've only consumed about three to four beers in a four hour period or more. I didn't smoke anything. I was fine to drive home, which was minutes from the river. I responded, oh, no thanks, I'm totally fine. I appreciate it though.

[00:42:47] But he doesn't take no for an answer. He absolutely insists that they follow me home. I keep polite but affirmatively reject their offer. He begins to walk back to his truck. I can hear him talking to the woman,

[00:43:04] but I can't quite make out what he's saying. She then climbs out of the truck and tries to convince me just to let them follow me home. They won't come inside. They aren't creeps, she said. I declined their offer once more and roll up my window.

[00:43:19] I start to let off my brake very slowly and let them know that I'm ready to go and they better move their truck. I watch as they both climb back into the vehicle

[00:43:28] and then move out of my way. I left the parking lot and was frantic to try and get out of their view. I sped off, took some random turns, then made my trip back home. Take 20 minutes

[00:43:41] rather than just a few. Just to make sure that they weren't following me. After a while, I felt safe enough to go home. Once inside, I immediately blocked the woman's number because I saw that she had called me two or three times since I left the parking lot.

[00:43:56] In summary, I haven't been back to that spot on the river and I will never go back alone. Whatever their intentions were, it just didn't feel right to me. So spine-chilling gross couple, let's not meet again.

[00:44:22] I was in the process of moving out of my parents' house and into a new place with my now ex-husband. At around 10 o'clock one night, I decided to leave the house to pick

[00:44:34] up a few things from my parents that I had forgotten about. On my way there, I passed under an overpass and immediately a cop, who we'll call Fisher, pulled up behind me with his

[00:44:49] flashing lights on. Mind you, I'm a very careful driver and I was not speeding. I had a belt on and my hands at 10 and 2. I was 18 and a fairly new driver. I pulled to the side of the road and

[00:45:04] collected my ID and registration and waited. He came to my window and said, hey what are you doing out so late alone? Okay, first red flag, but he is a cop so I thought I

[00:45:20] owed him some kind of explanation. I explained that I was on my way to my parents to get some stuff as I was moving out. Fisher then took my ID and handed me my registration, then went to his

[00:45:33] police car. He was there for about five minutes, then came back. At the time I was wearing short shorts and a long shirt as I was going to bed when I got home. Fisher gave me my ID back and

[00:45:48] said it's really not safe for you to be out so late all alone. He then smiled and walked away. It sent chills up my spine. Mind you, this is a very small town, so small that we only have two

[00:46:07] stoplights and everybody knows everybody. I shook it off and went about my night. The next night I went to the store that's right next to the overpass to get a drink after work before going

[00:46:20] home. Fisher was there and we made eye contact. I just got my things and checked out. By the time I had checked out, he was already in his squad car. I don't think he even purchased anything.

[00:46:35] He couldn't have. He had no time to. I got into my car and pulled out of the gas station to head home. Wouldn't you know it, Fisher pulled up right behind me and pulled me over. I pulled my

[00:46:50] car under the overpass. He gets out and comes to my window. I went to hand him my ID and he said you don't need it and referred to me by my name. He proceeded to ask me again why I was alone so

[00:47:05] late at night. I explained that I had just gotten off of work and was heading home. This happened every night that he was working and that he would see me. This happened for at least a year.

[00:47:19] One night I was with my now ex-husband and brother-in-law. We had went to the store for a drink and were headed home. Again, Fisher pulled us over. He sauntered over to the window not

[00:47:32] expecting my ex-husband to be with me. He leaned into my window and what was once a flirtatious and creepy smile turned into a rage immediately when he had seen my ex. He demanded for my ex's

[00:47:48] and my ex-brother-in-law's ID and demanded to know why they were there with me. My ex told him that we were to be married that next month and Fisher's face got red. He started accusing us of being on

[00:48:03] and selling drugs. He went around to the back passenger door on the right side and opened it and started rummaging through all of my things looking for drugs. Without further explanation

[00:48:14] or accusation, he threw the IDs at my ex and his brother in the car, then slammed the door and left. That next night I didn't stop at the store and instead kept driving towards the house.

[00:48:30] The only way home, of course, is to go under the overpass where he sits. This time he pulled behind me but did not turn on his flashers. Instead, he just creepily followed me.

[00:48:46] At the time where I lived was way out of his jurisdiction and after a while I assumed he just turned off as I didn't see his lights. I got home and the house was empty as my ex and his brother

[00:49:01] were at their aunt's house for the night. I decided to lay on the couch and watch TV when I felt this uneasy feeling. I looked at my wall and there was a light shining on it as if a car

[00:49:15] were outside. Where I lived was in the middle of the woods, so unless you were lost or you knew me there was no reason to be at my house, especially at midnight. I turned the TV off and slowly walked

[00:49:31] to my front door to look outside. That's when I saw him. Fisher. 20 miles outside of his jurisdiction in my front yard. He never got out, he just sat there with this police car staring

[00:49:46] right at me with a smirk on his face as if to say, who are you going to call? I lived far enough into the woods that I had no cell reception. I shut the curtains to my windows and shut off all the

[00:50:00] lights in the house and sat in my closet with a gun for what felt like hours. My ex ended up coming home at around 2am because he had a sick feeling that something was wrong. When he got home,

[00:50:11] he said, did a cop from the town over move down here? It's weird seeing them this far out. I explained to him what happened and he was furious and wanted to report him, but he was the only cop

[00:50:26] on duty. After this night, that cop transferred to another town and I didn't see him for a few years. I'm divorced at this point and my best friend at the time was getting married and a group of us

[00:50:39] decided to go to the gym to get fit for the wedding. We go to this popular gym in the town where we work and as I was looking down and focusing on my arms, I got that sick feeling.

[00:50:51] I look up and two machines in front of me was Fisher. He looked at me with so much hate. He was with a guy and a girl and they all watched me the entire time. My friends and I decided to

[00:51:07] swim in the pool at the gym and he would just stand by the window and watch me. I told my friends the story and they ensured that I would never be left alone at the gym and one of my guy

[00:51:18] friends went as far as to pretend he was my boyfriend. This went on for a few weeks until my friends and I decided to stop going there to work out. It's been five years since then and I still

[00:51:31] think of it often. What would have happened if Fisher did come into my house? Who was I supposed to call? The cops? He was the cops and he knew that I did not have cell reception.

[00:51:46] So Fisher, wherever you are now, whoever you're talking to, I hope you get caught and let's not meet again. Next week on Halloween Night we'll be releasing Lost Stories Part 6, a collection of some

[00:52:17] of the older recordings that are no longer available. I know you guys ask about these all the time and I'm really excited to share this collection with you all. And if you're a patron, don't forget to stick around after the music for your extended version of this episode.

[00:52:32] This week you have heard Creep in the Woods by Mary, a story by a listener that asked to remain anonymous. Do you think my friend's voice is sexy by horses not ponies? Man followed me to

[00:52:44] my apartment by Lauren, the couple at the river by Spokane Lady. And finally, you can't call the cops, he's the cops by Adi Liu. All of the stories you've heard this week were narrated and produced

[00:52:58] with the permission of their respective authors. Let's Not Meet, a true horror podcast, is not associated with Reddit or any other message boards online. As always, if you have a story to share,

[00:53:08] send it to letsnotmeetstories at gmail.com. And for those of you that have been wondering for the last year what happened to Odd Trails, no need to worry. My co-host is back in the states and we spent

[00:53:20] the better portion of an entire week recording at least two months worth of stories for you all. And if you're new to the podcast and you have no idea what I'm talking about, Odd Trails is an up-and-coming podcast. It's basically the Supernatural Sister Podcast to Let's Not Meet.

[00:53:37] These are true supernatural and paranormal stories. We just have some finer details to iron out before we can release the show, but expect that in the coming weeks. I'm very excited

[00:53:49] to share that with you. It's something that we've been working on and planning for a very long time and I'm very passionate about this new podcast. Also don't forget if you do want to get access

[00:53:59] to the extended version of this week's episode as well as the prior weeks and all of the bonus content, head over to patreon.com forward slash let's not meet podcast to support the show today.

[00:54:10] I'll see you all next week for your Lost Stories episode of Let's Not Meet, a true horror podcast. Stay safe.

[00:54:47] I live in Montreal and for the most part it's a pretty safe city.