16x25: Honeymoon Stalker

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[00:00:30] [SPEAKER_02] Now that Wendy's has these new biggie deals, everyone in the family can get what they're craving. From nugs to JBCs. The parental units can get an $8 biggie bundle. The eldest who think they're so grown can get a $6 biggie bag. And the little one who can do no wrong can get a $4 biggie bites. You know, assuming they have a credit card. No, I'm kidding. We take cash too. Four, six and $8 biggie deals for the whole family. Only at Wendy's.

[00:00:55] [SPEAKER_03] Pricing participation may vary. Single items at regular price. Prices may be higher in Alaska, California and Hawaii.

[00:00:59] [SPEAKER_00] This podcast contains adult language and content. The stories shared in this podcast are told from the perspective of the authors. Their accounts and opinions are personal and do not reflect the stance of the production team. If you have a story to share, send it to letsnotmeetstories at gmail.com. Enjoy the show.

[00:01:42] [SPEAKER_00] This happened when my boyfriend and I were living in our car. There's a road that leads to a quiet beach on the bay near some train tracks, and there's only one road in and out. Not many people come down this way unless they're accessing the beach, heading to work at one of the industrial plants along the road, attending an AA meeting, or sleeping in their vehicles like we were.

[00:02:06] [SPEAKER_00] Nothing in the area was open except maybe a couple of bars, and even those were a good three or four blocks away. Most of the road has eight-hour parking signs, so there are usually at least a few people camped there overnight, many of whom we've seen before. That night, though, there weren't as many people, just a few vehicles taking advantage of the overnight parking.

[00:02:33] [SPEAKER_00] We parked a bit further up the road than usual, hoping for a better internet connection. It was a little after 12.30am, and we were relaxing with our dog watching YouTube, and starting to get sleepy when we heard a car pull up behind us. We noticed that its lights were off. We keep our windows completely covered. We do this so that nobody can see inside, but we can peek out if we move a window covering and we're curious about approaching cars.

[00:03:03] [SPEAKER_00] My boyfriend checked it out and said that it was a van. We didn't think much of it, and went back to trying to watch our show despite the spotty Wi-Fi connection. A few months later, we heard what sounded like a conversation coming from across the street, but not from where the van had parked. It sounded like a small group of maybe four people talking. A little while later, the van drove away. We then heard a knock at my window, the driver's side.

[00:03:34] [SPEAKER_00] We muted the laptop and called out, Yeah? But we were met with silence. Then we tried again. Can we help you? Again, there was nothing. That was when I realized my door was unlocked, so I quickly locked it. After about 30 seconds of quiet, I pulled back the window cover, but nobody was there. Initially, I shrugged this off.

[00:04:01] [SPEAKER_00] People usually walk around the area where we were all the time, so I figured whoever knocked probably thought that we were someone else and quickly realized they had the wrong car. Things stayed quiet for a while. Then, through a small gap in the sunshade covering the windshield, we saw the silhouette of someone slowly walking around the front of the car beneath a street lamp.

[00:04:26] [SPEAKER_00] Nearly a full minute passed before we heard a quieter tapping on the passenger side window. This time, my boyfriend pulled down the cover almost immediately, but again, nobody was there. Then, almost instantly, there was another knock at my side. That was when we realized there had to be more than one person outside.

[00:04:48] [SPEAKER_00] There wasn't enough time for a single person to move from the passenger side to my side between the second and third knocks, and we had already heard multiple voices earlier. I started wondering if not everyone had gotten back into the van before it drove away. After the third knock, I pulled my window cover down almost all the way, annoyed and increasingly on edge.

[00:05:14] [SPEAKER_00] Standing there was this skinny man, probably in his mid-30s or early 40s. He was holding a flashlight and something else, awkwardly, tucked under his sweater. We couldn't make out what it was. The windows were completely fogged from us breathing inside with everything shut tight, so it was difficult to see clearly. He said, Hey, I need a jump. That immediately struck me as odd.

[00:05:42] [SPEAKER_00] There were no stores nearby, no houses, and no real reason to be down there at one in the morning. I told him, Sorry, we're just about to leave. We're in a rush. He sounded frustrated and replied, Come on! I've been down here for hours! If he had really been stranded for hours, why didn't he ask us when we arrived 45 minutes earlier?

[00:06:07] [SPEAKER_00] We had parked, let the dog out, set up our sleeping area, and generally made it obvious that we were there. Also, we never once heard him try to start a car. We never heard an engine turning over, no revving, not even the sound of keys jingling. What bothered me even more was that he said, I need a jump, and I've been down here for hours. Even though I could clearly tell that there had been multiple people outside the car.

[00:06:37] [SPEAKER_00] We could only see him though, so whoever else was out there was deliberately staying out of sight. After we refused, he grumbled and crossed the street to a white car with black rims that we had seen parked there before, but had never associated with him. At that point, I got a terrible feeling in my gut. Even though the windows were still fogged up, I started the car and told my boyfriend to start wiping the windows down so I could see.

[00:07:06] [SPEAKER_00] Then I pulled away. Something about the entire situation felt wrong though. It seemed like they were trying to get us to open a door or roll down a window. When knocking didn't work, they stayed silent because they hadn't come up with an excuse. Then, after a couple of failed attempts, they settled on the stranded motorist story hoping that we would step outside. Maybe they wanted to steal our car while we were helping them. Maybe they wanted to rob us.

[00:07:35] [SPEAKER_00] The possibilities were unsettling and endless. Or maybe he really was some guy who just needed to jump at one in the morning, miles from any stores or houses, and I'm the jerk who abandoned him on the side of the road. In any case, we just drove to a McDonald's to get something to eat, and later parked in the back driveway of someone we knew so we wouldn't be sitting out in the open anymore.

[00:08:01] [SPEAKER_00] The lock on our trunk had recently been broken, and was being held shut with a bungee cord. Most of our belongings were stored back there, and it made me feel like an easy target. The next morning we ended up back in the area. The white car with the black rims was still there, but now the rear window had been smashed out, and the man was nowhere to be seen. That was when I started wondering if it had ever been his car at all.

[00:08:30] [SPEAKER_00] My theory is that all of those people arrived together in the van. One person must have driven away while the other stayed behind, either looking for someone to rob or waiting for an opportunity to break into vehicles parked along the road. The whole experience was incredibly stressful, and my boyfriend was rattled for days afterward. He joked about the dog not barking, but honestly, I think he handled the situation perfectly.

[00:08:58] [SPEAKER_00] If we had needed to pretend nobody was inside the car, he wouldn't have given us away. Maybe a barking dog would have scared them off, but I like knowing that he'll watch us first and take his cues from us when something feels wrong. More than anything, I'm grateful that I wasn't there alone. Even with two of us, it was intimidating knowing we were probably outnumbered. If it had just been me, a 120-pound woman sitting alone in that car,

[00:09:25] [SPEAKER_00] I worry they might have been much more aggressive about getting the door open. Sometimes I wonder if I watch too many crime shows or conspiracy videos. Maybe that's what makes me paranoid. Or maybe it's because my grandfather spent 30 years as a sex crimes and homicide detective in the same area, I grew up hearing constant warnings about the dangers that lurk in the dark and what people are capable of. He always taught me that real monsters aren't the boogeyman.

[00:09:55] [SPEAKER_00] They're just men. I moved from home about two years ago, but before that, I was living in an old house with my family.

[00:10:24] [SPEAKER_00] But my family still lives in that house. It's next to an old, abandoned church. The washer and dryer were in the basement, so ultimately, I couldn't avoid it like I wanted to. It was always creepy, even when I was down there with someone else. No matter what, it felt like eyes were burning into me. There were some odd happenings. There was food disappearing, doors would be left open that had been closed before, and clothes would go missing.

[00:10:54] [SPEAKER_00] Also, audible footsteps could be heard from the basement, so when I moved out, you can imagine how happy I was. Let me explain the layout of my basement a bit so that it makes sense. There was a garage door and a normal door right next to it. The washer and dryer were on the opposite wall. The stairs were right next to the doors, and there was a giant hole in the wall. Well, my mom told me about what had been found in that hole about a month after I moved out.

[00:11:23] [SPEAKER_00] It was a pile of old clothes and a bunch of matted down cotton that was set up as though someone had been sleeping on it. The clothes that were there were the clothes that had been missing. There were also empty food containers and broken markers that looked like they were being used as utensils. But the person who occupied this hole grew ballsy and started taking forks, spoons, and even actual plates.

[00:11:49] [SPEAKER_00] We figured they were getting in through the garage door since it had been broken and didn't lock. So to prevent it from happening again, my stepfather boarded up the garage door. Now flash forward about two months later. My mom was about to give birth to my little brother, who was 20 years younger than me. I was lying on the couch watching TV. My stepfather had boarded up the garage door as I said, I heard someone trying to yank the door open violently. I wasn't sure what was going on at first,

[00:12:18] [SPEAKER_00] so naturally I was screaming because I didn't know what else to do. I called my stepfather, then I called the police. They came and searched, but they didn't find anything. After that night, we haven't felt the same about that house. But we haven't had too much happen since, so to the person creeping around my mom's basement, let's not meet. Ever.

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[00:14:35] [SPEAKER_02] Now that Wendy's has these new biggie deals, everyone in the family can get what they're craving, from nugs to JBCs. The parental units can get an $8 biggie bundle. The eldest who think they're so grown can get a $6 biggie bag. And the little one who can do no wrong can get a $4 biggie bites. You know, assuming they have a credit card. No, I'm kidding. We take cash, too. Four, six, and $8 biggie deals for the whole family. Only at Wendy's.

[00:15:00] [SPEAKER_03] Prices for dispatch may vary. Single items at regular price. Prices may be higher in Alaska, California, and Hawaii.

[00:15:04] [SPEAKER_00] This happened over 10 years ago, so the details are a bit fuzzy. When I was in high school, my friend Claire came to stay over. We made some plans to sneak out and hang out with some guys, and then one of them would drive us home. We then went to our friend's apartment, had some fun, and at around midnight we decided that it was time for us to head back. But when we asked to be taken back, everyone said no, despite previously agreeing to bring us back.

[00:15:34] [SPEAKER_00] Everyone said that we were too drunk or too high, so we eventually decided to just start walking back, and along the way we made phone calls to see if anybody could pick us up and bring us the rest of the way back. My house was at least 20 minutes away by car on the highway, so there was no way we were walking all the way there. The apartment was towards the back of the complex, so we started making our way to the entrance.

[00:16:00] [SPEAKER_00] We don't even get halfway there before a car slowly starts rolling up behind us. I was 15 at the time and very naive to the ways of the world, so I wasn't too concerned, but Claire was a little smarter than me this night, so she told me to start walking faster, and we started walking faster. The car also picked up its pace behind us.

[00:16:26] [SPEAKER_00] Again, she told me to walk even faster, so we started moving as fast as we could, and that was when the car pulled slightly in front of us, and the two passenger doors opened and two men got out. Realizing that there was no walking faster to get out of this situation, she instructed me to run, so she took off running and I followed her. She ran towards a group of parked cars and jumped behind a pickup truck, and for a minute, we hoped and prayed that we weren't spotted.

[00:16:55] [SPEAKER_00] Now, this is where the details get fuzzy. One of them must have gotten back in the car at some point, as there was only one of them following us behind the truck where we were hiding. We heard footsteps approaching quickly, and Claire quietly indicated that we were now going into stealth mode. This man was on the other side of the truck that we were hiding behind.

[00:17:17] [SPEAKER_00] He was circling the truck looking for us, and we were slowly and quietly circling it on the opposite side to avoid being spotted. It felt like a scene from a movie or a video game. We somehow managed to make two or three circles around the vehicle without being detected, and by the grace of God, he gave up and decided to go back to the car with his friends. This was our one shot to get away.

[00:17:42] [SPEAKER_00] So, she then told me to run again, and we ran for what felt like an eternity. In reality, it was probably only 15 to 20 seconds. We then found the pool house area of the apartment complex, and we found another spot to hide. We were hidden behind some fences and bushes, and we were anxiously waiting to see if they would discover us. Their car pulled around to the pool house, and we were biting our nails, hoping that they wouldn't stop and get out.

[00:18:13] [SPEAKER_00] The car slowly drove away, and we realized we hadn't been spotted. We were safe for now. However, the car circled the apartment complex for several hours. They were not giving up on looking for us. We were safe for the time being, but we needed to find a way out of there. It was the middle of winter, and of course, we were dressed to impress the guys that we were hanging out with. So, we were wearing short shorts and revealing tops. We were freezing.

[00:18:43] [SPEAKER_00] We found a dirty Captain America blanket that we huddled up under while making phone calls to find someone to pick us up. We tried contacting the guys at the apartment, but no one answered our calls. And none of our friends answered our calls either. We felt completely alone and hopeless. But at around 5am, someone finally answered and said that they would pick us up. It was the best news I had ever heard in my life.

[00:19:09] [SPEAKER_00] Our friend who came to get us came to the apartment complex, but couldn't find the pool house. And the men were still constantly circling. So we still couldn't come out of our hiding spot. We were able to figure out where our friend was, and after figuring out which building they were facing, we made a run for it. We spotted their car and we hopped in as fast as we could. Go, we told them. And our friend sped off towards the exit of the apartment complex.

[00:19:38] [SPEAKER_00] We passed the men who had been circling us like prey on the way out, and that was the last we saw of them. We made it back to the house at around 6am, just in time to sneak back in without my parents ever knowing that we left. If Claire hadn't been with me that night, I definitely feel like I would have been abducted, assaulted, or possibly even killed. On a happier note, I'm now very diligent and aware of my surroundings,

[00:20:05] [SPEAKER_00] and Claire and I washed the dirty Captain America blanket and shared custody of it for years after this encounter. So to the men who terrorized my friend and me in a shitty apartment complex, let's not meet again.

[00:20:32] [SPEAKER_00] This happened years ago when I was back home from university for the summer. I had completed a trial shift serving drinks at a club in town, and I was feeling pretty pleased that they had offered me a job. It was just after 1am on a Saturday and I was cycling home on a familiar route and completely sober. On the way, there was a steep hill with terraced houses and gardens

[00:20:59] [SPEAKER_00] on either side of the road and a brightly lit co-op at the top. The street lights were out, but I could see the circle of road illuminated by my bike light, and I could also see the co-op, but not much else. As I was struggling very slowly up this hill, I heard someone close on my left call out in a strained, mostly inaudible whisper, Help! Knife!

[00:21:26] [SPEAKER_00] I turned and I saw somebody very pale, peeking out from the edge. They were possibly reaching out toward me, it was hard to tell. I was terrified so I sprinted uphill for a short distance. Then, I thought this could be someone who actually needed help. So I stopped the bike in the middle of the road and I looked back. The woman, who had been in the hedge, was just struggling out of it, and she was still waving at me.

[00:21:55] [SPEAKER_00] She ran over, and when she was relatively close, she whisper-shouted, He's got a knife! Call the police! There's a man with a knife! So I called the police, and I had them on the line while we waited together for them to arrive, which only took a few minutes. The lady who had been in the hedge was maybe a couple of years older than me and looked very normal, other than the fact that she looked extremely afraid.

[00:22:24] [SPEAKER_00] Her face was pale and she was visibly shaking. After I had explained what I was doing there, I passed the phone to the hedge lady. She said that she had been at her sister's for the evening and on her way back home, when she decided to stop for a cigarette outside the co-op. There's a sign that you can sit on, and it was an unusually nice night in terms of weather. Well, while she was having a cigarette, a young guy approached her.

[00:22:54] [SPEAKER_00] He didn't look intimidating. She emphasized that he was very small, and she thought that he wanted to ask for a light. Instead, he asked her why she was crying. However, she wasn't crying. But he proceeded to open his arms like he was inviting her over for a hug. She then told him she was fine. But he continued to say things like, It's fine, don't worry, it'll be okay, you'll be okay.

[00:23:21] [SPEAKER_00] And kept coming after her, like he wanted to put an arm around her. She then felt alarmed and started moving away from him. She told him that her sister and her husband were expecting her, and that she really had to go. That wasn't true. She had been on her way home, and no one was expecting her. Then, without asking where they lived or what direction she was going in, he told her that he knew a shortcut over the wick, and he said that she should really come with him.

[00:23:52] [SPEAKER_00] As a side note, the wick is a nature reserve and military training area, one edge of which was about a ten minute walk from where we were standing. She told him that she wasn't going anywhere with him, and then he said, I've got a knife, you really should come with me. At this point, she screamed, threw her bag at him, and ran away down the hill.

[00:24:17] [SPEAKER_00] After running for a bit, she knocked on someone's door, and the next few doors, but nobody answered. No one would even talk to her through the doors or windows, but they did call the police. She was worried that he had followed her and would find her. So she ran a bit further until she found the hedge that she was hiding in. She wasn't sure how long she had been hiding in the hedge for. The police were fairly efficient and polite.

[00:24:44] [SPEAKER_00] All the time we had been waiting for the police to arrive, the hedge lady had been holding it together extremely well. As soon as the police arrived, she started crying uncontrollably, and I think they found her difficult to follow when she repeated what she had described on the phone. The officer who seemed in charge complained loudly about the neighbors listening in. I hadn't actually seen anything, and I couldn't add much except that I believed her.

[00:25:12] [SPEAKER_00] When the police were finished with both of us, I called my dad for help, and he drove me back home with my bike in the car boot. I left my number with the police, but they never called for any follow-up. I think it's worth noting that almost a year later, one teenager who lived near where we had this encounter was arrested for two separate, very violent knife murders while attempting a third.

[00:25:37] [SPEAKER_00] Both murders happened just before this encounter, but they weren't in the news. I first found out about them much later when my bike was stolen from outside the club I worked at, and I had to get a taxi home. The taxi driver told me what happened in some detail, but at the time, I thought that she was messing with me to drive up some business.

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[00:27:37] [SPEAKER_00] Get flavorful, high-quality proteins delivered by visiting OmahaSteaks.com, plus $35 off when you use promo code MEAT at checkout. That's OmahaSteaks.com, code MEAT. Terms apply. See site for details. A couple of years ago, I moved to a small town in Ohio to begin a graduate program. Ever since I was 15, I've always loved everything vintage or old.

[00:28:07] [SPEAKER_00] Clothes, movies, and especially houses. The town where I live has a neighborhood that's known for its historic homes, many of which are inexpensive enough for even poor graduate students to rent. I was thrilled to find a home within my price range with tall ceilings, stained glass windows, and original hardwood floors. I've lived in old homes before and I know that they are often haunted. I've lived in such a home before elsewhere.

[00:28:36] [SPEAKER_00] Well, after moving into this house, I noticed a few strange things that raised my suspicions. For instance, one morning, I woke up and I noticed that all of my cat's toys, from downstairs, were lined up outside my bedroom door. I chalked it up to my cat just being mischievous. The old house shifted frequently at night. The floorboards creaked as the house settled. It's one of the things that I love about old houses,

[00:29:04] [SPEAKER_00] being able to actually hear and feel a home's character and its age. Other things bothered me, though. For example, I spend long days on campus teaching and then taking my own courses. It's not uncommon for me to leave a lamp or two on when I leave my house in the morning, so the house isn't dark for my return at night. A couple of times, I returned home to complete darkness. I also pride myself on my extensive book collection.

[00:29:33] [SPEAKER_00] I've gathered my books for years from various college literature classes. They're meticulously organized on my shelf. When I was dusting my bookcase, a few books appeared to be missing or were on the wrong shelf. I'm not in the habit of lending my books to friends since I'm worried about not getting them back, and they weren't books that I recalled having read recently. I wasn't sure of what to do about this.

[00:30:01] [SPEAKER_00] I thought about asking my landlord if the house was haunted, but I didn't want her to think that I was crazy. Plus, nothing I had noticed could really be proven, nor did any of it seem malicious. However, one afternoon, I was checking my mail when I noticed an envelope that had clearly just been placed in my slot. It wasn't something that appeared to be mailed to me.

[00:30:28] [SPEAKER_00] Sometimes my landlord did that, leaving me Kroger coupons or cat treats. She had watched my cat for me when I left town before. So, I opened the envelope, and I saw photographs. They were of me, sleeping in my living room on the couch. No letter or nothing, just the photos. I couldn't tell exactly when they had been taken because I usually wear the same black sweatpants when I'm lounging around the house.

[00:30:56] [SPEAKER_00] However, I nap pretty rarely. The last nap I remembered taking was around finals week. And that was during the fall semester because that's always pretty stressful. That was a few weeks before I received the envelope. Naturally, I began to panic. All this time, I suspected that the house was haunted, but the truth was much more terrifying.

[00:31:23] [SPEAKER_00] First, I called my boyfriend to see if he was playing a prank on me, but he didn't know what I was talking about. He advised me to call the landlord to ask if any of the past tenants might still have keys, or if anyone else, like the maintenance person, had access to the house without my knowledge. My landlord told me that she couldn't think of anyone, but she did offer to change the locks. I wound up breaking my lease because I was too scared. I thought someone was stalking me.

[00:31:51] [SPEAKER_00] My landlord was pretty nice about it, and I could tell that she felt bad. I didn't go to the police because the break-in had happened a few weeks before I even got the photos. Well, I moved to a different part of town and into an apartment complex. It's bland and sterile, and I hate it. But I feel safe, and I haven't had any issues since moving in.

[00:32:13] [SPEAKER_00] I'm still not sure who might have been the person to take the photos, but I feel like it had to have been someone who had access to maintain the property. I'm thinking maybe it was somebody like the monthly exterminator, or a plumber or something like that. Perhaps it was a former renter who lived there. Or maybe it was even the landlord all along. But who knows? I also wondered just how often the quote-unquote photographer broke into my house.

[00:32:43] [SPEAKER_00] Did whoever this was simply stumble into my place that afternoon because I left the door unlocked and decide to teach me a lesson? Or were these creaking steps something more sinister than just an old house settling in the night? I'll never have any solid answers, but I know this. I used to love living in old houses. I don't anymore.

[00:33:25] [SPEAKER_00] I worked as a flight attendant for a few years while I decided to take an extended sabbatical from college. During that time, I encountered a handful of let's-not-meet situations. But there's one in particular that still makes my skin crawl more than any other. I was born and raised in Texas, but I moved to New York when I was 21. So when I found out at the beginning of a week-long trip that I would have a couple of overnights in Austin,

[00:33:52] [SPEAKER_00] I was super excited to go to my home state for a few days. My brother lived just north of the city, and we planned to hang out and go to dinner that night when he got off of work. The following day, we were going to meet up with our dad who lived about an hour away. So, I got to the hotel downtown, and the crew and I checked in. Then we each headed off to our rooms.

[00:34:16] [SPEAKER_00] After a short elevator ride, I got into my room, and not even five minutes later, there was a loud, hard knock at the door. It was only around 1 or 2 p.m., and I hadn't called my dad or brother to let them know that I was in town yet, so they wouldn't have known which room I was in. I knew it wasn't them, so I assumed it was maybe one of my crewmates, and I headed to the door. Even before making it to the door, however, a loud, male voice on the other side boomed.

[00:34:46] [SPEAKER_00] The front desk sent me about the bathroom problem that you called in. Unlock the door and open up, miss. I need you to let me in. Now. I froze in my tracks. I hadn't been in the bathroom yet, let alone called anything into the front desk. I'm a small woman, and while I take no shit from anyone despite my size, I still err on the side of caution.

[00:35:10] [SPEAKER_00] Slowly inching toward the door to look out the peephole, all I could tell was that a man was on the other side and he was at least six feet tall, and easily over double my weight. There was no way in hell I was going to unlock the door. I responded to the guy, telling him he must have had the wrong room. But he continued pounding on the door while constantly turning the handle, telling me no, he needed in. And he said that he was getting in the room one way or another.

[00:35:38] [SPEAKER_00] I panicked, but thankfully had the sense to grab my phone and call the front desk. The concierge confirmed that they had neither sent anyone up to my room nor had they received a call about the bathroom. The entire time, this guy was still determined to get into my room, pounding on the door and yelling. Luckily for me, the front desk had dispatched security to my floor.

[00:36:04] [SPEAKER_00] When the security officers stepped off of the elevator just a few seconds later, I heard them in the hallway. They approached the guy and asked him who he was and what he was doing, and told him he needed to leave the hotel. He immediately became hostile and aggressive towards them. The front desk clerk, whom I was still on the phone with, told me the police had been called and they were on their way. Meanwhile, I was trapped in my room, scared.

[00:36:30] [SPEAKER_00] Long story short, the cops showed up pretty quickly and were able to arrest the guy for trespassing and criminal menacing or something like that. And I later found out that the guy was also wanted in connection with a string of break-ends and violent sexual assaults in Austin. He had seen and stalked me from the minute I entered the lobby. Apparently, I was exactly his type of victim.

[00:36:55] [SPEAKER_00] Nothing else happened after that, but it still rattled me for the rest of my stay in that hotel. Let me tell you about the online cannabis company that's changing how we deal with life's challenges, from sleepless nights to stress-filled days.

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[00:38:51] [SPEAKER_00] It was the summer of 2016, and I had just married my long-time girlfriend. Over the course of our 12-year relationship, we had traveled to the mountains several times in both summer and winter for camping, but also to stay in nice mountain hotels and snowboard the slopes. Naturally, we both agreed that this was how we wanted to spend our first few weeks of our marriage.

[00:39:19] [SPEAKER_00] We booked a 20-day stay at a mountainside campground on the other side of the country. We also decided to bring our dogs with us, as they too love being outdoors, and we generally bring them camping anyway. After two days of road tripping, we had finally arrived and quickly set up. We then settled in for a good long stay on the mountain. It was beautiful.

[00:39:45] [SPEAKER_00] A couple of days into our trip, we had already met a bunch of fellow campers. We were very experienced campers, so we generally attract a lot of attention from novice campers asking for tools or supplies, as they see we are well set up. We're usually more than happy to help people get situated if they need matches, cream, or shoes. We're not going to be able to help them, sugar, or just to help them set up their equipment.

[00:40:12] [SPEAKER_00] It was day four or five when this solo camper first made their presence known to us. I'll simply refer to this person as she or her, as we never learned her name. We were sitting down under the shade of the large pine tree at the edge of our site, drinking beers and playing cards, when she seemingly appeared out of nowhere. She was just suddenly right there. She asked, can I pet your dog?

[00:40:42] [SPEAKER_00] Even our dogs didn't see her approach, as the very sound of her voice triggered them into a startled frenzy. As the dogs were worked up so suddenly, I politely told her no. But then she just stood there, at the edge of our site. She didn't say a word, just stood there sort of existing, but not really doing anything. She wasn't exactly staring at us or looking at anything in particular. I asked her if she needed anything, and she said no.

[00:41:11] [SPEAKER_00] Then, after just a few minutes, she walked off. I work with people with brain injuries, so I've had my fair share of experiences with unusual behaviors, including people with poor social skills, so I wasn't about to write this person off as creepy, just yet. I was just a little bit surprised, but she had my attention. I casually watched her walk off and enter a campsite across the path and a few sites down from ours.

[00:41:39] [SPEAKER_00] There was already a small tent set up in the site, but she proceeded to pull an even smaller single-person tent from her backpack and began setting it up. The day prior, we saw two young girls set up the other tent, and they were clearly the occupants of that site. There was no further interaction with her that day, although we did notice that the owners of the other tent on the site were not around all day,

[00:42:09] [SPEAKER_00] and we didn't see them return that night. The next morning, I walked over to the camp showers to clean up for the day. As I walked past her site, I saw that she was sitting in her little tent reading a book. The door to the tent was open, but I paid no attention and continued on my way to take my shower.

[00:42:31] [SPEAKER_00] When I was done with my shower and walking back, I noticed that her tent was then closed, but it was jiggling about, so I knew someone was in there. She made her presence known in a big way. Just as I was approaching her site on the way to mine, she unzipped the tent, and I immediately saw that she was completely naked. She then positioned herself just outside the tent door and let out this over-the-top full-body stretch

[00:43:00] [SPEAKER_00] and held her arms way up towards the sky while pushing her chest forward like it was some kind of mating ritual designed just for me. While she does this, she lets out what I can only describe as an erotic moan. It was pretty obvious that she was putting on a show. I didn't even react, I just continued to my site and I told my wife about the display I had just borne witness to.

[00:43:26] [SPEAKER_00] We both laughed it off and moved on with our plans to go on a nice day hike to the waterfall. The trailhead for this hike was accessible from the campgrounds, so we didn't have to drive to get there. We just walked the additional two kilometers to the trail. We walked at a good pace, so when we got to the trail, we decided to stop for a few minutes and take some photos of the surrounding mountains before heading to the thicker bush.

[00:43:55] [SPEAKER_00] After sitting there for maybe five minutes while my wife was taking pictures, the solo camper emerged from the trail that leads towards the campground. At first I thought, oh, well, she's staying here too, and this is a pretty common trail, so this is fine. But then she noticed that I saw her, so she stopped dead in her tracks and just stood there.

[00:44:19] [SPEAKER_00] She had the same demeanor as she did after our first encounter when I told her that she couldn't pet our dog. She was just standing there, not doing anything in particular, but this time was a little different, because she was sending creepy vibes our way. And this was the first time I said to my wife, I think we have a stalker. Confused, my wife then looked to where I was looking and she was immediately a little creeped out,

[00:44:48] [SPEAKER_00] but once again I just thought, whatever, maybe she's just hiking the trail, no big deal. So we continued on the trail at a good pace, and she maintained a consistent distance behind us. Our dogs were distracted by her at this point, and our youngest dog kept turning around to watch her. I got a little fed up with the dogs constantly stopping to look back, so I decided that we would stop for some water and let the woman pass.

[00:45:16] [SPEAKER_00] Well, what did she end up doing when we stopped? She stopped. And once again, she just stood there. By then we were genuinely concerned because this was approaching horror suspense movie creep level, and I started to wonder what this woman's intentions actually were. Standing motionless at that distance and refusing to pass us just ramped up our oh shit factor to about nine.

[00:45:45] [SPEAKER_00] So my wife and I agreed to just give up and cut the hike short by taking the shorter loop, which was only another half kilometer ahead. We were going to head back to our camp. We managed to get some distance between us by jogging every time we would make a turn, and she was out of sight, and we didn't see her again until later that night. That night my wife decided to take an evening shower at the camp showers.

[00:46:12] [SPEAKER_00] When she returned to our camp, she told me our stalker was in the bathroom also taking a shower. This time, however, she was with two other girls and appeared to be getting ready for a night at the club. There is a nearby ski town that has a few nightclubs and bars, so it was reasonable to see the girls getting ready for a night out. The two girls she was with were the two that we saw previously set up at her site.

[00:46:41] [SPEAKER_00] My wife explained that she quickly picked up on the fact that the two girls and our stalker friend were not well known to each other. It was clear that the two girls were close friends with plans to go out partying, and our stalker was making an attempt to be friends and sort of invited herself to join them on their night out. Now we know this ski town well, and the girls kept reinforcing that they were meeting at a specific restaurant before going to the bar.

[00:47:10] [SPEAKER_00] It was currently 10.30pm, and we knew that the restaurant they were talking about was closed at 10. They were lying to her about their plans, and the stalker kept asking them, Are you sure this is the place? Are you sure? The other two girls convinced her, and then she left to go to her tent to finish getting ready while the other two friends stayed in the bathroom to finish up their makeup. My wife went on to explain how after the stalker left,

[00:47:39] [SPEAKER_00] the two friends were mocking and making fun of her. They were young 20-somethings acting like little girls in elementary school. My wife has no time for that, creepy stalker or not. She had to say something to the girls for their behavior. So my wife called them out. Then putting all the bullying aside, the girls explained to my wife that the stalker girl had set up her tent on their site while they were staying with a friend in the ski town.

[00:48:08] [SPEAKER_00] When they returned, they found that she had set up at their site without invitation. She had just taken it upon herself to take a little corner of their site, even though she didn't even know them. The girls said that they were upset with her and were trying to have her set up elsewhere, but she wouldn't leave. Of course, my wife asked them why they didn't just report her to the park warden. The excuse they gave was that they were leaving the next day and they didn't want to make a huge deal out of it.

[00:48:38] [SPEAKER_00] Whatever happened between them and the fake late dinner plans and clubbing is unknown to us, but at about 3am that same night, we were all awoken to a blood-curdling scream right outside our camper. At first, we thought, Shit, this must be some kind of wild animal. But my wife was trembling, our dogs were barking, and I was startled but curious. I peeled back the window cover,

[00:49:08] [SPEAKER_00] only to see her standing motionless on the path outside our trailer. I had the window cover down maybe 8-10 cm when she appeared to make direct eye contact with me. My heart rate spiked then and there. After gazing in my direction for what seemed like an eternity, she calmly turned around and walked back to her tent. I went to make sure that our trailer was locked.

[00:49:36] [SPEAKER_00] After about an hour, we still couldn't sleep, so I poured us some whiskey and we eventually managed to fall back to sleep. The next day was a Friday, and we had friends from a nearby major city coming up the mountains to spend the weekend with us. We hadn't seen them in a while, so we were excited to spend a couple of days with them. Within 15 minutes of their arrival, as they were setting up their tent, the stalker mysteriously appeared out of nowhere yet again.

[00:50:07] [SPEAKER_00] This time, she was actually on our site. Now, I hadn't had a chance to tell our friends about her before they arrived, so they were a little more friendly to her than I was. She once again asked me if she could pet our dog who, during all of this, was barking at her. I think I said something like, She isn't being very friendly towards you right now, so I would prefer if you didn't.

[00:50:31] [SPEAKER_00] She didn't pet the dog, but she also just stood there staring at me like she was considering how she would dismember my limbs. She then noticed our friend's tent brand as she was still setting up. She commented on how it was the same model as hers, although it had a larger sleeping capacity. My buddy picked up on the creepy vibes and the general displeasure with her presence, so he just said,

[00:50:59] [SPEAKER_00] Oh yeah, cool, and kept setting it up. She then started grabbing at the tent pegs, picked up the hammer, and said that she would help them set it up because she had experience with it. My friend declined and asked for his tools back. She started to stare him down. But this time, she had a hammer in her hand, adding to the oh shit factor. But then she literally just dropped everything and then ran off.

[00:51:29] [SPEAKER_00] I went on to explain the last few days to our friends and they agreed that we needed to keep an eye on her. So by this time, the two girlfriends, whose sight she had hijacked, were packed up and gone. It's now Friday night and we've been drinking all day, so we're feeling pretty good. It was maybe about 11pm when she walked over to our site again. She said, Hey, you guys seem to have a lot of extra room with the tent and the camper. Do you think I could stay with you tonight?

[00:51:58] [SPEAKER_00] We could have a lot of fun in there together. My buddy was feeling pretty good from all the beers that he had that day, so he was forward with his response. Did you just propose to bang us? He asked. Now this whole time, I was just sitting in my camping chair with my whiskey, taking it all in. She wasn't really taking notice of me at all so far. But then she smiled, turned her head, looked directly at me and said,

[00:52:28] [SPEAKER_00] I like your friend. And then she turned around and walked away into the darkness of the night toward the forest. We were all scared that she was going to return. I decided right then that if we saw her again, I was going to call the park warden because this was just getting weird. After that, the night was winding down so we all decided to walk together to the bathrooms to clean up for bed.

[00:52:57] [SPEAKER_00] My wife pulled on my hoodie and said, look. I looked over and saw that the site she was set up at was destroyed. There was stuff everywhere. Garbage, clothing, and food were just thrown everywhere. And I thought, okay, that's weird. Maybe it was a bear. But we definitely would have heard that. I then noticed that her tent was gone. She was gone and left the site a complete mess.

[00:53:24] [SPEAKER_00] As luck would have it, the park patrol was completing their fire rounds and were at the messed up site when we returned from the bathroom. We told them there was a girl staying on the site who was acting erratic and we suspected she was squatting on the site with the two girls who were initially staying there based on our conversation. We didn't see her again for the rest of our trip until the last full day.

[00:53:53] [SPEAKER_00] There's a great little lookout point not far from our site, which has amazing views of the river and the valley below. It was a perfect evening to see the sunset behind the mountains. It was a lovely final send off to an otherwise beautiful honeymoon. Just when we thought we were done with her, she emerged again from seemingly nowhere. We were sitting on a couple of chairs that were bolted in place at the viewpoint, taking pictures of the valley below.

[00:54:23] [SPEAKER_00] As my wife was looking through the camera viewfinder, she picked up on the woman in the distance. She was standing in the woods a little ways down the mountain towards the valley. She was watching us. As her final act, she walked up the mountainside and sat right beside us on a boulder that was beside the chairs. She didn't say anything, she just sat there.

[00:54:47] [SPEAKER_00] My wife had the brilliant idea of asking me to take one last picture of the scenery and she gave me a little wink. I picked up on her idea right away and I positioned myself so that the woman would be in the picture. My wife wanted this lady's photo in case something bad happened with her before we were able to leave the area. We then took our final look at this beautiful scenery and headed to our camp for the night. After that, we didn't see or hear from her again.

[00:55:17] [SPEAKER_00] To our honeymoon stalker, let's not ever meet again. If you're a patron, stick around after the music for your extended version of this week's episode. To get access, go to patreon.com forward slash lets not meet podcast 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.

[00:55:47] [SPEAKER_00] And bonus stories in those extensions every week. Stories you won't hear anywhere else. Again, that's patreon.com forward slash lets not meet podcast. And be sure to check out the new episodes of my other podcasts like Odd Trails and the Old Time Radio Cast. And follow me on Twitch at twitch.tv slash cryptic county. If you have a story to share, send it to Let's Not Meet stories at gmail.com. This week you have heard 1am Creeper by Amy. Someone living in the basement by S.J. Lenanger.

[00:56:15] [SPEAKER_00] Creepy apartment chase by Swamp Bitch. Lady hiding in the hedges by Jerof. I used to love living in old houses by Lilac Path. Hotel stalker by drunk Carrie Fisher. And finally, Honeymoon stalker by a hostile apostle. 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.

[00:56:42] [SPEAKER_00] Again, send your stories into Let's Not Meet stories at gmail.com. We'll see you all next week. Stay safe.

[00:57:15] [SPEAKER_00] I have fished for most of my life. I'm not particularly good at it.