As The Raven Dreams Podcast - ATRD Ep. 004 - Retail & December Horror Stories - 06 True Scary Stories

Episode Date: December 4, 2021

Hello and Welcome to the 4th episode of The ATRD Podcast! Today we have some intriguing and terrifying stories submitted by everyday people. In Today's Episode we will have stories about The horrors of Retail, including black friday, and also scary stories that occurred in December.  ➤ Want your story featured? Go to https://www.astheravendreams.com/Submit ➤ Want to know where to follow me on the internet? Go to https://www.astheravendreams.com/the-nevermore for all my links! ➤ You can also get EARLY ACCESS By joining my Patreon! https://patreon.com/astheravendreams Today's Video contains stories by lovely viewers just like you. Thank you.  ➤ All stories within are used w/ Either direct permission from the author- or under some level of CC license (where noted) True Stories are not verified, and should all be considered 'supposedly true'.  And Remember; You are loved, you are important, and you are valid. Never let anyone tell you otherwise. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/astheravendreams/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/astheravendreams/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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We're running out of time and we still don't know the rules. Don't miss what the movie blog calls something you need to watch. Saving those children is how we all go home. From Binge All Episodes exclusively on Paramount Plus. I worked at a large chain retail store from the ages of 18 to 23 and like the good loyal employee I was, I was also blessed with working on Black Friday. Most of the time my shift was earlier in the morning, when people were the craziest, but I also worked in the evenings as well.

People were always crazy and evil, but the destruction and train wreck our store became that evening made me shuddered just as hard, because it was always a process to clean and organize. We would find things crammed in the back of shelves, in boxes and crates months after that, that people were obviously trying to hide. I've got a few of those memories that I particularly remember during those years.

One, of course, is always the violence. I never understood it either. Risking your own life or threatening someone else's is never worth any deal. Besides, ours was never anything special. Sometimes when there was a new game system or a new phone or something, we may get a good deal on it, but then otherwise you can get buy one, get one on matching family pajamas. Woo-hoo.

Anyways, this one particular time was when those weird fingerling dolls became a big thing. They were those ugly-looking monkey toys that just sat on your fingers. I didn't understand why. they got so popular, but they were going to be having a huge sale on them. Now, special offers like that one were always limited to one per person, so sometimes we may see two people together buying separately, which was fine. They just couldn't come back and do it again. If we recognized you, you're not getting another one. We closed Wednesday and opened up around 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day.

I was helping one of the managers open up the pallets and tear off the plastic as the doors were being opened. We immediately started hearing a group of people laughing and wooing as they got closer to us. Knowing it was about to get stupid, we grabbed the plastic from the ground to prevent people falling and trying to press charges, and quickly dashed away. I went back up to my register and prepared to be bombarded soon. People usually took a while before they checked out, so we could just hear people going nuts in the aisles as we waited. Pretty soon, I started ringing people up,

people were trying to haggle like it was a thing that we always did, complaining we were taking too long, you know, the usual. Someone then tagged me out so I could go to break, and as I started walking to the back, I heard a crash and then someone scream, and then it sounded like fighting. Now, I didn't normally have a walkie, but they gave me one today in case people got a little too crazy, and I immediately called and said that there was probably a fight going on. It appeared to be over in the kids' section, like Toddler's area, and as I walked around the corner, all I saw was blood on the ground.

It was like drops and smeared down the aisle. It looked like something straight out of a horror movie. I followed the trail to find a woman sitting by an end cap, holding her side with blood just running down it. I immediately pulled out my phone and called 911 and again called someone on the walkie to help. We sectioned off the area and grabbed, what we could to help put pressure on her side.

There was a decent gash across her shirt and side from what I could see. To add to this, two people had walked right over her feet and barely looked at her as I was turning the corner, and continued to pass by when I was there with her. They really didn't care that this person was bleeding out. When the paramedics and cops arrived, they got her all cleaned up and got her statement. We had to get one ourselves for liability purposes and stuff like that. She told us that she had grabbed a fingerling. Someone had followed her asking to trade colors, and she told them no,

because it was her daughter's favorite color. And the person continued to follow and harass her, saying she was being selfish and inconsiderate. So the person rammed their card into her, and she told them that if she kept following her, she was going to report them. The woman left the aisle only to return, approaching her quickly, and before she could react, she felt a sharp pain in her side, and the woman snatched the toy and walked away.

She was trying to walk to the front when she collapsed from the pain. We had people looking all over for the woman, but it wasn't until a female officer found her, trying to hide out in the restrooms, that they finally got her. All the while, she kept defending herself and basically saying that she felt it was the right thing to do. Now the woman ended up not getting the toy whatsoever and has a criminal record. I heard the lady that was stabbed, though, was doing okay. I also worked the customer service desk on occasions. People think they're really clever with trying to get money back on items they got on sale

and return them without receipts or return empty boxes and are surprised when we actually look in them, things like that. If they didn't have a receipt, there had to be an attached tag in order for us to prove that it was from us, and then you get whatever price it comes up for, and it's on store credit. We've had people try to return things with no tags and just say, oh, it was $30, I promise, and then threaten us when the item rings up for a lot less, or not at all. I had one guy that tried to return a bunch of lingerie items and video games, all opened, of course, the weekend after Thanksgiving.

That weekend as well as the weekend following Christmas is always hell for customer service, with people returning stuff left and right and arguing about everything. So I'm already not in the mood to deal with people. I went to the desk so that the one person there could go to lunch, and the lingerie guy came up. For obvious things like toys or appliances, we ask for the reason for the return so we know what to mark, and if it's something we could possibly resell.

However, things like underwear we cannot resell, even if they look unused or unopened, so we don't have to ask the reason for the return. So, this guy came up looking smug as hell and tossed two bags up on the counter, saying he was returning at all. I opened the games and said I couldn't return most of them since they had been opened, and he responded with something like, hey, no problem, babe, and smiled at me. So, I stacked the two games that were unopened,

and then opened the other bag to find all the lingerie. They all still had tags on them, though, but no hangers. I started ringing them up, and he said, Do you need to know why I'm returning them? I just asked him about the games, since I didn't need a reason for the other stuff, but he made sure to tell me that it was all too, small for my girl if you know what I mean, as he smiled and stared at my chest.

So I just looked at him annoyed and said, in the games, and he replied that he already had them. Okay? So I started ringing everything up when he leaned in and says, I should have just asked what size you were because you look close to my girls, all while still smiling and staring at my chest. So, I quickly finished ringing it up and gave him his amount, and asked how he wanted the money back, to which he again asked about returning the rest of the games. I told him that he couldn't return open games, and he said,

And I kid you not, how about store credit and you can keep the lingerie for yourself? Trying to still be professional, I smile and say, Let me ask the manager for you. So he stands up and waits while I call someone, but doesn't miss the chance to ask if my manager is cute. Shortly after, my manager Stephen comes and asks him about returning the games to which the guy quickly played dumb, when he said that you can't return opened ones and then apologized,

saying he wasn't aware and then stayed quiet as he finished the transaction for me, and quickly laughed. I never saw him again, thankfully. This last one was on another Black Friday. There was a lady with her young kid. He was in the cart, fixated on some kind of game on a tablet. She was trying to buy three of an item that was one per person and was trying to push it over my scanner quickly.

This was towards the end of my time here, so I stopped putting up with people's BS like this, and I would shove it all back. I started kindly by asking her not to shove things over my scanner, and she complained saying she was trying to help because I was going too slow. I looked up at her and told her that that was because she was rushing me, and I have to make sure everything gets scanned appropriately. I wasn't stupid, though.

I knew that she was trying to do that before I noticed the multiple toys she got, but I saw it. So as I got to the items, I apologized and told her that she could only have one, and that it was one per person. And then she went off. She claimed I was lying in that there was no reason she couldn't get more than one. She then tried to say she was price matching a bogos sale, and she got even more enraged when I told her that we never price matched. She tried everything. First she said her kid wanted to buy one.

and I told her I couldn't accept that since he was knowingly with her, and there was no way at his age he would be able to complete a transaction. She then tried to beg the customers behind her to buy it for her, and no one was agreeing to it. In fact, they all looked annoyed or scared of the woman. I finally told her to pick the one she wanted, and she finally gave in and chose one. I finished the order, and, before leaving, she told me that you should watch your back,

you don't know who you're messing with, and started walking off. Not at all phased by stupid comments like this, I wished her a good night in my best sarcastic voice and went about my shift until I had to leave. My boyfriend was picking me up after he got off work, which was going to be about another hour until then. so I thought I would walk around and check out what all we had on sale and how destroyed the place looked. As I was walking by the electronics, I noticed a guy at the opposite end of the aisle looking at a movie. I didn't think anything of it at the time and moved over to the next aisle. At that point, I was looking for a specific Blu-ray, so while looking, I noticed the guy had now moved over.

to the aisle that I moved to. Again, no big deal. I ended up leaving the electronics section and headed over towards household stuff. I was looking at the mugs and taking a picture of them because it reminded me of something my sister would say, and I sent her the picture.

That's when I noticed the guy from electronics had just walked past the aisle slowly, staring over at me. It was weird at first, but then I just told myself that I was in a store. You may run into the same person multiple times, and I let it go. Then I made my way to the toy section and was looking at different puzzles. I noticed some items on the floor, and being the person I was,

I started picking them up and putting them where they belonged. That's when I noticed the same guy at the end of the aisle, but this time he was definitely the same guy. looking at me and talking on his phone. He didn't say much other than, yes, toys, yes, and things like that. Now, I was starting to get suspicious, so to test this, I started walking to the register,

and noticed that he was shortly following behind me. I then quickly turned out in front of someone walking down the aisle, causing them to almost run into me, and I apologized and we both continued on. I did this to cut through the women's clothing to see if this guy would still follow me, which he did. So, I continued straight to the back and looked back to see him stop right there staring at me. I waited a few minutes in the back and then walked out the doors on the other side. I didn't see the guy anywhere, so I made my way to the exit,

so I could wait for my boyfriend as he should be arriving shortly. As I started approaching, I saw the crazy lady I checked out earlier, without the kid, though, talking to the guy that had been following me around, sitting over in the little cafe that we had in the store. I did not trust going out there at this point. The guy was big. Now, I'm barely five foot, and that guy had to be an easy six-foot. and walked like he couldn't put his arms all the way down.

So I walked to the back again and called my boyfriend to have him come into the store when he got there. When he finally showed up, he walked towards the back and I walked out, holding his arm to make sure he was close to me. As we walked out the doors, I saw them outside. She was sitting on the bench while he stood next to her, and she started pointing at me. We got in the car, I called my manager to let her know that they were pretty much stalking me and it made me feel uncomfortable.

We sat there and waited to see if someone approached them, which they finally did, and they apparently started arguing from what I could tell. I don't know what their intentions were, or if they were just trying to scare me, but again, this was all over a really stupid toy. And he could have easily just gone in and bought the item for her. Anyways, these were a few of the ones I remember while working there. Now, it was decent at times, but I am also so glad that I'm past that retail stage. Lazzangue surgelley, puissance-molyne, for 15 minutes. We'd say that's their dojo. Prey to play the pleasure with the Ojo.

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I used to work at a certain electronics big box store that was primarily known for using the colors blue and yellow and selling things with a fairly decent markup. A decent for the store.

Not really the consumer. But honestly, that's most big box stores nowadays, isn't it? Jokes aside, it's probably best that I'd go ahead and tell you who I am and what I did. I was more or less a floor consultant.

I had to walk around the floor, find customers, talk to them about what they were looking for, and try to talk them into buying literally anything. We didn't work off of commission or anything, but our job was to try and get as many people to buy various items with whatever replacement plan we could,

so that the store could have a better bottom line. Basically, floor salespeople that got paid slightly higher than minimum wage. On top of this, I was a 19-year-old girl that kind of fit in to the stereotypical nerd girl persona. Freckles, glasses, pig tails, animal crossing pins all over my lanyard, and being a girl working in tech, even if it's just sales, is kind of tough. A lot of people look down on you like you don't know what you're talking about, even if you're absolutely on top of it.

And when I say people, I mean both guys and guys, For some reason, we lasses just simply cannot know anything about what makes a good gaming rig, or what video game console is objectively better than the others. I don't understand this stereotype at all, but it is what it is. On top of being talked down to, you also get a lot of creeps that think that they have a shot with you, simply because you work in a tech store. I cannot tell you how many kids. guys have hit on me with their quote, unquote, A-game, only for me to literally ignore it.

I don't play for that team, never have and never will. And even if I did, hitting on someone while they're telling you about a replacement plan for a printer, it's kind of trashy. Having been through this a million and one times, I've become pretty quick to notice when a guy is going to shoot his shot, and I've gotten pretty good at quickly turning the conversation into something else before they can even get their chance. Sometimes you can tell by the look on their faces that they're going to try and say something to you, and that is where the story starts here. On this particular day, the one where this all happened,

I was working near the front of the store, taking count of items in the audio aisle, mostly headphones, when I saw a guy walk into the store that's bald with the long dark beard and something tattooed on his face. Now, I'm not one to judge tattoos. I'm all about self-expression, but I knew immediately what that tat was, and it was not something that I personally wanted to deal with.

I'll just say that it had a very specific eagle design, and leave it at that. I was kind of shocked to see someone with that kind of ink on their face just walk into the store like that. And I must have been staring pretty hard for a moment because I accidentally made eye contact with him. As soon as that happened, he made that stupid grin and I knew he was going to be the type to try to hit on me. I braced myself for impact as he walked towards me and thought for sure he was going to say something. He motioned for my attention, and giving him the biggest smile that I could fake, I asked him how I could help him. I may not have wanted to talk to him, but it was my job, and I wasn't going to be disrespectful right from the get-go.

To my surprise, he simply asked if our store had a public restroom. I told him we did, and I motioned toward the back and told him it was right behind the TV section in the corner. He thanked me and walked away. I honestly thought that was going to be the end of it. I finished doing my initial count of the headphones that we had on the shelf for my manager, took a quick snapshot on my phone as a reminder of the layout, and went back toward the back to see if I could find him. As soon as I get back there,

I see none other than the bald guy with the eagle tattoo staring at the speakers we have on the shelf by the flat screens. Once again, I found myself staring at the tattoo, just thinking, wow. And once again, we made quick eye contact. He smiled as I tried to look away, but he quickly asked me if I could help him. At this point, I was kind of kicking my own butt for staring, but again, I figured I could kind of get out of this by telling him whatever he was going to ask about. I walked up and asked how I could help him in my ever so chipper tone.

He started motioning toward a speaker system on the display part of the shelf and asking questions about it. I tell him that it's a decent system with the subwoofer and two satellite speakers. I mentioned that it was a good one for the price, then glanced over and noticed that the spot where it was supposed to be was empty. I then followed up my comment with, but it doesn't look like we have any in stock right now. He glances over at me and then the speakers again, and asks if I could check the back. I tell him that we don't keep speaker stock in the back,

and typically only have what's on the shelf. But he was adamant that I needed to look to see if there were any back there. I kind of sighed, but said I would happily go look, mostly because I wanted to get away from this guy, and I knew that there wouldn't be any. I walked toward the back room, and as soon as I get past the swinging door, I realized that I heard steps behind me.

I turned around to see this guy seriously standing in the entrance of the back area. I kind of just stared at him for a moment, and I sputtered out something about this area being for employees only, and he chuckles saying he won't touch anything, and then starts walking toward me. Part of me wanted to tell him that he needed to leave, but I was kind of taken off guard when he cornered me by one of the shelves near the door.

This whole situation was just creepy as hell. I had no idea what he was going to do, what he was planning, but he held that same creepy grin that he had when he walked in, and it was just kind of looming over. me. And as creeps often do, he made it even weirder when I asked him to back up and give me some space. As soon as I did, he laughed and said that he noticed that I was staring at him when he walked in. He then asked me if I liked his tattoo, and if that's why I was staring. I told him no, and once again told him that he needed to not be back here as it was employees only.

He completely ignored me and said, I got this tattoo in prison. Want to know why I was in prison? I'll give you a hint. It involves my ex-girlfriend. At this point, I was seriously on the verge of a hardcore panic attack. This guy was very clearly getting his rocks off on making me scared. He kept his disgusting grin the whole time

and just kind of stood there with me, He started saying things like, you know, you look a lot like her actually. And I can show you what happened to her if you'd like. It won't take but a few minutes. Thankfully, at that point, one of the other employees came through the doors and started to walk toward the break area. That's when I muster the courage to yell out for him. He looked up and saw this creep with his hand on the wall and looming over me,

and immediately ran over to help. Thankfully, he really didn't have to do much, because when the guy started to walk over, this creep decided that he was done. He started to back away from me, but he kept his stare and told me that I needed to be careful. He then finished the whole event with, Don't worry, I'll be back for you.

And then he left. I seriously broke down into tears as soon as he was gone. on. My co-worker, Paul, the one that pretty much just saved my life, helped me into the break room and got my manager there to help me file a report on the situation. Thankfully, we have cameras all over the back in order to stop theft, and they saw the whole thing happen. So it was pretty easy to get this guy's image. After that, I pretty much avoided going anywhere near the back, when there was a couple of course. customer near the doors. Thankfully, he never did return, but he 100% left a scar on me from this.

I now get horrible anxiety when I'm alone with people in small areas, so basically agoraphobia. I didn't leave the job, though, and I actually worked there until COVID hit, and then I couldn't do the job anymore for personal reasons. Now, I work remote for a decent corporate office. and I live with my girlfriend, and I pretty much never go out in public. So, thanks, bald, tattooed creeper for making me hate being in public. And I really hope that you and I never meet again. My mother was your stereotypical shopper.

She treated it like a hobby. Going with her friends, with her own mom, she would go to just about any sale that she saw at her favorite store. If she shopped there, she signed up for all the different rewards and clubs to get all the discounts that she could. She tried to get me to do it with her, but it was always so exhausting. Lucky me, I was the second and youngest child, so my brother never had to be dragged around. Just me. Sometimes it was fun, but being a kid, I got tired of it pretty quickly.

One of my mom's favorites, of course, was Black Friday shopping. She loved being there first thing in the morning on Friday, and pretty much plotting out her day to go to the stores that she wanted to, even down to when my dad would meet up with her to bring lunch and take home the stuff she had gotten so far. Since I was still young, I always went with her while my brother got to stay home or do something with my dad. However, there was one year that made my mom reevaluate how she shops.

This incident happened to me when I was quite younger, so this is what I remember, as well as the information my mom told me as I got older. One year, when I was about six or seven, I believe, my mom started to be. preparing for her shopping plans. At that age, I was a pretty chill kid, and I kind of went with the flow. Being the second child, I guess, my parents eased up on the restrictions, contrary to how they were with my brother, and I think that was the reason that I was like that, too. I wasn't particularly clingy to any one person, like one parent over the other, or a grander. parent or anything.

So I was pretty easy to take care of, as it was explained to me, at least. So we got all packed up in the van. I had a little backpack with my safety cup and snacks, and my mom had like this messenger bagged purse that I swear could fit anything in it. We went to a couple local department stores in our area, and I remember it being super early because it was still dark out for the first few stores. Then we met up at the mall with my dad and had lunch, and he took our stuff home that was in the van.

From here, we would end up going to several stores in the mall. I remember wanting to go to one of the toy stores there because they always had little sample games or puzzles that you could play with. She said after she was done here, we could go to that store, so I decided to do what she wanted to quickly get through and then get to that store. We went to a few stores there. My mom had to grab one of those wagon things to carry all the bags she had, and I walked next to her since I could no longer hold her hand.

We ended up going to some clothing store that was next to the carousel that they had in there, and I asked if I could ride on it while she shopped. to my surprise, she agreed. We walked up to the gate, she handed the guy the ticket, and said I could write it twice in case it took her longer. She pointed to the big window and said she could see me from right there, so if the ride was over, I could walk back over to her if there weren't a lot of people around for me to get lost in.

Otherwise, she told me to sit on the bench right outside the ride. So, I waved her by and ran over to the seat that looked like a carriage for the horse in front of us and pulled out my snacks. I sat there eating my crackers while the ride went around, and I waved at the window each time so my mom could see me. Once the ride was over twice, I didn't want to go in that store and walk around, so I decided to sit on the bench and finish eating. While I was waiting, a man had walked up to me and kneeled down in front of me and asked me if I was lost. I told him I wasn't, and that my mom was in the store right across, and that I was just waiting for her. He then asked me things like, what does she look like, if my dad was with her and then started asking me questions about me, like my name, how old I was, etc.

He then offered to pay for me to ride the carousel again, and I agreed, but then my mom walked out of the shop talking on her phone and called me over. So I then told the man I couldn't, and walked away, waving by. He smiled and waved back. I tried telling my mom that he was offering another ride because I thought it was cool at the time, but she didn't really respond, and we just kind of continue. on our way. We then ended up circling back to where we started, and I asked again if I could go to the toy store, and she obliged, but told me it would be only for ten minutes or so. Ten minutes was a long time to me at the time, and I quickly ran into the store and over to the

other side where you could actually play with stuff. I looked over from my mom when I got there, so I could show her the game that I wanted, but she was talking on her phone at the time, so I just went back to playing. After a few minutes, that guy that had offered me the carousel ride showed up next to me again and was asking me about the games that I wanted to play. He helped me with a puzzle that was there, and then he started asking me about what games I liked to play with. After telling him some of the video games I liked watching my brother play,

and a few board games, he then mentioned hide-and-seek. I told him I didn't play it very often, because I had no one to really play it with, and then he said that he knew some other kids that were wanting to play, but they needed more kids to get the game going. He then also asked if I wanted to play, and that I could still have the carousel ride. I was actually pretty excited about this,

as I wanted so badly to play with other kids. My brother was several years older than me, so he didn't often want to play anything with me. I told him I had to ask my mom first, and started walking over to where I had last seen her, and I noticed that she was no longer standing there. I tried to walk around to find her when the guy stopped me and said that he had already talked to my mom,

and actually used her name, saying she told me to go ahead while she finished her shopping. This was all the permission and verification I felt I needed at that age, and I decided to walk off with the man. We started walking towards the carousel, and we got closer. I started veering toward it when he pulled me back, saying we were going to play hide-and-seek first. I thought, fair enough.

I knew there was a little playground area in here, and I assumed that was where we were going. We ended up going back to the food court, though, and he asked me if I wanted anything to eat or drink. I was really hungry, but as a child, being offered something like that, I wanted the little ice cream cups they had that were made in those little machines. He got me one, and I sat there eating it. I didn't know how to describe it at the time, but I started getting what I understand now to be these awkward vibes. I asked him where the other kids were going to be playing, and he just said something about taking me there. I continued to sit there and eat while he just looked at me and smiled.

He made comments like, I was cute in my jumper and bows, and even mentioned something about how my underwear must have matched since my bow. did. I was a kid at the time, so all I knew to say in response was honesty, and I told him what color they were, and he just laughed and continued staring at me. After finishing, we started walking off. He was holding my hand as we walked, saying to make sure that he didn't lose me, and I noticed that we started walking towards the exit. I asked him again where the kids were, and he said it was at a park close by. That was when I started feeling even worse.

I asked him about riding the carousel, and he again said that we would do it after playing, but sounded more annoyed with me asking. I tried to slow down on walking and asked if we could ride it first, to which he quickly said no. We had to go first, and let go of my hand to start pushing me on my back out the door. As we walked up to the doors, I then told him that I didn't want to go after all,

and he said something about going anyways and then picked me up. At this point, I was getting scared and told him that I wanted my mom to go with us, and he yelled something at me about her not going, which made me cry. I started to struggle as we got closer to the van and he put me down, all the while still holding me by my jacket. I remember him struggling to unlock his van, and I slipped my arms out of my jacket and tried running back to the door. I could hear a hurried walking behind me, so I tried to run as fast as my feet would go, when I noticed someone walking out the door. As I approached the door, I was shouting for my mom, and when I got there, I turned and saw the guy walking back toward his van.

The people walking out were asking if I was lost. or if I was okay, and I didn't know what else to say or do, but asked to get my mother. Those people took me up to one of the stores. They called for mall security, basically, who had to page my mom. From my mom's side,

she noticed that I wasn't over by the toys, and after looking around the store, she started panicking and asking people to page me into the store. When I didn't come to the front, she started to really freak out. They called for security and had people looking around for me. My mom thinks that the guy probably started seeing more security, and that's why he tried rushing me out.

I explained to my mom what had happened, and that he knew her names, so I thought it was okay. After describing the guy to her, she said she recognized him from an earlier store after the carousel ride, where he made a comment about how well I listened, and he must have overheard her say her name at some point. Thankfully, she was able to give a better description of the man than what I could, except I had to try to describe the van that he had taken me to.

Unfortunately, as far as my mom is aware, the guy was never caught, which is terrifying. With the comment about other kids, it does worry me if he was successful with other abductions. My mom was a lot more careful when we were out after that, too. My dad was never into big shopping like that, and I remember that this made him really mad at the time, but I think it really made them both smarter and safer

and made them more aware of their surroundings, thankfully. And to the creepy mall guy, I hope you never meet me or any other children ever again. This all took place on a night that I genuinely will never forget. A night that honestly messed me up and really felt like a low point in my life. It was December of 2010, literally the day after Christmas. You know, the time of year when you're supposed to show people how much you love them and how much you appreciate them

by giving them fancy gifts and all that. Yeah, well, my gift was my dad finally realizing that I was gay, and it wasn't just a fluke or something that was a passing phase, or whatever the hell he decided to call it before that night. It finally clicked in his head that I was serious when I tried to come out to them a few years prior, and that my struggle with who I was was an actual thing that was happening.

How did this end, you may ask? About as well as it can with parents like mine. My dad screamed at me, calling me every derogatory name in the book, and then told me that if I wanted to be gay, then I could do it out on the streets. And, of course, my mother did nothing to stop him, or tell him that he was wrong for literally kicking his own 17-year-old daughter, her out, but hey, I guess that's life.

Before I knew it, I was outside in central Missouri in the middle of December, literally just walking as fast as I could in any direction that my feet would fall. I realized that I had left my phone at home pretty much instantly, but in the end, I didn't really care. I wasn't going to call them. They weren't likely to call me, and they paid the bill. If I wasn't there, they would probably just shut it off. I had my winter coat, I had my wallet,

and I had the drive to go and literally never look back. In the end, one of two things would happen. I would find my way and become a vagabond, or I would die on the side of the highway. Being 17 on that particular night, I really didn't care which one happened. After about an hour or so of walking south on the highway, the December wind was kind of starting to tear at my skin,

and I was only then starting to think that frostbite may be a real problem. I started thinking about where I was going, what I was going to do when I got there, when it kind of clicked in my head. I would just go to Springfield, and I would find my friend Kelly, who had moved down there a few years prior. It wasn't a solid plan, but it was a plan, at least. The hard part was going to be getting there.

It was a bit over an hour to drive there, and I was walking out in the middle of December on the side of a highway, in what was pretty much rural Missouri, and the sun was pretty much down by this point. So, to say the least, things weren't looking too good for me. I was actually pretty thankful when my luck turned around, especially since the timing couldn't have been better. Around that moment,

when I was just sitting there and thinking that I was probably going to freeze to death out here, a car pulled over to the side of the road in front of me. I don't really know where he came from other than behind me, because I didn't hear him. As he pulled over, I stopped and just sort of stared at the older minivan. For some reason, my brain was thinking. that I needed to stay back because otherwise I was just going to be in his way. I have no idea why I thought this, but I was certain that he wasn't stopping for me.

That was until he literally rolled the window down and waved me over to him. I stepped toward the window and he asked me if I needed a ride. At this point, I was both physically and mentally numb. The cold was going to kill me. and I was already an emotional mess thanks to my parents. My options had shifted to get in the car with this stranger, or, again, freeze to death. I chose the stranger,

and I don't think there were many scenarios where I would have chosen the latter. I hopped into the van, brushing the snow off my boots and coat, and within a second I was already in a euphoric state. The car was nice and clean, The heat was on full blast, and I could smell the stupid cherry-scented air freshener that he had on the vents. Something about that exact moment had completely stripped me of any logical concern that I had about this guy, and I just kind of inhaled the few seconds of happiness. I think he realized that I was taking it in, too, since he kind of laughed at me

and waited to ask me where I was going. I told him Springfield or literally any place that was open 24 hours so I could wait out the night and call a friend to come get me. He nodded and said that he could get me to Springfield, and that that was actually where he was headed himself. Once again, my luck seemed to have turned around. We got out on the road and he started trying to make small talk, to get to know me and whatnot.

He asked why I was out on the high. highway in the middle of winter. I explained to him that my dad had actually kicked me out earlier that evening, and then I wasn't sure what to do. I was thankful that he didn't ask me why I was kicked out, mostly because I didn't really want to explain my life to this guy. You then asked me why I hadn't called a friend to come get me or something, and I told him that I had forgotten my phone at the house when he told me to leave. and that I had no way of getting a hold of anyone, which, in hindsight, was kind of a stupid thing to say to a stranger. He then starts to tell me that he had a daughter that was about my age, and that he missed her.

And then he started a bit of a sob story about how she was murdered by some kid that was driving drunk through their neighborhood, and that he had been messed up in the head since it happened. He told me that he actually watched her get hit by the car and that the image was imprinted on his memory like a bad dream that wouldn't go away. It was a bit creepy for Smalltalk, but he'd obviously gone through a traumatic event. So maybe he was just really hurting mentally. He then continues on telling me that he was sorry that I was having to go through all this and that parents should never abandon their children.

After that moment, his emotions started to seem a bit erratic. That may be the best way to put it. He was staring out the windshield like normal, but he was starting to cry and then laugh and then kind of twitch or wince. At that point, I was starting to get even more creeped out by this strange wave of random change in his demeanor, but I also thought that maybe he was really mentally ill. I didn't personally want to judge him.

He had lost a kid. He'd said that he was messed up from it, and it was obviously still affecting him. Then I did something that I genuinely regretted. I asked him if he was going to be okay. When I asked this, he went from the soft-spoken man that I was talking to, to someone that obviously had anger issues.

He started yelling at me that he would never be okay, that he had lost his baby girl and that nothing in the world would ever bring her back. He pulled over the car and started screaming at me incoherently, just yelling about literally nothing. I have no idea what all was said, mostly because I was jumping into panic mode. I was just staring at him and this guy was exploding, over things that I didn't understand.

He then undid his seatbelt and turned toward me, lifting himself out of his seat. Then, he did something else that immediately turned this from a scary situation to one that was an absolute level of horrifying. He reached down, and he started to undo his belt. Now, I don't know if he was going to do anything sexual, or if he was thinking he was going to beat me with it, mostly because he was screaming and turning red like he was beyond fuming. I just kind of pulled back and leaned in to the door while watching this guy start to tower over me, with his hands unbuckling his belt, screaming at me about how messed up he was in the head.

I was just staring at him in the eyes and crying, and honestly, that's where things got weird. He sat there over me for several seconds before redoing his belt, sitting back down and buckling back into the seat. He literally just sat back down, put the car back into drive, and started back on the road. And then after a couple of seconds,

he started talking about how nice of a city Springfield was and how long he had lived there. He went from zero to a hundred back to zero, at literal light speed. And I was just left to sit there and think about what the hell I had just witnessed. He made Smalltalk the whole time we were going. I kind of just nodded along to it and didn't say much. He actually did get me to Springfield and let me out at some business that was open.

Then he told me that I needed to be careful out there. This guy that I was terrified was about to kill me or vote. violate me, was now giving me fatherly advice about being careful out here in the city. I thanked him and just kind of went on my way. I went in to use the bathroom and buy a new pair of pants, ha-ha. I'm joking, of course, but I was legit, terrified. I have no idea what honestly happened. I have to assume that he had mental issues of some kind, but even then the

fact that he just went right back to normal after doing that was, well, it was enough to make me never forget that night and never want to take a ride with anyone ever again. If anyone cares, things did work out in the end. I did get a hold of Kelly and her parents let me stay with them for a little while. I did go home to get all my stuff, and I lived in Kelly's parents' basement for a year. I haven't spoken to my parents since then, and I couldn't be happier living my life for me, and literally never thinking about them. But also, I hope no one else ever got in the car with that guy. It was nice that he gave me the ride, but it was still pretty terrifying.

Me started in November, but what actually occurred started in early December. I know it sounds confusing at first, but it'll make sense when I'm done telling the story. So, just after Thanksgiving of 2009, I found out that my wife was cheating on me with my brother, and she and I started to go through the process of divorce. Some people out there may think that I could have tried to reconcile the whole thing, but no. when you find out that your wife and brother have been seeing each other behind your back for a year at a family gathering that's supposed to be about being thankful for everything going on, well, let's just say it makes things a bit more complicated.

Keeping my own emotions out of this as best as I can, we started the process of splitting up, and part of that was me leaving the apartment, and then getting a place of my own. I didn't want to be anywhere near her honestly, so the faster I could get the hell out of there, the better. This led to me finding an apartment that would take me in quickly and not ask for too much money.

And, of course, in these cases, well, you get what you pay for. The place that I moved into was in a gated community, but it seemed like it was gated to keep people in instead of keeping people out. I saw more illegal activity occurring in the first week living there than I had in the 30 years of my life prior. I've also been one to keep my head down so that I don't get involved with anything, or people get the wrong idea about me.

I'm a live-and-let-live kind of guy, for the most part, and as long as you aren't messing with me or my property, then I really don't care what you do. And when you go through the process of leaving a person that you've been with for several years, typically one of the first things you decide that you want to do is better yourself. And my brain went immediately to making me a better person so that she would be jealous and realize how great the person she lost was. Stupid logic. I know. She was sleeping with my brother.

But you don't think clearly when emotions take over your life. Anyways, my adventures to better myself began with the search for a local gym that I could join and then probably never go to. Well, it would be my luck that, less than a couple blocks down the way, there was a 24-hour gym with a name that I won't mention because it's a big chain. I literally pulled into the lot as soon as I saw it and signed up and then went through their introduction of things immediately. Now, I say that I was likely to not go, but I actually started going the next day. And I started working out, and I was actually genuinely enjoying it. I signed up a couple days before the month's end, and I was pushing myself to go. go every day into the first couple weeks of December.

Much to my own surprise, it was a routine that I was sticking with, and I was finding joy in doing something good for my help. I've always been a bit sedentary in my lifestyle, but this was nice. What's even better, I had actually managed to push my depression about my situation aside and start celebrating the good things that were happening. I was out on my own. I was on the path to thriving, and I was going to get healthier.

On the night that the event actually happened, it was snowing a bit, and I was a bit iffy on going to the gym. I was going to stay home, but part of me told myself that I needed to go out there and keep it my routine. Part of me was adamant that I needed to push myself and that I needed this to be a habit. So, I got my gym clothes in my bag and drove out to the gym. When I walked in, there were a couple other guys there in the back at the weights, but it was completely empty.

And that's how I liked it. I went and got changed and I started my workout. The whole time that I was there and getting it, my exercise in, I felt like I was being watched. But, again, this whole place was practically empty, with the exception of a couple guys that were just kind of messing around on the weights. After a while, though, I was seriously feeling like they were staring at me. So, I figured I would just take it head on and try to socialize with them.

They were there when no one else was, so maybe they were. they were regulars, and maybe I could be friends with them. I walked over and introduced myself. I was polite, and I told them my name and that I was new to the area, and I reached out to shake their hands. One guy just kind of laughed at my gesture, but the other one shook my hand and said that his name was Jack. I asked him if they were regulars,

and he told me that they had actually never been to this location, and that he was just trying to check out a new gym. While he's talking to me, the other guy is just sitting there and shaking his head while laughing at me. I wasn't sure what his problem was, but I was enjoying the short conversation with Jack. I told him I would let him get back to his workout, and then went over to the locker room to get changed.

I tossed my phone and wallet into my gym bag, it rinsed off my face and just decided to go ahead and go without changing. I start heading out the door towards my car, I toss my gym bag in the back seat, and I turn around to open the door when I feel something sharp, jabbing me in the back. Now, this whole situation happened really fast, but it kind of felt like the whole thing went in slow motion. I felt a knife pushing against my back,

and I could feel the hands of two people rifling around in my pockets to try to find something to take. Thankfully, I had thrown all my valuables into my bag, and it was in the back seat right in front of me. I was thinking that they would just give up and run away after a few moments, but not so much. After a few seconds of them trying to get something that wasn't there, I heard one of them angrily grunt, And then I felt the incredibly unexpected feeling of a blade breaking the skin in my back. One thing to note about being stabbed, it feels cold as hell, especially when it's around 30 degrees Fahrenheit and snowing. The main thing that you feel is the temperature of the metal as it hits your skin and muscle.

Now, I really don't remember a whole lot after this. I just remember the cold, the pain, and then the cold again when I hit the ground. Thankfully, one of the employees of the gym actually saw what happened and called 911, but they were too scared to actually come out and see if I was okay in case the guys were still around and attacked anyone that tried to help. So, basically, I was lying there on the ground bleeding out, while these two gym employees tried to get an ambulance there to help. Now, obviously, I didn't die.

I survived the attack. When all was said and done, I was informed that I was actually stabbed four times, and each time they missed the major arteries in my back and all major organs, which was some incredible luck on my part. I apparently came very close to dying, but they were able to keep. keep me stable when they got me into surgery. I just remember being stabbed the one time, but I was told that the shock was likely to shut me down after the first ones, so I guess that's nice.

As I was in the hospital and recovering from the attack, the police came and visited me. They told me that they had some pictures to show me of my attackers and asked me if I knew them. Sure enough, I did, sort of. It was Jack and his friends. that were at the gym that same night. I told them that I had had a conversation with them less than five minutes prior to the attack while they were working out. The police took that and went back to the gym and found out that they weren't actually members. They were just there on a day pass and had given fake information. And from there, nothing happened.

I almost died because they couldn't rob me, I guess. They likely wouldn't have stabbed me if I had my phone and wallet on me, but they decided to do so. They weren't caught. At least I never heard anything about it. And that's honestly the end of my story. At least this one. I'm happily married now, and we've since moved to a better area, but I canceled my gym membership pretty much the next day. I got out of the hospital, and I decided to just start improving myself at home.

home instead. I have a bit of a creepy story from back when I was a little kid. I think I was around 11 or 12. This was the point in time where my parents kind of started treating me a little more like an adult, despite not being an adult at all, and giving me more responsibilities. As much as I appreciate them doing so, I probably wasn't ready for it. I think that I was a little bit. I think that I was a little bit of think they were just trying to help me grow up and mature a bit, but I definitely took the situation the wrong way. I took them more as I can watch the bad things on TV and play Nintendo for as long as they're not home and there's nothing they can do about it. They wanted me to grow up and take responsibility for something, namely my younger sister, and I just wanted

to be alone. Hilariously, that never changed. I prefer being alone more than anything. Anyways, like I said, this happened back when I was between 11 and 12, and my little sister, Mandy, was 5 or 6. She was at that age where watching her pretty much just meant keep the doors locked, make sure she stays out of the garage and doesn't injure or maim herself with the kitchen utensil. Pretty simple stuff. Unless you're me and a bit...

Well, I'll just say I was dumb. And they left me to watch her frequently when they wanted to go out and have a date night, or if they wanted to go shopping for whatever event or holiday was coming up. This particular story and events took place in December. I know this because they were going to do Christmas shopping, and I'm presuming they were getting our gifts. and that's why we had to stay home. The night was going pretty much as normal.

They ordered pizza before they left, told us what we could and couldn't do, and told us that they would be home by 10 p.m. They then told us to call the neighbor, Sherry, if there were any issues or emergencies. I agreed. They left, and as soon as I was certain that they were out of the driveway, I set up the Super Nintendo and started playing Mario.

Mandy and I played for a little while, or more so I played, and then she died repeatedly when it was her turn, and then after a bit she was tired of it, and said she wanted to go play in her room. I told her she could and that I would be up soon. About ten minutes after she went upstairs, I heard what sounded like someone walking in front of the Big Bayway,

window in the front room. I got up to look, and, much to my surprise, I wasn't wrong. When I looked out the window, I saw Mr. Martin, the other next-door neighbor. He was walking from the window to the front door, and then he knocked. I was a bit hesitant at first, but, again, he was one of the neighbors. So he wasn't someone that I was afraid of or worried. about. He was just the neighbor, and my parents knew him pretty well. I went to open the door, and when I did, he cheerily said, hey there, Abigail, is your mom home? I didn't really expect

this question, but when he asked it, I immediately thought he was asking if she was home so he could talk to her. It didn't click in my mind that it was around 8.30 at night, or that the van wasn't in the driveway. I pretty much just said, no, they're out shopping. As soon as I said that, he kind of chuckled, and then put his hand on the door and pushed it open. Then he walked in. As much as my brain was starting to process that this wasn't a good situation, I also didn't really know what to do or say, so I just mumbled that my parents would be home soon and that he He shouldn't be here. He should just wait for them to get home.

He ignored me, and then he shut the door behind himself. As soon as he did that, he started kind of just looming in the hallway and looking around. Then he turned to me and asked if my little sister was home too. I said that she was upstairs. He then kind of nervously muttered something to himself and stepped further into the hallway. Then, out of nowhere, he started talking about how Mandy and I needed to come with him over to his house, because there was an emergency, and my parents had called to tell him to come get us. He started talking a mile a minute, and he was really confusing my 12-year-old brain.

What accident? How had they told him that? Why would we go to him instead of Sherry? Again, I was a little kid, and I trusted this older man because my parents told me that he was a good guy, but even then, I started to ask him what had happened. He told me that we didn't have time to talk about it, and that I needed to go upstairs and get a bag packed so he could get us over to his place. Then he started to push me up the stairs. I wasn't sure what to do, so I just did what he asked. I went up the stairs, grabbed a backpack, and I started to put some clothes in it.

It was then that it actually kind of clicked. When he was at the door, the first thing he did was ask if our parents were home. If there was an accident and my parents told him to come get us, why would he ask if they were there? I kind of just stood there, piecing the puzzle together, that something about this situation wasn't right. Something was off, and Mr. Martin wasn't being truthful. It was at that point that I heard someone shouting from downstairs. I went back into the hallway, and I saw my dad had Mr. Martin pinned against the wall and was screaming at him.

My dad was a firefighter for the city, and he took his physical health very seriously. so there was no way that Mr. Martin was going to get away from him. I don't remember a whole lot of what my dad said to the old man. I remember that the police came and they asked questions. I told them how he had pushed the door open and that he was telling us that my parents wanted us to go with him because there was some kind of accident. They asked if I let him in or if I invited him in

and I told them I hadn't. he tried to say that I told him he could come in. In the end, the cops issued him a warning and trespassed him from our home and told him to never come back. My dad then asked me about what had happened, if he had done anything, which at the time I wasn't sure what he meant, but I now know what he was referring to. And as much as it was a pain, that was actually the last time I was allowed to babysit my sister until I was 17.

Mr. Martin never left the neighborhood, but he also never came back over or spoke to us ever again, which I could imagine he was probably terrified of my dad. I remember that Christmas he did leave a card in the mailbox, but I'm pretty sure my dad threw it away. It had been less than two weeks, and I don't think he was ready to even think about that guy yet. A lesson to take away from all this. to anyone that is of babysitting age and listening, never assume that someone has good intentions, and keep the doors locked if you can.

And to anyone out there with kids that you leave home while you're out, consider investing in one of those door chains and remind your children to trust people around them to a certain degree, but be careful and never let anyone in the house. That was today's episode of. of the As the Raven Dreams podcast. Thank you so very much for listening, and I really hope you enjoyed these scary stories.

If you want to support the channel further, please do consider checking out my YouTube channel. Just search As the Raven Dreams on YouTube and subscribing. You can also join the channel or go to my Patreon for early access to all of my content, all of it's appreciated, and never expected. But if it happens, thank you. All that said, friends, I will see you

on the next episode of the As the Raven Dreams podcast. But of course, until then, sleep well.