As The Raven Dreams Podcast - ATRD Ep. 029 - Creepy Neighbor Stories, Vacation Stories and Stalker Stories FT. Nightmare's Edge - 10 True Scary Stories

Episode Date: June 10, 2022

Hello and Welcome to the 29th 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 Creepiest Neighbors, the scary things that happen on vacation as well as some terrifying Stalker stories.  On today's Episode, 2 f the stories are narrated by my friend Nightmare's Edge. PLEASE Check him out on Youtube! ➤ 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 the following Authors...  Cassie M, NowIOnlyOwn, horrorgf, kissmyass42069, YG02, As well as any other authors that requested anonymity.  ➤ 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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If you have a story that you would like to hear featured on this podcast, please consider sending it my way. Just go to as the ravendreams.com and click the button. to submit your story. And of course, thank you. This is actually a story about my little sister.

Back in the early 2000s, my parents, myself, and my baby sister lived in a one-story house in Ohio. It had a basement that just had the laundry room and some of my dad's tools, but that was about it. Otherwise, it was a small two-bedroom house that my dad had actually turned into a three-bedroom, bedroom in a way.

There was a small room that we referred to as the den, because it didn't have an actual door and the room was really small. It kind of just became a storage and plant room because it had a single window that jutted out some so we could set small plants in it. Well, when my mom became pregnant with my sister, they didn't want me, a boy, to have to share a room with a baby, thankfully. So we cleaned out the room. My dad installed a door, and then we had a small nursery.

It would do for a few years until she outgrew it. So after she was born, we settled into our life with a new baby around. I know it was nothing new for my parents, but for me, it was a new experience. I was excited for a while, being a big brother, but then came the responsibilities that as a child, I didn't care for. Having to play quietly or play outside so I didn't wake her up, or having to get stuff from my parents or throwing things away. Overall, though, it was all right.

I got used to the crying at night after some time. We did have a lot of company over that wanted to see her, so a few months after she came home, we had a small cookout, since it was close to my mom's birthday. We had a lot of people over, including family and friends and a next-door neighbor, Vicky. Vicky was a bit out there. She was probably a little older than my parents, going by the loose skin and wrinkles that she had. Now, not that I have a problem with it, but as a kid, it was a little bit weird to me.

She wore as little clothing as possible. I think she was, or maybe just thought that she was a belly dancer. She always wore these little skirts that she always made sure to tell everyone that she made them herself. They had bells and charms all over them, and they seemed like it made it too heavy because it looked like it would just fall off. Then she typically wore a bikini top or braw with the sheer top over it. She had long dreads, and she always had all kinds of charms in them as well. Again, being older now, I dated a girl that had dreads and she took care of them. Vicky did not.

They smelled really bad. She would always try to hug me, but I would have to hold my breath. She talked about fate and the stars and how they controlled us all the time. When my parents would mention something I did, she would always talk about how she could tell that I was going to grow up to do this, and that I'd be great at it, and so on. So, when she came over to see my sister, she was trying to guess her name before my parents told her.

She guessed it was Angelica. Her name's Kira. Something else about Vicky was that she never had any. kids. She always mentioned how she could never find the right guy to settle down with, because she wanted the most perfect children in both looks and brains. So, she talked about how smart and kind I was as a kid, and that I was going to be an excellent big brother. But then after meeting Kira, she seemed to start to talk down to me. She said that I had a lot to live up to, and that I had a lot to live up to, and that I had to help my parents and make sure that she had a successful life.

I was still a kid at the time, and already having some of the attention pulled away from me, it kind of got under my skin, so I asked, what about me? I need help too. Then her response was, well, there's a new baby in the house, so therefore you have to grow up now, because you won't be the favorite anymore. My parents quickly explained that that wasn't true and that they loved us equally, but it's still not something a kid wants to hear, right? So, we tried our best to coexist with Vicky. Other than the weird stuff that was her, she was fairly harmless.

She always wanted to see and hold Kira when she came over, which was still fine, but some of the things that she said would get weird. Things like, oh, you're just perfect. I could just eat you up. Weird things like that. Sometimes she came over with a gift or baked goods, but then would pretty much ask if she could see Kira, like they were friends wanting to hang out.

So that was Vicky, in a very small and crazy nutshell. Sometimes we would see her a few times a week, and sometimes we didn't see her for a whole week. However, the older Cura got, the less and less we would see Vicky. I think it was agreed upon when we got older that it was probably because she grew up and she became less interested in her. Something about baby fever, or to the likes of. We went about our lives as normal, sometimes being awoken by my sister crying, and sometimes I would sleep through the night. We had some issues during the winter where it seemed like there was a bad draft coming through the window in her nursery,

so they moved her crib to my parents' room while my dad fixed up the window. Over the years, we lived as a normal family. However, it started getting weirder when Kira started to talk. Now, I will say, some of this is from what I experienced. And some things my parents would tell me over the years when we were older. When my parents would get her from her room when she woke up, she would say her normal things like mama, up, eat, things like that. But on occasion, my parents would hear her start to cry.

But then she would start giggling or humming and go right back to sleep. Then it started amping up. She started saying things like, to Mama, or Mama 2. And it took a while for us to finally figure out what she was saying. We joked about how it was because she preferred Dad, but then she started saying, Where Mama 2? When my mom would respond saying, I'm right here, she would say, no, you're Mama 1,

and then would call out and look for this Mama 2. No one really knew how to handle this, so we just kind of let it go. When she came out of her room, she would look for this mama too, but quickly lost attention and moved on. Over time, my parents began to wonder if she was seeing a ghost because of the way she would talk about this person. She would talk about seeing her when she slept, like in her dreams, but there wasn't really anything we could do about it. They tried their best to ignore it, the best they could, and tell Kira that she wasn't real. However, Kira would only start talking about her more. When I was outside playing with her one time, she started talking about this person,

and she said, you have to be nice to me because Mama too said so. I was getting annoyed, so I told her that she wasn't even real. She got really mad at me, saying that she was and that. she came to see her at night. I just dropped it, because at this point, I knew what a ghost was, and thinking that there was a ghost in our house was pretty scary to me as a kid.

However, as annoying as she could be at times, I was also kind of scared that my little sister had to possibly confront a ghost alone, and I wanted to be the brave older brother. So, after everyone went to bed, I snuck into her room and laid under her bed. There was just enough room for me to get under there and lay flat on my stomach. I had this great plan, but I didn't think about how I would keep myself awake.

I brought a pillow with me, and that was it. Needless to say, I fell asleep, but I did wake up, and I heard my sister giggling and whispering. So, I grogly opened my eyes to my eyes. to try to focus around me, and to my horror, I saw two bare feet, big enough to be in adults, with something draping around them, like a gown or something like that. I could hear them whispering things and then both of them giggling. I could only make out some of the things that were being said at times, such as, you're just perfect.

I didn't think things past what I would do once I was. I was in here, so I was just kind of frozen in fear. It seemed like it lasted forever, but after a while, I saw the feet walk away to the other side of the bed, and then they just kind of floated upwards and were gone. I continued laying there for some time until I felt it was safe, and then ran back to my room and under the blanket with the light on until I could fall asleep again. The next morning I told my parents that this person my sister was seeing was true and that I saw them too. I explained to them what I saw in the color just flushed from my mom's face. She tried her best to convince me I was probably having a bad dream, and then dismissed the whole thing. Apparently this was enough for my parents to buy an actual baby monitor, even though my sister was beyond that age at this point.

Now, one night as a child, I was sleeping in my room, when I started hearing my parents yelling and running. I jumped out of bed and looked out my door to see what was going on, when I noticed my dad was on the phone and I could hear my sister crying. I walked out of my room and into my sisters, and I saw my mom holding her. A lot seemed to happen that night that I didn't really know or understand, except. that my sister and the baby monitor were both moved to my room, and both of our windows had locks installed on them. Kira then started talking to me more about this person. She said she wasn't mean or scary, but nice, and that she helped her fall asleep.

She said she was also sad because she talked about how she wanted to take her somewhere, and now she didn't know if she would ever see her again. I didn't really know what to say, other than she's scared. scared our mom and dad, and that was not okay. Some time passed, and Kira stopped talking about Mama, too, and said she stopped getting visits from her, even after she moved back into her room. It wasn't until we started moving that another event would occur. My parents wanted a bigger place, so we started the moving process.

We had all kinds of people over helping us out, and, to our surprise, That included Vicky as well. We rarely saw her, and if we did, it was typically while she was outside in her own yard or at her mailbox. When she came over, though, she looked different. She had on pants and an oversized blouse, and her dreads were all wrapped up. While my parents were outside talking to her,

Akira and I ran out to see what was going on. I noticed that Kira had stopped walking and was just staring over at our parents and Vicky. Vicky looked at us and smiled, but it wasn't her normal smile. It almost looked forced. But she finished her conversation with my parents, and as she walked away, she was saying goodbye without approaching us and just kind of laughed. My sister really didn't see her much as she got older, so my parents had to explain who she was.

That's when my sister said something like, but that's mama too. This apparently triggered something in my parents, and they tried questioning her more, but it seemed to scare her a bit, so they eased up. I don't think after that we could have moved out any faster. Over the next few days,

my parents got more from her, and I learned more as I got older. Kura had explained that Vicky looked just like the person that would visit her at night, except she always had on some kind of gown or robe, maybe. But her hair was always wrapped up like she had it, so she didn't really think about it when we saw her on passing with her hair down. I figured out that when I was under the bed, I most likely saw her jumping out of the window,

and that's probably what my parents noticed too. The person was already out of the window when my dad ran to the door. They were gone. Because of the way they were dressed, it was probably why they didn't recognize her either. We had no actual proof that it was her, so nothing ever came about. But it was a creepy situation for us to be in, especially for my parents because they could have had a kid abducted, and for me to just witness it all.

My sister still to this day did not find it scary whatsoever, but I think it was just because she never really met Vicky in her true form and daylight. It all did cause my parents to be a lot more safe when it came to us, and at least we moved so we never had to deal with her again. I just hope she wasn't able to do that or anything further with any other kids. To paint the picture, it was my freshman year at Portland State University, October-November time period.

It was cool and breezy, a perfect night for sneaking some alcohol past the RAs in the Broadway Resident Hall. A handful of friends that I created a friend group of decided to gather in a new mate's dorm while her sister was away and past the night's time with Rose A Angry Orchards and sour apple four locoes.

See, at Broadway, they did a few rounds nightly to assure the noise levels were down, that no lower classmen were in the upper floors, no alcohol drinking, or drug partaking was occurring, etc. At this time, it was about 9 p.m. And, being the clutz that I was,

I spilled my four loco over a blanket sheet, causing the smell to attract the RA on their rounds. Long story short, we all got written up, had to dump what we had left, and called it a night. Well, a friend and I, call her D, went down to the notorious Mac shop downstairs to chain smoke our American spirits and rave about how the night was still young

and it was a damn shame the fun had to be ruined so early on. We were met with an older 30s to early 40s man, who seemed nice enough to greet us, as they all do. He overheard how the night was just as young as we were, and if we were down, he would pull some cash for beer, we would all drink together in his penthouse. Now, D and I chalked up his penthouse talk to being BS, but the promise of free beer already had us all in.

We walked to the Wells Fargo on Southwest Fifth and Hall, and he grabbed his funds and got some PBR and angry orchards at Max. We head to the dark park blocks. D&I hyped up, we can continue our buzz and get drunk for free. Now, if you live in Portland and have college friends or went to PSU, you know of The View. Heading to the direction of the art museum, he unlocks the front door to the view. D&I now convinced he wasn't blowing smoke up our back ends about having a penthouse.

There we go to the elevator with this stranger, and, lo and behold, he presses the P button atop a long list of numbers indicating each floor, and we head up to the penthouse. We get to his door, D&I holding each other's hand, and companionship and excitement that we're in a dang penthouse getting drunk. We sit in the center of the man's living room, having the smallest of small talk about law and order. He tells D.N.I. how he affords the penthouse through his fish and chip food cart, in the South Park blocks by the PSU Library, etc.

We're basically working our way through as many beers as we can before we admire the cityscape, from the balcony, before leaving. We pay most of his words and talk no mind. We head out to the balcony and look overhead, smoking and raving to our group chat about what we got ourselves into, and enjoying ourselves. Now, the whole time we were at this man's table and on his balcony, he was texting or calling somebody, or several people, on his phone.

We consider it to not be an issue. Until after about 20 minutes into basking in the penthouse views, we notice a lady that's not too well kept and tidy sitting on his couch, talking with him. He tells us to take a seat. We hesitate, but sit down. I sit on the farthest end of the couch from the mysterious lady. D sits next to the guy as she tries rushing through her beers,

and texts in the group chat for someone to call in a few minutes, with an excuse for us to dip. Now that we've had as many beers as we could and we want to leave. The penthouse predator leans in towards Dee, tells her how beautiful her eyes are. He dives quickly to her face for a kiss, in which she dodges amazingly fast. She mumbles how she isn't okay with that,

and that our friend T is actually her girlfriend. I ramble on about how that's true and how I have a boyfriend, also a lie, but it sounded good at the time. The man then puts his hands in his face, stands up aggressively and swiftly enough to bump his table, knocks over all the beer cans and glasses on top of it, and angrily says, What the hell?

You have five seconds to run before, before I rape you all. D. and I exchange frightened looks. Her saying, what? Before I yank her arm, grab our phones and bags as we run to navigate to the elevator. We frantically run down the hall scared, making it into the elevator before we remember, there's a poor lady in there now alone, and locked in with him. We contemplate calling the police, or our friends for help.

or saving the lady first. D&I decided simultaneously to run down to the lobby, where I leave three maximum capacity voicemails to our aforementioned friend T, who did not answer. Once we realized it was now 3 a.m., and none of our friends were awake, we decided to tiptoe back to his door and overheard the two laughing. Apparently the lady is a regular of his,

either an SW or his own personal sex buddy, and he had called her over to convince us to have a threesome, or foursome. But he exposed that he wanted to keep D around a little longer. That was enough for us both to hear to run back to the elevators, run back to our dorm building, and try to sober up to piece together how we got ourselves into that situation, and what exactly we got ourselves into. The next morning, our group chat blew up over what happened, us not recalling much after the alcohol,

and our brains trying to block out what we did comprehend, but did not want to discuss. Our friend T played my voicemails over and over to the friend group, with it being laughed at over time once the seriousness died down. I'm unsure if that man was the guy that ran the podcast. popular fish and chips cart right outside of the PSU library, or if the food cart is still there to this day. I dropped out of college after just one semester, so I paid no mind during that time to ever verify if the man was telling the truth. I still bounce back between Portland and whichever new state I choose to reside in, and I might just go one day to see if it's there, to see if he is still there. All I know is I never wish to see that penthouse predator in Portland, Oregon, ever again.

It's never too early to plan your summer story in Europe with WestJet, from rolling countryside to cobblestone streets. Begin your next chapter. Book your seat at westjet.com or call your travel agent. WestJet, where your story takes off. I have a story that actually took place back in the year 2006, which was my junior year of high school. I was a bit of a loner throughout pretty much all of my school years, but I had a couple of friends, and I really started the blossom at the end of the sophomore year and into my last two years of school. I got more involved in a few clicks and started coming into who I was as a person,

the more time I spent with the group that I considered my good friends. Now, despite me being a loner, I have two people in my life that I consider to be my best friends. Two people that had been with me for literally since the day my family moved into the house I grew up in. They were Ken and his sister Maria. Ken was a year younger than me and Maria was my age. And when we were little, the three of us were inseparable. However, as we started growing up, I found myself spending more time with Ken than Maria, which was bound to happen since we were both boys.

I never had anything against Maria. was a dear friend to me and treated me like her own brother. It was just that Ken and I obviously had more in common. When Ken and I would want to go outside and hike around the woods near our homes, she would always gock at the idea. She had become more of a girly girl and was more into makeup and dolls, and she never wanted to do the things we did, so her being less involved with us was almost to be expected. She ended up finding other girls that she called her friends, and Ken and I spent time doing whatever it was that we did at that age. Now, like I said, near the end of my high school career,

I kind of started hanging out with a couple of clicks of guys and gals that I would think it would be safe to label as the skater crowd. They were basically the early generation of the scene kids, wearing plaid and tight jeans with dyed black hair. You know the type of kids I'm talking about. Anyway, as I started to get more involved with this group, I started talking to Ken a lot less, and had pretty much all but stopped talking to Maria. Ken's group of friends was more into football, and the jocks were certainly the polar opposite of the crew I was hanging out with.

We didn't fall out or dislike each other, just grew apart and accepted that life was different for us. This was just the nature of high school cliques. It wasn't a matter of liking or disliking others. We just all kind of fell into our own groove. I know this is all kind of sounding like I'm just explaining my childhood in high school life, and I apologize. It's just kind of important to know all this so you know who I was, who my friends were, and to understand how things went from there. Anyway, as I was getting more into this group, I actually met a girl named Sarah, and Sarah was everything that I was attracted to at the time. She was punk, she hated authority, and was probably the most goth person in our crew.

She was new to the school and she had pretty much defaulted into hanging out with our group. And from the first day that I saw her, I had the biggest crush on her. To push things along a bit and cut out the unimportant parts, Sarah and I ended up dating about a month after we met. And we were always all over each other. She was my first girlfriend, and I had no idea how to handle relationships. So I pretty much fell head over heels and became obsessed with her. I think it was mutual, to be honest with you. She and I were pretty close from the start.

Word got around really quickly that Sarah and I were dating, and by the end of the week, everyone knew we were a thing. I remember Ken actually coming up to me and making a joke about how I finally got a girl, and that it was a good thing that I was dating up. I laughed it off, probably cracked a joke at him, and we went our separate ways again. I thought it was just a one-off thing, but that night, Maria actually showed up at our first.

front door. I answered and stepped outside to talk to her and asked her what was up. This is where the craziness started. She immediately started asking me all kinds of questions that came out of nowhere. Who was Sarah? Were we really dating? Did I know what kind of person she really was? I'd hold her that yes, we were dating and that I really liked her, and then ask her what the hell she was going on about. Why did she care so much about who I was dating? Then the rumor milled talk started. She said that Sarah was a drug addict, that she had to move school districts because she had gotten pregnant and abandoned the child and they found out. She said that she had proof that Sarah was dating several other guys at the same time, and that she was impure. She literally

used that word, impure. I, again, ask what the hell she meant by all this. I told her that I was pretty sure everything she just said was a lie or a rumor, and that she needed to get to know the real Sarah before judging her. Out of nowhere, Maria grabs my face and pulls me in, then tries to kiss me. I pushed her away and yelled at her to stop. I was seriously confused by what this was. Maria then starts in about how she and I were soulmates. We were destined to be together and I needed to see that.

I mentioned that she and I had barely spoken for several years, that she wasn't my type and that I saw her more of a sister than anything. her response was to slap me and tell me it was our destiny to be together and that I didn't have a choice in the matter. I remember calling her several expletives and slamming the door in her face after that. Unfortunately, that's not where it ended with her, though it did end pretty quick. It was actually the next day at school, when I got off the bus and started to walk up the door, Ken walked up to me looking genuinely pissed off.

My initial thought was that he was mad that I heard. hurt Maria's feelings, but he then starts telling me something I didn't anticipate. Apparently, when Kenna Maria's mother dropped them off that morning, Maria ran into the school and went into hunting mode. She was on a mission to find and confront Sarah about dating me, and to tell her that she was my soulmate. When she found her, she started talking crazy about me, about everything, and she started screaming in the hallway calling Sarah names and yelling about how she was impure. She then finished off by yelling out that she was still pure and had saved herself for me,

because she and I were in love and were going to be together in the end. Obviously, Sarah laughed this off and called her crazy, to which Maria proved how crazy she truly was. Apparently, when Sarah turned away, Maria smashed her head into the wall, breaking her nose and bruising her up really bad. After Sarah fell to the ground and was trying to figure out, what had happened. Maria had pulled off her belt and started beating Sarah with it repeatedly. This whole thing happened within the five or so minutes before I got there, and it took two teachers

to restrain Maria before she was pulled away by the resource officer. There's not a lot more to the story beyond the obvious. There was a lot of chatter about how crazy Maria was, and people were looking at me weird, most likely because of what she was shouting about me. Maria ended up expelled from the school, and I recall there being talks about her being charged for something due to how aggressive she was, but I don't think anything legal ever came of it. Sarah ended up going to the hospital with a badly broken nose and a significant number of bruises from the belt, but she ended up being okay, minus her nose having a slight

curve from the break. I didn't speak to Maria again after this, and Ken pretty much made it a point to avoid me. Sarah and I dated until we graduated and then decided to call it quits when she moved away to an art school. We're still friends on Facebook and chat randomly, but that's all. I actually got a friend request for Marie on Facebook last week, which is the reason I remembered all of this. Let me tell you, I never hit the decline request button faster for anyone in my entire life. This happened to me as a young girl back in the early 90s.

I was around 10 at the time and was the youngest with two older brothers. Needless to say, I was bored. A lot. My brothers didn't want to play with me very much, unless it was something that they wanted to do. Wrestling got old, fast, especially when you have a disadvantage. So I was often found alone in my room or complaining about being bored. The latter was a rare occurrence, because then I was told to find something to do or to go find my brothers. You know how it goes.

So when we had a new neighbor move in with a young girl around my age, I was ecstatic. I told my mom and she agreed to let me pick out a treat to make for them and to bring them over. I chose to make brownies, and my mom and I walked over there to meet them. It was the dad that answered the door. He shook our hands, and we introduced ourselves, and then I asked about the little girl. He looked confused at first, but then replied with, Oh, yeah, sorry, and hollered for her. For her privacy, I'm going to call her Madeline.

She seemed pretty shy at first. He brought her to the door and told her my name and tried talking a little about herself to get her to loosen up. I did get her to smile and talk some, but then we parted ways and headed back home. I had big hopes. I wanted this girl to be my friend since she lived so close. We wouldn't have to ask our parents to give us rides. We could just be there.

My mom told me to hold off so that they could get settled in, and that maybe I would see her in school. However, after not seeing her for a week, I told my mom and she mentioned that she may still need to be enrolled, or maybe she was homeschooled. Sure enough, I would learn that she was homeschooled when I saw her getting the mail one day. I was already out playing in the yard when I saw her and asked her about it.

She said that she was, and that it was due to their beliefs. Being a kid, and not really knowing what that entailed, I just accepted it and asked her if she could play. She said she would have to ask her, her dad first, and then ran back inside. After a few minutes of waiting in their yard, she came back out looking a little disappointed, but said that she couldn't play because they had things they had to do first. This seemed to happen a few times.

I was starting to get upset thinking maybe she didn't like me or didn't want to hang out with me, so I slowly stopped asking. That was until her dad came over to our place, looking for me specifically. He said he wanted to know if I wanted to come over for dinner and to hang out with Madeline, and I was ecstatic. I quickly jumped at the opportunity and followed him out the door and over to their place. I thought it was a little weird at first that he came over to ask instead of her, but it quickly dropped from my mind when I walked into their home.

It was so colorful and organized. I know my reaction clearly showed on my face because her dad laughed and asked if I liked it. When I nodded, he said that Madeline had chosen a lot of the design, since there wasn't a mother in the picture, she wanted her help in making it look womanly. The kitchen was yellow and seemed to have a bakery theme based on the framed pictures, and utensils that they had.

The living room was a royal purple and almost looked castle-like based on the furniture and fixtures. He told me I could have a seat at the table and that she would be out soon. He grabbed drinks for us, which was Kool-Aid for us and a beer for him, and then he sat at the table asking about myself.

He asked what school I went to and if I liked it. What I was learning, what I liked to do, just things like that. After some time, Madeline finally came out, wearing an apron and her hair up in a clip. I watched as she went to the kitchen, made not only her plate,

but mine and her dad's plate, and then brought them to us. Being a kid, I thought that this was a little backwards, but then just thought maybe she was trying to be polite with company, or maybe it was just a rule,

that they had. Either way, it was great spaghetti with garlic bread, and we just sat there talking for a bit. Every so often, he would look at her and say things like, She was telling me how she likes to bake, too, honey, and would smile at her, and then she would do the same. After dinner, I tried getting up to take my plates to the sink when he insisted that they would get it, but instead Madeline did, and as she did the dishes, we sat and talked some more. Again, I thought it was weird and was curious. Was the dinner for her or for him? But afterwards we got to talk some more until I had to leave.

I went home and my mom asked how it went, and I told her about everything. She laughed and didn't think much of it, joking that maybe she should. consider doing that to us, but she left it at that. We had a few more playdates, where he would come over or call asking if I could or wanted to hang out with Madeline, and my parents would let me. It was always a similar situation, where any housework would be done by her. He would ask me more about myself, and then we would have some time to talk. Then, one weekend, I was invited.

over for her birthday party. This time, it was going to be a sleepover, so I thought for sure we would be able to have some time to ourselves. I packed a small bag with all my stuff that I wanted to share with her, and I knocked on their door. Her dad answered. He welcomed me in, and he showed me to her room. Of all the times that I had been over, I hadn't even seen her room yet.

That was the bedroom that I dreamed of. as a child. It was painted pink. It had one of those huge white princess vanities, a normal-looking dresser, and then her closet was filled with dress-up items. Dresses, uniforms, there was a chest with jewelry, accessories, and shoes. It was every little girl's dream. Again, I'm sure it showed on my face because Madeline was smiling and her dad had laughed.

He said that this is what. what she wanted, and his princess would get anything that she wanted. Yeah, sure. My dad said I would always be his little girl, but my room didn't look like this. This was going to be fun. I asked about playing, but he said that we had to have dinner first, and we agreed. We made our way back to the dining room, and I noticed that we were having something in a bowl. It was a soup or chili or something like that. So she didn't have to make two trips. I stood up to grab my bull when her dad politely told me not to, as it wasn't polite

to make a guest serve themselves, and it was her job as the lady of the house. Again, kind of weird, but still a kid, so I didn't question it and sat back down. After we had dinner, I sat at the table and talked to him again as she cleaned up, and And then we were finally able to go back to her room to play, as her dad said he would come in to check on us after a little bit. I thought it would go like how my parents did. Say they will, but don't until I got too loud, or it was time for bed, or something like that. However, not soon after we got to her room and we started talking about what we wanted to do, he came in asking what we were doing. Madeline said that we were still deciding on what to wear.

He almost looked as excited as I was as he stepped into the room, going through her outfits. He was holding them up to me, making comments about how this would look great on me, and this is perfect for my figure and so forth. After picking out a few things, he stood in the room, so I asked to go to the bathroom to change. He then said that it was fun. and that I could change in there with her. The problem really wasn't her, it was him. My parents stepped out of the room and wouldn't come in if I was changing,

so... So the fact that he didn't even think to close the door or look the other way was weird to me. I was wearing shorts and a shirt, so I just decided to put it on over my clothes, whereas Madeline completely undressed. It was a little awkward, but I was too excited, so I just let it go. Afterwards, we paraded around and pretty much just played pretend, including her dad. He actually got on the ground, put a blanket on his back like a saddle, and then told us to sit on his back.

He bucked around some, which was pretty funny, too, and then he took pictures of both of us. After a while, we had cake and ice cream, and she opened a few presents that he had for her. One of the things that he got her was a nightgown of some sort. She thanked him for everything, and then he told her to try on the nightgown, so she did. And he also asked me if I wanted to change, too. I agreed, and this time I was able to go to the bathroom to do so. As we got ready for bed, Madeline took me back to her. to her room where she set me up in her canopy bed.

She then pulled out a blanket and pillow from her closet and laid them on the floor next to her bed. The bed was pretty big. So I told her that she could sleep on it too, but she declined saying that she would just sleep on the floor. For the first time, her dad came in and said goodnight, hugging both of us and shut the door. We were finally alone.

She asked if I'd had a good time, and I told her I did, but being young and nosy, I asked her about her doing all the housework, and she said that she had done it for as long as she could remember and as long as she was capable. I then asked her about her schooling, and she said that she just reads different books and does different workbooks. I was conflicted on that one, because I thought that was super easy. and you didn't have to get dressed for it. But then I was sad for her because, other than myself, what other friends did she have? She couldn't go to school and show her friends her new outfit or talk about their favorite teacher, so I started to feel sorry for her. Other than that, she talked about the different states that they lived and places they went to,

which sounded pretty fun, and kind of made me wish that my family could try to. travel around like that. However, she did say that she liked the idea of my family, of everything I had told her, and that she wished that she had a mom to do things with. So, I asked her about hers. She said she didn't remember her, and that she was just gone one day, and she never saw her again after that. Again, I was empathetic because I had a feeling that one of two things.

things happened there, and I couldn't imagine being without my mom. I was already really close to her. Shortly after that, we ended up falling asleep, but I awoke sometime in the night having to go to the bathroom. Being that it was one of those awkward situations, I just kind of laid there and slowly opened my eyes. Then, I saw a figure standing in the doorway. I didn't know if I was just seen. I didn't know if I was just seeing things or what, so I continued to lay there, pretending that I was asleep, hoping that it would just disappear. After a few attempts of closing my eyes and then opening them, I saw Madeline get up from the floor and follow this figure out of the room. I waited for several minutes after that, until I couldn't hold it any longer, and quickly and quietly ran to the bathroom. Afterwards, I just went back to the bedroom and went back to sleep, acting like everything was normal.

The next morning, I woke up to just me in the bedroom still. When no one came in after several minutes, I decided to get up and get dressed. Afterwards, I opened the door to look around when I heard noises coming from the kitchen. It was Madeline, again, making breakfast this time. Her dad wasn't around, so I helped her make everything, and she seemed to really have fun with it. Shortly after breakfast, though, I had to start packing up to go home. They both walked me to the door and said that I was welcome over there any time, and for however long I wanted to be there.

They both hugged me, and I left. I went home to my mom in the living room, and she asked me how it went. I was honest with her, and I told her it was fun, but mentioned that her dad seemed very controlling, and explained everything that happened, including the dress-up part. At first my mom chuckled and said that maybe I just misunderstood something. She just said that maybe he was very strict and that I needed to keep being nice to Madeline because she probably needed a friend. However, I wasn't allowed to go back there alone, my parents' choice. I wouldn't see her much longer that year. You see, her dad had bought her a small pool, and since they just had a chain-link fence,

everyone could see what was going on out there. The pool seemed like it was more for a photo shoot. One thing that I didn't mention was that my mom worked for the school board at the time, and, as she put it when I was older, was curious about her homeschooling and tried to talk with her dad about it one time. She tried to have Madeline come over for dinner one time, but he said that he had to be there too. While we were watching TV, he came into the room and quickly rushed home. She told me that she was asking him what curriculum he was going through for homeschooling, and his answers were either vague, or that he avoided.

the question entirely. My mom began to become concerned that she wasn't being schooled at all. Then, Summer came around and I tried asking my parents and Madeline's dad if she could go on a camping trip

with me. That actually led to an argument between my dad and hers, and I didn't see Madeline for a long time after that. The next time I did see her was when there were two cops in the driveway, and they were both being escorted out, with her dad and handcuffs.

My parents would only tell me that he wasn't a good person, and that Madeline was going to live with someone who would love her and take care of her. I wouldn't learn until years later as an adult what had actually happened. My mom, being around all different types of kids, could tell that there was something different about Madeline in her relationship with her dad. Me, telling her about the party, really set things off for her. Then, my brothers told her about the things they saw when they were out in the pool, and even made suggestive comments to my brothers about her. With my mom confronting him about the schooling, she began to worry about it more.

Then, my dad had apparently said something to him, possibly threatening, I'm sure, which made him completely shut her out of my life. From there, they had visitors from CPS or something, and apparently they found some things that were not good either. I'm sure everyone can piece things together, but knowing I was so close to this situation and alone was terrifying. now that I'm an adult with a little girl of my own especially. There are things that you were taught as a kid to be aware of, but there are some things that just don't feel right to you, and you don't know how to react. So all I'm going to say is teach your kids to trust their gut as well

because it could save them or someone else's life. I just hope that Madeline was able to find a real, loving, Family. It started in October of 2018 at a surprise birthday party. The party was for a good friend of mine, and all her closest friends and her parents were invited. A few days before this, I'd had a muscle injury and was taking painkillers for the same, which is why I could attend the party but had to decline drinks. A man at the party who was a friend of one of the people invited noticed me to be to be a party. turning down a drink.

He asked me why, and I explained. We made small talk for a few minutes. I spent the rest of the party with my friends. A few days later, I got a text from an unknown number, asking how my injury was. It was the man from the party, who had taken my number from the group chat where the invite had been sent. I thought it was nice of him to check up on me, so I said I was better and thanked him for asking. After this, he struck up a conversation about something else. I spoke to him for a while

and then ended the conversation as I had to go out with some friends. The next day he tried to make conversation again and asked me where I usually partied, what I liked to do for fun, etc. I answered honestly, because I didn't perceive this as threatening and thought if my friend was friends with this man, he would be nice. I was 21 at the time and in college, so I quickly became swamped with assignments soon after, and started sending shorter and later replies to his texts. At this point, along with the random questions about my opinions on various things, he started asking me to meet him, at bars that I used to frequent, or at a cafe nearby.

I told him I had a lot of work to do for college, and he said I could just meet him for a silent hangout, or I could work on my assignment and he would sit silently next to me doing his own thing. I thought that sounded strange, so I declined. Also, keep in mind that this was a man who was a few years older than me and working. So I was also wondering why he was trying so hard to hang out with a college. student. I started ignoring some of his texts, post his repeated suggestions to hang out, and would only reply in monosyllables. I blocked him from viewing my stories on Instagram after he kept replying asking me where I was partying. This didn't stop him from texting me often.

Worried that he was trying to pursue me romantically. I started replying to his texts that said what's up with messages where I said I was spending time with my boyfriend, which he would ignore, or say, oh, that's nice, and then go back to asking me questions or asking to meet. A few weeks later, I ran into him at a party. I was slightly tipsy and hanging out with some male friends, and he saw me across the room and texted, is that your boyfriend? I was drunk enough to reply back denying this and made a joke about it, and then went back to talking to my friends. At the end of the party, I started to head out to book a cab for myself, and he came up to me and asked if I was going back alone at 2 a.m. I said yes, and he insisted on dropping me back in his car.

I denied, as I was uncomfortable with the idea of being in a car alone with him. He told me his friends would be coming too, that it wouldn't be just the two of us. I hesitantly agreed to wait for them, but his friends called soon after and informed him that they had decided to stay longer. I said I would book a cab, and he insisted that he would book it for me so that I would be safe. He asked for the address, and since I wasn't comfortable revealing my partner's address, I gave the name of a restaurant nearby. He asked me if the house was close and insisted on a more specific address. But I said it wasn't on maps and that I could walk to it.

He booked the cab and as we stood waiting for it, he said something like, You know, you really know how to make people feel bad about themselves. Like they can't befriend you. The cab arrived and I got in, confused about his statement. When I got to the restaurant, I instructed the cab driver to drive into the lane where my partner's house was, and I ended the ride there. The man immediately called me and asked me if I was safe. I said yes, and we ended the call, and once again, I wondered if I had misjudged him, and if he had been trying to take care of me. After this, he went back to texting me often, sometimes even after I didn't reply.

saying hi or asking me what I was doing on Saturday. One day, I was going to meet a friend at a bakery near my house. As I entered the place, I got a call from him saying he saw me from the bar right next to the bakery, that he was there with friends on the balcony and that I could join them if I wanted. I declined, stating that I was there to catch up with a friend. The friend canceled soon after, so I have. left the place, but as soon as I did, he called again, asking me why I was leaving so soon and if I would come join him and his friends now. I said I had a presentation to work on, and I went

home, wondering if he had been keeping an eye on the bakery long after I'd entered it. The thought was chilling. I decided to talk to our mutual friend about his behavior, and she said that his personality was just off-putting, but he was harmless, and she would tell him off if he made me uncomfortable again. This pacified me for a while. Some time after this, at another party, I found out that another girl he had met through my friends had had a similar experience with him and had been creeped out. I can't remember exactly what happened between them, but she said that he'd kept his distance after she told him she didn't want to befriend him. I wasn't a confrontational person, and furthermore, I was afraid of confronting men,

so I hoped that ignoring his messages would stop him from reaching out. The frequency decreased, but the messages did not stop. He also wished me on my birthday for four years straight, even when I didn't respond. bond. During the pandemic, he was relatively quiet. When he ran into me at a bar, two years into the pandemic when they had lifted restrictions, I had my mask on and looked away when he made eye contact and mouthed something at me. I disappeared into the crowd and got a text soon after saying, Hey, did I see you at the place? Which I ignored. So far, He hasn't tried to reach out, but I worry that he might text me again on my next birthday.

I still don't think he's dangerous, but I definitely do not want to meet him again. There's something else here now. Something new. From, exclusively on Paramount Plus, it's the series Stephen King calls Scarious Hell. Everything here is impossible, but it's also real. Sci-Fi Vision calls it the best show streaming right now. 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. For the record, I'm a 23-year-old woman now, and this all happened back when I was 13. So in 2011, I was meeting up with a friend of mine at a strip mall, and we were supposed to go to the movies. I don't even know what we were going to see. I just remember we were excited because we were going to. going to be alone for the first time. My parents were more strict than hers, so we told them that it was going to be the two of us and her dad.

But her parents really didn't care, which, looking back, isn't something that should be celebrated. For us, it was a huge deal because we hadn't done anything with just the two of us, and we were feeling like we were super grown up. So we were dropped off at the movie theater with cash to buy tickets and some popcorn, and basically told to have a good night and then they would be back in a few hours. hours to pick his up. We got inside the theater and got our tickets to whatever movie we were going to see. We had about a half an hour before the movie started, so we decided to check out the little arcade, mostly to play Pac-Man. We spent the cash that we had left playing games,

and the whole time we were in there, there was a guy that was just standing outside the door and staring into the arcade. It really didn't bother me, because I thought he was looking at the games, and I didn't really think he was doing anything too far out there, but I noted that he was there and just kept it in the back of my mind that he was there. After around 15 or so minutes of playing the games, the guy that was standing there finally walked into the arcade and kind of walked over to where we were standing, but again, didn't say anything. It was at this point that I noticed he had a young boy with him that was probably six or so years old, which made me realized that he was definitely not paying attention to us, and he was just looking around.

He walked over to where we were and was kind of hovering with his little kid, and after watching me play Pac-Man for a few minutes, he made a comment about how great it was to see someone of my generation playing the classics. I said thanks to him and mentioned that Pac-Man had been my favorite game for a long time, and mentioned that it was because of my dad that I played it at all. After a bit of us all just kind of standing there, we decided that we needed to. to get to the movie. I mentioned that we had to go and told him that it was all his. We left and went to watch the movie. About halfway through the movie, I really needed to head to the restroom, which was pretty on par for me. I had a small bladder and I have a bad habit of drinking soda way

too fast. So I told my friend and decided to go to the restroom really quick. I got up and exited out into the hallway, when who should I run into but the guy that was at the arcade and his kid? Again, he had a six-year-old boy with him, so I wasn't thinking much of him. But he waved and smiled at me and made a joke like, Long Time No See. I chuckled and said, yep, then kept on to the restroom. I got in and went into the stall to do my business when I heard the door opening slowly and the sound of someone stepping into the restroom. Now, this was a public restroom, so someone else entering a few moments after I did wasn't

something that was caused for alarm. For some reason, though, I was feeling super uneasy about it. It was like my mind was telling me that there was something going on, despite the fact that there was no reason for me to believe that there was any cause for alarm. I was just sitting there and kind of peering through the crack in the stall to see if I could see who entered in the bathroom mirror. When my irrational fear was confirmed as not so irrational. I saw the man, the one with the little boy,

walking slowly into the women's restroom and looking around. My heart was racing. This was the kind of thing that my nightmares were made of. No adult man would be walking into the women's restroom like that, especially when they knew that there was a teenage girl in said restroom, unless they had malicious intent. The span of 30 seconds between him entering and this situation coming to an end felt like hours. Thankfully, the man's little boy opened the door and shouted,

Daddy, this is the girl's bathroom. As soon as he did, the man quickly turned around and ran back out to the hallway. I just sat there silently holding my breath while my heart exploded out of my chest for several seconds. Then finished my business and very swiftly made my exit. I practically ran back to the showing room and back to my seat. I was terrified that this guy was going to follow me and try to corner me. Thankfully, I didn't see him the rest of the night, but I think my friend could tell that something was going on. I never told her about it because I didn't want her to freak out, and I obviously never told my parents about it.

I know that this whole situation could have gone much worse, and I know that if his son hadn't intervened, this would have ended differently. Ever since that night, I've actually had a fear of going anywhere alone, and I have to have someone with me any time I'm in public. I'm glad it just ended quickly and without incident, and in the ten years since then, I'm that that guy and I never met again. Back in the 80s, my parents were living in Venezuela with my maternal grandparents. But when they found out that my mom was pregnant with their first kid, me,

they wanted to make a better life for themselves. So, with my grandparents' encouragement, they moved to the States. They moved around a bit, starting in California, since my dad already had family living, there, and then we ended up making our way to Montana where they eventually settled for good. After I was born, they had my little brother a few years later. So, at the ages of eight and three, and they took us back to visit Venezuela and meet our grandparents and our other family for the first time. It was a lot of fun from what I remember.

There were a lot of cousins around my age, and we all had a blast. We played kickball, and I remember climbing this huge tree in my grandparents' backyard, and I just laid around on the branches, laughing at a few of my younger cousins that couldn't reach us. I remember eating way too many of these little pies that my grandma made herself. They had some kind of fruit glaze inside, and were sprinkled with cinnamon on top. top. I have no idea what she called them. I could never remember, but they were phenomenal. And I really didn't want to leave when we did. After we got back, my parents promised us that we would go at least once a year and even told us maybe when I had asked if we could move there, not having any

sense of distance and the difference between a state and a full country move. All I knew was as a kid, I loved it. Unfortunately, things happened, and we weren't able to go back there the next year, but then we did the year after, when my little sister was born. It was just as much fun that year as it was the last time. It would be a few more years before we would be able to go again, but we did have some family come and visit us, which also was a lot of fun. After that, my parents had two more kids, and they decided it would be able to go again.

be too expensive, and not safe to travel with five kids and only two adults. So we stopped going as a family. I went one more time with just my dad when my paternal grandfather passed away. Of course, it wasn't all for fun, but it was still great seeing some of my family that I had only talked to on the phone or via email. After that, we pretty much stopped going. We went on vacations as a family in the States, but it wasn't the same. I had fun with my siblings, but there was such a strong family connection between all the aunts,

uncles, cousins, and traditions that I really hung on to, and I knew that when I was capable to do so, I knew I would be returning on my own. That way, I could do what I wanted, however long I wanted to, and while I was capable of do. I was there, and that was exactly what I set out to do. In my early 30s, I had completed my college degree and was at a pretty steady job. I was working my way into the position that I wanted. The place I worked for had great pay and benefits, as well as vacation time. And, since I didn't have a family, or even a significant other at this point, I decided I

would make my vacation time useful and go on my Venezuela trip. My closest cousin and one of my best friends, Daniela, was going to be turning 34, so I thought it would make for a great surprise to show up, and then we could all go out and have fun. I talked with my parents about it, as I at least wanted someone to know where I was, and I would prefer having a ride to the airport, and they loved the idea. They helped me with the locations and where the safest areas to stay were. They were adamant that someone would let me stay with them, but I also didn't want to be an unexpected guest, and I still wanted to be able to explore on my own, so I wanted to find a hotel.

I got it all booked and paid for. The time finally came for my trip, and my parents took me to the airport, but made me stuff some extra things in my case to give to people. It was a little nerve-wracking as I'd never flown alone, and I had a layover, so I had to check in, bored, do all of it on my own and quickly. But I did it with minimal issue. When I arrived, I got a ride from the airport to the hotel, which was about 45 minutes away, and I checked in as normal.

Now, I will say here that I do speak Spanish. I wasn't perfectly fluent at it, but I knew enough that I could hold a conversation, talk to people at the airport, on the bus, tell the receptionist about me and things like that. I just sometimes get tripped up on less common words or phrases. However, I think I surprise people when they realize that I do speak Spanish, such as the hotel receptionist. She lightened up quite a bit with me when I did,

and even gave some great suggestions on places to visit and areas to avoid. As we all do, in the States I'd been told by both my parents and this lady of certain little areas to stay clear from, as it was typically nothing but trouble. I got to my room, though, and it was beautiful. It had an older theme to it, but it was. was very comfortable to be in. I called my parents once I checked in and decided to freshen up before I went to my cousins.

After a few hours, I made my way over to their place. I was able to get a bus that took me most of the way and then a cab to take me the rest. Just as expected, they were beyond ecstatic to see me. I'm sure part of them was hoping to see the whole family, which I would have loved to have been able to do for them, but we all still enjoyed our time together. We must have sat and talked for hours, going through photos, little trinkets, and memorable times, and then swapping gifts. By then it was already getting late, so I ended up getting dinner for us all, and they gave

me a ride back to my hotel after offering to have me stay with them. We all agreed to meet up the next day, and Danielle and I were going to go around the area for some sightseeing. Daniela was up and at my room early the next day, barely giving me enough time to get ready before she yanked me out of my room. We had a great day, though. She took me to an old movie theater and a park that we went to as kids. We were shopping and even went to a nice place to eat.

There were so many memories brought back in one day. It was incredible. The next day was her birthday, and after having a celebration with the family, we were going to go out and have some fun. The next day went as planned, too. We had a party at her place, as she was still living with her parents, my aunt and uncle. Then, after they settled in for the night, we headed out. She said she knew a good place that we could go to party,

as she had been there plenty of times, and even joked about finding a guy there. When we got there, I was a little surprised by the way it looked, but I trusted Daniela since she said she had been there many times before. It quite honestly looked like a shack with a shoddy extension built on to the side to extend the size of the place. There were a few people standing around outside smoking. It all seemed a little sketch, but upon approaching them,

they were all very friendly. Everyone was well-mannered, most spoke Spanish, but also some English, which helped me a bit too. There were a few people there that Daniela knew already, so she introduced me to her friends. We all had a great time. And I tried drinks that I had never heard of, or tried in the States, which probably also affected my ability to think clearly, I'm sure. After some time, I felt like I was going to just collapse with how exhausted I was. Somehow, Daniela looked like she still had hours left in her. I didn't want to leave her, but since she seemed to have friends around, I was less worried about it.

I told her in order for me to be able to function whatsoever the next day, I was going to have to head back to my hotel. She understood, so I hugged her and headed out the front. One of the older guys out there, old enough to be my father, I'm sure, offered to give me a ride back. He was really nice and didn't give off any weird vibes, but I declined, saying that I didn't want to be a bother and insisted that I would just get a cab. He understood, and he told me to be safe. I continued walking towards the street to see if I could wave down a cab to stop. There were a few that would drive around the area, but you could also call to get one. After waiting a few and with none driving by, I finally called the company and went through to get one.

Shortly after, a car pulled up, came to a stop, and I got in. He asked me for the location, and after I told him, he headed off as normal. I was pretty bad at Smalltalk, unless they brought it up, so I just sat there quietly for a few moments. Not long into the drive, however, the driver asked me if I was going to be here long, and if I was there for work or just personal reasons. All this conversation also took place in English. Again, for the most part, people have been very friendly and welcoming, so I didn't find it hard. to talk to this guy either. I told him I lived in the U.S., but I was here visiting family.

Then he started asking odd questions, like, if I was staying alone or if someone was waiting for me, how long I was going to be there, if I had other plans while I was here and other, more prying questions. Even being under the influence, something didn't seem right. I started making my answers shorter and shorter and kind of looking around to see if I recognized any buildings or landmarks to tell me how close we were. But that's when I noticed that I didn't have a clue where the hell I was. Nothing looked familiar, and there were very few streetlights. Then he excused himself from the conversation saying he had a call to take, which is when I noticed that he had a call to take,

which is when I noticed that he had an earpiece in. When he took the call, he spoke in Spanish. I was relieved to be done with the conversation, but that didn't really mean that I was out of the conversation. I started hearing some alarming things being talked about, just by my driver, and I pretended to not know what he was saying. As mentioned, my Spanish isn't the best,

but I knew enough to understand most of the things he was saying, such as young, American, pretty, small, should be easy how much, not enough, where should I take her? And similar, startling phrases. Again, I was trying to not look afraid, and I took out my phone to start texting everything I could about where we were, what this guy looked like and what was being said. That's when I noticed the guy was looking over at my phone to try and see what I was doing.

Again, I was just trying to be sly about it all, so I was looking over at him in my peripheral, and I caught a glimpse of something shiny next to him, almost like it was in his pocket, or belt loop, maybe. I could see a handle sticking out, and it looked like a weapon. I'm pretty sure it was a knife. I quickly tried to send what I already had to Daniela when the car came to a stop. It was at a crossroad and there was some small homes to the side, and I think the conversation with the person on the phone had ended, because that's when I noticed he wasn't talking to them anymore.

That's when, without looking over at me, he asked me if I knew Spanish. It may have been stupid, but I decided to respond in Spanish. if you let me out of here you'll never see me again and I will not tell anyone. We seemed to sit in silence for what seemed like forever until he finally drove off with me still in the car. At this point, I thought I blew it, and I started dialing 171 when he stopped in front of a building that looked like a hospital or a clinic of some kind. He got out of the car, walked around to my side, and opened the day. door and then leaned in saying,

Americans are more trouble anyways. Then he stood up with his hand on his weapon and motioned for me to get out. I quickly darted out of the car and into the building, watching from inside as he got back in and took off. I stood there terrified that he may come back until someone came around and tapped me on my shoulder. She asked me if I was okay, and I said yes, and asked if I could stay there until my friend picked me up, and she agreed. She looked around outside and seemed a bit hesitant, maybe, so I told her in Spanish,

please, I just need a safe place. I won't be a bother, and she seemed to understand. She had me sit in the waiting room while I called my cousin. She got my messages, thankfully, and did try calling back, but since my mind was all over the place, I had missed her call. I finally got a hold of her and she was yelling at me terrified as she had driven to my hotel, and I wasn't answering, and the front desk said that they hadn't seen me either. I described where I was, and she talked to the lady that let me stay there and figured out where I was to come and pick me up.

Before I left, the lady told me that I was brave, and I was also lucky to have escaped, and then in Spanish she said something about them not being so forgiving. From there, Daniela insisted that I stay with them at their place, and I agreed. It sucked that I was going to lose money, but the guy knew where I was staying, and I didn't like that thought. So, we went up to my room together to get my stuff, and then went back to her place. The whole time, I kept apologizing, because I felt like I had cut her. her birthday fun short for being so naive.

But she laughed and said that, other than being scared that she may have gotten me kidnapped, that was the most fun she'd had in a while. She told me about the scary side of Venezuela and how there had been abductions, so she was surprised that they let me go and couldn't really make sense of it, but we tried not to dwell on it.

We decided to keep it to ourselves because we didn't want any of our parents to be afraid or not want us to do anything like this, but we also did not take it lightly. For the rest of the week that I was there, I never traveled alone. I was always with someone that I trusted or made sure that there were plenty of people around.

Plus, I got some pepper spray to at least give me a fighting chance. Thankfully, the rest of the trip was still a lot of fun, and no more really risky situations. I've gone back once since then, and Daniela has also stayed with me in the States, and she had a blast as well. We just know that when you travel somewhere you're not familiar with, anything could happen.

So just stay safe, especially whenever you're traveling alone. This happened when I went to visit my sister, Alexa, and her husband in Texas. My family had always lived in Colorado, but any chance that she got, Alexa could be found outside, exploring and always on the move. So, the first chance she got after high school, she started moving around to better see the country, I suppose. She ended up meeting her husband, Edgar, when she lived in years. Utah, and they moved back to Colorado briefly before finally settling in Texas, due to his job.

They didn't have kids and didn't plan to, so they still roamed around a lot when they could. She was three years older than me, and I always lived vicariously through her. I still lived in Colorado, and the thought of moving to another state was kind of nerve-wrecking to me, but watching her was good enough for me, especially when she would invite me over to at least see the area and try to convince me to move as well. So one year my boyfriend at the time, JP, and I decided we would take a vacation down to Texas

and stay with them for a few days. It was my fifth anniversary with the company that I worked for, which gave me an extra week of vacation. I was itching to use it before the end of the year, like I usually did, and I wanted to actually go somewhere and do something. Alexa invited us to stay with them and offered to pick us up from the airport if we flew, which would save us a lot on a hotel and gas, so hell yeah, we took the offer. JP had actually been to parts of Texas a few times, so I was the only one that had never,

ever been. I was excited and nervous about it all at the same time. The flight was fine. There was mild turbulence, but it was fine otherwise. Airplanes make me nervous. Like I said, I'm kind of a wimp. I hadn't seen Alexa since Christmas, which was nearly six months prior, so it was no surprise when we flipped our lids in the airport. We got back to her place, and we and she showed us to the spare bedroom, and then walked us around the rest of their home. It was gorgeous. They had a huge fenced-in backyard with a garden full of produce,

and she even made salads with the stuff that she had grown. And her dog, Ray, which she had brought with her for Christmas, he was a cute little corgi with a lot of energy. We sat and chatted for a while, and I helped her prep dinner while we waited for Edgar to get off work. We flew out on a Friday, so we would be able to spend time with them over the weekend, while he was off, and Alexa took the week off as well, so we weren't sitting around with nothing to do. We had a cookout and sat out on their back patio, just having a good time and talking and reminiscing.

We then got on the topic of camping, and they suggested that we should do it over the weekends. We weren't expecting this, so of course we didn't have any camping supplies like a tent or sleeping bag. However, they were set on this idea, and while they had an extra tent, we went and bought some other equipment so that we were prepared. So after we got back from shopping, we stayed at their place that night since it was already late, and then started packing stuff for a camping excursion. We got the tents and sleeping stuff put together,

and then we packed a couple of coolers with food and drinks so that we wouldn't run out while we were there. The reason they wanted to pack so much was because it wasn't going to be a quick trip back to the city if we forgot something. We were going to be staying in the very south parts of Texas, like close to the border. She said that at night it gets really dark and quiet,

and there's rarely anyone around to intrude, so it's a beautiful place to get away. However, it also tends to get cooler, so they warned us to be prepared for that. Otherwise, we got all packed up and took Edgar's truck out there. He had a bench seat in the back, so we could all sit in there and have our stuff in the bed. It was perfect.

So when we got there, She was absolutely right. There were trucks every once in a while, where people were patrolling. We saw some guy on a bike with a huge tub-like thing on the back that he was putting trash in. He was picking stuff up, which was pretty cool. But to my surprise, people really did leave us alone. We got the tents set up and then made a fire since it was going to get cold, and just kicked back again, talking and having a good time.

The guys were constantly trying to one-up themselves, doing push-ups and backflips, so Alexa and I were cracking up making fun of them. Everything was great until we had a van pull up, and three guys got out of it. I was a little nervous because I had asked my sister if we would be trespassing, and she said no in that people do this all the time. I know it doesn't make it right, but I trusted her. and didn't have any reason to think otherwise. The guys stopped and stood up, dusting themselves off and looking over at them. As two of them approached, I could tell as they got closer that they were in camo, but it was the digital stuff, so they were out in the desert-looking area with no green to hide in,

as is, but it wasn't the natural-looking stuff. I was already a little nervous, but when Edgar went to welcome them, the guy immediately yelled at him to shut up and not move. He then asked us what we were doing there, and my sister tried explaining that we were just camping. That's when the first guy waved the second guy over, and we noticed he was holding a gun and started walking over to the guys. J.P. started saying something when the guy raised the gun to his face telling him to shut up again. At this point, I'm freaking out internally and looked over at my sister to gauge her reaction, and the fact that she looked just as terrified did not bode well for me. The first guy told us we weren't allowed to be there,

and they made the two guys get on the ground and started restraining them with something other than handcuffs. then the first guy made Alexa and I stand up and had us lean against Edgar's truck he said we would all have to go with him to make a report and asked us if we had anything illegal on us we said no he then started patting us down but it wasn't a normal pat down

he was very aggressive and he seemed to linger when he was touching our hips and our thighs I then saw that he got close to my sister's face and whispered something. When he pulled back, she looked over towards me, and I could see that she was about to start crying. He then yelled over to the second man to have them stand up, saying he would be waiting here with him and that we would be going back with him for a strip search since we could be smugglers. The third guy that was standing by the van then came to us and started pulling up. us over to get in.

This is when my sister started pleading with them, saying we weren't here to do anything other than camping, and promised to leave if they would just let us go now. All I could do was nod in agreement, as I choked back tears myself. But the guy wasn't having it, and he started threatening to shoot us if we didn't shut up. As we were stalling to get into the van, the first guy was a little. going through our coolers, and we noticed some lights approaching in front of us. They seemed to slow down as they curved around the area that we were in, and the third guy that was with us started waving at the car. I was beginning to worry it was someone else that was with them

and that we were screwed for sure. But then Edgar started yelling out to them. It made the guy that was with them start to look out frantically, as he didn't know what to do and looked over to the first two guys who were now standing and looking at the strange car, and then back to Edgar. He then started walking swiftly but calmly towards the van, saying, let's go, and the second guy started running over to him. The guy with us said something to the effect of, watch what you tell people, pushing us back. They all got in the van and drove off. The car that we saw had stopped, and the van slowed down as they passed. and then they sped away.

Once they were out of view, we ran over to the guys since they still had their hands behind them, but they had them out by the time that we got there. They had only tied them in a knot with what looked like shoestring, so it wasn't very good or sturdy, thankfully. Then the person in the car got out and came over to us. It was an older man in a cowboy hat, and he asked us what was going on and if we were okay. We all frantically started explaining what happened, and the man ran back to his car where he said his phone was and he called for help.

After he got off the phone with them, he explained that he was a retired cop, and he liked to drive out here as well and watch the sunset, and that he had seen plenty of people doing the same thing as us. But he said that he felt something was off when he saw the van, and the man standing with J.P. and Edgar, so he decided to stop. I could not think that guy enough, either. When the police showed up, and we explained everything, they didn't really seem shocked by any of this. I know they're probably trained to not really show expression,

but it was just a terrifying situation for us. They seemed like it was just another day. but when Edgar started to become upset about the whole thing, they finally told us this wasn't the first time they've had this reported. They've been telling people not to do this, apparently for this exact reason. But of course, some people don't listen, and some others, like my sister and Edgar, hadn't heard anything about it. So they took our report and suggested that we leave in case they come back,

and we did not hesitate. We drove back almost in silence to their place, with Edgar trying to lighten up the mood, and then we all went to bed. I tried asking Alexa what the guy said to her, but she refused to acknowledge the question, or just wouldn't tell me. I didn't push it beyond that,

because obviously it was terrifying. The next day was a bit awkward, but we quickly pushed forward so that we could still have a good time. We ended up going to an arcade-style bar thing that weekend, and then just hung out at their place. The rest of the week was still fun as well, and by the end of it we had put it behind us.

They tried apologizing when we left, but hell, it's not like they expected any of this to happen. The bad part is they never found or caught the guys either. I just hoped that they were never successful in getting someone into that van. I got my first place shortly after graduating high school in 2009. I already had a stable job that I was working at while in school because they were very flexible when it came to us students, and the pay was decent. After school was out, I started working there full time as I wasn't planning on going to college, at least not immediately after high school.

So, I wanted to make more money and save up to get my own apartment. I applied to a few places and finally landed on this cute little house that was actually split into two sides, making it a duplex, I suppose. One side was a two-bedroom and the other was a one-bedroom. My side would be the one-bedroom. My dad came with me when I did the walk-through to make sure everything was up to snuff for him, and then we met with the landlord, who would also be my neighbor as he happened to be living on the other side of the house. I thought he was around the same age as my parents.

He had a buzzcut style hair, some facial hair, like it had just started growing out, and a pretty average build, but he was short. I was barely over five feet, and we were about the same height. It was kind of funny how he had to look up to my dad. We waited out front when we saw him walk out of the other side. He introduced himself as Kelly and said that he was given the house by his parents, but he knew he wasn't going to need a house that size, and he decided he could turn a profit on it by splitting it. After looking around and discussing rent and responsibilities,

I went ahead and accepted it. The rent was decent. as he included the price of the utilities, so all I had to pay for was internet or cable if I chose to do so. I started moving in sometime that same week. My parents helped me as well as one of my best friends, and even Kelly came over at one point. Once I got everything moved in, my friend stayed over to help me with some boxes, and I ordered pizza. When the doorbell rang, I went to get it and was. surprised when I saw Kelly holding my pizza.

He said that he saw the guy approaching and thought he would be kind and pay for it as a celebratory meal. He also said that if I ever needed anything, that I could call him or just knock on his door, especially if anything needed repair. I thanked him, and I brought the pizza in, not thinking anything else of it. However, I would soon learn that he wasn't just some generous landlord and helpful neighbor. He seemed to be outside at the same time that I was. When I was leaving for work, he would walk out and say good morning, or he would actually be sitting out front in a chair waving as I drove by.

He was also outside when I came home or would knock on the door if he missed me coming home. It was fine for a while, but then it started getting pretty tiring. After I got home before I would even take my shoes off, I would stand by the door expecting him to be there shortly. I was right. I tried dropping a subtle hint saying that I would be sure to reach out if I needed anything, so that way he didn't have to waste his time coming over all the time. He seemed to get the hint,

as I stopped seeing him as much in the morning or when I came home. I ended up having a few friends over one night once I got unpacked and settled in. Kind of like a housewarming party. Now, none of my friends nor I drank. We preferred eating greasy pizza, drinking weird flavored sodas, and playing video games. So, a few hours in, we're all having a good time playing Monopoly, when I heard a knock on my door. It was Kelly. Again.

This time he looked annoyed, asking what was going on. I told him I had a few friends over. for a housewarming party, and he said something about us being too loud. I apologized, saying that I would keep it down, but before I could do anything else, Kelly was looking over my shoulder and shouting something about the game and then pretty much let himself in. He sat down, helped himself to one of my rootbears, and cracked jokes with a few of my friends. The thing is, he started acting like he was actually getting buzzed.

My friends were cracking up, and I was two, but maybe a bit more embarrassed than anything. After some time, I showed him the door, and he left saying that he loved all of us. Shortly after my friends dispersed, the next day Kelly came over and apologized for how he acted. He said that's why he didn't normally drink. I wasn't about to tell him that it was just Rupier, so I just accepted the apology and moved on. It progressively got worse when he would be outside, seemingly drunk, and he would start making comments about me being gorgeous and making someone happy one day. He even asked for a hug one time when my friend was coming over. She teased me later that he probably liked me, which meant I could get away with more.

My first thought was gross, as he looked older and second I'm not going to take advantage of that. Then he would apologize the next day, saying that he was embarrassed and that he didn't mean what he had said. I just tried to ignore it and move on. But I guess I didn't put my foot down firmly enough, as he thought it would be okay to even let himself in at times. I called him one time because the toilet seemed to be constantly running, and he asked if he could take a look at it. I was getting ready to leave when he knocked on the door, saying he was there to live. look at the toilet. I had to be somewhere, but I told him that it was fine to fix it, and that I would be back shortly. I was gone for a few hours, and yet when I came back, I found him still in

my place. I asked him if it was something bad since it had taken so long, and he pretty much just explained yes. He said that he was going to have to get a part, so I couldn't use my toilet, but if I needed to, I could use his bathroom. I thought it was kind of weird, but I agreed, and he left for the night. The next day, I was going to my parents to have dinner and do some laundry. I didn't have my own machines yet. And while there, I told my parents about what had happened, and my dad suggested something that was easy to fix.

He followed me back to my place and checked the toilet himself, and was able to fix the problem that night. He just chalked it up to Kelly probably not knowing what to do and said that I could call him any time, since he always did the repairs on the home. I was much more comfortable with that anyways. Kelly seemed to be upset when I told him it had been fixed the next day, though,

but, I mean, he didn't have to fix it or pay for anything, so I didn't understand why. However, he seemed to take this as a chance to do check-ins whenever he wanted. Like, when I was taking a shower and I heard what sounded like a door slamming. I wrapped a towel around me and looked down the hallway into the living room, not seeing anything, and I thought maybe I was just hearing things too, and made my way to my bedroom to get dressed. I had my pants on and a brawl, but remembered I had left my lotion in the living room, that I had just bought and it was sitting by my purse.

So I went to grab it. That was when I saw someone standing in my kitchen, and, of course, it was Kelly. I screamed at him, telling him to leave, and he didn't even jump or look scared. He continued to stare at me, smiling, saying that he was just doing rounds to make sure everything was working properly.

As I grabbed a pillow, or my jacket that was hanging up, trying to cover myself, I continued screaming at him to get the hell out until he finally dropped his hands and just walked out angrily. I locked the door, went back to finishing getting dressed, and then called him, yelling at him. I told him that he can't just come in any time he wanted to like that, and how creepy it was, and then mentioned the fact that he didn't even apologize for it. He said he had no reason to apologize, as it was his place. and he could go in any time he wanted, but that he didn't mean to startle me. I don't know if he just tried taking advantage of me since I was younger, but I'd had enough.

I told my parents about it, and my dad suggested that we changed the lock. The Deadbolt was the same, but he installed a new doorknob. Kelly then threatened to charge me more rent since I wasn't allowed to do that. I told my friends, and I had one of my guy friends, stay with me one weekend hoping to deter him, when again he threatened to raise my rent since I had someone living there that wasn't on the lease. Eventually, my parents convinced me to just leave the place. Screwed the deposit and get out as he seemed unsafe, which I agreed. It became a storage place for the most part, for my big items, but otherwise, I moved everything important either back

in with my parents or into my friend's place. He continued to text me for some time, but I eventually had to change my phone number as he would not let up. There wasn't anything really in writing, though, which I suppose should have been a red flag from the start, but because of this, he didn't really have any options to take me to court. I just wanted out of that place for good. Thankfully, I never had any other creepy neighbors or landlords like that afterwards, and I hope to maintain that streak. One day, my best friend and I were taking a shortcut to her house.

It goes past a few houses and through a smaller area of woods, crossing a two-foot-wide creek. This particular day, I was wearing one of those jackets that had earbuds as the strings, a must-have item as a fifth grader in 2010 or 11. As we were passing one of the houses, a couple of big ducats. dogs came running from it, jumping on us and obviously just wanting to play or be petted. The owner of the house comes out, and I noticed right away that he was acting really fidgety and nervous, saying stuff about the dogs like, oh, it's okay, they're nice, don't worry. We made small talk with him about the dogs for a few minutes and turned around to leave.

About a minute or so later, we arrived. at the small creek when I noticed that one of the rubber earbuds that was on my jacket was gone, and I insisted on going back to look for it. The guy came back out again and offered to help us. He asked what the material was made of, and I said that it was made of rubber. We made small talk again. I think about the jacket and how cool it was. Anyway, he said he was going to be right back with his metal detector.

He walked away toward his shed. and I said to my friend, why does he need a metal detector? The earbuds made of rubber. Next thing you know, he's coming back with, and I kid you not, a rifle.

And he's literally running towards us. When I'm telling you that we ran, we ran. When we got to safety, past the creek and near her house, I was telling her that we needed to call 911. She insisted that we not do that because her parents would be mad at her, and I explained to her with urgency why it's importance to call the cops. But she refused, and I couldn't force her.

I didn't call because I didn't want to do it alone, plus it would have been my first time calling them. I can't remember when or if I told my parents that night what happened, but when I told them, they gaslit me and said that I was. crazy and overreacting. That I didn't really see that. I still think about this damn near every day and it haunts me. The second time was, again, in fifth grade, taking place after the first story, but I'm not sure how long after. The friend from the previous story lived near a cemetery, about a five-minute walk from her

house. It was a big cemetery, and we liked to. to walk around it a lot. Plus, behind the cemetery was a shortcut through the woods to a big park, which was coincidentally right next to our school. This day, we were also with another good friend of ours. We were just walking around the cemetery this day

when all of the sudden, a blue truck pulls up next to us in the row next to where we were walking, about ten feet away or so, not far. I could see two guys were in it literally just staring at us, and I again got that weird feeling I got with the first guy. This is hard to explain, but right before the shortcut in the woods is a fence with a cut-out that leads to a field of grass and a hill next to it, that leads into the neighborhood of where my other friend lived.

The hill was really a bunch of dead grass, weeds, sticks, cat tails, etc. Anyway, I told my friend I had a bad feeling about these guys, that they were staring at us, and quite literally slowly following us with the truck. We booked it to that grass field and through that hill. I had all sorts of cuts and gashes from the crap that we were running through, and when we got to the top of the hill, we turned around,

and the truck was parked at the top of the hill on the other side. with both men outside of it holding guns. I truly believe they were coming after us, and they were visibly mad that we got away from them. I knew that they were after us because they have had to have driven through the cut-out in the fence, amongst the gut feelings and just the entire situation. We ran to my friend's house, noticed her parents, who truly didn't seem too worried,

and drove my other friend and me home. I don't even remember if I told my parents about it this time since they gaslit me when I told them about the last time. I just can't shake the fact that this crap really happened when I was in fifth grade, 10, 11 years old. I also can't believe how lightly my parents took the situation. I'm honestly traumatized about what happened, and I think about it's a lot. I just needed to tell some people what happened. happened, but I have trouble getting my thoughts into words. That was today's episode 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.