As The Raven Dreams Podcast - ATRD Ep. 043 - Creepy Trucker, Mall And Reddit Stories - 17 True Scary Stories

Episode Date: September 16, 2022

Hello and Welcome to the 43rd episode of The ATRD Podcast! Today we have some intriguing and terrifying stories submitted by everyday people. In Today's Episode we will have stories about the horrors on the open road, the creepy things that happen in those big shopping centers, and some misc. creepy stories from reddit! ➤ 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... WriteYourOwnStory, Tammy, P. Lemons, MotherOfTwo, Under_the_bridge00, Courtney, Sutter Cane, cipher617, pibbbbles, winterbunnie, Renna-chan, Michus_Loo, EmmaLouize, Intjatarot, and 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

I used to live by a pretty popular and big mall in the Midwest. I'm a stay-at-home mom with, at the time of this event, a seven-year-old and an 18-month-old. It was early December, and we actually got a lot of snow. Ellie was getting a bit stir-crazy, being outside for so long, but I didn't want the baby, Ian, to be out in the cold for too long. We lived in an apartment complex, so we didn't have our own yard, so I wasn't comfortable with her playing outside alone. I decided to take us all to the mall for a few hours while my husband was working. We could go through the stores and do some holiday shopping, as well as let Ellie play around and burn through some of her energy. I had a two-seater stroller in case she got tired, and I loaded everything up,

And we started walking around. We went to a few stores before Ellie demanded that we get lunch. When we were eating, I did as I normally do and paid attention to our surroundings and what was going on. I noticed a guy sitting at a table diagonally from us. He had a small container of fries that looked like he just got it, as it was full, and he was writing in a notebook. I noticed some other people nearby too, but then I turned my attention back to Ellie. After we finished eating, I got us all cleaned up, and as we were walking away,

I noticed the guy was still sitting there, seemingly spacing out. But then he would start writing again. He also hadn't touched his fries. Again, just something I noticed, and we decided to carry on. on the bottom floor there was a small play area with soft cushioned squares and some tunnels to crawl through and even a big slide i agreed to stop so ellie could play for a little bit knowing we probably wouldn't be here too much longer before she started to get tired i got to a bench and since i was asleep i went through my bag to try and condense them some i also managed to sneak in a few things I got for Ellie, and I wanted to hide them better.

This whole time, I could see her from any part of the play area, even when she was in the tunnel, as there were slots and little windows all along it. She was going down the slide on the opposite end, when I noticed that same guy from the food court. I knew that it was him, as I saw the same green-covered notebook that he had folded and put into his pocket. This is when I became a little suspicious. This was a play area for small kids. The store on one side was Buildabair, and the other side was Eclare's, which was more of girly jewelry accessory store.

He was alone in the food court, and I never saw him with anyone, so I found it kind of odd that he was hanging around this area. So while I was watching my daughter, I was also watching him to see if a kid or someone else approached him. Unfortunately, no one ever did. I just watched him pace back and forth along the wall, looking into stores like he was looking for someone, and then looking over at the playground.

And when he did look over at it, he seemed to fixate and would freeze in place watching it. At one point, we finally made eye contact, and when he noticed that I noticed him, he seemed to walk away and into a different nearby store. My first thought was, if you weren't up to anything weird, why would you walk away so quickly when you were noticed? So, I called Ellie over, and while asking how she was doing, I brought up what I had talked to her in the past about, about stranger danger and what to do. She's a very smart girl for her age, so she catches on to things pretty quickly.

There's no hiding things from her. When I mentioned this, she actually asked me what was wrong, and when I tried to tell her nothing, she told me how she thought the one guy was weird and said she didn't like him. I had a feeling that I knew who she was talking about, so I decided it was time for us to go ahead and report him. I put Ellie in her seat, much to her pleading, and just went the opposite way of the man. We went into a children's clothing store, and I asked one of the girls working there if they could call for security to potentially report an incident. She obliged, and they showed up pretty quickly. I told them what had happened, gave a description of the guy, and the store that he went into the last time that we saw him.

They said they would look around for him, but of course, unless something actually happened or he acted on anything, they couldn't do much. My thought was that if he'd scurried away just by making eye contact with me, that maybe security would spook him enough to leave. There was nothing good coming out of him being around kids. At least that's how I felt. I gave them my information and we went back to shopping. I was ready to leave at that point, but Ellie wanted to look around this store because they had dress-up stuff, and I swear that girl collected every Disney princess dress there was. While we were looking, I actually ran into a friend of mine, so we started talking for a little bit.

When we finally finished up, we started walking to the front, when I noticed one of the girls running to the front and one closing the gate, basically locking us in. This scared Ellie a bit, so I had to try to calm her down, while also trying to figure out what was going on. I found the girl that I originally talked to about security to find out what was going on. She again asked me for a description of the guy and said they had received a code for a missing child. When that happens, all the doors are locked and the stores are locked down to try to prevent anyone from taking said child. That was terrifying.

I thought our intuitions were right, and it had to be this guy. I was thankful that I had both my kids with me, but I felt horrible that there was someone out there that may not have noticed him and is worried sick that their baby is missing in a huge mall. I called my husband to tell him what was going on, as we were locked in there for maybe half an hour, and he was going to be off work soon. He said he was going to meet us at the mall to make sure that we got out safely.

I believe that we were locked down for close to an hour before they finally opened back up. However, I wasn't allowed to leave yet as security and cops asked me to identify the guy. They took me into this security room. They had me peek in, and sure enough, it was the same guy. I found out that they had heard a little girl screaming and crying in a bedside. bathroom alone. It was the missing girl. She described the same guy that I saw, and they wanted to confirm that it was, in fact, the same person to get a better idea of the time frame. That was about another hour before I was finally able to leave. I got outside to my husband at the entrance,

and he hugged me and Ellie so tightly. It truly was a scary moment, being a parent, and it made me realize how quickly your life can change. So, teach your kids what to do around strangers, and to never be afraid to scream, kick, and fight, and always be sure to keep your eyes peeled. You could save your own life or someone else is in the process. This took place back in 1999 when I was 18. I won't sugarcoat it,

and just say that I didn't have a good childhood, nor am I asking for any pity. It made me who I am today, but doesn't mean that I have accepted it either. My dad was not in the picture. I knew his name was Scott, and that's about it. Hell, I still hardly know anything about him. I lived with my mom for a while, and whatever guy she was with, and when she would disappear for days, I was left with my grandma.

My grandma was fine. She was kind enough to me, but her thought was, I raised my kids, I don't want to raise yours too. So I think there was a bit of animosity there, I guess. The problem was that somehow, my mom always seemed to pick the winners, as they were more interested in me than her. I'd woken up on multiple occasions to them doing things in my room,

Being left alone with them, giving them another opportunity. To say it messed me up was an understatement. I knew what they were doing was wrong, but my mom wouldn't believe me. My grandma pretty much just complained about her choice and men to me and to her. And if she mentioned it to my mom, she would just beat me when I got home for spreading dangerous lies. School life wasn't much better. I had a few friends I was semi-close to, that I hung out with, but I was never close enough to tell anyone about what was going on at home.

I sucked in a lot of my classes, because either I struggled to understand things, like a lot of the math and science stuff, or I just wasn't interested in it. I enjoyed the English classes because I loved writing anything from fiction, research papers, poetry, all of it. But my grammar was awful. I didn't connect to any teacher, even though my English teacher tried, but since he was male, I didn't want to get close to him. I feel like at school I just kind of existed, and as I got older, I felt the only way to connect to anyone was to get close to the one person I thought that I knew, my mother. So I tried to be interested in the things that she was interested in. I started getting high and I drank with her. It just numbed me, so I didn't notice the things her friends would do to me.

Again, I'm not looking for any pity, or for anyone to tell me what I should have done, but just giving a quick rundown of why I chose to do what I did after all of this. I didn't want this life. I knew I wanted more, but I didn't know how to get out of this. What I did know was that if I didn't get away from it all, I was going to die, be it from my own doing or someone else that I didn't know. So, at the age of 17, I ran away. I didn't tell anyone. I took money out of my mom's purse and small amounts, so I had something, and on the first day of school, I skipped, and I started to find my own.

way as far away from Georgia as I could. I walked a lot, and when I couldn't walk, I found a bus stop, and rested until I got funny looks and moved on, or occasionally took the bus. That's what brings me to this story. It was my birthday month, March, so I'd been gone for several months at this point, and I managed to get to Iowa. I hitched hike a lot. and I even came across some pretty cool people. I lied to some of them, telling them I was 19 or 20, and just trying to explore the world, as they were suspicious of me being a runaway,

but others were just accepting and willing to take me somewhere that I asked. I actually found a bar that allowed me to work as a busboy and do the dishes, and they paid me under the table since I didn't have an ID, and technically wasn't old enough to work there. I didn't drink or anything, so I know paying me was risky for them, but I didn't abuse it. I slept on people's couches,

so all the money I was making was just accumulating in my backpack to help me get to where I needed. When I made enough, I quit, giving them a notice, and I left again, doing what I did the last time. Sometimes I even took rides from truckers.

They really got me the furthest and typically the cheapest, because a lot of them just wanted company. I always made sure to tell them that I had money to pay them and made sure they agreed before I got in. I was very black and white about it. I didn't do any kind of favors for people. Lazzang surjoled, Pucance

Moines for 15 minutes. We're like it's the hour dojo Prere to play. Vive the pleasure with Leo Jo

the casino in line that proposes the most recent machine to money to do you know on Big Bas

Bonanza without the without any without the payment instantane Hey! I've got

woohoo! Sontier the Pleasure Play Ojo 10 18 and plus, 1 depots only depo

only depo in Ontario. 50% Tours R BacBass Bonanza DeP B'Bus

DePonsonsons Sapplilii So, when I came across another trucker at an old diner, and we started talking as we ate our lunch next to each other. He was heading to Wyoming, so I asked if he was willing to have a passenger, and he agreed. I again told him I was willing to pay for the ride, and we both agreed on $100. I gathered my things, and we both headed off. I didn't have much with me. I did buy a better backpack that held more stuff

and typically wore two layers of clothing so I could have more clothes. Because of this, I wore bagier clothes on top of tighter clothes and when I could find a place, I usually kept my hair cut short, like pixie style. It made it a lot easier to manage. I don't think I ever really love.

looked attractive, and I did that for a reason. Anyways, this guy seemed fine. We made some small talk. He told me where he was from and how he became a trucker. I told him what I'd normally told people, that I was 18 and just trying to figure out life. He understood, and he seemed to respect that, even saying that he wished he would have done the same thing at my age.

I appreciated that he didn't try to give me some speech about being too young to know what I was doing. I started getting tired as I hadn't slept much that night, but regardless of the person, I didn't sleep when other people were driving. I still didn't trust people no matter how nice they seemed. This is also why I always kept a pocket knife and pepper spray on my person. Never my bag. They were actually one of the first things that, I bought. To keep myself awake, I would count or name off things that I saw in my head.

The guy must have noticed something was wrong, and he offered me some coffee from a thermos that he had. I didn't take food or handouts from people either, so I declined. I had a bottle of water and some of the energy pills in my bag if needed. After a few hours, he said he was going to make a quick stop to use the restroom, and that way we could stretch and refresh. And I thought it was a good idea. I'm still watching my surroundings and saw the gas station sign with the exit number being a few miles off, so I knew that we were getting close. However, he started slowing down before we even got to the exit ramp.

This immediately put me on edge. I looked around and then looked at him, and without skipping a bit of a bit of a bit. beat, and looking calm and collected, he said he always slowed down before the exit. He said he'd been cut off too many times at the last second on exit ramps, and it also gave people behind him the chance to go around him because he knows his wide, slow turns often annoyed other drivers. It made sense to me at the time, but I was still cautious, and I was right to be. He then came to a complete stop on the shoulder, when the exit was within our vision, less than a hundred feet in front of us.

Again, I gave him a kind of, what the hell, look, and he said, if you want me to take you further, you'll have to pay up. I reminded him that he agreed to $100 to let me go with him to Wyoming, and he argued that I would pay the $100, but didn't agree on the distance. I argued with him some more because this is why I was very specific before I ever got into any vehicle. Not liking where this was going, I immediately went for the handle to jump out, and I noticed the door would not open. That's when he jumped towards me, nearly getting on top of me, demanding that I pay him. I distracted him by half-ass fighting him with my left hand, and letting him try and finagle his way to my pants.

zipper while I reached into my jacket pocket and pulled out my spray. I was able to get him in his left eye, causing him to jump back some. I still couldn't get the door open, so I managed to roll down the window, grab my bag, and jumped out of it. He tried to grab me, and I kicked landing a solid one into his face, I believe. I screamed as loud as I could trying to make a scene and ran over the hill on the exit, hoping that someone would hear it as the gas station was right off of the exit. Thankfully, someone did.

Some lady was getting in a car with a little kid, and she looked up, and even though she seemed hesitant to approach, she did ask me what was wrong. I briefly explained to her and demanded that somebody called the cops. She grabbed my arm and picked up her kid, and she took us both back to her. into the building. I looked out the window and saw that he was still sitting there, probably unable to see. The cop showed up, but not before he did end up leaving. Another thing I always

did was checking the plate number, and I grabbed the handlebar above the door to leave my prints on something. So I gave the cops the number and the detail of the truck, like the logos, and they said that they would look into it. They also asked for my info, but I didn't want to be traced, so I told them I didn't have a contact number, which was true, and I requested to be anonymous. I knew there wasn't anything they could do, nor probably would, but I'm not going to keep quiet on that stuff anymore. The lady offered to give me a ride to the next city that they were headed to, and even wanted to buy me a bus ticket. I declined, but I knew when to wave the flag with some people. She gave me a ride for free, helped me figure out the bus routes, because it was confusing, and paid for it, and even gave me an extra $20.

On the ride, she didn't force conversation. She just played some children's music and then waited until I spoke. That was the only time that I cried and told someone everything that happened. She didn't react. She didn't flinch. She just listened. When we got to the bus, she hugged me like I had never been hugged before and told me that she understood why I did what I did. And that I was brave for it.

She didn't tell me to go or call home. Nothing like that. I never felt more accepted. I left, got on the bus, and made my way to Nebraska. This didn't stop me from taking rides from people, but I always made sure to stay one step ahead. I also never had a similar experience to that one. Again, call me stupid, call me naive, I don't care. Because in reality, you can say what you would do all day long, but that's not how things work.

Until you're actually in the position yourself, until you are in that exact moment with only seconds to react, you don't know what you would do. Regardless of what happened, I got away from the toxic home life, and I now live happily in Montana with my husband. What I did was definitely dangerous, especially for my age, and I would never suggest it to anyone. But I'll also be the first person to hear you out, understand your reasoning, and accept you for your decision.

I strive to be like that woman that I met by chance. Just know that not everyone is as they seem on the surface, no matter how much you think you know them or that you're safe. I went with those people because that was the only option that I had, especially in those winter months, but I never trusted them. So when you're soloing anything, I will be the first to tell you to put yourself first because you can't help anyone else if you can't help yourself.

Anyways, there's my experience with a creepy trucker, but I don't let it control me, so to that creepy trucker, I hope that you lost your eyesight, or at least maybe learned a lesson. As a long-distance trucker, it was normal for me to come across cars and trucks that passed me, cut me off, things of that nature. I'm so used to it, and you're pretty much taught to look out for that kind of stuff, so you get an idea of when it's going to happen, and you slow down or get over as needed.

Some people are very colorful and feel the need to express exactly what they are doing and how they felt about it, too. I'm a female driver, so I've had people drive next to me or stop at a light that seemed to treat me differently, after seeing it was a woman. woman behind the wheel. Different, as in they backed off or occasionally got more aggressive, thinking they could threaten me off the road, I guess. I didn't scare easily, though. I do drive a big-ass truck, after all. There was this one guy that actually caused a pretty terrifying situation for me.

It was getting dark, and the later at night that it gets, the less traffic there is in the road. This is why I preferred night driving. I was on one of those old two-lane freeways, just about totally flat with minimal curves. I was also coming back from a drop-off, so I didn't have a trailer attached, which also meant a much lighter load and easier drive. So to say that I was enjoying this ride was a bit of an understatement.

Being this late, also meant little to know other cars, too. Until I saw headlights coming up behind me, I take note of this, and I continue as I was. If they want to pass, they can pass. However, some people just don't, for whatever reason, and it seemed like that's what this person was doing. The headlights were a little higher,

and by the outline, I could tell that it was a truck, like a personal one, not a... semi. They stayed behind me for some time, and then I noticed that they got pretty close to the back end of my truck. Again, something I noticed people doing right before they passed me, so when they started falling behind, I slowed down some, giving them the opportunity to do so. That's not what they seemed to want to do. When I slowed down, they got on my tail again and started flashing their lights. I didn't understand why as they were going the same way as me, so they couldn't be warning me

of a speed trap ahead or anything like that. There was seemingly nothing wrong with my truck, as there were no abnormal sounds, feels, or even lights. So I just ignored it and went a little under the speed limit, hoping that they would just pass already. Several awkward minutes later, they were still behind me, gunning it up, nearly hitting me, and then backing off. And with them flashing their lights, I finally decided to give a little hints to back off or go around, by honking and motioning out the window for them to go around. That's when they finally seemed to get the hint, and went in the lane next to me, appearing like they were

going to pass. As a force of habit, I looked over at this person as they went by to see this guy with his cab light on, and he looked furious. He kept looking over at me and back at the road, and he was shouting something. Both of our windows were up, so I have no idea what it was. He was very red, though, and you could tell that he was straining himself as he yelled. I had no idea what was wrong with this guy, and all I could think to do was look at him confused,

slightly shrugging in a, what the hell is wrong with you kind of way. Then he started motioning like he wanted me to pull over, and like hell was I going to do that. I just shook no, and continued driving, slowing down again slightly, so that he would hopefully just move on. I guess that he wasn't interested in that, though, as he slowed back down to get behind me,

and this time he actually hit the back of my truck. He hit it hard enough that it made me lurch forward. I knew I needed to find a way to get away from this guy, but there was literally nothing around me. I had passed a sign for gas and a hotel several miles back, but it was still going to be a solid 20 miles or so before I got to the exit. So I had to hope that this guy just wouldn't destroy my truck before I got there. He hit me two more times before he tried doing the same thing, pulled up next to me, and demanded that I pulled over.

At this point, I was going over the speed limit, hoping that he would just leave me alone, or even hoping that there could be a cop to intervene, but neither happened. So I just tried to match the speed, so that when he did ram me, it wouldn't be as damaging and counted out the mile markers until I got to the exit.

I did call it in to our dispatch to let them know, in case something did happen to me, but it's not like there was much that they could do either, but call authorities, and maybe they would just catch up to us. Unfortunately, he was relentless and started hitting me in my driver's side. So, I don't know.

decided to try something stupid. I put my hands up and agreed to get over. There was no way that I was getting out with this psycho, but I needed to get ahead of him. I pulled over, keeping my doors locked and windows open, and as I expected, he pulled over in front of me. What I didn't expect was for him to be carrying a gun. I know nothing about guns, so all I could tell you is that it looked like it was some kind of handgun, but it had a longer barrel, but not like a shotgun. Either way, I was noping out of that situation, and as he was walking towards my truck, I gunned it as hard as my poor truck could go. He challenged me, thinking that I wouldn't hit him, and he was right, but that didn't stop me from hitting his truck, because instead

of parking on the shoulder, he parked across the lane. I got out of there, hearing shots in the distance, until I found the next exit. I got off the highway and called dispatch, and I explained everything to them. They suggested that I find a police station to file a report, since there was damage to the truck. I ended up at a gas station with a McDonald's attached to it, and I sat there talking with someone about what happened and where the closest station was. It was a small little town in West Virginia, so they said that they were closed unless there was an emergency,

and then the calls to the police station went directly to the sheriff. I knew the guy was long gone, so I agreed to wait until morning, and they agreed to let me pull my truck around the back to try and hide it. The next morning, I went to file the report, and, to my surprise, they said this wasn't the first time they've had reports like this. However, it was the first time a semi-driver was the victim. They'd had reports of other people just passing through being rammed and told to pull over, and when they do, the person holds them at gunpoint and robs them.

The cop even mentioned that they were probably desperate since they were trying to stop a semi. After that, I left, shuddering at the damage to my truck, and I went the rest of the way home with no issues, thankfully. That's not to say that I wasn't a little paranoid about people getting too close to me, though. As far as I know, the guy was never caught, but I'm not entirely sure. I hope that I at least did some decent damage to the front and side of his truck, though, rendering it useless for a while. Work tried to give me a hard time about the damage, and what I'd have to have.

I should have done instead, but I would do it all again if it meant saving my own life. So, angry guy from West Virginia, I hope that you and I never have a run-in again. Back when I was in middle school and high school, I liked to go to the mall with some of my friends to hang out. My mom wasn't big on letting me, a young boy, go alone, but when I was around 16, she was She started to get more comfortable with it, or at least, letting me walk around with my friends while she was shopping on her own. I was the oldest of three kids, so I think she was just protective, and nowadays, I can't say that I blame her. My friends and I never really did anything obnoxious or illegal.

We never stole anything or caused problems for other people. We were young and typically walked around as a group of kids. two to six, depending on who all could show up. I won't lie and say that we never got loud, but I don't feel like we were disruptive, as we were never told we had to leave. I'm just trying to lay this out a bit, as it made the situation that I was in even weirder. It was in November, because my mom wanted to go Christmas shopping, but since it was the weekend,

I was home. My dad worked on the weekends, too, but she didn't want me to have to stay home with my younger brother and sister, nor did I really want to. I didn't really have a problem with them, but I wanted to go do something as well. She agreed that we could go to the mall, and I could walk around by myself since she would be there for me as well.

My siblings were young enough that they didn't quite understand what the gifts were for, and my mom was sly enough to try to hide them as well. So I called a few of my friends who also got permission to go as well, and we all met them up there. Once we got there, my mom gave me her normal list of rules. Told me to call her if anything happened, make sure to answer her if she called as well, and agree on a meeting spot at a certain time. Then I was finally released to hang out with my three friends that had showed up, Charlotte, Macy and Quinn. My mom had given me about $25 to spend or to get lunch for myself and my friends,

so we all just walked around to decide on what we wanted to buy. We went into a few stores, more so just browsing until we made our way to the little arcade that they had in there. One of the girls was given some money as well, so we all split our cash evenly so we had five apiece to spend, and had a little left over to get something to eat. While we were there, we noticed a guy walking around in a nice button-up shirt and pants. Every time I noticed him, he was looking over at us and almost staring at us, like he was concentrating. Like he recognized us, maybe, and he was just trying to remember who we were.

He was also carrying around one of those standing dust pans and broom, and he was just randomly sweeping in places. I asked the others that they recognized him, and they all said no, too. We just thought it was some grumpy old man mad at us for having a good time. Maybe we were being a bit too loud for him or something. We got tired of being watched, and we decided to leave early. We walked around to a few other stores, but out of my peripheral, I saw the same broom guy walking around us. Then, after about the third or fourth time,

I no longer felt it was a coincidence, and that this guy was following us. I also wasn't the only one to notice, as Macy said something quite loud. Like, why do I feel like we're being followed as she looked right over at this guy? He made eye contact with us and started walking away. I made the suggestion that we go find my mom to let her know in case this guy tried to do something or thought that we were trying to do something. I called her, and she told us to meet her at the place that we had agreed upon. It was on the bottom floor, so as we walked over towards the escalators at the end of the hallway,

and there was a small walled-off area that had restrooms, a drinking fountain, an empty store, as well as an elevator. It wasn't used very often, so it was kind of hidden off to the side, but it was for those who weren't able to take the escalator typically. The girls said that they needed to use the restroom, so we stopped over there first. While I was leaning against the wall talking to Quinn, the elevator doors opened and, lucky us, it was the broom guy. I pushed myself off the wall and was about to walk to the opposite side where Quinn was, when this guy grabbed me by the arm and started shouting at me,

Quinn was yelling at me to let me go, and he just kept saying that I was going to be in a lot of trouble, and he shoved me into the elevator with him. While we were in there, he was gripping my arms so tight that it was hurting. He kept saying things like, I know what you did. I was watching you the whole time. You kids have no respect for others, for the value of money, and I swear you will pay. You will own up. I seriously had no idea what he was talking about. We hadn't done anything but walk around and play games,

which was when I first noticed him. He took me to this small room back up on the second floor that looked like it used to be some kind of old office. It had a cheap desk in it, two chairs, a filing cabinet, and an old TV. I tried telling him my mom was here and that she would vouch for me basically, that I had done nothing wrong.

Then he started telling me to take off my clothes. When I refused, he said to give back what I had stolen. We just kept going round and round like this for a while before someone started banging on the door, and I heard my mom's voice. I called back for her, and the guy then approached the door and opened it, as he had locked it. My mom and a guy in a security-style uniform

were standing there. I ran past them to my mom, and the guy started asking what was going on. The broom guy was angrily explaining that he knew I was up to no good, and that I and my friends had stolen something. Man, I have never seen my mom so angry at that point. She tore into this guy, yelling at him that I wouldn't do something like that. Basically, what ended up happening after that, the security guy made the broom guy sit in that room until the actual police arrived.

The broom guy didn't even work there. He just thought he was helping by patrolling the area and stopping troublesome kids, I guess. My friends ran and told my mom, and someone else reported seeing the guy dragging me away and making a scene and didn't think that it was right. And again, none of us had taken anything. My mom gave a huge speech to all of us making sure that none of us had taken anything, but I knew that they didn't take anything either.

I don't know if that was his whole intention to just protect the mall, or if there was something more sinister he planned. But he even went to the trouble of finding a room he could lock us in, which was pretty creepy, not to mention that he was adamant that I undress. Whatever it was, it ruined my name. chances of going to the mall alone anymore, but at least that guy was stopped, and I really hope that we never meet again.

This happened when I was about 15, and I believe that would be around 2005. Forgive me for missing pieces in this story, as I'm trying to remember everything. It was a pretty scary moment for me that I don't bring up on a regular basis, so some things have been lost over time. My friend Hannah had just turned 16, and instead of having a huge party, her mom agreed to let her go to the mall with a few friends alone. So she invited me and our mutual friend Michelle.

Hannah's parents were going to be running errands around the city. Michelle and I were in track together, so she stayed at my house after the meet the night before, and my parents dropped us off at the mall the next day. Both Hannah and my parents told us to call them when we were done, and they would come and pick us up. However, my parents also said that if I didn't call earlier, they would be back around 6 p.m. to pick us up. I had one of those little Nokia phones prepaid, so it was only for emergencies.

I usually just sent a quick text instead of calling, so it worked fine. and I felt cool having a cell phone at that age anyways. I'm not sure what Hannah's parents' rules were at the time, though, or if there were any, other than call when we were done. My parents, however, told us that we were not allowed to leave the mall. There was plenty to do there, food courts, restrooms, rest areas, and we had spending money, so there was no reason for us to leave anyways. My parents also trusted me to go there without adults.

I'd been there many times before with my younger sister, and was always responsible, so they had no issues with the idea. Michelle's parents also trusted her with me, as they thought that I was smart and mature. I'm still close friends with Michelle, and her parents told my parents this. Anyways, just trying to lay out the rules that we had and what we had on us. So it was three of us, two of us with cell phones. Michelle's phone had broken prior to this event and she hadn't been able to replace it yet.

And we were dropped off at around noon and were left to be the young adults with a sense of independence for a few hours. Since it was Hannah's birthday, we let her lead the way. We went to a few of our favorite stores, and after gooping around at the small shops in the walking areas, we made our ways. to the little ice cream stand. You know the one with a frozen, bald ice cream. While we enjoyed our ice cream, we noticed two boys carrying skateboards and going into Spencer's. We all agreed that they looked about our age,

and that they were cute, so we decided to walk back towards the store to see if we could get their attention. At this time, we were all excited to do this, if not maybe a bit shy at the time, though. We looked in the store and noticed that they were standing near the front, seemingly looking at a wall of T-shirts. "'Bienvenu at board of Viarai. Embarked and profite. Embarked and celebrate. Rigolet.

Publié. Savour. Admire. And profite. Via Rae. The voice that we love that am. Hannah made a loud noise, like a weird laugh, which got them to look over. cue the random giggling and faking to quiet each other down.

It succeeded in getting their attention, though, and we started walking quickly past the store. This was close to the end of the mall, so we took the elevator down. At this time, we heard someone shouting from above, and when we looked up, it was the same two boys. They mentioned for us to wait for them, so we stopped at the bottom. They introduced themselves, but I'm not sure what their names were now, so I'll call them Alex and Brett.

They said that they were 16. They were taller than us, but we just thought it was because they were guys. They're going to be taller than us, right? I had a brother that was two years younger than me and was almost the same height, so I didn't have any reason to think otherwise. We started talking and shared what school we went to. They said they lived in a little bit of. another county, so we didn't recognize the school that they mentioned.

We continued walking together towards the other side. One of the guys, Brett, seemed to pay attention to me, which I didn't expect. I didn't often get flirted with, so I was a bit shy, and I didn't know how to respond to it. We continued walking until we got to another store that we walked around in, and then stopped in one of the side halls that had to be. had restrooms. The boys pulled out their skateboards and were trying to do tricks and show off. Someone came by and told us that we needed to stop and move along, so we continued walking.

Alex then suggested that we go to the skate park that was nearby. He said that Brett had a permit, so they took his car here and we would all fit in it. Hannah was immediately all for the idea. Michelle seemed eager to go, but also looked to me for permission in a way. I initially wanted to, thinking it'd be fun, but I also knew that I wasn't supposed to leave the mall. I was at that age where I didn't want to look lame and hold my friends back, so I agreed that I would go with them, but I wanted to at least call my parents and tell them where we were going. Hannah told me not to worry about it, saying we could just have them bring us back here before six,

and it would be like we never left. Michelle then begged me not to call because then she would have to ask her parents since she knew that they would tell her no. That's when Alex said that if I didn't want to go, I could always stay behind and wait for them to get back. The way he said it almost seemed mocking in a way. like I was too scared or uptight, and like he didn't want me to go anyways. This, of course, upset me, and between Brett seeming to be into me and me not wanting to disappoint my friends, I decided to go. As we started walking towards the exit, I started to get the weird sense of dread like something bad was going to happen. I didn't know if it was going to be something at the park, or maybe it was just,

just potential trouble that I was about to get in. So, I thought I would give one more try of at least telling my parents. I pulled out my phone as we were walking to send a quick text when I was caught off guard by Brett, coming up next to me and grabbing my phone. I was surprised, and I tried to be cool about it and ask for it back. But then, as he walked backwards so he could face me, he put my phone down the front of his pants and winked at me. Again, I hadn't really been given attention like this, not to mention we were only 15, so I quickly quieted down, as he teased me about turning red.

I walked in silence with Brett now walking next to me until we got to the entrance. I was still feeling on edge about the situation, so I was desperately trying to find some way to stop us or delay us. I asked them before we left if I could use the restroom. My friend seemed fine with it, but Alex appeared to be annoyed. Brett offered to walk me to the restrooms, but they were pretty close to the doors, so I declined his offer. I quickly walked off and waited in there trying to figure something out. I thought maybe that I could stop someone that came in there for their phone, or maybe get Hannah's attention, and talk her into letting me.

use her phone. However, after several minutes of no one coming in, I decided to walk out. Unfortunately, my friends were nowhere to be found. I walked around the entrance, then outside, and they were seemingly gone. I was scared, upset, and offended. I assumed they left me when I went to the restroom. I started crying a bit when a woman noticed me and asked me if I was okay, or if I was lost. I vaguely explained that I had lost my friends, and I asked to use her phone as I didn't have mine. I remember calling, expecting to be in a lot of trouble,

but instead my mom just sounded worried, and said that she would be right there. The lady waited for me until she showed up, and explained what she had witnessed to my mom as well. Then I explained everything to her that happened. She was immediately worried, worried about the other girls, but also agreed that I did the right thing by not going. Things moved pretty fast at this point. I know my mom tried to call my cell phone and it would

just ring until it went to voicemail. She called the cops and had people looking around the mall and doing pages for them in case they just ran off somewhere. She also called Michelle and Hannah's moms to tell them what had happened. They showed up at the mall too, and after we all drove around the mall and even the skate park that they had mentioned. They weren't there either. I had to give a description of what the two boys looked like, and the rest of that evening was nerve-wracking. We went home, and I continued to try calling both my phone and Hannah's,

and they both started going straight to voicemail, which frightened me even more. I didn't want to sleep that night, as I was worried that something had happened to them, and I couldn't help but feel. feel like I should have done something more to stop it. My parents kept assuring me that I did the right thing, as I was at least able to provide descriptions.

It wasn't until the next day that we finally got an update. This was information that I got both from my parents and Michelle and Hannah after I was able to see them again. When they got to his car, they learned it was some old beat-up van, soccer mom style. However, when they got in the sliding door, Alex jumped in the back with them and immediately demanded them not to scream. And he pulled out a knife and tied their wrists and legs together, threatening if one of them tried something, they would kill the other one. Then they took off, driving around, and they began fighting over where to go.

During this, Brett apparently lost control of the vehicle, flipping it over. over a small embankment. Alex was actually killed after being ejected from the van, and somehow my friends made it out with minor injuries. The boys had both phones and had turned them off, which is why we weren't able to get a hold of them. And Brett had been knocked unconscious, so they all just had to lay there praying that someone would show up.

Thankfully, someone was driving by later that night, and saw them and called for help. When Brett finally came to, he explained to the police pretty quickly what had happened. They wanted to try to kidnap someone, so they brought some rope and duct tape from their home, and that was about as far as they had planned. They didn't know what they wanted to do from there,

or even where to take them. So that's when their plans started to deteriorate. I don't remember the charges, that Brett ended up getting, but I do remember that he was tried as an adult, because he was actually 18, not 16, like they claimed. Michelle was not allowed to go anywhere unless there were adults with us, and she wasn't allowed to hang out with Hannah anymore.

My parents still allowed me to go shopping without adults, and even with Hannah, as they did trust me, but they said that if she ever tried that again, I was supposed to make a scene and do whatever I needed to do to get out of it, and to stop her, too. Hannah continued being quite the risk-taker, so my parents were a bit cautious of her. Her parents weren't even that worried about the situation, which I know speaks a lot, too. Anyways, overall, this situation was scary, and I'm very glad that I trusted my gut. You just can't always trust someone's true intentions, no matter how normal it seems.

Oh, and I also did get my old Nokia phone back, and it actually wasn't damaged at all. This happened in April. My boyfriend had a business trip to a city four hours away from me, and I decided to visit him. We're in a long-distance relationship. Since my decision to visit was spontaneous, we couldn't book a hotel room in advance for the two of us, and the hotel room that my boyfriend was staying at was being paid for by his company, and they had a policy for not allowing guests to stay over or visit. So we had to look for a new hotel at night, and since it was a popular area,

all the hotels were booked except for one. It was an okay-looking two- or three-star hotel, but I was okay with staying there because we had no other options, and it was a safe area. Plus, my boyfriend is a tough guy, so I wasn't worried about anything. We got checked in, and the atmosphere of the hotel was, well, strange.

I couldn't see a single woman there except for me. I didn't really care about it that much because I was happy about being with my man after so long. We were staying there for three nights and two days, but my boyfriend had to leave at 7 in the morning, and he would return late night by 12 a.m. And there wasn't anything we could do because he's a senior director and writer who had to manage the shoots.

So, on the third day, my boyfriend was off to work and I was taking a nap in the afternoon. I dreamt that I was alone in the hotel room, and some hotel staffed dude came in to deliver breakfast and started to pull me off of the bed by my legs. I immediately woke up and got a little freaked out because I was all alone, and there weren't any other women in this hotel that I had seen.

I calmed myself down, and I watched some television. Two hours later, around 6 p.m., I was ready to get into the shower because my boyfriend and I were going to the beach for a date night. He was going to directly pick me up, but I was procrastinating and postponing my shower. This is when the lock-beep thing on the room's door starts to go off. It's when you try to open the room with a key card. I was startled, and I could not. move as this man opens the door and walks in and looks at me sitting on the bed. He stares at me up and down and then closes the door.

I didn't understand what was going on. He closed the door and he rang the bell. I then opened the door and he had the most random explanation in the world. I was just checking whether the AC remote and TV remote were in the room. I was shook. I knew that he was lying. I ordered food and other stuff a few times that day, and the staff probably knew that my boyfriend left pretty early in the morning

and wouldn't come back until late. They knew that I was alone all day long. I asked him, How can you just barge into someone's room like that? He then said, I didn't know there was someone in here. which was another lie because they have a freaking register. I locked the room.

It wouldn't be of any use because he had the master card. And I called my boyfriend. I was so, so thankful that I wasn't naked. I don't know what could have happened. I told him everything, and he immediately came over to get me. And he screwed the hotel staff up. My boyfriend is in the news media, so he threatened to expose the...

their behavior. They apologized and said they would give us a $6.28.28 discount. He told him to screw off, and while we were leaving, the man-slash-manager who barged into my room gave me the most creepy look ever. The strangest thing is how this incident happened exactly two hours after I dreamt of the same thing. There was also some urine in the bathroom pot that same day. It could, couldn't be me because I was sleeping, and no one would use it except for me. I couldn't figure out who had used it and didn't flush. I asked my boyfriend whether it was him, and he just said it wasn't him. Thinking about this and the dream part, it really creeps me out to this day.

Thank God I was saved. So, this happened a few years ago. I'm not exactly sure when, but I think I was around 13. I'm 16 now, and female. My cousin, who I'm really close with, had a basketball game at her school, so me and my mom went to go watch her play. We were sitting on the bleachers in the front, closest to the floor, and we're just watching the game. I remember looking up at one point at the bleachers, higher up, and seeing an old man, probably in his 50s. I'm not that good with ages.

He was wearing a jacket, jeans, and orange-tinted sunglasses even though we were inside. I remember thinking it was a little weird that he wasn't sitting with anyone. In fact, he was actually kind of far away from everyone else. Not that there were very many people besides parents and siblings. I didn't really think much of it, thinking maybe he was a single father or something like that. The school was completely opened to pretty much. anyone during the game. The doors to both the entrance

and the gym were left open, so almost anyone could come and watch them play basketball. I made a small mental note of him, and I went back to watching my cousin play. I also thought that it was a little weird that he was pretty much the only person

not cheering, or making any noise for that matter. He just kind of sat on the bleachers and watched the game, but I still ignored it. The game went on as normal. I think they lost, I don't really remember, but we still cheered her on and told her that she did well.

After it was over, my cousin and the other girls went to change from their basketball uniforms in the locker room while the parents and other friends or family waited in the hallways right next to the door leading to the parking lot. While we were waiting for her to change, I saw the same older guy with the orange sunglasses. I figured he might be waiting on his daughter, or even his granddaughter, but after a couple of minutes, he started acting weird.

He would get really close to me without looking in my direction, and then walk back over to where he was before without looking again. He did this for a while, and I did my best to ignore it. I watched as the other families filed out with their kids, but every time a family passed by and exeses, visited through the door, he would follow them halfway, and then stop as they walked through the doors. He did this for probably about ten minutes before he left through the doors without a word or another glance. He left by himself, so he couldn't have been waiting for anyone.

He never checked a watch or phone or anything like that either, so it's not like he was worrying about time. I remember thinking it was weird and creepy back then, but I didn't really realize how creepy his behavior was until I told my mom about it after we left. She told me that I definitely should have told her, and to tell her if anything like that ever happens again. I think it creeped her out a bit, too. He really creeped me out then. I got a bad vibe from him, and I remember shuffling closer to my mom whenever he got too close. He gave me a bad feeling, but I still wonder if I was overreacting. Maybe he was just a harmless guy who wanted to watch the game.

I don't know. I'm hoping you guys will have some opinions or thoughts on it, and I think I might just be reading too much into it. Quick heads up, I don't normally do this, but this story does contain mentions of sexual assault, so just an FYI if you can't or don't want to listen to that, then I would suggest skipping the story. This happened a few years ago.

We had just moved to a new city, and I was about 11 at the time. There weren't any bus routes that came near where I lived, so my mom had to pick me up from school every day and take me in the mornings. The place we lived at the time wasn't the best. I live with my brother now, things are much safer. We had a lot of gang activity, kidnappings, assaults, etc. In our city, I was also one of the very few white girls.

This is relevant because I got a lot of attention for being a petite, short for my age, white, blonde girl with blue eyes, from classmates and other adults. Mostly a lot of sexual harassment. But for this specific scenario, my mom didn't want to have to drive all the way to the school to get me because it was too busy with other parents picking up their kids. So, she wanted me to walk to a local gas station and wait for her to pick me up from there. We did this for a little while. One of those days, I was waiting out front of the gas station waiting for my mom to come and get me.

I never really felt safe, so I always stood with my back against the wall and watched the people while they got gas. Most of the time, nobody ever bothered me. They had places to be. But one time, this adult man walked up to me and asked me if I wanted a ride home. I was so surprised and scared that he had come up to me like that. I didn't even hear what he had said. So I wanted to be polite. I laughed and just nodded.

He looked really pleased and started motioning for me to come with him back to his car. At this point, I realized what he had asked, and I was getting really nervous because I didn't want to suddenly change my mind and just tell him no, but I also really didn't want to go with him. He noticed I wasn't following, and he told me to hurry up and come on. I told him that I actually didn't want to, and that I'd be okay because my mom should be here any minute. He then started to argue with me and tell me that it was no trouble and that I should really go with him because I would get home faster. He even tried to tell me that if I went, he would stop and get me something to eat on the way home.

I tried really hard to tell him I didn't want to go, but he kept insisting, and he was starting to get closer. I didn't know if I should run inside the store or not, but I was too scared to go anywhere. Thankfully, before he could get too close to me, I saw my mom's car parked on the street where she usually waited. I didn't know how long she had been there, but I told him that my mom was here,

and I ran to her car and got in. I told her what happened, and she told me that it was good that I didn't go with him, and that next time I should go into the store if someone bugs me like that. I remember seeing him get into his van while we were driving away, but I never saw him again. Although, about a week later, a kid from my school got into a van with someone,

and they were actually missing for a few days. When they found them, they had been sexually assaulted and dumped on the side of the road somewhere, thankfully alive. All I could think about is that it must have been the same guy, and that that could have been me. Hi. Me, my sister, and my mom, have been trying to make sense of this for the past couple of hours, and the facts get less comforting the more we compare our experiences of that night. So, last Friday night, I, 17, male, was home alone while my family, besides,

my sister, who's 21, who was at work, stayed in their cabin a few kilometers away. I'm used to staying home as this exact scenario is very common in the summertime, especially while I'm working and can't travel from the cabin and back. I'm not usually jumpy or afraid while home alone anymore, and I'm used to the odd creeks and settling noises of our old house. I was especially comforted by the fact that my sister's dog was also in the house with me that night, and most noises could be attributed to him. And if anything were to happen, he would act as a guard dog of sorts to alert me of anything odd.

At the same time, however, he is the type of dog to bark at any noise or person walking past the door or window. so I'm used to hearing him bark or growl at night. Even so, this past Friday, the sound of his barks at nearly 12 a.m. were disconcerting, to say the least. Despite my comfort with staying home alone, I'm still terrified of the premise of a break-in, or some other uninvited human interaction at midnight. I let him bark for a few seconds, telling myself it was just some sort of. walking past our glass door in the adjacent hallway, and that he would quiet down once they passed.

Needless to say, that is not what happened. He kept barking and growling for a few moments too long, and I finally got out of bed, I sleep in the basement, and walked upstairs to check it out. As I'd suspected, he was standing alert at the glass door. I was comforted for a moment, until I walked over, ready to close the curtain and go back to sleep, and then saw the door open about two or three inches.

I froze. I had let Bosco, the dog, out earlier that night, but I know that I closed the door. I have never left this door open. I'm a paranoid person with bad anxiety, especially concerning break-ins and the like. so I would never, while home alone, forget to close the door. I am 100% certain.

But, at the time, I didn't let myself think about these facts or even acknowledge that I could not have left the door open, because I knew that it would send me into a spiral, possibly even an anxiety or panic attack, if I didn't explain this away. I closed and locked the door, double-checking that it was certainly locked. Using the flashlight on my phone, the lights were all off, I looked around the entire second floor of my three-floor house,

including closets and other reasonable hiding spots just to put my mind at ease. And upon finding nothing, I went back downstairs to my room. as I was down there trying to push away the fear I could hear Bosco walking around in the floor that doubles as my bedroom's roof I thought I was overthinking it when it started to sound like human footsteps accompanied by Bosco's footsteps he walks around for about ten minutes before I put in my earphones and I talk myself down until I can fall asleep

At 2 a.m. that same night, my sister comes home from work. I woke up a few minutes before this to Bosco in the basement, which he never does. There's even a gate to stop him from getting in the basement, and he was whining at my bedroom door. When I got up to let him out, my sister walked in, and we let him out the front door rather than the glass patio door, letting him back in the same way. We talked for a while before I went back downstairs, and my sister went to the bathroom. I forgot about the door, busy with work for the next few days,

and I forgot to mention it to anyone until tonight. My sister and mom were home with me for a movie night, while my dad and brothers stayed at the cabin. I remembered the door situation when we were picking out horror movies to watch. I was sharing it as a creepy, almost funny story before my sister spoke up, saying that that same night, an hour or so after they got home, the door was open again. The same door that was locked from the inside and not opened since earlier that night. My stomach dropped, and I started shaking the second this was revealed. We first started trying to explain it away.

Maybe she had let Boss go out and forgot to close it until we both recalled that we had used the front door. Then we were trying to justify a reason someone would break in to not steal anything and proceed to stay for two hours before leaving. Ultimately, I realized that I quite possibly locked someone in the house with me. and then forced them to hide upstairs while I searched the second level of our house. Then this hypothetical person would be trapped up there knowing that this house, that appears empty with the rest of my family gone and all the lights off, was not empty.

And there was a dog who would bark if they showed themselves again, alerting me to their presence. Then, when I was in the basement and my sister was in the bathroom, they ran out the glass door, which is timed perfectly to when they found the door opened once more, much wider than when I found it as though they were only in a hurry on the way out. Perhaps they left it open the first time for a quick escape, or to stop the loud sound of it meeting the door frame.

Either way, it ties together too perfectly for me to reasonably brush it off. I know that it's unlikely, especially with nothing missing, but in this small town, there have been many reports of break-ins with nothing missing, vandalized or just breaking and entrings, many, many times. So it's not as unlikely as it may be in a bigger city.

I can't make sense of this, and I'm kind of shaken up thinking of the possibility of someone being in my house while I was asleep, alone in the basement. There's a part of me that doesn't believe it, but I can't shake the too many coincidences that all tie together to make this as concerning as it is.

As a trucker, you can find yourself sleeping in some pretty weird places. For the most part, I didn't have a problem staying in run-down motels or in my cab on the side of the road. I didn't scare easily. and my doors are always locked, but it's more of the unexplainable situations that don't sit right with me. One time, I was driving on a long stretch of desert highway in a state that I hadn't been to before. I've been doing this long enough, though, that I knew my body and its limits, so not having a rest stop close by,

I made the choice to go ahead and pull off near an exit to sleep for the night. I got parked, and I made my way to the cabin, and I laid there, ready to get some sleep. I am a pretty heavy sleeper, so it doesn't take long for me to crash. However, even though I felt drained, it seemed to take some time for me to finally fall asleep. Then, it seemed just as soon as I drifted off, I was jolted awake, but I had no idea why. I thought it was one of those dreams when it feels like you're falling, so I just closed my eyes and tried to go back to sleep. But this time, I started hearing strange noises.

It started as a weird tapping that sounded like it was coming from the top of the cab. I wanted to dismiss it as something falling on it, like an acorn maybe, or maybe just a tree limb, but there were no trees on the side that I was on, and it was also too much of a pattern, like a subtle tap, tap, tap. This put me on guard, and I immediately started paying more attention to the sounds. As I laid there, I noticed the tapping sound was getting fainter and fainter, like it was going towards the back of the truck. When I could no longer hear the sound, I slowly,

sat up, and without looking out the windows, I made sure the doors were locked. I then went back to laying down with my eyes closed, and just continued listening. There were no other humans around. I would have heard a car pull up or stop. I would have heard someone walking up to my truck, and there was none of that. The sounds all started with the tapping on my roof. I'm part Native American. and I was told many stories of skinwalkers and other similar types about spirits by my grandparents and parents. And I was also told what to do if I ever came across one. So this immediately put me in fight or flight mode, and there was no way that I was stupid enough to try to fight it.

I laid there, saying a native prayer that my grandmother had taught me, and continued to listen to find the right time to go. I started hearing what sounded like something running along the side of the trailer, like someone was running their hand across it, and then it got closer to the windows as I heard the tapping on the glass, assuring that I didn't look at it, and I waited for it to leave. While it was tapping, I swear that I could hear a woman's voice softly saying, Hello?

As I laid there, I heard it go around to the other side of the truck, while the tapping got louder and almost more violent. Then, it stopped. It was completely still. I couldn't even hear the wind. I slowly got up, and just in case, I made sure to, to not look out the windows. It was a struggle, but I even crawled over to get into the driver's seat instead of getting out and back into the driver's side door.

Then, as I started the truck, there was a loud thud from the top of my truck. It almost sounded like something had fallen on top of it. I tried to take off as fast as I could with the big-ass semi, and I drove down that deserted, seemingly empty road while barely looking out the house. the window, praying that it didn't try to stop me. I was thankful to never see it, and especially not in front of me, but it didn't hesitate to tap on my driver's side window again while I was driving. I remembered my grandfather telling me to never look at it, never give it the attention, which is also why I've debated submitting this, so I never looked over at it. I continued my prayer again,

drove until I saw the sunrise. I don't even remember when it finally went away, but after some time, I came across a little truck stop and pulled over. There were other people around, so all I could hear was the sound of people talking, walking, doors closing, and engines. But I didn't hear or feel anything inhuman.

I decided that I was safe to finally get some sleep, and that's exactly what I did. I was impressed with myself for staying awake and keeping my eyes on the road, but I guess that's also part of the fighting to live side of things. I didn't experience anything else on that trip, and thankfully I didn't have to take that road back. I also checked my truck and trailer when I arrived, and there wasn't a scratch or dent on top of it.

Skinwalkers are not something that anyone should say, seek out, you're better off just listening to stories and leaving it there. Because I promise you, nothing good will come of it. Everyone loves a good movie once in a while.

My friend and I, when we were 15, we weren't an exception. So, one warm summer evening, we set out to spend a night at the cinema. I studied in a town far away from my family, and I lived in a dorm, just like my friend Anna.

Unrelated, but later she became a police officer. The movie was a light rom-com, shopaholic. It was Anna's choice, and we enjoyed it. Despite being a tough and principled police officer, Anna has always been sentimental and romantic. Both of us had an easy laugh, and after the movie ended, as we were going past agitated, smart,

dressed youth in the direction of our wretched dorm, we just couldn't stop laughing at some ridiculous random thing from the movie. Part of our way lay through a less populated area, which involved a small bridge, at one side of which were a set of houses on the hill and a restaurant, and on another, our college on the way to our dorms. By the time we reached the bridge, I was folded in two from laughing my,

ass off at shopaholic's green scarf-related jokes, and neither my friend nor myself knew what we were really laughing at so hard. It was dark, and there was absolutely no one around. Besides this old lady on the hill trying to lock her house, perching awkwardly on the side of the hill, and seemingly having a hard time adjusting something. Being a very considerate and sensitive person, I remember thinking, hopefully she doesn't assume we're laughing at her, as I was almost touching the asphalt with my face covered with tears of joy, and letting everyone in a range of a few kilometers know that some of this stuff was funny. We stopped there for a minute so I could compose myself, and then we moved on. A little ways further, seconds later, already on the

bridge, I felt compelled to look behind me. and to my amazement, there was that old lady just a couple of steps away, walking in an energized manner. It was absolutely impossible for her to go down the hill in split seconds and reach us on the bridge, especially considering how slow and awkward she looked before. Something seriously astonished me, though. I will never forget that look of hatred that she had, staring directly at me. as I looked back. We were only divided by a couple of steps,

and it felt too intimate because there literally was no one else on the streets. Then, what I saw in her hands, I absolutely could not believe. Much to my horror, she was holding a large butcher's knife. I'm not sure whether I should count on my eyes or not, so I told my friend Anna to look back,

and after a couple of endless things, moments, she said that she saw the gigantic knife too. At this instant, we stepped up, and whatever we did, we could not lose the old lady. The streets looked empty and unwelcoming, and not even cars went by, and the yellow illumination seemed cold, cruel, and somewhat dead. We hastily crossed one of the roads in the direction of our dorm, but still had to make quite a few turns. and on passing the first one, going around the corner of a little store,

we felt free to run. I guess we didn't want to provoke her earlier as I am a slow runner. To our amazement, the old hag was easily gaining on us just by walking. It felt like we were escaping a supernaturally unstoppable Jason Voorhees.

Later, I explained it through the phenomenon of people in psychosis. They're often ten times stronger and maybe faster than ordinary people because they lose psychological breaks. Seeing her follow us turn by turn in completely dark blocks near our dorm left no room for the feeble hope that she was just going about her business. Panting and scared, we reached the dorm safely, and I immediately shared the story with my roommates, while having a hard time believing that I didn't imagine it. And even to this very day, it does not look credulous to my own mind. Maybe because of complete irrationality of the crazy old bat's actions.

I sometimes remember her whenever I become hateful or resentful, because it takes a very unhappy and defeated person to go after teens with a knife just over them laughing. The moral is, at night, by any means, travel in larger groups, and don't forget a bear spray or something. And please, have a safe time when visiting your local cinemas. This happened last night. So, I work at a small coffee stand with only a drive-thew window and a walk-up window in a sketchy area. On the closing shift, we only have two people working,

so it was me, 22, female, and my co-worker, 19, female. Around 10 p.m., this woman comes up to the walk-up window with a little dog, and she asks if she can sit on our bench outside. We tell her, sure, and she goes and sits down. About 10 minutes later, she comes back up and knocks on the window, She's looking visibly distressed and has tears running down her face. She tells us that she lives in a big city about four hours away, and that she totaled her car nearby,

and asks if one of us can give her a ride to a large bus station about 20 minutes away. My coworker and I believe her story, but don't feel comfortable giving a stranger a ride. We tell her that we can't just clock off and leave in the middle of our shift, and she asks us how much longer we have to go. My coworker lies and says two hours. It was really only like 45 minutes, in hopes that she will figure something out on her own or move on.

She goes back to the bench to sit down. After 10 or 15 minutes pass, she comes knocking again, asking a second time for a ride, saying that she doesn't feel safe in the area alone at night. She says that she tried to get an Uber, but that she only has cash, and they wouldn't let her pay with cash. I tell her that she could call a cab and pay with cash. She says they're pretty expensive. At this point, we get worried that she's going to hang around until we lock up and leave. I text my friend who's on shift as a cop in the city

asking if there's any way we could safely help her get out of the area he gets another officer on shift to drive out and offer her a ride he tells me not to promise her anyone is coming as he isn't sure how long it'll take his buddy to get there or if he'll get dispatched to a bigger call along the way about five minutes before close she knocks again and asks for a ride. I tell her we're trying to work it out if an officer can escort her,

but that I'm not sure if they can come yet or not, as they are really short-staffed in our city. I also tell her that, worst-case scenario, there's a city bus stop about one block down the street. She seems hopeful about the cop possibly coming, and then returns to the bench. It hits 11 p.m., and we close and, the windows.

She comes up again and asks if I can just call her a cab. This is odd to me because she said she was trying to call herself an Uber earlier, so I'm not sure why she couldn't use her own phone. I call a cab. I tell them our coffee shop's address and that the woman needs a ride to the large bus station downtown. The cab dispatcher tells me that that bus station got turned into a homeless shelter but that they can drop her off at one of the bus stations for that bus line. I go back to the window and tell the woman the cab is on the way.

She asks how much the cab would be. I tell her that they didn't say, and then I ask her how much she had. She didn't respond. I gave her some water, a snack from my bag, and a treat for her dog, and we finish up our closing chores. We go to leave, and we set the old. alarm and lock the door, we hear her knocking at the window again, but then she walks over to us at the door. She seems really scared, and she asks if we're leaving. I tell her that we have to go,

but that the cab will be here soon and that she'll be okay. She says she doesn't feel safe, and she points out a white truck parked on the street next to us, with its lights on. She says there's someone in the car and that she doesn't feel safe waiting alone. I reassure her that she will be okay, and I remind her that she has her phone and can call the police if she still feels unsafe. My coworker and I get into my car. I was giving her a ride home because her boyfriend was late to pick her up, and we discussed what to do next. We felt sympathy for her and believed her, but we also didn't know if she was associated with whoever was in that truck or not.

If we sit in my car in the lot and wait for the cab to come, she'll likely start coming up to us at my car. Neither of us had bad gut feelings, but the situation was sketchy, and we didn't really want to take any chances. We left and decided to circle the block to see if she would stay there, leave, or get in the truck. When we get back around the block, she's gone.

I turned to start driving my co-worker home, and we see her sitting outside of the gas station. I'm not sure if she ever went back to get the cab or not. I wonder if she decided to wait there to ask people getting gas for a ride, or if she was trying to get away from the person in the truck that she was creeped out by. I felt really bad for her situation and guilty that I couldn't do more to help her. But I feel like anything else, I could have done would not have been safe to do. My friend, the cop, reminded me that you never know what people's intentions are or not,

and that at the end of the day, she's an adult, and she'll figure something out. Me and my friend, both 17, were on holiday at a resort in Norwich, which was situated in a pretty large forest. I'd been there once before about five or so years ago, and on that trip I discovered a small dirt path that led into uninhabited parts of the wood. I was too scared to go very far down it when I first discovered it, and I sort of forgot about it. Fast forward to about three days ago,

me and my friend are bored and have like an hour to kill. It's about nine at this point, and I decide that it would be fun to go on an evening cycle in the woods. My friend is a very skeptical and logical person who isn't a fan of taking risks, so she needed some convincing. But eventually, we went. The path took us deep into the forest, so far that we could no longer see any of the lights from the houses around us.

It also bordered some kind of field, however this field was blocked off by tall metal fences that were topped with barbed wire. We decided to turn back after about 30 minutes of cycling because it was getting dark and we had no torches. When we returned, we were buzzing and decided that we had to do that again, but next time, explore more of the path. Two days later, we decided it was a good time to explore more of the path. The sun was beginning to set, and it seemed like the perfect time to set off. We began cycling, however this time things felt a bit different. My friend was getting quite antsy, and further down the path we went,

and even I began to get a bit freaked out. Something feels wrong, but... We decide to carry on. Eventually, we come to an unexplored area. By this point, night had fallen and it was pitch black, and we come across some kind of wooden electricity box. We stared at it for a second. I tried to see what was inside, but decided it was futile, and we carried on.

As soon as we passed that box, the off-feeling became much worse, and I came to a stop. I asked my friend if we should play some music from a well-known TV show that we both like, as the soundtrack would match the vibe of biking through unknown woods at night. You can probably guess what TV show it is, but anyways, she says yes. So I began to try to get the music up on my Spotify. I had no signal, but that shouldn't have been an issue since I had the album downloaded. but it just would not load.

I was very absorbed in trying to get it to work, but after a minute my friend says in a nervous voice, is that coming from your phone? Confused, I go silent, and then I hear it too. I can very faintly hear a song playing. The song is one that recently blew up because it was used on the TV show, and not only that, but the part of the song. song that is playing is the chorus, which is not at the start of the song.

Me and my friend both check our phones, but neither are playing anything. We both then book it back on our bikes. When we reach the edge of the woods, we both feel the bad vibes wash away instantly. When we got home, we both immediately checked if there was any possible way the music had come from our phones. We both asked our series to play that album, but they both said, I need you to give me access to your Spotify, or something like that.

We also checked multiple other things, but nothing gave us an answer. We were both thoroughly freaked out, especially my friend, who was a skeptic, and always disproved the many ghost stories and horror movies that I would tell her about. I'm a big horror fan, We went back to the path the next day, and even went back to the exact spot, and the vibes were completely gone, and we could find no trace that any other person had been there.

Also, some additional information, it was about 9.30-ish when we heard the music. It was completely dark out, so if someone was there, we wouldn't have been able to see them. However, we probably would have heard the footsteps. The resort itself is close to an RAF base of some kind. The music itself sounded quite reverby, and it stopped pretty much as soon as we began booking it back, I think. And if anyone has any kind of explanation, scientific or paranormal, that would be awesome.

We looked into folklore, etc., but we couldn't find any explanation of what it could be. Back when I was 16, I started working at a department store in our local mall. I worked there for a few years after high school just because I enjoyed the job and the pay was decent. I started as a cashier and actually became a floor associate. It wasn't a commissioned job, thankfully, but I did enjoy being able to walk around, help people, as well as clean and organize the shelves. As expected, since it was a re-trial. store, we had to take those computer trainings on what to do in emergency situations,

the ones that you glaze over and never expect to have to follow through on. This took place after I had graduated, though. It was actually a Sunday, so we were closing early. I was in the women's section folding up the shirts that were displaced on the shelf, and this was also close to the front of the store, making me also close to the register. The cashier had just gone to break, and I agreed to go over to that section to watch the register until she got back. At this point, since we were closing in about two hours, it was just me, another floor associate, Marco, the cashier Sam, and the store manager Will. I assume that Marco was closer to the back of the store because I couldn't see or hear him. I had one customer that I rang up, and another one that I remember seeing come in, but they hadn't left yet.

So while I was folding, I heard a loud bang making me jump. It came from outside of our store, and all I could think of was that it sounded like something large and heavy crashing onto the floor. Like, maybe a trash can. I just remember that I stood there for a moment, and noticed that it was that it was a little bit. and noticed that after the loud sound, it was eerily quiet, other than the very soft music playing over the intercoms. Usually you hear people walking and talking, but it was unsettling. Then I heard the sound a second time, which was followed by screaming.

I started to walk over towards the door when I saw a guy running from the left, and he looked terrified. Something told me to get away from the door, so I started to swiftly walk towards the back when I heard the sound again. That's when I finally realized I was hearing shooting. The fear finally hit me, and I fell to the floor crawling when I saw Will come out of the back. He was motioning for me to get behind the counter, and I didn't hesitate. I looked around the side to see him running, trying to pull the barred gate down. when I saw someone run up to the door and start yelling.

I immediately dropped down and held my knees to my chest. I heard them yelling about getting back up, hands up, and Will was trying to tell them to calm down and not go through with this. He continued yelling, so he walked over to the cash register and began unlocking it. As he was emptying it, the other guy asked where the girl was at the cash register. He said they already took off through the back when we first first. heard the shot. The mall was only one story, so each store had a back emergency door, so it was definitely possible, and for their sake I hope that they did. After he finished, I assumed the guy didn't

leave because Will stood there and started to say something like, I swear it's empty, when I heard another shot and Will fell to the floor. It made me scream, but I heard the guy run out of the store, too. Everything was a blur after that. I remember trying to help Will. Marco came out from the back and helped as well, and it just kind of spiraled from there. Lots of talking and people coming and going. My parents showed up, freaking out, understandably, as I still lived with them, too. I didn't work for a few days after that.

In fact, everyone that worked that night was off. To my surprise, the place, did actually pay for therapy for any of us that wanted it. The suspect didn't get far, though. Thankfully, when others heard the first and second shots, they called for help immediately. So the cops were at the door when they tried to escape. Will was always a great manager,

and after hearing that he was going to be okay, and was actually going to return to work, it made me feel like I could go back too, even though I thought about quitting. I continued to work there for a few more years before I got a job in my field. I took every single one of those safety training classes absolutely serious from that moment on, though. 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. When I turned 18, me and two of my friends decided to take a trip to our local casino. We mostly just played simple games like slots and video roulette, since it was our first time going to a casino. After losing some money, we decided to search for something to eat. Pretty much everything was way too overpriced, so we wandered around for quite a bit.

Eventually, we reached a hallway along the border of the main floor. We made our way down the hall looking for food, but everything was closed. We started to notice that the hall was completely vacant of people. As we wandered further down the hall, we reached an oddly intriguing small room through a double doorway. This was the only entrance into the room. It was completely empty, except for us three. And about 10 to 20 slot machines? We were bored, so I decided to throw $5 into the slot machine and spin a few times.

After my second or third spin, an odd-looking man, early to mid-30s, appeared from behind the slot machine, seemingly out of thin air. He began watching me play and started getting uncomfortably close to us. We weren't very worried since we outnumbered. remembered this dude three to one. However, we were confused. We grew more and more uneasy the longer he stood there, not saying a word. Eventually, my friend decided to ask him what was up. The man looked at us for a second before asking if we were all brothers. None of us looked even remotely similar, so we told him that we were all just friends. He said, oh, that's great, and proceeded to

ask if he could join our group. We told him that we all came together and lied and saying that we were actually planning on leaving soon. He told us that we should stay and play with him and then says, my good friend Rachel over there knows all the good machines, and pointed towards the other side of the room. We slowly peered around the machine, and all became immediately horrified. Nobody else was in the room with us. He was pointing into an empty corner.

We all stand up from our seats and slowly back out of the room, not letting our eyes leave this man. Once he was out of sight, we turned around and sprinted down the hallway back to the main game room. We all vowed to never go back down that hallway again, and I never did. But curiosity eventually got the better of us. About a year and too many casino trips later, we're playing blackjack back at the same casino with a fourth friend. He gets bored and hungry and says that we should look for food. After walking around looking for food,

we made it back to the entrance of that very hallway that we vowed to never return to. The fourth friend said that we should search down there for food. The rest of us tell him no, and explained to him that we cannot go back down there. He asks why, so we tell him about our experience down that hallway one year prior. He said that we're BSing him, and that there's no room of slot machines in the location that we described. He explained that his mom was a worker at the casino, and he would know if there was a rogue room of slots in the middle of nowhere.

So, we did the one thing we could do to convince him of our experience. We decided to lead him to the room. We made our way down the hallway in search of the room, but... After walking for a few minutes, we reached the end of the hall. Confused, we turned around and searched again thinking we had somehow missed it. There was no room. We came to the conclusion that they must have moved the machines out of the room, since the casino does change things around quite frequently,

so people don't gain a sense of direction on the game floor. So, we once again walked down the hallway in search of an empty room, or at least a set of closed doors that would enter the room. Nothing. No doors. Not even remotely close to where we remembered the room. We were completely dumbfounded and started to question our sanity. All three of us remembered the room in the same location, yet there was nothing. There was no room with slot machines.

There was no room at all. To this day, neither me nor my friends understand or can explain how this happened. So, I have memories when young of my sister and her sleepwalking episodes. Have you ever seen a person's sleepwalk in front of you? The horrors, they basically look like an empty vessel and kind of possessed. There is especially a core haunting memory of my sister, sleepwalking one night. That evening, me and my mother were watching TV, and we stayed watching different shows late into the night,

when my sister decided to go to bed while we stayed awake. An hour or so after she left, she came out of her bedroom and went into my parents' bedroom, which my mom and I noticed and wondered why the hell she would go in there, especially with my dad asleep in the room. My dad has this black work suitcase for his paperwork that he took everywhere, and all the sudden my sister came out of the room with that black suitcase and headed to the front door. My mom at this point knew that my sister was sleepwalking and shushed me, and we started following her steps without startling her.

She was also saying things that we couldn't understand or hear properly. It sounded like when someone talks to themselves out loud. She got to the front door. and started to unlock the door. I looked at my mom and saw that she was concerned at this point, but luckily as my sister opened the door, she hit her head trying to open the door while she stood in front of it, because the door opens inward, not outward.

My sister woke up at this point and looked all confused, as she was trying to figure out how she ended up by the front door with my dad's suit bag and her head hurting. She really had no clue and doesn't remember any of it. My mom took her to bed and eased her into sleeping again. I was freaked out, and I couldn't sleep that night. What if she was having a manic dream and decided to act on it while sleepwalking? That thought always terrified me.

Luckily, as she got older, her sleepwalks stopped completely. However, to this day, she remembers none of it. So, part of this was what my mom had told me, the sleepwalking and breaking arm stuff at least. My dad says he doesn't remember much of it besides sleepwalking, so I may not be 100% on those details, but the dreams are real. So this was back in 1996-ish when I first started walking. I used to sleepwalk, as my parents called it. Even with sleeping in my crib, I would make my way out of it, and they would find me randomly around my grandparents' house.

We lived in the same house as my grandparents, so it was them, my mom and dad, and my three other siblings. We lived in a smaller area, but not in a super secluded part. Well, at one point, I was found crying in my crib, and I had a broken, or fractured arm. They couldn't figure out why or how it had happened. A couple of weeks later, it happened again. Same arm. But the cast was also broken and torn apart. Again, nothing came of it in seeing how I was two to three years old.

I couldn't really talk or explain it. However, I remember having the same dream over and over again. As I got older, I can't remember any other dreams while living at their house. I would wake up seeing a light outside my window, and it was so bright that it was blinding. I would try to hide at first, but it would get so intense that I would leave my room,

and the light would follow through each window or whatever room I was in. Eventually I would make my way to the front door, and I would open it, and the light would be gone. I'd start feeling afraid, so I would run to my trampoline, which was in the middle of the door, the middle of our yard, and I would hide under it, and grab one of the legs.

Suddenly, I would see the bright light again, but it was above me this time. I would look up, and I could make out nine smaller lights in a circle, and then a giant one would light up, and it would start to open, and then everything would go black, and that's all I can remember. I remember feeling so afraid, even thinking back. on it makes me start to panic, and I have to remind myself that I'm safe. But this went on for years, as well as the sleepwalking. My parents even installed a deadbolt and placed it where it was out of my reach,

and I would still manage to open the door and walk outside. One night, they actually woke up to a horn blaring. I was in the middle of the road and was almost hit by a car, and they could not understand how I kept escaping. When we did finally move out of the house, the dreams suddenly stopped. Even now at 28, I haven't had that dream, or any dreams about UFOs or aliens like that one. I used to chalk it up to just coincidence,

until I told an old friend about it, who was away into aliens and such, and he told me that I was most likely, abducted. Like I said, though, I don't remember sleepwalking or breaking my arms or anything. I just remember the dreams.

And it still scares me to think about it. Hey there, friends. That was today's episode of the As the Raven Dreams podcast. And I really hope that you all enjoyed this collection of scary stories. If you did, please

do consider checking out my YouTube channel, where I do these same stories, but a little bit earlier than I do them here on the podcast form, and also in slightly different collections. If you really enjoy the podcast, please do consider giving it a rating of any sort if the platform you're listening on has ratings. Any honest rating is appreciated by me, be it five-star, one-star, however you want to do it. Just know that rating the podcast helps tremendously. And if you would like to support further, I do have a page. and channel memberships if you'd like to do things on the YouTube side,

where for as little as a dollar a month, you get early access to my content. Never, ever expected, but always appreciated. That said, friends, I hope that I do see you on the next episode of this podcast. And, of course, until then, sleep well.