As The Raven Dreams Podcast - ATRD Ep. 20 - Spring Break and Gas Station Horror Stories - 06 True Scary Stories

Episode Date: April 3, 2022

Hello and Welcome to the 20th 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 times when spring break goes bad, as well as some terrifying stories that take place in gas stations! ➤ 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... OptickleAlooshun, Confused10YearOld, and Several authors that did not include information or requested anonymous.  ➤ All stories within are used w/ Either direct permission from the author- or under some level of CC license (where noted) True Stories are not verified, and should all be considered 'supposedly true'.  And Remember; You are loved, you are important, and you are valid. Never let anyone tell you otherwise. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/astheravendreams/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/astheravendreams/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Publié. Savoy. Admirate and profite. Villaray, the voice that we love that we love. This happened to me back when I was around 10. I remember a lot of it because it was terrifying, but some of the details are gone. At the time, my mom was a single parent. My dad wanted nothing to do with me, I assume, because I didn't even know he ever existed.

Then my mom had another kid with a different guy, and the... they split up. My mom was the only one that worked, though. I remember he always stayed home with me and my stepbrother until they split up. When he moved out, he would take my stepbrother with him, but would say that I wasn't his responsibility, so I was left by myself at times. It usually wasn't long, so I would walk to the back door, let myself in, and, and, I would walk to the back door, let myself in, and wait an hour or so for my mom to get home.

This would change, though, on holiday breaks, like Christmas or even spring break. My mom didn't have anyone nearby that could watch me, and she didn't have the money to pay for a babysitter, so I would be left alone for six to eight hours by myself. I was given rules, though. I was not to answer the door for anyone, because she would have a key and she wouldn't knock.

I wasn't allowed to answer the phone except at certain times. She would call at exact times and would answer by saying it's mama, before I would talk so that I knew it was her. And since we had thick curtains, they were to stay closed at all times. Other than that, it was the whole no-touching the stove or microwave rules, of course. She made sure that I had plenty of accessible food that didn't involve cooking, like pre-made sandwiches, lunchables, juice, just things like that.

I didn't really think much of it other than, okay, I get to play, eat, and sleep as much as I want. That was the end of it. So this took place when I was home alone on one spring break. My mom prepped my lunch, went over, the rules again and left, locking the door behind her. I had my breakfast while watching cartoons, and that probably took an hour or two, because, you know, I was a child, so I was easily amused. After a while, I went back to my room to grab some toys to bring them to the living room to play with

while I continued to watch TV. That made up most of my day. Sometimes I would get out my coloring stuff or give my toys a bath. I had these colorful soaps and I always wanted to use them. So I would do that in the bathroom sink. Anyways, one of those days I was playing and I decided that I needed flowers. I think that my dolls were getting married or something like that. I don't quite remember.

I was going to color flowers, but then I couldn't cut. cut them out because I wasn't allowed to use the scissors while I was alone. So, I decided I would go pick the flowers in our yard. I thought I would go out the back door, pick a few flowers, and then quickly run back in. That way, no one would even ever know. So, off I went to pick some flowers. But then, I thought, I needed some dirt to put the flowers in, so I ran back to get a cup to put dirt in.

As I was filling the cup, I noticed the neighbor next door was outside watering her flowers. She noticed me, too. She waved and smiled at me, and since I wasn't supposed to be outside, I just smiled and quickly ran back inside. I thought it was a pretty smooth move at the time, as no one ever came over or called and my mom never found out about it either. So, the days continued on as normal from there until a few days later. I was playing in my room when I decided that I needed rocks.

Look, kids' imaginations are crazy. I specifically wanted the rocks that we had out front because they were flat and smooth. I was going to make them into some kind of structure again for my dolls, so as I had done before, I would run out there, make sure no one was around this time, grab a few rocks and go back in. I opened the door and looked around, and no one was there.

So I grabbed my little purse and walked out to start gathering some rocks. While I was leaning over, picking out the rocks, I heard the gate open. It was metal, so it had a squeak to it when you moved the handle. I looked up to see a woman that was not my mom coming in, in. She smiled and started to say something for me, so I immediately ran to the door shouting mom to make it seem like I wasn't alone, and then I shut the door and locked it.

The lady then walked up to the door and knocked, and I just laid still on the couch, waiting for her to leave. After a few more knocks, she did finally leave. I peeked through the curtain to see her get in a car that I did. didn't even notice in the driveway, and drive off. I thought I cut it close on that one, so I told myself that I wouldn't go back outside, no matter what. However, I didn't even have to do that. While eating my lunch the next day, there was a knock on the door.

I was scared that it was the same lady coming back, so I sat still waiting for her to eventually leave. After a few more minutes and not hearing any more knocks, I proceeded to peek around the curtains to see if she had left when I was greeted to her face trying to look in as well. I nearly screamed when I saw her, but I think that I scared her too. It was definitely the same lady, though. She motioned to the door, and being caught at this point, I kind of thought, you know, what choice do I have?

I remember feeling like I was just caught doing something that I wasn't supposed to be doing, so the only option I had left was to confess. I opened the door, and she said that she wanted to talk to my mom. She looked like a nice lady, though. I remember she was wearing a dress or a skirt with a vest over it, and she had her hair pulled back like my mom. In fact, she reminded me a lot of my mom, which, at least, least made me feel a little better. I told her my mom was busy, though, and that she couldn't come

to the door. That's when she started laying into me. She said, are you sure she's home? You're not lying to me, are you? I told her no, and said that she was just in the shower. She then pushed her way past me into the house and said that she would wait for her to get out. I again told her she couldn't because I wasn't supposed to answer the door while she was in the shower. So she turned to scaring me. She said that she knew I was lying to protect my mom because I wasn't supposed to be alone. This, of course, caused me to be more alert because I was just hearing that I was going to be in trouble. She said she was there to arrest my mom for leaving me home alone, and I started crying.

She started asking me more questions about when she was. she would be back, and the crying got louder and uglier until I was begging her to not arrest my mother. She said she wouldn't arrest her if I went with her instead, and then my mom could pick me up when she got off work. I thought, if I could keep my mom from getting in trouble because, let's face it, I had messed up, then I would do it. So I agreed to go with her. She told me I could take my backpack with whatever I wanted in it, so I ran to my room, grabbed my favorite doll and book, and I headed out the front door.

I was still very scared and sad, thinking I was going to get in trouble when my mom picked me up. When I got to the car, I began to wonder how my mom was going to know where we were, so I asked her if we should call her before she knew. That was probably, Probably her mistake, though. She was opening the back door when I asked this,

and she very quickly and dismissively said something like, she's not going to know because you're not coming back. She's a bad mom. So I started crying again, and I was even more scared. I don't remember what all I said, but I do know that I was nearly screaming, bawling, and pleading with her to let me stay and see my mom again. She kept telling me to shut up and to get in the car

and that's when the old lady next door came out. She was waving and smiling and was asking what was going on here as she walked closer. The woman started to become irritated at this point. She said she was taking care of me since there were no adults in the house. The old lady was smooth as can be, though, and responded back with something like, Now, Katie, I told you I would be right back, didn't I? I was confused and still crying and all I could do was muster out an apology. She then explained to this woman that she was watching me,

but had to run back home to get something, and then she apologized for leaving me alone. I don't know what she did, but this woman then let go of me and shoved me at the neighbor, and she said she would be back if I was ever caught alone again. I stood next to her as we watched the way. woman drive away and nearly burn out of the driveway. Once she was gone, she asked me if I was okay and suggested I go back home. I started running back home when I noticed that she was following behind me and up to the front

door. Right before I was going to shut it, something told me to let her in and that I was going to be safe, so I invited her in. She then told me that I was okay and could go play, and that she would wait there for for my mom to get home. I made my way to my room, and after lying in my bed for a few, I could hear her talking. I looked out of my room, and I saw her talking on her home phone, so I went back to my room, and I think I actually fell asleep.

Obviously, something like that can wear a kid out. When my mom got home, though, it was another whole scene. I woke up to my mom gently shaking and rubbing my arm and crying. She then hugged me and apologized, and so did I. As you may have guessed, that lady was definitely not with CPS or anything of the likes. The neighbor, Barb,

had caught on that I was home alone, so when she saw me out, she was just making sure I was okay. She noticed the lady come over the first day, but since she had, left, she didn't think much of it. But when she showed up the next day in her same ugly, beat-up car, not looking like an official vehicle in any way,

she felt like something was wrong. And when she saw me crying while walking to the car, she felt the need to confront the situation. When we got back inside, she found the paper with my mom's number on it and called her to let her know what had happened, and my mom came home to her. shortly after that.

I don't think my mom ever reported it, though, because she was worried if anything would be done about her leaving me home, so we just never saw the lady again and hoped that we never would either. However, Barb did start watching me after that. She came over to our place, so I could still play with my stuff, and everything went fine from there on. Barb has been a part of our family ever since, actually. She said I reminded her of her own granddaughter that she rarely got to see since they lived on the other side of the country now,

and she was glad to have the company, since she lived alone. I was, and am, still incredibly thankful for her being so watchful over me, even when I never talked to her, because that honestly could have saved my life. Who knows what that woman was planning to do with me that day? Lazang sur-gillet, Pucance-Moyerned Possible for 15 minutes. We're like

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Depos minimum of $10. Veil to be a way to fashion responsible. The conditions apply. I was a weird kid growing up, and I easily got way too attached to people that showed any interest in me. I think part of it was that I was an only child. And with both of my parents working all the time, I clung to anyone that paid attention to me.

Like anything that I was interested in, or was even proud of the work that I had done. It was easy for me to make friends, but difficult to keep them, as I know that I could be overbearing. I've worked on myself a lot since then, and I've gotten better, but sometimes I still struggle.

Anyways, this is what led me to get close to one of my teachers. It was in middle school. He was our social studies teacher, Mr. Jay, He made history interesting, though. I struggled at times with other teachers when I couldn't understand something, and they would just refer me back to the textbook. He was actually kind and patient when I asked questions, though. I was typically afraid to ask during class,

so I would ask him after it was over, and he was always willing to answer them. It was a nice change of pace. I remember at the time I was very interested in the Cold War, and I had so many questions. Most of them were outside of the realm of what we learned about, or what was covered, so the fact that he was into the conversation with me and giving me good books to look into only made me appreciate him more. Over time, I found myself spending more time after class and after school in his room, and talking. I also learned he was good with math, and he helped me with my homework there, too.

I pretty much looked to him as a father figure. As a guy myself, my father worked a lot, but I never really felt like I lived up to his standards. So I loved the attention for Mr. Jay, and how he put me up on a pedestal, telling me how intelligent I was and how I was sure to go far. Anyways, I had a decent time in middle school, and I had to make my way to high school. During our graduation, I went in to hug him, and instead he shook my hand. They had a ceremony for completing middle school here. Then I was off to a bigger and scarier world. High school was fine, for the most part, though.

I made friends with a few people, but I never really had one of them that was super close to me. For the most part, it was the friends you talked to at school, but never outside of it. I may have run into a few of them at a store or something, but that was about it. There was one girl in my neighborhood that I was close to, but she was homeschooled, so I only ever ever. saw her when I was home, of course. I also had a few teachers I was cool with, but nothing as close as I was with Mr. Jay. I tried to find someone to cling to like him,

as I wanted that connection again, but it never really happened. High school was even more confusing for me, as I began to realize that I was gay, and the girl from my neighborhood was the only person I was ever comfortable enough with telling, but she made me feel like it was normal and that there was nothing to be ashamed of. I slowly worked on myself during this time to learn who I was, and what made me the way that I was so that I could be more outgoing.

Of course, you can only do so much on your own without a therapist, and when your parents just think you're weird, they just ship you off to some camp for boys to be. become stronger, I guess. So, during spring break, instead of getting to chill at home and be comfortable and happy, and they sent me off to some camp thing for boys. It wasn't Boy Scouts, but was more so for those with special needs. Yeah, anyways, I gathered my things and my dad dropped me off at the rec center with the rest of the people. I started walking on the lines in the parking lot to keep myself entertained

when I heard a familiar voice. I looked up to see Mr. Jay talking to one of the other boys. My mood completely did a 180, and I ran over to talk to him. This time he hugged me, and it was the best feeling. He hugged me tight like my grandmother did, but never my parents. It was something that I had missed. He asked excitedly if I was here for the trip, and I confirmed, nodding. He said he was going to be part of the leadership team, so I was going to get to spend four days with him.

I then told myself that this was going to be a lot better than I would have ever expected, and I even helped him get everyone in line, the bus packed up, and all ready to go. We got to the location, and I again helped everyone get set up. We talked about some basic survival stuff, like certain plants we could eat, and we helped start the fires, things like that. The first two days went fine. We played some kind of kickball game, and I was on the same team as Mr. Jay's, so he always celebrated with me when I got a goal and just made me feel valued.

I loved it. It was the third day that everything changed for me. We would be going home the next morning, so this was a day for us to choose what we wanted to do, and just have a day of relaxation. It was later that evening that I decided to walk around and see if I could find anything that I could take home as a memento. I ended up at a small creek or runoff that had a small bridge that you could walk over. I decided to sit there and watch the water, as there were a few days. ducks in it trying to clean themselves.

After a few, I heard someone walking up to me and looked over to see Mr. Jay approaching. I waved him over and he sat down next to me and asked what I was up to. I told him I was just watching and trying to clear my head, as I was actually upset about having to go back home. He talked to me about how I was feeling lost in high school, in what was only about half an hour, maybe, and he made me feel normal. He made me feel like I was important, and that I was going to be able to make it through just fine. I thanked him. I told him that his words really meant a lot to me, and he said that I meant a lot to him. I didn't know how else to react, so I hugged him

and got a little choked up, as I told him that he was like the father I wished I had. That's when his tone and manners started to change. He said, Is that how you really feel about me? But his tone just seemed off. I paused for a minute, and I confirmed what I said. I don't remember his exact response, but he basically said that I meant a lot to him

and that he missed seeing me all the time after school. He went on to say that he was glad I was there because he was hoping to see me when I was older. Mind you, I was 16 at this time. Then he mentioned how hard it was to wait for me. I leaned up at this point to look at him as I noticed that his hand was on my zipper. I didn't know how to react to this. I never really learned about this kind of thing or even if this was okay.

This was someone I trusted and cared for, so it was all right, right? Thankfully, my brain was overloaded, so my instinct kind of kicked in, and I jumped up quickly running away. I went back to my tent, zipped it up without saying a word to anyone, and just cried. I stayed there for the rest of the night, and when anyone came up to my tent, I told them I just wasn't feeling well. We packed up the next day, and I avoided it.

everyone as much as possible. Thankfully, he seemed to avoid me as well, but yet he was all smiles and laughter. Within an hour, he'd completely destroyed me and was still over there having a great time. I went home and I was quiet for a while, not knowing what to do or if I should tell someone. I mean, who would believe me? Did it really happen? Was I just overreacting to something? My neighborhood friend could tell that something was wrong, though, so she finally got it out of me.

She told me that I needed to tell my parents or the school counselor immediately. I was terrified how they would react, but I did finally tell my mom. She was a lot more understanding and sincere than I ever expected, though. He was arrested. And I never saw him again, thankfully, but I wasn't the first kid that he had done this to, sadly. I just hate that it happened to any of us. I already didn't feel normal,

and this just screwed me up even more. Thankfully, though, I have a great therapist now, and I've become a lot more stable with my emotions and who I am, but to Mr. Jay, I'm glad that we will never, meet again. This happened to me and a few of my girlfriends one spring break a few years back. We were in our last year of college and being consistently broke throughout it. We decided we wanted to go wild for spring break and have a great time before we graduated, as we may not see each other

for some time afterwards. So, when we weren't studying or in class, we were working as much as we could and saving every penny to make sure we had enough for a hotel room and a little extra for food and shopping. Surprisingly, we made it, and we had a great plan set up for us to have some much-needed fun. We were planning to drive down to New Orleans.

Thankfully, Sydney had a pretty new car that we all trusted to get us there. We were also lucky to get a hotel that was close to a popular and busy part of the city, so we could easily walk around and back to set hotel. So, with everything planned, we counted down the days and hardly slept the night before we departed. The next morning, Sydney, Ava, and I crammed our suitcases into the same. the trunk, filled up a few bottles of water, and stuffed a backpack full of snacks and instant coffee from the rec room, and we took off. We listened to cringy, cliche, girly, road trip music, and it was probably obnoxious when we had to stop to fill up and use the restroom,

but we were in a zone, and it was an amazing time. When we finally got there, though, I don't know if we really were still excited and wired, or if we were just delusional, but we were ready to check in and go have a great time. But once we got unpacked, we all crashed. Sydney and I were out pretty quick, so Ava tried to watch some TV, but said she passed out soon after.

Anyways, we woke up pretty late that night, so we decided to order in and just make a nice night of it. When our food arrived, I went to get it when they called us. We were all in our pajamas, which, for me, consisted of a tank top, and basketball shorts, and a sports bra since I was leaving the room. As I got to the lobby, there was a guy leaning over the front counter while the receptionist was on the phone. I was grabbing the pizza when I noticed the guy had looked over at me while I was handing over the cash, and once I made eye contact he smiled at me. Not going to lie, I didn't dislike the attention, though.

I was the chubby friend. While the other two were more fit and attractive, I often wore baggier or looser clothing to hide my belly, which is also why I was wearing basketball shorts. So, needless to say, I smiled back. He was attractive too. He was wearing jeans, cowboys, boots and some band t-shirt that I don't remember.

My favorite part was his long blonde hair. It was a little past his shoulder with the curls that I wished my hair had. So, definitely my type. I didn't know what else to do, though, so I just continued to walk back to our room. I got back with the pizza and explained to them what had happened. They gave me grief that I should have gotten his number or something, and insisted on going out there to find him. After pleading with her not to,

Ava walked out of the room to find the guy. After a while, she came back in and slapped down a napkin on the bed, with a scribbled number on it, and his name, which was Alan. She'd actually gotten it for me. They teased me for a while and said I should talk to him and invite him out with us tomorrow night, so I told them I would consider it. I stashed the number in my pocket and we enjoyed the rest of our night.

The next day was going to be our day. We planned to be there for the weekend, so this was our full day to do whatever we wanted. We did some shopping, went to a popular local place for lunch, and then hung out in the pool to chill before we got ready for the night out. While we were in the pool, we talked about where we wanted to go and planned on hopping around to a few different places. As we were getting out and I was wrapping a towel around me, I saw Alan, walking in the pool room, wearing trunks, and holding a towel.

Again, he looked me up and down and smiled and said hi to me. I smiled, not knowing what else to do, and watched as he walked past me and got into the hot tub area. My friends pushed me to go sit in there with him, but I was way too nervous to do that. I wouldn't say that I'm really conservative in my ways, but I only had one serious relationship, and I'd been out of it for some time,

so I was still very shy about initiating anything. And with that, I walked back to our room with them. We all showered, munched on our leftover pizza, and got ready for the night out. We planned on going to a bus, bar that was pretty close by at the recommendation of another person staying at the hotel, and decided to start there first. We had a great time there.

Doing shots, being loud, I'm sure, but just your typical girls' night out. It was the next place that we decided to check out that things started picking up. That was definitely more of a party place. More drinks and dancing took place there. for sure, and then they made jokes that my boyfriend was here. Sure enough, in Wax Allen. At this point, it can't be helped. He spots us, and he's waved over by Ava.

He's just standing by us, bobbing a bit, and asking us how we're doing, where we're from, things like that. Then, he offered to get us all drinks. They didn't hesitate. So we got some free drinks and danced and talked for a while longer. He then suggested that we hit up another place he knew of, and we all agreed. It looked more like an old home or apartment style that was turned into some kind of makeshift bar. I know from explaining it, it seems like it could be really suss, but it looked pretty legit. There was a bar, and they asked us for ID.

There was a dance area, booths in the back, just all of it. So we were cool with it when we got there. It was more of the last place, though. More drinks given to us by Alan, dancing. Alan started dancing with me, grabbing my hips and whatnot, which was unexpected, but I let it go. Then, he started to get a little bit more aggressive with it. He would try to grope me in different places. and being the shy person that I was,

I didn't really know how to react to it, so I would just move in a weird direction where he couldn't grab me anymore and make some kind of comments like, uh-uh, and slightly shake my head or something. I wasn't intending to play hard to get, but I'm also not interested in one-night stands. So, as the night continued,

the groping continued, and so did the drinks. However, then the sickness started to show its ugly face. I started feeling nauseous and dizzy, yet my friends weren't. I figured since we were all doing the same shots, then I must just not be holding mine in well. I didn't want to ruin their funds, so I told them how I was feeling, and said I was just going to go back to the room. They offered to go with, or at least walk me back, but I told them I'd be fine, fine. Then, Alan offered to walk me back. I again told him that he didn't have to, but he insisted.

I gave up and agreed to let him walk me back, and I told my friends that I would see them later. We walked back, had some small talk, and he asked me if I was okay. I told him that I probably just didn't eat enough or something and said that I would be fine. I got up to our room and thanked him as I turned around, and then he pushed himself on me and started kissing me. I pushed him away, and I told him I wasn't ready for anything like that, as it was way too fast. That's when I saw the unexpected side of him.

The anger on his face was obvious, and he made a comment about, what the hell was the point of all those drinks then? Don't you think you owe me? At that point, I reached into my pocket, pulled out a 20 that I had, and told him to have a good night, and then shut the door. The rest of that night, though, was a total blur. I remember going to the bathroom, getting sick, and then I crawled into my bed and passed out. I remember having a weird dream that was almost like sleep paralysis.

I'd never experienced anything like it before, but, I remember seeing a dark figure above me, and I felt like my body was being pulled and moved in different directions, but it wasn't by myself. Then it disappeared, and I didn't remember anything else until I woke up earlier to my friends. They were desperately trying to wake me up, and I remember going in and out, thinking they were just messing with me, but I could hear the concern in their voice, which finally got me to wake up. but I was still very groggy and my head was pounding. Then they started explaining what was going on. After we had left, Alan hadn't come back yet, and it had been over half an hour. That was plenty of time for him to drop me off and come back.

They were kind of worried because they knew that I wasn't the type to just let him in, and especially not without telling them. They thought maybe he just didn't return because he wasn't interested in them, but when they tried calling, it seemed to be ignored, and then went straight to voicemail the second time. They then became worried and started to leave. Then, as they were leaving, there were a few guys distracting them and trying to get them to stay.

They finally got out of there and rushed back to our room, and when they got there, they opened the door and saw a figure standing in our room in the dark. They flipped on the lights and immediately started yelling as they saw Alan standing in the room with his pants off.

He quickly ran to the door where Sidney tried to stop him, but he shoved her out of the way and as she was trying to get up, he got out the door and was gone. Sidney said she tried chasing him down the hall but lost him. However, she was screaming, so it got

the person's attention at the front desk. All of this, of course, was told to me afterwards because I had obviously been drugged. That's why I didn't remember any of this, why I felt sick, and even worse, why I felt like I was experiencing sleep paralysis. It was him. He was trying to undress me. He didn't get far, though, when they walked in on him. From there, the receptionist called the police, but he was long gone. They took their report, and then when I finally came to, they questioned me. I had to go to the hospital, though, to make sure I was okay.

I just felt bad, and I was sitting there thinking that I ruined our trip, whereas my friends felt awful for ever letting me go alone, or getting his number. I think we all explained to each other back and forth plenty that we don't blame each other. Unfortunately, the guy was never caught, and Alan was most likely not even his real name, as they didn't even have anyone checked in there under that name. We still have no idea if it was a fake, or if he was even staying there. I'm a lot safer now, and I don't dare go anywhere by myself, or at least not with strangers, but to Alan, or whoever the hell you were,

I hope we do meet again, because this time I know that all have the upper hand. I used to work at a gas station that was pretty much in the middle of nowhere. It wasn't like one of those off-the-highway rest-stop-style stations, where it was the only thing for miles in any direction. It was more like, let's put a gas station in the middle of a head. heavily forested area and see if it sticks kind of thing. Honestly, the location made no sense to me, but I'm also not a business person.

So maybe the owner knew something that I didn't. That said, we didn't exactly get a whole lot of business on a daily basis. Most of our business was from fleet vehicles that were owned by a local farm equipment shop, and a little bit of it was people that needed to fill up when driving through our town. I have no idea if we ever made any actual profit, but the store was open for close to ten years before I worked there. So, he must have been doing something right, or possibly illegal. Anyways, if anyone's curious how I started working there, I literally met the owner at a dollar store, because he saw me filling out a dollar store,

because he saw me filling out an application for a job, and he told me that he needed a daytime attendant, and then hired me on the spot. Maybe that should have been a red flag from the start, but I was like 19 years old and I needed a job. Looking back, that almost sounds like the start of some kind of horror movie or something. For the most part, working at the station, which I'll just call Freddy's,

That wasn't the name, but it was similar. It was pretty uneventful. Like I said, we weren't usually busy, and the people that did come in were usually pretty chill and friendly people from in town. The occasional traveler would come in, buy up all of our energy drinks, fill their tank, and just leave. But really, even outsiders weren't terrible when it came to this job. With how normal it was, you may be asking what was scary about it. And for that, I have to tell you about the last day that I worked at said station, and also a little bit about my boss's personal life.

It's important to the story. Trust me. My boss was Mike. He was both the owner of the store and the only manager that the store had. Like I said, I met him at the dog. store and he offered me a job on the spot. When I started working there, I learned that there were four station attendants, myself included, and that we were all pretty much working shifts alone to keep the store open

24 hours a day, six days a week, and we were closed on Sundays, at Mike's decision. My shift was four days a week, Tuesday through Fridays, from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. with no directed time for lunch or anything like that. My state doesn't really have any laws that require breaks or anything. And Mike was pretty lax on how we ran the store. If we needed to use the restroom, we had to lock the front door, put up the Be Right Back sign, and we were allowed to eat behind the counter

so long as we weren't gross about it, or constantly doing it in front of customers. Basically, he was a decent boss, and as long as we did our job, we were good to go. I won't tell you about all of the other attendants, but I will tell you about one that we'll call Stacey. Stacey was a 20-something-year-old woman that was very pretty, and it was also very much part of an affair with Mike. It was pretty obvious to us employees that they were a thing, but, but Mike had apparently done a pretty good job keeping his wife in the dark. How did he do that, you may wonder?

They were mostly just a thing at work. He and Stacey would work the shift before mine, so the overnight 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. together. When I'd come in, they would have that obnoxious glow about them, and they would be all close and giggling as they wrapped up their shift work. Maybe I'm just bitter, but it was kind of sickening. And it honestly bothered me that, one, they were having this affair in general, and two, they were probably enjoying themselves in the back office, since we rarely had anyone come in after 8 p.m.

And that said, Mike signed my paychecks, so I just shrugged it off and let it go, figuring, they would eventually get theirs. They did. Sort of. One night, Mike had called and asked if I could cover his shift with Stacy. He said that it was a security issue to only have one person in the store

during overnights, and he didn't want her there alone since he wasn't going to be able to come in. I didn't believe his reasoning, but I said I would go ahead and cover for him as long as there was a shift to diff on my check for the eight hours. He agreed, said he'd work my shift that day, and we would go back to normal afterwards.

I showed up and clocked in, and immediately Stacey started chatting it up like we were best friends. For the record, I barely knew her, and I had never spoken to her off the clock, but I think being the only other female working the store, she felt like we needed to be best friends. About three or so hours into me stalking the shelves and her leaning against the wall and telling me about literally everything, she kind of just goes silent. I look over and notice that she's starting to cry. Over what? I had no idea. I'm not good with emotions, so I stopped and kind of just asked her what was wrong in the nicest way that I could. She then goes on to tell me that She's pregnant with Mike's kid

Literally, just like that She just dropped that in my lap I just kind of stared at her for a moment And then I asked her if Mike knew She tells me that she hadn't told him yet Because she was scared that he might go tell her to Take care of it And that she was staunchly against that kind of thing

I wasn't really sure what to say in this situation, but she then asked me if she should tell him. I kind of shrugged a bit and said that it would be the right thing to do, but that she could also lie about it and just say it wasn't his. Tell him that she had another boyfriend on the side or something. It was an affair, so it wouldn't be like he would have any room to say anything. I wasn't trying to push her in any specific direction. I was just trying to help her see that she could go about this a few different ways. She promptly ignored what I said, and then basically told me that she needed to tell him,

since it was going to be his, and he had the right to step up to be a father. I pretty much just said, well, whatever you think is best, and moved on with my job. Looking back, I do feel bad that I wasn't as involved. in the conversation or as helpful with the situation as I should have been. But I also know that I couldn't have done anything for her or what happened. As the night went on, Stacy and I just kind of cleaned up the store, helped the literal single person that came in, and finished up the night shift duties.

As it was hitting six, she told me that she was going to tell him and to wish her luck. I did. I said good luck, and as soon as Mike got there, I clocked out and went home. When I got home, I seriously passed out. I was used to early morning work, so the overnight kind of took a lot out of me. I woke up pretty soon after to someone calling my phone. When I looked, it was my mom, which was a rarity. I answered it, and I asked her what was going on, and she was absolutely frantic when she responded.

After calming her down, I asked what was wrong, and she told me that she had just driven by my work and saw that the building was on fire. It wasn't just on fire, though. It was apparently a massive blaze, because of course it would be. It was a gas station. She asked if I was there,

and I mentioned that I had switched shifts with Mike, and that he was working the morning shift, which was much to her relief. After I got off the phone with her, I tried to call Mike, but he didn't answer. I called one of the other workers, and I asked if they had heard from Mike or heard any information about the building burning down,

and he told me that he had seen something about the fire on the news. I turned on my TV, and I watched to see what they had said, and from the video they showed, it was a massive fire. Basically, the building was mostly gone. The trees near the building were all on fire, and they couldn't do a whole lot to get to it because of the danger of the fuel tanks. But they were doing their best to try to put it out.

At first I was a bit upset that I no longer had a job, but after a few hours of just watching the scene play out on my TV, it actually got worse. When they'd finally put out the fire, they found a body where one of the bathrooms would have been, a body that would later be identified as Stacey's, which made me sick to my stomach. I'm sure you can all kind of see where this is going, and I was pretty much putting the pieces together at this point. point as well. It was fairly obvious to me that when Stacey told Mike she was pregnant, he took extreme

measures to take care of it, as she had put it. I immediately called the police, and I told them about the conversation that Stacey and I had had the night before, and that she mentioned that Mike would probably be upset. They asked me to come down and fill out a full statement. and I did. This is sadly where the story actually ends. They never found Mike, like at all. After he set fire to the store and murdered his pregnant girlfriend,

he took off and was never seen in town by the police or his wife or anyone ever again. This was quite a few years ago at this point, and the case is still very open, but obviously unless he turns himself in, they're probably never going to find him out there, if he's not in Mexico at this point. I do feel awful that Stacey died because of this, and it's honestly kind of haunting that I was the last person to see her alive, other than the man that likely killed her.

I really wish I would have been a bit more sociable with her, and if I had known that this was going to, to be the last conversation she had, I would have been much more insistent that she didn't tell Mike about her pregnancy. I started working part-time at a local gas station convenience store over the summer of 2016 to earn some extra money while attending college. When I was hired, I was informed that female employees were never scheduled to work overnight shifts, for obvious safety reasons, in which I was relieved to hear.

I wasn't so much worried about my safety, but I was concerned about getting enough sleep before class. It wasn't long before I found myself dreading the days I had to work, though, as the job turned out to be much more difficult than I had anticipated. We were always short-staffed, which forced us to constantly make. multitask between running cash registers, preparing food, keeping an eye on the pumps, cleaning, stalking, etc. To make matters worse, the two women who managed the place were awful in every way, and I frequently found myself biting my tongue and talking myself out of quitting.

I was especially on edge when they cut our 15-minute breaks, down to 10 minutes, as I never seemed to have enough time to use the restroom and smoke a cigarette fast enough. But it wasn't until several annoying encounters with the regular, we'll call him James, that I finally started to break. James was younger than me, maybe late teens or early 20s, and he thought that he owned the place. Perhaps being the grandson of one of the managers gave him a sense of entitlement to mess with people there. The first time I met James, he approached the counter to purchase some chewing tobacco.

As I was ringing him up, I asked to see his ID, and he told me who he was related to, but I politely asked again to see his ID because I was new. Another employee overheard our conversation and assured me that he was old enough, so I went ahead and rang him up. staring at me intently the whole time, he looked down at my name tag and said, Mindy, that's a pretty name. I thanked him for the compliment and gave him his dip, but he continued talking to me and asking several personal questions. He wanted to know where I lived, what my last name was,

whether or not I had a boyfriend, etc. Meanwhile, a long line had formed behind him and, not trying to be rude, I said something like, sorry, but there's a line behind you, and I casually motioned for the next customer to come up. But James didn't leave. He simply stepped to the side and continued talking to me and watching me as I rang each customer up. It was immediately uncomfortable and unsettling for me, but I, I was immediately uncomfortable and unsettling for me, but I did my best to pretend like I wasn't bothered, even when his persistence escalated,

and another co-worker told him to leave me alone. James soon began to make more appearances after that, the second time being with his girlfriend and another male friend by his side. Yes, he had a girlfriend, and I was very confused when he started flirting with me again, this time right in front of her. but oddly enough she didn't say a word so i brushed it off and played along assuming he's just the goof that my co-worker said he was but when he sat in a booth with his sidekicks at the back of the store i could still feel his eyes burning a hole right through me

over time i grew more suspicious of james as i would witness him do and say countless things to hurt others I knew that he was annoying, and I learned to brush it all off as an all-in-good-fun type of humor, like everyone else did. But when I caught him making fun of another coworker to her face, all I could feel was anger towards him. I removed her from the situation by taking her place at the register, as I could tell she was very hurt and embarrassed by his comments. And by doing so, it was apparent to.

to James that I didn't approve. He would continue to cruelly harass this poor girl, and even some of the customers that came in. But trying to make him stop was like scolding a child. I didn't lash out at him, though. I just began to ignore him. James then started playing these head games with me while I was working. He would take soda and candy, walk outside without paying for it, and then come back into the store and say that I'd say that I was working.

forgot to ring it up, loud enough for everyone to hear. One night, he even filled up his gas tank and took off without paying for it, before returning to say that he had just forgotten to pay. He knew he would always get away with it because Granny was the manager. By this time, it wouldn't have surprised me if he really was stealing gas and food from the store. There was something very dark and strange lurking behind his. his goofball facade, and I avoided him like the plague, though it was nearly impossible to do at times. Then, one day, while I was working alone with another co-worker, we were very busy with tasks as usual,

when, lo and behold, James walked in by himself. I muttered under my breath, pain in the ass, and I walked straight back into the freezer to do what I was working on earlier. And then he followed me, inside the freezer. I didn't know he was there until he walked right up behind me and asked why I didn't greet him anymore. Startled, I jumped and quickly turned around, grabbing my chest and asking him what the hell he was doing back there. He laughed, as I told him I was busy, and reminded him that only employees could be back

in this area. He ignored everything I said, and instead proceeded. needed to ask me personal questions, just like he did the first day that I met him. You never told me where you live. He said, I'm curious about you. I just want to know. Tell me where you live. He was moving closer and closer toward me, literally backing me in to the corner of the freezer.

Are you afraid of me, Mindy? He asked. I tried to push past him, telling him to move, but he kept stepping in front of me to block my way out. Not until you answer me, he said. I started calling out for my co-worker who showed up and gave him hell for being in the freezer. I was finally able to push past James, and I made my way to the front counter, where I looked at the clock and saw that it was time for me to go home.

I gathered my things and punched out as quickly as I could, but James followed me out into the parking lot. I swiftly got into my car, but James had managed to grab the top of the time, of my door before I was able to shut it. Come on, just let me see your ID, he persisted. I repeatedly told him no, before I found myself practically begging for him to let go of my door so I could go home. Then, he grinned at me and said, don't make me follow you, Mindy.

Chills ran down my spine, knowing how bold of a person he was, and considering the fact that he literally just cornered me in the freezer only minutes ago, I highly expected him to follow through. Threatened by visions of what my drive home might soon look like, I became angry. I looked at him dead on before shouting, Let go of my freaking door and stay the hell away from me. I then grabbed the door handle and ripped the door shut as hard as I could.

He tried yanking on the door handle from outside, to open it, but luckily I locked the doors in time. He then continued to knock on my window, asking to see my ID, but I started my car and backed away from him. I turned the wheels and high-tailed it out of there while he just stood and watched me speed off. I was never so glad to finally get away from him, but I was paranoid the whole way home, thinking that he could possibly catch up to me on the road, even though I never saw him. his vehicle behind me. I would end up quitting the job after this, and I didn't care that my hiring manager was

pissed about it. I'd had enough of everything, and dealing with James was the last straw. I didn't bother explaining anything to my manager, because it was apparent to me that James was probably never held accountable for anything he ever did wrong in his life, and he likely never would be. I never saw him again after that, and I hope that I never do, either. James was a jerk, a clown, a joker, but he was also borderline psychotic. This took place back in 2014, and I'm not an author, so forgive me if my writing isn't up to snuff with the other posts on here. I was 17 years old and I lived in a very small town in Massachusetts,

and every night I would take walks after sundown. I enjoyed it, and it was peaceful. Now, I understand that this whole setup is inherently sketchy, and walking around town in the dead of night is just asking for trouble. I was a very anti-social person, so I did it, every night. I lived on a street about four miles long in total, and there would be a few houses every half mile or so, but for the most part things were pretty secluded, other than a decently sized cemetery that I would sometimes hang out at. Side note, a woman had committed suicide at the cemetery after being involved in some white-collar scandal. I never knew her or her family, and I mean no disrespect to them.

There was also another cemetery in town, which was pretty famous for alleged supernatural events, and that people used to do witchcraft in. It was very popular amongst ghost hunters and people that were into cheap scares. So, our little town was kind of a hotspot for creepy stuff. The street had about five street lights, and one of them was constantly bugging out and never got fixed. In order to get to the center of town, I would have to walk a few miles,

essentially in the pitch-black darkness, with nothing but a mag light, my headphones, and my cell phone. Past the cemetery at the end of the street, there was this local donut shop, and then the center. And I would listen to music in the dark with the flashlight being the only decent light for miles,

until I got into town. I would wear a long, black peacoat. At one point, I shaved my head completely bald so that people would think I was creepy and wouldn't bother me if they were driving down the road at that particular hour. The local police were familiar with me, my family, and are kind of messed up background. In 2013, my brothers saved me from my dad after he tried to beat me up. He was beaten unconscious, and the police were called. after that he left and I haven't seen him since.

That's not related to the story in any way. I think the cops realized I was a troubled kid, but not out to do anything malicious. Clean record, no fighting or stealing or anything like that. And they kind of just let me do my thing. I would often go into these weird fantasies where I was some vampire hunter who had to protect the town from the monsters that came out in the dark. I pretended I was some parody comic book hero called The Nightlurker who used a weaponized flashlight to fight evil.

It was cringy and stupid, but it was mostly a joke, and I had an extremely overactive imagination. I try not to tell most people about that. What does all this have to do with the clown man, though? Absolutely nothing. Anyways, it was Halloween night. I was on one of my evil. patrols, and had gotten to the center of town. At the town center, there's this 24-hour gas station called Cumberland Farms.

If you live in New England, it's most likely where you fill your tank or buy overpriced snacks. As I was walking up to the store, there was this extremely tall, slightly pot-bellied guy who was dressed like a clown. but his makeup made him look a bit more like beetle juice he was staring at me with his eyes white open and he had a toothy grin I pretty much figured it was Halloween and it was just some guy trying to mess with me for fun so I said happy Halloween man

and kind of blew right past him into the store I bought myself a soda and some candy and when I walked out the door he wasn't there anymore. I continued my walk. I put my headphones on and just forgot about the guy. The whole town center is connected on Route 9, Main Street, and when I wanted to get around town,

that was the road that I would walk on. So, as I continue on, I let go of every single bit of common sense that I had at the time, blasted my music to the point where I couldn't hear anything else, just started running on autopilot because I'd done this so many times. After walking a mile away from the gas station, there were no cars on the road, and I started to feel a bit uneasy. I looked back, and what do you know,

this giant, clown, beetle-juice-looking guy is about five feet behind me. Same expression on his face from before. Eyes wide, toothy grin, I also need to paint a picture of how tall this guy was. He must have been like six, seven, and was essentially towering over me. I'm five foot eight. I kind of stop in my tracks, take my headphones off, and I look at him. He just passes right by me and says,

Happy Halloween! And some weird-ass, goofy clown voice. And then continues walking. down the street in front of me. That's the last interaction that I have with him, but I keep my eyes on him as he continues walking. Last I saw him, he went into a subway parking lot and was peeking into the windows of people's cars. I get that the guy was clearly just trying to creep people out because it was Halloween night, and it's fun, but the dude waited for me to leave that store, out of sight, and then

proceeded to follow me down the street when I wasn't paying attention, just to say happy Halloween and then dip. And I still had the entire length of the street my house was on to walk in the pitch black. Needless to say, I turned my music volume down and was constantly looking behind me the whole way home. It was very creepy. That was today's episode of. the As the Raven Dreams podcast.

Thank you so very much for listening, and I really hope you enjoyed these scary stories. If you want to support the channel further, please do consider checking out my YouTube channel. Just search As the Raven Dreams on YouTube and subscribing. You can also join the channel or go to my Patreon for early access to all of my content, all of it's appreciated and never expected.

But if it happens, thank you. All that said, friends, I will see you on the next. episode of the As the Raven Dreams podcast. But of course, until then, sleep well.