As The Raven Dreams Podcast - ATRD Ep. 223 - 7 True Scary Stories (Online Dating & Secret Admirer)

Episode Date: May 5, 2026

Today, on the 223rd episode of the As The Raven Dreams podcast, we have 7 True Chilling stories. These stories come from the shadowy corners of reality, where everyday life takes an eerie twist & ordinary people experience the extraordinary. Today we will be diving into Scary Online Dating Stories & Secret Admirer Stories. Today's episode was written by Tom K, Find his other works here: https://www.astheravendreams.com/whoistomk Hey There! Would you like to participate in the postcard exchange? It comes with a free ATRD Sticker! Just Send a post card to the following... Lucas PO BOX 8198 Rochester, MN 55903 If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to like or rate the podcast, and leave me a comment with your thoughts if the platform your on supports it! I upload episodes every 3 days, so there are 2 days between new uploads. The podcast consists of new scary story collections, Glitch in the matrix collections, and also what I call the "Dark Dreams" collections (which are older stories, remastered and layered with rain sounds). If you have a story to submit, would like to find where to listen to the podcast, or want to find me on social media platforms, all of that info can be found at https://www.astheravendreams.com You can also send stories into my subreddit (r/theravensdream) or email them to me at [e-mail] Want to check out some ATRD Podcast Merch? ➤ https://teechip.com/stores/astheravendreams Or for signed merch ➤ https://ko-fi.com/AsTheRavenDreams I wrote a novel, "The Insomniac's Experiment" by Raven Adams! Check it out on amazon (Or you can email me for a signed copy!) Join Patreon to get early access and support the Podcast! ➤ https://www.patreon.com/AsTheRavenDreams Check out my gaming channel with my pal Ghost_Ink ➤ @superNefariousBros On YouTube Thank you to all of the authors that have stories in todays episode... Kaylee, OpeItsMaddison, WhatMakesYouThink, HopelessRomantic, TOM K, CoffeeDatesLFG As Well As Any Author That Has Requested Anonymity. TimeStamps… Ad breaks after Story 1 & Story 4 1 ➤ 01:26 2 ➤ 14:16 3 ➤ 28:12 4 ➤ 36:28 5 ➤ 48:47 6 ➤ 1:01:06 7 ➤ 1:11:41 ----- Disclaimer ➤ Episodes include a content warning for language and sensitive/disturbing content. Listener discretion is always advised. ALL Audio and visuals on this podcast are copyright of AS THE RAVEN DREAMS / RAVEN ADAMS and may not be duplicated, in any format. Bless This Mess. None of my audio is AI Generated, I am a real person reading real stories into a real microphone. Note: The podcast nor the host endorses any advertisements played during the podcast, ads are not chosen by ATRD or Raven Adams, they are chosen automatically by the advertisement systems by the platforms that host the podcast. I do not endorse, support, or promote any opinions or statements made in any adverts played during the show. #ScaryStories #UnexplainedMysteries #GlitchInTheMatrix Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Today, we have some stories for you, Secret Admire and online dating stories. So hopefully you are in the mood for some lovety-dovey dating. You know what? These are not lovey-dovey stories. Secret Admire, obviously not so much. Online dating is just a mess in general. So anyways, uh, yeah, those are the stories. Hopefully you enjoy them. And I hope to see you again soon. Also, just a quick reminder, because some people have asked recently, if you want to send your stories in, go to the website as the ravendreams.com. There's a big button to send your stories in there. It's a form. Pretty simple. I don't collect any personal information. Just want your name, title of the story, and the story. And that's about it. You can include your email, but you don't have to. Uh, if you want to email them to me alternatively, just email them to

as the Raven Dreams at gmail.com super professional I know. Anyways, friends, enjoy the stories and sleep well. This happened back in late 2019. I had been on and off dating sites and apps. I tried finding someone, something would happen, and I would take a break from them until I was ready to try again. This is where I met a guy named Joel. Joel seemed like a pretty average guy.

All of his pictures were from the chest up, but he was honest and explained that he wasn't exactly in shape. I appreciated the comment because honestly I was the same way, which I think is why I struggled on the dating sites. We even talked about how if things didn't work out between us, we could be workout buddies, and I thought that that would be fun too. We got along great. We had a lot of common interests and shared the same peddusts. peaves. We started talking daily, including good morning texts, funny jokes, and memes throughout the day, and even talked at night around dinner and before bed. Now, admittedly, I tend to fall for people pretty fast, and I know that it's a flaw of mine. I tend to attach myself to people that are nice to me, and it's always been a fear of mine that some may not be friends with me because they like me,

but maybe because I just won't leave them alone. So when I started getting more involved with Joel and talking to him more, I had a small breakdown, apologizing to him for being clingy, and he calmed me down pretty quick. He called me and told me that I had nothing to apologize for because he did care for me. In fact, he said that he was falling pretty hard for me and it made me feel a lot better. He said some very kind things to me, and after that night I felt even closer to him. Our relationship became a bit more than talking about dating to calling each other boyfriend and girlfriend.

But eventually I knew the questions would come out. Joel mentioned meeting in person and I shied away from the idea. I'm naturally cautious about meeting people too quickly. for one, I didn't want to disappoint him if he saw me in person, even though we were both honest about the way we looked. I also didn't want either of us to misinterpret anything if we did. I had a pretty bad experience when I met up with someone else for a date about a year prior. He was expecting me to go back to his place after we had drinks and made a huge scene in front of the bar. I didn't want that to happen again, so I told him.

him that I just wasn't ready. Joel completely understood, though, and I appreciated that he respected my wishes. We did video chat a couple of times. I had my phone set up on my table once, and we joked about how we were having a virtual date. He seemed to get a kick out of it, and I thought it was fun, too. But then a week later, the same thing happened. I mentioned a local novelty ice cream place near me, and he asked about it.

about going there together. I again declined and he apologized, again, saying we could meet whenever I was ready. The same pattern kept happening as we talked. He would slip in a hint about meeting again and I kept declining. He would back off, but I started sensing the frustration. I even told him that I understood if he didn't want to wait for me, but he always declined, saying it was fine.

Then, 2020 came around, which made things even worse. My job became remote, and I started going out less and less, of course. But Joel once again asked about getting dinner together. I told him that wasn't a good idea, and that time he was a bit more straightforward with his feelings about it. He asked me why I didn't want to. And I explained my personal feelings on the matter. and then mentioned the quarantines. There weren't a lot of restaurants open for dining at the time.

And instead of being understanding like he normally was, he became defensive and accusatory. At first he asked if it was him, that I wasn't really attracted to him, and then it turned into, you probably aren't even real, accusing me of catfishing him. I told him that was wrong,

and that I thought that that was absurd. If I was going to catfish someone, I certainly wouldn't go for pictures of an overweight girl with glasses and an acne issue. But he just doubled down on it. I told him that I had sent multiple pictures, new and old. And we video chatted multiple times. How could I fake that? He claimed that I must have someone in on it while I was behind the camera telling them what to say. His accusations definitely caught me off guard.

And that was the exact situation that I was trying to avoid, those out-of-nowhere outbursts. I couldn't handle that. I know I might be weird for not wanting to meet up immediately, and I know the pandemic made things worse, but when it came to at least being real, I thought videos would help, but apparently not. I told him that if he couldn't continue the relationship without being in person, then maybe this wasn't going to work out with us, and said that we should just call it off. I was being polite and calm and very apologetic for having wasted his time because I did feel bad.

I hated myself at that moment because I felt like I was ruining a good thing, but his outburst told me that that was normal for him, and after being in a really toxic relationship, relationship where he'd done the same thing, I couldn't handle it, or risk going through it again. That is when he lost it. He once again called me fake and claimed that I was just like the rest of them, and that I didn't know what I was missing out on. I just hung up at that point.

He sent some pretty mean messages to me as well, so I blocked his number, reported his profile on the dating site, and tried to move on. after feeling sorry for myself for the next couple days. I thought that would be the end of it. But then I started getting weird messages, from everyone and on everything. Texts and missed calls in the middle of the night, from my mom, my siblings, my friends, and even my aunt.

They said that someone had messaged them about me saying they were worried about me because I wasn't responding to them. I only saw the messages when I woke up abruptly to someone banging on my door. I looked through the peephole to see two cops standing by my front entrance. I answered and they said that they were responding to a wellness check. They said they got a call from someone, claiming I was suicidal and in immediate danger. I assured them I was fine, showed them my ID and even let them look around my apartment to show that I was. I was fine. I was alone, but I was fine. When they were satisfied, they told me that the person

sounded like a male and claimed to be a friend of mine and asked if I knew anyone that would have made that call. At the time, I couldn't think of anyone. Joel didn't even cross my mind. But after they left, I went and checked my phone and saw the messages. I called my mom back and she freaked out on me. She said that someone was calling her claiming to be a friend of mine that I worked with and asking for my address because I wasn't responding to him

and he was worried about me. My mom gave them my address no questions asked and tried to call me as well. When I didn't answer, even though it was like 10 p.m. when she called me the first time, and I was always in bed by then, she freaked out too and asked my sister and my aunt to try calling me.

Turns out, everyone got the same messages from someone on Facebook named Joel, claiming they were trying to get a hold of me because they were worried about my mental state. He got my mom's phone number from her Facebook and called her. I was livid and terrified. He had just gotten a bunch of people in my life worked up and now worried that I was suicidal, and he now knew my address. He sent the police to my place. I couldn't sleep anymore.

Way to awake with adrenaline trying to figure out what I was going to do. After playing damage control and telling everyone that I was fine, then having to vaguely explain the situation to them, I had a stern conversation with my mom. I told her how dangerous it was to do what she had done, and to never provide mine or anyone else's personal information like that to anyone, regardless of who they claimed to be. Then I called the police back.

I told them the person that did this was not a friend, and in fact, since they knew where I lived, I felt like I was in danger. They helped me with the process of a restraining order, but the problem was I didn't know his exact address. I only knew the general location of where he lived. However, the officer that was helping me was very kind. And she gave me other options, which reminded me that I did know where he worked.

So, I gave her all the information I had, and everything that happened so we could complete the process. But after that night, I wasn't exactly feeling safe to be there alone. So I stayed a few nights at a friend's place. One of those evenings, my friend and I drove to my apartment so I could grab some of my food. I had just bought groceries before this all happened, and I felt bad for using all of her stuff, too, so I figured we could just combine our stock. We pulled up, and as we were getting out of the car, I saw a guy walking from behind the apartment complex. Normally, I wouldn't pay attention to this, as there is a walking path around the complexes. However, the person that I saw was definitely Joel.

He was wearing the dark green hoodie that he was wearing. wearing in several of his pictures. The hood was down so I could easily make out his face. I immediately sank down in the seat. Trying to not let him see me, and I called the cops. When they finally arrived, my friend got out of the car to point him out. The entire time, he was just circling my complex, looking up at the windows and then continued to walk.

It made me sick thinking what? what could have happened if I was home or even stepped outside to leave or get the mail. My friend got back in the car and we watched as they approached him, and he started pointing at the complex and talking. Slowly he became more agitated, started backing up until he made a mad dash behind the complex, and the police chased him. Shortly after, they brought him back around, now in cuffs.

Two more cops showed up, and from there it all seemed to go so far. fast. They took our statements. We went to my apartment and saw that there was no signs of a break-in, so that was good at least. He was, of course, charged for violating the restraining order. I really no longer felt comfortable staying there, and I ended up paying to break my lease and move in with said friend. What I assumed to be a short-lived relationship turned into several months of

paranoia and completely ruined online dating for me. Unless I find someone in person or are they a friend of a friend, I don't think that I'll worry too much about finding a match any time soon. It all started innocently enough, something I actually enjoyed for a moment, but then it all escalated to something I would never anticipate. When I was 22, I was having the time of my life. and enjoying every minute of it.

By that, I mean I tried to do everything I could. I took trips with friends. I tried new things, things I was even afraid to do. After a bit of a health scare as a young adult, I decided that life is too short to wallow in pity. I lost part of my left arm, but I didn't let it stop me. I was going to community college, working, and still finding time to live life to the fullest.

One of the things that I got to experience was a sort of secrets admirer. I suppose I could call it that. I got an email to my personal email that was just titled, Kaylee, you are breathtaking. Kaylee is my name. And the email was from a legitimate-looking email. It wasn't flagged as malicious or spam, so I opened it.

There was a picture that looked like it was actually taken by someone. It was a picture of a sunrise taken in a large, grassy field. Below the photo, it said, You are a beautiful girl inside and out, and I'm glad to have met you. I hope you have a wonderful day because you deserve it. Then it was signed as your biggest fan. I'll admit that I thought it was really sweet, but I was also skeptical. However, there were no attachments, no links, no signatures, nothing.

Just the picture and the small bit below it, and it referred to me by my actual name. So after looking it over a few times, I figured I would respond to humor myself, if nothing else. I just kept it simple. I thanked them and said that it was really sweet. Surprisingly, I got a response pretty quick. They said, you're welcome, and that it was all true. I went through my day with a smile on my face. I was curious who it could be.

Was it someone I passed at work? Someone at the coffee shop that I go to every morning? Was it someone I knew? I was thinking about it the entire day. When I went home that night, I had a new email from them saying they hoped I had a good day at work. and that's kind of how it continued for about a week or so. They sent me daily emails with a pretty or funny picture, and then they would have a little quote or poem or mention how they thought I was beautiful.

They even mentioned things a little more personal, like how they loved the way that I laughed, or how they thought I looked best in blue, mentioning a specific dress I had worn that week. I still found it sweet, but there was a twinge in the back of my mind telling me, isn't it a little weird that they know exactly who you are, but you don't? They pointed out the dress I was in that week,

but I couldn't think of anyone that was overly talkative or kind to me, or even watching me with more intent than others. So who was this person? So I told them I would love to meet them, maybe go on a date or something. If they were sweet enough to do this to just keep it going, and brave enough to reach out, why not give them a shot, right? Sadly, they responded that they were painfully shy but wanted to eventually do so, asking for more time.

I accepted, thinking nothing was happening more than email anyways, so why not? I did tell a few friends about it, and they thought it was sweet and they wanted to do some sleuthing, to figure out who it was. But when I told them about the more specific ones, like the dress, one of my friends told me that I should probably report it. But what exactly could I report? That someone I didn't know was sending me nice emails and I was responding to them. Yes, they knew some specifics about me,

but I didn't feel like it was anything dangerous or something that needed to be reported. But then the emails did start to get a lot of. a little more specific, mentioning the coffee shop that I went to or even where I got takeout from one night. They were still nice about it, making conversation, like asking if I tried a certain latte or something, but it was still kind of an odd feeling, knowing they saw me at said coffee shop or restaurant. Could they have been following me? So I started paying more attention to my surroundings, looking for anyone suspicious in the buildings. But I never caught anyone watching me or anyone in the same place,

so where was this person? Then the emails started to become a bit too serious. They started talking about how I would make a great wife and how we were meant to be together, and they hoped I felt the same way. I hadn't even met them, let alone. knew what they looked like, or even their first name. I told them as much, too.

I said that that was really fast thinking, and that I would certainly need more time. With that comment, I wasn't even sure if we should meet in person yet. I felt like I really needed to know who I was talking to. However, they were doing a 180 and then wanted to meet in person. I told them I couldn't at the moment, and that we should take things a bit slower, offering to call or even video chat with them if they wanted.

After a longer pause than normal, they responded saying that I would soon change my mind, especially if we met in person. They even called me out for wanting to earlier. I know I did at the time, but that was before I knew how close they were to me without me knowing. Before they were saying that I should be their wife. I explained that those last comments really put me off. and that I hoped they could understand too. I didn't get a response that night, so I was thinking I probably upset them,

but if they couldn't respect my wishes too, like I had for them previously, then it certainly wasn't meant to be. But then I got an email the next morning saying that they would give me some time, but to not take too long, because they needed to see me and feel my skin. That one was a bit creepy to me. I didn't respond. I went to work and I told my friends about it.

They told me that I should stop responding for a while to see what happens, thinking that meeting them would be a bad idea if they were this attached. I couldn't really disagree with them, though. They had a good point. So that's what I did. I didn't respond at all that day. I went through my normal routine, ignoring my emails. I got an email about midday and one later that evening, and I ignored both.

The next morning they sent one, but asked if I was ignoring them or why I wasn't responding. Then they sent another one midday asking if I was okay or if they needed to go get help. I didn't want them to do something like call the police, so I just responded that I was fine, that I was busy and trying to give us some help. distance, because they came on strong out of nowhere. That's when they sent a longer email about our destiny and why it's important for us to meet. So I ignored it again. They clearly weren't understanding and that was the problem. Then, it all came to a head in the most terrifying way possible.

After work, I was meeting up with some friends to get drinks for her birthday. We had a great time, too. We all crammed into an Uber. Thankfully, they had a van, and they were even a hoot considering they were dealing with four drunk girls. I was the second one to be dropped off. I unlocked my apartment door, went in, kicked off my shoes and my sweater, and I went to the bathroom to wash my face. I usually have a large t-shirt in the bathroom to throw on after nights like that, so I threw my clothes. in the basket, put on the shirt, and then headed to my room.

I didn't turn on my bedroom light, because I was just crawling straight into bed. I put my phone on the wireless charger, so I didn't even have that light on. I moved my pillow up slightly, hopped into bed, and started adjusting the blanket. I don't normally make my bed, so I was used to seeing it curled or bunched up. What I was not expecting was stretching my legs out. and feeling it hit something under my covers. I paused, in my drunken stupor, trying to think what I left on my bed. When I heard someone say my name, I'm still not sure how I didn't scream,

maybe from shock, maybe survival instinct, or maybe just from being intoxicated, but I slowly pulled back the blanket and saw the whole ass man lying in my bed, curled up, facing away from me. He started rolling over, and I immediately jumped out of my bed, grabbed my phone and ran out my apartment in nothing but my underwear and a t-shirt. Standing in front of my car, I called the police and reported that someone had broken into my apartment. I didn't have my keys, so I couldn't even get into my car. Thankfully, the operator kept me on the line, giving me update.

that the police were on their way. They were almost there, etc. I was staring up at my apartment window waiting to see them walk by, but the light never even kicked on. No one walked out of the complex. He was starting to move. There was no way he was still sleeping in my bed, right? When they finally got there,

I waited outside while two of them went in. I heard shouting, someone in the apartment believed, low mind came out and asked what was happening, and I had to embarrassingly explain to them what happened. It was a woman that lived there with two young kids, and I think her mother. She went back inside, and then surprisingly came out to give me a blanket to wrap around myself. I watched as they dragged someone down the stairs and handcuffs from my apartment.

I didn't recognize them at first, but as soon as they saw me, they started to gravitate towards me, shouting, I just want to be with you, Kaylee. I love you, please, just give me a chance. Finally, getting a good look at their face, I knew who it was. It was one of the maintenance guys from my apartment complex.

I had hardly talked to this guy. I had a maintenance order to have my garbage disposal looked at since it stopped working, and they came in to replace an air filter once. The first time I was sitting in my living room, on my laptop. I remember because we had a short conversation about a sticker on my computer.

The second time we hardly talked because my friend was over. But somehow he managed to get my email and from there knew everything about my day. He'd been stalking me, and of course he would have access to my apartment. I was angry and terrified as I watched them put him in the cruiser,

and after getting some clothes on, I had to explain the police everything that had happened over the last couple weeks. It was hard to believe, not to mention I couldn't stand being alone in my place anymore. When we reported it to the office, people the next day, they at least took it seriously. Possibly because there was no reason for him to be in my place at like two in the morning. But they immediately had the locks changed and apologized for everything. They explained that they basically have a checkout process for all the keys,

and he clearly just took the one for mine. They did let me know that he was fired and was never allowed to be back on the property. They did their best to make me feel safe, but I still had troubles. Eventually they allowed me to move to a different complex that year. Before I moved, I had to have someone basically check my entire apartment before I would even leave the living room. It was not a good feeling. I did gradually move past it, though, and thank you. Thankfully, he must have taken the restraining order seriously, too, because I never heard from him again.

So, I guess, moral of the story, if you happen to get an email or a text from an anonymous crush, just proceed with caution. I think we all know the stories of secret admirers that have gone too far, become beyond toxic, and then ended in profound and grotesque public tragedy. I'm not here today to share one of those kinds of stories, though. I'm here to talk about one of the quieter kinds of tragedies. Peg and Twistle was a trained stage actress that arrived in Hollywood in the early 1930s, right as the dream factory of horrors was beginning to choke on its own promises. Pegg managed to land herself a contract with a studio. She even had a credited role, but then nothing.

Projects quietly stalled and calls never came. The doors remained politely closed. What Peg did receive, though, was letters. Most of them were fan mail, admiration without teeth. But some of them seemed a bit more confident, more assertive. They hinted at influence and opportunity. They spoke like the writer knew how things really worked. They contained no explicit promises just enough to keep hope breathing it alive.

And that's the strange thing, really. None of these letters threatened Peg. They didn't try to intimidate or exert some kind of control over her life or her career. None of them crossed lines that the law or even social norms at the time would have deemed dangerous. They all just conveyed encouragement, faith, belief in her talent. Unfortunately, that encouragement wouldn't quite be enough. In September of 1932, Pegg and Twistle climbed the Hollywood sign and jumped from the letter H. Her body was found not long after and her death was ruled a suicide,

with no evidence coming up in the near century since to contradict this. But, even with Pegg's death, the letter still arrived. Mail systems don't close these loops automatically, and sometimes even if a death notice is given, the male in the deceased's name continues to arrive anyway. I know this firsthand, it's actually annoying. For the writer of the letters, nothing significant had occurred. Silence wasn't uncommon, in Hollywood especially.

Just because she had not responded didn't really mean anything terrible. People moved, career started, illness or anything. number of things could explain weeks, even months without a reply. Silence did not announce tragedy. It merely left room for interpretation. So the letters continued to be sent. That's something so terribly mundane about that fact. There was no escalation, no dramatic gesture, just paper, envelopes, postage stamps,

and the assumption that life was continuing quietly out of sight. In the 1930s, news didn't move quickly, nor did it move evenly. Peg and Twistle wasn't exactly a household name either. Her death didn't dominate headlines for long, and certainly didn't guarantee that everyone who had ever taken an interest in her life would learn of it promptly, if at all. And that matters, because it reframes those letters. They're not evidence of obsession.

their evidence of lag, proof of the gap between an event and its recognition, between reality and the knowledge of it. In that gap, belief can persist without resistance. Hope can remain intact because nothing has happened to directly contradict it. From the outside, it's easy to imagine the letters stopping as soon as news hits of Peg's death, but life, well, life rarely offers such clean closure. Mail routes don't pause for grief, addresses don't automatically expire. But for someone writing on the periphery of Peg's life, there may have been no clear signal that anything irreversible had happened.

This actually leaves us with two possibilities. Neither of them is provable and neither of them is sinister. In the first possibility, the writer never knew. They continued to send letters to what they assumed was temporary silence, completely unaware that there was no one, left to receive them. The absence of a reply not feeling alarming, but ordinary. Careers fail quietly all the time. Hollywood was full of near-misses and vanished names.

With no definitive information, hope could survive by default. In this version, the tragedy is not delusion, but delay. Belief outlasting the person it was attached to simply because no one formally told it to stop. In the second possibility, the writer did learn of Peg's death and was never able to fully accept it. Not in that dramatic or irrational sense, but because acceptance often requires participation. Funerals, wakes, public mourning, more a case of I never said goodbye, so how could they be gone? The admirer never got those. They weren't family, nor a colleague.

They were not someone that had been permitted to stand among the grieving. Whatever the connection they felt to Pegg existed entirely at a distance, unacknowledged or unverified. If they did grieve, they did so alone. And if they continued to hold on to the idea of Pegg still alive somewhere, in memory, possibility, or even imagination, it may not have been denial as much as refusal to erase meaning without permission. Both versions are equally laced with tragedy and pain, just different flavors. In both versions, the result is the same. Letters left undelivered to the intended recipient.

And in both versions, the writer of those letters is left with a grief they cannot publicly claim. A sadness they're not allowed to name. They carry belief with nowhere left to land. perhaps poetically. Peg and Twistle becomes to them as Hollywood had been to her. Distant, radiant, full of promise, and ultimately answered with silence. There's no lasting mystery here and no unsolved crime to be riddled out. Just the uncomfortable reality that encouragement, when offered from too far away, can still fail.

That belief without. action can feel like support, right up to the moment that it's not enough. Peg's death was final, that much as certain. What remained afterward were echoes, letters unanswered, faith, unresolved, and the quiet suffering of people who believed in her without ever fully knowing her. Sometimes, tragedy doesn't radiate out through violence or blame. sometimes instead it just kind of lingers suspended in time

waiting for answers that will never ever arrive with that story told I just want to take a brief moment and remember Peg and Twistle and even a moment of remembrance for the unknown author of those undelivered letters Peg's time was brief and she never got the chance

to write much of her own story So, rest in peace, peg and twistle, and many condolences to the unknown writer. Back in my early 30s, I was working at a local insurance firm. We were going through a conversion or a merger, as we were being bought by a larger company, which basically combined our work and eventually we had to move buildings. The new building was larger, and we had more people. to work with. It was overwhelming at first, but the job was practically the same. I met some new people, some I didn't care for, and others I became close friends with, including a woman named

Jackie. Jackie was a few years older than me, but it was like we had been friends forever. We quickly started having lunch together, talked and texted all the time. I had even gone to her place for dinner and met her two younger kids and husband, and they were all wonderful people. I bring Jackie up because when I got a Facebook message from someone claiming to have a crush on me, she told me it sounded very storybook romantic and pushed me to get more info out of them. The Facebook page was very empty and new. The profile photo was just some stock image of two roses. the name was something like true love.

Clearly this was before Facebook was more strict and made you confirm you were using a real name. To me, it looked like someone set this up with the intention of messaging me without putting out there who they really were. So I messaged them back and told them it was very nice of them. I asked them how they met me

thinking maybe I could get to, some hints as to who they were. They said it's only been in passing, but they haven't known me long. I immediately assumed it had to be someone I worked with since we had only been in this new building for about six months or so. After some casual back and forth about each other, I found myself really interested in him. He told me some personal things about him, but I still didn't know his name or what he even looked like. However, since he was willing to put himself out there like that, I figured the least I could do was be open to seeing where it went and give him a chance.

I asked if he wanted to meet up for coffee, nothing too serious or formal to start, but he declined. He said he really wanted to but was afraid that if I saw them, that I'd reject them immediately. He then asked if we could just continue. continue talking like that for a while. Now, that did tug at me a little. I know the feeling of struggling with self-confidence.

I was in a very toxic relationship that did a number on my mental health when I was younger, so I understood and accepted their request. So, over the next few weeks, we continued messaging each other about our everyday life. Both of us did. I didn't feel like either of us. us were really oversharing, it was mutual, which was nice.

But then I got my first red flag. I came home from work and saw flowers sitting on my doorstep. They were wrapped up with the cards so these were purchased by someone, and since they were left there, I would assume they were hand delivered by the person that bought them. At first, I smiled as I picked them up and brought them inside. Then I read the card. It was a short poem about meeting each other and was signed, Forever Yours, D.

That was the closest thing I had to a name, and I still couldn't think of anyone with a name that started with D. All I knew was this had to be the guy I had been messaging. The problem with this was that I never told him where I lived. So if it was him, how did he know? I sent him a message once I was inside and asked if he sent them. He confirmed it was him and asked if I liked them. I did tell him my favorite flowers were tulips, and that's what he got me, which was sweet.

I told him I did, but I asked how he knew where I lived. He avoided the question. He said something about no one. knowing I would like them and was hoping he could make my day better after a stressful week at work. The work week was rough because of a new project that was being brought on due to the merger that happened, but I hadn't mentioned it to him because it was kind of a hush thing at the time. This to me confirmed that it must be someone I worked with. However, I didn't like that he now mentioned two things that I did not bring up to him,

him, so I confronted him about it. What came next was a long, rambling message that started off apologetic, but quickly spiraled. He said he couldn't help himself. He said he wanted to do something nice for me, so he followed me home to get my address in order to send the flowers. He said he didn't want to ask me for it so that it would be a surprise. Then, the email ended with, I'm in love with you, and I know you feel the same way. How on earth would I feel the same way, or how could I?

I didn't even know his name or what he looked like. Furthermore, why would I be comfortable with him knowing where I live? I told him this was way too much, and he escalated this to a point that I was now uncomfortable. with it. I was trying to be cautious with my response. I told him that I appreciated the flowers, that it was a nice gesture, but I explained that he stepped way over some boundaries. And if this is what he was going for, then we needed to cut communication now because it was looking unhealthy. He didn't respond. I thought maybe he took my request seriously, or maybe I heard his feelings,

and he just didn't know how to respond. Either way, I appreciated it didn't continue, so I just continued on with my night. The very next day, I went to the store after work, and as I was walking back to my car, I heard someone say my name. My stomach dropped, as I turned around to see Daniel, Jackie's husband,

standing there with a single red rose. That's when it all came together. Daniel was the one messaging me? I didn't even consider him being the D because I had only met him a handful of times. He dropped Jackie off twice when her car was having troubles. Then I had dinner at their place once. One time.

We were around each other and talked one night. and from those little shallow conversations, he thought I was in love with him? I was dumbfounded at that moment and asked what he was doing there. That's when he confessed it was him. He said he knew I felt the same way based on how I talked to him and how I liked the messages. I mean, yeah, I did. Hell, Jackie thought it was sweet too. That was before we both knew it was her.

her husband messaging me. He tried to approach me and ask if we could talk, and I backed up unlocking my car. I told him, I wanted nothing to do with him and that this was not okay. I was friends with his wife. But you know what he said to me? He said Jackie knew all about it, that she was in on this. She wanted to be a part of this. I didn't even know how to respond. I'd just got in my car and left. It must have been his way of trying to get me not to tell her, right? Yeah, no.

I couldn't be more wrong. I texted Jackie later that night and asked her if Daniel was around. She said he was at the store, so I called her. I was panicking as I over-explained this to her. saying the person messaging me was actually Daniel, and how I didn't do anything with him, I didn't know it was him, how he claimed she knew and even apologized profusely, even though I technically did nothing wrong.

After a pause, all she said was, yeah, he told me you rejected him. I was floored. She did know. Why was she trying to set me up with her own husband? Turns out, Jackie and Daniel had a pretty open relationship, and this whole thing, they planned together. She invited me over for dinner so that her husband could meet me too and approve of me. From there, they thought it would be easier to get me more comfortable with the idea, but acting like a secret admirer, and I still don't understand how that was supposed to help.

I told her I was not even close to being comfortable with this idea. After a small, confusing and awkward argument, I hung up and called into work the next day. There was no way I was going to be able to work in the same building in close proximity to her. When I got another message of the both of them in a compromising position, claiming the offer was still open, I actually went to HR about it.

Sure, it was outside of work, but I had refused and they still sent this. Thankfully, they actually took it pretty seriously. I was allowed to work from home four days of the week until they figured things out. She was forced to a new position or department, which moved her to a different floor. Things were still very awkward from then on.

I would see her every once in a while in the lunchroom or leaving work, but I would just wait to enter the room or even leave until after she was gone. I ended up leaving the company for a better job. I didn't like where it was going when they merged anyways. I heard from someone that worked there that she ended up being fired not long after I left because of a similar situation. She pulled on someone else that worked there. But that time, it resulted in police and charges being filed on both her and Daniel.

That's all I'll say about that. So there you have it. To make a long story short, my co-worker and her husband invited me into their open marriage, and when I declined, she escalated it to another victim. And with that, I say Jackie and Daniel, I hope we never meet again. Hi Raven. I'm fairly new to your channel. I've been around for about a year now I believe, but I have a crazy story that I would like to share with you. I figured it's Valentine's month and that would be the perfect time to write this out as well. Back in 2017, I was pretty heavy into online dating and dating apps. I'm a female, and at the time of the story, I was 28. I had several relationships prior, my longest one being four years, right around the age of 21.

Since then, I never had any really stick. But I'm a hopeless romantic and wanted that fun and cute relationship like all of my friends had, so I kept trying to find Mr. Wright to go on these double dates with my friends. So at that time I was on several dating profiles, trying my luck again and again. The story is about a guy that I matched with named Bentley. Bentley was 30, and as I often say, normal cute. He was attractive, but he wasn't the Fabio-style fit and handsome, if that makes sense. He had a soft face, bright green eyes, just like my own and medium-length curly hair.

It was funny because, when we matched, my first message to him was asking for his hair care routine, because I was jealous, and he seemed to like that. We started talking after that pretty frequently. We talked about work and our interests. I learned he was a project manager. He liked going to different breweries and trying local craft beers. He liked cycling and secretly said that he was learning how to crochet. He mentioned how his mom had some kind of club where her friends and their kids that crocheted all got together and

he decided that he wanted to learn so she could have one of her own kids join her. This was the exact kind of cute thing that I wanted. I loved it. He was everything I was looking for, but also didn't seem over the top. I didn't even consider him being fake because nothing was overdone. His pictures were consistent, and even the ones he sent seemed normal. He never tried to rush meeting up, and his questions never seemed invasive. or nosy, like those I have seen where they just try to see how much money you make or

your worth. Those of you that have used these dating sites will probably understand. So after a lot of talking, we started giving each other little pet names and found ourselves saying that we cared for each other and agreed that we should give this a real shot. He didn't live far from me either. Maybe 45 minutes in rush hour traffic, so when we did, we did. did decide to meet up, it wouldn't be too hard to do. But neither of us was in a rush to do that either.

Being a project manager, I knew the job was always very moving, and always busy. I had a friend at work, I'll call him Will. That was a project manager, and he was constantly on the move. I remember needing to schedule a meeting with him about something my team was working on, and it was going to be around two weeks out because he was so booked up, so... I understood. Bentley even sent pictures when he went on this business trip, which I only vaguely daydreamed about traveling with him.

He actually mentioned that as well, saying that when we got to that point, he would love to have me with him on the trips, and I loved that idea. So basically we agreed that we would meet up eventually, but in the meantime, I was happy with where we were at that moment. But, of course, things started to get a little strange.

A conversation went as normal. We talked about life, past memories, and even work. I knew plenty about his work and teased him about working with a pretty young girl with dark hair just like me. He aired his grievances on bad days and he knew about my work too. Hell, he even helped me on one of my spreadsheets. So asking how work went was normal for us. However, Bentley started asking me more targeted questions like, How did your meeting go with Will today?

No big deal at first. I had a meeting with him about something new he was working on and wanted my opinion on, since it could affect me. Will and I have always had a totally normal and professional relationship. Sometimes we would grab coffee in the break room. We both typically went to lunch around the same time, so we would eat together sometimes. others would join us too if they could. We would message on teams and professionally tease each other at times, and that was it. I didn't even have his cell phone number.

I knew he was married and never had any interest in him romantically. To be honest, I didn't think twice about our working relationship. But Bentley had brought Will up a few times. I figured he was just curious about my work, so I would mention the meeting with him, but explain how it was something that he was doing, and then mentioned what I was working on. Then he would ask something else about Will. Jokingly, I asked Bentley if he was jealous.

He said no, but that he was curious about his role in what I did. It seemed innocent enough, and made sense, so I told him about the approvals I needed since he was the manager, and he seemed to understand. No big deal, our conversations were completely normal, otherwise. Then there's the boiling point. It was a normal day at work. I was at my desk, headphones on, working on something important, I'm sure, when I heard shouting from the hallway. I pulled my headphones off and tried to listen and heard a woman screaming profanities.

Then the voice gets closer and closer until the door to my team's room slams open. This woman, who I didn't recognize at first, stormed in holding a stack of printed papers. Her face, bright red, absolutely raging. She started screaming at me, calling me every name in the book. A home wrecker, a whore. You get the idea.

She was waving these papers in my face, and when she threw a few at me, I could see that they were screenshots of a messaging app. I recognized them pretty quickly. They were men. Messages between myself and Bentley. The one that I saw was a message about us going on vacation together because I sent a picture of myself from my vacation that I took with a friend of mine to the beach.

I was completely frozen in place. It dumbfounded. How did she have our messages? Then it hit me hard. Was this Bentley's wife? Was he secretly married and she found out? But as she screamed at me about how she was. she was going to ruin my career and my life, Will runs into our room and is trying to calm

this woman down and calls her Kathy. She tells Will that she has proof that he was cheating, and that she knew that I was trouble from the moment that she saw me. When she lowered her voice and started sounding very serious, I actually recognized her voice. It sounded a lot like Bentley's. Bentley wasn't real at all. She explained, as she swings the papers around wildly that she set up this profile as Bentley using her brother's picture but trying to act like Will she saw me one day in the office when she stopped by and saw me talking to him and immediately assumed we were having an affair so she set this whole thing up to prove that I was attracted to him and that she was going to divorce him

take everything and then sue me for emotional distress will kept pleading with her to leave the building with her so they could talk more, but it was already a mess. Other people were gathering and watching. I saw a few people slightly raised their phones like they were recording it all, and I was just mortified. I was being accused of sleeping with a co-worker, and poor Will had his crazy wife in here screaming and accusing him, too. And the truth is, there was absolutely nothing between us. The pictures of Bentley looked nothing like Will.

She may have been describing him. I'm not sure how much of it was true other than the business trips, but I still wasn't attracted to Will. But nothing we were saying at that moment convinced her otherwise. They ended up having to get help from security to get her out, and Will went with her. I was left to sit in my little corner office and pick up all the papers that she threw and dropped

hoping that no one else saw them. There wasn't really much in there that was explicit or anything, but they were still personal conversations, you know? Thankfully, one of my friends worked there, and she was quick to jump in and help, but the damage was already done. People were already talking and whispering, and it was too hard to focus on anything else.

I sat at my computer too embarrassed to leave my desk. I thought that if I left, it would make me look guilty, so I tried to hold out. But all I could think about was how devastated I was that this person didn't really exist. We talked a lot. We didn't talk a whole lot on the phone because he, or I guess she admitted that they were a little awkward at the time, and I found that cute. Now I know.

It was probably just hard to keep up with the voice and have the time to talk when not around her family. Bentley's voice wasn't exactly deep, but I also didn't find that odd either. I guess I should have. But she still went through all this trouble trying to match with me on one of the dating sites that I used, and all to try to prove that Will was having an affair. More, maybe more specifically with me. It was so bizarre. I'm sure it was embarrassing for him, too, but he had sent me an email a few days later apologizing for what happened.

He explained that he was actually in the process of getting a divorce for this exact reason, but this was the most extreme thing she had ever done. I told him it was okay because it wasn't his fault and kind of just left it at that. I ended up working from home for a few weeks after that because it was hard to go to the office, if I'm being honest. That feeling of being watched and talked about lingered every time I was there, and I couldn't take it at the time. I found it easier to just work from home.

So, there I was, back to being single in an extreme way, and now wanting to find a new job because of something I technically had no part in. Things are much better now, though. I met a guy through a mutual friend and have been seeing him for a little over three years now, and we've met in person. There aren't any secret spouses or things like that, so we've been pretty happy. I moved to a different department at the same company and it's fully remote. Will actually quit or found a new job, I assume, but I have no idea where he is nowadays.

I wish him well, though. All I know is that I hope this is the guy for me now. But worst case scenario, I'll be vetting people that I meet online a lot better than with just a phone call. Carrie Farver was a 37-year-old mother from Iowa. She had a job working in sales. The people that knew her spoke highly of her, independence, organized, and attentive. In 2012, Carrie would go out on a single date with the man that she had met online. It wasn't a prolonged romance, just a mutual interest and attraction.

There was no messy breakup, just a single date and a brief attempt. to continue contact. And then, very quietly, Carrie vanished. That's not the most disturbing part of this story. The disappearance, that is. The true terror comes from the fact that for almost four years, no one even noticed that Carrie was, in fact, missing.

That's because, as far as anyone could tell, Carrie Farver was very much alive, if increasingly unstable. messages continued coming angry rants emails social media posts there were threats apologies and emotional spirals carrie seemed angry obsessed with the man that she had briefly dated and completely fixated on another woman in this man's life she harassed them mercilessly messages were sent at all hours endlessly she threatened accused accused and ranted at them. To everyone on the receiving end, this wasn't a disappearance. It was a person unraveling on them in real time. The truth, however, was far, far worse. Carrie Farver had been dead

since November of 2012, murdered shortly after that first date. Her body had been destroyed, and the carry that was currently blowing up everyone's phone and continuing this bizarre digital existence for years afterwards, was all a fabrication carried out by another woman in the orbit of that dating situation from earlier. She had stolen Carrie's identity and then weaponized it. This wasn't a short con. It wasn't a brief flare of online harassment that burnt itself out within a few weeks. This was a multi-year performance that relied on one powerful fact.

People trust continuity more than silence. When these messages first started, no one questioned the authenticity. Why should they? The phone number was right. The email address was real. The writing style was consistent enough. The emotional logic, while extreme, was internally consistent. No one thought, this can't be Carrie.

Instead, they all thought, this is a side of carry I've never seen. That distinction is very important. It's not that friends and families were ignoring warning signs. They were interpreting them through the only lens that made sense at the time. People drift apart. Adults go no contact all the time. An emotional crisis can play out behind closed doors at any minute, and they do. And of course, we all know the internet is full of people acting out versions of themselves

that would never be performed face to face. Carrie's mother did grow concerned and she tried to reach out to her daughter. She received messages back, but they were cold and dismissive. It seemed like Carrie was pushing people away. Of course, that hurt, but it didn't seem impossible. That's the terrifying aspect of this story, though. The performance didn't need to be perfect. It merely needed to appear plausible.

Over time, online Carrie became more aggressive, more unhinged. She sent out a steady stream of threats, not only to others but to herself. At one time, she even appeared to have set fire to her own car, which only reinforced the narrative that Carrie was spiraling out of control. The reality of this was that this performance was to keep people from asking the one and only question that truly mattered. where was she? Eventually, law enforcement did get involved, just not in the way any of you may think. From their perspective, they weren't dealing with a missing person.

They were dealing with legitimate criminal accusations, threats, cyber-stalking, harassment. In their minds, this woman was very much alive and accounted for, and she was causing other people problems. The chilling part is that when, When police reached out, online carry responded. Now, in our modern world, the idea that digital communication can be a substitute for physical presence is rarely challenged. If someone answers, we stop looking.

The signal replaces the body. For years, the imposter carry had maintained multiple online and social media accounts. Dozens of them, in fact. She was posing not just as Carrie, but as friends, relatives, and even coworkers and strangers. She had created and maintained an entire ecosystem of corroboration. When one account made a threat, another one would respond. If doubts ever arose, then additional voices would appear to strengthen this illusion. That is methodical.

The effect was incredibly devastating. The man that Carrie had dated and the other woman later targeted were subjected to endless harassment. They were threatened. Their names were smeared. It was an endless digital siege for them. And all the while, the true victim in all of this was already long gone. Eventually, the cracks were spotted. Multiple IP addresses appearing across supposedly different people, writing styles overlapping just a bit too neatly.

The timelines collapsed under scrutiny, and slowly the disturbing truth came to light. Carrie Farver had been harassing no one, because Carrie Farver had been erased. Investigators finally began to piece together what had happened, and as they did so, the scope and scale of the deception became clear. The impersonation wasn't an accessory to the crime. It was the crime's second phase.

The murder removed Carrie's body, but the impersonation removed her absence. The woman that was responsible for Carrie's death, and the years-long impersonation was identified as Shana Goliar. In 2016, she was arrested and in 2017, convicted of charges, including first-degree murder, stalking, and arson. She's been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Historically speaking, disappearance relies on isolation. When a person stops showing up, stops calling, and otherwise being seen, absence becomes obvious.

But in the digital age, absence can be masked nearly indefinitely. As long as the messages keep flowing, then concern stalls. This story exposes a very fundamental vulnerability in how we understand presence. Communication becomes proof of life. Responsiveness turns to reassurance, and digital friction is just now reality. Carrie's story demonstrates for us all just how easily that logic can be exploited. For Carrie, there was no frantic early search. There was no iconic missing person poster.

No collective moment where people went, something is wrong here. Instead, there was noise. Constant, overwhelming, noise. Noise? It's the enemy of clarity. The imposter wasn't hiding Carrie. She was overriding her.

By the time the truth came out, years had passed. Opportunities were lost, and evidence degraded. And a woman that should have been mourned immediately was instead reduced to being the villain in her own story. I think that that, it's even scarier than everything else. Carrie wasn't just robbed of her life, she was robbed of her narrative as well. The carry that everyone remembers from those years was angry, unstable, and dangerous. Meanwhile, the real Carrie, the mother, the daughter, the woman who went on a single date and never came home, was lost.

buried under a performance that she never consented to. The story forces some very uncomfortable questions. How many assumptions do we make based on digital behavior alone? How often do we accept continuity as confirmation? How easily can absence be hidden when someone is willing to answer in your name? Online dating wasn't necessarily the cause of this crime. It was merely the ignition point. The real accelerant was a world that equates typing with being.

Carrie's disappearance didn't fail to register because people didn't care. It failed to register because the system worked exactly as intended. Messages sent. Responses received. Reality, as they say, was intact. Until it wasn't. and by the time anyone realized that it wasn't, it was far too late. May you rest in peace, Carrie Farver.

My best friend Carter died in a car accident back in 2019. We had been friends since my family moved to that city. I met him in middle school and we clicked immediately when we got into a lighthearted argument about over what psychic Pokemon was better. It had become our inside joke When we were arguing over something or someone else was around us And we would shout out, X-Pocomone will always be superior.

Give it a shot. The argument usually ends in laughter. Anyways, we may as well have been brothers with how much we hung out. He meant even more to me as he was the first person that I came out to. Others didn't want to hang out with him. with me anymore, but not Carter. He always stuck by my side and supported me. Losing him was devastating. I went to therapy, and I took time off of work. I spent a lot of my time with his wife and son because they were like my second family, and I was their son's godfather, so I felt the need to help them

and do what I could to take care of them, and it certainly helped me heal some. But I still wasn't fully healed. Part of my plan with my therapist was to attend a grief support group. Due to the time, most of them were online only, which I felt was better for me anyways, so I signed up for one and started attending. We could share as much information that we were comfortable with, and while we had to sign up with our real names, we could use a nickname if we preferred. I went by the nickname that Carter always called me.

but I also wasn't afraid to share my name, so it was known. The group session actually helped a lot. To hear other stories and how they coped and even struggled, made me feel not so alone. Now, in those sessions was also where I met this guy that I will call Brian. He had lost his older brother to a terminal illness two years prior. We connected over similar experiences with grief, Survivor's guilt, all of it.

We would talk in the group sessions, but eventually, we started messaging outside of the group chat. Brian seemed to understand me in ways others didn't. In fact, it reminded me a lot of Carter. We started talking via Facebook Messenger, then eventually by text. We would talk about how weird holidays and special occasions were now, or talk. about the happy memories we had. He never tried to fix it or tell me that it would get better either. He just listened. It helped just as much as therapy, to be honest. It wasn't long before he confided in me that he was all so gay, and that his brother was very supportive of him,

which was another reason as to why it was so hard for him. This became another reason we bonded so quickly. And within a few months, our friendship only, only became stronger until it turned into something more. He told me that he had developed feelings for me, and I told him the same. I learned a lot about him, where he worked, that he had just finished his bachelor's degree. I learned that he had a cat and what his hobbies were.

We set out some time for us to call and even played some games online together to pass the time. It was about a month after we started talking steadily and getting to know each other that Brian, and confessed his feelings for me. He was checking all the right boxes for me, and maybe I was a little vulnerable still from Carter's passing, but I really did feel the same.

We agreed to take it slow, but also we became a pair. I told very few people about him, as I meant it when I said that I wanted to take it slow. I didn't even know how long it would really last. We acted like normal couples, shared photos, talked about our day and even on the bad days, we grieved or vented together.

But then Brian started saying things that were throwing me off. I would be in a perfectly good mood. The day would go well or maybe I even had good news to share, but then Brian would mention Carter, like managing to bring him up in the conversation. Sometimes it would be as simple as he would be so proud of you, or I bet he would have liked that. But then other times it seemed really forced and would sometimes make my mood do a full 180.

I shrugged it off because I was assuming he was just trying to be nice, since that is how we met after all. But then it started becoming more frequent. And if I'm being honest, a little intrusive. Like one time I brought up a band I used to listen to. The subject of the story wasn't really about the band or the music, but he stopped me mid-sentence and asked, Can you not listen to them anymore because they remind you of Carter? I was confused by the connection, and he went into explaining how I must not listen to them because we used to listen to it,

and now it's hard to hear it. That wasn't the case at all. I stopped listening to them because I just didn't like where they were going with their sound. They had completely changed. I explained this to Brian and asked him why he would ask that, and why he kept bringing up Carter. He said that he was only trying to help since I cared about him so much. I told him that was fine, but I didn't always want to talk about Carter as I was trying to move forward.

He apologized, and I let it go because I guess it wasn't that big of a deal. I figured it was just his way of trying to learn more about what worked for us, and maybe it was how he handled difficult situations. Not to mention it was our first little scuffle. I think we both handled it pretty well, and I was happy about the outcome. But then it got more weird, and instead of talking about Carter, he started to somewhat act like him. He would bring up these new-to-him bands that he liked.

and it would be the same ones that Carter listened to. He was talking about getting a dog and naming it Zeus, because he thought that would be a cool name for a dog. Carter's family had a dog named Zeus. He even mentioned that in the future he wanted to take a trip to Yellowstone with me. Surprise, we took that same trip after we graduated high school. The problem is, I didn't mention most of these things to Brian. I may have mentioned the trip while talking about memories,

but I had no reason to bring up Carter's dog, or other small things like that. So I was confused as to how we could even know those details and why he was being so targeted. I ended up going through all of my messages with him to make sure that I wasn't the problem, but there were no records of us talking about those things. I, of course, couldn't see the stuff we talked about,

in therapy sessions, but I was grieving really hard at that point, and I don't recall ever bringing up these little things. So I was still at a loss of how he knew all those things, and I could not believe it was all just a coincidence. Finally, he brought up another memory about Carter that was so specific that I couldn't help but call it out. I told him how that sounded awfully familiar and questioned when it happened to him. He couldn't answer, but I didn't back down. Finally, he admitted the truth. He said that since I obviously cared about Carter so much,

he wanted to do more research on who he was, so he could help me more. He kept making it seem like I was in love with Carter, and I told him that was never the case. Carter was always my best friend, and I never saw him any other way. Besides, he was happily married to a woman, and they had a child together, whom I adored like he was my own kid.

I never indicated that there was ever anything else between us, but that's how Brian took it. And to hear him refer to it as research was just so very weird to me. I tried explaining to him that I didn't want him to be like anyone else but himself. He seemed to understand, but I was still on edge. It was such a weird thing to do, and I wondered if his motives were truly harmless, or, as silly as it may sound, was he jealous?

Or was there something weirder going on? I stayed in the relationship, but I did spend some time with friends to try to get out of my head more, and I explained this to him. But Brian just seemed to double down on all of it. He even sent me pictures of a new truck that he got.

And of course, it was the same exact one that Carter had. The same one that he died in. That not only creaked me out, but it made me so emotional. Why would I ever think that that was endearing or helpful in any way? I told him this, and after a small back and forth, he finally admitted his whole sick scheme. He said that he wanted to relive the... event. He wanted to take me through it, from getting to know him, falling in love with him,

and caring for him deeply, and then he wanted to get into an accident. He wanted to survive it because he wanted to see my reaction. He wanted to see me cry and fear losing him. He said that he wanted to experience the raw emotion that came with that sort of situation. I, I love lost it. Losing Carter was one of the worst things to happen in my life. I contemplated taking my own life as well, and he wanted to know how that felt? He was supposedly in that group therapy because he lost someone too, but come to find out, that was a lie. He wanted to get close to someone to make them relive that horrible moment. I said some pretty harsh things to him, that he needed help, because that was not a normal reaction.

But I also told him that I never wanted to hear from him ever again, and... Well, that was it. I ended that call and ignored every time he tried to call back. I ignored his texts, and eventually blocked his number. I even reported him to the therapist that he confessed his story was a lie, and they said they would look into it. I don't know if anything ever came back on it because I never heard back, and I never went back there. I didn't want to risk him ever being there.

I felt like I was finally coming out of this dark place. I was just on the edge of climbing out, and he just shoved me right back down. It took a while, and even longer for me to try and date again, but I managed. I actually leaned on Carter's wife, Kiaria. who had become a good friend, as well as family, to get me through. Something I should have done in the first place, but eventually I made it back out. Sadly, it just takes a lot more for me to finally open up to some people about my past, worried that something similar might occur, but truly from the bottom of my heart,

Brian, I hope you found the help that you needed, because I feel like there may have been something more to your reason for you. doing what you did. I just couldn't stomach being around to experience it. Hello there, friends, Raven here. Welcome to the end of this episode of As the Raven Dreams. I hope that you genuinely enjoyed this collection of scary stories, as I enjoyed putting them together for you.

If the platform you're on has the option to follow the podcast or leave ratings or reviews, please do consider doing so as it helps the podcast grow. Of course, if you enjoy the content, that is. If you didn't enjoy it, then feel free to also leave a rating as honesty is important, and I take all feedback seriously. Also, I do have a YouTube channel. It's a lot of the same content, but we do live streams on Saturdays around 6 p.m. Central,

so if you're free once Saturday night and want to come over and say hi, I would love to have you there. We just kind of have a good time doing whatever we want for the few hours that I'm online. You can also join the Patreon, patreon.com slash as the raven dreams, for early access to all this content. Check out the website, astherravendreams.com, for information and where you can listen to the podcast, find all my social media links, find the merch store, and send in your own stories to keep the podcast going, as it pretty much exists on crowdsourced content at this point. All of you really do keep the show going, so a huge thank you for that.

Also on the website is information about the book that I wrote, titled The Insomniacs Experiment by Raven Adams. It's a psychological thriller, and I think it's pretty good. You might actually like it. Check it out. It's available on Amazon. Or if you want a signed copy, you can email me to see if I have any left, and I will absolutely oblige if I do. All that said, friends, I hope you have a lovely rest of your day. I hope I see you again here very soon. But until then, remember that you are loved. You are valid. You are important. And the world, is a better place with you in it. Don't forget that. Until next time, much love and sleep well. Are you one of those media strategy people clicking through slides, scrolling spreadsheets? Yes? Good. This is for you. Because on Spotify, there's an audience that's different,

locked in, loyal, invested. They're called fans. Fans don't just listen to music. They feel seen by it, like it belongs to them. So when your brand shows up on Spotify, that's who you're talking to. And you're right next to artists like me, Lizzo. So, are you ready to talk to fans? Spotify Advertising, you're among fans.