As The Raven Dreams Podcast - ATRD Ep. 80 - Creepy Catfish Stories And Stories from YOU! - 14 True Scary Stories

Episode Date: June 23, 2023

Welcome to the chilling 80th episode of The ATRD Podcast! Today, we will step into the shadowy corners of reality, where everyday life takes an eerie twist & ordinary people experience the extraordinary. Today we will be diving into stories about those who were catfished (The dating term, not the fishing term) as well as other terrifying stories from YOU! So, turn down the lights, tune in, and let the haunting tales of everyday people take you down that dark and creepy road. Remember, these aren't just stories... these are true experiences that remind us that our world can truly be scarier than fiction. Have a Story To Submit? ➤ https://www.astheravendreams.com Or Post to the Subreddit ➤ https://reddit.com/r/TheRavensDream Support the channel for Early Access AND more! Patreon ➤ https://patreon.com/AsTheRavenDreams Join ➤ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkW0ihdMHfBUjQrMKjRto6g/join Or Check out the Merch Store! ➤ https://teechip.com/stores/astheravendreams Thank you to all of the authors that have stories in today's Video... AcousticAvifauna, SomeDumbGuy, Demitri P., Potentially2Stupid, OwlWaitress, Calina, UnluckyHello, Naige P., Nick, Colleen Wasner, Saranonymous , Edward McQue, and any authors that requested anonymity. 'As The Raven Dreams' is a community where we explore the darker parts of human existence through true and harrowing stories. From sinister encounters with strangers and stalkers, to terrifying experiences that defy explanation and unsettling mysteries that linger in the shadows, I am here to tell you the most haunting narratives ever whispered. Much Love, and Sleep Well... ----- #TrueScaryStories #AsTheRavenDreams #RedditStories ➤ Stories include a content warning for language and sensitive/disturbing content. Viewer discretion is always advised. ➤ ALL Audio of this Podcast are copyright of AS THE RAVEN DREAMS / RAVEN ADAMS and may not be duplicated, in any format, without explicit permission ➤ If you like any of the following stories, consider subscribing! - Dark Web horror stories, creepy lets not meet stories, stalker stories, Glitch In The Matrix Stories, Unexplained Horror stories, Paranormal stories, cryptid encounter stories, Crazy ex lover stories, creepy neighbor stories, quantum immortality, true scary stories from reddit, or any other True horror Stories! ➤ 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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on whatever platform you're listening to, as it does help. And of course, thank you. This happened around the summer of 2017. I felt like I'd been having very little luck on dating apps until I came across a guy named Nathan. We matched, and he immediately messaged me. The fact that he matched so fast and sent that message was a bit abrupt,

and I, at first, thought, hopefully this isn't a dead. desperate call. But I decided to give the guy a chance. I messaged back and we started a slow conversation, but everything was going pretty normal. He asked me about myself, and I did the same. He seemed like a nice down-to-earth guy. He told me that he worked a lot and explained how he was a tow truck driver that worked all kinds of hours as he was typically on call. It made a lot of sense. It made a lot of sense. sense because our conversations would just abruptly end, and he would respond hours later. I mean, I could appreciate the fact that he refused to have his phone out while he operated a large truck. After talking for a few weeks through text, and on the phone, and not really getting any

weird vibes from him, I was really interested in a date. However, I'm dumb and shy, and would never ask, so I just waited for him to do it instead. And I guess that he did, in a way. I had been out late one night with a friend who was actually going through a pretty bad divorce, so we had drinks and just talked. I regrettably got home around midnight, kicking myself because I had to work the next day. As I slid into bed, I got a text from Nathan.

It just said, hey. And when I responded, He apologized if he'd woken me up, and I told him that he hadn't, that I was already awake. He then texted me again, asking if I wanted to go party with him. I clarified if he meant that night, at that moment, and he did. And I guess maybe in my slight stupor I just laughed it off and told him that I couldn't, because I had to work tomorrow. He joked around, sort of teasing for a bit, but he didn't put it.

push it. He then wished me a good night, and I went to sleep. The next day, he messaged me again around noon, and apologized for the messages the night before, but it didn't really bother me. Hell, I thought maybe he'd had a little liquid courage like me, and thought that was the best way to go about it. Overall, we did make real plans for an actual date that same weekend, and I was pretty excited. We agreed on a nice local restaurant that we were both familiar with. It wasn't too fancy, which was nice, because then I didn't feel like I had to overdress or anything.

I arrived there first, so I got us a booth, ordered a soda, and waited for him to arrive. However, it had been ten minutes past our meeting time, and I hadn't even gotten a message saying he was running late. I reminded myself that he does do an on-call job, and thought maybe he had one last minute or one that was taking longer than expected. But once it hits 20 minutes, I thought I would at least message him as a sort of check-in. No response to the text. After waiting a few more minutes, I tried calling.

No answer. So when it hit 30 minutes, I texted him saying that we could resale. but I was going to leave. I was really disappointed, but I also really liked him, and as dumb as it may sound, I didn't want to just give up that easily because of it. While I was waiting for the server to bring me my check for my one drink and croissants, he called me. He was apologizing profusely for being late and said that he didn't realize it was as late as it was.

I honestly didn't realize this until days later, but he never mentioned why he was late otherwise. He didn't even mention that he was working, or if something else came up. He said that he was almost at the restaurant if I was still interested, so I agreed to stay. When he showed up, though, I knew something was off. He didn't quite seem or act the same way he did when we talked on the phone. He was very kind through and through, but as most people do, the first thing I noticed was his appearance. His hair looked like it hadn't been washed and was kind of just sticking up everywhere. He was also wearing dirty jeans in a long-sleeved shirt that had holes seemingly cut out for his thumbs.

The holes were uneven and distressed, which, to me, looked like someone put them there. Not that it was bought that way. I used to do that a lot to my hoodies when I was in high school, and that's what it reminded me of. It was also strange to see him in a long-sleeved shirt because it was summer in Arizona. I was getting overheated just looking at him. I knew it wasn't a formal place that we went to, but I honestly didn't expect to see him like this. I also told myself again, maybe he was working, and that's not exact same. a clean job, so I let it go.

That's surface-deep stuff anyways that I wasn't concerned about. But then we got to talking, and I realized that his demeanor and attention was all over the place. We would start talking, and then he would go on a tangent about something completely off-topic. He also seemed to get easily irritated at minuscule things, like how the butter wasn't spreading well enough on his baked potato. It was odd. I was really starting to feel a bit disappointed on our first date, but I tried to stay optimistic that maybe it was just a bad day. When we did actually start to eat,

I noticed that he just pushed his around a bit and only took a few bites. Then he leaned in and quietly asked if I wanted to go somewhere after this and party with him. Apparently he must have thought the date was going to. pretty well to ask this, but the uneasy feeling wasn't going away, so I declined. I told him that I had some things to do the next day or something to that effect, that maybe we could try another day. He looked disappointed in this as well, but I tried to continue with our current date. Shortly after, he seemed like he had a look of realization and said that he needed to use the restroom,

excusing himself. I just finished eating and just sat there waiting for him to return, and once again I was starting to feel like I did when I first arrived. Five minutes passed, ten minutes, and he was still not back. Now, I really did feel like a fool. I thought that he must have not really been into me, or maybe I ruined his plans by declining his party offer, so he ditched me. I called the server over and shamefully asked for the check.

At this point, I was probably waiting for about 20 minutes since he left. I was waiting for our server to return with my card when another mail server approached me, and, with a bit more sense of urgency, asked me about the guy that I was with. I thought maybe they had come to comfort me or maybe get a good story to laugh about later, but either way, I started explaining who he was. The guy interrupted me to say that he was in the restroom, on the floor, with foam coming out of his mouth. They also found a syringe on him. Their restroom had two stalls in them, and apparently someone else was in there, heard a thud as the door slammed open,

and he fell headfirst on to the floor. I was in shock. I didn't know what to do or say. I didn't know him like that, and I sure as hell didn't know he was using anything. Before I could speak, I got up and followed them to the restroom. The server said they had already called for an ambulance, and I just stood there, terrified. I didn't really know what to do at first. This guy that I had just been talking to was most likely ODing on the restroom floor of a restaurant.

After hearing someone scream for a towel or something, it finally kicked me into gear and I knelt beside him to turn him over on his side to prevent him from choking. They then asked me to stay with him until help arrived. I barely knew him, and now I might be the last person that he sees. Paramedics quickly arrived and kept asking me all these questions about who he was, and I couldn't answer them. Hell, all I could really tell them was his first name if that was even true. Once they left with him, I quickly went home and called my friend to help calm my nerves a bit. After we talked, I decided to go to the hospital to see how he was doing, feeling like it was the least I could do. I didn't even know if he had any family or friends that would have or should have known what happened.

To sum up the visit, it was not a pleasant one. He was very angry with me. He also made it clear that he was only looking for someone to, more or less, get high with, and or supply him. That's what he meant when he called me that night. And that's also what he was expecting when we went on our date. Apparently when he saw I was a pharmacy tech, he thought that meant I could supply. him and when I turned him down I didn't take away his need for a fix so he helped himself in the restroom now I may have been a bit smitten with him at first but I wasn't stupid there were no

hints dropped of any sort that he was going for this nor did I lead anything on to make him think that I was into any of that so yeah he basically told me that it was my fault he ended up there since I didn't go with him. I left the hospital, blocked him in the app, and his number, and I never heard from him again. It was definitely a weird situation

that I ended up in, but I guess I'll just remove my job and be more vague about what I do in the future. Hi, Raven, huge fan. Hello, owl waitress, and thank you. I love all your stories, and I figured I would share one of my own.

I'm sorry if this is long, and I'm no writer, so bear with me. Due to my job closing down, I had to find a place to work that was within walking distance to my apartment, which really didn't leave me with many options. So I ended up working for a famous chain that requires their waitresses to wear orange shorts and white tank tops. I'd been working there for maybe six months, and I had my regular regular. of course. There was one regular who always came in every Friday. We'll call him Joe.

Joe seemed like a nice guy. He tipped well. We would make small talk and he'd always request a table in my section. One Friday he came in and ordered. I brought him his drink and he asked how school was going. So I told him I was prepping for my psychology final. He asked why I was working instead of studying, and I made a joke that a girl's got to pay her.

her bills, then went off to take care of another table. At the end of the night, he wished me luck on my final and left a $100 tip. I was extremely grateful and honestly surprised. I aced my final, and the next Friday was happy to tell him how it went. We high-fived, and I took his order as normal. That night, he had asked if I was seeing anyone, I was honest and said no, not with schoolgirls. going on and work. I was just too busy. He then said that if I was his girlfriend, he'd be more than happy to take care of me,

and let me focus on school. I gave an awkward laugh and told him I'd be back to check on him in a bit. I took my break immediately after that and texted my bestie about what had just happened. She too said that it was a bit creepy. The rest of the night passed by uneventful. That night when I left work, I noticed a truck at the back of the parking lot that I hadn't really seen before, but ended up deciding to pay it no mind. As I neared my apartment, I got that feeling in the pit of my stomach like someone was watching me.

I look around and I don't see anyone, but I pick up my pace. As I'm reaching the stairs, I see a guy with a hat and a black hoodie about ten feet behind me. His head was down, so I couldn't see his face, but something told me that I needed to get inside, and fast. I raced up the two flights of steps and locked the door behind me. I peered through the window, and the guy was just standing in the grass, staring at my window. I was so freaked out that I stayed awake until I ended up passing out from exhaustion. The week had gone by in a blur, and I'd been getting back to normal. It was Friday again, and in comes Joe seemingly happier than normal.

I take his order, and I ask him how it's going. He says that he's great, that he's got a new girlfriend and things are really taking off. I congratulate him and wish him well. As I lean in to remove the menus from the table, I feel him sniff my hair. He asks what kind of hair products I use, because his girlfriend has similar. hair and he likes the way that mine smells. Creepy comments, but I brush it off and tell him since it does smell like blueberries. I even tell him where he can get it.

He says thanks, and the rest of the night is fine until my walk home. Again, as I'm nearing my apartment, I get that eerie feeling that I'm being watched. But there's no one around me that I can see. I make it to my apartment without incident and tell me. myself that I'm just being paranoid. The next morning, I go to leave for school, rushing because I overslept,

and there on my doorstep is a note and a box. I pick up both, sit the box inside, and take the note with me. As I'm walking to class, I pull the note out of my pocket, and it says, For my favorite girl,

each moment with you is all I need. Confused? I stuffed the note back into my pocket. That evening at work, I go on my lunch break and sit outside towards the back of the parking lot, just scrolling social media. Joe walks up asking how my day is going and if anything exciting happened. I look around because the back patio is for employees only. I asked him how he knew I was back there. He said he'd come in and was told that I'd gone on breaks, so he went around looking for me. I asked him why?

And he said it's because he wanted to make sure his favorite girl was safe. At this point, I'm starting to put it together in my head. I tell him that he's not allowed back here and that he has to leave. He looks down at his feet as he says he'll see me around. I go in to tell my manager what's been happening and she tells me it's a hazard of the job, and that that's just how men are, and that they can't help themselves. I explained that I think he's followed me home, and she then tells me there's nothing she can do about it. I needed the job, so I told myself that I would have to deal with it until I could find something else.

In the meantime, every time he came in, I would trade Joe's table with another waitress, and each time he would stare at me the whole night. Every week I would come home to packages and notes from... candy to stuffed animals, hair products, and my favorite manga. The notes started out nice, and then as time progressed, they became worrying. He would say things like he knew my route home, and how I would be alone every night, and how it wasn't safe for a girl to be alone, that anything could happen. At the start of my last week there, he showed up every day and just stared daggers at me for hours.

By that Wednesday, I decided that I'd had enough and could deal with the hits to my wallet missing those last few days. I'd gone to class, come home and naped, and woke up somewhere around six-ish. The sun was setting and I'd gotten hungry, so I decided to run up to the Sprout, a grocery store, around the corner for half-off sushi. I go in, grab my things, and as I'm walking out, I see Joe in his truck, just looking at me. I try to pretend like I didn't see him and speedwalk towards my house. As I'm half walking, half running, I hear his truck behind me. I don't turn to look, but I tuck my things tightly into my arms and take off at full speed

across the parking lot. I can see the lights from his truck behind me, so I dart across the front lawn and through the bottom apartments. I hear his car come to a screeching halt, and, and I hear his car come to a screeching halt, and, and, I can see the screeching halt and then footsteps coming up from behind me. My heart is pounding. I'm fumbling with my keys as I run up the stairs. I slam the door behind me and as I'm locking it,

I hear him begin pounding on the door, trying to turn the knob. I yell at him to go away before I call the cops. He's screaming things at me through the door about how I let him on for months, how he's been doing all the right things to show. show he's interested, but I just ignore him, and how I was treating him like he was nothing. I yell again that I'm calling the cops, and it goes silent. I know I should have called, but cops make me nervous, and I have to say that I don't feel comfortable calling them. I was just hoping that he would go away with the threat alone.

That night, I'd called my best friend to come stay with me for a few nights to keep me company, as I didn't want to sleep alone. That night, as we were sitting on the couch, watching anime, my phone starts chiming, back-to-back notifications. I looked down at my phone, and there's Facebook Messenger and Instagram DM notifications. I opened them. They're all from Joe. I had no idea that he'd been on any of my social media. He had tried to tag me in a relationship notification,

on Facebook as his girlfriend, there were people in the comments saying, congratulations, and I'm so happy for you. I immediately untagged myself and blocked him on both Facebook and Instagram. About 30 minutes later, I get a Facebook message from a page that didn't have a picture. I figured it was him, but before I could block it,

the messages started flowing in. He said that he's loved me since he first saw me. that he knows we're meant to be together, that he's the only one for me, and if I can't see it, then he's going to show me. At that point, my best friend demanded that we go to the police. I took screenshots and gathered up the notes and gifts, but because I didn't know his last name,

they wouldn't give me an order of protection. I literally felt defeated. My old job didn't care. the police couldn't do anything until I could either get more information or something violent happened, and he was caught in the act. With no other options, I moved back in with my parents a few towns over, switched to online classes for the rest of the semester, and I didn't leave the house without another person.

I'd get random friend requests for a few weeks after that from who I assumed was Joe, and would just block them. then stopped. With that being our last semester, my best friend and I decided to move further north, and I haven't seen or heard from him since. I really hope that he gets the help that he needs, and I hope that I never see him again.

This was back whenever I was about 17 years old. I used to spend a lot of time walking in the woods, on the walking paths that had been either paved or had been walked down so often that they were stamped down into the dirt. I lived in a pretty decent suburb. There were quite a few people that lived there, but it's never been heavily populated. There were neighborhoods here and there,

but a lot of trees in between them. I was pretty heavy into fitness and being active, so I was spending hours every week jogging and walking through those paths. This was a pretty normal day. I was home, I think, on spring break, and my parents were at work. I decided to take

a nice little hike through the woods behind my home. I've always found that the forest was calming and a peaceful escape from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. I would grab my Zoon, which should date this story a bit, and

head out into the woods to listen to whatever I had downloaded at the time. On this day, after about 20 or 30 minutes, I started feeling a bit off. It was hard to describe. I just kind of felt a bit of anxiety, which was not normal for me. I couldn't shake this feeling that something around me was watching me or following me, but I kept telling myself that it was just my imagination. I glanced behind me and around me, and I couldn't see anything that would cause me to have those feelings.

The woods were actually incredibly still and empty. After a few more minutes, that anxious feeling dug deeper, and I literally felt the hair on my neck start to stand up. I got this really weird chill down my spine. I paused my music and closed my eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath, in a way to gather my thoughts. I pulled my earphones down and listened to the woods. Nothing was out of the ordinary. I decided to pause and, I guess, squat down for a moment to catch my breath,

and get through what I assumed was an anxiety attack. As I was sitting there, breathing and thinking that everything was okay, I heard steps a bit off to my right. I opened my eyes again and turned my head, and that's when I saw it. This was a creature, unlike anything I had ever seen before, and I don't say that lightly.

This thing was tall, easily seven feet tall. It was slender, scrawny even, with long and spindly-looking limbs that seemed way too long for its body. Its neck was elongated. It wasn't quite draft-like,

but the neck was longer than what I would expect any normal creature's neck to be. The flesh that was clung tightly to its muscles and bones was this sickly, pale yellow color. Kind of like the underbelly of a catfish, if that makes sense. The skin almost looked rubbery, again, like that of a catfish. And it sort of shimmered in the sun. It got worse when this thing turned to look at me. Its eyes were like two deep, empty holes. I just sat there, staring at this horrible creature as it walked slowly through the trees,

just sort of slowly trotting like it was trying to avoid my attention, even though I was staring at it. After a few steps, it slowly crouched down, much like how I was crouching, and my mind immediately went into, this thing is going to pounce or run at me. That was enough to kick my brain into overdrive. And before I knew what was happening, I was running my back end off.

It didn't really feel like I had a choice. More like my survival instinct had taken over. I remember my heart pounding in my ears, the taste of salt on my tongue as it dried out, and this overwhelming urge to just keep running until I knew I was safe. I dashed through the woods, branches scratching me up, but I was completely ignoring them. My mind kept flashing back to those pits that thing had for eyes, that sickly color of its skin. I kept glancing back to see if this thing was following me.

Thankfully, it didn't chase me. Or at least I didn't see anything to indicate that it had followed me. Maybe it was just as surprised by my sudden flight as I was. I made it back to my house and slammed the door shut behind me. I was shaking, out of breath, drenched in sweat, but I was safe. I appeared outside half expecting this thing to be there, but there was nothing. To this day, I have no idea what that thing was. I can't even rationalize what it could have been.

I don't know if this was some sort of crypted, or maybe it was some kind of, alien creature. The way that it tried to avoid my attention, and then crouched, like, almost like it was mimicking me. It was weird. I actually have avoided that path and area since that day, and I don't live there anymore as I've grown up and moved out. But I've not read or heard any stories in the area about this thing, so I guess that I was

just the lucky one. Bear with me. This is going back to the 70s. But enjoy the ride if you can handle a ride back in time. It's been so long since I even thought of this experience, and yet it rates up there. Mysterious, unexplainable, a cult. I was living in Chicago at the time, in high school, having moved from the southwest. And it felt fun, energetic. and yet there was a need to escape from it as well.

My father was always cutting out and going on junkets to South America for long weekends, and I was fine with a mild party house while he was gone. But sometimes he would take me along if the holidays were aligned, and so we went on one of these long weekend trips to England and a dip into Wales. I remember it all too well now. the cold of O'Hare Airport, a couple that stood out kissing by a counter. He looked like Mick Jagger,

and he was with a woman in fashionable velvet overalls, or some kind of onesie jumpsuit and poofy copper hair. And my grandmother had come along at the last minute. She was a traveler, coming out from her ranch in Washington State and meeting us there. I was hiding in a big army jacket and wearing faded jeans with the police. police patch that I had swiped from a pile at the police department, that time that my friend and I got

flashed and a cop pulled up right afterwards, so we flagged him down. Yeah, we were just out walking, and the duster pulled up real slow, and the guy was acting lost, and then he just stared. Well, anyway, he was caught in the alley behind a Chinese takeout. The cop seemed to know exactly where that shrink would be. Yeah, that's what we have. found out he was. The plane ride felt morose, flying over the North Atlantic in late November.

I hoped that we weren't going down in it, and London was dialed a few notches down from dreary. It was dark, almost as night. Walking around the record shops in Piccadilly, my dad rented a car within a day and we blew off the big city heading west. It was a dogged trip. The rain poured. we went from little village to little village in our not super comfy fiat on mud roads.

The whole trip was grey and brown. Yet there was something dreamy about looking out the window on the old stone walls and the smeary pubs that we passed. Once we got out and went to a market in the pouring rain, and I got an old used paperback book of ghost stories that were super British, and full of castles and deranged. geniuses. It was fun just slouching in the back, reading, this hair-raising stuff while cruising by abbeys,

palatial brakes, with hedgerows and mazes. There were no more billboards, bright gas stations, none of that. It was full, immersion. And nearing one of our last nights, we rounded a corner and pulled into a pub in a deserted edge of a rolled-up sleeping town. We went in to just ask where an inn was, and the corpulent bartender with dark hair and a big smile, wet with sweat, and his hand with a rag up a glass, and we are ordering up a storm of things and laughing, and as my grandmother and dad are talking with the bartender, a gentleman asked if I would play darts with him.

We had a strangely great time. I hit a bull's eye on my first try. It was true beginner's luck, and we had a bit of a bit of a bit of a bit of a bitner's luck, and we had a strangely great time. we laughed and laughed about it. He had zoomed in the parking lot in a shiny jag from his job at Lloyd's of London, ensuring George Harrison. But then as we spoke about things, he lowered his voice. You're just traveling through.

That's it? Yeah, I answered. So you really don't know where you are, because this is a damn strange place. So I must tell you, and you can take it upon you. yourself to find everything I speak of in the morning. He then proceeded to tell me of a church that I would find on a hill to the right in the morn. And if I looked at the top, I would see that instead of a cross, there was a crescent sort of shape, a kind of golden bowl.

And that would be the sign that this was not a Christian area. And that the hill the church was on, the church with the bull instead of a cross, that hill was hollowed and beneath it was where the hellfire club met and he proceeded to order another ale as he drew a map on the coaster with his Lloyds of London pen it was rather cozy upstairs in the pubs inn and sleep came so fast

the morning was intriguing to me I told my grandmother and my dad what the gentleman had spoken of the night before it seemed sort of senseless but we took off early. It was like 6 or 7 a.m. And there was this mist all around that gave light somehow. And as we got in the car and began to drive, there it was.

On a moed hill above a thick forest. The top of the church could be seen, and yes, it really did have a golden bowl. My father, the driver, was deeply confused by that bowl, and so began to drive toward the winding road leading up the hill to the church. Now, this is where things began to get otter. There was a trail that we saw off the road that led into it, and I suddenly was begging to go up the trail and meet them. I have no idea why.

Were my legs cramped? Did I feel I needed a solid walk up the hill on a good, obvious trail? I said that I would meet them at the top, And they agreed. I thought it would be not scary at all. It was mourning, and would only become more so. And it was a gentle, quiet woods, a pleasant walk. Yet there was something going on out of the ordinary.

And I saw that along the trail, there were images nailed to the trees. They were not satanic, per se. Some were Hindu-looking cutouts, thick and glued to thick. or paper. They were put up with intent, all with burned out candles around them. There were more than the Hindu ones, but that one I swiped for some reason. It was less creepy than the others. I slid it in my army jacket pocket, seeing more and more images deeper off the trail, and then something white, ghost-like. Was it a stray piece of extra thick fog? I watched as it crossed in front of me and went up the hill.

And I made note to watch, even though I was frightened. I knew that this was the type of incident that could be forgotten, brushed aside, denied. I was not going to let fear come in, and I knew that this was a rare chance to be in a most strange place. At the top of the hill, we came together again, and we walked around the church. but it was early and it was locked, so we left. We decided to continue our journey, leaving this unforgettable twilight zone. Hello. Now, this story isn't what most might be used to,

seeing as how it's told from the perspective of the one who we would call the stalker. Let me preface this by saying that I am aware that what I did is wrong and I'm truly sorry for it. For context, I'm a male, now in my 30s, but this takes place in high school about 14 years ago. I attended a large public school, though I won't say where to protect the privacy of those involved. During this time, I was in a severe depression, and seeing as how I was not aware of what that entailed, I thought the feelings I had were perfectly normal. I was in a class called study period, during which time I was part of a small tight-knit group of friends.

We had dubbed ourselves the Breakfast Club after the film of that name. Instead of studying, we would spend an hour and a half just talking about our lives and ourselves. The group consisted of myself, a boy named Eric, who was my best friend at the time, and two girls. Their names were Amber and Cassie. Now, during this time, I was shy and socially awkward, and I had no idea how to approach girls. However, with Cassie and Amber, I never had this problem. In time, I even started to fall head over heels for Cassie. She was everything I liked in a girl.

She was smart, fun, loved to read, and on top of that, she was very pretty. Soon, and it shames me to write. this, I actually started to follow her around the school, trying to discern her schedule and to try to work up the courage to ask her to homecoming. However, before I could, another boy asked her to go, just as friends, but to me, seemed devastating. I felt like I had missed my chance, but then I started to reason with myself thinking that I could just wait until after, then if she was still single, I could have my moment. Being the complete dult that I was, I did just that.

To my relief, she was still single afterwards, so, thinking this would be the chance that I had waited for, I made what I consider one of the dumbest decisions in my entire life. Given that I was too shy to approach her directly, I wrote down my feelings for her in a love letter to the effect of, you're the best part of my day. Every time I get to see you was amazing.

You're the most perfect girl I have ever met, and I would like to know more about you. I did not sign it, seeing as how I thought that, if I didn't, I could just wait and see and gauge her reaction. When she got up to use the restroom, I slipped the letter into her backpack. The following day, I eagerly awaited study period.

believing I would be able to declare myself as her admirer that morning, thinking she would be receptive to it. Instead, I was called into the teacher's office and confronted with the letter. The teacher straight up told me that my letter was unacceptable, and that, far from receptive, Cassie was frightened and in tears over it. Needless to say, I got detention for that incident for a whole week. Thankfully, my parents never found out, as I had fibbed about staying after school for afternoon classes. My mental state, which was already bad, promptly deteriorated further, to the point where I even began to contemplate taking my own life.

I'm sorry to say that my obsession with Cassie continued for some time afterwards, but to my dismay, she had already deduced my name and blocked me on all social social. media, and I never saw her again. Long story short, I got moved out of that class and very nearly did end my life out of guilt. However, I eventually confided in my parents about my depression, and after a year of therapy, I was able to recover and move on with my life. I know this isn't terribly interesting or scary, but I will say that it was by far the darkest, most traumatic experience of my life. It's been years,

but I confess that I still do feel a bit of guilt for what I did. And if I could, I would say to Cassie, wherever she is, how sorry I am. RBC Training Ground has discovered potential in over 20,000 Canadian athletes and counting. Your story could be next. If you've got the drive, they'll help you find your path to the...

Olympics. Let's see what you've got. Sign up for free at rbc training ground.ca. Hi everyone. I have an event that happened earlier this year that I still cannot shake. I live in a nice shore town where locals travel up and down the shore to visit other beach towns for dinner, clubs, etc. One night my friends and I decided to go to a club in a beach town about 20 minutes away. We arrived at about 11 p.m. and met with our guy friends from an hour up north. There were four of them, and they came in two separate cars.

My friend Kaylee and I took a ride share to the club to meet them. And we ended up having a great night, and around 2 a.m., we planned to go to a local, slash, nicer gas station, or food place that is open 24-7. Kaylee and I jumped in the car with two of the guys, who were sober. We got to the gas station, which was in a pretty dangerous area, but figured that we would be safe because we were with four guys and in a well-lit place. When we arrived at the gas station, we parked parallel to the other car with the other two guys inside. We went inside to look for hot dogs.

I'm not sure why we were craving them at 2 a.m. But we couldn't find any. The six of us get back outside and head into the cars that we came in. Kaylee, me and the two guys we came with, and the other two guys in their car parallel to us. I was in the passenger seat and Kaylee was behind me in the back seat. We rolled down our windows so that we could talk to our friends in the car next to us. The cars were also turned off, so we didn't kill the battery.

We spent about 25 minutes talking, laughing, and, just having a good time parked there. It was about 3 a.m. at this point. Out of nowhere, we saw a guy in a gray hoodie with hands in his pocket run up to our friend's car parallel to us, and he said, Hey, got any girls in the car? Our friend went silent and then said, Bro, no, get away.

The guy in the hoodie then ran up to our car and peered into the driver's side back seat completely silent. Just staring at Kaylee and our car. guy friend. We then noticed the gun in his pocket with his hand on it. I noticed, as well as the guy driving, and we whispered to Kaylee to get down. Kaylee and I slid down into the seats as far as we could. I've never felt that much fear in my life. I felt like we were sitting ducks. The guy then lifted the gun up at the car and walked around the car just staring at us through the open window. we didn't know what to do. We were begging under our breath for our friends to turn on the car and drive away,

but he didn't want to make any sudden movements or leave our other car of friends stranded. There was also no easy way out of the parking lot, just an alleyway or a long way through the entire gas station area. The guy with the gun then stands in front of our two cars. At this time, our friend driving turned the car on, and the guy with the gun came running out of us so fast. It all happened so quickly, but our friend driving the car sped into the alleyway next to the gas station store.

The man with the gun then jumped into a car that had someone else driving and followed us, hitting the back of our bumper until we caught speed and were ahead of him. We sped down that road making random turns so fast until we lost them. We finally got away, and then realized her other car of friends wasn't on the road with us. Terrified, we called them immediately. Thankfully, they told us that they were safe and had driven off in the other direction. We never got a chance to call the cops that night.

It all happened so fast, but I wish that we did. I came to find out through friends and people in the area that this is a common gang initiation tactic, holding people at gunpoint, taking the girls, and then leaving them out in the middle of the street. It's terrifying to think about what could have happened if our friends driving the two cars weren't thinking clearly. I hope I never feel that amount of fear again, and still, to this day, my heart drops when I see people with their hands in their pockets at night. There is a time in most of our lives when we seem to, temporarily forget some of the forms of human decency that our parents taught us.

This usually occurs sometime during the young adult stage, a time when we seem to think that we can pass off certain forms of selfish, ill-mannered behavior as thinking for ourselves. That was the case with my husband and I on this particular day. What can I say? You were bored that night, and an opportunity for free instant fun seemed to, impeccably land itself right into our laps. And so, we graciously accepted it. It was eight in the evening,

and the first day of the November daylight savings time, which had just gone into effect, so it seemed like it had been dark outside all day, instead of just a few hours. We were about to move the following day, so our cable had already been transferred to the new address, and we had mindlessly packed everything. every one of our DVDs into God only knows which of the 8 million boxes piled in our dining room.

Quite unexpectedly, our phone rang. My husband and I looked at each other puzzled because we thought that our phone service had been turned off, to be transferred to our new address. And, oddly enough, the phone hadn't rang all day. My husband just shrugged his shoulders, so I answered the phone and he sat beside me. and could hear the entire conversation. Right after I said hello, I could hear a rude, aggressive male voice

speaking urgently to someone in the background. What did you say you wanted on that again? It was obvious that the caller was not yet aware that someone had answered the phone on my end. I didn't recognize the voice. Again, I said hello in a questioning tone, hoping to alert the caller that the phone had been picked up. The caller responded in a nasty tone that suggested that I'd said or done something rude to him, which I hadn't.

Hello? The caller said rudely. Hello? You better wait a damn minute. He snapped at me. My mouth gaped open in shock, but before I could speak, the caller resumed talking to me. Hello? Yeah.

Give me a large pepperoni pizza with extra cheese, an Italian sausage, and mushrooms. and two large steak and cheese subs, one with extra meat, but with no onions on the extra meat one. The caller spoke in a nasty tone as if he was ordering someone around who knew better than to cross him, perhaps a servant. He continued with his order clearly talking down to me, and I want an order of 25 hot wings with a side of barbecue sauce, and two extra blue cheeses, and a two liter of orange soda. The caller had not allowed me to get a word in thus far, and once again, before I could inform him that he had the wrong number, as sort of an afterthought, the caller spoke in a snarling but humor-laced tone

as if trying to impress someone around him at my expense. And their amused giggle confirmed it. Oh, y'all can keep that nasty carrot-cellary stuff for your own dinner, because I don't eat that stuff. I don't want to be waiting all night for my stuff to get here. And y'all had better not forget my damn soda. Suddenly, an angry rush flowed through me. I spoke.

Okay, sir, that'll be 2750 with delivery, I said in the most cheerful voice. The caller paused for a few seconds. What? 2750. You sure? The caller's voice now sounded like a nice guy. all the sudden. Yes, sir, I said in a cheerful voice.

We're running a special today. If you purchase two subs, you get a huge discount on everything else that you ordered. That's the bomb. Y'all are the bomb. The caller praised in that cunning, superior tone that people use when they've just gotten over on someone. Sir, where will we be delivering this to tonight? I asked in the most respectful tone than I could muster. My husband looked at me wide-eyed as if he'd say,

suspected that I may have completely lost my mind, almost as if he was worried that he and I would actually have to prepare this order and deliver it. When I was in my early twenties, I thought I had all the answers because, after all, I was grown. As I look back on those days, I'm amazed at how dumb I was. This reflection of stupidity was confirmed when my husband and I were genuinely shocked and caught off guard when, after an hour, the guy called back to inquire on the status of his order.

The driver hasn't gotten your order to you yet, sir, I asked, pretending to be surprised and confused. He left nearly half an hour ago. Sir, I am so very sorry. He should be there in about five minutes, I assure you. Between the time that I ended the initial call with this guy and the time that he called back to check on the status of his order, curiosity had prompted my husband and I to do a little research and simple arithmetic.

We discovered that the order that we told the caller would total less than $30 would ordinarily have cost over $50 in most pizza places. We wondered how the caller could have been naive enough to believe that an establishment could afford to present such an offer, one that wouldn't yield any profit at all, and would actually cost them money. My husband and I laughed until our eyes teared up and stung. The humor suddenly vanished from my husband's face, and it was replaced with worry. What if they call back again, though? He asked in a nervous whisper, and the expression on his face made me fall right back into another laughing frenzy. These are just people, not the boogeyman.

They can't do anything to us. They don't even know who we are. I assured him, with a smirk. Besides, maybe this will teach them a little something about. a common courtesy and telephone etiquette. The truth was that I resented the ill mannerisms of the caller and thought that he would dare to speak that way to a fast food employee. It infuriated me.

As half my friends at the time were working in fast food. The phone rang. It was now almost nine o'clock, so I knew it couldn't possibly be anyone else besides our rude caller. I reached answer it with a sinister grin on my face. My husband got to the phone first. I thought to myself, oh well, there goes my last bit of fun for tonight. Old Johnny Joykill is going to tell them they have the wrong number. Prematurely, I exhausted a bored sigh.

Hello, sir, this is the manager, and before you go off on me, I want to sincerely apologize for my employees' incompetence. I had to look twice to make sure that the voice was coming from my husband's mouth and not from the TV. He continued. Apparently, our delivery guy quit on us tonight, and he took your food with him. My husband spoke his words so fast that the caller didn't get an opportunity to say anything. We've already prepared a brand new order for you, and it's out for delivery. Our driver has a white Lincoln town car with a red ragtop roof.

and if you look out your window right now, you should be able to see him approaching your house in less than 60 seconds. Finally, my husband gave the caller a chance to speak, and he tilted the phone receiver for me to listen in. Oh, okay, because I was about to say that this is taking all night. Are they even coming? Answer, we've actually knocked off half the price, and we threw in another double-meat-stakes sub

and upgraded your wing order from 25 to 50. just to express our sincere apologies, and to assure that we may keep you as a customer. Again, I am so very sorry for all of this mix up tonight, sir. I was indeed impressed by my husband's Oscar-worthy performance. Oh, man, don't even worry about it. We're cool. The guy's tone sounded friendly, as if he were talking to an old friend. Then you will order from us again? my husband asked with exaggerated humility,

sounding just like a manager trying to salvage his business clientele. Oh, for sure, for sure, my man, for sure. I could actually hear the pleased grin in the caller's voice. Okay, well, I'm going to hang up now so you can go out and meet our driver. His name is Charles, and he's shining a flashlight on your address plate right now. After my husband ended the call, we took our phone off the hook and just, laughed ourselves to sleep. Instant fun.

To this day, whenever I order a pizza or wings, I secretly wonder what I would do if it never arrived. Deep down inside, I know that if it doesn't, it would probably serve me right. Once upon a time, in the digital world, I met a girl online. We'll call her Bella. Bella was a breath of the fresh,

air that I have ever inhaled. Before meeting Bella, I was depressed, as I had just come out of the worst relationship I had ever had or known. I was ready to move forward, though, and I thought that I would give online dating a bit of a try. Something I now know was a terrible idea. Bella, though, seemed like she was going to be my turning point. Her profile picture was absolutely gorgeous. She had these adorable bright blue eyes, this really curly red hair, and this smile that just screamed absolute sweetheart. I swiped right, wanting to see what happened, but honestly I thought that she would take one look at me and think, no thanks.

To my surprise, we matched. Even more to my surprise, we hit it off instantly. We talked about everything and every conversation was. was crazy comfortable, like we had known each other for a long time. I would start messaging and she would be able to relate to everything I said. I told her my favorite books. She would talk about her favorite parts of those exact books. We talked about movies and we had identical taste.

I remember one of the first nights, we actually stayed up until 3 a.m., talking about our love for older rock bands. She started talking about Pink Floyd, and the two of us got into an incredibly pretentious conversation about the musical genius of the wall and dark side of the moon. These conversations honestly had me feel like the two of us were naturally in sync, like we had found each other through some act of fate, and our future was calling. I know, crazy thoughts to have about someone that you met only a little. week prior, but, you know, something something soulmates. When I suggested that we meet in person, Bella was incredibly hesitant. She said that she wasn't comfortable with meeting so soon, and that she was nervous that I may not like her if I met her in person.

I didn't want to push it, but also, what? She was amazing. We vibed together like crazy. Her pictures were gorgeous, and everything, about her was absolute perfection. Almost too perfect. This is when the idea of

am I being catfished came to mind. I did a bit of fishing myself, asking if there was a reason that she didn't want to meet. I didn't want to be pushy, but I also wanted to know if this was a waste of time. I thought that maybe it was just worth asking,

is there a reason you don't want to meet with me? She got a bit defensive, but then asked if she could call me. I immediately agreed, and when she called, I could tell that she had been crying. I immediately felt horrible about trying to push her, and I immediately apologized to her saying that I shouldn't have been so aggressive about it. She then told me that the reason she was so nervous about meeting was that she was scared of how perfect things were going,

and she said she didn't want to move too fast. She followed that up by explaining to me how she had just come out of a really bad relationship where the other person was emotionally abusive, and she didn't want to end up in that same cycle. We talked a bit about relationships, and I told her about my ex and how she was, and it felt like we connected even more.

I then told her that I really liked her, her, and that I would be more than happy to just keep this over the phone and in text for as long as she needed, and whenever she was ready, we could get together and get coffee. Much to my surprise, the next morning, I got a text from Bella saying, You've convinced me, let's meet up at 10 at, and then mentioned a local coffee shop that I was definitely familiar with. It was a quaint little place that was a favorite hangout spot for my friends and I, so it was perfect. Feeling a mix of nervous excitement and anticipation, I arrived at the coffee shop,

and I thought that this was going to be the start of something amazing. I sat at my favorite table for a few minutes, and then about half an hour. Then an hour. I was actually quite upset thinking that she had ghosted me until I heard a voice call my name. I turned around to greet Bella, but was immediately struck with a gut-wrenching feeling. Standing there was my ex, Christy. The only thing different was that she dyed her hair and was wearing blue contacts. I kind of said, oh, hi, Christy.

Not really certain if what was happening was happening. And she chuckled saying, Christy? No, my name is Bella, silly. This sent chills down my spine. Now, you could ask how I didn't recognize my ex in the pictures on the dating app, but I will also say that the woman in those pictures was not Christy. They were someone else altogether. You could ask how I didn't recognize her voice,

but I'll say that Christy had a very generic mid-20s Midwestern girl voice. So it didn't even cross my mind. I felt a wave of anger, betrayal, and disappointment hit me, but I won't say that I was surprised. Manipulation was Christy's specialty, and she had certainly manipulated me. I asked her what she was doing there, and she kept trying to pretend that she was Bella, and not Christy. It was honestly sickening the way she kept saying, my name is Bella, not Christy. As if I was going to fall for it. As if I would just say,

Oh, you're right, and you're totally not my abusive B word of an X that made me feel like garbage. How could I ever be so silly? I pulled up Bella's account and one of her pictures, and I kind of pointed it at her. Like, that's not you, Christy. She then mentioned that it was just an older photo. No matter what I said, she would come back with something to try and convince me that she was this other person.

I stood up and said that I was done with that. She was a psycho, and that I wanted nothing to do with her. I asked her how she could do something so damn deceitful like this. How could she do this and think that it was okay? That I would just be okay with it. She then started off by trying to justify her actions, saying that she did it because she still loved me, and that now she knew I was into redheads, as if that was the reason that we broke up, because I like redheads. As I kept laughing and shaking my head at her statement, her demeanor shifted.

She moved from explaining herself to screaming at me about how I belonged to her and no one else. The entire coffee shop went silent. The manager walked over to our table, trying to calm her down, but she was beyond reasoning. She lashed out, attacked him, jumping on him and hitting him repeatedly. Some of the other baristas jumped in to grab her and pulled her off the manager and restrained her until the cops arrived. They took her, took statements, asked me some questions about her, and After all was said and done, I was just left there shaken and shocked. I went home, deleted my profile on the dating app,

and decided that I was just going to take a break from dating altogether. I've decided that while online dating may be simple and efficient, it's not worth the risk of potentially getting catfished by Christy again. I got into online dating due to, to being introverted. I don't like going out to bars or other highly social places, and prefer spending time with the few people only. I made a profile, uploaded some pictures,

left some information about myself and started chatting with people. I wouldn't say that I found anyone I clicked with. Some of them were okay. There were obvious scammer accounts where they would have models as their profile pictures, when Henry, not his real name, name, contacted me. His pictures were of a handsome man, but they weren't too handsome. They were still realistic and not too polished, so I didn't think that they were fakes. We started chatting and had a lot of similar interests. In fact, I've never met anyone as into the

things that I'm into. I didn't realize at the time that he was just mimicking me and wasn't actually interested in what I was talking about. The conversation got flirty, and I admit that I indulged in it. I started talking to him every day. It was part of my routine, and I really enjoyed it. We talked on the phone, and he sounded exactly like what I imagined him to. We would talk for hours, and after another week, we decided to meet. He said that he hoped that I would like him in the flesh, and I laughed.

telling him how silly he was being and not to worry. I got to the restaurant first and sat down at the table. He texted me to warn me that there was traffic and that he would be a little late. I didn't mind. I sat and people watched when an old man approached the table. He stood with his arms wide for a hug and I awkwardly said, Hello? He said, aren't you happy to see me?

I stared up at him in confusion when I realized what had happened. He catfished me. I sat there with my eyes open, like a fish, trying desperately to come up with something to say, and I couldn't hide the look on my face. I don't know why, but I stood up, awkwardly hugged him, and he pulled me into a tight hug. At this point, I kind of felt bad for him and thought that. he must have been a lonely old man who just wanted some company. He didn't let go until I gently pushed him away.

I, um, hmm, you don't quite look like your pictures, I said after blubbering for a bit. Oh, those are my grandson's pictures. He is good looking, isn't he? He didn't seem phased by this and sat back down. I looked around and wanted something. want to help me. Henry started talking about how happy he was that we got to meet, and it was oddly wholesome at first, until he said how excited he was to be taking me back to his place to have sex with me. While he was looking over the menu, he started talking about all the things that he wanted to do to me, and that he was excited to now have a mistress. So that was also how I found out

that he was married as well. I didn't care about letting him down gently, and clearly he wasn't just an innocent, lonely old man. I stood up, told him that I wasn't interested in someone like him, and to not contact me again. I picked up my bag and started walking away. He reached over and grabbed my arm really hard. It actually hurt,

and I had dark bruises on my arm after. He told me that he'd come all this way to see me and called me quite a few horrible names. He was telling me that I was such a tease and that I had led him on. I pushed him away again and screamed for him to leave me alone. A waiter approached and asked what the problem was. I told him. And fortunately, it gave me enough time to get away and get to my car. I drove off as fast as I could within the speech.

limit. I got home and saw that he had sent me so many messages. Some were him begging me to come back. Others were calling me a variety of slurs. Others saying how horrible I was. I blocked him. After that, I would get messages from other accounts,

and the writing would be similar. One managed to slip through, and I recognized him. I yelled at him to leave me alone and reported the account. After all this, I've now learned to video chat with every perspective date before I go to see them. All of this is to avoid any other issues. So far, it's gone pretty good. I have found someone, and things are going well, so I didn't need the apps anymore.

So I deleted them. The creepy old guy is a story that does get quite a few giggles when I tell it, but it was quite exhausting at the time. I've been playing this MMO for a few years now, and I've definitely created some relationships along the way. In fact, a few of my closest friends

I met through the game. So, when I started talking to this guy named Zeke on a dating app, and he said he had instantly matched with me because I listed I was a big fan of the game, I was pretty excited. Not only did I have find someone interesting, but I also found someone that played the same games as me, which was a

big help. No fighting over what activities we would do in our free time, right? But thankfully, we didn't just have the game in common. Let's talk groceries, specifically, your groceries. With Instacart, you want your groceries just the way you like them, right? Well, the Instacart app lets you do just that. They have a new preference picker that lets you pick how ripe or unripe you want your bananas. Shoppers can see your preferences up front, helping guide their choices. Instacart, get groceries just how you like. We actually seemed to have very similar personalities. And it wasn't even me saying, I like or dislike this and him agreeing. He brought up a lot of things first, and I agreed with it. It was actually a breath of fresh air to find someone that was so

much like me, in a way. We shared pictures back and forth and even started texting outside of the site, as well as, of course, playing the game together. That was the only time that we ever really talked, though, was in the game. We talked a few times on the phone, but it was usually short. I think it may have been nerves, but it was also cute, so I could deal with it. Still, it was nothing weird to me. he was always quick to respond and never suspicious.

That was until I tried to plan something for us to do outside of the game. I was ready to meet him and go on an official date, and when I suggested this, he was just as excited. However, our date got cancelled by him, due to something coming up. He said it was a family thing, so while I was bummed, I understood, and we just planned to reschedule. This happened a few times, and to be honest, I was starting to get pretty annoyed. I really liked him, but I was starting to think that he either wasn't actually interested in me,

or I really did tell myself that maybe I was being catfished. I dismissed the latter, though, because he would have gotten nothing out of it other than a new buddy in a video game. so what would be the point. So, I confronted him. I told him to be honest, and if he wasn't interested in dating, then I would move on. And I guess we could just be friends. He apologized and said that that wasn't the case, and that even more so, he had strong feelings for me, but he was worried that I wouldn't like him if we met in person. He was worried that it wouldn't be the same.

I told him that was ridiculous, because, unless his pictures weren't real and his whole personality was a lie, I would still be interested in him, and even more so, knowing that there was a real person behind the phone or computer screen. So, finally, we made real plans, and he gave me a sincere promise that we would get together. I told him he better keep his promise because I was going to look my best that night and give him, give us one more chance. So, there I was, the night of our date, waiting at the bar of a restaurant for him to get there. He texted me five minutes till our meetup time, and said that he was still going to be there, but that he was running late. So, I grabbed a drink and waited, and waited.

I was pretty annoyed, and I expected him to, again, cancel on me, and I was pretty annoyed, and I was prepared to just be overall done with him, too. But while I was waiting, I heard my name and looked around to see someone that I actually recognized. It was a guy that worked in the same building as me, but was in a different department. For the sake of this, we'll call him Brett. I was an admin assistant, and he worked in our on-site tech support department. His department would help anyone in the office with hardware and software issues, replace systems, etc.

I saw him a few times when our VP had to get a new system. He helped to get it set up, and I had to actually let him in the office. He even helped me with some new software that I had installed. Other than those specific instances, I may have seen him in passing, or in our cafeteria, but that was about it. But we did recognize each other, obviously, and he approached me to say hello. He even complimented me on my outfit and apologized if he interrupted something. I assured him that he didn't, saying that I thought my date had cancelled on me, so he offered to buy me a drink and I agreed.

He sat with me for a bit, as I checked my phone on occasion, wondering if he was going to show up, but I never even got another call nor text from him. so instead I ordered myself some food and just talked with Brett it was strange because I started to notice things that we had in common just like Zeke and I then I started to notice his cadence and mannerisms were the same I figured out what was happening I grabbed my phone and sent one final message to Zeke and then watched as Brett's phone lit up He quickly grabbed it and acted as if it was something unrelated, which, I suppose, without seeing the message, I couldn't say for sure, but it was pretty damn suspicious. I tried to get him to slip up by asking certain questions,

or talking about certain topics, and I finally succeeded. I brought up games, and I got him to bring up the MMO, as I acted like it would make me look weird. Then he brought up a very specific strategy that I had mentioned to Zeeke in texts that I liked to use. Not many people know how I do it because I don't just start talking about that randomly. So, I caught him and confronted him. He said that he didn't know how to talk to me or ask me out, so he created a fake profile. But all the pictures he used were of his roommate.

Like I mentioned, I hardly knew him, but I didn't dislike him or have any problems with him. I never even got weird or awkward vibes from him. Not even that night. At least up until I started piecing things together. So he apologized for misleading me, but then also confessed that he was in love with me, especially since getting to know me more. He thought it would be romantic to admit how he did this, too. He said that he basically studied me.

He watched what I ate to see what I liked. He watched my Facebook and Insta pages to learn more about me, and even my family. He even said he learned more about my hobbies, such as the game, so that we would have more in common. He explained how he would constantly hop servers over and over until he found the one I was in, and just listened to me and my friends talk. I was honest with him, and I told him that what he was doing was not sweet. It wasn't impressive. It was creepy and unhealthy.

I told him that he should have just been a man and approached me, and this could have gone so much differently. I could tell that I had crushed him, and for a moment I felt bad. But then I realized that he actually did take something from me. He took the opportunity to start conversations with him, to actually get to know each other, agree with each other, relate to one another, because he already knew so much about me and I hardly knew him. In fact, I felt powerless,

and like I had become some kind of human study. So, I told him to just leave me alone and I left. He, of course, persisted, though, wanting me to give him another chance, but he didn't learn. I blocked his number since he unfortunately had mine, but he started messaging me from a different number. So, I eventually had to just change my number. He tried adding me on social media, and when that didn't work, he thought making a fake account would, and sent a message request. Now, since this all stemmed outside of work, I didn't report it at the time. But then, I got some kind of lockout on my computer, and it said that I had to call IT.

And he just so happens to take the call and knew how to fix it, but said that he had to be at the computer. I was livid, so I went to my boss and I explained everything. They were quick to take action, too, which I was livid. appreciated. He was given the choice of being laid off, or he would be moved to a different site across town. I assume that he took the latter because his name was still in the directory. I didn't want to be the reason someone lost their job, but if he would have just dropped it, I wouldn't have reported it to my work. The messages, requests, and calls all stopped soon after, so I assumed that he moved on to a new obsession. Sorry,

to whoever that is. But I learned my lesson. Get more proof that someone is who they say they are, and if that happens to be a first date, and I get stood up the first time, there are no more second chances. Now, I just have to watch out for creepy co-workers, I guess. This actually happened a few years back when I was in college,

so it would have been around 2018. Back then, I was a very social person. I liked to hang out in large gatherings, go out to events, etc. You get the idea. That year was actually the last year that I went to house parties, partially because of COVID two years later, but mostly because of this event. I'd gone to a house party that was hosted by a really good friend of mine,

Wayne. Wayne is a weird guy. He likes parties, but he's also kind of a stiff. He wasn't the type to throw wild bashes. He was the one that planned out a gathering, made sure that everyone knew that closing time was 10.30 p.m. and kept things within what the law said was okay. The plan of this party was that it would be a small to medium-sized get-together. No more than 20 or so people total. throughout the house and yard, just people that we both knew pretty well. But as the night went on, I noticed that the count of people was definitely more than 20. I leaned over to Wayne at one point and asked if he invited more people than he told me, and he took a look around the party and gave a bit of a scowl. He hadn't. He mentioned that there was a group of guys that he didn't know that showed up a few minutes ago, and that he just hadn't had the chance to talk with them.

because he'd been talking with everyone else. I patted him on the shoulder and mentioned that I would go talk to them for him if he wanted, and he said that he would really appreciate that. I walked up to the small group that was standing off to the side, just chatting amongst themselves, and lifted a hand to sort of wave in a friendly way. I'm the diplomatic type. I tried to keep the conversation light and casual,

assuming that maybe these guys just didn't know they weren't supposed to be there. I didn't want to make a scene or be rude. They could be good guys. I asked one of the guys how he knew about the party, and he mentioned a mutual acquaintance of Wayne and I, a guy named Jason. I nodded, asked if Jason told them about it, and they sort of shrugged it off and said that they were friends of his,

and that's where the conversation tapered off. With that information, I went back to Wayne to let him know. Upon hearing the name, Wayne's expression changed to one of annoyance. He said that Jason had actually done this before, and that he was going to have to have a talk with him. Jason was actually a co-worker of Wayne's, so Wayne definitely treated him with kid gloves when it came to these things,

because he didn't want to have to sort out any bad blood with someone he worked with. I could tell that this, however, was a breaking point. Wayne asked me to come with him just in case, and I agreed. As we walked towards the backyard, I noticed that the group of unfamiliar guys was headed in the same direction, just ahead of us, which made me feel a bit uneasy for some reason. We got outside just in time to witness the horrifying scene. That group of guys had jumped. Jason.

They were relentless as they beat him senseless, punching him, kicking him, beating him harder and harder. It was a quick but very intense assault. And after just a few seconds of chaos, they stopped. One of them leaned over Jason, who was completely motionless and yelled, Consider this a warning.

Next time, it'll be your last. Then, in a show of audacity that still, haunts me to this day, the group walked calmly through the party out the front door and all got in a car and drove off. They didn't rush, they didn't glance back, they didn't do a damn thing to hide who they were. They walked, as if they owned the place, as if they were untouchable. In the aftermath, of course, 911 was called, and an ambulance arrived to tend to Jason, and who I honestly thought was dead.

Thankfully, he wasn't. Despite the attack, Jason refused to identify his attackers. He claimed that he had no idea who they were, and that he'd never met them. It was pretty clear that he was covering for them, for whatever reason. Nothing came of this event, at least not to the best of my knowledge. They were never identified, and I haven't seen any of the... them since. As for Jason, I haven't really seen him either.

This was also the last time that Wayne had an actual house party, which is completely understandable. We can all speculate what the hell this was, but it was pretty clear that Jason had upset someone that he shouldn't have. And I think that it's best that we all just left it at that. Hello. I'm not sure how... else to start this other than getting right into the details. I want to include all of the

important information, so I apologize if this is a bit longer. I feel like this is an important story to share in order to hopefully help others avoid being in a similar situation, or even help someone catch the signs early on before too much damage is done. To start, I'm a male in my late 30s. I've dated off and on for quite some time, but never really anything serious. And I mean like dating for a few months at the most. I was beginning to think that I just wasn't cut out for relationships and was pretty much ready to live with the reality that I probably wouldn't find someone for me. My dating was all through the normal channels. They were a friend of a friend, blind dates, dating profiles and apps.

I was willing to try whatever. I never really had much luck on the sites, but I still kept my profile updated in hopes that I could be proven wrong. That's where the story starts. I was going through potential matches, clicking a simple yes, no, maybe, and after going through a few pages, I turned off my laptop and headed for bed.

The next morning I got a matched notification and a message from a girl named Yvonne. I remembered choosing yes to her. I remembered her unique name and her long dark hair and her photos. It's always exciting when they actually match back, so it was a good start to my day. We conversed briefly about each other, how we ended up on the site, simple things like that. Later that evening, because I had told her I was off to work, she messaged me again asking how work was. This was the first time that I'd had someone ask me about work. I thought that it was really sweet of her and the fact that she initiated the conversation twice now

was giving me a good feeling about her. We started talking frequently, and she seemed very interested in me. She asked a lot of questions like she truly cared. she was more than willing to share about her life, too. She actually told me that she had moved to the U.S. with her parents when she was very young, and now she helps to take care of them. It wasn't long after that that she was willing to meet up and go on an actual date, too. It was actually a few days in when she asked about an actual date.

We set one up at a nearby restaurant, and it went incredibly well. She was the same person from the photos, and her personality even fit with the conversation we'd been having too. She was very bubbly, social, and she even seemed very interested in me when I was talking, which I was not used to. We said our goodbyes after dinner, and shortly after leaving, she texted me saying that she was excited about the next date, and to make this official. I was honestly in shock. I had no idea what I had done to win a girl like Yvonne, and why she seemed so interested in me and so quickly. But I guess I may have also been clouded by the ideas of just not being alone,

not being a third wheel, and to have actually found a real chance at love. We officially started dating the next time that we met up. We went for dinner and a movie, and she actually came back to my place that night. Things were going pretty well for about a month. I had even told a few friends and my older sister about her. My sister wanted to meet her, but Yvonne said that she didn't know if she was ready to meet family yet,

and I understood. We hadn't been dating that long, so I definitely was not going to push it. Around our second month in, I had a business trip that I was going to go. to be taking, and I told her all about it, telling her that we wouldn't be able to see each other for about a week. But she insisted that she'd go with me, that way we could spend more time together. At the time, I thought it was a great idea. She could see a new state, and I would have someone waiting for me back in the hotel.

We got the flight all set up to match with my own, and I offered to pay for the flight because her card had been declined. She said that she would pay me back, though, and well, that was that. On the trip, she said that she was going to explore the area while I was out, and that she would be back by the time I returned. When I did return, she seemed a bit upset saying that she was still having troubles with her card, and when she called her bank, they said it was on hold and wouldn't be fixed for a few days, conveniently when we returned from the trip.

I felt bad, and I didn't want to be able to. her to be cooped up in the room the whole time. So I gave her my debit card and said she could use it to buy herself food, do a little shopping if she wanted, and just be able to have a good time. She thanked me and said that she would transfer money to me when her accounts were back open. The trip was fine from there. She spent a little more than I would have expected, around 300 or so, but she also

bought stuff for both of us, which I thought was kind of her to consider. Then, when we went back home, more issues started popping up. She ended up asking for financial help for a lot of things. She asked for help on her car that needed repairs. Then she would come back with something she bought, and when I asked about the car, she said she was able to get it fixed cheaper and had money to spare. If you haven't figured it out yet, I was pretty infatuated with Yvonne. So all I thought was, geez, she's smart with money too. She was able to pay less, giving her some extra money to spend. I also helped her with paying some bills and even helped her parents who were in a financial bind as well.

Unfortunately, other people were seeing the red flags way before I did. This was about six months into our dating. She briefly met my sister when she came over to my apartment, but my sister was not keen on her. My sister and I were really close, so she was not afraid to tell me how she felt. She told me how she didn't like how much money I was giving her, and that I needed to set boundaries.

I basically told her that she was crazy, and that I had everything under control. This caused some strain between my sister and I, but at the time, I was clouded by what I thought was love. The money thing continued more to the point that I was now using the funds that I had put in savings. I was having to make sure that I got all my bills and expenses paid first, so I knew how much extra money I had. I knew I was giving her a lot of money, but it just seemed like I was losing a lot more. and a lot faster. So, I told Yvonne that I had to cut back a bit because of things coming up and she understood.

In fact, she started apologizing and crying, saying that she felt bad and blamed herself. I calmed her down, and I told her that I had been willingly giving her the money, so it was my fault for not monitoring it, and she started perking back up. Around this time she told me that she had to make an emergency trip back to her home country due to a family issue. So I gave her some cash as padding and wished her well, expecting to see her about two weeks later. She still texted me daily through an app, but she said she couldn't call because of signal issues. This is where it finally started clearing up for me. The first thing was when I got a low balance alert from my bank.

I was confused because I had just gotten paid the day before. There was no way that I was low. Yet, when I checked my account, I was actually negative. I started checking all the transactions, and it was all for things that I had never heard of. There were charges for high-end clothing stores, online makeup stores, cash app transfers to a name that I didn't even recognize? I reported it all to my bank hoping to recoup some of it.

I was now a bit stressed because I didn't have any money in my account. I was about to ask my sister to borrow some money for the week, at least until I got some of the money back, but I decided instead that I would just use the money I had saved in a different savings account. When my grandfather passed away, he left all of us grandkids a savings account with some money in them, but I hadn't touched it. I was hoping to keep adding to it and put it towards my own home. I was crushed when I checked it and saw that it was almost drained too.

However, that one had transfers to an external account, and to my regular account that I wasn't aware of. This caused me to go back to my account and start digging deeper. This had been going on for a while. The transfers started a few weeks after my business trip. Money was being spent, and then money was being transferred from that savings to make it look like the balance never changed. So I called my bank back to add them to the list, and they brought up that a lot of the charges I was talking about were also used with my card. I didn't even know how that was possible, because I had my card on me, and I know I didn't go to the places that they were mentioning.

Then, they explained that someone had called in and asked to have a duplicate card sent. None of this was making any sense. Now my account was being closed due to a huge risk, and my money was going to be held up even longer. So now I had to call my sister and tell her what happened. When I explained this to her, she immediately asked where Yvonne was. I told her that she had to leave the country for a while, and she just laid it out on me. I know that those of you reading, or hearing this, probably have figured it out by now. But I really thought I had found someone.

And I did not want to believe this. So, my sister came over, and together, I was able to start making sense of everything. We did a public records check, and there was no one matching a Yvonne with her description. We went to check her dating profile, and found her on other sites, but with varying last names. Then, we were able to find an Instagram with the same pictures, and I was devastated. She had pictures on there with another guy that she was calling her husband. Even worse, there was a picture posted just two days prior of her and him in what looked like a theater, a theater that was very clearly in the U.S.

I was at a loss for words. She was somewhere else with her so-called husband enjoying herself on my dime. I was catfished, scammed, swamed, swamed. Quindled, whatever you want to call it. And I felt like such an idiot. But you don't have to tell me that. She hid it incredibly well. She was around often, other than when we both worked, but I guess that she was just using my money, so she was probably with him.

We were even intimate, which, I guess, added to me actually believing that she cared and loved me. Through my embarrassment, my sister helped me with filing a police report. Thankfully, while I did let her use my card at times, she did not have permission to copy the information and use it as she had pleased. She was also not on my grandfather's account, so I was able to report all of those. I was still out a lot of money. Because of the card present charges, it really made it hard to prove what I did or didn't do, and what I had allowed her to use.

I was also paying for her phone bill because she got a new phone while we were together, one of her many expenses that I thought that she had, so I quickly turned that off. I guess that she noticed that one because I started getting calls from an unknown number, and it was Yvonne, asking what was wrong with her phone. I confronted her about everything. She first started denying it all, said that I was crazy and that it wasn't her. She even said that she would marry me to prove it. Then she turned to making fun of me, calling me a fool and so on.

I obviously pressed charges and that was the first time that I heard her real name. Sometimes I still get random calls, texts, emails, and Facebook messages. from different accounts trying to harass me, and I know that it's just her or her husband. So I block him and move on. So there it is. While it may not have been scary to some, I lost a lot of money,

putting me in a bad situation which was pretty scary to me. And who knows how far she would have taken it if I hadn't caught on. or yet my sister. I'm very thankful that even though I didn't believe her, she stuck by my side to help me out. As mentioned, I wanted to share this as a warning to others. No matter who you are,

do not get tangled up in something like this. Learn the warning signs early on and know that you are worth the time it takes. It's never too early to plan your summer story in Europe. with WestJet, from rolling countryside to cobblestone streets. Begin your next chapter. Book your seat at westjet.com or call your travel agent. WestJet, where your story takes off.

I live in Glasgow, Scotland, and at the time of this story, I was 14, and my brother was 13, and we lived with our divorced mother. Let me begin by saying that I have never seen any form of paranormal entity in my life. I'm open to the paranormal and would welcome reassurance that, when I die, I'm going somewhere good. But as the story continues, you'll discover the reason why I don't have anything paranormal happening to me. March 2000 was the beginning of this nightmare. My mother was a hardworking woman and very easygoing, and my brother was the same. The event started when I asked my brother why he left his TV on all night.

and he replied with a wobble in his voice. He won't let me sleep. Confused, I asked. Who won't let you sleep? The minor, my brother replied. He just keeps talking all night, but I can't quite hear what he's saying. He stands at the window and won't go away.

I told my mom about this and she said that she would speak to him. Fast forward three nights. and I woke up to a loud moaning sound, like your typical, spooky moan. So I ran to my brother's room, assuming it was him. When I saw him, he said, What is that? The moaning continues, but is coming towards the room. My brother was frightened.

I was angry. As the moaning continues, the room door opens slowly and in-crawls my mother, saying, Help me, help me. She was the one doing the moaning. So we picked her up and ran into her room screaming, Do it to me, you bastard. Come on, do it to me. It took a while, but I calmed them down enough for my mom to tell us what happened.

She said, I woke up, son, and there were all these people standing around my bed just staring at me. They were talking, but I couldn't make out what they were saying. For weeks after, My brother kept talking about the minor, and I said, I'm not getting this. You're seeing stuff? So was mom, but I've still yet to really hear or see anything like that.

My brother replied very seriously. They're scared of you. I took that with a grain of salt. Me and my mom sought out and found a medium, even if it was all rubbish, having a medium do a cleansing would make them feel better. The medium arrived and immediately said, There's a man. His face is dirty. He was a local miner.

You see, where I live was a mining in Steelworks town. The medium continued. Mum, your family visited you a wee while ago. They're sorry that they scared you. My mom was so frightened that she didn't recognize any of them. I then asked the medium, Why haven't I seen anything? And she replied, they are scared of you.

I asked, why would my family be scared of me? And she said, no, they are all scared of you. I mean, even the bad stuff out there is afraid of you. You're different. But you already knew that, didn't you? Hey, Raven, this is my first time submitting a story, or telling anyone about this as a matter of fact. but it's one of those memories that just keeps popping back up.

It might not be the most exciting story to happen to someone, but it sure keeps me up at night. I was a goody-two-shoes teen and never touched a drug in my life. When I was about 17, one summer I would walk my dog around my neighborhood at night. It was a relatively safe neighborhood, and I lived in South Florida, so it was too hot to go down. during the day. Not to mention there were other dog walkers during the day, and I hated making small talk

with the retired residence of my neighborhood. I was a bit shy. One night when walking my dog, I was suddenly stopped in my tracks when an orb of light hovered above the ground, around 20 feet in front of me. It was only maybe a foot above the ground directly in the center of the road, and about the size of a softball. or maybe a bit larger. It almost looked like an LED light, blue and white in color,

and as a very solid ball, there wasn't much reflection on the ground. Just as fast as I could process what I was seeing, it blinked out of existence. A few seconds passed, and it appears again, even further down the road before blinking out again. Almost like a huge white firefly, but being in South Florida, we don't even really have fireflies. The moon was bright enough that I could see that the road was completely barren where it disappeared from.

It almost felt like it was beckoning me, or leading down a path the way it moved further down. But I didn't get closer to investigate. I noped out of there. It happened again a few nights later on a different street in my neighborhood, blinking three times in and out of existence. same height, hovering above the ground and about 20 feet away, appearing further and further away each time. For some reason, being 17, this did not stop me from walking my dog at night,

although it definitely should have. It must have been about a month later when my boyfriend and I went on a motorcycle ride. He was a bit older than me, but also never touched drugs in his life. He was a car and bike guy, so we frequently went on drives on his motorcycle. This time it was about 10 p.m. earlier than I had seen the lights in my neighborhood. The boyfriend and I were riding around town and then down a usually pretty busy two-lane main road. At this hour, there were a few cars passing by in the other direction every few minutes. Driving along, everything was fine, until all the same.

sudden that same kind of ball of light was nearly at our height, just barely at our heads, a few feet in front of us, but a bright orange yellow this time. It was so close that we both ducked under it, and the bike swiveled a bit. I literally watched it appear out of nowhere. I was staring at the road in front of us from behind him the whole time. He yelled back, Did you see that? What was that?

Had it not been for his reaction at the same time as mine, I might have assumed that I was crazy. Hey there, friends. I hope that you enjoyed this collection of scary stories on this episode of the As the Raven Dreams podcast. If you did, make sure that you follow the podcast on whatever platform that you're utilizing. And if the platform you are on has a rate the podcast option,

please consider doing so. Those ratings push the podcast into the algorithm, and we all know how the algorithm controls everything, so yeah. I also do have a Patreon. If you go to patreon.com slash as the Raven Dreams, you can support the channel further. For as little as a dollar a month, you can get early access to all of my content in audio format. The content's a little different, as it's based on what I upload to my YouTube side,

but it's the same stories. just in different collections of stories than how they're presented here. Speaking of stories, if you have one you would like to submit to me, please go to as-the-ravendreams.com and click the button in the middle of the screen that says submit your story. These stories are mostly sourced by listeners, so let's keep the podcast alive. If you've got one, I'd love to read it.

Anyways, friends, I hope you're all having a beautiful day and a lovely week. and I hope I see you again very soon. But until then, remember you're loved, you're valid, you're important. You're the best you can be, never forget it. And until next time, much love and sleep well.