Let's Not Meet: A True Horror Podcast - 10x12: I Dated A Murderer - Let's Not Meet

Episode Date: May 1, 2023

Stories in this episode: - He Held a Shotgun to My Head, by Anonymous (1:19) - Banned from the E-Bar, by Sarah (9:09) - Someone Else Was Out There, by Kassidy (16:05) - The Small-Time Drug Dealer Who Infiltrated My Friend Group, by Ashley (23:16) - Hungry Taxi Driver, by Alee (33:00) - The Guy Who Waited in the Shadows, by Michelle (39:51) - I Dated a Murderer, by Abbie Kat (45:05) Extended Patreon Content: - Creepy Coffee Shop Eavesdropper, by spookydook - A Very Good Restaurant, by Noodles - A Couple of Bar Stories, by Kayti - My Horrible Ex and the Useless Cops, by Crystal - Fake Security, by Leila - The Scary Man in the Blue Car, by Camaro1611 Due to periodic changes in ad placement, time-stamps are are estimates. All of the stories you've heard this week were narrated and produced with the permission of their respective authors. Let's Not Meet: A True Horror Podcast is not associated with Reddit or any other message boards online. To submit your story to the show, send it to [e-mail].   Get access to extended, ad-free episodes of Let's Not Meet: A True Horror Podcast with bonus stories every week at a higher bitrate along with a bunch of other great exclusive material and merch at patreon.com/letsnotmeetpodcast. This podcast would not be possible to continue at this rate without the help of the support of the legendary LNM Patrons. Come join the family! Check out the other Cryptic County podcasts like Odd Trails, Welcome to Paradise (It Sucks), and the Old Time Radiocast at CrypticCountyPodcasts.com or wherever you get your podcasts! Join me at twitch.tv/crypticcounty if you dare! Check out the Vessi Cloudburst and other styles at vessi.com/MEET. Use code MEET for 15% off your order. Free shipping for CA, US, AU, JP, TW, KR, SGP.  As a special offer in time for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, get 10% off...that’s up to $30 off your Frame when you go SkylightFrame.com/MEET. Go to ThriveMarket.com/LNM for 30% off your first order, plus a FREE $60 gift! - Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/433173970399259/  - Website - https://letsnotmeetpodcast.com  - Patreon - https://patreon.com/letsnotmeetpodcast  - Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/letsnotmeetcast/  - Twitch - https://twitch.tv/crypticcounty  

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Hey everyone, for those of you that couldn't make it out to last year's live shows, I'll be performing the full set of stories live this Friday, May 5th at 7 p.m. Pacific on my Twitch channel. Head over to twitch.tv forward slash cryptic county today to sign up and follow me so that you don't miss out. There will be stories that you've never heard before and some fan favorites followed by a Q&A. I hope to see you there. And remember, this podcast contains adult language and content. The live stream will be no different. Listener's discretion

is advised. If you have a story to share, send it to Let's Not Meet Stories at gmail.com. Enjoy the show. My name is Andrew Tate and this is season 10 episode 12 of Let's Not Meet a True Horror Podcast. I'm a woman who was 18 years old when this happened. I had just finished my first year of college. My school was about an hour and a half from my hometown, but only an hour if you took the back roads. I spent my first summer after a year in college in my hometown since my dorms kicked everybody out for the new freshman to move in.

I was back home on my old stomping grounds. I lived in rural Kentucky County bordering the closest city and was happy to be back since my college town gave me landlocked vibes. I was known as a partyer in high school, I played soccer, and was familiar with the boys' soccer team. Dating was common between the girls and the boys' soccer teams. I started dating a player on the boys' team during his sophomore year, we'll call him Colby. We had a complicated relationship because one of his best friends used to be my best friend. Zach was one of my best friends. We used to ride around together since that's all there

was to do in our small town. He had a crush on me but I had repeatedly turned him down. I remained friends with him until one night when Zach had a New Year's Eve party. He had also played soccer, but was slightly older and graduated in 2012. I was due to graduate in 2014. I was 16 and had gotten decently intoxicated during the New Year's Eve party. I started chatting with Colby since Zach invited the soccer team over. Once the clock struck midnight, Colby and I kissed since we had hit it off so well. Zach didn't like that Colby and I kissed and kicked us out immediately. I was upset because I

thought that Zach handled my multiple rejections well, but I was naive. Colby and I dated after meeting at Zach's party, but broke up only 45 months later. During that time, Colby told me how badly he wanted to be a cop, and how much he resented drugs and drug users. He was taking prescription pain killers, which he deemed okay to use as a pre-cop. He said that it wouldn't affect his chances of getting into the police academy. Colby also made it clear how much he didn't respect women, and I was over it. He also blamed me for Zach's reaction to us kissing. He blamed me for causing the wedge and their friendship. We had a nasty break up, but I moved on with my life. Being in such a rural, small town environment,

it was normal that someone had things like homemade bows and many guns, just like my now ex-Colby. I had dated before, and basically every guy I knew had guns, so this wasn't shocking or scary to me. At 17 I started dating another guy for a year or so and went to college. We broke up during my first semester at college and I was in a bad place. Okay, this brings us back to the beginning when I was 18 and back home for the summer. My ex Colby was having his 21st birthday party at his house. The friends I was with that night were invited. As stupid as this was, I asked if I could go. They checked with Colby to see if it was okay and he said yes.

The friends I was hanging out with happened to live in the same neighborhood as Colby, so it was maybe a two minute drive and we were there. Colby had a fire going and had a target in the woods that he shot at using a bowened arrow. He and I caught up for a little bit, and some old feelings came to the surface. We ended up back inside his house, in his room, which happened to be the last room on the second floor. It was similar to an attic, but it was completely built. Colby and I had our fling, and thinking that I was staying the night I was getting comfortable.

I had come there with many friends, but there were only two left at this time, Jason and Bailey. Colby informed us that he was blackout drunk and wouldn't remember anything the next day. Jason, a lifelong friend of Colby, was making conversation about whatever, and Bailey and I were sitting on Colby's bed having our conversation. Since the topic had changed, Colby and Jason's conversation caught my and Bailey's attention. changed. Colby and Jason's conversation caught my and Bailey's attention. They were talking about women's rights, trying to keep it lighthearted but firm I butted in with my feelings. This is where things went south. Colby started to challenge me and being the strong-headed

person that I am, I argued with him. Bailey was silent at this time, almost disassociating from the situation. On the other hand, Jason started to laugh, saying Colby won't stop, and he suggested that I just end my argument there before things got out of hand. Of course being stubborn as hell, I continued my argument. Jason stood up and heated his warning to stop the heated debate once more, insisting Colby will not stop. But I continued. Colby went to his closet, grabbed a 12 gauge shotgun, and reminded me that he was black

out drunk. Being intoxicated as well, I just laughed, and I dared him to use it, having seen him use guns before and knowing his appreciation for gun safety. Bailey and I were still sitting on Colby's bed, with Jason sitting on a futon across from us, when Colby turned the shotgun to my face. I stood up, hands up, signifying surrender. Bailey stood up with me, as Jason laughed in the background.

Cole be stated that he wanted me to leave his house or he would shoot us. We tried to bargain with him since we were too intoxicated to drive. He said we had until the count of 10 before he started shooting. As he counted down, I remember holding my hands up in the same position, walking backwards, down the hallway, to continue facing him. Once I got to the stairs, I asked him if he was serious. He was at seven. Colby looked at me, and then cocked his gun, pointing it right at me. Malien, I turned around and ran down the stairs as he counted. Six, five, four. We jumped into my car and we drove to the end of the neighborhood trying to catch our breath. Jason acted like this was normal behavior for Colby, which bothered us.

I had to move into a house the next day. I moved in with four other people since I was no longer staying in a dorm, and I was a sophomore in college that year. Only one other person was there when I moved in the next day, and we became fast friends. Now, I told him of the events from the night before, which were fucking insane to share with somebody. Later that day, I received a phone call from an unknown number. It was Colby apologizing for having me at gunpoint.

I told him, Happy 21st birthday, and told him to kindly fuck off and never contact me again. I blocked his number and I haven't heard from him since. To my ex-boyfriend who held a shotgun to my head for disagreeing over a debate and forcing me to drive drunk for your sake. Let's not meet again. In 2002 when I was 19, I moved from a small town in Oregon to Pasadena, California. I was working at the E-Bar, the espresso bar at Nordstrom, facing into the mall. It was a busy coffee shop servicing mall employees and shoppers.

A man came by the E-Bar almost every time I was working and would consistently order a double espresso. Now per policy, employees would ask if he would like his espresso sweetened or with milk. If a female employee asked him this question, his usual reply was, if you make it, it's sweet enough. He would also say other inappropriate and sometimes sexual comments to the female employees. He was a shorter man with a protruding belly and was probably in his mid to late 40s. He had slipped back gray hair in tanned skin. He spoke with an Italian accent. Based on his conversations with other employees and me, I knew he worked at a cheap men's suit store in the mall.

please, and me, I knew he worked at a cheap men's suit store in the mall. I smoked cigarettes at the time, and I would always go outside to a covered mall entrance to the benches and smoke during my breaks. Each bench could seat about four people. One day I went outside to smoke on my lunch break. I sat on one of the long benches with my lit cigarette. The man from the suit store followed close behind me and sat on the same bench. Remember, there were other empty benches there that he could have sat on, three of them. He started talking to me casually. How are you doing today, beautiful? He asked, I'm okay, I replied. He pulled out a cigar and lit it.

I did not want to chat with him, however, this was a time before cell phones were popular, and I had nothing to look at while I smoked my cigarette. Nothing to make myself look busy or otherwise preoccupied. He scooted down the bench to sit right next to me. His leg touching my left leg. I'd like to take you out sometime. Do you drink alcohol? He inquired. This made me uncomfortable,

but I was always taught to be polite and respectful to others, especially adults. I was 19 years old and I'd able to drink alcohol legally. I had only done so at house parties. I just looked at the plants near me and I didn't say anything. I'd like to take you to a hotel and shower your body with champagne. He continued, do you like champagne? I was growing more and more uncomfortable, going to a hotel with

this gross old man who worked at the mall and being showered with champagne sounded awful. The man had no clue how to appeal to a young woman. I sat there, a bit shocked at what he was proposing as he continued to talk about what he would like to do to my body on our date, which was extremely sexual and inappropriate. To make him feel bad for the things that he was saying, I asked, are you married? He replied, yes. Do you have kids? I continued.

Yes, I do, he said. I started to say something else, and he interrupted saying, look at me, please, look at me. I turned my head to look left where he was sitting and he grabbed my neck and he pulled my face towards his. He pushed his lips to mine and tried to stick his tongue in my mouth. I closed my teeth just in time to keep it from fully entering. I pushed him away, but he was so much stronger than me.

I finally freed my neck from his grasp and stood up. I was enraged. Never touched me again." I angrily shouted, as I ran inside the mall, throwing my unfinished cigarette on the ground. I was extremely shaken up. I went back downstairs to the E-bar and just started working even though I was still on my lunch break. I didn't know what else to do. When the shift ended that day, I went to the police station inside the mall and reported him. The police officer asked if I wanted to press charges, but I declined.

I requested that the police go to the suit store and tell the man never to return to the e-bar again. In hindsight, I should have pressed charges. However, I didn't want to make a big deal and ruin his family's lives. I recall feeling like he would go to jail, and there would be a trial. I was too young and naive to understand that he had probably done this with many other young women, and by filing charges, I could potentially have stopped him. To the disgusting older man that worked at the cheap suit store in the mall, let's not meet. This is the smell of the leftover tuna fish sandwich you left in your lunch box over

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Smell the difference? When life gives you stinky, get hefty ultra-strong with new Fabulouso lemon scent. It smells like clean, freshly picked lemons. So no matter what's inside your trash, you can stop the stink and smell the lemon. My husband, his friends and I went hunting a few months ago. Let's call his friends Jacob and Warren. We went hunting on Warren's parents' property. It was October, so it got dark early.

We arrived at the property around noon and sat in the stand for a few hours. It was bow season, and my husband and I were pretty bored since we didn't have a bow. We saw an armadillo, a buck, and a few female deer. We got a call from Jacob about 30 minutes before sunset saying that he shot a buck. We got in the side by side ATV, got Warren from his stand, and then went to Jacob's stand to help him find the buck. It was a bad shot since we saw blood, but no buck.

In the brush and dense shrubbery, my husband and Jacob were looking for this buck for about two hours. They would get close to the buck, startle it, and it would run. Somehow that thing jumped the fence to the neighbor's property. Warren called the neighbors, asking if they could go over the fence to retrieve the buck. Naturally, my husband and Jacob went over the fence to start searching for it. It was about 8, so it was pitch black. Side note, I'm terrified of the dark due to my babysitter forcing me to watch darkness

falls when I was 6 years old. I don't recommend letting a child watch that. This was especially creepy since I was in the woods, and I wasn't familiar with this area. My husband suggested Warren get his thermal, a device that you can look through, and see the heat from something, even through the darkness. It was back at the house, about a five-minute right away. Warren started walking away, so I went with him. We got the thermal and went back. Warren needed to go over the fence to give my husband and Jacob the thermal. I'm five foot five. This fence was five feet. There was no way in hell I would make it over that thing. At this point, it was about 9 p.m. I was alone in the pitch black darkness.

I couldn't even see five feet behind me. It was eerily quiet. I could hear my thoughts. I could hear my heart beating. I was scared, but I tried to stay positive. I moved my husband's gun to the front seat because it made me feel safer. We parked the side by side ATV in a clearing about 30 feet wide, and I was about 10 feet away

from the right side of the woods. Now we didn't bring extra flashlights because we didn't plan on searching for a buck. It was supposed to be a pig hunt, so our only light was on our phones. About 20 minutes later, I heard walking through the woods to my right. I thought, oh cool, they found the buck. We can leave now. Nope, nobody ever emerged. Then I heard it again, but this time, it was running. So then I thought, oh shit, is somebody hurt?

Then the running stopped. I looked around but I couldn't see anything, not even the moon. I tried to text my husband and tell him that I didn't feel safe there alone. I just had this weird feeling. Like in every horror movie, the text wasn't going through. I was too scared to move from my seat, but I was still trying to brush it off and think positively. I decided to think about my dogs since they make me happy. Then once I started to calm down, I heard yelling from behind me. It was a man

saying, shut the fuck up, get the fuck back here. Then I heard a woman yelling back, leave me the fuck alone. I freaked out. I continued trying to text my husband, but still nothing was going through, and to make it worse my phone was at 7%. I mustered up enough courage to get out of the side by side. I grabbed my husband's gun and crouched on the ground next to the tire with the door open to conceal myself from whatever was behind it. I finally had two bars of reception so I called my husband. Jacob answered, I immediately said,

did you all hear that?" Jacob said. I thought that was you. It was right next to us." I said no, and started to hyperventilate. I had a panic attack, so my husband got on the phone and asked, are you okay? Do you need me to come to you? I don't remember answering, but I thought, yes, I'm scared. I don't know what just happened. We stayed on the phone for a while.

He was talking to me the whole time. In the middle of the call, the phone lost its signal and the call dropped. I couldn't call again, so cue another panic attack. My husband finally found me. He hugged me and told me that it was okay. He then sat in the side by side ATV and turned the lights off. We discussed the yelling that we heard, and he said the same thing to Jacob. They thought that it was me. My husband drove into the woods where we heard the running, and I felt unsettled. I started shaking a bit. It was October in Texas, so I wasn't shaking

from the cold. It was not cold. We drove up to a small pond, and I began to get nauseous. I was now visibly shaking and told my husband we need to go because I have a bad feeling about this. He yelled out to Warren and Jacob again, but they didn't hear us. We tried to call them on our phones, but when they answered, it sounded robotic or like they were underwater. My husband put the ATV in reverse, but it wouldn't budge. I got even more panicked and I told him we had to go. My husband finally got us out of that spot and we went to find Warren and Jacob.

The buck was still on the other side of the fence, but I was not going to be left alone again in the woods, so we found a weak spot in the fence and I crawled through. My husband didn't let me out of his sight for the rest of the night. Then we had to feel dressed the buck, remove its insides, and put it on ice. We went to another part of the property to do that, standing there, watching everything I heard footsteps in the woods around us. I didn't step out of that beam of light though. I talked to Warren about the situation, and he said that in the six years that his parents

owned that property, they've never heard anything weird, and the closest neighbor was at least a mile away. My husband Jacob and Warren still go out there, but I text him every hour to ensure that he has at least two fully charged bright flashlights. We started searching for the buck at around 6.45 and didn't return to the truck until around midnight. To whoever or whatever was yelling and running through the woods, let's not meet. Back in 1999 or so, I was in high school, but on summer break.

I was about 15 or 16. But petite teenager, slim but fit, five foot two, I played soccer and was on the high school swim team. The town my family and I lived in was rapidly expanding. There weren't enough schools for the population yet, so I went to one of the two in our area, 20 minutes down the freeway.

It was a decent sized school, but was still overcrowded. Half of my class were in what you would call T-shacks. They were temporary, portable buildings. They were plans to open up some new high schools to alleviate the overcrowding. The high school zoning pulled kids in from all over the area. To put it into perspective, my graduating class in 2002 started with over a thousand kids. By the time I graduated, it was only 500. This meant I spent four years attending a school with a bunch of kids I had never even met. I had a friend group of four girls who all lived within walking distance of my house.

My best friend was only one house away, we'll call her Alice. The friend and our group that lived furthest out was still only a five minute bike ride, just a few blocks away, we'll call her Bury. My high school boyfriend lived on the other side of the town so I didn't see him much outside of school. One day while helping my dad bring in groceries, I saw a boy about my age skateboarding on the opposite side of the street. I didn't recognize him, which was unusual as all of the kids in the area hung out together. The internet wasn't in every household back then and cell phones weren't around yet,

so our social networking happened outside. The boy slowed down to watch me and smiled but continued. He was pretty cute, so I smiled myself for the ego boost. But I wasn't interested as I had a boyfriend already. My friends and I were all mischreants. We would occasionally skip class and smoke pot, but we never did anything too much worse than that. smoke pot, but we never did anything too much worse than that. Once summer break was over and school started, one of my friends introduced the rest of the group to a boy. We'll call him Justin.

Now it didn't immediately dawn on me, but I later realized that this was the cute boy that I had seen skating through my neighborhood during summer break. He immediately started flirting with me, but I told him I wasn't interested because I had a boyfriend. He seemed okay with this, and went after my friend, Bree, instead. He started spending more and more time with us girls. I found out he lived on the opposite side of town closer to my boyfriend, and would skateboard or walk to our neighborhood.

It would take about an hour or more for him to get across town that way. The more time he spent with us, the more he would hit on me, even though Bury was his girlfriend. I kept blowing him off though. Around that time I started getting strange phone calls at all hours. My older sister and I had a private line in our bedroom. The caller would ask for me if I didn't answer, but didn't always speak. When the caller did speak, it was a man. And I immediately suspected

Justin. Sometimes this caller would call and tell me to break up with my boyfriend. Sometimes they would also say that they were in love with me. I would hang up every time and these calls went on for months. Being the little potheads that we were, Justin would always get fucked up and attempt to get handsy with me when I was intoxicated. It never escalated too far as I wouldn't allow myself to be alone with him when we partook in these extra curriculars. But the calls escalated when something happened between Justin and Bury that caused them to break up. Bury wasn't around as much after that. I confided to my boyfriend that Justin made me feel uncomfortable. I even told him that

Justin had gotten handsy with me a time or two. As it turned out, Justin was the one who supplied our habits. My boyfriend said that he would talk to Justin, but nothing ever came of it. Justin paged Alice one weekend while swimming in the backyard. Yes, we had beepers. I'm showing my age here. Alice used my landline to call him back and let it slip that we were in the pool. Justin told her that he was on his way and would arrive in 10 minutes. I thought that he must be already in our neighborhood since he would arrive so quickly. My parents were far more strict than Alice's parents, and I didn't want Justin to come

to my house anyway, so I suggested that we go to Alice's house. I didn't want him to see me in my bikini, so I said that I would get dressed first and then come over. I changed and walked over, but Alice wasn't ready yet, so I was alone on her porch, smoking a cigarette when Justin showed up. He was his usual pushy, overly flirty self, so being alone with him made me very uncomfortable. Alice's parents weren't home, and she and a friend of ours were in her room upstairs getting dressed. I finished my smoke and went inside when he pressed me against the wall. He told me he wished that I hadn't changed out of my silver bikini.

He said this as if he had already seen me in the silver bikini. This scared me because I only wore that suit in my fenced back yard, as it was a little more revealing than my other bathing suits. He pressed me up against the wall so I dropped down and ducked under him than ran. He began chasing me and caught up. He tackled me to the pavement. He was straddled on top of me when the girls opened the front door and began walking outside. We were only a few yards away so he quickly rolled off.

I took this as my cue to book it. I ran back to my house and stayed inside until he left. I refused to participate in any social events he attended from that point forward, and avoided him like the plague. Since he was a small time drug dealer, his reach was extensive, and I found out he also dealt and hung out with my older sister's friends. One day, six months later, my sister's friend came over and wanted to know why I was avoiding Justin. I told her what happened. She didn't think it was a big deal. She said he wouldn't quit crying over me since he was so upset. She asked, why can't you just forgive him? I said I would forgive him if he promised to never speak

to me again. He agreed to this and kept his word or so it seemed. Shortly after this, Justin, his twin brother, and his dad, were arrested. They were involved in an altercation. A drug deal involving large quantities of ecstasy went wrong and somebody was shot. They all went to prison. I've always wondered what he was doing in my neighborhood during that summer break when he first saw me. Did he orchestrate meeting my friends just to get to me? Justin, let's never meet again. This is the smell of a warm 3-day old egg-solid sandwich in a wimpy trash bag. Wimpy, wimpy, wimpy!

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I live in Manila, Philippines, and if you've ever been here, you know what the city can be like. Despite living here since college, I've never felt safe outside. This story happened four years ago when I was 31 years old. I'm a female now 35 and a small business owner. This happened around August after one of my client meetings. As the client's location had limited parking spaces, I opted to use a ride sharing app to get there and, parking spaces, I opted to use a ride sharing app to get there and, fortunately, I arrived early and waited for my meeting to begin. Unfortunately, the presentation took longer than anticipated. I wanted to avoid the rush hour because booking a ride was difficult enough as it was. Normally,

I would use the train or bus to get home, but I had my laptop and other presentation materials which made it impossible, therefore not having driven there was a bad decision. With no other options I decided to wait for a cab, even though they have a bad reputation in this city for cheating passengers and charging exorbitant fees. I hated the idea, but I had no other choice. Several taxis drove past me, but most of them already had passengers. Unfortunately, my luck worsened when it started raining. In Manila, when it rains, it's almost impossible to find any kind of public transportation. After waiting around for 20 minutes, I finally managed to flag down a taxi.

The taxi driver opened the passenger's side door. I usually sit in the back, but I made an exception this day because I was desperate. I didn't think too much of it. I thought that he was kind and opening the door for me since the weather was so terrible. I discovered how wrong I was. I fastened my seatbelt until the driver to take me to a shopping mall near my workplace. He agreed, but asked if we could take an alternate route to avoid heavy traffic. I agreed, as this was not unusual in Manila. He began to engage me in conversation. He said, You're very pretty. My name's Edward.

What's yours? I responded with my nickname. He then extended his hand out for a handshake, which seemed unusual, but I went along with it. His grasp was more like a massage making me uncomfortable and disgusted. He complimented my hands and skin as he inquired about my relationship status. He said, Your hands are very soft. You have very smooth skin.

Do you have a boyfriend? He sure is lucky. Of course, a lone bell started to ring like a fire truck siren in my head. I wondered if I should ask him to return to my client's office and pretend I had forgotten something. Looking at the heavy traffic, I knew that was impossible. I thought I'd just play along until I was able to reach a place where I could politely say I'm getting out for whatever reason I would come up with.

He continued asking me more personal questions about my age, birthday, and job. I just invented half of the things that I told him. Now, my mind was filled with various scenarios. I didn't like how he was looking at me. I felt disgusted whenever he turned to stare at me. I wore this very ordinary, but smart-looking, white top, and black pants. The Philippines is a hot country, so my top was naturally thinner. The Philippines is a hot country, so my top was naturally thinner. Whenever he looked at me, I felt like he was undressing me, and yes, he could glance at me often because of the heavy traffic. It was like we were in the middle of a never-ending parking lot.

That's when an idea came to me. What if I just opened the door and run? But the area that I was in was pretty dangerous. I didn't want my laptop and other possessions to get stolen, plus it was pouring outside. We were on the route that he suggested, and I attempted to verify it on ways since I'm not very good with directions. I was relieved to see that it was indeed the right way, and again, he kept on trying to continue the conversation. We reached an area with many restaurants and other establishments like motels.

He said, I'm hungry. Let's stop at one of the restaurants, I'll treat you to dinner." I immediately declined. He asked me if something was wrong. I sensed a shift in his tone and felt like it would be best not to agitate him since I was unsure of his thoughts. I replied, it's just that I need to return to the office as soon as possible or my boss will get angry.

As a reminder, I'm a small business owner, so there is no boss." He insisted. It won't take long, and I'll take you to your office when we're done. Again, I said no. After thinking a bit, seemingly pleased, he said, I know. Let's just go to McDonald's drive through. I politely refused this new suggestion, but he drove there anyway. I was so irritated that I couldn't just get out and run away in the stormy weather. When we arrived at McDonald's, he asked me what I wanted. I stopped protesting and just ordered some chicken nuggets and a coffee. When we got our

orders, I held onto that hot coffee thinking I'd burn his face with it if he tried something with me. Again, I checked my way zap to see how much longer I had to endure this. It would be 20 more minutes. I told myself to just hang in there and be patient. I thanked him for the to just hang in there and be patient. I thanked him for the food and we were on our way again. He kept talking and I simply replied to whatever he asked. Then he asked me for my number. Good thing I had my work phone. I gave him that number because I felt like he'd tried to confirm it by calling me immediately. I was correct. He immediately called to confirm

that I had given him a real phone number. Finally, I could see the mall near my office. As we stopped in front of the building, I tried to pay for my fare, but he wouldn't even accept it. I insisted, so he took my money, but he told me, keep in touch, okay? I said yes and pretended to enter the establishment calmly as he waived goodbye. After getting inside, my knees suddenly felt weak and I started shaking. I consoled myself by saying, good job, you did well, it's all over now. Then my phone rang. It was him.

I didn't answer, of course. I blocked him immediately after that mist call. To the hungry taxi driver, let's not meet again. Like many fellow listeners and storytellers here, I'm a true crime lover from documentaries to podcasts I like hearing other people's stories. It makes me feel more aware and prepared for what is out there. My story took place in 2017 in Arizona. My boyfriend at the time, who we'll call Wade, stayed at work very late every Friday to

play Magic the Gathering with the group of friends. These games could take several hours depending on what type of deck build they used or how many games they intended to play. I would often bring them coffee or food for dinner and play along until sometimes 10 or even midnight. This particular Friday was no different. I grabbed coffee and was on my way to the building. It's important to note the layout of the building's parking lot to understand where this took place. The building is right off the freeway and it's tucked behind another office space so you need to go down a wide secondary road after you turn off the main road to get to the parking lot. From there,

the parking lot curves around to what would be the north-facing door. Some covered parking spaces and dumpsters were in this area. Now, exiting the freeway and turning onto the secondary road, I noticed a car following extremely close behind me. I figured it was just another Arizona driver wanting to speed around, so I slowed and pulled to the right to allow them to pass. The car drove side by side with me, and the guy driving the car stared at me and then suddenly pulled back behind me. I felt my heart drop. I heard at some point from someone that if a stranger is following you, drive erratically, looking back now, that was obviously not the way to go. But that's exactly what I did. I gung it and weaved it through the empty parking lot, hoping that he wouldn't follow.

I went around the north side in the wall for the dumpsters. I had a little bit of a lead on him, so I was hoping that he didn't see that I went around and was hiding behind this wall. I took a few minutes to calm my breathing and called Wade shakily, saying, can you come outside and walk me in? A guy is following me. I stayed on the phone, and once he said that he was at the door, I crept around the parking lot as close as possible, hoping that the guy wasn't there anymore. But he was, he was sitting in the darkest corner spot of the parking lot.

He was waiting for me. Once I saw Wade standing outside the door, I got out, and he walked to my car. The creep waiting for me slowly rolled out of the shadows and stared me down as he left the parking lot. I immediately began to shake as my boyfriend walked me inside the building. After this event, I always pay attention to what cars behind me and how long they are there. I know now if you are ever being followed while driving, it's best to go to a well lit, populated area or a police station if you can. So to the guy who waited in the shadows for me in an empty parking lot, let's never meet. 18T Fiber presents A Straight Forward Moment You're wine?

Thanks. I'll pretend I know what I'm doing before saying it's good. And I'll pretend I don't know you're pretending. Are you a Gagillionaire? Yeah, I have 18T Fiber. The straightforward pricing has inspired me to be more straightforward. Me too. Ugh, this wine.

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Your wine, thanks. I'll pretend I know what I'm doing before saying it's good. And I'll pretend I don't know you're pretending. Are you a Gagillionaire? Yeah pretend I don't know you're pretending. Are you a gigillionaire? Yeah, I have AT&T fiber. The straightforward pricing has inspired me to be more straightforward. Me too.

Ugh, this one, I'll fetch you a better one. Straight forward is better. No equipment fees, no data caps, no price increase at 12 months. Live like a gigillionaire with AT&T fiber, limited availability and select areas, visit at AT&T.com slash Hypergate for details. I met Casey in 2007.

I was hanging out in a local bookstore with my crew of email high school dropouts, and he, knowing a couple of my friends in our small Midwestern town, had tagged along. He was an attractive 18 year old bad boy, covered in tattoos and piercings and my 17-old self was smitten. However, I was painfully shy and too nervous to initiate a conversation. The next day, one of my friends, whom I had previously dated, mentioned noticing how I looked at Casey.

At first I thought that he was saying that out of jealousy, but then he offered to give me Casey's phone number. He told me that he thought that I should text him. I did, and we would see each other occasionally, but it never amounted to anything. He was merely in acquaintance, who I had a teenage crush on. We lost touch, and I thought I'd never see him again. I was wrong. A couple of years passed and my friends and I had all gone our separate ways when I got a friend request on Facebook. It was from Casey. I accepted the request and we exchanged messages and made plans to get together. He was now living in a larger town about 45 minutes away from me. We agreed to meet in the major city that was halfway between both of our homes. We met, and he invited me to come to his place.

He had roommates plus I, quote unquote, knew him. I thought what's the harm, right? Wanting an excuse to be close to him. I jumped in his truck and we drove to his house. We arrived in his room mates were home. There were a couple of guys and one of their girlfriends there. They seemed nice enough, so we did a few cello shots and played Mario Kart. I ended up alone with Casey in his room, where we started making out. He was on top of me, pressing his body so hard into mine that I wanted to cry in pain. I remembered him telling me how much he loved the feeling of my hip bones pressing into him.

I didn't feel comfortable having sex with him and I told him so. He was unhappy but respected my request and the rest of the night was uneventful. He somewhat awkwardly drove me back to my car in the morning and we lost touch again. It's now 2010 and I got a friend request from a profile that was Casey, but he was using a different name. He was single and bored, so I decided to chat with him. He had gotten several more tattoos and was now working at a local tattoo shop and I was swooning again. Our birthdays were coming up and I asked what he had planned for his. He replied that he had nothing planned and would probably be alone at home.

I didn't want him to be lonely on his birthday so I invited him to join me at a hookal lounge in a nearby college town. We spent the evening drinking and smoking hookah, and I remember feeling lucky that a guy, as cool and attractive as he, wanted to spend time with me. On this occasion, I drove both of us. Then on the way home, flashing lights appeared in my rear view. Shit, I was getting pulled over. I had been a little drunk, but the anxiety and adrenaline quickly sobered me up. When I looked at Casey, he had become very quiet and still. He looked like he wanted to bolt.

I assumed that he was just anxious around cops like I was. To my extreme relief, the officer approached me in the driver's seat and only gave me a warning that one of my tail lights needed to be replaced. The officer asked no questions to or about Casey and we went our ways without any further incident. One afternoon, I was spending time with a friend at the zoo, gushing about Casey and how much I liked him when I got a text from my dad. I was still on my family's cell phone plan,

and my dad could view the numbers I was calling and texting. In the text, my dad told me that I needed to stop all communication with the phone number that belonged to Casey. My dad said that the person attached to that phone number was dangerous. I rolled my eyes and brushed it off as my dad being overprotective. But why was he monitoring my calls and texts anyway, annoying? I invited some friends to go to haunted houses and bars. I asked Casey to hold my hand and stay with me as I was scared. He refused and walked ahead of me through the haunted house.

We ended the night at the Tattoo Shop Casey worked at. It was a little weird, but he said his boss permitted us to be there, so I thought nothing of it. He gave my friends and me free Tattoos and we hung out and listened to music. Once again my young dumb self ignored the red flags and enamored with how cool Casey was. He tried to have sex with me again that night, but my best friend was in the same room so I shut that down. He was irritated and lectured me about being a tease but eventually he let the matter drop.

We went to a small party at one of Casey's friends' apartments a few weeks later. I didn't know anybody and started to drink vodka heavily to ease my social anxiety. At one point in the evening, someone brought a gravity-bong, and Casey pressured me into taking a hit. I don't remember much of the night after that. It was the most intoxicated I had ever been, or have been since. I know Casey carried me and laid me down on his friend's couch, and I remember feeling like I was going to die, but it was all a blur beyond that. I had begun to feel increasingly annoyed with Casey's flippant treatment, but we continued dating. He invited me to go with him to a barbecue at the house of the Tattoo Shop he worked at. He picked

me up in his truck and we drove down secluded country roads to and from the barbecue that night. I broke up with him shortly after that night. He wasn't a complete asshole, just kind of, and I had enough. I drove by that Tattoo shop one day, several months later, and it had closed. I looked up the shop owner on Facebook, whom I had met at the barbecue, and found out Casey had been stealing thousands of dollars of equipment from him, forcing him to go out of business. It became clear that we were not permitted to be there the night of my birthday. I was working in a burger restaurant as a server.

One of the restaurant managers told us his cousin had gone missing and her vehicle was found on the side of the road. I tried to comfort him, but it didn't work. I was in the back of the restaurant a couple of weeks later when a coworker mentioned the case of a manager's missing cousin. She informed me that an arrest had been made and pulled an article up on her phone. My heart dropped and my stomach flipped as I looked at the mug shot at the top of the article. It was Casey. His face looked burned and beat up as if he had been in some sort of fight. I somehow made it through the rest of my shift, but I felt physically ill.

Had I dated a murderer? I somehow made it through the rest of my shift, but I felt physically ill. Had I dated a murderer? For the next several weeks and months, it was all my co-workers at the restaurant, and everyone on social media talked about. I couldn't go to work or get on Facebook without hearing his name or seeing his mug shot. The body of the manager's cousin had been found by a mushroom hunter in a rural area, not far from where Casey had taken me the night of that barbecue. Another body was found next to hers.

It was a skeleton of a 17-year-old girl who had gone missing back in 2007, the same year that I met Casey when I was 17. It still chills me to the bone. I guess I was lucky. What made me worthy of surviving Casey? I'll probably never know. We will never meet again. 18T Fiber presents A Straight Forward Moment You're wine? Thanks. I'll pretend I know what I'm doing before saying it's good. And I'll pretend I don't know you're pretending.

Are you a Gigillionaire? Yeah, I have 18T Fiber. for saying it's good. Don't forget to stick around after the music if you're a patron for your extended ad free version of this week's episode. If you'd like to sign up, head over to patreon.com forward slash let's not meet podcast, to sign up and support this show today and get access to hours upon hours of bonus content.

This week you have heard, he held a shock onto my head by anonymous, banned from the E-Bar by Sarah Someone else was out there by Cassidy the small-time drug dealer who infiltrated my friend group by Ashley Hungary tax driver by Ali the guy who waited in the shadows by a Michelle and finally I dated a murderer by Abby cat all the stories you've heard this week were narrated and produced with the permission of their respective authors. Let's not meet a true horror podcast.

Is not associated with Reddit or any of the message boards online. As always, if you have a story to share, send it to Let's Not Meet Stories at gmail.com. Don't forget to check out the new episodes of all my other podcasts like Odd Trails, my true paranormal podcast. Welcome to Paradise, it sucks and the old time radio cast all over at crypticcountypodcasts.com or wherever you get your podcasts. I'll see you all next week. Stay safe. I've listened to this show for a long time and it's one of my favorite.

AT&T Fiber presents A Straight Forward Moment You're wine? Thanks. I'll pretend I know what I'm doing before saying it's good. And I'll pretend I don't know you're pretending. Are you a Gigillionaire? Yeah, I have AT&T Fiber. The Straight Forward pricing has inspired me to be more straightforward.

Me too. Ugh, this wine. I'll fetch you a better one. Straight forward is better. No equipment fees, no data caps, no price increase at 12 months. Live like a Gigillionaire with AT&T Fiber. Limited availability in select areas, visit AT&T.com slash Hypergate for details. AT&T Fiber presents a straightforward moment.

You're wine. Thanks. I'll pretend I know what I'm doing before saying it's good. And I'll pretend I don't know you're pretending. Are you a Gagillionaire? Yeah, I have AT&T Fiber. The straightforward pricing has inspired me to be more straightforward. Me too.

Ugh, this wine. I'll fetch you a better one. Straight forward is better. No equipment fees, no data caps, no price increase at 12 months. Live like a Gagillionaire with AT&T Fiber. Limited availability in select areas. Visit AT&T.com slash hypergate for details. No equipment fees, no data caps, no price increase at 12 months.

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