Let's Not Meet: A True Horror Podcast - 6x14: The Man From The Lake - Let's Not Meet

Episode Date: July 5, 2021

 Stories in this episode: -The Man With The Curved Bill - Laura (0:57). -Untitled - Amanda (20:58). -Untitled - Michelle B (30:34). -Untitled - Opie (44:38).  Extended Patreon Content: -Austin In The 90's - Michelle Mullet. -The Workman In The Backyard - Shay. -Mysterious Black Liquid - JM. -My LNM Story - Kristi. -Ever smoked a joint dried in nail polish remover? - Anon. 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 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! Right now, when you purchase a 3-month Babbel subscription, you’ll get an additional 3 months for FREE. That’s 6 months, for the price of 3! Just go to BABBEL.com and use promo code MEET. Stop wasting time going to the Post office and go to Stamps.com instead. There’s NO risk. And with my promo code, MEET, you get a special offer that includes a 4-week trial PLUS free postage and a digital scale. No long-term commitments or contracts. Just go to Stamps.com, click on the Microphone at the TOP of the homepage and type in MEET. This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp and my listeners get 10% off their first month at betterhelp.com/MEET. When you support the sponsors, you support the show! - Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/433173970399259/ - Twitter - https://twitter.com/letsnotmeetcast - Website - https://letsnotmeetpodcast.com - Patreon - https://patreon.com/letsnotmeetpodcast - Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/letsnotmeetcast/ - Twitch - https://twitch.tv/retroxpizza/

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This podcast contains adult language and content. The stories in this show can be frightening and disturbing for some. Listener 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 6 episode 14 of Let's Not Meet a True Horror podcast. I was a 15 year old 125 pound girl, a freshman in high school. I lived in a city that wasn't too small and wasn't too big. My parents told me that they were going to get divorced after my sister graduated, which

was after my freshman year of high school. I was a goody- two shoes at the time, but I had issues with keeping my grades up. I was also convinced I was a little older than I really was. Now I had been grounded from music, the week's prior to meeting my stalker, and being grounded from music meant,

the phone was taken away, headphones taken away, radio taken away, and even when it was in the car with my family, the radio was turned off. My parents got very creative with how they grounded me. Well, after not doing too much better, they started making me walk home from school. It wasn't too far, and if friends were there with me, I could sneak in some music. So I really enjoyed my stroll. Also note that on my way home, I passed a church. It was across the street from my high school.

I also passed an elementary school, our football stadium, and either a 7-Eleven or a fancy neighborhood, and a lake. It all depended on which way I took. It was about a 30-45-minute walk, if I walked slowly. Roughly until elementary school, I would always have at least one friend with me. It's important to note, even when walking home, I still didn't have a phone. Also, my parents weren't home until after dark. The only person home would be my older sister who had a car and normally would drive me home if I didn't have to walk. She wasn't the most loving and caring sister at this point in our relationship.

So as long as I was home when my parents got home, she didn't even notice me. One day, I was walking home with four friends. It was getting dark and a storm was coming in. Most of my friends walked a little faster, to try and avoid the rain that was said to be coming. When we got to the point where we had to say goodbye to the last friend who walked with me, I had to choose either head down by the lake, or go to the 7-11. Well, on this day, I decided to take the longer way, the lake way. I loved the rain. I also loved to walk in the shallow end of the lake front, as the cool front hit. Let it be known that walking to the lake meant walking through a nicer neighborhood

and through a tiny trail between a small patch of trees, the trail to this lake access went right up to the back end of my neighborhood. I was happy. I remember singing a love song, daydreaming of my boyfriend at the time. I was young, minding my own business, softly running my fingers across the trees and bushes on the trail. Almost skipping and jumping to a beat, as I stepped. I can remember a weird feeling hitting my body, though.

I couldn't really place it then, I just brushed it off, really not thinking anything about it. The feeling had me stop singing and go back to my normal walk. Not stepping to any beat anymore, and a little more observant to the sounds around me. I still don't understand what caused this sudden feeling, at least not at the time. I want to say that I heard something, but I didn't. It just hit me. Eventually I got to the lake, stopped to take off my shoes, and put them in my school bag. But I still felt very uneasy. Nonetheless, I knew the water on my feet would make me happy. So I took off my bag and threw it in front of me. While doing this,

I thought I saw something behind me. I told myself I was just being weird. I shoved my shoes into the bag, throwing it back onto my back, and stepping into the water. Almost as soon as I did that, I heard the water move behind me, as if someone else had stepped into the water as well. This time, I turned around as fast as humanly possible. To my absolute horror, it was a man. Let me tell you, I'll never forget this face. His scruffy beard was trimmed close to his face, almost thin, but the mustache was thick, close to his face, almost thin, but the mustache was thick, curling into his mouth. He had the most sinister smile. His eyes were blue, with eyebrows darker than his beard. His baseball cap was dirty and faded. The bill overly curved. His jaw was clenched, causing his cheeks

to almost twitch. Maybe that was just my eyes playing tricks on me, I don't know. Either way, at this moment, the hairs on my body stood up. My muscles felt like rocks. I think my heart stopped. He started to walk towards me. I couldn't move, I was frozen in fear. He said, I couldn't move. I was frozen in fear." He said. The storm is coming. As he took one step closer. At this point, I noticed fabric blowing in the wind, coming out of his back pocket. His hands slowly moved to it, almost as if he didn't want me to see him reaching for it. Where is your friend?

She left you to walk alone again, he asked. My heart hit my toes. He knew that I walked with someone. Vider flight hit me, and I ran. I was running, and I could hear him running after me. Tears streaming, heart-feeling like it's going to break out of my rib cage. I can't look back. Just run. Keep going, baby girl. Everything starts to blur. Take me home, baby. When he shouted this, it seemed to be further behind me. But it was then that I realized, I can't go home. He would know where I lived.

Knowing that I was gaining distance, I started to try and plan places to run to. There was nothing. I couldn't think of anything. Fear stopped my brain from being able to think clearly. Writing this now, I still tear up. That hope was feeling is something I just can't get over. While running, I see the road, then a car. I start to scream.

I just start screaming as loud as I could. I don't know what I was saying. The car stops, and I make my way to the driver's side opposite the way I came from. I knew it would be an easy way to put the car between me and the man. The lady in the car opened the door and managed to get out enough for me to collapse into her. While she held me, I looked behind

her over the car. He was gone. I started to cry. I mean, what just happened? Where did he go? At this point, I was just happy to be near an adult. She told me to get in the car and she would take me anywhere I wanted to go. I didn't want to go near the woods, so I opened the door behind the driver's door. We got in and she locked the doors and quickly turned around. See this road was a dead end road. She must have been going home because the only things on that road were very old homes. I began to imagine how much longer I would have been chased if she weren't on her way home.

We got to the fancy area, a more busy road, and she had stopped at a stop sign. Which way do you want me to go? Her voice was so loving, yet worried. I couldn't think. I was still shaking from fear. Can you take me to the police station?" She started to roll forward. No, I shouted.

I don't want to get in trouble. I was young and I thought that my parents would freak out. I gathered my thoughts and directed her to my best friend Ashley's house. Her father was an officer, so I thought, if he did happen to follow me in this lady's car, the man wouldn't do anything after seeing a cop car parked out front. The ride was short and silent. It's as if she could tell that I was still processing and didn't want to talk about it. We arrived at my best friend's house and she put the car in park. Here, she grabs her wallet and pulls out a cart.

Call me if you ever want to talk, day or night. I'm a therapist. You don't have to tell me anything? Just know that I'm always on my phone. I opened the door and got out. I started to walk away, not closing the door, thinking to myself, what I'd tell Ashley. I hear the woman's door open. I look back, almost replaying this fear I had from running from the man. I almost started running again. But when I look back, I could see that she was closing the door that I had left open,

and I just kind of laughed to myself, in relief, trying to find the funny things in the situation. Before I even got to the door, Ashley's father opened it. I figured he noticed the strange woman pulling up in front of his house and came to look. Almost as soon as my eyes hit him, I saw his eyes dart away behind me. I looked back, not to where the woman was driving, but the opposite direction. Before I could turn and look to see what he was looking at, while still walking towards the door. He quickly moved between me and the direction in which he looked. My heart stopped. Fear struck me all over again. I stood there not able to turn and see

what he was doing. I finally got the courage to turn and look, and I swiveled quickly. It was just a friend of his. He was waving, seemingly expecting them, so I continued towards the door. At this point, my friend had come downstairs. Upon seeing me, she got a little bit excited. She came over saying, I didn't know that you were coming. Now I don't feel like anything else that day was very important. I was scared to tell anyone what just happened, partly because I was worried about getting it in trouble for taking the long way, and partly because I wasn't even sure what really happened. Did I dream of it?

Did my mind play tricks on me? That face. It was just too real. That feeling. It was so confusing and scary. I tried more to suppress everything and act like it never happened. I went home that night, went right to my room and tried to sleep, again not believing it actually happened.

The next few weeks I found rides. In fact the guy that I was dating was a bit older. I have used my friend's phone to reach out to him and ask, because yes I memorized his phone number. I still remember it to this day. He wouldn't be able to pick me up until a little bit after school let out, so I would walk with my friends to their homes, then wait around until he could come get me. He would pull up Hock and I'd walk out and get in. After weeks of everything being normal, I almost forgot about what had happened.

I was really enjoying my time with him. We had not done anything inappropriate as I was still saving myself. We would drive to the water and hang out until it was time to head home. It was really nice. I got time with him and we became really close. It was like looking back at a bad dream. Then one day I heard a horn, so I said, buy to my friend, and excitement filled me as I headed to who I thought was my boyfriend. As soon as I opened the door and walked out, I didn't see his truck. I had already closed the door behind me so I didn't feel like turning back and going in.

I think to myself, maybe it's just a neighbor of hers. He should be here soon anyways. So I went to the curb and sat to wait for him. A breeze must have hit me because my hair blew into my face. I tucked it behind my ears and instantly my blood turned cold. He was there in a white van of all vehicles. Frozen, I just stared. He smiled that smile again and said, I missed you, Laura. He knew my name. Almost as soon as I stood up my boyfriend's truck round at the corner, coming my way. I don't move my eyes off this creepy man, but he must have heard the truck. He turned, and almost as if he knew who it was, he turned the van on, and waved as he rolled his window up. He flew past me, getting as close as he could without hitting me. My boyfriend pulled up. Are you okay?

He must have seen the creep get close to his car. Who was that? I sat there, still in shock. I know that wasn't a dream now. My boyfriend saw the van, and this guy knew my name. I told him, can we just go hang out at Sonic? See, we would go there often, as it was a cross-town, and a good spot to hang out. He looked at me. Obviously, still concerned, but said sure.

He put the truck in drive, and we went to Sonic, not speaking of the van again. I don't remember ever truly seeing him, at least not until the night that I was going to a prom party that my friend Ashley threw. We weren't old enough for real prom, but we enjoyed the idea of prom. For context, I was wearing a long dress, which had little cuts out on the sides. We were from a small town, so the faux prom was just down the road from Ashley's house. We were able to take her parents' car to the location for the party. Now while dancing, I could feel a cramp. I left my bag and my friend's car, so I told her, I'm running to the car I need a tampon, can you unlock it?

And without giving her time to reply, I just walked to the car. I need a tampon. Can you unlock it?" And without giving her time to reply, I just walked to the car. It was a little up a hill from this faux prom. As I got to the car, I opened the door. Wow! She actually unlocked it. I said to myself. I found my bag in the passenger's seat. I picked it up and sat down to find my tampon. I closed the door, as gross as you might think this is, and I was going to insert my tampon and go back to dancing. So I rolled up my dress, raised my leg, and looked down to slide the part of my undergram, and it's down to insert the tampon. I stopped when I felt something

touch my knee. Someone that was now leaning against the middle console of the car. It was a hand. I heard a low, hmm, come from the back seat, and without a second to spare, I opened the door and ran, tripping over my dress as I ran to the party. After falling, I stopped and looked back. The backseat door of the car was open. Thinking to myself, not again.

I stand up and I run to the party, still scared of everything. I just ran to my boyfriend and said, dance with me. I thought if I was with a man, I'd be safe. Ashley came over to me, closed the doors next time. She said in a playful silly voice. I was with a man I'd be safe. Ashley came over to me. Close the doors next time, she said in a playful silly voice. I don't really know how the party went after that.

I spent the entire night holding and hugging my boyfriend while scanning everything around me, looking for this man. When I got home, I noticed my dress had ripped on the side. Sad and scared of telling someone I just threw the dress away, I didn't want to think of that feeling of his rough dirty hand on me ever again. I didn't see him again though. That would be the last time I saw him. I still spent the rest of my school year in fear of seeing him. It wasn't until we moved to another town over the summer that I finally

stopped living in fear. I also never told anyone. By the time I stopped thinking I was to blame, I was a senior. Didn't seem relevant at that point, I guess. I'm now 24. I still don't go back to that town in fear of seeing him again, or him seeing me and finding out where I live. Looking back, I should have gone to the cops the very first time, and every time after that, but I was young. I always thought that they would say I was lying, trying to get attention. Who knows, but I regret that decision. But I can't live in regret now. As for the lady who drove me home, I never thanked you, or spoke to you again, and I hope you know, deep down how much she helped me. But to the man who ruined my freshman year, let's not ever meet again. You're already there, hero.

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offering the best brands and best prices guaranteed. This happened around 20 years ago. I was somewhere between 9 and 11 years old at the time. Living in a small town in the 90s, you always felt safer than you actually were. Our town was so small that we didn't even have a traffic light, just one of those caution lights that blinked yellow all day. We knew all of our neighbors, and our neighbors knew who we were. My parents would work all day, so when we would come home from school, my younger sister and I would be home alone for maybe half an hour. Neither of us kept a key to the home with us, but instead we always had a spare key under the mat next to the side door. This was the main door we all used to go in and out of our home. I

remember having these wooden hearts hanging on the back of the door. They made this very distinct, click-clack noise against the door when it opened and closed. This will come into play later. When we were younger, we were all very much into the paranormal, and were convinced that our home was haunted. It was an older Greek revival-style home, and were convinced that our home was haunted. It was an older Greek revival-style home, and we sat across from an empty field that did have a small area of Quaker burials. We would devour paranormal shows and jumped at every odd sound our home made.

It was a two-story home that was carpeted everywhere except our stairs, which were hardwood, so it was very obvious when someone would be walking up or down them. I remember one time being home in our living room, playing with our hermit crab, and I heard someone stomping down the stairs. I ran outside and didn't go back in until my mom arrived home for the evening. To get to my sister's room, you actually had to walk through mine. Being in an older home, there was also a vent that went straight through the floor to the kitchen area where our side door entered the home. We would often open the vent and drop things on anyone walking below.

Sometimes I would wake up and swear I could hear voices whispering when all the lights were out and everyone was asleep. Now, onto the night, it's going to hot me forever. I'm unsure of what time this all took place, but it was in the middle of the night. I woke up to the sound of the hearts, clinking off the door. I thought it was strange because I hadn't heard my step-dad get up as he was normally the earliest riser in the house. I continued to lay in bed. I closed my eyes.

Not a second later, I heard the sound of soft footsteps below my room, making their way towards the stairs. My eyes shot open, but I didn't move. My head was turned towards the wall that my bed lay against. I continued to listen as the footsteps made their way slowly up the stairs. First, I heard whoever or whatever. This was, turn left, and walk into my parents' room. Then silence. I heard whoever or whatever make their way out of my parents' room, and across the hall and

into my room, and then into my sisters, silence. After a moment, I heard them make their way back into my room and come towards my bed. At this point, I'm obviously terrified, and I'm trying to breathe as little as possible. I didn't want them to know that I was awake, but I still stared wide-eyed at my wall. I could hear my heart pound, and I swore that whoever was standing behind me could hear it too. And he spoke, can I take your picture? I said nothing as the realization hit me

that there was a man standing next to my bed, staring at me. Again, he repeated the question, but used my name. Amanda, can I take your picture? How did this person know my name? The voice was so unfamiliar to me. I lay there stunned and silence refusing to move or answer. I then squeezed my eyes shut while silently praying that this person would leave me. After what felt like an eternity

with him standing over me, I heard him turn and make his way out of my room. He walked back down the stairs. I heard him walk underneath my room, and finally I heard the familiar sound of the clinking of the door as it slowly pulled open and then closed. I also heard the soft sound of a key being inserted into the door knob and the very soft noise of the deadbolt being locked. I didn't move until my parents got up the next morning, and ever told anyone this full story, having convinced myself no one would believe me.

As kids, we were all convinced our house was haunted, and our parents thought that we just had vivid imaginations. Looking back on that night, so many questions plagued my mind to this day. How did this person know me? How did they know where the key was? Now, those are probably the two easiest answers. It was a small town and our day-to-day habits.

We're very predictable. What would have happened if someone else had woken up, though? What were these guys' intentions? What was he prepared to do? And what about all those other times I can recall hearing footsteps and voices? Were all those noises I heard someone breaking into our home? Those questions will haunt me. My family moved from that small town almost 17 years ago, but my parents may be buying a home there again soon.

I hope whoever this was doesn't live there anymore, and if they do, I hope they won't recognize me, but through whoever you are that continues to haunt me, let's not meet. Don't let the summer heat bake in road-grime any longer, hand to your nearby Zips Car Wash to clean up and cool off. And listen to this, now when you buy your next car wash online at zipscarwash.com, you pay even less. That's right, we save you money off our amazing washes plus you also get to skip the line

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You found out how weird they were organically, usually under dire circumstances. That's what happened here. So I knew this girl from school. We'll call her Ellie. We weren't necessarily great friends, but we did hang out with the same people. And she seemed like she had some kind of interesting potential as a friend. She did. Just not in the way that I thought. So one weekend, she asked me if I wanted to go to the mall and hang out. There was a group

of us. So off we went to walk around and hang out. There was a group of us. So off we went to walk around and do what teenagers did in the 90s, which was basically orchestrated, nothingness, meandering and window shopping. At some point, Ellie told me that a woman, who was a stranger, had given me a dirty look, and we should go follow her around for a minute just to shake her up. Everything in my 15-year-old brain warned me that this probably wasn't a good idea but I went

along. Well, the woman was of course startled that a group of scary-looking kids were following her around the department store and she alerted security, who then made us call our parents to come pick us up. I wasn't able to get in contact with my parents, but Ellie's mom came to pick us up. It became clear in the short ride from the mall to my neighborhood that when Ellie called her for help, she told her that it was all my idea, my execution, and thus my fault. This woman who had never met me before that day, abraded me the whole ride home, telling

me that she knew I was a bad kid from the moment she heard my name, and that she was sorry for her daughter, that she ever met me. Your parents are doing a terrible job with you, kids like you make me a free of the future. She spat at me as I got out of her car. My instincts told me that Ellie wasn't someone I should spend time with again. But she did call me a few weeks later and asked me to go out with her and a mutual friend that I actually trusted. I went anyway because I was bored, and I reasoned that her mom wouldn't be there, and I wasn't going to her house.

So sure. Ellie was mostly fine and small doses, and we would be at this pool hall in my hometown that catered to underage kids. So there would be a lot of people around that I knew if this second and last effort to hang out did not go well. My plans changed twice regarding how we would get to the pool hall. First it was that her mom could swing by their house and pick us up but I refused. I wasn't a kid who had a particularly great relationship with my own parents, so the last thing I was about to willingly sign up for was more of her mother's abuse. Then Ellie said that, no, a friend of hers would give us a ride

instead since her mother made me uncomfortable. At that point, I was entering a perilous part of the evening in terms of being allowed to leave. My parents had both started to suggest that it was getting too late for me to go anywhere if I didn't get a move on, after all my curfew was 11pm and it was coming up on 7. I told Ellie that she and her friends could pick me up at the entrance to my neighborhood and took off on foot to wait. When they pulled up, it was in a small pickup truck, and the boys in the front were two kids that went to our high school but didn't hang out in our friend

group. We hung out with the burnouts, and these guys were cowboy hat-wearing guys that I had seen before, but never met before that night. Ellie was in a good mood, and smiling as she waved me onto the bed of the pick-up so that we could head to the pool hall. The thing is, the guy behind the wheel, Travis, immediately started driving the wrong way, and we both knew it. Ellie's smile dropped away. She yelled to me, over the rush of wind. Where are we going as if I could begin to answer that question? The truck pulled to a stop a short while later, in a newer subdivision. It was one that still had plenty of white space that would eventually be filled. That night, however, it was still desolate, with houses to our left and empty fields to

the right, and in front of and behind us. Travis and his friend, whose name I still don't know, got out of the cab. Travis pulled Ellie aside and whispered something into her ear that I couldn't hear. But, a second later, Ellie turned to me and shouted, get out of the truck and run. I hesitated for a second as my brain struggled to catch up, and then Ellie screamed at the top of her lungs. I said, get out of the fucking truck and run.

I vaulted over the side of the truck bed and took off running while Ellie struggled with Travis and his friend took off after me. This could not have been more unfortunate circumstances. I was dressed up and wearing shoes with zero traction for one thing. This meant that every successful stride forward, I slid a little, knowing that if I fell, it would be at the mercy of this strong strapping kid with obvious bad intentions. He was also tall and big and gaining on me with every step. I began looking for a porch with lights on. I was about to head for one when a man walking with a very big dog came around the corner and we all collided. I was in obvious distress

and he took one look at me, pointed to the house that I was about to head to anyway, and said, go tell my wife, the gem sent you, I'll be right there." As he said this, his beautiful German shepherd started to emit this low terrifying growl at the boy who was chasing after me. I told him, my friend Ellie was a few blocks back with the guy's friend and needed help and he promised that he would go help her. But to get myself to safety. As I ran to the door, I heard Jim say to the boy, stop right there. Now you're talking to me. And this is my dog Judas. He doesn't seem to like you much though.

His wife let me into the house, and a few minutes later Jim and Judas came back to the house, with the sobbing hysterical Ellie, who threw herself onto me, and couldn't stop saying how glad she was that I was okay. I felt the same way, but I was floored. I couldn't get my head around what had just happened. I thought those were your friends, Ellie. I said, in a quiet rage, taking over me as it dawned on me that she had probably lied to me and just wanted a ride to the pool hall that didn't involve her mother. I don't actually know them.

She said sniffling. I know them from school. I thought they were nice, though. Judas came over to me and sat down at my feet so that I could pet him. As I did, Jim asked me, so you don't know the kids who were chasing you then? Me, I asked Bill Wildert. No, not at all. He nodded and said, I asked bewildered. No, not at all." He nodded and said, at thought so. He said you were his girlfriend and you too had a fight, and that you were so dramatic

and running away from him, like you always do when you argue. For some reason this made me look over to Ellie, and she couldn't or wouldn't make eye contact with any of us. Right, Jim said, clearing his throat. So can you get a ride then? He asked Ellie. She said she would pay her mother and when she did, the woman called back. We could all hear her loud and clear as she blamed me for what just happened without hearing any of the actual facts or details. When she hung up, Jim said, okay, you

wait here with my wife, and I'll take this young lady home. Maybe this is a lesson for you about getting at a car with strangers. Jim delivered me up to the pool hall, where I knew I could either hitch or ride or call my parents to come pick me up without having to explain the events of the evening and why I was calling to be picked up from a stranger's house. My friend Antonio was about to leave for the night with his girlfriend Carla, so I asked as they were walking out if I could get a ride to which they agreed. I filled them in on the way, and Carla said,

Oh my God! I could have told you not to hang out with Ellie. She's big trouble. In Travis. He's a date rapist. I know a few girls unlucky enough to have gone out with him last year. God you're okay. This chilled me so deeply that my teeth started chattering, and I shook like it wasn't 80

degrees outside. Two weeks later, I ended up sitting next to Travis' unnamed friend in Saturday school, and had to weather him, muttering that I better keep my mouth shut. He cleared it me all day, as though I were the one who had done something to him. Luckily, when we broke for lunch, the teacher moderating the day-long detention actually moved me across the room because she had noticed his staring, his malice, and that he had been saying things to me all day that had me on the verge of tears. After the day was over, he disappeared into the crowd of kids, walking to their cars while I

waited for my mom to come get me. I'm not sure if Antonio said something to him, but the next time I saw him at school, he didn't look at me, and neither did Travis. Neither of them ever made eye contact with me, or threatened me again. So to the man Jim who helped me with his amazing dog, Judas, thank you for saving us from whatever these guys had planned that night. Thank you further for not making me ride in the car with Ellie and her evil mother. It was the last thing I needed, and you saw that and acted accordingly. And to Ellie, Ellie's mom and Travis and your friend with no name, you shit-kicking rapist douchebags. Let's 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. 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. AT&T Fiber presents a straightforward moment.

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, 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 and select areas, visit ATT.com slash HyperGig for details. I was about 15 years old and attending my first year of high school and a small town in southern Georgia. I was just getting to know all the students and the teachers. This was about six months into my freshman year. I was browsing

Facebook one afternoon, as pretty much every fifteen-year-old did in the early 2000s, when I saw a message come through. It was from my music teacher at school. We'll call him Mr. Smith. I thought it was a little strange that he was messaging me on Facebook, but didn't really think that much of it until I opened it. It was one simple message. Hey, you should send me your number so I can have it in my contacts. Weird. I had never had a teacher request my personal phone number in my entire life. Let alone a male teacher.

Now, he always gave everyone some slightly weird vibes, but he was seemingly happily married with two small children, so I didn't really think much of it. I did, however, think enough of it to mention it to my mom, think enough of it to mention it to my mom, who thought enough of it to mention it to my dad. Now he's very protective. Some would say very over-protective. My dad decided that he needed to see what Mr. Smith wanted from a young female student. So he sent him his phone number. Mr. Smith went on to try and text my dad all day. He texted back occasionally. Then Mr. Smith went on to text all hours of the night with no response back. Nothing about school,

but questions like, what's your favorite midnight snack? Or, what's your favorite TV show? Just continuous get to know you, questions. It was very strange and inappropriate behavior for a teacher to exhibit with a very underage student. My dad decided at this point that it needed to be addressed. My dad is good friends with a lot of members of our small town's law enforcement, so he mentioned the ordeal to the local sheriff who didn't like Mr. Smith's behavior either. The sheriff requested to keep my dad's phone and have one of his deputies text with Mr. Smith over the next few days and see if they

could get to the bottom of what his intentions might be. Two days later, my dad received phone call from the sheriff that Mr. Smith had been arrested. We had to meet with the police at the courthouse where they gave us a brief rundown of what happened. The deputy had talked to Mr. Smith for those two days, where he went on to describe very graphic sexual intentions despite the deputy asserting that I was a minor. All he said was that we wouldn't get into trouble if I didn't tell anyone that I was talking to him. He asked to meet me in a dark parking lot in the National Forest just outside of town that I live.

He wanted to do this at night. He did show up to meet me, but was met by the deputies instead. When he was arrested, he was in possession of rope, tape, handcuffs, a knife, a hammer, and chocolate, which apparently he intended to use for something. I don't think it would have been good, though. After his arrest, three other girls from my high school came forward to accuse him of misconduct and inappropriate advances. He went to jail for a few years, but was released and, of course, had the rules of registering as a sex offender, no access to the internet, no giving music lessons and no access to young children. When the sheriff gave my dad his phone back, he told him that if there was a way for him

to recover the messages that were exchanged between Mr. Smith and the deputy, they'd been deleted. Don't do it. What Mr. Smith had said was so awful and disgusting it made him want to throw up. He was arrested again for violation of probation by standing on the side of the road with the sign offering music lessons to kids. That's the last I heard of him. for 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 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 gigillionaire with AT&T fiber. Limited availability and select areas visit AT&T.com slash Hypergate for details. AT&T fiber presents a straightforward moment. 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, 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 Gigaillionaire with AT&T Fiber.

Limited availability in select areas. Visit ATT.com slash Hypergate for details. Don't forget if you're a Patreon subscriber, stick around after the music for your half-hour, extended version of this episode. And if you want to get access to these ad free extended episodes as well as other bonus content, head over to patreon.com forward slash let's not meet podcast to support the show today, and this show is not possible without the help of the patrons. Thank you for listening to this week's episode of Let's Not Meet, the True Horror Podcast,

this week you have heard, an untitled story by Laura, A Story by Listener Amanda, A Story by Michelle B, And Finally, A Story by Listener O.P. 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. As always, if you have a story to share, make sure you send it to Let's Not Meet Stories at gmail.com.

I want to thank you guys for not flooding my email with complaints letting me know that I accidentally did a couple of repeats of stories in the last Lost Stories episode. I don't know how that happened. It got past me and two of my friends that proof listened to the podcast before I upload them. I think it's probably because we've listened to those old Lost Stories episodes so many times. It somehow just flew by under the radar. But to make up for it and because my brain will never let me forget this and it's going to torture me until we get to another lost stories episode

The next lost stories episode will be extended and quite a bit longer than the usual episode to make up for it But thank you all again for being so cool about it. Anyway, I'll see you all next week for a brand new episode of Let's Not Meet a true horror podcast and a returning guest Stay safe. Coming up in this week's extended Patreon only section of the episode, the workmen in the backyard, a mysterious black liquid, and a story that takes place in Austin in the 90s. Stay tuned. 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. 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 Gigillion Air with AT&T Fiber. Limited availability in select areas. Visit AT&T.com slash hypergig for details.