Let's Not Meet: A True Horror Podcast - 8x22: John - Let's Not Meet

Starting point is 00:00:00 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.

Starting point is 00:00:16 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 ATT.com slash Hypergate for details. Our Let's Not Meet TV pilot fundraiser has officially launched and we have a bunch of great

Starting point is 00:00:35 rewards for those that would like to donate and help make this thing happen. Still available, our rewards like shout outs on social media or even on the podcast, personalized thank you videos by me, lifetime access to the Patreon, and even being credited as an executive producer on the show, we've picked out a number of terrifying fan favorites from the show that we would love to film for all of you. And if you want to help out, head to Let'sNotMeat TV dot com or just follow the links in the show notes. And don't forget, this podcast contains adult language and content. 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 Tave and this is season 8 episode 22 of Let's Not Meet a True Horror podcast. I had worked with Hannah for about two months before we started interacting a whole lot.

Starting point is 00:02:06 She always seemed sweet, she was very friendly, and came across as soft spoken and kind. We were then put on a project together, so we were working in close contact on a daily basis. We had a lot of fun together and became close very quickly. We had lunch together, we got our nails done on the weekends, went to movies, and she drove me home often. This went on for a couple of months or so. I'd like to think of myself as a pretty intuitive person, so I can read people's vibes

Starting point is 00:02:40 pretty easily. As I got to know her a little better, her soft and sweet persona started cracking now and then. There were a couple of times where she would snap at me or completely change her demeanor for a split second, and then revert back to being herself, and perhaps even overcompensate a little afterwards. This gave me a weird feeling, but I thought to myself everyone has bad days, right? So skip forward about six months since we've met. She had put in her notice at the place we both worked at. Her last day comes and goes, and she has now moved on to a new job. A couple of days after that, I got a notification from Google Maps that I had a missing location

Starting point is 00:03:28 from my day. I knew I had disabled my location tracking services with Google a long time ago because I thought they were creepy. So I clicked the notification and up comes a whole log of locations. I started looking through them and quickly realized that these are not places I had been, except for my workplace. I started going through these locations day by day and realized that these match Hanna's whereabouts. She had recently taken a trip home, which is a remote island location. So I go back to these dates to see if that location matches and sure enough, there they are. I texted her asking if she was logged into my Google account. I could think of no other instance where I had logged into a Google account

Starting point is 00:04:25 on any of her devices. I would have had to enter my password. I explained why I was asking, and she said that she was logged into her own Google account. She then joked that I was keeping tabs on her. This was when I started panicking a bit. How was this possible? I had deactivated these services on my account, and none of these locations were mine.

Starting point is 00:04:52 I sent her a screenshot showing her what I was seeing and told her I was freaked out. She then said, Oh my God, now I'm in your account. And that she would sign out and forget my details. I then asked how this could be possible as there was no instance where I would have ever logged into my account on her phone. She confirmed that this hadn't happened and kept saying she didn't know what was going on. She then asked if I had any contacts in my phone that didn't belong to me.

Starting point is 00:05:27 I checked and I told her no. She then said she has contacts in her phone that do not belong to her. I asked her to send me a screenshot and she did. A bunch of my own contacts were in her phone, complete with names, contact pictures, and emojis. I remember feeling my stomach's sink. She continues acting as if she had no idea what was going on. At this point I had realized that the locations dated back about three months. I asked her to call me by this point, I'm like, okay, she has my Google Maps and Contacts. If she has those, she has to have everything else connected to my Google account, including

Starting point is 00:06:13 my pictures, passwords, emails, everything. We briefly talk and she says that she'll call the phone company and ask what's going on. I ask her if she has anything else of mine on her phone, any pictures or emails. She says, no. I remember feeling sick to my stomach, I felt so violated. My trust had been betrayed. Then I start thinking about the fact that Hannah would have had to consent to downloading all this information to her phone at some point, how could she not know about this? I call my tech savvy friend, and she tells me to immediately go to my Google account and remove all devices, change all my passwords, and enable to factor verification. At this point, I'm trying to hold back tears.

Starting point is 00:07:01 I had trusted Hannah. We had spent so much time together, and now I'm realizing that there's no way this was some kind of accident. She couldn't just magically have access to all of this, everything, and have it downloaded. That's not a coincidence. I texted her that night asking if she had talked to the phone company. Not sure why this would help, but it's what she wanted to do. She said no. The next day she told me she no longer had access to my information, she just has her own

Starting point is 00:07:36 emails and contacts, and that all that extra stuff, as she said, is off her phone. Hmm, I thought she didn't have access to my emails. By now I'm feeling violated, and very angry, she's lying, and quite clearly too. I asked her if she had reset her phone, and to confirm exactly what she had access to. I said I was really trying to figure out how this could have ever happened because this was a big deal to me. She then confirmed that yes she could see my email on her phone, but can't anymore, most likely because I removed her device. She said she had my contacts and had noticed this a week before, but didn't know who they belonged to.

Starting point is 00:08:27 Yeah, right, as if some of them didn't have the same last name as me. Her tone of writing then changed and became very cold and formal. She said, I would never purposefully navigate to your email or contact your contacts. I saw there were contacts, and I think you removed me from whatever you removed me from. And it suspended that access that I had. I no longer have any other information than my own. I'm sorry that this happened, and I am at a loss of words. I didn't do anything to get access to information that wasn't mine.

Starting point is 00:09:08 Currently, I have nobody's information other than my own. She then asked if I had access to any of her information. She had not spoken to me like this and some of the phrasing just gave me a weird feeling. Some of the phrasing just gave me a weird feeling. Frazes like, purposely negative, didn't do anything to access information that wasn't my own. They just seemed like weird ways to say things. I told her aside from the locations, no.

Starting point is 00:09:38 Again, I told her I was freaking out and I didn't like this at all and asked if she could remember anything that happened on the day that the locations dated back to. She said no. It was while we were working on the work project together. But I wouldn't have had any reason to log into her phone. She agreed and changed the subject. By this point I was feeling every emotion in the book I really wanted to confront her. How could this happen? How does she have access to all this information if she supposedly does not have my password? How did she supposedly not know that she had all this information if it was

Starting point is 00:10:19 downloaded to her phone? If she had my email and contacts, she had to have all of my pictures, too, right? If I had deactivated location tracking on my account, wouldn't she have to reactivate it when she logged in? Why would she reactivate it? Did she want to know where I was? Then I realized she knows exactly where I live. She even knows what window is my bedroom's window. And yes, it's the ground level. My stomach sinks even further. I eventually decide that confronting her is not the best option.

Starting point is 00:10:54 How do I know that she has even deleted all my information? Even if she did, it could be stored somewhere. Making her mad would probably not be a good choice. I knew that I couldn't continue being friends with her. I decided to just stop replying to her messages. We didn't work together anymore, so I wouldn't have to see her daily. She texted me a couple of times after that. Once the text read, can I tell you a secret? That was so ominous. What could the secret possibly be? I still wonder about that one.

Starting point is 00:11:28 I obviously never responded. I let my boss know that Hannah had access to all of the work technology, so I thought maybe running a security check would be a good idea. She got our IT to make sure that everything was okay. Some of my co-workers talked to Hannah now and then, and she asks about me. I, however, have no desire to speak to her. Just the other day, I saw her car turn the corner out in front of my house. My only theory on how this happened is that she got my password from the work computer, as she used it to print things out now and then, and I'm logged into my

Starting point is 00:12:05 Google account on there. She acted as if she wasn't tech savvy, in the time span that I knew her, however, let's be honest, I only really knew her for six months. She could have shown me only what she wanted to show me. My friends think that she may have been into me because why would she want all that information otherwise? I'm not sure. I also think I'll never know. I'm ultra paranoid now and have even more trouble trusting people than I did before.

Starting point is 00:12:37 So to the crazy stalker ex-co-worker, let's not meet again. 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 one. I'll fetch you a better one. Straight forward is better. No equipment fees, no data caps, no price increase at 12 months.

Starting point is 00:13:18 Live like a Gagillionaire with AT&T Fiber. Limited availability in select areas. Visit AT&T.com slash Hypergate for details. My father traveled often for work when I was a child which left my mother and me on our own. This was during the mid 1970s to early 1990s, so no cell phones and also no home alarm systems. Only rich people had that kind of fancy technology. We definitely weren't rich. To make sure that we could handle any emergency without him, my father ran my mother and I through just about every type of drill that you could think of whenever he was home, that is.

Starting point is 00:13:58 We did so many that it was like second nature. A fire? No problem. We had a three-tiered plan depending on where we were in the house in relation to the fire. An intruder? Well, come on in, because I had the mother of all hiding spots, and my mom understood the basics of safely handling and firing long guns and handguns. With these drills came a strict no freak out rule, meaning that being safe and being calm was an absolute requirement. It was ingrained into my head. To break that concentration would mean to make yourself less safe, so always keep a cool head.

Starting point is 00:14:41 This will come into effect later, but as you can see my parents did a good job equipping me with the expectation that I must take action to be safe and never shut down in fear. When the real thing happened, I did remember my training, but I was also acutely reminded that I was just a young child. I grew up in northern California and unfortunately, the town that I initially grew up in was becoming rough. There were sudden upticks of petty crime which later led to violent crimes in the local area. The year I turned six years old was a major year for me as my first two scary experiences occurred within just a few months of each other.

Starting point is 00:15:27 And the family emergency procedures that we had trained for were thoroughly tested. Experience number one. I was six, and I loved riding my bike. I also had an insatiable sense of adventure and craved independence pretty much from the day I was born. It was the weekend and my dad was actually home that day. My parents were working in the front yard, adding some curb appeal to our place, and I begged my dad to let me ride around the block for once on my own.

Starting point is 00:15:59 Totally solo. I knew I was capable of it, and eventually my dad was convinced that I was. He was very reluctant, of course, so he gave me these rules to follow. Don't go into the street, don't stop for anyone, and don't ride on anyone's lawn. He also told me that he would keep track of the time, and if I was late coming around, he would start looking for me. I confidently agreed and began my exciting journey around the block. If you can picture four sides of a typical block in suburbia, our house was on the first side, which happened to be a long side. I rode along the block maybe a dozen times or so, really enjoying the beautiful weather and my newfound independence.

Starting point is 00:16:46 The best part of the ride was that at the end of the first side there was an exciting little hill that was a lot of fun to pedal down. And once I figured out how to make the sharp right turn after that hill, I was on top of the world. I kept an eye out for neighbors, but I didn't see any, which was a bummer because I really wanted to wave at them and show them that I was now a big girl riding a bike and exploring on my own. During one of my ridearounds, I saw this white beat-up panel van, it was parked on the fourth side of the block.

Starting point is 00:17:20 It was parked on the same side of the street that I was riding down. The moment I saw this van, I perked up as I heard about vans like this being traps for little kids, and I was about as little and skinny as you could get at that age. Unfortunately, my six year old brain wasn't assertive enough to break the rules or think outside the box yet. I slowed down and tried to work out a plan as to how to get past this van, and my plan was to cross the street, then travel down the opposite sidewalk. It was a solid plan. Then I decided that I couldn't do that because

Starting point is 00:17:57 I wasn't allowed to go into the street, and since I definitely couldn't ride onto the lawn, that meant I inevitably had to pass directly next to the van. So I sped up. I really hauled butt, and hugged the right side of the sidewalk. Everything worked out just fine, and I breathed the sigh of a leaf once I got passed. Because immediately after the van was the right turn onto the first side of the block, the side that I lived on. I was now heading in the direction of my house, and I was on my way for another round of the block.

Starting point is 00:18:35 At this point, I hope everyone listening to this is thinking, for crying out loud, kids, stop and tell your dad about this van. Well, I didn't. On the next ride around the block, I slowed down again when I saw this van and decided again that I didn't want to get in trouble for breaking the safety rules, so once more I sped up and hugged the right side of the sidewalk. Only this time, as I approached the van, I saw a man's elbow sticking out of the window of the passenger's side. That window had been rolled up the previous time I passed.

Starting point is 00:19:11 I could tell that the passenger was a man, and he was wearing a long-sleeved shirt, with the sleeve rolled into a cuff just above the elbow. I became extremely uneasy, and I know now that the difficulty I had catching my breath was because my adrenaline was quickly climbing. In the side mirror, I could see the man's eyes through his lightly tinted sunglasses. He was looking directly at me. Noticing the man's choice of shirt and eyewear is irrelevant to the main experience, but I included it as a learned lesson because I logically knew to scan and gather details from my dad's safety training, but I didn't yet understand the dangers that were quickly

Starting point is 00:20:01 piling up. As I rode up to and passed the van, I watched him watch me in the mirror. I was so scared. But then I made it by without any problems, so I figured, hey, I handled that like a champ. It seemed ridiculous to think about it, but I was having a serious dilemma that only a little kid could have. I didn't want to be near that van again, but I also didn't want to stop riding my bike. I know what you're thinking, and no, I still had not alerted my dad to the van, and I really should have, because my story would have ended right then and there.

Starting point is 00:20:43 I ultimately decided that I should keep writing because I had passed the van twice and nothing bad had happened. Terrible, terrible decision. In the blink of an eye things got real. My last time around the block started normally, the weather was pretty and I was loving the right except this time when I came around the corner from the third side of the block and onto the fourth. I actually felt fear as I approached the van, and it was an exquisite and novel sensation that entirely lit up my body.

Starting point is 00:21:20 That was my first experience being afraid of another human being, and I was having an incredibly powerful, total body response. So now I'm right off the van's right quarter panel, and once again I can see the man looking at me through the side mirror. I decide to ride on a neighbor's lawn, and I figured I would just beg my dad for forgiveness later. As I began moving towards the lawn, I was side by side with the window. When I turned my head to the left, I saw the man in the passenger seat also turn his head to match my gaze. It's

Starting point is 00:21:57 hard to explain, but that tiny harmonious movement between the two of us instantly readied my mind and body, from my first ever fight or flight response. The man reached out with his right hand and grabbed me under my left arm and shoulder, so basically in my armpit and yanked me right off the seat of my bicycle. I was completely frozen for a moment, holding onto my handlebars for dear life and my bicycle was being dragged right underneath me. The driver said a few words to the passenger, all probably never remember, or know what he said,

Starting point is 00:22:33 as I was only vaguely aware that the driver existed. My entire world, the complete and total focus of my attention was on what was directly in front of me, which was the man's face, who was pulling me through the window of the van. Somebody somewhere in the universe was looking out for me that day because he never did get me entirely through the window. I think that if he had, I certainly would not be here, safe in my home able to write about it. There were a few things, extremely lucky, and maybe even peculiar things that worked in my favor at that very moment.

Starting point is 00:23:13 One was that the grab was awkward, and that the man who grabbed me only had one hand on me. He wasn't just pulling my weight up towards him, he had to also pull the weight of my bike as well. I'd love to say that I planned that out to make it difficult for him, but the truth is, in my fear, I made two fists that kept my hands firmly on the handlebars. He gave me a very forceful yank, and my hands eventually popped off of the handlebars, but not without causing him some frustration.

Starting point is 00:23:49 Another thing that worked in my favor was that I was being pulled into the window slightly sideways, and as my head began going through the window, I sort of straightened out just a bit, and somehow managed to post my right hand on the frame of the door down by the side of the mirror. He made an attempt to quickly switch his hands, releasing me from his right hand grip and gripping me under the other arm with his left hand. As he was switching hands, I slipped down just a little bit and was able to get my left hand on the door frame as well. So now, my head is just barely going through the window, and I'm now face to face with this man. Both of my hands are posted on the doorframe.

Starting point is 00:24:31 I could see directly into his eyes through the tent of his sunglasses. He had a dark fleck on the outer edge of his left iris, but he had light-colored eyes. He had a beard and mustache, tattoos covering both arms, some on his neck. I could also tell that he was wearing a black leather vest. Our eyes were completely locked in the most intimately evil, dead-eyed expression I had ever experienced. And we just stared at each other for a weird moment, frustrated. He yanked me a little more and I felt like I was moving, but it was actually the van starting to creep forward, and I was just going with it. Now I thought about this maybe a thousand times over the decades since it happened, and there are some things that just don't make sense

Starting point is 00:25:22 to me, at no point in time, did this man say a single word? I also didn't say a word myself. I didn't scream, cry, kick, yell, fire, or anything else that might attract neighbors. And I honestly don't know why, because I really wish I had done those things. As terrified as I was, I was also equally calm to the same degree, which doesn't sound possible, but that's the best way that I can describe it. Absolutely all my energy was channeled into not being pulled into that van. If he just yanked on my head, I would have been inside.

Starting point is 00:26:01 If he had collapsed, one of my skinny chicken arms, or hit me in the face, I would have been inside. If he had collapsed, one of my skinny chicken arms, or hit me in the face, I would have been inside. If he literally had done anything, he would have succeeded in getting me into that van, like I said, someone must have been watching over me that day. The driver now pulling forward hit the brakes for some reason. There was actually a stop sign but I can't imagine a cop worrying about somebody running a stop sign when a child is literally hanging out of their window so I doubt the stop was due to the driver being conscientious. The only thing that makes sense to me is that the hard stop was to allow the man pulling me in

Starting point is 00:26:46 to gain just a little more leverage. Either way, thank you Mr. Domastriver because I managed to wiggle free. I lost my shirt in the process, I fell on the ground hard and popped up fast then started running. I proceeded to cut the corner lawn and ran home half naked, and I'm pretty sure I set the world record for land speed. My dad eventually sees me running towards him, and he can tell something is wrong, so he starts running towards me. When we meet, I'm just trying to catch my breath, and also get the words out at the same time. All I got out was, man, van, and I pointed in the direction of the van. So now my dad is setting the world record of his own,

Starting point is 00:27:32 running straight towards the van, which for some unknown reason, was still at the stop sign. My dad did run track in college and the man is really fast, plus, he had raging dad speed at that moment. From here, my parents kept a tight hold on the information they gave me about what happened after I got home.

Starting point is 00:27:55 Once I saw my mom and was inside my house, and safe, fully clothed, I began to process the event. I had never felt so safe and also so unsafe at the same time. It's a complicated feeling for sure. The adrenaline that kept me laser-focused was now crashing, and the event that I got through rather smoothly was quickly becoming a trauma that I would carry for quite a while. Just minutes after I got home, several police officers came to our house and interviewed me. Then we all went to the local police station and I talked to a sketch artist. I gave them a spot-on description.

Starting point is 00:28:35 She was really good, too, because she drew my nightmare almost perfectly. I remember more interviews, maybe a few days later, and I also saw a child psychologist for at least a few months, because I had immediately developed an irrational fear of facial hair, tattoos, and any leather product worn on the upper body. It got so bad at one point that I was in the grocery store with my parents and I saw a biker walk in to do some shopping. I went my pants and I had a complete and total meltdown right there in the aisle. I think I was about seven or so when that happened. Anyway, I had to get over it in time. You're probably wondering about my dad. Like, did he find the guys?

Starting point is 00:29:25 And what ended up happening if he did? The answer to that is, I just don't know. All I can say is that my dad eventually arrived home as the police were finishing up my interview and I was happy to see him. If any arrests were made, I never really knew about it. About a year later, my dad was out and about like normal. He came home very late that night and he was pretty scuffed up like he had been in some kind of bar fight in one.

Starting point is 00:29:54 As soon as my mom saw his face, she sent me to my room, but of course as a kid, I wanted to know if my dad was okay so I cracked the bedroom door just a little bit. And I did my best to try and pick up some words, anything that I could. They were talking just a little above a whisper, but I did make out the words, kids are safe. Whenever I've asked about the final disposition of what happened to those two men at least, my parents quickly redirect the conversation. I'm now in my 40s, so I can take it, but no, they'll never say a word about it. I might not ever know for sure, but I like to think that my dad unleashed a little citizen

Starting point is 00:30:43 justice on both of them. I'm sure it seems impossible that such a young child could remember that level of detail with an event like that, but times seemed like it had slowed way down. And it's really hard to articulate this. I sort of knew what was going to happen, just a split second before it actually happened, which had a calming effect on me. I've heard that during life-threatening events, the brain can speed up its processing time, which appears to slow time down, giving that person a slight tactical advantage. And I do believe I experienced that. Yeah, so that was my first mighty emergency as a six-year-old.

Starting point is 00:31:29 Now buckle up for the second story. 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.

Starting point is 00:32:02 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 ATT.com slash Hypergig for details.

Starting point is 00:32:16 And now on to experience number two. Just a few months after the whole van incident, there was a spree of rapes and murders in Northern California right near where I lived. In fact, I remember my dad having a serious conversation with my mom and I, coupled with drills, of course, to prepare us for when he was out of town. to prepare us for when he was out of town. Specifically, there was a man I heard referred to on the news as the porch light rapist going around our town and nearby towns, knocking on the doors late at night, unscrewing a light bulb on the porch, and then forcing his way through the door that the homeowner had cracked open. It sounds preposterous now to think about someone just opening their door to see who is knocking,

Starting point is 00:33:09 but that's just what you did back then. Also, I guess sometimes he would break windows and come in that way. Anyway, this guy would then rape and sometimes murder his women victims, and he seemed to target women who were alone or women with children. I didn't know what rape was when I was six years old, but I just knew that it was something very, very bad and something to be feared. Anyway, my dad installed a pee-pull on the front door, reinforced the deadbolt, changed out some flimsy locks, cut dowels for the track of the sliding glass door, and did a few other things to make us feel more secure when he was gone.

Starting point is 00:33:54 He assigned me the task of locking the back door and picking my hiding spot. My secret space ended up being inside the fireplace. I was a tiny kid, so getting inside was a snap. Once I pulled the brass fire screen up, which fanned out in the shape of a peacock covering the entire fireplace. I pulled the dark glass across and drew both sides of the internal fire screen together. You could not see me. So my dad goes out of town as planned, and he's in and out for several weeks, with the

Starting point is 00:34:32 porch light rapist continuing to make the news in our local area. Low and behold one night, my mom and I are watching TV, and there is this light knock on the door. And in fact, we weren't sure that we heard it at first. My mother had to mute the TV, and we stayed perfectly quiet for around 30 seconds. And then we heard the knock a second time. It was around 9.30 pm, and we definitely did not know anyone who would try to get a hold of us at that time. It was around 9.30 pm, and we definitely did not know anyone who would try to get a hold of us at that time. We weren't expecting anyone. We looked at each other, and my poor mom looked terrified. I was not old enough to comprehend the massive responsibility

Starting point is 00:35:20 of protecting yourself and a young child. I just knew this was a very serious event. It was finally happening. Our emergency intruder plan was going live. I jumped up and quickly squirmed into my hiding spot just as I had practiced. Everything was already locked up for the night, so my job was easy. My mom ran into the master bedroom, and then ran out with the shotgun, quickly crossing the threshold where the front door was. She went into the kitchen and called the police on the good old landline. She left the phone off the hook so they could hear what was happening. 911 existed at that point, but it wasn't a universally used service yet. You would literally have to call the front

Starting point is 00:36:12 desk of a police station to get them to come out. My mom went back and stood off to the side of the front door with the shotgun aimed where you would expect an adult's head to be. To visualize the space our house was relatively small, but it had a great circular flow. The front door was directly across from the fireplace, which made the home a cozy place to host parties, but a daunting place when a possible rapist or murderer is on the other side of the front door. I really couldn't see much of anything through those two firescreens,

Starting point is 00:36:55 as well as the glass, but I knew that things were getting intense from my mom. My mom said that she was focused on the tiny glint of the porch light coming through the people. She saw the light go out. And then we both heard the door knob jiggle, as someone tried to turn it, and pull then push it to get it open. Whoever was on the other side of that door wanted to come in. My mom was so mortified that this person might get in, or abandon the front door and try to break a window and get in that way. She summoned the courage to scream the word no loudly. She then aims the shotgun at the center of the door and gives the door a hefty smack with the muzzle of the gun. Instantly the door knob stopped moving and everything went silent.

Starting point is 00:37:49 All we know is that the person left and did not return that night. When the police came, one of them remembered me from the last time they were out. They confirmed that the porch light had been unscrewed, but nothing else external appeared to have been touched apart from the doorknob. I don't think my mom slept all night. Staying on guard in case he came back. I don't know who this person was. About a year ago, the event came into my head out of the blue and I decided to look up the porch light rapist. I could be remembering the name wrong but my mom remembers it being the same name. So I think we have it right.

Starting point is 00:38:35 After searching, I couldn't find a single article in the person with this moniker. I did, however, find the East Area rapist who was active at that time in our area and with a similar M.O. So it's possible that that's the person who was at our door, or it could be someone else, a copycat. If it was the East Area Rapist, he lived near us and was also known by many other names, such as the Vicellia Ransacker, the original Nightstalker, and the Golden State Killer. But whomever it was, we're just happy they never got in. I'm a law enforcement officer now, and an EMT. I've made a living out of calmly responding to high stress events and helping keep people, especially children, safe.

Starting point is 00:39:26 I'm also an expert marksman. So to the men who tried to kidnap me and the guy who tried to get into our house, you'd better hope we never, ever meet again. 18T Fiber presents A Straight Forward 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.

Starting point is 00:40:04 Are you a Gagillionaire? 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 Gagillionaire with AT&T Fiber.

Starting point is 00:40:20 Limited availability in select areas. Visit AT&T.com slash hypergig for details. Hello, I'm 18 years old. I'm about 5'1. I was 17 when this happened. In the early 1970s, The first few nights went on without any issues, no loud upstairs neighbors or loud anyone for that matter. Around the fourth night, the man from above us started making noise, almost seeming like an impossible amount of noise without the floor giving in. It sounded like we were under a bowling alley. The same thing the next night, only when my mom left for work, he actually ran outside.

Starting point is 00:41:15 He started talking to her about nothing in particular. She relayed to me that he said that he had some sort of agent to help him, because in his own words, he wasn't completely mentally there. While she figured he wasn't dangerous, or at least not that dangerous, she did tell me to be careful when leaving, though. The sixth night, the man came down the stairs. Now, I slept on the pull-out couch directly in front of the door, so I could hear the rustling from outside of the door. Then, a knock.

Starting point is 00:41:54 It was pitch black, and I was frozen solid. I couldn't move, and frankly, I didn't want to. Another knock. Then, more rustling. Another knock. Then more wrestling. And silence. I gathered my courage to check it out. I looked out the people and noticed the view was completely blocked by something red. I woke up my mom. Mom, someone is outside and there's something blocking the people. My mom groggly and confused got up and opened the front door. No one. She looks at the door, and it turns out this man had left a flower stuffed inside of the people.

Starting point is 00:42:36 She closes the door, locks it, and tells me, it'll be fine. Then, there's a knock. We both freeze. We wait and another knock comes through the silence again. She said to go to sleep. It'll be fine. Now I listen and lay down, but it took me forever to get to sleep. But I finally did. Eventually I wake up to lock the door behind my mom as she's leaving for work. Then, well, that began my day of fear. Other tenants, including us, complained about his constant noise, and he was supposed to be kicked out. Well, he wasn't, and he could hear when we left. So, when my mom ran to the door, he started to make his way down. At that point, I was trying to curl back up

Starting point is 00:43:32 and to bed, when there was this heavy banging at my door, and a voice screaming. You bitch, you talk to me, and you get me kicked out, I'll fucking kill you. At this I grabbed my phone and dashed to the bathroom. The banging went on all day in 10 minute intervals, with about 20 minute breaks in between. The whole time I was on the phone with people running the hotel, they had phoned the police, but the police never even came. The desk lady was on the phone with me and never left me alone. Eventually, around 8 p.m. my mom came home.

Starting point is 00:44:13 There was, by that point, a hotel security guard trying to get this man away from us. The man saw my mom and started yelling, random shit at her, as the guard held him back so that she could run inside. We backed some of our belongings, enough for one night, and fled to a different hotel for just the night. The next day, my mom had us move rooms. The whole time that man was watching from the second floor. The last month that we were there,

Starting point is 00:44:42 was all fear for me. Would he find us? Stalk us, break in? Nothing else ever happened with him, but my nerves never calmed. Eventually, we got back home and I started to worry less, butW in my small town. I had this coworker who was a good friend and usually gave me a ride home every night. One night he gave me a ride home and he had this friend with him who will call John. The next few days, John would add me on Facebook and try to talk to me every single day. I was polite, but I wasn't as responsive as he might have wanted. Keep in mind at this time, John was probably 22, 23 years old.

Starting point is 00:45:41 The next day, I was at work working the drive-through. My manager calls back to me and says that someone was there to see me. I come around the corner, and there at the counter is John with a pack of my favorite snacks. One of the many questions that he asked me through Facebook. He told me he was excited that he got to see me. He asked why I wasn't messaging him. I just gave him a quick, oh I've been very busy with work and school, I'm sorry.

Starting point is 00:46:13 He told me it's okay. He just doesn't like getting ignored. He gave me the snack then left. My very next shift, he showed up and just wanted to chat. I explained how I was very busy at work and I'm not able to do that. He told me he would come back and give me a ride home so that my coworker wouldn't have to. I declined. He seemed upset, but I just told him, I'm not done until almost midnight, and you work early in the morning, I don't want you to be tired at work, I appreciate you all for though." He accepted that.

Starting point is 00:46:51 He told me that he really appreciates me caring for him and looking out for him. Then left. He continued to come in and order food from this place almost every single day just to talk to me for a few minutes. After that, I ended up telling my manager and co-workers that John was starting to really freak me out. I wasn't sure if I should get police involved or something like that. They all agreed that it was starting to get weird, and that we would all work together to keep an eye out for him. And my manager was going to tell him to stop coming in.

Starting point is 00:47:26 Out of nowhere, he just stopped, and I thought that he might have finally realized that it wasn't going to happen between us. After a few months, it's now probably December or January. It was really cold. I'm working the drive-through again, and my manager comes back to tell me that John is here. He has a gift bag with him. I come around the corner, and he's standing at the front counter with a huge grin on his face.

Starting point is 00:47:56 He excitedly gives me this gift bag. I opened it, and inside was a pair of handmade mittens. Before I could even get a word out, he says, I asked my grandma to make those for you. When I saw you the other day, I saw that you were breathing into your hands and trying to shove them into your pockets to keep them warm. I was confused. What did he mean when he said he saw me the other day, I hadn't seen or spoken to him in at least three months. Then I realized the exact moment he was talking about. I had walked out of my high school at lunch and was heading down to the gas station. As I was leaving, I realized I had forgotten

Starting point is 00:48:36 my gloves, but I didn't want to go back into the school to get them. He was sitting outside of my school, watching me. A chill went down my spine, so I thanked him for the mittens and told him I had to be getting back to work. My manager saw this panic on my face, and I filled her in on what was happening. She called the police for me. After that, I never heard from him again. A few years later, I'm in my second year of college when a headline and mug shot on the news sends me into a panic. On the screen was John.

Starting point is 00:49:15 He had gotten into a fight with his roommate who he had shot and killed. He put his roommate's body in his vehicle and buried the entire vehicle in the backyard. Needless to say, John, let's never meet again. Don't forget I'll be at the Neptune Theatre in Seattle, Washington on August 25th, followed by the Polaris Hall in Portland, Oregon on August 26th. Get your tickets now at Let'sNotMeetPodcast.com slash tour or just follow the links in the show notes. I can't wait to see you all there to share some brand new spine-tangling horror stories all live. As always make sure to check out the new episodes of my other shows odd trails and the old time radio cast at crypticcountypodcasts.com or wherever you get your podcast.

Starting point is 00:50:17 And if you're a patron make sure you stick around after the music for that extended ad-free version of this week's episode. Thanks for listening everyone, this week you have heard. Stalked by my coworker friend by K.L. Two experiences by a listener that asked to remain anonymous. Divorce Hotel Scare by a listener that asked to remain anonymous. And finally, John by Tessa Landry. All of the stories you've heard this week were narrated and produced with the permission of their respective authors.

Starting point is 00:50:46 Let's not meet a true horror podcast is not associated with Reddit or any other message towards online. If you have a story to share, make sure you send it to Let's Not Meet Stories at gmail.com. And if you want to get access to that Patreon Extended Version of this week's episode, all add free, as well as some past episodes and bonus content. Head over to patreon.com. Forward slash let's not meet podcast to support the show today. I'll see you all next week for a brand new episode of Let's Not Meet. Stay safe. This happened when I was seven years old.

Let's Not Meet: A True Horror Podcast - 8x22: John - Let's Not Meet

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