The Lets Read Podcast - 66: Episode 058 | Motel Room & Corner Store Stories | 15 True Scary Horror Stories

Episode Date: March 23, 2020

Welcome to the fifty-eighth episode of The Lets Read Podcast! This podcast includes narrations of true creepy encounters submitted by normal folks just like yourself. Today you'll experience horrifying stories about Motel Room Invaders, Corner Stories and The Mystery of the Mary Celeste Ship (Audio Documentary). HAVE A STORY TO SUBMIT?► www.Reddit.com/r/LetsReadOfficial FOLLOW ME ON- ► Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/letsread.official/ ► Twitter - https://twitter.com/LetsReadCreepy ►YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/letsreadofficial ♫ Background Music: Iron Cthulhu Apocalypse https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFvrqVSJE8E PATREON for EARLY ACCESS!►http://patreon.com/LetsRead 

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BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. My husband and I had to drive 17 hours last week to North Carolina for a wedding. It was an exhausting week and we basically spent the entire time rushing from one family gathering to another. We were staying in a motel for the time we were there. We had already been at this motel for a few days by the time the day of the actual wedding rolled around. The day of the wedding was hectic. We were rushing around trying to get ready to leave for the venue. My husband got ready before me so he could do some last minute things before we had to leave. That left me alone in our motel room to get ready before he returned.

It was brutally hot outside and I decided to do my hair and makeup and just my underwear so I wouldn't be sweating in my nice dress the whole time. The way this motel was laid out, the sink and mirror were in the general open area of the room with the toilet and shower in another room. So anyone walking by our room window could see me standing at the mirror. However I did have the curtains closed but these curtains were a little bit sheer so you could technically see the shadow of someone walking by on the outside or could maybe see the silhouette of me inside the room. I was curling my hair in the mirror when I noticed the silhouette of a man walking

by my room window. As he's passing by my window, I see him stop and start trying to look in my window. At first, I thought it was my husband trying to see if I was ready, so I paid no mind to it. But the longer the guy stood there, bobbing his head around trying to get a better look through the curtains, I began to realize it was not my husband, because obviously why wouldn't he just come in? Now I'm starting to get a little freaked out. Before I could do anything though, I watched as this guy starts to go for my room door. My utter shock and horror came when he actually was able to open the door and walk inside. Before my husband left, he forgot to pull the door shut all the way till it clicked into its lock. He was very upset at himself when I told him this later.

So now I'm face to face with this man and I'm in my underwear no less who's at least six foot tall and standing in my room. I thought to myself this is, he's going to attack you. That's a very scary realization to have. I also thought to myself, you're going to have to burn his eye sockets out with his curling iron if you want to survive. And for a few seconds, probably only a second or two but it felt like a lot longer, he just stood there staring at me like I was a piece of meat and he was starving, ready to pounce on me like prey. He then began to smile the most evil looking toothy grin I'd ever seen and started mumbling under his breath.

I couldn't make out what he was saying completely but I did make out the words pretty lady and come here. I don't know if it was the fight or flight response but I suddenly got angry and charged towards him, ready to strike him with my hot curling iron. I screamed as loud as I could, terrible obscenities. It must have startled him because he jumped back out onto the balcony of the motel. I saw this as my chance and I ran for the door. I luckily was able to get to the door and slam it shut right before he was able to make his second attempt at re-entering inside.

I immediately collapsed on the floor, sobbing. I literally was too scared to move from that spot until my husband came back about 15 minutes later. I told him the whole thing and he was freaked out. He initially wanted to find the guy so he could beat him up but I refused to let him leave my side. He must apologized a thousand times during the rest of our trip for not making sure that the door was locked before leaving. But I told him that the day and the whole trip really was so rushed I could see how it happened. We went to motel management and told them the whole story. The police were obviously called and I gave them a description of the guy

so they could see if it was someone who was staying at the motel. After going around to the few motel occupants they said no one matched his description and concluded he wasn't staying there. Obviously we were late to the wedding that day and the whole experience just ruined what should have been a happy time. We planned on staying another day before our long drive home but we both just wanted out of there as soon as possible. We skipped most of the reception, went back to the motel, packed up and left. I'm usually always so vigilant with locking my doors especially when I'm home alone. It just goes to show you, all it takes is that one time you forget to check your locks,

and that certain unwanted guest is inviting themselves in. I work second shift at my company, normally from 5pm to 1am. On the street I work, there are two ways for me to get home. To the left takes me over some train tracks. There is a 24 hour burger place and a Mexican fast food place that is open till 3am. The police station is maybe a 10 minute drive from the tracks. To the right it takes me straight to the highway which gets me home If I go to the left I have to take side streets to get to the highway as it doesn't connect for a few blocks Or go back over the tracks and pass my workplace to get to the highway

Now on to the story Tonight I got out a bit early around 12.30 Lucky me I was hungry so instead of going straight home I decided to go for burgers. Usually I have my window rolled down listening to music on my phone. As I close my car door I realize a rather large spider, okay it was the size of my thumb but that's still a big spider to me, has spun its web outside between my window and my side mirror. Spiders freak me out. If it had been inside I would have beat Usain Bolt getting out of that car. Since it was outside I contended to myself to leave my windows rolled up and just

blast my music. As I'm pulling out I see the train barriers come down. I'm not foolish enough to try and beat it so I pull up and wait at the barrier. As I'm waiting I see movement out of the corner of my eye and that's when I see him. A haggard man maybe somewhere in his 30s with dirty hair and clothes standing next to my car. We have a few homeless people around but they usually don't bother you if you ignore them and don't talk to them. I figured he'll go away. He walks to the driver's side and tries to open my car door.

My car has automatic locks that activate pretty much as soon as you turn the car on, thank god. He then starts banging on my car door window. He keeps screaming for me to let him in. I reach for my phone but of course I'm panicking and can't get it out of my purse and then immediately dropped it down the side of the seat. I'm scared he's going to break the glass or something at this point. I have a foldable night stick in my car but in my panic I forgot it was there. I finally get a hold of the phone and dial 911. I'm screaming at him to back off and that I've called the police.

He's going around trying to get in the car via the other doors, screaming at me the whole time, calling me about every name in the book saying, get out of the car. I'm giving the dispatcher my location and it feels like forever for the cops to show up, but was likely only a few minutes. The guy in the meantime is crawling on top of the car and beating it with his fists. Of course now the train is left and the barrier is up, but I don't want to risk hurting this guy and making myself liable by flooring it over the tracks. Not sure about that, but not willing to risk any jail time over this crazy person.

Thankfully, I see the cop lights coming. He runs off and one of the responding officers gives chase. The other cop tells me to pull in at the burger place and calms me down. He takes all the information I can remember in my panicked state. He then says offhandedly something to the effect of, good thing your windows weren't down. That's when it hit me the only reason they weren't down was because of that spider on my car. They didn't find the guy as there were a ton of places to hide and it's pretty rough terrain at night but they did say they would step up patrols around the area. The cops assured me I did

everything right that I could have done. Didn't get out of the car and called for help. I decided to skip eating as I wasn't in the mood anymore and just went home to have a freak out and methodically quadruple check all my doors and windows. Cops said they would call if they found anything so we'll see. To the spider that may have inadvertently saved my life, I'll let you slide this time. I often like to go running in summer or whenever the weather is nice. This happened a week before I was supposed to start high school. I thought about going running that day but I got that idea in the morning and I run in the evening while the sun is still up but it isn't as hot in the day and there isn't a chance for it to get hotter if I don't manage to get back in time like in the morning. Well of course I forget my promise to myself and only remember it at around 9pm. Now it's the end of summer so the sun is already setting sooner than I'm used to but

I go, eh, I'll get back in like an hour or so it'll be fine. I already have been putting off running so I don't want to put it off again. I should probably mention that I'm a girl and even though a lot of girls I know change the side of the road they walk on when they see even distinctly drunk looking guys walking, I was always the one calling them idiots and was ready to take on the first rogue who tried to get to me. I also live in a less populated area out of the town where almost everyone knows everyone so I was feeling extra sure of my safety. What a naive fool, I know. So I go out, I start my run and it's fine. It's getting a bit dark but I can still see the running track so all is good. I start to feel a bit off when I see a pair walking in front of me. When I get closer they turn out to be just teen guys and I run past them with no problem. When I finally reach the usual point in my run where I turn around, a cemetery. Ultra creepy but it has benches

and it's a small graveyard so I never felt weird about taking a break there. It has already gotten pretty dark. I drink some water from my bottle and just stand under a tree next to the gate in the territory of the cemetery but don't sit down where I usually do because the bench is next to a fence and the darkness has finally made me a little wary about being alone and someone jumping me. It's pretty funny that that's what scared me the most of the time. When I catch my breath I stay for a few minutes just listening to the wind. I see a bike drive past the cemetery taking the route I will take while running back. I leave my resting place, and it had gotten really dark. Dark enough that I could barely see two meters in front of me. I start slowly running back.

After 15 meters or so, I start hearing voices. A couple more, and I can clearly hear someone talking. My thoughts immediately jump to the conclusion that there are at least two people in front of me if I'm hearing a conversation. Now I slow down even more until I get close enough to actually hear what's being said. Keep in mind it's completely dark and this road doesn't have street lights so I can't see anything. I get close enough to finally make out the words and my heart sinks at what I hear. I can't recall the exact words that were said but the general idea. The male voice said,

I see this girl. I could just pull her in the bushes. There were two bushes lining one side of the running track. As I've said at first, my heart stops, but immediately after I go into fight or flight mode. I can hear my heart beating in my ears and I'm full of adrenaline, the bad kind. I know I can't just stop or he will know I heard what he said, so I continue to walk, but thank god that the running track is separate from the road by a small grass field so I go to the side of the road making some distance between us. I keep looking at him, keep in mind I still don't know how many people are there but

I see a square of light, presumably a phone and then I hear him jump on his bicycle and drive off. It turned out he was talking on the phone but just because he was alone didn't mean I was less scared of him. I walk on the side of the road for a good few minutes until I'm sure he would be far away from me and once I get back to the running track I sprint home like crazy. All the way back I was shaking with fear and looking at the bushes and the cars that passed me with delirium, squishing my water bottle in my hand ready to smack anyone who came close to me. When I finally reached the first road lights me for a little over two years now. It's got direct access to two main highways. I've had a fair share of creepy guests and weirdos, but most were easy check-ins and fixes, and they're on their way. However, last night changed everything up. As safe as my property is, we do have a shady $40 a night motels on either side

of our building. There's been some stuff that's went down at both places and occasionally their guests try to sneak into my hotel for a free breakfast. I have on two occasions seen the police raid both motels and spend all night searching for people who ran and collecting evidence I presume. It's been a while since I've had such entertainment though. It's about 2.30am and I'm getting ready to run my night audit. My doors are locked and this guy who is dirty but in a construction worker kind of way walks up We have plenty of construction workers stay here as we aren't far from their site and we're rated number one in the area So I open the door for him and ask if he needs a room before I run the audit He grins at me, but it's anything but a warm welcome

It looks almost fake and almost threatening. He looks at me for a second and he says I have a guest in room 144. His wording caught me off guard. Not many say they have a guest in a room. It's usually I'm here for or I'm meeting. The second issue is we don't have a room 144 and neither do any of the same brand names in my area. I've been to all of the immediate ones so I inform him that we don't have a room 144. He looks at me for a second and says, oh shucks, guess I got stood up. Giggles and walks out the door. Thinking this is very odd but whatever I go back to running the audit. As I'm finishing up the phone rings. A guy starts my door. Why is he still in my parking lot? Two, nobody has come or gone since him and there are no lights on in the parking lot before he came in. And three, why do I need to know that you're the guy who got stood up?

I brush it off as odd but my gut is telling me something weird is going on. I wait about 5 minutes and then walk around the front of the building from the inside and see no cars in my parking lot with lights on. It's not very well lit so it would be easy to spot. I'm back at the front desk waiting for the audit to finish up its thing so I can get ready to start breakfast and the phone rings again. I pick it up and it's the creepy guy again telling me there are lights on in the parking lot. It's been at least another 20 minutes since the last call, so again why would he still be in my parking lot? I feel I may have missed something between the windows, so I go to my locker door, peek my head out real quick to do a swift scan of the lot and my eye

catches someone standing in the corner of the parking lot. It's the creepy guy and he's watching me. There's also no car with its light on. I run back inside, double check that the doors are locked and I start to feel this sense of panic and something really bad is about to happen flows over me. I have never felt this feeling while on my shift, and only once before in my life, and let's just say I have physical scars from what happened that time. I get back to the front desk and I call the local police department. I explain the situation to dispatch and they ask if it's ever happened before. I tell them no, but also inform them that I'm the only

employee on the property and I would like for them to scan the parking lot and check in with me if possible. The police department pulls up and wants to get a description for me before searching the area. Well as he's getting out of the car he notices movement. The creepy guy took off. The cop walks in a little nervous and tells me what he had just seen while using his radio to call for assistance. Three more show up and they discuss it. Search my parking lot and the two neighboring parking lots. They seem to come up with nothing but stick around to patrol the parking lot until the sun came up. The police department has stopped by once since my shift started tonight to check on me and said that they would be in the area if I needed anything.

While here they tell me that a total of three guys fled the parking lot from different directions last night. He believes that the creepy guy was trying to lure me into the parking lot away from the door so I would end up trapped between the three of them. It didn't go much further as to what could have happened from there and I honestly don't want to dwell on it. So just over 10 years ago I was fresh out of college and had moved back to my parents' house for the free rent, food for 9 months or so before I was leaving the state for graduate school. Not my parents are super chill and gave me my own space in the house, but being a 22 year old single guy and living at a house in the sticks, they had just recently moved about 40 miles south of a major Midwest city is certainly not ideal but I didn't have any other options so I started looking for some work to pass the time then to save up some money. Anyway so summer turned to winter and I still hadn't found anything solid but by then I desperately needed to spend more time out of my parents house so I took a part-time gig doing some light bookkeeping for a small business owner guy that my dad knew. I didn't really want to do it since it didn't pay

much, was short term and wasn't even a real office setup but again, since my parents lived in the middle of nowhere in the Midwest, think acres and acres of farms, I knew I had limited local opportunities to make some cash and this guy was going to pay me under the table as well. About that same time a friend of mine in the city said that if I just paid him $200 a month and helped clean up he'd basically let me crash in his living room until I was ready to move out of state. That was all I needed to hear. I took the job. So my dad's friend's family had a construction type business. They helped out with building stuff a little but it was ultimately more focused on renting out a

few bobcats and large augers they owned. Also other various drills and then odds and ends like generators and other low-level construction or farming equipment that someone in that area couldn't afford to purchase but needed to use from time to time. This was a small mom and pop type thing where everyone knew everyone and the office only opened on days when someone was coming by and was just generally a mutually beneficial situation for the business owners and the locals. Since I had minored in a business adjacent area and my dad recommended me, they trusted me to go in there for about 15 to 20 hours a business adjacent area and my dad recommended me, they trusted me to go in there for about 15-20 hours a week and check and file the rental forms, make sure nobody missed a payment date if there was a payment plan in place, answer

an email or two, talking discussing prices and availability etc. I mean it was really a super easy gig. The old building where I worked was about 90 years old and at the top of this little hill, and the downstairs used to be an old country bar until the 1970s when this family bought it cheap, cleared out the bar, and fenced in the property to use its parking lot area to store all their rental equipment and gear. I could generally come and go as I pleased, work any hours I wanted to as long as the work got done. So if things were slow and there weren't any rentals for a couple of days, I'd usually go in after 7 and stay until around midnight or 1 since I knew I'd be alone and could

listen to music loud and take my time and all that. The office where I worked was on the second floor of the building above the old bar and looked out onto the long driveway. From my seat I could easily see out the window and once or twice saw a family of deer or a raccoon scamper by and I always glanced out when I saw movement since it was very noticeable. It was incredibly remote, very still and quiet so if something unusual occurred or if something felt off, I definitely noticed it. One night during the winter, it had snowed a few inches and my dad told me to stay in because the roads were bad. But I had an old SUV and more than that just really wanted to get out of the house. So I went into work at around 8pm and was going to stay until just after 1. I always left the gate open at the bottom of the hill since believe me when I say

that nobody ever showed up at night since we were literally in the middle of nowhere. I think the nearest occupied house is about 2 miles down the road and to even turn onto our short road you had to only be coming to our specific building and probably know it was there beforehand. It was a locals only type thing and very small since the family had inherited a lot of money, we're pretty sure, and kind of did this rental thing on the side. Basically someone would never just get lost and end up at our building. So I'm jamming away to some fallout boy, everyone makes mistakes when they're young, and having some coffee and kept glancing at the snow outside here and there since our one orangish street light reflected onto the ground at the gate and was causing the light

to shine off the snow in a really cool, dare I say pretty way. At one point around midnight I went downstairs to the big bathroom to do my bathroom business and then came back upstairs and got settled back into my work. I probably did about five minutes of work when I glanced outside and saw a huge imprint of something in the fresh snow just below the light. It seemed like it must have been a huge dog or substantial animal had just rolled around on the ground there on its back or something. Since I didn't notice it just 15 minutes before, it had to have happened while I was in the bathroom or maybe when my back was turned, since I would have seen that type of

movement for sure. I shook it off and assumed a dog or maybe a farm animal, this was common around this type of area, had gotten loose and maybe was attracted to the light or something, who knows. At around two in the morning I was leaving and as always got out of my car to lock the gate up and to be honest I had pretty much forgotten about the imprint in the snow but when I looked down I was shocked to see that it wasn't just some disturbed snow but it was undeniably the imprint of a human made snow angel. If you don't know what a snow angel is it's when kids lie on their back in the snow and push their arms and legs back and forth so when they get up it looks like the outline of an angel. I used to do this when I was a kid so I 100% knew for sure what

this was and it was deliberately made underneath the light post but it wasn't from a kid so I 100% knew for sure what this was and it was deliberately made underneath the light post but it wasn't from a kid it was from a very large person or at the very least a normal-sized adult wearing tons of layers of big winter clothing. I looked up and saw what I already knew that whoever had made this snow angel could easily look up and have seen me through that window, so they must have waited for me to head downstairs to make this angel. Now, I definitely would have seen or heard if someone drove up to our building, even if I was in the bathroom, so I knew someone had to have walked deep into the freezing cold and snow for a few miles, stopped in front of our building, and then did a snow angel in the small amount of time I wasn't sitting in front of my desk window and then did a snow angel in the small amount of time I

wasn't sitting in front of my desk window. I glanced around for tracks in the snow and saw that there was one set that led to the nearby woods to the right of the building, so it was clear the person didn't use the road, but instead came from the opposite side, which made me instantly uneasy, since that side was just trees and darkness for miles and miles. I was definitely a little freaked out now once I realized that someone had just been this close to me secretly in the middle of the woods and I looked around but didn't see anything amiss at all and now just wanted to get out of there. When I got back in my car and drove a few feet I realized that my boss would be there in like four hours and might see the snow angel and assume I did it since he probably assumed I kept the gate locked when I was there.

It wouldn't have been that big of a deal but I was young and felt like I might be made fun of by him if nothing else. They were all manly men, I like books. So I opened the gate back up really quick, ran over and kicked the snow around so as to hide the angel, locked it up again and went back to my car. Also I should note that this is what really happened at this moment but I almost lied here and said something else since it seems fake since I assumed the average person wouldn't get out of their SUV and not just flee in their car because they'd be embarrassed about a snow angel. But at that time I was insecure and cared a lot about what others thought so unfortunately this is what I did. Also I wasn't exactly fully terrified at this point even though it was

certainly unsettling. I just thought it was really weird and could have been an illegal hunter even though hunting at night in the cold didn't make much sense. Either way the imprint was made two hours earlier and I assumed that they were long gone but that's when I heard it. When I was getting into my SUV there was the loudest high-pitched laughing coming from the woods. It almost sounded like a fake laugh the way the witch and the wizard of oz or something laughed like someone was doing it on a purpose to show that they weren't scared of me. Or to see how I'd react all at once. I knew that they were laughing at me on our property.

It was close enough that I knew they could probably see me. But I couldn't see them at all since other than the street light I was under there was no illumination. After a few seconds of laughing they stopped and then it was just silence everywhere except for my heart beating through my ears. Then the laughing started again though louder this time more like screaming and laughing combined. I sort of froze for just like five seconds listening in a panic. Now I spent a lot of time in that area and I know what coyotes and foxes sound like at night with their high-pitched screeches during mating

seasons so I can't completely logistically rule that out. But to me it honestly felt like it was an adult man trying to emulate a woman laughing. Like someone was deliberately trying to make a fake scary shriek laugh in order to scare someone. Well, it worked. After that five seconds, I immediately filled with adrenaline, got in my car, and drove away from there as fast as I could without sliding off the road. Back at home, I was up all night trying to figure it out and told my parents the story when they woke up. After talking it out we decided it was one of two things. It was either my brain somehow convinced itself the snow formation was angel shaped when it was really just caused by some animal and then the snow tracks and laughing

was just a coyote or red fox. Though I don't think that's what it was. What I truly believe, the second thing, which is that some local was out walking around for some reason and decided to mess with me. I didn't have any close friends left in that area that would do this, and if they did, they would certainly have brought it up or make fun of me for speeding away in terror. I found out later that nearest house was a super old couple so I highly doubt that it was one of them which means whomever it was went out into the woods in the night in the freezing cold just to mess with a stranger. I don't have any mental issues or a family history of them, didn't do any drugs, I drank socially at the time but certainly didn't that night.

I also don't believe in the paranormal so I never once gave that a thought. In my heart, I know someone was out there. I worked there another six weeks or so and never had a single issue, though I knew where my boss kept his gun and I always made sure it was there when I started my shift. I certainly always locked the gate from then on. Thinking about that experience that night the part that freaked me out the most was that he had to have waited around for me to leave for about two hours just to do that laugh. He didn't know me I could have been crazy and the type of

person to get mad and try to find and attack him yet he didn't seem scared or to care while he tried to mess with me. For some random dude, this is probably a story he tells from his point of view to make all of his friends giggle hysterically, but for me, that dude, the one I call Angel and the Snow Guy, the one with the laugh I'll never forget, Please don't come back. My friend is from the UK and she is an absolute doll. I love her to bits but her parents are a little weird. Her father is a perv, always has been around me and other friends. We try and avoid going to the friend's house but because she's located in the exact center of the city we always end up meeting at her house before we go shopping, to the movies or out to dinner.

I'm 16, will be 17 in July and they're all 17 to 18. I will not go into too much detail about the creepy things her father's done, but I can tell you that he has peeped into her room while I was changing into my swimsuit or my pajamas several times. Pervy dad has always done a few things to our friends, but he has always stayed in the reasonable deniability zone, where if we accuse him of peeping or getting too close or being too inappropriate, he can easily make us feel like the crazy ones. We actually thought we were all overdramatic and paranoid until dinner one night in a restaurant months ago, when the friend was not present and

someone said, do you think friend's dad is a little weird? To which we all exclaimed yes. I thought that was just me. This is common. Men like this are despicable. They have a talent for picking on girls, manipulating them, and taking advantage of them. Her mother was either completely oblivious to her husband's actions or thought that all men behave that way around attractive teen girls and that it was our fault for acting promiscuous. We are religious Jewish girls in Israel. We wear long skirts and uniforms to school and we won't touch a light switch past 6 p.m. on a Friday but yeah, of course we're trying to seduce your husband. Yesterday, Thursday, I realized that it was the latter friend has a pool at her house and she

invited me over to swim i was hesitant but she mentioned that her parents will be leaving soon and that we could blast music and hang out so i packed a bag and rode my bike over to her house when i arrived her parents were still there apparently the appointment was rescheduled so they decided to stay home for the evening. Pervy dad and crazy mom were watching TV on the couch and I thought that they wouldn't bother us. We were outside and before we get into the pool I put on sunscreen. I'm not wearing anything too crazy just a plain pink bikini. Usually I'm a little self-conscious but I've been going to the gym every day and

getting fit so I felt really good about myself. But after what happened yesterday, not anymore. Pervy dad comes out and while the friend is in the pool, he comes and sits next to me on the chair. He engages in light small talk and I pray he's just here to chat. The conversation turns a little inappropriate but again if I said something he would have said that I was acting paranoid. That was until he asked me to smile for him and if you're a girl you know the kind of anger that request invokes. I said excuse me you're being very inappropriate please leave me alone. Very plainly, but firmly. He told me that I didn't have to be so rude about it. That he just wished that I would smile more because I was looking a little depressed.

That it was immature of me to come into his house and shout at him. I wasn't even shouting. Crazy Mom hears the noise and comes outside. She senses the tension, sees me in my bikini and immediately turns red in the face. Pervy dad and crazy mom go inside and I continue lounging in the chair. A few minutes later, crazy mom comes outside with a few choice words to say. I was hoping she would apologize. If she had been calm and respectful, I would have covered up and apologized,

but the universe was not kind to me on that day. If you're going to sit there by my pool, dress promiscuously, and then act all innocent when men flirt with you, you can leave my house now. I was in shock. I have never had an adult speak to me so unkindly before, but I bit my tongue. She was my friend's mother and I'm not a troublemaker. I told her that I didn't mean any offense but some of the things that Mr. Pervy Dad were saying to me made me uncomfortable and I politely but firmly asked him to leave me alone. She started screaming at me. I didn't get all of it because I was in such a daze but it was something about how her husband was a good man

and that I was all these terrible expletives for trying to get him to sleep with me and that the only reason he was talking to me was because I looked depressed and he wanted to give me some company. I was ungrateful and I was rude and blah blah blah. She then raised her hand like she was going to slap me and I flinched this somehow made her more angry i was escorted out of the door she grabbed me firmly by the arm still in my bikini clutching my bag my phone my keys while my friend watched from the pool and i haven't spoken to that friend since oh well to the friend i hope you can learn to realize that you don't have to behave the way your parents do and you can rise above that.

All of us are here supporting you and loving you when you're ready. When I was around 15, I had started babysitting a family with three kids. Two boys, one girl. Their mom knew me as the oldest, was friends with my little brother, and asked my mom if I could help out just because she had started taking on more shifts and her husband was doing the same. They lived right next to my high school and paid well so I agreed despite not really having that much experience. Pretty quickly I realized that it was going to be difficult. The kids were great but I was nervous around them. The oldest was fine just playing on his

xbox most of the time or doing homework but the two youngest were a different story. The middle child daughter was completely obsessed with horror movies and on more than one occasion I had to hide the knives from her since she wanted to reenact them and the youngest son tried to set the Christmas tree on fire. I know what kids can be like since I have a lot of younger and older cousins but these ones drove me insane and I would constantly worry about them hurting themselves or each other. If they played up I would threaten to call their mom which normally would work. It was after a few months that I realized if I had mentioned their dad that's when they

would really just behave and do what I asked so that's what I started doing. Now I never actually met the dad, I just knew that the guy was really tall and big and built, but was always described to me as still being really nice, so I never thought about it. On this occasion, I had said to the youngest boy that I would call his dad if he didn't stop behaving, which resulted in a huge tantrum, so I ended up calling him and explaining. Luckily for me, the dad was getting off of work early so he said that he would get home as quick as he could and apologize for the kid's behavior. When I had explained this the kid was sobbing and ended up locking himself in his room. That day the dad got home and they weren't joking when they said he was tall.

I'm only 5'3 and was 15 when I saw him having to crouch a little to get through the door because of his size I remember thinking no wonder the kids won't misbehave when he's there. I said hi and apologized for the work call which he had brushed off and said that it needed to be done and not to worry. We were both sat on the couch. I can't really remember why but I think we were talking about what days they needed me for. Now at this stage the two youngest had went outside to play while I was in with the oldest as I had just been tidying a little from dinner. I was pretty weirded out because his oldest started to get pretty antsy when asked to go to the shop. Kept making excuses to his dad so I just offered to go. I could see the dad visibly frustrated and just wanted to diffuse

the situation. Now I would like to point out that everything seemed normal at this point but I remember feeling really intimidated by the dad. I only met him this one time and spoke for no more than 20 minutes. It turns out that the oldest had said to his mom that he didn't want me left alone with his dad as he had apparently been watching me a little too closely during our short encounter. The parents had asked me to babysit later on that week which I had agreed to however in the space of a few days that quickly changed. I got a text from the mom apologizing for the last minute arrangements but saying I couldn't babysit. I was a little agitated since I had changed plans but wasn't too bothered and just said it was fine and just let me know when she needs me. She had asked me

to come around to get my pay for the last two weeks and I decided to just nip around before going home. As soon as I was in the house I could tell something was off but not wanting to pry I just went in to say hi, talked about books for a little bit and left. It wasn't until the next week I think or the week after where everything kicked off. I came home to my mom being upset and angry, pacing the living room while my stepdad was trying to calm her down. I immediately went to her, asking what was wrong, feeling a little worried. Instantly she just threw her arms around me and started crying and holding me. I had meant to be babysitting but again got cancelled on so I was home earlier than what I said I was originally. Pulling away confused I asked her

what was wrong again. Turns out my mom had been trying to get a hold of me but my phone had died. I had went to babysit and nobody was home so I just decided to head back on the bus but wasn't able to let my mom know. She sits me down and starts trying to ask me questions about the dad and my time babysitting. Confused I had mentioned that I had only met him once and only really spoke to him on the phone a handful of times when the kids were acting up. Nodding my mom started pressing and asked if anything else had happened and kept questioning me saying I could tell her anything. I just looked at her confused and told her that nothing had happened and asked what this was all about.

I always remember her taking a deep breath and saying oh thank god before letting me know what happened. Now as I said the details are vague because this was on the news it turns out the guy had killed someone while working and had been taken in by the police during the interrogation it turns out that he admitted to beating his wife and there were speculations of assaults there was also mentioned that one of his types were petite girls that had dark hair, pale which happened to match my description at the time and my mom was terrified in case something had happened. I'm turning 23 this year and it still gives me shivers. I remember feeling like I was going to

throw up and had a sinking feeling in my stomach. My mom held me close crying because she had been worried sick all day and scared in case something had happened. Needless to say, I stopped babysitting for that family right then and there. I felt so awful for the wife as she was honestly one of the nicest women I'd ever met. About a week later I got a text from her and as it turns out I had left some books so I said that I would come over and get them. When I saw her her my heart sank. She had obviously not slept and was putting on a brave face for the kids who weren't sure what was going on. We ended up sitting in the kitchen and I gave her a hug just trying to comfort her. I had

mentioned that if she needed help with the kids since he was gone I would try and help but she immediately refuses as it turned out people had started attacking the house. She gave me my stuff, paid for the wages with a little more added, I had completely forgot, and said she appreciated it but it would be better off if I just took a step back from the family as she didn't want me getting hurt for being associated with them. To this day I still think about them and it still scares me after thinking about what could have happened. I still talk to the younger kids who are a lot older and even help tutor her younger girl. I helped the oldest when he started high

school because I noticed the kids bullying him for what his dad had done which was awful considering it wasn't the fault of the family. a smile on your face. Bet on the sports you love with BetRiver Sportsbook. Take a chance. Must be 19 plus. Available in Ontario only. Please play responsibly. If you have questions or concerns about your gambling or someone close to you, please contact ConnexOntario at 1-866-531-2600 to speak to an advisor free of charge. My name's Gerald and I'm 22.

For the past year I've encountered a buttload of crazy people and have accumulated even more crazy stories. While most of them would make you laugh, the one I've chosen to share was terrifying while it was happening and still gives me shivers when I remember it. A little more than a year ago, I applied for and got a job at my favorite convenience store across the street from my house. I'd moved there my sophomore year in college and decided to stay after I left school. This little store has served as a savior to me. Living as young men often do, I had very little money, but I was always confident I could find something to fill my belly regardless of how much was in my pocket at the time. So, when the time came, I was no longer able to rely on my parents for money. The corner store was the first place I went for a job.

I was in luck. Only the day before, one of the employees was fired for stealing from the register. I took his place, and I've been here ever since. Like any other corner store, we sell alcohol. Beer, wine, liquor, the whole boat. Naturally, this makes us a beacon for the local drunks. These folks have served as countless hours of entertainment. While most are harmless people, on one specific occasion a horribly violent outburst occurred. It was a quiet

Saturday night about an hour before close. Most of the regulars had made their appearances, a few more than once. The two involved in this incident had been in around 7pm and had just returned. They were, or at least appear to be a couple. I'd seen them around the neighborhood since I moved in. The owner of the store said they'd been customers since he bought the store, and that was 13 years ago. Although they were not very talkative when they came in, I never had any reason to believe either could be violent. However, that night something had changed. Upon arriving the second time, they went straight to the cooler containing the quart and 40 ounce sized beers. Nothing out of the ordinary, as I said, but tonight an argument between the two started soon after their arrival. Initially I couldn't hear what it was about

but soon I could hear everything they said across the store. I minded my own business for a while but once the female began screaming curse words at the man I felt like I had to at least get them to take it outside. I wasn't sure what to say, but I began my walk to the opposite side of the small store. Before I was halfway there, the man started screaming back at the woman. I'm not sure exactly what she had said to him, but it had obviously infuriated him. Mere moments before, he had taken a quart bottle of bush or some other cheap beer from the cooler. All of a sudden, he began striking down at the woman's head with it. I'm not sure if he

thought it would break or if he intended on hurting her with the nearest thing, but strike after strike, he continued. It was a horrifying thing to witness. I blame the entertainment industry for giving people the false impression of how easy it is to break a beer bottle over someone's head. I assure you, it's very hard. Following the fifth or sixth strike, the woman had dropped completely to the floor and stopped moving. The guy stood over her for a moment but looked up when I assume he heard me running towards him. The second he saw me he ran out the side door and disappeared into the darkness. The sight of her laying there made me sick to my stomach. The blood dripping from her ears was almost as shocking as the ever growing pool around her head.

It seemed like a bad idea to touch her so I made the decision to let the paramedics check her for a pulse. When they arrived she was was still alive, but they didn't have much hope for her survival. The cops certainly weren't in any hurry to get there, but when they did finally arrive 45 minutes later, I filled them in on all I had seen. From the way they reacted, I got a strong feeling that they were very familiar with the two. While on shift a few days later my boss called with some news. The female was brain dead and her family had made the choice to let her pass. The cops had picked the guy up the following night. From the description my boss gave me he didn't even seem to remember what had happened. The doctors that examined him

said that it's likely he truly may not remember what he did because of the many years of alcohol abuse had possibly destroyed his brain. Sounds like he might not get the full punishment due to him under the law. I'm not really sure how I feel about that. Sometimes it seems like people really do get away with murder. I serve as one of two managers for a local branch of a national convenience store chain. Starting as a wide-eyed 23-year-old girl, I worked my way up to night manager within five years. Not a groundbreaking achievement, I admit, but an achievement nonetheless. My job includes staying late after closing to count the night's drawers and drop the deposits for the day manager to put in the bank.

I've never minded much having to do this job. The past five years working here has been on the night shift, and nothing really scary has ever happened while I was on the clock. The only hold up in the history of this store occurred during the day. Therefore, I've never had any reason to fear working after dark. That was until just recently when I became the subject of someone's obsession. Talking about this in the first place is very embarrassing for me. I feel like when people hear about this they think I am bragging about my looks but I swear I'm not. I recognize that I'm an average looking woman but that's as far as my vanity goes. I would have probably kept this incident to myself but my therapist feels that sharing my experience will help other women as well as myself. So that's why we're here.

Hopefully he's right and this horrible ordeal really can serve to help other women who have suffered from the same form of negative attention. Now that I put this off for so long, I guess it's time to tell you exactly what it is that happened. As I said, I work the night shift six days a week. The number of weirdos I encounter is somewhat high. A fight once or twice a year, homeless drunks, the usual lot for a clerk in a convenience store in America. In spite of the craziness going on around me day to day, I had managed to go unnoticed by any of those weirdos until around six months ago. About that time, this particular man began coming to the store. Initially, it was only once or twice a week, and when he did, nothing was said to me. However, as time passed, his visits became more and more frequent. This in itself isn't that odd.

Anybody who's worked in a convenience store for a length of time can tell you regulars go with the territory. Some you will see every day at the same time, some more than once. So at the time I had no need to be concerned. A month into this routine I noticed that he would wait until I had no customers so I could ring him up. What made it so obvious was his concerted effort to start a discussion with me. How about that weather? You know, small talk like that. Although I found it funny then, I didn't realize I was encouraging him by engaging in these discussions with him. Soon the talks became more personal, less banal discussions. The first time I was asked if I had

a boyfriend, I laughed it off, but the third and fourth were the first indication to me that I may have a problem on my hands. My suspicions were cemented the day he asked me out. Perhaps from instinct I said no, but I was careful to be kind in the way I said it. At that moment he seemed to take it well. However, another clerk told me later that evening that he was actually very angry. I guess I never really learned to read a guy's body language. The next time he came in, he didn't talk to me and didn't return to normal until a few days later when he acted like nothing had ever happened. I had gotten the impression he had decided to let it go, but just one day later, he asked me to go out with him again. This time, he said he meant it just as friends.

As before, I declined. He made no effort to hide his anger this time, and the expression on his face as he stood there really frightened me. The week following this second incident, I spent most of my time hiding out in the office doing paperwork. A male clerk he had befriended told me he had asked about me, but the clerk only told him I was out. I took advantage of this friendship to ask the clerk to talk to the man. I wanted him to ask the guy to not come into the store when I was working anymore. His most recent behavior had scared me. The discussion must have happened because I didn't

see him for several days. Curious as to what was said, I asked the clerk what reaction the man had. He only answered by saying that the guy had severe anger problems and I should probably watch my back. I'm not sure if the clerk thought that would make me feel better, but obviously it made me far more scared. He stayed away from the store during my shifts and I didn't see him for a few weeks. One day during shift change I was talking to the day manager and he mentioned a discussion that he had had with my stalker as he called him. The manager had made the remark in passing that he didn't normally see him that time of the day. The guy told him he had stopped coming in on my shift because I thought it was too good for him. The manager said as he

spoke, his eyes blazed with anger. I'd certainly dodged a bullet. At least that's what I thought then. In the coming weeks, I would catch glimpses of him walking through the parking lot. Sometimes he would stand at the edge of the lot walking through the parking lot. Sometimes he would stand at the edge of the lot just outside the glare of the lamp and watch me. The last time I caught him doing this I called the cops. When they arrived I explained the situation to them but as you can imagine they told me they couldn't do anything unless he blatantly threatened me. Of course by the time they arrived he was gone. I'm not sure if me calling the cops scared him or not, but I didn't see him for a while. Our last meeting was less than an hour after close, about a month ago.

I had just finished the deposits and was preparing to leave the store. As I walked out of the office, heading to the door, I noticed the shadow of a man standing out of the glare of the lamp, just as my stalker had done. Terrified, I called the shadow of a man standing out of the glare of the lamp, just as my stalker had done. Terrified, I called the cops right away. There was no way I was going to leave the store alone at 12.50am with him standing outside. They showed up in less than 5 minutes but naturally he had already left. I got the usual speech but they were at least kind enough to volunteer to come around for the next week or two at closing and hang around until I could lock up and drive away.

It wasn't until two weeks later that I heard the news. While I was engaging in work talk with the male clerk he mentioned that my stalker had ended his own life the week before. I didn't believe him. So we went into the office and he brought the man's obituary up on the computer. Shocked would be an understatement. I knew I hadn't seen him but I assumed the police presence at close had scared him off. It took me a few minutes to gather myself. I wasn't sure how to feel about this. While he had clearly become a danger to me, I couldn't help but feel bad for him. He obviously had a major anger issue, but I had no idea how

bad his life had been outside the store. I've always thought it was important to try and be empathetic towards others. On the other hand, the relief I felt, and still feel often, overrides any feelings of sadness or guilt I may have. I can only hope that he has found as much peace in taking his life as I have. God, I know that sounds terrible, but honestly, can you blame me? Rest in peace, Robert. I do truly hope you have found the peace you so sorely needed. Recently a terrible event occurred at the gas station my family owns,

and considering the fact the victim was somebody close to the family, I thought this would be the best way for him to be remembered. However, the only way my dad would allow me to share this story is on the condition I didn't use the people's real names. So, anybody interested in looking online for more information surrounding this crime will be disappointed because I'll have to change all the names. I guess I should start by giving you all some info on my family and our store. My dad bought it in 1996, a few years after his wife and he divorced. A few years later, he ran into our mom at the store. They had dated in high school and she had just moved back after her husband died. They dated for a couple of months and then decided to get married.

By March of 2000, my mom was pregnant with my sister and then me about two years after. Most of our life has taken place in and around the store. My sister and I both learned to walk there and many, if not all, of our babysitters were women that worked there. My dad always said that the store itself was part of the family and that includes everybody who works there. If that's true, Steve should have been the godfather of the family. He'd already been working at the store 10 years before dad bought it and he was the one that taught him how the place ran best. They became fast friends and since he had no living family, he spent every holiday with us. Heck, they even hunted together. That's the reason his death and a holdup hit us so hard. The day after it happened, a call from the cops came into the

store asking for the surveillance footage of the robbery. It didn't seem right for dad or Amy, my sister, to compile it, so I volunteered. I'll surely never volunteer for anything ever again. Going into this knowing what would happen made it harder, but I knew the others definitely couldn't handle it. I only knew the basics of the shooting, so as I watched the guy enter and approach the counter, a sick feeling rose in my gut. My instinct was to yell at the screen in a vain effort to warn Steve, but the stupidity of doing that stopped me. For the first minute, they stood and talked. I couldn't hear about what because the camera had no audio. I was caught off guard when he pulled out the gun. It was so fast.

Even without the sound, Steve's fear was plain. He did his best to keep the robber calm, and he was until Steve handed him the money from the register. The robber had chosen the time right before closing to come in. Unfortunately for him, Steve had just dropped most of the cash in a few minutes before, and what he was handed was no more than a $20 bill, a five, and five ones. He must have expected more. He began screaming and Steve tried to calm him down. He must have known somehow what was about to happen. His expression was of downright horror. Right before the shot came, he said something to the robber. At first, I couldn't tell what it was, but after rewinding the video a few times I could kind of read his lips say oh god please don't do it you don't have to. Those were his last words. Five gunshots later his life

was over. The video ended with a shooter running out of the store. No one shows up on the screen again until about 1 17 a.m when the officer stopped to see why the store was still open. He was the one who found Steve's body. When I was positive I had what they needed, I checked to make sure the clip had recorded to the thumb drive. Confident it had, I removed it and dropped it into a manila envelope and sealed it up. The teardrop hitting the envelope was the first hint to me that I'd been crying. I hadn't realized how important a part Steve played in my life. Just to make sure no one would bumble onto it, I locked the envelope in my desk drawer and called them to pick it up.

I thought it may comfort you to know that the police know who the shooter is. It sounds like the guy couldn't stop complaining about how little he got and somebody snitched him out. They haven't arrested him yet but it's only a matter of time. The video shows his face clearly. I'm sure that will be enough to hang him and that's exactly what I hope they do to him. I know his execution won't bring Steve back but the thought of that SOB dying sure feels good. Just the other night my aunt and I were drinking some beers around the fire pit in my backyard when she told me a story I'd never heard her mention before. I'm not a very good writer, and the way she told it had me glued to my seat.

Because of that, I asked her to write it down so I could post it. She was a little nervous about the idea at first, but as soon as I convinced her she could write it in a way to remain anonymous, she agreed. I do warn everyone reading this that the subject matter is very upsetting and may trigger those who have been victims of violence in the past. You've been warned. From this point on, the rest of what's written will be by my aunt, so prepare yourselves. It was sometime in the middle 1980s and I was living in the midwest with a friend back home. We had been bouncing from temp job to temp job for the past 5 years or so.

Then late one night we stopped in at a liquor store to pick up some booze. Neither of us had jobs at the time and she appeared to notice a help wanted sign in the front window. The following day she returned and asked about the job. By the end of the day she had been hired. She'd always had a way about her, a way to put people at ease. It was the greatest character trait about her. I don't believe she ever had an enemy in her life. Anyhow, while I continued my search for permanent employment, she was enjoying her job and making

a lot of friends to boot. She would often invite her coworkers over to our apartment after work to party and we always had an awesome time. They were really good people. I even dated one of the guys she worked with but it didn't work out. Then just as life was starting to get good for us all, a horrible crime occurred and I would lose my best friend forever. The night of, my roommate was doing her closing duties and most of the staff had met up at

the store to head over to our place together. Sometime just before she locked the doors, two guys came in and walked around the store. She waited for several minutes at the register before she reminded them that the store was closing. This was when the men pulled their guns. One herded the staff together into the walk-in cooler while the other locked the door and switched off the sign. Once they were back together, the leader, the guy who had let everyone into the cooler, assured them no one would be harmed as long as somebody opened the safe for them. They'd take their money and leave.

Nobody spoke until the door guy pistol whipped one of the girls across the head. The roommate quickly told them that the only person that had the key to the safe was the day manager and he wasn't there. This wasn't true. He was at the back of the group comforting his girlfriend that just got hit. Still, no one to this day understands why she lied. She often said that if she was robbed she wasn't about to die for somebody else's money. The two robbers were beginning to get irritated so my roommate mentioned that the money was still in the register. It was only around $30, but it was something. The two men ignored her, but the door guy walked out of the cooler and came back a few minutes later.

They walked away a couple of steps and talked, about what no one knows. When they returned to the group, the leader was visibly angry. He repeated what he said earlier, but this time no one said anything back. Here's where it all went to chaos. The leader's frustration boiled over. He took one step forward towards the group and kicked the young man in front of him. Then, he opened fire on the whole group. For a solid minute, he and his accomplices emptied their guns into the victims. The only survivor, who just happened to be the day manager, said he was hit at least four times before they moved on to the next person. Even though he had tried to cover his girlfriend with his body, she was still hit multiple times herself. He lost consciousness soon after the shot stopped, so no one knows exactly when the shooters left. What is known for sure is the five innocent people lost their lives for $32.53. It was almost nine

hours before they were found. By then, anyone who could have been saved, except one, had died. His stay in the hospital lasted two weeks and the month after that was spent in physical therapy learning how to use his right arm again. The last time I spoke to him, which was sometime in 1997, he was still seeing a psychologist twice a month. As far as I know, only one of the shooters was ever arrested, the door guy, and that was for another crime. He was connected to this crime while serving time in prison. He did eventually cop to it, but would never give up his partner. He would only say that he had lost his life while committing another robbery. Nobody involved in solving the case believed him, but until they found a clue connecting them to a name, the case is still

at a standstill. If he asked me who was the most affected, I would probably say it was the day manager, Ben. Not only had my roommate lied to protect him, we assume, his attempt to save the girl he loved failed and he spent all night laying next to her while she and four other of his friends slowly bled to death. I'd say in comparison, I've gotten off easy. Don't get me wrong, many of those people were my friends too. One of them, the best friend I'd ever had, and the week doesn't go by that I don't think about all of them. However, when it comes to Ben, I don't think life will ever be the same again. Until last week, I worked a dead-end job at a gas station across town.

This is why I quit and the crazy week that led up to it. About two weeks ago, my old man came into my room, woke me up, and started complaining about how he was lazy and needed to get a job. Typical. I didn't really have anything to say. Of course, he got even madder because of this. He then informed me that he had asked his friend to give me a job at his gas station. I would have appreciated if he would have asked me first, but he didn't. My first shift started in a few hours. What an a-hole. So after a super quick shower, I began my first day of work. I could tell the job was going to suck from the start. My dad's friend was an idiot and most of the employees were too. One girl thought she was Nicki Minaj. My dad's friend was an idiot and most of the employees were too.

One girl thought she was Nicki Minaj. The whole time she was working she was rapping or singing some R&B song. For some reason the king douche put her with me for every shift and I had to listen to her terrible music. On the rare occasion she wasn't singing or rapping she was talking about her baby daddy. As you can imagine, most of the time I was working, I wanted to eat a box full of Tide Pods and chase it with a jug of bleach. If you thought it couldn't get worse, you're wrong. When the owner wasn't around, her friends hung out at the store and did so for hours. I don't mean two or three people either, I mean upwards of twenty or more. They would park their cars in the front of the store where the customers should have been and play their stereos at astronomical levels.

The bass got so bad it would shake the windows sometimes. It was my perfect idea of literal torture. I got to the point that I was having nightmares that I was trapped inside a rap video. And believe it or not, a gunfight broke out at the store while we were working two nights ago. I got to the point that I was having nightmares that I was trapped inside a rap video. And believe it or not, a gunfight broke out at the store while we were working two nights ago. The story, as it was told to me, was that one of my co-worker's friends had a beef with a gang member in another neighborhood. This beef had started as something tame but quickly escalated to violence. My co-worker's friend had gotten into a fight with the gang member's cousin and must have messed him up pretty bad because the member's cousin ended up in the

hospital for several days. Because of this, the cousin swore that he was going to fill the guy full of holes. A normal person would have laid low for a while if someone told him a gangster was gunning for him, but none of my co-worker's friends could be called anything near normal. So he continued acting as if nothing was wrong until the gang members spotted him loafing around and drinking booze in our parking lot. The shooting part of this nightmare didn't last long, but by the time it was through, two of my co-worker's friends were dead and three other innocent bystanders were injured. The guy who was the intended target of the attack was unscathed. Two of her female friends were the people who lost their lives. One of the girls was begging the paramedics to not let

her die as they rushed her away. The three bystanders injured had nothing to do with the foolishness. Luckily for them, they got off with very minor injuries. The worst of the three just happened to be myself. I received one graze to my knee and one direct hit to my shin. My god did that hurt. My first call upon waking up today was to the store owner to let him know I was quitting. He sounded like he had been expecting it. As far as I know, the cut-rate Nicki Minaj was still working there despite the fact her presence caused the entire mess. The shooting wasn't the whole reason I quit. The king idiot not offering to pay my medical bills was the big reason. My dad didn't even say anything about this even though the guy was supposed to be his friend. I haven't told him yet but I'm sure his

friend will call sometime today and tell him. I don't care if he gets mad or not. That job could never pay enough to make it worth getting shot. I'd rather work in the sewers than put up with all that stuff I've had to deal with for the past two weeks. And here I am in the hospital. If that job means so much to him, he can go work there with his tightwad buddy in the dollar store Nicki Minaj while they wait to get shot. I've had enough. No for me. And I'll be here, recovering.

Each year on the birthday of my brother, my father and I try to find a new way to ensure he is remembered. With dad being out of the country this year, I had to celebrate his memory on my own. So I decided to write down my brother's life story and send it to you, hopefully to share with others. Brian was always a little different than the other kids we grew up with. These days I imagine some teacher would have labeled him as having autism and drug the uniqueness out of him. I want to make it clear from the start that he wasn't mentally disabled. It was the exact opposite in fact. He was so smart that he acquired the nickname Brain in middle school. His intelligence made him popular and a very good student.

He even got to graduate a whole year early because he was so smart. College was more the same until his junior year when he began to have problems. He started skipping classes and disappearing for days at a time. When we discovered he was hearing voices, my dad flew into town and took him to a doctor. It took a few, but eventually the diagnosis of schizophrenia was made and he was put on medication. Even with medication, it was obvious he wasn't going to make it in school, so he moved back home soon after. His first year back was a series of ups and downs while the doctors tried to find a medication that would work long term. He'd start a drug, do well for a few weeks and then go back

to disappearing. We found out that on one of his vacations that he had begun getting high on street drugs to suppress his symptoms. To our relief, just after the new year, they finally found a medicine that worked. Things drastically improved after that. A program was started that was partnered with the county to help those with mental illnesses find employment. Brian signed up for it and a month later he got a job at a convenience store down the street. This proved to be a blessing and a curse. Now that he was doing well and working, his life was back on track after two long years.

He loved the job and was happy to be back providing for himself. We were all finally able to move forward and live a semblance of a normal life. And this is the way it stayed for the next two and a half years. Then the store closed. Losing his job sent Brian back into his old habits of sleeping on the streets and drug abuse. When he was off his meds, he was a completely different man, one I didn't recognize. He would be gone a few days, come back and restart his medicine and start to do well, but then, with no reason, disappear again for another week. Then, one day, just like that, he never came back. He had been missing over a week at the point we started to worry.

He'd always come home before, so we gave him three more days before we started looking for him. We spent several more driving around town, going to his usual haunts, but no one had seen him for over a week. At this point we began to panic. So we did what we should have done in the first place and went to the police. Since he was an adult with a history of psychological troubles and we had no proof he had been taken against his will, all we could do was file a report. The cops said that they would keep an eye out for him, but that was the best they could do at that point. The only option we had left was to go home and hope Brian showed up. The longer time went by, the more worried I became. Dad didn't indicate anything above the understandable level of concern.

At least he didn't show it. Mom was probably the worst. She said more than once that she had a bad feeling and she didn't handle it very well. I had no reason to be worried but every day he stayed gone made me more anxious. Regardless of how I felt inside, I kept my feelings to myself and maintained a mask of optimism. After a year with no word, I determined that him returning was up to him. I had no control over his life and letting the possibilities eat me up from the inside was getting me nowhere. When he came back, we would all welcome him with open arms. We did the best that we could to get on with living. Dad and I managed to pull it off relatively well, but mom, well mom didn't.

When the doctors discovered the cancer in her breast, Brian had been gone about five years. I believe her worrying about him 24 hours a day fed it, maybe even caused it in the first place. Combined with her total disregard for treatment, no matter how how we begged she was dead in less than six months. Now that it was just dad and I we were forced to pick up the pieces and move on again or let it kill us too. Life carried on nothing really changed

until two years later when we finally received the call that we'd been waiting for but the news that we got was not what we expected. Earlier in the month, the family had purchased the old convenience store. They had hired a cleaning company to go into the place and clean up the mess left after almost eight years of sitting closed. One morning, the crew was in the storage room picking up the leftovers of a ceiling collapse and made a terrible discovery. The body of what was believed to be a man was buried under the pile of ceiling tiles and insulation. The police had no idea who it could be, and there were no visible marks on the body to indicate the cause of death. Ultimately, at the end of a three-week investigation, including the autopsy and DNA tests, it was determined that the body in the back room was Brian. They still haven't

arrived at a concrete answer of how he died, but drug paraphernalia was found near him. The strongest theory is overdose. Whether on purpose or not will never be known. So there we were. Over seven years after we lost him, Dad and I were burying him next to Mom in the family plot. The day was a hard one, but knowing where Brian was after all this time took away a bit of the sting. We only wish Mom would have survived to see it. It turned out she was right all along. Brian had been dead the whole time but was just a few blocks down the road. In the one place he had left that gave him joy and helped him to feel normal again. Knowing that made me smile. I look forward to this day every year The opportunity to remember Brian

In his far too short life Is one of the few things left That makes me smile Hopefully Dad will be back from his work next year And we can celebrate together again It may be my last chance to do so The disgusting disease

That took my mom Has apparently picked me to be its next victim If dad's still working And I've moved on next year The disgusting disease that took my mom has apparently picked me to be its next victim. If dad's still working, and I've moved on next year, do me a favor and share this story again. Brian was a beautiful man, and despite his troubles, he was loved by all those he met, and at least he should always be remembered for that. Five or so years ago, before I met my husband Brian, I lived in a dinky little apartment complex just off campus. My roommate then was another girl attending the university. Neither of us owned a car so we had no choice but to walk the three blocks to a convenience store located across the street from the science building. Almost a day didn't go by that we needed to pick up something and we became well known by the people working there. One year my roommate had a friend from back home, Nina, spend the week of spring break with us. She seemed cool enough, but she sometimes came across as abrasive to people she didn't know. She kind of had a big mouth I guess.

This trait made me laugh at times, but her rudeness could make a lot of people angry. On the Saturday night before she was scheduled to leave, we had a little get together at our place. My roommate was with her boyfriend, so Nina and I were the only ones around at the time. Earlier that day, she had scored an ounce of bud from one of our neighbors. He would sell us a little from time to time. We were planning on smoking before everybody started to show up, but I realized we were out of papers. Since we were going to have to pick up some beer anyways realized we were out of papers. Since we were going to have to pick up some beer anyways, we headed to the store. We loaded up on plenty of drinks and snacks when

we got there and then headed back to the apartment. As we walked across the parking lot, some guys hanging out on the side of the building yelled some crude words at us. This wasn't out of the norm. On occasion, when I went to the store at night, there were a few dudes hanging out. Sometimes they would make an off-color comment and I would laugh it off. They weren't being mean or anything. I thought they were just having fun. That would be the whole of it. Nothing was said after that. I'd walk on home and get no further problems from them. However, the night I was with Nina and she wasn't familiar with the little game we played, when they made their comment, she told them to F off.

And this reply didn't go well with them. They acted in a way I'd never seen before and started calling us all sorts of terrible names. It may have ended there but when Nina heard their reaction she gave them the finger. It quickly escalated after that. Two of the guys began running after us, cursing the whole way. Understandably I was terrified and started running away from them. Nina laughed like we were playing but I certainly didn't think they were playing around. They looked furious. I doubt any girl ever had spoken to them like this before and it made them very angry. I thought Nina finally got the hint and began running with me. Luckily, we weren't far from our apartment and we got to the door and inside

before they could catch us. I locked the deadbolt behind us and took a big breath. Nina started laughing again. She hadn't taken them seriously at all and must have seen it as some sort of big joke. I didn't, that's for sure. Her laughing made me even angrier and I commenced to cussing her out, but her chuckles continued. She had no ability to take anything seriously and she wasn't even high yet. I'd had enough of her and headed into the kitchen to put up the beer and chips. On my way out of the kitchen into my room, a loud pounding on the door started. I freaked out and hid under the window next to it. The shades were down, so I don't believe they

could see us. Nina stood frozen in the front of the door and her eyes were the size of saucers. I think she was finally getting it. The pounding continued, followed by more loud cussing and calling us filthy names I don't dare repeat here. Carefully, I stood up and peeked out a little crack in the blinds. There were three guys now and you could tell they were livid. Then things got far worse. My male neighbor, the one who sold to us, came walking down the stairs yelling at the guys and asking them what their problem was. I began to feel a bit relief.

He was a big dude and I had never seen anyone give him any trouble. However, before he could get anywhere by talking to them, all three guys jumped on him and started beating him. He went down quickly, but they continued the beating by kicking him, one after another. All of a sudden, I heard Nina yelling through the door at them. She demanded they stop or she was calling the cops. They must have heard her too. They turned back towards the door and started yelling curses at her again and laughing at the threat. I looked around the corner and saw Nina with her eyes stuck to the peephole and dialing 911 on her phone.

She was connected with the dispatcher and explained the situation as fast as she could. She sat quiet for a moment, listening, and then yelled back through the door. The cops are on their way. You guys better get the F out of here. They continued laughing but soon stopped and began talking to each other. One more curse was uttered half-heartedly and one of them spit on the door. Then they looked at each other and ran off. I let out a giant sigh. I could finally breathe again. I wanted to go out and check on my neighbor but was still way too terrified to go outside. He was laying motionless when I looked out at him. I started praying and asking for him not to be dead.

About a minute later I saw some beams from flashlights followed by four cops walking carefully toward the door. One crouched down and checked my neighbor's pulse. I could tell here the words faint pulse as he spoke through his radio. When the officers knocked on the door Nina opened it for them. She gave the one in the front a big hug and kiss on the cheek. He just stood there frozen in surprise with a big smile on his face. She let go and he chuckled a bit under his breath as they all entered the apartment. We thanked them for showing up so fast and Nina began blurting out the entire story before they even had time to ask. I hurried out behind them to check on my neighbor and a paramedic

came up right after and started working on him. I asked him if my neighbor was going to be okay but he simply looked at me and said, you should make it but I'll have to fight. It wasn't the news I wanted to hear exactly but I was happy to hear he'd survive. When his partner arrived soon after they loaded him onto a stretcher and rushed him away. Even though I wanted to go with them I knew I had to stay behind and talk to the police. So I went back in and sat down and waited to be questioned. The cops left a few hours later. I was still shaking a little from the shock of everything. I felt really bad for what happened to my neighbor. He didn't deserve it.

He was just trying to help. If I would have had a car, I would have went to the hospital to check on him, but I didn't. So I couldn't think of anything better than a beer and some smoke to help me relax. I was overjoyed that no one decided to show up for our party. Things could have turned out far worse. While we sat in front of the TV and smoked, Nina apologized for what she did. I was happy to hear it, but I wasn't the only person she needed to apologize to. She agreed, and she stayed a day longer to go with me on the bus to see him in

the hospital and do so in person. Like any real hero, he said there was no need and asked how we were. We spent most of the day with him until they kicked us out. Nina left the next morning and happily, I've never seen her again. My neighbor Alec spent the whole of the next week in the hospital recuperating from the attack. When he returned to the complex, my roommate and I had him over for dinner. She figured it was the least we could do for thanking him for helping and of course, I agreed. For the remainder of the time I lived there, I would see him from time to time, never forgetting to thank him for what he did. He managed to bounce back from his injuries well.

Unfortunately, although his limp eventually went away and the cuts healed, he'll most likely have sight memory issues for the rest of his life. I can only hope he's able to move on and forget myself, Nina, and the whole mess that caused all of it. The year is 1860. Abraham Lincoln had just been elected president. Italian unification is in full swing. The first debates on evolution are being held at Oxford University, and in the shipyards of Spencer's Island, Nova Scotia, a ship is being constructed. Built using locally felled limber, she is 99 feet long and 25 feet wide, smaller than the galleons or ships of the line we normally visualize when we think of old sailing ships. Her owners intended her to be a merchant brigantine, an investment that will make them all exceedingly wealthy through lucrative transatlantic trade.

By agreement, they name her the Amazon. Her maiden voyage takes place in June of 1861, with the Amazon sailing to the nearby five islands to take on lumber destined for Great Britain. Her captain for the voyage, Robert McClellan, was in fine health and an experienced sailor. Yet after supervising the loading of the Amazon's timber cargo and guiding his vessel into Atlantic waters, Captain McClellan began to feel ill. At first, he insisted that the voyage continue, but as his condition worsened and he required more advanced medical attention, the crew made the decision to return to their home port, but it was no good. Robert McClellan died in his sleep on June 19, 1861. The voyage resumed under the captaincy of a man named John Parker, but the ship's misfortune did not abate. She ran into fishing equipment off the

coast of Maine and collided with a fellow merchant vessel in the English Channel. Sailors are superstitious folk, and the ship had endured such terrible misfortune that many spoke of her being cursed. Her crew told tales that the Amazon was doomed to suffer the wrath of the cruel, unforgiving sea wherever she may sail. Finally, in 1867, the Amazon was driven ashore to Cape Breton Island by a storm. She was so badly damaged that her owners abandoned her as a wreck, cutting any further losses that the Amazon may incur. It is entirely possible that they too believe the sailors' stories of cursed ships. Alexander McBean knew his maritime law well.

He knew that a derelict was considered abandoned property in the eyes of the law, and thus was free to claim it as his own. McBean made a lot of money this way, for he also knew that the construction of a brand new vessel from scratch was sometimes hideously expensive. Some shipwrights would pay handsomely for a derelict to act as a kind of skeleton for a new ship, salvaging the keel or mast to cut costs and maximize profit. The derelict then came to the attention of one William Haynes, an American mariner from New York City who paid over $10,000, equivalent to $175,000 today, to purchase and restore the vessel. He made himself captain of his new craft and in December of 1868 registered her in New York as an American vessel under a new name,

the Mary Celeste. The Mary Celeste ended up changing ownership once more before the voyage that would make her famous, and by 1872 was being captained by Benjamin Briggs, a competent, intelligent, yet deeply religious man from a family of sailors. Captain Briggs, being the wise and experienced captain he was, selected his crew carefully. All were men he had previously sailed with, or had received letters of recommendation that described them as peaceable, first-class sailors. After an extensive refitting in New York Harbor, the Mary Celeste was ready for her first journey under her new name. She would be carrying 1,701 barrels of denatured alcohol to be used in fuels, surgical, and laboratory work to the port of Genoa in Italy,

and on October 20, 1872, Captain Briggs arrived in New York to supervise the vessel's loading. It took an additional two weeks of preparation to finally depart, with Captain Briggs insisting that they wait for a break in bad weather before sailing into the Atlantic. Finally, on November 7th, 1872, the skies cleared, the waves eased, and Captain Briggs ordered his crew to raise anchor and set sail for Europe. Around the same time, another brigantine, the Canadian-registered Del Grecia, was waiting to make an almost identical voyage to Genoa via British Gibraltar. Some accounts of the period state that Del Grecia's captain, David Morehouse, was friends with Captain Briggs and that the two dined together before the morning of the Mary Celeste departure. If true, then there's a chance

that Captain Morehouse was present in New York for the launch of the Mary Celeste. Doubtless, the pair will have wanted to discuss navigation and possible weather patterns in the Mid-Atlantic. After all, they captained almost identical vessels. So on November 15th, just eight days after the Mary Celeste's own departure, De Grecia departed for Italy using roughly the same route as her fellow brigantine. In the early afternoon of Wednesday, December 4th, the Degracia found itself midway between Azores Island and the western coast of Portugal. Captain Morehouse was resting in his quarters when a crew member frantically summoned him to the main deck. Taking out his spyglass, his vision was directed about six miles

off the bow, where in the distance, a lone vessel was heading unsteadily towards them. As is previously mentioned, Captain Morehouse was himself an experienced and capable Nova Scotian sailor. From the approaching vessel's erratic movement and the unusual set of her sails, Morehouse recognized that something was badly wrong. Captain Morehouse gave orders to his crew to begin signaling to the approaching vessel, and using small black flags known as day shapes, they did so. Their signals were not returned. As the ships grew closer to one another, Morehouse saw no one on the ship's deck. The ship should have been teeming with life at this point. Men should have been climbing the rigging and manning the ship's

wheel, but not a living soul was in sight. It was only then that he used his spyglass to catch the name of the vessel, painted proudly on the stern. It was the Mary Celeste. Captain Morehouse must have been horrified. He had dined with the Mary Celeste captain just a month before and knew that the man's family would be present on board for the voyage. He had probably met her crew at some point, yet here she was, floating aimlessly in the Atlantic with not a single sign of life anywhere about her. Morehouse immediately ordered boarding crew to prepare a rowboat. Upon climbing aboard,

they found the ship's sails only partially set, with some damaged or missing entirely, as if the crew had been suddenly interrupted in the middle of such an important part of routine maintenance. What's more, most of the ship's rigging had been damaged, with some cables hanging loosely over the vessel's sides. Upon inspection, the boarding party discovered that the Mary Celeste's one and only lifeboat was missing along with the ship's compass which had been torn from its moorings the glass encasing it smashed to smithereens this was obviously evidence that some of the ship's crew had escaped the vessel but there was no way the small lifeboat could accommodate the crew in its entirety

what's more the reason the crew has chosen to abandon ship was not entirely evident. The ship wasn't sinking, it only had a manageable amount of water in the hold and the damage to the rigging and sails was entirely repairable. Galley equipment was neatly stowed away, there was no food prepared or under preparation, but there were ample provisions in the stores. There were no obvious signs of fire or violence, the evidence indicated an orderly departure from the ship by means of the missing lifeboat. In an attempt to get to the bottom of such a mystery, Captain Morehouse consulted the Mary Celeste Daily Logs. The final entry made was from 8am on November 25th, just nine days earlier, and made no reference to trouble or dangers faced by the crew.

However, the quarters of Captain Briggs had been ransacked. Personal items were strewn around the cabin and most of the ship's papers were missing, together with the captain's personal navigational instruments. Captain Morehouse made the decision to split his crew of eight sailors between the two vessels in order to pilot both to the port of Gibraltar. He sent his first mate and two experienced seamen to Mary Celeste, while he and four others remained on De Grecia. Under maritime law, a substantial share of the combined value of rescued vessel and cargo could be expected if a derelict was successfully recovered. The weather was relatively calm for the final stretch of their voyage, but just before their arrival in Gibraltar, the Mary Celeste was engulfed in a thick,

impenetrable fog. The crew of the DeGratia noted that the mist seemed to close in around the ship, whilst bafflingly avoiding their own, almost as if the mist was drawn toward the other vessel. They feared her loss, but much to Captain Morehouse's relief, the Mary Celeste arrived in the port the following morning. Yet, the crew were shaken. They refused to recall what had happened while they were consumed by such dark and murky vapors. Once on dry land, they refused to step foot back on board the Mary Celeste for reasons that are unknown up until today. So why was the Mary Celeste abandoned in such a way?

In the immediate aftermath of the event, the Attorney General of Gibraltar, one Frederick Solly Flood, was appointed to unravel the mysteries of the abandoned ship. He quickly came to the conclusion that foul play was to blame. To the horror of the de Grecia's crew, they found themselves prime suspects in the investigation. Initially, Solly Flood asserted that it was a case of insurance fraud, but these were hastily refuted by the owners of the Mary Celeste, as no inquiry was instituted by the companies that issued the insurance policies. Solly Flood then asserted that it was entirely possible that Captain Morehouse, in full knowledge of the Mary Celeste's proposed route, could have set a trap for her. He and his crew could have lain in wait for Mary Celeste, then after luring Briggs and his crew aboard the DeGracia, slaughtered them and cast their corpses overboard. However, investigators quickly deduced that this was impossible. As well as being a slower ship, the DeGracia departed New York Harbor a full eight days after the Mary Celeste.

There was absolutely no way she could have caught up with her before her arrival in Gibraltar. But despite his high position and important duties, Frederick Solly Flood was described as a man whose arrogance and pomposity were inversely proportional to his IQ, and that once he had made up his mind on something, could not be convinced otherwise no matter how rational or persuasive an argument, hardly the traits of a thorough or proficient detective. And so, almost 150 years later, we are forced to consider more fantastical explanations for the disappearance of the Mary Celeste crew. One such theory is based around the idea that the ship was attacked by Riffian pirates, also known as Riafa or Rafwa. The Riffians are an Arabic-speaking

people from northwestern Africa who take their name from the coastal Riff region of modern-day Morocco. The Riffians have historically inhabited an impoverished, eroded, deforested, and poorly irrigated region, meaning a hard life awaits anyone born in a Riffian family. It is for this reason, much like modern-day Somalia, that the Riffians often turn to piracy to provide a better life for their families. In addition to boarding and capturing merchant shipping, the Riffians engaged in what they called razia, which were raids on European coastal towns and villages. The main purpose of such raids was to capture slaves to be sold into the Ottoman Empire, and the Rifians did not discriminate. Slaves could be of any race and religion. If it walked and talked, it could be put to work. If this really was the case,

the reality of it must have been terrifying. The Riffians would have waited for ideal conditions, calm waters in the dead of night. Almost silently, they would have rowed their small skiffs towards the vulnerable Mary Celeste, readying their boarding ropes, clutching their weapons. Then as one, they'd have attacked. War cries and a strange guttural language would have echoed around the ship as any resistance would have been swiftly put down. Women and children taken as slaves, as any men capable of struggle are put to the sword. However, in his account of the Maritime Mystery written in 1942,

the historian Charles Fay notes that Riffian pirates, in addition to taking slaves, would have fully looted the Mary Celeste before departing. Yet much of the crew's personal items, some of which include a valuable sword and sheath, remained untouched. As one can imagine, such an ornate weapon would have made a fine trophy or fetched a fine price in eastern bazaars. It makes absolutely no sense that it was left behind in such a way. Another theory proposed by historians is perhaps the most quietly terrifying of them all. During his research into the event, the historian Charles Fay made a perturbing discovery. The captain of the Mary Celeste, Benjamin Briggs, was a devout Christian and a devilly religious man.

He would constantly read his Bible whilst at sea and would often quote passages as solutions to many of his vessel's problems. He apparently was fond of quoting Jonah, chapter 4, verses 9-11. But God said to Jonah, Did you have a right to be angry about the vine? And he said, I do. I am angry enough to die. Briggs would also violently attest to the strength of his own faith during prayer meetings often held on the ship, something that was noted in some of the crew's personal diaries with varying levels of trepidation. It is these diary entries that led historian John Gilbert Lockhart to conclude

that Captain Briggs had somehow entered a fit of religious mania or rage, hunting his own crew throughout the ship and murdering them one by one before taking his own life. But in the years after this theory was purported, Lockhart conducted extensive interviews with the surviving relatives of Captain Briggs' family and was assured that Benjamin did not have a violent bone in his body, that he was a gentleman, simply incapable of such a violent rampage. Lockhart subsequently issued a public apology and withdrew his theories from contention. However, I cannot personally dismiss such an idea, especially since the likelihood of the aforementioned relative's willingness to display the missing benjamin in a positive light no one wishes to speak ill of the dead to drag

their name through the mud when they're not around to defend themselves especially not a person's very own blood relations and after all it was almost common knowledge that the ship was cursed could it be that captain Briggs, with his particularly zealous personality, could have detected or even been infected by whatever malevolent infernal presence plagued the Mary Celeste, as if it was some kind of floating overlook hotel? Finally, and perhaps most terrifying of all, is the theory that the Mary Celeste was attacked by some kind of large sea creature, specifically the colossal squid. A cousin of the giant squid, colossal squids have been known to grow to sizes of up to

fifty feet in length, making it one of the largest living organisms ever recorded. Unlike its smaller cousin, whose tentacles have only suckers lined with small teeth, the colossal squid's tendril limbs are also equipped with razor-sharp, tri-pointed hooks, while its body is considerably wider and therefore heavier than that of the giant squid. This is down to what zoologists call deep-sea giantism, the name given to the tendency of deep-sea animals to be much larger than those that dwell in the shallows. This is due to a number of factors including low temperatures, rarity of food sources, and the reduced competition among predators at those depths. Significantly lower temperatures

are thought to result in increased cell size and increased lifespan, both of which lead to an increase in maximum body size. Deep sea creatures have also been known to be able to survive for five years at a time without feeding due to their slower metabolism. This would explain why such creatures are rarely seen in shallower waters. Imagine the scene if you will. You're a crew member of the Mary Celeste manning your post during a long hard shift of sailing. Suddenly you see something moving just off the side of the ship. You've heard the stories of sea monsters dragging the vessels to their dooms but as thrilling as the tall tales were you knew in the back of your mind that's all they were just stories told by

old salts. But now as something gargantuan emerges from the briny depths its black lifeless eyes studying your lonely brigantine hungrily, you realize with utter horror that all the stories are true. You realize beneath the roaring waves and mountainous swells, there really were things that watched and waited to pull sailors such as yourself to the bottom of the ocean. The Mary Celeste was only nine feet deep below her decks, meaning such a colossal squid would have easily been able to wrap its flailing tentacles all the way around the much smaller ship. The closest squid also has the largest eyes of any animal on Earth, the largest recorded specimen having an eye that was almost half a meter in diameter. The creature truly is a monster. One simply cannot imagine the complete and utter

terror that the crew felt when or if it encountered such a beast. The flailing barbed tentacles that could tear away a man's flesh in an instant with its huge obsidian eyes rolling in frenzy. It could have made short work of any attempt to defend the ship, which carried nothing in the way of substantial weaponry, then simply picked off crew members at will. Larger deep sea creatures will often gorge themselves on a supply of food as a way to counter food scarcity, so it's not entirely out of the question that an attacking colossal squid would have simply eaten its way through the crew until there was nothing left to feed on. Imagine that for a moment, tentacles furiously probing every nook and cranny of the ship,

hunting for what was soft and warm, for what was living, for what it could devour. They would find someone wrapping themselves around their prey as hooked barbs tore into its victim's flesh. The screams on a calm night must have echoed around the ship endlessly. Then, after a period of brief respite in which the great beast consumed its terrified quarry, the tentacles came again and again and again, gorging and gorging mindlessly feasting on whoever was too weak to defend themselves. During one of these periods of time in which the tentacles retreated, it's possible that the surviving crew members launched a daring escape attempt, using the ship's sole lifeboat, hastily gathering up the necessary navigational equipment before they fled. This would also explain the unusual set of the ship's sails when discovered by the

crew of the Degracia, as the squid's tentacles would undoubtedly torn and rip the fabrics of sails and ropes, but only do superficial damage to the ship's timber. But no matter how much evidence supports any of the aforementioned theories, the fate of the Mary Celeste crew members have forever remained a complete mystery. Yet, this is not where the story of Mary Celeste ends, not by any means. After lengthy inquiries into the disappearance of her crew, the Mary Celeste arrived back in New York Harbor on September 17th, 1873. But after the slew of garish newspaper stories describing the Gibraltar's hearings, suspicions of bloodshed and betrayal,

the superstitious sailors of New York and New England simply refused to sail on her. The ship rotted in the harbor, no one would touch her, and the following year she was sold on at a considerable loss to the owners. It was under this new ownership that the Mary Celeste found itself in the South Atlantic in February of 1879. She was well known in the maritime community for being a ship that barely made a profit since it was forced to pay exorbitant wage packets to the men who sailed on her, thanks to her reputation for being cursed. She was also occasionally mentioned in the shipping news and this is how we know her whereabouts during early 1879. The crew had put out a call from the island of St. Helena seeking emergency medical attention for their captain, Edgar Tuthill, who had suddenly and mysteriously fallen ill. Captain Tuthill would not survive his illness and tragically died on the island, leaving behind a grieving family. He was a third of her captains to die prematurely whilst commanding the vessel.

Among sailors, there was no doubt now the Mary Celeste was cursed. It was a ship of death. Additionally, in July of 1885, the Mary Celeste was at the center of a conspiracy to commit insurance fraud. Captain Gilman C. Parker was held in his native Boston on charges of willfully casting away a ship, a crime known as baritory which, at the time, was punishable by the death penalty. He also conspired with others to claim on a cargo of near-worthless items that were fraudulently documented as being considerably more valuable. Yet, antiquated legal loopholes involving insurance payouts caused the trial to fall apart and Captain Parker to walk away a free man. But it appears that he was unable to escape the curse of Mary Celeste, for his reputation was left in tatters, and he died in abject poverty

just three months afterwards. What's more, one of Captain Parker's crewmates and co-defendants began a slow descent into madness, losing his mind to the extent that he ended his own life, heavily referencing the cursed ship in his hastily scribbled note. The historian Paul Begg, who has heavily focused his professional career on the mysteries of the mary celeste said that if the court of man could not punish these men the curse that has deviled this ship since her first skipper robert mcclellan had died on her maiden voyage could reach beyond the vessel's watery grave and exact its own terrible retribution. The mystery of the Mary Celeste became the benchmark for cases involving miraculous disappearances, but it was not the first or last ship to have its crew disappear whilst on the high seas. In October of 1955, a 70-ton American merchant vessel, the MV Joyita, completely disappeared in the South Pacific between the islands of Tokalau and Samoa. The ship was related around a month later, drifting off the coast of Vanua Levu,

over 500 miles away from its planned route. She was completely abandoned. None of its 25 crew members were ever seen again. After a U.S. Navy investigatory committee failed to establish a reasonable explanation, historian David Wright described the affair as a classic marine mystery of Mary Celeste proportions. At Spencer's Island, Nova Scotia, the very site the brigantine was constructed, a monument commemorates the lost crew of the Mary Celeste. An outdoor theater also stands at the site, built in the shape of the same vessel's hull. It is a fitting tribute to a timeless tragedy that captured the imaginations of the entire world, but one that hides a dark, disturbing truth that might well forever be out of reach to those that seek it. Whether it was a natural disaster, an animal attack, or the greed and deviousness of man that turned the Mary Celeste into a ghost ship, one thing is certain, that the high seas will never be a place where mankind is entirely safe.

Something is always out there, watching, waiting, just beyond the horizon. Thank you.