رونوشت 🔗
WEBVTT
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In the late summer, before the kids go back to school,
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I'm always reminded of a core memory that's stuck with
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me for over 10 years now. Back when I was
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in high school, something happened to me that still gives
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me the creeps today. At the time, I was living
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with my dad, and it was just the two of us.
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My mom was completely out of the picture. He had
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some weird job through the hospital where he would have
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to travel across the country a few times a year.
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On this specific year, he was going to be in
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California for my first day of school. and he wouldn't
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be back home until the day after. Since I was
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getting ready to start my senior year, and I already
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drove myself to school anyway, we decided that I was
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going to be responsible for getting myself up and ready.
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I didn't need to have a babysitter or a family
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member come and stay with me. My dad worked a lot,
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and as a single father, he always had a lot
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on his plate, so I never wanted to give a
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reason to stress him out even more. It also helped
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that he could trust me. I wasn't the partying type
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back then, He never had to worry about me going
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out and being an unruly teenager. I barely hung out
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with friends. I worked a part-time job, and I was
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just happy going through the motions. The school I went
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to started at 7th grade and went till 12th grade.
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On the Wednesday after Labor Day, the 7th to 9th
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graders would go to school, and it would also be
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picture day for them. On the Thursday after Labor Day,
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that's when the 10th to 12th graders would go back
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and have their picture day. On that Wednesday, since I
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didn't have school yet, I didn't do much. I just
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sat around the house and tried to enjoy my last
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day of summer. As the night set in, I started
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to get those first day of school jitters. Even though
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this was going to be the sixth time I'd be
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going to the first day of school at this school,
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I was still feeling nervous. I'm sure it's somewhat normal,
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but I always felt anxiety before the first day of school.
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As the night went on, I just started to feel worse.
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I know this'll sound crazy, but something felt wrong. I
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had this feeling in my gut that something wasn't right.
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Before I got into bed, I made sure I triple-checked
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the doors to make sure everything was locked. I never
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left the house, so they were still locked tight. Even
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after confirming all the doors were locked, I couldn't shake
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that anxious feeling that something was wrong. I got into
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bed and turned on South Park. I wanted something mindless
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to help me drift away. I had the seasons on DVD,
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so I put in one of the discs, turned on
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the sleep timer, and hoped for the best. I watched
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a few episodes before I fell asleep. I woke up
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in the middle of the night, and I looked at
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the clock next to my bed. It was 1.14 in
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the morning. By that time, the sleep timer had shut
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the TV off, so it was very dark in my bedroom.
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When I rolled over to try to go back to sleep,
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I heard something downstairs. I didn't know what it was
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at first. It could have been pipes or even just
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my imagination. I sat there in bed, listening intently. Then
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I heard it again. It sounded like someone was walking
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around downstairs. I've lived in that house my entire life
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up to that point, and I know when the house
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is just making noises. This was not one of those noises.
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I got out of bed and quietly and slowly made
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my way out of the bedroom and to the staircase.
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As I got closer... The noises downstairs were getting louder
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and more defined. It was clearly the sound of someone
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walking around. I thought maybe my dad had come home early,
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but there's no way he wouldn't have called me and
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let me know. Not to mention, I spoke with him
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Load full transcript
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on the phone about an hour before I went to sleep.
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When I got to the edge of the staircase, I
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didn't go down right away. I stood at the top,
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trying to think of anything else that could have been
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making those noises. While I was standing there, I noticed
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that the noises I heard were gone. The house was
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as quiet as you would expect it to be at
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1 in the morning. I decided to be brave and
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I made my way downstairs. I turned on the lights
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and started to walk around. I was so scared that
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I was shaking, even though nothing seemed out of place
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until I got to the kitchen. And even then, it
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wasn't that big of a deal. We had a small
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island bar in the kitchen and one of the bar
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stools was slightly pulled out from under the counter. It
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was weird, but not enough to freak me out completely.
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I hadn't spent a lot of time in the kitchen
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since my dad was gone, so I thought it was
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possible that the stool could have been pushed out slightly.
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I fixed the stool, got some water, and started turning
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the lights off. Just before turning the last light off
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in the living room before going upstairs, I noticed that
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the closet door was slightly open. You wouldn't have even
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noticed it was open unless you were staring directly at it.
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Once again, it's possible that the door could have been
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slightly open, but I didn't want to take any chances.
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I did what any rational person who doesn't like the
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dark does. I left the light on, and I ran
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upstairs to my bedroom as fast as I could. When
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I got to my bedroom, I closed and locked the door.
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I kept telling myself that this was all just irrational
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anxiety and fear caused by the first day of school
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being tomorrow. I sat up in bed for a while
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and tried to read my book since I was very
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awake now Reading makes me tired, so I was hoping
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this would make me sleepy enough to fall back asleep.
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About 30 minutes later, I heard two loud creaks coming
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from the hardwood floors in the hallway outside the bedroom door.
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The loud creaks sounded like they were directly outside my door.
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I jumped out of bed and just stared at the
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locked door. It almost felt scarier that it was just
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two loud creaks, like somebody was standing outside the room
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and not moving. My worst fear was coming true. Someone
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was definitely outside the room because I saw the doorknob
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shake like someone was trying to open the door. I
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stood there quietly. Even if I wanted to scream, I
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didn't know if it would have done any good. I
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watched the doorknob shake several times and then stop again.
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A few seconds later, I heard two loud creaks again
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right outside the door and then the sound of someone
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jogging down the staircase. I was sure that whoever was
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there was gone now. but I was still terrified. I
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got under my bed and wrapped myself in a blanket.
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I finally called the police, but it was about 15
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minutes after I heard the noise outside the door. I
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told the woman on dispatch that I thought someone was
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in my house and that I had barricaded myself in
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my room. The woman on the phone was great, and
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she kept me as calm as I could be until
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an officer showed up a few minutes later. When they arrived,
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I basically sprinted downstairs and let the two cops inside.
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After I opened the front door, which is in the
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living room, I noticed that the closet door that was
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slightly open before was now wide open. I started to panic.
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It took me a second, but I finally got the
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words out. I told the officers that the door had
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not been opened like that before. They looked inside the closet,
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and thankfully, nobody was inside. There also wasn't any evidence
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that someone had been hiding in there. The cops continued
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searching the house. As they looked around... They found no
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sign that anybody had been there. I was starting to
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feel like an idiot or the boy who cried wolf,
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but at least I was starting to feel safe. The
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last place the officers searched was the basement. I stayed
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at the top of the stairs as the officers went down.
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Once they got down there, I heard one of them say,
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What do we have here? I started pressing him right away,
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asking him what he saw. He asked me if I
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ever opened the windows in the basement, and I told
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him I hadn't, I didn't even know our basement windows opened.
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They asked me to come down, and when I did,
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I almost wanted to cry. The window above the washing
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machine was completely open, and one muddy boot print was
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on the top of the washer. The one cop told
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me that it looked like someone left through this window.
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I basically shut down after that. Even though whoever was
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there was gone now, it still didn't make me feel
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any better that this was now confirmed. We called my dad,
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and he got himself on the next flight home. One
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of the cops was nice enough to stay in the
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area until morning. Unfortunately, that's where this nightmare ends. I mean, yeah,
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it's good that it ends here because nobody got hurt,
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but we never got any answers either. I didn't leave
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the house from when my dad left for the airport
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until that morning for school. It makes me think that
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whoever this person was, they may have been inside the
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house for a couple of days. As an adult, I
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still don't like to be home alone after dark. Even
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when I see doors that are slightly open now, I
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instinctively want to run away because I think someone's going
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to run out. I'm happy I had the first day
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of school nerves, because otherwise, I may not have woken up,
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and the story could have ended a lot differently. This
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year will mark the 15th year that I've been a
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high school teacher. It's
crazy to me that it's been
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that long already. I feel like I just graduated high
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school myself. For the most part, I have nothing but
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positive memories from my years teaching. Even my students, who
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can be a headache sometimes, are still pretty great kids
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at the end of the day. In the nearly 15
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years I've been teaching, I only have one truly horrible experience.
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Something that honestly still scares me today when I think
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about it. I'm writing this anonymously just in case, because
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I don't want to bring any attention to myself or
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the school I work at. so this happened to me
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two years ago it was right before all the students
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came back to school from summer break I teach in
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a large school district I work at the high school
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last year's graduating class was over 700 students unfortunately for
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me I didn't get to attend graduation at the end
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of the last school year During the middle of April,
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I got into a bad car accident and I had
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to have surgery on my leg. I ended up missing
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the end of the school year. Since I never got
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to close up my classroom properly at the end of
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that year, I asked the principal if I could borrow
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a spare key and just get my classroom ready for
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the first day of school. Since I worked there for
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a while and had a good relationship with the principal,
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he agreed to lend me a key. The first day
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of school was on a Wednesday, so on the Sunday prior,
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around 7.30pm, I showed up at the school to spruce
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up my classroom. When I pulled into the lot, I
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was happy to see that there weren't any other cars there.
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Not that it mattered, but I didn't feel like explaining
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to the custodians why I was there, or trying to
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make small talk. I was just happy to be alone.
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Once inside, I walked to my classroom, which was on
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the other side of the building. I didn't bother turning
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on any lights in the hallways. It wasn't that dark
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outside yet, but it was getting there. I was happy
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at first to see that my classroom was locked. I
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unlocked the door with my keys, and I couldn't believe
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the state of my room. It was like once the
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final bell went off, they closed up that class for
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the summer and didn't look back. There were books everywhere
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on the windowsill. The desk was a mess. There was
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even still some stuff written on the board. They did
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clean the floors because they cleaned the floors in the
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entire school, but that was about it. I wasn't thrilled
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with the state of the room, but at least I
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had time to get everything ready for the next day.
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I straightened everything out at first, and then I started
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to deep clean everything. After that, I decided to get
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some lesson plans done since I had extra time, and
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it was nice and quiet in the building. The quietness
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didn't last very long. While I was sitting at my desk...
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I heard these heavy footsteps coming from the hall. I
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couldn't for the life of me think of what it
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could be. I got up and went into the hallway.
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Walking away from my classroom was a large man. He
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almost looked like he was shuffling instead of walking because
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he was so big. He was wearing one of those
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reflective neon green vests, like the kind of vest someone
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directing traffic might wear. I wasn't scared at first, more
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so just startled because I didn't know anyone else was
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in the school. Just before he was about to turn
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the corner, I noticed he had something in his hand.
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I couldn't tell you for sure because of how far
241
00:12:45.240 --> 00:12:47.659
away he was now, but it looked like the wrench
242
00:12:47.700 --> 00:12:49.759
you would use to take the lug nuts off your tire.
243
00:12:50.870 --> 00:12:53.730
I assumed it was a new janitor, or maybe even security.
244
00:12:54.690 --> 00:12:57.070
We never had security at the school before, but I
245
00:12:57.110 --> 00:12:59.490
was gone for a few months, and maybe it's something new.
246
00:13:00.889 -->
00:13:03.029
Once he turned the corner, I went back into the
247
00:13:03.080 --> 00:13:06.769
classroom and shut the door. It was pretty dark outside now,
248
00:13:06.889 --> 00:13:09.690
so I turned on the lights in my classroom. I
249
00:13:09.730 --> 00:13:13.509
only had my desk lamp on before. A few minutes later,
250
00:13:13.929 --> 00:13:17.440
the guy walked by again. After he walked past the room,
251
00:13:18.000 --> 00:13:20.220
he came back to the classroom and stood outside the
252
00:13:20.259 --> 00:13:23.360
closed door for a couple of seconds. Before I could
253
00:13:23.399 --> 00:13:26.379
say anything, he grunted and kept walking down the hall.
254
00:13:27.559 --> 00:13:30.159
Whatever this guy was doing, it was a little strange.
255
00:13:31.389 --> 00:13:33.750
Once he walked away, I got up and watched him
256
00:13:33.769 --> 00:13:37.250
walk down the hallway again. He just kept shuffling down
257
00:13:37.289 --> 00:13:40.620
the hall, the same as before. While he was walking
258
00:13:40.659 --> 00:13:44.080
away with those giant shuffling steps, he was smacking the
259
00:13:44.139 --> 00:13:47.340
lockers with the wrench. He wasn't hitting them hard. It
260
00:13:47.360 --> 00:13:49.600
was more like he was walking with the wrench extended
261
00:13:49.659 --> 00:13:51.659
and letting the wrench hit the lockers as he walked.
262
00:13:52.700 --> 00:13:54.440
He was large enough that he was walking in the
263
00:13:54.460 --> 00:13:57.019
middle of the hall, and his wingspan was reaching the
264
00:13:57.059 --> 00:14:00.419
lockers with the wrench. It was a weird sight. There
265
00:14:00.460 --> 00:14:03.360
was no denying that. I went back to the room
266
00:14:03.460 --> 00:14:06.629
and locked my classroom door. I didn't think I was
267
00:14:06.690 --> 00:14:09.250
in danger but I just felt more comfortable knowing the
268
00:14:09.289 --> 00:14:11.870
door was locked since I didn't know who that guy was.
269
00:14:13.009 --> 00:14:15.580
I texted the principal asking who this weird guy was
270
00:14:15.620 --> 00:14:18.379
and if I should say something to him. While I
271
00:14:18.389 --> 00:14:21.379
was waiting for a response a few minutes went by
272
00:14:21.659 --> 00:14:24.259
and I heard those heavy shuffling footsteps coming down the
273
00:14:24.299 --> 00:14:27.460
hall again. It was like this guy was just walking
274
00:14:27.500 --> 00:14:30.120
around in a circle but only on the first floor.
275
00:14:31.240 --> 00:14:33.220
Before I knew it he was about to pass the
276
00:14:33.240 --> 00:14:36.129
room again but this time He stopped at the door
277
00:14:36.330 --> 00:14:41.090
and he didn't move. It was really creepy. All the
278
00:14:41.129 --> 00:14:44.330
classroom doors had glass windows on them, but because the
279
00:14:44.370 --> 00:14:47.289
hallway was so dark, I could barely make out any
280
00:14:47.309 --> 00:14:50.169
of the details of this man. I could see his
281
00:14:50.250 --> 00:14:53.720
bright vest and he had glasses. He was also so
282
00:14:53.799 --> 00:14:56.720
big that he took up most of the window. I
283
00:14:56.759 --> 00:15:01.179
said hello, but the man didn't respond. He stood outside
284
00:15:01.200 --> 00:15:05.080
the room. Right then was when the principal texted me back.
285
00:15:06.000 --> 00:15:08.120
He asked what I was talking about and said there
286
00:15:08.159 --> 00:15:10.200
shouldn't be anyone else in the school right now except
287
00:15:10.220 --> 00:15:13.919
for me. He isn't the joking type. That's how I
288
00:15:14.000 --> 00:15:16.559
knew that whoever this man was, he didn't belong here.
289
00:15:17.830 --> 00:15:20.730
Now I was scared, especially because this man was still
290
00:15:20.789 --> 00:15:24.230
standing right outside the door. I tried one last time
291
00:15:24.269 --> 00:15:26.809
to say something to the man, but once again, he
292
00:15:26.850 --> 00:15:30.169
just stood there in silence. I was attempting to text
293
00:15:30.190 --> 00:15:33.480
the principal back, and without any warnings, The man attempted
294
00:15:33.500 --> 00:15:36.960
to get into the classroom. Thankfully, I had the foresight
295
00:15:36.980 --> 00:15:39.480
to lock the door. I didn't know what to do.
296
00:15:40.340 --> 00:15:41.840
The man was big enough that he looked like he
297
00:15:41.860 --> 00:15:45.000
could rip the door off the wall if he wanted to. Then,
298
00:15:45.120 --> 00:15:47.340
with a big wrench in his hand, he started to
299
00:15:47.379 --> 00:15:50.700
hit the door. If he decided to hit the glass,
300
00:15:51.200 --> 00:15:53.340
it would easily shatter, and then he'd be able to
301
00:15:53.399 --> 00:15:56.600
unlock the door and let himself in. Just watching that
302
00:15:56.659 --> 00:15:59.090
giant man swing that wrench with such power made me
303
00:15:59.139 --> 00:16:02.549
feel like my life was truly in jeopardy. With each
304
00:16:02.610 --> 00:16:06.090
powerful swing, he made this unsettling noise, almost like an animal.
305
00:16:07.370 --> 00:16:09.289
I'm so lucky that my classroom was on the first
306
00:16:09.350 --> 00:16:11.879
floor of the school. I opened the window of the
307
00:16:11.919 --> 00:16:15.080
classroom and jumped out. Since my car was parked in
308
00:16:15.100 --> 00:16:17.460
the front of the school, I didn't want to stay
309
00:16:17.500 --> 00:16:21.580
on the school grounds. Instead, I just kept running. I
310
00:16:21.620 --> 00:16:24.690
called the principal and told him what happened. He was
311
00:16:24.710 --> 00:16:26.350
the one who called the authorities and met them at
312
00:16:26.389 --> 00:16:29.370
the school. When he got there, he said the window
313
00:16:29.409 --> 00:16:32.500
on the door to my classroom had been shattered. Other
314
00:16:32.539 --> 00:16:35.500
than that, there was no evidence. The man was gone.
315
00:16:36.730 --> 00:16:39.009
They couldn't figure out how the man got in or
316
00:16:39.090 --> 00:16:41.710
how he got out. The only camera the school had
317
00:16:41.750 --> 00:16:44.070
at the time was a security camera at the front door,
318
00:16:44.710 --> 00:16:47.769
and the man didn't go near that door. I was
319
00:16:47.830 --> 00:16:50.740
never alone in the school again after that night. To
320
00:16:50.769 --> 00:16:53.080
this day, we have no idea what the man wanted.
321
00:16:54.059 --> 00:16:56.519
Even with the description, they were never able to find
322
00:16:56.539 --> 00:16:59.759
this man. Now, every year when it's time to go
323
00:16:59.779 --> 00:17:02.529
back to school... I'm always reminded of the nightmare of
324
00:17:02.570 --> 00:17:05.750
dealing with the large man in the reflective vest. And
325
00:17:05.789 --> 00:17:08.500
I just pray that I never encounter him or anything
326
00:17:08.539 --> 00:17:22.589
like that ever again. I was excited to be getting
327
00:17:22.609 --> 00:17:25.769
ready to start my junior year of college. Up to
328
00:17:25.809 --> 00:17:28.150
this point, I wasn't allowed to have my vehicle at school.
329
00:17:29.019 --> 00:17:32.799
Freshmen and sophomores weren't allowed to have cars. It also
330
00:17:32.859 --> 00:17:34.980
wasn't that big of a deal because my hometown is
331
00:17:35.019 --> 00:17:38.609
about 10 hours from campus. Going into my junior year,
332
00:17:38.940 --> 00:17:41.210
since I was able to have a vehicle now, I
333
00:17:41.250 --> 00:17:43.089
decided that I was going to make the 10-hour trek
334
00:17:43.210 --> 00:17:46.230
and drive my own car. I don't know if anyone's
335
00:17:46.289 --> 00:17:49.029
old enough to remember a time before GPS, but we
336
00:17:49.049 --> 00:17:51.950
had this nifty little website we would use called MapQuest.
337
00:17:52.730 --> 00:17:55.029
I don't even know if it's still around, but we
338
00:17:55.069 --> 00:17:58.720
would print out directions and that was our GPS. Most
339
00:17:58.740 --> 00:18:00.500
of the time, if you had a passenger in the car,
340
00:18:00.579 --> 00:18:03.680
they were your GPS. As the first day of classes
341
00:18:03.720 --> 00:18:06.859
was coming fast, I decided to drive up a day early,
342
00:18:07.059 --> 00:18:10.000
just in case I got lost. I also planned on
343
00:18:10.039 --> 00:18:13.059
picking up my buddy Brandon on the way. Brandon was
344
00:18:13.079 --> 00:18:14.759
in the same major as me, and also one of
345
00:18:14.799 --> 00:18:17.900
my good friends from college. He lived about two hours
346
00:18:17.960 --> 00:18:20.559
away from my house. It was two hours in the
347
00:18:20.579 --> 00:18:23.180
direction of school. Since he was on the way, I
348
00:18:23.200 --> 00:18:24.420
was going to pick him up so he could be
349
00:18:24.440 --> 00:18:27.359
my co-pilot for the rest of the trip. Thinking I
350
00:18:27.380 --> 00:18:29.880
was some kind of genius, I suggested that we make
351
00:18:29.900 --> 00:18:33.119
the trip overnight. My thought process was that we wouldn't
352
00:18:33.160 --> 00:18:36.710
have to run into any traffic late at night. Brandon agreed,
353
00:18:36.869 --> 00:18:39.569
and we locked in our plan. The first two hours
354
00:18:39.630 --> 00:18:42.710
went smoothly. I got to Brandon's house with no issues.
355
00:18:43.690 --> 00:18:46.069
From Brandon's, we hit the road and didn't look back.
356
00:18:47.109 --> 00:18:49.329
About halfway through the trip, we were driving in the
357
00:18:49.349 --> 00:18:53.740
middle of nowhere. It was just dark, desolate roads of nothingness.
358
00:18:54.740 --> 00:18:56.579
We could have been lost, and we wouldn't have known it.
359
00:18:57.680 --> 00:19:00.319
While we were driving, I didn't realize just how light
360
00:19:00.339 --> 00:19:01.680
the traffic was going to be in the middle of
361
00:19:01.720 --> 00:19:06.519
the night. We literally caught virtually no traffic. I started
362
00:19:06.559 --> 00:19:09.119
to have that feeling that maybe we were lost, but
363
00:19:09.299 --> 00:19:12.140
I didn't want to say it out loud. Especially because
364
00:19:12.180 --> 00:19:14.509
we hadn't passed any sign of life in a long time.
365
00:19:15.690 --> 00:19:17.769
I could tell Brandon was getting tired because he wasn't
366
00:19:17.789 --> 00:19:21.529
really talking anymore. The lack of talking or any light
367
00:19:21.589 --> 00:19:23.869
outside was starting to make me feel tired as well.
368
00:19:24.829 --> 00:19:28.299
I could feel my eyes getting heavy. Then I swear
369
00:19:28.319 --> 00:19:30.240
I thought I saw a person lying in the road,
370
00:19:30.819 --> 00:19:33.059
and it caused me to swerve and briefly lose control
371
00:19:33.099 --> 00:19:35.940
of the car. Brandon must have had his eyes shut
372
00:19:36.000 --> 00:19:38.180
because he started to scream and ask what was happening.
373
00:19:39.279 --> 00:19:41.789
Once I regained control of the car, I pulled over
374
00:19:41.849 --> 00:19:44.589
so both of us could catch our breath. I tried
375
00:19:44.630 --> 00:19:46.609
telling him that I thought I saw a person lying
376
00:19:46.650 --> 00:19:48.369
in the road, and I didn't want to hit them.
377
00:19:49.509 --> 00:19:51.730
He didn't believe me. me. He thought I was falling
378
00:19:51.750 --> 00:19:54.880
asleep and dreaming. I told him that something was in
379
00:19:54.910 --> 00:19:58.140
the road and I was absolutely positive about that. I
380
00:19:58.180 --> 00:20:01.279
just didn't know what it was. We both got out
381
00:20:01.319 --> 00:20:04.380
of the car and looked behind the vehicle. I had
382
00:20:04.420 --> 00:20:06.000
a flashlight in my car that was in one of
383
00:20:06.039 --> 00:20:08.359
those emergency packs my parents gave me for my car.
384
00:20:09.390 --> 00:20:12.079
Several feet behind the car, there was a dark mass
385
00:20:12.119 --> 00:20:14.619
in the middle of the road. I felt my heart
386
00:20:14.680 --> 00:20:17.460
racing out of my
chest. I wouldn't know what to
387
00:20:17.500 --> 00:20:21.009
do if it were actually a person. As we got closer,
388
00:20:21.309 --> 00:20:24.829
I felt relief. It wasn't a person. It was a
389
00:20:24.869 --> 00:20:27.230
duffel bag that had some clothes lying on top of it.
390
00:20:28.190 --> 00:20:30.049
Right next to the bag, also in the middle of
391
00:20:30.069 --> 00:20:33.089
the road, was a pair of high heels. We both
392
00:20:33.130 --> 00:20:36.289
kind of just stood there looking at the bag. Brandon
393
00:20:36.329 --> 00:20:37.869
started to move the bag to the side of the
394
00:20:37.910 --> 00:20:41.029
road so another car wouldn't hit it. When he got
395
00:20:41.069 --> 00:20:43.109
to the side of the road, I heard him make
396
00:20:43.150 --> 00:20:47.690
a weird half-scream, half-yelping sound. I was laughing as I
397
00:20:47.730 --> 00:20:49.509
walked over it because I thought the sound he made
398
00:20:49.549 --> 00:20:52.130
was funny. When I got over to him on the
399
00:20:52.170 --> 00:20:54.549
side of the road, I asked him what was wrong.
400
00:20:55.670 --> 00:20:58.519
He didn't say anything. He just asked if I could
401
00:20:58.599 --> 00:21:02.000
see it. I pointed the flashlight off into the field
402
00:21:02.039 --> 00:21:04.730
next to the road, and what I saw... almost made
403
00:21:04.750 --> 00:21:08.059
me let out a little scream. There was a young woman.
404
00:21:09.519 --> 00:21:13.599
She wasn't doing anything insanely scary, just weird. She was
405
00:21:13.680 --> 00:21:16.299
just walking back and forth, which on its own wouldn't
406
00:21:16.339 --> 00:21:18.880
be creepy, but because she was alone in the middle
407
00:21:18.900 --> 00:21:21.759
of nowhere, walking back and forth in a field by herself,
408
00:21:22.559 --> 00:21:26.440
it wasn't sitting right with us. It just felt very unsettling.
409
00:21:27.660 --> 00:21:29.980
It was chilly outside, and she wasn't wearing a coat.
410
00:21:30.839 --> 00:21:33.119
She was wearing a light purple dress with no sleeves,
411
00:21:33.480 --> 00:21:36.480
and she also wasn't wearing any shoes. We pretty much
412
00:21:36.539 --> 00:21:38.920
assumed the high heels and the bag belonged to this woman.
413
00:21:39.700 --> 00:21:42.740
She also looked very beat up. Her arms and legs
414
00:21:42.779 --> 00:21:45.980
looked dirty. I couldn't see her face from where we
415
00:21:46.019 --> 00:21:48.400
were standing, but we could see that she had dark hair.
416
00:21:49.779 --> 00:21:51.920
Brandon wanted to go help her, but I wasn't sure
417
00:21:51.940 --> 00:21:54.920
that was a good idea. She clearly noticed us because
418
00:21:55.019 --> 00:21:57.640
we were shining a flashlight on her, so if she
419
00:21:57.680 --> 00:22:00.750
wanted help, I figured she would ask. but instead of
420
00:22:00.829 --> 00:22:03.670
asking for help, she just continued to pace back and forth.
421
00:22:04.710 --> 00:22:07.150
Clearly this woman wasn't
well and needed help that we
422
00:22:07.210 --> 00:22:09.910
couldn't provide. He said that we needed to at least
423
00:22:09.950 --> 00:22:12.710
call for help, and I agreed with that. But I
424
00:22:12.730 --> 00:22:15.230
guess they call it cliche for a reason, because neither
425
00:22:15.319 --> 00:22:18.200
one of us could get signal on our phones. Not
426
00:22:18.220 --> 00:22:21.400
to mention, the phones back then were trash. Even if
427
00:22:21.440 --> 00:22:23.480
we could have gotten a signal, it's not like I
428
00:22:23.500 --> 00:22:26.119
could tell them on the phone where we were. I
429
00:22:26.180 --> 00:22:28.519
felt like we were lost, and I had no idea
430
00:22:28.599 --> 00:22:31.670
what road we were even on anymore. We walked back
431
00:22:31.710 --> 00:22:34.109
to the car, and we were just standing outside talking
432
00:22:34.150 --> 00:22:37.549
about what to do. While we were talking, we didn't
433
00:22:37.589 --> 00:22:40.130
even realize it, but the woman was walking right toward us.
434
00:22:41.150 --> 00:22:43.119
We both tried to say something to her, but she
435
00:22:43.150 --> 00:22:47.740
just kept walking, showing almost no emotion. I whispered that
436
00:22:47.779 --> 00:22:50.279
we may want to get into the car. We had
437
00:22:50.359 --> 00:22:52.599
no idea if this young woman was dangerous or not.
438
00:22:53.140 --> 00:22:55.339
He agreed, and we jumped into the car and locked
439
00:22:55.380 --> 00:22:58.079
the door. It was a good thing, too, because a
440
00:22:58.119 --> 00:23:01.339
few seconds later, she was at the car, This whole
441
00:23:01.420 --> 00:23:04.019
ordeal up to now had just been unsettling, but now
442
00:23:04.160 --> 00:23:07.940
it was downright scary. The woman was just standing outside
443
00:23:07.960 --> 00:23:10.920
of my car window. I tried to converse with her,
444
00:23:11.009 --> 00:23:15.049
but she was completely unresponsive. She was just standing there.
445
00:23:15.930 --> 00:23:17.769
I think both of us were now on the same page,
446
00:23:17.849 --> 00:23:19.529
and we decided it was time to get out of there.
447
00:23:20.569 --> 00:23:22.329
I turned on the car and put it in reverse.
448
00:23:23.289 --> 00:23:25.670
I didn't step on it, though. I just lightly tapped
449
00:23:25.690 --> 00:23:27.599
the pedal and tried to roll away from the woman.
450
00:23:28.660 --> 00:23:31.539
While I was rolling back, She was following the car.
451
00:23:32.559 --> 00:23:35.019
I can't even begin to describe how horrifying this was.
452
00:23:35.799 --> 00:23:39.579
Just watching this unresponsive woman basically following my car's every
453
00:23:39.640 --> 00:23:42.500
move was freaking me out. Because of where she was
454
00:23:42.559 --> 00:23:45.259
standing in relation to my car, I couldn't just floor it.
455
00:23:46.099 --> 00:23:48.140
Once I rolled back a couple of feet, I cracked
456
00:23:48.160 --> 00:23:50.349
the window and asked if she was okay one last time.
457
00:23:51.440 --> 00:23:53.170
I don't know why I did that, but I did.
458
00:23:54.150 --> 00:23:58.089
She finally answered. She smiled and said, Thank you for
459
00:23:58.109 --> 00:24:01.390
giving me a ride. It was the calmest and most
460
00:24:01.430 --> 00:24:05.190
emotionless voice I have ever heard. Also, I never once
461
00:24:05.230 --> 00:24:07.470
said I was going to give her a ride. I
462
00:24:07.539 --> 00:24:09.599
shouted through the cracked window that I couldn't give her
463
00:24:09.619 --> 00:24:11.240
a ride, but I would call for help as soon
464
00:24:11.279 --> 00:24:14.599
as I got service on my phone. The woman didn't respond.
465
00:24:15.279 --> 00:24:18.680
She actually just started walking away. Brandon and I started
466
00:24:18.720 --> 00:24:20.680
to laugh for a second and just talked about how
467
00:24:20.880 --> 00:24:24.309
absolutely messed up that was. I got my bearings and
468
00:24:24.369 --> 00:24:28.619
finally got ready to drive off. Just before, I looked up.
469
00:24:29.180 --> 00:24:32.869
and standing about 20 feet away was the woman. She
470
00:24:32.890 --> 00:24:34.690
was in the middle of the road, just staring at
471
00:24:34.730 --> 00:24:38.410
my car. Once again, we were creeped out by this woman,
472
00:24:39.269 --> 00:24:40.650
but I wasn't going to let her get close to
473
00:24:40.690 --> 00:24:43.289
the car this time. I was ready to step on
474
00:24:43.309 --> 00:24:46.109
the gas and get away from her. Just before I
475
00:24:46.130 --> 00:24:48.720
hit the gas, the woman started to run at my car.
476
00:24:49.420 --> 00:24:52.480
She was in a full sprint. We both screamed as
477
00:24:52.519 --> 00:24:56.680
I stepped on the pedal. She didn't move either. I
478
00:24:56.779 --> 00:24:58.920
swerved off the road so I would avoid hitting her.
479
00:24:59.880 --> 00:25:02.240
We both screamed like fools for the next mile or so.
480
00:25:03.549 --> 00:25:05.700
Even when we calmed down and drove another few miles,
481
00:25:05.990 --> 00:25:08.150
I kept looking in my mirror, expecting to see this
482
00:25:08.230 --> 00:25:12.089
woman running after me. Eventually, we made it to campus,
483
00:25:12.910 --> 00:25:15.329
and now we had a crazy story to share with everyone.
484
00:25:16.410 --> 00:25:18.170
I also feel like I should say we arrived at
485
00:25:18.230 --> 00:25:20.869
school a day late. At some point in the middle
486
00:25:20.890 --> 00:25:22.589
of the night, I must have taken a wrong turn,
487
00:25:22.690 --> 00:25:25.390
and we were hours out of the way. If I
488
00:25:25.450 --> 00:25:29.930
hadn't gotten lost, we would have never encountered that crazy woman. Clearly,
489
00:25:29.990 --> 00:25:32.950
we encountered a sick woman who wasn't mentally well, but
490
00:25:32.970 --> 00:25:35.789
that wasn't the scary part for us. We were more
491
00:25:35.849 --> 00:25:39.380
scared that there wasn't any traffic, no houses, no towns,
492
00:25:39.920 --> 00:25:43.779
literally nothing for miles and miles. Just this random young
493
00:25:43.880 --> 00:25:47.720
woman wandering around all by herself. Being young men and
494
00:25:47.740 --> 00:25:50.750
being very stupid, we never ended up reporting this, even
495
00:25:50.769 --> 00:25:53.950
though we should have. I'm also very well aware that
496
00:25:53.970 --> 00:25:56.190
we handled a lot of things in this situation poorly.
497
00:25:57.130 --> 00:25:59.599
We could have done things much differently. but as a
498
00:25:59.619 --> 00:26:02.400
20-year-old kid, I had no idea what I was doing.
499
00:26:03.299 --> 00:26:05.319
We just ran for our lives and hoped for the best.
500
00:26:06.460 --> 00:26:08.740
I still wonder about that woman, and I wonder what
501
00:26:08.779 --> 00:26:12.349
happened to her. But more than anything, I wonder what
502
00:26:12.369 --> 00:26:14.029
she would have done if she actually had gotten a
503
00:26:14.069 --> 00:26:17.430
hold of Brandon or I. Thankfully, I'll never know.