[Music] I'd like to preface this by saying that I live a pretty quote unquote straight edge lifestyle so I'm certain that what I saw and heard last New Year's Eve wasn't the result of some hallucination or drunken stuper but was 100% real I live on the outskirts of your stereotypical small southern town so a few of my friends live out further into The Boondocks that are only accessible by those dark country back roads one of my friends Darren lives with his family in one of the Richer neighborhoods in the area that can only be reached by these back roads every year his family throws a party at their house on New Year's Eve where all the family's friends are invited myself included it's a pretty fun occasion so I'm always excited when I get the formal invitation from Darren's parents in the mail seeing as the weather in the South can be pretty weird when it comes to Winter it didn't get really cold until a few days before New Year's Eve I could remember the newly frigid air paired with a bumpy unkempt Country Roads made for an uncomfortable ride to the house usually I don't drive with my brights on since I hate how other drivers always blind me with theirs but the sheer darkness of the windy narrow road needed a necessity this time anyways the narrow road was surrounded on both sides by dense tree line so even with my brights it was hard to see where exactly all the twists and turns were ahead notably there aren't any other houses between the turnoff to the road and Darren's neighborhood except for a lone Shack that seemed like it had been abandoned for years though I could sometimes see lights on inside whenever I passed this way a few minutes into the drive on a particularly straight section of the road my lights illuminated something ahead amongst the trees something White against the darkness as I neared I could see it was the shape of a person standing all alone on the side of the road they weren't moving or hiding just standing completely still with their back to the trees it was a woman evidently wearing a white dress or gown of some sort not at all appropriate for the cold I didn't turn my brights off out of caution so I couldn't really make out any specific details in the reflective glare of the white dress as I passed her I was thanking my lucky stars that she didn't step out in the middle of the road causing me to stop but then I started to wonder if maybe I should have stopped to see if she needed some help perhaps she was another guest trying to get to Darren's party but it wasn't until I looked back in my mirror to see in the red glare of my rear lights that the woman had turned her body to follow me still frozen in that one spot it was definitely creepy and in that moment I was glad I'm not the greatest example of a Good Samaritan no way was that a fellow party guest I arrived at the party without any further incident around 8 p. m. parking in the gravel Circle amongst the dozen or so other cars outside Darren's house which situated in a large clearing in the surrounding Forest just like all the other spaced ouses in the neighborhood the festivities went on until we had watched both the ball drop in New York as well as our own time zones clock striking 12th after which everyone slowly started to clear out I stayed behind a bit to help clean up as I usually did since I was one of the closer friends of Darren's family and by the time I myself left my car was the only one left at the front of the house when I got in and started it up I got a low tire pressure light my car is an older model so it didn't give me exact details as to which tire was low or how many had the issue before I freaked out I remembered that this sort of thing always happens with my tires when the weather first turned cold after a long warm period I figured I'd be able to make it home okay but before I drove off I remembered that woman I had seen on my way there was she still out there somewhere had anyone else come across her there was another way in the opposite direction I could use to get home to avoid that road but it would add another 20 minutes or so to my commute which I didn't want to do so late at night and with possible drunk drivers out and about I figured I'd just suck it up and just go back the way I came I really wish I didn't not even a few minutes out on that same dark back road I could feel something was different with my tires I could hear it too it sounded like bare metal scraping against the road slowly my car came to a dead stop I muttered this was a different situation entirely all that was going through my head was did my tires fall off against my better judgment I had to get out of the car to see what was wrong stupidly I turned the engine off and shut the door the car's lights turned off automatically and I was plunged into the deep darkness of the surrounding forest with my phone flashlight I scanned each of my tires my heart sank as each and every one of them had been ripped to shreds as if they were torn apart by the claws of some animal I could have reasoned that if one had a large puncture in it the bumpy road could have caused even more damage but all four tires this was deliberate but no I thought could it have been I stood around hopelessly no one would be out at such an hour on this road even on New Year's Eve I'd have to call a towing service or for someone to come and get me but of course there was no phone service this deep into the boies but just as I was about to get back into the car The Gentle Wind died down the baron tree branches stopped swaying and even the wildlife that was still out this time of year went quiet I froze I had never heard such silence before it was as if time had stopped for a minute before I heard the sickening sound of a twig snap somewhere within the trees something was moving around I instantly shut the light from my phone off leaving complete darkness leaves on the ground ground continued to rustle as if someone was stalking through the forest was it a squirrel a deer no this was the type of Silence of prey when a predator was nearby and then I heard I see you my stomach dropped all the air was sucked out of my body I couldn't even scream it was a woman's voice soft and quiet coming from the pitch black darkness of the tree line not 15 ft away it was said without malice which somehow made it even freakier in that moment all I wanted to do was just Shel up onto the ground and die then I heard can you see me it wasn't until I heard the voice again that my fight ORF flight response kicked in but I was disoriented standing there in the darkness I had to turn my phone light back on if I wanted to see which direction I wanted to flee I aimed the flashlight directly in front of me and standing at the edge of the tree line was the woman in the white gown this time her features visible the gown was dirt dir covered in dark stains she was deathly pale skinny as a rail and her disheveled gray hair fell down to her elbows but her face was almost Indescribable grotesque as if she were missing half of her jaw yet it seemed as though she were trying to grin at me in my indecisive horror I had the flashlight trained on her for a few moments before I hauled ass down the road back towards Darren's house that Shack I had mentioned earlier was closer to my current position down the opposite direction but what if this woman was the one who actually lived there I don't know if that was a rational thought made in the spur of the moment but I had no time to wonder as I sprinted down the road I could hear the snapping of twigs and rustling of leaves behind me she was chasing me but I was quickly able to lose her with such a massive Rush of adrenaline I made it back to Darren's house ignoring the rest of the neighborhood and I pounded on the door pleading for the door to open up his mother answered the door and quickly ushered me inside seeing how shaken up I was where I explained everything everything to her along with Darren and his father they were sympathetic offering to let me stay the night there while they called the police in a towing service which I gladly accepted before even contacting my own family the police said they would search the area around the road that night and that I could come get my car back and make a statement the next day but all I wanted to do for now was put that night behind me and Fade to sleep in the guest bedroom but I soon found out that night wasn't over I awoke from my sleep to the sound of a light tap from the second story window I looked at the digital clock on the nightstand I remember the time exactly 3:14 a.
m. of course none of the windows in the room had blinds I didn't dare look out until I heard the muffled voice from outside the same voice saying I see you the woman was still out there she had chased me all the way here and now she was throwing rocks to get my attention if I wasn't going to look out the window before I definitely wasn't going to now I wasn't going to leave my spot in that bed or fall asleep until morning when the sun rose and Darren's family woke up the woman was gone thankfully I told them what else happened and we all looked outside together before the police showed up in the yard about where I had heard the voice coming from Darren's father found a large Rusty knife that didn't belong to the family presumably what the woman had used when slashing my tires but that also meant she had followed my car there to the party at the beginning of the night and specifically targeted me when everyone else was inside during the festive ities Darren's parents called and asked the other party guests if they had seen anything suspicious the night before and one of their friends said they had seen someone in a white dress walking around outside from the window but thought nothing of it seeing as how people were coming and going all night when I gave the police my statement I told them to check around that Shack on the road here as I had a hunch that woman had something to do with it they eventually did and updated me that they found no one living there but there was dead gutted Wildlife sprawled all around the surrounding Woods that woman I saw was never found which of course raises a bunch of questions the scariest ones to me though are how she was able to track me down so quickly once I left the party and if she was missing so much of her face how was she able to pronounce those words so clearly despite what happens I'll still be going to Darren's house for New Year's Eve again this year but this time I'll make sure to carpol and take the long way around when I was 26 I took a trip to San Diego via plane I stayed with my friend for a few days and booked a late flight back home my flight landed at midnight by the time I was off the plane and by the ground transportation pickup point it was like 12:30 I waved down a random taxi in the taxi section and gave the driver my home address he said he'd take me for $30 which was a really good deal compared to Uber he came out to help me put my bag in the trunk of the van but I said I was fine with it in the seat next to me so he lifted my bag onto the seat on the left side behind him I was sitting diagonal from him he got back in the car and pulled up the directions to my apartment and we were on our way my at the time apartment was about a half hour drive from the airport with no traffic at this hour there was obviously no traffic we got right on the highway and we were moving fast I caught the driver's eyes St staring at me through the mirror on two separate occasions and on the second time he spoke he asked where I was coming from I said San Diego he said oh very nice then he asked me what I was doing there I said I was just visiting a friend who lives there his response was is your friend as pretty as you and honestly my first reaction was to laugh but I found the comment really creepy and it being the third thing out of his mouth on the ride didn't help from here his questions kind of stayed on the flirty side side he asked me what is a pretty girl like you doing traveling all by yourself and I had a slightly sassy response saying well I just said I wasn't alone I was visiting my friend and his rebuttal was that by flying by myself I was traveling by myself I maintained my slight SASS and said we can agree to disagree and he laughed and said he was only teasing me this man had to be like 45 though I felt like him hitting on a lone girl in her 20s like this was slightly creepy it wasn't n the first time I dealt with something like this though as we continued down the highway I looked up as I saw the familiar overpass right by my exit but as we passed it he wasn't slowing down I said this is my exit as he was literally about to pass it and we zoomed right by it I repeated myself louder saying that that was my exit he apologized and said he'd catch the next one I tried to get a peek at his screen to see if he put the right address in but it was angled so that I couldn't see it the next exit was about a mile further I started sitting up on the edge of my seat a bit now when the next exit approached I said loud and clear you need to get off here and without acknowledging me he turned on his blinker and merged off the exit I noticed him glaring at me for a second to the mirror I almost sensed a hint of annoyance in his face but I guess that quickly changed when not even a minute later he asked me if I had a boyfriend I replied back instantly yes he lives with me I noticed him look at me again and I think he picked up on how quickly I answered that he asked what my boyfriend's name is yes I'm serious I decided that was enough I told him I'm going to put my headphones in so I popped my airpods into my ears even though they were basically dead still I just wanted this man to stop asking me questions asking my boyfriend's name was Next Level weird almost like he was interrogating me I texted my family and close friends about this creepy taxi driver and I shared my location in case God forbid things went sour we were in a familiar area in my town now we were stopped at the first red light since getting off the highway I looked in the mirror and all I saw were his eyes glaring at me almost in this menacing way I know he didn't say anything to me because I didn't even have any music or anything playing so I would have heard him the light was now green and he was still staring at me I had to tell him the light was green and he started moving again no one in my family was answering except for my old brother who must have been the only one awake but he lives 2 hours away from me my brother told me I should leave the car if I feel threatened or in danger we were now on a main road in my town but there weren't any cars on the road it was nearing 1:00 a. m.
on a week night we stopped at another red light and I felt that man glaring at me again through the mirror I then noticed a police car parked in an empty parking lot in a spur of the- moment decision I grabbed my bag and backpack and slid the van door open the man started yelling at me what are you doing and he tried closing the door with the power button in the front but I forced it open and the second the door was opened wide enough for me to fit out I booked it toward the police car instead of getting out of the car and chasing me for my money he just kept driving which already was a huge red flag when I saw him driving away I stopped running and brought my Pace down to a quick walk to the police car the officer in the car noticed me as I saw him look up and roll down his window I told him that the taxi driver who was driving me was giving me really bad vibes and I left for my own safety I asked the cop if he could give me a ride home and thankfully he said hop in the back seat being a scared female obviously helped but do I think you should be going up to Cops asking them to be your free taxi service absolutely not by the time I was in the car that taxi was already long gone the cop drove me home and we were there in about 5 to 10 minutes I let myself in and didn't even bother unpacking I went straight to brush my teeth and crash into bed it seemed just as I got into bed though there was a knock at the front door of my apartment what if it was the taxi driver he had my address after all what if he came for his money or Worse The Knocks persisted for a few minutes then it went silent for a few minutes and then there were more knocks obviously I never left my room I didn't want to be anywhere near the front door the door was locked and that's What mattered eventually the knock stopped and I drifted away to sleep the next day I was back to work I had a slightly later shift luckily so I didn't have to get up too early while I was at work though I got a call from my nextd door neighbor George he said that my dad was there before trying to get into my apartment to drop something off but he didn't have a key George was calling to confirm that I was in fact expecting my dad and I said no I hadn't heard from him George said he didn't see him actually leave anything though he was just checking through the windows which his attention I thanked him and then called my dad and as I was expecting my dad said he was at work and had not stopped by my house I took this time to explain the entire Taxi Drver situation to my dad again but over the phone this time he wanted me to come home for a few nights and I said I would I just need to go home and pack my things up first after work I got home around 9:00 p. m.
