[Music] I'm a 22-year-old French student currently pursuing my master's degree in Amsterdam I live on my own in an apartment within a student only building the neighborhood is calm and nice with the occasional sounds of trams passing by or the distant noise of parties in other student buildings but one night it was around 10:00 when I heard a knock on my apartment door I live on the third floor and to reach my front door you have to use a key to open the main entrance and then another key to open the door to my hallway
this means that only people with a key can come in if someone wants to visit they can give me a call or ring my doorbell and I'll open the door for them it adds an extra layer of security to our building ensuring that only authorized people can access our floors on a regular day when I heard someone knocking on my door I usually open the door without much thought whether it's my landlord checking in or a neighbor asking for something as I've mentioned I generally feel safe in my building and I can take care of
myself if needed but this time for some reason I had an uneasy feeling it's not that I felt an immediate danger but something felt off at first I didn't do anything as I figured the person would go away I had just finished my assignment and wanted some peace but the knocking didn't stop I stayed put thinking they'd leave soon and I could finally relax after my hard work however the knocking continued for a good 30 seconds so I decided to speak up and said hello The Voice replied in English saying it's Uber Eats it seemed
strange because most people here usually speak Dutch and I recognized the voices of those who live on my floor but it wasn't a neighbor or my landlord the person claimed to be from Uber Eats but the thing is I didn't order anything from Uber Eats that day it made me feel a bit confused also the voice sounded strange like maybe someone playing a prank or neighbor trying to trick me it was a deep voice maybe around 40 years old and definitely sounded like a person who smokes a lot I said I didn't order anything you
might have the wrong address but a few seconds later the knocking kept going and the same voice said I'm pretty sure you did I have an order under your name now that made me panic I looked around and grabbed a baseball bat just in case he tried to break the door because the knocking was getting louder and stronger I checked if the door was locked and to my horror it wasn't I was only 10 cm away from him and my front door was the only thing keeping him from coming in but luckily the door didn't
open from the outside without a key even though it wasn't locked so I took a step back and asked again what's the name he seemed to be thinking for a few seconds and then there was another loud knock it felt like like he was really angry and frustrated then after a few minutes he gave up and went down the emergency stairs next to my apartment the steps were really loud and it seemed like the person was in a big hurry I wasn't sure what he wanted or what might happen if I open the door I
still don't get how he got through the first two doors then I thought if he tried knocking on other doors before mine so I shared the incident on our building's WhatsApp group asking if anyone else had seen something unusual it turns out nobody witnessed anything suspicious and no one had opened the door for anyone else but I'm fortunate that my instincts kicked in warning me not to open the [Music] door 3 years back my wife and I bought our first house in the fancy part of the city and we picked a place near my mom's
house since she's been on her own since my dad passed away my mom was born in South Africa before there was a vaccine for polio and she got affected by the disease she can't move her legs so she has been using crutches or a wheelchair all her life my wife and I really wanted a house near hers so that we could visit her a lot and take care of her we also wanted to make sure she can be independent and do her own stuff without without feeling like we're always watching her I always worried about
something happening to my mom so it made me feel better knowing I could quickly go to her place to help no matter if it was a small issue or a big problem but One Summer Night in 2019 something bad happened which I wasn't ready for in the middle of the summer I drove my mom to the airport as she was going to South Africa to see her sister and my cousins because my old older brother lives in another city and I'm close by I took on the job of looking after her house while she was
away so I made sure to visit twice a week it became my routine to water the plants pick up the mail check the answering machine and do all the usual things that need doing in a house I wanted to make sure everything was in order for when she came back home thankfully a year ago I got a security system for my mom's house it's like having a helper that keeps an eye on things even when I'm not there I set it up so I can use my phone to see what's happening at her place anytime
if a window or door is opened or if something sets off the alarm my phone lets me know immediately I made sure to put everything in for security except cameras and later in the story I'd regret not having them but in my own house I have cameras everywhere inside and outside they watch over everything from my motorcyle in the garage to my snoozing dog in the living room fast forward a month I finished work hit the gym watched a movie with my wife and got ready for bed nothing unusual so far right but just after
2:00 in the morning my phone started making a noise I thought it might be an email or something from Instagram so I ignored it I really value my sleep as I usually get around 5 hours a night after I started dozing off my phone kept making noise again and again my wife woke up and said turn it off I'm trying to sleep she often teas me about keeping the volume on at night but I do it just in case of an emergency or if my mom needs us I'm glad I didn't turn the volume off
because when I tried to check the notifications it hit me suddenly like a car crashing through my living room I got a bunch of messages from the security system at my mom's house right then the company watching the system calls my phone and I pick up the lady on the phone tells me that the home alarm is going off because the motion detector in the basement noticed movement several times then she says they've sent security people to check on my mom's house to make sure everything's okay while I was on the phone with the lady
I checked the message again from the security system I could see what she was telling me I also looked at the locks on my mom's doors and the system said they were all locked without looking more I suddenly understood someone or something is inside the house right now remember I was suddenly woken up from sleep and told that maybe someone broke into my mother's house I was still half asleep and I didn't have time to clear the fog in my mind because of that I jumped to the wrong conclusion and I thought my mother could
be in danger I quickly got out of bed and ran to the garage I only paused to put on my shoes and grab my car keys it was good I had pajama pants on because it was a cold night I didn't stop to pick up a shirt jacket or any kind of weapon I was in a hurry to reach my mother's Place luckily I had a strong flashlight in my car like the ones the police use which I usually bring for exploring around the city so I grabbed the flashlight placed it on my lap started
the car and pushed the gas pedal down fast I went way faster than the speed limit in the neighborhood to get to the house in a hurry trying to drive like a racer really wakes you up when I reached my mom's house I saw that all the lights were still off exactly how I had left them the alarm was so loud that it hurt my ears people from nearby houses started coming outside but there were no security patrol cars in sight I ran to the front door while unlocking it from my phone but when I
yanked the door open I found myself staring into the dark entryway of my mother's house I'm ashamed to admit it but I couldn't move I was Frozen with fear despite being 25 years old at the time I had never faced anything so frightening before I've been through some pretty intense and crazy stuff before even situations where my life was at risk but nothing scared me as much as looking into what I I was sure was the entrance to really scary things that happened in my childhood home just to note at this moment while standing at
the door my brain still hadn't reminded me that my mom was safe chilling at my aunt's beach house in South Africa with the thought of my mom in my head my bravery kicked in step by step I went into the house I think my body's fight or flight switch got stuck on fight because I went searching instead of checking my mom's room I literally hit the switch that turns on the lights in the basement ready for a big fight but you know what to this day I'm not sure if it was a huge relief or
if I was terrified because when I looked around there was absolutely nothing there not a single thing I looked around where I was standing the windows in the main part of the basement were fine the lights from the motion detector were blinking and my phone was buzzing to tell me about my own movements in the house then I realized standing out in the open in the basement wasn't a smart thing to do so I ran back upstairs turning on all the lights in the kitchen as I went I grabbed the biggest knife from the Block
then I went to my mother's room I checked every corner doorway closet and even under each piece of furniture I did it slowly and carefully making sure everything was okay until I felt sure the main floor of the house was safe I was sure the person who shouldn't be there must be in the basement I took out my phone and turned off the home alarm so I could listen carefully then I checked the main room again under the pool table behind the couch and even in the bathroom but found nothing but as I turned to
go down the hallway I saw the door to the guest bedroom was closed I couldn't remember if I had closed it before or during another visit so I walked up to the door slowly trying my best to hear any sound I grabbed the door handle and pulled it open I can't be sure but I might have gotten really scared when I saw someone at the other end of the room with a big knife I had to try my hardest not to faint I was really really scared but I knew I had to do something I
gathered my courage bit by bit and reached for the light switch ready to fight the Intruder the light came on and I dropped to my knees crying that's when I realized I was looking at my own reflection the closet door in the bedroom had mirrored panels and in the dark they made me see something that looked like a scary person then I heard a car door close outside and I thought it was the security patrol arriving in the driveway the guy who claimed to be a security officer was standing standing there but he looked younger
than me if you imagine the word intimidating in your mind this man was the opposite he was a bit chubby smiling and had a really youngl looking face he looked more like someone welcoming you into a house I checked my watch and the man had come a whole hour after I told the security company to send someone I told the guy that I searched every part of the house and didn't find anything I started to wonder not so nice thoughts about how useless this guy pretending to be a security officer but I'm a bit embarrassed
about those thoughts now then he asked me if I checked the garage my clever grin disappeared quickly I reached for the button in my car that opens the garage door the garage is an open space and it's really hard to hide in there I walked through peaked inside the car and then left the garage I felt sure it was empty the security officer gave me some papers to sign basically it said he did come when the home alarm went off I told him about the basement motion detector showing lots of times where it recorded movement
then I saw his face go pale as he explained that the detectors his company uses don't just sense movement but also check for changes in temperature in the room to avoid false reports of movement after telling me this he got into his car and drove away I locked up the house turned on the outside lights and set the security system again I leaned against my car looking at the house trying to figure out how the alarm could have gone off it's supposed to work when it senses movement and heat but there didn't seem to be
anyone around the very next day I made sure to get security cameras installed outside the house in the garage and where the motion detectors were placed it's been 2 years since that night and I haven't shared this incident with my mom brother or my wife I'm still puzzled was there really someone there or was there some weird reason for the alarm going off I really hope I never have to experience that again sometimes not knowing the answer is the better choice I met this guy while I was still with my boyfriend but despite being 10
years older than me if I recall correctly he wasn't someone I found attractive we only had about 20 minutes of conversation and it was all very impersonal and polite exchanges I only talked to him when it was absolutely necessary it was just basic talk nothing more while my boyfriend and I started dating and somehow that other guy knew about it one night when we were excited to go to the club together we noticed that this guy was following us it made me nervous and I started freaking out I ran to the bathroom with my friend
for safety while our boyfriend turned around to talk to him that guy however started acting really immature like a 5-year-old boy he even started crying and then ran away leaving the nightclub then about about a month later I found a disturbing love letter in my mailbox it was creepy because he had delivered it himself to my house meaning that this guy had followed me to my door before and found out where I live fast forward one year and I don't go to the place I met him anymore because he practically lives there my friends told
me he hangs out there every day almost like he's waiting for me to show up we moved after a while and during that summer at the new place I started noticing that guy at the mall at first I thought it was just a coincidence but then a shop owner I know well tells me that the guy's been following me and even hides when I turn around that really worried me so I shared the whole story with the shop owner he was concerned too and promised to let other store owners know about the situation he also
assured me that he would call security the next time if he sees that creepy guy following me I now have my own first professional level full-time stalker and my boyfriend and I were clueless about what to do my family was just as lost and we were super worried the police couldn't do much since this guy wasn't doing anything harmful at the time it's been well over 2 years and things are tough I don't want to work as a waitress even though I really need the money because I know he would find out where I work
and then sit there all day and night just watching me I try not to work anywhere near the place I first met this guy especially around the city center going to the mall alone is a no-go for me now I always bring my boyfriend along there are specific supermarkets and cafes I steer clear of because I know he hangs out there hoping to see me it's disturbing because I don't even know his last name but he has a strange control over where I can go or not I really wish I could leave the city but
it's not easy even if I managed to go some where else he knows both my first and last name and all I know about him is his first name and what he looks like it's kind of scary because he could find me easily the situation might get even riskier once I finish University I'm aiming for a teaching position and they put all your information on the internet so it makes me worry about my safety and what he might do they have to do it so students can see he might come to my open classes or
lectures sit down and pretend to be a student but I really hope that never [Music] happens all right it was my time to go out with my kids for Halloween last year my wife did it and we switch every year my son is seven and my daughter is nine and they were super excited all dressed up in their cool costumes I usually stay on the street keeping an eye on them while they run from house to house for candy after about 30 minutes of walking we reached a really good spot for getting lots of candy
a busy street in our neighborhood there were so many cool decorations and things in people's front yards so I got a little distracted and I wasn't paying close attention to my kids then a few minutes later they came back from a house with with another girl who was about the same height as my daughter but the interesting thing was she had this really weird homemade mask on it looked like it was made from some kind of cardboard or similar material then my daughter asked if her new friend could come along for trick-or-treating I said of
course so we all went together as a group I didn't know much about the girl but I guessed she might be a friend from school or somewhere as we walked I noticed a really tall man following us he was big and I started to feel a bit uneasy I couldn't figure out if he was just enjoying the decorations too or if something else was going on he had this mask that looked like an angry cat which kind of gave me the Shivers then I thought he might be the girl's dad so I tried to start
a little conversation with him I said something like um nice weather huh but he didn't reply he just stood there staring at me with that creepy cat mask while our kids went up the stairs to the next house I tried to brush it off thinking maybe he's just not a talkative person I asked again saying hey is that your daughter he just nodded but he still didn't say anything I thought maybe he's just not into talking so I stopped trying to chat with him we kept going for about 15 more minutes going to different houses
and collecting more candy then my kids came up to me and said they wanted to go home this surprised me because we hadn't been out for too long and their bags were only about a third full anyway I said okay we waved goodbye to the man with the cat mask and his daughter then started going home but the strange part was when I looked back at them they were just standing there staring at us I checked one more time as we turned the corner and they were still standing there not moving at all at this
point I decided to ask my kids so um who was that girl my daughter looked up at me with a really confused look on her face she's your friend my daughter replied looking pretty confused too I was puzzled because I didn't recognize the girl and it seemed odd that my daughter thought she was my friend I asked her what she meant by that turns out the girl with the cardboard mask had come up to my kids she told my daughter that she was a friend of mine and explained that she was too shy to ask
me directly if she could join us for trick-or-treating so she hoped my daughter could ask me on her behalf I didn't know the girl but it seemed like a misunderstanding maybe she thought she knew me or got confused why would you think she was my friend I don't have any friends who are kids what my daughter said next truly surprised me and sent a chill down my spine she explained that when the girl with the cardboard mask first came up to them she wasn't even wearing the mask so they saw her face and it wasn't
someone familiar I couldn't understand why the girl would say she was my friend if we didn't even recognize each other later we found out that she wasn't a girl at all she was actually an older woman about my age with wrinkles on her face what's even more disturbing is that this older woman had been quietly taking treats from my daughter's bag when I wasn't looking that's why they wanted to go home because they noticed the woman taking their candies I brought my kids home and explained everything to my wife we checked through all their candy
looking closely but we didn't find anything suspicious or strange we didn't call the police or anything because well nothing really bad happened but now thinking about it I kind of wish we had made a different Choice it's really weird that some people on Halloween wear masks to pretend to be kids
