I'll get right to the point my middle son is a senior in college he's a good kid most of the time I'm a bit cross with him right now because he just asked me for money for a spring break trip to Hawaii with his friends which kind of caught me off guard like I said he's a good kid and I want him to enjoy himself but something about the way he asked rubbed me the wrong way his mother's been struggling with her mental health lately and it would have meant a lot to her to have
him around but I guess he's more preoccupied with getting wasted on a beach with his frat brothers I can't even say I blame him for it I was exactly the same when I was his age and I see a lot of myself in that kid the whole thing actually got me reminiscing about my own College days and reminded me about something I haven't thought about in a very long time which is the story I'm about to tell fun enough my son is the one who introduced me to this page so maybe he'll get a kick
out of this if it gets read I went to Warton class of 85 something I'm still damn proud of it was and still is the most prestigious business school in the world and I took that reputation seriously I had my fun but I also worked like hell it was a different time back then a lot of my classmates were crazy like Wolf of Wall Street crazy and I did my best to avoid getting swept up into that life my junior year though I did something a little impulsive I was dating a Puerto Rican girl named
Maria munes who I remember fondly sometimes I try to imagine how different my life would have been if I had chosen to take things further with various girlfriends I had her being one of them instead of going home for spring break like I usually did Maria convinced me to come home to Puerto Rico to meet her extended family it was my first time on the island and I was eager to impress her so I agreed without hesitation that being said I was a nervous wreck I didn't want to mess anything up and Maria often joked
about how open Puerto Rican families were so I was aware that they already knew a lot about me it turned out that my anxiety was mostly unjustified as I got along really well with everyone upon meeting them and it seemed like they really liked me most of the trip was about meeting her relatives but we did have time for a few outings of our own I mean it was spring break after all one of those outings was a hike through eljan which fun fact is the only tropical rainforest in the US National Forest system neither
of us had a car obviously so Maria's mother drove us and dropped us off at one of the most popular Trail heads the two of us were pretty devious so we definitely took advantage of the fact that neither of us had to drive the plan was to hike enjoy the scenery and sneak a little rum weed packs everything was lining up to be perfect but we quickly realized there was a big problem the trail we were most excited about was closed I don't remember why flooding maintenance something like that but all I remember was that
Maria was really upset I tried to calm her down and told her we could just hike one of the many other Trails the forest had to offer she wasn't budging though and told me that the trail we planned on hiking was like the premier Trail and the other ones didn't even come close how one hiking trail could be astronomically better than the other I really couldn't tell you she was adamant though and I had long since learned the dangers of arguing with her over something like this so I asked her what she wanted to do
instead and she told me we should just hike the closed Trail anyway like I said I was kind of rebellious back then and so was she so when she proposed that idea I was on board we'd come all this way and now some rule was going to stop us no chance she gave me a look and that was all it took we made sure there was no one around slipped past the barriers and started up the trail laughing like a couple of idiots at first it was exactly what we wanted better even it felt like
we had the whole Forest to ourselves which was especially awesome given how popular this Trail would have been otherwise imagine visiting a world famous natural site except you're the only one there that kind of exclusivity is impossible to come by anyway we hiked for a decent while passing Little waterfalls and admiring the beauty of the forest and yes we were also drinking not excessively but just enough to feel a good buzz it was really fun I have to be honest but then out of nowhere Maria screamed and jumped back almost knocking me over that instantly
put me on high alert although I didn't know what had scared her I looked around frantically until I saw it a little further down the path was what looked like a freshly decapitated Mongoose let me repeat that it was a Mong Goose a big one too and its head looked like it was completely missing I told Maria to stay where she was and approached the carcass by myself hoping it was maybe a stuffed animal or something it wasn't I inspected it without getting too close and confirmed what I initially thought its head was cleanly sliced
off the cut was too precise for it to have been anything other than a knife wound which was downright disturbing the worst part though was that the body hadn't started smelling yet meaning it probably probably hadn't been there for very long Maria was shaking I was mostly shocked by it I tried to reassure her by saying something dumb like how crime in a national forest was unlikely even though I couldn't explain it myself I put my arm around her and ushered her past the body trying to block it from the line of sight all I
could think about in that moment was putting some serious distance between us and that poor lifeless creature we walked in silence for a while and even though we distanced ourselves El from the Mongoose I could tell the moment was gone the adrenaline rush had worn off my buzz and erased my good mood as bad as I felt though I could tell that Maria was significantly more shaken and I couldn't imagine that she was even enjoying herself in the slightest she said that she wanted to stick to our original plan of hiking the whole trail to
the other side but it was obvious that she didn't want to be in that Forest anymore and I couldn't blame her as we were walking I couldn't help but rack my brain trying to figure out what we had stumbled upon it didn't make any sense I wasn't aware of the hunting laws there but I couldn't imagine that hunting in a national forest so close to a pedestrian Trail could be legal and yet that was the only explanation I could think of why they had left that Mongo's body there to rot was beyond me but there
was no other rational explanation maybe it was a hunter who had seized upon the opportunity to have that part of the forest all to himself like we had I really didn't know Maria and I hiked another mile or so with me trying to cheer her up the whole time but nothing was working eventually she admitted that she wasn't feeling well and wanted to turn back I didn't argue although I was definitely dreading having to walk past that spot again mostly because I wasn't sure how it was going to affect her and I just wanted her
to feel comfortable we retraced our steps and I could tell we were closing in on the spot where the Mongoose had been I told Maria to keep her head down so she wouldn't see and she did I braced myself as we turned the final Bend but when the spot came into view the Mongoose was no longer there someone had moved it my heartbeat started racing and I instantly began scanning nearby trees terrified that there was someone hiding among them I was not prepared for what came next instead of seeing a person I noticed something hanging
from one of the trees it was a mongus it was strung up with twine its paws tied together there was a sickly green liquid dripping from its body that hadn't been there before and it was rotating slowly in the wind I couldn't help but curse out loud when I saw it which caused Maria to open her eyes as soon as she saw it she let out an awful blood curdling scream of pure Terror before she could freeze up I grabbed her wrist and told her to run we took off sprinting down the trail trying not
to trip over each other I let her go in front of me and kept looking over my shoulder half expecting someone to be following us instead a deafening scream rang out from somewhere behind us it was a woman's scream and it was absolutely terrifying it sounded like the kind of scream someone getting attacked would make I felt Maria's body jolt mid stride and for a second I thought she was going to collapse she let out this panicked sob and tried to push herself even harder but she was already out of breath I kept my grip
on her wrist practically dragging her along as she slowed down we couldn't stop my own chest was burning but we needed to keep moving eventually Maria could barely run anymore so we had no choice but to slow down to a fast walk I turned around completely and started walking backward keeping my eyes locked on the trail behind us I was bracing myself for a fight something had strung up that Mongoose something had caused that scream I was 100% sure that see something charging towards us any second but nothing ever happened the trail head finally came
into view and for a brief second I thought we were in the clear but then I saw someone standing near the barricades watching us it was a park worker with his arms crossed clearly pissed off as soon as we slipped past the barricades he started yelling at us about breaking the rules and told us he was kicking us out and banning us for life but then he got a good look at Maria who at that point was both sobbing and physically exhausted I told the guy everything not leaving a single detail out he took it
really seriously he told us we both needed to come with him so we did we were taken to a small ranger station near the parking lot where a supervisor was waiting I had to go through the story again then again when they called the police Maria didn't say a word eventually her mother arrived and we left still shaking I never heard anything about what the authorities found or if if they even bothered investigating I'm sure Maria's family might have heard something but we broke up the following summer and we fell out of contact after that
so I really wouldn't know I haven't thought about this experience in a long time but it's still just as unsettling as it was all those years ago I think the worst part about the whole thing was that scream because we never saw anyone else on that trail and I have no idea who it belonged to I'd consider myself a pretty laid-back guy I'd say the same about most of my friends this happened last year so I'll get right into it spring break was supposed to be just me and my friends Jackson Ariel and Isabelle camping
on a secluded beach in Alabama no crowds just stars and waves we got there late later than we planned we parked in the closest lot and began walking toward the beach the place where was dead quiet no other campers no fishermen nothing but empty sand stretching for Miles according to Isabelle who was familiar with the area locals sometimes use that part of the beach for overnight fishing but that night it was empty it wasn't fully dark out yet but the sun had started setting so we'd need to set up camp quickly Jackson and I began
pitching the tents since I had driven I had brought my dog Bean with me he was a doberman who loved the sand so we all got a kick out of watching him run and roll around at one point Ariel pointed out a car in the distance saying it had driven by twice already I turned an old beat up looking SUV slowly rolled past on the narrow access road that ran parallel to the dunes the access road was a little more than a strip of packed sand just wide enough for one car on one side was
the beach where we were and the other side was a line of shrubs you couldn't really see the main roads from where we were the car drove by and ultimately disappeared down the road the four of us Shrugged it off and went back to setting up and by the time we finished we decided to crack a few beers and chop it up in a circle the girls drank selters instead of beer which we made fun of them for it was almost fully dark at that point I can't remember who noticed it first but that car
that had driven by was back again only this time it stopped when it was parallel to us the driver's door opened and a man got out out I could tell it was a man because he was really tall although I couldn't make out any features of his face he began walking towards us and the girls got nervous Jackson and I told them not to worry and we got up to go intercept the man before he could reach our campsite Bean was already on high alert so I told him to come with us as we got
closer I started to notice that he was walking oddly there was this slight limp in his walk and he almost stumbled a few times when we got close enough Jackson said how's it going man trying to keep things light the guy didn't waste any time he immediately said you're on my property he slurred his words a bit and I figured he was a little drunk I told him we thought the beach was public land keep in mind it was really unlikely that some dude owned the beach there were no private signs anyway after I said
that the guy didn't answer instead he pulled out a knife Bean started growling in response to the man's body language which honestly should have scared the guy off given how scary doberman's look but he didn't budge instead he started running towards us with his knife outstretched Bean charged at him and jumped to attack his arm that was holding the knife causing him to fall to the ground I yelled no at the top of my lungs as I didn't want my dog to get stabbed but Bean somehow got the dude to drop the knife the man
screamed in pain as Bean bit his arm I whis for him to get off and he listened to me he ran back to my side but kept his eyes on the guy who was now writhing in pain on the ground eventually the guy got up and started running back towards his car Jackson and I ran back to the girls telling them everything by the time we finished that SUV had driven off the girls wanted to pack up and carry everything back to the car but there was a part of me that was nervous about that
plan that guy was unhinged there was no telling what he'd do and I wasn't keen on walking in dark dark Ness with my hands full Isabelle made a good point though saying that he might return with a gun or something I told Ariel to call the police and tell them where we were and what happened once the police were close by the four of us started walking towards the parking lot with our stuff Bean was on high alert and I have to admit the only reason I felt even remotely safe was because of him I
noticed lights up ahead near my car and I was relieved the officer stepped out to take our statements and I was not ready for what happened next he quickly pointed out my car's tires were slashed and I was horrified to find out they were the officer unholstered his weapon and told me to unlock the car which I did he opened my trunk but thank God it was a false alarm the officer was nice enough to help me with my tire situation thank God we brought Bean with us that night that guy was probably a drunken
lunatic it could have probably been a quadruple murder if he had gotten his way finding a nice secluded place to hang out out is definitely an awesome time but it obviously comes with its risks it was spring break 2023 my friend Michelle and I booked a trip to Miami for a weekend it was both of our first times in Miami we were both 22 we stayed at some Full House Rental in Windwood which was like a 20-minute Uber from the beach we got there on Thursday and we were staying until Monday we landed pretty late
in the day Thursday so we just went out to some nearby bars for the first night it was fun the following day we ubered to Miami Beach to have a beach day we brought the towels from the rental and just laid on the beach for hours multiple groups of guys approached us and we just reject them or whatever but there was one guy who approached us I guess specifically me that just had this really Charming accent seemingly nice forward person personality and honestly everything about him was handsome from his hair down to his physique he
introduced himself as will he asked what our plans for the night were and asked for my number and honestly I gave it to him then he was off on his way down the beach he didn't seem to be with anyone we watched to see if he'd stop and try to get more numbers but he didn't he was just walking away looking at his phone and eventually walked off the beach in the direction of the street Michelle was a little jealous that he showed me more attention I could tell later that day after the beach and
some bars we left Miami Beach because it was a little too crazy for us definitely because it was spring break but it was just a bit much we returned to the rental with some drinks and snacks from a nearby store we drank in the backyard by the pool listening to music on Michelle's speaker while we plotted our night it was around this time I shot will a text asking what he was doing for the night he responded very quickly saying he and his friend didn't have plans yet and then he suggested the for four of
us go out by us in Winwood Michelle jokingly asked if the friend was cute but I wasn't going to ask that we made a plan for will and his friend to come pregame with us at the rental so they came around 8 the friend's name was Ken and he was surprisingly goodlooking as well I could tell Michelle was pleasantly surprised they brought their own drinks and left them on the counter in the kitchen and we drank in the yard for like an hour they seemed very normal all seem like it was going well we had
eventually walked to a nearby bar it was also in Windwood I have to admit Michelle and I were already drunk and Ken and will kept buying rounds of shots things became a blur pretty quickly I wouldn't say I blacked out but bits and pieces of my memory became foggy at that point eventually Michelle and Ken went to another side of the bar presumably to hook up so I was alone with Will for quite some time eventually I had to go to the bathroom but before I left I remember him calling out what do I want
for my next drink I replied back a tequila soda when I came back out from the bathroom I couldn't believe what I was seeing will was like hovering over the corner of the bar clearly doing something sketchy I walked a certain direction to get a better angle and I saw he had the two drinks in front of him but he was hovered over them as if he were doing something to my drink I may have been drunk but that was enough for my intuition to tell me to leave I walked away without him noticing to
the other side of the bar looking for Michelle but she and Ken were gone apparently so I rushed out of the bar and tried calling her a bunch of times but she never picked up around this time will texted me asking where I went I ignored it I texted Michelle a bunch of times asking what happened where is she and then I eventually dropped the bomb that I think will was trying to rofy me and that we should get away from these guys I started walking back to the Airbnb this was when Michelle texted back
asking why do you think he was rof in you and I said because he was hovering over the drink he ordered for me doing something to it she texted back maybe he was just on his phone I tried calling her but again she didn't pick up she texted back instead saying I'm still with Ken just text I responded to her that I already left so I'm not going back anyway and I suggested she meet me at the Airbnb she responded I'll be back soon so I walked back when I got back I let myself in
with the code lock the door automatically locked after like 10 seconds same thing with the back door I sat really drunk and by myself honestly worried about Michelle but also I feel like I was wondering if I was just overthinking the whole ruthy's thing maybe he was just on his phone either way it was too late now I was surprised that will never attempted to text or call me again next thing I remember was the door knob to the back door jiggling and and then I heard the button sound effects of the coat lock followed
by a failed attempt sound effect I then got a text from Michelle saying to open the back door I went to the back door and called Michelle's name through the door she didn't answer though so I tried calling her phone but she didn't pick up I got a text back saying hurry open the door he's coming and this was when I really started to freak out I yelled through the door Michelle you're scaring me there was no pee Pole or Windows to look through to see if it was really her I begged her to please
answer me she never did there was a pee pole in the front door so I hurried to the front and looked through it I actually felt sick at this moment scared for my life because I saw what looked like will hiding to the side of the front door a million thoughts crossed my mind like if Michelle was running from will I was still too terrified to open the back door without her confirming it was her I texted her back that I'm calling 91 91 right now she didn't respond I actually did call 911 and explained
and while I was on the phone I checked the peephole again and Will was gone when police showed up I let them in and within 5 minutes one of them asked if my friend was blonde and I said yes he then told me that another officer had her in their squad car and was bringing her here I was so relieved but also horrified when she arrived in a second police car she had been visibly crying she was very very drunk to the best of her ability she explained that she had her phone stolen and she
was lost wandering the streets for an hour until someone helped her call the police all of the texts I got from her number were never her it was that guy she was with Ken or whatever his real name was we also found her phone thrown in the pool in the backyard they clearly took off the second I mentioned the police we had to make a police report giving every Last Detail as specific ly as possible they said they'd get the surveillance footage from the bar we went to we also had to contact the Airbnb host
and immediately cancel our stay and go somewhere else it was a long nightmarish night obviously the rest of our trip was completely spoiled it took a whole week before hearing back anything from the police and the only reason they called was to confirm what the name that guy that I was texting gave me because it didn't align with the phone records for that number which I'd already figured out myself he was using another stolen phone after that I never heard from the police again which is absolutely sickening how little priority the police put into cases
like this even with easy evidence I have no interest in returning to Miami after this horrible experience I could have honestly been [Music] killed my name is Anna my friend Lena and I had been looking forward to spring break for weeks we were two broke college Juniors desperate for a change of scenery but neither of us could afford the classic trip to Mexico or Hawaii so we were kind of restricted to somewhere in the Continental us preferably not too far away so when we found a cheap Airbnb near Charleston's historic district we booked it immediately
five nights of food bars and exploring it felt like exactly what we needed plus it was my first spring break above the age of 21 so I wouldn't have to constantly stress about which places were likely to snatch My Fake ID by the third night we'd settled into a routine sightseeing during the day hopping between restaurants and bars in the evening I'm not a heavy drinker and neither is Lena so we were getting more enjoyment out of just experiencing what the city had to offer early that evening we ended up at this tiny Seafood spot
we had found online fried shrimp hush puy sweet tea you know that sort of vibe the place honestly felt like a Hidden Gem and I was impressed that Lena had been able to sift through all the touristy stuff to find something a bit more authentic the good vibe didn't last though we were halfway through our late lunch when my phone buzzed I glanced down it was a number I didn't recognize the message just said hey I stared at it for a few seconds before showing Lena asking her if she knew the number she looked at
my phone and said she didn't I figured it was just a scam or something but usually those scam texts say more than just hey maybe it was a wrong number I typed back a quick who is this and went back to eating Lena and I were laughing about something silly when another text from that same number popped up on my phone it said look outside that one made me pause I glanced toward the window next to our table expecting to see someone waving or messing with Me Maybe one of my friends from school had coincidentally
taken a trip to Charleston at the same time we had but there was nothing just the street with people walking by like normal I told Lena someone was messing with me and she agreed saying it was probably just a prank I laughed but the thought of that really creeped me out none of my friends were really the type to do that but I guessed it could have been some guy who had previously hit on me and was bored or something up until that point the whole thing still felt harmless but then another message came through
just a few minutes later it said one word Anna that stopped me cold if this person knew my name it definitely wasn't a wrong number probably not a scam either I gasped and showed Lena and she reminded me about something I had completely forgotten about on our first day in Charleston Lena and I had entered one of those giveaways at a local cafe it was one of those win a free meal promotions where they asked for your name and number and a few other things it had completely slipped my mind but as soon as Lena
brought it up that's all I could think about I hadn't given my number to anyone in Charleston either so it made sense I told Lena whoever was texting me probably had her number as well and the two of us kind of freaked each other out dinner wasn't as fun after that in all honesty I felt two out in the open we paid the bill and decided to shake it off at a rooftop bar across town it was packed and seemed like the type of place that attracted a younger crowd so it was a no-brainer after
a few drinks I was starting to loosen up and Lena and I were enjoying ourselves again but of course that didn't last long I got another message from that number but this one was so much worse it said that's a nice red jacket I went stiff I was wearing a red jacket in fact I was one of the only people there who was even wearing red I looked around frantically but it was useless the place was crowded filled with people laughing and drinking but no one was looking at me at least not obviously I showed
Lena the message and she said we should leave the two of us started making our way back to the Airbnb as cautiously as possible I kept glancing around behind us to make sure we weren't being followed and we weren't by the time we got inside I bolted the door and double checked every lock we shut the curtains and locked all the windows too trying to convince ourselves we were just overreacting but an hour after we got back to the Airbnb we started getting hungry but neither of us wanted to leave we ordered Uber Eats instead
picking some random burger place a few blocks away I always had my Uber Eats setting set to leave at door by default as I had a really bad experience with a delivery driver a while back that I don't want to talk about the estimated wait time was 50 minutes which felt like forever we distracted ourselves by watching some dumb reality show trying to shake off the lingering paranoia from earlier for a little while it worked eventually there was a knock at the door I looked down at my phone and saw a notification from Uber Eats
saying the driver was arriving I was confused though normally Uber Eats would send a photo when the food was dropped off so I wasn't too sure why our driver had knocked on the door I looked at Lena and she looked equally confused I got up and checked the peephole and yeah it was a random bulky looking dude in a hoodie holding our bag of food he just looked like a normal Uber e driver I watched for a few moments expecting him to set our food down and leave but he just stood there after a while
he knocked on the door again and said out loud Uber Eats for Anna I said Thank you and that he could just leave it out there but he still didn't move there was a long pause and then he finally said I needed to come out and sign something real quick that wasn't right I exchanged a knowing glance with Lena something was very wrong about this she immediately pulled out her phone and dialed 911 mouthing just in case to me I wasn't going to argue looking back speaking out loud to that guy probably wasn't a smart
choice because after that he started knocking on the door more aggressively he kept saying that he had other deliveries to make and that he just needed a quick signature but I knew that was BS when I didn't respond he started jiggling the doorknob when it didn't budge he started banging on the door shouting my name I honestly thought he was going to kick the door down and I don't think Lena and I would have been able to fend him off had he done so but then I heard a siren in the distance and the banging
on the door stopped I heard the bag of food fall to the porch followed by rapid footsteps running away from the house there was quite the commotion on our yard we heard officers yelling and Sirens blaring Lena and I rushed to one of the windows just in time to see two officers tackling that guy in the hoodie a few houses over we didn't dare go outside but we watched as they put him in cuffs and escorted him to the back of one of their cars the officers then came to our house and we told them
everything including the text I had been receiving by some miracle one of the officers had been patrolling just two blocks from our Airbnb when Lena placed the call which explained how they showed up so quickly thankfully we were in a very happening area they took our statements and told us we'd be hearing from them soon it turned out our Cafe theory was spoton he worked there he had taken photos of the giveaway forms and had been following us since that afternoon probably because we had written down that we were just visiting for spring break and
that made us easy targets or something the cops running theory was that he had followed us home from the bar and waited outside our house when the Uber eat driver pulled up he must have convinced him to hand over the food maybe pretending to be my boyfriend or something the guy also apparently had a criminal record which made the situation even worse we were dealing with someone with a very violent history and that was downright terrifying the rest of the trip kind of sucked and when it got time to leave Charleston I was relieved I
still don't know what that guy's plan was maybe he thought if we open the door he could push his way in and do God knows what either way I try not to think about what would have happened if Lena hadn't called the police when she did or even worse if the police hadn't been able to get there in time [Music]
