[Music] [Music] back in 2016 on Valentine's Day I took my girlfriend out for dinner at a nice restaurant after we ate I drove us to the beach as we always enjoyed walking along the shore at night the Cool Breeze the sound of the waves and the quiet surroundings make it feel peaceful and calming but that night didn't feel the same something about it was different I stopped the car in a parking lot that most people don't use because it's far from the pier the lighthouse and other popular spots on the beach this time I chose this place because it was Valentine's Day and we wanted some privacy I backed the car into a spot so we were facing the long road we had driven on to reach this quiet area the parking lot was a little lower than the road with a small slope leading down to it we were listening to music while I shared some scary stories I had found on internet the car was parked in the quiet lot and we were enjoying the peaceful night we had been there for about about 30 minutes when we noticed a truck's headlights on the road above us it was coming toward us fast at first I didn't feel worried because I knew people often sped down that road since there were no spots for police to hide drivers usually didn't slow down but something about the way this truck was moving felt different my heart jumped when I saw the truck wasn't slowing down as it approached the parking lot it was moving so fast that it looked like it lifted off the ground for a moment when it hit the slope so I quickly told my girlfriend to duck down in her seat and I did the same I didn't want the driver to see us inside the car and at the same time I grabbed my keys and got them ready in the ignition just in case the truck stopped in front of us I've watched a lot of horror movies and read plenty of scary stories and I didn't want us to end up like the next victims in Lovers Lane story my girlfriend was clearly nervous so I tried to lighten the mood with a joke I said some people are just in a big rush for their Valentine's Day plans she didn't laugh or even react the truck sped past us kicking up dust as it raced toward the other side of the lot it finally stopped about 50 yards away near where the sand met the pavement but something felt off instead of parking normally it came to a sudden stop at an odd angle as if the driver hadn't even bothered to straighten it out the engine stayed on and we could see the glow of its brake lights cutting through the darkness Bri men immediately jumped out of the truck and ran straight toward the water shouting loudly since it was 9 at night they quickly disappeared into the darkness then everything went silent again and my girlfriend and I finally left out a deep breath we started to relax but less than 3 minutes later the men ran back to the truck jumped in and sped off just as fast as they had arrived we never saw them again my girlfriend and I had seen enough for one night so we decided to leave we drove away quietly not saying much to each other both of us still trying to make sense of what had just happened the next day at work during lunch I told one of my co-workers about the weird experience she took out her phone to see if anyone had posted about it online and to my surprise she found an article about an encounter at that beach and it was exactly what I had just described to summarize the news article it said A man was attacked Sunday night on the HMA Pier the incident happened around 9:15 p. m. the victim was a 20-year-old man from from Oxnard so it was clear that the men in the truck were the ones involved they matched the description from the article and everything lined up at the time I didn't contact the police because I didn't know much about cars especially the mon model I couldn't even give them simple details like the color of the truck or the type of vehicle and that made me feel like I couldn't be helpful I just hoped someone else could provide the information they needed also since it was so dark in that parking lot I couldn't see the men's faces or any other important details about them my guess is that they drove to our parking spot and ran to the beach to wash off any evidence that might link them to the [Music] attack when I was 20 I moved to San anono Texas to live with my uncle and we had an agreement I didn't have to pay rent as long as I helped around the house and looked after my younger cousins I also found a job at a well-known coffee shop downtown near the busy tourist area a few months into the job I had become good friends with my co-workers and on this day one of my co-workers was working their last shift that morning three men had been in the shop for for hours they hadn't bought anything and were just sitting there but that wasn't unusual for this location during my break I walked to a nearby store to buy a farewell card and maybe a small gift for my coworker as I stepped outside I put in my earphones but before I could play any music I heard the door open behind me I noticed footsteps following me someone caught up and started walking right beside me matching my Pace when I turned to see who it was I realized it was one of the men who had been sitting in the shop all morning he asked for my number and I politely said no but he didn't give up annoyed I told him to leave me alone he stopped and stared at me shocked I guess I didn't seem like the kind of person who would speak up or be rude I kept walking and when I got back to work he and the other guys were gone I told my co-workers what happened and we laughed about it I thought that was the end of it but I was wrong after that day he showed up during every shift sometimes he was already there when I arrived and other times he walked in while I was working sometimes he brought someone with him but other times he came alone my schedule changed a lot some days I opened some days I closed and sometimes I worked in the middle of the day but no matter when I worked he was always there I started feeling uneasy I kept noticing him staring at me he never ordered anything never talked to me and luckily didn't follow me he just sat there I told my co-workers about it and they started noticing too one of my team leaders helped by sending me to the back to wash dishes or organize the cooler my co-workers also tried to stand in a way that blocked his view of me I started feeling uneasy at work when I closed a coworker would walk me to my car before heading home if I didn't close they would still walk me to my car and then go back to work one day after weeks of him just staring he finally walked up to the counter while I was working the register he ordered a water I asked for his name for the order so now I knew his first name just in case he took his water and sat down I had told my manager about him before but since he hadn't really done anything there wasn't much we could do except write it down in the manager's book the next day I worked with my manager two other co-workers and I told them I needed to use the bathroom quickly there were two bathrooms next to each other hidden from the coffee bar and register and they weren't for any specific gender I walked around the bar to the lobby area passing his table on the way to the bathrooms I saw him get up before I went inside I sat down and while I was in there someone started rattling the door knob I yelled that it was occupied but they kept rattling the door until I was done when I opened the door no one was there on my way back I saw him adjusting himself back into his chair I walked around the bar to the lobby area passing his table on the way to the bathrooms I saw him get up before I went inside I sat down and while I was in there someone started rattling the door knob I yelled that it was occupied but they kept rattling the door until I was done when I opened the door no one was there I was really scared and told my boss about it but he couldn't say anything to the man as I didn't have proof it was him later that shift the man got up and took a coffee from the pickup area my boss thought he had ordered it and let him take it I told my boss it wasn't his and that it wasn't even his name on the cup my boss used this chance to tell him that if he did something like that again he wouldn't be allowed back back the man apologized and followed the rules after that then it was Valentine's Day one of my team leaders and I were scheduled to stay late on certain Thursdays to deep clean the store we would stay until 1:00 a.
m. this was one of those nights we were almost done and I had to clean the bathrooms as one of the last chores when I finished and walked out I saw him peeking through the window both hands pressed against it his eyes were wide and he was staring at me with an intense look I froze for a second just staring back I noticed a purple foam heart on one of his palms that was pressed against the window he didn't move it at all I freaked out and ran back into the bathroom yelling to Hannah for help but she could barely hear me because of the loud music we were playing Hannah was the team leader who helped hide me from him so she knew how scared I was of him Hannah walked towards the bathroom shouting what are you saying what's going on as soon as she got close she saw him I told her again he's here he's watching me she started shouting through the window you need to leave if you don't leave we're calling the police I stepped out a little to see if he would leave but he ignored her and kept staring at at me I quickly stepped back into the bathroom and Hannah kept shouting at him to leave and threatened to call the police about 5 minutes passed and he realized I wasn't going to leave until he did so he finally left the next day my team leader and I told my manager that I wanted to file a police report he told me to wait until he talked to his boss when I got home a friend convinced me to call the police so I texted my boss and told him I didn't care what he or his boss said I was scared and I was going to file the report anyway so I dialed 911 and gave them a quick summary of what happened they told me they were going to send officers to my house to take the official report the two officers were really nice and supportive I told them the whole story including how my boss didn't think it was serious enough to call the cops since I wasn't hurt the officer offers told me I should have called right away and defended me I thanked the officers and they told me that if he shows up again I should call 911 I think that day my manager told him he wasn't allowed to come back a few months later when I felt safe again in downtown I went out with some friends to walk around we were near where I worked and as we turned a corner I saw him I quickly ducked into a small store and my friend friends followed me I told them I saw him and they kept an eye out once he was out of sight we left the store and that was the last time I saw [Music] him I had a close friend named elanar and we met during my year 10 studies and quickly became best buds she had just moved from Sydney with her older sister because of family problems they didn't have a permanent place to stay so they were living in a small room at a short-term housing Place elanar didn't talk much about her family but I could tell things had been tough for her at that time my living situation wasn't stable either and I was sleeping on the couch at my ex's place even though Elanor didn't have much she let me stay with her sharing half of her bed then after a while I made things right with my parents and moved back home but elanar and I stayed very close and spent every day together when her sister decided to leave the short-term housing and move in with her partner I asked Elanor if she wanted to stay with me at my family home Elanor said yes and became my roommate we even kept sharing a bed this never felt strange to me as we were already used to being in a small space at the Shared house now during that time I was in a relationship with a man and had been with him for over a year before meeting Elanor but because of some problems we lived separately so she never had to deal with him being in our room 2 years later my relationship with that guy was over but Elanor was still a big part of my life we were even still living together the same way then after after a while it turned out that Elanor and I liked the same guy but unfortunately for her he was interested in me I thought this might be a problem for our friendship but she insisted it didn't bother her she even seemed truly happy that I had found a nice guy we started dating and I mostly stayed at his place to avoid awkwardness since I knew Eleanor liked him too but sometimes he would stay over at our place when that happened Elanor slept in the spare room so we could have the bedroom and she never seemed to mind if anything she became even more attached to me when he wasn't around she even gave me a ring for Valentine's Day and this is where things start to get creepy then one night my partner and I were sleeping and Elanor had already gathered her things and gone to the other room for the night we had been asleep for a a couple of hours and it was probably around 1: or 2 a. m.
