Let's Not Meet: A True Horror Podcast - 3x28: Crazy Charles - Let's Not Meet

Episode Date: May 18, 2020

Stories in this episode: My fiend, Crazy Charles - angrycartoonrabbit. Little Kids Love to Talk - OswaldTheUnluckyBun. I had to trick a creepy man into believing my family was waitin for me, when really i was going to an empty house. - roof_slater. Visit betterhelp.com/meet to get 10% off your first month! Join the over 800,000 people in taking charge of their mental health with the help of an experienced professional today. Follow Let's Not Meet: - Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/433173970399259/  - Twitter - https://twitter.com/letsnotmeetcast  - Website - http://letsnotmeetpodcast.com  - Patreon - http://patreon.com/letsnotmeetpodcast  - Merch - https://www.teepublic.com/user/letsnotmeet 

Amplify your career through training and development solutions specifically designed for federal government professionals. From courses to help you attain or retain certification to individualized coaching services, to programs at home, your leadership skills, and business acumen. Management concepts optimizes your professional development. Online in-person, individually, or groups. It's training that's measurably better. Learn more at managementconcepts.com. That's managementconcepts.com My name is Andrew Tate and this is season three episode 28 of Let's Not Meet a True horror podcast. A quick announcement before we get started.

May 24th, at 7pm Pacific Standard Time, I'm going to be doing a live stream season three finale of Let's Not Meet. You can check it out at twitch.tv-lash-let's-not-meet-streams. I have three guests coming on, returning narrators, Sapphire Sendalo of Stories with Sapphire, Sorenarnia of Knifepoint Horror, and Shelby Scott of Scare You to Sleep, three of the most requested narrators to return to the show. I'm really excited, don't forget to check it out. May 24th, 7pm Pacific Standard Time at Twitch.tv-thrush-lettsnotmeat-streams. And if you're not able to make that live stream, I will be editing it down

and putting it online as a regular podcast episode. But I do look forward to seeing you all there. Maybe we can do a Q&A at the end. Maybe we can hang out, play some video games, just have some fun with it. It's going to be a really fun event, and I look forward to seeing you all there. For now, enjoy the show. So I was a college student back in 2009 to 2010. I can't remember the exact year. Anyway, I was introduced to a friend of an acquaintance while in the cafeteria one day.

The guy was skinny, dark-skinned, wore glasses, and kind of looked like a nerd in a pretentious, rich gangster kind of looked like a nerd in a pretentious rich gangster kind of way. He usually wore button-up short sleeve shirts tucked into his pants and a belt. He'd probably have to meet him to get the image. The first thing he does after introducing himself to me and chatting a bit about random things such as our goals for the future is try to inundate me with all kinds of information about the Jewish Torah and how all religion is basically fake. He told me about how the Bible and other religious books

were bastardizations of this and how the definitions change the meanings of everything, mostly about the different names for God or the Lord, and how it pertained to different entities. I found him interesting, but at the same time, I was in an atheistic phase, and wasn't all that interested. But it rubbed me the wrong way for some reason. I couldn't explain. Almost like cognitive dissonance. Also, I forgot to mention that the very first thing he did was introduce himself under a false name from a nation, Jidea, or something very similar.

We exchanged numbers and talked. One of the first things I noticed about this guy was how controlling and kind of manipulative he was. He would say things like, if you want to be my friend, you've got to be this sort of way, or you can't eat certain foods because our life forbids it. He really wanted me on board with his religious thing, for some reason. He would offer advice and to help with things as well, like romantic problems. He would end up being the first person I ever truly got drunk with, which was ironically

a fun time. One of the things I learned very early on about this guy was that when he wasn't harping on about religious rules and stuff like that, he was one of the funniest people I knew. He knew how to party, how to socially connect to people, and some conversations that we had were pretty interesting. So we became the kind of friends that talk on the phone often. But one of the other things I noticed about him was he had a very creepy Jim Jones or Charles Manson kind of ability to make people listen to him and believe the things that he told

them. It was very unsettling. I was well aware of his propensity towards manipulation quite early on, but for some reason I felt obligated to hang out with him until of course it became sort of a friendship. My strangest friendship ever. Another creepy thing about him is that he would show up when I at least expect him or want him to. I would turn my head, and he would be there. I was always very careful not to talk about him very loudly because he would do this quite often.

He did it once while I was walking with my mom, and I really didn't want to introduce them but I had to anyway. By then I already knew he was a sociopath, and very narcissistic. He had no empathy for anyone at all, and would stroke his own ego all day. He was incredibly vain too, and took all kinds of useless supplements for no real apparent reason.

When we were on the phone, he would tell me things about how the different names for God aforementioned were actually about aliens. He said humans were designed to mine for gold because it would make the aliens immortal. The story he would try to sell me on would change many times over the course of our quote-unquote friendship, depending on what he was into at the time. It would go from Jewish to Jamaican, then to Egyptian, then to something else. I can't remember. Sometimes it would have elements of spirituality in it. And others, he would just say that after we die, that's it.

He talked about how beings lived in the sun and under the moon and how light was fake and only dark light existed. Then he'd talk about how I should put together all of my college loan money with his so that we could buy a house near the beach and we could live it up down there. Like, I'd actually fall for that.

Anyway, we meet these girls and he wants to show me how easy college girls are. So he starts chatting it up with this girl and her friend who happens to be a lesbian. Their relationship is short lived, and it's mostly because she said that he had a temper and was too controlling. She's the one who told me his real name because she saw his ID card.

So this guy gets the idea that he wants to kill her and her friend for humiliating him. Apparently the ex's friend mocked him. He said, we don't let people do things like that to us and get away with it. So he started shopping around for poisons, a gun, and a knife, anything to try to get his revenge. He talked other people and helping him get these things as well. So I see this getting out of hand and the girl is very nice. So I do the only thing I can and I tell security. But I tell them to keep me anonymous because this guy is crazy and has said many things

about wanting to be a gangster and wanting to kill people. Well, those idiots fuck that up and he ends up finding out all about it. I find out from a mutual friend at some point that this guy wanted to kill me. He had plans to do so, but it seemed like some people either didn't come through for him, or those friends weren't that into the idea. Anyway, we kind of had this sort of pseudo-burry the hatchet situation. Although he did tell me many times that he could kill me himself, but he wouldn't do that because I'm his one and only true friend. I roll, but I don't doubt he would actually try to do it. I told him that I was manipulated and telling on him.

The things he said kept getting crazier and crazier. And if you tried to disagree with him, he would just get argumentative, with tons of false facts and continue on. Some people actually bought this stuff and were kind of like disciples to him. But I just couldn't get behind the blatant lies that this psychopath had made up. At a later point, we decided to go to a beach town and hang out, get drunk, and we would have some fun. Yes, I was tempting, fate, but back then, I didn't care so much about my life, and I really needed to get out and break free from being a shut in that never did anything. So me, him, and two other friends went to this awesome college beach

party town. It's only important to mention this because of one of the friends that he invited along. It was a guy with social issues that he didn't actually know. The guy just had money, and the other guy had a car. He used these guys as a means to an end. They weren't his friends, to my surprise. At one point, the guy with the car actually stranded us in the middle of the night when the whole town went dead. Our cell phones died, and a drug dealer was the only hope for a ride that we could get. So the dealer requests

we hold something for him in exchange for a ride while he goes to get his granny's car. Charles makes me put it in my pocket after a bit. Looking back, the guy was doing everything he could to make me look even more suspicious. He had me wait in an alley. I can't remember why exactly. He said it was out of sight, but the dealer came back and said that what he was doing was fucked up, and that I stuck out over there and that sort of shadowy area.

Looking back, if a cop drove by, they'd have detained me on the spot, then taken the drugs off my person and arrested me. Eventually, we leave and Charles decides that we should just keep the stuff that the dealer handed him because he, quote, never came back anyway. So we're waiting at a gas station and this guy literally goes up to a police officer and asks for a ride. By this time he had taken the stuff back and forced the other guy to hold onto it. But he had assumed that the socially awkward guy gave it back to me by then. Anyway, after we made it back, things weren't how they usually go.

If I haven't mentioned it, Charles was a womanizer. He didn't care who it was. He'd go for her. He'd get women that I thought would be impossible for anyone to get at all, like married teachers and devout churchgoers who were in committed relationships. But he also didn't seem to have standards. He just liked to ruin people's relationships in their lives.

It kind of shattered my illusions of people at the time because it showed me that everyone could be manipulated into doing anything and that identity and personality didn't mean anything. I'm not sure, but I might have been depressed for a long time after that. Anyway, there was this girl, who was a pastor's daughter, very pretty. She kept to herself mostly.

Charles decided to go out with her at some point, and she entered this rebellious phase where she was sleeping around with everyone. But she also didn't bathe or take care of herself. Apparently Charles was her first. When I asked her if it was true, she proceeded to tell me horror stories about how he was manipulative and abusive towards her. In one time during a fight, while they were walking back to campus, he tried to push her into traffic.

This was told to me during a period of time he had left and gone somewhere for an internship. Thankfully I thought, because I wasn't likely to see him again, at least not for a long time. But I was wrong. He came back when I at least expected it, and he was just as fucked up as ever. I told him I thought a girl liked me once and expressed a desire to get with her. Just a random conversation that I didn't think would go anywhere. I just needed to work up the nerve to do it. Upon hearing this, he goes over to her, they talk, and the next

thing I know, they're in a relationship. This relationship lasts a few weeks, and for some reason, he told her and everyone else that I'm his cousin. Suddenly, they break up, and she's avoiding him and me. I try to explain that I'm not like him, and she doesn't need to be afraid of me, but she absolutely refuses to be around me. If I sit at the table, all of our friends except for Charles are at, she gets up and leaves. Someone asked her about it, and she told them that it was because Charles was my cousin, and that he did horrible things with her while they were together. The scumbag did that stuff just because I liked her, and in a way it was my fault.

A few years later, circa 2012, maybe, I have a new circle of friends, a guy named Ricky and another guy named Mike, as well as a girl named Karen. Ricky had a huge crush on Karen, but we all got along just fine. One day, Charles shows up and tries to get Ricky to join us in our adventures or whatever. I'm really just trying to find an excuse to distance myself at this point, but I guess at this junction in my life, I'm still way too shy to tell people off, and I'm just afraid to speak up.

Anyway, this idiot has some plan to form our own gang or something, and one day he's trying to three-way call us. I badly wanted to tell Ricky that giving him his number was a terrible idea, but I didn't want to get shot or stabbed or anything. I didn't pick up the phone and apparently they had a conversation. Later on, I find out that during their few weeks of friendship, Charles was trying to get Ricky in on a plan to lure me into a trap and kill me. He had sold Ricky a lie originally that I liked Karen, and Ricky didn't seem to mind,

and said that he would step down, so Charles started spinning other lies. Ricky didn't go in for any of it in the end. And we talked and had a long healthy conversation about it. Ricky is still a good friend of this day. Eventually Charles left, and the last I heard of him, was some voicemail in 2015. Hands down the creepiest person I've ever met befriended made an enemy of and then had to play a co-with for years on end just to not get killed or worse. He never did admit his real name to me. He always introduced himself under false names to strangers.

Charles, let's never meet again. Are you an experienced healthcare professional looking for a change? University of New Mexico hospital in Albuquerque is hiring. Visit us at UNMHjobs.com to learn more and explore available career opportunities, generous sign-on bonuses and relocation assistance available. UNM Hospital delivers more for New Mexico, as the only teaching hospital and level one trauma center in state. Visit UNMHjobs.com to learn more, equal opportunity employer. When you download the Croger app, you have easy access to savings every day. Shop weekly sales and get personalized coupons

to get the most value out of every trip every time, whether you shop in-store or online. Download the Croger app now to save big. Croger, fresh for everyone, must have a digital account to redeem offers. Restrictions may apply, see site for details. Save big on your favorites with the Buy 5 or more save a dollar each sale. Simply buy 5 or more participating items and save a dollar each with your card. Kruger, fresh for everyone." As a child, think kindergarten age, I love to talk. If anyone had a question for me, I would gleefully give them way too much information. Most people found it endearing and would praise me for being so smart, which encouraged me a lot.

My mom and I normally shopped at the market just a few minutes away from our house. My mom had been shopping there for 20-some odd years at that point, and she was friends with most of the workers. So I was friendly with them as well, and was happy to talk with them. Whenever my mom got distracted talking to someone I, with the attention span of a six-year-old, would wander around the aisle. My mom would keep an eye on me to make sure that I didn't get too far, but if she was distracted, one of the employees would usually be around and gently guide me back over.

One day, though, we went to a different market that I couldn't remember having been to before, and we didn't go back to it for nearly a decade after. We were walking around the Isles when my mom ran into her friend. They started talking and I not realizing that I no longer had a store full of adults keeping an eye on me started started wandering around the aisle. My eyes caught some colorful display. I think flowers or balloons are something and I went over to look. Once I was satisfied with my inspection, I turned back to the aisle only to find that

my mom was not there. That never happened before. I looked around a little, though not moving from my spot near the colorful displays. Since it was right near the registers, there was a decent amount of people nearby, which I'm thankful for now. As I was looking around, an employee came up to me. He was older than my sister. She was 12 or 13 at the time, and younger than my dad in his mid-40s. Which was about the only way I could gauge age. Now I would say he was probably in his early to mid-20s if I remember right. Hi there, he said sweetly.

In that tone you normally speak to kids. I'd cheerfully said hello, actually stepping a little closer. Are you with your mommy?" I said yes, happily explaining that I had last seen her talking to a friend, and I could normally find her easily when I wandered away, so I wasn't sure where she could have gone. Does she leave you alone often? He asked. Not really.

My older sister was normally with me if my mom wasn't. She was 12 or 13, and she was very mature. So if my mom had to leave for a bit, she knew I'd be okay, and she never left me alone in public just at home if she needed to run somewhere. Never for very long, just the length of time of maybe a Pokemon episode or something. My dad was at work a lot, and didn't come back until late usually, just if you're wondering. Where do you live, he asked? Well, wouldn't you know it? I just learned my address. We just learned how to mail a letter in school, even took a little class trip to the mailbox on our school corner to send them

out. I knew how to write my address now, and I knew how to say it. Want to hear? Of course you do. I know how kids are naive, but I was downright dumb. I was diagnosed with color blindness two years later, otherwise known as red-green color blindness. Makes sense, as I was totally blind to all the red flags. Where do you go to school?

Who picks you up?" he asked. Well, I go to the local elementary school. I don't know the address, though, sorry. But I know what street it's on, because I wait on the sidewalk for my mom or daycare center depending on the day, so I see the street sign a lot while I'm usually waiting for a while to be grabbed. Do you like animals? Like puppies?

Dogs scare me. Cat scare me, pigeon scare me, fish scare me, fly scare me. You know what doesn't scare me? Turtles. I have five turtles. No dogs that might bark or bite if someone drops by the house, like our neighbor does. Those dogs are always behind a gate, though, so they don't scare me a lot. It had only been a few minutes since I last saw my mom, even with how much information

I was dumping. I was a very fast talker. But I was starting to get a little antsy. Not because I was uncomfortable talking to a stranger, but because I had skipped lunch that day, specifically to call my mom and letting me get a bagel from the store next door. Which was why we were at that market in the first place. My mom was holding on to the bagel to make sure that I didn't eat it too fast and choke, which I had done several times in the past.

I wanted my bagel. And while I talked to this grown man who made me feel smart and was also interested in my life, I liked bagels more. Plus, if I caught my mom when we were near the bakery section, I might be able to use my charm and cuteness to get a cookie. So I gotta find my mom now. Oh well, I'll walk around with you and I'll help you find her. Okay, yeah, you want to lead me through the market where you work at, so you can easily bring me to a back room, a meat locker, or any number of places? Yeah, sounds good. I look around to see my mom.

number of places? Yeah, sounds good. I look around to see my mom. They're relieved to look on her face, slowly changing into something more anxious. I smile happily and wave her over. She immediately grabs my hand, and I can tell that she's mad at me, probably for leaving the aisle, but she seems more occupied on the man in front of me. Before I can even open my mouth to introduce him, or remember that I never actually got his name, he quickly says that he is glad I found my mom and he needs to get back to work and practically runs to the back of the store. My mom puts her hands on my shoulders and looks me in the eye, her expression a lot more worried now. What was he talking to you about, she asked? Her voice more serious than I'd ever heard

it. Can I have my bagel? I asked. My mom opens her mouth pauses and goes into her purse to hand me the bagel. Between bites, I happily tell her about the conversation and everything that I remembered. My age and grade pick-up schedule, likes, dislikes, my literal address. My mom gradually became paler, then became red with anger. She brought me over to the manager, and I don't remember much of the conversation. I got a cookie. I remember that pretty well.

It was shaped like a watermelon, which was apparently far more important to me than paying a titch into what was being said. The police weren't called. We went home and my mom told me I wasn't allowed to walk around the store anymore. No more talking to strangers, even if they worked at the store where we were at, unless she was with me. If I ever saw that man again, I was to run away. Find someone that I know and ask for help.

If all else fails, scream at the top of my lungs, just like a fly lands on me. And sex are creepy. I agree pleasantly. Not really faced by anything she's saying. I know that some people are bad and bad people look bad, right? They talk mean and look scary and try to grab you. This guy didn't, so he wasn't bad, was he? But if my mom was saying it, I listened.

And I better enjoy that cookie because we weren't going back to that store ever again. In exchange, I can get a donut once a month from our usual store. When I was around 12, our school had a safety assembly, and we were talking about the shady things adults do to get close to kids. And a very, very watered down version of what they most likely wanted. And I'm sitting there listening, and suddenly I realize, if my mom hadn't found me, something very bad would have happened. If I'm not in the store, then in front of my school, and if not in front of my school, then my house. A little over a decade later, I'm now 18,

and I've never seen the guy. Let's keep it that way. [♪ Music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, I live in the UK and go to a school with a uniform. I go to quite a large, all-girls school with about eight classes of 30 per year, with five years and a six form attached. So I have heard about creeps lingering outside of the school before, but they are usually sorted out quite quickly by the school staff, I guess. At the time, I was in year nine, so just about 13. I was four foot nine, and I had a big homework assignment to do, and because I didn't have

a computer at home, I stayed late at school to do it in the ICT suite. As it was the beginning of the school year, it was relatively dark at 5 p.m., which is when I got out of school and this event took place. I had to get to the bus as both of my parents were working. The bus stop outside my school was fairly busy. There were just a couple of other people

and me. I had my backup against the fence, and I noticed a man under the bus stop facing away from, but next to, the road, and opposite the fence I was leaning on. I was aware of my surroundings, as I have had previous experiences with old creeps, and I'm just generally paranoid. The man didn't strike me as particularly interesting, but I did notice him glance over at me from the corner of my eye. I then saw the bus and assumed it was mine, so I stepped forward to check. It wasn't my bus, which was annoying as I was cold and didn't have a coat.

As I stepped back up against the fence, I almost stood back into the man that was under the bus stop originally, but he had moved to directly behind me. He had his arm up against a pole next to the bus stop. I felt a bit cornered, but I couldn't move as the other side of me had all the people waiting to get onto the bus. That was coming. It felt like forever, as I could feel this man's breath on the top of my head as I watched the bus come and collect all of the people at the bus stop, but it was probably only a minute

and a half. Once the last person got on that bus, I quickly moved out of this man's area and back against the fence. He moved so that he was back under the bus stop, sitting across from me, staring at the ground. At last, the bus came after three minutes. I didn't want to give away the fact that I was getting on this bus, but I had to wave it down so I stood next to the road to signal it over. As I got on, my heart was really going, as

the man was back behind me. I had already got my bus card out and scanned it very quickly, and I only saw a few people downstairs. Normally there might be a few people upstairs in this case, so that's where I headed. That was probably my biggest success, or mistake. I don't know to be honest. I got up there and it was completely empty. Great. Well, I couldn't really go back down at this point because I knew the man had already gotten on and would be coming up the stairs, so I did the next best thing. I sat on the outside seat directly in front of the bus's camera, which I kept looking directly at, just in case something happened. The man did come up the stairs, as expected, and he sat at the right back of

the bus, not before looking and smiling at me as he passed. It was then that I had the idea that probably saved me. I live on a quiet street, and it was already dark now, and there was no way I was getting off this bus at my stop with this man. I pulled out my phone in earbuds, I put one bud in my ear and texted my best friend to play along when I facetimeed her. I informed her of the situation. She understood, and along with some small talk, I talked loudly about how my mom was so mad that I had stayed late at school, and she had texted me saying that she was waiting

at the door for me. And I had told her that I was only 10 minutes away. In reality, I told my mom that I was staying late in the morning before I left for school, and now my mom was at work 45 minutes away. And so was my dad about an hour and a half away, with limited access to either of their phones. I was at my stop to get off now, and it took a deep breath as I stood up. I looked back at the man, and he was now looking at me

as I walked down the stairs. My friend was screen recording at this point just in case something went down. Thankfully, he didn't follow me down as I was walking away from the bus. I looked back up to see him against the back window, hands and fists staring at me. This is when I took my flimsy school shoes off and sprinted

to my house. As the next bus stop was actually within eyesight. There were two of them on the main road that led down my street. Once I was down my street and far enough away that you couldn't see the top of it anymore, I told my friend about him up against the window, and she understood. I put my shoes back on, and speed walked the rest of the way to my house. My family still doesn't know about this, even though I was quite proud of myself on how I handled the situation, and how I ran with no shoes on, a heavy skirt, and a big ruck sack on my back. no shoes on, a heavy skirt, and a big ruck sack on my back. I don't think they'll ever know because as much as I don't want to ever stay late at school again, I know I probably will have to, again at some point, and I don't want my

parents to feel guilty about not being able to help if something more serious were to happen while they were out at work. But yeah, to the creepy man who doesn't know what personal space is, or frankly doesn't care, I hope we never meet again. Thank you for listening to this week's episode of Let's Not Meet a True Horror Podcast. This week you have heard, My Friend Crazy Charles, by ReadyEaser Angry Cartoon Rabbit. Little kids love to talk by ReadyEaser Oswald the unlucky bun. And finally, I was going into an empty house by ReadyUser, Ruth Slater. I hope to see you all next week. May 24th, 7pm Pacific Standard Time at Twitch.tv-latch-let's-not-meat-streams.

For the season 3 finale with guests, Safaris and Aloe, Sora Narnia, and Shelby Scott. I think it's going to be a really fun time. Don't forget to send your stories into Let's Not Meet Stories at gmail.com. You can write your story in the body of the email, attach a document, or like most submissions, you can simply just leave a link to your Reddit post. Don't forget to head over to patreon.com forward slash let's not meet podcasts if you want to get access to all the bonus content. There's an episode going out today as well as an old-time radio and plenty more to look forward to. I'll see you guys next week for the season 3 finale of Let's Not Meet. If your stunning home has gone a little stale, it might be time to contact your local

surter propaneers. We bring the power of pro to every job. That's surter pro's power to do the job right, the first time, every time, and the power to renovate your home without breaking down walls. Take your home from blah to boogie. Get on surter pro schedule today at CERTA PRO dot com, The Power. A Pro. Each CERTA PRO painter's business is independently owned and operated.

When you download the CROGOR app, you have easy access to savings every day. Shop weekly sales and get personalized coupons to get the most value out of every trip every time, whether you shop in-store or online. Download the Croger app now to save big. Croger, fresh for everyone, must have a digital account to redeem offers. Restrictions may apply, see site for details. Save big on your favorites with the Buy 5 or more Save a Dollar each sale. Simply buy 5 or more participating items and save a dollar each with your card.

Croger, fresh for everyone. a dollar each with your card. Kroger, fresh for everyone!