Let's Not Meet: A True Horror Podcast - 7x03: The Doctor - Let's Not Meet
Episode Date: September 13, 2021Stories in this episode: -Chased By Traffickers - Anon. -Crawling Man In The Parking Lot - Samantha. -Two Stories - Anon. -Offer Declined - Samuel S. -The Doctor - Toastie. Extended Patr...eon Content: -The Man Who Tried To Break In - Sarah. -Creepy Library Guy - Hannah. -Creepy Delivery Driver - Dev C. -Right Place, Wrong Time - Stella. -Untitled - CoffeeGirl. -Bus Ride From Hell - Clarie. All of the stories you've heard this week were narrated and produced with the permission of their respective authors. Let's Not Meet: A True Horror Podcast is not associated with Reddit or any other message boards online. To submit your story to the show, send it to letsnotmeetstories@gmail.com. Get access to extended, ad-free episodes of Let's Not Meet: A True Horror Podcast with bonus stories every week along with a bunch of other great exclusive material and merch at patreon.com/letsnotmeetpodcast. This podcast would not be possible to continue at this rate without the help of the support of the legendary LNM Patrons. Come join the family! Right now, when you purchase a 3-month Babbel subscription, you’ll get an additional 3 months for FREE. That’s 6 months, for the price of 3! Just go to BABBEL.com and use promo code MEET. Shudder has the largest, fastest growing human curated selection of thrilling and dangerous entertainment. To try Shudder free for 30 days, go to shudder.com and use promo code meet. Learn your dog’s inner secrets with Embark, the highest-rated dog DNA test. Right now, Embark has an offer on their Breed and Health Kit for our listeners! Go to https://shop.embarkvet.com/discount/MEET to get free shipping and save $50 off your Embark Breed and Health Kit with Promo code MEET.  - Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/433173970399259/ - Twitter - https://twitter.com/letsnotmeetcast - Website - https://letsnotmeetpodcast.com - Patreon - https://patreon.com/letsnotmeetpodcast - Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/letsnotmeetcast/ - Twitch - https://twitch.tv/andrewtatelive
Transcript
Discussion (0)
You know it, your wife knows it, your friends know it.
Yep, there's no getting away from the fact that there's an outdoor kitchen shaped hole in your life.
And it's time to put things right.
Thankfully, bull outdoor products are ready with everything you need to create a world-class outdoor cooking space.
Bull outdoor kitchens and accessories add value to your property and extra fun to your world.
If you're gonna do it, do it right.
Turn a bull loosen your backyard. BullBBQ.com to If you have a story to share, send it to Let's Not Meet Stories at gmail.com. Enjoy the show.
My name is Andrew Tate and this is season seven episode three of Let's Not Meet a True Horror podcast. Thank you. As a preface, I'm a 28 year old female, standing 5 feet tall on a good day.
I recently became the mother of two beautiful boy and girl twins in early 2020. Once I became a mom, I changed my work schedule to be off on Wednesdays
or some midweek quality time with my kids. This normally consists of me taking them on walks
through our neighborhood or visiting a local park. This particular Wednesday, however, was gloomy, with cloudy skies and scattered showers forecasted
for the day.
Because of this, our usual routine was out of the question.
Rather than staying in and watching the same children's shows on repeat all day, I figured
a trip to the mall would be a nice way to get us out of the house. The mall was about half an hour away and had a decent variety of children's stores,
as well as a target.
Being that my son had recently had a growth spurt, and was in desperate need of a wardrobe
update, and the fact that we were almost at a baby wipe's diaper cream and baby Tylenol,
I figured this would be a great way to get us out of the house while crossing off a few things from our shopping list.
I pull into the back parking lot of the mall, as it tends to be less crowded with better parking, which is essential when you're a mom alone with two toddlers on a rainy day.
when you're a mom alone with two toddlers on a rainy day. The mall was mostly quiet, with a few other parents, with their kids.
I was able to get all of the clothing shopping done swiftly thanks to the absence of lines
and the stores, and our passes as I head towards Target to wrap up our shopping trip.
The target, unlike the mall, is a bit more crowded, but still kind of sparse.
I manage to find the tile and all, and diaper cream, and start making my way towards the wipes.
An older woman steps out of the aisles, and stops in front of the wagon.
She looked to be in her mid-60s, then frame with straight brown hair, with streaks of gray peppered
throughout, cut in a long bob, stopping just above her shoulders.
Wow, so beautiful, she says. Are they twins?
Being stopped by older granny-type women is a frequent occurrence for me. I've been told I have
a very friendly face.
The conversations are usually harmless, starting with gawking and baby talk, which leads to a short
conversation about their grandbabies or how their brothers or twins are something of that sort.
While there was nothing particularly off-putting about this woman, my gut was telling me that
something just wasn't right with her.
I reply with a short, yes. How old are they? A little over a year, I turn the wagon slightly, hoping that she gets the hint that I'm not interested in having a conversation.
She's side steps in front of the wagon. She's beautiful. What's her name?
She's side steps in front of the wagon.
She's beautiful. What's her name?
Her sudden focus on my daughter left me feeling a bit uneasy.
I decided to give her a fake name.
Samantha. Now excuse me, I need to grab.
I point towards the diaper aisle and move the wagon once again.
She steps in front of the wagon again, practically touching it now, and interrupting.
Samantha, what a beautiful name. Do you have any help at home?
The way that she says Samantha just makes my skin crawl, and why does she care if I have help at home?
Panic starts to kick in. Yes, I say as I steer the wagon to move around her once again.
She takes another step and blocks my path, undeniably trying to stop me from passing her.
Without breaking her gaze from my daughter, she asks,
is anyone else here with you? I've listened to my fair share of true crime podcasts enough to know that no way in hell
am I letting this woman know that I am alone.
Yes, my husband is waiting for me at the register.
I have to go.
Bye."
I swiftly turn the wagon completely around and head towards the exit.
She scurries off, disappearing into the aisles.
I speedwalk towards the registers when a nagging voice tells me to
be aware of my surroundings. I look to my left and there's the woman again hiding behind the dog
food aisles, just watching us. I pick up my pace and make it to the registers when I notice a
young security guard by the self-checkout lanes. I make my way over and wave him down.
I give a short summary of what just happened along with a brief description of the woman and where
I last saw her. As he makes his way towards the pet food aisle, I notice the self-checkout kiosks
are empty. I take this opportunity to quickly ring up all of the items while calling my husband to fill them in.
Go straight to the car.
You're a woman with twin babies.
You're an easy target.
Don't take any chances.
Keeping my husband on the phone, I zipped through the mall and back towards the parking lot.
A new wave of anxiety hits me though.
When I realize, I would have to leave one of my babies unattended
in the wagon while strapping the other one into the car seat. Refusing to have them out
of my sight, I awkwardly wedge the wagon between myself and the open car door. I decide
to strap my daughter into the car seat first, all whilst leaning over my son still sitting
blissfully in the wagon. I lock her door, then bolt to the other side and
strap my son in, then lock the door again. In a swift motion, I fold the stroller away
into the trunk and throw the shopping bags on top, then slam the trunk door shut.
Once in the safety of my car, my husband lets me know that he has to get back to work and to call him when I get home.
Still a bit shook up.
I briefly call an old friend of mine and fill him in on everything that happened, hoping
that maybe he can help call my nurse.
On the contrary, he explains to me how quarantine has prevented traffickers from doing business.
And to take a mental note of all the cars behind me is I'm leaving the mall parking lot
to make sure that I'm not being followed.
Unfortunately, having three baby onboard stickers makes me an easy target.
Try to keep calm.
Besides, what are the chances I'm being followed?
I shared my friend that I'll make a note of all the cars behind me, then hang up. Thankfully, there were only four cars, a Toyota Sedan, a Honda Sedan, Chevy SUV,
and a GMC SUV as well. Five minutes into the trip, the Toyota and the Honda,
turn onto side roads, leaving only the Chevy and the GMC. Being that I was driving on the main road, I wasn't too
alarmed. I start questioning if I was overreacting about the whole situation.
I make a left turn towards home, reminding myself to check out the cars behind me.
I spot the GMC also making a left, just a few cars behind me.
Talking down my nerves, I tell myself that these are both busy roads, that there's still a chance that they aren't following me,
just conveniently taking the same route.
A few more minutes pass, and I make a right, then check my rear view.
The GMC has now right behind me. I decide to call my husband again.
I think the car is following me. They've
been behind me since the mall and I'm about five minutes from home." He says,
make two more rights, then get back onto the road you were just on.
So I do this, watching the GMC keep its distance while making the same exact turns.
They are following me.
I say trying not to let my panic show.
I check with my kids who are peacefully napping.
Can I come by your job?
Now, my husband's job is just too short exits away from where I was, being that it was a warehouse
with a gated parking lot.
It seemed like the best option.
Yeah, come by.
I'll open the gate for the parking lot, and I'll close it right behind
you.
I stay on the road heading towards the warehouse, keeping my eye on the GMC.
As the exit approaches, the GMC switches to the left lane, and starts accelerating past
me.
The exit ramp is now on my right.
The ramp is long, and I decide to wait to merge with
the hopes that they'll miss the ramp. Just then, they cut into my lane and start breaking.
I swerve onto the exit ramp at the last possible second, forcing them to miss the exit just
like I was hoping. I safely make it to my husband's job and wait a good half hour before leaving,
making sure I have every family member meeting me at the house to help me bring the kids
inside from the car. I called a police who took my statement, the description of the woman,
and a partial license plate I was able to get from the GMC, but nothing ever came of it. My life really hasn't been the same sense.
I've been paranoid about if they know my car
and possibly where I live.
I don't know how traffickers work or how organized they are
nor do I ever want to find out.
I've since bought a new car with new plates.
I also carry pepper spray and even tried to get a gun.
However, licensing takes over a year in my state.
I settled on a machete.
I also recently got a new job a few states away.
So to the creepy woman at Target and the driver
of the GMC who chased after me, let's not meet. Amplify your career through training and development solutions specifically designed for federal
government professionals, from courses to help you attain or retain certification to
individualize coaching services, to programs programs that hone 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.
18T fiber presents a straightforward moment.
You're one. Thanks. I'll pretend I know what I'm doing before saying it's good. AT&T Fiber presents A Straight Forward Moment Your wine?
Thanks.
I'll pretend I know what I'm doing before saying it's good.
And I'll pretend I don't know you're pretending.
Are you a Gagillionaire?
Yeah, I have AT&T Fiber.
The straightforward pricing has inspired me to be more straightforward.
Me too.
Ugh, this wine.
I'll fetch you a better one.
Straight forward is better.
No equipment fees, no data caps, no price increase at 12 months.
Live like a Gagillionaire with AT&T fiber, limited availability and select areas.
Visit AT&T.com slash Hypergate for details.
For a little context, I'm a woman in my early 20s, about 5'4", and petite.
I work at a very popular gym in the area where I'm from, and therefore I see hundreds of
people the day coming in and out of the club.
They're typically always friendly and will create conversations with you. I even have
regulars that I speak with daily. I know better, of course, not to give out too much information about
myself and keep it surface level. Although in the past, I've had some creeps become obsessed with me to the point
where we had to terminate their membership.
But that's another story for another day,
where I'm from, this is an area
that can sometimes be called sketchy
and it had bit dangers at times.
Well, about a year ago, we had this sex trafficking thing
going on like crazy and women were going missing from parking lots, gyms, even their own homes.
Aware of this, nothing seemed off.
But my coworkers and I quickly realized that something was fishy about these men.
They would come into the club and streak clothes, and they never changed into your typical
workout clothes.
They would all wear hoodies and work boots.
We also noticed that they would never really work out.
Only wander around the club and stare
at women.
Of course we wrote this off as if the men were just trying to hit on some women and score
some dates.
We have a workout area specifically for women upstairs so they don't feel insecure and
have their own space to work out.
One day my coworker went upstairs to find that one of the hooded men
were on the floor recording a girl doing squats on one phone and talking to someone on a
different phone at the same time. Talking about her to whoever was on the other line,
disgusted she told the managers and the men were immediately banned from the club. We later learned that the men were part
of a sex trafficking operation.
Completely freaked out.
We told the women at the club to be aware
in the parking lots and in the club when present.
Now this is where I come into the story.
A couple of months after this had happened,
it was business as usual.
Be at work at 9 a.m. have lunch in my car at noon and then leave for the day at 4 p.m.
Easy day.
Well, one day I had done my usual.
I go out to the car, park in the spot furthest away from the building in the parking lot,
facing out towards the road.
There were no other cars around me.
I was eating my lunch and watching
some YouTube on my phone like always, minding my own business. When all of a sudden I heard
the back door behind me. Someone was attempting to open it, but it was locked, so I heard
that familiar sound of the locked car door handle. At first I didn't really think anything of it. I'm
quickly reminded of the men that we kicked out, the men that were a part of the
sex trafficking operation. I froze. I pull out my knife that I have in my car and
hold it close. I look around my car from the driver's seat. Just to check
the surroundings to see if I could find anyone.
I saw no one. I called my mother crying saying that someone attempted to get into my back seat while
I was in it. My mother told me to hang up and call the managers inside to come out and get me.
I pulled into the closest parking space that I could find.
Then I called the manager.
They came out immediately.
They brought me back inside.
They asked me questions like if I had seen anyone.
I told them no, but that I knew I heard someone attempting to open my car door.
So she took me to the surveillance room.
And let me tell you, we have some of the best quality
cameras and screens which are huge and clear. She goes back a couple of minutes and as we're watching
the tape back, eyeballing the car, we see a man in a hoodie with his hood up, get out of a red truck,
then crawl to my car on all fours, reaching for my
backdoor handle, then pulling on it. Him immediately realizing it was locked, he quickly crawled
back to his truck and crouched down behind his tire. My blood turned cold, and my manager looked at me with disbelief.
I started bawling, realizing that if I hadn't locked my doors, I could have fell victim
to this man and whatever he had planned for me.
We called the police, but nothing ever came of it, sadly.
Let's just say I don't eat lunch in my car anymore.
And thank you to whoever was watching over me that day. Oh, into the
crawling man and the parking lot attempting to get into my backseat. Let's never meet. 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 that hone 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.
AT&T Fiber presents a straightforward moment.
Your wine?
Thanks.
I'll pretend I know what I'm doing before saying it's good.
And I'll pretend I don't know you're pretending.
Are you a Gagillionaire?
Yeah, I have AT&T Fiber.
The straightforward pricing has inspired me to be more straightforward.
Me too.
Ugh, this wine.
I'll fetch you a better one.
Straight forward is better.
No equipment fees, no data caps, no price increase at 12 months.
Live like a Gagillionaire with AT&T Fiber.
Limited availability in select areas.
Visit ATT.com slash HyperGig for details.
I'm a huge fan of the show and after listening for so long, I decided to share some stories
of my own.
Two in total.
Story number one.
The man in the red car.
I grew up in a small farming town in Canada.
When I was eight years old, I remember our teacher coming into the classroom
and telling us all that we had to be very careful
as there was a strange man driving around the town
in a small red vehicle and he was approaching children.
By this point, there had been numerous stories
going around about how he had been trying to physically grab kids and pull them into
his car. The few children he had tried to take luckily got away, but he was continually
spotted around town. Being a naive eight-year-old, this didn't scare me. As I figured, I lived in a pretty
safe neighborhood, and this would likely never happen to me.
That night, my sister who was 13 asked me if I would come to her school with her to grab
something from her locker that she had forgotten. It was roughly 6.30 pm, so most of the staff had left,
but the school was still unlocked itself, until that later in the evening. Our mom dropped
us off, and said that she would come pick us up after she ran to the store across the
road to grab something that she needed for dinner. She drove off, and my sister and I went
into the school to get her things.
Once we were finished, we came out and stood outside waiting for our mom's car to pull
up.
Instead, a small red car pulled into the lot.
I immediately remember feeling an overwhelming sense of fear run through me in that moment.
It had only been hours since our teacher had told us of this exact car.
It even had black bars, which she had described on the rear of the vehicle.
Before I had time to say anything to my sister, the man pulled up, and the window slowly
inched down, revealing an aged and weathered face behind the wheel.
He had grey hair, and square, ramed glasses.
Hi, girls.
His voice was quiet and almost weak as he spoke.
He then asked where he could find the high school as the school we stood outside of was the
middle school in a different area.
My sister answered, it's that way, sir.
She pointed to the road leading in the other direction.
He turned to look at it, then looked back at us.
His eyes squinting as if he couldn't see us in full.
Where?
Sorry.
Can you come closer?
I can't hear you very well."
He replied.
I instantly knew that this was turning into a horrible situation, and I tugged onto my
sister's sleeve as if to say, let's go. My sister instead
shook her head. I'm sorry, but I'm not coming any closer. I said it that way. She spoke
again louder, hoping that he would hear. He pretended to look over again and said, please,
I can't really hear you. Can you just show me from here? I
tugged on her sleeve again and she turned to look at me. She could
definitely see the fear in my eyes as I looked back at her. Before we
could say anything else, the man's car door sprung open so quickly I
barely had time to react. He leapt from his car and rushed towards
us in full sprint, certainly not in the fragile way that he had acted before. Luckily, we
had been speaking to him from the front steps of the school, and he had been at least six
meters away from us. My sister and I ran into the school screaming in fear as we were convinced he was right behind us.
There was a janitor down the hallway cleaning.
He had seen us come into the school and was immediately startled.
We told him what had happened and he went to the door to find no car and no older men
there.
He obviously thought that the school might have been locked and tried his chances at
grabbing us.
My mother arrived shortly after and we called the police.
The next day my sister and I were interviewed on the Morning News Channel as the search for the man continued to grow. He was finally caught by the police, and to be honest,
I don't even remember what happened to him. I know he did spend some time in jail, but I think he
was transferred to a different county. So to the man in the red car, let's not meet.
Now on to story two. When I was 20 years old, I moved to Auckland in New Zealand.
I had met my partner in Canada who was there on Avisa.
After being together for quite a while, I agreed to come to his neck of the woods to see
what it was like there.
I loved New Zealand, and for the most part I found it very peaceful.
I moved into a house with my partner and his best guy friend, which was nice to have
this big house for just the three of us.
I was looking for a job for quite a while, so during the weekdays I was home alone
while the boys were at work. It was a Thursday morning around 11 a.m. and I was in
my bedroom on the computer sending out resumes like I did most days. I remember
hearing a loud knock on the front door. This startled me as I was quite a paranoid person, and I was unfamiliar with the area.
I decided not to answer the door.
A few moments went by until I heard the door knob turning, as if someone were trying to
enter the door from outside.
Thankfully, all of the doors had been locked, but this house was so old,
I knew that the locks were quite loose,
and if someone really wanted to get in,
without a lot of effort, they could.
I also knew that the boys had keys,
so if it were one of them coming home, they could get in.
They both worked until about five at night,
so this just didn't make sense to me.
As I sat on my bed wondering what I was going to do, I suddenly heard footsteps coming
down the side of the house.
I immediately moved away from the window to the corner of the room which isn't visible
from the windows.
Why would someone be walking to the back of my house?
I stood there thinking of what I could do to simply send a message that someone was home
without me having to face them.
I knew that all of the blinds in the house were open, so they could see in.
There was a lot of expensive music equipment, televisions, computers.
I hope the best thing to do would be to quickly close all of the curtains at the front of the
house before the person had time to make their way back to the front door.
I ran out and pulled them all shut, then sat in the lounge, waiting to hear them walk
to the front porch again.
The footsteps came back, and I could tell that they were right outside of the front window
again. But this time, they would have seen that someone had closed the blinds, hoping to indicate
to them I was home.
I also didn't want them knowing I was a young female, as this wouldn't stop some people
from breaking in.
After a few long moments which felt like an eternity, the person left the porch and I
could breathe a sigh of relief. After a few long moments which felt like an eternity, the person left the porch and I could
breathe a sigh of relief.
Later that night I told my partner about what had happened and he laughed at off telling
me I was just paranoid.
Well, a few hours later, we received a knock at the door.
He answered it.
It was our neighbor asking us if our house had been broken into.
When we said no, they proceeded to show us their
front door, which the lock had been broken off of. There were two sets of dirty footprints
in their house, so there were two men who had broken in. All of their expensive appliances
had been taken. This confirmed the fear I had felt earlier, and I knew that they had scoped out our house first.
I truly believe that if I didn't shut those blinds, they would have come into our house,
as this was simply an easier target with the aged locks on the door.
I was happy that I was able to think quickly enough to send them a subtle message
that the house was being occupied.
So to the two men that tried to break into my home, let's not meet.
18T Fiber presents A Straight Forward Moment You're wine?
Thanks.
I'll pretend I know what I'm doing before saying it's good.
And I'll pretend I don't know you're pretending.
Are you a Gigillionaire?
Yeah, I have 18T Fiber.
The straightforward pricing has inspired me to be more straightforward.
Me too.
Ugh, this wine.
I'll fetch you a better one.
Straight forward is better.
No equipment fees, no data caps, no price increase at 12 months.
Live like a Gagillionaire with AT&T fiber.
Limited availability in select areas.
Visit AT&T.com slash Hypergate for details.
AT&T fiber presents a straightforward moment.
Your wine?
Thanks.
I'll pretend I know what I'm doing before saying it's good.
And I'll pretend I don't know you're pretending.
Are you a Gagillionaire?
Yeah, I have AT&T Fiber.
The straightforward pricing has inspired me to be more straightforward.
Me too.
Ugh, this one.
I'll fetch you a better one.
Straight forward is better.
No equipment fees, no data caps, no price increase at 12 months.
Live like a Gagillionaire with AT&T Fiber.
Limited availability in select areas.
Visit AT&T.com slash Hypergig for details.
This story takes place in 1997 when I was 5 years old.
My mother and I lived in Kentucky, but were out of state visiting my aunt and uncle in
North Carolina.
It was summertime, and the four of us had planned a camping trip even further into the mountains than where
my aunt and uncle already lived, on some property owned by another couple who were supposedly
friends of theirs.
I was and still am unaware of the nature of their friendship or how they ever met, not
that I would have cared much at five years old.
All I knew is that we were going on an adventure with three of my favorite
people in the world, and I could not be more excited. The campsite was extremely secluded,
and a perfect place to set up for the number of days that we had planned to stay.
The property had to be fairly large because our host's home wasn't even visible from our tent or anywhere within a short
walk's distance. I remember enjoying the new experience of being in the great outdoors,
as this was my first ever camping trip. On the second or third day of the trip, our hosts
they paid us a visit at our campsite. I remember them being a fairly young, overly friendly couple with a lot of energy, but not
a lot else.
During the conversation, they invited us up to their house for dinner, later that evening,
which of course we agreed to, as, after all, they were friends of my aunt and uncle.
Later that night we arrived for dinner.
I'll admit, I have absolutely no recollection of the event except for one particular detail
that stuck in my tiny brain.
While walking toward the kitchen, we passed a room in the hallway with the door ajar. Ever curious, I peered in and saw a very, very large array of monitors linked to different
camera feeds.
Every one of them active.
Understand this was far more than you would expect to see from the typical home owner
just trying to monitor their property, despite its large size.
Talking to my mother now about her memory of that night, she confirmed seeing the same
room in the couple's home, and developing an inexplicable sense of dread as a result.
A day or two after this dinner, we packed up our campsite and went back to my aunt and
uncle's place.
And a short time after that, my mother and I made the several hour drive back home in
Kentucky.
The rest of our trip was uneventful, at least enough to leave me with no further memories,
but it's the chilling details my mother shared with me in adulthood that I feel make this story worth sharing.
When we arrived back to my aunt and uncle's house after the camping trip, my aunt shared
with my mother that the couple who had just let us stay on their property, offered to buy me, while we had been in their home for dinner.
Apparently one of them had pulled my aunt to the side and asked that she passed along a cash
offer to my mother, for her to consider while we were there. I haven't the first clue how my
aunt responded to this offer, only that she shared it with
my mother once we had already left our campsite, and that she was incredulous and tore into
my aunt for not telling her sooner.
This revelation has produced far more questions than answers for me. How big was this human trafficking operation that they were obviously running?
What exactly were all of those cameras monitoring?
How much were they prepared to spend to try and persuade my mother to part with me forever?
But then the article questions.
Why did my aunt not immediately cut the trip
short after this happened, and why did she withhold this startling information from my
mother until days later?
Why were my aunt and uncle friends with these psychos in the first place, and were they
privy to any of their nefarious activities?
Was my aunt's motivation to delay telling my mother innocent?
Or was something more sinister at play that just never came to pass?
We no longer speak to my aunt or uncle for reasons unrelated to the story, but I will always
wonder if they tried to arrange having
me sold off to human traffickers right out from under my mother.
Who they knew was struggling to make ends while raising me?
So two are camping hosts who tried to buy a five-year-old boy from a single mom just trying
to enjoy a trip with her son.
By aunt and uncle, for that matter as well, let's not ever meet again. I've lived in a female body for nearly four decades, and I've unfortunately found myself
in many uncomfortable situations, some of which I'm just happy that I've escaped with
my life.
This isn't by far the worst, but it's one of the weirdest.
This happened to me back in the late 2000s when I was in my mid-20s.
I had just moved to a large Midwestern city and was struggling to find steady employment.
I'd worked a string of low-paying service industry gigs and many odd jobs.
At the time, my main source of income was handing out flyers for a psychic on a street corner,
so I was always looking for something else.
One day, on my usual Craigslist pursuing, I came across a listing for a personal assistant
gig. It was out in the suburbs and kind of a drive,
but I responded anyway because it seemed interesting. I got a response back within hours.
The man looking for an assistant did some sort of medical consultation and worked largely from home.
consultation and worked largely from home. I'm just going to call him the doctor. He said he was looking for someone to help him with both his office work and household tasks.
We emailed back and forth a couple of times, mostly about what he did for a living,
my work background, and availability. After these few brief emails, we both agreed,
I should come to his home for an in-person interview,
which would be more of an audition,
according to the doctor.
This is when things started to get a little weird.
He asked me to send him a picture of myself
so he could verify that I was being truthful
about my identity. Unfortunately back in those days, and even now, plenty of legitimate jobs do
ask for a photo. I still thought it to be a little unnecessary, so I initially tried to avoid it by
saying that my camera was broken, but he persisted refusing an interview
until he could see photographic evidence of my existence. And I eventually sent him a photo.
Next, he sent me a list of tasks that I would likely be completing around his house and home
office, like dusting and vacuuming, scheduling appointments, preparing
meals and occasionally filing paperwork.
Explaining that he keeps all his files and filing cabinets in his basement, and then it
can get extremely hot and said basement, so I should bring a pair of shorts to wear so
I'd be comfortable.
He also said that he would require a massage as his neck gets stiff from sitting on the
phone in the office chair all day.
This was odd, but I figured it was just a neck massage, right?
I had worked as a home caregiver for an elderly woman previously, and sometimes massaged
her arms to help with circulation.
How was this any different?
The day before the in-person interview, I had a strange gut feeling that everyone who
writes in gets.
I started counting the red flags, the insistence that I wear shorts, the massage,
the need to see photo evidence of me. It was all too weird. I ran the whole situation,
by one of my roommates. She also thought it sounded creepy, and I should under no circumstances
drive an hour outside of our city to meet with a strange man that I found on the internet alone.
Agreeing with her and having other job prospects on the horizon coupled with my sense of unease,
I decided that I should definitely cancel.
Being polite and responsible, I called him to let him know I would not be coming
and was surprised
when his nice, normal sounding wife answered the phone.
I explained to her that something had come up and I could not make it to which she replied,
oh darn, we were so looking forward to meeting you and getting to know you.
It's too bad we could really use some help around here.
It was in a sweet Midwestern mom voice though.
I began to second guess my decision thinking that maybe I'm overreacting, maybe this guy
isn't a Craigslist creep trying to lure young women to his home.
This seems like a perfectly nice family.
His wife was very insistent that if I was able to make another date and time, they'd
be happy to let me audition then.
So a few days later, I drive the hour out of the suburbs to meet with this doctor and
his family at their home for an interview.
It's a large house and a pretty new looking subdivision surrounded by other
large, unassuming houses. It seems average, normal. Nothing alarming from outward appearances.
I get there, and we do introductions. I meet the doctor and his wife. Their children also live at
home, but the adult children are still asleep and the youngest child who is under 10 is at school since it's a weekday.
The next thing the doctor does is take me outside away from his wife.
Mind you, it's a chilly, overcast, fall day, not an ideal time to be outside.
But this is where he takes me, out his patio to sign some paperwork. He says,
oh, this is just standard practice. I want to make sure that you don't sue me for sexual
harassment. We watch a lot of comedy central in this house and you might hear something
offensive. Okay, very weird, but I'm on this ride now. I'll just sign it. After this,
I'm instructed to unload and reload the dishwasher. While in the kitchen, I notice they have a calendar
on the fridge, and it looks like they've got interview scheduled for the rest of the week
for at least three other people. The doctor explains he really doesn't have any office work for me,
but there is plenty of housework. Another thing that I notice is that the home is very clean
aside from the few breakfast dishes in the sink. He and his wife ask how I am at making breakfast,
and if I would consider getting there even earlier,
to cook them breakfast.
It's starting to seem like they're looking for more of a housekeeper than a personal
assistant.
I'm also starting to notice there's something off about the wife.
She just seems very out of it.
She zoned out on the couch, staring into the void of QVC collectible coins that are
on the television.
I'm later folding towels, and the wife unexpectedly jumps out of her haze and yells,
no you ding dong, you're folding it wrong, at me, and then shows me her very specific way at folding towels.
I've folded until she's satisfied with my performance.
She then sits back on the couch and returns to blankly staring, off into the distance.
A little while later, she announces that she's going to Zumba class and heads out the door.
I hear her car start and pull out of the driveway.
The doctor now tells me it's time for his massage and takes me upstairs to his youngest son's
room where he proceeds to strip down to his underwear and lay face down on a towel on the floor.
He then hands me a jar of butter and instructs me to climb on top of him and rub.
I was not expecting this to be a full-body massage nor was I expecting him to be almost nude
and obviously and most importantly. I'm not a trained masseuse.
I'm shocked and aware that this is a red flag situation, but I try to remain professional
and calm by making small talk about how wonderful I think the butter smells.
I sense he's getting frustrated with my less than stellar massage skills when he asks,
did you bring the shorts?
What? I replied.
Did you bring the shorts I asked you to bring?
He responds rather roughly.
I explained to him I didn't think shorts were necessary to which he replied,
if you would have brought the shorts, I could have showed you on your legs. He seemed very disappointed as he wanted to teach me how to massage him by rubbing my
legs.
Luckily, that ended the massage portion of the interview and his wife returned shortly after.
At this point, I'm clearly more than over this entire situation, but I decide to keep my head down for the next hour or so
and get through this.
A little while later, I'm putting away the towels
and a linen closet upstairs next to a bedroom door
that is half open to display a partially empty bottle
of Jack Daniels laying sideways on the carpet
and a bunch of dirty looking clothes stoned about.
I overhear a male voice talking loudly and excitedly on what I assume to be a phone conversation
coming from the inside. The voice is very graphically describing what he would do if he
what he would do if he ever saw a glory hole. I'll spare you the details, but it involves
a hammer, a screwdriver, and a fair amount of blood.
Later, I'm back downstairs, unloading the dishwasher
and the sun comes downstairs.
I recognize him by the voice. The doctor who is sitting at the work
desk in his living room gets up and charges at the sun, punching him in the stomach and accusing
the sun of stealing money from him. It all seems very serious at first. The doctor is really going
at it with the accusations. The Sun is protesting innocence.
But it all seems to be some kind of ruse, a weird performance for my benefit.
The Doctor then apologizes to the Sun who is at this point writing around on the carpet
from pain.
The Doctor then turns to me and says, I'm just messing with him. We like
to joke around a lot here. He then just goes back to work. After this, I unnecessarily dust
and vacuum in already clean dining room, and then it's time for me to go. The doctor
and his wife bid me goodbye saying how
nice it was to meet me. The doctor hands me a crisp $100 bill as I head out the
door. He thinks me again for my work. Mind you, this is nearly four times what I
would make in a four-hour period.
The drive back is about an hour into the city.
I was bewildered and confused.
What exactly are his intentions with the massages?
Why doesn't he just hire a masseuse or a sex worker and a cleaning person?
Why can't his adult children unload the dishwasher?
What about his wife?
Is she okay?
What if they want to hire me?
Oh my God, what if they offered me the job?
When I go back?
Well, truly, I'll never know.
I got a phone call offering me a job at a place I had interviewed a bit earlier in the week
about an hour after I got home.
I've never been so relieved.
Since then I've worked many jobs and many other people's homes and this is still one of
the oddest experiences I've ever had.
So it's the creepy doctor and his bizarre family.
Let's never meet again.
Thank you for listening to this week's episode of Let's Not Meet a True Horror Podcast.
Next week we'll be diving back into some of the lost stories with Lost Stories Part 5. Don't miss it and if you're a patron don't forget to
stick around after the music for your extended ad-free version of this week's
episode. This week you have heard chased by traffickers by a listener that asked
to remain anonymous. Crawling man in theing Lot by Samantha. Two stories by a listener that asked to remain anonymous.
Offer Declined by Samuel S.
And finally, The Doctor by Toasty.
All of the stories you've heard this week were narrated and produced with the permission of their respective authors.
Let's not meet a true horror podcast is not associated with Reddit or any of the message boards online.
As always, if you want to hear your story on the show, don't forget to send it to me.
Let's not meet stories at gmail.com and if you want to get access to all the extended
Patreon episodes and all the older single bonus episodes, head over to patreon.com forward
slash let's not meet podcast or follow the link in the show notes.
I'll see you guys next week for that lost stories episode of Let's Not Meet.
Stay safe. I'm a mom of four young kids.
But at the time, I was a mom of three.
AT&T Fiber presents a straightforward moment.
Your wine?
Thanks.
I'll pretend I know what I'm doing
before saying it's good.
And I'll pretend I don't know you're pretending.
Are you a Gagillionaire?
Yeah, I have AT&T Fiber.
The straightforward pricing has inspired me
to be more straightforward.
Me too.
This wine, I'll fetch you a better one.
Straight forward is better.
No equipment fees, no data caps, no price increase
at 12 months.
Live like a Giga-Gillionaire with AT&T fiber.
Limited availability in select areas.
Visit att.com slash hypergig for details.