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Speaker 1: I thought i'd treat myself to a short getaway vacation.

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I live in a really flat and boring area, so

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I chose somewhere with a more mountainous and forest covered scenery.

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I settled on Colorado, but I didn't really know any

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towns aside from the main ones, which were pretty expensive,

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so I started looking into airbnbs in smaller towns. There

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weren't as many options as I was hoping within my

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price range, but I did find one that I thought

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wasn't too bad. I booked it and was on the

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road the following week, driving through the country to the airbnb.

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Ten long hours later, I made it to the town

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i'd be staying in. I gotta say I was not

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very comfortable when I first started driving through it. I

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shouldn't have expected much, but this was far less than

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what I'd thought it would be. The few rows of

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houses bordered a very empty and dark road, with old

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wooden power lines barely standing on the sides. Being at night,

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it almost looked like an abandoned ghost town. I knew

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during the day it would probably look less so, but

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this was my first and only impression to go off of. Thankfully,

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I was able to find the airbnb without trouble. Pulling

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into the gravel path that led to a cul de

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sac with my airbnb along with four other small homes,

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I parked and got out, lugging my bags up to

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the front door and getting inside. This was a very small,

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five hundred square foot home, but I have to admit

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the setup was nice. I dropped my things in the

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bedroom and went to the kitchen to fill up my

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water bottle and take a minute to relax before. As

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I stood at the counter, though, I heard a car

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coming down the gravel outside. I walked over to the window,

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seeing a pair of headlights appear and slowly coming to

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the cul de sac, parking in front of the house

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next to the airbnb. The car turned off and the

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headlights went out, but oddly, as I stood and watched,

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nobody ever exited the car. After a minute, I just

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left and went back to the kitchen, as it was

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really none of my business and I didn't want them

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to notice me watching. I sat down on one of

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the barstools and pulled my phone out, responding to some

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messages and letting my family know that I made it

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here safe. I was there no longer than fifteen minutes

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before calling in the night and going to the bedroom.

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I unpacked some things and started getting ready when I

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quietly heard a car door open and close outside, followed

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by some foots steps. It sounded like they walked up

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pretty close, but I assumed they had to just be

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walking up to the house next door. The footsteps stopped

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somewhat abruptly, though, but after finishing getting ready, I got

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in bed. From what I remember, I fell asleep after

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half an hour and didn't hear anything else during that time.

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When my eyes opened, I had no idea what time

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it was, but I felt very unsettled. Everything was quiet,

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aside from the light creaking of the house. I sat up,

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staring through the dark room and trying to understand whatever

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was making me feel this way. My eyes could barely

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see anything until they fell on the uncovered window and

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behind it a pair of eyes were looking back at me.

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My heart jumped and my body froze, and after a

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moment I saw the figure move away from the window,

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but I could only slightly hear their footsteps and it

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didn't sound like they were leaving. I quickly got out

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of the bed and hurried to get dressed, but there

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was a sudden sound from outside the bedroom door. I

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stopped and listened as heavy footsteps left from right behind

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the door and ran down the hallway. At this point

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I didn't know what to do, so I just stood

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there and listened. I heard the footsteps go from inside

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the house to the gravel path and down to the road.

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Then a car started and drove off. After some time passed,

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I carefully opened the door and walked down the hallway,

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seeing the front door wide open and hearing only the

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quietness of the night. I never heard the foot steps

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of the man by my window leaving, but from the

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looks of it, they were definitely gone. I did what

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I could, reporting it to a local police station twenty

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minutes away, but there was never any follow up. Who

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they were, what they wanted, and why they broke in.

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I didn't stay to find out. I arrived at my

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last stop before my final destination on the following day.

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It was late and I was extremely exhausted from a

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long few days of driving, so I got my small

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backpack out and got inside my airbnb for the night.

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It was some random house off the main road that

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just happened to be on my route. I didn't do

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too much looking into it because it was just for

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a night, so really all I needed was a bed

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to sleep in for eight hours. Upon walking in, I

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immediately got a whiff of a really unpleasant smell. It

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wasn't a concerning smell per se, but it definitely was

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not enjoyable, like maybe a dead rodent under the house

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or mold in the ceilings. I did a very quick

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look around, glancing into the bedroom and bathroom, but I

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noticed the smell was a lot stronger in the bedroom

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than it was in the living room, so I decided

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to keep my stuff in the main living space and

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just set myself up for the night on the couch.

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I took the throw blanket off one of the sofa

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chairs and laid it out, but as I was doing this,

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a loud thump rang through the walls. I was less

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scared than I was confused, thinking that this was way

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too loud, just to be the house settling in or something.

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But the way the sound came through the walls made

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it really hard to tell where in the house it

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came from. I stepped down the hallway and peeked my

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head into each of the rooms, checking for anything wrong,

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but everything looked okay. I wasn't really sure what to

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check for, to be honest, but as far as I thought,

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nothing was to worry about for the short amount of

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time i'd be staying there. I went back to the

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couch and continued setting it all up, then laid down

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and took my phone out to do some planning for

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the next few days. Only a few minutes after that

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first thump, there was another. It was almost identical to

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the previous, ringing through the walls and just being a

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single thump. I got up and walked down the hallway again,

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but decided to check the rooms a bit more thoroughly.

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This time. I flicked on the lights and inspected the

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war ceiling, but still there was nothing to show any

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signs of anything. At this point, I was thinking maybe

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a large branch was swinging in the wind and banging

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on the roof, but even that just seemed far fetched.

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I went back to the couch and reminded myself that

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I was only here for one night and whatever the

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problem was wasn't my problem. I shut off the lights,

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laid down and fell asleep, with the night being quiet

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and being as exhausted as I was. I had no

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problem sleeping, but the way I woke up was unusual.

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My eyes were still closed, as I'd only partially woken up.

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I probably wouldn't have even remembered it if not for

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what happened next. I got a bad feeling in my gut.

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As I opened my eyes. A man was standing right

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above me, staring into my eyes. My whole body tightened

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in that moment, but it only lasted fractions of a

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second before the man sprinted from the side of the

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couch and straight out the front door. I quickly stood

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up and ran to see where he went, but I

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lost sight of him in the trees. I closed the door,

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then went to grab my phone, but stopped at the

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end of the hall as I saw something from the

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corner of my eye. Hanging in the middle of the

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hallway was a folding ladder leading up to an attic.

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I wasted no more time to call for help. As

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you could guess the man had been up in the

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attic that night, but there wasn't much up there to

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show he'd been around for more than a day or two.

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It's likely he was just using the airbnb as a

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place to live, but his actions made things really disturbing.

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If I hadn't woken up, I don't know what would

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have happened. At the time of writing this, this happened

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only a few weeks ago. I had driven out to

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an Airbnb vacation cabin in a woodsy area. I had

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planned a backpacking trip with a few friends, and I

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was meant to stay there only two nights before heading

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out for the rest of the week. When I pulled

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in and saw the place, I was satisfied. It was

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very isolated. It was very much just a plain cabin,

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which I loved. I parked around the side of the

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place and got my gear out of the truck, bringing

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it inside. The inside is what you'd expect, small and

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not the nicest, but good for what I paid for.

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That night, I pretty much got right in bed, though,

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falling asleep and getting up early the next morning. My

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goal for this stay was to scout out the first

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portion of the trail that my friends would meet me

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on the following day. Really, I just needed to make

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sure it was open and not too muddy from last

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week's rainfall. If it was, then we'd have to find

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a new trail. I made a cup of coffee and

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chilled until mid afternoon, then went out and walked down

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to the main road, walking along it for a half

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mile to the trailhead. It looked clear and dry, so

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I didn't bother hiking down more than a quarter mile

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or so before heading back. In total, I'd only been

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gone for an hour, but when I got onto the

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path leading to the airbnb, I saw in the distance

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that a truck was now parked right out front. I

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quickened my pace, unsure what was going on. When I

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got up to the cabin, I went right up to

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the window of the truck, but nobody was inside. I

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then looked around in all directions, not seeing anyone at all.

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Nobody in the distance, and nobody at the front door.

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Where else could they even be? I cautiously walked up

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to the front door, noticing it was still locked. Heading inside,

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it was clear that nobody had entered, which was my

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worst fear. After double checking all the rooms, I opened

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the Airbnb app and contacted the host, asking if he

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or someone else was here. As I waited for a response,

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I checked the windows but still saw nothing. What made

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this so unnerving was that I couldn't see where anyone

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could even go from here. It was just forced around

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with this one cabin in the middle. As I continued

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to wait for a response, hours passed. I kept looking

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for anyone to come back to their truck, but with

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the sun setting, it seemed more unlikely. Then, at just

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about eight pm, I got a text back, no one

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else should be here. I'd be lying if I said

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I didn't already expect that answer, but I was just

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hoping that somehow it wasn't. After some thinking, I just

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couldn't get myself to feel safe enough to stay the night.

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I went around the cabin and started packing my things,

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but then the sudden sound of footsteps came from the front.

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I stopped and listened as they made their way onto

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the porch and up to the door. Moments passed and

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no knock came. I must have stood there staring at

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the door for at least a minute before slowly walking

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up and looking out. A tall man was on the doorstep,

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but he was facing away from the door, looking out

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by the truck. An eerie feeling came over me, looking

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at this man, not moving at all and just staring

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out into the distance, feeling that he may not be

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the only one out there. I took a few steps back,

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trying to quietly go into the other room to call

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nine one one, but on my third step, one of

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the floorboards made an extremely loud creak. Right after, I

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heard the man shuffle around outside, followed by seeing the

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doorknob shake violently as he tried to open it. I

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ran and locked myself in the bedroom, dialing nine one

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one as the man outside continued to shake the door

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and bang on it before suddenly running off the porch.

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A second later, I heard the truck driving away. Police

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made it to the cabin relatively quickly, but it didn't

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end up being that helpful. I left the cabin that

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night to stay in a hotel instead. Being that the

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man wasn't caught and was still out there somewhere. I

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really can't even try to guess what he was doing.

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But the thing that really horrifies me is thinking about

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where the man was that whole time. Was he just

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standing out in the woods or hiding somewhere outside the house.

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After that experience, though, I probably won't be staying in

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another far out cabin anytime soon. Sh