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Speaker 1: Four years ago, I rented an airbnb to stay in

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for the holidays. I was seeing my family for the

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week of Christmas, so I got a place that was

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just a few miles away. When I arrived on December twentieth,

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everything was exactly as I thought it was. The place

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was a very regular house in a very normal neighborhood. Overall,

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I was satisfied. I'd gotten there around six o'clock on

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that first day, though, and I didn't feel like going

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out to see anyone until I'd gotten a good night's rest,

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so I stayed in and relaxed for the rest of

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the night, watching some TV and even getting a little

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bit of work done as well. I got in bed

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just before ten and fell asleep, but in the middle

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of the night, I slowly woke to a noise coming

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from downstairs. I was still half asleep and didn't even

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check the time, but it sounded like a few small

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thumps against the wall coming from somewhere in the house.

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As I listened to the noises, I didn't really feel

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worried or anything, but rather just thought that it was

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the house making these sounds. I only stayed awake for

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a minute before drifting into sleep again, and I don't

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recall waking up any other times during the night. By morning,

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I had forgotten and didn't even think about those noises

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I was hearing again. I was pretty sure it was

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just the ac unit or something. Anyway, I let my

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family know i'd made it into town and we got

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our plans set for dinner at their place. I relaxed

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at the airbnb for the whole morning and afternoon until

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I was ready to head out. I grabbed my bag

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in keys, then walked up to the front door to

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exit the house. But when I opened it, I was

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face to face with a man standing right in front

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of me on the porch. It completely caught me off guard,

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and I just stood there looking at him for a

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second before even saying anything. Can I help you? I asked.

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The man didn't knock or ring the doorbell, which made

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me start thinking of how long he could have been

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standing there for and just why he was here to

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begin with. He didn't respond to my question, though, and

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instead just nodded then walked away. I watched him go

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down to the sidewalk and just continue walking down the

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street until he was gone. I can't see any situation

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where this wouldn't be strange and creepy. Why was he

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at the Airbnb? And for how long was he standing

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there without knocking? I made sure the place was locked up,

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then drove to my parents' house for dinner with the family.

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I brought up the situation as an interesting story, and

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everyone else seemed to think it was just as creepy

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as I thought. Dinner was still nice, and we had

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plenty of great conversations, catching up on life and everything.

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But that whole night I couldn't stop thinking about that

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man and if my things I'd left at the Airbnb

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were going to be stolen or something. I ended up

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leaving the dinner get together around nine and getting back

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to the Airbnb fifteen minutes later. I parked in the

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driveway and walked up to the front door, looking around

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for any obvious signs of someone having been there while

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I was gone, but I didn't see anything. I unlocked

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the door and stepped in. I walked down to the

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end of the hallway and into the kitchen, dropping my

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keys and bag on the counter. But then there was

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a sudden thump. It was just the same as the

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ones I'd heard the previous night, but now that I

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was downstairs. It was far louder and clearly coming from

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one side of the house. I slowly stepped into the

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room near where the sound was coming from, but then

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the thump came again from from a door right next

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to me. I jumped back, getting a surge of adrenaline,

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and then, after staring at the door for a few seconds,

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I could hear the faint sound of heavy breathing from

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the other side. I grabbed my keys and ran for

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my car. I still didn't know exactly what was going on,

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but I was not going to stay to find out

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on my own. I called nine one one and waited

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for them to arrive. When they did, I watched them

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go in and search for a few minutes. Then they

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came out and told me something horrifying. The door the

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person was behind was the garage door, which showed signs

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of distress from the person, likely trying to break the

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lock and get inside. Unknown to me, there was a

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side door connected to the garage that led outside, which

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had been left unlocked by whoever had stayed here before me.

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I didn't ever plan to use the garage, so I

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never checked it. Whether the man i'd seen on the

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porch was the same person that was in the garage

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is unknown, but just knowing that I was asleep while

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someone was right below me trying to break into the

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house is terrifying. What they were trying to achieve after

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breaking in, we have no way of knowing, obviously. After that, though,

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I went and stayed at a hotel for the rest

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of the week, but I still find myself thinking about

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that situation even four years later. A few weeks ago,

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I went on a trip where I'd rented out an

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Airbnb townhouse. I was staying in a small town that

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was near some trails I wanted to hike. I'd never

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been there before or really had any idea of the

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place I was staying. I just knew it was a

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relatively small town that was in a convenient area for me.

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The drive took nine hours total, so by the time

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I got to the airbnb it was getting late. It

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was on a street that had multiple other townhouses on it,

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but once I found it, I parked on the road

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and got my things up to the door. The place

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looked decent on the outside, definitely not very new or anything,

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but nothing that I wasn't already expecting. I texted the

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owner to let them know i'd made it, since I

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didn't see a pass code to the door anywhere in

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my emails. I waited for a couple minutes, just standing

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there and looking out at the street. Then I heard

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a door open nearby and a man walked around the

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corner with a smile on his face. He greeted me

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as the airbnb host, then let me into the place

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and said he'd be right next door if I needed anything.

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I wasn't expecting that, but he least left quickly and

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didn't make anything too weird. I set up my things

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in the bedroom and had a look around the house,

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and I went to bed soon after the Next day,

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I ate a quick breakfast, then drove out to a

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trail and hiked it for a good four hours. I

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got back to the townhouse at seven, but when I

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entered something felt different. Some of the things in my

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room were off, like they'd been moved slightly. Nothing that

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I know of was missing, but I don't know. I

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just had a feeling it had been tampered with. Aside

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from my unevidenced suspicions, though there really weren't any other

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things to actually prove someone had been inside while I

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was gone. After looking around for thirty minutes, I was

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more sure that this was me just being nervous about

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staying in an unfamiliar area. I forgot about it and

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heated up a frozen meal, then ate dinner on the

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caw ouch while watching YouTube on my phone. At eleven PM,

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I went to bed. This was a single story townhouse,

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so the bedroom was at the end of the main hallway,

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opposite of the front door. I was always used to

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sleeping upstairs, so it was a little hard to get

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comfortable As I laid in bed and tried to sleep.

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I kept falling asleep for a few minutes, then waking

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up and repeating this process. But then, maybe an hour

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into the night, I was laying there awake, waiting to

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go back to sleep, when I heard something from outside

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the room, a door softly creaking open from across the house.

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It sounded intentional, like they were trying to open it

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as quietly as possible. I sat up in my bed

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and looked at the door as I listened, but I

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didn't hear anything else. After a minute, I got and

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went to the bedroom door, cracking it open just enough

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to see through down the hallway. I could see the

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dim glow of the porch light lighting up the area

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where the front door was, indicating that the front door

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was partially open. I carefully and quietly closed my door

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and locked it, then moved to the back of the

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room and quietly called the police. In the middle of

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the phone call, I heard a creak right outside the

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bedroom door, and when I looked at the bottom, I

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could see the outline shadow of someone standing there. I

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immediately stopped talking, waiting for them to walk away, before

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continuing to report to the operator. Thankfully, nothing else seemed

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to happen as I waited for the officer to get there.

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They were gone by then, but everything showed that someone

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had been inside, including shoe prints all over the place,

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so there was no doubt even to the cops. But

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while I for some reason had my mind set on

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it being the airbnb host, they didn't find anything to

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support that other than the front door being open without

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any struggle. There's also not much to say on whether

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they had been inside the house while I was gone

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during the day. With nothing missing though, and them coming

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back only once I was there, I think their intentions

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had to do with me. It still haunts my thoughts

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wondering what could have happened and if they are out

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there still trying. Last New Year's me and my two

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best friends decided it would be fun to get together

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and rent out a house for the night. We weren't

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big on going to huge parties, but just enjoyed hanging

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out among our small group. Also, all of us lived

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in dorm rooms, so having a house to ourselves for

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once sounded like a great time, even without partying. My

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friend Jason rented out in airbnb on the outskirts of

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the town we were in. I carpooled with my other friend, Christian,

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and we met Jason there on New Year's Eve around noon.

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This place was more of a cabin than a normal house,

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being all wood and having the typical cabin features. There

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were other similar looking cabin houses around, but they all

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had a decent spacing between them, so it kind of

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felt like we were out there alone. The inside wasn't

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as great, but this was one of the cheaper places available,

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so none of us were expecting luxury. We spent the

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day just hanging out in the living room and talking,

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and around six Christian went out to the store to

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grab some snacks and drinks. During this time, Jason and

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I were still sitting in the living room when there

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was a knock at the door. We looked at each

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other in surprise, knowing it was really weird for anyone

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to be out here and knocking on the door to

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an Airbnb. I got up and looked out the people.

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Seeing some guy standing on the doorstep, I noticed the

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door had one of those metal latches on it, so

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I flipped it over and opened the door just enough

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to see them. I wouldn't usually enter the door to

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a random guy, but being in someone else's house, I

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wasn't sure if maybe it was the host or something.

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The guy looked at me, and I was instantly aware

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of his displeased look. He seemed angry about something, and

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it became more blunt when he opened his mouth. He

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told me, in a disrespectful and stubborn tone, that we

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needed to be quiet tonight and not disturb the entire neighborhood.

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The way he said it was almost threatening, and as

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if we'd already been making noise. But we hadn't even

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done anything loud, nor were we planning to, and all

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the houses were so far apart. Even if he was

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a neighbor. There's no possible way he'd hear anything unless

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we were lighting up fireworks or something. I really wasn't

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in the mood to argue, so I just said sure

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and closed the door in his face. But not even

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a second later, he banged on the door again. I ignored him,

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that time, making a face at Jason like this guy

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was crazy. We heard him leave after a moment, and

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when Christian got back, we told him about the encounter,

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and he almost didn't even believe us. The next three

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hours went by quick as we watched a movie and

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played some games on Jason's switch. Then, come almost midnight,

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we heard something outside. It sounded like someone dropping something

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on the ground, and a few seconds later, the piercing

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sound of glass shattering came from right outside the door.

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All of us stood up and ran to look out

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the window, seeing that same guy from earlier standing by

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Christian's car, which now had glass covering it from his

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shattered windshield. The guy was holding a metal baseball bat

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and looked like he was in some psychotic state, pacing

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around and just going crazy. Christian was pissed, going to

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the door and storming outside to confront him. Both Jason

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and I went to stop him, but before we even

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got to the doorway, a gunshot echoed through the cabin.

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I stopped in place, knowing what had likely happened, but

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it almost felt like a miracle when I saw Christian

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sprint back inside and lock the door behind him. A

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few more shots went off, hitting the side of the cabin,

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and followed by the man swinging the bat against the

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front door. Then, just as suddenly as it all started,

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the man just ran away. After an investigation, it was

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found that he wasn't even one of the neighbors of

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the airbnb. Nobody seems to know who he was, or

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where he lived, or even why he went absolutely insane.

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It was just an incredibly dangerous, unpredictable encounter that almost

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took our lives.