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Speaker 1: I was using Craigslist as a means of selling some

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of my old, unused things I had stashed away in

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my house. I had plans to move out in the

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next few months, so I was just trying to organize

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what I needed from what I didn't need. And that's

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when I found my old motor tools. They were high

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quality and still functional, but I had gotten battery powered

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ones to replace them not long ago. With no use

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for them anymore, I took a couple pictures and posted

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them up on Craigslist. I had listed a power drill

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driver and matching tool set for eighty dollars. Considering they

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weren't that old and still fully functional, this was a

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really good deal. It didn't take long to give responses.

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In just an hour, I got two replies to my post.

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One of them emailed me asking if fifty dollars would

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be okay, but I politely declined. The other reply stated

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that they were very interested and wanted to buy them

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that same night for the listed price. I agreed and

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said I was available at five if he wanted to

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swing by and pick them up. I never let anyone

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into my house when selling things. I'd always just bring

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the stuff out to my driveway and talk to them there.

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It was a well trafficked neighborhood street, so I wasn't

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worried about anyone attempting something out in the open, as

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I usually did. I was going to stand out in

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the driveway with the items a bit before five and

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wait for them so that I could make the transaction

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as quick as possible. But just past four thirty there

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was a knock at the door. I looked out, seeing

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a man standing there with his red car parked in

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the driveway. I opened the door a crack, asking who

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he was. The man said he was here to buy

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the tools that were on Craigslist and admitted to being early.

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I told him to hold on for a minute and

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to just wait in his car, as I I wasn't

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expecting him yet. He hesitated, making the interaction more awkward

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than it should have been, but then he turned around.

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Once he walked away, I got all the tools together

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and met him at the top of the driveway. I

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hadn't outlet outside for him to test the tools with,

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and he seemed satisfied with them. About twenty he said,

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while holding the drill. The deal was eighty I could

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do a little lower, but twenties too low, I said nicely,

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though I was slightly annoyed because he had already agreed

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to pay eighty dollars for them, and twenty dollars was

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just a total ripoff. He put the drill down, and

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without even looking at me, he walked back to his

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car and drove away. I was confused and upset, feeling

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like I'd been played and just had wasted my time.

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I got the tools back inside and just went on

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with my night, trying not to let myself get too

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upset about it. Really, it was just a small inconvenience,

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at least that's what I thought. A couple hours later,

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I walked by the front windows, and out of the

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corner of my eye I saw that same red car.

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It was parked just down the road, three houses away

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from mine. I looked closely, trying to be sure that

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it was that same man, but nobody was inside it.

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It was an empty parked car, so I had no

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way of knowing for sure. I convinced myself it was

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just a coincidence, and carried on. Another hour would go by.

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I was just going on with my night, making food

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and watching TV. But then someone knocked on my door.

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I was a little shaken, but chose to ignore it

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and hope that whoever it was would go away. Obviously,

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the man from earlier was my first thought. Only thirty

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seconds passed before they knocked again. Hey it's me. I

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decided I'll take the tools I brought the money. He

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yelled from the other side of the door. I didn't

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believe him at all. It all came together in my

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mind that that car that I'd seen an hour ago

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was his, meaning that he'd been stalking my house all night.

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I didn't respond, and instead called the police, informing them

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of the man's name in the car he had. The

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man called out several more times, saying he wanted to

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buy the tools, but then it went silent for a minute.

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I was still standing by my couch, looking toward the

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front door. Another minute passed. I wasn't sure what to do.

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The police were already on their way and would be

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here any minute, so I felt safe enough to be

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able to check out the windows. I quietly walked over

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to the window that was beside the door, but then

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suddenly I heard something hit the s side of the

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house with great force. The sound was followed by leaves rustling,

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and footsteps running away. I looked out the window and

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saw the guy running with a limp down to his car.

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The police turned in at the perfect time, though, stopping

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him halfway. It surprised me to hear that the man

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admitted to a lot. He said he planned on robbing me,

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but I wouldn't let him into the house, which complicated

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things for him. Additionally, he tried climbing the tree on

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the side of my house and jumping onto the roof,

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but he missed, hitting the side and falling on his leg.

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The thing is, though he was armed with a knife,

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and the roof he tried to jump on was just

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under my second story window, which after checking, was unlocked,

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so if he had made the jump, he actually would

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have gotten inside. He claimed it was just an attempted robbery,

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but claims are just that. I stopped using Craigslist, and

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even to this day, I lock every single window in

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my house, even the ones that I think are unreachable.

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I used Gregslist many years ago to find a room

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for rent. I was looking for a house to stay

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at and be able to split rent with a roommate

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or roommates. It took maybe a week to find a

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place that was suitable for me, and several phone calls

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with the owner before I was ready to move in.

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The owner, who was to be my roommate, seemed like

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a really normal, nice guy who was similar in age

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as me. He told me all about the place and

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what to expect, and I also felt like we connected well,

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with everything seeming perfect, I was getting really excited. I

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didn't have much to move, so I packed it all

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up and stuffed it in the trunk of my car,

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and in just a few days, I drove out thirty

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minutes to my soon to be home. It was located

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outside of the main town and in more of a

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woodsy terrain. It had a long driveway leading far from

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the road pulling in. Though it was not as I'd expected.

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It was a very old wooden home. I knew it

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was passed down from his parents, but this place looked

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to be at least one hundred years old. The pictures

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of the inside that I'd seen on Craigslist looked to

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be fairly modern, so I assumed they had to have

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done some pretty big renovations. I left everything in my

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car as I went up to the door and knocked Aaron,

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the owner, came and showed me around. While the outside

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was not so impressive, the inside was the opposite, very

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well maintained, clean, and definitely had been renovated not long ago.

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I was really happy with everything and moved my things

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in that night. Several days went by with no issues.

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It didn't even feel like I'd found this place on Craigslist.

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It felt like I was just living with a friend.

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Aaron worked in town, though, so he was gone most

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of the time, and I worked from home, so I

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got to have the whole house myself. Well not the

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whole house. There was one door that was always locked.

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It wasn't any of my business, and I knew that,

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so I never brought it up with Aarin, but it

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still got me wondering. It was almost definitely the basement door.

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But this was odd because he said the house was

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a one story home, not mentioning anything about having a basement.

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Another couple of days went by before something happened. Aaron

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brought home some fast food for dinner and then went

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to bed early because he had worked the next day.

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I stayed up a while longer and did the same

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laying in bed, though I had trouble falling asleep. There

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wasn't any reason for this. It was just one of

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those nights. But after a while I heard Aaron's bedroom

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door open. I was listening because there was nothing else

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to do, but no sounds came. I waited a whole

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two or three minutes before he started walking slowly down

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the hall towards my door. Just as he was passing

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though he stopped, I heard the floorboards creak, followed by

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the door thump softly, as if he was pressing up

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against it. He stayed there behind the door for a while,

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I don't even know how long, but then he walked away,

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not back toward his room, but the other way, toward

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the main hallway. Then a door opened and closed. I

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didn't know what to think. It was really weird and creepy,

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but also I'd known Erin for a while now and

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didn't see him as a weird person. But what was

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he doing and where did he go? I stayed awake

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as long as I could, waiting to hear him come back,

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but he never did. Over the next few nights, I

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noticed the pattern. Every time I would go to bed,

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about thirty minutes later, Erin would open his door, stand

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still for a minute, then walk to my door, stand

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still again, then leave and go into the locked door.

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He never slept in his room. He always slept somewhere

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behind the weird locked door. What made it so creepy

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was that he was trying so hard to keep a

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secret from me. I decided one night that I was

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going to figure this all out, because I was beginning

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to feel unsafe. I went to bed and waited for

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Aaron to do his usual routine. He opened his bedroom

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door and walked over to mine. Then as soon as

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I heard him unlock and open the other door, I

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got up and quickly went into the hallway, catching him

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standing by the open door. He looked back at me,

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clearly startled. Hey, is everything okay, Erin, I asked. He

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just stared at me, eyes still open wide from the

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scare I gave him. Why do you keep going to

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that door every night? I broke the silence, getting impatient.

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We were standing on opposite sides of the long, dark hallway,

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but I could sense that something was wrong with him.

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We stared at each other still, and I took a

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step closer Erin. As soon as I spoke his name,

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he ran around the corner and straight to the back door,

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opening it and continuing to run for the trees. I

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looked out the back door, seeing him disappear into the

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dark woods. I was shaking, horrified at what just happened.

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I have no words to describe the unknown thoughts running

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through my head. I closed the back door, then grabbed

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a knife from the kitchen and walked over to the

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door Aaron had opened. It was in fact a basement,

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but there was no light switch, and it clearly had

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not been renovated. Like the rest of the house. The

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walls were old, decaying wood. I debated whether or not

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to go down. I was so intrigued and curious, but

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terrified as well. The longer I stood there, the more

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afraid I became. I turned and ran back to my room,

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packed everything I could into two suitcases, stuffed them in

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my car, and drove away, never looking back. I never

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talked to Erin again, and he never tried to contact

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me either. I didn't know what was going on with

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him or what he was doing in that house, but

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I didn't want to be involved. After a while, I

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forgot about it, But almost five years later I found

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myself wondering about it again. I looked up the house

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online and found some strange things. It had been torn

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down years ago. There was an article from five years ago,

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just a few months after I left, stating that the

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house was abandoned. To me, this meant that when Aaron

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ran away that night, he never came back. I kept

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reading and it stated that the house was torn down

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due to what they described as criminal findings. It didn't

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go into any more detail about what those criminal findings were.

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This really had me shaken up for a few weeks.

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Things like this probably wouldn't happen nowadays, but you can

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never be too careful. I'm a twenty five year old

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male and this happened to me three years ago. I

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had just signed a lease for a small house in

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the town I lived in. Having been living in an

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apartment for a few years, I didn't have a lot

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of furniture or large house decorations to fill the space

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in my rental. While I had a decent sized couch

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and TV stand, I only had a mini TV that

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I wanted to put up in my bedroom since it

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was so small. Not having a ton of money to

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work with though, I took to Craigslist to find a

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larger TV for the living room. I found a few

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nice flat screen TVs listed on the site. They were

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all over my budget, though, and honestly a lot nicer

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than I actually needed. I just wanted a large TV

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to fill the space in my living room. I didn't

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actually care about the quality of the picture on the

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TV anyway. I finally found one that seemed to work

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with what I needed. It was cheap, large, and was

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said to be in working condition. It was an old

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flat screen TV from probably ten years ago. Compared to today,

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they aren't even considered flat screens anymore, as they're usually

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three to four inches thick and really heavy. I sent

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the owner an email and continued with my search, finding

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nothing else worth looking into. I just hoped for the

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best with that one TV. It wasn't until the following

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morning that I received a response to my email. The

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owner introduced himself as Mitch and said he'd love to

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show me the TV whenever I was available. I don't

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know if I just read it in a weird way

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or what, but he seemed to be over the top

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excited about this. It made me a little uncomfortable, but

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I just figured it was a happy, old man or

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something I said I could do any day this week

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after I got off work at six, and Mitch said

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tomorrow at six thirty would be perfect for him, leaving

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his address at the bottom of the email, along with

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a Google Calendar invite to an event labeled as Craigslist TV.

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I accepted it, though I wasn't really sure what the

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purpose of it was, and it was definitely not a

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normal thing people do, but it didn't affect me in

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any way. I got my truck emptied out, and the

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next day I went to work, then went straight to

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his address afterwards. It was dark out by now, and

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when I pulled it to his driveway, I saw all

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the lights were on Inside. I checked one last time

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to make sure I had all the cash on hand,

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then got out of my truck and went to the

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front door. Walking up, I could see that the front

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door was partially open. There was no screen door or anything,

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just one main door. Thinking it was left open for me,

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I leaned over and peeked inside, but didn't see anyone,

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so I rang the doorbell. Right when the bell rang,

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I heard something drop on the far end of the house.

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Then it went quiet. There was something about that noise

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that made me start getting nervous. After a moment, I

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decided I had a bad feeling about this and was

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just going to leave. But then footsteps came from behind

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the door, which then opened slightly wider, revealing a man

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needs something. He said, half his body still behind the door.

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Oh uh, yeah, I was here to look at your TV.

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We scheduled verse six thirty today. The man looked at

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me for a second. All right, he opened the door

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completely and let me inside. I will say at that moment,

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I knew something was wrong. He wasn't acting at all

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like he was in the emails. I expected a happy

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old man, not a large, grumpy, middle aged dude. But

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I was already inside by the time all the alarms

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were going off of my head head. The TV was

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in the room right next to the door, so he

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stood there while I looked at it. Yeah, this looks good.

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I'll take it, I said, not even knowing if it

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worked or not, but I wanted to get this over

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with quickly. I held out the money. He looked at

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it for a moment, then back at me. He reached

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out and took it, then shoved it in his pocket

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and without giving me any time to react. He grabbed

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me by the shoulder and shoved me back towards the door,

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yelling at me to leave. I didn't argue, sprinted out

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to my truck and drove away. Not long after, I

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pulled to the side and called the police to let

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them know I'd been robbed. The whole time, I was

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just thinking about how stupid they were meeting me at

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their own house, robbing me and letting me go, knowing

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that I knew where they lived. But when the police

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got to the house and called me back, I was

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in complete shock hearing what they told me. Over that week,

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though things became more clear. The man I met at

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the house was not Mitch. Mitch, the owner of the house,

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was found unconscious in the kitchen. Thankfully he survived, though

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he had some pretty bad injuries. The man I met

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at the door was another customer Mitch was meeting from

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Craigslist to pick up some kitchen where he was also selling.

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He ended up beating him, robbing Mitch, likely just minutes

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before I showed up. What's even crazier is that Mitch

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had sent that man a Google calendar invite as well,

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and the man accepted it. Probably unknowing that it showed

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his email, which just so happened to be his first

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and last name. He was caught within a few days.

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During this whole case, I got to actually meet Mitch,

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and he was indeed a happy old man, even despite

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what happened to him,