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Speaker 1: I own a janitorial business that specializes in cleaning office

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buildings for mid to large sized companies. Due to the

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nature of the job, we start our shifts at six

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pm on weekdays because most offices didn't want us inside

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during business hours while their employees were working. So on

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this day, I got to the scheduled office building at

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six point thirty, putting in the keypad passcode and getting

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all my equipment in, then locking the doors behind me.

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The building was only two stories, which was smaller than most,

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but both floors were really long and there was a

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smaller basement level. I started on the second story to

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work my way down. I went around, grabbing all the

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trash and getting anything off the floors that would get

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in my way. Then I tied up the bags and

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brought them out to the dumpsters at the back of

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the building to toss them. While I was out there, oh,

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I saw two parked cars. Neither of them were on

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But what was really odd about it was that this

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was the only nearby building, and supposedly nobody was supposed

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to be here right now. I just didn't know why

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they would be parked out in the back of the

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building or where they could even be if not in

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their cars. I went back inside and just double checked

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that all the doors were locked up, then continued with

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my work. Occasionally I checked out the windows to see

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if there were any changes with the cars out there,

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but it was the same. I finished up with the

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top floor and moved my way down to the first floor,

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doing the same process, but this time, when I went

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out to toss the trash in the dumpster, I noticed

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a single light was on in one of the cars.

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Almost as soon as I stepped out, though it turned off.

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This made me uneasy, so I quickly everything and went

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back in. Seeing that someone was actually in there made

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it a lot more odd. I tried to work faster,

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finishing the floor by eleven PM, which was much quicker

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than the previous. Then it was just the small basement

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level and I'd be done. I moved everything down and

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got to work. This level was mostly full of boxes.

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It was more of a storage warehouse area. While I

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was down there, I heard a thud at go through

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the building. It came from one of the floors above me,

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so I couldn't tell much of what the sound was

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or where on those floors it sounded from. I put

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down my things and started walking up the steps, but

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stopped halfway through when I heard voices coming down the

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upper hallway, two men talking back and forth at a

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regular volume, like they weren't even afraid of me being

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in here. I started to back down the stairs and

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moved behind some of the boxes, then dialed nine one one.

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Before I had a chance to say anything, though, footsteps

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began making their way down to the basement. I only

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saw the man's shadow on the wall before I completely

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hid myself behind the shelf of boxes. I heard him

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walk around a little bit, then yell upstairs to the

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other man, No, I don't see anyone. I think we're good.

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He walked up the steps and I peered out one

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more time, seeing his shadow again, but I could tell

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he was holding something small in his hand, which just

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made me even more scared than I already was. I

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reconnected with nine one one and explained what I could,

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then waited there for several minutes. During this time, I

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think the men were mostly on the top floor, but

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then they moved back to the first and suddenly one

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of them yelled, their van is still here. Both of

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their footsteps started rushing around, but not leaving they were

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looking for me. It was hard to control and quiet

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my breathing hearing them running throughout the building and moving

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things around right above me. Then heavy footsteps rushed down

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the basement stairs as one of them started tossing boxes

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around and looking everywhere. But the faintest sound of sirens

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approaching caught the other man's attention, who alerted the one

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in the basement, and both of them ran away. I

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stayed hidden until an officer came down to get me.

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It only took two hours for the two suspects to

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get caught. They declined to share why they'd broken in,

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but a few stolen items were found in their cars.

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It's safe to say they weren't the smartest, as they

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seemed to just guess whether I'd left, rather than just

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starting by looking for my van to see if I

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was there. Regardless, them not leaving after finding out I

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was inside was probably the scariest thing I'll ever experience,

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but thankfully I don't have to know what would have

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happened if they found me. I've been a police officer

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for my county for almost a decade. I've seen some

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crazy and disturbing things, sometimes making me question why I

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even chose this career path. But what happened on this

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night still sticks with me and is often the event

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that I think about the most. It was nearing the

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end of winter, but where I'm located it stays cold

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until about mid spring. This night, I was set to

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be on patrol of the major highway for most of

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my shift. On a typical night, I would probably stop

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two or three cars for speeding and otherwise wouldn't do

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much else. Sometimes a call for backup would come in,

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but usually patrol shifts were the most boring and uneventful.

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I was driving along the highway doing the usual circle

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until about two am, when I passed a car on

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the side of the road that wasn't there before. Its

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lights were off and it was far on the shoulder

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of the highway, so I didn't see it until I

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was already passing it. I turned off the next exit

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and made an entire circle, taking fifteen minutes before I

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got back to where I'd seen it. I was under

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the assumption it was just an abandoned, broken down vehicle

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that maybe I didn't notice before, so I wasn't in

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a rush. I pulled in behind it, parking about fifteen

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feet away and leaving my headlights on. I called into

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report that I was investigating a presumably empty vehicle on

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the southbound highway. Then I got out with my flashlight

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and walked up to the car. My first impression was

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of how old it was. It looked like something from

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the nineties and was rusted all over, along with deents

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and scratches. I walked up to the driver's side window

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and held my flashlight up. Nobody was inside, but as

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I shined it around, I happened to notice some really

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worrying signs. There was a pile of clothes in the

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back seat, looking like they belonged to a young woman,

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but the way they were scattered around just didn't look right.

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I moved around to the other side of the vehicle,

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but a faint sound from behind me caught my attention.

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I quickly turned and pointed my flashlight out into the

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woods surrounding the highway, and immediately the sound stopped, but

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I had heard enough to know that it was footsteps.

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Someone was walking out there, maybe even watching me. I

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yelled out, directing them to move into the light with

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their hands raised. A moment passed, then I yelled again,

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but it was silent. I felt my heart beating in

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my chest as I called in to update on the

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situation and get back up to come. I stood there,

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staring into the woods and honestly fearing for my life.

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If something had happened here, there would be reason for

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whoever was out there to try and stop me from

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finding out. I held up my firearm and moved further

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behind the car, still keeping an eye on the tree line,

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but not exposing my whole body. The next five minutes

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were brutally nerve wracking, but finally another officer pulled onto

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the scene, and right away I heard footsteps renting further

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into the woods. We immediately got to searching the vehicle,

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and it was clear that something was going on, but

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searching the woods in the middle of the night, while

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someone likely dangerous was out there was not a safe option.

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Along with indicators of violence, we found an empty AMMO package,

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so it's also likely that they had a firearm on them.

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Knowing someone was out there watching me the whole time,

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maybe even having me in the sights of their weapon,

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is one of the most unnerving feelings even to just

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think about. The following day, we were able to get

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more information and run a more thorough investigation, but the

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car was untraceable, and although some shoe prints were found

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in the woods, they faded out pretty quick without any direction.

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What really happened that night still remains an open case

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with no leads on suspects or victims, which now has

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just left me unable to stop thinking about it. I'm

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a twenty four year old male, and a few years

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ago I picked up a job at a local grocery store.

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I was doing community college and just wanted some money

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to help pay for food and going out with friends.

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After a couple months of working there, I started to

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get used to the regular customers that came in a lot.

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Most of them were nice or otherwise just average people,

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but this one guy always had something weird about him.

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He came in most nights around nine, which was an

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hour before closing, and would walk around the store for

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a long time before eventually getting one or two items

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and checking out. For how long he would spend walking

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around almost every night, it was really weird that he'd

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only end up with a couple things. He didn't never

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talk much, but I had assumed he was living on

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the streets or out of his car, and that would

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explain why he only got a few things. His clothes

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were never clean, and he just looked unkempt all around. Anyway,

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this went on for several weeks, if not months. I

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never thought too much on it after a while because

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it was such a normal part of work now. But

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then one night he came in as usual, but instead

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of walking around the store, he came right up to

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the register I was at. I asked if he needed

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help with anything, and the man just looked at me

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for a second before asking if I drove the old

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Toyota that was out in the parking lot. Immediately, I

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found it a bit weird that he would know that,

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but I said yes because I didn't see where this

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was going. I thought maybe there was something wrong with

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my car, but the man kept his straight face and

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walked away from the register. Obviously, this was really weird,

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so I asked my coworker to watch over the registers

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for a moment. Then I went to the front of

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the store and looked out into the parking lot. My

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car was right where I'd parked it and didn't seem

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to have anything wrong with it. I went back inside

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and to the register, thinking I would just ask the

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man when he came to check out, but he never did.

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I don't know when he left, but the store closed

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without him ever coming to the register like he usually would.

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That night, when I left, I checked all around my

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car and nothing seemed off. It left me just confused.

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The next day, I planned again to ask the man,

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but he didn't come in. For the next whole month,

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the man never showed up again. I was just left

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to wonder about why he asked about my car, seemingly

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out of nowhere and for no reason. Then on a

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Saturday night, I clocked out of work. As usual, this

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was the one night of the week where I'd be

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the only cashier, so at the end of the night

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I always left by myself. But when I began walking

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through the parking lot toward my car, I got this

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really strange feeling in my gut. Maybe I just remember

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it wrong, or maybe there really was some intuition about something,

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but I just felt that something was off. I walked

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quickly and got my car, glancing around the parking lot,

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it was pretty much empty and had nothing to give

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me reason to believe something was wrong. I turned my

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car on and just before I put it in drive,

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I heard the slightest sound from right behind me. Then

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out of the corner of my eye, I saw something

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move in the mirror that was facing my back seat.

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I left the car running as I said, sprinted out

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and stood a few spaces away from my car, looking

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back at the window of the back seat and seeing

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a figure moving around. I turned and ran for the store,

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going back in and calling the police. By the time

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they arrived, my car was empty. There were no signs

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of forced entry either, so they had to have some

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illegal key copy or I'd have to have left the

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doors unlocked by accident. I'm fairly certain it was the

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strange man from weeks ago, but I didn't know why

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if it was him, though, maybe he had been trying

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to get in for the entire month that I hadn't

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seen him and was waiting for me to forget to

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lock the doors. I do think that I locked them

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that night, but every once in a while I probably

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forget without even knowing, so I can't write it off completely. However,

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the man that was back there clearly wasn't trying to

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just rob the car, and even tried to stay hidden

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after I'd gotten in and turned it on. It's horrifying

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knowing that I was so close to having left that

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parking lot and driving away unknowingly with him in the

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back seat. And once we were gone, who knows what

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would have happened. They might have waited until I pulled

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into my house, or I might have never even gotten

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home that night.