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Speaker 1: Being a relatively young and shy person, I've started using

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dating apps to help me meet more people and hopefully

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find a lasting relationship. I struggle with putting myself out there,

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especially in public with people i've never met, so apps

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like Tinder are great for me to get comfortable talking

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with someone before actually meeting them in person. For reference,

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I'm a female in my early twenties and I've been

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using Tinder for a little over a year at the time.

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Most of my interactions up until this point had been fine,

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usually either ending up dating for a couple months or

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just becoming friends. All of the breakups had been mutual

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and had no hard feelings anyway. This began a couple

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months after my last relationship. I was talking to a

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guy who while referred to as Peter, for about two

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weeks on Tinder. From our back and forth texting, he

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seemed like a nice, somewhat shy person, but part of

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me like that because I was shy as well. Eventually,

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he finally asked me out on a date and we

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met up at a local restaurant later that week. Upon

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meeting him in person, nothing seemed off at first.

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Speaker 2: One of my.

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Speaker 1: Biggest fears is that they'll look nothing like they did

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in the pictures. But Peter didn't look any different, and

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he was just as soft spoken as he was over text.

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Our conversation at dinner that night was really awkward, though

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he barely spoke and kept looking around. Me, not being

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a big talker either, was trying really hard to get

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him to open up a bit, but he would give simple,

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one word answers.

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Speaker 2: At one point, he.

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Speaker 1: Even left the table, saying he forgot something in his

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car and didn't come back for almost fifteen minutes, leaving

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me there alone. So, of course, when dinner was done

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with I kindly told him that I didn't feel a

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great connection and didn't want to continue further in a

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relationship with him. He stood quietly and nodded, then walked

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to his car. I felt bad, but that's just how

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it was. I got my car and headed home that night.

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I thought about Peter a few times, feeling weird now

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that I didn't have anyone to text, but I sat

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down and turned on a movie to clear my mind.

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It was nearly eleven PM when I heard soft footsteps

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coming up to my front door and stopping. I muted

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the TV and turned to face the door, still sitting

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on the couch. I was tired, but I knew I

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had heard someone. Thirty seconds of anticipation went by before

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a few loud knocks banged on the door. It startled me,

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even though I was half expecting it. I got up

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and looked through the peepole, and to my surprise at

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the time, Peter was standing there.

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Speaker 2: I opened the door a crack and stuck my head out,

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what are you doing here, Peter.

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Speaker 1: Peter looked at me, then turned away for a moment

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looking around. This made me feel really uneasy, and I

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just shut the door and locked it, hoping he'd get

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the hint to leave my property. After a few seconds,

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I heard footsteps departing towards the driveway and a car

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turning on and leaving. I checked the window to make

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sure he was gone, then sat back on the couch.

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I think I was just too tired to realize in

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the shock of the moment, but it wasn't until I

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sat back down that I realized that I had never

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given Peter my address. A really bad feeling surged through

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my body, and I went to check the window again

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to be safe. I didn't necessarily feel in danger at

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this point, but just worried that Peter may have something

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wrong with him and had grown too attached to me.

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I went to bed not long after and slept well

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through the night. In the morning, I made coffee and breakfast,

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and due to the cold, snowy weather, I stayed inside

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most of the day. It wasn't until I was bringing

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the trash out to the that I noticed a set

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of footprints around the side of the house. Following them,

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they went around both sides of the house and right

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up to the gate to the backyard, then off to

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the road. I tried to rethink what happened last night,

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but I was sure I heard Peter only walk up

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to the door and not around the house, so these

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footprints had to have been from the middle of the

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night while I was sleeping. Standing in my living room now,

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I was getting extremely uncomfortable and nervous. I know it

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sounds dumb, but my social anxiety was really trying to

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look for every reason not to call nine one one

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at that time. Though, I'm very thankful that my panic

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overtook my anxiety and got me to call the police.

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This decision is very likely what saved my life. Holding

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my phone after talking to a dispatcher. I stared at

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the ground and took deep breaths to keep my head straight.

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I'd never dealt with something like this. My mind wasn't

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prepared to handle the stress. But as I stood there

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trying to calm my head, I heard footsteps in the

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snow outside the living room window. I'm not sure what

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else to describe how I felt, other than just completely scared.

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The footsteps stopped outside the window, and I began to

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back up, slowly, trying to get to the kitchen. Then

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came a slight scraping sound, likely a knife being wedged

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between the window trying to.

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Speaker 2: Pry it open.

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Speaker 1: It was an unfortunate reaction of mine to scream from

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the terror of it. Immediately the footsteps ran around to

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the side of the house, followed by the forceful sound

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of the gate breaking open. I grabbed the first knife

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I saw in the kitchen and sprinted upstairs, turning the corner.

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Though I saw a glimpse of Peter outside the glass

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back door, trying to force it open. I locked myself

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in the bathroom, crying and clutching onto the kitchen knife

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as I listened to the harsh banging scraping.

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Speaker 2: And beating on the back door.

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Speaker 1: It sounded like a bear trying to claw and smash

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its way inside. This went on for maybe two or

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three minutes.

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Speaker 2: Which felt like forever.

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Speaker 1: I thought of all the horrible things he planned on

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doing when he made his way inside, making me even

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more emotional. But then a knock at the front door.

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Overcame the sound of the banging at the back door,

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which immediately stopped. An officer called out and I ran

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straight to the front door. While Peter had run off.

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They were able to find him pretty quickly, and he

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admitted to his crimes, though he gave little reasoning.

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Speaker 2: For doing them.

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Speaker 1: He truly just seemed crazy and unstable. It's terrifying to

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think how this happened from seemingly meeting up with a normal,

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friendly guy. This whole thing has given me terrible trust issues,

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and I stopped using dating apps. One of the scariest

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things was that the back door was almost completely destroyed,

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barely hanging on.

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Speaker 2: By the latch.

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Speaker 1: Likely, if the police had shown up just minutes later,

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Peter would have made it inside, and who knows what

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he would have done if he had gotten to me.

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I broke things off of my ex a few years ago.

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He became a reckless person, unable to hold a job

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or any responsibilities.

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Speaker 2: So it just didn't work out.

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Speaker 1: Even being the person he was, though, I never thought

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he would do.

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Speaker 2: Something like this. The few months after.

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Speaker 1: The breakup were quiet and peaceful. I was enjoying my

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single life, just going.

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Speaker 2: Through the days.

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Speaker 1: One night, though, I was driving back home from work

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later than usual, and as I pulled into the driveway,

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I saw a man wearing all black standing outside a

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window on the left side of my house as if

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they were trying to look inside. This was obviously really creepy,

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and I pulled back out of the driveway and parked

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further down the road, calling the police.

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Speaker 2: I waited for them to show.

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Speaker 1: Up, then, once they informed me that whoever it was

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had left, I was able to go inside. They asked

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if I had any idea who it could have been,

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but at the time I said no. Again, I never

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thought of my ex as that kind of person, and

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there was nobody else I thought it could be. The

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next week went by without any problems as well, though

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I made sure all the windows were locked every night.

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One morning, though, I woke up to the sound of

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movement outside my bedroom window. It sounded like an animal

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moving around in a bush, though my immediate thought was

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of that man I'd seen peering through the windows last week.

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I jumped out of bed and put some clothes on.

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The blinds were covering the windows, so I knew nobody

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could see anything, but now I felt the need to

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see for myself if somebody was there or not.

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Speaker 2: I didn't want to call.

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Speaker 1: The police again just because a squirrel was hanging out

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in a bush, so I pulled the blinds open.

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Speaker 2: Nothing. I leaned my head closer to.

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Speaker 1: The window so I could see down the side of

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the house, and still nobody was there. I sighed immediately,

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feeling safer, and continued about my morning as usual, then

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went off to work, getting home rather late again. I

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was exhausted and cooked up a small dinner, then watched

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a bit of TV before deciding to go to bed early.

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I got up and walked down the hallway toward my bedroom,

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but in the corner of my eye I saw something horrifying.

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The window was open, just a small crack at the bottom,

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but I knew I had kept it locked, so either

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way someone had broken it. I walked over and looked

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at it from up close, then pushed it shut. The

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latch that was used to lock it was gone, as

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if it had been ripped away. I felt trapped and scared,

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like I wasn't even in my own home anymore. I

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knew I had to call the police, but I began

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to fear, making noise as the possibility of someone being

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in my house became more prevalent in my mind. I

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was just standing there for I don't know how long,

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listening to the silence of the house, before the sharp,

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sudden sound of my phone beeping made me shiver. I

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pulled it out of my pocket quickly, and immediately my

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stomach dropped. It was a text for my ex asking

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how I was doing. I stared at it, just in

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shock and trying to piece it together.

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Speaker 2: In my mind.

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Speaker 1: Was this just a huge coincidence or was it not

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a coincidence at all? Was he watching me right now?

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Fear was taking over my body. I looked around frantically,

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shoving myself in a corner of the room so nobody

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could sneak up behind me. Then another text came in.

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Speaker 2: He said, we need to talk.

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Speaker 1: I was trying to hold in my tears as I

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turned my phone on silent. I started making my way

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slowly to the front door. As I approached, I turned

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the knob and tried to open it quietly, though it

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made a rather loud creak. Immediately, a loud thump came

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from behind the door to my bedroom. I threw the

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front door open and sprinted outside and down the road.

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I hit on the side of a neighbor's house and

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called the police. They actually made it pretty quickly, and

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I walked over to my driveway when they arrived. After

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two officers went in, they came out a minute later,

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holding my ex and dragging him into their car. He

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was pleading, saying he just wanted to talk to me

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and that he knew what he was doing was wrong,

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but he wasn't going to do anything other than talk

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to me. Unsurprisingly, though, he had a knife shoved in

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his pocket.

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Speaker 2: That was hopefully the.

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Speaker 1: Last time I'll ever see or hear from him again. Obviously,

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I don't believe that he just wanted to talk, but

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that was the story he stuck with, so I'll never

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know what he was actually trying to do.

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Speaker 2: But him waiting in my bedroom.

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Speaker 1: Like that with a knife, I know I was lucky

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to get out as safely as I did. A lot

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of people have ex boyfriend or girlfriend's stories, but mine

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was actually just a friend. I'm going to call him

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Brian to keep everything private. We had met my junior

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year of high school through a mutual friend and had

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become pretty close relatively fast. We didn't go to the

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same school, as he lived about a half hour away

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from me, but we hung out every weekend, got food,

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drove around and just talked. Sometimes we'd go to concerts

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and parties together too. I'd say we were each other's

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best friend for a really long time. He's always been

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a bit weird, though. He'd text me all the time,

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and I mean sometimes six or seven times in a

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row if I didn't respond quick enough. But I knew

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he had a lot going on in life, or so

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I thought. Me and the mutual friend who introduced us

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while call Holly, were talking one night, and she said

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she thought he might have been lying about some pretty

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serious stuff.

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Speaker 2: He had told both of.

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Speaker 1: Us when we first met that his sister had cancer,

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but when him and Holly hung out and it was

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brought up, his story was different. When Holly told me this,

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we decided to look through his mom's Facebook, who I

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just recently added, and she posts basically everything. We couldn't

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find anything and something that big definitely would have been posted.

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I've never met his sister since we never really hung

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out at his house, but I didn't find that weird

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because I didn't want anyone at my house either. While

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talking about this, we both shared other things that seemed

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a bit off to us, such as him saying that

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he might have cancer, or that he was in the

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hospital for a very serious reason but then would be

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completely fine just a few hours later. After going through

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everything with each other, we couldn't believe how much of

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a liar he was. I felt heartbroken that someone I

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called my best friend would lie about such awful things.

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We agreed to talk to him about it, and afterwards

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distance ourselves from him. I wanted to talk in person

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about Holly had texted him first, and that's when I

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was bombarded with messages. It all started with him saying

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he had a seizure, which after everything, I obviously didn't

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really believe him. He called me so many times while I.

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Speaker 2: Was at work it got to be too much.

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Speaker 1: I decided to call Holly and see what was happening,

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and when I did, she said he also went crazy

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on her. She ended up blocking his number.

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Speaker 2: Because it got so bad.

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Speaker 1: I didn't want to just ghost him, but this behavior

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was honestly disturbing. I decided to text him that I

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didn't want to be friends with someone who lies, especially

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about such sensitive stuff. After that, I didn't text him anymore.

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I didn't block him, though, I'm not sure why, but

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I just couldn't do it. I muted his notifications and calls,

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and that was that. A few more days went by

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of more muted calls and texts, until my dad called me.

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He sounded really worried, asking if I was okay. I

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said yeah, calmly, asking why. He said that Brian called

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him and was asking about me, and apparently Brian told

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him that some pretty serious stuff.

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Speaker 2: Happened to me.

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Speaker 1: I told him to block his number and don't answer

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him anymore after explaining everything. It's even weirder because I

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don't know how how he got my dad's number. Not

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long after that, my brother also told me that Brian

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messaged him on Instagram saying he was going to hurt

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himself if I didn't answer him. He also texted one

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of my best friends all the same thing to make

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everything so much worse. He said he was going to

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end himself the same way that my oldest brother had done,

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and he knew that that was the last straw for me,

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and I decided to text him one more time all

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of my thoughts and feelings, and then I immediately blocked

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him after it was delivered, I thought that was the end,

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and for months it was until one day while I

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was working, I saw him walk in through the front doors.

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My department was in the back of the store, so

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I could see everything. I slipped in the back and

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told my manager. If anyone should ask, say that I

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do not work there anymore. Lo and behold, he did

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actually ask my manager I was there. I had to

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be escorted out by a coworker the rest of the week,

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just to make sure he wasn't waiting in the parking

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lot when I got out of work.

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Speaker 2: There was one night about a month later where.

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Speaker 1: His car was parked on the side of the street

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by my house. When I got home from work, no

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one else was home, so I went to a friend's

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house for a few hours to be safe. I didn't

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think he would actually hurt me. I just didn't want

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to talk to him though. While I didn't think he

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would hurt me, I also felt like I didn't really

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know who he truly was, which was scary. After that incident,

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I called his mother and told her everything. I didn't

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want him to stop by my house or my work anymore,

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and I didn't want to get the police involved. I

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loved his family, which made the situation really difficult. To

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this day, he makes fake accounts on sites to try

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and talk to me or requests to follow me. It

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happens maybe twice a year. I know he's not mentally there,

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and I truly wish that he'd heal, but I want

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to share my story and let others know that your

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friends can be just as toxic as any intimate partner

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can be, and when people show you their true colors,

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try not to make excuses for them. Do what's best

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for you and your mental health, and make sure to

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keep yourself safe