I (24m) work at a gas station convenience store about a mile and a half away from my place. Due to unfortunate circumstances, my car got wrecked, so I’ve had to walk to/from work for the past month or so. Until about two weeks ago, I found this walk actually very peaceful. I get off work at 11 pm, so the roads are usually clear of traffic. I’ve started dreading these walks lately.
As I said, this started roughly two weeks ago. I closed the store and started my walk home like any other evening. Some context about my walk. The walk home starts off on the main road, then I have to turn off and walk down a very large winding hill that has a total of one streetlight on the whole thing. So most of the hill is in the complete darkness, surrounded by trees and some driveways that lead to houses further in. I usually use my phone’s flashlight for most of it.
I had been walking down this hill for about 3 minutes before I noticed a weird noise coming from the direction of one of the driveways. It was a deep, almost metallic(?) moaning sound. That’s the best way I can describe it. I didn’t think too much of it, so I kept walking.
I hardly made it 20 yards away before I heard a man call out from behind me.
I couldn’t make out what was said, but I nearly leaped out of my skin since I was not used to seeing anybody on this walk, let alone being called out to. I spun around and saw a person back around where I just was.
“Can I help you?” I asked, already on edge. The man probably noticed annoyance in my tone because he quickly apologized and asked me if I wanted a ride down the hill. I usually am happy to accept rides when I get the chance, but this was different. Usually, cars stop while they’re already driving and offer. This guy was just standing there with no car in sight. I thanked him but told him it wouldn’t be necessary.
This man insisted, then started walking towards me, trying to make friendly small talk. He was asking where I was walking and why I was out so late. I firmly told him that I was not interested and told him to have a good night. No response. He just stopped, stared at me blankly, turned around, and walked back where he came down one of those long driveways.
This definitely spooked me, so I made sure to pick up my pace for the rest of my walk, constantly looking over my shoulder. Nothing else happened this night.
Fast forward to my next closing shift a week later. I had almost forgotten about my strange encounter until I started my walk home. I started getting nervous about the hill but decided to just keep my flashlight off to avoid being super noticeable.
I got to about the same spot as before when I heard that same goddamn moaning noise. I could have sworn it was even louder this night. My heart began to race, as I paused momentarily to decide my next course of action. Do I keep walking normally? Do I run? Should I check my surroundings with the flashlight? I talked myself down, thinking that there was no way the noise was something to be afraid of. I actually felt kind of ridiculous for being so scared over a weird sound. I decided to keep walking forward but to stay focused for any other noises around me.
I was nearing the next winding corner when I heard that same metallic moaning, only MUCH louder this time. My blood ran cold at this point, and I looked all around me. I couldn’t see anybody/anything near me, but it was so dark that I couldn’t see much to begin with. I decided to run with the flashlight on at that point. A wave of relief hit me when I saw headlights of a car coming up the hill. Feeling much braver now, I looked behind me. Nobody was there.
The car kept driving, went around the corner that I had just come down and drove out of sight. About 5 seconds later, I heard the screeching of tires, followed by that… Same. Fucking. Sound. This sounds crazy, but that sound was so deeply terrifying. I genuinely was almost in tears as I kept running down the hill. I didn’t know what was happening.
This next part still makes my skin crawl. I got to the one streetlight on the whole stretch of hill, stopped, and noticed the silhouette of a person walking up the hill towards me. No way. It couldn’t be.
Yep. It was that same fucking guy from last week. I couldn’t even say anything, I was beyond scared now. For some reason, I just watched him come up closer and closer. My heart was in my throat as he got about 10 feet away from me.
He looked me in the eyes, and with a blank face said, “… bet you’re wishing you had that ride now.”
I tried to speak. I tried to ask him if this was just some sick fucking joke. I couldn’t. He just kept walking. He eventually walked past me, and I kept my eyes on him until I lost sight of him.
My whole body was shaking as I slowly started walking down again, stopping to check behind me every three seconds. I began to run again after I gained some wits back. I got to the bottom of the hill and thanked everything I could think of that I was almost home. I walked the rest of the way until I was on my street. I saw that a different car was parked in front of my house.
Now, I swear to you that this was 100% the car that was going up the hill before I heard the noise for the last time. Before I could even fully process everything, the car started up and drove off.
I can’t shake the feeling that I’m the target for some fucked up game. Is this the same guy? Does he have like-minded sicko friends who prey on people at night? How do they know where I live? What exactly was that weird dreadful noise I kept hearing?
I told my roommate about this, and he’s just as freaked out as me. He’s mostly concerned at the fact that we may have a potential stalker. Who knows what’ll happen if they see me walking down that hill again. Just the thought freaks me the hell out.
I work the closing shift again in two days and I’m definitely getting an Uber from here on. I haven’t seen that sketchy car since, but I’ll post an update if there are any other occurrences. Stay safe out there.