He didn’t do or say anything strange though, and generally seemed like a nice guy.
The complex was managed by the owners son and right from the get-go he seemed off to me.
Nothing that I could articulate, but I felt uncomfortable around him.
Unsplash / Simon Migaj
Well one day I grab the local paper and on the front page is this guys face.
Edit: I found an article about it.
I misremembered some details.
Unsplash / Simon Migaj
And he died in a shoot out with police, not from suicide.
When I was in my early 20s my roommate brought home a new guy she was dating.
He had these crazy eyes and just seemed bizarre.
He ended up drinking a bottle of Jaegermeister and passed out.
She dated him for around 6 months.
I moved out shortly after she split with him.
Several years later he was in the news.
His name was Larry Bright.
He is a serial killer in Illinois.
I gave birth in November to a baby girl who had a very rare neurological disorder.
(I have a healthy son.)
So I tried to put my worries to bed.
We had a completely normal pregnancy, totally normal tests.
No indication of trouble.
Then she was born.
There was no there there behind her eyes.
We were still in the delivery room.
There were pictures taken and in every one, I look…wary.
There were immediate problems.
She didnt latch, she had no reflexes, etc.
I shoved all my worries down.
She was born a few weeks early.
Everyone kept saying, Bottle feed her and shell perk up once she gets closer to her due date.
Every nurse, every doctor, every lactation consultant.
We were released from the hospital with a healthy baby.
Nope, nope, nope.
A week later, we were back in the NICU because she was still lethargic.
It turns out she was basically braindead the entire time.
I didnt want to know.
I knew the moment I looked in her eyes.
I was at a party once at an apartment complex thats known for its sketchy tenants.
I only knew a few people there so I just stuck with one of my friends.
By 11pm Sally was fuuucked up.
My friend and I leave to go get beer and come back an hour later.
Sally is on the floor in the back room convulsing and foaming at the mouth.
While walking back to my friends apartment I called 911 cause I KNEW something was seriously wrong with her.
The EMTs show up and take her to the hospital.
She suspects her friends but isnt sure.
Im positive it was them.
Six months later a news article is posted.
One of the sketchy guys was arrested for running a child trafficking business from a nearby hotel.
So basically the second I saw these dudes show up with my acquaintance Sally I KNEW something was fishy.
And I was right.
Those guys were shitty people.
My sister-in-law was a high level exec in a company.
She introduced me to her boss, the CEO.
At that moment I knew they were having an affair.
Nothing outward, strictly intuition.
She was married to my wifes brother, and when I told my wife she said I was nuts.
Within months we learned I was right, she divorced, and went on to marry her boss.
Nice looking white guy, very upper middle class with a tweed jacket and posh accent.
Good manners, winning smile.
My stomach did a flip and I said no and shut the door in his face very abruptly.
Apparently she had been in a hospital for a few days.
Im guessing I subconsciously picked up on some non-verbal cue from when I saw them together.
Years ago I was in another state due to a family member being hospitalized.
He thanked me and went on his way.
This guy was a kindergarten teacher at my school.
He was close with a lot of parents (and therefore their kids) outside of the classroom.
This might sound a bit odd, but its not where Im from.
Despite all this, this guy made me sick just looking at him.
I never could really figure out why I felt like this.
Anyway, eventually he moved away with his wife, much to everyones dismay.
It was really horrible for my whole community.
Im glad I felt off about him though and stayed away.
My sister had a boyfriend 10 years older than her.
Age doesnt matter as much when youre adults, right?
They werent dating long, but she intentionally got pregnant 6 months into the relationship.
He didnt do or say anything strange though, and generally seemed like a nice guy.
I stayed at my sisters place for a few days, then went home in the next province over.
He literally tried to cheat on my sister with me.
He tried to cheat on my sister who was 6 months pregnant!
After some issues, my sister is now a single mother.
Id actually brought this up with some closer (male) friends and they seemed to agree.
If you asked me to saywhyI really cant even explain it.
She was poisoning her kid and the doctors caught on I guess.
Luckily the kid lived and is with the Father who by all measures is a decent guy.
So, playing designated driver.
What the green light means.
How to operate the long vertical pedal, etc.
Would have T-boned me 100%.
So while I was in welding school there was an older fella around 50ish.
As the semester went on all of us students would talk and visit.
Except this one guy.
Every morning I would be like, hey man hows it going?
And hed always ignore any attempts to be social.
Eventually I joked to one of my buddies about how he might be a serial killer or something.
Come to find out he had a woman he kidnapped living in a tiny ply wood box.
Eventually the police found him but not before he killed her older son.
Neighbors have 2 kids… they were 6 yr old girl and 4 yr old boy at the time.
The wifes brother took care of the kids whole both parents worked.
The husband comes home one day yo find him performing oral sex on the little girl.
Husband beats his ass out into the yard and is arrested.
Hes still in jail a few years later, but I still wont let my kid into their house.
It always felt a little off but she always had the benefit of plausible deniability on her side.
The police were called and the man was escorted off to jail.
which was quite possible.
Turns out she was a pathological liar and almostnoneof those things were true at all.
My gut knew, but my brain reasoned the sense out of me.
My best friends family was visiting.
(Her dad was allergic to my guinea pig, who lived in my room.)
It was barely 9 pm.
Shawn NEVER went to bed that early.
I asked him why hed changed.
Shawn didnt look that sick.
But something just felt off.
I asked if Mom knew Shawn didnt feel good.
He said no, hed just talked to Dad.
And not because Mom wouldve been upset if nobody told her Shawn didnt feel good.
It felt more serious than that.
Mom HAD to know Shawn was sick.
I started to flip out, and snapped at Shawn that he should NEVER trust Dads medical advice.
Dad just tells people to sleep earlier and exercise more.
Shawn needed to tell Mom, NOW.
Shawn very clearly thought I was over-reacting.
(Heck,Ithought I might be over reacting.)
But he went downstairs and told Mom he didnt feel good.
First thing Mom did (as per usual) was check him for rashes.
He had a red streak running from his thumb up to his armpit.
Shawn had severe blood poisoning.We found out later from the hospital he was four hours away from death.
Hed have died in his sleep that night.
When I was about 3 or 4 years old I was playing in the yard in a bikini.
An adult male family member was over visiting and I remember feeling like someone was looking at me.
So I turned around and noticed that he was watching me.
I remember feeling scared and I sucked my belly in and started looking for my mom.
The man said, oh you have such a cute little tummy!
And I just remember feeling absolutely panicked in a way I had never felt before.
I also never forgot that panicked feeling and NEVER would allow myself to be alone with him.
That was honestly one of the most important lessons she taught me.
Sometimes your gut picks up things that your conscious doesnt but those instincts are there for a reason.
My parents like to help people who honestly dont deserve the opportunity.
You cant save people from themselves.
He had just gotten out of jail and was a Meth addict.
They gave this guy free range over their farm truck, their tools and all of their farm equipment.
A lot was missing, silver coins, pocket watch and other valuables.
When we confronted him about the missing items, he admitted that he took them to protect them.
His mother called us to tell us she whatever hedidnt pawnunderneath her house.
Good riddance, he was a POS.
It takes a special kind of evil to steal from the dead.
Guy I used to work with was constantly offering to give me driving lessons out in the countryside.
I had a weird gut feeling.
Ive had them before and they had never steered me wrong.
I turned him down repeatedly.
He ends up asking my other coworker to go out with him instead, just for a friendly drive.
My gut is never wrong.
Except about eating extra tacos.
So we enter this tunnel and i suddenly scream STOP of the top of my lungs.
My mother slows down and asks me confused about whats going on.
I now crying beg her to stop the car and wait the storm out.
That Stone would have hit and squished us.
It even left a bump in the road.
Few weeks before graduation, visiting my best friend at her school.
Right off the bat I hate him.
I just have this awful feeling about him immediately.
Something about him is slimy, dishonest, trying too hard.
My friend, whos seeing someone else at the time, nevertheless seems charmed.
And anyway, graduation is a few weeks away, well never see this guy again.
Fast forward a year, my friend moved to my city and we share a house together.
It had been our plan since childhood.
Friend doesnt want to hear my concerns about Chad.
It was very clear she chose him over our friendship, and I gave up trying to be involved.
My friend and I didnt speak.
She worked 4 jobs, pulling crazy hours, while Chad worked part time (if at all).
She slowly withdrew from all social circles that werent directly related to him.
Deleted most social media.
It made me sick and I worried all the time about her.
After a few years… she left.
He had continually threatened to beat her and she finally had had enough.
Im just so happy it didnt last for longer, as they were continually talking of getting married.
I fucking hate that guy.
