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5 NIGHT SHIFT HORROR STORIES ANIMATED · Martin Animations

0:02
Speaker 1: I worked at a gas station in my small North
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Speaker 1: Carolinian town 10 miles from Charlotte. I was a 39-year-old
0:10
Speaker 1: wife and a mother of three daughters. I was a
0:15
Speaker 1: stay-at-home mom, and my daughters were all in school, and
0:19
Speaker 1: at the time, my family really needed a little extra income.
0:24
Speaker 1: The area was predominantly safe. My hours were 10 p.m.
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Speaker 2: To 6 a.m.
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Speaker 1: My duties were being a cashier, of course, stocking products, cleaning,
0:35
Speaker 1: doing nightly audits, and reading every Dean Kuntz novel I
0:38
Speaker 1: could get my hands on. All of this by myself,
0:42
Speaker 1: I should add. The company didn't feel a need for
0:45
Speaker 1: a second person on this shift because it was really slow,
0:49
Speaker 1: but on weekends, very hectic. I handled this job like
0:53
Speaker 1: a pro. I really loved seeing my regulars at night
0:57
Speaker 1: and the morning workers getting their coffee and heading to work.
1:01
Speaker 1: I was at this gas station, which was also a
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Speaker 1: bit of a convenience store, for about a year. I
1:07
Speaker 1: did have the run-of-the-mill meth heads who liked their sweets.
1:10
Speaker 1: The homeless looking for free B6 or somewhere to charge
1:13
Speaker 1: their phone. I also had the occasional local police officers
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Speaker 1: that would come in at around 12 to 1 a.m.
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Speaker 1: for free coffee and bitch about their shift. On this
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Speaker 1: particular night, I was reading the Dean Kuntz novel Intensity.
1:29
Speaker 1: I put the bookmark in because I felt like moving around.
1:33
Speaker 1: I went around the counter to the 5-hour energy shots
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Speaker 1: and I began to organize and stock. I heard the
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Speaker 1: bell above the door like I had a million times before.
1:43
Speaker 1: I had so many regulars, ranging from pizza delivery guys
1:47
Speaker 1: to EMTs. I was setting the case of 5-hour energy
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Speaker 1: shots down to help this customer when I felt something
1:55
Speaker 1: cold and hard against my right shoulder blade. My first
1:59
Speaker 1: instinct was that this was a cruel prank from a regular.
2:03
Speaker 1: I turned around to say so when I was then
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Speaker 1: met with a gun pointing in my forehead. It was
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Speaker 1: an African-American guy with a bandana on half of his face.
2:14
Speaker 1: I immediately put my hands up in shock. I looked
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Speaker 1: around and I saw that there were three more guys
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Speaker 1: in different colored bandanas with no gun but looking nervous
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Speaker 1: and then demanding me to give all the money. I
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Speaker 1: walked around the counter with this guy holding his gun
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Speaker 1: right to my head and telling me, Hurry up! Give
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Speaker 1: me the money! Open the register! I said with my
2:39
Speaker 1: hand still in the air and shaking, Yes, yes, of course, here!
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Speaker 1: And I opened up the register for him. The other
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Speaker 1: four guys descended on this register getting all the cash
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Speaker 1: in the register. Suddenly the gunman looked at me, then said,
2:57
Speaker 1: This register too, bitch. There was a second register that
3:01
Speaker 1: had the bare minimum for the first shift to open
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Speaker 1: up with. I put in my code and I opened
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Speaker 1: that register as well. They cleaned out that one too.
3:11
Speaker 1: They then sold the safe underneath the first register and again,
3:16
Speaker 1: the gunman pointed his gun to my temple and also
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Speaker 1: demanded I open the safe. I said in a shaky
3:22
Speaker 1: voice that the safe is on a timer. If you
3:25
Speaker 1: press one button Whether it be for the $ 10 bills
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Speaker 1: or a roll of quarters, it won't dispense again for
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Speaker 1: a whole two minutes. The guys were all on the safe,
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Speaker 1: pressing buttons, while in the meantime, I'm praying out loud
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Speaker 1: for God to spare me, because I have a husband
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Speaker 1: and children that need me. I kept frantically saying this prayer,
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Speaker 1: and the guys were all frustrated that the safe wasn't
3:48
Speaker 1: giving them what they wanted. I heard one of the
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Speaker 1: guys saying, One of you shut that bitch up! And
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Speaker 1: another said, Just shoot her already. We already have what
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Speaker 1: we need. Right at that statement, I could literally feel
4:04
Speaker 1: I was about to lose my bladder and pee all
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Speaker 1: over myself. Even though I was scared out of my mind,
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Speaker 1: I was also mad as hell that this was possibly
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Speaker 1: going to be where I ended up. I held in
4:16
Speaker 1: that pee, and I just watched as they started to
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Speaker 1: steal as many cigarettes, wraps, and blackened miles as they could.
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Speaker 1: One of the guys then yelled, We've been here too long.
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Speaker 1: Let's go. Let's get the hell out of here. Three
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Speaker 1: of them were sprinting out the door while one was
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Speaker 1: in front of me, all while I was shaking with
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Speaker 1: clenched hands praying. I looked up, and then his bandana
4:39
Speaker 1: fell down. I thought this was it for me, but
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Speaker 1: he then just smiled at me, and he joined his friends.
4:48
Speaker 1: At the very same time, a woman came inside to
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Speaker 1: buy a soda. They yelled at her too. pointing the
4:55
Speaker 1: gun at her to give them her purse. The lady
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Speaker 1: replied back with, I'm not giving you my purse, motherfucker!
5:03
Speaker 1: And I thought for sure they would get aggressive. Instead, however,
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Speaker 1: they seemed to just be worried about being there too long.
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Speaker 1: They then ran out the door and scattered through the
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Speaker 1: parking lot. I looked at the lady, then the glass door,
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Speaker 1: and I could see her partner's truck sitting outside. I
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Speaker 1: told her to go to her truck while I called
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Speaker 1: the police. I then locked the door as soon as
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Speaker 1: she was in the truck. I picked up the store's
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Speaker 1: landline and I dialed 911. I ran to the stock
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Speaker 1: room and I locked that door as well. I told
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Speaker 1: the 911 operator of all the details she needed and
5:40
Speaker 1: after only a couple of minutes, she said it was
5:43
Speaker 1: safe to go to the front door for the officers
5:46
Speaker 1: and I did just that. I unlocked the door and
5:50
Speaker 1: I immediately removed my name tag and threw it in
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Speaker 1: the trash. I felt like this was finally over and
5:56
Speaker 1: I was obviously quitting. I saw the woman customer that
6:00
Speaker 1: was confronted by the gunman just shaking and she was
6:02
Speaker 1: rocking back and forth. I put my hand on her
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Speaker 1: shoulder as she also gave her own statement to the police.
6:10
Speaker 1: I gave the officers my statement and I called my manager.
6:15
Speaker 1: She came to the store along with CSI investigators. I
6:19
Speaker 1: had to watch myself on tape at least three times
6:21
Speaker 1: with the investigators. At one point, a CSI guy paused
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Speaker 1: the video while the thieves were surrounding the safe and
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Speaker 1: their back was turned. And he asked me, Ma'am, why
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Speaker 1: didn't you run? Because I was afraid I'd be shot
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Speaker 1: in the back, I said. The man apologized immediately, realizing
6:43
Speaker 1: how traumatized I really was. After the police left, I
6:47
Speaker 1: continued to converse with my manager as she tried to
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Speaker 1: console me. She then called her manager because she had
6:54
Speaker 1: never been through anything like this. I actually heard upper
6:58
Speaker 1: management tell her, Oh, she'll be alright. No need for
7:02
Speaker 1: me to get out of bed for this. I literally
7:05
Speaker 1: lost it and I told her she was a piece
7:07
Speaker 1: of shit. I eventually went home and around this time
7:11
Speaker 1: it's 4 in the morning. I race upstairs and I
7:15
Speaker 1: kiss all my children on their foreheads. I then went
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Speaker 1: to mine and my husband's bedroom. and I went into
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Speaker 1: our bathroom to wash my face. I was thinking in
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Speaker 1: my head that I didn't want to wake him up
7:28
Speaker 1: because he has another hour to sleep before shift for
7:30
Speaker 1: his job begins. I couldn't help but to break down
7:34
Speaker 1: after realizing I was alive and that I was now
7:37
Speaker 1: at home splashing water on my face. My husband woke
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Speaker 1: up to this, and he asked in a slight panic,
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Speaker 1: What's wrong, babe? What's going on? I broke down to
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Speaker 1: my knees on my bathroom floor and I then explained
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Speaker 1: my entire nightmare night to him. He held me and
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Speaker 1: consoled me. I stayed up until it was time to
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Speaker 1: take my children to school. When I got back home,
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Speaker 1: I called the company's HR. They were very cold towards me.
8:06
Speaker 1: I then decided to call a workers' compensation lawyer. After
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Speaker 1: discussing what happened to me on my third shift all
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Speaker 1: by myself, as well as the HR being so cold
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Speaker 1: towards me, he took my case. I discovered that the
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Speaker 1: four guys that robbed me at gunpoint were all 16
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Speaker 1: years old. I don't know what punishment they ever received,
8:28
Speaker 1: but I do know that I got one year of
8:30
Speaker 1: unemployment checks, as well as a settlement of $ 25, 000. I
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Speaker 1: also received therapy for the PTSD that I now have.
8:40
Speaker 1: It took about a year for me to be able
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Speaker 1: to go to a gas station all on my own.
8:45
Speaker 1: It's been about four years since, and I'm doing okay now.
8:50
Speaker 1: That is, as long as I have my two knives
8:52
Speaker 1: and a taser with me. Back in the summer of 2020,
9:00
Speaker 1: I was at home playing video games with a buddy
9:02
Speaker 1: of mine when I realized I didn't have any booze left.
9:07
Speaker 1: Pretty much all I did during the pandemic was drink
9:10
Speaker 1: and play video games. Please don't judge me. Anyway, I
9:15
Speaker 1: decided to drive to the local gas station just a
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Speaker 1: few minutes away from my house. As I walked into
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Speaker 1: the gas station, I had noticed four men, four very
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Speaker 1: large men, and they were being very loud and obnoxious
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Speaker 1: by the gas pumps. They must have been pretty drunk too,
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Speaker 1: because they were being so rowdy, and two of them
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Speaker 1: seemed to be stumbling around their truck. Now, this wasn't
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Speaker 1: an abnormal sight. as my town's full of rednecks who
9:45
Speaker 1: drink way too much. Anyway, I went into the gas station,
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Speaker 1: and I went over to the liquor section, and I
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Speaker 1: had grabbed my choice of beverage. As I was grabbing
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Speaker 1: my drink, the men had come in to pay for
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Speaker 1: their gas. or whatever they were buying. The cashier was
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Speaker 1: a young, attractive girl. She must have also been new
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Speaker 1: because I frequented that gas station a lot and I
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Speaker 1: had never seen her there before. As the men were
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Speaker 1: paying for their things, they had started to say very
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Speaker 1: sexual things to the girl. I could tell it was
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Speaker 1: making her uncomfortable. I won't repeat them as they're just
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Speaker 1: really not worth saying. But they began asking her what
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Speaker 1: time she got off and which car was hers. I
10:31
Speaker 1: could see that she was starting to shake and she
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Speaker 1: could barely get the change out of the register. I
10:36
Speaker 1: really felt terrible for her and I then shouted, Hey,
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Speaker 1: just pay for your things and leave. Now, my mouth
10:45
Speaker 1: had acted before my brain could process that these men
10:47
Speaker 1: had not only outnumbered me, but they were almost twice
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Speaker 1: my size. I'm a male, and I'm about six feet
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Speaker 1: tall and decently built, but if these men decided not
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Speaker 1: to play nice with me, I stood no chance at all.
11:03
Speaker 1: After I blurted out for them to leave, they all
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Speaker 1: turned and looked at me. It was then that I
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Speaker 1: realized the situation that I had just put myself in.
11:12
Speaker 1: and my heart dropped into my stomach. By the pure
11:16
Speaker 1: grace of God, they simply shot a pissed off glance
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Speaker 1: at me, nodded, and then left. I then approached the counter,
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Speaker 1: asking the young girl if she was okay. She was
11:28
Speaker 1: still shaking, but she said yes. I asked her if
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Speaker 1: she wanted me to call the police for her, but
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Speaker 1: she said no, and that her manager was in the back.
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Speaker 1: I just said okay, and I paid for my things.
11:42
Speaker 1: I looked out the window, and luckily the big rusty
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Speaker 1: truck the men came from was now gone. I did
11:49
Speaker 1: a quick jog to my car, making sure they weren't
11:52
Speaker 1: parked around the corner of the building. And they weren't.
11:56
Speaker 1: I was able to make it home to enjoy some
11:58
Speaker 1: drunken video games with my friends. So fellas, if you
12:02
Speaker 1: are ever in the position to stop sexual harassment, do it.
12:07
Speaker 1: Just make sure you aren't possibly going to get your
12:09
Speaker 1: ass kicked in the process.
12:15
Speaker 3: Lately, I have been rethinking my career choice. I currently
12:18
Speaker 3: work as a location manager in the city where I live.
12:20
Speaker 3: For those people who may not specifically know what I
12:23
Speaker 3: mean when I say location manager, it just means that
12:26
Speaker 3: I'm responsible for finding locations for directors to film and
12:30
Speaker 3: secure locations for film production. I know it may not
12:34
Speaker 3: seem like a glorious job, but this industry is crazy,
12:37
Speaker 3: and I had to secure any job that I could get.
12:39
Speaker 3: I love movies and the entire entertainment industry and It
12:43
Speaker 3: has always been a dream to work in this field
12:45
Speaker 3: one way or another. Well, as it turns out, I
12:48
Speaker 3: was quite good at being a location manager. Over time,
12:52
Speaker 3: I was able to build up a little bit of credibility,
12:54
Speaker 3: which made it much easier to secure locations. I worked
12:57
Speaker 3: on a bunch of films for the last several years,
12:59
Speaker 3: some bigger than others, but mostly low-budget films. During my
13:03
Speaker 3: time doing this, I met a ton of famous actors
13:06
Speaker 3: and influential people in the industry. At this point, you're
13:09
Speaker 3: probably wondering why I would be rethinking my career choice.
13:12
Speaker 3: Everything seems super cool. The simple answer is this world
13:17
Speaker 3: of film and entertainment burns you out quicker than anything else. However,
13:21
Speaker 3: that is not the main reason why I've been truly
13:23
Speaker 3: rethinking my career. In actuality, the straw that broke the
13:27
Speaker 3: camel's back is much darker and more sinister. The last
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Speaker 3: movie I worked on was not a great movie, plain
13:34
Speaker 3: and simple. Everybody is entitled to their opinions, of course,
13:38
Speaker 3: but objectively speaking, This was one of those ultra-sappy movies
13:41
Speaker 3: that you find on the Hallmark Channel, and it just
13:44
Speaker 3: felt uninspired. I will say, though, that the crew on
13:47
Speaker 3: this production was amazing. I loved the writers and directors,
13:50
Speaker 3: and even some of the actors. We ended up getting
13:53
Speaker 3: to know each other and going out on a couple
13:54
Speaker 3: of occasions. The beauty of working on these smaller productions
13:58
Speaker 3: is that you really get to form a bond with
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Speaker 3: a lot of the crew, which is something I imagine
14:02
Speaker 3: doesn't happen on massive Hollywood film sets. One of the
14:06
Speaker 3: extras in the film, who had a handful of lines,
14:08
Speaker 3: started to hang out with me quite a bit. Her
14:11
Speaker 3: name was Hannah, and like a lot of extras, she was,
14:14
Speaker 3: and I believe still is, an inspiring actress. Hannah is
14:18
Speaker 3: someone that I would describe as remarkably beautiful. When she
14:21
Speaker 3: walked into a room, heads would turn, and that's not
14:23
Speaker 3: even an exaggeration. When the director met her, he was
14:27
Speaker 3: so blown away that he gave her a very minor
14:29
Speaker 3: part in the movie. She literally had like five lines,
14:32
Speaker 3: but I assume that's sort of a big deal for
14:34
Speaker 3: your first movie. In the several weeks that we worked
14:38
Speaker 3: on the movie, Hannah seemed to take a liking to me, which,
14:41
Speaker 3: at first, I was really into. After Hannah's small part,
14:45
Speaker 3: she stuck around with me and helped me. She basically
14:47
Speaker 3: was an unofficial assistant to me and helped me with
14:50
Speaker 3: day-to-day tasks, and I made sure that I was able
14:53
Speaker 3: to get her paid for her efforts. Like any production,
14:56
Speaker 3: towards the end of shooting, tensions can get a bit
14:58
Speaker 3: high and people can get short with you. However, what
15:02
Speaker 3: happened on our last day of production was something altogether different.
15:06
Speaker 3: Often on film sets, filming can take place overnight, and
15:09
Speaker 3: that was the case for this final day of production.
15:12
Speaker 3: Anna was on location with me just helping, but she
15:15
Speaker 3: didn't seem like herself. Anna was always upbeat and excited,
15:18
Speaker 3: but tonight she was in another world. She was quiet, dismissive,
15:22
Speaker 3: and kind of rude for lack of a better word.
15:26
Speaker 3: I'm not sure exactly what time it was, but it
15:28
Speaker 3: was sometime in the middle of the night. We had
15:30
Speaker 3: a small crew of art department guys setting up the locations.
15:33
Speaker 3: I was there basically just overseeing everything and Hannah was
15:36
Speaker 3: there just helping me. The director and the actors for
15:39
Speaker 3: this scene were there but they were all resting in
15:42
Speaker 3: the back room in the building while we were filming inside.
15:45
Speaker 3: When the art guys finished, they all headed out and
15:48
Speaker 3: it got to be just myself and Hannah awake in
15:50
Speaker 3: this location. In all the years I've worked on movies,
15:54
Speaker 3: I had never seen such a light crew. You could
15:56
Speaker 3: tell the feelings and vibes of this project just weren't
15:59
Speaker 3: all there. I tried making conversation with Hannah and joking
16:02
Speaker 3: around with her but all my efforts sort of just failed.
16:05
Speaker 3: She just kept brushing me off and I honestly didn't
16:07
Speaker 3: really care. I figured once we wrapped the film up
16:10
Speaker 3: I would never see her again. While I was awkwardly
16:13
Speaker 3: just walking around the set I heard Hannah shout for
16:15
Speaker 3: me and it sounded like it was coming from a distance.
16:19
Speaker 3: Seconds ago she was right next to me so I
16:21
Speaker 3: found it weird that she was in the next room.
16:24
Speaker 3: I rushed in there to make sure that she was
16:25
Speaker 3: okay and when I got in there she was standing
16:27
Speaker 3: in the back of the room with the lights off.
16:30
Speaker 3: I could only barely see her. The only lights were
16:33
Speaker 3: the lights shining into the room from the doorway I
16:35
Speaker 3: was now standing in. Anna?
16:38
Speaker 1: Are you alright? What's going on?
16:41
Speaker 3: I said with genuine concern. She just smiled at me
16:44
Speaker 3: and said an almost seductive voice and yet it still
16:47
Speaker 3: sounded off. She said, Hi. I have something for you. Well,
16:53
Speaker 3: as you may expect, my mind was racing. I had
16:56
Speaker 3: a feeling that maybe this girl had an interest in
16:58
Speaker 3: me and Now she wanted me to join her in
17:00
Speaker 3: this room alone. I slowly approached her because I was
17:03
Speaker 3: still feeling some apprehension about all of this for some reason.
17:07
Speaker 3: When I got about five feet away from her, I
17:09
Speaker 3: noticed her hand behind her back. I stopped and asked,
17:13
Speaker 3: What do you got behind your back? You're not going
17:16
Speaker 3: to stab me, are you? I laughed, trying to make
17:20
Speaker 3: light of the strange situation. At that moment, Anna started
17:24
Speaker 3: to cry and sob uncontrollably. I didn't know what I
17:28
Speaker 3: did to upset her. Before I could say anything, she shouted,
17:32
Speaker 3: I liked you so much, and all you ever cared
17:34
Speaker 3: about was this stupid movie. I hate you. As I
17:39
Speaker 3: tried to take all of that in, she threw a
17:41
Speaker 3: knife from behind her back onto the ground and ran
17:44
Speaker 3: right through me and knocked me off my feet. My
17:47
Speaker 3: heart was beating out of my chest at this point,
17:49
Speaker 3: and when I approached the wall where I was standing,
17:52
Speaker 3: I looked down and it was in fact a knife.
17:56
Speaker 1: A real knife.
17:57
Speaker 3: For some reason, I never reported this to the director
18:00
Speaker 3: or the authorities. I have no idea why. I just
18:03
Speaker 3: figured since nothing happened, I'm better off just leaving it alone.
18:07
Speaker 3: The more time that passes, the more I think about
18:09
Speaker 3: that night. What would have happened if I kept walking
18:12
Speaker 3: toward her? Would she have stabbed me, or was it
18:15
Speaker 3: all just a trick? If it wasn't the middle of
18:18
Speaker 3: the night, would she have even tried anything like this?
18:20
Speaker 3: And perhaps most horrifying, I have no idea where she
18:24
Speaker 3: is or where she went. She's got no social media anymore,
18:27
Speaker 3: I looked, and no other film credits, at least that
18:30
Speaker 3: I could find. This industry is crazy, man. You meet
18:34
Speaker 3: a lot of strange people who sometimes just aren't all there. Hannah,
18:38
Speaker 3: for example, is a sweet, beautiful girl, and one night,
18:41
Speaker 3: I don't know if it was the sleep deprivation or
18:44
Speaker 3: all the hours we were working, but she just lost it.
18:47
Speaker 3: I think the highs and lows of this industry have
18:48
Speaker 3: always taken enough toll on me. As I've stated, I
18:52
Speaker 3: assume she's probably still trying to act. probably under another name,
18:55
Speaker 3: but honestly, this poor girl has some inner demons and
18:59
Speaker 3: it wouldn't surprise me one bit if the demons in
19:02
Speaker 3: her head won. In my mid-twenties, I was trying to
19:12
Speaker 3: figure out a lot of aspects of my life and
19:14
Speaker 3: I was trying to get my future in order. I
19:17
Speaker 3: was never objectively a bad person, but somehow, I always
19:20
Speaker 3: seemed to fall through the cracks. I finished near the
19:23
Speaker 3: bottom of my class with my GPA, never went to
19:25
Speaker 3: college and experimented with some extracurricular things that you could
19:29
Speaker 3: say are illegal. I was never in trouble, but I
19:33
Speaker 3: also never brought anything of substance to the table. I
19:36
Speaker 3: was about a month away from my 26th birthday when
19:39
Speaker 3: I met Janelle, and that's when I decided it was
19:41
Speaker 3: time to use my brain and become a decent member
19:44
Speaker 3: of society instead of a burnout. Due to my disturbing
19:48
Speaker 3: resume or lack thereof, at this point in my life,
19:51
Speaker 3: I was finding it very hard to find a job.
19:54
Speaker 3: Even jobs that you may think anybody can get, I
19:57
Speaker 3: wouldn't even get a call back. Even if I went
19:59
Speaker 3: out of my way to reach back out to them
20:01
Speaker 3: to follow up on applications, I still would never have
20:04
Speaker 3: my call returned. It hit me hard, just as I
20:07
Speaker 3: was about to give up like I always did, Janelle
20:10
Speaker 3: found me an amazing job. Not glamorous by any means,
20:14
Speaker 3: but for someone like me it was amazing. The job
20:17
Speaker 3: was for an overnight warehouse worker. I would work from
20:21
Speaker 3: 9pm until 6.30am loading up pallets with boxes. Though the
20:25
Speaker 3: main premise sounds simple enough, and it was, physically the
20:28
Speaker 3: job was tough. We never had enough help and it
20:31
Speaker 3: was extremely hard to keep help once we would get
20:34
Speaker 3: workers in the door. I found myself a lot of
20:37
Speaker 3: time working alone until finally the company downsized. We started
20:41
Speaker 3: to work until 4.30 in the morning instead of 6.30
20:44
Speaker 3: and the little help that we had was spread thin.
20:47
Speaker 3: When I was working I would put headphones on and
20:50
Speaker 3: just get into the zone. I didn't bother talking to
20:52
Speaker 3: anybody or even getting to know anyone because chances are
20:56
Speaker 3: I wouldn't be seeing them in a week or two
20:57
Speaker 3: and honestly talking just distracted me and I was all
21:00
Speaker 3: about getting my job done. One night when I was
21:03
Speaker 3: nearing the end of my shift I noticed a small
21:05
Speaker 3: looking man standing about five feet away from me. I
21:09
Speaker 3: didn't say anything at first because I figured it was
21:11
Speaker 3: a new employee just watching how I was doing things.
21:14
Speaker 3: When I finished I took my headphones and asked the
21:16
Speaker 3: guy if he needed anything and he responded, yeah man
21:19
Speaker 3: I hate to ask but I was wondering if I
21:22
Speaker 3: could get a ride home. I found it weird considering
21:25
Speaker 3: I had no idea who this guy was and didn't
21:28
Speaker 3: even recognize his face as one of the workers. Being
21:31
Speaker 3: the kind of guy that I am, I told him
21:33
Speaker 3: that I would for some gas money. He responded almost
21:37
Speaker 3: nervously and said, yeah, yeah, man, of course, I got you.
21:43
Speaker 3: I told the guy to give me a few minutes
21:44
Speaker 3: to grab my things and punch out of my shift
21:47
Speaker 3: and to meet me outside. He nodded and agreed. I
21:51
Speaker 3: felt weird about the situation, but I've been in his
21:53
Speaker 3: shoes before, I kept telling myself. I told one of
21:56
Speaker 3: the other guys when I was punching out that I
21:58
Speaker 3: had to give the weird new guy a ride home
22:00
Speaker 3: and The other employees made a strange face and asked,
22:04
Speaker 3: The new guy? I don't remember seeing a new guy.
22:08
Speaker 3: We both shrugged it off, just assuming that's how this
22:11
Speaker 3: place operates these days. I went outside a few minutes
22:14
Speaker 3: later and saw the strange guy waiting next to my car.
22:18
Speaker 3: What I didn't find alarming then, and I wish I
22:20
Speaker 3: would have, was that I'd never told the guy which
22:22
Speaker 3: car I drove, and yet he was already waiting by
22:25
Speaker 3: my car. We started to drive, and right away things
22:29
Speaker 3: were getting weird. I asked him where he lived and
22:32
Speaker 3: he gave me some vague and confusing answer. Uh, I
22:36
Speaker 3: live on Maple Drive. Well, no, not anymore. I live
22:41
Speaker 3: near the park. You know, Rose Park, by the edge
22:44
Speaker 3: of the city. I nodded and said, Okay, man, near
22:48
Speaker 3: the park. Where near the park? I just want to
22:51
Speaker 3: know where I'm dropping you off, dude. The man said
22:55
Speaker 3: nothing for a few seconds and then said, Just near
22:58
Speaker 3: the park. Head towards the park and I'll tell you
23:00
Speaker 3: where to go. I'm still kind of in awe of
23:04
Speaker 3: my stupidity as I write this. You have to understand
23:07
Speaker 3: at this point in my life I really didn't care
23:08
Speaker 3: about much and just wanted to get from point A
23:11
Speaker 3: to point B in my day-to-day life. I didn't question
23:14
Speaker 3: really anything. When we got close to the park, the
23:17
Speaker 3: man finally spoke up. Turn here. I stopped the car
23:21
Speaker 3: for a moment and said to the guy, Are you sure?
23:24
Speaker 3: This doesn't really look like a street. The man just
23:28
Speaker 3: kept saying, Yeah, in his shaky voice as he nodded intently.
23:33
Speaker 3: Against my better judgment I turned down the long dark path.
23:37
Speaker 3: This was for sure not a road. It was a
23:39
Speaker 3: dirt path and I couldn't see anything. I turned on
23:42
Speaker 3: my high beams and thankfully it was just in time.
23:45
Speaker 3: Obstructing the road in front of me was a massive
23:47
Speaker 3: fallen tree. Oh dude. Looks like we're going to have
23:52
Speaker 3: to go another way or something. I'm not getting by
23:55
Speaker 3: this tree. The man didn't say anything. I looked over
23:59
Speaker 3: at him and he had his hands in his hoodie.
24:02
Speaker 3: While I was looking at him he said, Get out
24:04
Speaker 3: of the car now. He kept moving his hands inside
24:08
Speaker 3: his sweatshirt as if though he was trying to grab
24:09
Speaker 3: something he had concealed underneath. When I looked up out
24:13
Speaker 3: of the windshield, I saw two more masked men coming
24:16
Speaker 3: from the side of the fallen tree. My heart was
24:19
Speaker 3: racing out of my chest at this point. I didn't
24:22
Speaker 3: know if I was going to get robbed or worse.
24:24
Speaker 3: The man in my car then screamed at the top
24:26
Speaker 3: of his lungs and said, Get out now! I slowly
24:31
Speaker 3: started to open my car door. I noticed another two
24:33
Speaker 3: men behind my car also wearing masks. When my door
24:37
Speaker 3: was open, I started to step out, and I noticed
24:40
Speaker 3: the men in my car start to get out of
24:42
Speaker 3: my vehicle as well, and that's when I made the
24:44
Speaker 3: single most daring decision of my life. As I noticed
24:48
Speaker 3: him clearly outside of the car, I jumped back into
24:51
Speaker 3: the driver's seat and reversed as fast as I could. Thankfully,
24:56
Speaker 3: he never ordered me to shut the car off, so
24:58
Speaker 3: the car was running this entire time. I may have
25:01
Speaker 3: bumped into one of the potential robbers or maybe it
25:03
Speaker 3: was a big tree branch, I wasn't sure in the
25:05
Speaker 3: heat of the moment. When I got to the end
25:07
Speaker 3: of the dark path and was putting my car into
25:09
Speaker 3: drive so I could peel off, I looked back one
25:12
Speaker 3: last time and I saw all five men sprinting directly
25:16
Speaker 3: at my car. They all appeared to be holding something
25:19
Speaker 3: in their hands but I didn't bother to find out
25:22
Speaker 3: what they were carrying.
25:23
Speaker 2: I used to work the register at a local gas station.
25:27
Speaker 2: though I've since left as there were a lot of
25:30
Speaker 2: strange things that happened when I would work overnight. But
25:34
Speaker 2: this one situation in particular will stick with me forever.
25:40
Speaker 2: I only worked the night shift a few days a week,
25:43
Speaker 2: usually Friday and Saturday. My shifts were usually boring and
25:48
Speaker 2: honestly just a game of trying to stay awake. The
25:51
Speaker 2: only thing I really had to do was stock the
25:54
Speaker 2: shelves and occasionally help a customer. I would get a
25:58
Speaker 2: lot of drunk people, or families on road trips, and
26:01
Speaker 2: sometimes even whole groups of friends. But for the most part,
26:06
Speaker 2: it was pretty quiet. On this night, it was around 2am,
26:11
Speaker 2: and I hadn't had a customer in over an hour,
26:13
Speaker 2: so I was starting to doze off a little bit.
26:16
Speaker 2: The desk was around the corner from the entrance, and
26:19
Speaker 2: there was a bell on the door that rang when
26:21
Speaker 2: somebody walked in. So usually falling asleep wasn't too big
26:25
Speaker 2: of a deal. I woke up after a few minutes
26:29
Speaker 2: hearing the bell ring and a few seconds later saw
26:32
Speaker 2: a customer walk in. He looked like a typical 30
26:35
Speaker 2: year old man that would come in for some beer
26:38
Speaker 2: or a snack. He walked around for a little bit,
26:42
Speaker 2: down every aisle looking at everything. Now I've worked in
26:46
Speaker 2: retail for a long time and I know what it
26:49
Speaker 2: looks like when someone is looking for something specific. but
26:53
Speaker 2: this man had nothing in mind. He was just looking
26:55
Speaker 2: at the shelves, browsing the store. During the day, this
27:00
Speaker 2: is pretty normal, but people don't usually come in at
27:03
Speaker 2: 2am to browse the gas station shelves. I looked out
27:07
Speaker 2: the window to my left to see if he was
27:09
Speaker 2: filling up his car and was maybe just passing the time,
27:13
Speaker 2: but there were no cars outside. A couple minutes went
27:16
Speaker 2: by before he eventually looked over at me and said
27:20
Speaker 2: thanks and then walked out. I didn't know what to
27:24
Speaker 2: make of that, but I just figured he stole something
27:27
Speaker 2: small and was just being a dick about it. The
27:30
Speaker 2: whole situation left my mind after a few minutes, and
27:34
Speaker 2: I started to get really tired again. This time, I
27:37
Speaker 2: decided to grab my cart of items to stock and
27:40
Speaker 2: start filling up the shelves to pass the time. I'm
27:43
Speaker 2: not really sure how long I was stocking for, maybe
27:47
Speaker 2: 20 minutes, before I saw a man show up at
27:50
Speaker 2: the end of the aisle I was stocking. It made
27:53
Speaker 2: me jump a little, as I never heard the door ring.
27:57
Speaker 2: This guy was wearing a large hoodie and dark clothes.
28:01
Speaker 2: I pretty much knew right away that something was very off.
28:05
Speaker 2: The man continued down to the back of the store,
28:08
Speaker 2: and I immediately went back to behind the counter. I
28:12
Speaker 2: tried not to stare, but I noticed that as he
28:15
Speaker 2: walked down the aisles, he wasn't looking for anything. He
28:18
Speaker 2: was just browsing. It clicked in my head immediately that
28:23
Speaker 2: this was the same guy from just a little bit
28:25
Speaker 2: ago but he had changed clothes for some reason. I
28:30
Speaker 2: also came to the realization that he probably came initially
28:34
Speaker 2: to scope out the place before doing whatever he planned
28:37
Speaker 2: on doing. I started to panic in my head. The
28:43
Speaker 2: man began to come down the aisle closest to the
28:46
Speaker 2: counter and I could see something heavy in his front
28:49
Speaker 2: hoodie pocket I made a split-second decision to try and
28:54
Speaker 2: prevent any further escalation, and I said, Welcome back, sir.
28:59
Speaker 2: Need help finding anything? He made eye contact with me,
29:03
Speaker 2: and I could tell he knew exactly what I was
29:06
Speaker 2: trying to do. He approached the counter, not saying a word,
29:11
Speaker 2: and brought his hand out of his pocket, revealing a
29:14
Speaker 2: small handgun. Then he grabbed a small pack of gum
29:19
Speaker 2: from beside the counter and placed it in front of
29:21
Speaker 2: me He said just this. Confused and in shock as
29:27
Speaker 2: to what was happening, I didn't even react for a
29:30
Speaker 2: few seconds before eventually scanning the gum nervously. Still holding
29:36
Speaker 2: the gun, he took out a dollar from his jean
29:39
Speaker 2: pocket and threw it on the counter, then said thanks
29:43
Speaker 2: and walked out. I was in total shock, trying to
29:48
Speaker 2: wrap my head around what just happened. I ended up
29:51
Speaker 2: reporting the situation to the police and calling my manager,
29:55
Speaker 2: who didn't pick up. No updates ever came out of
29:58
Speaker 2: the situation, but it had me on edge for the
30:01
Speaker 2: last few months that I worked there. I'm still unsure
30:05
Speaker 2: of what really happened that night, or what the man's
30:08
Speaker 2: intentions were, but honestly, I'm glad I never found out.