Latest / Martin Animations / NEVER GET IN THIS VAN... (7 HORROR STORIES ANIMATED

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NEVER GET IN THIS VAN... (7 HORROR STORIES ANIMATED · Martin Animations

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: This story happened in the fall of 2017. My name
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: is Nadia, and I was 27 years old back then.
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: I live in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania with my two friends
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Nicole and Christina. We rented a house together and shared
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: the same car, which was a 2009 Lexus. My friends
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: and I are very close and are like sisters. This
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: arrangement would not have worked any other way. One day
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: we wanted to go on a road trip together. so
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: we descended a drive from Drexel Hill to another town
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: called Butler. At first, things were going pretty well. Along
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: the way, we would make stops to explore the countryside,
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: take pictures, and enjoy the scenery. It was fall, and
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: it got dark pretty quick. On top of that, our
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: gas-guzzling V8 needed a refill, so we had no choice
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: but to stop at a gas station. We spotted one
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: in the middle of nowhere. Visually, this gas station looked
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: creepy as hell. I thought it might have been abandoned
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: when I first saw it. We pulled up next to
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: a gas pump and I was about to start filling
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: the tank when a beat up white van with tinted
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: windows pulled into the gas station parking lot. As soon
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: as I saw it, I immediately got a bad feeling.
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: Christina had to go into the convenience store to use
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: the bathroom. Do you really have to go? This place
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: looks sketchy as hell. It's an emergency. There's no need
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: to be paranoid. I'll be quick. Alright, just hurry up.
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: Don't waste your time scrolling through your phone like you
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: always do. Christina then went inside the store. As soon
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: as she did, the driver exited the white van and
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: followed her inside. My spidey sense told me that something
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: was about to go down. so I decided to go
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: inside as well. As soon as I walked in, I
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: heard Christina screaming. The driver of the van was dragging
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: Christina to what looked like a back door. I quickly
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: got out my pocket knife and stabbed the man in
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: the back. The man screamed and let go of Christina.
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: I used the opportunity to grab Christina's hand and pull
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: her to her feet. The man staggered and struggled to
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: pull the knife out of his back. He was so
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: angry that his face was red. He then let out
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: a shout of pure rage and chased us out of
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: the store. Luckily for us, we were able to make
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: it back to the car. I put it into drive
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: and drove out of there as quickly as possible. In
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: my rearview mirror, I saw the white van from before
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: pull out of the gas station parking lot and began
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: to follow us. Fortunately for us, our Lexus had a
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: more capable engine, so I put the pedal to the
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: floor and we eventually lost him. His busted up kidnap
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: mobile wasn't able to keep up. We went to the
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: police station to file a report, but we never heard
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: anything back. There were no employees present when all of
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: this went down inside the store. And this was definitely
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: the kind of place that may or may not have
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: working security cameras. We were all pretty shaken up about this.
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: It's not every day that you see one of your
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: best friends literally being dragged away by a stranger. But thankfully,
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: I was able to intervene and save her. This story
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: happened to me when I was only 10 years old.
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: I grew up in a popular suburb of Phoenix, Arizona.
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: We lived in the third house on a street that
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: was just off the neighborhood's main road. My house had
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: an enclosed front porch with a basketball hoop and a
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: bike rack. One day I was home by myself and
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: decided to go to the local park. This was probably
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: around 4pm or so. At this time, our neighborhood wasn't
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: fully developed, so having a lot of traffic wasn't common.
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: My sister and I have always been paranoid about sketchy
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: white vans because of the programs they showed us at school.
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: So when I noticed one cruising down the main road,
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: I thought it was strange, but I figured it might
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: have been a construction worker and continued. I was one
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: of those kids who would ride his bike around just
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: to explore the area, so I was never too worried
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: in my neighborhood. If someone did come after me, I
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: knew all the best routes to lose someone. Anyways, I
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: took my usual path and went down a side street
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: through a cul-de-sac instead of the main road. When I
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: arrived at the park, I noticed another neighborhood kid named
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: Parker who was in the open field next to the playground.
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: After a while of hanging out with him, I figured
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: that my parents would probably be home from work by now.
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: When I first left the park, I realized I had
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: forgotten my water bottle. It was a 10 Spider-Man water bottle,
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: and that was a big deal to 10-year-old me. There
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: was no way I was leaving that behind. After turning around,
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: I was soon back at the hilltop, overlooking the playground
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: and the field. Parker was nowhere to be seen. I
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: had been gone for maybe 30 seconds. I then saw
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: the white van from before, parked on the side of
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: the road, near the playground. My heart sank once I
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: saw Parker's bike lying on the ground next to the
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: van with one of its wheels still turning. I froze up.
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: I was pretty sure whoever was driving the van saw me.
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: I quickly turned around and sped down the sidewalk and
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: booked it home. Once I got back to my house,
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: I made sure I didn't leave my bicycle by the
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: front door or the porch. Instead, I threw it over
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: the back gate so it wouldn't be visible from the road.
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: After this, I rushed inside and locked the door. I
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: was covered head to toe in sweat. After about 20
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: seconds of catching my breath, I descended to peer out
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: through the peephole, and for a split second, my heart stopped.
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: I could see the white van slowly making its way
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: down the main road, driving past my street and out
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: of sight. Now, at the time, I thought that Parker
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: had been kidnapped and the white van was now hunting
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: for me. And even now, I don't think that was
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: an unreasonable conclusion to come to. But I would be
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: lying to you if I said that there were reports
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: of a missing child and the police were called in
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: to investigate and my parents had to stand next to
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: me while I told the detective what I saw. But
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: the truth is, I never saw Parker being pulled into
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: the van. It is entirely possible that the driver could
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: have said something to him, and he got scared and
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: ran off without his bike. That wouldn't have made front
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: page news, but I still feel like I would have
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: heard about it. Honestly, I didn't know Parker that well.
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: I saw him around the park sometimes, but I wouldn't
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: say that we were friends. Point being, he could have
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: moved away, or might have just been visiting. and as
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: creepy as it was seeing that white van slowly driving
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: down the road, it's unlikely they would be driving like
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: that after just having kidnapped a child. I don't know
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: what happened to Parker, because after that day, I never
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: saw him or that white van ever again. The lesson
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: here is to always be aware of your surroundings, and
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: to teach your kids to do the same, because you
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: never know what could happen, even in the places you're
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: where you feel the safest. I'm 19 and currently attending university.
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: This encounter happened to me when I was in secondary school,
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: around age 14 or 15. It was an IT lesson,
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: so you know I was doing the usual, playing games
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: and messing around with instant messenger, until the class was
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: interrupted by two police officers. After the excitement died down,
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: they proceeded to tell us that we needed to be careful.
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: There was reports of a middle-aged man driving around this
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: area in a white Toyota van, harassing girls around our age,
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: and telling them to come for a ride. A few
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: days had passed since the police warned us, I would
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: usually finish up at around 2.35pm, but I decided to
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: stay later that day to catch up on some homework.
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: So I left school around 4pm. Of course, when I
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: got to the bus station, it had already left. The
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: bus driver was a real jackass. So I decided to
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: walk home. If only I had known what was going
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: to happen that day, I would have called my mom
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: to come pick me up. I would say the walk
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: home was about 30 minutes. I was about three quarters
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: of the way home when I reached this long stretch
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: of road that ran through a few fields with a
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: small path alongside it. for bikes. This road was dark
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: and had no streetlights. Since it was winter, it was
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: already dark by this point. I was about halfway down
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: the road. A few cars had passed me, but no
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: big deal. That's when I saw some headlights approaching me.
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: I didn't take much notice at first, as I assumed
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: it was another passerby. That's when I see a white
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: Toyota van slowly pass me and pull into a driveway
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: that led to a farmhouse. This was about 200 meters
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: in front of me, so I ended up walking past
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: the van. I'm obviously on high alert by now. I
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: hear the door swing open, and I turn around to
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: see this tall, sketchy-looking man stepping out of the van
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: and just stands there, staring at me. At this point,
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: I'm ready to get the hell out of there, and
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: I sprint to either the next farmhouse or the end
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: of the road, but I quickly realized that these two
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: options may be too far out of reach. I turn
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: around again to see the man coming toward me. I
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: bolted it as fast as possible. I was wearing one
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: of those stupid pencil skirts we had to wear. I
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: could hear the man running behind me, He was fast, too.
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: The road was veering to the right. As soon as
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: I got around the bend, I was out of sight
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: for a few seconds. I literally threw myself into this
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: large bramble bush and sat there hiding and waiting. A
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: few moments go by, and he's nowhere to be seen.
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: I was sure that he was right behind me, so
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: after about 10 to 15 minutes... I thought it was
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: safe to pull myself out of the bush. I was
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: covered in scratches and scrapes. At the time, I didn't care.
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: My main priority was hiding. I began walking down the
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: road again. I was nearing the streetlights and my neighborhood,
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: so I thought I would be okay. Until I saw
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: the white van pass me again. I sprinted all the
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: way back home, and as I got onto my road,
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: I saw him passing by again this time in the
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: opposite direction. As soon as I got back, I told
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: my parents, and they called the police and reported it.
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: They didn't find him that night, but he was arrested
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: a few days later, lurking outside our school, attempting to
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: talk to the girl students again. I assume he was convicted,
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: as I've never seen him again. Sometimes I still wonder
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: what was going through his mind that night, and what
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: would have happened if he got a hold of me.
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: What exactly were his intentions? I think I know the answer,
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: but it still makes my skin crawl. When I was
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: a kid, I was hanging out at this place called
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: the Pinecone Forest, which is what the neighborhood kids would
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: call the small patch of trees on the side of
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: the road. I was picking bark off one of the
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: trees to pass the time, waiting for my friend Frankie
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: to finish his homework. So we could play together. Out
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: of nowhere it seemed. A man came up to me.
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: I could smell him. Before I saw him. He reeked
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: of stale cigarette smoke. I was a bit scared to
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: even look at him. He wasn't very old. But one
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: of his eyes was cloudy. And his teeth and fingernails
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: were stained yellow. My mom taught me to be nice
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: to people. So I faked a smile. and said hello.
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: Whatcha doing? The smell of his breath was the worst. Um,
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: I'm picking bark off this tree? You shouldn't do that.
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: That's like picking off a tree's skin. How would you
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: feel if somebody peeled off your skin? He said this
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: while lightly pinching my arm with his sharp yellow fingernails.
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: I don't know, I replied, and took my arm back
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: Just then, Frankie's mother called me to the door and
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: told me to come and wait inside. I didn't think
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: anything of the whole thing at the time. Yesterday, when
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: I was visiting my sister's house with my mom, watching
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: my son and nephews play around in the yard, I
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: remembered this encounter and brought it up to my mom.
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: She had this look of, I don't know, guilt maybe?
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: She said it was probably time that I knew the
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: whole story. She thought I had forgotten about the whole encounter,
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: so she never brought it up to me. First, you
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: should know that the neighborhood I grew up in is
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: a small, tight-knit community. Everyone knew everyone there, and there
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: was no reason for an outsider to be there unless
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: they were visiting someone. Anyway, this is what happened. Frankie's mom, Sonia...
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: noticed a white van with no windows parked on the
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: side of the road. She didn't recognize it, but figured
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: that it was someone visiting one of her neighbors. Sonia
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: later told the police that the van had been there
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: all morning and afternoon. She was kind of keeping an
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: eye on it. She said it gave her a bad feeling.
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: Her house had a huge window in front, facing the
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: pinecone forest, and the van was parked next to it.
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: She saw me waiting for Frankie and kept a constant
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: eye on the van while holding the phone just in case.
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: She then saw the man exit the back of the
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: van and walk up to me. As soon as she
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: saw him grabbing my arm, she called the cops right away.
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: It was then that she told me to come inside.
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: The cops stopped the man outside the neighborhood. In the
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: back of his van were binoculars, a Polaroid camera, and
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: pictures of me taped all over the walls and ceiling.
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: The photos were of me at school, my grandparents' house,
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: at the bank with my mom. But the story doesn't
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: end there. He had a key to a storage unit
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: on him. Inside the unit, they found a cabinet full
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: of knives. And I'm talking about a lot of knives
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: in all shapes and sizes. There was also a few
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: books on the human anatomy. obstetrical equipment, duct tape, and
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: ten empty five-gallon buckets. In the middle of this unit
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: was an old bed that was used to restrain mental patients,
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: so it had wrist and ankle straps. The entire inside
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: of the unit was covered in plastic wrapping. Last my
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: mom heard about him, he was locked away in a
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: high-security mental institution for the criminally insane.
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: As a background, I grew up in the suburbs of Sacramento, California,
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: in an area that was very middle class and a
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: place where it always felt safe. As a kid, I
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: would walk home from school with the neighbors. We would
• 17:36
  Speaker 2: play hide-and-go-seek, basketball on the streets, etc., and we never
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: had any strange encounters. I am currently a 30-year-old male,
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: and it is weird to think about this story. During
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: the weekends when I was a teenager... I would ride
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: my bike for hours at a time and ride around
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: a 10 block radius from where my house was. In Sacramento,
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: we typically had good weather in the spring and a
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: lot of the days were mild temperature with a decent
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: amount of clear skies and sunlight. I'm a pretty introverted
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: individual and also pretty naive the things around me. I
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: vividly remember one time when I was 13 years old
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: and riding my bike in the neighborhood. I had a
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: speedometer on my bike and I always traveled around 12
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: to 16 miles per hour in the right hand side
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: bike lane of the street. While I was cruising on
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: my bike a windowless white van pulled up next to
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: me on my left and matched my speed. I remember
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: glancing over and thinking nothing of this since it is
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: a neighborhood street and it would be weird if a
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: van blazed by me at 35 miles per hour. Within
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: a few seconds of the van matching my speed the
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: right side door slid open. and there were two guys
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: in the back and one guy driving. I look over,
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: and the van got uncomfortably close to me, and one
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: of the guys said quite loudly, Get in the van!
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: I didn't reply, but started pedaling faster and reached about
• 18:57
  Speaker 2: 18 miles per hour, which I know isn't very fast
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: compared to a van, and isn't going to get away
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: from the van, but it seemed like the right thing
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: to do at the time. The van accelerated to match
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: my speed, and I looked over at them. The van
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: was weird on the inside. I remember seeing no seats
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: in the back. The two guys were not seatbelted in.
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: I remember seeing the metal flooring of the van and
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: some rope. The guy beckoned, maybe in more of an
• 19:24
  Speaker 2: insisting tone, to get inside his van. He reached out,
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: since I was within arm's distance. At this time we
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: were traveling straight, but literally just as he was reaching out,
• 19:37
  Speaker 2: The road we were on intersected with another street that
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: I instinctively turned a hard right onto. They were forced
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: to keep going straight otherwise they would have flipped the
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: van to follow me. I knew the area well and
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: started weaving in between the residential streets that consisted of
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: lots of curved roads that looped and resembled a maze.
• 19:56
  Speaker 2: In hindsight it was scary to be in that area
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: because they could have easily found me as I couldn't
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: have seen them coming up on me because of the
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: curved roads but luckily they didn't make another pass. Nowadays
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: I look back and wonder what they had intended to do.
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: Were they just goofing around? Were the ropes just for
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: belaying and rock climbing, or did they actually have a
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: malicious intent? Did they ever do anything to anyone else
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: who couldn't get away? These questions still linger with me.
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: I went home and never told anyone about it. To
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: this day, only two people know about this, and now you.
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: This happened to me when I was in high school.
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: My family was going through some tough times and my
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: mom and I would get into fights about money and
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: social life. I felt I was doing more than enough
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: for my age at that time, 16, going to school, working,
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: giving her my paycheck for bills, and I was upset
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: I wasn't allowed to go out on whatever little time
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: off I did have. On her side, she felt that
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: me going out would distract me from school, work, and
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: I would pick up vices. One night, I got home
• 21:15
  Speaker 2: from work and after a particularly heated argument, I couldn't
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: take it anymore and just left the house. I didn't
• 21:21
  Speaker 2: have a plan as to what I was going to do.
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: In my mind, I just wanted to get away from
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: my responsibilities. So I just started walking with no specific destination.
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: I ended up walking for two hours. Despite walking for
• 21:33
  Speaker 2: so long though, I was only about 15 minutes from
• 21:36
  Speaker 2: home because I was going in circles. By that time,
• 21:40
  Speaker 2: it was 1am and I was walking on a sidewalk
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: when a van pulled up in front of me and
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: stopped on the side of the road. Now this was
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: on a populated area on a three lane road just
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: near the expressway and there was mild traffic so I
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: didn't give it much thought. As I got closer to
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: the van though I see that the driver rolls down
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: the passenger side window and is looking at me through
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: the side mirror. Still I didn't think anything of it.
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: Maybe somebody was lost trying to get directions. Now I'm
• 22:08
  Speaker 2: right by the passenger door and the man calls me over.
• 22:11
  Speaker 2: He said he was lost and was trying to get
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: directions to the expressway. This is when I started feeling
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: this wasn't right. The signs for the expressway were all
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: around and the expressway was literally two blocks away. My
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: mind started racing. I literally pointed at the expressway which
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: was within sight and started to walk away when he
• 22:29
  Speaker 2: started following me and asked me where I was going
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: and if I needed a ride. At this point, I'm
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: regretting not having gone home already. I turn towards the
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: man and tell him that I don't need a ride
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: but thanks for offering and start walking away faster. The
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: man doesn't say anything and starts driving away but as
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: he passes me I can see that he was looking
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: at me through the side mirror again. Seeing him drive
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: away I started feeling relieved but then instead of him
• 22:56
  Speaker 2: going straight towards the expressway he takes a right turn
• 23:00
  Speaker 2: and goes down the street. Now I'm freaking out. I
• 23:04
  Speaker 2: start thinking that I might go all the way around
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: the block just to get back on the main road
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: and come engage me again. So as soon as I
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: see his van go out of sight, I book it
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: to the building that was to my right and hide
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: behind some bushes. The building had a bunch of offices
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: and I could see there was a lawyer's office, dentist's office,
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: and other small businesses. I lay down on the ground
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: and just waited. A couple of minutes passed and through
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: a small gap in the bushes I see his van
• 23:31
  Speaker 2: rolling up towards the main road. The man had done
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: as I thought. He went around the block just to
• 23:36
  Speaker 2: get back on the main road. I saw him driving
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: slowly as he was looking for me and then I
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: saw him take that right turn again. I knew for
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: sure he was looking for me again. Now after a
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: few minutes his van shows up again but it is
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: driving slower and comes to a stop in front of
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: the office building. After a few tense seconds in which
• 23:56
  Speaker 2: I thought he would get out of the vehicle to
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: check the area he started to drive away. The whole
• 24:02
  Speaker 2: time I was hiding behind the bushes I was freaking
• 24:04
  Speaker 2: out knowing a stranger was actively searching for me. I
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: waited about five minutes after I saw his vehicle drive
• 24:11
  Speaker 2: off and I took off running home. To this day
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: I don't know what his intentions might have been but
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: I believe in intuition and mine told me that his
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: motives were sinister. Last summer, at approximately 3 a.m., I
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: was returning home to my apartment in the sleeping district
• 24:41
  Speaker 2: of Vilnius, Lithuania. Vilnius is a compact, neat town of
• 24:46
  Speaker 2: about half a million people, and whatever nightlife there is,
• 24:49
  Speaker 2: it happens only in the central district called the Old Town.
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: Large suburbs full of Soviet concrete blocks can seem abandoned
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: at night. My home is within a walking distance from
• 25:00
  Speaker 2: the center, so... For me, it is completely normal to
• 25:03
  Speaker 2: return home on foot, even at night. So I was
• 25:06
  Speaker 2: walking down the completely empty street enjoying fresh nighttime air,
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: only occasionally I could see a car, almost always a taxi,
• 25:14
  Speaker 2: and it was dead silence around. Then this white van appeared.
• 25:19
  Speaker 2: I saw it quite far away, cruising at a slow
• 25:21
  Speaker 2: speed in the first lane as if observing something. Then
• 25:25
  Speaker 2: it steered into smaller lateral streets and stopped between two
• 25:29
  Speaker 2: large blocks of flats some 50 meters from me. The
• 25:32
  Speaker 2: van itself was old, beaten up and rusty. Similar ones
• 25:35
  Speaker 2: are often used by small construction and relocation companies, only
• 25:39
  Speaker 2: this one had no markings on it. The first door
• 25:43
  Speaker 2: opened and out came a man in his 40s or
• 25:46
  Speaker 2: 50s wearing non-specific clothes, jeans and some dark jacket. For
• 25:51
  Speaker 2: several seconds he looked around cautiously, but I was too
• 25:54
  Speaker 2: far away and in a non-illuminated area, so he either
• 25:58
  Speaker 2: didn't notice or paid no attention to me. He ran
• 26:01
  Speaker 2: around the van and stopped in front of a large
• 26:03
  Speaker 2: old metal box that was fixed to the wall of
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: a house nearby. You can see those boxes near all
• 26:08
  Speaker 2: Soviet area buildings, and I assume they contain distribution boards
• 26:12
  Speaker 2: or some other electric equipment. As far as I know,
• 26:16
  Speaker 2: those boxes are always locked. The van was blocking the
• 26:19
  Speaker 2: box so that you couldn't see it from the street,
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: but I was at a lucky angle and able to
• 26:24
  Speaker 2: observe what happened. For a second or two, the man
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: fiddled with the lock, opened the door, and took something out.
• 26:31
  Speaker 2: Then he locked it and hastily ran back into the van,
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: closing the rear door as the van was already moving.
• 26:37
  Speaker 2: It slowly picked up speed and drove away. At this
• 26:40
  Speaker 2: moment I remembered that it's not the first time I've
• 26:43
  Speaker 2: seen this van. I actually saw it a lot at night,
• 26:46
  Speaker 2: slowly driving around sleeping districts of Vilnius. I never paid
• 26:50
  Speaker 2: attention to it but still remembered it because there are
• 26:53
  Speaker 2: very few cars at night. Strange, I thought. I told
• 26:57
  Speaker 2: the story to several buddies and we had a good
• 26:59
  Speaker 2: laugh making up stories about secret drug distribution networks, spy
• 27:02
  Speaker 2: messages and stuff. I almost forgot it until last week.
• 27:07
  Speaker 2: It was around 9.30pm. I was walking along the street
• 27:11
  Speaker 2: separating the old town from the new town right by
• 27:14
  Speaker 2: the store belonging to large supermarket chains. There was a
• 27:18
  Speaker 2: metal box on the wall. It was open and a
• 27:20
  Speaker 2: middle-aged man in builder uniform belonging to some construction company
• 27:25
  Speaker 2: was squatting near it. When I noticed him, his hands
• 27:28
  Speaker 2: were elbow deep in the box. A woman of similar
• 27:31
  Speaker 2: age wearing a uniform of the supermarket chain was standing nearby,
• 27:35
  Speaker 2: looking at the man. There were a lot of people
• 27:37
  Speaker 2: in the street, but at the time, I was the
• 27:40
  Speaker 2: only one within listening distance of the two. Probably they
• 27:43
  Speaker 2: were talking before I came near and I could overhear
• 27:46
  Speaker 2: the last words of the conversation. So, they are coming
• 27:50
  Speaker 2: to take it every night? said the man. Aga, the
• 27:55
  Speaker 2: woman answered. It was Russian for, uh-huh. The question was
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: in Lithuanian, but since Vilnius has large Russian minority, bilingual
• 28:05
  Speaker 2: conversations are somewhat commonplace. The man closed the box and
• 28:09
  Speaker 2: locked it with a small, cheap-looking lock. Then they noticed me.
• 28:14
  Speaker 2: The woman glanced at me rather angrily, turned around and
• 28:17
  Speaker 2: disappeared between the doors of the store. The man walked
• 28:20
  Speaker 2: away in the other direction. There was no good-bye. It
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: looked as if though I disturbed them and they did
• 28:25
  Speaker 2: not want to be seen here. I honestly don't know
• 28:29
  Speaker 2: what it's all about, but I had several ideas. The
• 28:32
  Speaker 2: most realistic one is that there is some low-level illegal
• 28:35
  Speaker 2: stuff going on, such as people paying local criminals for
• 28:39
  Speaker 2: protection by leaving money inside specific electricity distribution boards while
• 28:44
  Speaker 2: thugs come and pick it up at night. But I
• 28:46
  Speaker 2: clearly remember Builderman saying every night, which seems strange, maybe
• 28:51
  Speaker 2: people are stealing something Money? Goods? From their own workplaces
• 28:56
  Speaker 2: in metal boxes and shady vans or some underground distribution
• 29:00
  Speaker 2: and exchange network? I don't know, but any ideas would
• 29:05
  Speaker 2: be helpful.