Horror logo

Stalker in the Woods

Followed Home on a Small Island by Someone with Sinister Intentions

By Kristin JeaneenPublished 6 years ago 3 min read
Like

Island Creep

I moved to an island on Lake Michigan for the summer. It’s a touristy area and you can make decent money in the summer and my aunt owns a bar and grill and motel so I figured why not? I just went through a breakup after a six-year relationship and have been battling issues with depression and anxiety for over a year now so I figured this would be a nice change of scenery.

I was staying with my older cousin at a cabin her mom owns approximately a mile and a half away from where we both work. We’re both women. This island is basically nothing but woods and forest. It’s very beautiful but it’s very remote. Most of the roads are unpaved. There are only streetlights on the main road. At night it is pitch black. Our cabin is smack dab in the middle of the woods.

I don’t have a car with me on the island. I just bike to wherever I want or need to go. One night I worked the closing shift as a server at my aunt’s restaurant. I finished closing up the restaurant and said goodbye to my aunt’s partner who was still in the kitchen. I left through the side door off the kitchen and started biking down the main road. On my route to and from work, I pass a bar where the locals like to hang out. Some tourists go there too, of course, as they go everywhere, but that bar is like Cheers to the Islanders.

Keep in mind this is the only paved road on the entire island and the only road with streetlights. It was dark out. I only had my little bike headlight to guide me once I got off the main road. Anyway, I’m riding past the local hangout bar like I always do when some guy outside the bar says hi to me. This isn’t uncommon. It’s a small island and people say hi to everyone around here. I smile and say hi back without really looking at him. I’m still in polite server mode.

I’m a little further down the road when this truck comes up behind me on the road. I’m riding on the right shoulder of the road (there’s a bike path there) and instead of going around me the truck stays behind me. But we were coming up to an intersection so I figured that was why. We get to the intersection and I turn left leading me onto an unpaved gravel road in the pitch black.

The truck turns behind me and continues following me. I figure okay there are some houses on this road. Maybe this is where he stays. We pass all the houses on that road with him still hot on my trail. Now we’re in the deep woods. As we continue into the deep roads he starts following closer and closer behind me until I can feel the heat of his truck on my back.

I get to a curve in the road. After the curve leads to the road my cabin is on. I don’t want to go down that road because my road is a dead end with my cabin being the dead end and I don’t want this truck person to know where I’m living.

So instead of going around the curve, I lean to the side and let myself fall off my bike and into the ditch in the woods. Luckily the truck keeps going around the curve. I sigh with relief and think I’m safe. I lay in the ditch for a few minutes trying to get my heart rate to go back to normal.

Then I see headlights coming. The same headlights that had been following me. My bike is still lying on the side of the road. The driver knows I’m still here. They stop next to my bike at the curve. A guy leans out the window and shouts,

“Next time you’ll look at me when I say, 'hi,' to you, you fucking bitch!”

He then speeds off down the road spraying gravel everywhere. I’m crying at this point and just lay in the ditch quietly sobbing. Finally, after a good amount of time without this crazy guy returning I get back on my bike and head home.

I’m so thankful all he did was yell at me and didn’t get out of his car and come after me.

I’m definitely considering carpooling to work from now on.

psychological
Like

About the Creator

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.