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- Taveler my friends are usually too busy or can't afford to constantly fly to a million different places so I do a lot of it myself I flew to San Diego for my first time alone st of the major cities in California except for San Diego so I wanted to check it off my bucket list I stayed in a decent hotel very close to downtown as I checked in I met a guy a little older than me in the lobby he struck up a conversation with me about where I was from how long I'd be here for and if I'd ever been here it was apparently his second time here and he was also alone he offered to take my bags to my room for me since he was going upstairs anyway I accepted his offer appreciating his kind gesture he carried my bags to the elevator and we went to the second floor to my room he set my bags down outside my door and said it was great d to enjoy my stay here I thanked him again and he left down the hall I let myself into the room set my bags on the bed and laid down for a bit just to get a quick nap in when I felt refreshed I went back down to the lobby and was about to head outside when the lady working the front desk called me over she asked what that man did when we went upstairs and I told her he just helped me with my bags to my room she then warned me that that man had been standing outside the hotel for a while and she noticed him come in moments after I came inside she told me that she was fairly certain he wasn't staying in the hotel and if I see him again I should stay away from him this was of course Very unsettling I hope she was wrong and he was actually just a nice person but to be safe I would listen to her I went out and explored and had myself a day I came back a few hours later to change into different clothes for dinner there was a different person working the front desk now in the hotel room I showered quickly then changed into different clothes and laid down for another quick power nap during this time there was a knock at the door to my room followed by a quiet male's voice saying housekeeping I didn't order housekeeping and it was my first day there maybe they had the wrong room I went to check the peephole the door and I didn't see anyone in the hall that was beyond strange then immediately that man from earlier came into my head what if it was him I ignored the knocks and went to my phone to call the front desk and ask them if they had sent housekeeping to my room and of course they said no so I asked for someone to be sent to my room for my own safety and five minutes later a hotel maid knocked on the door I opened it and explained politely the situation to her and thanks her for coming I then left the hotel to go to dinner after dinner I did a city lights night tour and explored some of the happening areas of the city at night I got back to the hotel room around 10. I went up to the front desk worker and then explained what happened earlier with the man I met who I feared may have been pretending to be room service to get into my room I then asked her if she had seen any one of his description walking around the lobby and she said no and to make me feel better she checked the live surveillance camera of my floor and no one was in the halls I thanked her and went upstairs to my floor and then to my room I changed out of my clothes and laid in bed and put on the TV so I could fall asleep to something within the hour I was drifting into a sleep what I was hearing from the TV was kind of turning into a dream in my half a sleep state so when I heard it do our closing it became part of my dream I didn't actually wake up until I felt the mattress start shifting as something was putting weight on the other side I looked over my shoulder to the other side of the bed and I saw a man in a black covered mask and baseball hat getting onto the bed reaching for me he grabbed me trying to cover my mouth so I couldn't scream but I managed to fight him off for long enough to scream bloody murder he continued to try to cover my mouth but I kept struggling and resisting just long enough for someone to start knocking on the door I screamed help and by this point surely the man knew this wasn't going to go his way anymore he let go of me and opened the door and shoved the woman who was knocking to the floor and she saw him run down the hall to the stairs the woman came in to make sure I was okay as I was in complete shock followed by Tears others from neighboring rooms came to see what the commotion was about hotel staff came as well and the police were called based on the hotel video footage the man somehow acquired a master key which allowed him to access my room the mask and hat hid his identity but I strongly believe it to be the man who helped me with my bags the first day I believe he wanted to find out what room I was in to later come back to it's scary to think he may have done this successfully to somebody else I tried my best to enjoy the rest of my trip even though I went through something that will likely stay with me for the rest of my life the hotel gave me a full reimbursement for the entire stay and they gave me a different room to stay in honestly looking back I probably should have pressed charges on the hotel the hotel of course also gave all the necessary footage to the police department I haven't ever been contacted to identify anybody which sadly more than likely means the man was never properly identified or caught the events of this story take place a few years ago maybe in 2013 or 2014 honestly I don't remember because the story is such a blur and I've eventually just blocked it out over the years it was Christmas break and I was a freshman in college attending a university in New York City with that being said I was miles apart from my family who lived all the way in Bulgaria for some of you who may not know where that is Bulgaria is just a small country in Eastern Europe right by Romania and Greece Bulgaria's safety reputation and regulation isn't really that good but this story actually contrasts that I was at JFK airport maybe just a few days before Christmas Eve because my initial plan was to surprise my family and friends in Bulgaria the airport very obviously was packed and loaded with a lot of people making my traveling experience way more complex and difficult after hours of security luggage weighing and waiting for time to pass I finally was at rest when the first plane to Istanbul from Manhattan was setting off the first plane ride was around eight hours so I was prepared to be somewhat miserable and sore for the classic economic seating arrangement I was sat next to two men unfortunately for the record I'm a 5 feet 110 something pound woman which didn't make it any better either these two men were probably well over a foot taller than me and could easily overpower me the man on the right to me was relatively quiet black hair glasses and low-key ripped the guy in the left to me however freaked me out he would occasionally Mumble to himself quietly and he would pick at his skin sometimes even nudging his arm close to mine I took note of the guy to the left of me and tried my best to have a decent eight-hour flight the only thing keeping me productive was the fact that I'd be in my home country in less than 48 hours but this productiveness got trimmed short when I'd be minding my business maybe doing work or listening to music and the guy left of me would be very bluntly staring at me I tried shrugging it off maybe he has a disability that made him lack social cues But as time went on I started to doubt that at some point during the flight I was watching season two of American Horror Story the man began speaking to me asking why I was watching a show that poorly represents the mentally ill murderers and whatnot very nervously and hastily I asked him if he needed anything since it's inappropriate to randomly disturbished stranger who's minding their own business the season of American Horror Story I was watching was Asylum which portrays cold-blooded murderers and insane people of a mental hospital the guy looked me straight in the eye and said very candidly I just think it's [ __ ] up how everyone thinks people who skin others alive are crazy I mean aren't we all like that I mentally began freaking out asking myself who the hell was I sitting next to and did anyone else hear that I chuckled brushing it off to seem unbothered for the rest of the flight I was scared shitless and I contemplated asking for an open seat that may have been available by the back of the plane but nonetheless the flight came to an end and we arrived in Istanbul I gathered my stuff as quickly as I could and escorted myself out of the plane as soon as possible now I wish I could say the story ends there but unfortunately it does not the rest of my Christmas was fine but what that man said still rung in my head like a bell as January approached I began packing up again to head back to New York I was sorting out my tote bag and throwing out any old trash I may have stuffed in there from traveling when I came across a disgusting note that must have been slipped in there when I was sleeping it read the following I wish I could see what you look like under your skin I really wish I took a picture of it as evidence because only a month later into February there was a news article that my younger sister sent to me that basically talked about the same exact man from my plane ride being sent to jail for multiple accounts of rape attempted rape kidnapping attempted kidnapping and first-degree murder in Istanbul reading that article made me sick to my stomach and honestly that whole experience drove me to just stay home for the holidays for a few years in the winter of 2018 to escape the cold weather my girlfriend Claire and I took a week off from our jobs to go away to a nice Beach Resort in Mexico where the water was crystal blue and the weather was perfect the resort was extremely affordable for a seven-day all-inclusive package it had a buffet three pools was on the beach had a million bars an entertainment Hall and tons of group excursions we were going to be there for a whole week so we had a lot planned the first couple days we relaxed around the resort getting use out of the unlimited drinks package the surrounding area of the resort was a lot of jungle and Scenic looking roads so we took a private shuttle on the third day to the nearest car rental place the shuttle driver warned us not to stray too far from the coast as there are a lot of unsafe areas we rented a Ford Fiesta there weren't Exactly any Mustangs or Camaros at this rental place the car rental place was in a small City about five miles up the road from the resort there was basically this one long road that ran along a bunch of resorts and next to this road was miles of jungle and occasional small towns we drove south on the road until we ended up in Tulum the actual city of Tulum was less appealing than I had imagined considering a lot of my friends were always talking about wanting to go there we drove through the Tulum area and then back up north we found a dirt road into a jungle area and decided to just drive through it and see where it goes on either side of us was just jungle probably for miles we drove down this wide dirt road enjoying the scenery and little off-roading experience though Claire seemed to think we shouldn't be on a dirt road like this in a rental in fear of dirtying it up and I agreed so we did a three-point turn and started heading back in the direction of the main road eventually we were stopped by these three men walking out from the jungle onto the road we both simultaneously said oh no knowing this could be trouble I brought the car to a halt and lowered the window a little bit as one of the men came up to it and started speaking in Spanish I said no hablo espanol and things started to get a little heated one of the other men came to Claire's window and knocked on it I told her not to lower it the guide my window started saying money money and I saw the one man still in front of the car making his way to my window as well and he pulled a knife out of his right pocket I stepped on the gas and the car jumped forward the three men were yelling and running after us but obviously they couldn't run faster than a car our hearts were in our throats from that encounter I didn't let up on the gas until we made it off the dirt road after that we didn't really want to drive around anymore we brought the car to the resort parking lot and left it there we didn't want to return it yet especially since the rentals there were so cheap anyway the next day after talking with some of the workers at the resort who recommended a beautiful nearby Cenote to check out we drove the car to another similar looking dirt path very close to the resort we followed the workers directions and drove all the way to the end of the dirt road then parked when we saw a sign for the cenotes a we found it without issue and we were the only once surprisingly we didn'tt see any other cars we followed the signs down this beautiful Scenic pathway it was a truly peaceful experience that unfortunately had to be ruined when we started feeling e being watched And n we have some sixth sense I erally heard rustling andom all around us in the jungle I told her let's just keep walking we continued to follow the signs and out from nowhere a man came up to us once : again speaking Spanish and I again responded no hablo espanol he started to attempt to speak in English and I understood him to be trying to tell us to come with him that he'd lead us to the Cenote Claire and I looked at each other nervously and we followed the man he was leading us a different way than we were originally going it seems like we weren't following the signs anymore Claire tapped me on the shoulder and then pointed at the man's back pocket there was the handle of a large knife in his back pocket and whispered to her to run and then pushed her to start running and I followed close behind the man noticed and started running after us but thank the Lord he was slow we were easily outrunning him we made it back to the car and at first I thought he'd stop chasing us but as soon as we got in the car three people emerged from the path we just came from and tried opening the car doors they then started hitting riting...
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