I’d been at a friend’s house all night having a few drinks until the early hours of the morning. It got to 4 a.m. and it was light outside, so I thought I’d start walking home (30 minute walk overall) and it’d be pretty safe as I could see everything clearly around me. In hindsight, I shouldn’t have walked home alone, but I honestly thought I’d be okay because I usually am.
I get about 10 minutes into my walk home only to hear someone on a bicycle, and they start cycling past me only to then go onto the pavement and stop right in front of me. This alone terrified me. I then realise it’s a guy, and I instantly freeze.
He smiled at my reaction, then proceeded to ask me if I had a cigarette…so I lie and tell him I don’t smoke, hoping he’d go off. He didn’t. He edged towards the road and started cycling again. I was literally clutching my phone in my pocket so tight, ready to actually hit him a round the head if he came closer. He then slowed down and edged towards me on his bike again near the pavement, obvious to him that I was extremely uncomfortable.
He then said. “You’re very beautiful, aren’t you?” followed by a leer.
Bearing in mind I looked awful from a heavy night drinking, wearing leggings and a dress with a hoodie…so this just creeped me out even more. I just smiled and looked down. He then asked me where I’d been and why such a “beautiful girl” was walking in the early hours of the morning. I replied with “a friends house”, still looking at the floor. He then asked for my age, and I told him 18 to which he replied, “I’m 17″.
I looked up at him and he did not look 17. Early 20’s at the youngest. I was trying to get a good look at his face because I was at this point terrified for my safety. I was hoping by now he’d actually leave me alone, I was so scared. I was trying to be as normal as possible, I didn’t want to provoke him in anyway so I thought it’d be easier to answer his questions. He then said, “Do you have a boyfriend?”
I lied again and said yes, really hoping that he’d leave. He then said, “What a lucky man, you’re so beautiful.”
I just nodded and looked away, and he cycled off shouting, “Bye” in the process.
I could have literally had a panic attack on the spot. Bearing in mind I was alone, 20 minutes away from my house, there were lots of alleyways coming up where he could have easily been waiting down and I was drunk. Drunk and stumbling. I have generalized anxiety disorder so my reaction was a lot worse to that of a normal person, and I was really finding it hard to pull myself together.
I was walking home paranoid as anything, carefully crossing onto the “safe” side of the road every time an alleyway came up in case he was there. I was so sure he’d gone, I was looking behind me every few seconds. I then approached my road and literally sighed with relief, because I thought I was safe then. I was literally about 20 seconds away from my house, when I see a bike.
It was him. Cycling towards me. Down my road.
He smiled at me and said, “Long walk for a girl isn’t it?”
I just looked at him and sped up. I looked behind me and he was cycling off. Then I half ran home, fumbling for my keys and looking to see if he was behind me. No sign of him, so I open my door and shut it quickly but quietly behind me, hoping he wouldn’t see or hear what house I was going into.
Then everything sunk in and I had a panic attack, absolutely terrified. There is no way, absolutely NO way in hell that it was coincidence he was down my road. From where he saw me last, to my road was 20 minutes away. You have to go down multiple different streets to get there. He literally stalked me to my street.
It was the scariest thing that’s happened to me for a long time. I’m so terrified he saw what house I went into.
– Leah-Grace
Location: Clacton-On-Sea, Essex, England
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