Real Encounters

*Terrifying encounter with malnourished woman with bloodshot eyes*

A couple years ago before I joined the military, I was a performer at a well known theme park/animal sanctuary/water park in the US. After a long hot day of dancing, I went back to my apartment to get cleaned up for a date with a guy I was interested in at the time. He came to pick me up and we went to the mall to go have dinner and a movie.

After the date, we got in his car and began to leave the parking lot. We pulled up to a stop light that just turned red and was notorious for taking an eternity to shift colors. So we sit and wait and he asks me about my day at work (he also worked at the theme park), and I did the same to him. While we were talking I saw some movement to my right outside the car and glanced in the direction and saw a tall lanky woman with wire like grey hair jumbled in a huge knot of nastiness. It was dark so I couldn't see her face and just thought it was a homeless woman and felt sad for her.

I returned my attention to my date and started to say something when all of a sudden I heard my side's door click open and the woman from outside was trying to get in. For being all skin and bones, she was quite strong and I struggled to pull the door in. She had one hand on the door and in her other hand was a medium sized kitchen knife whipping at me. She managed to cut my face, very minor, but nonetheless terrifying. As I struggled I looked at her face; It was the scariest part. She was obviously very malnourished, possibly struggling with drugs. Her face looked more like a pure bone skull than a flesh covered one. Her skin was wrinkly, making her appear elderly, but no way she could be with her strength. Her eyes were bloodshot to the point where her pupils blended with the rest of her eyes. But the weirdest part was the color of her skin. It was grey. It resembled the color of ash, but not in the dry skin kind of way. Her expression was a mixture of desperation, rage, and hunger. It was obvious she was seeing red, and my life could be in jeopardy.

Realizing this, my brain released even more adrenaline and I managed to finally pull the door shut. My date was frozen with fear and I had to scream at him to lock the doors and hit the gas, regardless of the stop light still being red (he had an older car, no automatic locks). So he hits the gas, and I kid you not, the crazy bitch held on to the door handle and was dragged along side us for maybe 30 or so feet. I told my date to make a left turn up ahead sharply to swing her off, and he did, and she went flying off. I looked in the mirror and saw her barrel roll to a stop. My date stopped the car for a moment, trying to compose himself. We both looked back and somehow she managed to get up within a few seconds and she just stood there staring at us. Finally, she slumped her shoulders in defeat, turned around, and slowly paced away from us, seemingly unharmed.

My date drove forward and we were both silent the entire way home. We ended up staying with each other because we were scared. It was completely terrifying, and really the first time I ever felt that scared. But I couldn't help but feel bad because she was obviously desperate for some kind of nourishment or resource.

To add to the creepiness of the incident, the mall we went to had an urban myth that supposedly there are zombie like "people" that stalk the property. I doubt it was a zombie, but probably was a homeless woman in need of drugs, food, or money. Either way, her face and bloodshot eyes haunt me to this day.