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The original was posted on /r/twoxchromosomes by /u/wysteria_breeze on 2023-09-11 01:15:29.

It happened around an hour ago, but I’m still shaken up and I legitimately feel like I’ve dodged a massive bullet.

It’s 12AM in my timezone at the moment, and I’m currently driving home with my partner. We still have two hours to go, but I really had to pee so we stopped at a rest stop. I went into the women’s bathroom & IMMEDIATELY got a bad feeling about the place.

It was totally empty and dead silent, the entrance was a heavy door that I had to push open with my body weight, no cameras outside. The sinks were lined up by the entrance, and the three stalls were separated with walls, their doors also quite heavy. My gut was telling me something’s wrong so I tried to quietly check if anyone else was in there with me (the doors were floor to ceiling high). The first and the last stalls were open, the middle one was locked.

That looked door was sending warning signals to my brain, but I really had to pee. I slowly creeped past to get to the last stall & there was no TP so I didn’t use it. I DID stop and listen if I could hear anyone in the middle stall. There were no noises – no breathing, clothes rustling, feet shuffling, etc. Nothing. I stepped out to reach the first stall, again creeping past the locked door. This stall also had no TP, so again I didn’t use it. Before leaving I stopped to wash my hands in the sink closest to the entrance…

Guys, just when the water turned on I heard that door unlock. I fled that bathroom as quickly as physically possible. I jumped into the car & told my partner to lock the car doors, but to wait for a short while because I wanted to see who’ll step out after me. Well, nobody stepped out, not even in the following minutes. I looked around the rest stop and the only other signs of life there were a van, a truck, and a camper (all of them parked and dark). Nobody else was there with us, it was dark and empty.

I’m still shaken up over it. It might seem like I’m making a big deal out of this, but I swear on anything that the whole situation was extremely concerning. Usually I’m very preventative about such situations, but because it’s so late and I’m tired, my initial warning bells didn’t ring loud enough.

I’m never using non-commercial rest stops again, that’s for sure.