Heidi,
I really appreciate you hosting an anonymous blog for survivors of abduction to be able to share their stories. I'm extremely nervous telling my story as I've never been able to tell anyone. I haven't been able to stop reliving the event since it happened. I'm hoping by sharing my experience with your readers that I may be able to find some peace with what happened to me. So much has happened that I don't know where to begin other than the very beginning.
I'm used to feeling men looking at me. I don't mean that to sound like I think that I'm all that but I think most women my age are used to feeling man staring at them. In August of this year I begin feeling like I was constantly being watched. It was different than the normal guy walking past me and staring at my chest. It was different then the feeling I get standing in the grocery store and seeing a man pushing his buggy behind me staring at my butt.
I really searched my brain over these past couple of months trying to figure out where it all started. I think I've been able to narrow it down to a warm afternoon when I was sitting in a park. I had taking advantage of the fabulous weather to spend my lunch break sitting on a park bench. I was busy looking over things I brought with me from work.
At this point I need to explain something to your readers that's extremely embarrassing to me. Without explaining this I don't feel that your readers will understand. I can't believe I'm saying this in broadcasting it out over the Internet but I have abnormally sweaty feet. As one would expect with someone with overactive sweat glands in their feet, I have a big problem with foot odor. It's always been a huge source of embarrassment for me and required careful planning on the type shoes I wore and where and when I could take them off. My single biggest fear surrounding my feet is going over to someone's house that has a no shoes rule. I know this is getting away from sharing my story but I think it's important for your readers to understand why I feel so ashamed and victimized.
Understanding my issues with foot odor I think your readers will understand why I took my heels off in the park that day. There was a nice breeze and I knew that no one would be able to smell them. I slipped my feet out of my heels and propped them on a small chair in front of me. I think like everyone else, I was aware that people have fetishes for feet but I had never met one and it just didn't occur to me that my bare feet we're really on display. I sat there reading and within about ten minutes got the burning sensation that someone was watching me. It was different than anything I've ever experienced before. I felt extremely uncomfortable I told myself that I was just being paranoid and that I was really invisible in this sea of people.
I eventually was able to shake the feeling. I wasn't aware that I had done this but my abductor made a big point of telling me about it. Normally when I have my shoes off I will absentmindedly stretch my feet. I'll point my toes and spread them to let the cool air between my sweaty toes. I can't be held responsible Heidi for doing something that I wasn't aware of, can I? I mean how can that be my fault? I know that I have very cute feet but how could I have known that my feet would've gotten into the situation? I feel like it's my fault Heidi and I'm terrified to wear open toed shoes in public since my abduction.
After being able to shake the feeling of being watched in the park I put my heels back on and decided to go over to the Starbucks nearby. As I walked I got this feeling that someone was right behind me and I kept turning around to see who was following me. I really felt like I must be crazy because I never saw anyone. I still wanted to take advantage of the nice weather so I sat outside with my latte. Again I didn't consciously do this but my abductor told me that I did. Apparently when I was sitting at the table I started dangling my heels off my toes. I did start getting very uncomfortable feeling of someone's eyes burning into me. I snapped my head around several times in an effort to see if I could catch someone looking at me, but I couldn't. I chalked it up to the fact that I hadn't eaten much and again I was just being paranoid.
I eventually got back in my car and drove to work. I was feeling unsettled but knew that it was all in my head. When I got that feeling again walking from my car into the office I did my best to ignore it. I looked around and didn't see anyone in the parking lot. I got the same feeling almost immediately when I walked out of the front door of the office and walk to my car. By this point I had convinced myself that it was all in my head. Even as I got that feeling parking in the driveway and walking into my house.
That's the way my life went for the next few weeks. I really didn't know how to articulate to anyone how I was feeling. I just figured they would think I was crazy. Every time I got that feeling I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. I got used to having the feeling anytime I was out in public. I quit going to the park and avoided being in public as much as I could. When I wasn't in public I felt safe. There were a couple of instances at work when potential new clients were given a tour of our offices.
The gym was sort of a different feeling. I think as with any woman my age you want to feel sexy. I like the attention from men. It's flattering to see that you're able to turn heads when you're working out. Typically I would dress sexy to the gym but not like a complete slut. I liked wearing a form fitting top that was sleeveless and showed my tummy. I would usually wear tight short shorts and running shoes with white ankle socks. As your readers can probably imagine I never used the locker facility at the gym because of my foot smell issue. I think it's normal that my feet with sweat at the gym because I'm usually drenched in sweat but my running shoes make my feet especially stinky and sweaty. Having this problem with my feet all my life I knew that I would clear out the locker room if I took off my shoes. I was now in the habit of going home to get cleaned up after the gym.
I know you asked me to be specific and detailed as I could about the time leading up to my abduction. The gym begin to feel like a place that I got mixed feelings about being watched. I guess because I was used to guys making up a reason to be working out in my vicinity when I would work out my hamstrings. Laying face down, the machine pushes my butt up in the air and my feet are under a bar. So anytime I was working out on a machine that had me and when I guess I would describe as a compromising position I was used to feeling men lusting after my body. But they were very definite times when I would get an extremely strong feeling that someone was watching me differently than all of the others.
I apologize for delaying describing the events that happened that September afternoon. It's just really hard for me to talk about Heidi and I know it's part of the healing process but I'm sure the other victims can understand my reluctance to describe what happened.
It was Saturday, September 3, 2016. My roommates had decided to go on a weeklong trip. I decided to stay home and take advantage of the peace and quiet. I decided to leave for the gym at 11 o'clock in the morning. I put on my gym clothes and when I opened my sock drawer I saw that I hadn't done laundry like I had planned. I debated not wearing socks but I knew on the occasions that I had done that that the people on the treadmill next to me could smell my feet. Nobody obviously had ever confronted me about it but I can remember people sort of looking around and trying to discreetly smell themselves to see if they were the cause of such a strong smell. I'm lucky in the fact that I am cute and in good shape because people won't naturally associate me with offensive odors. So I dug through my dirty clothes basket and trying to find the least smelly pair of ankle socks. I knew that all of them were going to be completely gross so I just picked a pair and put them on my feet and slip them into my running shoes.