I was (almost) kidnapped by a cult?

I found chambers via a post shared on Facebook. I read through it and I have a similar experience that I’d like to share with you: <br><br><br>Something happened to me about four years ago, and i’m not even sure if I believe what happened myself, but I’d like to ask you your thoughts on this:<br><br>It was summer 2015, I was newly 18 and was interrailing (for those who don’t know: that’s a journey thru (mostly) Europe with a special ticket you can use almost every trains with), with my friend and had been on the road for almost two months. We had started in Italy, gone south to Greece, then all the way up to Norway, gone thru Denmark, Sweden and the Czech Republic and had just left Germany. (We were on a tight schedule and wanted to see as many places as possible before we had to return home) <br><br><br>We had taken a night train from Hamburg to Brussels. When we arrived at the train station in Brussels, it was about seven in the morning but very rainy and cold. We were tired and had no idea if there were any open cafes nearby. Exhausted and wet, we decided to go inside the station and ask for information where we maybe could get something to eat.<br><br><br>As we walked towards the information desk, a man approached us. He was a tall guy in his mid 30’s, dressed in long black pants and a white t-shirt, with very short, almost shaved hair. He asked us in English where we were going. I told him that we weren’t going anywhere in particular but just looked for a place to eat. He told us that we were in luck because his friends were nearby; they had food and we were welcome. Mind you, we were young girls in a foreign country and I can’t say we hadn’t been warned about dangers like human trafficking, especially when traveling alone. But there was something about him that didn’t seem threatening, and even if it was, we were so tired that we couldn’t care much and followed him. We walked out of the station, and he motioned for the nearby park. We walked towards the park, but stopped when we saw a group of people sitting down nearby, on a blanket. -We couldn’t see them properly because they had their backs turned to us, but they seemed to be sitting in some sort of circle.<br><br><br>We stopped and I whispered to my friend that we should not go any closer. She didn’t seem to care much, so I asked the guy if they were his friends, and he said yes. I told him we didn’t want to disturb them, could he please bring us the food? He said yes and walked towards them. I hoped that he would return with the food, but he only came back and told us to come. Again, I told him that we didn’t want to disturb and he should just bring us the food. To my luck, a young couple suddenly walked by and stopped. They looked at us, then at the guy and the group on the ground. We noticed that something was wrong and asked if everything was okay. The guy looked at us strangely, then turned around and left, without saying anything. The couple told us they had felt that something was wrong when they saw us and decided to check on us. They told us to go, and we thanked them and left. We were very lucky. <br><br><br>I often think about what would have happened if we had gone any closer. What would have happened if we had eaten the food he gave us? We were so lucky to get away, I don’t even want to think about a different ending. <br><br><br>Years later, as I was talking to an old friend about the trip, she told me that a close friend of hers had a similar experience. That friend had gone on vacation in America, with her boyfriend. She had fallen and hurt herself, and a man had offered to drive them to the hospital. She declined and he left. She had forgotten about it but when she arrived home, she read about a cult in that area that kidnapped people (mostly tourists and lone travelers) and sacrificed them. She knew it sounded crazy, but she remembered that the guy had had the same “behavior” as the guy in my story: he had offered to help them, she had declined, he left and returned, asking multiple times, til she finally said yes and he left for good. It had terrified her ever since. <br><br><br>I’m not even sure if I believe her story, but it frightens me to think of what could have happened. And what happened to the other people they had “asked” before they succeeded kidnapping someone?<br><br><br>I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.<br><br><br>Edit: Holy smokes this blew up. I didn't expect my story to be so requested, so I'll try to answer the questions as well as I can.<br><br><br>To clarify a few things: I'm from Finland, we don't have tips and I didn't work for money, so I didn't have much, I was tired and stressed. (I had lost my entire journal, in which I had written every stop, before we got to Norway. We had originally agreed to split up in Oslo, where she'd go to Sweden and I would continue alone to Denmark and Germany, but she told me before Oslo that she wanted to continue with me to Germany. I didn't want that, but she said I had to because she didn't speak any German. I felt like I had failed somehow because I couldn't make her change her mind and I got more and more frustrated because it was no longer the trip I had wanted. Plus she didn't want to do any of the activities I wanted to do, so I had to do them alone while she stayed at the hostel. So yes, I was frustrated, stressed and tired and not thinking clearly. I'm not saying it's okay but I just wanted to tell the background.) <br><br><br>I didn't think about tips because I'm from a country where they're not common, but that's no excuse and I should have. <br><br><br>We were not on drugs, but we were exhausted. I had slept very little, and not much on the trainride. I hadn't eaten very much either so I was very weak. I’m not even sure why we thought that following him was okay. It was a huge mistake, and I never would have done that otherwise. <br><br><br>I probably should have told the police, but as I said I was confused and didn't feel like it was a big deal at the time. When I thought about it later, it scared me. <br><br><br>And finally, yes, I should have taken a picture, I know. At the time, I didn't think anything of it, it didn't feel dangerous, but afterwards I have thought about how big of a mistake it was to not document it somehow. <br><br><br>Thank you all for your kind words, and thank you for the awards. I'm not sure if I deserve them but thank you all the same.