"I'm gonna come in there!"

My mom treated me to a trip to the ocean for my 22nd birthday this past summer, partly as a gift but mostly for reassurance. You see, I used to be an active surfer and beachgoer, and she figured that the trip would help me shake off a recent experience that had dampened my enthusiasm for the ocean.<br><br>Six months prior, I had been at the beach celebrating my then boyfriend's birthday. We had camped out after dark, and I was getting ready to turn in for the night. I walked over to a public restroom to change into my pajamas. <br><br>I had just slipped into a stall when I heard a woman with a delicate voice enter the next stall over. She sounded like she was in pain, as if she had hurt herself. I didn't think much of it and continued to change, but then she groaned louder, sounding like she was having a lot of trouble.<br><br>Something didn't feel right. My instincts told me to get out of there. So I finished up and left the stall, and immediately heard the woman's stall open up. Out came a burly, disheveled-looking man who reeked of beer. He looked me dead in the eye and said "If you're gonna listen, you can listen in the next stall with me."<br><br>That's when I panicked. I grabbed my stuff and promptly exited the restroom. I thought that I had escaped him, until...<br><br>I heard the bathroom door swing open behind me. I turned around to see that same man standing there. He looked me dead in the eye, and said "I'm gonna come in there!" in reference to the hotel room that my boyfriend and I were staying in. He knew exactly what hotel we were in, and which room we were staying in.<br><br>I tailed it back to the hotel room, and when I got there I told my boyfriend what had happened, in detail. While I was still frantic and worried about potentially being followed back to the hotel, he seemed almost nonchalant and unconcerned. I figured that it was probably nothing until...<br><br>I was lying in bed when I saw that same man walk by the room. I froze in terror. I jumped up and checked that the door was locked, and then I called 911 and asked for someone to come and walk me back to my car.<br><br>At this point my boyfriend still didn't seem to care, but my mom happened to call me to check in. I told her what had happened. She urged me to come back home, and when I explained that I didn't feel safe walking to my car, she said "Well, you're not going to let some random weird guy ruin your ocean trip, are you?" and offered to pay for a taxi to take me to her house.<br><br>I didn't end up taking her up on that offer. I waited until the police showed up, and the female officer offered to walk me to my car. She even checked the backseat for me to make sure that no one was hiding in there. I drove home after that, and never stayed at that hotel again.<br><br>It's been a few months since then, and I'm just now starting to feel comfortable at the ocean again.<br><br>&#x200B;<br><br>Edit: Holy shit this blew up! Thank you so much for all of the kind words, and for my first silver and gold awards ever. I'm going to try and respond to as many of you as I can. <br><br>Edit 2: Wow, this is my first time having a post make it to r/all. Thank you all so, so much.