This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/Sea_Illustrator5310 on 2026-05-26 01:55:50+00:00.

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So, if you've been unlucky enough to have been following my dating journey, you'll remember my brush with death after using Tinder, which almost led me to be sacrificed in a cult.

Thankfully I escaped, but I'm still single and alone.

This predicament led me to once more embark on a search for love, which landed me on another dating app, Hinge.

I was excited, as I had heard great things about the prospects found here, and the general consensus being that normal is found here.

I like normal.

I need normal after what happened last time.

Just as I had before, I installed Hinge and looked for a potential match, not caring about looks, background, or personality.

I just wanted a date.

Eventually, I got a match. It was a woman named Zoey, and she was beautiful. In her profile, she wore a vibrant pink dress, flowy and expressive, which I assumed mirrored her own personality.

I hit the dms, and to my surprise, after only chatting for a few hours, I had secured a date at a high-end restaurant called McDonald's later that night.

Happy to not plan on being led into an unfamiliar place that would get me murdered on this date, I happily got ready and showed up extra early, barely containing my excitement.

I showed up to the gourmet establishment an hour and a half early, and just figured I'd get some work done beforehand.

Upon arriving, however, I was shocked at what was in front of me.

There Zoey was, just calmly sitting at a table, looking right at me through the window, as if she had been awaiting my arrival since the moment we made plans.

Puzzled but not put off, I came in and made a quip about the fact that we were both early meant we were both really looking forward to this date.

After laughing way too hard at my joke, she squeezed my shoulder with her hand and told me I was "so funny for an Irish guy."

This comment striked me as odd. I was mixed, and I had never once been correctly identified, so the fact that she knew my ethnicity threw me for a loop.

I chuckled awkwardly and told her she was gassing me up too much before giving her a hug.

As we embraced, she audibly sniffed my shoulder, long and hard, taking in my scent and commenting about how manly I smell before sticking her nose in my ear and sniffing once more.

This was not how I planned on starting the date but I figured she was just a little socially awkward like me.

Minutes later, we sat there eating our food and just enjoying each other's presence.

But something was off. She locked eyes with me in a way that expressed she didn't care about her food, or the people around her, or anything other than me.

It would have been endearing if we hadn't just met ten minutes ago.

After finishing our food, we migrated to my car, where, if I'm being honest, it got hot and heavy pretty fast.

Before I knew it, we were back at my place and in my bed, recovering after engaging in horizontal activities.

Zoey giggled and told me that was the best time she'd ever had, and asked if I wanted water. Of course I obliged, since truthfully, I was pretty exhausted.

She came back moments later and we sat in bed, laughing, recharging, and reflecting on the fun night we'd had.

With our glasses empty and the room full of warmth and laughter, I sat there thinking I struck gold.

Zoey was intelligent, witty, and such a blast to be around. Maybe it was premature, but I couldn't help thinking that maybe she was the one.

As we were talking however, a rush of tiredness washed over me. It was as if I got really drunk, really fast.

I felt sick, but before I could get up and use the bathroom, my eyes fluttered and my world went black.

I awoke with my lights off and the room completely dark. There was no sound in the house except the subtle rumble of the air conditioning.

I drowsily looked around, confused. It took me a second to remember where I was and how I had gotten there.

I glanced at my clock and the time 3:28 a.m. flashed back at me.

It hit me that I had fallen asleep with Zoey earlier that night, and I looked to my left to see a body-shaped indent where she clearly had been.

I jolted up and blinked harder, trying to peer into the darkness and see if her purse was still on my desk, and it was.

I was about to get out of bed when I felt something.

The best way I can describe it is that the air just felt off.

I knew immediately I wasn't alone.

I craned my neck and narrowed my eyes to scan my room and as my eyes drifted to the corner of my room, I had to stifle a scream.

There, standing in the only part of the room not illuminated by moonlight, was Zoey, unmoving.

From what I could tell, she was facing me, but I couldn't make out any details from her face.

Meekly, I whispered to Zoey, asking what she was doing.

She giggled with a childlike innocence, before calmly saying:

"Just close your eyes baby, I love watching you sleep."

Oh hell no. I told her I wasn't comfortable with that, and asked her to either come to bed or leave.

Silence ensued for far longer than I was comfortable with, before she giggled once more and said "anything for you baby."

At frightening speed, she leaped straight into bed, and grasped my arm tight.

She smiled this soulless, empty, forced-looking smile, maintaining eye contact the entire time.

Suddenly realizing this meant I couldn't leave, I just laid there, still as a statue, and hoped nothing else would happen until morning.

Before I could even take another breath, she whispered in my ear:

"I've been waiting on you to make a move on me for so long. I've had to painfully endure watching you from a distance, refusing to engage with you until you chose me. You made the right decision baby. Now we can be together forever. Forever baby."

I froze in shock at what I was listening to. Have I really been blind enough to not have noticed a stalker? Or was she just crazy?

Either way I was done with dating and I was sure as hell done with her. I whispered in the most disarming voice I could muster, saying I needed to use the bathroom.

Zoey giggled before responding:

"No you don't. I used warm water to drain you while you were sleeping so you wouldn't have to get up. How thoughtful am I, huh?"

I chuckled nervously, trying to suppress the sheer terror I was feeling. I thanked her but insisted I had to get up because I was hungry.

She didn't like that.

Her smile faded before screaming this awful, horrifying, agonizing scream that lasted for ten seconds. Then, as if a switch was flipped, her wide, forced-looking smile returned, before she muttered:

"Don't make me mad baby, you don't want to see me mad."

I didn't know what to do.

Out of options, I nervously told her goodnight and tried my best to fall asleep. Call me stupid, but I truly felt my best course of action was to deescalate the situation until morning.

Well, to my surprise, my exhaustion got the better of me and before I knew it, I was out cold once more.

I awoke to the sun tickling my cheeks and realized my blinds had been opened.

The prior night's events hit me like a truck.

I leaped out of bed and got in a defensive position, ready to fight for my life.

To my surprise, nothing was out of the ordinary.

Zoey's purse was gone from my desk, my bed was neatly made except for the side I slept on.

It was as if she had never been there in the first place.

I checked every room. No closet, nook, or cranny was left unaccounted for.

She was nowhere in sight.

I instinctively pulled out my phone and pulled up Hinge. Incredulously, Zoey's profile was gone.

More mysteriously, our entire conversation was nowhere to be found. Wiped off the face of the Earth.

That wasn't possible. None of this was. What I experienced last night was real.

Zoey had been in my house. She had been watching me sleep. She didn't let me leave.

I was sure of it.

I made my way to the kitchen and sat on my counter. In utter disbelief, there was nothing to do but carry on with my day.

I opened the fridge and recoiled in horror.

I turned around and threw up in my sink, emptying everything I had eaten the night before.

There, sitting in my fridge, staring right back at me, was the severed head of Ava, my prior Tinder date.

This decapitated head was fresh, given by the fact that the blood was still liquid and hadn't completely coagulated yet.

Just before I slammed the fridge door, I realized there was a blood-soaked piece of folded paper, neatly tucked next to the freshly severed head.

With my hands shaking uncontrollably, I slowly reached for the paper and opened its contents.

The note read:

We all know love comes at a cost.

She tried crossing you and paid the price.

Don't worry baby, I was always looking out for you.

Stay safe, I'll see you soon.

Love,

Zoey

I read the letter before collapsing on my back, unable to process what I was seeing.

In the midst of my mind racing uncontrollably, one thought was crystal clear:

I'm never using Hinge again.