Real Encounters

*Strangest night out I've ever had*

So, I've been having a right lurk as of late and I've just remembered this story and thought it might be interesting.

Rewind to summer 2012, and 11 friends and myself are having a week on one of the Greek Islands, in one of the party cities. It's the third night, spirits are high, our groups grown a little as they tend to when you make friends in these places.

This night, there's a bar with a 20 euro entry, free bar for an hour deal. It's about 1am and this bar shuts at half past 2. Brilliant - well take our hour, then head off to the nightclub.

It's nearing 2am and some of the group have started to prepare to filter out to said club - but one of the guys, Carl, is missing. We check the toilet to see if he's drank himself into a stupor - no. One of the booths trying to get lucky? No. Then one of the new acquaintances pipe up with "Yeah, Carl went to the bar next door with a pair of blokes. Old looking fella as well."

Myself, one of the guys and a girl to check it out. Right enough, he's sitting on a table with an older guy with glasses, and a younger man. This old guy - you know when somebody just gives off a horrible energy? He was one of those. Carl was sitting with them, smoking. Which was strange, he's normally anti-smoking.

"Carl mate, we're off to the club."

"I can't move." He says.

Bemused looks all around - me and the girl who came exchange mouthed wtf's - then the old guy chimes in.

"Your friend is happy here. He smoke and drink with us. You are happy Carl."

The conversation between myself and Carl then got strange.

"C'mon Carl this is weird. You're perfectly able to come with us."

"I can't. - He says I have to stay or he's coming to get me."

This goes back and forth for a few minutes, with mine and the other guy, Dan's tempers starting to flare up at the mention of getting Carl. Probably sensing the hostilities, the two strangers depart, leaving Carl a cigarette which we promptly snap. Now he's acting weird - terrified this guy's angry at him and is coming back, not talking any sense and from what we gather, hallucinating. Girl swears hypnosis, me and Dan argue he's probably been spiked.

Eventually, we get him to the taxi rank. He's going home, something's gone wrong. Now, Dan and I are both nightclub doormen. A taxi offers us the ride, and we have to wrestle Carl into the taxi to stop him going looking for this guy he's placing some sort of omniscience onto. We manage eventually, having to sit either side of him to stop him trying to bolt. Which he does a couple of times. When it doesn't work - he breaks down into a fit of tears.

After giving the taxi driver a generous tip on top of his fare (who wouldn't, I'd have made us walk.) we get Carl into the room. There's a full length mirror facing the door - as soon as the light comes on, Carl sees the mirror, screams some sort of enraged scream, and takes a run at the mirror. I end up clinching with him to hold him still while Dan finds a towel to drape over the top half of the mirror.

This done, we get Carl to lie in bed. He swears he sees himself melting in the mirror - yet it wasn't him. The man found him and he's angry. Dan suggests I go and let the rest of our group know what's happened once Carl eventually falls asleep and he'll keep an eye on him.

I decide to walk back into town - highly uneventful, with half a mind of finding this weird guy. No luck though. I find the group, let them know what happened and it was an early night. Carl is bright as a button the next morning with absolutely no memory of leaving the first bar.