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Snail Mail Lies & Threats, pt. 2
The major blow up happened in our early to mid-20s. In the intervening years, experience and thoughtfulness have grown on our part, and Gerick and I understand much better why people involved in the dispute from the outside preferred to stay out of it, even if that meant losing us. When your purpose for being around people who share a common set of experiences is greater understanding, comparing notes, and emotional support– the last thing you want to do is cut yourself off from one side or another. Also–? This kind of thing happens a LOT in all sorts of social groups, where rivalries pop up and disrupt everything, and people get burnt out on the drama after a couple of go-rounds. I know at MY age now, I do not have the energy to bother with this type of thing.
In time, we got over it. It did take a few years to let it all go emotionally, but we did let go. Veggie Woman was in her mid-30s when it all went down, and she did not let go so easily…
The aftermath of it all was that people who had been in Veggie Woman's support group eventually approached us– most of them, but not all– and apologized to US and said that they no longer believed what she had said about us. That was how we learned finally about how she had a smear campaign going against us while we were still in the group– AFTER we had left. We did not retaliate. A couple of people we'd become close friends to in the group who mysteriously stopped talking to us eventually also admitted with some shame they didn't know what to think– but that now they could see Veggie Woman was a little wacko. After their confessions, these people were almost never heard from again. They all left the abduction scene and, except for a couple of dedicated nerdy (and socially oblivious) researchers, never came back as far as I know.
In the wider scene with our contacts on the East Coast and Midwest, everyone preferred to disengage and go about their business. No one wanted to add to the fire, so even those close friends who sided with us refused to confront Veggie Woman. We did hear, however, that when she met new people in the abduction circles, she would sometimes warn them about Gerick and I. These reports were few and far between however, so by the time Veggie Woman left the scene for a few years, we thought that at long last it was over for HER as well.
When she popped back up and I saw her alluding to those long past incidents, however, I was astonished and dismayed. She was still pissed off about it, and willing to discuss it without bringing up names in public. But I knew she was probably still warning people using our actual names if the topic ever came up in person. I hoped nothing more would come of it.
When I decided to write a couple of articles of my own for a magazine, I was a little scared– I have to be honest. Because Veggie Woman had also published an article or two and I worried she might be angry to see me around. I did let a couple of people know that there might be an issue there– and then dropped it, again just hoping I was wrong.
But yesterday, in my hands, was evidence that I wasn't wrong at all. My worst fears were being realized…
I re-read the letter a few times and was struck by a few things, though. The tone was very emotional, unfettered– like a younger person would write it, not a woman in her mid-50s. Several details written were slightly off– which seemed strange, because surely Veggie Woman wouldn't forget this aspect of what she claimed happened. Obviously, she was the one who supplied whoever wrote it with the information, too many specific things were mentioned for it to be due to anyone else– but she probably did not write it herself.
Gerick, being web savvy– began to comb the internet to see if there was any connection between the “Vampire Angel” fake name and drawing and any abductees. There was! Whoever wrote us didn't cover their tracks very well. A man in his mid-20s now, who has been in the military and lives in the Southeast of the U.S. (where Veggie Woman's family lives, by the way…) and who, along with a sister, is listed in some abductee sites, fits the profile on the person who sent us the anonymous letter.
I'm guessing she bitched about us in great detail — including names and such!– and he decided to play Avenging Angel and threaten us on her behalf? Since she is listed among our “victims”? Could be. Can't count on anything, because there could always be another layer of subterfuge involved, but at this point that seems the most likely scenario.
But why NOW? And how far has this gone?
The letter claimed that they knew for a fact that everyone in the alien abduction community who was important knew all about us and no one, including the editor I worked with for the magazine, would ever publish anything either of us wrote ever again. They said that all our victims knew who really hurt them, and that we were found out, etc. etc.
My biggest worry is that once-close friends that we haven't spoken to in a while may have received letters written in our names saying awful things to them, and even if we're not as close as we were– I still would not want anyone to think we have the slightest bad feelings towards anyone! Has Veggie Woman been writing terrible things to people and then claiming to be one of US!? I'm beginning to wonder if her hatred may not indeed be that intense.
All we can do is contact the people named in the letter and make sure they knew we never said anything bad about ANY of them! (And, subsequently, confirm whether or not the letter writer's claims are true.)
Already I've contacted the editor of the alien abduction magazine and asked her if she had any contacts about any of this, and whether anyone had access to her information about where I lived. She called back right away and said NO. No one had sent her anything or said anything to her about me at all. She very much wants to publish anything more I (or my husband) would want to contribute. She remembered my fears that Veggie Woman would pop up somehow and cause trouble if she saw I wrote anything for the magazine, but she said she was careful not to discuss me with her at all, so…
So the letter was written to get a rise out of us, to hurt us on Veggie Woman's behalf, and maybe provoke us to retaliate and expose ourselves.
The GOOD news is that though Veggie Woman and her fanatical followers (whoever they may be) know about my contributions to the magazine, NONE of them, astonishingly, has found my paranormal blog– At Spiral's End!! Because IF they had, they could have easily found THIS blog I suppose, and from there really jumped into the intimate aspects of my life. Can you even begin to imagine? But since they have not, there is some some comfort, for as long as it lasts.
2012-11-12 00:43:49
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