Check this out.
So here's a crazy thing that just happened. A couple hours ago me and Meghan are sitting on the couch watching TV and she says "I think somebody just walked past our window. I think they're standing at the front door right now." I told her it was probably just a reflection, but I got up and told her I'd check it out. The front door has a small vestibule with a security door in front of that. I open the main door and sure enough, there's somebody behind the security door. She looks about 30, skinny as a skeleton, clutching her phone close to her, and some kind of wires dangling from her hands.
As soon as she saw me she shouted "THEY'RE CHASING ME, PLEASE LET ME IN THE HOUSE!" and then she quickly runs over towards the driveway. I closed the security door, locked it, and turned around to find Meghan standing in the hallway asking what was going on. I told her that somebody was there and to wait for a minute. I ran to the other side of the house and saw the girl through a window. She was just standing there, texting, then looking around, and back to texting. I went back over to the hallway and told Meghan there was a girl outside and told her to stay there. I went out the front door, looked around, didn't see anybody else, so I asked her if she was all right. Meghan came out when she heard this, and started talking to the girl, who told us that two men were chasing her and she needed to hide. Meghan invited her in, at which point she told me she had a knife, and then proceeded to pull an 8" Santoku knife out of her pants. A strange choice. picture below
Once she got inside, I locked up again, and we took her in to the kitchen. I got her some water, and she sat down in a chair. She started rambling about bugs, and lizard sacrifices, and water dripping from everything and snake creatures crawling in and out of food dishes, and bugs of african descent (does that sound racist?) that are all over her house and her body, and her Mom lives in Canada, and she might have even been born in Canada, and that she really loves her niece and nephew, and would do anything in the whole world for them, and she's very sick, and has had surgery, which went badly, and did somebody just walk by the front window, because that might be them, and she hasn't had anything to eat all day, can she have this banana? and what's that slimy creature trying to climb in to that fishbowl that's actually a cat food bowl? and her Dad lives on this street and she might be trying to get to his house, but they have a really bad relationship so that's probably not where she's trying to get, and she likes cats and use to have 2 cats named Gizmo and Lucifer, and that lady was so mad at her and she doesn't know why and so she just had to start daggering those kids--well they aren't kids now, they are older but you know they used to be kids, and she's just so sad and so afraid and so scared.
All of this came from out from various prompting and questions by Meghan. At some point Meghan handed me her phone with a phone number punched in it, and told me to call that number and some really nice people would be able to help us figure all of this out. I walked to the back of the house and it's ringing... A woman picks up and says something. I start telling her that a young lady came to my front door and is very distressed and I'd sure like to get some help in this situation, and by the way, she had a big knife on her. The woman on the phone says "Sir. This is Eegees on Drachman. You are looking for the Crisis hotline which is 520-622-6000 and not 520-622-2000, which, again, is Eegees on Drachman. But definitely do call 520-622-6000 right away." What a pro.
The woman from the Crisis hotline was a little less helpful and immediately wanted to send TPD to my house--probably because I mentioned the knife--instead of sending the MAC (Mobile Acute Crisis) team because they were "at least an hour or 2 away". At this point I hadn't even given my address, so it's amazing that she knew they were so far from my house. I told her I didn't think that was a great idea and that we'd like her to send the MAC team and we'll wait. She said she'd like to send EMS just to make sure medical help wasn't necessary. I agreed and hung up.
Back in the kitchen Meghan's still talking to the girl. I guess I should mention here that Meghan is a professional therapist. Another 20 minutes pass and I hear a knock on the door. A police officer is standing there and I start to explain to him what's going on. He just asks me to open the security door and step aside. I oblige and he comes in, takes a seat, and instantly escalates the situation. "Hi. You have 2 choices here. I take you to a hospital against your will, or you come with me to the Crisis Response Center." She looked over at us and was just so disappointed. She started to tell him about the spiders at her house and he tells her "I don't want to hear about spiders in your house. You leave with me right now, or I call a doctor, get permission, and drag you out of here." She started telling him more of the stuff she told us and he takes out his phone and calls TMC.
The girl starts panicking and takes out her phone. She calls her Dad, and reluctantly asks him to come get her. The officer hangs up, takes her phone from her and starts talking to her father. He tells the man our address and how to get here and that he needs to come get her right now. The girl puts her shoes on, apoligizes over and over again, thanks us for helping her, and follows the cop out of the house. They sit on our curb for another 15 minutes until her Dad gets there. I don't know what happened after that.