Do you have anyone in your past who you'd say, "If I end up dead, S/he did it." I do. I jokingly refer to it as my "light stalking" with my friends, but the more I read here, the more I am glad I've covered my tracks. It all sounds familiar.
I went out with Man "A" for over 10 years. He was a musician- very clever, very funny, very troubled. After saving him many times, I finally kicked him out of the Pacific NW, knowing we'd always be toxic together if we resided in the same part of the US.
Man "B" is someone I dated as a palate cleanser, after years of Man "A". He was also very clever, very funny, very troubled. I told him he was super fun, and that the relationship had no long term potential. I said this in a much kinder way, but pretty direct. We dated for 6 fun months.
Man "C" is someone I dated after Man "B" because he had been persistently following me around for years. He always magically appeared as a customer where I worked, even after changing locations several times. He knew me when I was dating Man "A" and I always regarded him as just a regular customer. Much like Man "B" I explained to him that this was not serious for me, and that I was still on the mend from Man "A". We dated for about 3 months, during which time my roommates called him creepy, phony, and a pathological liar. One of their main complaints was that he'd quote movies, implying that the quote was his original thoughts. He'd also show up at our house at times when I was at work, trying to weasel into the house to be in my space when I was gone. There was even a dog door entry (!) one time when he thought no-one was home.
Here is what happened after I broke up with him:
A huge complaint from Man "C" was that he didn't last as long in a relationship with me as "Man B" who he felt was inferior. He was also very bitter about my continued friendship with Man "A". He regularly whined about this after the break-up.
He read my email. (Don't allow someone to voluntarily set up your computer!) He impersonated Man "A" and created fake email accounts for "Man A". He then has imaginary conversations between himself and the fake "Man A," in which he painted himself the hero. His mistake was emailing the real "Man A," at some point. "Man A" called me in fear for my life.
He sent letters to my parents and visited my friends (across the country, mind you) to extoll my virtues, and to try to create bonds with them. They found this creepy. His family moved within 10 miles of my parents within 6 months of the break-up. Again, a cross-country move. I think he found a way to persuade his parents to move. Or, perhaps, the move was imaginary.
Finally, I told him "Do not contact me again," and I never responded to any of his attempts at contact. After that I got a letter from an imaginary law firm claiming that another person had to write me a letter as part of a legal settlement saying that he had impersonated Man "C" in the emails. I also got a voicemail from Man "C" saying "Did my new girlfriend call you, because I think she may have accidentally called this number."
After that, I reverse stalked him to make sure he was never in my vicinity. Much like during the time when we dated, he has a "Forest Gump" like quality in recent years. He appears in places all over the internet, connecting himself to famous people and events that he couldn't possibly be involved in. He puts himself in places such as narrowly escaping death in the WTC during 911, being best friends with famous people, etc. I track him to feel safe. I guess that is a little creepy, too.
On a pleasant note, I've been married to Man "D" for 12 years with 3 hilarious children. Man "C" doesn't know my whereabouts, to my knowledge, and I take pains never to put myself out on the internet using my old name or photos.