I manage a house where every tenant disappears after 1 month
The third tenant was a pale guy, tattoos all over his arm, and a large piercing in his ear.He looked sick and walked slowly. He told me he wanted to live in that house to get over his past, and I didn\u2019t want to ask for details. What really caught him was the forest view from the porch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He signed the contract on the spot, and the very next day his moving truck was parked in the garage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two weeks later I realized I\u2019d left my folder with some documents in the house and called the guy. No answer. I decided to drive out there and found the place empty, which was strange. He\u2019d brought a lot of stuff during the move.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His car wasn\u2019t in the garage, but I rang the bell anyway. Nothing. The door was unlocked, and I stepped inside, convinced something was wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there was nothing to see. The house was empty, no furniture, dusty, just like it had been when I first showed it to him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A few months earlier, while eating breakfast, I got a call from a property owner who said she\u2019d found me on Instagram. She told me she needed an experienced, fast-moving realtor to handle rental contracts for her house. And I lied, said I was that guy, even though I\u2019d only had my license for a little over a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her voice was old, raspy, almost broken, like someone with throat problems. She said she lived abroad, and needed someone local. I wouldn\u2019t even have to look for tenants, she pitched. There was already a list of people interested, and they\u2019d meet me at the house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I wasn\u2019t too excited. It didn\u2019t sound like much of an opportunity until she mentioned my commission. I nearly choked on the sandwich I was eating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I repeated the number back to her, sure she\u2019d made a mistake, but she insisted it was right. That amount would be handed to me, in cash, once the tenant signed and moved in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The only condition, she said, was that if a contract was broken due to my negligence or choice, I\u2019d have to pay one month\u2019s rent. On paper it didn\u2019t sound bad. I accepted right away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The next day I went to see the property. It was huge, isolated, no close neighbors. Inside, there were expensive wooden furniture pieces, sculptures, installations that must\u2019ve cost a fortune.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The porch opened up to a wide view of a forest. Big wooden chairs faced the woods, and the owner made a point of stressing that they could not be moved from their place. I imagined myself retired there, sipping coffee, birdwatching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Coincidentally, the first tenants were a retired couple escaping the chaos of the city. When they signed, I went home torn between excitement and anxiety. Would the owner really pay me that much? I was broke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But a few days later, a suitcase showed up at my doorstep with the full amount in cash. Stacks of hundred-dollar bills wrapped in rubber bands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Weird, yeah, but not weird enough to stop me from trading it in for a new car.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
About a month later, the owner called again. Said the couple didn\u2019t work out, and new tenants wanted to see the house that day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I didn\u2019t ask questions. Couldn\u2019t complain about another commission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This time it was two women, a couple. One was a writer who told me she\u2019d chosen the place to work on her next novel. Signing was easy, and another suitcase of money arrived the same way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Life was good, but honestly, I barely had other clients. All my golden eggs were tied to this strange owner I barely knew. Her name and info looked fake. Still, with the new tenants in, I figured I wouldn\u2019t hear from her for a while.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another month later, same story. The women had left. Another new tenant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was happy but suspicious. Why did everyone leave that house so quickly?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Curiosity got me, so I called one of the last tenants. The number didn\u2019t exist anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I tried the old couple too. Same thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the third tenant, I tried to forget it. Not my problem. Who cared if they stayed or left? My fat commission was all I needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then, like clockwork, a month later, she called again. This time she sounded excited. Said the new clients were special, and she\u2019d pay me double.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I thought about asking questions, but double was too good. That kind of money could help me put a down payment on an apartment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I drove to the house determined to sign as fast as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I got there early and snooped around. No sign of anyone ever living there. Not even a pin dropped during moving chaos. Nothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When the bell rang, I opened the door to a young couple holding a newborn baby wrapped in a blanket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I showed them the house, my stomach churning at what I could be part of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And of course, they loved it. The dad talked about how his kid would grow up running in the fields, exploring the forest, the childhood he never had.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They signed right away. My hands were shaking when I handed over the paper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The next day was supposed to be their move-in. I went home and couldn\u2019t sleep. Tossed and turned, thinking I might be helping some crime happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Around 1 a.m., I gave up and drove back to the house. I needed to check everything with my own eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I searched every corner. Bedrooms, closets, everything. Nothing. But I\u2019d seen three moving trucks unload here. Not a single mark on the floor. Impossible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I stepped onto the porch, resigned that I\u2019d never figure it out. Sat on one of those big wooden chairs, thinking what I might\u2019ve missed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s when I saw it. Something shiny stuck in a crack in the chair. I pulled it out. It was a piercing, probably from the last tenant. On the needle was a small red stain. Blood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I reached into the crack again, feeling around, and touched something soft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I pulled it out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was an ear. Darkened, rotten, with a torn hole where the piercing had been ripped out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I decided to push the chair to see what was underneath it, and with a lot of effort I managed to move it a foot to the side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the wooden floor there was a symbol I couldn\u2019t recognize. Circles and shapes carved into the boards right under where the chair had been, like some sort of ritual. There were more traces of blood there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I froze, staring at it, heart pounding. What snapped me out of it was a laugh that came out of nowhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A woman\u2019s laugh, echoing from the darkness of the forest. It started low and distant, but quickly grew louder, hysterical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then more laughter followed, all of them female, all coming closer, aimed at me. It was like a whole crowd was hiding in those woods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The sound grew louder and louder, until my instincts took over. I bolted to my car, started it up, and sped down the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The next day I called the couple and told them the deal was off. Made up some excuse. They weren\u2019t happy, but I didn\u2019t care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Soon after, the owner called me again. I didn\u2019t pick up, and blocked her number.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the calls kept coming, from all sorts of different numbers. I answered one, and it was her voice, angry:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou broke our pact. The rent will be collected at the end of the month.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She kept repeating it, and I hung up every time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I went to the police. They went to the property, found nothing, then came back pissed because I had wasted their time. There were no ears, no marks, no nothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today is the 23rd, and next week the month ends. I keep wondering if I did the right thing, if maybe I should\u2019ve just carried on with that commission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Every day that passes, I feel the panic building. My phone is always turned off, and I\u2019ve rented a room in a roadside hotel outside the state.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I manage a house where every tenant disappears after 1 monthThe third tenant was a pale guy, tattoos all over his arm, and a large piercing in his ear.He looked sick and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-interesting-stories"],"yoast_head":"\n