I carefully looked around while holding my breath.
'THUD THUD THUUUD THUDDD'
I heard footsteps in the yard. I ran outside right away.
"Ma'am!"
The person running away was the landlady.
What kind of landlady comes into a tenant's house and tries to unlock her phone? She definitely crossed the line. I was going to make her never come near the rooftop house. I was about to lock the door leading to the rooftop. But the door had already been locked. There are two sides to the doorknob.
Usually, people can lock the door from outside the building, so other people can't come to the rooftop. But strangely, the rooftop door was locked the other way around. I was completely locked up in the rooftop.
"Ma'am!"
"Open up!"
"Ma'am!"
"You should be sleeping now. Why did you come out?"
"What are you talking about? Why did you lock the door?"
"And why is it locked in the other side?"
As she continued to cross the line, I decided to speak up as a tenant. There was no mirror in the bathroom.
"Ma'am, install a mirror here. It is so uncomfortable."
"Why do you need a mirror? You will be better off without the mirror."
"What kind of bathroom doesn't have a mirror? Also, living in this house is so taxing, I'll move out."
"You just moved here. You signed a contract so you must live here. I can't give back your deposit. Whatever!"
"Ma'am!"
"Is there something wrong with this house?" Then I started to get more scared inside the house. When I went to the bathroom no one was there, but I kept hearing things like someone's breathing. The sound of the breathing was rough It sounded like a man. In the end, I paid it out of my own pocket and installed the mirror myself.
"Gosh. It's nice to have a mirror here."
Then one day I was getting ready to leave in front of the mirror. I got a call from my boyfriend.
"Hey. Yes, I am ready."
"Okay, I'll there be soon."
"Okay. See you soon."
At that moment, something tickled. Something was touching the ends of my long hair. With both of my hands, I touched my hair from the crown of my head to the ends of my hair. Nothing was there.
I was relieved and was about to continue putting on makeup. A man was looking at me from behind with a creepy smile. I saw his face clearly in the mirror.
I was so scared that I ran outside. I tried to open the rooftop door to get out. And the door wouldn't open again. The old lady locked it again.
"Ma'am open the door!" I screamed.
He was getting closer to me. I was pounding the door.
"Is anyone there?"
The man was right next to me within few seconds. I had no way to run now. But when I took a closer look at him, something was off.
The man was standing upright in the middle of the yard. But I couldn't see anything below his pants. I closed my eyes involuntarily and prayed that he would go away. At that moment, I felt icy cold fingers brush against me again. I felt the fingers between my hair.
I thought I would be in great danger if I passed out then. I tried to stay conscious with everything I've got. Just then, I heard the rooftop door open with a click.
It was my boyfriend who opened the door.
"Are you alright? What's wrong? What happened?"
When I turned around, the feet less man had disappeared. I couldn't live there after this incident.
The very next morning, I went to talk with the landlady with my boyfriend.
"Ma'am, I am moving out right now."
"Gosh. Why are you starting that ridiculous talk again?"
"And who is this man? I told you not to bring any men inside the house."
That's when I saw a family photo behind the old lady.
"Wait."
"What are you doing?"
I saw the landlady in the photo. Next to her, there was a man in a wheelchair.
"Who's that man in the wheelchair?"
"My youngest son."
The man she identified as her youngest son was the same feet less man I saw in the rooftop. I asked her where her youngest son was. When I asked her that, that was the first time she seemed flustered after being so brazen all this time.
Then she suddenly said she would let me move out of the rooftop house. I posted a listing looking for a new tenant on the real estate online forum right away. And a female college student came to see the house.
The old lady showed the girl around the house.
"The room looks great."
"That's because I'm picky with my tenants."
"Really."
"You'll live alone, right?"
"Right."
"Are you married?"
"No."
"Then do you have a boyfriend?"
"No."
"You can't bring men inside the house."
Just like I did a month ago when I came to see the house, she liked the house too. After moving out of the rooftop house, I got my life back. I didn't see the ghosts or felt the fear of someone watching me again.
I suddenly remembered the house after few weeks. So I went back to the online forum again. And the lady had posted a listing of the house.
I didn't last a month there. And the young girl who moved in after I did lasted only three weeks. To be honest, I also have a lot of questions about that place too.
Why did the old lady only wanted female tenants?
After ten years, I was curious if the rooftop house was still available for rent.
I checked the listing again. The rooftop house is still available for rent. And the landlady is the same old lady.
{Check out my original story. Its title is 'The Reddest Red'}