6. “Back in 2018 (when I was an undergrad), I used to live in an old, rundown rental home with two other girls. It wasn’t much of a house and was actually attached to the back of another home and was more of a duplex, but we figured for the price in that area, it was worth it. Our landlord was super nice and kind, but her maintenance man that attended to all of her rental homes always gave me the creeps.”
“He was probably in his mid-50s and always reeked of cigarettes and alcohol. Our landlord even apologized before the first time we met him and told us that he was struggling with a drinking problem.
The first time we needed something fixed, I had to leave for class as the maintenance man came to our place, but my roommates were present to guide him toward our multiple leaks and other maintenance issues. The maintenance guy must have seen me for a good half a second, as I was rushing and already late. To this day, both of my roommates tell me that as soon as he came into our place, he immediately started asking about me. They didn’t tell him much, but he definitely asked questions that made it seem like he was way more into me than just friendly and curious.
The next day, he came back while my roommates were home to bring a part that needed to be replaced in our sink and blurted out while my roommates were eating breakfast that he was in love with me. My roommates laughed it off, and he stopped working and just stared at them as they ate for a good few minutes before turning back toward the sink. He fixed the issues and left.
After hearing about this, I contacted the landlord and voiced my concerns. She apologized and said that he was probably drunk and not thinking clearly. I was broke at the time and stressed from school and work, so I let it slide for the time being. A few days later, I came home in the evening, unlocked the door, and went to my room after a long day of classes and work. I noticed no one was home, because both of my roommates’ cars were gone. As soon as I entered my room, there was a huge ladder in the middle of my floor touching the ceiling, and the maintenance man was IN MY BED. I freaked out, but tried to remain calm and asked him what was going on. He jumped up, slurred about the ceiling light needing to be changed (it was completely fine), and clumsily folded the ladder, and left.
I locked the door and told my landlord immediately afterwards. She apologized and said she may have to finely let him go, as this was definitely crossing the line. Our landlord reached out a few days later and asked if any of us had seen him lately. I was barely home and said no, but my roommates said that they saw his work truck parked outside of the duplex a few times during the past few days. Our landlord said that she had fired him a few days ago, but that he refused to give back the spare key he had to our house. I shuddered and ran to my room as soon as I got home…and saw the ladder back in the exact same spot touching the ceiling where I found it last time. He wasn’t in my bed or anywhere else in my room, but all of us — including our landlord — were pretty freaked out by it. We ended up getting our locks changed the next day for free, and our landlord came and got the ladder out.
No one has seen him since, including our landlord, and every time I see a silver ladder, I think about him and wonder what he could possibly be doing with that ladder in my room while in my bed. It gives me shivers down my spine just retelling it.”
—Anonymous
