The previous tenant of my new flat left a survival guide. Some people arent happy with the choices I’ve made.

/ I live in a moderate sized flat in a moderate sized tower block. It’s nothing special. The location is good, it’s close to where I work and there’s plenty of shops nearby. It’s not the most pleasant thing to look at, but it’s home and it’s affordable. My previous flat was in a smaller building in the same area. It was nice, but expensive and the neighbours weren’t very pleasant. We could hear them being “noisy” at all hours. At one point we were even met with holes in the walls due to their aggressive outbursts. So when the opportunity arose for myself and my partner to move somewhere new we took it. It was a quick decision. It had been a long day of work and with the thought of potential new accommodation in our minds we decided to view the property that evening. We met the landlord outside the property. There was no sign of the previous tenant or any sign of life inside the property at all. It was a bit odd, but at that time we had no major concerns. He began explaining the rules of the property, where the fire extinguishers were located and how to turn off the utilities. Nothing out of the ordinary. Then he handed us a few sheets of paper that he claimed was a “survival guide” left by the previous tenant. He looked at us with a solemn expression asking us to read it carefully and to take it seriously. At that point the relief of landing a new flat was clouded by the uneasiness of the landlords expression. He went on to tell us that the deposit would be low, first month of rent would be cheap and the property would be fully furnished. He was practically begging us to move in. I was starting to regret our choice of landlord but my partner was keen on the idea. At that point it felt too late to back out. A moving out date was agreed and before we knew it the landlord had gone leaving us standing alone outside a flat that we were due to move into just weeks later. We made our way back to the car in silence, both of us unsure of what to make of what was happening. During the drive home we were discussing many different things, the location, the landlord, the price, the overall condition. But not the previous tenant. It wasn’t until we were back home that we remembered the survival guide. We had propped it up against a stack of boxes that we had already begun packing. The relief of landing a new property had now disappeared and dread had taken its place. There were 4 sheets of paper, all typed. There were no scribbles, doodles or notes- just words. The first two pages were short bullet point lists. My partner read them out as I sat and listened; • Always close the door. • Always lock the door. • Always answer the door. • Always turn off all electronics at night. • Don’t open the door at night. • Never open the door at night. • Never go outside alone at night. • Be careful of what you say. • Be careful who you talk to. • Don’t go in the lift. • Don’t use the stairs after dark. • Don’t make unnecessary noise. • Don’t be late. • Always fill the tub. • Always run a bath. • If you hear running- run. • If you hear knocking- never answer. • After 5pm act normal. The second list consisted of longer paragraphs; • Keep your head down- don’t make friends. • Hang up- hang on. • Watch what you say. • Don’t let her in- even if it’s raining. • Don’t let the postman in- even if he has a parcel. • Never move the mat. • Talk to the floor. • Look at the wall. • Don’t let him in. • Never let her in. I asked my partner to read it again, but this time slower. He looked at the papers in confusion and began re-reading the lists. I couldn’t work out what he was trying to say. There seemed to be a lot of repeated entries- almost as if he was trying to drill something into whoever was reading the lists. I contemplated ringing the landlord but after re-reading the guide I decided that I didn’t want to do anything that might make him angry. After that night my partner and I didn’t really speak about the previous tenant or the lists again. We decided to focus on our moving day. The day of the move came quickly. With the help of some friends and family our belongings were in the back of a van and on its way to our new home in no time. It was starting to get dark and the last few items were being taken from the van and placed into our new home. We had promised our friends and family that we would take them out for a meal to say goodbye. As they made their way back to their own cars we stayed behind to make sure that the van was empty and to double check that the previous tenants house key fit into our own lock. The van driver approached us and said that he needed to use the bathroom, he had been holding it in for the majority of the trip. We knew that the bathroom in the flat wasn’t usable yet. All the boxes had been placed in there temporarily while we decided where everything was going. We pointed the van driver in the direction of the tower block leisure facilities and wished him a good night. A few minutes later the van driver returned, he looked panicked. He handed us the keys, flashed the van lights and sped off. Because it was dark we struggled to see exactly where he had gone. We quickly made our way into the flat, locking the door behind us and looking through the spy hole to see if we could see where he had gone. That’s when we noticed it. The leisure facilities were pitch black. We could see the outline of the building but there were no lights on inside. That’s strange- we thought. But maybe he had gone in the opposite direction. We continued scanning the carpark until we saw him, speeding out of the carpark. In the boot of his van one of the back tires was steaming and it looked as if there was something covered in the back. We were unsure of what to make of it. After a few minutes of deliberation we decided to go and investigate. The leisure facilities were a short walk from where we stood. As we approached we couldn’t hear any noise, complete silence. We reached the entrance to the building and pushed the doors open, calling out to see if anyone would answer. At that point we had realised that the van driver was no longer in the van. Where was he? There was no answer. It was pitch black and silent. My partner suggested that we go back to the flat and look at the guide again. We hadn’t thought about the rules since we moved in that afternoon but at that point we had to take them seriously. We needed answers. When we entered the flat we went straight to where we had left the guide on the coffee table. It was no longer there. We searched every room, it was nowhere to be found. We looked frantically, searching high and low until eventually my partner had the bright idea of looking in the bathtub. To our surprise it was sat in a plastic bag floating in an inch of water. We opened the bag and Tipexed out the contents of the second page. The third page consisted of more detailed rules; • Don’t roam the corridors at night. • Don’t answer the door to strangers. We aren’t friendly- don’t be friendly. • If you hear footsteps then run, if you can’t run then hide- if you can’t hide then stand and fight. • If you need something from the shop then prepare yourself. It’s at the bottom of the tower block and the journey is almost like being in a war zone. • If you get in the lift and the lights flicker then eject yourself immediately. • Be careful what you say. • Don’t gossip. • If you hear thunder hide. • Run if it’s raining. • Be careful of who you trust. • Dogs don’t talk but people do. • If you hear music then dance- but be ready to run. • If there is a knock at the door don’t answer it. • If they don’t knock then don’t answer it. I was starting to get confused, it seemed as if the tenant was giving us conflicting instructions. If there is a knock at the door then don’t answer it, but if they don’t knock then don’t answer it. My partner pointed out that we should be more interested in the 4th page. There was less on the 4th page but it seemed to be more important. It consisted of 6 paragraphs; • If you want to survive then follow these rules. Surviving here is hard, surviving anywhere is hard. It’s like playing a game, you need to play by the rules in order to win. • You have just moved in. You will see a lot of things that you won’t understand. Ignore it, you’re new- you won’t understand most things. But you will learn. • There is a lot of death here. Watch yourself, protect yourself. People will die and people will get hurt. • Don’t open the door. • I’ve lived here for 3 years now, I am leaving in a few days. The thought of leaving is nice, the thought of leaving permanently is even nicer. • You’re new

The previous tenant of my new flat left a survival guide. Some people arent happy with the choices I’ve made.

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