A narrator recounts two unsettling experiences shared by Richard, an agent who sells castles, châteaux, and ancient estates worldwide. In the first (a French castle, 2014), Richard meets a single client who appears unnaturally tall (around 6’8″), extremely pale, and seemingly not breathing, then is joined by seven near-identical others arriving in a heavily armored, wired-up SUV resembling a presidential protection vehicle. In the second (a southern German castle viewed at 1 a.m.), a hooded intruder repeatedly triggered Richard’s car alarm, climbed the tower to silently stare at a wealthy buyer mid-deal, broke into Richard’s near-worthless car while taking nothing, and vanished into hundreds of acres of forest before police arrived; the incident collapsed the sale and ended Richard’s overnight viewings for good.
Key story beats
The “vampire-like” clients: A group of eight buyers viewing a French castle were all unusually tall, pale, perfectly proportioned, and appeared not to breathe or blink, unnerving Richard far more than the eccentric ultra-wealthy clients he usually dealt with.
The armored vehicle: One of their cars had bulletproof glass, reinforced blast-proof doors, internal wiring, and emitted a generator-like noise, leading Richard to believe these were extraordinarily powerful, possibly non-human individuals.
The 1 a.m. German viewing: A tech-firm buyer was minutes from closing on a mountainous castle when a hooded figure began setting off Richard’s car alarm and ascended the tower.
The tower confrontation: The intruder silently stared at the terrified client for several minutes, then descended; Richard heard phantom footsteps mirroring his own on the stairs, and the figure later smashed into his car, took nothing, and fled into untouched forest.
The aftermath: Police (a sergeant pushing for helicopters and dogs) never identified the man or his motive; one theory was that someone wanted to scare off buyers to block the sale. The lost sale prompted Richard to permanently stop nighttime castle viewings.
