Possess (3 page)

Indeed it actually sounded a bit more practical than my original plan of hoofing it all over town. I should probably read the classifieds first,
before
I go on the hunt, considering I had no clue where to start. A few blocks away, I found myself back in front of Finley's. Noticeably, no drunkards were being tossed from the entrance at this time of day. The quirky redheaded bartender from the night before was placing a sign on the sidewalk with the lunch specials written out in colorful chalk. There was a fish and chips special for five bucks which the very thought of made my stomach lurch painfully.
I guess I’m getting fish and chips.

The pub looked a bit different than it did in the evening. Classic rock played just loud enough to hear as opposed to the heavier, louder stuff that people had been screaming over the night before. It was a more laid back atmosphere.  A few other patrons were enjoying lunch so I found myself an empty booth and scooted into the corner, laying the newspaper on the table. A few moments later, Aggie came over to me with a grin.

“Hey again, what can I get you? Another burger?” She grinned, waggling her eyebrows.

“Mmm. It was great, but no, I’m going to try the fish and chips, with a coke please.” I grinned back.

She nodded then disappeared into the kitchen. As I waited, I rummaged through my purse for a pen, finally finding one at the very bottom. I got to work, and flipped the paper open to the classifieds. My eyes were scanning the employment section when Aggie returned with a large glass of soda.

“Job hunting?” She peered down at the paper as she pulled a straw from her apron and placed it by my drink. I nodded at her and grabbed the straw, pulling it free from its wrapping and sticking it in my glass.

“I’m holed up at The Admiral Hotel while I figure out a job and a place to live.” I said before taking a sip. The soft drink seemed to douse my growling tummy, at least momentarily. Aggie glanced at me, then back towards the kitchen with a curious gleam in her eyes. I could almost hear the gears turning in her head as she slowly turned back toward me.

“Do you have any waitressing experience?” She cocked her head to the side thoughtfully.

“It’s been a few years, but yeah.” I had worked at a small diner back in Louisiana during high school. She held a finger up as if to say something else. Instead she spun around and disappeared into the kitchen once more. Shaking my head in amusement, I returned my attention to the ads in front of me, now scanning over apartment listings. I had about four grand of Jackson’s money. It was enough for a deposit – a couple of month’s rent, depending on the place - and money to get some other much needed necessities. As of now, I only had a few days worth of clothing in my bag.

Most of the listings were way out of my budget and I was wary to look at listings for roommates. After dealing with Jackson for so long, I just wanted my own space.  I turned the page, feeling a little discouraged until I spotted one listing for $600.

$600 a month, fully furnished-600 sq. ft. Utilities included. Available Immediately!

I feverishly circled the listing, re-reading it once more to ensure I wasn’t confused. Still, it must be a typo. No other places were listed anywhere near that low. If there was one thing that being with Jackson taught me, most things were too good to be true. Still, it couldn’t hurt to find out. As I looked up from the paper and folded it over, Aggie was returning from the kitchen with a steamy plate full of fried fish and chips and that same gleam still beaming in her eyes.

“Soooo…. I talked to Nolan. If you
want
to, be here at 1 PM tomorrow.” She placed the dish in front of me. I looked back at her, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

“For what?”

“To start work. Duh.”

“You mean you just got me a –?”

“Yes, yes...I got you a job. If you want it, of course. It was more for me than you. We’ve been short-handed and Nolan can’t be bothered to wait tables.” She smirked then tossed me a fitted button-up shirt.  “So, I will see you tomorrow then?”

“Yes. Thank you.” I looked down at the shirt with “Finley's” imprinted across the back then back up at her.  “Seriously, thank you.” She simply nodded then left me to finish my lunch. I devoured the deliciously unhealthy meal and left her a generous tip before heading out.  With even less to worry about, I had to find out about this possible steal of an apartment. The way my luck seemed to be going so far, maybe it
wasn’t
too good to be true after all.

Mirror, Mirror

1300 Flagstone Street.
It was definitely the place – a five-story building with a worn brick façade that didn’t appear to be a crack house . . . so far.  I took a deep breath and climbed the two steps to the main entrance, then turned to follow the arrow next to the sign that read “Management.”  My boots clacked against the worn stone floor as I neared a red door with a matching placard across it. After a couple of knocks, a short, plump, balding olive skinned man opened the door.

“Can I help you, miss?” He looked up the bridge of his nose at me, squinting slightly.

“I’m here about the apartment you had listed in the paper. The furnished one, for $600?” I held up the ad for him to inspect. He furrowed his brows and glanced at me suspiciously as he took the scrap of newspaper with the listing on it.

“I forgot I still had the ad running.” He shrugged as he looked back down at it, studying it through crinkled eyelids.

Damn, someone must have already moved in.

“So, I’m too late then?”

His chest rumbled and he let out a laugh as he looked back up at me.

“Are you kidding me, girl?’ He waved a hand in the air, “Nobody’s asked about that place in months!” The tiny man hobbled back into his apartment and opened a wooden cabinet on the wall, searching through the various silver keys that hung on hooks. He let out a sigh as he came back to the door, scratching at the potbelly barely contained by the undershirt he was wearing.

“Here we go. Apartment 333, you still sure you want to see it before I go all the way up these damn stairs?” He raised an eyebrow at me
. Is he serious?
He didn’t crack a smile at all when he asked.

“If it’s still available, I want to see it.” I said firmly.
What a terrible landlord.
Wasn’t the point to try to get people to move in?
Undeterred, I followed him toward the stairs, watching him suspiciously as we ascended. He teeter-tottered back and forth, as his breath came out in winded puffs.  I supposed I couldn’t fault him in not wanting to waste his time showing me the place. From the sound of it, this was quite an exertion for his old, out of shape body. After what seemed like an eternity of hoping this man didn’t keel over from cardiac arrest, we finally reached the third floor. As he led me down the hallway, I still wasn’t sure what to expect. So far nothing about this place seemed appalling, aside from the landlord’s attitude. In fact, other than a little discoloring on the light tan walls due to age, I’d have to say the place looked pretty nice. The dark bluish-gray carpet rolled down the hallway accentuating the rows of midnight colored doors, each with contrasting brass numbers hanging just below the peephole.

As we neared apartment 333, I braced myself. Surely there had to be something terrible behind this door. I was still skeptical there could be a perfectly good apartment for such a cheap rate. I watched as the old man flipped the key over in his palm then jiggled it into the keyhole. A moment later he pushed the door open and stepped out of the way. All I could do was stand there dumbfounded as the apartment came into view. It was perfect. From the glossy parquet floors to the lush gray Berber carpets in the living room, the apartment was nearly immaculate. I turned to the portly little landlord with a questioning look. He only smiled and shrugged.

“This is the apartment, Mister, um?” It dawned on me then that I had never asked his name.

“You can call me Leo.” He nodded. “What do you think of the place?” I stepped over the Parquet entryway and walked through living room and dining room areas as I looked over the furniture that was covered with drop cloths and an even coat of dust. I gently lifted one of the corners of the cloth for further inspection. Underneath was a modern style wrap-around sofa in a mixture of suede tan and dark brown shades of leather. The kitchen was quaint, nothing fancy, but it had a beautiful view that stared out into the city.

“This place is gorgeous. And you just want $600 a month?” He nodded at me, but I noticed he hadn’t set foot inside the apartment himself. I raised an eyebrow curiously, but dismissed it without much more thought and headed for the bedroom.

More covered furniture lay inside. A four-post bed, a large armoire, two nightstands, and a dresser with an ornately framed oval mirror hanging above it. I swiped a finger at its rounded edges and a smudge of dust came off on my fingertip.

As I walked out of the bedroom, I pushed open another door and found the bathroom. Just your average shower-tub combination with mint green and white tiles.

“So, what’s the catch?” I asked as I returned to the entryway. Leo had to know that question was coming.  Judging  the troubled expression on his face, he did.

“I’ve had quite a bit of trouble renting this place out. Either people don’t want to rent it when they find out what happened here, or they move out after a month or so.” He stood up straight, scratching his head as his gaze went to the floor.

“What happened here?”

“About four or five years ago, a man that lived here killed himself in the bathroom.” He said somewhat nonchalantly. He was probably used to people turning down the apartment after that. For a moment I considered doing the same, but I needed a place and this one was the right price. Leo leaned against the doorframe, watching me with interest. I supposed the fact I hadn’t said “no” immediately was a complete shocker to him.

“So, it’s available immediately?”

“Yes. Umm...you actually want to move in?” He blinked in disbelief. I nodded. This was probably the best option I had, and it wasn’t like it was a murder. The fact that someone took their own life here was still tragic and sad, but a murder would probably have made me run for the hills just like his previous tenants. I pulled out the stack of cash from my bag, counting out enough for a deposit and the first month.

“If possible I’d like to move in today.” I handed him the money. He looked down at it, eyes still wide with shock. He could only manage a nod as he handed over the key.

“That’s fine. I’ll have you fill out the paperwork later, miss ah . . . “

“Harley.
Just
, Harley.” He nodded and gave me a knowing smile. Considering the situation with the apartment being what it was, he didn’t push for my last name, and that was fine by me.

After Leo handed me the keys, I went back to the hotel, checked out, then made a quick trip to the store to pick up food, cleaning supplies, and other necessities. Once I returned, I dug into cleaning my new place. Several hours flew by and the only room I hadn’t finished was the living room. I set myself to polishing the wooden entertainment center, sending dust bunnies flying. I’d have to get those when I vacuumed.

Despite exhaustion setting in, I continued cleaning, far too excited that I had found a place to live and a job all in one day. If I had known it would work out this well, I would have left Jackson months ago.  I wouldn’t have allowed the fear of staying to outweigh the fear of being on my own. Just the thought of him made my stomach turn and I redirected my attention to the entertainment center, scraping off the layers of dust with even more gusto. A smile crept across my lips again until I felt a tickle in my nose and stepped back from all the dust and cleaning products.

“Uhh, uhhh CHOO!” My arms flailed in front of my face as the sneeze caused me to stumble back. I took a deep breath as the same tickle returned and another sneeze threatened, but the sensation passed and I let out a sigh of relief. I grabbed the paper towels again and resumed my dusting, but after a few minutes I noticed how parched I was feeling. I hadn’t taken a break in a while. I turned to cross the living room toward the kitchen, but froze when a cold shiver passed through me and the hairs on my arm stood on end. I looked around curiously for an AC vent, but shrugged it off as the coldness passed.

I pulled a large pitcher of homemade iced tea from the fridge and poured myself a glass, letting out a pleasant moan as the cold beverage quenched my thirst. After finishing my glass I returned to my cleaning, finally finishing off the living room before I decided to call it quits. I stretched my back and yawned.
Yep, it’s time for bed.

I grabbed the new bed sheets I had bought and took them with me to the bedroom, making the bed then sighing happily as I looked at the rich purple linens. It was my favorite color. So soothing. Another wave of exhaustion seemed to hit and I dragged myself to the bathroom to brush my teeth then washed off my makeup. With the concealer gone the mark on my cheek became much more visible, though it was now a sickly green, yellowing around the edges.

“Mmph,” I bit my lip as I gingerly touched a finger to the bruise. My heart sank as I stared at the small cut that had scabbed up in the middle of it.
Don’t let him ruin this, Harley. You got away. You’re fine
. I finally pulled myself away from my reflection and returned to the kitchen to make myself some chamomile tea, it would help calm my nerves.

After a few sips, I felt the muscles in my back begin to relax and the tension in my chest start to fade away. As I finished the last drop, my eyes were already drooping closed. The only thing I could think of was sleep. After setting out my clothes for my first day working at Finley’s, I tugged my jeans off, discarding them on the floor next to the bed. Another yawn escaped as I pulled my shirt off and I looked up at the large oval mirror to see two wide green eyes staring back at me.

Not
blue.
Not
my eyes.

I blinked and I was staring back into my eyes. I frowned at my reflection in confusion.
What the hell was that? Are you that tired that you are seeing different colors?
I glanced around the room, but I knew nobody else was here with me. I had already checked all the doors and windows to ensure they were locked. Still, an eerie feeling stuck with me as I crawled into bed.
 You’re just tired, Harley. Everything’s fine,
I coaxed myself as I stared up at the ceiling, willing myself to close my eyes.

It was nothing. You’re fine.

It was the middle of the night when I awoke to a distant clanging coming from another room. It sounded like a pot hitting against the side of the sink. My muscles tensed as I sat up in bed. The room was blanketed in darkness except for the dim glow of light overflowing from the living room. I could never fall asleep in complete darkness.

There was another clank, and the sound of water gushing from a faucet. I swung my legs off the bed and lowered my feet to the carpet, grabbing my hairbrush from the nightstand as I crept toward the bedroom door.  I paused in the doorway when I saw a figure hunched over the kitchen sink. Petite feminine hands scrubbed a dishrag against a pot then rinsed it under the stream of flowing water, and placed it onto the drying rack before repeating the process over again with another dish. I watched for a moment, my legs frozen in place at the sight of this strange woman washing dishes at god knew what time of night. I hadn't left any dishes out.

She continued her task, oblivious to my presence, and after a minute I continued toward the kitchen quietly, rounding the corner of the kitchen bar, now only a few feet behind the mysterious woman. It was then that I noticed it – she had long black hair, similar to my own, except hers was much straighter than my wavy locks. Her frame was even similar to mine, though not as curvy. She stood with her back to me, dressed in just an oversized sweater that hung off one shoulder. She shifted her weight back and forth, her toned, tan legs brushing against each other as she hummed quietly to herself.