5 January 2013
So, I was showing this young couple around this flat. To be honest I hadn’t been looking forward to this one all day. It was the last one on my list, and for some reason this particular property always makes me feel uneasy. We show it as a last resort really, because the place never sells!...
Anyway, I’d noticed when he answered the door he looked a bit odd, I mean he normally does but today he seemed extra weird, he looked a lot paler and more sketchy than usual and appeared to have developed an uncontrollable twitch since I was last there. I thought it was a little strange but didn’t think much of it at the time. I shook his hand as I made the necessary introductions and immediately wished I hadn’t. His palm felt of pure sweat and grime. I made a mental note not to do that again!
The first thing you notice when you go inside this place is the smell, so potent and so fast it slaps you in the face with such a sharp sense of impurity you can’t help but gag. Secondly, it’s always so cold and dark inside. I don’t think he ever lets daylight in. The curtains are always drawn.
There were never many of his possessions about the place. Yeah, he was due to be moving soon, but that had been going on for the best part of a year and, really it was more like he just didn’t seem to own very much. The few times id been there for viewings, I’d not once seen a single photograph on the wall or book on a shelf. I don’t think he had any real family or friends. It wasn’t the kind of flat you’d want to have a dinner party in that’s for sure. I was always kind of embarrassed when I had to go there. I’m not sure who I was more embarrassed for though, me trying to ‘sell’ it as this lovely little home which it clearly wasn’t, him, for people actually seeing how he lived, or the people I was trying to sell it to, who nearly always made their excuses to leave before I even got to the second room. This couple was a little different though, they were quite young, early 20’s and maybe a little naive. They really seemed to like it, maybe they were just naturally optimistic, the guy more so than the girl perhaps. He kept saying stuff to her like “just imagine what it’ll look like with a lick of paint and some nice leather suites”.
I led them into the kitchen which was pretty small and really damp. As usual, I tried to make out it was ‘cosy’ of course, but the overpowering smell of stale milk seeping out the fridge didn’t really help, it just made it feel really cramped and claustrophobic.
I was feeling very on edge, it’s not easy trying to sell a flea-ridden hole and I really wanted to get home to watch the game, but not only that ... there was something in the air that made me uneasy, and I was suddenly very aware that the owner wasn’t in the room with us when we heard a loud crash. I didn’t like it one bit ... so I told the couple to get aquatinted with the place while I checked what it was. As I walked out into the hallway I felt my knees knocking together ... my breathing became a little difficult and I was hardly able to keep my legs from giving way. I don’t know why, but I felt like jelly. I knew there was something seriously wrong. I could feel it.
I stepped out into the hallway and straight ahead of me a pokey little dirt-ridden door was staring back at me ... as curiously inviting as it was, I felt the need to turn, to run in the opposite direction. This didn’t feel right, this felt weird. I started to edge towards the door, with each step I was moving closer into the unknown and I really hate surprises.
It felt like an hour had passed by the time I felt the icy-cold metal of the handle touch my finger tips. I hesitated for a second. I gasped, tried a calm ‘hello?’ ... but it came out much weaker than I'd expected. No answer. “Mr Matthews” I heard myself say in a weak tone, “Are you ok?”
Nothing.
My heart rate was increasing. I don’t know why, but I just knew something wasn’t quite right ... I leant on the handle some more. It took all my strength to push the door open slightly. Something seemed to be blocking it. I started to sweat. I managed to wedge the cap of my shoe in the crack of the door. "Mr Matthews", I heard myself say once more, this time much louder... "are you ok"?
Then I heard Emma, the young girl shout to me ... “can we see the bedroom”?
My immediate reaction was to shut the door as I raced back into the kitchen to the couple. “Of course, of course yes, come right this way. “Great” they said in unison. I couldn’t believe they hadn’t run a mile yet. The place really did look awful.
As I led them into the bedroom my suspicions of a gloomy turn of events grew as thick and fast as the air that surrounded us. The room was surprisingly tidy; the bed was made perfectly, like he hadn’t slept in it for months. I went to the window and drew the curtains. God it smelled so sour and musty. So vile. I opened the window and filled my lungs with as much fresh air as I could. Why hadn’t they noticed the smell? Was it just me??
I was thankful that the couple didn’t notice how agitated I must have looked though. “There you go, the bedroom. You have a huge bay window at the front where you can see umm....the road, and other various houses. You are also not too far from the local park and bus stops into town. Now if you will excuse me I must use the bathroom”.
With that, I rushed back out into the hallway. The door ahead of me just as I’d left it. I ran this time, not wasting another second. I barged into the bathroom. The door stuck with a loud thud as I burst it open. My eyes grew wide, my heart pounding ... I shivered, I stared, I saw.
I felt something slide beneath my feet. I looked down. It was me, I was slipping, I had to throw my arm out to the wall to steady myself. Horror struck as I noticed bright red liquid oozing out from the cracks in the tiles. My eyes drifted along the floor until fixated on this image I will never forget. I think that’ll be imprinted on my brain until the day I die. Die!. What a word. Here I was standing, frozen in front of this body. The body of a man who’s hand id shaken only 10 minutes before. I thought I was dreaming. I tried to shout, to yell out help, that this man needed help. . But the word got stuck in my throat like sand.
Now, when faced with a dead bloody body, you have to make good decisions, react quickly. I fumbled about in my pocket feeling for my phone ... just as I pulled it out and pressed the first 9 I heard the couple shouting my name with excitement in their voices.
Oh my god, they like it ... “we’ll take it!” ... well that changes everything. I was and still am a little shocked and surprised at my reaction. I quickly glanced at this poor bleeding man on the floor, then took a peak out into the hallway and saw the faces of the excited pair and then my decision was easy. All of a sudden a big grin came over my face. I took one last look at the floor, grabbed a towel to wipe my shoe, and then I stepped out into the hallway closing the bathroom door behind me.
The next thing I know I’m clapping my hands together and saying ‘brilliant, let’s get back to the office so you can sign the paperwork and the place is all yours!
Estate Agent #thriller #shortstory • Opuss № I