Picfics

The Girl in The Hall

“I’ve got it!” I hear Clara say as she comes into the room. She has her signature smile that’s on her face, that means she has a crazy idea.
“What?” I ask, she stops in front of me and breathes heavily.
“Okay…” She takes a deep breath,
“Calm down,”I say, her breath turns into a chuckle and she says,
“You know how you’re looking for a place to stay?” She starts, I’m already disinterested,
“No.” I say and spin around in my chair.
“I haven’t even finished!” She said,
“I don’t want to hear the rest. I can find a place to live on my own.” Clara sighs,
“Yeah, but this place is really good. Come on, you’ll get a job before you find a place this good.” I face her and arc an eyebrow.
“I have a job.” I said, gesturing to my camera.
“I mean a full time job, not a part time photographer.” I roll my eyes,
“Fine, I’ll listen. Where is it?” I ask. Clara claps her hands and pulls me out of the chair.
“I’ll show you!”

“What. The heck. Is that?” I ask, standing in front of the building that’s supposedly ‘the best place ever’.
“Trust me, it doesn’t look so good on the outside but it’s really good.” She opens the door and steps in.
“I’m out.” I say, “I’m not going to stay in a place with puke or whatever that is on the wall.” I say gesturing to a spill on one of the couches.
“It’s fine.” She says and continued to pull me into the house. I hold onto the door frame,
“Nope, I’m not going to be murdered because my friend rents my a dodgy house.” She rolls her eyes,
“There are worse ways to go.”
“There are better ways as well!” I say, not letting go of the door.
“Hello.” The bickering is cut off by a calm voice that came from inside the room. Clara takes advantage of my confusion and yanks me in front of her so she can push me towards the voice.
“Yeah, hi.” I say, then turn to Clara. She nudges me forward. I see a woman wearing a grey suit and half moon glasses.
“I’m Audrey, Audrey Johnson. And I’m looking for a place to stay.” She looked at me over the counter and made a small ‘hmph' sound. She opened up a big book on her desk and said,
“We have a room on the fourth floor.” She handed me the key,
“How much?” I asked,
“I do believe your friend has already covered that.” I turned around and gave Clara a menacing look before turning back and smiling at the woman.
“Thank you,” I said before starting up the stairs. When we got the the first floor I shoved Clara a little,
“What the heck, dude?” She shrugged,
“It wasn’t that much.”
“I told you I didn’t need help!” Clara rolled her eyes,
“You have to admit, it is a cool place.” I look around and raise an eyebrow at her,
“Cool? Cool is space-age, and modern. This.” I pointed all around me, “Is ancient.” But then we reached the fourth floor. It was almost completely different. the floor was a light brown with new polished wood, the walls were either brick or concrete, and there was a door right before the corner that said 4D.
“Well..” I said, “They sure could do some work on the other floors.” I looked at Clara but she was inspecting the place with shock.
“What?” I asked, She rubbed the walls,
“How did they do this? I was here yesterday and this was exactly like the rest of the building. They knew you were coming of course but…” She trailed off. Then pushed me towards the door.
“You and I both need to see the room now.” I opened it to find a very stylish room. It had a small kitchen and couch. I looked around,
“Where’s the bed?” I asked,
“The couch folds out.” She says then gestures around.
“But this. They did a good job of fixing this place before you came.” I raise an eyebrow.
“Are you saying that you bought me a place that was dark, mucky and creepy without expecting them to clean it?” She shrugged,
“Well, you were looking for new photo ideas and-“
“You thought that I wanted to live in a place like that?” I asked her, she sighed,
“Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time. Okay? And besides, the room is fine. I’ll get your stuff while you decide where you’re gonna put everything.” Then she left. I sighed and sat on the couch. I had to admit, it wasn’t that bad of a place. But I was still annoyed at her. I’m pretty sure she got this place because it was cheap and that she didn’t want me to stay at her house anymore. Either way, this place belonged to me now. It felt good.

After doing absolutely nothing all day I got into bed. Clara had come back with my suitcase and stuff in another bag and left. Wishing me good luck and all that. The couch squeaked and I sighed before trying to get comfortable. Contrary to the situation I fell asleep quite quickly. But woke up quickly as well.

I woke up when it was still ark outside. I checked the clock but it was stuck on 11:59 PM. I sighed, another thing I’ll have to fix. So far there’s been a leaking faucet, a stuck doorknob and a broken tile. But I knew I couldn’t complain, the rest of this place is worse. I got up seeking a glass of water when I realised that I had walked straight out into the hallway. I turned back around and was about to open the door but it was locked.
“Sh*t.” I said to myself. Just great, now I’ll have to ask for another key. I walk along the hall until I hear a noise. The soft padding of my feet were easy to be confused with other noises but this noise was different, this noise was a giggle. I looked down at my feet and tested the wooden plank I was on. It didn’t move or make any noise. I turned around. There was no one there. I turned back again and kept walking until I heard another giggle. I spun around and saw someone. It was a little girl. She had brown hair that turned blonde at the ends. Her hair was curly and bounced around her face as she walked. And spun around. Her white dress floated like her hair and she started to run back to my room. Right before she reached the door, she disappeared. I woke up with a start.
“Nope.” I said and rushed to pack my bags. I ran downstairs and threw my key back to the woman at the desk. I ran out and called a taxi. There’s no way I’m going to stay in a place like that. I stare out the window and shiver at the memory of the dream. Crisis diverted.