If the Walls Could Talk

Submitted into Contest #148 in response to: Write about a couple touring an empty apartment they might rent.... view prompt

2 comments

Suspense Horror Mystery

This story contains themes or mentions of physical violence, gore, or abuse.

That Mole!

It stared at me as I tried my hardest to concentrate on what she was saying. Jenny Langstrom, our realtor had been droning on for what seemed like days. Jenny was showing us this apartment for the second time because my wife liked it so much. I kept looking at that huge mole that sat on her top lip like a bird perched on a fence. I felt my wife’s hand touch my arm. She knew I wasn’t concentrating. Emily knew I was basically a child in a man’s body. I slowly turned my head towards her, and she flashed me an annoyed look. I took a gulp and looked back at Jenny. Jenny was a short woman with unkept brunette hair and the greenest eyes I had ever seen on a person. She wore a grey blazer and black pencil skirt. Hiding behind her almost oversized blazer was a white blouse. Her black high heeled shoes propped her up and gave her a bit of authority. There was something wrong with that woman. From the moment I met her I knew there was something off. I had tried to tell Emily a few times, but she didn’t take me seriously. You see I had been dreading moving to a new apartment. I had lived in my current apartment for years as a young bachelor. I had been there even before I met Emily. From the moment we were married, and she moved in she hated it. All of it. The exposed brick. The smell of car oil. The shower that had to be turned on with a pair of pliers placed on the floor. Emily also claimed that there was an old man from across the road who would watch her when she was alone in the apartment. I didn’t believe her too. I knew she would do anything to get out of that apartment. It wasn’t a big deal anyway. I loved her and she loved me so I could stomach the idea of moving.

Jenny kept going on about the crown molding or something boring like that. Emily ate it up. She was nodding her head and humming. She kept asking questions about the apartment and the area and homeowners associations. What the hell was she talking about? I often believed Emily enjoyed acting like a grown up. I myself didn’t care. It felt like these people were just making up grown up words. Whatever.

“I’m going to check out the bathroom,” I said while pointing at the hallway.

Jenny smiled at me and nodded, and Emily gave me a murderous stare.

“I’ll be back,” I said with a grin to reassure Emily.

She was not happy. I didn’t care, I liked pushing her buttons. I feared if I didn’t challenge her once in a while, she would get bored of me or something. I walked to the hallway and Jenny words started to fade away and it sounded like a grown up from “Peanuts”. I found myself at a sort of T junction where I saw 3 doors around me. Right Infront of me was a door and on both sides were two more doors on each side.

Knock Knock

I heard a slight Knock on my right on the wall along the hallway. I turned my head towards it. The faint knocking continued. I looked back at Emily and Jenny, and they were still deep in conversation. I touched the wall and the knocking stopped. I was probably hearing things. I brushed it off and walked towards the door on the right and opened it. I found a large bedroom that curved around me. I walked in and looked around. After gazing at the walls I opened the closet.

“Don’t rent the apartment,”

I heard a whisper around me. I looked around. I leaned closer into the closet.

“Don’t rent the apartment,”

The whisper got louder. I stepped back from the closet. I closed and rubbed my eyes. I walked back to the closet and listened again. The whisper was gone. I smiled to myself and sighed. I walked to the door, and I heard a knock coming from area I heard it from before in the hallway. The knock then intensified. I walked closer to the wall. I realized that the coat of white painting around that area was slightly different. I was a dentist so I could tell the difference between shades of white. The knocking continued. I pressed my ear onto the wall. The knocking stopped again.

“DON’T RENT THE APARTMENT!”

A female voice shouted into my right ear. I grabbed my ear and fell to the ground. It felt like someone had stabbed my eardrum.

“Emily!” I shouted.

My body felt limp. Suddenly my voice was gone. I crawled to the door, and I struggled to turn the door handle. I walked out the door. Suddenly the apartment was dark. I struggled to my feet, and I limped to the living room. The skies outside the window were now red and it gave the room a bloody tint. Emily and Jenny were now gone. I tried to scream for Emily a few more times. Nothing came out of my mouth. I looked back and Jenny stood in the hallway and her left hand was on the wall where the knock had come from earlier and her right hand had an object in it. I walked towards her.

“Where’s Emily?” I asked her.

She ignored me.

I could now see that Jenny was rubbing the wall as if the wall was her womb and she was caressing her baby bump. She had a big smile on her face. Now I could see the object in her hand. It was a blood-soaked knife. Now I was really worried.

“Where’s Emily?!” Shouted angrily.

She giggled.

“What do you mean? She’s right behind you,” she said with a sinister tone.

I slowly turned backwards while trying to keep an eye on Jenny. I got the shock of my life. Emily was right behind me with her hair covering her face. I tilted her head up slowly and her face had a pale blue hue. Her neck had striation marks like she had been strangled with a rope or a garrot. Her body was also riddled with stab wounds. I grabbed her almost lifeless body and shook her.

“Emily!” I shouted again.

I then felt a pair of hands rub my shoulders. I jumped up and looked back. It wasn’t Jenny. It was a young black woman who had pale brown skin. Her eyes were blueish white, and they looked dead. She also had rope burn around her neck and stab wounds all over her body. She then grabbed my neck and started choking me. I tried to fight her off.

“I thought I told you not to rent the apartment!” She screamed angrily.

I woke up in my bed riddled with sweat. I had also woken up Emily. She wrapped her arms around me and hugged me.

“What’s wrong?” She asked with concern.

I insisted that we should change realtors. I didn’t have the guts to tell her about the dream. After days of back and forth arguing she agreed. We got a new realtor and found an apartment that we both liked.

I’m sure you think I was overreacting right? Why don’t you ask Lucy Johnson if I was overreacting? She was the previous tenant of the apartment and she had been missing for a year and half. They believe she is dead, but they never found her body. I’m pretty sure we both know where she is. If you don’t think that’s enough, why don’t you ask the McGregor’s if I was overreacting? They were the couple that rented the apartment after we pulled out. Come to think of it they wouldn’t really be helpful because they were both found stabbed multiple times and strangled to death in the apartment. I watch the news time and again and I see them struggle to find any decent leads while I sit here with this unbearable burden. I have no idea if I should call the cops. Would they even believe me? What do you think I should do? Whatever happens there is one thing for sure: Jenny Langstrom is a monster.

June 01, 2022 10:14

You must sign up or log in to submit a comment.

2 comments

Michał Przywara
20:55 Jun 08, 2022

This was a fun horror story! I like the literal use of the title, and the narrator's encounter/vision/dream was creepy. There's something cool about taking a completely mundane situation like apartment shopping, and turning it upside down.

Reply

Carter Msilisi
15:29 Jun 12, 2022

Thank you very much Michal look forward to reading more of your stories.

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply

Bring your short stories to life

Fuse character, story, and conflict with tools in the Reedsy Book Editor. 100% free.