A Ghost In The Wall

Saturday June 1st 2000.

During the hot summer morning, a white moving van and a blue car stopped in front of a Gothic looking house. The outside of the house’s second floor had peeling wood, as it hadn't been maintained in many years. The first floor has stone surrounding it. There are 4 windows on the front and back of the house, and 4 on each side, resulting in a total of 16 windows.

Around the house, there was a lot of uncut grass growing, and it would’ve taken a couple of hours to cut. The length went up to slightly above the waist.

The shed, located in the backyard, looked disheveled. The door was hanging of its hinge the paint inside was peeling, and there were layers of dust covering the inside.

After slowing to a complete stop, two women stepped out of the car, while a man stepped out of the moving van.

“Hey Stephan. Thanks for helping us out!” Sophia says as she and Emily walks towards him. Sophia stands at 6 foot inches, with black hair that stopped at her shoulders. Freckles are sprinkled across her cheeks, and her large biceps flex without trying. She works out a lot at the gym, and Emily loved that a lot about her.

Emily stood at 5 foot 7 inches, with her red hair tied back into a messy bun. She hugged Sophia tightly, cheeks blushing red as her arms wrapped around her abs. She loves to read a lot, and her favorite past time is playing board and video games with Sophia.

“It’s no issue.” He scratches the back of his head. Stephan is Sophia’s cousin, and agreed to help them to move. He is a tall man with brown short hair, and his height was 6 foot 2 inches.

“How was your honeymoon?” Stephan asks.

“It went well.” Emily smiles as she turns towards the house. “This place will be a good start!”

After moving in the boxes and heavy furniture inside, the three flop onto the couch they managed to bring from the apartment they move from. The inside of the house is dirty due to the amounts of dust.

The paint is peeling off the walls, while there are some missing doors to a few rooms in the hallway. Both bathrooms are missing the essentials, but nothing a little fixing won't solve.

“Thanks Stephan. We appreciate your help.”

“It’s no problem.”

“Hey, are y’all hungry?” Emily asks. “I can order something if you like.”

“Yeah, sure.”

Emily nods. “Okay. Let’s see if there’s anything good here to order.”

She takes out her laptop and searches for nearby restaurants. After deciding they wanted 2 large pizzas, they called to do their order.

While waiting for their order to arrive, they decide to reorganize the main floor in the meantime. “What do you think? Should the couch be there?” Emily asks.

“Maybe over there?” Sophia points to a wall. “I think that would be a better spot with a good viewing spot for the T.V.”

The others nod in agreement, and proceed to move the couch. As they were readjusting the kitchen, they hear the doorbell ring. Emily immediately runs to the door, money in hand, and opens it. Both her and the pizza delivery man exchange what they want, thanking each other and Emily closed the door.

“Nice! Finally. I’m starving.” Sophia rubs her hands quickly together.

After eating the pizza, they continue to organize the kitchen. An hour later, they went upstairs to check out the bedrooms. “Look at this... A bit dirty, but doable.”

At 4:00 P.M., Sophia looks around. “All right. Looks good for now.

“Okay. Sorry, I have to go now.” Stephan says. “Gotta do some reports for work.”

“Okay! Just be safe!” Sophia says as Stephan heads to the front door.

“Okay! See you next time!” Stephan says before closing the door.

Later in the evening, Sophia stepped over a stack of flattened boxes, carrying two glasses of water as she walked down the hallway.

She stops at the bedroom door, where Emily is. They had spent about an hour arguing over where the bookshelf should go and discovered that the bathroom had a persistent drip.

“Finally, the bed is finished.” Emily announced, leaning against the doorframe of the bedroom. She had spent the afternoon trying to figure out the assembly instructions for their new bed. They collapsed onto the sheets together, feeling the softness of the bed as they sink into it.

The room was dim, as it was currently evening, and the silence of the room felt peaceful. Sophia turned on her side, propping herself up on one elbow to look at Emily.

“We finally have our own house.” Sophia whispered, her voice barely audible over the sound of the central heating kicking in for the first time. “Which means we don’t have to deal with any shitty landlords.”

Emily let out a muffled laugh as she reached out for Sophia’s hand, and their fingers interlaced with each other. The tension of having to move evaporated and there was a sense of calm between them. The frantic packing and the sleepless nights wondering if the mortgage would actually clear was a lot of stress.

Sophia leaned in, the movement slow and deliberate, and pressed a soft, lingering kiss to Emily’s forehead. She lingered there for a moment, breathing in the familiar scent of Emily’s shampoo. Emily shifted, turning her face toward Sophia’s, and their lips met in a kiss. They broke apart with a shared giggle.