Ghost Trail

The quiet of the morning was quickly interrupted by heavy knocking at the door. Joel paused the TV and slowly rose to his feet, groaning from the soreness in his thin body. He cracked the door open to see the smiling little face of his landlord.

”Hey Joel! You called about a possible trespassing and vandalism? ” His landlord asked. Joel nodded and let her inside to assess the damage that was done.

”I think it was those damned kids a few doors down. ” Joel grumbled while the landlord examined the damage.

”Well Ill check the security footage but you still have to get this cleaned up. ” They told him and Joel looked just rolled his eyes.

Josephine watched her brother bicker with the landlord, giggling quietly. He was trying to get some money out of it but his landlord refused and left, telling him they would see what they could do about it. It was barely a ten minute conversation but Josephine found it entertaining.

She hopped off the counter that she was sitting on and began walking around, letting her soft footsteps echo through the small hall to the bathroom.

”Whos there?! ” Joel jumped, hearing footsteps but seeing no one else inside. Slowly approaching the dark hall he saw a dark figure of a woman in the hall. His heart raced as he grabbed the closest weapon he could get his hands on. His pillow off of the mattress.

”Last chance! Who is there! ” He squeaked, slowly reaching for the light switch. When he got no response he turned on the light to an empty hallway. The fear in his face dropped as he came to the conclusion that he mustve been just tired. Joel sighed and flicked the light off, still watching the hallway. Panic returned as he now saw the silhouette once more. Joel quickly rubbed his eyes and smacked the light back on only to stare down an empty hall. This time he kept the light on as he tossed his pillow back onto the old mattress.

”Can you see me? ” Josephine Sauvaterre asked but got no response. She stood in the hall, staring at her brother who was turning the light on and off. After confirming that no he could not see or hear her she decided to explore the rest of the apartment.

First she slowly opened the door to the bathroom, a high pitched creak could be heard all throughout the apartment as she pushed the bathroom door open and stepped inside, closing the door behind herself.

Joel was on his way to the kitchen when he heard the door in the hall open. His breath was caught in his chest as he heard the slow creak of the old hinges. He snapped out of his daze and quickly grabbed a kitchen knife and rushed to the hall just in time to see the bathroom door shut. Joel froze at the end of the short hallway, watching the bathroom door.

”Oh to hell with this. ” He gasped while running to the little coffee table. He snatched his phone off of it and called the police.

”911 what seems to be your emergency? ” The operator asked quickly. Joels panicked voice quickly filled their headset.

”There is someone in my apartment! Please! Send someone quick! ” Joseph yelled while running out the front door, knife still in hand and phone in the other.

”Okay sir. Im going to need you to take a breath, where do you live? ” The operator asked calmly and typed the address that Joel gave them into their computer.

”Please! Please send somebody! ” Joel begged and the operator reassured him they would. It didn take long for the police to get there and see a terrified man sitting outside one of the apartment doors in the corridor. He held a knife in one hand and his phone in the other, his hair was a mess and he looked thin and exhausted.

”Are you the one who called? ” The first officer asked and Joel looked up at them and nodded. One of them asked if they could get the story out while the other would investigate which Joel easily complied.

”Can I have the knife first sir? ” The second officer gently asked while holding her hand out. Joel slowly placed the kitchen knife in her hand and began answering her questions. Joels voice was shaky and his speech was fast. He swore he lived alone and didn know how anyone would get in or why they would even be in there. He assured her that he had nothing of true value so there was nothing for them to really steal.

The first officer slowly opened the front door and stepped inside, gun in hand but their finger was off the trigger. They looked around and the first thing they saw was the mess of red ink by the table and on the walls. The officer got closer and read the note on the unpaid bills.

”Huh.. ” they muttered to themself as the progressed to the hall. They checked every room there and found nobody. The final room they checked was the bathroom and what they saw made them rush out to the second officer.

”Get an investigation team out here. ” They demanded and the second officer nodded and went to their police cruiser to call one in. The officer that went in to investigate came out looking disturbed and confused. They were going to have to dive deeper into this investigation then they thought.