Steven was bored, and hated having to empty the fridge when he had business trips, and restock it afterwards. It was tedious. So he put an ad in the paper, and on the web.
Alexi was somewhat exhausted from constantly having to cleanse his aura in the new house that his publicist had arranged for him to live in at the Garden District, so using the newspaper to find another place to live in was a must if he was going to get a decent night's sleep. He came across an interesting ad where a guy was looking for a roommate, so he called the number listed in the ad.
"Hallo Steven...my name is Alessandro Bellarmine...I ah, looking for a room to rent, yes?" he said in broken English. "You have a room for rent, so I call to find out when I come to see it, and how much it cost to live there." It was apparent that he was Italian from the way he spoke and inflected his words. This was good practice for the Italian guy on the end of the phone, who didn't have to speak in public and be embarrassed that he could speak 4 languages, but his English was so friggin lousy.
Well he was better at other things, for sure. Like cooking. He didn't have a problem buying his own food, but since he was Milanese, chances were people were going to want to share food with him, especially his pasta dishes.
"You call'a me back, and I come to see the house, eh? My number is 976-4302. Just ask for Alexi." That was the nickname that Alessandro went by, that mostly everyone but his parents called him, especially in the ballet industry. He hung up the phone and glanced around him, still feeling that he was being watched by something. Diabolical. He just knew he couldn't deal with another night of watching the clock tick down the hours until morning. God why did he have to have this horrible afflliction in being able to see human and inhuman spirits?
All he knew, was that he hoped he'd hear something back about the room soon. Before he lost his fucking mind.
Steven got home, and checked his answering machine. The light was blinking for almost the first time since he got to New Orleans. He hit play while he poured himself a tall cold glass of milk. He slowly sipped at the cold fluid as he listened to the Italian accent on the line. After the message was finished, he picked up the phone, and dialed Alexi's number. He would speak when Alessandro answered.
"Hello, is Alexi there? This is Steven Terrafor calling about the rooms. I only require a small payment of two hundred dollars a month for your rent. You can come over and take a look around on Friday, if you want."
He listened as the man spoke, if he asked questions, or just agreed to it immediately. As soon as the conversation was over, he would hang up, and head to the shower.
It was watching him again, that whirling dark shadow, and the lights flickered on and off, off and on. Just wonderful, thought Alessandro. He was concentrating his energy on it, when his Samsung cell phone started chiming and he was forced to take his focus off the dark spirit and pick up his phone. "Ah...si. This is Alexi, nice to meet you Steven." As he said that, the kitchen light began to swing back and forth like a metronome.
Well he was going to leave this hell hole for another place, that was a gambler's wager. "$200 a month, is all you need? Do I have to make a deposit. I don't smoke or have pets or anything." he volunteered. "I am free on Friday, if you wish to show me the room, eh?" It sounded like all hell was breaking loose in the kitchen during the phone call, and the line was static-ky. "Um...hallo? hallo? You are breaking up."
"I need your address, in order to a'come over Friday." The line was very hard to hear, at least on Alexi's end because the inhuman spirit was causing electrical interference to manifest its energy. "Can you please speak up?" Alexi listened for Steven's voice on the other end, but all he heard was static now. "Fuck.." He glared at the black mass in the corner of the kitchen and shouted,
"In nome del dio, Vada indietro ad inferno da dove siete venuto!" (In the name of God, go back to the hell you came from!)
The line was still open, and Steven could probably still hear him in the background yelling at the unknown entity, because he hadn't pressed call end. The negative energy dissipated and vanished again, and Alexi pressed the phone up to the shell of his ear. "Hallo? Steven? If I could have your address, I will meet you on Friday." said the young Italian man.
Once the deed was done, and Alessandro wrote down Steven's address and phone in case something bad happened to him between now and then and he had to cancel, he hung up the phone. Alessandro for one looked forward to seeing the room. It would be much more peaceful he hoped than living in a 15th century haunted house.
-- Edited by ALESSANDRO on Monday 15th of August 2011 04:43:47 PM
The linw seemed to be garbled up while they were talking. Steven, being a smartass sometimes, spoke into the phone.
"Can you hear me now? Can you hear me now? Now? How abou- Ah, good. The address is (address here). Just drop me a line when you are on your way. See you then. Ciao!"
Steven only knew a few words of Italian, and he just used a fifth of his arsenal. He clicked the phone off, and went about his business.
From the truck stop it was a short walk to a small little motel on my way into town and decided I really needed to get cleaned up, some real sleep and then start looking for a place to live. I like small motels if you pay in cash they don't ask questions and don't take id which was even better.
Getting into the room I took one look at the bed and decided I'd sleep in my clothes and on top of the sheets for the night. I had no desire to get Hep C from a mattress. After a shower and a nap I headed down to the "Computer Lab" that the clerk was bragging about and almost fell over laughing at the dinosaur on the table. But it had internet...well it had dial up... and that is what I needed.
I checked over basic news sites from the different major cities around New Orleans and with smile I started to hunt for a place to call home. I copied a few numbers down and headed back to the room, first one was to a Steven Terrafor. The phone rang for abit before there was an answer. "Hello my name is Taylor i'm calling about ad about the room, i'm looking for a single person room but i'm willing to have roommates if this is what it is"....."How much by the way?"...."Also is the room furnished? I just arrived in town and do not have any furniture."...."Also when is the quickest I can move in, would rather like to get out of hotels as quick as possible."....
I listen and reply and at the end "Thank you very much, hope to meet you soon."
This was very interesting. The ad had been up for a month, and not a word. Then, all of a sudden, two calls in the same week. Steven listened to all of the young man's questions, and finally answered in the breach.
"Yes, the rooms are available. I just had one man move in, but there is still plenty of space. The rent is two hundred per month, and you have to buy your own food. Though, the man who just moved in is Italian, and says he likes to cook more than he can eat alone. There is furniture, but it's very basic. If you want, you can come over to the house later today, and I'll show you around."
He didn't tell the young man that he thought the other housemate was either nuts or on drugs, that would not be conducive to his purpose.
"Just go to the address on the ad, and call me a few minutes before you get here. That way I can make sure to be presentable. Thanks for your interest, see you soon."
Hanging up the phone Taylor throw away the other numbers he had written down. Thinking to himself two hundred a month I either just hit the jackpot or i'm about to get scammed. Folding up the paper he pulled out the phone book under the side table and blow the dust off it, it's amazing how some younger people don't know how to use these anymore. He flipped to the page for cabs and called one for pick up. As he waited he flipped through the channels and relaxed for first time in seemed like months.
Two quick honks announced the arrival of the cab. Getting in Taylor gave him the address knowing Steven had said later that day but it wouldn't hurt to see the area first.
