It's Just the Dark

The House

"This is it. Now don't judge this place by how it looks on the outside. You'll be surprised when you walk through the door. I promise."

Lewis grinned down at his friend Jim as he led the way down the sidewalk to a door on the side of the house. Yeah, not much to look at from the outside. It looked a little modular. Like a kit home or a mobile home that didn't quite make the cut.

"Slate siding. That shit's going to last forever,"Jim continued explaining. "New roof. All the windows are double-pane. Some in the bedrooms are triple. And wait until you see the basement. New furnace. Central air. Pretty nice."

Lewis didn't really get a good look at the windows. Plenty of time for that once they were inside. The weather was deceptive today. It was sunny and looked warm, but there was a biting wind. Not a strong wind, but enough to add some chill to sting the cheeks. He lifted the styrofoam cup to his lips and took another swig of coffee,grateful for the temporary warmth it provided. He was savoring the vanilla flavor when he looked up and saw a woman standing by the door.

"This is my realtor. Marie, this is my friend Lewis. Lewis...Marie."

"Good to meet'cha," Lewis nodded quickly, not making a lot of eye contact, but looking nonetheless. She was shorter – well, most people were to him – and cute with a nice figure. She was wearing a hat against the cold but he could see the blonde locks that were coming out from underneath. She put on a professional (but pretty)smile, turned the key and opened the door.

Lewis walked in to a cozy, split-level entry. Not huge and spacious. Enough room to come in and take off your shoes, if you were so inclined, but small enough that it could quickly become crowded with shoes. Looking down the stairs he saw just a cement floor, but he didn't see a wall. That meant to him that the basement was not just a bit of space, but probably had some room to it. That was good. He looked up the short set of stairs and saw a bedroom door pretty much straight across the hallway once you got to the top.

Marie smiled and stood to the side as Jim gestured grandly with his arm towards the stairs going up. "After you," he said.

Lewis took one step up.