Ghost Diaries

Chapter 1

Samantha stood in front of the empty store front waiting for the Realtor to get there. She glanced down at her iPhone and noticed that the time had not moved since she last looked at her phone.

"Shit!" she said to herself.

The Realtor was 15 minutes late and Sam, as she liked to be called, was getting pissed.

She paced up and down a few of the store fronts, noticing that the street was not that crowded for a beautiful spring afternoon. Looking around the unfamiliar Main Street, she could see why the town got their name.

"Charming." She said as she looked into the barber shop on the corner. The barber was shaving another gentlemen's face. When he noticed Sam in the window, he gave her a pleasant but strained smile. Looking up at the sign for Floyd's Barber Shop, she assumed that the barber was indeed Floyd.

Sam smiled back and started walking back towards the empty store she was trying to rent. When she called the realtor last week and spoke of renting the space, she could hear a bit of surprise in his voice.

"Are you sure you want to?" asked Mike Forest of Charming Realty.

"Yes, I am sure. Why do you ask?"

After a few moments of awkward silence, Mike replied:

"Charming is not really a fan of out-siders."

Sam was not sure if she should take that as a warning or as threat. Either way, the rent was super cheap and there was not a coffee shop around for miles. She set the appointment up and got off the phone. However, she could not get the realtor's words out of her head.

Looking down at her phone again, she realized Mike was now twenty minutes late and Sam was beginning to fume.

Kicking a rock that was on the sidewalk, she made her way over to a bench. She noticed a newspaper stand next to the bench. She dug a quarter out of her pocket and got a copy of the Charming Times.

SHERIFF AND LOCAL DOCTOR BRUTALLY MURDERED

Sam sighed as she read the headline.

Local MC President Arrested

Before she could read any more about the case, she saw a pudgy bald man waddle over to the empty store.

"Mike Forest?" she called from the bench

The Realtor looked at Sam and nodded.

Sam stood up and met the man at the front door of the shop.

"Samantha Broker" she said as stuck out her hand.

Mike shock her hand and gave her a once over.

"Sorry I am late," he said. "We had a tragedy here in Charming this week. The funeral for the sheriff who was killed was this morning. "

Sam silently yelled at herself for getting impatient and pissed. She noticed Mike was dressed in a black suit and he looked upset. That was probably why Main Street was so destitute.

"I was just reading about the case in the paper. Do they have any leads?"

"Doctor's husband was arrested. President of the local MC here. He..."

"Wait," Sam said cutting him off. "MC?"

"Motorcycle club. Sons of Anarchy. Have you heard of them?" Mike asked suspiciously.

"No. I mean, I am not from these parts. I am from Tampa. Moved to Seattle two years ago and now I am looking for a fresh start somewhere else. "

Mike's gaze relaxed.

"Anyway, he is getting out. No evidence linking him," Mike said in a tone that made Sam think better of asking anymore questions.

Sam nodded and looked at the faded sign above the empty store. The sign looked weathered and bruised, but she could still make out the former occupant's name: Impeccable Smokes.

"How long has the store been empty?" she asked.

"About 18 months," said Mike. "Like I said to you on the phone, Charming is not a big town for outsiders. You are born here and most of us die here. Not many people come from Seattle to rent stores."

"You have cheap rent." Sam quickly said as Mike got the key out of his briefcase and opened the front door. A bell rang overhead and Sam entered the dusty store. A thick coat of dust covered the overturned furniture and the room smelled of stale smoke. Cigar boxes littered the floor and something gold glittered by Sam's feet. When she bent down to pick it up, she saw that it was a bullet.

She held up the bullet and looked at Mike. He did not look surprised.

"Like I said Samantha, Charming is not a town for outsiders."

Sam looked around the store again and swallowed the nervous bile that was infiltrating her mouth. Bullets in stores, dead doctors and sheriffs and a motorcycle club; Welcome to Charming, she thought.

"I'll take it," She said.

She could not tell if the look at Mike's face was shock or pity. Either way, he gave her the lease to sign and showed her to the apartment above the store.

After she looked over the tiny studio apartment, signed the lease and took her keys, Mike said to her:

"Welcome to Charming. Don't say I didn't warn you."