Glass

Siya

The camera flashed as Siya took a snap of the almost crystal-clear house from the outside. She might just need it for her report. She looked around at the surrounding houses. There weren't that many, but they were all pretty normal and opaque. She tried to judge whether she would be seen by people on the outside, and was pretty sure she would. She sighed. She hoped at least the washrooms had some privacy.

It wasn't all see-through, but it would be at night when she turns the light on. She hoped there were curtains for the huge and numerous windows. She would be staying here for the next month. She hadn't been expecting anything in particular, but this did seem a bit odd and random. Well, at least there weren't that many houses or people in this suburban side of town.

Whatever. It didn't seem like much of a problem. There would be enough on her plate with the story she had been chasing for the past year. She didn't want anything to get in her way now. Not when she was finally this close. She walked up to the door, unlocked it, and headed inside.

She had heard testimonies from the few other journalists who had attempted to uncover the same story. She couldn't tell if they were telling the truth. And even if she could, she would still have a hard time believing them.

This was something similar to what they said had happened to them. When they had looked for a place to stay, they were somehow always put in a very inconvenient location. Some of them were put in a very crowded and busy motel or inn. Some of them got very large windows through which you could see almost everything on the inside. Some got very thin walls through which you could hear entire conversations. But this—this was next level.

She had been intrigued by this story for almost a year now, and had been following it very closely. She was the first semi-senior journalist to take on this story, mostly because the elder ones were all skeptical. Apparently, there was someone controlling this small town of Rangmal. People never got what they wanted. People got caught in their wrongdoings very easily. People were randomly and repeatedly subjected to misfortune. They got scammed, or experienced recurrent credit card fraud. They always hated their elected government.

But all of these accusations and doubts were too vague for the local newspaper in Siya's hometown, that she also worked for. She couldn't get anyone to believe her, or to help her dig deeper. But finally she had gotten some support from the new head of the journalism department. Thanks to her higher position, she had gotten Siya provision for some extra money, a place to stay, and an assistant. She was utterly grateful for all of it, except for the assistance. Siya didn't really do people, especially when she had to trust them with something important. She didn't need any assistance. She always preferred to work alone.

But, alas, she couldn't turn down such a generous offer, even if it included that. She would at least have some company in this strange house. She put down her luggage, and went to check out the rest of the place and then freshen up.