So because I'm a young college student who is elbows deep in debt, there is no way I can pay for living on my own. And so I looked to the internet for a way to pay off my debt and I stumble upon a roommate request on Craigslsit. It asked for a girl between the ages of 21 to 28 who is attending University of Nevada, Reno. The pictures of the house looked quite nice and it just the owner of the home was staying there at the time. "Why not?" I thought at the time and sent an application to the owner and thought nothing of it for about a week. Then the owner returned my email saying she'd love to have me as a roommate. She gave me the address and wanted to know if I could come in soon to give the house a look over. I went that afternoon, not prepared for what would happen.
I hop out of the my car on the opposite side of the street of the house and walk briskly toward the front door. The house in front of me looks nothing like the white picket fence that was advertised. Instead of clean white shingles, there was cold and worn brick with bars on the windows. "Does my roommate come from the hood?" I keep thinking, "Why post fake pictures if you have nothing to hide?" I air on caution's side and pulled my mini can of pepper spray out of my messenger bag. The house's porch had chipped white paint and an old wicker rocking chair on the far side facing the sunset. The sky was plastered with dark oranges, bright yellows, and warm pinks. One of the reasons I stayed in Reno for college was for the warm weather and beautiful skies, and that tuition fees were so much cheaper. The front door opened and girl with poorly done dreads dyed a dark purple smiles at me. "Hi, I'm A'leah. Are you Holly?" I nod and A'leah beckons me inside her home. It smelled heavily of weed and something else I couldn't place at the time. "This is the place, what's mine is yours." A'leah sits down on the falling apart couch and pulls out a pack of cigarettes from her back pocket. She offers me one and I politely decline. "May I look around to find my room?" I tread the waters with her privacy, itching to explore the house. "Go ahead," she puffs out a cyclone of smoke from her mouth. "Just don't go in the basement. The basement is 100% off limits." She waves her hands around dramatically to prove her point. I nod and look around the house or what's supposed to be here. There's nothing but dust that covers everything and the smell of something fowl hangs in the air. After I look around for awhile, my curiosity gets the best of me and I creep towards the locked basement door. My hand reaches for the doorknob and surprisingly, it's unlocked. The door opens with a creak and the fowl smell grows stronger. My jaw drops at the sight below. Bodies, lots of them. The flesh was falling of their skulls and bones stuck out in odd places. A cry came from the far side of the pile. "Can I finally go home?" The voice is weak and dry. I walk over to the sound. A girl with short black hair like me faces me with crusty blood running down her nose. Her arms are covered in bruises and trackmarks. "Are you okay?" I ask. "Just get me out of here, please," the girl pleads. I help her to her feet and walk around the pile of rotting corpses towards the stairs. Then a figure stands at the top of the stairs and cackles. "I told you that the basement was off limits," A'leah blows a stream of smoke into my face. "Guess you can't take a hint," she cackles again and slams the door shut.
