Haunted House Flipper

Chapter 14

I needed help, so I came clean and told the pastor my intentions for the house and the deal I struck with Mr. Pennwater.

"He was happy I was taking the place off his hands," I said.

"Claire told me you're going to hire her to help fix it up. I'm sure you could make a great deal of money with that property. Am I right?" Pastor Clarke asked.

I couldn't keep looking him in the eye.

"Ray?"

"Yes," I said to the floor.

Pastor Clarke leaned forward.

"Don't you think the better thing to do would be to get rid of the demon and then sell the house for the owner so he could get all of the money that is rightfully his from the property?"

"Yes, but this guy hates the place. He just wants it out of his life. I'm telling you I'm doing the guy a favor."

"If you say so. The sword you have with you is very powerful. If you're using it correctly you should have no problem vanquishing that demon."

"You've got to be kidding me pastor. Are you telling me the tools will only work if I'm using them in the service of others?"

"Yes sir. I thought that was pretty clear from the inscription."

Well that ruined all of my plans. How was I supposed to get rich by helping people? That's nice t how it was supposed to work.

Pastor Clarke was watching me. I think he knew the conflict I felt. That I was out for myself. He knew I was scamming old Mr. Pennwater, in a way, by buying his enormous mansion for a fraction of what it was worth.

"I think you know what you have to do, but might I make a suggestion?"

Instead of answering I kept looking at the floor.

"One of my jobs is to help people know God's will after all."

"Yeah, what?"

"Why don't you offer to fix the place up for the owner with Claire? Do it for a portion of the sale. Then he'll know you're really invested in selling the place. You'll earn a lot more than your percentage from the sale alone right?"

I didn't want to entertain any other ideas than my own, but he was right. It would be more money than I had ever made on a property. Compared to how much I could make by selling the place myself, though, it would be pennies. I knew I couldn't take on that demon again the way I had tried to. It would be a good opportunity to see how well working with Claire could go too, and we could make a lot of money.

Maybe it would be enough to buy another haunted house with. One that no other buyers wanted to touch. As I thought through this, the kind old pastor just sat there with the calmest, friendliest expression on his face. I wanted to punch it, but I knew he was right. The man had some wisdom. I had to give him that.

"Alright pastor. I guess you're right. I'll give Mr. Pennwater a call and see if he will agree to letting me renovate the mansion with Claire so it's ready for sale."

Pastor Clarke nodded and smiled with a big toothy grin.

"I have a feeling that your next encounter with the demon will end with much better results."

"I sure hope so. If you don't hear from me again, you'll know where to find the tools and my body. Just Google the Pennwater mansion. It's a gorgeous residence," I said.

"You'll be okay. Just let the sword do its work," he said.

"Alright well, thank you Pastor," I said, but I wasn't exactly thankful. I was actually still pretty ticked off. My small fortune had vanished, but a big payout could still be in my future. I was pretty sure that no matter how hard I tried I wouldn't have been able to make that demon leave on my own strength with the tools. I walked back to my car and called Mr. Pennwater.

"Hello?"

"Yeah, hi. This is Ray Cincinnati again."

"Ray! How is the man who is going to save me from owning that despicable mansion?"

"I'm fine. Listen, I was talking to someone and they gave me a great idea," I said even though I hated the idea.

"Oh yeah? What's that?"

"Well, I met someone who restored this beautiful church in my neighborhood. I think I could work with her to renovate your mansion into the nicest property on the block. What would you say to us restoring it for a percentage of the sale once I get someone to buy it from you?"

"Well that is a very generous offer. It's a great idea to be sure. You see, the problem is I just don't think you can sell it," he said.

"Mr. Pennwater, your mansion is about the most beautiful property I've ever laid eyes on. It is worth a fortune. I don't even think it's going to take much money to get it into tiptop shape. It's just going to take some work. I've sold much less desirable houses than this," I said.

"Yes. That's all well and good, but what about the ghost? You've seen it yourself! What are you going to do just find someone new to town who doesn't know about it? Do you really think you can make the ghost leave?"

"Well I didn't know about it, and it's my job to know about houses in this city."

"You make a good point, but I just can't sell the place in good conscience to someone who doesn't know about the ghost. I don't want to ruin someone's life. The house is cursed."

"You were going to sell me the house."

"Yeah but you knew about the ghost."

I laughed.

"That I did, and I still wanted to buy the place off you. Okay, I'm really confident I can get the evil spirit to leave. There is something that I didn't tell you about. This is going to a little sound crazy, but hear me out okay?"

"I'm listening."

"Okay. Keep an open mind."

"Just spit it out already Ray."

"There's a pastor at that church who is helping me get rid of the ghost, I mean demon, inside your house," I said.

I waited for him to laugh.

"You said he thinks it's a demon?"

"Yeah. According to him there are no such things as ghosts."

"But there are such things as demons?"

"Oh yeah. I saw that thing up close, and trust me it's not your relative."

"Really? How could you tell?"

"It has wings. Huge wings it keeps tucked in behind it."

"Well, this is all getting kind of exciting isn't it?"

"That's one word for it," I said.

"Yeah. I'm glad I'm not the one dealing with all of this. I'm truly grateful you found the place and that you are so interested in restoring it. I really like the idea of the place giving someone a good home instead of sitting vacant and haunted. I like your new idea. I just have one question."

"Okay. What is it?"

"Who is going to pay for all of this restoration? You're going to need supplies and payment for the work done on it," he said.

I hadn't thought of that, but I've always been good at thinking on my feet. It has helped me sell a lot of homes. I wondered if the pastor had an idea about that when he cooked all this up, but then something came to me.