Haunted House Flipper

Chapter 20

A white haired well-dressed man stepped out and walked up to the house.

"How much you want for the place?" he said with no introduction.

"Uh, hi," I said. "You're interested in buying this place?"

"Well of course I am. It'll make a great new location for one of my duplexes. So how much you want for it?"

"You want to buy this place to turn it into a duplex?" I asked.

"Well probably a tri-plex. Looks like enough land maybe even for an apartment complex who knows? What do you care?" he said.

"We are restoring this house, so I'm not so sure the owner would be interested in selling it to someone who is just going to tear it down to build apartments," I said.

"You're not the owner?" he asked.

I thought about lying so I could tell him that yes I was the owner and no I wasn't interested so he could just leave. I would have done it too if Claire hadn't been there.

"I'm not," I said.

"Well why don't you let him decide? Do you have his number?"

I knew Mr. Pennwater would probably be thrilled to sell the place to this guy, but he did seem kind of excited about the idea of the place becoming a home for someone else. I couldn't let him sell it. I had quit my job. Everything was riding on the sale of this place. I could make a little commision off of it if I acted as the realtor and sold it to this man, but I didn't want to see that happen. Mostly for the money I would lose on the deal and that it would kill my dream of becoming a haunted house flipper, but also because I really did love the house and I wanted to see it restored to its past glory. Beyond that I really wanted the opportunity to work with Claire.

"Yeah I've got his number. It's in my phone," I said.

I pulled out my phone and brought up the number, but instead of telling it to this guy I hit dial. The man crossed his arms and waited to hear what I would say to the owner.

"Hello Ray. Are you on your way with the paperwork?" Mr. Pennwater asked.

"Hi Mr. Pennwater. Not yet, but a guy just showed up who wants your number," I said.

"What for?" Mr Pennwater said.

"He wants to buy the house, but he wants to destroy it and build an apartment complex. That's not something you want to do, is it? I'm mean, this property is absolutely gorgeous. An ugly apartment complex would totally ruin the neighborhood. I'm telling you when..."

"Hold on. He wants to buy the house?" Mr. Pentwater said.

"Yes, but only to tear it down and build apartments on the property," I said.

The man glared at me but I didn't care. I couldn't lose this place.

"I don't care about that. I'm sorry Ray, but I can't pass up an offer. I've been waiting for this for a long time."

"But Mr. Pennwater..."

"I'm sorry Ray."

I hung up the phone. I just stood there for a while until the smartly dressed rude man interrupted my silent rage.

"Well? What did he say?"

I couldn't speak for a moment. I was way too mad.

"Hello? Anybody there?" the man said and laughed.

"He said he wants to..." I tried.

"What's that?"

"Who are you?" I asked.

The man stepped closer to me and offered his hand.

"Bill Baldock," he said.

I didn't shake his hand, but Claire hopped off the lawn mower and shook his hand.

"Hi Bill. I'm Claire. This is Ray."

"But who are you?" I interrupted. "I mean I've been a real estate agent for years and I've never heard of you!"

"That's because I'm not a real estate agent. I deal with houses that have certain problems."

"What kind of problems?" I asked.

He shifted his weight around and looked at the house behind us.

"I've heard this place is terribly haunted. Those kinds of problems. Get rid of the building, get rid of the ghosts," he said. "It's the only way I'm afraid."

"They're not ghosts. They're demons," I said.

"Ah so you know? That's right they're demons. There's no such thing as ghosts. I vanquish evil and get rid of these ridiculous sprawling edifices to build affordable places for a whole lot of people to live who couldn't afford to live in these nicer neighborhoods before. Their kids get into better schools. They are closer to better jobs which cuts down on their commute times. I'm the good guy here buddy," Bill said with a greasy smile.

Wow he was slick. Even I thought he was the good guy for a second.

"The names Ray, and in the process you're going to destroy a part of this neighborhood's history. This city's history! Look at this place. It's gorgeous. Someone went to a lot of work designing and building this mansion. It's a work of art! How can you sleep at night destroying beautiful buildings like this?"

"It's a waste. We Americans already live a life of luxury compared to the rest of the world. Even those who live in a small two bedroom apartment," Bill said.

I pointed to his shiny SUV.

"I can tell you have good taste. I'm sure you don't live in a small two bedroom apartment. Don't you love the architectural style of this place? They just don't make them like this anymore. Can't you appreciate the history of this amazing building? Don't you think you'll be pissing off all the neighbors by tearing it down and building ugly apartments next to their nice homes?"

He started laughing. There was just no getting through to this guy.

"They'll be happy to see a nice new building instead of this drab dirt covered monstrosity. It's been abandoned for years. It's an eyesore. Everyone will benefit from my purchase of this place. Now I need that phone number," Bill said.

"So you go around finding places that are haunted and buy them up?" I asked.

"That's right. Curing neighborhoods of oppressive dark spirits one house at a time. Bringing light to the darkness," Bill said.

He handed me his card. That catch phrase was written on it in bold text. I turned the card over and pulled out the pen that had gotten me into this whole crazy spiritual adventure. I jotted down Mr. Pennwater's number on the back. I had to hand it to him. It did sound like he was doing good work, and I'm sure he was getting filthy rich during the process. He must have had a lot of money to build apartment complexes, but then once they were built he had a ton of passive income to buy more properties and build more apartments. He was a monster I couldn't beat. He was the destroyer of my dreams.

I gave him back his business card, got in my car, and drove off leaving Claire standing there.