2 The Sinners - Chapter 2 : Loosers, wheepers.

THE SINNERS CHAPTER 2:

It was Sam's first time visiting her new apartment other than seeing it in pictures.

She admitted she had been a little hasty in signing the renting contract before even setting foot in it, but she just couldn't have waited and let such a cheap deal be taken by someone else.

Of course, that had been before she even knew that absolutely no one, except herself, wanted to have anything to do with it.

Now, the landlord waiting for her at the foot of the building was being extra nice with her, even going as far as giving her freebies and discounts from the cosmetic shop down the street she apparently also owned.

She clearly didn't want to lose the only person crazy enough to want to rent her property.

Sam didn't mind it that much. She just hopped that whatever parasite that was currently freeloading in her new place, wouldn't be too hard to deal with.

She actually hadn't been all that truthful with Noah earlier, at the Coffee shop.

She already knew that the place was most probably already lived into.

Furthermore, it was probably not such a smart choice to live in such a place, considering her current predicament, but she couldn't just let this cheap deal slip between her fingers.

She knew her parents, while still comfortably living as middle class people, weren't some billionaires that could financially support her forever. They did offer to pay for her tuition and living expenses, so she couldn't just let them pay for rent too. Therefore she took it upon yourself to get a part-time job to pay for her apartment on her own.

Meaning that finding such a cheap rent this close to both her campus and working place, was really a blessing in itself.

She was willing to make a few sacrifices, even if it meant risking blowing up her cover. She could live with it as long as that thing stayed put.

Oh, how she wished she could have been born as normal 21 years old university student that wouldn't have to worry about anything other than grades or silly friends to hang out with.

No. Unfortunately for Sam Miller, her pitiful life was far from being normal.

The hell had started for her at age four. When she suddenly noticed that some people around her could not be seen by any other person than herself.

People called them 'Imaginary Friends' when she mentioned them, but she knew they couldn't have been. They were as real as her ! How could they not exist ? When she could see them as bright as day and interact with them like any other 'real' person ?

As time went on and her ' Sight' grew more powerful, those 'people' came to her more. So much that she even had trouble differentiating real individuals from 'other' ones .

Had she gone mad ? Was she just imagining it all ? She constantly questionned herself and her own sanity but she just couldn't shake away the feeling that those beings were not just figments of her imagination. They were real to her….but just not in the flesh.

Adult grew more and more frustrated by her 'childish games'. So much that she just stopped mentioning anything regarding her 'Sight' to anyone around her. She became a shut-in, in every sense possible. Her emotions, thoughts, worries…she sealed it all away because she couldn't deal with people's pitying gazes on her anymore.

Those ghosts she saw every day, literally everywhere made her life into a living hell.

Sam couldn't even count how many times she had been bullied in school for seeing weird things where they shouldn't have been, screaming for no reason and seemingly talking to air.

A head peeking out of a toilet, a hand going through a door, a feet dangling from the ceiling…You name it, they did it !

Ghosts were tricksters and absolutely loved getting reactions out of her once they knew of her ability to see and interact with them.

It went without saying that to her, cemeteries looked more like overcrowded and loud main streets than a quiet place to honor the dead.

Old grannies chatting in every corner, sharing gossips, comparing the flowers they got from relatives. Little kids playing fetch with some run over stray dogs using their own bones and limbs instead of balls to play with. Old men debating over who had suffered the most gruesome death…

Those, she called the annoying ones.

Worse that could happen to her in their presence was a handful of embarrassing situations and a few tricks being played on her.

No. The real threat to her was the possibility of meeting a clingy ghost.

If she had to lay out her theory, she would say that ghosts were usually chained either to their resting place, where their corpse laid buried (usually cemeteries) or the place where they tragically died.

The last option meant the ghost would feel some kind of sorrow about his or her death and wouldn't be able to accept not being alive anymore.

Those kinds of ghosts were the worst.

They were all shattered by sadness and felt nothing but pure despair and sorrow.

Sam had seen countless of them in various places, ranging from roads, crosswalks, construction sites, bridges… and the long list went on.

Those ghosts's death was impromptu. The most sudden ones. They felt as if they didn't deserve to die. As if they shouldn't have died in the first place.

Therefore, most of them usually resented the living.

Most probably for not making the most of something that was taking so cruelly from them.

Meeting them was a nightmare.

Upon realizing that she could see them, they would become extremely clingy.

They would either ask her to keep them company (forever) or urge her to find for them some relatives, forgotten memories, lost dearest places….

One demand always led to another, more complicated one that she just couldn't fulfill on your own.

The problem was that they never took "no" for an answer and would resort to harassing her and stalking her whenever they could if she dared to refuse them.

And they easily held grudges.

Sam often ended up having to avoid some locations entirely, just because they would try to attack her if she went past their area.

For her own safety and because she had had enough of being called a crazy madwoman and avoided like the plague by her peers, she just decided to…. stop caring.

She started keeping her emotions in check at any time, thus perfecting her pokerface.

She became a master at ignoring any possible paranormal thing around her and simply started seeing right through them, just like any other normal human being.

After a while and much practicing, she could even somewhat tune their voices out whenever she wanted to get some peace and quiet.

Her life got better as a result. She could now lead a somewhat normal life, as long as she was being careful to not be found out. Truly, the less people knew about her condition, the better her life would be.

As proof, she was slowly getting out of her shell and even made a friend who meant the world to her.

Unfortunately, situations like the one she was stuck at that moment, never failed to always remind her that one single slip could make her fall back into the horrible life that was hers all those years back.

But Sam was finally getting her life together.

And she decided that no ghost, whoever it was, could ever bring her back to that hellhole.

She was determined.

The landlord opened the door to her new apartment and a dazzling light seeped through the huge windows of the living room, making her sight in awe at the wonderful view it gave of the city bellow.

Then she saw him.

Standing near one of the windows, back towards her as he gazed towards the numerous buildings glowing because to the late afternoon sunset.

" Amazing right?" the landlord boasted.

He glanced back towards the entrance of the apartment, where the two women stood.

That was it.

Sam exhaled a breath and started making her way towards him, eventually standing face to face, only a few centimeters apart as she even dared to look him straight in the eyes.

She had the pleasure of seeing him visibly stiffen at the close proximity.

She smiled.

"What a beautiful view, indeed…".

She would not lose this time around.