On the Outside

Chapter 2

Something about the closet had bothered her.
The opening to the attic was inaccessible. The ceiling was surprisingly high in that part of the room's closet. From where Samantha stood, the attic entrance door was either made of dark wood or simply not covered at all. But if that were the case, wouldn't there be some light coming in from the attic windows? She had seen nothing but blackness.

She was distracted by her own thoughts as she descended to the lower floor. Hoping to see signs of life but not wanting to be nosey, Samantha looked to see if any of the doors had opened. Was anyone else home? And it was then that she noticed padlocks on all the bedroom doors... Walking down the long hallway to the last bedroom, she strained to see... and that door had a padlock on it as well.
Samantha had been told there were other tenants in the house. Maybe they were just not home and this was how they locked their rooms when they were gone.
Relieved to be out in the fresh air again, She walked to her car to retrieve the last of her bags. Mrs. Goodwin had not been overly welcoming. Samantha certainly did not expect the older woman to help her move her belongings. But she was stopped by the landlady on the porch,

"Samantha, you remember that rent is due the 5th of every month. I will always need it to be on time. Having tenants is how I pay my bills. Oh, and I will also need your deposit today," she instructed her new tenant curtly.

Samantha smiled patiently and reminded Mrs. Flowers that she had already paid for the month, plus the deposit. Thankfully, she had written a check and would be able to trace it if necessary...

In the few times that Samantha had interacted with the woman, she had noticed a slowness. Perhaps a memory problem.

"Oh," there was a pause, "Yes, I remember now."

"Mrs. Goodwin, I was wondering if any of the other tenants are home?" Samantha took the chance of asking.

Mrs. Goodwin abruptly informed her that she did not keep up with everyone's business and daily schedule. And with that, turned on her heels to head back inside. But as if remembering something important, the old woman abruptly turned to face faced Samantha,

"Oh, Samantha, never under any circumstances are you to let anyone into this house that you do not know. Especially at night. No matter what they say or ask for."

Samantha was about to question this rule. First of all, she did not know anyone who lived there yet. So, how would she know if a person was supposed to be in the house? And who came around at night...asking for what...?

But Mrs. Goodwin had already walked off the porch and entered her "part" of the house closing the door behind her.

...................

Finally, later in the evening, the house seemed to come alive. Samantha had to work on campus the entire afternoon. The college was actually in walking distance and this was how she could get her exercise. Coming home, it was nice to see lights on in the open windows. Someone had a TV or music going. It was 9pm and Mrs. Goodwin's side of the house was in darkness all but for one small light coming from a window.
The house actually felt welcoming. And as soon as Samantha turned the key to open the door and ascend the stairs, she could hear the pleasant chatter of a conversation going. Laughter. Her heart lifted. She had not realized how apprehensive she had been about coming back to the house. And as soon as she was noticed, she was met with smiles. A blonde girl introduced herself as Alison. She had been sitting in the hall and chatting with Anna, a seemingly shy girl with red hair glasses and a relaxed smile.
So comforted to meet them, Samantha briefly excused herself to go put away her things upstairs.
"We were just going to order pizza and wings, hurry back and join us," Alison encouraged.
That was another thing. There was no kitchen available to the tenants. Luckily, they had their own refrigerators. They were in the middle of town, with plenty of places to eat. There was even a small gourmet grocery store a block away. So, meals were going to have to be creative. But at least Samantha would not have to eat alone.
They set up to eat "dinner" in Alison's room. Each room came equipped with some furniture, such as the small table in Alison's room where they could drag desk chairs over to sit. It was late. They chatted about everything. They wondered if more tenants would be moving in. The room across from Samantha's was still empty. She noticed a small microwave in her new friend's room and asked if they were allowed to have them. Apparently such modern conveniences were a bit much for this house. Too much power being used at once knocked all the lights out in everyone's rooms. Samantha's housemates laughed as they told her about the many times they had to irritate the landlady by knocking on her door to enter the basement to adjust the fuse box, flashlights in hand, spooking the hell out of each other!

Feeling so much lighter and relaxed, Samantha helped clean up, said good night, and went up to her room to get ready for bed. Of course that meant coming back downstairs long enough to bathe in the common bathroom. Anna was fortunate to be right next door to it!
And back up the stairs to bed... Samantha played with her phone for a bit, technology required a mobile hotspot for which she had prepared and paid for. It wasn't long before she felt like she could drift off. The girls really had been nice and she felt that living here could be enjoyable.
But as she felt more fatigued, she remembered something. For some reason she had forgotten that she could not lock her room from the inside. Now that Samantha had made friends there, she was not too nervous about that. But to think that between her and the world was just that one little lock on the outside door to the house....
She walked far enough downstairs to close the window-like "fire door." Not that that would really protect her from an intruder. But when she returned to her room, she made a point to close the closet door and put a chair in front of the door.