I got excited about what this could mean. Plans started to form in my mind about how I could convince people they wanted to buy this house because it was no longer haunted.
"What do you mean you've seen the spirit, but not in person?" I asked.
"My wife put a camera in the living room and let it record all night. Around three in the morning you can see what looks like a hazy white glowing figure sprawled out on the couch. It's pretty freaky. Even I avoid of the room now. I've got to sell this place as soon as possible man."
"Alright. If the house is turn key, I can guarantee I can get it sold for you for at least $500,000. It looks like it is worth a lot more than that, but you aren't in the best neighborhood are you?"
"Wow that's a lot more than he offered. We bought the place for $200,000, and he offered us $250,000. So your offer sounds great, but this place has a reputation. We didn't know about it because we are from out of town and didn't believe in this kind of stuff before. But now we know better. What the heck kind of process do you have for getting ghosts to leave? How long will it take?"
"I can get that evil spirit to leave tonight" I said.
"Are you serious?"
"If you agreed to let me sell it, I'll come over right now with paperwork to sign. After earning a couple hundred shy of a million bucks, realtor fees will be no big deal. Am I right? Who knows, you might even get more than that."
"That would be amazing, but how do you plan to sell a house that everyone thinks is haunted even if it's not anymore?"
"You know, I've been thinking about that. I'm new at this, but my methods are proven. I figure it's time for me to get my name out there. After I get rid of the spirit, I'll spend the night in your living room and film it if that would be okay with you. If we can get a hold of that footage your wife has, I can make a promotional video showing off how gorgeous the houses and how it's no longer haunted. Let me work on getting a business license tomorrow and I'll make myself official as a realtor who can rid haunted houses of evil spirits. If we can get the local news on the story I bet we can sell your house pretty quick. What do you say?"
"I think it's worth a try. You get rid of the ghost and sell my house, I'll pay your realtor fees from the sale."
"Great! Do you have a printer?" I asked.
"Yeah. For the paperwork?"
"Yes. Great! I'll bring my laptop and work on it while I wait. It shouldn't take me long to get it printed off. Then you can sign it and I'll get to work and you can go to bed. I'll be right over," I said.
"Okay. Thank you."
"Thank you for the opportunity to save your beautiful house. See you in a bit."
"Bye."
I grabbed my camcorder and laptop, then hopped in my car equipped with the tools. It started to rain as I drove over to the Poltergeist Palace. The night felt a lot darker than usual, and it seemed like more than just the fact that there weren't any streetlights.
With each mile I drove I grew more terrified of facing the ghoul. I hoped to make quick work of this demon. I had a lot of things to get done the next day and a going to bed late would make it a lot harder. Tons of yard work, starting a new business, and a lot of paperwork.
As I drove, I wondered why the demon appeared only at night in that room. Did demons know the ghost story? Did it mostly just hang around one place? Or did they float around bugging different people at different times of the day? I really didn't want to stay up all night waiting for the thing to appear. Maybe if it saw me with the sword it would become curious and I could draw it out. Either way it was going to be a game of hide and seek. The kind with magic glasses and sneaking around every corner expecting to see a demon.
I arrived at the house. It was beautiful. The owner was right, it was in great shape. Sitting on the porch surrounded by pristine columns, or atop the elegant balcony above, on a nice summer evening would make this place very desirable to own. The other houses in the area were kind of run down but the neighboring homes were a good fifty yards away. The neighborhood would still bring down the value, but I didn't think it would detract buyers once they saw the property.
He had kept up on the lawn, and there were even some flowers in the garden beds that trimmed the front of the house. It looked like they had really tried to make this house their own. It was sad that they were being driven out by a demon. I was really surprised at these new feelings of sympathy for others. Hanging around Claire was starting to rub off on me. I walked up to the front door and knocked. A young guy, probably in his late twenties, answered the door. He had dirty blonde hair, a dark sweater, and black jeans. He stepped back and opened the door all the way.
"Hi. I'm Nick. Please, come on in."