Cursed Read Free

disfigurement.
    Mrs. Casey started her introduction to the apartment. “The previous tenant was an art dealer. He and his significant other found a prime spot for a gallery in New York, down in the SoHo district, so they moved rather quickly in August. They already had an apartment there so they left the living room furniture here.”
    “The apartment comes furnished?” This place is perfect , she thought.
    “Well, only the living room furniture.”
    Sarah stood in the middle of the living room and was spellbound. An exposed brick wall dominated one side of the room - it was paired with celery green walls and chocolate brown furniture that she thought she remembered from a Crate & Barrel catalogue. To complete the room, there was a large area rug over the hardwood floors that was predominantly pale green and had the same brick red and chocolate brown as well as cream in the pattern. Tall windows across the back of the apartment gave an amazing view and they were each framed with cream sheers that looked so light and gauzy that if the windows were open she was sure they would be fluttering with each small breeze. The room was perfect; livable and comfortable yet it looked like it could have been a spread in a furniture catalogues she always poured over when they arrived in the mail.
    Mrs. Casey had been pointing and talking the whole time but Sarah had been absorbing the perfect room that was slightly out of her financial reach. She was starting to think she could live on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to afford it.
    The realtor caught her attention, “And behind here is the kitchen.” Sarah dragged her gaze away from the windows and turned towards the open kitchen.
    “Mr. Brown remodeled the kitchen himself a few years ago and the black granite and cherry cabinets are just lovely, don’t you think?” Sarah admired the small but functional kitchen with breakfast bar and looked up at the beautiful stained glass light fixture that was mesmerizing.
    It was then that she mistakenly looked his way. He was standing in the darkened hallway leading to the bathroom and bedroom. Dressed in jeans with his hands thrust deep in his pockets and a brown jacket with an upturned collar, he looked like he wanted to shrink his hunched form back into the shadows. A black military style cap covered his head with a brim that hid some of his face. A light beard, as if from a few days growth, covered the rest of his face, but she could see the left corner of his mouth was either pulled down or just slack similar to a stroke victim's dipped mouth. The beard had bald spots, almost like how she remembered some boys in college had when they shaved their hair down into crew cuts and small scars from their youth would become visible. These, however, must be bigger scars – by the look of the patches and she wondered if it had been a car accident…or worse.
    She pivoted on her heel slightly but the movement made him look up. She caught his eye and quickly looked away but not before noticing one eye seemed smaller, almost closed up due to a sagging eyelid. The other eye, the one that had been watching her was bright – either blue or green. Like the color of the sea , she thought and then shivered – dizziness washing over her for no apparent reason.
    Sensing they would be moving on to the bedroom, the landlord moved into the living room without looking up. He had a pronounced limp.
    The bedroom and bathroom were freshly painted and she breathed in the clean scent. Walking across the room, high heeled boots echoing in the empty space, Sarah looked out the same dormered window he had watched them from moments before and down to the street as Mrs. Casey talked about the closet space. A sudden chill slipped over her, and she closed the navy pea coat across her bright green turtleneck sweater. It must be the old windows , she thought.
    Mrs. Casey led her back down to the kitchen for the pièce de résistance.
    “The hallway here runs down to the