“And here is the living room. With a fully-functional fireplace and chimney,” said Rena, as she gestures, as she has done a dozen time this week, towards the open room.

The couple walked into the house, vaguely inspecting, nodding their heads in rhythm as if they knew something. Rena nodded back, as if she knew what they were thinking, smiling.

“And how’s the school here?” asked the couple.

“One of the best in the county. The high school actually has the highest percentage of college acceptance this side of the city.”

“Oh wow.” A half-attempted astonishment by the couple.

Rena nods again. They probably don’t like this one either.

“Is there a backyard?”

“Uh— no. Not this one.”

“Oh, I was thinking a little bit of a backyard would be nice.” They chimed in.

“Ah, well— um, we can go back and look at the ones from last week. There’s more space over there.” They said they didn’t want a backyard last week. We’ve been over this; why are we back here?

“What’s that?” What is it this time?

“Aw, it’s a small door for like kids. How cute,” he said cheerily.

Rena turned around. And there was indeed, down the hall, a small door underneath the staircase. She didn’t notice that during the last couple’s walkthrough. That is very strange; but let’s not miss an opportunity.

“Oh— yes! I can open it for you, if you’d like.”

“Yes, please!”

Rena fumbled through her keys as she slid past the couple and knelt down. She slid the two bolts open. They were resistant. They seemed not to have moved in quite some time, but with some force, she pulled them out of their rest. And then tried each of the keys given by the owner. One of these must work.

“Ah, here it is.” Some sliding tumbles and a CLICK— she turns the knob and pulls open.

A cloud of dust plumed out of the dark interior. Rena gave an involuntary cough and asked the couple to step back. They oblige.

“What’s in there?”

“Well…” Rena began. But she didn’t finish. She took out her phone and turned on the flashlight and directed it in.

Dusty. And dark. A white-tiled floor, fading from age, but— it kept going.

“Wow, there’s so much space! We can use this for extra storage, honey.”

Rena remained quiet and stepped in. She swiveled her torch around. This was a large room, empty. Why was this here?