Alexis tried to start gaming out the different scenarios. Did someone try to break in? Are they here because Pam just got framed for a crime and they are here to arrest her? Are they here because Pam actually did a crime? Before she could decide on which outcome was more likely Jen cut Alexis’s thoughts short.
“Excuse me officers, is there any trouble?” Jen asked.
“Evening ladies. We got a wellness check for Pamela Gallagher. Would that happen to be either of you two?” One of the officers said.
“No but I hope she is okay,” Jen said, “Did they say what the reason for the wellness check was for?”
“Her work hasn’t heard back from her in a few days,” the cop said, “just want to make sure she is okay.”
“Maybe she will come back,” Jen said.
“Hope not!” said a voice behind them, when they turned around they saw a squat looking man holding a key ring. The man matched the description Pam gave of her landlord. “I hope that bitch gets out of my hair too. Nothing but a constant headache.” Well he sure seems pleasant.
“Pam isn’t that bad, just misunderstood,” Jen said, glancing back at Alexis. Now really isn’t the time to make a point.
The landlord just waved Jen off dismissively.
“Anyway boys,” the landlord said, “I think I have the key right here.”
“You're letting them into Pam’s apartment?” Jen asked.
“What’s it to ya?” The landlord asked.
“Did you ask for a warrant? Because if not you aren’t supposed to let them in. It’s a breach of privacy.” Jen please stop antagonizing him, we still need him to let us in the apartment remember?
After Jen’s eviction scare, she learned a lot about tenant rights, which was a field Alexis has no experience with. Alexis did remember Jen explaining to her once pretty vaguely that landlords were not supposed to just enter apartments without permission from the tenant.
But also Alexis wasn’t sure what Jen got out of not obstructing their ability to confirm that Pam wasn’t here. They were just here for some of Pam’s stuff. It might be true that if the cops think Pam was missing it might be harder to get access to the apartment, if they wanted to search it, but also they weren’t sure if Pam would want the stuff if it meant Jen and Alexis drew attention to themselves.
Alexis also just wanted to limit every interaction she had with the police as much as possible.
“Listen girl,” the landlord said, “I tried calling her.”
“What is your relationship to Pamela again?” One of the cops asked.
Yup this is why we should have just waited till after they left. Getting involved with the police is never a good idea.
Alexis wasn’t sure what the order of operations for a missing persons case was, but Alexis doubted that the officers had any reason to stay for the apartment that long after they were able to confirm Pam wasn’t there. But now no matter what they did they would look suspicious.
They could pass themselves off as Pam’s friends, which could backfire in a missing persons case because they may be brought in for questioning if the cops pursue a missing persons case. Or they could stick closer to the truth that Alexis only met Pam once in the course of her job, which would raise the question of why they are in the building. Alexis didn’t see a good out for them, and navigating social situations like this wasn’t her strong suit.
The original plan was to pass themselves off as two of Poltergeist's underlings, her so-called ‘ghouls’, which apparently Pam’s landlord was vaguely aware of enough to know not to get involved. But there was no way to do that in front of a cop.
“We’re just friends of one of her neighbors, but PG is pretty well known,” Jen said, “she’s basically a neighborhood hero. My guess is she probs just ghosted from her job.”
Alexis couldn’t tell but it seemed the landlord straightened up a bit.
“Is that the case?” one of the cops asked.
“Totes, she def makes sure the area feels safe,” Jen said before turning to the landlord, “I’m sure even you can cop to that.”
“Yup,” the landlord chimed in, “that uppity bitch definitely kept the crime down.”
“Really?” the other officer said, intrigued.
“Uh-huh,” the landlord said, “Pammy got on my case about keeping the outside lit. Costs me a ton in utilities but we haven’t had a mugging since.”
“All the more reason it is important to check up on her.”
The landlord nodded, absentmindedly before looking at his key ring. “You know what, I just remembered,” the landlord said, “I had to give her my copy because the forgetful bitch kept losing hers. If she doesn’t turn up by tomorrow, I have a locksmith who I can call.”
Alexis had no idea how Jen had managed to turn the situation around like that. The officers just asked a few more followup questions before leaving. They hadn’t even asked for their names. When the cops were gone, the landlord turned to them and asked, “What the hell is that bitch up to now?”
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Now that they were back on track, they were able to stick to the original story. They needed part of her costume because ‘Poltergeist’ was invited to something called a ‘tournament arc’, which was the costume game term for a fighting tournament. Even as an avid anime watcher, Alexis had to cringe. Like, just call it a tournament? Is it not enough for these nerds to be so riddled with Comic Book Syndrome that they act like they are in an anime, they also need to talk like they are watching it too?
“Well good,” the landlord had said, “maybe it will be quiet in the building for a bit then.”
“Was any of that stuff about PG keeping the building safe true?” Alexis asked.
“Oh yeah,” the landlord said, “big time. But the lights thing was some other bitchy karen.”
Keeping the neighborhood well lit didn’t really strike Alexis as a ‘karen’ move. Considering the Karen in question was probably just worried about keeping people safe at night.
“The psycho bitch just manages to scare off the crazier psychos,” the landlord continued.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
In recent years the term, ‘psycho’, has carried a lot more weight than it used to in the context of psychics. Those more inclined for psychic rights consider it a slur, which bothered Alexis to no end because it was already a derogatory term used to vilify neurodivergent people.
Even the underlying stereotype a psychic getting called a psycho represented was that psychics were all being driven crazy by their powers. To Alexis, the problem with that stereotype wasn’t that it was false, it was that there is nothing morally wrong with being neurodivergent. In fact if Comic Book Syndrome was a real mental disorder Alexis would definitely be less inclined to poke fun at those it afflicts so much.
It was similar to how some straight guys got called ‘gay’. That didn’t make the word a derogatory term for straight guys, because it wasn’t rooted in an anti-straight bias, it was rooted in homophobia.
In short, it did bother Alexis when a psychic was called a psycho, but only because your average neurodivergent person was probably a better person than your average psychic. Especially if you factor in the Costume Game.
The landlord continued to rant about Pam, explaining how she extorts him for lower rates on her rent, and all the ruckus she causes. Alexis just wondered why he didn’t go to the cops since the man clearly did not have the same moral troubles she would have about it. As it stood it she still wasn’t sure who was actually getting the better end of the deal.
He let them into Pam’s apartment, and immediately she realized Pam was definitely getting the better end of the deal.
The place was a warzone. There weren’t just holes in the wall, a whole damn piece of it was hanging off. There were bottles and cans everywhere. Food and take out containers on the floor. So much that she couldn’t even see whether she had hardwood or carpeting. Alexis genuinely could not believe Pam lived this way. She had warned them of a mess but not this!
“Was she robbed!?” Alexis asked, not being able to keep the thought to herself.
The landlord smiled, “First time seeing your bosses lair, huh? I’ll leave dumb asses to it.” After that he left.
The kitchen was near the entrance, so one of the first things Alexis saw was the fridge, which was covered in as many dents as it had magnets. Alexis wasn’t sure if it would even be functional. Some utensils were fully embedded in the wall.
There was nothing in the sink or dish rack, and the only plates Alexis could see were made of paper. She guessed that Pam probably didn’t own any actual dishware which was probably for the best since that would just mean having to worry about stepping on broken glass.
So happy I made sure to keep her as far away from my kitchen as possible.
Alexis genuinely wasn’t sure how much of this was because of Pam’s talent, or how much she was just a hoarder. She had said her talent worked best when she was angry, but did that mean when she relaxed it just went rampant? Why not just choose to not use it?
But her talent was the only explanation for some of what Alexis was seeing, because it wasn’t like Pam could just rip off part of a wall on her own. Regardless, it did serve to give Alexis a chilling thought.
Everything Pam has done so far may have been her holding back.
Alexis was really hoping Pam would be out of her hair before her house started to look like this. But for that to happen they needed to grab her stuff.
And the stuff they were supposed to grab was pretty strange, though Alexis was hard pressed to think of what she would want if she was in the same situation.
In total the list was:
* Her Poltergeist costume,
* Some DVD’s,
* A few photos,
* Some decorations,
* Her birth certificate, some recent mail, and her Social Security card.
The latter of which was Alexis’s idea. Since Pam's drivers license was presumably with her body, it was already gonna be an uphill climb to prove her identity. She didn’t even have fingerprints anymore. So having easy access to some of these documents would at least make that situation a little easier.
This of course was contingent on the idea that Pam could be convinced that her life wasn’t over. Which for Pam’s sake Alexis hoped that was the case.
“So you want to split up?” Jen asked.
They ended up splitting up with Jen taking the living room, and Alexis taking the bathroom.
Pam’s room was as messy as everything else. But it was better decorated. There were clearly some attempts to cover the holes in the walls. In one she had haphazardly stuck a sword in it, with a full venetian mask dangling from its hilt. The other attempts were more typical, with the room being littered with posters. Some were of playbills from musicals that Alexis had never heard of, while others were for movies that she had also never heard of.
It wasn’t all posters though, there were orange and purple christmas lights, a few model skeletons. Alexis guessed it may have been a gladius? On a different wall there were just a bunch of plastic chains, which she guessed maybe fit the ghost theme? The weirdest thing was a jolly roger flag, but instead of black it was a rainbow. What a weird form of allyship.
Alexis never got the appeal of pride parades, or pride flags personally. Jen was the complete opposite, with her place being just littered with the things.
Pam hadn’t asked for everything, just a few of her decorations, and said if there was anything Jen or Alexis wanted they could have. The only thing Alexis guessed she would even want was the sword, but Alexis was not really into the whole ‘sword lesbian’ thing. Still, she stuffed it and the mask into her bag.
She figured the posters would be next easiest to grab, since they weren’t framed, just held with scotch tape. So she went through the process of taking them off the walls, proving her theory that they were in fact covering holes. She rolled up a few and put them in her bag.
That covers decorations, next she said she wanted some stuffed animal.
Alexis was a bit surprised that Pam had wanted that. Pam didn’t seem like the kind of girl who liked soft fluffy things. Though Alexis did catch her watching animal videos over Jen’s shoulder this morning. Alexis found it sitting on top of an old box of dryer sheets in the corner of the room.
But when she picked up the orange tiger shark, she saw that instead of dryer sheets, the box was filled with used syringes.
Once the initial shock wore off she saw that there was a vial next to the box, which did seem to be prescribed. Alexis really wanted to look more into it, but she knew that poking into the medical history of someone she barely knew was definitely crossing a line.
Making good time, what’s next?
On top of a dresser that was fully missing a drawer, Alexis was able to find the photos. There were actually a lot of them. Really never took Pam for the sentimental type.
The first photo that caught her eye was a photo of presumably the entirety of Graveyard Bash. They were all dressed up in front of a mural at the side of a building. Alexis had actually seen this mural over on main street in Midport, but the colors were a lot brighter in the photo. If this was graffiti they had tagged, it seems a little unwise to all be posing in front of it. Even if they are wearing masks.
The next photo was actually a strip of photos, they were the kind you might get out of a photo booth. All of them were of a younger looking Pam in a dress in between a boy in an ill fitting suit, and a girl wearing a dress and glasses. There was a thing in the corner marking that it was prom 2015, though Alexis wasn’t sure if that meant this was Pam’s junior or senior year. Something about the picture was a bit more familiar though. But Alexis wasn’t sure what.
The last photo that caught her eye, immediately answered her question.
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17:50. Tuesday, December 5th, 2023. Pam’s Apartment, Midport.
“Alrighty,” Jen said, “Got the dvd’s on the list. Also cleared out her fridge since the food was just gonna go bad. How things lookin’ here?”
“Huh?” Alexis said, “Got a little caught up…”
“Snooping through her photos?” Jen asked, “Actually, wait lemme see! I just realized I don’t even know what Pam looks like.”
“Yeah sure,” Alexis said, subtly putting the family photo away in her pocket. Jen picked up a more recent photo of Pam on the beach.
“Oh wow,” Jen said, whistling, “hope you’re right ‘bout her being alive ‘cause it would def be a shame if the world misses out on a hottie like this!”
When Pam had come to town hall, Alexis also thought she was attractive. To the point that it made her nervous. Now that’s kind of funny looking back.
Jen poked at Alexis. “Hey you good Lex?” Jen asked, “This is usually the part where you tsk tsk me…”
“Sorry I just…” Alexis said, “I think I changed my mind.”
“About what?” Jen asked.
“I think I really want to help Pam,” Alexis said.
“So you mean…” Jen asked, letting the words hang in the air.
“Yeah… And I don’t mean just staying at my house. I am going to find who did this to her,” Alexis said, “whatever it takes.”
No matter how much I don’t want to.