Malitiaville – II

From: The Office of the Community Director of Malitiaville

To: Lady Evelyn Constantine

It has come to our attention that the spirit of Malixius Constantine–the registered tenant of 1011 Pandora Lane–is no longer detectable, indicating he has perished.

Malitiaville’s bylaws, which you agreed to when you moved into the community, clearly state that all entities sponsored by the registered tenant must vacate the premises immediately upon notification of the individual’s death.

However, seeing as the month is nearing its end and in recognition of the good will you have cultivated with Second Prince Mephistopheles, we are graciously indulging his request to permit you to take the remaining five (5) days in your current rental period to get your affairs in order and relocate.

Included with this letter is the bank draft you remitted to us for payment of next month’s rent. Your security deposit will be returned to you after the unit has been inspected. As a reminder, the cost of cleaning or making repairs to the home will be deducted from the amount.

If this notice is in error, then Malixius Constantine must present himself to the community director before the end of the grace period, so we may update our records. Otherwise, the unit must be vacated by the end of the month.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Kind Regards,

Calvin Snute

Malitiaville Community Director

Malitiaville – I

“I’ll return shortly,” he said. That was three years ago.

Evelyn watched the moonlight struggle to enter her bedroom. Too weak to penetrate the palpable darkness saturating the space, the moonbeams bounced off the blackness and scattered back into the night. Exactly 404 days have passed since his last letter. The silence toyed with her imagination, making it conjure up numerous grisly possibilities for his continued absence.

With an impatient sigh, she curled into a ball, attempting to quiet the feeling of dread writhing around in her stomach. She hadn’t expected to worry about him this much.

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*This is a slightly revised first chapter of my supernatural series Malitiaville (you can read the original here). I’m currently editing the second chapter and hope to have it posted soon.