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  She searched frantically around for some sense of direction, and then a familiar sight caught her eye. A large pink sign with white fancy writing stood out from behind the crowd - Jane’s Bakery it read. Baggett’s and different types of breads were stacked on shelves in the window of the shop. A sweet smell of fresh pastry filled the air which made Madison’s mouth water and stomach rumble fiercely. Just as the receptionist at the Travel Lodge had said an Estate Agents sat directly next door to the bakery. Madison approached the window and examined the adverts. Most of the properties in the window for rent were beautifully furnished penthouses and luxury apartments rather than the normal lower class apartments. They were all extremely expensive and completely out of Madison’s price range. After scanning every advertisement in the window without little success – she decided to go inside. A bell sounded twice as she pushed open the door the Estate Agents. A young woman from behind a computer screen popped her head up and smiled politely at Madison. She had short blonde hair that was cut into a bob, thick blue eye shadow smudged across her eye lids and bright pink lip gloss. She was in her late 20’s, but the excessive makeup and too many sessions at the sun beds made her appear older than she actually was. Under all the fakery she was a naturally pretty woman with clear skin, good cheek bone and beautiful grey/blue eyes. Madison smiled awkwardly and scanned the advertisement on the wall.

  “Do you need any help?” she asked in a southern accent.

  “Umm… yes. Maybe? I’m looking for a small apartment to rent. Something really cheap and fully furnished. Ideally I need to move in there today” Madison replied walking over to her beach coloured desk she sat behind.

  She thought for a moment. Her faced became puzzled, she eyed Madison trying to figure out her story and why she was in such a hurry to move into somewhere today.

  “I may have something for you. Take a seat” she gestured towards the small red chair in front of the desk. Madison sat down; she scanned over the papers the estate agent had spread across her desk.

  “What sort of price range are you looking at?” she asked, following Madison‘s gaze to the papers on her desk and pushing them aside.

  “About £400 a month” Madison said, looking slightly embarrassed and refocused her gaze to make eye contact with her.

  The estate agent typed frantically on the computer, her short blonde hair fell into her face as she studied something on the computer. She pushed her hair behind her ear and frowned at the screen.

  “What sort of area in London would you like to live in?” she asked after a few seconds.

  “Uh… here?” Madison said an uncertain expression on her face. Strangely, she was starting to feel oddly comfortable in this part of London and it seemed silly not to stay in the same location that Brendan had also gotten off the underground at.

  “I have one place that fits your price range, but it’s not exactly an apartment, more of a bedsit. It comes with a small kitchen, bathroom and bedroom/lounge. Currently the building is co-habited by tenants on housing benefits, but the landlord is keen to start getting tenants in for private rentals only. The good news is though, the landlord needs someone to move in straight away, so if you liked it and put down a deposit we could have you in by the end of the day” she said.

  Madison thought for a moment. It was her main priority to find somewhere to live; she couldn’t afford to waste any more money staying at the Travel Lodge. She knew finding somewhere so cheap in London was almost unheard of, and not having a job at present made her price range nonnegotiable.

  “Would you like to view it?” the estate agent asked, breaking the silence.

  “Yes, please” Madison said weakly.

  “We can go now if you don’t need to get to work?”

  “No I don’t, so that would be great” she smiled.

  “My name is Alison by the way. I’m a Senior Sales Agent here at Mary Lynns. My car is in the car park out the back, if you would like to follow me I’ll take you to the Property?” Alison said standing up. She collected her handbag from beneath her desk and led the way out towards the back door.

  “I’m Madison” she said shyly.

  Madison followed sheepishly behind Alison; she kept her eyes to the floor until they reached the exit which led out into the back car park. Alison led the way to a small black Citzren C2 parked outside the back door. She pressed the button for the central locking and the car flashed to life, the hazard lights flashed twice unlocking the doors. There were two other cars in the car park, although no other estate agents were present in the building while Madison was inside. Both cars were expensive compared to the small black hatchback Alison owned. Alison opened the passenger’s door for Madison and then walked around to the driver’s side and got in. Madison slipped inside the car and shut the door - automatically strapping herself in. She waited patiently for Alison to start the car and reverse out of her parking space.

  “It’s only ten minutes down the road” she said turning the wheel a full 360 degrees and speeding out of the car park.

  Madison slowly began to slip into a day dream as she gazed out of the windscreen at the building of London. Everything in London was beautiful, the buildings were breath taking, the shops were sensational and every tiny feature was lit up like a Christmas tree – London was truly stunning. As she took in the sights, her mind couldn’t help but wonder back over the image of Brendan standing by the side of the taxi as it removed him from Madison life after such a short encounter. She understood now how it felt to be completely infatuated with someone. It had only been hours since she had last laid eyes on Brendan, but Madison knew that his face would remain in her thoughts forever.

  Madison remained silent for the duration of the journey to the bedsit. Alison took them on a short cut along a silent alleyway towards the Property, the sounds of the busy main road eked around entrance of the alley, echoing loudly within the towering walls. The buildings which surrounded the alley were all identical, built in the 1940’s out of the same dark grey/green stone. The buildings toppled over the small black car, almost three or four stories high. Mould and other types of fungi grew on the outside of the buildings - giving them a damp shiny appearance from the lack of sunlight which penetrated the alleyway. They turned out of the alleyway into a main road and then quickly turned down a smaller alleyway next to a restaurant called Peters. The alleyway was narrow and bare, no posters of signed clung to the stone walls of the building that surrounded it nor was there any litter on the ground. The whole alleyway was eerily quiet compared to the main road just outside. It appeared almost inhabitable - Madison couldn’t image anyone would live any here. As they drove further down the alleyway the road began to widen out, they approached a couple of parking spaces to the left. On the right, stood back from the road was two large Victorian houses. The houses were three stories high and looked oddly misplaced in comparison to the rest of the alleyway. Iron railings surrounded the two small overgrown front gardens, grass and long brown weeds spilled out over the railings into the road.

  Alison broke sharply and turned into one of the parking spaces slamming on the brakes further, she turned off the engine and undone her seat belt.

  “Ready?” she said, turning to face Madison - a smile spread across her lips.

  Madison nodded slowly, unclipped her seat belt and opening the car door and jumping out. She couldn’t help but feel repulsed about the bedsit - it was a dump.

  Alison got out of the car and watched Madison as she studied the outside structure of the house. The house had once been painted white in the 150 years it had been standing, however, in the last 50 years the paint had started to peel off and the house had never been repainted. Large patches of paint were missing revealing large panels of rotten black wood. The windows of the house hadn’t been cleaned in years. The glass had turned a translucent light brown colour, with specks of black from years of bird excrement hitting the windows. White paint flaking from the window ledges, the window ledges on the very top floor of the at
tic had completely disintegrated leaving gaping holes vulnerable to the weather and nesting birds. Taller industrial-looking buildings surrounded the alleyway, causing the houses to look small and tucked away within the larger buildings.

  “Shall we have a look inside?” Alison said nervously, her eyes studying Madison’s stunned expression.

  “Huh?” Madison said, looking at Alison then reverting back to the house of hell.

  Alison ignored Madison’s reluctance and wondered slowly up towards the small iron garden gate. Madison followed slowly her eyes fixated on the house, studying every inch of the exterior. She caught up with Alison who was struggled to open the front gate of the house of the left. She couldn’t help but stare in shock at the run down Victorian house. She couldn’t imagine anyone living here, let alone herself. Her mouth hung open in horror, she felt embarrassed to have such a reaction to a Property, but the house was worse than what she was expecting. Alison pushed on the gate latch frantically, but it did not budge. The hinge of the gate clanked as two pieces of rusty metal grinded together. Alison turned and smiled at Madison, her face flushed pink with embarrassment. It was clear she was trying to keep a professional appearance about the house and the reluctant gate, but it was visible her patients were wearing thin as it was difficult to make the best of something that was so worn down. Alison lent against the gate, forcing her body weight against the iron bars as she fiddles the iron latch. Brown lines of rust dirtied her suit jacket as she fought with the gate, trying to prize it open. Madison waited patiently as she forced the latch and slammed her body into the iron bars. A loud clank of gridding metal filled the air as Alison gave the gate one last thump with her hips. The gate crashed to the garden path with a loud bang. They both jumped at the sound of the gate hitting the concrete.

  “I’ll get that fixed” Alison said weakly, looking shyly back at Madison.

  Madison smiled reluctantly; the last thing she wanted was to go inside the house of hell. Alison stepped over the fallen gate and headed up the garden path, Madison followed slowly behind. Alison’s high heels slipped on the mossy concrete and overgrown weeds which covered the garden path, making it difficult for them to see where they were trending. Madison lifted her sunglasses up and popped them on top of her head. Small flakes of white paint littered the steps leading up to the front door. The paint on the front door was peeling with paint like the rest of the house, but it appeared slightly newer than the rest of the house – probably replaced at some point over the years. Two long slabs of colourful glass separated by a thick piece of flakily wood sat in the top middle of the front door - a thin layer of brown grease covered the beautiful blue and purple mosaic glass.

  “It seems a little…” Madison said, thinking out loud. She turned to look at the dismantled Iron Gate lying on the garden path.

  “I know it’s a little…. dated, but there aren’t a lot of Properties around this area in your price range. If you could maybe expand your price range a little, we could look somewhere else?” Alison said a little frustrated.

  “At the moment…that’s all I can afford” Madison replied sadly. She would have to find a job in London soon, but she had enough savings to keep her going in a cheap bedsit for a few months without going into the read – that would allow her plenty of time to find somewhere to work.

  “Well, let’s go inside” she said, turning to walk up the three concrete steps to the front door. Madison followed silently. Alison reached inside a small plant pot which contain nothing but a few brown leaves and pulled out a small silver key. She inserted the key into the lock of the front door and twisted it - the door didn’t respond. The locked released with a loud clicked, but the actual wooden door had swollen to the doorframe becoming lodged. Just as she had done with the gate, Alison slammed her hip into the solid door. She did this twice before getting frustrated and slamming into the door with such force that the door threw open, sending Alison flying through the doorway. Madison lunged forwards catching Alison before she could fall fully through the doorway.

  “Thanks” Alison said, straightening up.

  Madison let go of Alison’s arm and smiled shyly. Now the front door was open, the interior of the house caught her attention. Flakes of white paint scattered the dirty brown carpet of the hallway. Both Alison and Madison stepped into the entrance of the house with distorted faces; the smell hit them as soon as they stepped through the fresh-hold. The corridor smelt of damp and musky – causing Madison’s stomach to turn.

  “It could do with a good air-out, but it’s not too bad - this is the communal downstairs corridor” Alison said, shutting the front door behind Madison. Madison stared into the dark, gloomy hallway. The walls had once been cream, but now they were a musty yellow from years of dirt and grease. A grand staircase stood to the left of the front door, mud and other unusual looking substances soiled the carpet. The dark oak banister of the staircase had a thick film of white dust on it, but it was the only part of the staircase that was relatively in good condition. The corridor to the right was completely bare apart from a single wooden door.

  “The landlord lives there. She isn’t here at the moment, she’s on holiday for a few months, but there are three other tenants living in the building. I believe they are all around your age, so you should get on quite well” Alison said, meeting Madison’s gaze” Alison said, meeting Madison’s gaze.

  She gestured for Madison to go up the staircase. Madison hesitated for a moment, but slowly headed towards the upstairs. Neither of them wanted to touch the dirty banister as they climbed the large staircase. Madison stopped when she had reached the top of the staircase; she waited for Alison to join her. At the top of the stairs was a wide corridor with two wooden doors directly facing one another, the corridor then shrunk into a smaller corridor which continued to the back of the house – two further doors were lined either side of the corridor. The carpet upstairs was discolored with patches of thick dirt that had been trodden in some time ago. The walls were the same yellowy colour like the downstairs hallway, but there was a large patch of mold that covered a portion of the right corridor wall from dampness. At the end of the corridor was another set of black metal stairs which twisted around leading up into the attic. The very top of the stairs were shadowed in darkness - Madison prayed the room for rent was not in the attic.

  “This way…” Alison said, pointing towards the first door on my left.

  Madison sighed in relief. She watched as Alison pulled a set of keys from the pocket of her suit jacket and unlocked the large wooden door. She held the door open for Madison and gestured for her to enter. Madison’s stomach flipped and did summersaults. It urged her not to go inside, but to run downstairs and leave this forsaken dirty building. Ignoring this, she reluctantly entered the room.

  The room was dark; shadowy outlines of objects shattered the room. Madison couldn’t make out what any of the objects were through the pitch black; she was completely blinded by the veil of darkness. Alison bravely ventured straight into the darkness and threw open a set of curtains at the far end of the room. Dust erupted from the curtains, swirling and dancing gracefully in the beams of light – slowly floating down towards the floor. The room instantly lit up in an orangey glow, the film of grease on the glass of the window only allowed a small amount of sunlight in. In the dim glow of the sunlight, Madison could start to examine the bedsit. The room was smaller than she had expected. The large window at the far end of the room was filthy only allowing a few beams of light in through the thick dirt. Dust covered every object in the small room like a white sheet, it was clear no one had lived in the bedsit for quite some time.

  One small, green sofa bed stood against the wall directly across from the bedroom door. Across from the sofa was an ancient box TV which stood on a small brown TV stand, two large, bent, rabbit ears poked out from the top of the TV. To the right of the sofa was a small kitchen consisting of a small black wooden work surface about five feet long, with a small round silver kitchen sink, thre
e under-unit cupboards and two small draws, an old white cooker and a white fridge/freeze. The hob was covered with old, burnt bits of food and an inch thick of grease. The fridge/freeze looked relatively new and practically clean from the outside. The kitchen work surface curved round the wall and joined up with the side of the cooker. The carpet was beige like the rest of the house, but it didn’t appear to be too badly stained in comparison to the rest of the house.

  There was a strong smell of dirty water that filled the kitchen vicinity as Madison approached it. The wall directly behind the sink had spots of black mold slowly growing up the yellowy coloured wall. Madison‘s mouth filled with salvia as she tried to resisted the urge to vomit. The smell and sight of this tiny bedsit was far worse than anything Madison could have imagined and the thought of living here for any length of time was absolutely petrifying to her. She took a deep breath, trying only to breathe through her mouth and not her nose - a deep intake of air through her nose would surely make her vomit.

  Apart from the necessities the room was bare and undecorated. There was no kitchen utensils or anywhere for Madison to do her laundry and she was beginning to feel like she had been corned by Alison who’s eyes burned holes in the back of her head – urging her to rent the dingy bedsit with every look and gesture. She was now feeling the pressure to accept, Alison had made it quite clear that Madison wouldn’t find anything else in this part of London at her price range. She half expected Stephanie to jump out from behind a corner and shout “got ya!“. She prayed that this house of hell was a stage for some kind of prank TV show that Stephanie had set her up on, but there was no hope. Looking past the awful smell, the dirt and the cramp room, there was still a small glimmer of hope that she could turn this enclosed space into something that resembled a home. Alison remained silent by the large dirty window; she followed Madison with her eyes as she wondered around the small room examining every tiny bit.