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The first time Vanessa Andrews met her neighbors, it was a... tricky situation.
She’d seen them move in two weeks before, but between classes and working her late night job, there wasn’t really much time to care. Some man and his kid, seemed nice enough, didn’t make noise when she was trying to sleep, didn’t smell or clutter up the stairwell with random stuff. All good traits, unlike the Danielsons downstairs and their stupid country music at 5pm every day...
But she digressed. They were okay, as far as neighbors went, because she didn’t have to see or hear from them. Less to deal with, on top of everything else going on in her life.
...so it was weird, to say the least, when they finally bothered her first.
It was some random Thursday evening, and she was in the middle of an essay for Advanced Worldbuilding, headphones in, when someone knocked on the door. And kept knocking. Maybe she’d missed it the first time, but still.
Dragging herself up to answer, she absently brushed aside her rainbow streaks and opened the door. At first, she didn’t see anyone, but naturally, as soon as she looked down...
A little boy waved at her, arms folded around himself protectively. “Hi. I like your hair.”
“Oh...” Vanessa frowned, tugging at her rainbow-streaked ponytail absently and trying to place where she’d seen this kid before. “Thanks...?”
He fidgeted, gaze flicking around from the floor to his arms to her and back to the floor again, before he finally spouted out, “My, um, my dad sent me. To ask if he could borrow something.”
“Yeah?” She wasn’t sure how good she was with kids, but she’d babysat before, so in an attempt to make herself less intimidating, she knelt down to the boy’s height, so they were almost at eye-level. His shoulders slumped slightly, maybe in relief. “And who’s your dad?”
“He’s, uh-” The boy winced, and pointed down the hall. “We live next to you.”
“Oh....” So she had recognized him.
“He needs medicine. For pain.” The kid rocked back and forth on his heels. “If you... if you have any? I don’t know what kind he said.”
Vanessa pursed her lips. Giving meds to a kid sounded like a bad idea, even if she’d seen his dad before... kinda. And this one was pretty young, based on his size, so she had her doubts... “Can he come over to get them? I might have something, but I think I should be giving them directly to him.”
The boy flinched back at that, and when Vanessa reached out to steady him, he stumbled further back into the hall, arms wrapped around himself again. “He can’t.”
“Then-”
“I can take you to him, if it helps,” he added quickly, voice falling even quieter. “It’s just, he’s not well and I- I don’t know if he can stand up, he really needs medicine so-”
Vanessa stood up, perhaps too quickly, because the kid nearly ducked away from her at that rash of a movement. “Okay,” she agreed, “yeah, give me a second to grab something, and I’ll take them to him.”
She hurried inside, mind reeling, because what? Was that kid serious? Vanessa couldn’t help but feel like those were all the signs of something being terribly, terribly wrong, so it was with no leisure that she threw open her medicine cabinet, swept up a few bottles of aspirin and acetaminophen and one of the other ones, and headed back out to the hallway.
The boy led her down the hall, unlocked the door to the apartment, and they stepped in, all without a word. She watched as he methodically hung his key by the door, flicking on the light, and carefully crept toward the hallway, as though listening for something.
(all the while, her mind was screaming that this wasn’t good, something was wrong here, what the heck was going on?)
The apartment was neat, if not bare. There was a couch in the living room, an old-timey tv, and one small table and a chair near the kitchenette, and that was pretty much it. A few scattered drawings were taped up on the walls, as though in an attempt to fill the space, but... it was pretty sad.
“Greg?” A drowsy voice called from down the hall all of a sudden, and Vanessa jumped at the sight of a young man standing in a bedroom doorway, braced against the doorframe, eyes pressed shut. He was completely shadowed by the dark, all but hunched over in clear pain. “That you, bud? Where did you go?”
The kid, in contrast, had seemed to relax the moment he saw the man. “Dad, go sit down,” he insisted, sounding stern even as he left Vanessa to hurry to his dad’s side. “You should be resting.”
The man snorted. “I told you not t-” He glanced up, just enough to notice Vanessa at the end of the hall, and froze.
A second later, Vanessa was racing down the hall as the man promptly collapsed, the kid yelping in panic and trying to steady him, and-
-it took a moment before she even realized the problem. The kid looked on in horror, frozen and rooted to the spot as she leaned down and managed to get the man off the floor and to his feet. Helping him stagger to the couch since it seemed to be closer, hurriedly going through her medicine options until he told her what he needed through pained gasps. Instinct had acted before anything else, and it was just as things seemed to be fine that Vanessa realized they were, in fact, not.
The man in front of her was a corpse.
...okay, okay, maybe not a corpse, corpse, but he was... purple. His skin, every bit of it was purple, even his messy brown hair had purple undertones. She hadn’t seen that in the dark! And if that weren’t enough, there was one very distinct gaping hole in his cheek, revealing his skeletal jaw underneath.
His eyes, too-- they were empty, only glowing white pinpricks in the dark sockets, and Vanessa-
-she wasn’t as horrified as she’d thought she would be. Just... startled. Because heck if she hadn’t seen worse back in high school, even now in her classes... plastic surgeries these days were insane.
The young man, seeming to realize that she could see him at last, startled back into the couch cushions, one hand flying up to cover his face. His hands and arms were heavily bandaged, too-- that might have explained the pain. His entire situation might have explained it, actually. Who knew?
“Shoot,” the man breathed, empty eyes locking with hers. “Shoot- what are you d- Gregory, what-”
The boy unfroze, pushing past Vanessa and crawling onto the couch to huddle close to his dad. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, hiding his face in the man’s shirt, “I didn’t know what else to do.”
Vanessa squeezed her eyes shut. Opened them again. The purple corpse-man and his kid were still there, unchanged, both staring at her as though unsure of what to do. “Okay,” she managed after a long pause, “this is fine.”
“Is it?” the man asked dryly, when she said nothing else.
“Look, I’m sorry about this,” Vanessa huffed, and she met the man’s eyes and forced herself not to look away. It really wasn’t so bad, if she didn’t think about it too much... “Your kid came and said you asked to borrow medicine, and I wasn’t about to give them directly to him. And then he mentioned something about you not even being able to stand up, and-”
The boy was shrinking under her words, guilt and fear flashing in his eyes, and it quickly dawned on her that... “Oh. Crap, kid, did he even- did you even ask?”
The man glanced over at his kid, then carefully wrapped an arm around his shoulders, wincing as he did so. The boy sank into the hug and mumbled, “‘m sorry, Dad, you needed something...”
His dad sighed. “Ah, well, I guess you were right about that. It’s okay.” Somehow, he stood, and Vanessa took an involuntary step back at first; unsure of just how steady the man was. But somehow, he managed to stay on his feet, and meet her eyes, too. “I’m sorry about this... and this,” the man added more emphatically, motioning to himself. One hand was still cupped over the hole in his cheek.
Vanessa swallowed hard. It wasn’t so bad, looking at him. Corpse or not, he was clearly this kid’s dad... and a regular man... even if the corpse thing seemed to be an issue at the moment. She nodded. “No, it’s fine. Really.”
“Really?” He frowned at her. “I’m sorry, are you sure you understand-”
“Not at all.” Vanessa stuck out her hand to shake his. “I’m Vanessa, by the way. I live next door.”
He hesitated to respond. The kid glanced between them warily from the couch.
Just when Vanessa started to fear she was being too forward about all this, the man smirked and nodded, and shook her hand. His skin felt normal, despite the rotting complexion. “I’m Michael... this is my kid, Gregory.” Eyeing her cautiously, he continued, “So. You’re the first one to see me in full purple glory. Any reason why you’re not freaking out?”
Behind him, Gregory groaned under his breath. “Dad... stop calling it that.”
Vanessa shrugged in response. “You know what? As long as you’re not about to start a zombie apocalypse or some crap, it doesn’t really bug me. There are always worse neighbors.”
This got a laugh in response, and the atmosphere shifted almost instantly, and everything felt a lot more relaxed as Michael’s smile shifted to something more genuine. “That there are.”
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Somehow, this was the beginning of a friendship that worked in a way Vanessa couldn’t even begin to fathom.
She got an explanation... eventually. Michael, or Mike, confided in her that he’d been involved in some sort of work accident, one that left him essentially a walking corpse. It was something no doctor could understand, something he couldn’t really bring himself to explain. Just that he was alive, and healing about as fast as one could expect from a death-inducing injury.
The other explanation she got involved Gregory, his adopted son. The kid was really sweet and smart when he came out of his shell, but more often than not, he was quiet and reserved, or angry and defensive in a way that made her heart break when she found out the reason. Being dumped in foster home after foster home with constantly abusive people really couldn’t do much for a child’s well-being, and if that weren’t enough, he and Mike had met on the streets when Mike had decided to take him in.
In other words, Vanessa had met and befriended a previously-homeless mini-family consisting of a corpse and a distrustful orphan. Which, when she put it in perspective like that, was exactly why she couldn’t understand what made it work.
It just... did. Mike promised he would get better, and he did, healing more and more by the day thanks to the medicine and rest. Before the day they’d met, he had pushed himself out every day, trying to find a job to support him and Gregory, something that hadn’t exactly helped... anything.
Vanessa’s testing job sucked, but she could still afford to bring over meals, and did so without complaint as often as she could. She could afford to cover them for these things, at first, and it just felt right to help them, this ridiculously kind family in such a desperate situation. It felt right in a way that she was unfamiliar with, because she’d kept to herself for a long time. It was the same case for both parties. Maybe that was why they could all relate so well.
Before long, as Mike recovered and they settled into their apartment, Vanessa was looking into schools near the apartment for Gregory, and jobs for Mike, that suited both’s needs. Mike found a job at the same company Vanessa worked for, and there was a local homeschooling program with open slots for fourth-graders, and before long, things seemed to have fallen into place.
(Gregory being 9 years old was probably the most jarring realization of all-- he was tiny!)
While things got better for the Aftons next door, Vanessa found herself in an increasingly worse situation; her beta testing job wasn’t paying nearly enough to cover the bills and rent, and working overtime was starting to catch up to her, affecting her college coursework... she couldn’t afford to lose her scholarship now, not two years in!
Running between work and lectures all the time, she didn’t have time for anything anymore. It was all a blur, one big rush back and forth and Vanessa didn’t even notice that anything was missing until the day she got home to find a bag of groceries at her door.
At first, she just stood there, mind-numbingly tired, and stared at the bag, wondering who had forgotten them. And Vanessa probably would have kept staring, except Mike and Gregory chose that moment to walk down the hallway past her to their own apartment, each with their own groceries. “Hey, 'Nessa!” Gregory called, and she jumped, head snapping up to see the boy at her side. “How was class?”
“Awful.” She managed a tired grin, leaning down to ruffle his hair. “What’s up with you two?”
“Just shopping.” Mike paused by her shoulder, frowning at her. His cheek was bandaged, hiding the hole through to his skull, but other than that, his pale purple skin was on full display. He’d been going out like that a lot lately, and people were barely fazed anymore. “Something wrong? Did you lose your key?”
“Hm? No, just...” Vanessa absently nudged the groceries in her doorway before leaning down to scoop them up. “Who...”
“Oh, that was us,” Gregory answered cheerfully, already walking away. “Dad said you haven’t eaten lunch in four days.”
Michael was giving her a critical look, and when she managed to unfreeze and scoop up the paper bag, he nodded approvingly. “Has it really been that long?” she mumbled. “Geez, I didn’t even realize.”
“Really?” he muttered dryly, heading down the hallway after Gregory, who was rattling the doorknob in protest. “I just thought you were taking a bit of a diet, my bad.”
It took another second for Vanessa to process that, let alone realize... “Oh, shoot, how much do I owe you?” she suddenly asked, hurrying after Mike.
The man gave her a Look as he unlocked the door to own apartment. “Huh, I don’t know. Greg, what do you think Ness owes us?”
Gregory looked very much amused. “Dinner tonight,” he decided, tapping his chin. “And dessert. We’re making cake!”
Vanessa blinked, startled. Father and son gazed back at her with the same mischievous smirk.
That was how she ended up spending dinner with them that night. And they did make cake; Michael’s own recipe, which she couldn’t get enough of. Gregory, even for his age, had the foresight to pull her away and explain why they were making cake when Mike fell quiet, burdened by memories of his sister, whose birthday had apparently been that very day.
But even then, they made it enjoyable. A good, homecooked meal was foreign to Vanessa’s frozen-dinner-accustomed taste buds, the wonderful feeling of being full lingering with her for the rest of the night. Gregory convinced her to play a round of Monopoly with him, which ended with the three playing one long round into the late hours of the night, chatting and laughing and teasing Michael to no end when he went bankrupt some twenty minutes in.
Sometime after midnight, after Gregory had successfully defeated her and Michael, and promptly fell asleep in his dad’s lap soon after, they were cleaning up when the man suddenly spoke up. “...don’t think I ever thanked you.”
“What?” Her gaze flicked to Michael; he was clearing the table one-handed, balancing his son on one hip as the boy snored away. “What for?”
He shrugged, looking thoughtful. Vanessa had long since gotten used to his strange eyes, even though they were vague little spots of light in empty sockets; she could see when they crinkled in amusement or when he rolled them in annoyance. Right now, there was something sincere, more serious than before.
“For the medicine, I suppose,” he decided, the twinge of an accent in his voice making her smirk fondly as always. “And everything after.”
Vanessa’s smirk softened as she got up to join him in the kitchen. “Sure, anytime.”
“No, really.” Michael shifted, readjusting his grip as Gregory mumbled something in his sleep. “I don’t know how many people would have seen a walking corpse and reacted how you did. And all of this would have fallen apart if you hadn’t... well. You know.”
She shrugged, nudging her shoulder with his. “Anytime,” she repeated. “I mean it.”
Mike returned her smile with a frown. “So I assume that means you’ll let us help you?” Vanessa opened her mouth to protest; he beat her to it. “C’mon, Ness, it’s obvious you’re not doing too well, and you already got us through our first month here. We want to help. Gregory is asking about you every day, I swear.”
“Am not,” the boy grumbled sleepily, face buried in Michael’s shirt.
Michael rolled his eyes and disappeared down the hallway to deposit his son in his bed. Returning a few moments later, the corpse-man folded his arms. “Other than making sure you’re eating, is there anything we can help with?”
She squeezed her eyes shut. Her work friends were growing more and more distant by the day, and beta testing was getting... odd. Stressful, in all the wrong ways. It was hard to keep up with classwork, but there was nothing that Mike and Gregory could do about any of that.
Vanessa exhaled. “Just keep being yourselves, I guess. I’ll get through this.”
...
...The blatant rejection of help went ignored. Typical.
Michael, who was doing ridiculously well in his technician job these days, bought her groceries every time he went to the store for his own; they ate dinner together most nights except when Vanessa had to go in to work, talking about everything from work to her classes to their lives. She got to know Michael, before and after the corpse-thing had happened, even if he still kept so many details hidden, and he got to know her.
She hadn’t ever had a best friend before Mike.
Gregory came over almost every day to chat with her when she wasn’t swamped with work, and he had opened up to her so much that she got to see the best version of the boy; snarky and passionate and clever, always so interested in her coding coursework, always with something to talk about.
The boy also came to stay with Vanessa some nights, when Michael was on later shifts, because being alone made him anxious. The company was nice, to say the least. She got to know Gregory, too, like an annoying but sweet little brother; who, despite all the teasing and banter and arguments about which edition of Super Mario was the best, understood her and her struggles almost as well as any adult.
Vanessa started walking with Michael to work; better than oversleeping every day and being late to work. Granted, he wasn’t much better, but at least management was too busy chewing them both out to lower their pay. They chatted and bickered more than any real siblings could have claimed to, sharing tips on machinery work and game design, arguing over Michael’s obsession with soap operas and Vanessa’s faded rainbow streaks.
She picked up Gregory from school every other day, helped the kid with homework between her own classwork. The kid made sure to drag her outside of her apartment every few hours to clear her head before exams, and they walked all over town looking for new shops or ice cream trucks or lucky pennies on the sidewalks.
They took turns getting groceries for each other, alternating lunch meetups and game nights in their apartments and eventually a tradition that Gregory called “family dinners.” Family. Like they were a family. A corpse, a child, and a tired college student.
As far as neighbors went, Vanessa had hit the jackpot.
How quickly everything went downhill. The universe had turned against her once again.
Beta-testing took a dangerous turn a few months later, when she found out Tonya, her old friend, had gone missing just before Vanessa took on her old job. And when she found the tapes, the messages about an anomaly in the system. When that anomaly got too close to her, and she got too curious, and by then, before long, it was too late. The anomaly, the virus, it wasn’t just in the game, it was in her mind.
She didn’t see Michael and Gregory for the longest time after that. If Vanessa thought hard enough about it, she could recall a final argument with her friend, shouting in the apartment halls as she packed her bags and left them behind. Michael was imploring her to explain why, something she couldn’t do. How could she? She wasn’t even in control of herself anymore. She would just end up hurting him and Gregory, she would be forced to hurt them and never forgive herself afterward.
The next year and a half was a blur, one long, nightmarish haze of murders and plots and questionable online shopping, a new job at a mega mall in a position she wasn’t qualified for, a new level of insanity to deal with, and Vanessa spent all that time alone. She never saw Michael again.
She had resigned herself to never seeing either of them again, and hoped she wouldn’t. It was better off that way. Except...
...the night she was freed from mind-control, Vanessa found herself at the front doors of the Mega Pizzaplex. The sun was rising over the hill just outside the glass doors, and she felt lighter, somehow. She was free.
Someone cleared their throat from behind her; she nearly jumped out of her skin as she whipped around to see a boy, not so little anymore, standing behind her, a duffel bag over one shoulder, ratty clothes and heavy shadows under his eyes. A boy that she knew, because those eyes hadn’t ever changed.
“Hi,” the boy greeted, a small, shy smile creeping across his face. “I like your hair.”
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So Michael really was gone. But Gregory was alive.
The problem was, he had no memory of her, or his dad, or anything before that fateful night at the mega mall.
...a tricky situation indeed.