Chapter Text
Appartment 221 was haunted, and even with rent being lowered multiple times for that specific unit, no-one dared to move in there-
Not with the rumors.
A 25-year old man died in that appartment, his body rotting for months until neighbor complaints forced the landlord to step in, uncovering the body of the tenant at the time; A dark-skinned man named ‘Derek Hutchins’
Ever since, whenever a new tenant would move in, they’d either leave the place within days, start to lose their minds or, in the worst case scenario, die in horrible agony- always screaming about something being inside of their heads.
It’d been going on for years, and the landlord was honestly thinking about boarding up the place- 17 people had rented the apartment ever since Derek’s body had been found, and of those 12 had died.
He really should’ve boarded up the place by now, so…
…so why the hell was this guy so interested in the apartment? Why was he giving a tour to what could be yet another guy who would die here?
And how in the heck was this kid so excited to be here!?
“I think it’s perfect!” The man- a blonde, fair-skinned 20-something who was far too energetic for this dreadful room- smiled. “I already got ideas for this place- you don’t mind if I paint the walls, right?”
…It felt wrong to let the guy sign a contract and move in here.
“...Are you aware of-”
“Yeah, I know this apartment’s supposed to be super haunted” The blonde grinned. “But just look at that view!”
Is… this guy for real?
“But if you’re worried about me, how about we sign a rental agreement where I get to pay the same price for rent and utilities until I either die or move out?” The blonde spoke, smiling. “That way, I’ll be extra motivated to stay alive and not let the demons kill me”
…This guy was… actually insane… or maybe some kind of youtuber who got views based off of just how scary his videos were or what ‘haunted’ places he visited.
Whatever.
“Sure, we can do that” The older man sighed. He honestly didn’t want this kid’s blood on his hands, but he had been harassing the landlord for months now, trying to get access to the apartment, seemingly truly believing he could just live there and be fine.
Once upon a time the landlord would’ve believed so too, but with how many people died…
Yeah… no, this was just an evil, evil apartment, and the older man hoped that this ‘Avery’ fellow would just be traumatized, rather than be yet another tenant that died in apartment 221.
Avery was pretty happy with the layout he had planned for his new place, though the blonde wasn’t quite ready to start unpacking yet. The couch, bed and Avery’s desk with his computer were all in place already, but there were still some things the blonde needed to do.
Like… dealing with his ‘roommate’.
Avery frowned. Putting it like that made Derek sound like a problem or someone who annoyed the blonde, which was far from true.
He just needed some help, and if not Avery, who would reach out to help him?
Not his family, not any of his friends; Nobody had even been a little concerned when Derek had vanished, and-
Avery took a deep breath, willing away his annoyance
…No point in getting upset over that; Avery was there to help now, and… honestly?
He was excited about the prospect of living together with Derek, even if it probably wouldn’t be for as long as the blonde wanted to be with him.
…Derek, if he was conscious and aware of what was going on, was probably yelling at Avery to leave, but…
Eh
Wouldn’t be the first time Avery put himself in danger just to be with the other.
Speaking of….
“...By the way.” Avery spoke up. “I made myself a plushie based on your minecraft skin- it’s… err… kinda bad, but talking to it helped me come to terms with what happened- hang on, lemme get it so you can see.”
Luckily, Avery knew exactly in what box that plushie was, pulling it out with a triumphant ‘aha!’
The plushie was about the size of Avery’s hand, and… very flat, barely having any stuffing inside of it because Avery had not left any room for stuffing.
But the blonde was still somewhat proud of what he had made, smiling at the little doll.
“This bad boi helped me trough so many rough nights.” Avery spoke, placing the little doll on the windowsill. “But I figured he needed a friend!”
Avery turned back to the box, looking trough it before hearing a ‘thump’ behind him- as if something heavy had fallen over.
Turning around, it took a bit before Avery realized what had fallen.
It was the plushie, though it didn’t have nearly enough weight to have made that sound.
“...You know, it would be nice if you could stop hurting yourself for like… five minutes.” Avery spoke, voice flat. “I get that you have a habit of sacrificing your own wellbeing for the sake of others, but this is starting to feel more like self-hatred than self-sacrifice…”
No reply came.
The apartment was eerily still.
Avery sighed, before shaking his head with a smile.
“...This is exactly why I made you a friend.” The blonde spoke. “You need someone to remind you of just how awesome you are, sooooo…”
Avery pulled another plush out of the box- holding it up high like he had just unearthed a treasure.
“I made a version that looks like my minecraft skin!” He announced to the empty apartment.
Avery walked over to the fallen plushie, picking it up and placing it back onto the windowsill, placing the green plush right next to it.
“Much better!” The blonde announced. “Now, let me know what you think about having either a green or a red accent wall-”
It was 1AM when Avery woke up to another thump, the blonde needing some time before he remembered where he was.
His new apartment, that he was sharing with Derek.
Avery sat up, stretching a bit.
“All right, what fell?”
The initial check around the apartment revealed… nothing, but when Avery got to the windowsill he noticed something.
The D3rlord plush had been pushed over, now laying on its side, and the Avery plush was on the floor.
Avery crouched down to pick up the green plush, quietly contemplating what to say.
“...I’ve forgiven you for that.” The blonde eventually stated. “I know… you didn’t want to do that. You didn’t want to hurt me, you just… wanted me safe.”
Avery placed the green plush back, and put D3rlord’s plush back where he was too.
“...It hurt…” The blonde admitted. “But I understand why you had to do that. It… It wasn’t just me. So many people would’ve gotten hurt had the king gotten what he wanted. I’ve forgiven you for pushing me off, and… I hope you can forgive ME for making you do that.”
Avery patted both plushies.
“...I like to think I’ve healed well, and I hope you’ll allow me to help you heal and move on, too.”
As Avery turned to head back to bed, he completely missed the dark shadow standing in the corner of the room.