As Tanya opened her eyes, she was immediately greeted by an uncomfortable pain in her back. Sitting up with a grunt, she slowly surveys her surroundings. She immediately realized the cause of her discomfort. Turns out she slept on the cold hard floor.
Specifically, she passed out on the bare floor of her mostly empty small living room. No wonder she felt so chilly.
But how did I end up here, anyway?
Suddenly, events from the previous night came crashing down at her, leaving her almost breathless.
The song. The presence in the closet...
Tanya unconsciously turned in the direction of her bedroom. There was somebody there last night. Right?
After that… unusual experience, she immediately ran out of that cursed room. There's no way in hell she would be able to sleep there after what happened. She didn't even know how she fell asleep. She just remembered slumping on the floor, then leaning on the wall. Taking occasional glances at her bedroom's open door, as if waiting for something to come out.
Tanya shook her head with a sigh. She probably looked stupid when she hurriedly ran to the living room. Good thing nobody's there to see her.
Well, except for the ghost I guess… Tanya thought, chuckling uncomfortably. If there was even a ghost in the first place. God, what was I thinking?
Looking back at it now, she was probably still half-asleep when she heard whatever that was.
I shouldn't worry about it, everything's just in my head… probably. I hope.
The stress of moving into a new home and that "gift" from that stalker of hers was just too much to handle in a day. And now, she's hearing voices from her closet.
That's right. That's probably it. 'Cause there's no such thing as ghosts. It's fine, it's fine...
Satisfied with that explanation, she finally got up from the floor and went straight to the bathroom to start her morning routine.
******
Despite what she keeps telling herself, she was still on edge while she was in the bathroom. Especially when she was washing her face.
That anxious feeling when your eyes are forced closed and you're practically helpless there's until you wash off the suds from your eyes. She couldn't help but expect the voice to suddenly pop out of nowhere.
Damn it! Pull yourself together.
She rinsed her face faster than normal just to force her eyes to open. Then she instantly looked around her, making sure she's truly alone.
Of course, she is… What did she expect?
Tanya sighed, leaning on the sink. She felt kind of silly for feeling spooked by nothing. Will she be acting like this the whole time she stays here? It's barely been 24 hours since she got here for god's sake!
Taking one last look at her haggard reflection from the small mirror, she turned to leave the bathroom.
As if on cue, she felt her stomach rumble as soon as she took a step outside. She didn't even realize she was starving. When was the last time she even ate? Yesterday? At lunch?
I should head out for breakfast, she thought as she rubbed her stomach for a small relief.
Wait… Didn't she leave her wallet in the...?
Goddamnit… Of course, I left it in the haunted room! Tanya, you fuckin' idiot.
She glared at her bedroom, the open closet visible from her view. Surely enough, nothing's there.
It's fine. It's fine. She chanted over and over again as she stomped to the room. Trying to avoid glancing at the closet. But she couldn't help herself. Her vision is pulled toward that darned closet, and it's still empty as ever. But somehow it doesn't make Tanya feel any better.
With a huff, she forcibly peeled her eyes from the closet to find her things. Then swiftly grabs her wallet on the bedside table along with her phone on the bed.
She quickly left the room after doing her objective, slamming the door behind her. Hah, she hopes nobody heard that.
Tanya breathes a sigh of relief, ignoring how stupid she probably looks. It would be bad if she keeps acting this jumpy all the time. Being fuckin' scared of her own closet like a little kid. She's better than that, goddamnit. She finally decided to be independent and stop relying on other people, and she got scared that easily.
Pathetic. Better stop this sooner rather than later, she needed to sleep in that room after all.
There is no ghost. So just fuckin forget it and move on already!
After shaking her head, she briefly glances at her phone for the time. 6:46 am. It's still a bit early, but she's already starving. Tanya forced herself to walk to the front door.
My god, she thought as she lightly slaps her cheeks. What a way to start her morning. Is this some kind of bad omen for what's to come?
Just as she thought that, the 'gift' she received yesterday came to her view. It sits just a few meters away from the front door along with the single box and the medium size backpack that she was carrying yesterday.
The basket of fruits that was left at her door yesterday. With the usual blue rose and an unread blue card sticking at the side.
I better get rid of that, Tanya decided almost immediately. I shouldn't have left it there yesterday.
Somehow she hasn't considered being followed to her new apartment. She just assumed they would just continue sending their gifts to her uncle's house. But now, thinking about it, of course, they followed her. That bastard always seems to know where she goes all the time. They're probably delighted now that she's on her own. That very thought made a shiver run down her spine.
It's fine! I'm fine!
Tanya harshly grabbed the basket from the table causing the card to fall to the ground.
Tanya clicked her tongue, a little bit annoyed before she motioned to pick the blue card. But something made her pause. There was something unusual about this particular card. Curious, Tanya picked it, studying the thing intently.
To my dear Tanya, congratulations on finally getting allowed to live on your own. Here's a little gift from me, it's all your favorite. Hope you like it.
-L
Allowed, they said. She was kicked out, though.
With a click of her tongue, Tanya crumpled the card. The note was longer than everything she ever received from that person before, she noticed. Usually, they would just write their initial with a line of greeting. That's why she stopped reading all the other blue cards she's received.
But it seems that it's not the case with this one. She's right! They're definitely delighted she's now alone.
Why the heck am I worried about some singing ghost when there's a stalker lurking around me?
Tanya clutched the card harder with that thought. This isn't good. A feeling of dread is brewing in her mind. It develops slowly, but it planted itself on her head. Hopefully, this would not escalate any further. Especially now that her uncle is gone.
It's fine, it's fine. She chanted to herself, trying to relax. If ghosts are real, uncle Vic is probably still watching over me. So it's fine!
With one last huff, Tanya threw the crumpled card to the fruit basket and walked to the front door.
******
When Tanya opened the door, she was immediately greeted by a plastic bag that was hanged on her doorknob outside of her apartment. Of course, she knows who it's from when she first caught a glimpse of it.
She could perfectly see a stem of blue rose from the bag. And she sure as heck that there's a blue card inside it as well.
"Are you fuckin' kidding me?" she whispered, grabbing the bag from the doorknob. When did they even get the time to do this?
Tanya peeked at the contents of the bag. As she predicted, she immediately caught a glimpse of the accursed card at the bottom of the plastic bag. She could read the text 'Good morning!' written on the card. It's the usual greeting, then. That would mean, she should expect gifts left outside her door every day if the pattern from her previous home is to be based on. This is not good at all.
And along with the flower and the card, was a warm canned coffee. It's her favorite brand.
She frowned at the contents. It was obviously left there just mere minutes before opening the door. Tanya automatically looked around the hallway, but sure enough, nobody's there.
She let out a sigh of relief. She wishes those extra locks she requested would be installed much faster. Maybe she should talk with her landlady once mo-.
Her thought suddenly came to a halt when she heard voices from the other side of the hallway. Sounds like someone's climbing up the set of stairs.
She turned to the direction of the noise, frowning at the newcomer. A male voice humming a familiar pop song could be heard. The song gets louder as the person singing ascends the steps.
Soon enough, a tall figure of a guy came to view. Wearing some workout attire; running shorts and a simple T-shirt. He was holding a phone, a wired earphone connected to it.
Upon seeing Tanya, the newcomer's humming was abruptly stopped in a truly awkward fashion, that even she felt the second-hand embarrassment crawling in her skin upon watching it.
The two watch each other for a moment, neither of them knowing what to do. Tanya made the decision to turn her gaze to her feet, not wanting to prolong any more of this awkward shit.
She heard the guy clear his throat, then his squeaky steps caused by his running shoes started to resound the quiet hallway.
Tanya finds herself looking at the guy, now standing just a few feet away from her. He cleared his throat again, now much louder than before.
"Uh, can I help you? Are you looking for someone?" he asked, looking at the door behind me.
"No, I'm fine. I actually just moved here." Tanya said with an awkward shrug.
The guy frowned at her answer, looking quite confused. "Really? Then who was the…" the guy murmured that she didn't catch the last part. He turned to the end of the hall where he came from, still sporting a frown.
"What?" Tanya asked, starting to get confused herself.
As if broken from a trance, the guy shook his head and turn her head back at her. "Well, you moved to apartment 303 right?"
She nodded, briefly turning to her apartment door to make sure.
"Yeah, well the thing is I saw a different guy poking around here yesterday. I thought he was the one moving here."
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