dollhouse [brahms heelshire]

3

Last night, you couldn't sleep very well.

You kept waking up every few hours, that familiar, obnoxious feeling of being watched had tainted your sleep schedule. Usually, you could sleep throughout the night, unbothered by anything outside of your own body. When you were living with your mom and dad, their constant fighting during the evening had no felt on your ability to sleep. You had grown accustomed to falling into slumber during the loud hours of the night.

So now, even when the house is as quiet as can be, you couldn't help but wonder what kept waking you up, and why you couldn't fall asleep as easily as you usually do.

There's a vehicle pulling into the driveway of the mansion, and you see it coming while you're sitting on the front porch with a cup of tea in hand.

It's Elise, with a clipboard and her professional attire. She grins at you, a welcoming expression - but you can't smile back. You find it hard to be gleeful on only two hours of sleep.

"I'm so sorry I missed your phone calls," Elise apologized. "Ive been quite busy — a new tenant is coming soon, he's going to be staying for about a week. I came by to go over the house rules and a tour with him, and introduce you two to each other. Thought it'd be good hospitality, considering you'll be sharing the house with each other for a while."

He. You knew that Elise often placed multiple renters in the house at the same time — everyone had their own respective rooms.

But this was a little short notice. She could've at least sent you a text.

You scratched the back of your head, following her into the house as you processed this new information.

"You left a voicemail, but I couldn't quite understand what you were saying." Elise continued.

You stick your hands into your sweatpants pockets and rock yourself on your heels. This would be bad news to break — at least when you said it over the phone, you weren't face to face.

"There's uh, rats, I believe, in the house. I heard a few of them squeaking and moving around."

Elise raised a questioning brow. "Rats? You believe? Have you seen them?"

"No, but I heard them squeaking."

"Can you show me where?" She asked. You could already tell that she was irritated with the fact that there was vermin in the house. You could understand.

But, you didn't want her to know that you went into the attic. She never told you that you could – never even mentioned it during the tour.

You lead her to upstairs hallway, and stood beneath the attic door, pointing up.

"I heard them coming from up there," you say. A shudder crawled down your spine - just reliving the event. "In the walls, too. Downstairs, in the kitchen."

She only scoffs, her face looking more paler and nervous than usual. Elise turned. "I'll have to call an exterminator. Legally, you can't be in the house when they spray that poisonous stuff. I could buy a few traps until then... I'm truly sorry about the inconvenience."

You wanted to mention a possible discount, but she brushes past you, her eyes glued to her phone screen.

Hopefully, the exterminator could come after your stay — you really didn't have any where else to go. Your mother had already denied the possibility of you staying with her, and all the motels in the area were either too sketchy, or too expensive.

Then, of course, you wanted to mention the voice you heard in the attic. The things you found. Experienced.

She'll probably think I'm crazy.