Nothing's What it Seems - Halloween Stories 2022

The Second Floor Apartment

'Thud' 'Thud' 'Thud'

"What in the world are they doing up there?" I thought out loud to myself as I paused the show I was watching, so I could listen better.

'Thud'  'Thud'

My light fixture above my kitchen table rattled slightly from the vibrations of the stomping coming from the apartment directly above mine.

'Thud'   'Thud'   'Thud'   'Thud'   'Thud'

Do they have kids that are running around? Or maybe pets? Or both?

I moved into this apartment recently, so I haven't gotten to know all of my neighbors yet, especially the ones upstairs. I decided to try and ignore the noises and continue watching the show I had on; after a while the noises stopped.

Later on, while I was cooking myself some dinner, the thudding noises started up again along with what sounded like yelling. I couldn't make out exactly what was being said but it definitely sounded like a man and a woman were having an argument.

Eventually the yelling and the thudding stopped, and all was quiet again in time for me to go to bed.

'Thud' 'Thud' 'Thud' 'Thud' 'Thud' 'Thud' 'Thud'

I was awakened by the sound of the stomping starting up again. I sighed and rolled over to check the time; of course, it was 3:00 in the morning. I rolled over and attempted to go back to sleep; but was interrupted by a muffled scream coming from the floor above, then silence.

I laid awake after that, wondering what was going on upstairs and if anyone else in the complex had heard it too. After a long while, exhaustion took over and I fell asleep.

Weeks went by and the noises continued. Every day, the thudding and the yelling, then the screaming in the middle of the night, continuously kept me awake at night. I'm normally not one of those people who complain about their neighbors, but I finally decided enough was enough and I needed my sleep.  I decided the next time I saw the landlord; I was going to put in a noise complaint.

Luckily for me, the next day, when I returned from my morning run, I saw the landlord in the hallway. He was talking to one of the other tenants.

"Excuse me," I waved to him, and I got his attention once the two were finished talking.

He smiled and walked over to me. "Can I help you with something?"

"Yes, actually, I don't normally do this, but it's gotten to be too much. I would like to make a noise complaint about the people living in the unit above mine."

"Oh?" He raised an eyebrow, "why is that?"

"Well, every day now since I moved in a month and a half ago, it sounds like they're stomping, or kids are running around. They also argue and yell often and there's even been a woman screaming bloody murder in the middle of the night." I explained.

"Interesting."

"Interesting?" I asked.

"Yeah, the tenants before you also complained about the unit above."

"They did?"

He nodded. "However, no one lives up in that unit. I tried to tell them that, but they didn't believe me and moved out soon after complaining about it."

"No one lives up there?" I questioned, now curious if what he was saying was true.

"That is correct. If you don't believe me, I can take you up there and show you if you'd like." He offered.

I nodded. "Sure, let's go."

The older man made his way over to the elevator with me trailing close behind. We rode the elevator up to the second floor then walked down the hallway and stopped outside the door of apartment 214, my apartment downstairs is 114 so this is the unit directly above mine.

The landlord fiddled with his key ring for a bit but soon found the master key for the unit then unlocked the door and swung it open. He motioned for me to enter and take a look inside. I cautiously took a few steps inside. The landlord, however, stayed in hallway and watched me from the doorway.

I was stunned to see that the apartment was completely empty other than the essentials that the apartment is provided with like a fridge, an oven and stove, a microwave and a washer and dryer. There were no signs of anyone living there at all; confirming what the landlord had said earlier.

I walked back out into the hallway, dumbfounded and still having trouble believing that the unit has been empty all this time.

"No one has lived in this apartment for years. I can't even get the cleaners to go in there and stay in there long enough to clean it properly." The landlord explained. "I've also been having troubles keeping tenants in the units on either side of this one, they all have complained about similar noises as you." The older man sighed then locked up the unit once again and the two of us headed back downstairs.

After a couple more weeks of sleepless nights went by, the landlord called me and offered to have me move into unit 102 since it had recently become available. That way I could get out of the one I'm currently in and away from all the noise. I definitely took him up on the offer and switched apartments.

The tenants in units 213 and 215 have moved out as well and the poor landlord decided to keep those two, as well as units 214 and 114, vacant. The four units will most likely sit empty for as long as the current landlord owns the building, and I am one of the few that know why.

Next time you hear strange noises, they may not be as explainable as you may think.They may not be exactly what they seem...
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That's all for this week's story.

Next week's story will have you listening carefully, so stay tuned. 👻

I hope you enjoyed!
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If you would like to enjoy more of my creepy content while you wait for the next story, please feel free to check out my Halloween stories from years past.
-Real or Legend 2020
-31 Days of Halloween 2019
-Halloween Stories 2018

🦀creepycrab🦀