Disturbia ♦︎ Ghorror AU [✔️]

1: Welcome To The Land Of Bad Cell Service And Rare Human Interaction

Ricky did want to move to a small and secluded place, but this wasn't what he was imagining at all. The town seemed just fine when he first entered, but the closer he got to his new home, the darker the sky became. Or, at least, it seemed like it did.

The atmosphere didn't look much like this when Ricky was first checking out the home he bought. He had been searching for a rather small spot away from the city, and he had found one. He'd grown up in the city, and he was really getting tired of it. Not to even mention how awful city life was.

The point is, he just wanted to get away from it all. And he was just about gone by now, about halfway down the street his new home was on, a moving van trailing behind him, carrying the last of his belongings.

Ricky took the final right turn onto his new street, and made his way to the driveway of his new home. It didn't look too bad, but it definitely wasn't luxurious. It was all he needed for shelter, though, and that was what counted to him. Besides, he could always do some remodeling later on to make it look better.

Although, he did feel like the neighborhood seemed somewhat darker now than it was when he first payed a visit there. He had taken multiple trips there, to see the house in person for the first time, and in order to bring all of his things to his new place. He shrugged the feeling off, though, figuring his mind was just trying to fool him, as it often seemed to, to make him choose somewhere better to live at the last minute. But, to him, this place was plenty.

Ricky parked his car, and hopped out of it. He almost felt like a middle-aged soccer mom driving his old, beat up minivan. His vehicle wasn't the best, obviously, and it was even more worn down now from the move, but it got him around, and that was all that mattered to him, really.

His old friend, Austin, was driving the moving van behind him. He parked the van and got out, meeting Ricky on his porch.  The two of them had taken a few days off from work, in order to get as much work done as they could with Ricky's new home.

"So, that's the last of it, right?" Austin asked, pointing to the moving van.

"Yeah," Ricky nodded. "That stuff and the last few things in my car. Other than that, there's nothing left."

"It sucks to see you go, man," Austin sighed.

"I know," Ricky replied. "But, Austin, you know how long I've been waiting to get out of that place."

"I know," Austin said. "It'll just be weird not having you around."

"Yeah," Ricky responded. "But, look on the bright side. You've still got Alan. And Tino, and Phil."

"And Aaron, and Shay," Austin chimed in.

"Exactly," Ricky said with a small smile. "You'll be fine. And, besides, it's not like I'm disappearing from the face of the Earth. We can still text and all that shit."

"True," Austin smiled.

"Alright, now let's get to work," Ricky said, walking back towards the vehicles in his driveway.

The two brought the last batch of items into the house, both of them sweating and breathing heavily, relieved that they had finally finished.

"I should probably head back home," Austin sighed as the two of them walked towards the door.

"Alright," Ricky shrugged. "Text me later, okay?"

"Sure," Austin agreed. "See you later, Rick."

"Bye, Austin," Ricky waved, watching his friend hop into the moving van and drive away (never to appear in this story again).

Ricky sighed heavily, plopping down onto one of the lawn chairs he had set up on his small front porch. He fished his cigarettes and his lighter out of his pocket. He placed a cigarette in his mouth and lit it quickly, enjoying his much needed and well deserved break.

He sat there for what felt like hours, but really, only about ten minutes passed. Ricky watched as cars drove by, almost waiting for something worthwhile to happen. But in this little town, things like that rarely did.

Or so Ricky thought, that is.

Ricky finished up his cigarette, and was about to go inside, when he saw something that he hadn't quite seen in this place before.

Another human being. Cars driving down the street, passing the neighborhood by without a second look were one thing. Actual human beings were another.

He watched discreetly as this other human walked to his mailbox, taking out whatever was inside of it, and then began to walk back up his driveway.

But then he saw Ricky. And upon seeing him, changed his direction.

"So, you must be the new neighbor," the stranger smiled.

"Yeah, that's me," Ricky responded.

"You know, no one's lived in that house for about fifteen years," the other man said. "My husband and I have been living in this town since we were kids, and we really haven't seen a fresh face since."

"Really?" Ricky asked, a bit intrigued.

"Yeah," the stranger replied. "Apparently after some teenager killed his sister in there, and then commit suicide soon after, the parents moved across the country. No one's lived in that house since.

"Wow, that's... That's pleasant," Ricky chuckled nervously.

"Isn't it though?" the other man giggled in response. "My name's Angelo, by the way."

"I'm Ricky," Ricky introduced himself.

"Nice to meet you, Ricky," Angelo said. "Welcome to the land of shitty cell service and little human interaction. Population: 17.2, or, something like that. I'm sure I'll see you around."

"Yeah, you too," Ricky said, chuckling at Angelo's extra comments. "See you."

He watched as Angelo walked back to his house, and then headed inside himself.

-------------------------------------------

"What took you so long?" Ryan asked as his husband walked through the door.

"I was talking to the new neighbor," Angelo replied, tossing the mail on the coffee table.

"New neighbor?" Ryan asked, raising his eyebrow. "Why the hell would anyone want to move here? Especially into that house?"

"We'll find that out later," Angelo responded. "But, Ryan, he's around our age, we should at least try to be friends with him. We haven't seen anyone new around here in years, Ryan. Maybe we can have some company around now."

"We have some company already, Ange," Ryan pointed out. "Chris and Balz still exist, you know."

"I know, I know," Angelo said. "But you get my point. We might have someone else to kill time with."

"But you know what that means, don't you?" Ryan asked.

"No...?" Angelo replied, confused.

"Ange, we're gonna have to warn him about all the fucked up shit around here," Ryan sighed. "You know, how the darkness and the fog is always cloaking the place. The suspicious people always lurking around corners and shit. And, of course, we can't forget about Ghost."

"Yeah, let's not bring that up right away," Angelo responded, shivering slightly at the thought of what really lied behind their closed door.

"We're gonna have to tell him sometime, Ange," Ryan shrugged. "If we don't, he won't survive staying here."

"I know," Angelo sighed. "But we should at least wait a couple weeks. He just got here. We don't wanna scare him away so quickly."

"Okay, fine," Ryan said. "But we have to tell him eventually. We know more about this shit than the others. We've lived here all our lives."

"I know," Angelo said, for what felt like the hundredth time that afternoon. "We'll tell him sometime soon, okay?"

"Yeah," Ryan responded. "Soon."