Disturbia ♦︎ Ghorror AU [✔️]

6: Devin Is Now Considered Not Only A Ghost, But A Stalker As Well

Ricky awoke the next morning feeling like shit. Only getting five hours of sleep in total wasn't exactly ideal, but he was thankful he at least got some sleep. Usually he would be wide awake after his nightmares struck, but he was luckily able to get another couple hours of rest afterwards.

Ricky threw the covers off of his body and immediately felt the chill in the air. At first he figured Ghost was lurking around somewhere, but then he realized it was just after five in the morning. It's always cold at five in the morning when it's autumn.

Ricky shivered a bit, then grabbed his shirt from the floor, quickly pulling it on. He then walked into the kitchen to make himself some coffee to wake himself up a bit more.

He was still a bit groggy, but he thought he could see some movement out of the corner of his eye. But, as he turned his head, it stopped. There was nothing there. Ricky shrugged it off, though. He was still practically half asleep. His brain wasn't quite ready to function properly yet.

But, then the movement started again, in another spot in the room. Ricky's head turned quickly, and his gaze shot to where the movement was. But again, once he turned his head, it stopped. There was nothing there.

Or so it appeared.

In reality, Ghost thought he would have a little fun messing with poor Ricky. It was just something minor, just moving a couple little things around here and there. It's not like he was trying to convince Ricky that he was losing his mind. Not yet, anyway.

He would do that sometime later.

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Ricky did some thinking as the day went on, and he realized that he should really find a job nearby. He wasn't exactly a fan of traffic, and he really didn't want to spend hours driving to his job. But, at the same time, there was barely anything around this place. The closest grocery store was two towns away.

Not that the towns were all that big or anything, but it was still a bit of a pain in the ass to drive into a whole other town just to buy some bread.

So, Ricky decided to take a drive through town, and take a look for someplace that would give him a job. However, that proved to be harder than he expected, because most shops in this town looked way too suspicious. He didn't want to unknowingly get involved in drug trafficking or some shit like that.

After driving for almost twenty minutes, a small, humble looking shop caught his eye. It looked like an independent business, and it had a bit of a homey, nostalgic feel to it. To Ricky, the place was almost enchanting. Sure, it appeared that there were dead animals and bones in the window of the shop, but that was nowhere near as freaky as a ghost inhabiting your home. Ricky could handle it, especially after the events that had taken place in the past 48 hours.

He parked on the side of the road, and stepped into the shop, the bell above the door ringing as he walked in.

"Hello, and welcome to The Strange And Unusual," the stranger greeted.

"Uh, hi," Ricky replied.

"Hey, I haven't seen your face around here before," the stranger remarked. "You must be the new guy, Ricky."

"H-How do you already know my name?" Ricky asked.

"Dude, this town is as small as a rat's dick," the stranger laughed. "Word travels pretty fast around here. I'm friends with your neighbors, by the way. My name's Josh, but most people call me Balz."

"Balls?" Ricky questioned, trying his best to stifle a laugh.

"It's spelled B-A-L-Z, but yeah, pretty much," Balz responded with a chuckle. "It's my last name."

"Well, my name's Ricky, but you obviously know that already," Ricky said.

"Yeah," Balz nodded. "So, what made you choose to move here out of all places? I mean, this place is a bit of a shithole."

"I just wanted to live somewhere smaller and more secluded," Ricky shrugged. "I was tired of living in the city. It sucked."

"At least you didn't have to leave your city to buy some actual food," Balz chuckled. "So, what brings you into my shop?"

"I was actually wondering if, maybe, you had any job openings?" Ricky inquired.

"I could use another cashier, actually," Balz said. "I think you're worthy of the job. I mean, it's simple, and I highly doubt you're an axe murderer or something, considering you screamed like a little girl over some broken glass."

"Angelo told you about that?" Ricky asked, scratching the back of his neck in a sheepish manner.

"Yeah," Balz laughed. "Don't worry about it, though. I like to consider this place a judgement free zone, really. I mean, look around. I fucking sell dead animals for a living."

"You do have a point," Ricky giggled.

"Anyway, let me show you around a bit," Balz said, beginning to walk away.

"Alright," Ricky replied, following closely behind.

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Being the curious spirit he was, Devin decided to follow Ricky when he left his house. Sure, that was probably considered stalking, but he was a ghost. He could be doing much worse. And besides, it's not like he cared too much about any sorts of laws anymore. He was dead. It wasn't like he could go to jail. And besides, even if he did, he could just escape through the prison walls in a snap.

His ghastly abilities made it easier for Devin to follow Ricky to the shop. Of course, as he followed Ricky inside, he made himself invisible. Being seen would ruin his entire plan. It wasn't much of a big plan, really. Devin just wanted to mess with the new guy some more.

He had quite a lot of fun messing with people, actually. It was one of the best parts of being a paranormal being. However, it was much more fun to mess with people who were less aware. If people were less aware of his ghostly form, they would be more scared, which made it much more entertaining for Devin.

The problem with that fact, though, was that most people in this town were aware of Devin's presence. Sure, they still feared him, but he couldn't play the same tricks on them as he could with someone like Ricky. Someone who barely knew he was around. As a matter of fact, Ricky probably figured that Devin actually only haunted his house. Boy, was he wrong.

Devin technically haunted the whole town, really. That was why most people were used to him lurking. They didn't mind him too much, as long as he wasn't harassing them or anything. They just preferred to steer clear of him. However, it wasn't exactly often that he messed around with the entire environment of the place, only once every month or so. But, he figured why not start messing with the new resident early? He began to darken the sky the day Ricky made his way into the town to begin living there.

He followed Ricky and Balz as they stepped into the stock room of the shop. Devin figured now would be the perfect time to mess around with the new guy. He took in his surroundings for a moment, then began to devise his little plan.