A Gothic Horror

1

Hm... Maybe America wasn't that bad after all! Josh was easily the most handsome guy she'd ever met. Okay, maybe his teeth were a bit pointy. But so were Dracula's. And Dracula was handsome, right?

"What are you thinking about?" he asked.

"Oh my god I am so sorry! We finally get to see each other in person and all I do is stare at you like you're some kind of alien!"

"Well," he answered grinningly, "technically you're the alien here! You know... Like... whoa, I'm an alien... I'm a legal alien I'm an Englishman in New York..." — "Except this isn't New York!" He shrugged, "Well, it might as well be!"

"Where were we supposed to meet the others again?" She wasn't trying to change the subject. She actually didn't know and they were supposed to meet at two... Which was in less than twenty minutes.

"Subway," he mumbled.

"Where? At the station?" — "No, they'll get on after us." — "Hm, okay..."

They just stood there in an awkward silence for a couple of minutes.

"Sooo... Shouldn't we get going then?" Sarah suggested.

"Oh yeah, right! The entrance to the subway station is... that way!" He pointed to the northern exit of the main station.

"Yeah," he said when he saw the look on her face, "It's outside..." — "But it's raining like... Like I'm back home again!" He laughed. "Now that's a way to put it! But don't worry. We'll only have to run through the rain for like... two minutes. It's called subway for a reason!" — "Yeah... You know... That really works better with underground!"

He shrugged. "I don't usually call it that anyway!" — "What do you usually call it?" — "Demon Hole!"

She burst into laughter. "Are you serious?" — "Never read any Lovecraft?" he asked smirking, "Like... Pickman's Model?" — "Sounds like a terribly boring science theory to me."

He stared at her in overexaggerated shock. So overexaggerated in fact, that he almost ran into an old woman who was trying to get through the northern entrance with her walker. 

"Sorry, ma'am! But... Like... Seriously, Sarah! How are we supposed to live under the same roof if you've never even heard of frickin' Lovecraft!" — "Do I really need to know him?" — "Do I need to... No, of course not! He's only like the best horror writer of all time! Why would you need to know him?"

"Oh, that explains it!" she smirked. "I don't like horror stories in general!"

#

"So you must be Josh and Sarah? I'm Ashley and this is Chris!"

"Hey!" Chris smiled sheepishly. "Hey, guys! Nice to finally meet my future flatmates in person," Sarah announced. 

"So... You came all  the way from Britain to study in the States?" Ashley wondered. "Yeah! My mum said that with the modern economy and everything... I'd need some international experiences in my CV." — "You should be happy to have a mother like that!" Josh said bitterly, "My mom was always more like Study abroad? Are you out of your mind? So... I guess I can be happy that she let me study and live in a different city. Thank god we don't have a college in our hometown!"

"Poor you!" Ashley said, "Well, seems like you've finally managed to escape your mom's crushing grip!" She laughed. "Except... If she'd come visit you twice a week. That would be weird. She doesn't do that does she?" Josh shook his head. Ashley gave a sigh of relief.

In that moment, the train reached a station. Pickerman Street. "Close enough to Pickman," Josh remarked. The others gave him puzzled looks. "Oh, come on! Don't tell me none of you has ever heard of Lovecraft?!"

"Um... Cthulu, right?" Chris asked. "Yes! Thank you!" — "Cthulu?" Ashley looked like she'd heard that name before, "That's that... Tentacle... thing... right?"

Josh grinned. "Well... I guess you could call it that! At least two of you know a little about my favorite author! Oh, just two stations left!"

"Anyone been there before?" Sarah asked, "The house where our apartment is, I mean." Everybody shook their heads. "Nope!" Ashley replied, "Didn't want to ruin it for me! With rents that low, there must be something wrong with the place!"

#

"Huh... Guess that's why it's so cheap!"

They were standing in front of a five-storey apartment building that looked suspiciously fifties. Maybe sixties if you were being kind.

"But if we're all honest we can't afford anything else in this city so let's just get in before it starts raining again!" Josh said rubbing his hands.

The building looked much better on the inside, though. Everything was new. You could even still smell the paint.

The apartment door they were all gathering around opened and a man who was probably the same age as the house stuck his head out. His dark eyes were shining vibrantly.

"You must be the new tenants! I'm Mr Schwartz, the owner of this little beauty. I know, I know it looks a teeny bit dated on the outside but I'm currently renovating the whole place so don't you worry! The apartments are all brand new. Oh, there is a downside to the renovations, though!" — "What is it?"

#

"Fifth fucking floor and we have to walk all the way up because the elevator doesn't work yet?!"
"Keep it down, Josh!" Sarah whisper-shouted, "He can hear us! Besides... He takes it off our rent so stop complaining!"

"Guys! We're here!" Chris took out his key and unlocked the door. It opened with a loud screeching noise. Apparently, the doors were still the original ones. The apartment was huge for what Mr Schwartz charged them, though, and just like he had promised, once you were inside, it was all brand new.

"Oh, my god! This living room!" Josh's voice bounced off the walls, "I can almost see us sitting around one those fake fireplaces here!" — "Yeah... With some deer head hanging on the wall and you smoking a pipe... Josh this is the 21st century!" Sarah said sarcastically.

"Oh, don't be like that! You gotta admit, a fireplace would be pretty awesome!"

"You're on his side, Ashley?" 

The American girl shrugged apologetically.

"Guys!" Chris yelled from one of the other rooms, "Look at this kitchen!"

"This is amazing!" Ashley agreed as they entered, "If the building weren't that old I'd think this place was haunted or something! I mean... So much space... for that price..."

"You like the kitchen, huh? Sooo, you girls will cook for us?" — "21st century, Josh!" Sarah reminded him.

"When's your furniture comin'?"

They all jerked. When did Mr Schwartz get in?

"Ah, sorry! Didn't mean to frighten you there! Just figured I'd ask you whether you need any help carrying your stuff all the way up here." — "We'll be fine, thanks," Sarah replied politely.

"Well, I guess you're still young," the old man said, "What do you think about your new home by the way?" — "It's awesome!" Josh said enthusiastically.

Mr Schwartz smiled. "Terrific!"

#

After three days most of the moving boxes had disappeared and the apartment started to look a little friendlier. The four students had decided to sacrifice two of the bedrooms for a study and an entertainment room. Yes, having a separate entertainment room was kind of like having a second living room but once they had decided they wanted to have a study room it seemed unfair that two of them would have to share bedrooms and the other two could enjoy their nightly privacy.

As it turned out, though, the normal living room was barely used while everyone spent most of their free time in the entertainment room.

As for college, the people there seemed nice enough and like always Sarah was able to make a lot of friends quickly. Everything went just like she had imagined. Until... Yeah... Until the fourth night...