roommate [shane/ryan]

👻 chapter one 👻

"Y'know, honey, the realtor said the house is haunted."

The statement elicited a bout of bitter laughter from the boy as the thought of spooky Halloween costumes fashioned from sheets crossed his mind. He was never keen on the concept. It wasn't exactly that Shane didn't believe in ghosts or the paranormal in general, but more that he just didn't understand how, with everything in the world being so concrete and absolute, something could just defy all the laws of physics like a ghost would. In his mind, there needed to be solid evidence that could be shoved into his face before he believed it. Some kooky realtor woman telling his poor, innocent mother that there's a ghost in their new house just somehow wasn't enough to convince him. However, he played along, for her sake.

"Yeah?" Shane asked, looking out the window at the surroundings of their new neighborhood. This is nice, he found himself thinking.

His mother laughed quietly and shook her head a little. "I know you don't buy into all that ghost mumbo jumbo, but I think it's interesting! And spooky!"

Shane smiled and tapped his fingers on the window of the car. He loves his mother. He knew that even with her dying breath, she would do anything for him in a heartbeat. Which, honestly, is why they were finally packing up their belongings and moving. The tale of the Madej family's woe is long and solemn. Shane's father was a cruel man. Cold, calculating, and emotionally abusive to the both of them. Although he never laid a hand on either of them, as far as Shane knew, he was an expert in breaking them down until they could no longer bear it.

It had taken his mother years to realize how badly their situation had gotten, noticing only when the tensions hit a peak six months ago in an incident that no matter how hard Shane tried, he simply could not bury the memory in the depths of his psyche. Once his mother saw how the fallout of her husband's actions and just how badly her son was being affected by the environment, she mustered up all of her courage and began the long and arduous process of divorcing him. The entire situation had been so incredibly draining and difficult, so seeing her in such high spirits was enough to give Shane the patience to listen to her ramblings about ghosts or whatever.

"So, did she tell you about this ghost thing?" he asked, glancing over at his mother. "Is it, like, some guy? Like some Civil War guy or something? Or... some sad Victorian lady? Just your average run of the mill creature of the night? Oh! Or one of those sad kids that rolls a ball up and down the hallway? Or a dog! A ghost dog!"

His mother laughed a little. "Oh, no, nothing like that. I don't know! When we were walking through the house, she mentioned that it was so cheap because a boy died in there."

Shane's eyebrows furrowed and he looked at his mother, a little dumbfounded. "You bought us a murder house and didn't tell me?"

His mother shrugged softly and did not take her eyes off of the road. "I didn't think you would think it's a big deal! It's just a quirk! Besides, it was probably 15 years ago. She said the ghost isn't ornery or mean, but that the house has made some past tenants a little uneasy so no one ever stays long. I just figured that maybe we could change it, since nothing about our situation is normal anyway, so why not buy the murder house if the ghost is friendly!"

Shane sighed and rested his head on his arm. His mother's endless optimism was one of her most endearing qualities and it could honestly make any situation bearable, which might be why instead of arguing, he simply nodded and looked out the window, trying to picture which one of the houses on the street they turned onto is the one they would be living in soon.

His mother raised one hand from the wheel and pointed a slender, freshly manicured finger at one of the approaching houses before pulling the car into the driveway. She rubbed her son's shoulder before they both got out of the car. Shane felt awkward as he undid his seatbelt and swung his lanky legs out, feet planting on the ground too quickly. Somehow, this whole moving endeavor left him feeling similarly to when he started kindergarten: nervous, vaguely uncomfortable, and baffled by the situation laid out in front of him.

The house itself was relatively nonthreatening. If no one would have told Shane that someone had literally died inside of the house, he wouldn't have ever even known. It was just a typical, suburban home. Nearly identical to the ones surrounding it, the only differences being color and the type of flowers planted in front. This being said, he knew that his mom most likely had an extensive Pinterest board dedicated to things they could do together to make this creepy murder house less murder-y and more Madej-y.

The sound of keys rattling suddenly filled his ears as his mom unlocked the front door and sighed dramatically in relief. "We're home, baby!" she cried, ecstatic, "Go get a box from the car!"

Shane smiled at his mother's enthusiasm as he returned to the car to pop the trunk and take a box labelled DISHES out to bring inside. He glanced up at the house once more before he listened to his mother and brought the box inside. Maybe she's right, he thought. Maybe we'll be the ones to stay.

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a/n: hey!!!! hope you enjoyed this first chapter!!! i'm very excited to start writing this story and i hope you guys are excited to read it :^)