Caught Like a Fly -- Sally Face Fanfic

Chapter 1 - Strange New Neighbors

Sal Fisher was a fifteen year old boy - a fifteen year old boy who had seen and gone through some things a boy should have never had to. With his prosthetic face fastened in place by two buckles, he was helping bring in boxes from the moving truck when his father stopped him - a look of fatigue stretching over his father's restless face.

"Hey kiddo, why don't we leave the rest for the movers... I need to lay down," the older man said. The drive had been long and it showed in the tiredness of his fathers eyes. Sal nodded, his blue hair, pulled into two pigtails, bobbed with him.

"Go rest dad, I'll go meet some of the neighbors," Sal said, his voice mostly muffled by his mask. His dad nodded: had he not been so tired he'd of thought it too was a good idea. His father ruffled Sal's hair before trudging off into a room that he had chosen, leaving Sal alone in the living room. "Well, shouldn't wait around, adventure awaits." With that, Sal left his apartment. He made his way to the elevator, deciding to start from the top. Though he was on floor four already, there was a floor above him. Pressing the button to go to floor five, he waited.

The door opened to a disheveled upper floor. Everything looked as if it was ripped apart by a unimaginable force. On the wall was a notice reading "This floor is currently being renovated. For your safety, please make your way to the nearest exit." Though the warning settled a fear in Sal, his curiosity was still peaked. He checked some of the doors. Most of them were locked -- all but one. 504 opened. Inside was a man, a squatter by the looks of it.

"Hello? Sorry, I didn't think anyone lived up here," Sal said, not getting closer to the strange man. He looked as if he was dying, muttering to himself as if he lost his mind. "Hello? Sir? Are you okay?" Sal wasn't expecting an answer, but when the words came from the strangers mouth his skin crawled.

"You shouldn't have come here," the stranger whispered, his voice raspy - as if he hadn't spoken in years. Sal shook his head, the straps of his mask rattling.

"I'm sorry. I was just trying to get to know my new neighbors and-" the man cut him off.

"A dark place. This building," the man began, his voice slowly fading as if he too was fading. "Horrible things happen." Sal wasn't sure if he was afraid or curious, or a unhealthy mixture of both.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Sal asked, watching the man carefully. The only thing that tore Sal's attention from the strange man was a stranger noise that sound inhuman behind him. Sal looked behind him, then back to the man - or rather where the man was. In the split second he looked away the man ran off, or disappeared without any explanation. Sal felt his skin crawl again and made a swift exit to the elevator. He went back to the fourth floor.

How did he not notice the officer before? There next to a room closer to the elevator was a cop, a blond stereotypical "bad cop." Behind him was a door that looked broken into, a foul smell emitting from it.

"Hello," Sal greeted, getting nothing from the cop. "Why are you standing here?" he asked, genuinely curious. The cop groaned, not looking at him.

"I'm protecting nosy little freaks like you from seeing what they ought not to see." Sal felt a little offended by his choice of words. "Now scram. I don't get paid to babysit." Sal frowned under his mask, he really didn't stray too far from playing bad cop. "Do I look like your fairy fucking godmother? I'm an officer of the law, so you better treat me with some respect and scram!" The cop wasn't going to talk, it was obvious.

Taking his leave, he went down to the third floor, surprised to see a woman mopping the floor, focused more on her work than anything else.

"Hello?" Sal greeted, unintentionally startling the brown haired woman.

"Oh my!" she raised a hand to her chest, catching her breath. "Sorry, you just startled me a little. You must be one of the new guys from 402, yeah?" Sal nodded. "With all the excitement going on today, I haven't had a chance to stop in and say 'hi.'"

"Yeah, it's just me and my dad. My name is Sal." The woman nodded.

"Pleasure to meet ya, Sal. I'm Lisa. I take care of this place. Keep things up and runnin'. So if ya ever need help with anything, don't hesitate to ask, okay?" Sal nodded, happy at least one person was nice to him today. Between Lisa, the cop and the scary man upstairs, Sal hoped that more people would be like Lisa.

Sal met the rest of the neighbors, most as strange as Sal believed he was - but there was one floor he couldn't reach, the basement. For some reason one needed a key-card to access it, so Sal visited Lisa again, not wanting to bother his dad.

"Hey Lisa, what's in the basement?" Sal asked.

"Oh! That's where the laundry is done, but I'm guessing you don't have a key-card?" she asked, getting a shake of Sal's head. "Here, use mine. I can get another from Mr. Addison. My son might be in his room."

"You live in the basement?"

"Yeah, we get to stay there for free because I do all the maintenance and cleaning work here." To be honest, it was a fair deal. Sal thanked her for the card before rushing to the basement.

The basement was like any other basement, just more washers. As Sal expected, there was a apartment in the basement. The door was unlocked so Sal let himself in. He looked around before the melody of what must have been heavy metal filled his ears. He followed the sound to a room that was closed. He knocked on the door, but got no answer. The music must have been too loud for anyone inside to hear him. He opened the door carefully, being greeted by two long brown--haired people. A boy and girl about his age were rocking out to the music when the boy caught sight of the blue-haired boy. The boy slapped the girl's arm lightly and stopped the music.

"Hey dude, are you one of the new guys?" the boy asked. Sal nodded. "Whoa, sweet. I'm Larry, this is my cousin-" the girl slapped his arm. "Not my actual cousin, but I've known her forever. This is Abigail." The girl waved, not really looking at Sal.

"I'm Sal, but a lot of people call me Sally Face," Sal greeted, figuring that getting his nickname out in the open would be better than waiting for someone else to discover it.

"Sal..." the girl repeated. "Would it be rude of me to ask why your voice is muffled?" If it wasn't obvious before, it was obvious now. Abigail was blind. That was why she wasn't facing him right -- it made more sense now.

"Oh, that's because of my prosthetic face," Sal said, resting a hand on the mask. "Does it bother you?" he asked, ready to leave.

"Not at all, that sound badass," Abigail said, a smile spreading onto her pale face. This smile drew Sal's attention to her as a whole -- the way her brown hair was easily pulled over her eyes and reached the mid of her back, her choice in wearing black most likely so that she can never chose clashing colours, or the way she held herself. She held her arm and seemed intimated, but the way she spoke let Sal know she was reserved rather than fearful.

"What does SF mean?" Sal asked, pointing to Larry's shirt.

Larry looked down, and with a smug grin answered. "It stands for Sally Face." Abigail hit his arm, Sal laughing just a bit. "Nah dude, it's for Sanity's Fall, that music we were listening to before you came in." Sal nodded his head. "Wanna hear some?" Sal nodded his head again, a smile forming under his mask. The three kids gathered around the record player and banged their heads to the music that was playing.

Sal knew this was the start to a beautiful friendship.