Aiden

The Viewing

Lillian was tired, she had been on her feet all day searching for an apartment only to hate all of them. She had one last apartment to look at before she could go home, well back to her friends apartment, they had found their "perfect match" on the first day of looking and she had been staying with them ever since because she had nowhere else to go.

The apartment building was about a block from her college campus, and online the apartment looked perfect, but she was extremely skeptical because it took up an entire floor, the top one no less and it was scarily cheep. Being in her price range and seemingly more than perfect she didn't get her hopes up because hope just lead to disappointment and in her experience if something seems too good to be true, it usually is.

When she entered the lobby she went up to the front desk "hello, I'm here for the viewing" she said the receptionist looked at the pretty young girl who had caramel skin and pretty dark eyes that held just the slightest tilt. She had piercings and what appeared to be tattoos peaking from underneath her clothes. She seemed to be underweight but not enough to be too concerned about, what had to be one of her most striking features had to be her almost him length crimson hair with a streak of black. Lillian noticed the look of pity that crossed the woman's face and didn't like it. "Yes of course my dear let me contact the person who will be showing it to you." she said before grabbing the phone and calling her boss "the young lady is here to look at 'that' apartment" she said both her and her boss knew why she put an emphasis on 'that' apartment. Ever since this building was built the top floor apartment had always been a trouble to sell. Everyone who lived there moved out almost as soon as they moved I, the longest someone had stayed there was 9 months, and that was a so called 'ghost hunter' all of them seemed to accept the challenge of living in the 'haunted apartment' but none of them lasted all of them claiming the same thing, cupboards would open and close things would slam around, things would go missing only to come show back up in the strangest of places. One man claimed that his phone had gone missing only for him to find it in the refrigerator! Everybody knew by now not to go the top floor, obviously this girl hadn't gotten the memo.

Ralio Tramboli was a kind Italian man, with a kind face. He looked like the kind of man everyone wanted to be their grandfather, which is probably why everyone calls him pops. He first got this building when he was a young boy only 18 a huge difference to his 68 year old self now. He knew that something was going on in the top floor but he also knew that people needed homes which is why he still put the apartment on the market each time someone moved out. But he did tell each new bright eyed bushy tailed person looking at the apartment that something wasn't right and everyone who had lived there before claimed it was haunted. Most would brush it off saying it wasn't real, others would leave right there and then, and then there were the ones who thought they could be the one who 'beat the ghost' and be able to face the ghost and live there forever. None succeeded.

Lillian looked different from the others who had wanted to rent the apartment out he wasn't one to judge though so he kept silent and went up to her. "hello miss, are you here for the viewing?" he asked her Lillian looked at the man "yes my name is Lillian Grace" she said the Ralio smiled at her "I'm Ralio Tramboli the owner of this building, if you ever have any concerns if you chose to move in then just tell me. Now why don't you follow me and we will go check out the apartment" He said in a happy cheery tone. Lillian smiled back at him and nodded he led her to the elevator and pushed the button that went to the top floor after swiping a card over the sensor net to the button. "Why is the apartment so cheap?" Lillian asked Ralio he sighed "according to everyone who has every lived there, it is haunted. I have never had anything happen to me personally but everyone who lives there say there is a ghost. The longest anyone has lived there was 9 months" He said truthfully Lillian nodded seemingly unaffected by the news. It is not that she didn't believe in ghosts and spirits, and all that stuff she just didn't care, she needed out of the house. It's not that she didn't like living with Magnus and Alec it's that she didn't want to be the third wheel any longer.

The elevator binged when it reached the top floor, it opened up to a beautiful apartment that was extremely spacious and had an upstairs Ralio motioned for her to follow and she did he led her around showing her everything and explaining every room and the historical values. When the tour was finished he told her that she could explore on her own for a while. Lillian loved the house but she needed approval from Magnus because her best friend would be here way too often to be normal. She face timed him. "Hey biscuit did you find one you liked?" he asked excitedly Lillian chuckled at him "yeah, it's the entire top floor and has stairs this place is incredible! she said while showing him all the rooms "why is it so cheap?" he asked, and this is one of the reasons they were friends "I asked that too and he said because it's apparently haunted, according to the owner everyone who has ever lived here before moved out quickly because of a ghost or something. The longest someone has lived here was 9 months" Lillian explained Magnus looked like he was in deep thought "ok, well there's no harm in trying and if the ghost gets to be too much my door is always open to someone who has the key" He joked  Lillian laughed "ok, I'll go tell Ralio. Bye love ya!" Lillian said "love you too sweetheart!" Magnus said and they hung up.

The contract wasn't that bad, there was no minimum time that she had to stay. The payment method seemed personal and made to help people with tough situations. She was going to start packing her belongings tonight and then move all of it to the apartment tomorrow then the next day she would start staying in it. They went down to the receptionist and got two key cards, and changed the pin to get into the apartment. The pin was there in case she forgot her pin or a friend was coming to her house that she trusted.

When she got home she was bombarded by an excited Magnus while Alec watch he exchange in amusement. Magnus and Alec were polar opposites. Magnus always styled his black hair with gel, glitter, and hair dye while Alec let his shaggy black hair stay a mop on his head much to Magnus' disappointment. Magnus was a 6'2 Indonesian man with an eye condition called CES (Cat Eye Syndrome) which gave his eyes the appearance of  cats and the golden green amber color didn't help him much. Magnus Joel Bane was far from boring, he was obsessed with glitter, an obsession with fashion, bold, confident, and was an enigma to everyone except Lillian and he was opening up to Alec more and more everyday. Alec on the other hand was around 6' to 6'1 and had black hair and the palest skin known to either Magnus or Lillian he had dark blue eyes that rare combination is what drew him in the first time they met. Alec was quiet and shy born and raised in Brooklyn, New York and had zero fashion sense whatsoever and honestly doesn't care about his appearance at all.

Magnus and Alec helped Lillian pack her clothes. Magnus of course to this opportunity to go through her outfits and put all the clothes she never wears and said it was going to be donated and that they would be going shopping much to Alec's horror and Lillian's amusement.

This was going to be her new start, if only she knew how much this one decision in her life would change everything.