Chapter Text
‘The place on the hill, are you kidding?’ Rey frowned at Finn’s tone of voice, not overly appreciating the layers of negativity.
‘Yeah, the rent’s really cheap!’ She explained, but was still met with stony resistance. ‘What?’ She demanded, glaring at the small group of close friends. Poe looked almost sheepish as he answered.
‘Well, I know you’ve been wanting to move closer,’ he started, glancing at Finn for encouragement. Finn was staring sullenly at his hands, face flushed. ‘It’s just that … well, isn’t there somewhere else you could live?’
‘It’s the cheapest place by far. What’s the big deal? So the aircon’s a little busted and the kitchen is a few decades old. It’s still cheap!’
‘And haunted.’
‘What?’ Rey said, turning away from Poe to look more closely at Finn. The small italian restaurant was quiet, vents pumping icy air conditioning despite the cool weather outside. Aside from the exhausted looking waiter lounging over the register, they were the only three occupants of the entire, red and white checkered room.
‘You heard me,’ he said sullenly, still refusing to look at her now. Poe was rubbing a hand up and down the back of Finn’s leather jacket. Rey folded her arms across her chest.
‘I thought you’d be happy for me,’ she mumbled, feeling a little hurt at the lack of enthusiasm. She’d been scrimping and saving for years, trying to survive the high rent of her old place two towns across, plus transport costs of coming here every day for work. And now, here she was, with a place to call hers that wasn’t a share house, no shared bathrooms or kitchens or laundries that would mysteriously eat her few personal belongings. It was hers, and only hers, for half the cost, and now she could walk to work and see these two idiots of an evening without having to worry about the last bus!
Perhaps it hadn’t been worth all the effort.
Haunted.
Rey rolled her eyes.
‘We are happy, Rey,’ Poe said reassuringly, trying to woo her with that dazzling smile of his. His puppy dog eyes weren’t working though. Not now. Rey glared at them. They were supposed to be happy for her. Actually happy, not this pretend happy.
‘There are stories about that place.’ Finn said.
‘It’s an apartment building.’ Rey said. ‘Haunted houses are creepy old buildings that haven’t been lived in for fifty years. This place has definitely been lived in for fifty years. I don’t think anyone’s cleaned the bathroom in that long.’
‘No one’s kept lease for more than a month. Everyone leaves really quickly. All the downstairs neighbours say they hear weird noises, scraping sounds, bangings, it’s haunted Rey, honest. You can’t live there!’ Finn was persistent.
‘Well the Landlord didn’t mention any of that, and neither did the Real Estate, so I think it’s fine. They probably have to list hauntings with deaths on the properties, you know? No one’s died in there, and no one’s haunting it. Just be happy that I’m so close and not paying through the teeth!’
Poe sighed heavily and nudged Finn in the shoulder.
‘We are happy for you. I’m glad you’re so close. But, just know that if it doesn’t work out you can come crash on our couch for awhile, okay?’
‘I know what you do on that couch, Poe Dameron,’ she shot back, unable to suppress the smile tugging at her lips. Perhaps she wasn’t currently immune to his puppy dog eyes.
‘We’ll throw a blanket over the cushions,’ he answered lightly, straightening up and catching the attention of the waiter. ‘I have work tomorrow and Finn has class. How about we do this again in a couple of days, okay? Just … be careful, Rey.’
***
Rey stood in the foyer of the ancient complex that was her new home.
Unkar Plutt was a large man, but surprisingly spry on his feet as he navigated his large gut around the balustrade of the stairwell. He was also disgustingly handsy and Rey wondered, as she clutched her bag tightly to her, if he wasn’t what made people consider the place was haunted. He certainly made enough strange sounds to be considered some unholy apparition of the night. He sort of looked like one, too, the way he wobbled and jiggled and sweat-sheened everywhere.
Rey immediately clamped down on her thoughts. They were cruel and unnecessary. She barely knew the man, and he could hardly help what he looked like. He clearly tried to present himself well, with his hair carefully combed over a growing bald patch, and the button up shirt that strained over his girth didn’t look very cheap. His shoes certainly weren’t.
Rey turned on her brightest smile as she greeted him.
‘Moving in today, are we?’ He said by way of greeting.
‘I’m so excited!’ She fell into step beside him as he led her up the stairs. There were no elevators here, the building was too old and there wasn’t enough space to install one. The Real Estate Agent had been very clear on that. Rey hadn’t cared. She was young, healthy, and loved a good cardio workout. The fact she was now the proud renter of the attic apartment just meant she’d be incredibly fit in no time.
‘The windows are small, but you have good views over the town.’ Plutt said conversationally, breath coming thick and fast as he began to lag slightly. Rey adjusted her pace to suit. ‘When do the rest of your things come?’ He asked, eyes running up and down her body.
Rey gripped her backpack and suitcase a little tighter instinctively.
‘This is it.’ She said. The furniture had been part of her old lease, and she’d never had the spare cash to afford trinkets or decorations. A handful of books, clothes and toiletries. She was determined to make more of herself here, though. To make a stamp on this place.
Plutt grunted.
‘There’s no rules against decorating,’ Plutt said, as if reading her mind. They began to curve up the second stairwell. Rey couldn’t resist trailing her hand over the faded, embossed wallpaper, enjoying the valleys and crests under her fingertips. ‘All at your own cost. If you want to paint, fine. As you know it’s a little neglected. The owners aren’t overly sentimental. You could knock through a wall and they wouldn’t care. Just don’t damage the facade and any changes to the fixtures need to be approved by myself. Blockages, electrical damage you come to me. Hot water issues, rodents, vents, all my domain. Keep the rest of it as pretty or as filthy as you want.’
It was all too good to be true.
Rey focused on the positives.
‘And my key?’ She asked as they lumbered up flight of stairs number three. Plutt fished it out of his pocket. It was warm as he pressed it into her palm, his fingers slightly greasy as he held her hand for a few moments too long.
‘You lose it, come to me for a replacement. I keep the spare in case you lock yourself out. It happens. It’s easier that way.’
‘That’s really considerate, thank you!’ She gave him another bright smile, feeling her excitement build even further as they made their way up staircase four to her own personal one. Stairwell five. Old, rickety and strewn with cobwebs. A skylight threw a square of warm yellow over darkened floorboards and a narrow hallway.
Rey almost pranced up the seventeen stairs to stand, staring at her door. Hers. It was hers and all hers alone. Deep, brown wood, scored and marked from years of use, the door knob bronzed with hundreds of palms touching it. It sang of stories and tales and age and wonder. And it was hers!
Plutt reached the landing and lumbered behind her to the door.
Rey held her breath as she slid the key, her key, into the lock and turned. It clicked and she pushed the door open.
Hers, hers, hers.
She flicked the switch and the lightbulb in the living space blew in a shower of sparks.
Plutt swore under his breath.
Rey grinned.
***
Plutt had graciously given her a new bulb as a gesture of good faith. But Rey wasn’t fazed. It was an old building, it was bound to happen!
Alone, finally, she took herself on her own little tour. Little being the operative word. It was little, and hers, and perfect.
The front door opened into a living space slash kitchenette. There was no furniture, no pots or pans or cooking utensils, but Rey had been saving and she would fix it. She would fix all of this because it was hers and Rey was good at fixing things. A window above the kitchen sink looked out over the town, over big fir trees and grey streets. A bigger window in the living space revealed more of the same view. There was a lot of natural light and she could already envision the sill covered in small pot plants, succulents and trailing vines. The ceiling was canted, sloped with the outer roof, giving her a delightfully pitched ceiling that housed quite a few spider families. But Rey didn’t mind. They’d keep her bug free.
On the other side of the living space were two doors. The door closest to the outer wall was the main bedroom. She pushed the heavy, squeaking door open, and admired the big, empty space. She’d put more plants in the window, here. The built in wardrobes were handy, too, for when she had things to store. They lined and insulated the wall that divided her room from the bathroom. She imagined they probably helped soften the noise of old pipes, too. Not that it would matter much. She was the only person here, so it’s not like she’d be woken up by someone flushing the toilet in the middle of the night.
She entered the second door in the living space, checking out her bathroom. The mirror above the mouldy vanity was in need of a good scrub. Years of gunk and grime were pasted to the surface that had once been reflective. The shower/bath wasn’t in much better condition, and the toilet was gag-inducing. But there was promise. The tiles were still firmly attached to the walls, and a huge amount of elbow grease and buckets of bleach would certainly solve the gunk coating this particular room. The vent in the corner certainly needed a good clean out. She could hear the fan struggling to whir, no doubt blocked with an unimaginable amount of dust and hair.
Furniture was important, but her first call of duty would be to the cleaning aisle in the store to be able fix all of this, first. Rey ran the mental checklist as she scanned the room, making a note for a face mask and quite a few pairs of thick gloves. And safety goggles. She wondered if hazmat suits were expensive.
She stretched as she stepped back into her living space, eyes tracking over the cracked walls and flaking ceiling, over the water stains beside the window. She then looked at the door to her left, opposite the window. It was the second bedroom, even though it was actually bigger. Rey had to put her shoulder into it to open the heavy door. It creaked and groaned in protest, as if struggling to keep her from the secrets of the universe.
Three windows shone bright light over the spacious room. The walls were in awful condition, scorch marks blackened the ceiling around the two light fixtures. Someone had dug what looked like claw marks into the floorboards, which was a shame. But Rey didn’t care. She didn’t actually own the place, she was renting, and the little deformities could be easily covered with a rug.
She ran her hand over the wallpaper, similar to the embossed style in the hallways downstairs. Her fingers caught in a seam and pulled slightly. It gave easily, so she wiggled her fingers underneath and pulled. The paper came away in huge, tattered shreds, flaking about her feet. Rey couldn’t help but laugh.
This room definitely needed a new coat of paint. Maybe several, but she was more than up for the task. She shook her head at the splatters of dark red paint, at the twists of black and gold and bright red she could see under her destructive efforts. Perhaps the haunted rumours had come from previous owners that had decorated like satanists, who also had a strong appreciation for natural light.
She had big plans for this room. A perfect space for a studio to work on her side projects.
Rey planted her hands on her hips and grinned about her new domain.
Life here was going to be amazing.