Cassie didn't sleep for the rest of the night.
Every time she closed her eyes, she saw those endless stairs. The cloaked figure. The river of bones.
So she sat in the living room with every light on, curled up like a shaken child after a thunderstorm. The dawn was slow and sluggish, but when it came, the sun's light felt like an exorcism. She stretched her legs, groaned, and tried to convince herself she was imagining things.
Ghosts weren't real. And if they were, she was too broke to be haunted. Let them pay rent.
Janey emerged from her post-shift nap a few hours later, yawning, her hair in a tangled bun and eyes puffy from lack of sleep. She dropped onto the couch beside Cassie.
"Morning, corpse girl."
Cassie groaned. "Don't say corpse."
Janey blinked. "Right. Forgot you're now allergic to the supernatural."
Cassie hugged her knees. "It felt real, Jane. I can still hear it if I stay too quiet. That voice."
Janey rubbed her back with a hint of concern. "Okay. Alright. Let's just go do something normal. Grocery shopping? You need food, fresh air, and less Netflix."
Cassie hesitated, then nodded. "Yeah. Good idea."
The city outside was its usual noisy chaos. Buskers played guitars out of tune, children screamed about ice cream, and a street preacher warned everyone about the apocalypse.
Cassie found it oddly comforting.
They took a long walk to the supermarket, mostly to soak in the sun. On their way back, armed with noodles, canned coffee, and questionable on-sale veggies, they passed a florist.
Janey gasped. "We should get a plant."
Cassie raised an eyebrow. "We can't even keep a toaster functional. You want to be responsible for chlorophyll now?"
Janey pointed at a little cactus in the window. "Even you can't kill that."
Cassie narrowed her eyes at the cactus, then walked into the store.
"Fine. One cactus. If it dies, you owe it a funeral."
"Deal."
They named the cactus Sir Prickles.
That night, Cassie stood brushing her teeth, staring at herself in the mirror.
She looked exhausted. Dark circles under her eyes. Hair messy. Her skin looked paler than usual. Like something had been drained.
She ran a hand through her curls and sighed.
"I'm fine," she whispered to her reflection.
A whisper answered: "No, you're not."
The toothbrush dropped from her hand.
She spun around.
Nothing.
She rushed out of the bathroom, heart in her throat, and banged on Janey's door.
Janey opened with a scowl. "I was about to sleep..."
"I heard something. In the bathroom."
Janey groaned but followed her anyway.
They searched. Nothing. No voices. No shadows.
Janey gave her a long look. "Babe, are you eating expired cheese again?"
"I swear, Jane. It's not in my head."
"I believe that you believe it."
Cassie threw a pillow at her.
Around midnight, Janey finally fell asleep. Cassie stayed up sketching, hoping to distract herself. The lines on the page grew darker, bolder, sharper until she realized she was drawing him.
The cloaked figure.
Cassie shuddered and slammed the sketchbook shut.
She lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. The whispering returned, soft and unintelligible. It filled the corners of the room like smoke.
She tried covering her ears. She tried chanting affirmations. Nothing worked.
And then...
A knock.
This time, on the door.
Three knocks.
She froze.
Another knock. Not frantic. Not urgent. Just... there.
Her hand trembled as she reached for the knob.
She opened it a crack.
No one.
But down the hallway, a figure turned the corner.
Black coat. Tall. Unmistakable.
Cassie's breath caught.
The neighbor.
He didn't look back. Didn't run. Just disappeared around the hallway bend.
Cassie stood in the doorway, barefoot and shaking, clutching the handle like a lifeline.
Something about him didn't feel human.
Not just the silence of his steps.
But the way the hallway itself held its breath when he passed.
The next morning, she confronted Janey.
"He was out there."
"Who?"
"Our neighbor. The weird one."
Janey looked skeptical. "You opened the door in the middle of the night?"
"I had to! There were knocks, Jane. Real ones."
Janey sighed. "Maybe he's just a weirdo. Or maybe you've been overworking yourself. It's not healthy."
Cassie didn't answer. Instead, she turned back toward the hallway.
And this time, she didn't imagine it.
She felt it.
Eyes. Watching.
From behind the wall.
And for the first time since moving in, Cassie began to wonder...
What if this apartment hadn't just been cheap?
What if it had been waiting for her?
Later that day, Cassie decided to make coffee, anything to pull herself out of the haze. As she poured water into the kettle, something flickered at the corner of her vision.
The living room mirror.
Her reflection was standing still... but behind her was another figure. Tall. Still. Unmoving.
She spun around.
Nothing.
She grabbed a baseball bat from under the couch. Janey had bought it in case of burglars. Today, ghosts seemed more likely.
"Okay!" she shouted into the empty room. "If this is your idea of fun, stop it. You picked the wrong girl to haunt. I am broke, cranky, and PMSing. Come at me!"
No reply.
Cassie blew out a sharp breath and turned back to the kettle.
The water had already boiled.
But she hadn't turned it on yet.
Janey returned just as Cassie was double checking all the windows.
"Woah, what happened here?"
"Something's wrong with this apartment."
Janey frowned. "What now?"
Cassie explained everything again. Janey, to her credit, didn't roll her eyes this time. Just listened quietly.
"I don't think I'm imagining it," Cassie said. "I think... something lives here. Or maybe next door."
"You mean our charmingly rude neighbor who's never once made eye contact?"
Cassie nodded. "I think he's connected to all this."
Janey sighed and sat beside her. "Okay. You're probably just tired. But let's say you're not. What are we gonna do?"
Cassie stared at the wall that separated them from his apartment.
"I think it's time we found out who he is."
"And what? Knock and say, 'Hi, you seem creepy. Wanna share your ghost problem?'"
Cassie smirked. "That's exactly what I plan to do."