poltergeist (shane x ryan)

[03]

Ryan had never seen such a tragedy.

And that tragedy was himself.

He sat in the apartment of Sara Rubin, drinking a dangerously hot cup of coffee she had made while she sat right across from him.

"So, Ryan, you know I'm not trying to be rude, but why are you here?" she asked, taking a sip out of her own coffee, "did you not just move in to your new place?"

She inquired this with eyes blazing with curiosity, trying to examine just what was the matter with the taller boy in front of her.

"Yeah, yeah I did. But uh," he coughed, trying to think of a valid excuse. "the electricity, you know? It hasn't been connected yet. No one really, no one really stayed there before me so they just cut off the power and the landlord said it was going to take a while before they could have it up."

He got through this sentence with endless stammers, evident that he was lying. However Sara had seemed to buy into it, and her eyes softened.

"Oh, oh okay. Well you know you can stay as long as you like, right?"

Ryan's heart sank, knowing her genuine kindness could very easily been taken for granted, and he felt horrible that it felt like this was what he was doing right now.

"Can I live with you for a week?"

Sara smiled, "No problem."

Ryan still felt bad as he had, without notice, intruded into a life of a coworker and friend so suddenly. He felt his face flush just thinking of it, wondering how he could possibly return such a favor.

"I can pay rent." he offered, almost eagerly, wanting to do something in return for her deeds.

"For a week? Ryan, no. It's really not a problem."

"Are—" he stopped, wondering if Sara was bluffing. "are you sure?"

Sara flashed another smile, finishing off the cup of coffee as she stood to put it beside the sink, "Yeah. Don't worry 'bout it, I've got a spare bedroom you can sleep in."

Ryan mimicked her actions then leaned against the counter, eyeing Sara with gratitude.

"Thank you so much, dude. I mean, I really could just go to a hotel or whatever—"

"Do you know how expensive hotels are in L.A.?" she laughed. "don't be embarrassed, really. I'd do this for anyone I consider a friend without a doubt, and I know you would do the same for me."

Ryan nodded, smiling for the first time in the past three days.

...

It had been two days since Ryan's unusual encounter with what he deemed the impossible.

No, he hasn't told anyone. He'd be sent to the nearest asylum the minute he opened his mouth. The fear had subsided, but he knew he couldn't escape going back. He had to, reason number one being he lived there. He had no reason to tell the landlord if ever he had to forfeit the apartment.

He laid on his bed as he thought of when he could come back to the apartment. Today, he was off work. Tomorrow, he wasn't, so there wasn't any better opportunity than today.

He stood from his position on the bed and grabbed his phone. This was going to be an idiotic decision, but there wasn't any choice.

Pulling the door open, he walked out into the living room where Sara sat on the chair by the table, browsing through her phone casually.

"Hey, Ryan, where you goin'?" she asked.

"Back to my place," he gulped. "I want to check if the power's on."

Sara pocketed her phone, glanced by the clock hanging in the chicken, and stood.

"Can I come with? There's nothing to do right now."

Ryan couldn't decide if it was better to add Sara to his adventure back into the apartment. What if he sees what he saw again, and Sara could see it too? What if it hurt her? It certainly had no holding back into potentially hurting Ryan. Still, maybe her coming along was the wiser thing to do.

Thankfully, he found out later that the story he had told Sara about the electricity not working was true. They arrived at the apartment an hour later. The door was locked shut (Ryan had distinctly remembered leaving the door wide open while running out) so he slid his keys inside and pushed the door open.

He didn't know what he was going to see, but definitely not what he did.

Every single piece of his things was misplaced, broken, like they were thrown against a wall. Plates were smashed, on the kitchen floor, and the mattress of the bed he had slept in was perfectly made, though he had not bothered to clean it before standing.

"Ryan, you never struck me as a messy person," Sara commented.

"I didn't do any of this." Ryan breathed heavily, gathering the will to head over to the room where he found the picture. Sara went around exploring the apartment. Ryan finally walked over, and immediately it was like the hot haze he had been feeling just about everywhere had turned into an icy cold chill. He breathed again.

The photo was neatly placed on the floor, in the case it always was contained in.

Then, as if he wasn't moving by his own will anymore, he took the case and took a better look at it. The photo was nothing different. Still damaged. He pulled the photo from its container and flipped it around, reading and rereading what was written on it.

"I'm sorry I had to do this. It isn't fair to you. But I deserved it. From S."

He had finished muttering it to himself for the fifth time when an ear-piercing scream came from a different room, though Ryan was sure it was still within his apartment. He dropped the photo, running to the source of the sound.

It was in his bedroom that Sara stood there with a look on her face that had indicated that something was wrong.

"Sara, are you okay?" he nearly yelled.

"Something touched me. Pulled my hair. I thought it was you, but you were in another room. There was a whisper, and it wasn't your voice. Ryan, what's going on here?" she frantically spoke, her hands waving just as frantic and fast as she was speaking.

"Look, if I knew, I would tell. I don't know. I didn't really want to tell anyone because I fear that they'd send me to the next mental hospital that was nearest here."

"I found a picture that wasn't mine, Sara. I don't know who it was, and this happened the day I nearly demanded you let me stay with you."

"Where is it?"

"Where I've always been'

...

thank you for sticking with this story! it all looks confusing right now, but since this is the start, it'll take a bit before things get explained. as always, leave a vote and comment. let me know what you think of this story! follow me on twitter too.

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