Tangled With My Roommate

Chapter-15: Mischief Night

|| Arabella ||

I just got back from my first day at work in the late evening. Although they said I could start working from the start of November, I didn't see the point of wasting a good Sunday to start earning.

It was the night before Halloween. Something called the Mischief Night or Devil's Night. The kids and teenagers were going crazy and some 'cool' parents even let them loose, so the kitchen was really busy. I was bone-tired.

"I'm home," I announced after I opened the door.

The apartment was dead silent. I couldn't tell if anyone was home. Maybe Theo and Wyatt were out or sleeping in their rooms. However, I still got the creeps from remembering the stories Theo told me about this building being haunted on this night.

Before freshening up, I went to the kitchen to drink some juice. I noticed Clover licking her paw on the kitchen counter with a bowl of red liquid in front of her—what the fuck did Theo give her to drink? That looked like blood. I tried to peek, but she snarled at me.

"Seriously, you need anger management classes, cat."

I stuck my tongue out at Clover and opened the fridge. I blindly reached out for the juice bottle inside, only for my hand to land on something soft, skinish.

"What the—" I cut myself off when my eyes fell on what my hand was touching. It was a severed hand with blood dripping from its wrist. "Holy Christ!" I instantly backed off.

My back collided with the counter, my hand flipping Clover's bowl, spilling its red content. "Oh, God, blood!" I screamed and ran to the bathroom.

Closing the door, I breathed in and out, murmuring to myself, "I must be going crazy due to exhaustion, or it's all Theo's doing. Whatever. Stay positive. It's not any evil spirit."

Sighing, I turned on the shower first. Just as I started to strip off my top, I noticed the red liquid hitting the bathroom floor and let out another scream. I dashed out of there.

I knocked on Theo's door desperately, then tried turning his doorknob, but it was locked. "Theo, are you in there? Come out. This is all your plan, isn't it?" I hollered.

Just then the calling bell rang up.

Who came so late?

Taking baby steps, I went to get the door, my heart beating crazy fast. It was a delivery man with an ice cooler, his face oddly covered with a red cap. "What is it?" I inquired.

"There's a party upstairs. They send this," he said in a creepy voice and handed me the container.

"Excuse me. Wait—" I tried to say but the man was already walking away.

Frowning, I closed the door and opened the cooler with shivering hands. I hoped it wasn't anyone's severed head that Theo sent for me.

Instead, it was something scarier. A snake jumped out.

I dropped the cooler from my hand and jumped a few feet away.

"Annabelle?" I flinched and almost got a heart attack at the sudden voice and looked behind me to find Theo standing at his doorway while rubbing his eyes with his hair mused.

"You were in there this whole time?" I asked, closing our distance.

"Yeah, I fell asleep while studying," he said. "What's going on? Why are you shaking?" He put a hand on my shoulder to stabilize me.

I took a deep breath and asked, "It's all your doing, isn't it?"

"What doing?" He raised an eyebrow.