#stro

{CHAPTER TWO: Settling In}

The apartment was a mess.

Of course, being in the hood, the place would most likely have no janitors nor would clean people live there, but you didn't expect actual fucking rotting corpses to litter the floor.

It was disgusting. In all actuality, this apartment looked like the back of a horror movie-dumpster. There were maggots, flies and other bugs everywhere, blood smeared on the wall, organs splattered against various surfaces throughout the house, trash and rotted food fucking everywhere, and last but NOT least, the chandelier on the ceiling was shattered. Fucking shattered. You were gonna have to invest in lamps.

You had to hold your breath as you walked in, barely able to not vomit at the stench. But as soon as you stepped in, you couldn't handle it. You ran downstairs and straight to Dara, the receptionist. "Hey. Dara, right? I have shit memory. Um, do you have any cleaning supplies? My apartment looks like a goddamn murder site if someone vomited the mass of Neptune," you spat.

Dara gazed at you with surprise and amusement, then annoyance. She looked over her shoulder, yelling, "ROOOOOOSE! GET OUT HERE!" A few slow moments later, a girl in a simple tangtop and genes emerged, long curly black hair flowing down her back in a high ponytail.

"Yeah?" The girl, apparently named Rose, asked.

"Why is room 102 not cleaned? I told you to get it done a week ago." Dara demanded, hand on her hip as she looked down at the short bratty teen.

Rose simply looked at her nails, not caring. "Oh yeah, I didn't want to."

"Bitch what do you think you're here for? I'm cutting ya pay." Dara snapped, aggravated.

Rose whined. "Nooo! Then how will I get my next hair-do?"

"You won't. Now get your ass back to work and I might consider giving it back."

"Ugh, fiiiiiine..." Rose dragged her feet as she approached the janitors cleaning cart, wheeling it over to the elevator and carting up.

"It works..?" you ask Dara softly.

"No," she replies. A few moments later, an annoyed Rose exits the elevator and slowly carries the cart up the stairs, mumbling curses as she goes.

As Rose disappeared behind the stairwell, Dara turned around and started fishing through room descriptions to find one which was open. "I'm so sorry about her, she can be quite... irresponsible. I'll get you a new room." She promised, fetching a room key. "Here, room 115. Please, lemme know if you have any complaints. You're, like, the one customer I can tolerate." She chuckle, amused by the fact that an actually good person was in this hotel.

"Alright, well thank you!" You exclaim, hurrying off to the stairs.

Dara smiles calmly as she looks back at her computer. Her smile instantly drops. "Did I just... shit!" she reaches a hand to where you were retreating. "Wait, Tammy-!" You had already disappeared down the hall, and Dara was unable to warn you that you were across the hall from Silent n Deadly.

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Luckily, this room was much cleaner. It wasn't pristine, but it was better than the trash heap you were just in and already had furniture. Crappy furniture, but furniture.

In the living room there was an old red sofa with a footrest in the middle of the room, a TV opposite to the couch, a tall black lamp that emitted an orange light when you pulled the chain in the corner, dark tan walls and same color carpeted floors. Wooden shelves adorned the walls surrounding the couch except for the one which had the TV, two hallways separating it from the other walls and into the rest of the apartment. Directly behind the sofa, there was a small table that had a panel of wood to make it have a top and bottom shelf as well as the top surface. It looked... actually comfy.

You walked around cautiously, still scared of what the rest of the apartment's state would be after that jump scare with the previous one. You slowly entered the kitchen, surprised that it was only dirty. There were your needed appliances in there: the stove, dishwasher, and fridge with a water/ice dispenser. The floors were tiled marble and table tops polished oak wood. The hallways cut off at one end, but continued to reveal two doors: the bedroom and the storage closet at the end of the hall.

The bedroom had one queen sized bed in the middle against the far wall, no windows since no one wanted windows in the hood. You never knew how far some fuckers would go. Beside the bed was one nightstand, another lamp identical to the one in the living room in the corner, and a simple closet in the wall. There was also a wooden dresser with five drawers.

"Not bad... better than I could do," you mused, excited at the fact you now practically had a functional apartment. In your pent up excitement, you flopped onto the bed, giggling. You mulled over how your life changed so much in just a few hours and the day wasn't even done yet. You got a wad of cash, a job, and a home. A chaotic, crappy home, but a home; one with furniture, no less. That was better than almost nothing. This along with the fact that you now had a good source of income from Stro made you feel pretty good.

Speaking of, you should check in with Stro. Get more details on the job and see if he got any clients you need to meet yet.

After getting more clothes. That would be important.

You hopped up, renewed energy coursing through you as you headed to go shopping. As you walked out of your apartment, you saw ribbon disappear behind the door across from yours as it closed. "Weird..." you thought. Not giving it a second thought, you closed the door behind you, locked it, and turned to leave.

Lost in your thoughts of what to do, you didn't see those familiar soulless eyes exit the door again and bore into you back with an intensity that might have terrified you if you'd noticed.

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So many clothes!

Turns out, the hood wasn't too far away from a busy business street. Food stalls, restaurants, malls, stores of all kinds littered the area. You went crazy, looking at all the fashionable stuff, then buying outfits that wouldn't make you stand out: loose t-shirts, baggy pants, collared jackets, and one cheap suit in case you ever had to look presentable. You would buy more stylish outfits but you didn't exactly have a safe job to wear whatever you wanted, now did you? Besides, your money was practically borrowed from Stro.

You didn't know why he decided to toss you a wad of cash, but he did, so you had to spend it wisely. Buy stuff to use at the new job he gave you, maybe a bullet proof vest if you could find one.

You look at the window outside of the clothing shop you were currently in. You saw a bakery across from you.

Fuck wisely, there's pastries.

Hurriedly checking out with the clothes you decided fit best with your occupation, you went over to the bakery, picking up some sour tarts to eat on the way back to your apartment. The brown paper bag was filled with a lemon cake, a small package of sour patch kids, and a small strawberry crepe cake. You knew you should buy things like groceries and utensils, pots, pans, more bedding, and lamps, but you had to get snacks first. Then you could buy the essentials.

Slightly annoyed that you'd have to wait to eat your freshly bought pastries and candy, you finally shop for necessities. You get hygiene products like soap and toilet paper for the bathroom. Then cooking pots, pans, silverware, measuring spoons, measuring cups, plates, bowls, cups, etc. for the kitchen. You got pillows for your bed and the couch, cleaning supplies, an extra few blankets, and paper/pens/pencils.

The bags dug into your arms as you tried to take a shorter route to the hotel, deciding to map out the different paths later. You finally got to the lobby, red marks showing from the bags' vivid imprints on you. Dara just glanced at you, looking back at her computer as she saw you jog up the staircase.

By the time you reached your apartment, you dropped the bags of essentials on the floor, closing your door and flopping onto the old couch. Finally, finally, you could relax. You hadn't gotten any groceries, so there was nothing to put away immediately. You could enjoy yourself a bit before continuing.

As you opened the brown paper bag and rushed to take a bite of the lemon tart, you thought about what to do tomorrow. Tomorrow, you could probably go shopping for books and then visit Spro; ask him about that guy you saw a few hours ago. Then, a few things could occur: You could get groceries, start your new job, or catch up on sleep. But that would be decided tomorrow; day of.

For now, you finished the tart and ate about half of the strawberry crepe cake, saving the rest. You would eat more, but you should probably save it for breakfast. Now it was time to put away the house supplies and then go to bed.

You groaned at the realization that you forgot to buy bins to put some of the stuff in. So for now, you folded the blankets and put them on the second lowest shelf in the storage closet, a shelf above that was the papers, pens, and pencils. The shelf above that was left empty, and the one above that held cleaning supplies. The shelf above that, the top shelf, held the large and newly opened packages of toilet paper and paper towels as you carried a roll of toilet paper to you bathroom.

You set up the toiletries and all hygiene products, getting your soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, perfume, etc. in the bathroom. You set up a shower curtain, and then put the shampoo, soap bar, and conditioner in the little pocket on the side.

Next was the kitchen. You stacked pots from biggest to smallest in one cupboard, then pans similarly in the one next to it. On the top pantries, you put the bowls, plates, and cups up, saving one cupboard for spices. You filled the drawers with measuring cups, spoons, forks, butter knives, spoons, and large cooking utensils.

With that done, it was time to flop on your bed. You didn't even care to change the blanket, too tired to remember the fact that the janitor Rose was incompetent. So, you blacked out, spent from the day's unexpected events and desperate to catch up on sleep.

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Bonus Scene:

Silent took control of their body most of the time, so it wasn't a surprise when he felt the urge to see what you were doing upon glancing at you in the hallway. Both Silent and Deadly's eyes bore into your back, curious about why you'd left your room. You'd only arrived 30 minutes ago, after all.

Knowing the consequences of Slient taking an interest in someone, Deadly urged him inside. Silent obliged, but not after one lasting glance at your retreating form.

He didn't even know your name yet and he was still so intrigued by your demeanor. It pissed him off, having his thoughts plagued by someone he didn't want to kill. It made him feel different; vulnerable, and that was unacceptable.

"Deadly, how the fuck should we deal with that boy? We don't even know him and my mind is falling apart," Silent growled, heavily aggravated by his body's reaction to the newcomer.

"Silent, I don't really think there's much we can do. I overheard their conversation with the receptionist, Dara, and..." Deadly sputtered, trying to stay calm and not annoy his twin any further.

"What is it?" Silent's eye narrow, ribbon neck untwisting as he moved his head towards Deadly's.

"Well, they are under the protection of Stro," He finishes.

Silent bangs his fist into the wall, murmuring curses as he falls onto his worn-out couch. "Damn it... and we can't ruin our connection with him... Believe it or not, I like the guy. Shit..."

"I know you'll hate the suggestion but... we could try to ignore him?" Deadly starts, voice level and calm.

"That's really all we can do..." Silent murmurs, eyes staring intensely into space as he fails to rid his thoughts of that damn newcomer.

Why did obsession have to be so all-consuming?

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Finally out on Easter Sunday!

This Chapter was kind of like cannon filler, but the Bonus Scene will connect it to Chapter Three, Four, and so on if I make more than that.

Hope you enjoyed if you read it!