DWR2k3

DWR2k3 t1_j4kbxcg wrote

I checked and double-checked my rental agreement. Apparently, if I did repairs, and could show evidence of them, as well as receipts, I could get the costs removed from my rent. And it would benefit me. And I suppose the other occupants, I hadn't met them much yet. Anyways, I'd been an on site manager before, and had picked up a lot of generally useful handyman skills. So I set to work.

I'm a morning person. I wasn't always, but working a few 6-2 shifts in IT, then leaving after the company turned to shit, kind of changed me. Thanks to said company turning to shit, my settlement means I don't have to work for several years, so I'm working on a few things before I go back to school. And a cheap place like this feels just nice. My neighbors have interesting names. Carmilla Ruthven. Fidel Sigurdsen. Heather Eurytou. Just a few. I haven't met any of them yet, they're probably night owls like I used to be. Still, after fixing the sticking buttons in the elevator, oiling several hinges, and doing small tasks around, they might be happy.

One night, I hear a voice outside my window. I look out, and see some sort of weird vision, it looks like a woman glowing at first, then I shake my head, and I just see a bat hitting the window. Odd behavior for a bat. I hope it's okay.

The next night, I hear howling. It sounds like it's coming from inside the building. I roll over and go to sleep. After living in Salem, that sound doesn't bother me any more.

I'm just about to head to bed when I hear a knock from my door. I look out the peephole and see a woman. Briefly, I get a sense of size and power, but that goes away. I open the door. "Hello?"
"Oh hi, I'm Heather, your neighbor. I was just check..." she trails off, looking at me. For a moment, her eyes glaze over, then she looks at me. "You fixed the elevator? And the hinges?" I nod. She thinks a moment, then mutters in something I think sounds like Greek. "Okay. We have a thing happening Friday night, around... 8:30pm. Think you can make it?" I nod. "Good. See you there. It's at my apartment across the way."

Friday arrives, and I show up. I'm wearing nice casual: a polo shirt, slacks. Not sure how formal this thing is, but I figure I might as well not look like a total slob. I get in, and suddenly I stop. One woman has fangs, and they don't look fake. That man has a legitimate wolf head, not a fake one. And then there's Heather... She's about ten feet tall. I see a man on fire, or made of fire, someone with dark wings... Heather looks at me. "My friends, we don't need to torment this one. If he can stand our true forms, he is welcome by my vote, as he is fixing the complex. Who else agrees?" The man with the wolf's head nods, as does the man on fire, and the thing with dark wings makes a gesture of assent. The woman with fangs sighs and nods. "Good. Now, mortal, if you can withstand this night with your sanity intact, you will find us good friends and neighbors."

Lately, my life has been good. There's no physical security like a werewolf and vampire pair. A demon and djinn are looking over my employment contracts. And I have a divine seeress who can tell me I'm even going to survive Ragnarok... Whatever the hell that is. Apparently a lot of gods are going to die. I'm not worried. As for the landlord... Well, he's on their shit list after he tried to screw me out of the value of the repairs I made. After a week, he applied it to my next month's rent, but he also seems to be more annoyed than scared. Whatever just finds these guys annoying is something to be wary of. That said... My life is better now.

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