Big Book Of Smornby One Shots

Spooky Action (S/N)

TW: Safe for now (tw's at the top of each chapter)... Spoopy Ghosts!

~Chapter One

By the time the video upload finally ticked over to complete, Ross yawned. It wasn't that late, not by their usual standards. Barely past midnight but he was already tired. They'd pushed out a lot of stuff this evening because Trott had plans. He tried to remember what Chris was out doing - a movie maybe? Ross sighed and rolled his head back to stretch out his neck.

At first, he barely noticed the noise. The stealthy creaks blended into the ordinary sounds of the evening. A thump made his eyes flick upwards and Ross frowned. When Alex ambled back into the room and sat down at his computer, Ross looked at him a bit sideways.

"Did you drop something?" he asked, picking up his phone to check for messages.

"No. Why?" Alex made a face at him, quizzical.

"I could hear you thumping around up there, is all."

"Mate, I was in the kitchen."

"No, I heard you up in your room."

"No," he repeated with a head shake. "Making myself a drink?" Alex held up his glass, swirled it around.

"But..." Ross trailed off and leaned back in his chair. He rubbed a hand through his dark hair, scrubbing out the indent from wearing his headphones for the past hour or two. "I heard something."

"Nobody up there mate, Trott's out and I'm right here." Alex picked up his own headphones, ready to get stuck back into the mess of edits. He glanced up after a moment, watching Ross stare at the ceiling. Ross licked his lips, blue eyes narrowed and a crease between his eyebrows. He kept making that weird face, something halfway between consternation and curiosity.

A sound like foot steps vibrated down through the ceiling and Ross slapped at the desk.

"Smith!"

"What?" His expression grew annoyed as he paused his work.

"It sounded like someone walking up there."

"Have you been watching scary movies again or something?"

"No." Ross hunched defensively, pulling on the drawstring of his hoodie. "I fucking heard something. I am not imagining things."

"Sure..." They sat there, listening to the ever present machine hum and the quiet house. Just as Alex was about to jam his headphones back over his ears there was a thump, followed by a heavy sound like something falling to the floor.

"There!" exclaimed Ross.

"Fuck," Alex said, startled. "What the fuck?"

"I don't know!" They looked at each other and back up at the otherwise unremarkable white ceiling. The room was well lit, comfortably crowded and not the least bit spooky. At least until they heard another creaking sound.

"That's your room up there," said Ross very quietly. "It's coming from your room." He gripped the cord of his headphones, anxious kneading his fingers against the table top. An especially loud creaking sound made him jump.

Alex made a face, half annoyed and half disturbed. He drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair while Ross continued to stare in terrified fascination at the ceiling.

"Fuck it, I'll go take a look."

"No!" Ross looked horrified. "What if..."

"What if what?" Alex interrupted him, standing abruptly. "Maybe the window's open, stuff's just banging around." He didn't sound terribly convinced of the idea however.