Making content was proving difficult for Aaron. He had so much on his mind that his comedy skits didn't seem as funny as usual, but he had to post something or risk losing more followers, so he did his best to brainstorm ideas.
Justin was MIA for a few days. At first, he thought that the guy had disappeared like Elijah, but the others still remembered him so it didn't seem like that was the case.
Back in the past, Caleb was struggling with the sudden shift to overnight. Whenever Aaron arrived, the guy was passed out on the couch, having tried to stay up for the content creator. He could have awoken the ghost but knew he needed some time to adjust to the new job and thus left him alone.
It wasn't until the third day that he finally spotted Justin again. He didn't appear to have any new injuries, but he did seem worried about something. He was vacantly staring into space by the fridge with his hand on the counter. Aaron tapped him on the shoulder and he jerked away.
Once he saw who it was, he let out a sigh. "You scared me!"
"Sorry but, where have you been? It's been days and everyone's worried."
"I saw you just yesterday."
"When?"
"In the bathroom."
"That was three days ago, man."
Justin blinked. "Was it?"
"You sure you're okay?"
He stared down at his feet but didn't answer. Aaron needed to get more information out of the man and fast. He wanted to be gentle though because he seemed to be traumatized. "Hey...Justin. Did...Did anything bad happen to you while living here?"
Justin looked back at him, confused, and shook his head.
"You sure? No one...Attacked you or anything?"
The man's body locked up, and he turned slowly towards Aaron. "Why would you think that?"
"Just...Wondering." He had hoped that insinuating it would jog the guy's memory, but his confused reaction had Aaron thinking that maybe he was completely wrong. Caleb had said it was a married couple that lived there, and Justin wasn't married. So maybe he had the right story, but the wrong person?
If he knew any of their neighbors then he'd have gone to them for answers. Yet, being a homebody, he didn't have the social skills to make friends. All he knew how to do was prank strangers. Yet, it looked like he was going to have to get over that if he wanted more information.
He patted Justin's shoulder. "Never mind. I was jumping to conclusions. I'll see you later?"
"Yeah." Justin nodded and opened the refrigerator, only to stare blankly inside as Aaron walked away.
According to Caleb, people in the neighborhood knew a lot more about the house than what was reported online, so that was where he'd have to start.
Out front, a few other townhouses were aligning the road with an old cracked sidewalk. Some trees were planted to make the area look nice, and from a distance it was beautiful.
Scanning the road for other pedestrians, he spotted a man sitting on a bench and made his way towards him, already wondering how he should start the conversation.
Three kids abruptly ran out from beside one of the townhouses and cut in front of him. They all looked about ten or so and were squealing as two boys avoided a girl who was running with her hands out, intent on tagging them.
When the boy upfront noticed Aaron, he stopped in his tracks and stared. The other two kids did the same when they caught up.
"Oh, hiya." Aaron awkwardly waved, hoping they'd get out of his way.
The kids looked at each other, and he noticed the little girl's eyes flick towards the townhouse where he lived.
"Do you guys know that house?" He jutted his thumb back towards it. When they still didn't answer, he continued. "I live there and heard there were some stories about it."
The second little boy started backing away before darting back to the house he had run out from.
The girl watched him go, then calmly followed along with the second kid. They proceeded to toss looks over their shoulder as they went, leaving Aaron entirely creeped out.
Whatever that was, it felt unsettling. And worse, when he looked back down the street, the old man on the bench was gone too.
Great.
He wandered around the neighborhood for a little bit, spooked by the kid's strange behavior. There didn't seem to be many people out today. Most of them were getting in their cars or were already too far away for him to catch up. Aaron didn't have the guts to just knock on anyone else's door and when he reached the edge of the neighborhood, he gave up and decided to work on his content.
The mall was the busiest part of town, so he had quite a ways to walk for this one and didn't arrive till around noon. He had a simple prank planned where he taped a recorder underneath a bench and had it scream whenever someone sat down.
Since he wasn't in the video himself, he didn't have to bother his friend Eric for help and spent a few minutes preparing his setup. The longest part was waiting for people to sit back down since everyone could hear the sound and avoid it afterward.
When he went to check on the audio for round two, a woman stood by with a wide grin. She had red lipstick and shoulder-length blond hair with a tight black and white striped dress. "Was that you scaring people?"
Aaron looked up cautiously, hoping he wasn't about to get in trouble. "Yeah, that was me."
"Nice!" She laughed. "You were startling people back at the food court!"
"Really? Well, now I wish I had thought to bring a second camera."
"You're recording these?"
"Yeah, for my channel. Don't worry, I blur out faces and don't include anyone who asks to be removed."
"Oh my gosh! What's your content?"
Being ever so modest, Aaron told her his channel name, then got an idea. "Have you ever heard of that 'Ghost Encounters' channel?"
"Ghost Encounters? No, I don't think I have."
"Really? The guy who created it got in trouble for breaking into a house around here. I was hoping someone in the area could tell me more about the townhouse he had investigated."
"Sorry." She shrugged. "I don't remember seeing anything about that, but it sounds interesting."
"It is. I heard multiple people died in that house, but there's so little information about it. I think it's kind of strange."
The woman looked perplexed, then shook her head when she failed to recall anything useful.
"Okay, thanks." He waved goodbye and felt disheartened as he finished grabbing his recording equipment and continued with his pranks.
Everything was coming up a bust today. And worse, by the time he was done he had lost track of time and noticed it was dark out. The residents in the mall had started to thin out, but he didn't realize it was because of how late it was, and the shops were even beginning to lock up for the night.
Instead of going straight home, he stopped out front of the mall entrance and pulled up Elijah's videos. Scrolling down to the year he almost died, he watched some extra clips in hopes of learning something new. Unfortunately, it turned out that the man didn't have many answers himself. He too didn't know the names of the previous tenants, nor how they died. He just knew there were rumors of the building being haunted and reports of bodies.
Angry that he had made no progress, he figured he could switch gears tonight and focus back on Caleb.
The moon was hidden behind the clouds as the wind picked up, and Aaron feared it was going to rain soon, so he hurried home as fast as he could with all the equipment he had to carry. He needed to remember not to stay out after dark, considering how dangerous the neighborhood was.
Reaching his street, he spotted the bench with the old man again. Earlier the guy had disappeared after the kids distracted him, but he was back now, sitting in the dark.
He was going to ask him some questions before, but in this atmosphere, he felt like something might be off about the old guy instead.
Keeping his head down, he tried to walk passed quickly, ignoring the man's wrinkled face and how his ragged old beany came down to his brows. His coat was grey with holes worn in the elbows, and he smelled like mold.
"They thought you were dead." Came his raspy voice.
Aaron froze in his tracks, turning slowly to find the old man's eyes locked onto his. "What?"
"The kids. They thought you were dead."
Intrigued, he stepped closer. "Why?"
"Because you live there." He jutted his chin in the direction of the townhouse. "I see you come and go all the time."
"But...I'm not dead."
"Don't you know about that house?"
Sucking in a breath, he prepared for the stories he'd been desperately seeking all day. "No, but can you tell me?"
The man smiled, showing that a few of his teeth were missing. "You're not the first person who lived there. I've met a few of the others too."
"Really?!" Aaron's excitement was restored. "What were their names?"
"That's the thing. I don't remember. No one does." The old man frowned. "Ten years' worth of tenants, and no one remembers a single one of them. But we know we've met them at some point or another. I'm sure you'll be forgotten too. "
"Do you know what happened to them?"
The old man laughed. "Of course. The house...It ate them."
His smile stiffened and Aaron grew doubtful. It was one thing to suspect homicide, but another thing to claim the building itself was behind it.
"Sir, I was asking if you knew how they died?"
"Oh, that." He looked off to the side. "There are lots of stories of how it works. It starts with a bad day. Then a bad week. Then accidents happen to the tenants before they're forgotten. Once or twice the house was nearly condemned, but for some reason, it remained standing and kept getting renovated."
Aaron was growing tired of the misdirection this conversation was taking, so he was going to be blunt. "Do you know the names Caleb Morris or...Some guy named Justin?" He realize once more that he didn't know his housemates' last names and made a note to specifically ask for them.
The old man shook his head. "Never heard of the first one, and I don't particularly know anyone named Justin."
"Then do you know anything about a married couple fighting in the house? Something about the wife stabbing her husband?"
His face pinched together. "No, I don't recall any of them being married. At least, none of the ones I met. Not that I've met them all. I just sit here and watch them come and go. You're the first to speak to me out of the most recent ones."
Aaron sighed, ready to give up as his questioning was leading nowhere. "Alright. If I see you again I might have more questions." He shivered as another burst of wind reminded him of the oncoming weather.
"Sure thing." The old man remained unaffected as the weather worsened.
Aaron trotted across the street, passing the vehicles in the driveway and stepping up to the door. He then heard yelling inside, but couldn't make out the words and burst inside, worried there was a fight.
The lights were all on and he dropped his equipment by the door. Something was off in the house, but he couldn't put his finger on it until the door slammed itself shut.
"I didn't say that!" Justin's voice caught his ear.
Aaron followed the sounds as a second person seemed to be arguing with him. This other voice was male and sounded quite menacing. "I don't give a shit what you thought you did or didn't say. I know what I heard!"
"Can we please just drop this? I don't want anything to do with her. Why do you keep bothering me?"
Aaron rounded the corner and found the two men standing in the kitchen. Somehow his other housemates hadn't come to investigate the yelling. He eyed the intruder, who was dressed in a red hoody and ripped jeans. His face was obscured, so he wouldn't be able to identify him if things got out of hand.
The hooded man stepped closer until he was right in Justin's face. Justin immediately glanced away, averting his gaze. The creep sneered at him. "Because someone as pathetic as you should never have been with her in the first place."
When Aaron saw the man reach for something in his pocket, he grew concerned and decided to act. "Hey!" He shouted, storming into the kitchen as his body went on full alert.
Justin was the first to spot him, his eyes going wide as Aaron got closer. The hooded man didn't bother looking his way as he pulled out a knife and dangled it threateningly in front of Justin's face.
"What the fuck!?" Aaron shouted more urgently, reaching Justin's side and preparing to tackle the guy.
Finally, the armed man noticed him and jerked back, his confident grin fading instantly. "What the fuck is that?"
Justin stared in shock as Aaron bravely stood between the two. "You get the fuck out of here or I'll call the damn cops! Did you get that? There are more guys here too so don't get any funny ideas!"
The man seemed to get the message, shaking his head in confusion. Then he pocketed the weapon and ran for the door.
Aaron didn't care about the guy so long as he was gone. He turned to Justin and noticed the man had several new bruises all over his face.
"Holy shit! What did that guy do to you? Where's Todd?" He wondered.
Justin reached for the counter behind him and leaned back, looking frightened.
Aaron tried to get closer so he could inspect his wounds, but the man scooched further away. He heard rattling behind him and peeked out around the corner to find the armed man struggling with the doorknob.
Wait a minute...
Stepping out of the kitchen and further into the living room, he watched as the door finally clicked and the man ran out, slamming the door behind himself. It was then he finally noticed the ugly wallpaper. Yet this time, there was a rocking chair and some desks set out in the living room that wasn't there before.
Checking the time on his phone, he realized he had returned a little past midnight.
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