­500 Special

Note – this is not connected to the plot. It's a separate little one shot to say thank you for all the reads! When I hit another milestone, I may do another thing like this if you guys like it :-) enjoy!

It's not like you wanted to move out to the country, it's just kind of the way things turned out. You were pretty broke and living in a run-down apartment when you got a phone call telling you of your distant relative that had passed away. You couldn't find it in you to be sad, really. You'd never met the old man. But when you heard that he left you a house that was already paid for and a lump sum of cash to fix it up, you weren't about to say no.

"You'll call if you need any help?" Your friend, Nate, asked.

"Of course," you laughed into the phone. "I'm not entirely sure why the house was left to me anyway, but I can't complain." You pulled your car into the driveway and gravel crunched under the wheels. It was an isolated place, surrounded by trees. Part of you grimaced, this was where you might live for the rest of your life? It's a twenty-minute drive to the nearest town and the town doesn't even have a pizza place.

"You absolutely can complain!" Nate retorted through the phone. "I can't believe you're forty-five minutes away from meeee." He whined. You chuckled at him, as you imagined him pouting. The two of you had been friends for a long time, you would even consider him your best friend.

"That's not so bad, is it? Besides, once I get this place fixed up and I get a nice savings account going, I can rent this place out and run right back to the city!"

"But that'll take years. Can't you rent it out now and come back here?"

"I honestly can't," you frowned. "I have some debt to settle, and I doubt this place is in any condition to be rented out yet. I wouldn't stop you from rooming with me, though?"

"Nah, I can't leave my job. I'll absolutely visit for a weekend though! Tell me I can visit for a weekend!" He begged.

"Yes, yes of course, dummy! Now let me go, I gotta check out my new digs," You laughed before exchanging farewells and hanging up. You were lucky you got phone service out here at all.

The house was two stories, but it felt like it towered over you. The wood paneling on the outside definitely needed painting. A bit of gardening wouldn't hurt either... You had to admit, you were a little excited. It's not every day that you get to abandon your shitty job and begin renovating an old house. Thanks, Great Uncle Albert, you smiled to yourself. And thank you for choosing me over my cousins.

You wiggled the key in the lock and hit your shoulder against the door to enter the place. The door's a bit stiff, you thought to yourself as you stepped inside. The floor creaked under your feet, and the place needed major dusting. It didn't look awful, though, and a new buzz of excitement washed over you as you saw all the covered furniture. You lifted the sheet off of a couch and gasped, such a lovely antique! And in lovely condition, too! The center of the couch sagged somewhat, but it was still functional. I guess I really did luck out on this one.

To be honest, it was a strange circumstance. No one else in the family even wanted the house. According to your Father, Great-uncle Albert tried to give it away numerous times when he was still living; you wouldn't be surprised if you were the only relative left. You didn't get why though, and nobody told you why either. The place was a little creepy, but the furniture was in good condition and the water worked. Plus, electricity was pretty cheap since the whole area ran on the dam nearby.

You shrugged your shoulders and carried on. So what if your relatives where too chickenshit to inherit an awesome house? It just meant more for you. You didn't bring much with you, so unpacking would be easy. The locals in the town, Henrysville, had warned you that people had squatted here in the past, so you had a baseball bat and some pepper spray... just in case!

You searched the house and found the living room, a spacious kitchen (that desperately needed a wash), the laundry room, two bathrooms, three bedrooms, and a study. Three bedrooms were a lot, so maybe Nate really could stay with you eventually. A few roommates would really liven this place up! You decided to worry about cleaning and fully unpacking tomorrow, so you just plugged in a microwave and got a hot pocket ready.

"Aw shit," you muttered as your microwave failed to turn on. Guess I've got a bust outlet. Hopefully, another one will work? You tried a different outlet and sighed in relief as it powered on. Thank Goodness. So, a few outlets need replacing. Noted.

As the hot pocket was cooking, you heard a crash behind you. was cooking, you heard a crash behind you. The nerves in your body spiked and you whirled around. Oh, you thought as you looked at a box that hit the ground. I must have left this on the edge of the table. You picked up the box and set it back on the table, more securely this time. The microwave beeped, and your tummy grumbled in anticipation. Hell yeah Hell yeah hot pockets, you thought as you pulled the steaming delicacy out of the radiation box. You almost took a bite (that you knew would burn your whole mouth) when a second crash was heard. You froze and looked over to the table. Seriously?? It was the same box! You put your plate down to pick up the box. Let's see what's inside...

Nothing too interesting. Just some photos you wanted to keep. You might as well put some out now and let your hot pocket cool. You sighed. Photo here, photo there... The place was still dusty, but now it was dusty with some character

You ate your food and headed to the biggest bedroom in the house. Tomorrow was going to be long and you wanted to sleep.

-:x x x x x:-

"Suki! I can't believe you knocked over that box twice!" Jason reprimanded.

"Dude, chill out. If this random girl wants to move into our house, she's gonna have to get used to the whole package," Suki crossed her arms defensively. Ryo floated into the sounds of their arguing.

"I kind of agree with Suki, but if you don't want to scare her away immediately you might want to tone it down."

"If she is such a baby that she gets scared over that, then she should leave!" Suki retorted.

"Well don't get all pouty when you're bored because the cute new girl decides to move out of the haunted house. That last stunt you pulled might have been a bit much."

"Aw, come on Ryo, you're usually on my side here," Suki pouted.

"Wait, Suki, what is the last stunt you pulled...?" Jason questioned.

"Well, uh," Suki began nervously before you gasped loudly from the other room.

-:x x x x x:-

You walked downstairs from a good night of sleep, and you were ready to face the day. You walked into the living room with a duster in hand before you dropped it in shock. What the hell?! All the photos you put up last night were tossed off of the shelves you placed them on. Frames were cracked, and some photos were damaged. You gently picked up a photo that was face down on the rug. It was a photo of you and Nate. Nervously, you put the photo down and picked up the baseball bat.

"Hello?" You called out. "Who's in here?" The idea that someone managed to make it past your locked doors without you noticing put you on edge. You gripped the bat close to you as you slowly made your way to the kitchen.

...Empty. You searched every room and it was just empty. Whoever it was seemed to have thrown your photos to the ground and then left... which was really weird and didn't soothe your worried mind at all. Nothing was missing, thankfully, but you still wanted to know what their deal was. Your skin was prickly as if you had gone from a very warm room to a very cold one and your body was shocked at the difference. You were about to temporarily give up on your search and get breakfast when something crashed behind you. You shrieked and turned around to see a vase on the ground. You didn't even have a moment to think anything through before a mug came hurtling towards the back of your head.

"Aw, fuck, Suki how was that your plan?" Quince asked. He had just been caught up on the recent events that caused the five ghosts to freak out. Quince knew someone was moving in, he just didn't realize it would bother his housemates so much.

"I don't know! I panicked!" Suki shouted as she rolled your unconscious body over to look at your face. "She is cute, though..."

"I already told you that," Ryo huffed.

"You guys want her to stay or something?" Quince questioned. He personally wouldn't object. He didn't dislike any of his housemates, but a newer and cuter face wouldn't be a bad thing. He looked to the other ghosts for their answer and they all nodded at him.

"Maybe it would be advantageous to be outright and tell her we're here," Dianna suggested.

"It seems too early for that," Ryo spoke. He would prefer to watch you squirm a bit longer.

"I think being outright would solve us a lot of trouble," Quince took Dianna's side. "People are finicky and would prefer to know the truth of a situation, you know. The longer we keep her in suspense, the more likely she'll bail."

Suki sighed, "Well she'll wake up any minute. Better decide fast."

"Suki, I thought you'd be excited to see a new girl," Jason pointed out. At this, Suki smiled lightly.

"I guess I am, it's been forever since I saw someone so cute. No offense Dianna it's just that you're not really my type," Suki laughed at the end.

"None taken. You are also not my type."

"Hey! That's not very—"

"Suki, shut up, the girl is waking up," Jason shoved her as he spoke. He was right; you placed a hand to the floor next to you and lifted your body from the ground. You were extremely dizzy. What the fuck just happened again? You tried to think as you rubbed your forehead. You slowly opened your eyes to see a shattered vase and broken mug. At the sight, your memories flooded back into you and your eyes widened. Someone definitely attacked you. Your legs shook so badly in fear that you didn't think you could even walk. You stood anyway, though, and nervously picked up the bat as you waited for your assailant to reveal themselves.

Quince rolled his eyes when he realized no one in the group wanted to do the dirty work. It's always me, huh? He thought as he allowed his ghostly body to descend from the air to the floor behind you. He made quiet steps to stand in front of you so that he could speak to you.

You saw a body and on instinct You swung your bat at the form and screamed.

"Shit!" Quince shouted as the bat went right through him. "Jesus Christ, give a man a little heads-up, would you? You're lucky I have good reflexes." He shook his head at you as if he was reprimanding a child.

"What... What the fuck?" you muttered shakily. "H-how did that go through you?"

"Why don't you sit down?" Quince suggested gently.

"No fuckin way!" You exclaimed as you gripped the bat tightly again, ready to swing. "Explain yourself!"

"Alright, alright," Quince held his hands in front of him defensively. "Just listen to me, ok? I won't hurt you." You, for some naïve reason, trusted his words and let your shoulders relax a little.

"Ok, I'll listen. But you better have a really good explanation."

"I'm going to tell you something that you may not believe, and I ask that you have an open mind," He waited to continue until you nodded your head. "I have been here for a long time, a really long time. I'm not sure how to put this really, but this house is occupied by this ghost." He gestured towards himself.

"Oh, when you put it like that, it makes sense," You nodded. Quince smiled genuinely at you, that was some very fast understanding on your part. "Just kidding, fucker! How dumb do you think I am. You look alive for one, and ghosts aren't real! Tell me the truth and not some random bullshit."

He frowned, "I'm not lying. The bat went right through me, didn't it?"

"I just missed you. Besides," you poked at his arm, "you feel like a physical being to me."

"I can alternate between physical and non-physical," he sighed as he became a little more transparent and he floated gently in the air.

"Oh, what the fuck?"

"Do you believe me now?"

"I... I guess so?" you said absently.

"And I'm not the only one," He said as he dropped back to the ground. "Could you guys stop leaving me hanging now?"

You decided you must be hallucinating. Four other bodies floated into the room, and some of them seemed almost nervous. Your brain was short-circuiting. Things you knew to be impossible were happening, and that made your brain just quit. No significant thoughts or screaming. It's like you skipped all the steps that went into panicking and went straight to some sort of acceptance. "So, you guys, uh, live here?" You asked awkwardly. "Oh—wait no, oh my god I'm so sorry. I mean, uh, I meant do you guys occupy this house... as ghosts?"

None of them looked impressed. Way to go, me, you thought. Piss off the local residents in Ten words or less, a guide by me. Two of the ghosts decided to become physical to greet you; the one with blue hair stepping towards you first, "Hello, I'm Jason. I've been here for a long time."

"Hi, Jason," You shook his hand. "I hope we get along as, uh, roommates?" You were confused as to what was going to happen. He nodded at you.

"I'm Suki!" shouted the other one who became physical. She pointed towards the other two, "And this is Ryo and Dianna. We all died here!"

"You all died here?"

"Yes, I just said that," Suki rolled her eyes. "We usually wouldn't reveal ourselves like this, but you're really cute!"

"Oh," was all you could say. "But everyone who would've come to live here would have been related to me, so they would look similar to me."

"Not true! The guy that owns the place pawned it off to everyone!"

"Oh wait, I get it now. You guys are the reason no one wants to stay here!" You accused, but none of them seemed concerned about any anger you might feel.

"Uh, yeah? Why would we want anyone living in our house?" Jason laughed. In your mind, you were panicking a little again. There were five beings in this place that could alternate between physical and not physical, and they also didn't want other people living here.

"Do you guys want me to leave?" You asked nervously. "You destroyed all my photos."

"Yeah, that was me," Suki admitted. "Sorry, I didn't know we were going to keep you."

"Keep me?" you chuckled nervously. "Who said I was staying here?"

"What?!" Suki exclaimed.

"Well you can't leave," Ryo spoke while making himself physical and stepping towards you. "We showed ourselves to you. if you rat out the truth about us then there will be even more problems."

"And who's fault is it that I know about you guys? That's on y'all. I clearly can't stay here if there's five randos already here!" you began to get angry. "This was supposed to be my way out of debt, I was going to rent this place out. Now it's all useless."

"I know that you can't leave," Quine spoke. "I heard you on the phone yesterday, you have nowhere to go."

"I can stay with Nate, or I can get a place with the money I've got?" you pointed out.

"Right, because sinking even further into debt sounds like a plan," Dianna laughed at you. You were astonished at this whole development. Surely this was a dream, right? You sighed. There's no way any of this was real, it was too crazy. Even if it was ludicrous, the weird ghosts did have a point. Financially speaking, trying to get another place to stay would be a huge mistake. No rent is way better than new rent.

"Ok, ok. You guys made your point. Let's get a few things straight, you decided to reveal yourselves to me because, uh. You think I'm—"

"We think you're cute!" Suki interrupted as she jumped closer to you.

"...Right. That's it? Seems a little reckless if you ask me," you scoffed

"And moving out to the middle of nowhere into a house you've never been to seems a little reckless to me," Ryo spoke.

"Harsh, but ok," you laughed. Unbeknownst to you, your laughter was very sweet sounding to the group that stood before you. It was as if all of them came to the same conclusion, and the conclusion was that having you around might be fun.

"Existing with the same four people for eternity gets boring," Jason spoke. "Having a new face will be fun!"

"So, I'm here for my aesthetics and to entertain you guys? Okay. Next question, you guys can alternate between physical and not so much?"

"Yes," Quince answered. "Both forms come with perks, so being able to switch is great. Some of our senses take some time to adjust when we switch, though. For instance, when you poked me earlier, I barely felt it."

"I see," you nodded. This was going to be a long interrogation session.

-:x x x x x:-

The conversation was tedious, but you got all the answers you wanted. The five of them were confined to the space, and they promised not to break any more of your stuff. They wanted you to stay, at least for now. You also wanted to stay since it was cheap. They didn't want you to invite any friends over, but you just rolled your eyes. "I'm paying for the electricity and the water, I inherited the house, and I'll have guests over if I want to." You had retorted. You didn't notice them stiffen at this, and you certainly couldn't have known that they are not bound by any silly rules you make.

Things were fine for the first month. You hadn't told anyone about your problem, as per the agreement you had with the ghosts, and they hadn't broken anymore of your shit. They were honestly fun to hang out with, time flew! Jason would help you clean, but everyone else pretty much refused. Quince would help every now and then, but the other three were stubborn. "No way!" Suki had shouted at you. "You think I died just to move a couch?" You couldn't argue with that, you guessed.

"Guys?" You called out. Quince and Dianna floated in through the wall before standing in front of you.

"Yeah?" Quince asked.

"I'm going to have a friend over, ok? He's going to stay the weekend."

"What?" Suki flew in at a higher speed than you had seen before. Her body didn't stop in time so here holographic-like form flew through you and you shuddered. Freezing... "Why have a friend over when you already have five friends over!" she managed to situate herself to float next to Dianna.

"Don't get so jealous," you stuck your tongue out teasingly. "He's just a pal! Nate's a good friend of mine." You turned around to call the man in question on your phone. As you spoke to your friend, you didn't realize that the ghosts in the house had already begun scheming.

In another room, Suki whisper-shouted to the other occupants, "I mean we're going to kill him, right? We can't have another guy taking (y/n)'s attention away!"