I woke to my head pounding. It was so loud I almost thought someone was beating down the door. Then I heard a man's voice call out too, and I dragged my eyelids open. Someone was at the door.  Where was I? What happened?I wasn't in my bed like I thought I'd be.

Water splattered in my eyes so they closed instinctively. Was it raining? My legs tingled as I finally tried moving them. I wasn't sure if it was from the awkward pose or the barrage of tiny droplets of water. Carefully, I rolled to my side and peeked at my surroundings. The lights were bright and there was a drumming that echoed in my ears. I shuffled myself into a seated position and watched the room tilt on me. At least the blur of light grey paint and a Van Gogh-Dr. Who shower curtain was familiar. I was home, in the shower to be precise. Gripping the side of the bathtub, I took a slow deep breath.

Don't vomit. Do not vomit.

There was a very distinct smell amidst my honey-lavender shampoo, metallic and pungent: blood. My stomach flipped and I coughed twice before dry-heaving. A few chunks of food lay around me. Some were stuck to my arm too. I grimaced and realized I'd already vomited. I must have finished that bottle of chardonnay. White wine always makes me sick. Why'd I do it? Oh, that's right. The phone call. That's why I did it. As punishment.

A pale pink, dried streak discolored the side of the white tub. Hadn't I drank the last of my white wine tonight? Did I switch to red afterwards? Why was there pink marks splattered everywhere? I'd apparently laid on some and got it in my hair too. Maybe I'd nicked myself while shaving. My right hand reached up and rubbed my hair, then froze as soon as my eyes locked onto it. There was more blood. The thudding was back and I remembered the person at the door.

"Just a minute." I said as I turned off the water and scrambled out of the shower. Grabbing my towel was more than I could handle as I slumped against the wall and slid to the floor while the room swayed from side to side. My stomach rolled again, but I clamped my mouth shut.

"Hey, it's Ian from upstairs. Are you okay?" The voice called through the door.

I was surprised I could hear it from the bathroom, but it was a small apartment. Perhaps, he heard me because my front door no longer sounded like it was being smashed with a sledge hammer. After a few slow breaths, my stomach settled again as I gently touched my wet hair and examined my hand. "I think so. I might have hit my head, but I don't believe it's bleeding anymore."

"Okay. Have you called an ambulance?"

"No? I just woke up." I pulled the towel closer and shivered.

"You passed out? Can you walk? Is the room spinning at all?"

Shoot. That was a stupid thing to say. He sounded super worried now. Why did I say that? I needed to allay his fears. "My bad, I mean I just bumped my head. That's all. Yeah, I can walk fine."

"Can I come in?" He said.

"What? No! I'm in the shower. I can't. Why would you want to come in?"

"Because you hit your head, were bleeding, sound rather disoriented, and haven't called an ambulance. I just want to make sure you're not going to die on us here at SpringHaven Apartments. Ghosts are usually nasty business."

I shivered again before patting myself dry. With more push than I expected, I finally stood up and wobbled to the bedroom. "I said I'm fine."

My foot caught on a loose shoe and I hit the floor with my head again. The thundering headache was back with a vengeance. Where had that shoe come from? Did I really leave it in the middle of the room? How messed up did I get before my shower? I groaned and attempted to pull the towel over my backside. "Okay, you can come in. But I'll have to get the door anyway. It's locked. Wait there."

I rolled onto my side again with my eyes scrunched shut as I tried to will away the painful drumming. Each breath in brought a little more relief to my beaten consciousness so I just laid there.

"I grabbed a blanket off of the couch, I hope you don't mind."

There was a voice in my room, no, there was a man in my room. Who? How? I dragged my eyelids open and saw a guy in dark jeans and a button down standing in my doorway.

"Don't fall asleep on me. We need to make sure you don't have a concussion first."

He placed the blanket over me and tucked the edges under me as he lifted me off the floor. I tried to keep my swaying head away from his chest, but it was hard to keep track of. I was pretty positive that I'd bled on his nice shirt. I'd have to buy him a new one now.

He sat me in my Recliner of Refuge as I liked to call it and tried to lock eyes with me. "Nicole, do you know who I am?"

I rolled my eyes and said, "Yes, Ian. You live in 401, right above me."

"Correct, how long have you lived here?" He stared at me, but his eyes kept wandering to my scalp.

"Seriously? I think we're coming up on twenty months? I don't know. I moved in about June the year before last. I have a headache, don't make me think too much." I pressed the palm of my hand between my brows to relieve some of the pressure.

"Okay, how many fingers am I holding up?" He smiled at me while he displayed his hand.

"Two fingers... and a thumb."

"Glad to see you're in humorous spirits. You seem to be able to focus well enough." He smirked and reached up towards my head. "It doesn't look too bad though. The bleeding stopped awhile ago and your pupils are normal. Head wounds always tend to bleed a lot so that might explain some of the wobbling and light-headedness."

I watched him gingerly move some of my wet hair to look more closely at the damage. He was really close to me. My head was practically against his chest again and I felt uncomfortably exposed. I was still wrapped up in the towel and blanket, but there was a stranger standing next to me while I was naked and possibly covered in my own vomit. My cheeks burned and I pulled my head back out of his grasp. I hope I didn't smell like shit or alcohol. He was one of the more handsome, quiet neighbors who normally kept to himself, but was quick with an acknowledgement nod, wave, or smile on his way. This place would be too small if he started avoiding me. "See? All good. No worries here."

My eyes darted from his hands, now tinted pink with blood, to his eerily bright, steel blue eyes that were locked onto my head. It was a beautiful color. I'd always been a fan of blues, but something seemed unnatural about them. They almost appeared to be glowing. I tried to focus on his eyes when I noticed his mouth hung slightly open, showing me a perfect set of pearly whites and two oddly pronounced canines.

I blinked. Was I hallucinating? "Did you just get back from a costume party?"

Ian didn't seem to hear me. He was too focused on his hand, which was drawing closer to his nose. Was he going to sniff it? Why would he sniff a hand covered in someone else's blood? Was he a dog or maybe an alien?

I glanced back at his teeth. Those canines were definitely bigger now, right? No way. Was this for real?

My chest hurt from how much my heart pounded, but I slowly drew in a deep breath.

Before I managed to fill my lungs, a clean hand clamped down over my mouth and Ian leveled his gaze with mine.

"Be quiet, Nicole. It's the middle of the night and you'll set off the newborn in 302. Mackenzie could use a good night's sleep along with everybody else around here."

My eyes were stretched as wide open as I could and I stared at him for a few seconds before looking away and nodding.

His eyes narrowed as if trying to decide if I would actually listen.

Was I dreaming? Was I dead? I didn't know, but I was not about to risk my life to get a shout out to the neighbors and subsequently risk theirs.

"Be quiet," he repeated, directing my face so I'd lock eyes with him again.

Did he think I was an idiot? I may be terrified, but I had heard him the first time. What was the point of screaming? The others here weren't exactly the backup I'd want when facing a monster. My face must have betrayed my irritation with him because he then stared glaring at me.

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Well, now that that's been updated I hope that made it a bit more enjoyable. Sorry, I'm in the process of adding more details and clarifying things since I'm nearing the end.