Disillusions and Confusion, Part 1/3
Fic Title: Disillusions and Confusion
Fandom: SPN RPF
Pairing: J2
Warnings: Horror, abuse and murder (past).
Rating: NC17
Word Count: 21849
Summary: Jared and Jensen are excited to move into their dream house in a new town, but as they settle in, things don't seem quite right. There's something in the house with them, and it doesn't welcome intruders...
Author's Notes: Thanks so much to bellagattino for putting together some awesome artwork for this. You can see the artwork here. It is very slightly spoilery.
Thanks also to sylvia-locust for betaing this and getting it into shape.
Jared gently tugged the bed covers down to reveal Jensen’s messy bed-head. “Jensen,” he whispered. “Jensen. Wake up. Know what day it is?”
Jensen grumbled under his breath but didn’t move. “Sleeping-In Day?” he mumbled.
“It’s moving day!” Jared said eagerly. “Come on, you need to get up.”
“I hate moving,” Jensen groaned, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.
“I know, but it will all be over after today. We won’t have to live in a motel anymore, we’ll be sleeping in our awesome new house.” Excited, Jared bounced on the mattress a little, and Jensen stretched and finally stood up.
Jared was really, really, ready to be done with the motel. They’d been living there for three weeks, while they finalised their purchase of the house and signed paperwork and got everything organised. All their belongings were in storage until they could move in, so they’d both been living out of two suitcases and one overnight bag, and eating takeout for every meal.
Jensen didn’t seem to be feeling it quite as much. They’d moved to Clayton because Jensen had been offered a great job, and he’d started working the day after they arrived. Jared, meanwhile, had spent the days talking to the bank, the real estate agent, and a lawyer, arranging to get utilities connected, locks changed, and moving vans hired. In between all that, he’d been looking for work too. He was starting to get a little tired of living in one tiny room.
They collected the house keys and then picked up the van they’d rented for the day. They drove to the storage facility and loaded the van up, and then headed across town to the house. Jared was driving the van while Jensen drove their car; Jensen quickly slipped through the traffic and left Jared behind. Jared snickered when he realised that he had the house keys. Jensen might get there first, but he would still have to wait for Jared.
Jared couldn’t hold back a huge smile as he turned into their new street. It was nice; some of the houses were a little run down, but most of them looked warm and welcoming and had well-kept gardens. Jared could imagine going for walks on the weekends. He pulled into the driveway of their new house and got out of the van. On the opposite side of the street, a teenage girl was leaning against her front fence and watching them. Jared waved, but she didn’t wave back.
He loved the house they’d managed to buy. After years of renting, they’d finally managed to save up enough to buy their own house. At first they’d been looking at small apartments and run down houses, but they’d been really lucky to find a small but not very old house in good repair, located in a pretty nice neighbourhood and on the market for a bargain price. It was like it was meant to be.
Jared waved cheerily to Jensen who was waiting for him impatiently. Jared jumped out of the cab and walked across the lawn, keys in hand, looking up at the house. Their new home. He climbed the concrete steps of the porch. Even the rickety bench seat and the dead leaves gathered in one corner looked fresh and exciting to his eyes. Jared fit the key to the lock and glanced over to meet Jensen’s eyes.
“You ready for this?” he asked, grinning.
“Just do it, Jared,” Jensen grumbled, but the corners of his mouth were relentlessly curving upward. Jared turned the key and opened the door.
They walked through the house one more time to check that everything was in good condition before beginning to unload the truck. It didn’t take all that long. The front door opened onto a hallway. To the right was the master bedroom, and to the left was an open plan living, dining and kitchen area. Jared walked through to the kitchen where another door led back into the hallway.
They’d been talking about ideas for redoing the back of the house ever since they’d first seen it. Across from the kitchen was the master bath, and to the left the hallway ended with a back door opening onto a deck. A tiny laundry was tucked beneath the stairs, which led up to a small second floor, just big enough for a second bedroom, narrow bathroom and a little storage space, lit by dormer windows. Jared found the entire house utterly charming.
“Okay, let’s go get everything!” he said at last. He couldn’t wait to start bringing in boxes, to see what the bedroom would look like with his shirts and Jensen’s ties scattered everywhere, to find out if the bookshelf would fit in that corner as perfectly as he thought it would.
They agreed to start with the largest, heaviest items of furniture, because it was already turning into a pretty warm day and their energy wasn’t likely to last long. Their bed was the first thing to come off the truck. It was just a double and if Jared stretched out in his sleep his feet slipped off the end, but he loved it anyway. They got the head and foot screwed to the frame, and then squabbled over whether to position it facing the door or the window.
Once the bed was in place, facing the door, (although Jared hadn’t lost the argument, he’d just strategically retreated) they went to get the mattress. The money they hadn’t spent on the bed frame they’d spent on the mattress instead. It was huge and soft, and as a result, very heavy. Jared’s arms were tiring once they got through the front door, and he paused in the hallway. Jensen walked into the other end of the mattress, knocking Jared back and grumbling about it.
“Damn it, Jared, a little warning would be great next time!” Jensen snarked.
Jared snickered. “Ooops,” he said. “Sorry.” He made to lift the mattress up again and angle it towards the bedroom door, but before he could step through the entry the door blew shut in his face.
“Lucky you weren’t any closer,” Jensen observed wryly, “or it would have flattened your nose.”
“Ha, ha,” Jared replied.
The rest of the day passed in much the same way. It took longer than Jared had expected to get all the heavy stuff off the truck; he hadn’t anticipated how awkward it would be to manoeuvre everything into place inside the house. By the time they’d progressed to opening boxes and unpacking them, he was aching all over.
Jared took a box of carefully wrapped picture frames into the bedroom and began arranging them on the dresser. There were a few that wouldn’t fit; to keep them from cluttering up the house while they were trying to unpack, Jared wrapped them back up and put them back in the box, which he took upstairs. They didn’t need to use the upstairs rooms for anything, and it was nice to have a little space for storage. It was a luxury they weren’t used to.
Jensen must have found the radio, because Jared could hear music playing as he walked through the hallway. The late afternoon sun was shining through the back door’s window, and it made the hallway feel warm and homey. Terracotta tiles were laid in the kitchen and bathroom, and across the hall in between to create a little space where people could leave their shoes or wet coats and umbrellas. The tiles weren’t shiny, but the light brought out a sort of glow in them. Even though he was tired and achy, Jared felt a broad smile burst onto his face again at the idea that this was all theirs.
They had toasted sandwiches for dinner. Jared had planned to cook an actual meal, but they were both too tired and he couldn’t face another night of fast food. Jensen got the TV working while Jared sliced cheese and ham, and they ate sitting on the couch while watching the news.
“I don’t think I’m up to any more unpacking tonight,” Jensen said once they’d eaten. “I can feel myself starting to doze off just sitting here. I think I’m going to get an early night and start again in the morning.”
“Sounds like a great idea,” said Jared. “I think I’m going to have a bath before I join you.”
Jensen smirked. “You’ve had your eye on that bathtub all day; I bet it’s the whole reason why you wanted this house so bad.”
“I’m not denying it, baths are awesome,” Jared replied easily. Jensen wouldn’t be laughing at him in the morning when he was stiff and sore and Jared felt great thanks to a long soak in hot water.
The bathroom, like the rest of the house, was slightly dated, and the layout didn’t really make the best use of the space available. Jared and Jensen had discussed updating the room, but Jared had come down firmly in favour of keeping the bathtub as it was. It was large and deep, enough so that even Jared would be able to stretch out in it.
He put the plug in and started filling the tub, testing the temperature of the water to make sure it was right. Once he was sure Jensen was in the bedroom and not around to tease him, Jared added some bubble bath and lavender oil, then got undressed. He shivered as he pulled off his shirt.
It was dark and the night seemed to have suddenly become chilly. Jared waited impatiently for the tub to fill and collected shampoo and soap from where they’d been dumped in the cabinet. He glanced at his reflection in the mirror above the sink, noticing the way his hair was so messed up with dust and sweat that it nearly stood on end. The bottom left corner of the mirror was cracked, and black lines ran out from the frame in a lopsided ‘X’ shape. The main part of the mirror reflected the shower and bath, but the damaged section near the bottom was angled so that it showed the floor. There was a little section in between that wasn’t visible in the mirror.
Finally, Jared shut the faucet off and went to step into the bath. As he stood there, one foot just touching the water, Jared got the incredibly strong sense of being unwelcome. He paused with his foot dangling in the air, not sure what to do. He dipped his foot further into the bath, and the flesh on the back of his neck crawled. Jared wasn’t sure what to do. He couldn’t face the thought of getting into the bath. He couldn’t articulate why, not even to himself, but he’d never felt such a strong urge go somewhere else, right now.
Jared pulled his foot out of the bath, and dried it off. It was late and he was really tired; if he tried to take a bath now he’d probably fall asleep and drown in the bathtub, which would be a terribly embarrassing way to go. He walked up the hall to the bedroom in the nude and pulled on a pair of track pants to sleep in. “That was quick,” Jensen mumbled, but he was half asleep already and Jared didn’t bother to answer.
***
There was plenty more unpacking to keep them busy throughout the next day. Plates, glasses and cutlery needed to be put away. Books, DVDs and CDs needed to be arranged on their shelves. Boxes of bed sheets and towels needed to be stacked in the linen cupboard. Jared was organising their video game collection and could hear Jensen clattering around in the bathroom, because he hadn’t unpacked his toiletries the day before when Jared had suggested it. He must have been struggling to fit everything in, because he sure was slamming the cupboard doors around.
Later on, once the games were arranged to Jared’s exacting standards, he called out to Jensen at the other end of the house. “Hey, once you’re finished unpacking your stuff in the bathroom, do you want to run to the grocery store to get something for dinner?”
“Once I’ve finished in the bathroom?” Jensen asked, walking over through the kitchen. “I haven’t even started yet.”
“Jeez, Jensen, what have you been doing all afternoon?” Jared asked, exasperated.
Jensen snickered. “Sorry, Jared, I’ve been a little busy, you know? Shit, look out!”
The bookshelf that they’d positioned carefully against the wall gave a wobble and several books fell off it. Jensen darted over to steady it and Jared picked the books up.
“We need to get some chocks to put under this,” Jensen said, testing the balance of the bookshelf. “Need to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”
While the toasted sandwiches the day before had been good, the steak with salad that they had that night was almost impossibly delicious. “Should I leave you two alone?” Jensen quipped. Jared smirked at him.
Jared didn’t go near the bath again, opting instead to have a shower before he went to bed. The shower was separate from the tub and kind of cramped, but it was hot with awesome water pressure. Jared washed the dust and sweat of the day off, washed his hair, and stood a little while longer under the hot spray. When he shut the faucet off, something caught his eye, words just faintly visible on the glass shower door. Jared crouched down to see if he could make them out. ‘HELP ME’ was spelled out in large, shaky capitals.
Jared shook his head and stepped out of the shower cubicle. He probably should have scrubbed it before using it; it was kind of gross to realise that he’d been washing himself in the previous occupant’s mess and soap scum and, apparently, their penchant for writing on the steamy shower walls. Cleaning the shower could be a job for tomorrow when Jensen was at work.
***
Jared had a job interview the next morning. He put on a freshly ironed shirt and neatened his hair, then set out to drive the few blocks to his interview.
A local middle school was looking for someone to work the reception desk part time. Jared hadn’t worked in a school before, but he had administration experience, good references and a police check, and he had secured a job by the time he left. He’d be working two full days and two half days a week; a bit less than he would have liked, but it would do for now.
Jared drove home afterwards, planning to jump right in and give the bathroom the scrubbing it desperately needed. He pulled into the driveway and glanced up at the dormer window - maybe movement caught his eye, because he was sure he saw the curtain twitching. When Jared looked closer, he thought he could make out a vaguely human shape in the window. Maybe it was a shadow - but maybe it was a head, turned his way. Maybe someone was watching him, from the upstairs room of his house.
His heart began to pound. Who was up there? It couldn’t be Jensen - his car wasn’t in the driveway, so he hadn’t come home from work early. Jared climbed the steps to the front porch with trepidation.
“Hello?” he called, opening the front door. “Hello? Is someone here?” Jared wondered if he should be warning a possible intruder that he was coming into the house - but, whoever they were had been watching when he’d pulled up in the driveway anyway. Jared looked around the hallway for something heavy, but when unpacking he and Jensen had completely neglected the whole category of baseball bats, golf clubs and heavy flashlights. Jared pulled opened the drawer of the hall stand and pulled out a collapsible umbrella, but as a self-defence weapon he thought it lacked a certain something.
“Who’s there?” Jared called, inching towards the staircase. The house was silent, quiet enough that he could hear his own breath whistling between his teeth. He tried to breathe more quietly, afraid that if anyone tried to sneak up on him, he might now hear them over the sound of his breathing and the blood rushing through his head. “I’m coming up!” Jared added, shouting a little louder this time.
Were they still up there? Jared didn’t think they would have had time to run down the stairs and out the back door before he’d opened the front. That didn’t mean they were still in the spare bedroom, though. They could be anywhere, waiting just out of sight. With every step he took up the staircase, his head swivelled in every direction, looking for any sign that someone was there.
At the top of the stairs he scanned the room quickly, but there was no one to be seen. A few boxes lay scattered around, but none big enough for someone to hide behind. Jared crossed quickly to the little bathroom and shoved the door open, raising the umbrella, but again no one was inside. That left the spare bedroom.
Jared nudged the door open gingerly and stood back, trying to see into the room before he stepped through. He couldn’t see anyone.
“Hello?” he called one last time. When there was no answer, he stepped into the room. Patchy light shone through the window, broken up by the tree in the front yard. It seemed dusty, even though Jared knew everything had been clean when they moved in. His feet landed on the floor softly, the carpet absorbing all the sound.
Sometime between when he’d last come up here and now, Jensen must have come up and put the room in order. Their futon bed was in the corner and made up. All the other mismatched bedroom furniture they’d collected over the years was up here too; the ugly bedside table and the old-fashioned lamp, the dresser with a bottom drawer which wouldn’t open, and the armchair they both liked but which didn’t fit in the living room. Jensen had put it by the window, and he’d left his jacket draped over it.
Jared picked up the denim jacket and looked at it. Maybe this was what he’d seen from down in the driveway. Some harmless trick, an illusion made of light and shadows. It was obvious now that there was no one inside the house. He felt foolish.
Jared went back downstairs, carrying the jacket with him. He moved quickly, letting his shoes clatter on the wooden stairs, as though he was pushing away the caution and fear he’d taken up with him. He nearly stumbled when he reached the first landing and heard music begin to play, a male voice shrieking “Pours my beer!” and the sudden intrusion of sound took him by surprise.
“Stupid,” Jared muttered when he realised what had happened. It was probably coming from the house next door or a car in the street. He put the unsettling episode out of his mind and got to work cleaning the bathroom.
***
“We need to celebrate!” Jared announced as soon as Jensen got home.
“Celebrate?” Jensen repeated, looking briefly confused. “You got the job?” he guessed.
“I got the job,” Jared confirmed. “So I picked up a bottle of champagne and some oysters. I’ve got plans for tonight.”
“Oh, really?” Jensen said with a leer. “Do tell me more.”
Jared grinned and led Jensen to the dining room where he’d already served up the celebration dinner he’d made. He grabbed the champagne and began working the cork free.
“How did you get the upstairs bedroom all set up yesterday without me noticing?” Jared asked as he poured them both a glass.
“I have no idea. I guess you’re just not very observant,” Jensen answered. “I did it while you were clattering around in the bathroom.”
“I wasn’t working on the bathroom yesterday, that was you!” Jared protested.
“No it wasn’t!” Jensen smirked. “Whatever, you just don’t want to admit that you have opinions about the correct way to hang toilet paper.”
“Okay, Jensen, have it your way.”
***
While Jared was happy to have a job, it did have some sucky parts, like being at work at seven in the morning. When he headed out the door, jacket in one hand and coffee in a travel mug in the other, Jensen was still in bed.
He arrived at the school and was given a whirlwind tour by his immediate supervisor, Samantha. They came back to the front office and she began explaining the computer system he’d need to use.
“Part of your job will be logging attendance. It’s all done electronically, but notification about excused absences should come to you, and then you’ll need to log it here...” Sam showed him the basics, and then said, “If we get time later today, I’ll show you how to accept payments. For now, just come get me if you have any questions. I’ll be over here, working on this nightmare of a budget.”
Jared got to work. In the time before classes began, a bunch of people came by his desk for different reasons. Some dropped off lost property, a few returned permission slips for field trips. A couple had questions that he had to refer to Sam, but all in all, it went pretty smoothly. The bell rang and things quietened down. A few phone calls came in from parents who were keeping their kids home due to sickness; Jared entered the information into the computer.
He knew he was working slowly, but he was being careful and trying not to make any huge mistakes. The other staff were all friendly, and Jared thought he could grow to like this job. On his lunchbreak, he checked his phone to see that he’d got a text message from Jensen.
How’s yr 1st day going? it asked. Jared texted back, Gr8 so far, how’s yrs?, and went to buy something to eat.
Thinking about the house, maybe start renovating soon? came the reply. Jared considered it. It was sooner than they’d been planning on, but after a few days he was already thinking how much nicer it would be if the kitchen were more up to date, and the bathroom more spacious. Since Jared had found a new job so quickly, there probably wasn’t any harm getting started.
Can look at bathrooms on weekend? Jared suggested, and Jensen sent him back a smiley face in reply.
After dinner that night, they grabbed paper and pencils and started making sketches of their plans.
“I think we should swap the cabinet and the toilet,” Jensen said, drawing quickly. “It’ll give us so much more space.”
“That would cost more.”
“Yeah, but I think we need to. If we keep the toilet where it is, it really limits what we can change.”
“Okay. And we have to get a new shower cubicle, the one in there now is way too small,” Jared added.
“Do you think we should re-tile? I know it would be a pain in the ass, but think how awesome it could look!”
Jared thought about it. The bathroom tiles at the moment were kind of ugly. “If we’re going to go to that much trouble, maybe we should replace the bath as well.”
“Really? I thought you loved that bath. You raved about it when we bought the place.”
“Well, yeah, but...” Jared didn’t really want to admit that his change of heart concerning the bathtub came from nothing more than a creepy feeling. “If we change everything else, the bath won’t match anymore. And it’s still a little room; if we want to make everything bigger, it’s going to get more cramped, not less. What if we get a nice whirlpool bath, and have the shower over it? There’d be more space all around.” Jared sketched his idea, putting a generously-sized bathtub in the corner, leaving the toilet where it was but moving the cabinet to where the shower currently sat.
“That’s a great idea,” Jensen said thoughtfully. “Even you wouldn’t be cramped in the shower if we did that.”
“I can think of a few other things we can do in there as well,” Jared said cheekily.
“Oh, really? Like what?” Jensen said, playing innocent until Jared leaned on him and pushed him over into the couch cushions. “Oh, I get it,” Jensen said, giggling. “You mean sex. Nookie. Fucking. Playing hide the cucumber...”
“Oh my God, shut up,” Jared groaned. He put his hands on Jensen’s hips and settled himself above Jensen on the couch, enjoying the way his eyes darkened and he involuntarily pushed his hips upward. For a moment, Jared was distracted by the play of shadows against the wall. It almost looked like... but, no, it was just the leaves of the tree outside blowing in the wind. He looked back down at Jensen.
“Getting distracted?” Jensen asked, grinning wickedly. “I need to lift my game.” He slid his hands up under Jared’s shirt and tweaked one of his nipples. Jared squeaked and shivered, pulling down the collar of Jensen’s shirt to expose his collarbone. He sucked lightly at the skin, but the sound of Jensen’s harsh breathing couldn’t block out the sound of something rattling on the bookshelf. Jared jerked back and looked around.
“You okay, Jared?” Jensen asked, sounding more concerned now.
There was nothing else in the room. “I’m fine,” Jared said, turning back, but the skin on his shoulder blades was beginning to crawl. An electronic hum nearly made him leap out of his skin until he realised it was just the fridge.
“Jared, seriously,” Jensen said with a frown. “What’s on your mind?”
Jared took a deep breath and forced a bright smile to his lips. “Just you,” he purred seductively. “In those tight pants.” He put one hand to the fly of Jensen’s pants and Jensen made a pleased sound, but then a loud creak echoed through from the back of the house, for all the world as though someone was on the stairs, and Jared flinched again. Jensen took his hands and guided him upright.
“We don’t have to do this right now,” he said gently.
“Yeah. Okay,” Jared said, both disappointed and relieved. “Let’s put a movie on, okay? It’s too quiet in here.” Jensen gave him an odd look at that, which Jared ignored.
***
That weekend, they went to Lowes to look at their tiles and bathroom fixtures, trying to decide on a colour scheme. While they were there, Jared paused to look at the bathroom mirrors, and Jensen laughed at him.
“A new mirror as well? You don’t think we could just keep using the one that’s already there?”
“The whole bottom of it’s cracked, it won’t kill us to get a new one,” Jared said a little testily. He wasn’t about to explain that he’d got out of the shower that morning to see ‘HELP’ written in the foggy bathroom mirror. By the same joker who had written it on the shower door, maybe, except that Jared had never noticed it before and he was pretty sure he’d cleaned the mirror at the same time he’d cleaned the shower. Jensen could have done it, maybe, but it wasn’t his style.
They moved on and grabbed a few tile samples to take home, as well as collecting prices on some different baths and cabinets that they liked. With everything they had seen fresh in their mind, Jared and Jensen headed straight to the bathroom once they arrived home to discuss their ideas.
“Darker tiles might look stylish,” Jensen said, crossing over to the bath as he spoke and trying to turn the faucet off to stop it dripping. It wouldn’t budge. “Christ, this is stiff,” Jensen grumbled, putting both hands to it.
“It depends what else we put in here, I guess,” said Jared, watching Jensen wrestle with the bath. “We don’t want to make it too dark. Here, let me try.”
“Damn thing won’t stop,” Jensen said, stepping out of the way.
Jared swiped a hand under the faucet, and a drop landed on his hand. “Shit, that’s really cold,” Jared said, shaking the water off. “Where are they piping this water in from, an underground lake?” He couldn’t get the tap to move either. “It probably needs a new washer. You’re not supposed to turn them off super tight anyway.”
“Maybe it is just as well we’re replacing the bath,” Jensen said grumpily.
“It’s no big deal,” Jared laughed. “It’s just a leaky tap. They happen. Anyway, what if we went a little more blue...”
They debated cheerfully for thirty minutes or so to make sure, but there was definitely one tile they liked better than the others. Then Jensen grabbed his laptop so they could work out if what they wanted was in their budget.
“I think we can make this work,” Jensen said at last. “If we get the more basic showerhead then we should be able to afford the basin with the nicer finish. If we really want those tiles, though, we’ll have to cut back somewhere else. We won’t be going to the cinema or eating out for a while.”
“I’m okay with that if you are.”
Jensen went to place an order with Lowes and came back grinning. “They said they can deliver next Saturday,” he said, rubbing his hands together. “So we better start ripping up those old tiles ASAP.”
***
The weekend was pretty busy after that. They worked steadily and managed to get most of the tiles pulled up by Sunday night, except for the ones in awkward spots like between the bathtub and the cabinet, and behind the toilet. They’d need to remove the old fixtures before laying down the new tiles anyway, so they left those corners untouched for now. Having to use the upstairs bathroom for everything was a pain, but in some ways it was nice. No one had written on the upstairs mirror, for one thing.
Jared got home from work one afternoon only to realise thirty minutes later that he’d left his cell phone at the school. He cursed and headed to the front door, hoping that he wasn’t too late to go back and get it. He was pretty sure some extra-curricular activity was still running - choir practice or something. It would probably be okay. But when he reached the front door where he usually hung up his car keys, they weren’t there. And although he looked everywhere for them, they didn’t turn up.
As a last resort, Jared came out to the front yard to check whether he’d somehow dropped the keys on the porch after unlocking the front door. They weren’t there, so he walked over to the car and back again, befuddled, even though he knew he had to have had the keys on him to get inside.
A teenage girl was standing on the sidewalk watching him. She looked familiar, but it took Jared a moment to place her - she was the girl who had watched him and Jensen move in. Something about her expression made him wary.
“I think you should know you moved into a house where a girl was murdered,” she said, as though to prove Jared’s reservations correct.
“Um...” Jared said, wondering how he could respond. “You know, it’s kind of not nice to make up stuff like that...”
“I’m not making it up!” she snapped, sounding angry. “It happened ages and ages ago. Like, five years. My friend used to live here afterwards, and she told me the house was really creepy and strange stuff happened all the time. It’s true.”
“Uh - okay,” Jared said doubtfully. “I’ll, uh, I’ll keep an eye out, okay?” He looked back at the house with reluctance. His keys weren’t out here; they had to be somewhere inside. He’d have to go back in and keep hunting. He hesitated at the door and looked back to where the girl had stood. She had crossed the road and was going back to her own house; she didn’t look at him before she went inside.
Jared’s keys were lying on the floor just under the hook he’d hung them on; he must not have noticed them somehow when he’d checked earlier. He grabbed them with a sigh and went to collect his phone.
***
Jared finished work for the day at four. He felt exhausted, and when he got home he collapsed on the couch, not moving except to turn the TV on and switch to reruns of The Cosby Show. He was woken some time later by the sound of keys rattling.
Jared started upright, his mind fuzzy and his hair a mess. Keys. Had he lost them again? He’d been careful, kept them in his pocket where he could feel them. He patted the pocket and felt their reassuring weight.
Jensen walked into the room, carrying a grocery bag and flicking on the lights as he passed the switch. “Are you having a nap, you slacker?” he asked.
“I was tired,” Jared protested. “Some of us had to be at work by seven this morning, you know.”
Jensen grinned, unpacking milk and pasta and putting them away. “I’m sorry, baby,” he said, voice mockingly sympathetic. “It’s...” he trailed off when the lights flickered and dimmed briefly, like someone was trying and failing to balance the light switch between ‘on’ and ‘off’. “Geez,” Jensen grumbled, “I hope the wiring in this place isn’t fucked.”
They both waited for a minute, but the light remained steady. “It’s probably nothing,” Jared said. Jensen nodded doubtfully.
Jensen made dinner that night; burritos, which were one of Jared’s favourite foods. They ate in front of the TV, making fun of stupid commercials and coming up with bizarre predictions for the outcome of an episode of Friends that they’d already seen at least twice. Much later, Jensen got up to take care of the dishes, but Jared grabbed his arm.
“Want to leave those till tomorrow?” he suggested. “I’ve got a much more fun idea for something to do.”
Jensen must have liked that idea because he already had his shirt off by the time they made it to the bedroom. He was trying to get Jared’s shirt off before he could even close the door - in fact, Jared ended up not bothering about the door at all. It wasn’t worth paying attention to that with Jensen right in front of him, eyes wide with lust and cheeks flushed with excitement.
Jared got Jensen’s pants halfway off and nudged him back onto the bed, not wanting to wait any longer to get his mouth on the other man. Jared put his hands on Jensen’s hips to keep him still and got down between Jensen’s knees. “Your legs,” he breathed.
“Your arms,” Jensen responded. “It’s... nnngh...” He trailed off as Jared licked his cock from the root to the tip. Jared put the head in his mouth, and at first sucked lightly, teasing. Jensen’s hands scrabbled at Jared’s hair, and he took Jensen deeper.
Jared flicked a sly glance upwards at Jensen’s flushed, awed face, and reached down to tease his balls with the fingertips of one hand. While Jensen writhed, Jared rubbed his perineum and let his fingers brush over Jensen’s hole. Jensen collected himself enough to try to reach for the lube they’d dropped in one of the dresser drawers, and Jared enjoyed trying to distract him. He slid the very tip of his finger into Jensen’s hole and hummed at the same time, and Jensen squeaked.
Jensen finally got the tube of lube out and tapped Jared on the head with it - a little harder than he’d intended, perhaps, but Jared couldn’t blame him for that. He poured some into his hand and began fingering Jensen in earnest, waiting until he was moments from coming before taking his mouth from Jensen’s cock.
“Fu-uuck,” Jensen whined as Jared pushed him to lie down on the bed. He lifted Jensen’s legs up onto his shoulders and lined himself up. “Come on, come on, come on,” Jensen urged him, his words becoming nonsense as Jared took his dick in a firm grasp.
Jared leaned forward so that Jensen’s knees were pushed back towards his head and his hips were tilted up. Jensen couldn’t move much in that position, but that didn’t stop him trying to push down onto Jared’s cock. He tossed his head back and forth on the pillow and Jared was lost in the sight; it was hard to imagine anything more beautiful than that moment. After Jensen came, Jared adjusted his angle and thrust deeply. Jensen panted and grabbed Jared’s hands while he shuddered through his climax.
Jensen smiled sleepily as Jared cleaned them both up. “Aren’t you glad I had that nap now?” Jared teased.
“Can’t talk,” Jensen answered. “Sleepy.”
Jared snickered, but he was asleep in just a few minutes himself.
***
Jared dreamed that he was late for a math test. He was at his locker, the dented, puke-green locker he remembered from his high school. He pulled his books out and stacked them up as fast as he could; maybe he could get to class and not be too late. Math textbook, Science, History, Environment, Economics. Jared wasn’t sure why he’d need all his textbooks, but he knew that he would.
Jared stepped back from his locker and the door slammed shut with a thud. He raced down the hallway balancing the books unsteadily in his arms. One of them slid off the stack and thumped to the ground; Jared leaned over to pick it up but the next book slid off too, and hit the ground louder than the first. He could see the door of the math classroom open ahead, and he started to run towards it, abandoning the books. If he could just make it before the door closed, he would still be able to sit his test. Just as he reached the doorway the door slammed closed with a bang so loud it woke Jared up.
Jared jerked upright in the bed, startled, heart thumping. It was quiet but a half-memory of some noise lingered. He strained his ears, but a second later another bang echoed through the house, and then another.
Jared shuffled towards the edge of the bed. He wasn’t sure what was making that noise, but it needed to be checked out. And then his alert ears picked up a different sound.
“Help,” he heard a voice call faintly. “Help me.”
Jared scrambled back towards Jensen and reached for his arm. There was another bang, and the voice called “Help!”
“Jensen,” Jared whispered, shaking him by the arm. “Jensen, wake up! Someone’s in the house!”
“Mmmuh?” Jensen mumbled sleepily. “Jared. ‘s’late.”
Jared listened again. The banging had stopped and in its place, music played, a song that sounded vaguely familiar. ‘Something ain’t right,’ Jared heard, and the skin on the back of his neck began to crawl. “Listen, Jensen,” Jared whispered.
“Music,” Jensen murmured, waking up a little. “Probably coming from next door. Go back to sleep.” Jensen rolled over and began snoring again almost immediately.
Jared glared at Jensen’s sleeping form and threw the covers back roughly. He went to the hallway, thinking that it would serve Jensen right if he was murdered by an intruder. Jared switched on the hallway light, taking no notice of Jensen’s annoyed grunt.
The music got a little louder once he was out in the hall. Jared looked around, going into the living room and walking through, turning lights on as he went. He didn’t call out, slightly afraid that if he did he might get a reply he didn’t want. Jared walked through the kitchen and back into the hall, crossed it to reach the bathroom and switched that light on as well. The moment the bright light flooded the little room, the music fell abruptly silent. Jared looked in every corner, eyes wide, but saw nothing.
As Jared waited, normal night-time sounds resumed, sounds that he hadn’t even noticed were absent. The sound of a large bird taking flight outside, a car passing in the street, a dog barking half a block away. He couldn’t explain it, but the unbearable tension had broken and the house was, once more, just a house. For the sake of thoroughness, Jared climbed the stairs to investigate the second floor, but he didn’t really expect to find anyone up there.
He searched the upstairs carefully nonetheless, checking behind the shower curtain and in all the cupboards and pulling open the built-in closet in the bedroom. When he closed the closet door, he heard a thump, and when he opened it again, something flew at his head.
“Aaaah!” Jared shouted, leaping back. The object landed on the floor. It was a small, hardcover book. It hadn’t flown at his head at all, just fallen down from the shelf it had been resting on. Jared rolled his eyes at his own jumpiness, and picked the book up to take downstairs.
Even though he’d confirmed that there was nothing to fear in the house, Jared didn’t sleep well for the rest of the night.
Part Two
Fandom: SPN RPF
Pairing: J2
Warnings: Horror, abuse and murder (past).
Rating: NC17
Word Count: 21849
Summary: Jared and Jensen are excited to move into their dream house in a new town, but as they settle in, things don't seem quite right. There's something in the house with them, and it doesn't welcome intruders...
Author's Notes: Thanks so much to bellagattino for putting together some awesome artwork for this. You can see the artwork here. It is very slightly spoilery.
Thanks also to sylvia-locust for betaing this and getting it into shape.
Jared gently tugged the bed covers down to reveal Jensen’s messy bed-head. “Jensen,” he whispered. “Jensen. Wake up. Know what day it is?”
Jensen grumbled under his breath but didn’t move. “Sleeping-In Day?” he mumbled.
“It’s moving day!” Jared said eagerly. “Come on, you need to get up.”
“I hate moving,” Jensen groaned, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.
“I know, but it will all be over after today. We won’t have to live in a motel anymore, we’ll be sleeping in our awesome new house.” Excited, Jared bounced on the mattress a little, and Jensen stretched and finally stood up.
Jared was really, really, ready to be done with the motel. They’d been living there for three weeks, while they finalised their purchase of the house and signed paperwork and got everything organised. All their belongings were in storage until they could move in, so they’d both been living out of two suitcases and one overnight bag, and eating takeout for every meal.
Jensen didn’t seem to be feeling it quite as much. They’d moved to Clayton because Jensen had been offered a great job, and he’d started working the day after they arrived. Jared, meanwhile, had spent the days talking to the bank, the real estate agent, and a lawyer, arranging to get utilities connected, locks changed, and moving vans hired. In between all that, he’d been looking for work too. He was starting to get a little tired of living in one tiny room.
They collected the house keys and then picked up the van they’d rented for the day. They drove to the storage facility and loaded the van up, and then headed across town to the house. Jared was driving the van while Jensen drove their car; Jensen quickly slipped through the traffic and left Jared behind. Jared snickered when he realised that he had the house keys. Jensen might get there first, but he would still have to wait for Jared.
Jared couldn’t hold back a huge smile as he turned into their new street. It was nice; some of the houses were a little run down, but most of them looked warm and welcoming and had well-kept gardens. Jared could imagine going for walks on the weekends. He pulled into the driveway of their new house and got out of the van. On the opposite side of the street, a teenage girl was leaning against her front fence and watching them. Jared waved, but she didn’t wave back.
He loved the house they’d managed to buy. After years of renting, they’d finally managed to save up enough to buy their own house. At first they’d been looking at small apartments and run down houses, but they’d been really lucky to find a small but not very old house in good repair, located in a pretty nice neighbourhood and on the market for a bargain price. It was like it was meant to be.
Jared waved cheerily to Jensen who was waiting for him impatiently. Jared jumped out of the cab and walked across the lawn, keys in hand, looking up at the house. Their new home. He climbed the concrete steps of the porch. Even the rickety bench seat and the dead leaves gathered in one corner looked fresh and exciting to his eyes. Jared fit the key to the lock and glanced over to meet Jensen’s eyes.
“You ready for this?” he asked, grinning.
“Just do it, Jared,” Jensen grumbled, but the corners of his mouth were relentlessly curving upward. Jared turned the key and opened the door.
They walked through the house one more time to check that everything was in good condition before beginning to unload the truck. It didn’t take all that long. The front door opened onto a hallway. To the right was the master bedroom, and to the left was an open plan living, dining and kitchen area. Jared walked through to the kitchen where another door led back into the hallway.
They’d been talking about ideas for redoing the back of the house ever since they’d first seen it. Across from the kitchen was the master bath, and to the left the hallway ended with a back door opening onto a deck. A tiny laundry was tucked beneath the stairs, which led up to a small second floor, just big enough for a second bedroom, narrow bathroom and a little storage space, lit by dormer windows. Jared found the entire house utterly charming.
“Okay, let’s go get everything!” he said at last. He couldn’t wait to start bringing in boxes, to see what the bedroom would look like with his shirts and Jensen’s ties scattered everywhere, to find out if the bookshelf would fit in that corner as perfectly as he thought it would.
They agreed to start with the largest, heaviest items of furniture, because it was already turning into a pretty warm day and their energy wasn’t likely to last long. Their bed was the first thing to come off the truck. It was just a double and if Jared stretched out in his sleep his feet slipped off the end, but he loved it anyway. They got the head and foot screwed to the frame, and then squabbled over whether to position it facing the door or the window.
Once the bed was in place, facing the door, (although Jared hadn’t lost the argument, he’d just strategically retreated) they went to get the mattress. The money they hadn’t spent on the bed frame they’d spent on the mattress instead. It was huge and soft, and as a result, very heavy. Jared’s arms were tiring once they got through the front door, and he paused in the hallway. Jensen walked into the other end of the mattress, knocking Jared back and grumbling about it.
“Damn it, Jared, a little warning would be great next time!” Jensen snarked.
Jared snickered. “Ooops,” he said. “Sorry.” He made to lift the mattress up again and angle it towards the bedroom door, but before he could step through the entry the door blew shut in his face.
“Lucky you weren’t any closer,” Jensen observed wryly, “or it would have flattened your nose.”
“Ha, ha,” Jared replied.
The rest of the day passed in much the same way. It took longer than Jared had expected to get all the heavy stuff off the truck; he hadn’t anticipated how awkward it would be to manoeuvre everything into place inside the house. By the time they’d progressed to opening boxes and unpacking them, he was aching all over.
Jared took a box of carefully wrapped picture frames into the bedroom and began arranging them on the dresser. There were a few that wouldn’t fit; to keep them from cluttering up the house while they were trying to unpack, Jared wrapped them back up and put them back in the box, which he took upstairs. They didn’t need to use the upstairs rooms for anything, and it was nice to have a little space for storage. It was a luxury they weren’t used to.
Jensen must have found the radio, because Jared could hear music playing as he walked through the hallway. The late afternoon sun was shining through the back door’s window, and it made the hallway feel warm and homey. Terracotta tiles were laid in the kitchen and bathroom, and across the hall in between to create a little space where people could leave their shoes or wet coats and umbrellas. The tiles weren’t shiny, but the light brought out a sort of glow in them. Even though he was tired and achy, Jared felt a broad smile burst onto his face again at the idea that this was all theirs.
They had toasted sandwiches for dinner. Jared had planned to cook an actual meal, but they were both too tired and he couldn’t face another night of fast food. Jensen got the TV working while Jared sliced cheese and ham, and they ate sitting on the couch while watching the news.
“I don’t think I’m up to any more unpacking tonight,” Jensen said once they’d eaten. “I can feel myself starting to doze off just sitting here. I think I’m going to get an early night and start again in the morning.”
“Sounds like a great idea,” said Jared. “I think I’m going to have a bath before I join you.”
Jensen smirked. “You’ve had your eye on that bathtub all day; I bet it’s the whole reason why you wanted this house so bad.”
“I’m not denying it, baths are awesome,” Jared replied easily. Jensen wouldn’t be laughing at him in the morning when he was stiff and sore and Jared felt great thanks to a long soak in hot water.
The bathroom, like the rest of the house, was slightly dated, and the layout didn’t really make the best use of the space available. Jared and Jensen had discussed updating the room, but Jared had come down firmly in favour of keeping the bathtub as it was. It was large and deep, enough so that even Jared would be able to stretch out in it.
He put the plug in and started filling the tub, testing the temperature of the water to make sure it was right. Once he was sure Jensen was in the bedroom and not around to tease him, Jared added some bubble bath and lavender oil, then got undressed. He shivered as he pulled off his shirt.
It was dark and the night seemed to have suddenly become chilly. Jared waited impatiently for the tub to fill and collected shampoo and soap from where they’d been dumped in the cabinet. He glanced at his reflection in the mirror above the sink, noticing the way his hair was so messed up with dust and sweat that it nearly stood on end. The bottom left corner of the mirror was cracked, and black lines ran out from the frame in a lopsided ‘X’ shape. The main part of the mirror reflected the shower and bath, but the damaged section near the bottom was angled so that it showed the floor. There was a little section in between that wasn’t visible in the mirror.
Finally, Jared shut the faucet off and went to step into the bath. As he stood there, one foot just touching the water, Jared got the incredibly strong sense of being unwelcome. He paused with his foot dangling in the air, not sure what to do. He dipped his foot further into the bath, and the flesh on the back of his neck crawled. Jared wasn’t sure what to do. He couldn’t face the thought of getting into the bath. He couldn’t articulate why, not even to himself, but he’d never felt such a strong urge go somewhere else, right now.
Jared pulled his foot out of the bath, and dried it off. It was late and he was really tired; if he tried to take a bath now he’d probably fall asleep and drown in the bathtub, which would be a terribly embarrassing way to go. He walked up the hall to the bedroom in the nude and pulled on a pair of track pants to sleep in. “That was quick,” Jensen mumbled, but he was half asleep already and Jared didn’t bother to answer.
***
There was plenty more unpacking to keep them busy throughout the next day. Plates, glasses and cutlery needed to be put away. Books, DVDs and CDs needed to be arranged on their shelves. Boxes of bed sheets and towels needed to be stacked in the linen cupboard. Jared was organising their video game collection and could hear Jensen clattering around in the bathroom, because he hadn’t unpacked his toiletries the day before when Jared had suggested it. He must have been struggling to fit everything in, because he sure was slamming the cupboard doors around.
Later on, once the games were arranged to Jared’s exacting standards, he called out to Jensen at the other end of the house. “Hey, once you’re finished unpacking your stuff in the bathroom, do you want to run to the grocery store to get something for dinner?”
“Once I’ve finished in the bathroom?” Jensen asked, walking over through the kitchen. “I haven’t even started yet.”
“Jeez, Jensen, what have you been doing all afternoon?” Jared asked, exasperated.
Jensen snickered. “Sorry, Jared, I’ve been a little busy, you know? Shit, look out!”
The bookshelf that they’d positioned carefully against the wall gave a wobble and several books fell off it. Jensen darted over to steady it and Jared picked the books up.
“We need to get some chocks to put under this,” Jensen said, testing the balance of the bookshelf. “Need to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”
While the toasted sandwiches the day before had been good, the steak with salad that they had that night was almost impossibly delicious. “Should I leave you two alone?” Jensen quipped. Jared smirked at him.
Jared didn’t go near the bath again, opting instead to have a shower before he went to bed. The shower was separate from the tub and kind of cramped, but it was hot with awesome water pressure. Jared washed the dust and sweat of the day off, washed his hair, and stood a little while longer under the hot spray. When he shut the faucet off, something caught his eye, words just faintly visible on the glass shower door. Jared crouched down to see if he could make them out. ‘HELP ME’ was spelled out in large, shaky capitals.
Jared shook his head and stepped out of the shower cubicle. He probably should have scrubbed it before using it; it was kind of gross to realise that he’d been washing himself in the previous occupant’s mess and soap scum and, apparently, their penchant for writing on the steamy shower walls. Cleaning the shower could be a job for tomorrow when Jensen was at work.
***
Jared had a job interview the next morning. He put on a freshly ironed shirt and neatened his hair, then set out to drive the few blocks to his interview.
A local middle school was looking for someone to work the reception desk part time. Jared hadn’t worked in a school before, but he had administration experience, good references and a police check, and he had secured a job by the time he left. He’d be working two full days and two half days a week; a bit less than he would have liked, but it would do for now.
Jared drove home afterwards, planning to jump right in and give the bathroom the scrubbing it desperately needed. He pulled into the driveway and glanced up at the dormer window - maybe movement caught his eye, because he was sure he saw the curtain twitching. When Jared looked closer, he thought he could make out a vaguely human shape in the window. Maybe it was a shadow - but maybe it was a head, turned his way. Maybe someone was watching him, from the upstairs room of his house.
His heart began to pound. Who was up there? It couldn’t be Jensen - his car wasn’t in the driveway, so he hadn’t come home from work early. Jared climbed the steps to the front porch with trepidation.
“Hello?” he called, opening the front door. “Hello? Is someone here?” Jared wondered if he should be warning a possible intruder that he was coming into the house - but, whoever they were had been watching when he’d pulled up in the driveway anyway. Jared looked around the hallway for something heavy, but when unpacking he and Jensen had completely neglected the whole category of baseball bats, golf clubs and heavy flashlights. Jared pulled opened the drawer of the hall stand and pulled out a collapsible umbrella, but as a self-defence weapon he thought it lacked a certain something.
“Who’s there?” Jared called, inching towards the staircase. The house was silent, quiet enough that he could hear his own breath whistling between his teeth. He tried to breathe more quietly, afraid that if anyone tried to sneak up on him, he might now hear them over the sound of his breathing and the blood rushing through his head. “I’m coming up!” Jared added, shouting a little louder this time.
Were they still up there? Jared didn’t think they would have had time to run down the stairs and out the back door before he’d opened the front. That didn’t mean they were still in the spare bedroom, though. They could be anywhere, waiting just out of sight. With every step he took up the staircase, his head swivelled in every direction, looking for any sign that someone was there.
At the top of the stairs he scanned the room quickly, but there was no one to be seen. A few boxes lay scattered around, but none big enough for someone to hide behind. Jared crossed quickly to the little bathroom and shoved the door open, raising the umbrella, but again no one was inside. That left the spare bedroom.
Jared nudged the door open gingerly and stood back, trying to see into the room before he stepped through. He couldn’t see anyone.
“Hello?” he called one last time. When there was no answer, he stepped into the room. Patchy light shone through the window, broken up by the tree in the front yard. It seemed dusty, even though Jared knew everything had been clean when they moved in. His feet landed on the floor softly, the carpet absorbing all the sound.
Sometime between when he’d last come up here and now, Jensen must have come up and put the room in order. Their futon bed was in the corner and made up. All the other mismatched bedroom furniture they’d collected over the years was up here too; the ugly bedside table and the old-fashioned lamp, the dresser with a bottom drawer which wouldn’t open, and the armchair they both liked but which didn’t fit in the living room. Jensen had put it by the window, and he’d left his jacket draped over it.
Jared picked up the denim jacket and looked at it. Maybe this was what he’d seen from down in the driveway. Some harmless trick, an illusion made of light and shadows. It was obvious now that there was no one inside the house. He felt foolish.
Jared went back downstairs, carrying the jacket with him. He moved quickly, letting his shoes clatter on the wooden stairs, as though he was pushing away the caution and fear he’d taken up with him. He nearly stumbled when he reached the first landing and heard music begin to play, a male voice shrieking “Pours my beer!” and the sudden intrusion of sound took him by surprise.
“Stupid,” Jared muttered when he realised what had happened. It was probably coming from the house next door or a car in the street. He put the unsettling episode out of his mind and got to work cleaning the bathroom.
***
“We need to celebrate!” Jared announced as soon as Jensen got home.
“Celebrate?” Jensen repeated, looking briefly confused. “You got the job?” he guessed.
“I got the job,” Jared confirmed. “So I picked up a bottle of champagne and some oysters. I’ve got plans for tonight.”
“Oh, really?” Jensen said with a leer. “Do tell me more.”
Jared grinned and led Jensen to the dining room where he’d already served up the celebration dinner he’d made. He grabbed the champagne and began working the cork free.
“How did you get the upstairs bedroom all set up yesterday without me noticing?” Jared asked as he poured them both a glass.
“I have no idea. I guess you’re just not very observant,” Jensen answered. “I did it while you were clattering around in the bathroom.”
“I wasn’t working on the bathroom yesterday, that was you!” Jared protested.
“No it wasn’t!” Jensen smirked. “Whatever, you just don’t want to admit that you have opinions about the correct way to hang toilet paper.”
“Okay, Jensen, have it your way.”
***
While Jared was happy to have a job, it did have some sucky parts, like being at work at seven in the morning. When he headed out the door, jacket in one hand and coffee in a travel mug in the other, Jensen was still in bed.
He arrived at the school and was given a whirlwind tour by his immediate supervisor, Samantha. They came back to the front office and she began explaining the computer system he’d need to use.
“Part of your job will be logging attendance. It’s all done electronically, but notification about excused absences should come to you, and then you’ll need to log it here...” Sam showed him the basics, and then said, “If we get time later today, I’ll show you how to accept payments. For now, just come get me if you have any questions. I’ll be over here, working on this nightmare of a budget.”
Jared got to work. In the time before classes began, a bunch of people came by his desk for different reasons. Some dropped off lost property, a few returned permission slips for field trips. A couple had questions that he had to refer to Sam, but all in all, it went pretty smoothly. The bell rang and things quietened down. A few phone calls came in from parents who were keeping their kids home due to sickness; Jared entered the information into the computer.
He knew he was working slowly, but he was being careful and trying not to make any huge mistakes. The other staff were all friendly, and Jared thought he could grow to like this job. On his lunchbreak, he checked his phone to see that he’d got a text message from Jensen.
How’s yr 1st day going? it asked. Jared texted back, Gr8 so far, how’s yrs?, and went to buy something to eat.
Thinking about the house, maybe start renovating soon? came the reply. Jared considered it. It was sooner than they’d been planning on, but after a few days he was already thinking how much nicer it would be if the kitchen were more up to date, and the bathroom more spacious. Since Jared had found a new job so quickly, there probably wasn’t any harm getting started.
Can look at bathrooms on weekend? Jared suggested, and Jensen sent him back a smiley face in reply.
After dinner that night, they grabbed paper and pencils and started making sketches of their plans.
“I think we should swap the cabinet and the toilet,” Jensen said, drawing quickly. “It’ll give us so much more space.”
“That would cost more.”
“Yeah, but I think we need to. If we keep the toilet where it is, it really limits what we can change.”
“Okay. And we have to get a new shower cubicle, the one in there now is way too small,” Jared added.
“Do you think we should re-tile? I know it would be a pain in the ass, but think how awesome it could look!”
Jared thought about it. The bathroom tiles at the moment were kind of ugly. “If we’re going to go to that much trouble, maybe we should replace the bath as well.”
“Really? I thought you loved that bath. You raved about it when we bought the place.”
“Well, yeah, but...” Jared didn’t really want to admit that his change of heart concerning the bathtub came from nothing more than a creepy feeling. “If we change everything else, the bath won’t match anymore. And it’s still a little room; if we want to make everything bigger, it’s going to get more cramped, not less. What if we get a nice whirlpool bath, and have the shower over it? There’d be more space all around.” Jared sketched his idea, putting a generously-sized bathtub in the corner, leaving the toilet where it was but moving the cabinet to where the shower currently sat.
“That’s a great idea,” Jensen said thoughtfully. “Even you wouldn’t be cramped in the shower if we did that.”
“I can think of a few other things we can do in there as well,” Jared said cheekily.
“Oh, really? Like what?” Jensen said, playing innocent until Jared leaned on him and pushed him over into the couch cushions. “Oh, I get it,” Jensen said, giggling. “You mean sex. Nookie. Fucking. Playing hide the cucumber...”
“Oh my God, shut up,” Jared groaned. He put his hands on Jensen’s hips and settled himself above Jensen on the couch, enjoying the way his eyes darkened and he involuntarily pushed his hips upward. For a moment, Jared was distracted by the play of shadows against the wall. It almost looked like... but, no, it was just the leaves of the tree outside blowing in the wind. He looked back down at Jensen.
“Getting distracted?” Jensen asked, grinning wickedly. “I need to lift my game.” He slid his hands up under Jared’s shirt and tweaked one of his nipples. Jared squeaked and shivered, pulling down the collar of Jensen’s shirt to expose his collarbone. He sucked lightly at the skin, but the sound of Jensen’s harsh breathing couldn’t block out the sound of something rattling on the bookshelf. Jared jerked back and looked around.
“You okay, Jared?” Jensen asked, sounding more concerned now.
There was nothing else in the room. “I’m fine,” Jared said, turning back, but the skin on his shoulder blades was beginning to crawl. An electronic hum nearly made him leap out of his skin until he realised it was just the fridge.
“Jared, seriously,” Jensen said with a frown. “What’s on your mind?”
Jared took a deep breath and forced a bright smile to his lips. “Just you,” he purred seductively. “In those tight pants.” He put one hand to the fly of Jensen’s pants and Jensen made a pleased sound, but then a loud creak echoed through from the back of the house, for all the world as though someone was on the stairs, and Jared flinched again. Jensen took his hands and guided him upright.
“We don’t have to do this right now,” he said gently.
“Yeah. Okay,” Jared said, both disappointed and relieved. “Let’s put a movie on, okay? It’s too quiet in here.” Jensen gave him an odd look at that, which Jared ignored.
***
That weekend, they went to Lowes to look at their tiles and bathroom fixtures, trying to decide on a colour scheme. While they were there, Jared paused to look at the bathroom mirrors, and Jensen laughed at him.
“A new mirror as well? You don’t think we could just keep using the one that’s already there?”
“The whole bottom of it’s cracked, it won’t kill us to get a new one,” Jared said a little testily. He wasn’t about to explain that he’d got out of the shower that morning to see ‘HELP’ written in the foggy bathroom mirror. By the same joker who had written it on the shower door, maybe, except that Jared had never noticed it before and he was pretty sure he’d cleaned the mirror at the same time he’d cleaned the shower. Jensen could have done it, maybe, but it wasn’t his style.
They moved on and grabbed a few tile samples to take home, as well as collecting prices on some different baths and cabinets that they liked. With everything they had seen fresh in their mind, Jared and Jensen headed straight to the bathroom once they arrived home to discuss their ideas.
“Darker tiles might look stylish,” Jensen said, crossing over to the bath as he spoke and trying to turn the faucet off to stop it dripping. It wouldn’t budge. “Christ, this is stiff,” Jensen grumbled, putting both hands to it.
“It depends what else we put in here, I guess,” said Jared, watching Jensen wrestle with the bath. “We don’t want to make it too dark. Here, let me try.”
“Damn thing won’t stop,” Jensen said, stepping out of the way.
Jared swiped a hand under the faucet, and a drop landed on his hand. “Shit, that’s really cold,” Jared said, shaking the water off. “Where are they piping this water in from, an underground lake?” He couldn’t get the tap to move either. “It probably needs a new washer. You’re not supposed to turn them off super tight anyway.”
“Maybe it is just as well we’re replacing the bath,” Jensen said grumpily.
“It’s no big deal,” Jared laughed. “It’s just a leaky tap. They happen. Anyway, what if we went a little more blue...”
They debated cheerfully for thirty minutes or so to make sure, but there was definitely one tile they liked better than the others. Then Jensen grabbed his laptop so they could work out if what they wanted was in their budget.
“I think we can make this work,” Jensen said at last. “If we get the more basic showerhead then we should be able to afford the basin with the nicer finish. If we really want those tiles, though, we’ll have to cut back somewhere else. We won’t be going to the cinema or eating out for a while.”
“I’m okay with that if you are.”
Jensen went to place an order with Lowes and came back grinning. “They said they can deliver next Saturday,” he said, rubbing his hands together. “So we better start ripping up those old tiles ASAP.”
***
The weekend was pretty busy after that. They worked steadily and managed to get most of the tiles pulled up by Sunday night, except for the ones in awkward spots like between the bathtub and the cabinet, and behind the toilet. They’d need to remove the old fixtures before laying down the new tiles anyway, so they left those corners untouched for now. Having to use the upstairs bathroom for everything was a pain, but in some ways it was nice. No one had written on the upstairs mirror, for one thing.
Jared got home from work one afternoon only to realise thirty minutes later that he’d left his cell phone at the school. He cursed and headed to the front door, hoping that he wasn’t too late to go back and get it. He was pretty sure some extra-curricular activity was still running - choir practice or something. It would probably be okay. But when he reached the front door where he usually hung up his car keys, they weren’t there. And although he looked everywhere for them, they didn’t turn up.
As a last resort, Jared came out to the front yard to check whether he’d somehow dropped the keys on the porch after unlocking the front door. They weren’t there, so he walked over to the car and back again, befuddled, even though he knew he had to have had the keys on him to get inside.
A teenage girl was standing on the sidewalk watching him. She looked familiar, but it took Jared a moment to place her - she was the girl who had watched him and Jensen move in. Something about her expression made him wary.
“I think you should know you moved into a house where a girl was murdered,” she said, as though to prove Jared’s reservations correct.
“Um...” Jared said, wondering how he could respond. “You know, it’s kind of not nice to make up stuff like that...”
“I’m not making it up!” she snapped, sounding angry. “It happened ages and ages ago. Like, five years. My friend used to live here afterwards, and she told me the house was really creepy and strange stuff happened all the time. It’s true.”
“Uh - okay,” Jared said doubtfully. “I’ll, uh, I’ll keep an eye out, okay?” He looked back at the house with reluctance. His keys weren’t out here; they had to be somewhere inside. He’d have to go back in and keep hunting. He hesitated at the door and looked back to where the girl had stood. She had crossed the road and was going back to her own house; she didn’t look at him before she went inside.
Jared’s keys were lying on the floor just under the hook he’d hung them on; he must not have noticed them somehow when he’d checked earlier. He grabbed them with a sigh and went to collect his phone.
***
Jared finished work for the day at four. He felt exhausted, and when he got home he collapsed on the couch, not moving except to turn the TV on and switch to reruns of The Cosby Show. He was woken some time later by the sound of keys rattling.
Jared started upright, his mind fuzzy and his hair a mess. Keys. Had he lost them again? He’d been careful, kept them in his pocket where he could feel them. He patted the pocket and felt their reassuring weight.
Jensen walked into the room, carrying a grocery bag and flicking on the lights as he passed the switch. “Are you having a nap, you slacker?” he asked.
“I was tired,” Jared protested. “Some of us had to be at work by seven this morning, you know.”
Jensen grinned, unpacking milk and pasta and putting them away. “I’m sorry, baby,” he said, voice mockingly sympathetic. “It’s...” he trailed off when the lights flickered and dimmed briefly, like someone was trying and failing to balance the light switch between ‘on’ and ‘off’. “Geez,” Jensen grumbled, “I hope the wiring in this place isn’t fucked.”
They both waited for a minute, but the light remained steady. “It’s probably nothing,” Jared said. Jensen nodded doubtfully.
Jensen made dinner that night; burritos, which were one of Jared’s favourite foods. They ate in front of the TV, making fun of stupid commercials and coming up with bizarre predictions for the outcome of an episode of Friends that they’d already seen at least twice. Much later, Jensen got up to take care of the dishes, but Jared grabbed his arm.
“Want to leave those till tomorrow?” he suggested. “I’ve got a much more fun idea for something to do.”
Jensen must have liked that idea because he already had his shirt off by the time they made it to the bedroom. He was trying to get Jared’s shirt off before he could even close the door - in fact, Jared ended up not bothering about the door at all. It wasn’t worth paying attention to that with Jensen right in front of him, eyes wide with lust and cheeks flushed with excitement.
Jared got Jensen’s pants halfway off and nudged him back onto the bed, not wanting to wait any longer to get his mouth on the other man. Jared put his hands on Jensen’s hips to keep him still and got down between Jensen’s knees. “Your legs,” he breathed.
“Your arms,” Jensen responded. “It’s... nnngh...” He trailed off as Jared licked his cock from the root to the tip. Jared put the head in his mouth, and at first sucked lightly, teasing. Jensen’s hands scrabbled at Jared’s hair, and he took Jensen deeper.
Jared flicked a sly glance upwards at Jensen’s flushed, awed face, and reached down to tease his balls with the fingertips of one hand. While Jensen writhed, Jared rubbed his perineum and let his fingers brush over Jensen’s hole. Jensen collected himself enough to try to reach for the lube they’d dropped in one of the dresser drawers, and Jared enjoyed trying to distract him. He slid the very tip of his finger into Jensen’s hole and hummed at the same time, and Jensen squeaked.
Jensen finally got the tube of lube out and tapped Jared on the head with it - a little harder than he’d intended, perhaps, but Jared couldn’t blame him for that. He poured some into his hand and began fingering Jensen in earnest, waiting until he was moments from coming before taking his mouth from Jensen’s cock.
“Fu-uuck,” Jensen whined as Jared pushed him to lie down on the bed. He lifted Jensen’s legs up onto his shoulders and lined himself up. “Come on, come on, come on,” Jensen urged him, his words becoming nonsense as Jared took his dick in a firm grasp.
Jared leaned forward so that Jensen’s knees were pushed back towards his head and his hips were tilted up. Jensen couldn’t move much in that position, but that didn’t stop him trying to push down onto Jared’s cock. He tossed his head back and forth on the pillow and Jared was lost in the sight; it was hard to imagine anything more beautiful than that moment. After Jensen came, Jared adjusted his angle and thrust deeply. Jensen panted and grabbed Jared’s hands while he shuddered through his climax.
Jensen smiled sleepily as Jared cleaned them both up. “Aren’t you glad I had that nap now?” Jared teased.
“Can’t talk,” Jensen answered. “Sleepy.”
Jared snickered, but he was asleep in just a few minutes himself.
***
Jared dreamed that he was late for a math test. He was at his locker, the dented, puke-green locker he remembered from his high school. He pulled his books out and stacked them up as fast as he could; maybe he could get to class and not be too late. Math textbook, Science, History, Environment, Economics. Jared wasn’t sure why he’d need all his textbooks, but he knew that he would.
Jared stepped back from his locker and the door slammed shut with a thud. He raced down the hallway balancing the books unsteadily in his arms. One of them slid off the stack and thumped to the ground; Jared leaned over to pick it up but the next book slid off too, and hit the ground louder than the first. He could see the door of the math classroom open ahead, and he started to run towards it, abandoning the books. If he could just make it before the door closed, he would still be able to sit his test. Just as he reached the doorway the door slammed closed with a bang so loud it woke Jared up.
Jared jerked upright in the bed, startled, heart thumping. It was quiet but a half-memory of some noise lingered. He strained his ears, but a second later another bang echoed through the house, and then another.
Jared shuffled towards the edge of the bed. He wasn’t sure what was making that noise, but it needed to be checked out. And then his alert ears picked up a different sound.
“Help,” he heard a voice call faintly. “Help me.”
Jared scrambled back towards Jensen and reached for his arm. There was another bang, and the voice called “Help!”
“Jensen,” Jared whispered, shaking him by the arm. “Jensen, wake up! Someone’s in the house!”
“Mmmuh?” Jensen mumbled sleepily. “Jared. ‘s’late.”
Jared listened again. The banging had stopped and in its place, music played, a song that sounded vaguely familiar. ‘Something ain’t right,’ Jared heard, and the skin on the back of his neck began to crawl. “Listen, Jensen,” Jared whispered.
“Music,” Jensen murmured, waking up a little. “Probably coming from next door. Go back to sleep.” Jensen rolled over and began snoring again almost immediately.
Jared glared at Jensen’s sleeping form and threw the covers back roughly. He went to the hallway, thinking that it would serve Jensen right if he was murdered by an intruder. Jared switched on the hallway light, taking no notice of Jensen’s annoyed grunt.
The music got a little louder once he was out in the hall. Jared looked around, going into the living room and walking through, turning lights on as he went. He didn’t call out, slightly afraid that if he did he might get a reply he didn’t want. Jared walked through the kitchen and back into the hall, crossed it to reach the bathroom and switched that light on as well. The moment the bright light flooded the little room, the music fell abruptly silent. Jared looked in every corner, eyes wide, but saw nothing.
As Jared waited, normal night-time sounds resumed, sounds that he hadn’t even noticed were absent. The sound of a large bird taking flight outside, a car passing in the street, a dog barking half a block away. He couldn’t explain it, but the unbearable tension had broken and the house was, once more, just a house. For the sake of thoroughness, Jared climbed the stairs to investigate the second floor, but he didn’t really expect to find anyone up there.
He searched the upstairs carefully nonetheless, checking behind the shower curtain and in all the cupboards and pulling open the built-in closet in the bedroom. When he closed the closet door, he heard a thump, and when he opened it again, something flew at his head.
“Aaaah!” Jared shouted, leaping back. The object landed on the floor. It was a small, hardcover book. It hadn’t flown at his head at all, just fallen down from the shelf it had been resting on. Jared rolled his eyes at his own jumpiness, and picked the book up to take downstairs.
Even though he’d confirmed that there was nothing to fear in the house, Jared didn’t sleep well for the rest of the night.
Part Two