2. The Tour
The Tour
LUKE
That felt like an omen all on its own.
Still, he glanced at the number on the mailbox, and it matched. This was the right house, but something felt so very wrong. He couldn’t figure out if the vibe was Addams Family or Amityville Horror. He was hoping for the former. The Addams Family might have been a little kooky, but they meant well.
Amityville, not so much.
Not that he had much choice if this building turned out to be haunted by an entire gaggle of poltergeists. Gaggle? Fleet? Flock? What was the collective noun for poltergeists?
Never mind . He was fucking stalling.
He’d talked to someone named Az Jones on the phone yesterday, who’d confirmed that the room was still for rent and that the monthly rent was, in fact, only 150 dollars.
They’d set up a time for him to meet with the owner and to see the room.
As long as the room sheltered him from the elements and had heat for the coming winter months, he couldn’t pass on this opportunity.
Fuck, even if it didn’t have heat, he had a feeling he would have to take the room. He was out of places to crash. His couch-surfing days were at an end. Right now, his options were a park bench or the homeless shelter.
“Quit being such a baby,” Luke muttered to himself. “So, it’s a bit creepy. It’s not like it’s haunted. There are no such things as ghosts, poltergeists, or demons. Besides, between work and school, I won’t even be here that much. Just a place to shower and sleep.”
Feeling buoyed by his pep talk, Luke shoved the piece of paper into his pocket and marched up the broken sidewalk, past the overgrown front yard filled with thorny vines and high, brown grass.
Sounds of movement caused him to quicken his steps.
God only knew what was living in the shadowy garden, and he wasn’t interested in meeting it.
Maybe if this worked out, his new landlord would pay him for some landscaping work or take a chunk off his monthly rent.
The wooden porch stairs creaked and groaned under his feet, announcing his approach long before the doorbell that echoed like a giant gong through the house. Yep, this house was leaning more toward Addams Family.
He took a deep breath and forced his heart out of his throat, only to have it leap up when both doors were flung open. A ridiculously tall man stepped forward to tower over him.
Not Lurch.
Luke stood, speechless, as he stared at the lean figure with the razor-sharp features and eyes as black as coal. His black hair was styled away from his face, and he wore a black suit with a burgundy button-down shirt, and it all accentuated his long lankiness.
“Mr. Luke Carter, I presume?” the giant inquired in a gentle voice.
“Yes,” Luke squeaked. He cleared his throat and shook his head, trying to clear his brain of its nonsense. “Yes. That’s me. Are you Az Jones?”
“Yes, I am. Please come inside.” Az’s smile was warm and inviting as he stepped aside and motioned for Luke to enter.
As he walked into the foyer, it was like stepping into a thick shadow.
For a moment, he was blind, and his heart skipped, but his eyes adjusted from the sunny day to the dimmer interior a second later.
He was stunned to find he was standing in a foyer filled with elegant dark woods, thick carpets, and old oil paintings that appeared as if they belonged in a museum.
He’d never been in a house so rich. It almost felt as if he were making it dirty by standing there.
“This…this is gorgeous,” Luke whispered. It felt like a sin to even break the peaceful quiet.
The doors closed with a heavy, deep thud behind him, and Az swept soundlessly around Luke. He cocked his head and gave an odd little grin. “Do you think so?”
“Yes, definitely! It’s stunning. When I heard there was a room for rent, I wasn’t expecting the house to be anything like this.”
Az seemed to like Luke’s praise, because the man straightened, seeming to become even taller as he tipped his chin up.
“It is a rather lovely house. I share it with five…friends. A sort of makeshift family. We don’t always get along, but we’ve found that living together is more enjoyable than living apart.
Recently, we thought we should put the empty room in the attic to use, and what better way to do that than rent it out to a college student?
” Az turned his laser-like focus on Luke.
“You did say on the phone that you’re attending classes at Ravenwood University, correct? ”
For a moment, Luke’s tongue stopped working. He could only nod twice while he rebooted his brain. “Yes. Yes, I’m a graduate student at Ravenwood. I am studying ornithology and environmental sciences and engineering.”
“Excellent. Does that mean you’re a fan of birds?”
“Very much. I’ve studied birds all my life.
They’re absolutely fascinating creatures.
Did—” Luke jerked his tongue back and clamped his teeth together to hold in the rest of his rambling.
He had to make a good impression and not bore his prospective landlord to death with all his jabbering about birds.
Az lifted a questioning eyebrow as if prodding Luke to continue. Instead, Luke smiled broadly and gave a shake of his head.
“I’m a fan of crows myself. There are a few who like to visit me. Clearly, you won’t have a problem with that.”
“Nope. Not at all.” But were these the same crows he’d met on campus and who’d brought him the flyer? No, there was no way they could be the same birds. Crows were smart, but could they be trained to ferret out possible renters for their human friend? That was a little hard to believe.
“How about a tour of the house? It would help you decide whether you would like to rent our room.”
“Yes, please. That would be wonderful.” Even if Az decided Luke wasn’t worthy of staying in their attic, at least he’d be able to say that he was able to wander through the rooms of an incredible house.
From the foyer, Az took him on a leisurely stroll through a grand family room, past a wide curved staircase, to an honest-to-fucking-God library.
The house had an actual library . And it was filled with leather-bound books.
They were real, too. Not those shitty fake books people sometimes bought to make it look like they owned books.
No, just stepping into the room, he could smell the leather, old paper, and ink combining to make the most intoxicating aroma in all the world.
Once in the room, he didn’t want to leave. He wanted to stay there and examine each and every book. To grab a tome, flop into one of the big leather chairs, and lose himself for several hours.
“If you choose to rent our room, you would be free to use the library anytime you want,” Az practically whispered in his ear.
Luke’s head whipped around, and he stared openmouthed at the man. “Seriously? You wouldn’t mind?”
“Of course not. Ogos and I are typically the only ones who use the library. As a college student, you would need a space in which to study, correct?”
That wasn’t wrong. Of course, he’d learned to make do with sitting on the ground or in a stairwell, anywhere he could find that was even a little quiet.
Az continued his tour, taking him through a dimly lit formal living room where all the furniture was under white sheets.
Az waved one hand at it. “We don’t use this room much.
” And then they moved on to the dining room with a ridiculously long table set with gleaming gold candelabras and a glittering chandelier.
He didn’t have time to count the chairs, but he was pretty sure there was enough room for over twenty place settings.
Who the fuck are these people? Is it common for them to entertain royalty on the weekends?
They cut through the butler’s pantry to the kitchen, filled with white cabinets and marble counters. All the appliances gleamed and sparkled, looking brand-new.
“You would be permitted to use the kitchen anytime you like. There would also be a spot made in the fridge for any food that you wished to keep in there,” Az explained as they moved through the family room to the curved staircase.
On the second floor, which had more oil paintings of landscapes and portraits, Az pointed to closed bedroom doors and said names like Tog, Mullmag, Annod, and Bath’tuk. Az didn’t have a foreign accent—as far as Luke could tell—but those were some of the strangest names he’d ever heard.
“My friends are out entertaining themselves this afternoon,” Az explained. “I wanted to show you the house without them underfoot. They get excited when we have guests.”
Luke took it back. Az made his roommates sound like overeager golden retrievers. That was nice.
Better than territorial house cats with claws and hissing.
Az paused near the end of the hall and pushed open a door. “This would be your bathroom. It’s the closest to the attic staircase. You would be sharing it with Annod. He’s not bad, but he leaves messes.”
“No problem. I’m happy to tidy up after him and myself,” Luke said after peering around the rather normal-looking bathroom with the sink, toilet and shower half-hidden behind a curtain with a bright floral pattern. He was willing to do anything to appear to be the perfect tenant.
Az turned from the bathroom and opened another slender door.
He reached above his head and pulled a beaded chain, popping on an old-fashioned bare-bulb light to reveal a very narrow staircase.
With every step they took, the wood creaked and moaned.
No matter how hard Luke tried, the noise was ridiculous.
There was no way he’d be able to take the stairs without alerting the entire house that he was coming or going.
At the top of the stairs, Az flipped on another light to reveal a medium-sized room with a full-sized bed, nightstand, and dresser.
The furniture wasn’t of the same high quality he’d glimpsed in the rest of the house, but it was still in good shape and functional.
Far better than what he’d been living with recently.
The air was warm and stuffy, but that was because no one had ventured into this room.
With a little use, it would air out just fine.
“What do you think? Would this work for you? We apologize for it being so small,” Az said, his hands twisted together in front of him.
“What?” Luke’s head jerked around, and he grinned at his possible landlord. “No! This is perfect. Amazing, really. Far better than where I’ve been living.”
“Your current home is bad?” Az inquired.
A scoff broke from Luke’s lips before he could catch it, and he shoved a hand through his hair as he gazed at the room.
“More like homeless,” he mumbled to himself.
He forced a smile as he turned to Az. “Poor college student, but you don’t have to worry.
I’m working right now at Burger Hut and Sinful Soaps, so I will be able to pay my rent on time.
I promise that. Living expenses are through the roof right now, and going to college is never cheap.
” Luke shrugged, because life was expensive for everyone.
Maybe not so bad for Az and his friends if they’d managed such an amazing house, though.
“And your family? They’re unable to assist you? To relieve some of your hardship?”
Luke drew in a deep breath. It was becoming harder to hold on to his smile. “I’m an only child, and my parents barely make enough money for them to get by. Since I turned eighteen, I’ve been pretty much on my own. We’re not a close family.”
“Your self-reliance has made you stronger and more resourceful,” Az praised.
That was certainly one way of looking at it. It had definitely made him creative. But still, he’d like for things to be a little less hard for at least a short period of time. “True. When the crow brought me the listing for this room, though, it was a real godsend,” Luke continued.
Az’s entire body shuddered, and he rubbed his forehead for a moment as if he’d just suffered a sudden migraine. “Yes. A godsend,” he repeated through clenched teeth. Az lowered his hand and smiled at him. “But are you able to attend to all your schooling properly with so many jobs?”
Luke shrugged. “It’s a juggling act, but I manage. Your home is close to the school, and there’s a bus stop close to here that can get me to work.”
“That’s wonderful.”
“So…um…this all looks great to me, and the rent is perfect. When do you think you’ll be deciding who you’ll be renting the room to?” Luke considered offering housekeeping and landscaping services to sweeten the deal for Az, but he wasn’t sure how to say it without offending the man.
Oh, and by the way, I noticed that your yards—front and back—are overgrown jungles. Would you like me to tackle that for you?
No, definitely not.
“My decision is already made. The room is yours if you want it,” Az replied with a broad grin. “You can move in as soon as you pay the first month’s rent.”
“Really? Oh, my God! That’s amazing!” Luke rushed to Az and took his hand, pumping it several times in his excitement.
“You have no idea how much this means to me. I swear, you won’t even know I’m here.
I’ll be super quiet and very clean. If you also need help with anything around here, I’m your guy.
I’m good at cleaning and fixing things.”
“No need to worry about that. You should focus on your studies. My friends and I are the ones who will strive to be quiet so we don’t disturb you.”
The words had barely left Az’s tongue when an explosion from what sounded like the first floor shook the entire house. Bits of dust drifted from the ceiling, and Luke stumbled, catching himself on the mattress at the last second.
A low growl rumbled through the room, and Luke swore Az’s eyes glowed red for a second. Luke blinked, and Az’s eyes were once again black. Must have been a strange trick of the light.
“That would be my companions back from their outing.” Az sounded as if he were talking through his clenched teeth.
The smile he flashed in Luke’s direction was tight and lacked all the warmth he’d exhibited earlier.
“Allow me to go tell them the good news, and then you can join us for introductions. We’ll be in the family room. Give me about ten minutes, please.”
“Uh. Yeah. Sure,” Luke agreed, pushing to his feet.
Az left the room in a flash, his feet not making a sound on the squeaky stairs.
Okay, definitely Addams Family vibes.
And a little Amityville, too.
But for 150 dollars a month, Luke was willing to live with the devil himself.