Apartment 13A

Chapter 2

The next day Mitch awoke even more tired than the morning before. Same old story: Darren the Jerk got some action last night with yet another blonde bimbo from yet another frat party. And they'd been making noise since one in the morning the previous night, and so Mitch had been woken up constantly throughout the night. And at first he wanted to go out there and pull a really bad prank on Darren but then he spied the newspaper Kristine had given him the day before and since it was a Friday he didn't have any school, because he had a nice schedule worked out this semester, so he decided to go check out the place and see if he could secure it and be moved in by the end of the weekend.

Mitch got dressed hurriedly and went to the bathroom to brush his teeth and apply some deodorant. He wouldn't need to shave till the next day, in his opinion he'd been blessed when it came to those genes. He successfully did his morning things without a run in with Darren's newest date, which he was thankful for. He then went back to his room and retrieved his jacket, car keys, and last but certainly not least the newspaper. Then Mitch exited the room as quietly as he could.

- Later In His Car -

Mitch sat in his car after exiting the dorm building. In one hand he held his cell phone and in the other he held the newspaper, which was folded over so that it was on the add page. He strained his eyes to read the ultra-small print for the phone number of the apartment on Commonwealth avenue. One number at a time, he typed the number into his phone, then pressed dialed and waited patiently as the phone rang...and rang....and rang.

After four rings the other line picked up. And at first there was nothing but a slow, steady breathing that sent chills down Mitch's spine, but then a cheery voice broke through which almost made him completely forget about the four or five seconds of creepy breathing, almost.

"Hello this is John!" The voice said cheerfully. Mitch deduced from the voice that it belonged to an older man, probably in his late fifties. Little did he know that he was right in his deduction, as he usual was when his little deduction muse decided to sit on his head.

"Hey, I saw this number in a add for a apartment for rent. I'm just calling to see if the apartment is still available."

"Yes it is still available, you're the first caller I've had concerning the room Mr...?"

"Oh! I'm Mitch Hale, but no need to call me Mr. or anything. Mitch is just fine. And so is it possible for me to view the apartment today?"

"Alright Mitch, and yeah, I'm free all day today. If you want to view the place today I can be over there in maybe five minutes." Mitch looked down at his clock. 10:13am. Perfect.

"Yeah, that'll work perfect for me. I'll be over there in about five minuets as well."

"Great, see you then Mitch."

"You too John." Mitch said then hung up. As he put his cell phone back in his jacket pocket he thought back for the first time to the slow, steady breathing for four or five seconds at the beginning of the call. It didn't make sense to Mitch at all. After talking to the guy, John his name was, he couldn't picture that breathing to be his, but then again you never know, right? Eventually Mitch wrote it off as interference from another call or line. Then he started his car and began to drive off towards the apartment after shooting Kristine a text, letting her know what he was doing, knowing that she'd be happy that he took her advice.

- At The Apartment -

Mitch drove up to the address listed in the add several minutes later. It was a large brick building that had numerous doors and mailboxes beside each door. Mitch parked his car on the sidewalk, not wanting to park in one of the spots for the apartment tenets. After getting out and place several quater's into the parking meter, he began walking towards the brick building. Mitch then saw a middle aged man (in his late fifties) leaning against the wall. The man then hopped off the wall and began striding towards Mitch with a friendly smile on his face, though he walked a little gingerly on his left leg.