April Scheel: Hey bro

Matt Scheel: Hi

April Scheel: I see you finally turned your messenger back on

Matt Scheel: Yeah.

April Scheel: remind me why you ditched it

Matt Scheel: because it was distracting me from my editing. That was my main reason. Now I need a distraction, you know, from all the rejection.

April Scheel: You're a drama queen matt. How many rejections have you actually got?

Matt Scheel: 7 So far.

April Scheel: cry me a river and go send out another query.

Matt Scheel: you should be nicer to me. I helped you write your resume.

April Scheel: where exactly in the sister code does it say I have to be nice?

Matt Scheel: in the clause about when your brother helps you land a cool job.

April Scheel: I'm reading that clause right now.... nope. Nothing about niceness. Sorry Mattie.

Matt Scheel: How's dad? Did that new hired guy stay on?

April Scheel: well he didn't turn up for milking today so I'm gonna say no

Matt Scheel: Not surprised.

April Scheel: you didn't even meet this one.

Matt Scheel: Mom mentioned him in her last email. He sounded real soft.

April Scheel: you're one to talk. You got out of milking any chance you got.

Matt Scheel: No. I hate waking up at 4am to go out in the fucking northern tundra. Need I remind you of the frostbite incident of 2000?

April Scheel: you only hate waking up that early because you stay up until 3am tap tapping on your laptop.

Matt Scheel: laugh now, sis, but when I'm a household name you won't mock my tappy tapping any more.

Matt Scheel: April?

April Scheel: sorry. Tim just came in from the barn. Cat had kittens in a grain sack and we're bringing them in before they freeze. Catch up later.

Matt Scheel: kk. Bye April.

Matthias puffed out his cheeks with a long breath and let the hand clasping his phone fall to the side. Talking to April was a double edged sword. Maybe that was why he had waited so long to turn his messenger back on. On one hand it was great to chat with the girl who had been his best friend for most of his life. On the other hand it reminded him that he wasn't home to help Dad with the cows, or their youngest brother, Tim, with the latest kitten related crises. He scrubbed his free hand through his hair and looked at his ceiling, counting water stains. He could feel his laptop behind him like it had eyes to stare with. Judging eyes. 'Get back over here and send out another query letter' eyes.

Matthias kicked one long leg up and rested his heel on the little table that held his TV. He could give in to the judgmental stare of his laptop, or, (better option) snag a nap right there in the beanbag.

He looked around his big, empty room and sighed. It was like the energy here didn't quite know where to go. Trav was right, this blank space wasn't him. Whether back home, or crammed into the dorms, or in the small place he had shared with Blake and Chris last year, there had always been clutter. Things to make it feel like home, even if that meant there was seldom a place to sit.

Matthias' eyes drifted shut and he drifted. The sounds of home tumbled over one another into his memory. Siblings coming in from the barn with the cold wind chasing them, forgetting to switch to indoor voices as they shucked their boots. Time shouting that he had lost another mitten. Tess laughing as she ruffled her static filled hair and zapping her brothers with a touch. James rolling his eyes.

They piled in like puppies while Mom shouted at them to quiet down, and for the love of little baby jesus stop tracking cow manure onto her clean floor.

He envisioned himself plopping down on the big family couch as the activity continued around him like the eye of a storm. He knew he only had a few short hours to nap before he and his siblings would be expected to go back out to face yet more of a brutal Wisconsin winter, but for now he could let the warmth of the home and the lull of voices wash him away like his own personal ocean. Even Lisa was there, even though their eldest sister had married and left home while Matthias was still a preteen. Her full, assertive, voice joined the swirling throng and Matthias nestled deeper into the beanbag and sighed blissfully.

Matthias' fantasizing was broken when a scent reached him, and it wasn't the smell of bacon and pancakes. He wrinkled his nose, which send a slice of pain up behind his eyes. This, in turn, made him open his eyes. As he gingerly rubbed his still tender face he squinted at something above his door. "The fuck? How long has that been there?"

A black splotch, resembling printer toner more than anything else, was blotted on the wall above his door. It looked like it had somehow spilled against a horizontal surface. Is that mold? He could have sworn he hadn't seen any mold in his apartment when he investigated on his first day. Had he forgotten to look above his door or could mold grow that fast?

Matthias pushed himself upright and headed for the kitchen, bare feet cold on the hard-wood. He had a few supplies tucked under the sink and he pulled out a mostly empty spray bottle of bleach cleaner. Snatching paper towel he pivoted back to the door and slammed his hip into the kitchen island as his eyes locked on the stain. It was larger. So much larger he couldn't convince himself that he hadn't looked at it carefully enough before. It had been about the size of his hand, and now it looked like someone had poured a full can of black paint onto his wall and ceiling. No, not paint. It didn't look wet or glossy, it was matte, even powdery.

Matthias gaped at the black stuff, still gripping his bleach bottle. He slowly, almost unconsciously, raised his arm and spritzed with his bleach.

Matthias was tall enough that would have been able to reach the top of his door, but he stood too far back, staring and confused, so the mist of cleanser burst in a tiny cloud and drifted uselessly to the floor as the black above him spread. It didn't leak like a liquid, instead twitching forward with little tendrils as though he was watching it in slow stop motion.

Matthias took a step back, neck craned as the blackness ticked towards him inch by inch, creeping over his ceiling and down his wall, coiling around his door frame... or from his door frame? Was I coming from outside?

Matthias squinted as he leaned back, drawing himself against his kitchen island. The center of the black blob was boiling, peeling back and bubbling away to reveal something else beneath it. Stone. Not the red brick of the building, but grey, heavy stone with a hint of moss. It reminded Matthias of stone that might make up a very old wall in the country or maybe... maybe a castle?

"Oh shit."

The claws of powdery blackness inched onward, taking over his ceiling. He gave the bleach spray two more desperate squirts before he dropped it with a plastic 'thonk' and dove behind his kitchen island. He crouched, hugging his long legs to his chest, his back against the island. As if he could hide from creeping blackness. As though it had eyes to find him and wasn't relentlessly marching across his room like an enormous swarm of ants. All he knew for certain was that he didn't want to touch it. Visions of his skin peeling back to expose muscle and bone like the black stuff revealed the grey stone on his ceiling.

The smell returned. The brief whiff that had wakened him from his half-dream punched him in nose with the overwhelming odor decay wrapped in something sour. It was the dead skunk all over again, except fifty skunks, all piled under his nose. Tears sprang to his stinging eyes and he gagged. The blackness stretched and quivered above, beginning to spread downward over the fronts of his cupboards. Matthias couldn't think, couldn't move, locked in place by terror.

'Thud thud thud!'

The blackness vanished. In one blink of his streaming eyes not a shred of the mysterious powder remained. The choking smell was a faint memory on Matthias' skin. He sat on his kitchen floor, breathing like he'd sprinted up every stair in the building. He only had the evidence of his watering eyes and dripping nose to prove that anything had happened at all.

'Thud thud thud!'

Mathias reached out shaking hands and grabbed the counter-top to haul himself upright on trembling legs. He kept shooting distrustful glances at the ceiling. He could make out muffled voice from the other side of his door.

"Maybe he's not home."

"Trav—swear to god-- if you don't-- I'm dying!"

Mathias swiped at his eyes and nose with his flannel sleeve and took an unsteady step towards the door. It was just his door, no evil, spreading black, no smell. Tentatively he pulled it open and Travis nearly fell in on top of him.

Matthias grasped Trav's shoulders with a reaction speed that he would have found impressive if he hadn't been so distracted. "What-" was all he could manage.

Trav and a strange girl were balanced on the landing supporting a couch between them. Matthias had no idea how Trav was able to hold the couch and limp along. His crutch was present, but didn't seem to be of much help. Possibly it was more of a hindrance.

"Hi," said the girl, peeking brightly over the far arm of the couch. She had intelligent, hazel eyes and curly brown hair that fluffed in wild directions. It seemed that once there may have been a pony tail, but her hair had long since escaped. "Can we come in?"

"Oh, er... sure?" What did you say when people showed up outside your house with a couch? Matthias stooped and scooped up Trav's side so the young man could hop clear, dragging his crutch.

Matthias and the girl guided the couch around to sit in front of the TV, Matthias kicking his beanbag out of the way. They plopped it down and the girl tossed herself over the arm in a dramatic flop. "Thank. God. Trav, if you ever have a wild plan like this again-"

"I'll call you in a heartbeat." Trav was beaming and he almost seemed lit from within, even as he leaned unsteadily on his crutch.

Matthias looked from one to the other. "What... what just happened?"

"You have a couch!" Trav gestured magnanimously.

"He can see that," said the flopping girl. She raised her head and grinned. She had a spray of freckles across her nose which she wrinkled slightly with her smile. She was wearing an open, powder blue coat and a too tight button down shirt. Black dress pants squeezed ample hips in a way that did not look comfortable. Matthias caught sight of a name tag with a burger on it near her collar. 'Rebekah'. "Hi. I'm Ruby." the girl raised her hand for Matthias to shake. "I'm this one's girl friend," she tipped her head in Trav's direction and her hair flopped over her face for emphasis.

"Nice to meet you," Matthias said, shaking hands. Ever since Trav had showed up in his apartment last week Matthias doubted anything the guy could do would surprise him any more, though this would be a great story to tell April later. She'd think he was making it up until he sent her a picture of he couch, which was an alarming shade of orange that reminded Matthias of a traffic cone. "Did you pay for this?" Matthias raised his eyebrow.

"No way, it was free. A buddy of mine wanted to get rid of it." Trav said, easing himself around the arm of the new couch and letting out a little huff has he dropped himself into the seat. He arranged his leg with a wince he tried to hide by lowering his head, but Matthias caught it, along with the pain tightness in his voice. "It might smell a little bit like weed for a while, but no worries. Febreeze that right out. No cat pee, no cigarettes, it's all good!"

Matthias wanted to quip, it's all orange, but he kept his mouth shut. As ugly as it was, the couch itself was in good shape, and it looked comfortable..

"You alright, babe?" Ruby slid across the couch and tucked herself against Trav.

"Yeah." He waved her off, "Probably it wasn't a great idea to carry a couch on a broken leg, but whatever."

"He wanted to surprise you." Ruby tilted her head to look up and at Matthias. She wrinkled her nose again in a deeply adorable expression. "And he refuses to use two crutches." She turned back to her boyfriend and poked his ribs.

"I only have one anyway." Trav countered as he plopped his leg onto the beanbag chair.

Ruby folded her arms. "Because you refuse to find another one. Instead you spent your considerable free time tracking down an orange couch for your poor friend who is too polite to tell you to back off. Not everyone is ready for your brand of friendship, babe." Ruby looked at Matthias again. "Seriously tell us to leave at any time."

Matthias blinked a few times. Ruby talked with the speed of an auctioneer who was late for an appointment. He wasn't certain if he was expected to speak now, or if she was revving up to start again. When she continued to look at him Matthias cleared his throat awkwardly and gave her a smile he knew looked pathetic when compared with Trav's effervescent grin. "It's really fine. I mentioned I wanted furniture and I didn't have time to find some myself so this is great!"

"Really?" Ruby prodded.

"Really." Matthias glanced at Trav, who had slouched lower and was looking a little pale. Matthias leaned his forearms onto the back of the couch, tilting his head. "Didn't the doctor give you two crutches?"

"They'll sell you crutches. Expensive crutches." Trav glared at his leg as though it had insulted him. "You're allowed to get your own if you want to pay less."

"Which only works if you actually get two like you're supposed to." Ruby pushed herself up and straightened her too-tight pants. "I'm going next door to change. You boys okay if I hang out with you?"

Matthias almost laughed. He hadn't been around this much pure energy in days and it was like fuel. He hadn't realized how much living alone could drain his reserves. Hell, he hadn't realized that he was being drained at all until Trav and Ruby showed up like an injection of sunshine. "Yeah, of course." Matthias said. His fingers itched to write as his new friends enjoyed his home. Weren't authors supposed to be driven by solitude and loneliness? Well, he wasn't published so maybe he wasn't a proper author anyway.

"Come try this badboy out." Trav smacked the couch enthusiastically as Ruby darted to the door, moving as quickly as she talked.

Matthias came around and lowered himself tentatively onto a seat at the far end from Trav. The cushions sighed beneath him and released a little waft of weed smell, but it still wasn't bad. Matthias had dealt with worse sharing an apartment last year and this couch turned out to be one of those dangerously comfortable ones he could fall into and never be able to claw his way out of. "This is pretty perfect." He laced his fingers behind his head and tried not to think about having to go to work in a few hours.

"Yeah? Great!" Trav's bright eyes shone with excitement and Matthias struggled not to laugh. He still wasn't used to this kind of unbridled enthusiasm. His family were of that somewhat dower breed of Wisconsinite who knew better than to smile too much lest bad luck strike them down and lodge their car in a snowbank.

"Hey, my phone works over here. That's weird."

"Huh?" Matthias tried to lever himself into a more upright position, but he was swiftly reabsorbed by the couch. He gave up and went limp.

Trav prodded his phone screen with a thumb, his exuberance exchanged for curiosity. "My phone stopped working over at my place the other day. Super random. No signal at all."

"Does it work outside your place?"

"Not on the landing. Only if I go further down or up. I figured maybe it was just the second floor apartments, but here we are in the middle of yours and I've got full bars. I always used to have full bars next door too. Maybe I should ask the landlord?"

"I'm not sure what he'd be able to do." Matthias shrugged.

"Yeah. You're probably right." Trav had his phone raised and the light from the screen washed his face in wan light that made him look even paler. Were those dark circles under his eyes, or was it just because of the phone?

Matthias wondered where his phone had gotten to but didn't have the energy to seek it. Instead he toed Trav's game controller over to them and turned on the console to navigated to Netflix.

By the time Ruby came back both boys were immersed in the first episode of The Haunting of Hill House. Matthias glanced and hesitated. It only lasted a second, like a match flame blazing to life and extinguished. Something black and spreading, reaching across his ceiling, creeping towards the floor, haloing the young woman and taking over his world. And then it was gone like dust blinked from his eye.

"Hey, babe." Trav said, not looking up from the screen.

Matthias met Ruby's eyes. Her expression was blank, her hazel eyes empty and sightless, her mouth slightly open like she didn't realize what her face was doing. And then she snapped back to life as though an invisible string had been pulled. Her face warmed and she beamed at Matthias before turning her attention to Trav. "Your apartment is really cold." She tugged the the sleeves of the large sweater she'd changed into. She looked far more comfortable now that her generous curves were not restricted by a too-small work uniform. Everything about Ruby was soft and rounded, from her face to her hips to her chest, and it gave her an especially warm countenance.

"Yeah. That happens sometimes." Trav answered her casually, not looking up from the screen. "I think it's just because I'm on the windy side of the building and the windows are not well insulated.

"Yeah, my bedroom window doesn't even latch." Matthias agreed, though he couldn't take his eyes from Ruby's face until she turned from him and forced his gaze away. Something had been wrong, but he couldn't remember what. His mental gears ground together and nothing surfaced.

Ruby plopped down between them, pulling up her legs and grasping her bare feet. She reminded Matthias so much of his younger sister Tess that he nearly called her that when he pushed himself free from the couch's clutches. "I'm gonna grab some drinks. Do either of you want anything, Trav, T-Ruby?"

"Sure."

"You bet."

Matthias headed for the kitchen and his foot contacted with something, kicking it across the floor. He frowned. "The hell?" He mouthed as he chased down the bottle of bleach cleaner laying on its side. He couldn't remember getting it out from under the sink. With a clearing shake of his head Matthias scooped it up and put it away.

Mountain Dews were passed around and the couch was well utilized all afternoon. Matthias got his laptop out and manged to tap out a few words on his latest inspiration. Ruby leaned in and squinted at the open word document. "Writing a new story?"

"Yeah. This one's a fantasy. I usually write scifi."

"Oh, right! Trav's reading your other book." Ruby beamed.

The euphoria that overcame Matthias was deeply reminiscent of the time he had won a blue ribbon for the fist time at the fair. Bubbly and sweet and addictive. "Y-you read it already?"

"Of course I did." Trav said. "That's why you sent it to me, right?"