AN: A new fic of mine. Thanks to Lily Icerem and Baylee Shadow for beta-ing.

Disclaimer: Alas, I do not own Hetalia.

Haunting You

Chapter One – The New Apartment

By ObsydianDreamer

The new apartment was perfect.

There was no other way it could be described. The place was spacious, with two bedrooms, a living room, a study, a full kitchen and a bathroom. It was also impeccably clean and well-kept, despite being old, with no visible damage anywhere. It came with the furniture, and there was even a grand piano in the living room.

It really was the most ideal living space for the classical music student Roderich Edelstein.

"So, do you like the place?" the landlady, Elizaveta, asked. She was Hungarian, and seemed rather friendly.

"Yes. Very much so," Roderich replied. "I just can't believe that the place is renting for so little."

Normally, he wouldn't be able to afford such an apartment on his student living allowance, but the place was going for next to nothing. In fact, when Roderich had first heard about it, he thought that there'd have to be something horrifically wrong with it.

However, nothing was wrong with the place.

Really, it all seemed too good to be true

Elizaveta sighed. "I would like to get more for it, but no one ever stays here for long."

Roderich couldn't believe it. Who wouldn't want to stay in a place like this? Smiling, Roderich spoke.

"I'll take it."

"Good!" Elizaveta said, beaming. "You'll be able to move in tomorrow."

Moving in to his new apartment didn't take long.

He packed up his belongings, which mostly consisted of clothes, studying supplies and music books into a few boxes and piled them into a taxi before telling the driver the location and climbing into the car.

For Roderich, moving out of the temporary dorm at the academy was a relief. It was cramped, constantly untidy and he'd had to share it with a hyperactive American who would play loud video games until early morning and a perverted Frenchman who brought home someone different every night.

"You'd think people attending a prestigious academy would be more formal than that," Roderich thought.

Before long, they'd arrived at the apartment. Paying the driver and taking out his possessions, Roderich walked into the entrance. He went to use the elevator, only to find an "out of order" sign hanging on it.

"Odd. It was working yesterday," Roderich said aloud. Realising that he'd have to take the stairs, Roderich sighed, and grabbed the first box. His apartment was on the fourth floor, which meant eight flights of stairs.

By the time he reached his apartment, Roderich was exhausted. Fumbling in his pocket for the key, he opened his door and stepped into his apartment. He placed the box on the dining table, and collapsed into the nearest couch for a few minutes before starting the long trip down and back up.

After his second trip up the stairs, Roderich was even more tired than the first time. He walked into his apartment, and went to put the packing box with the other one on the table...

Only to find that there was no box there.

Roderich stopped and thought for a moment. Something wasn't right; he could have sworn he'd put the first box on the table.

Perplexed, Roderich left to get the third and final box of his things.

Opening the door to his apartment for the third time, Roderich was shocked when he found the table empty and the second box missing as well.

Scowling, he realised that someone must have been playing a prank on him. It was the only rational solution. Locking the door behind him, he went to search the apartment for the perpetrator.

"Hello?" Roderich called out. "Is someone here? If you're playing a prank, it really isn't funny."

Walking towards the other side of the apartment, Roderich checked both bedrooms and the bathroom but found no trace of anyone. Pausing for a moment, he heard the faint sound of laughter coming from the living room.

"Kesesese..."

Marching back to the living room, Roderich began to call out. "Look, whoever you are-"

He stopped mid-sentence as he found the living room empty and the two missing boxes back on the table. Confused, Roderich went to check the door.

It was still locked.

Slightly unnerved, Roderich started to unpack his things.

That night, at some ungodly hour in the morning, Roderich was awoken by the sound of static coming from the next room.

Still half-asleep, he reached for his glasses from the bedside table and got up. The floor was cold on his feet, waking him up slightly more, and he quietly walked to the study. There, he found that the television had been turned on.

He didn't even know there was a television in that room. Not long after, he once again heard laughter coming from somewhere nearby.

"Kesesese..."

Completely unnerved by this point, Roderich stepped into the room, turned it off, and quickly retreated back to his own room, shutting and locking the bedroom door.

He had to admit it now; there was something really not right about the apartment.

"Maybe it's haunted..." he found himself thinking before pushing away the idea. Roderich always thought of himself as logically minded, so the idea of his apartment having something supernatural about it didn't seem possible. It couldn't be haunted; the television probably just turned on because of some faulty wiring.

"Anyway," he said aloud, as if to encourage himself. "Ghosts don't exist...they can't exist; it's impossible..."

Somewhat reassured in his thinking, he fell back to sleep.

That morning, Roderich was awoken by the sound of his alarm.

Yawning, he felt a whole lot less anxious than he did that night. What had happened felt distant; as if it had all been a bad dream.

"Yes," he thought. "It was all just a bad dream." Sitting up, he reached over for his glasses, only to find that they weren't where he'd left them. Frowning, he got up anyway and dressed and prepared for the day, before making his way to the kitchen.

His vision was slightly blurred, and he stumbled over to the bench. When he got there, he was surprised to find his glasses, along with a note. It was handwritten, and simply said:

"You're not the only one inhabiting this place..."

At that moment, all the open doors in the apartment slammed shut. Roderich could feel his heart start to race, as he tried to get a grasp on what was happening.

"This isn't real! This isn't happening!" Roderich said aloud, slightly panicked as he stepped back.

Suddenly, he felt a deathly cold presence grab him from behind and shout.

"BOO!"

Roderich screamed, and ran out of the apartment, the sound of now-familiar laughter following him out.

Reviews are appreciated! Thanks for reading!

~ObsydianDreamer