I saw the movie version of Rosemary's Baby many years ago and it is one of my favourite horror films. In preparation for writing this story, I listened to an audiobook of the original novel by Ira Levin. It's available on YouTube if anyone fancies it. I highly recommend it as a Halloween (or any time of the year) treat. I have directly referenced the source material a few times in this 4-Part reylo AU.

Happy Halloween!

Rey's Baby

Part 1

The Supremacy was a stupid name for an apartment building, Rey concluded. However, it was situated in a prestigious part of the city, close to Broadway, and it did have stunning views of Central Park. The apartments had fewer rooms than those offered by most modern buildings but they were all sterile concrete blocks in comparison. Rey wasn't particularly concerned about the size, having spent years in a cramped orphanage. From there, she had gone on to rent a small trailer with a fold-out bed and not much else. Live within your means had always been her motto, and The Supremacy looked to be way out of her and her husband's price range.

Ben had already assured her the terms were favourable and the rent more than reasonable. It just seemed too good to be true. Rey heard the building's management board were notoriously strict when it came to assessing potential new residents, and they were a newly married couple with a variable income. Ben explained to her that The Supremacy had many residents, both past and present, who made their living in the entertainment industry. The board was overseen by Aamon Snoke, the renowned playwright, who occupied a grand suite on the top floor. He had also benergy a mentor to her husband from the time he first came to New York. His career was on the rise, Ben argued, and their address should reflect that. He had been getting more offers of work and received generous residual checks from past TV and radio commercials, he just hadn't received his big break yet.

"We still have a couple of months left on our current lease," Rey reminded him as they approached the unusual three-sided Supremacy building with its high triangle gables and turrets. The exterior, on the approach, wasn't too dissimilar to the nearby Dakota. Except, where the Dakota was square the Supremacy was triangular with a triangle-shaped courtyard in the centre. Rey found the leering gargoyles somewhat off-putting. "Maybe we should just ask Watto for an extension and stay on there for a while — just until we've built up more of a nest egg."

"I'm not asking that creep for anything," Ben said. "He'll just use it as an excuse to try and put the rent up again. I should never have taken it in the first place. The doors and ceilings are way too low, I'm always banging my head."

"Poor baby," Rey teased grinning at him before pulling him in for a kiss.

She had to admit their current two-room apartment, which had been Ben's bachelor pad, wasn't exactly spacious — especially for the six-foot-three giant of a man she'd married. And not if they eventually wanted to turn their Solo duo into a trio, or even, a quartet. It did fall well within an affordable price range, though.

"Look, I know you're worried about the money but I have that big audition coming up. The part could have been written for me and I'm not going to lose out to Poe Dameron this time. Plus, I've got that Volkswagen car commercial and it's going to air on all the major networks," Ben argued. "I've been working damn near constantly since I came to New York. Changing agents is the best thing I ever did."

She frowned, hating the family rift it had caused, "Your Uncle Luke's was pretty cut up about you ditching him, he told me. I hope it has all been worthwhile."

His hand tensed in hers and she could see him struggling to keep a lid on his anger. "He never believed in me," Ben hissed. "He said I didn't have the right temperament for acting, but it was all an excuse." What his uncle had actually meant was he feared his nephew took after his father, Anakin Skywalker, a once-celebrated actor of the silent era, and would suffer the same fate. He noted his wife's look of concern but couldn't resist one last jab. "We are finally going up in the world. All Skywalker ever did was hold me back."

"But, he is family, and he did manage your dad's career pretty well," Rey reminded him.

Ben froze at the mention of his late father, Han Solo, the Hollywood stuntman turned actor. The death-defying feats he performed early in his career gained him a degree of noteriety and respect in Hollywood unmatched by his mostly undistinguished acting roles. "I'm glad I listened to my mentor and adopted a stage name," he said.

"You'll always be Ben Solo to me," Rey said as she recalled their first meeting. How unlikely it seemed at the time that they would ever become friends, let alone husband and wife.

She had met his family first, his father to be precise. Han Solo collected classic cars and he came looking for parts for a '52 Ford Falcon at the junkyard where she worked. He offered her a job after she saved him from being fleeced by the owner. Then she met Han's wife, Leia, and eventually, Leia's twin brother, Luke Skywalker. She heard all about Ben from his mother as they looked through the old family photograph albums together. When Rey found out Han was sick and might die, she took it upon herself to try and reunite the family.

She flew all the way across the country from Los Angeles to New York. When she found Ben Solo, he insisted his name was Kylo Ren, and he no longer had a family. Rey ended up giving him a piece of her mind and a slap on the face. The latter part of his dismissal made her the most furious. He didn't know how lucky he was, she would have given anything to have grown up with Han and Leia as her parents. Ben let her rage at him and then invited her in for a drink. A short time later, they ended up having passionate sex on a blanket in front of a roaring fire. Their connection had been immediate and intense in every way. As if they were meant to be.

A few months after their first meeting, Rey managed to persuade her-then-fiancé to accompany her to his father's bedside as Han lay dying. Years of hurt and bitter regrets could not be healed in one brief exchange. There had been a time when Ben idolised his father and wanted to be just like him. But he'd been a difficult child prone to emotional outbursts and Han hadn't known how to relate to his son. He feared the boy took after his maternal grandfather and not him. It poisoned their relationship to the point where Ben, as a young man, went to live temporarily with his Uncle Luke — until he discovered his uncle harboured similar fears about him. Ben didn't hate his father but he couldn't forgive him, either.

He had insisted on staying in a hotel while Rey stayed with Leia in the family home. She comforted his mother and kept her company and, at night, she slept in her fiancé's old childhood bedroom. After the funeral, at which Ben barely spoke more than a few words to his mother and uncle, they returned to New York. He had arranged for a special licence so they could get married right away, neither of them wanting to wait any longer to be husband and wife.

"I'm Kylo Ren now," Ben declared snapping her out of her reverie. "I'm almost thirty, for Christ's sake. If I'm gonna make it big, it's now or never."

Rey sighed, her husband could be such a hothead at times but he seldom raised his voice to her. He had once flown into a jealous rage when he discovered she regularly kept in contact with a friend from LA who also happened to be male. She explained Finn had been like a brother to her and he was happily married, but it made no difference. After smashing his way through most of their crockery, Ben begged her on his knees not to leave him. He could be so possessive at times, but as an orphan who had spent so long feeling unloved and unwanted, it secretly pleased her that he needed her so desperately.

In the six months since they got married, everything had been going pretty well. The topic of his family remained off limits, although Ben knew she kept in touch with his mother and uncle through letters and the occasional phone call. Rey still hoped to bring them all together again, one day. Like most newlyweds, they argued sometimes and made up a lot. Their arguments usually ended with bouts of steamy make-up sex on almost every surface of their small apartment. It would be nice to have more space, Rey mused, as long as they really could afford it.

Rey was glad to note The Supremacy wasn't too far from the subway. Ben occasionally rode a motorcycle but they didn't yet own a car. He liked the idea of being within walking distance of the theatres on Broadway. Almost everything else they needed could also be easily reached on foot.

The arched main entrance, which had originally been built in the 1890s to admit horse-drawn carriages, led into a courtyard with a large circular fountain at its centre.

Ben turned to her with a smile as they walked hand in hand towards the south lobby. "Let's just look around and see what we think, okay?" He murmured into her ear before planting a soft kiss on her cheek. "If you don't like the place, I promise I won't say another word about it."

Rey figured there was no harm in looking and she nodded in agreement.

"Oh, by the way, did I mention we would be living next door to Armitage Hux and his wife?" Ben casually inquired.

Rey glared at him, he hadn't mentioned their prospective new neighbours as she was sure he was aware, despite his innocent expression. On the mercifully few occasions she had encountered them at social events, she'd considered them to be a thoroughly unpleasant couple. Armitage Hux was a producer and director of musicals and plays, his wife Phasma was his assistant. Rey opened her mouth to chide her husband over what she presumed was a purposeful omission, when a smartly dressed man stepped out of the lobby doors to greet them. He had a military bearing and looked to be around the age of sixty.

"Good morning, I'm Edrison Peavey and you must be Mr and Mrs Ren," he said.

After shaking hands, they proceeded in the direction of the elevator making small talk as they waited for it to descend from the fourth floor. Rey always hated being referred to as Mrs Ren but it seemed simpler to go along with it. What mattered to her was the name on their marriage certificate. As long as everyone else knew Ben as Kylo Ren and addressed him accordingly, he seemed content enough for them to be Mr and Mrs Solo in private.

The oak-panelled elevator arrived with a ding manned by an eager-looking Latino youth. He pulled back the iron grill to let them enter with a cheery smile. Mr Peavey remarked that The Supremacy was popular with actors, knowing it was Ben's profession, and reeled off a list of names of former and current famous occupants.

"Jayne Mansfield kept an apartment here during the mid-fifties," he said as they reached the ninth floor.

After the hot, mid-July sunshine outside, it was considerably cooler inside. Rey shivered in her yellow sundress and leaned into her husband. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders to warm her. The hallway decor was old-fashioned and rather shabby in places with cracked cream paint and peeling beige paper on the walls. The brown carpet was threadbare and patched. Ben regarded it with a critical eye which Mr Peavey noticed and assured him the whole building was in the process of being revamped. The decorators would be arriving any day, he said. It didn't bother Rey, she had seen and lived in much worse places. As they proceeded along the hallway with its twists and turns, they passed a lot of doors until they reached the one at the end labelled 9E.

"The previous tenant, Mrs Kanata, died in the hospital only last week. She had been in a coma for months," Mr Peavey informed them. "The place hasn't been emptied out yet, I'm afraid. The executor of the will asked me to tell you that most of the furnishings are on sale for the asking - if you would like to make an offer on anything."

He unlocked the door and immediately, the scent of rosemary hit them. It was a pleasant surprise to Rey, she had been expecting it to have an old lady smell.

"This place and the one next door used to be a ten-room apartment. You have the original kitchen," Mr Peavey explained as he led them down the hall.

Rey gasped when she saw it, even in her wildest dreams she couldn't have imagined having so much space at her disposal. It was almost the size of their current two-rooms. Rows of dying and dead potted plants lined the windowsill and a big tub of sea salt had been left overturned on the counter, presumably by the previous occupant. The grains had spilt out onto the floor and they crunched beneath Rey's feet as she walked across the tiles.

The living room was also generously proportioned. The master and second bedrooms were on the small side but the master bathroom with its brass fittings and deep bathtub went a long way to compensate for it. Thanks to its high ceilings and large windows, the whole apartment had a light and airy feel. There were great views out onto Central Park and the surrounding area. The walls were decorated in gaudy colours thanks to the old widow who'd lived there before, but that could soon be remedied with some bright coloured paint.

Rey had been determined to hate it, more so when she heard who their neighbours would be, but she'd been warming to it ever since they stepped inside the courtyard.

As if reading her thoughts, Ben came up beside her took her hand in his and kissed it. "I'm sorry I forgot to tell you about the Huxes. I don't want you to think you're being coerced into anything." He glanced around the master bedroom they were standing in. "It is perfect for a couple of newlyweds though, don't you think?"

Rey had to admit she'd fallen in love with the place but the cost still bothered her. "Do we need so many rooms when it's just the two of us? And did I hear mention of five hundred dollars for the security deposit? It's going to take a big chunk out of our savings."

Ben leaned down and kissed her slow and sweet on the lips. "I want you to have the best, and we can afford it," he insisted. "As for the extra space, we're gonna need it one day, aren't we?" He let his hand drift lower and rubbed gentle circles over her flat stomach.

"I thought you said we should wait a while before trying for a baby. You wanted to get your career on track first," Rey frowned not wanting to get her hopes up.

"If I get that big role I'm up for, I could have a Broadway hit on my hands," Ben argued. "I don't think we should let a place like this slip through our fingers. In six months or so we could be turning that second bedroom into a nursery, what do you say?"

Rey let her eyes wander over to the room in question, picturing it painted cream and yellow and filled with cute baby things. She would finally have a family of her own, just like she'd always dreamed. "If we really can afford it — then I say yes, let's go for it."

"Well okay then," Ben grinned.

Rey squealed with excited laughter as her husband picked her up in his strong arms and spun her around.

"Aside from the Huxes, who we didn't see, oh, and the elevator boy, I don't think there's one other person there under the age of sixty," Rey commented as she discussed their new apartment building with her husband and an old friend over dinner.

"I thought you liked spending your time in the company of old folks," Ben jested not only in relation to their age gap, as he was almost thirty to her youthful twenty. But also, to her friend and sort-of-surrogate grandfather, Lor San Tekka, a retired priest in his mid-seventies.

Rey had known him during the years she'd spent in a Catholic orphanage. Her parents left her there for safekeeping and hadn't returned — At least, that was the story she liked to tell herself and everyone else who asked. Father San Tekka had conducted mass, heard confession and led morning prayers, but it was the stories he told about his missionary years in far-flung parts of the world Rey loved hearing the most. The two of them had lost touch when she left the orphanage. She hadn't known he was living in New York until Luke Skywalker wrote to tell her. In a strange coincidence, Father San Tekka taught at the college he'd attended and had become somewhat of a mentor to Luke during that time.

She chuckled fondly as Lor, who insisted his priestly title be dispensed of now he was retired, went to fetch another bottle of red wine. He was an excellent cook and often invited them over to his place for dinner. His apartment resembled a library with shelves and bookcases piled high with his collections. Her husband regarded the old man as nothing more than an ancient bore, but he did his best to be civil and good-humoured for her sake. The wine helped.

"You'll have to give me the recipe for this lamb casserole," Rey shouted in the direction of the kitchen. "Ben is already on his second helping."

"The chewing helps keep me awake," her husband joked between mouthfuls.

"Don't be evil," Rey scolded giving his arm a playful slap.

"I don't know if you're aware of it," Lor began as he returned to the table and refilled their glasses, "but The Supremacy has rather a dark history. The original owner, Thaddeus Noakes, was an occultist. It is rumoured he performed black masses in his apartment and conducted wild orgies. The ceremonies he and his followers were said to engage in were designed to bring about Armageddon. Noakes boasted he'd conjured up the devil himself who told him of the forthcoming birth of the Antichrist. Two years after the building of The Supremacy was completed, Noakes was found hanging in one of the stairwells with numerous knife wounds on his body. It was classed as suicide but rumours persisted about the involvement of his coven members. Sheev Palpatine was rumoured to be among them, although several witnesses placed him in LA at the time."

Rey began to feel uneasy as her husband clenched his fists under the table.

"It sounds like a lot of hearsay and nonsense to me," Ben scowled.

"Your grandfather knew Sheev Palpatine, didn't he? " Lor inquired knowing full well the former-senator had been a mentor to and patron of Anakin Skywalker during his early acting career.

Ben bristled and Rey put her hand over his in an effort to keep his temper in check.

"It's all ancient history," he said irritated but remaining calm. "We should let the past die."

"The Supremacy is certainly no stranger to death," Lor proclaimed refusing to let the matter drop.

"It is an old building," Rey said determined to remain objective. "People are bound to have died there."

The retired-priest shook his head. "It has a much higher death rate among its occupants than buildings of comparable size and age."

Ben took a large swallow from his wine glass.

"The previous tenant of our apartment died," Rey admitted to her friend's dismay. "But the woman was in her eighties and she had been in a coma for months. She died in the hospital from natural causes."

"The Supremacy has had its share of unnatural deaths, too. More than its share, I'd say," Lor revealed as he explained he'd been to the library to look through old newspaper reports. "Around the turn of the century, Frank Carandini, an Italian immigrant, took an apartment on the third floor. He posed as a Count to lure women to his apartment before slitting their throats and drinking their blood. In the 1920s, there was Bill Bane, one of the building's janitors. He murdered four of the residents with an axe before he was caught and executed. And let's not forget about the Knight Sisters, two of The Supremacy's original tenants and seemingly respectable maiden aunts, who poisoned their victims and got their simple-minded nephew to dispose of the bodies. Their story served as the inspiration for the Brewster sisters in Arsenic And Old Lace."

Rey recalled seeing the Cary Grant movie on TV. "But all those things happened years ago," she protested watching with concern as her husband reached again for the wine bottle. "It's full of retired people and actors now."

Lor again shook his head. "As recently as the 1940s, a man living on the sixth floor murdered his wife and three children in the same apartment where a family of six had been found dead in a similar slaying ten years earlier."

"We're on the ninth floor," Ben quipped.

Undeterred, Lor continued cataloguing The Supremacy's gruesome history. "During renovation work in the late fifties, the remains of a newborn baby were found bricked up in the basement. The child was rumoured to have had multiple abnormalities, including two bony protrusions jutting from the top of its skull and the remnants of a vestigial tail."

"Oh, how grisly!" Rey cried. "I don't think I want to hear any more about it."

Ben put his arm around her. "Enough with the doom and gloom, old man," he warned. "We've already signed a two-year lease."

Lor wasn't at all contrite about trying to scare them but the news that they'd already committed to the place shook him. "I'd hoped I could talk you out of it," he frowned.

"It's a done deal," Ben said.

Rey could see her husband's patience was wearing thin. He kept his arm around her and pressed a soothing kiss to her cheek.

"The past is the past, sweetheart," he assured her. "We won't give it another thought."

Rey nodded, she wasn't going to let anything spoil their happiness. "Once we get settled in, you must come over for dinner," she said turning to Lor with a glint of mischief in her eyes. "You can bring some Holy Water and a crucifix with you if it makes you feel any better."

The retired priest wasn't amused. "I would have thought," he began, addressing Ben, "you would have thought twice about living in such a place. You may call yourself Kylo Ren now, but I'm sure you haven't forgotten your family history."

It was the final straw for her husband, he pounded the table with his fist and leapt to his feet. "How dare you?" he snarled. "My grandfather wasn't in his right mind when he did those things."

Rey did her best to diffuse the situation but the damage had been done. Ben stormed out declaring his intention never to set foot inside Lor's apartment again. After promising she'd stay in touch, Rey went after her husband and found him kicking dents into a trash can. She let him get it out of his system and then they walked hand in hand to the subway.

The story of his grandfather, Anakin Skywalker, had passed into Hollywood legend. Told and retold by numerous biographers, supposed eyewitnesses, and anyone else who thought they could make money off of it. Anakin died before Ben was born and his parents never spoke about his maternal grandfather. In fact, he'd grown up believing his mother's adopted family were his only grandparents. It wasn't until years later, when a newspaper ran an exposé outing Leia Organa as Anakin Skywalker's biological daughter, that Ben found out the truth. His grandfather suffered a psychotic break at the height of his career as one of the first movie stars of the silent era. He went on a killing spree, purportedly after losing his mind due to the death during childbirth of his beloved wife, Padmé. Anakin later claimed to have been possessed by the devil.

On August the first, barely two weeks after viewing it, they had moved into their new apartment. It hadn't taken them long to pack up and clear out of their old place. Their landlord wasn't happy about letting them go with two months left on their lease, over his dead body, he'd said. But Mr Watto underwent a sudden change of heart after an actual brush with death. As he was walking to the corner store, an out-of-control car had mounted the pavement and it narrowly missed crushing him against a wall. Later that day, he'd come to them ashen-faced and sweating, informing them he wouldn't impose any penalties if they packed up and left right away.

Rey took charge of the decorating while her husband ran through his lines for various auditions and an upcoming beer commercial. She favoured bright, sunny colours whereas Ben preferred funereal shades. However, as he was preoccupied with work, he could only nod or shake his head at paint and carpet samples. The door to the hall closet had been jammed shut when they viewed the place but it had since been fixed and given a fresh coat of paint. There were three large wooden shelves which Rey covered with contact paper and hung lavender pouches to keep moths away from the linens, something she'd read about in a housekeeping magazine.

Mrs Kanata left behind some fine antique mahogany furniture and they'd purchased her double wardrobe, dresser and vanity set to remain in the master bedroom, an extendable table and four chairs for the dining area, and a highboy for the second bedroom. There had also been a surprisingly modern rug which they'd bought for next to nothing. It was bright red with black wavy lines on each side and deeper reds towards the centre. Ben told his wife it reminded him of a certain part of her anatomy. On their first night in the apartment, Rey had lain naked on the rug while her husband traced its pattern with his fingers and her corresponding flesh with his tongue.

The next morning, she took delivery of new sheets and a sunflower-patterned comforter for their king-sized bed. Ben had left early to shoot the beer commercial and she wanted to get the rest of their things unpacked before he returned. As Rey made a start on the linens, she heard the sound of voices through the wall in the master bedroom which separated their apartment from the one next door. She briefly wondered if she ought to go out and say hello to their neighbours. The Huxes hadn't been at home the day Mr Peavey showed her and Ben around or when they moved in. She supposed the theatre kept them busy.

Phasma was saying something about prophecies, moon cycles, and planetary alignments to which her husband mumbled a reply that Rey couldn't quite catch. She hadn't taken Mrs Hux for someone who would be interested in astrology. But then, she didn't really know her at all. As she smoothed the new sheets down on the bed, it occurred to her that if she could hear the Huxes through the wall, they could probably hear her and Ben too. Rey made a mental note to get her husband to help her reposition the double wardrobe when he returned from work.

Ben arrived home late in the evening to find her putting the finishing touches to the master bathroom. He leaned in to plant a kiss on her nose.

"You're doing a great job, sweetheart," he said glancing around at the shining brass fittings. "I'm sorry I haven't been much help, what with work and everything. Once I hit the big time, you'll never have to lift a finger again, I promise."

"It's all right, I don't mind, I like doing it myself." Rey led him by the hand into the living room to unveil a project she'd finished before lunch. "I got all your playbills framed so our guests will be able to see them when they drop by," she beamed with pride as he glanced around the room.

"You are amazing," Ben smiled planting a kiss on her cheek. "Let's hope we'll soon be adding The Awakening to the collection. I have a good feeling about that callback audition tomorrow."

As he'd predicted, the lead part in the Broadway play he'd been pursuing had come down to him and his rival, Poe Dameron. However, he remained confident he had the edge when it came to this particular role.

Rey reached up on her tiptoes to kiss him, noting he tasted faintly of beer and then grabbed him by the hand. "Let's go and test out our new bed sheets."

"The partition walls are thin," she explained as he grumbled about moving the wardrobe before they made love. "I thought it might help block out the noise."

"I'm gonna fuck you so hard, you'll scream loud enough for the whole building to hear," Ben promised with a wicked smirk.

Rey giggled as she pulled her dress over her head. "I'm sure I heard Phasma chanting earlier. I thought perhaps it was the radio but it sounded like her. Maybe they are Buddhists or something."

"Or something," Ben muttered to himself as he kicked off his pants and captured his wife in his arms.

Rey had asked her husband if he wanted her to accompany him to the theatre for his audition. He said it would just make him more nervous to have her there and so she decided to do the laundry to keep her occupied. The machines were kept in the basement. After Lor's grisly tales, especially the one about the remains of the baby that had been found bricked into the wall, Rey did feel a bit apprehensive about going down there. It was silly to be afraid, she chided herself as she picked up the basket full of Ben's shirts and set off in search of the laundry room.

The place was deserted and dimly lit thanks to a couple of burnt out light bulbs. She had hoped there might be someone down there with whom she could strike up a conversation. But no one came and so she filled up one of the machines and set it going. Grabbing her copy of Life magazine from the bottom of the basket, she took a seat on the bench and started flicking through the pages as a distraction from her creepy surroundings. Rey couldn't help letting out a sigh of relief when a young woman with long dark hair walked in carrying a large bag full of clothes.

"Hi," the woman smiled in greeting as she started to load up one of the machines. "You new here? I don't think I've seen you around before."

Rey was struck by the woman's beauty, she looked like a movie star. "We, that is, my husband and I, have just moved in on the ninth floor," she replied.

"Oh, you're Mrs Ren, married to the actor, right?" The young woman said seemingly knowing all about her and Ben. "My name is Bazine, Bazine Netal," she supplied. "We're neighbours, I've been staying at 9C with Mr and Mrs Hux."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Rey." The two women shook hands.

"The Huxes have been real good to me, they took me in off the streets and into their home," Bazine explained. "I got mixed up in drugs and all kinds of crazy shit. I've done a lot of things I'm not proud of, some real terrible things. You might not believe it, but the Huxes literally saved my life. At first, I thought they wanted me for some kinky sex stuff, like a threesome or something, but it's not been like that at all."

Rey sat back in astonishment at her tale, she hadn't taken her neighbours for charitable types. What with their good deeds and the hippy chanting, it did seem she had seriously misjudged them. "That's great, it really is a wonderful thing they've done for you," she said. "I'm also really glad to know there are some other young people living here. I had started to wonder if we'd moved into a retirement home by mistake."

"There are a lot of old folks here," Bazine agreed, chuckling. "We will just have to liven the place up, that's all." She toyed with a silver filigree pendant hanging on a matching chain as she spoke.

"That's pretty," Rey said indicating towards her necklace.

"Mrs Hux gave it to me." Bazine held it up so she could take a closer look at the unusual spherical charm.

Rey blanched as a pungent odour hit her. "Is there something inside it?"

Bazine shook the pendant until a dark red substance poked out of the filigree. "It's called Talzin root, you get used to it. Mrs Hux said it's for good luck and protection."

"It'll ward people off, that's for sure," Rey said grimacing at the smell.

The pair of them dissolved into laughter. While the washing machines did their job, they chatted about movies they'd seen and TV shows they liked. When the clothes were ready for the drier, they agreed to meet up the following week to do their laundry together again.

Rey got back to her apartment glad to have made a new friend. She hoped to get along with the Huxes too, now she had a better understanding of them. Perhaps she could invite them all over to dinner with her and Ben one evening.

Ben arrived home in a good mood after his audition. In his estimation, it had gone well and he suggested they should go out for a celebratory dinner. The part wasn't officially his yet, but he felt sure it soon would be. He apologised for being so self-absorbed of late. Rey understood, he always got that way when preparing for a new role. She was glad to have his attention focused solely on her, if only for one night. As she sat at her vanity unit preparing for their date, she heard the Huxes through the wall. Phasma seemed to be upset about something.

"I said he wouldn't go along with it, and I was right. Well, if he won't keep his end of the bargain, we won't keep ours."

She couldn't hear Mr Hux's response. His voice was lower than his wife's as she'd been almost shouting.

After that, they must have moved into another room because Rey could no longer hear either of them.

Ben took her to a local Italian restaurant and they drank a lot of red wine. He started talking dirty over dessert so they asked for the check and headed back to The Supremacy. As they approached the building, they saw a small crowd gathered outside and the flashing red lights of a police car. One of the officers asked everyone to move back so that the ambulance could get through when it arrived.

'What happened?" Ben asked as another police officer came over to talk to them.

Rey caught a glimpse of what appeared to be someone lying on the ground.

"Looks like a suicide," the officer said. "A young woman jumped from a ninth floor window."

The crowd parted so the other police officer could go and drape a blanket over the body.

"Oh my god, it's Bazine!" Rey gasped as she saw her long dark hair matted with blood and the right side of her once pretty face split open on the sidewalk.

"Do you know her?" The officer inquired.

Rey could barely speak from the shock of it all. "No, not really, we met earlier today in the laundry room." Ben held her tightly to him rubbing her arms in a soothing way. "Her name was Bazine Netal and she'd been staying with our next door neighbours, Mr and Mrs Hux."

As she said their names, the couple in question came walking up the street behind them. Phasma Hux cut an impressive figure in her silver grey pantsuit, with her platinum blonde hair styled in a sleek pixie cut. She towered above her slim, ginger-haired husband, although he had to be at least six foot tall.

"Phasma, it's Bazine," Ben informed her as she peered over his shoulder to get a glimpse of the body.

"Oh, how awful," she cried.

Armitage Hux said nothing until the police officer addressed him. "She left a note," the officer explained handing over a crumpled sheet of paper.

He read it and shook his head. "She was a troubled soul," he sighed. "We did our best to help her but it looks as if we failed."

"Bazine told me how good you'd been to her. You mustn't blame yourselves," Rey said in an attempt to comfort them.

Phasma thanked her and Ben suggested to his wife that they should go inside. She had started shivering from the shock and they weren't wearing coats. In a daze, she almost missed the dark look that passed between her husband and the Huxes.

"Come on, sweetheart, let's go get you warmed up," Ben said leading her away from the others.

Rey had the sudden feeling of being watched and she glanced up, but none of the eyes she could see peering out of apartment windows were focused on her.

From a window on the top floor, Aamon Snoke looked down at her and smiled.