I am back with another chapter of HHJ, and I've decided to update this story on Saturdays. However, I might not update every Saturday depending on the schoolwork and homework that I have.
Another heads-up: it will take a while for Eren to appear. Please be patient. I don't want to be rushed and end up ruining the plot.
Thanks to those who followed/favorite/reviewed. Review replies are at the bottom. :)
~FR242

{~|The Haunting of House Jaeger|~}

[Chapter 1: 465 Shiganshina Drive]

"Finally. A place that's quiet." Levi spun the steering wheel of his car – a black Toyota Corolla – and pushed his foot down on the gas pedal, urging the automobile to turn left. With a tiny jerk, the car lurched forward and swung its nose around, bumping its way onto Shiganshina Drive. From there, Levi drove for another three minutes and finally arrived in front of his new house.

There was a red Ferrari already parked in front of 465 Shiganshina Drive, and a fancily-dressed man in a black suit was pacing the weathered front lawn. When Levi got out of his car, the man looked up and walked over.

"Mr. Levi, I'm glad you made it on time!" The man's lip twitched in an attempt at a friendly smile, but to Levi, it looked more like a grimace.

"I'm not a fan of tardiness, Verman." Levi made no effort to smile at the landlord and began to make his way up the front steps. "Let's hurry up and get this over with."

Kitts Verman voiced his agreement and swiftly dodged in front of Levi, taking a key out of his pocket and fitting it into the lock on the front door. There was a click, and the door swung in. Kitts pushed it open the rest of the way and beckoned Levi into the hall.

"This place is filthy. Even the gutters are cleaner than this." Levi observed the dusty walls and cobweb-infested corners with his nose wrinkled. He pressed a finger to a mirror that leaned against the wall and withdrew the digit to scowl at the coat of grime that covered his fingertip.

Kitts chuckled nervously. "Of course, Mr. Levi. This place has been uninhabited for nearly four years. Over time, the dirt and dust accumulated–"

"I'm not stupid." Levi glared at the landlord, who quickly shut his mouth and turned his head.

Kitts didn't speak again until they entered the dining room. He went to the sink and turned on the faucet, letting the water run for a bit before turning it off again. He then proceeded into the hall that led to the staircase, leaving Levi to examine the first floor.

The first thing Levi did was open the window in the dining room, letting a cool autumn breeze into the house. He left the dining room and went around the rest of the first floor, opening every single window that he came across. The wind quickly chased out the dank, musty smell of the house, replacing it with a fresh scent.

Kitts came stomping downstairs just as Levi was scrutinizing the empty refrigerator. "Everything seems to still be in working order. What do you think of the house, Mr. Levi?"

"It could use a lot of cleaning." Levi stalked past Kitts. "I'm going to go take a look upstairs."

"Of course." Kitts watched him go. "I'll be out on the front porch if you need me." With that, he hurried out the door. Levi briefly mused about Kitts' haste to get out of the house before he ascended the stairs and arrived on the second floor.

Levi took his time going from room to room, doing his best to ignore the creakiness of the doors and the terrifying layers of dust. Instead, he tried to view the rooms without the grime, noticing that underneath the dirt, the house was rather magnificent.

He had just finished looking over the last room – a bedroom – and was going to head back downstairs when a faint scratching noise made him halt. Half-turning, Levi strained his ears, trying to pick up the sound again, but there was nothing. It was almost as though Levi had imagined the sound.

Deciding that it wasn't anything to worry about, Levi walked down the stairs and stepped out onto the front porch, where Kitts was nervously pacing around.

"How much do I have to pay every month?"

Kitts looked surprised and relieved at the same time. "You intend to sign the lease?"

"No shit."

Kitts reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded sheet of paper and a pen. "It will be $920 each month. I will be taking care of electricity and water bills as well as the repairs." He stuck his hand into his pocket again and pulled out a business card. "Feel free to contact me when something breaks."

Levi took the card and the contract. Taking his time, he carefully read through the terms, finding nothing that he disagreed with besides the unusually cheap price of the house, but he wasn't about to voice his concerns with that. With a flourish, he signed the lease and handed it back.

Kitts accepted the paper gladly. "Well then, have a nice day, Mr. Levi." He nodded to the shorter man and walked over to his Ferrari. Levi watched as his landlord peeled out of the driveway and disappeared down Shiganshina Drive.

When the red Ferrari was no longer in sight, Levi went to his black Toyota and began to take out his suitcases from the trunk. He didn't bring many things with him: there was one suitcase with his clothes and toiletries, one suitcase full of books that he kept for light reading, and a violin. He had decided to leave his pieces of furniture behind since they would have taken up a lot of space, and luckily, most of the furniture in his new house would be usable after a vigorous cleaning.

Without much effort, Levi heaved his two suitcases and violin up the stairs and into the room that he would call his bedroom. Reluctantly leaving his violin in the dirty floor, he opened one of the suitcases and took out the toiletries he had packed. With quick steps, Levi headed to the bathroom that was out in the hall only to pause in the doorway to the corridor.

There was that scratching noise again. The same one that he had dismissed earlier. The one that was coming from his bedroom closet.

Curious and slightly annoyed, Levi walked over to his bed and dropped the things that he was holding onto it. With light steps, he approached the closed door and grasped the dusty, brass doorknob. Slowly, he twisted it and pulled open the door.

An empty closet stared back at him. The floor was covered with a layer of filth that made Levi wrinkle his nose in disgust. He should probably clean the house before trying to put his belongings away. If he remembered correctly, there was an old broom that had been left behind in the downstairs supply closet. He could use that rather than go out and buy supplies.

As he turned away from the depressing closet, a flicker of movement at the corner of his eye caught his attention. Levi whirled around and scanned his bedroom, searching for something that had already disappeared. The only movement came from the maroon curtains that fluttered in the breeze that entered from the open window.

When nothing else twitched, Levi blamed the curtains for the movement he had seen earlier. Pushing the matter to the back of his mind, he stomped down the stairs and found the old broom in the supply closet. He tied a cloth around his head to keep the dust from getting into his hair and another one around his nose and mouth to make sure he didn't breathe in the dirty particles. Pulling on a pair of rubber gloves, Levi began his task of purging the house of every last bit of grime that he came across.

Cleaning wasn't an easy task. In some areas, the dust was so thick that Levi had to sweep many times before it even looked decent. To help clear the filth, the short man had thrown open both the front and back doors, making it easier for him to push piles of dust out of the house.

Once Levi was done with the floors, he took a duster and began sweeping at the walls and ceiling. He dragged down many spider webs and killed a few spiders that looked too big to be normal for a house spider. Then, he dusted the pieces of furniture that lay around the house, and swept the floors again afterwards.

However, one door had refused to open when Levi tugged at its doorknob. The gray-eyed man paused, broom in hand and scowl on face, as the door merely rattled on its hinges instead of swinging out of his way. Levi could have easily kicked it down, but it had three locks, and Levi doubted that he could kick it down without fracturing his foot.

With a quiet sigh, Levi decided to put off cleaning the room behind the door for a day when he actually felt like looking for the keys. Until then, he would just need to sanitize the rest of the house.

Levi placed his broom against the wall as he dug a rag out of the supply closet. Going over to the kitchen sink, he turned on the cold water and wetted the cloth. Diligently, he started to wipe down the kitchen counters, the dining table, and the chairs. Sweat beaded his forehead and trickled down his pale neck, but he would wait until he finished his task before resting.

After his short break, Levi took down the maroon curtains and tried to put them in the laundry. However, despite the fact that it had a broom and a duster, the supply closet was empty of laundry detergent. Levi had to get into his car and drive to the Maria Town Mall, where he bought two containers of laundry detergent and two containers of bleach; he didn't remember seeing any of the latter in the house either.

The cashier was a short female with long, blonde hair. She greeted Levi politely as she rung up the detergent and bleach. "I've never seen you around before. Did you just move to Maria Town?"

"Yeah. I got here this morning and I've been cleaning the house since." Levi pulled out his wallet and took out a twenty dollar bill to pay.

"Really? Which house?"

"The one at the end of Shiganshina Drive. It's…" Levi stopped when he saw the look on her face. She was staring at him with wide, blue eyes. Her hand, which was holding his change, had frozen over the money tray. Her mouth was slightly agape, and she looked as though she had seen a ghost.

"You moved into House Jaeger?" Her voice had dropped into a cracked whisper that was filled with disbelief. Levi was confused but refused to show it on his face.

"House Jaeger?"

"465 Shiganshina Drive?" She nodded when Levi blinked. "I thought so." Without further elaboration, she placed his change in his hand and turned back to the register.

"You can't just leave me hanging here." Levi pocketed the money. "What's wrong with the house?"

She glanced around the shop. Seeing no one else besides Levi, she leaned forward on the counter and dropped her voice to whisper. "House Jaeger is rumored to be haunted."

A thin, black eyebrow arched. "Care to explain that?"

The blond cashier fiddled with the ends of her hair nervously. "Ever since it was built ten years ago, all inhabitants of House Jaeger have either disappeared or fled. The police haven't been able to find any clues about the ones who disappeared, and the ones who've left all say that the house is an evil place."

She fidgeted uncomfortably as Levi's gray eyes pinned her in an unwavering stare. However, she knew how he would react. She knew what he would say and what he would do. The others reacted the same way. They said and did the same things.

"I don't believe in the supernatural." Levi picked up the laundry detergent and the bleach. "But I appreciate your concern." He peered at her nametag. "Krista."

Despite what he said in the shop, Levi brooded over what Krista told him during the entire drive home. He entered his house again, this time a little warily, and turned on the laundry. As the machine washed the curtains, Levi went up to his bedroom and took out some food that he had packed for the trip here. Despite the various supplies that lay around the house, the refrigerator was devoid of any food.

After he finished off his lunch, Levi picked up the duster and began to dust the furniture on the second floor. He removed the old sheets from his bed and made a note to wash them after the curtains were done. He wiped the bathroom sinks and organized his toiletries on the small shelves that were present.

Once his bedroom and the bathroom were finished, he moved to the second bedroom and cleaned that as well. Halfway through his task, he ran down to the laundry room and put the curtains into the dryer while his bed sheets were washed.

After the bedroom, Levi turned to the hallway. Reaching up as far as he could, he waved the duster about, causing clouds of dirt to drop from the ceiling in clumps. Some landed in his eyes, and he had to pause and blink it out before continuing.

As he swept at the ceiling, he noticed something. The dust had been covering a rectangular trapdoor that was fitted into the ceiling. This house had an attic! Levi lowered his duster and examined the closed doorway.

He noticed that there was a string attached to the edge of the trapdoor, held against the ceiling by a few bits of dust. With his duster, Levi swatted the dust away, and the string dropped down, dangling in front of his face. Levi reached up and pulled, making the trapdoor creak open and a set of wooden stairs appear. He backed away as the last step hit the floor with a muffled thud.

Levi peered up into the rectangular space. The attic was completely dark, and he could barely see anything. With a sigh, Levi grabbed the ladder with both hands and began to climb the steps, not noticing that the atmosphere was getting colder.

ColorZ PrincezZ: Really? I was afraid that I might have gone overboard with the details, and it's quite difficult to convey a strong sense of fear through a story since jump-scares are more effective in movies. XD

OlivineWK: I'm glad I was able to ensnare you so quickly. Thanks for your support! ^_^