Larry and Sal returned to talking about their random interests and periodically pausing to headbang to a song that would come on the stereo. Travis felt like an outsider looking in, he couldn't participate in the conversations or sing along with any of the music. Sal had noticed Travis's visible discomfort and clapped his hands together to gain both of the boys' attention. "Let's actually do something instead of sitting here hm?" he turned on the cushion to Travis once again "Why don't we introduce you to some of the residents? Since you've never been here!"
Checking the watch on his wrist he saw it was 8:41 pm "Wouldn't it be rude to disturb the other tenants this late?" Sal turned to Larry, Larry smirking slyly. "I'm sure they're not asleep." shaking his head and standing from the bean bag. "We'll need to drop by my room to grab the Super Gear boy first, though." standing up and spinning around to the couch again "I can introduce you to Gizmo!" Sal said excitedly. Travis had absolutely no clue who or what Gizmo was, but Sal's excitement made him just as excited. Although the look Larry gave him earlier and the cryptic comments about this building did make him a bit uneasy for what was in store for him.
They exited Larry's basement apartment and squeezed into the elevator together. Sal reached over to press the worn down '4' button and then leaned back against the elevator back wall. Hopefully, they don't freak Travis out too much. 'I'm sure he'll be fine. I have the perfect person to introduce him to first. I'm sure they'll get along great!' he thought grinning, he's a genius.
A chime awoke him from his self-congratulation, they had reached floor four. Sal stepped off first and immediately turned to the right and stopped at the first door, Larry and Travis following behind him. Fiddling with his keys and unlocking the door, he swings it open, revealing the room. "Sup, dad." Sal called to Henry, who was sitting on the couch watching TV, throwing up a peace sign as he walked past to get to his bedroom. "Hello son, and Larry, and boy I've never seen before." Henry greeted the boys as they shuffled past.
"Travis." Sal remarked, nonchalantly, opening his bedroom door. "Ah, so this is Travis!" Henry chuckled. "It's nice to finally meet you! I've heard so much!" causing Sal to turn to the couch and harshly whisper "Dad!" Travis feeling more awkward now. He was positive everything Sal's dad had heard about him was definitely not positive. "Let's just hurry and grab the thing and get out of here." Sal sighed, smacking a palm to his mask.
There was a large, orange and white cat curled up on Sal's bed, sleeping peacefully. Well, until Sal swooped him into his arms and brought him to Travis. "Gizmo, Travis. Travis, Gizmo." outreaching his arms to try and pass the feline to Travis. Travis, not knowing what else to do, took him in his arms like an infant. "Uh. Hello." he said in a very unimpressed tone. Gizmo just meowed in response. "He said hello." Sal specified while digging through his nightstand for the Super Gear Boy.
"Where the fuck did I put that thing dude." mumbling under his breath. "Did you lose it again?" Larry said, falling back onto Sal's bed, bouncing a bit. Sal threw his hands in the air in frustration "Probably!" dropping to the floor to look under the bed. "Oh nevermind it's down here! Also, I found my science textbook." pulling a weird, sci-fi looking device out from the abyss. Hopping back up onto his feet, Sal brushed past Travis and back out of his bedroom door. Larry stood up, nodding his head to the door. Travis quickly placed Gizmo on the floor and chased after Sal.
All the boys said a quick goodbye to Henry before leaving the Fisher's apartment. "So why exactly do we need… whatever the hell that is, to introduce me to the neighbors?" Travis gestured to the Gear Boy, seemingly irritated. He didn't understand why they had to waste time grabbing a stupid game console so he could meet people. "They can't talk to us otherwise." Sal stated as if that answered the question instead of adding more questions. Travis stood there, in the middle of the hallway, staring at Sal quizzically. He was expecting a more specific answer, and was trying to convey so by the way he was looking at Sal, Sal however, didn't get it.
Travis gave up with a defeated shrug. If Larry and Sal were about to kill him or something he figured it was better than being at home or school right now. In the elevator once more, they ascend to the fifth floor. This floor was by far the most unkempt of the entire building. Travis thought this place was a little run down but the fifth floor made the rest of the complex look like a five star hotel. "Ugh just looking at this place I feel like it's going to give me tetanus." Travis said in disgust, scrunching his face.
Every step the boys took something crunched beneath their feet. Broken glass and various trash mostly covered the floors. The only light that filled the hallway was the slight glow emitting from the Super Gear Boy, Travis was just trying his best to not trip on the wood boards on the floor. If he did that he would either land on either Larry or Sal which would be excruciatingly embarrassing or fall onto the dark ground where God knows what is down there. For a moment, Travis was more focused on not tripping and terrified of what was down there, and forgot all about what he was getting himself into.
That was, until they reached a door. Sal and Larry stopped abruptly, Travis hadn't noticed due to being too busy staring down that he bumped into both of them. "Hey dude watch it." Larry snapped in a whisper. "Sorry…" Travis weakly apologized. Sal reached his hand forward and turned the knob, and walked nonchalantly into the abandoned apartment, as if he lived there. His comfortable demeanor managed to make Travis feel more disturbed than he already was. Why were they here? Clearly no one lives up here, who could they possibly be introducing him to? They were probably planning on sacrificing him to some sort of demon.
Sal strolled into the bathroom immediately, Larry followed suit and entered second, leaving Travis in the dark living room by himself. "Uh. Aren't you coming?" Sal asked, standing in the doorway of the bathroom. Travis clicked his tongue "Why are you making me go into a bathroom with you? Isn't that a little… weird?" gesturing to the room in question. Larry chuckled from inside the tiled, echoey room "We do it at school all the time. Plus we're not in here to piss or compare dicks or whatever the hell you're thinking." Sal punched Larry in the arm "Watch your language, Megan can hear you." he whimpered in response. "Who's Megan and why is she in the bathroom of a deserted apartment?" Travis intruded. "Well you'd know if you came in here, dude." Sal said impatiently. What'd he think they were gonna do to him in there? Jeez.
Finally he caved and reluctantly tiptoed into the room with the two other boys. It was better to just get whatever this was over with. Sal stepped closer to the bathtub and the odd device in his hands started to glow neon green. Travis watched in intrigue and also horror as a gorey, fleshy mass started to manifest from thin air before his very eyes. "Sally boy!" a little girl's voice called in delight. Travis blinked a few times to confirm what he was seeing was really there or somehow a trick. A transparent, young girl with purple hair and a cross necklace was standing in front of the bathtub smiling joyfully. "Megan!" Sal exclaimed, seeming excited to see the girl.
Megan shifted to peak behind Larry and Sal to see a boy she had never met before. "Who's he?" Megan pointed to Travis, in curiosity. Sal turned around to look at him, being met with a pale face. Sal had never seen Travis this terrified in his life, he always acted so tough it was truly a new side to him. "This is my very frightened friend Travis." Sal nodded in assurance. "I'm not scared-" Travis managed to let out in a trembling voice. "Oh she's just a little girl, she can't hurt you." Larry joined, shaking his head. "Don't act so high and mighty, you reacted the same way when you saw her the first time too, Larry." Sal let out a snicker. "DID NOT!" Larry blurted in an attempt to save face. "Did too." Sal and Megan retorted in sync.
Sal grabbed Travis's arm and brought him closer to the spirit. "Anyway, Travis this is Megan. She's a ghost who haunts the bathroom in this apartment." bluntly introducing them. Travis, still clearly afraid, managed to squeak "Ghosts aren't real." while trying to push back against Sal's arms to gain distance from the little girl. Megan cocked her eyebrow and tilted her head. "We can show you a few more if you really don't believe us. Though, I don't think you'd be able to handle seeing them." Sal determined. "Yeah, seeing mommy might scare him, more than I do." Megan giggled.
Travis stood in shock, glancing back and forth between Sal and Megan with wide eyes. All he wanted to do was study algebra not be sent into an existential crisis, questioning everything he had ever known. Sal figured it was a good time to go, they hadn't been here long but Travis looked as if he was about to pass out. As expected though, no one casually meets Megan without having some sort of mental freak out.
"Ok Megan we're gonna go ok? It was nice seeing you again." Sal said in a sympathetic tone. He was like the only person Megan ever really got to talk to, he didn't like leaving her alone. She smiled, though. "Alright Sally boy! I'll see you again soon!" and with that she was gone as quick as she came. Larry left the apartment first, Sal following behind, dragging a brain dead Travis out with him. The exact moment they stepped over the threshold between the apartment and the hallway, Travis snapped out of his daze "Alright that had to be some sort of prank right?" looking very displeased. "No that… wasn't a prank. Why would I prank you?" Sal asked, laughing slightly in discomfort. Travis simply responded by giving him a 'do I really need to explain' expression.
"Well fine if it wasn't a prank and she was really a ghost or whatever, how'd she die then?" he spitefully interrogated. Hoping to catch Sal in his lie. Sal looked to the still open apartment door behind Travis in panic. He quickly shut it and then gripped Travis's arm, pulling him a little further down the hallway. "Her dad drowned her in the bathtub, ok?" he whispered harshly, like it was a secret. Travis immediately felt a pit in his stomach, feeling bad for the clearly invasive question he just asked. "Tip, it's rude to ask people how they died!" Larry remarked to Travis, already done with his shit at this point. Travis ripped his arm from Sal's grip, fixing his sleeve. "Alright ok, sorry I didn't know these unspoken rules dead people have." rolling his eyes and walking carefully back to the elevator in the center of the hallway.
It was about ten pm at the present moment. Still too early to go to bed, what else was there for them to do? On nights like these, Sal and Larry would just find small things to bide their time like writing new music or painting. Travis was here though, and they brought him up here in an attempt to include him in an activity. A failed attempt, Sal concluded. Trying to be Travis's friend might prove more difficult than he originally thought.
The elevator ride to the basement had an uncomfortable aura the entire trip. No one knew what to talk about. Reaching the basement floor, they exited the lift and re-entered Larry's apartment once more. Larry sauntering to his room and replanting himself in his bean bag "What do you wanna do now Sally Face?" he vocalized, sounding more relaxed and calm than he was just a moment ago. Sal crawled onto the floor, staring up to the ceiling and only shrugged. Travis seated himself on the couch once more, awkwardly by himself. "We could…" Sal started and once more drifted off, glancing around the room searching for ideas. Eye landing on the tv, there was something to do. "Watch a movie?" he spoke, unsure if that idea would stick.
Larry glanced at the haphazardly stacked VHS' on the floor, nodding his head in said direction. "Take your pick." moving out of the tv's way. Sal rolled his head to Travis "Why don't you pick one out? You are the guest after all." Travis stood without a response and made his way to the pile of movies. "I've never heard of any of these before." he mumbled, digging through the various films. Sal sat up and shuffled next to Travis "Are you serious dude? These are classics!" he exclaimed in fake disappointment. "Of course he hasn't, they're all horror movies. His parents probably only let him watch Jesus crap." Larry said snidely. Travis rolled his eyes "I don't know what you define as 'Jesus crap' Johnson, but no, I just don't really watch movies at all." he huffed. Suddenly hatching an idea, Sal picked a select few movies and tucked them behind his back "Travis close your eyes." he said firmly. Travis cocked an eyebrow in return, a great look of distrust written on his face. "Come on, just do it, what could I possibly do to you?" Sal spoke softly in an attempt to reassure the blonde.
Travis sighed, reluctantly closing his eyes "I don't know, kill me?" he grumbled. Sal tilted his head, thinking about the comment. He wasn't wrong. "Well yes, anyone is capable of murder at any moment. Anyways-" he spoke simply, shuffling and placing the tapes in random order in front of Travis. Travis flinched at the sudden noise, he knew it was only the VHS tapes but Sal nonchalantly noting he could in fact murder him put him on guard a bit, Travis can't take a joke. Once the rustling of tapes had stopped, Travis started to open his eyes. Sal quickly fumbled forward placing his hands over Travis's eyes. "No! Not yet!" he panicked. Travis gasped in surprise to the sudden contact "O-okay." he stuttered. Sal leaned back once again and let go of Travis. "Pick a number, one through four." crossing his legs and resting his head in his palms, happily awaiting Travis's answer. "Uh two I guess." this seems like a lot of work only to pick out a movie. Sal reached for the movie Travis picked, it was actually his favorite of the bunch. He promptly stood, tape in hand and began to push it into the VCR. Larry took a seat on the far right side of the couch and Travis chose the far left. Sal turned off the light and took the seat in between them.