The sun was low when Winter finally found her new apartment building, and her mood was less than stellar. She had been searching for the building for the better part of an hour, but for some reason, her GPS kept taking her in circles before Winter realized that she didn't put in the right address. Winter might have been able to recognize it sooner from the pictures she'd seen online, but the pictures didn't, well, do the building justice, is a nice way to put it.
The pictures that Winter had seen of the building were probably a decade old and were probably photoshopped. The website made the building out to be a beautiful, twelve floor, colonial apartment building made out of bright red bricks, with each apartment being fully furnished with up to date appliances and the internet. The cherry on top was that it was within walking distance of downtown, all within her price range! Which, sadly, was a lot lower than she would like to admit.
If the add was right about one thing, it was that the building was certainly made out of bricks. The building was more like a prison that had been left to rot than an apartment building. The bricks that were painted a grotesque rust red that was darkened by a green mold that was growing all over the building. The buildings neighboring her moldy prison were also a little rough around the edges, with plenty of broken windows and graffiti. It also smelled like a mix of urine and wet dog when she rolled down her window, which was only made better by the distant sound of a police siren. Let's just say that Winter was nervous to sit in her car for too long without locking the doors.
The building did look to be twelve floors high, but most of the windows on the lower floors were barred while the higher floors had what Winter guessed were AC units sticking out of them. Also, Winter couldn't prove it, but she was ninety-percent sure that the building was tilted.
"Let's just hope the inside is better" Sighed Winter as she got out of the car, double and triple-checking that she locked it before making her way towards her, ugh, new home.
The lobby of the building was a simple room without much fluff and didn't help Winter's fears. There were mailboxes in the corner with only one or two broken open. Next to the mailboxes there was a set of stairs that Winter hoped was locked from the outside, and at the far end of the room was an old doorman. His hair was thinning and white white, and he was leaning back in his chair and muttering to himself, deeply engrossed in his book of crossword puzzles. He was sitting behind a rickety-looking wooden teller desk that looked like it was made of plywood that might break if you put too much weight on it.
Winter cautiously approached the desk, watching as the man fixed his thin glasses. Winter reached the desk and quietly stood with her arms crossed, waiting for him to notice her. Soon enough, Winter was shifting her weight from one foot to the other trying to keep her legs from cramping up. He didn't look up, he just sat there tapping his pencil to his chin and muttering. "Excuse me?" Winter started politely as she dropped her arms.
The man cast her a glance before his eyes fell back onto the book, "Four letter word for the sky" The man asked, almost like he was talking to himself.
Winter thought for a moment, "Wide?" Winter stuttered, not sure if he was listening.
"Nope, has to start with B" He grunted, sounding a little annoyed.
"Blue?" It was out of Winter's mouth on instinct and wished she hadn't said anything. Saying nothing was better than giving a wrong answer in her experience. He didn't say anything while Winter's heartbeat like an engine running off her anxiety. The man stopped tapping his chin and his eyes got wide while a smile broke out on his face.
"Blue! How about that! Thanks, kid!" Gushed the man, finally putting down his book, but leaving the page marked. Winter smiled awkwardly, it was the first time anyone had called her kid in years. "Now what can I help ya with, Miss...?" The man asked, stretching out his hand.
"Winter Schnee" She smiled as she shook his hand.
"Schnee? I'm Earl. You're the girl that just signed on my apartment, right?"
"Yes sir" Winter nodded slightly.
"Well, you're certainly not the type we usually get in this building. And you certainly don't look like the kind of young woman who would be so late" Earl laughed, making winter go red like roses. Earl slowly stood up, his bones cracking like some kind of odd song as he moved. "I was expecting ya hours ago"
"Oh, you know… traffic" Winter quickly spilled, looking away as she did. Earl didn't look convinced, raising an eyebrow at her, but didn't push any further than that.
"If you say so" Earl bent under the desk, fishing out two brass keys on a keyring. "Here" tossing the keys to her.
Winter tried to catch them but failed miserably. "Shi-" was all she got out before she covered her mouth with her hand. She looked up at Earl, but he was still making his way around the desk. Winter held her breath as she bent down to grab the fallen keys.
Earl walked with a limp in his step towards the elevator. Winter followed, glancing at the keys in her hand. They had the numbers 8-13 thinly etched into them, almost like someone had carved the numbers with another pair of keys. Thinking about it for a second, Winter was almost positive that's what happened.
The elevator doors slid open, squeaking, making Winter cringe. With a hard lurch, the elevator slowly started to rise. Winter twiddled her thumbs together in her hand and the only thing she could think was, Please don't let us get stuck, over and over in her head.
Within a few moments, they reached the eighth floor and were walking down the hall. The hall looked like something out of a bad motel, with old white wallpaper with some paintings now and then, Winter's favorite was one of a forest that was on fire. Not ominous at all. The carpet was also just the littlest bit sticky, the feeling was making WInter feel sicker and sicker with every step she took. Then, they reached room 8-13. As Earl put in his key, Winter started to pray, hoping that the room wasn't too terrible.
Earl held the door open and looked at Winter expectantly. Gulping down her fear and doubt, Winter closed her eyes and dragged herself through the threshold of her new apartment. Winter was almost shaking, and had to pry her eyes open to get a good look at the apartment, "It's not much, but It'll do ya just fine" Earl explained as he walked past her.
It was actually… wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. The apartment was a bright gold that was soft and comforting and reflected in the hardwood floor that felt firm under Winter's feet. They were standing in a short hallway that had a small closet built in it, and Winter took her shoes off and put them to the side.
They walked into a large kitchen/dining room area. The walls were painted a brittle light blue that needed to be replaced. There was a small wooden table and two chairs that looked like they were a few decades too old, but at the same time added a bit of charm. To their left sat a small counter with a gas stove built-in. It was small, but could easily fit two people comfortably. Winter also couldn't help notice that the entire room smelled like the forest, and she closed her eyes to enjoy the serene feeling it brought her. When she opened her eyes, they landed on a candle that was still burning and was almost empty.
At the end of the kitchen, there was a small drop that led to an empty carpeted room, with the only thing in it being a small recliner chair. "Living room" Earl explained, pointing to the cable and power plugs sitting in the center of the wall. If only I had brought a T.V. Winter thought with an almost sad chuckle to herself.
To the left of that room was a small hallway with two doors. Earl limped over and opened the first one up to reveal a small bathroom with hardly enough room for the shower, toilet, and sink. "Got plenty of hot water, but it might take a minute to heat up. Oh, and I wouldn't flush the toilet while you're in the shower" Earl chuckled to himself.
"Why not?" Winter asked innocently, hoping he was joking.
"As long as you don't do it, then you got nothing to worry about. So don't do it" He winked at her. This didn't do anything to ease the butterflies in Winter's stomach.
The last room on this side hallway was a small bedroom. It had a bed on a rickety frame in one corner and a small closet, aside from that the room was empty. The was painted an odd dark red that made Winter a bit uncomfortable. Winter walked around the room while Earl stood by the door, watching her.
"Carpet got cleaned last year, so it shouldn't stink too bad. And I think the view from this room is pretty nice if I say so myself" He pointed to the window at the far end of the room.
Winter hadn't even noticed it before Earl had pointed it out. Winter walked over to it and could feel her heart speed up. The sight of the city was one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen. The sun was already gone and as far as the eye can see there were beautiful sparkling jewels, making it look like the city look like a king's crown. "Yeah, pretty good view" Winter whispered, her eyes glued to the scene before her.
After a few moments Earl coughed, ripping Winter back to reality, "There's still one more bedroom if you wanna see it"
"Oh, if you wouldn't mind. please!" Gushed Winter, her face blushing as she realized how long she had been staring out into the beauty of the city.
Earl led her down past the living room and into the hallway on the other side. This side only had a single door at the end of the hall. This bedroom was the same size as the first and had the same kind of bed and closet, but it was painted an odd brown color that reminded Winter of bruised bananas. There was a window in this room too, but the view was much less glamorous than the first, this one getting a prime view of the back of a few neighboring buildings and a bird's eye view of a few streets. One thought hit Winter as she sat there and looked at the room, Weiss is gonna hate this color.