Timmy walked through the streets of dimsdale while continuously glancing at the little paper clutched in his hand. He carefully counted the numbers on the buildings as he looked for the right one.
With the exception of the numbers, they all looked exactly the same. They all had red bricks and black doors. Timmy adjusted his pink hat.
His eyes finally landed on the right building and he double checked the paper just to make sure. He walked up the steps and went through the door.
Timmy found himself in a small lobby, with black and white tiles and several potted plants in the corners. He glanced around and he saw a front desk with a very old man sleeping behind it. Timmy assumed he was the doorman.
Timmy located the elevator and walked over to it.
Out of order.
Of course.
Timmy groaned and dragged his feet over to the stairs. As he looked up he felt a shudder go through his spine. There had to be at least thirty floors ahead of him.
He looked at the paper.
His destination was on floor twenty-nine.
He groaned once again and began the long trek up the unforgiving stairs.
Timmy was barely able to breathe once he finally made his way onto floor twenty-nine.
Taking a good few minutes to regain his footing, he took his hat off and wiped the sweat off his brow.
He hated to imagine that he would have to climb those stairs every other day. He hoped that they would fix the elevator soon.
Replacing the hat on his head, he set off down the hallway to find the right apartment.
He once again counted the numbers as he passed door after door. He finally found the right one at the end of the hall, number six hundred and sixty-six.
Timmy wondered if that was a bad omen.
Deciding to dismiss it, he walked over to the door and prepared to knock, but before he could a massive shiver went through him and he took a step back. It was almost as if the room was giving off waves of foreboding negativity.
Timmy felt a bead of sweat roll down his neck.
He steeled himself and knocked three times.
At first he heard nothing. He figured that he hadn't been loud enough and raised his hand to knock again.
But then he heard it. A feral growl.
It was a sound so terrifying that it could make grown men cower. A sound so deadly it could kill small animals. A sound that contained enough hatred to defeat an army.
It was a sound that made children cry.
And Timmy knew exactly what was making it. A horrible beast that still haunted his nightmares.
He could only stand frozen in place as the beast stomped it's way to the other side of the door.
His eyes widened as he heard the bolt slide back.
Timmy desperately willed himself to move, but he had lost almost all bodily functions. He could only stand and wait for the door to open.
The apartment door creaked open and Timmy nearly fainted when the beast came into view. It's mouth opened and it bellowed with a mighty roar.
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT?!"
It was her.
Vicky.
Timmy stood there shaking as Vicky stood in the doorway with her fists on her hips. She noticeably recognized him as one of her eyebrows raised and her mouth curved into a scowl.
"Twerp? What the hell are you doing here?" she said looking him up and down.
Timmy was scared out of his mind, and quickly imagined turning tail and running all the way home without looking back.
But he stopped himself. He had come all this way, hadn't he? Sure, he hadn't been expecting the bane of his childhood, but he was ready to start a new era of his life. One where he forgot the past and focused on the future.
Should he really let one of his biggest fears as a kid stop him?
And even if he was put through horrible torture, at least he could just leave this time. That had not been one of the luxuries he had when he was a kid.
He looked at Vicky as she impatiently tapped her foot, waiting for an answer.
He took a deep breath and tried to calm his nerves. Trying to keep eye contact, he looked at Vicky and held up the paper for her to see.
"I'm here for the Job you posted." he said managing to keep the tremor out of his voice. She narrowed her eyes at him and leaned forward threateningly.
"And what makes you think I'll give you the job, Twerp?" she snarled.
He paled and nervously clenched his hands.
"U-um... you know that I have experience in this field?" he offered, shrugging nervously. She pondered this for a moment. Seeming to accept his answer, her dangerous aura receded and she leaned away from him. The scowl, however, did not leave her face.
"I guess you have a point, twerp. Alright, get inside." she said as she stepped out of the doorway and walked into the apartment without looking back.
Timmy stood there for a moment and then followed her inside.
He was blown away by what met his eyes when he entered her apartment.
It was, quite simply put, utter chaos.
In the living room, there were clothes strewn all across the floor. Some looked fresh, and some looked like they hadn't been washed in decades. All the cushions had been pulled off the couches and chairs, and had various stains all over them. The walls were covered in writing and other markings. It also looked like the trashcan had been spilled over and not cleaned up.
Peeking into the kitchen, the situation was not much better. There were countless dirty dishes piled up in the sink. Many more were on the table. The fridge had been open and not closed, leaving most of the food inside either moldy or rotted. There was a large rat sitting in a basket of fruit. Dozens of filled garbage bags sat next to the sink. And finally, the stove hadn't been washed since it was bought.
Timmy looked at Vicky with his jaw hanging open. How in the world did she manage to live in this filth? It was disgusting.
Vicky surveyed the mess with bored eyes and turned back to Timmy.
"Alright, twerp. I guess you can get started. And remember, you'd better clean it well or I might not be as kind and helpful as I am now." she said while staring him down. She turned away but remembered something and turned back, giving Timmy a bloodcurdling smile. "And don't ever, under any circumstances, go into my room unless you want to die a slow, painful death. Got it?"
Timmy felt his blood drain and he nodded quickly to show he understood. Vicky walked into her room and shut the door without giving him a second glance.
He suddenly released the breath he hadn't known he was holding.
Looking around him, he took it all in and sighed as he imagined how long it would take to finish.
Still, he had a job to do, so he rolled up his sleeves and got to work.
Timmy scrubbed the last marking off the wall and surveyed his handiwork.
He had really outdone himself this time. After cleaning all the dishes and putting them in their respective places, he had thrown away all the garbage and old food. After that, he had scrubbed down all the tables and counter tops, mopped the floors, and washed the windows.
Moving into the living room, he had washed all of her clothes and couch cushions and put them back where they belonged. Once again he threw out all the trash. He had wrapped up the whole ordeal by thoroughly washing the walls.
Though it had been tiring, it felt pretty rewarding to have completed such a big job. It really wasn't so bad as long as Vicky wasn't ordering you to work faster.
Speaking of which, where is Vicky? Timmy thought as he turned towards Vicky's room. To his shock, she was standing right behind him.
He gave a small yelp as he stepped backwards and felt his back hit the wall. Vicky's hand stretched out towards Timmy as his eyes widened and he realized he had no where to run. He shut his eyes and braced himself for whatever was coming.
But, nothing happened.
He curiously opened one eye and saw that Vicky was holding something in her outstretched hand. He realized that it was something for him and he carefully took it from her.
To his surprise, it was a wad of folded bills.
Vicky retracted her hand and turned away, walking over to the front door.
"There's your payment, twerp. Consider it generous for the crappy job you did cleaning up my place. You'd better do a good job next time or I might break your spine." she said opening the door. Timmy said nothing and slowly made his way out the door. He almost expected her to slam the door as soon as he stepped out, but she surprised him again by gently shutting the door.
As he walked through the hallway he wondered as to what exactly happened back there.
Had Vicky been acting... nice?
Well, nice for Vicky was a different nice than for others, but she had certainly been more toned down than he remembered. Did this mean she didn't see him as a kid anymore, did she maybe see him as a peer?
He began to smile as he walked down the stairs.
This job was certainly more interesting than he had anticipated. He wasn't exactly pleased that Vicky was his boss, but if she was going to act like this all the time, than it was bearable.
And if he didn't know any better, he might say that he was looking forward to his next cleaning.