Heya guys, I wrote something else as an intro initially but I just finished writing the chapter. So if chapter 5 was a bit intense for you. You might want to skip this chapter altogether. it's not M+ or anything and chances are if you enjoy Resident Evil you'll be fine, but it definitely could stress readers out. I'll do my best to make it so Chapter 8 still flows well enough without having to read this one for those that would rather skip. Thanks as always for continuing to read and support my writing as I learn more about the creative process. It means a lot :)
Song suggestion: Run Away by OR3O Ft. SleepingForest and SamHaft
Disclaimer: I'm just a fanfiction writer, I don't own anything. usual stuff.
Halloween had been a treat, but time continued to move forward, and it was now Saturday, November 18th. Emma sat on the edge of her couch, holding her newborn niece and rocking gently to try and get her to fall asleep. She hummed, her eyes closed, the kitchen island behind her a mess of sugar, flour, and icing while the two older nieces sat next to her, slowly drifting off instead of watching the movie. Thinking back on it, it had been quite a busy day.
"Auntie Emmy, can we make cookies?" Summer asked with her usual doe-eyed stare that she used when she wanted something.
"Why do you want to make cookies?" Emma asked, shaking her head as she looked over at the table covered in papers and crayons. They were just interested in making a mess.
"I overheard mommy saying that she wanted to get the neighbors presents cause we're staying with you on the weekends, but she didn't have the money for it," Summer explained, which caused Emma to frown. "So I wanna make them something instead, so she doesn't have to worry about it... and then I can make even more friends."
Darn this child and her lack of a filter.
"Besides, I'm almost this many," she said, holding up six fingers. "So I can cook if I want to," Summer added with a nod, having determined that herself.
"Fine, I'll make some sugar cookies, and you can decorate them. How does that sound?" Emma offered as she started digging out different ingredients to place on the counter in preparation.
"And I'll help," Summer said with a nod.
Help was one way to put it... more like pour things on the counter, as she only got half in the bowl. By the time the cookies were done and decorated, it was dinner time. The girls enjoyed Hamburger Helper meal with veggies before sorting out the cookies onto four plates. One to keep and one for each neighbor. Emma helped Summer write a simple thank-you note for each one and then added her own handwritten note.
The girl's parents were friends of Emma's. They needed to work overtime for the next two months to afford the holidays and newborn expenses, so Emma was watching the girls on the first and third weekend of each month while their grandparents were taking care of them on the second and fourth. She added a quick apology for any noise the girls created and promised that the visits would go back to once every few months by January. She also mentioned that if anything was needed, she would do her best to try and accommodate it in the meantime.
Each plate had been delivered without much fanfare; Mrs. Russo took a while to get away from since she wanted to talk. She was probably working through empty nest syndrome, so Emma didn't mind too much. Even Chris seemed sympathetic enough to understand the situation as he patiently accepted another drawing from Summer along with the cookies.
Emma smiled at the memory as the ending credits started to roll for the movie, playing a dramatic orchestral rendition of the main song. "All right girls, bedtime," Emma said, slowly shifting to get up. Soft footsteps on the stairs outside caught her attention as her expression switched to curiosity.
Her face paled when she heard the door rattle slightly. "Not now," she murmured as her eyes widened in fear. "Girls, bed now," she forcefully instructed as she dragged Summer along while carrying Annie.
An aggressive thud against the door was heard, causing Summer to scream and Duke to start barking. "Into the bedroom now," Emma ordered as the baby woke up and started to wail. Emma quickly put Annie down in the crib, making sure both older girls were in the bedroom before locking them in. She needed to make it as difficult as possible for whoever this was to find them.
*Crash, bang, thud.*
Emma locked the bathroom and the study to make it harder to tell which door was which before looking back to the front door of her apartment. She heard a gunshot, and a bullet tore through the door, breaking the lock.
They have a gun?! Oh my god, oh my god, no no no. They didn't have a gun before. Why do they have one now? She didn't know how to handle this.
One more solid thud and the door burst open, revealing a familiar masked individual. Emma yelped and quickly moved to get out of view as another shot rang in her ears and a hole appeared in the bathroom door.
Oh god, oh god, oh god.
She tried to focus as she leaned against the wall and listened for footsteps. Focus. She couldn't let them get any closer to the kids. As soon as the figure was in view, she reeled back a fist to take a jab at their throat, landing the hit, but the figure got hold of her arm and kicked her leg out from under her, pinning her to the ground.
"Bitch, get out of my way," the voice growled, putting the gun in their back pocket as they wrestled against her attempts to get free.
'*'*'*'*'
"Take it easy," Chris said as he closed the door to his apartment with a plate of very sloppily decorated cookies in one hand and another drawing in the other. He was about to drop the cookies in the trash like the last plate but paused as he noticed a small folded piece of paper with To: Criz written on it. Instead, he put the plate down on the island, folded the drawing in half, and put it in a drawer with a similar folded piece of paper.
He carefully took the note out from the plastic wrap and opened it.
To: Criz
Thak you fer beeing nice to Aumtie Emmy
Zummer
Chris shook his head with a soft chuckle before sitting down on the couch and reading the rest of the note.
Hey Chris,
Sorry about the girls. I know they can get loud, and Summer won't seem to leave you alone. I appreciate your patience, though. They're technically not my nieces, but their parents are good friends of mine. So they raised the girls as if I was a blood relative. Their parents are having a hard time with the bills for the holidays and need to work overtime. So I agreed to watch them on the first and third weekend of each month for the next few months, while their grandparents watch them for the 2nd and 4th. This will probably go on until January but not long after that. It should go back to just one or two visits every few months from there. I know it's not ideal for everyone else on the floor, so let me know if there is anything I can do to be accommodating during this time.
Thanks,
Emma
He wasn't exactly a fan of listening to the girls screaming, but it was reasonable enough if she was just trying to help out some friends. They seemed like good people. "I'll put up with it, for now," he muttered before putting the letter down on his coffee table, then getting a book off the shelf to pass the time.
A Traveler's Record of Romania: A Beautiful Country, It's People and Many Villages.
He'd picked this one up a few months back when he was getting Ethan set up in Romania. It wouldn't hurt to know more about the area if he ever found himself there for future missions. Considering he'd already had to go for a check-in, that seemed like it could be a regular occurrence. He managed to read a few chapters before nodding off.
BANG
Chris stirred back to consciousness as he looked around. Why did that sound like a gunsh—
A second shot was heard, and a scream after.
"Shit," Chris said as he hurried to his own room to grab his pistol before making his way into the hallway. After confirming no one was there, he cautiously but briskly walked over to Emma's door to find that it had been knocked off its hinges.
"Get off of me!" could be heard as Chris looked in to find whoever this creep was, with Emma pinned to the floor, trying and failing to get away. If he took the shot, that would be the end of this, but the two were struggling too much to get a clear and safe target without accidentally hitting Emma. It was a risk, but he slowly and cautiously moved closer before flipping his pistol around to crack its handle over the back of the intruder's head.
"Let go! Let go of me," Emma cried as she managed to get one arm free, only for it to end up back in a pin a moment later.
"Stop moving around so damn much. It'll be easier for both of us," the intruder said. "I don't wanna kill anyone, but they said I can't be havin' witnesses."
"Get off of me!" Emma shouted once more, making another attempt to get free by kicking the guy but to no effect due to her grounded position. This wasn't what she trained for at all.
"Shut u—" the voice fell short. The intruder felt heavier, causing Emma to give a panicked shout, only for the weight to be removed. She quickly crawled away as she started to hyperventilate. Dilated, watery eyes darted around for any further threat, only to find none.
"C-Chris," she stammered, relieved as she watched him take the weapon from the intruder and remove the magazine from the gun, pocketing the bullets, before heading over to Emma to check on her. The young woman struggled to stand up. Her legs felt like they were made from jello.
"It's going to be okay," he said, putting his arm under hers to help her get up as she tried to speak.
"It's—I couldn't—Gun," Emma tried to force out, holding onto him for support as tears openly fell. Any other time she'd be embarrassed by her actions, but right now, she needed to hold on to something so she didn't crumple to the ground. "Why?" she managed to finally ask, her voice cracking.
Feeling the small, shaking form clinging to him made him pause. It took a moment, but he moved to hold her. "I don't know," he said, answering the simple but reasonable question. "We're going to find out, though." He looked down at the unconscious figure.
Mr. Russo and Mr. Jacobs cautiously peeked into the apartment, one with a shotgun, the other with a crowbar. "It's safe. I got him," Chris confirmed, causing the older men to relax and walk over. The two noticed the shaking and stammering woman and silently nodded to Chris before working together to get the intruder out of the apartment and into the hallway.
"I-I tried," she squeaked out between breaths. "I t-tired, but it didn't matter." Emma hid her face in her hands, feeling guilty for soaking Chris' shirt with tears. "I c-couldn't do it," her voice cracked again, as she was clearly holding her breath between words to try and keep from sobbing more than she already was. She was terrified. She was embarrassed. She just wanted to crawl under a blanket and disappear for a few minutes.
"You did well," Chris quietly lied in an attempt to offer comfort. "You wanted to be able to hold them off until you could get help, and you did," he added, still trying to get her to calm down. Yeah, it wasn't exactly a combative display fit for the silver screen, but she was alive, the kids were... where were they? A concerned expression crossed his face as he looked around. Duke's tail could be seen peeking out from between the couch and wall in his usual hiding place, but there was no sign of the three noisy munchkins until a soft wailing came to his ear.
"Auntie Emmy? Auntie Emmy, Annie doesn't like this game no more... can we come out now?" a quiet voice asked from behind the sturdy wooden door. Hearing it seemed to bring Emma to her senses and reminded her of her surroundings.
"The girls." She gasped and moved to stand on her own, waiting for a second to make sure she was stable before taking a small piece of metal from her pocket that looked like an Allen wrench. She shuffled over to the door and pressed it into the small hole of the doorknob, causing a soft click. Emma took a deep breath before opening the door. She was still shaking like a leaf and couldn't hide that.
"Emmy, are you crying?" Summer asked, concerned, before noticing Chris. "Why is Auntie crying?" She looked at him with a confused expression.
"I just saw something sad, is all," she said with an attempt at a smile.
"You need to sit down, or you're going to faint and scare them worse," Chris warned quietly, causing Emma to nod.
"Is Chris sleeping over too?" Summer asked as she walked out of the room with Maurie. The question caused Emma to genuinely laugh as she sat on the couch.
"No, sweetie. He was making sure we're okay," Emma said as she fumbled to take her phone out. Chris watched her attempt to get the device unlocked for a few moments before sitting next to her and taking the phone.
"Password?" he asked. Emma responded with a short string of six numbers. "Which number are you trying to call?"
"It's in my contacts under Chel," Emma said quietly as she rested her head in her hands with her elbows on her knees. She was still clearly in shock, but it was starting to pass.
"Can we watch TV?" Summer asked, still unaware of the extent of the danger they had been in. Emma nodded, causing the girl to happily hurry over to pick out a movie from the shelf. In the meantime, Chris dialed the number.
"Em? What's up?" asked a concerned voice on the other end.
"Hey, Emma isn't doing well," Chris replied.
"Who is this?" Chelsea asked, cutting Chris off.
"It's her neighbor. There was a break-in. The kids are safe, but you need to come pick them up," he explained.
"What?! Oh—Oh my gosh. I'm on my way now," she said, and the call ended.
"She's on her way." Chris handed the phone back to Emma.
"Thanks..." Emma replied, accepting the phone while avoiding eye contact. "And, thank you for saving me..."
"Not a problem," he replied with a nod. "Are you going to be okay?"
"Yes? ...No? ...I don't know," Emma said with a frown. "I just feel kind of pathetic. I made such a fuss about wanting to be ready and bothered you about it, but I still wasn't."
"Then that just means you need to keep practicing." She was at least doing better than before, but it was probably a face because of the girls. "You kept them safe. I'd say you did pretty good," he repeated before noticing Mr. Jacobs waving for Chris to join him in the hallway. "It's not much but, if it helps, you can stay the night at my place. Duke as well, if you can get him out from behind the couch."
Emma attempted to smile at that. "Thanks, Chris."
"Not a problem... I'll be outside. If you need something, just shout," he said, getting up.
"Well, that I'm good at," Emma said with a short chuckle as she shook her head.
She's making jokes. That's good, Chris thought as walked out to find the intruder unmasked and cuffed with two police officers in the hallway along with Mr. Russo and Mr. Jacobs. "Why does he look familiar?" Chris asked as he looked from Mr. Russo to Mr. Jacobs.
"Benny Miller," Mr. Jacobs said with a frown at the cuffed man, who was barely in his mid-twenties. "Your last neighbor who skipped town out of nowhere back in May..." Saying that brought an expression of realization. "You still owe me four months' rent," the landlord accused with a frown. "What the hell got into you, Benny?"
"Shit, look I'll tell you whatever you want, just don't kill me," Benny said, trying to scoot away from Chris as he noticed the gun at his hip.
"We're not going to kill you, kid. But you're going to jail for a really long time," the police officer said as the other stopped him from scooting away.
"I can't go to jail for this. I won't make it in the slammer," he said, panicking. "You guys make deals, yeah? I'll tell ya everything if you get me a deal."
"Why were you trying to break in?" Chris asked with a sneer.
"You locked me out of my place before I could get everything out. I was stashing something important in there. I needed it back, or they were gonna get me," the young man explained in a terrified tone. "I tried getting in when it was late with my old key at first, but the lock was different. I remembered Mrs. Russo ran that key exchange. So I tried seeing if any other places were open so I could get in that way, but people started putting up cameras. I couldn't have witnesses; they were clear about that. Pickin' the lock didn't work. I was getting a desperate, man," he said, his lip starting to quiver. "They told me guarding that shit would be quick, easy money. Said it was worth millions, and they didn't like it when I told 'um I lost it. Told me I had till the end of the year to get it back, or I was a dead man 'cause that's when they needed it."
"What were you guarding, and who were you guarding it for?" the police officer behind Benny asked.
The young man hesitated. "You promise you're gonna cut me a deal?" he repeated.
The police looked at each other. "As long as you're telling the truth," they agreed.
"Fine..." he said, defeated. "I was watching it for the Stingrays," Benny said as if that should mean something to them, but the group just looked at each other confused.
"... Who?" the first officer asked, peering at Benny.
"You know. The stingrays," Benny repeated before sighing. "Look, they aren't a big gang yet, but this deal they had me guarding was gonna put us on top."
"Oh, for fuck's sake..." Chris growled, irritated. Some no-name gang stashed crap in the apartment next door to his and almost killed innocent people over it..."Where is it?"
"I hid it in the wall of the hallway," Benny admitted before looking to the cops, who both nodded to each other. One went into the apartment. It took a good 15 minutes, but he eventually walked back out, holding a leather-bound book.
"Yeah, that's it," Benny said with a nod.
"This is worth millions?" the police officer asked in disbelief.
"Bet your ass it is," Benny confirmed. "It's a black book of debts for the Striker gang. Loan sharks. Swiped it off one of their goonies back in February. We'd been negotiating the sale for months. It was gonna make us rich."
"It was going to get you killed," the cop corrected. That was a name they recognized. "You're a damn idiot, trying that."
"That's good, though, right? I'm free to go?" Benny said with a hopeful expression. "I did what I promised."
"Not a chance. You're still coming with us," the cop said, which caused the young man's expression to drop.
"But you said—" Benny started but was cut off.
"I said we'd get you a deal. I didn't say we were gonna cut you free and forget," the cop clarified.
"All right kid, we got you your book, now let's get moving," the cop behind Benny said before picking him up by the cuffs to get him to stand. With that, the two cops led him out of the building.
"And don't forget he owes me money. I still expect reparations for this," the landlord called as the cops walked the man out.
"It's a shame the kid got tangled up with that kind of mess," Mr. Russo added with a frown. "I'm gonna go tell the misses everything's sorted..." He gave a short wave, still seeming disgusted with what he heard.
"Have a good night," Mr. Jacobs said to Chris and the leaving Italian, who gave a quiet 'Puah' in response.
Chris shook his head and made his way back into Emma's apartment. She was still sitting on the couch, but she had Annie in her arms and Maurie was sleeping next to her. She must have gotten up to get the baby. He was still worried since the door couldn't close, so he stayed, for now, to make sure that everything got sorted out.
Before long, footsteps echoed up the stairs with heavy breathing as Chelsea could be seen standing in the broken doorway, out of breath.
"Mommy!" Summer exclaimed and happily hurried over to hug the woman, who knelt down to repeatedly kiss the top of the child's head. Chris watched from his place by the counter as Emma stood up and walked over, still puffy-eyed from crying, but she had finally stopped shaking. Chelsea picked up Summer before looking at the door, then at Emma as she hurried over and pulled her friend into a hug.
"Are you okay?" Chelsea asked as she let go. "Of course you're not. What am I saying? oh gosh, Em."
"And you," she said, looking at Chris before walking over to give him a quick hug as well. "You helped too, thank you so much." She smiled at him. "I don't know what I would have done if I lost a single one of my girls, Em included. Thank you," Chelsea said before looking back to Emma. "Come on, you're coming home with us."
"She can't, mama," Summer said as if that was obvious, which confused the three adults.
"Baby, why wouldn't she? Of course, she can," Chelsea corrected, which caused Summer to shake her head.
"Nuh-uh," Summer replied matter-of-factly. "Auntie Emmy and Chris are having a sleepover."
This child.
Chelsea had just about as good of a poker face as Emma did, as she tried very hard not to laugh. "Summer, no."
"They are!" she said louder, as if she was being accused of lying. "I heard um say so, I did!"
"Okay honey," Chelsea said as she put down Summer before looking to Emma, who was pretty red in the face now, while Chris was very interested in inspecting his pistol. How was it that, coming from a child's mouth, an innocent enough offer sounded so much worse than it was?
"The police asked me to stay put. They're going to come back in an hour or two for a statement. I do need to stay here," Emma offered as an explanation. "Chris was kind enough to let me borrow his couch in the meantime since my door is broken."
"Okay... If you need me, call. I don't care what time it is," Chelsea said as she accepted Annie from Emma. "Summer, sweetie, can you go get Maurie? It's time to go home."
Summer nodded and walked over to her sister, giving her a gentle shake. The toddler woke up with a grumble, and Summer got her off the couch. They walked over to their mother, and within a few minutes, the family had packed up, leaving Emma and Chris behind in the mess of an apartment.
How to fix the awkward silence tho—
Chris started to chuckle as if he heard the beginning of Emma's thought. Hearing him laugh caused a smile to cross Emma's face.
"Stop, or I'm gonna start laughing too," she said between giggles.
"Ready for a sleepover?" he asked, shaking his head.
"Go to Hell," Emma said with a solid laugh.
"Fine, you can stay here then," he suggested with a smirk as he shrugged and walked away.
Emma gave a short whistle, and Duke cautiously popped his head out from his hiding place. "Come on," she said, following behind Chris. All the same, she was glad that despite the craziness of the night, she could still relax around him. The thought caused her to pause slightly but shake her head. It was nothing. Once they were inside, Chris headed back to his room, grabbing a spare blanket and pillow from his closet, before walking back to the living room to find Emma looking over the book he had ditched earlier.
"Romania?" she asked curiously.
"It's something to read," he replied as he puts the blanket and pillow down on the couch.
"That sounds an awful lot like 'it was work' to me," Emma pointed out.
"Something like that," he said, taking the book.
"All right, I'll stop asking then," Emma replied, accepting that the guy had his secrets.
"Probably for the best," he replied per usual before gesturing to the couch. "If you take off the cushions, there's a pull-out bed. Just lock the door when you're done talking to the cops." He took a few steps to head to his own room. "Night."
"Good night," Emma replied before getting to work moving around some of the furniture so she could get set up for the night. The police returned as they said they would and got a statement from Emma. Once that was taken care of, she eventually settled in to rest on the couch. Neither one really slept well, but they got some rest nonetheless.
Chris was roused by an extra source of heat next to him and a soft pressure against his cheek. He peeked an eye open to find Duke lying on the bed and snuggled up next to him, licking the BSAA agent's face. "Ugh, Duke no, off the bed," he said, disgusted, as he pushed the dog to get him to move. Duke got up and jumped off the bed with an offended expression before heading out of the room.
What time is it? Chris thought as he lazily reached over to try and grab his phone from the nightstand. 6:48 am. Too early. Chris took a deep breath before pushing himself to get up and head into the kitchen, noting along the way that Emma was still out cold on the pull-out bed in the living room. He went over to the coffee maker and got a pot started. By the time it was done brewing, the smell had caused Emma to stir from her slumber with a grumble.
She felt the same as she looked. A mess. She tried running a hand through her hair to tame it , which only partially worked. At least her eyes weren't swollen anymore. With that, she got out of bed and trudged towards the smell.
"Morning," she said. Chris nodded in response before handing her a mug, which she gratefully accepted. After a few sips, she spoke again. "... Is it okay if we practice later?"
"Are you sure?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah." She nodded. "Not like we can meet up this week anyway with the holidays coming up," she added as further reasoning.
"All right. I have some errands to do, but be here by three," he responded.
"Will do," she said before taking another drink of her coffee. "Thanks," she added.
"Not a problem," he replied.
The two finished their drinks in comfortable silence before going their own ways for the time being. Emma washed up and got into a fresh set of clothes, then took care of Duke. The police stopped by again shortly after and took a few pictures of the hole in the wall, the bullet hole in the bathroom door, and the front door before giving her the all-clear to go back to normal activities in the apartment. She was grateful for that since the mess from the cookies was still waiting to be cleaned up.
She had just about finished dealing with that when she heard footsteps going up the stairs. Chris knocked on the broken door to let her know he was back when she was ready. "Duke, bedtime," she said as the dog headed over to her room. She closed the door behind him, then headed over to Chris' apartment, where he was waiting in the doorway for her.
Chris let her into the apartment once more and shut the door. "I think we should make some changes to the lessons," he admitted, which got Emma's attention.
"Okay," she said cautiously as she watched Chris clear a space for them to use by moving his dining table to the side. Then he walked to the living room to mess with the pull-out bed, taking the mattress off it and placing it in the area he had just cleared.
"What you were learning before worked if you were on equal footing and in very specific scenarios," he explained, admitting to the shortsightedness of his training. "Now you need to work on how to get up when you're knocked down," he went on. "So, you're going to be doing floor training. And you need to think about how to get out yourself. No more drills. You need to be able to adapt and find your own solution."
Emma nodded at the explanation. As much as it wasn't pleasant to admit, he had a point.
"We're also going to agree that a knee to the nuts is fine and dandy in an emergency, but if you do that to me, you will be hurting for it," he added, making Emma laugh.
"I promise," she said while holding up a hand as a vow, "that I will not purposefully assault your manhood, but if you toss me, and it happens by accident, that is on you."
Chris grumbled at that but nodded as he walked onto the makeshift mat and kneeled before motioning for Emma to join him. She cautiously did the same, and within a matter of seconds, she was pinned with her wrists over her head. Memories of the night before came to mind, causing her breathing to become quicker.
"Relax. I'm not going to hurt you," Chris said as he noticed the beginning signs of panic. "Look for a weak spot."
Emma took a moment to calm down and accept that she wasn't actually in danger before shifting. A weak spot... the back? She tucked in both of her legs before trying to reach around. She managed to end up partially sitting on his back in an odd, contorted position that looked like a game of twister from hell.
Chris was impressed with her first instinct of tucking in her legs, only to end up completely baffled after. How did she—"What are you doing?" he asked in an incredulous tone.
"I have no idea," she admitted openly. What was he expecting? "You said to look for weak points," she rebutted, only to end up eating the mat as Chris rolled over and knocked the air out of her with his shoulder jabbed into her back.
"Yeah well, whatever that was, it wasn't it." He laughed before getting up. "You were close, though."
Boom, flop, bam. It had almost been an hour.
Ouch. "...One more try," Emma said, clearly feeling some level of determination, which caused Chris to shake his head.
"All right," he said, amused. Each time she was getting a decent start but would end up goofing somehow. At least she was using her strengths to her advantage. She hadn't even attempted to break the hold with her arms.
Okay. I can do this, Emma thought as she went through what had and hadn't worked before. She brought her legs up again so the flat of her calf was pressed into his chest before shifting her right leg so it was bent with her foot flat on the mat, allowing her knee to press into him. Okay. Now what...? Shift and PUSH.
Thud.
One moment he was thinking over how to change the plan again since this wasn't working; the next, he was staring at the ceiling with Emma's face a few inches from his, gazing down at him with a shocked expression.
That worked? THAT WORKED?! She smiled at the thought. She did that. Her. Where the hell was that last night?
Chris smiled back at her before he spoke up. "Not bad. Let's try it again but do it faster," he instructed.
"Right," Emma said, and the two continued training.
eyy look at dat foreshadowing, the person trying to break in was the prior resident of Emma's tenant. I gave a few tiny hints in the first chapter for that. kinda? I dunno I don't think I'll give myself that much credit. but yeah the scratches on the wall, the fact that no one happened to the prior resident, along with the fact that he didn't want anyone else to have a key to his apartment for the Key share were the clues I left that the prior tenant was shady.
Review Responses:
Monarch123- Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review :) I hope the grand reveal lived up to your expectations.
