I'm not sure I want to live here anymore.

I moved in with my boyfriend yesterday. We've been together for 5 years now and we're old and wise enough to settle down and finally leave our parents' houses. He just turned 24 and I'm 22. He's the love of my life. His name is Jamie and I couldn't be happier to be living with him.

When we decided to make the leap we spent 2 months looking at flats and houses, we couldn't afford to buy yet so renting was our only option but the prices were astronomical. For our budget, we would have been lucky to get a box room and a stove.

Jamie works for a local 24-hour fast-food restaurant and I'm training to be a teacher. The early stages of training don't pay much and I owe a lot in student loans so finances are tough.

We had almost given up hope until we found our flat. It was nothing special, but to us, it was a palace. A spacious 2-bedroom apartment with views of a city park, a balcony, and local conveniences. It was in a tower block in a not-so-nice area, but neither of us had been wealthy growing up, we weren't fussy. Just grateful to be together.

The advert was sweetened by the deposit-free option and open-ended tenancy. The landlord was happy to sign a five-year contract if we wanted. That sort of thing never happens in the city. We were told that along with no deposit we would also have no inspections, but would be liable to pay for any damage when we ended the tenancy. I'd never heard of anything quite like it.

We knew that for our budget and location we weren't going to get any better. We snapped the place up fast, not even bothering to view it. It felt like our only chance.

Move-in day rolled around quickly and yesterday we got the keys to our first home together, it was such a strange feeling. The day was chaos, getting our stuff in and up in the lift. We were flat number 42, on the 7th floor. The items we couldn't get in the lift had to be taken up all the stairs by the removal men. I think they were grateful we weren't any higher but I still wish we had been able to give them a better tip.

In the evening we settled down on our second-hand sofa, given to us by a cousin of a friend, and watched some TV. We smoked cigarettes on the balcony, looking at the park, and fell asleep on our mattress on the floor super early because we had no energy to put the bed together yet and Jamie had work at a hideous time of the morning.

We slept soundly last night, I felt safe and happy. I don't think that feeling is coming back any time soon and it's all due to the note I found this morning.

I found it in the kitchen, having a coffee, hours after Jamie had left for his early shift at work. It was in one of the cupboards that were fixed to the wall, there were a bunch of useful items from the previous tenant. Spare keys to the flat, a set of tiny keys that locked and unlocked the windows (necessary for those with kids this high up), spare smoke alarm batteries, and a folded-up piece of paper.

The note was handwritten with "New occupier of flat 42" in beautiful cursive on the blank side. I opened it up and sat down to read. I can't really describe it to you, so I'm going to copy it out below.

 

Dear New Occupier,

Firstly, welcome to your new home. I lived here before you for 35 years with my husband. Unfortunately, he had an incident at home recently that I'd rather not discuss that claimed his life. My sister has now decided I can't keep up with the demands of the property and has insisted that I move in with her and her husband. I was reluctant at first, but the stairs do kill me at my age and without Bernie, it's filled with sadness.

Anyway. When you've lived somewhere for as long as I have it feels like a person that you know. You understand its personality and what makes it tick. I thought it was probably pertinent that I impart some of that knowledge on you.

It's a wonderful home, honestly, I have lived through best and worst years, and leaving it behind is very emotional but if you are to survive and get the best out of it then there are some steps you need to follow.

1. The landlord will never bother you, he doesn't visit, call, or communicate in any way. But make sure to pay your rent in a timely fashion always. I have only dealt with him once in 35 years and let's just say I never missed another rent day. Any repairs required you speak to the agent you rented the place with.
2. DO NOT use the communal lift between 1.11 and 3.33 am. Just don't do it. This step is vital if you are to have a happy life here. It really is life or death. Don't do it. This has cost me and many others in the building greatly and I would rather not elaborate on why you shouldn't do this. Just please don't do it. I cannot stress this enough.
3. When you hear the strange animal noises coming from flat 48 don't question it, Mr. Prentice lives there and he's a lovely chap. Don't be afraid to say hello to him in the corridor or on the stairs (he's old school, so he never risks the lift) but whatever you do, don't check on him when you hear the noises. You'll know when you hear them.
4. If you ever come across a window cleaner on the balcony, ignore him. He may seem like the nicest fellow you've ever had trying to sell you something at the door but it really is best that you don't engage. He will go away if you ignore him. But he tries pretty hard the first few times so you'll need some resilience. Whatever you do, don't offer him anything. No money, no hot drink.
5. Don't leave food scraps out. Bin or refrigerate them immediately. If you have small animals, it is imperative that you watch them eat and take away any leftover food immediately after they are done. This and rule 2 go hand in hand, the things forage all day and seem to really love animal feed. You don't want them in your flat. I promise. You can leave what you want out between 1.11 and 3.33 am so you may want to feed your pets then.
6. Don't communicate with any neighbors who claim to come from flats 65-72. These flats suffered a fire in the late 80s that devastated the whole floor, all the residents died in their homes. The building was mostly council-owned at the time and they never bothered to renovate the flats. They've been empty ever since but every now and again someone will knock at your door claiming to live in one of these flats and ask to borrow some sugar. They will seem entirely average but you must shut and lock the door immediately. I installed two extra security bolts to avoid these fuckers. I don't like to swear at my age but they really are fuckers.
7. Simple one for you here, keep a weapon in each room. Sometimes you follow all these steps and something still slips through the net. Better to be safe than sorry.
8. The building has a committee that will try and get you to join. It's one of those neighborhood groups about improving living conditions for all residents. It's a nice group and the lady who runs it - Terri from flat 26 - is a fantastic neighbor. By all means, get involved. But I wouldn't recommend babysitting Terri's 2 children. She'll ask you, because the poor woman needs a break, but if you accept don't say I didn't warn you.
9. Stray hairless cats sometimes roam in the hallway. I know they're supposedly a special, expensive breed, but they don't belong to anyone. They're mostly harmless, but don't pick them up. Not unless you see one of those neighbors that claims to live in 65-72. Then grab the cat and lock it inside with you. It'll burn your skin a little but the cats are friendly and I wouldn't want to see them hurt.
10. There is no way to fix the damp patch on the ceiling in the bedroom. Sometimes it will turn a deep crimson and look quite concerning, but please try not to be alarmed, it doesn't drip, it doesn't get any bigger and it's been there longer than I have. The landlord won't budge on it, according to the agents. I flagged it many times, even called the police the first night it changed color, but it was a waste of time and it will be for you too. It's best to ignore it.
11. You can trust the postman. His name is Ian Flanders and he's been the postman since before I moved in. He has his own key to the main door and delivers post to the door every morning at 8.54. I can't include everything here, or it would become a novel but if you have any questions Ian will help you.
12. Finally, the first few weeks are the worst. You'll feel like you've made a mistake, I'm sure reading this you already do, but if you can get through the first few weeks it really is a lovely block to live in. Every property has its quirks and this one is a little extra special, but you can be truly happy here if you just take my advice. I wish you all the best, I really do.

 

Yours truly,

Mrs. Prudence Hemmings

 

I don't really know what to think after reading the note. Hopefully, it was some sort of joke but the agent had said the previous tenant was an elderly lady and I can't see anyone named Prudence Hemmings attempting to play practical jokes on someone they'd never met.

There were also parts of the note I couldn't disprove, there was indeed a large damp patch above the bed that I and Jamie had already discussed reporting. No crimson but it definitely existed. I had also commented on a beautiful Sphynx cat roaming the halls as we were moving in. I started to get seriously freaked out.

Our dream, our beautiful little home had just become a source of fear and confusion. I checked the time and it was 9.14. Damn it. Out of time to catch postman Ian. When I opened the door to check, sure enough, two letters addressed to a Mrs. Hemmings sat on the doorstep.

At about 11.15, my worst fears were truly confirmed when a friendly middle-aged-looking man carrying window cleaning equipment knocked on my balcony door. I ignored him. I didn't want to take the risk until I'd spoken to Jamie and showed him the note. I'd texted him already to rush home. I felt bad as the man rapped his knuckles against the door for over 10 minutes, but honestly, the longer it went on the more I was terrified.

My windows were sparkling, and due to our lack of curtains, I couldn't even hide from his gaze. I felt so exposed. He stayed for a total of 30 minutes exactly and never once did he stop looking at me or knocking. He shouted the occasional ultra-friendly line or humble request for a beverage in the heat through the door but I did my best to avoid eye contact.

When he finally left I looked outside every window in the flat, but I couldn't see him on any of the other balconies or see any equipment suggesting he was around. He had vanished completely.

Jamie still hadn't texted me back, he must have been having a rough shift, it was a Friday and they were always busy. It wasn't often that he didn't reply. He was due home in around an hour anyway.

I read the note probably hundreds of times over, I tortured myself reading it for the next hour. Desperately waiting for Jamie to come through the door to tell me it was all crazy and I should relax.

I hoped for that so much.

But Jamie never came. His shift should have finished around midday but by 2 pm he still wasn't home. I panicked, I cried, I left over 100 voice messages on his phone but got nowhere. I finally decided it had been long enough that calling his work wouldn't embarrass him and his boss told me that he had never turned up for his shift.

I thought about it, what could have happened? And then it hit me. Jamie's shift started at 4 am today. He would have left the flat at 3.15 and taken the lift down the stairs.

I don't know what to do. I've tried to convince myself it was all just a big joke. Maybe Jamie wrote the note and got his boss in on it. A voice in my head kept telling me that he couldn't write like that if he tried but I had to attempt to fool myself. It's getting late and he still isn't home, what if it's all true? I think we made a big mistake.

I think I'm going to need more than a guide.

So much has happened in the last 24 hours. I'm so stressed and I've barely slept since I discovered that Jamie was missing. It's starting to make me feel a little twitchy. But I thought I'd better update you guys.

I was overwhelmed by all the suggestions you gave me and have taken more than a few of them on board. I'm definitely going to be getting a huge planter full of sage for the balcony and I did spill a little salt in my doorway. I'm sorry to disappoint but that didn't help at all.

There's nothing I'm following quite like Mrs. Hemming's rules. I've followed them to the letter so far, and lo and behold I'm still alive. That's not to say it hasn't been tough. I'll start from the beginning.

I was going crazy. And a few hours after my last post Jamie still hadn't returned. He had been gone for almost 24 hours. His work has called me multiple times. I don't know what to say so I just keep ghosting the calls.

I was bang in the middle of the danger time when I decided checking the lift had to be my first step. But I wasn't going to break that rule.

I waited. I waited desperately for 3.34 to come and I'm ashamed to say that when it did I remained paralyzed on our sofa for almost half an hour before I found the nerve to leave the flat. It was 4.02 when I finally reached the lift.

The lift in this building is old and rickety. It hasn't been updated in a very long time and has likely been here as long as the building. Its big, clunky buttons stared back at me as I glared at them, hoping for some sort of answer or clue. My heart thumped and I was overcome with a feeling of dread but nothing came of any of it. It was hopeless.

I stepped inside the lift, rode it up and down a few floors, and searched the entire perimeter with a phone torch for anything I could find. I found nothing. Jamie had completely disappeared.

Sobbing and exhausted I rode back to floor 7 and turned my key in flat 42, the perfect home that felt anything but home at that point.

I sat at the cheap flat-pack dining table we'd managed to put together on move-in day and cried. My hands shook as I held my phone.

I was flitting between reading all your comments and contemplating calling the police for an hour. But I decided to call my friend Georgia instead. I needed a real person here, things were so crazy I wasn't sure the police would be able to help with what little information I had. But I knew I needed to sound it out with someone.

I'll spare you the details again, but I told her everything. She promised she'd be with me in the late morning, she had to take her younger brother to school.

I waited anxiously. Not before arming every room exactly as advised. Before I knew it, I looked at the clock and it was 8.23, I had around half an hour until the postman was due to show up.

There was no way I was missing him today. I stood by the door looking vacantly at the wood, like someone in a film who was possessed. The exhaustion was really setting in but Jamie was all I could think of. Pure adrenaline was keeping me standing.

At 8.52 I opened the door. The next two minutes were the longest of my life but when I saw him a wave of relief swept through my entire body.

Right on cue, at 8.54 the postman, Ian Flanders, stood in front of me, a smile that barely hid his concern covering his younger-than-expected face. He didn't look old enough to have been the postman for over 35 years but I was too distracted by the answers that I needed from him to care.

"You must be the new tenant," he stated, but in a way that it sounded like a question. I struggled with my answer, so I got straight to the point.

"Mrs. Hemmings left me a note, she said to speak to you if -"

"Can I come in, dear? I think we need to chat."

I ushered Ian in, my hands still shaking as I flapped them in the direction of the sofa, gesturing for him to sit down. I shoved the now slightly crumpled note into his lap and waited.

"I'm glad Prue still thinks that highly of me. I will miss that old girl," he said with a coy smile as he reached the end of the note.

"Can you help me or not?" I had no time for his ego trip over a moved-on neighbor.

"I can help. But I can't stop for long so it'll have to be quick. I've walked these halls delivering the post for 40 years. I've seen it all, everything Prue's mentioned and more. What do you need to know?" he said.

Ian was nothing like what I expected. The note made me feel like he was going to be a kindly, old grandad-type figure, but I couldn't have been more wrong. Postman Ian spoke with a thick city accent and wore a heavy gold chain around his tattooed neck. He had dyed his greying hair boot polish black.

His demeanor was thankfully non-threatening but extraordinarily cocky. He was the sort of man I imagined in a betting shop, rubbing his grubby hands on notes as he bragged over a win.

He didn't ask as he lit a cigarette in my living room. I didn't question it, we would usually smoke outside but I wasn't going to argue over technicalities. I grabbed a bowl for the ash and lit one too.

"Let's start with the things in the lift. My boyfriend is missing and he took the lift at quarter past 3 over 24 hours ago. We hadn't got this note yet. I haven't heard from him since. I need to get him back," I barked at him as if the louder I spoke the more I could influence his answer. But nothing prepared me for what he said.

His skin turned pale and his harsh-looking face became more sympathetic as he explained.

"He's dead, love. Forget about him now. Only one person has ever come back from the lift at that time of night and it was Prue herself. After witnessing it. Those creatures ripping their victim apart. Poor Prue was traumatized. Your boy is gone, let go and follow the rules." He was blunt but I could tell he felt sorry for me.

"There must be something I can do!" I pleaded.

"There are things I've heard to bring back those who are lost but I've never seen solid proof they work. It would be irresponsible of me to tell you to do something that might get you killed too. It's nice here, honest, just get over him and live the status quo. Sorry if I sound harsh, I don't mean to, but you seem like a decent young lady and I don't want to see you go too soon."

I asked about what Mrs. Hemmings had seen in the lift and if they were sure it happened to all who entered it. I refused to believe that Jamie was dead. There had to be something I could do and if I knew what I was dealing with I could be better prepared.

"It was awful what happened. I wasn't there, but this is what I was told.

Little Lyla was such a cute kid. She used to open the door and give me a tip when I delivered the post. She was Prue's granddaughter. Lyla was her son's little girl and that night she was staying over for the first time. Prue finally felt confident that she could protect Lyla from all the strange things that happen here...

She was wrong. Little Lyla had a problem with sleepwalking. And she took a trip into the hallway at half past 1 in the morning. Prue took a little too long to notice the sound she had heard was the front door, and by the time she reached the lift, she saw the creatures dragging Lyla's limbs away from her body. She tried to fight them, even killed one, but she couldn't save the little girl."

I was hysterical, imagining Jamie's fate.

"What are the creatures? Have you ever actually seen them?" I asked.

"No one really knows what they are, love. They're something to do with the building and all its quirks, no one's ever seen them elsewhere. We don't know where they came from, just that they're here.

I've seen them a few times over the years, usually when new neighbors have left biscuits down for their cats and dogs or haven't disposed of food waste properly.

They're curious little creatures. Mostly harmless out of the hours Prue warned you about, but if they're fed they can become quite viscous looking for more food.

That's why you have to bin all your scraps, hide them or pack them, or whatever. Just don't leave them out and don't use the lift at those times and you're safe from the creatures.

They're a little smaller than humans, but they're a similar shape, they come with grotesque rodent-like features, and are far larger than any rodent could be. Like rodent children, I suppose. They have two sharp rows of teeth per jaw and are consistently hungry.

When they eat they crunch down in a violent and disgusting way, dripping spittle everywhere. Prue said she could hear her granddaughter's bones shatter in those jaws." He went pale at the thought of that but continued.

"When they first arrived in the building there were hundreds, it caused pandemonium amongst the residents. We lost the residents of more than 30 of the individual homes. But the residents fought back and managed to kill all but the strongest minority of them.

The creatures left over were incredibly dangerous and seemingly impossible to eradicate, so the residents struck a deal. A deal that they will be left unharmed and allowed to live in the building in return for the residents' safety at all times, but if anyone wanders into the lift between 1.11 and 3.33 am they are fair game.

This timeframe is the period the creatures are at their most frenzied and restricting them to the lift was safer for all parties. God help anyone who encounters them during those hours.

They've been here ever since, claimed lots of unsuspecting people avoiding the stairs, but nothing like when they first arrived. A few got put down for not holding up their end of the bargain but we haven't had an incident outside the lift in years. Count yourself lucky you missed that crisis.

Everything here's pretty peaceful right now. I'm sorry about your boyfriend. I really have to go, I'm late for my round." He scrawled his phone number on a bit of paper and handed it to me. "Emergencies only, I don't like to be bothered."

"You can't go! The note said you would help me!" I exclaimed.

"And I will!" he snapped back, "When there's something I can help with. I can't resurrect your boyfriend and I don't like to be late delivering the post. I will see you soon, love."

I was in shock, I couldn't believe what I was hearing, and I couldn't believe he was leaving me after the information overload and the small ray of hope he had lit inside me and then squashed.

"I'll call the police!" I shouted, desperate to feel as if I was solving this somehow.

"You can try if you want," Ian sighed, as he opened the door to leave. "It just aggravates the creatures, and it isn't going to bring your boy back. Mr prentice hates it when police come too. If you want to get any sleep in the next week then I'd avoid it. Wait a week, report him missing, and learn to adapt to life here, love, or you'll be dead in days."

And with that, he shut the door behind him. I opened it again, I had so much more to ask, but he was gone, no sign of him anywhere in the corridor.

Maybe it was me losing my mind, I might be imagining all these things. But no matter how much I willed it the note was still there. And Jamie still wasn't.

Georgia arrived not long after Ian had left. I, of course, asked if she had seen him in the corridor, to try and affirm to myself that he was real, but she hadn't. She looked at me worried, and held me as I sobbed and told her what the postman had said about Jamie and the creatures.

I wasn't sure she believed me. Even as she read the note she looked skeptical. If she was skeptical I wouldn't have blamed her, but she had always been supportive. She sat with me for hours while I just sobbed, heartbroken. I was so conflicted as to what do to. It felt insane that I hadn't contacted anybody, but this note had turned out to be accurate so far and if the postman was to be trusted then I should wait.

Georgia had been my best friend for many years, she stuck up for me when I was too scared to do it for myself and had always been the brave one of the two of us. I felt safe around her, so after hours of crying and despairing at the way my life had changed in a matter of days, I finally decided to take a nap. It was early evening and Georgia was watching some TV. Just there for me if I needed her.

Despite the deprivation, I struggled to fall asleep. I tried to imagine Jamie's arms around me but it became a more painful reminder that they probably never will be again. Eventually, after what felt like an eternity of staring at the damp patch on the ceiling, I drifted off.

About three hours ago, I woke up, staring at the goddamn damp patch on the ceiling, and could hear chatting in the living room. I jumped out of bed and walked toward it.

Georgia was on the sofa, with a middle-aged-looking woman, both nursing a cup of tea in the matching mugs that Jamie had got me as a move-in present. My blood boiled but it wasn't their fault. I cleared my throat to get their attention.

"Oh, Katie! This is Natalia, she lives upstairs. We got chatting so I made her a cup of tea. I hope you don't mind." I looked at the dark-haired woman on the sofa, drinking tea from my cup, and nodded. Georgia was a sociable idiot with no understanding of when to not be herself. I wasn't going to lament her for it right now. It was her coping.

"Of course. Hi Natalia, what flat do you live in?" I tried my very best to be polite. I would have to discuss not bringing people into my home mid-tragedy with Georgia after she had left but until then I would be neighborly.

"Flat 71. It's so nice to meet you, you have a lovely home," Natalia responded, her lips curled at the corners into a smile that wasn't replicated in her eyes or the rest of her facial expression. She looked at me smugly, with full knowledge that I was aware of the implications of what she had just said.

The rules...

The flat number...

 

Every now and again someone will knock at your door claiming to live in one of these flats and ask to borrow some sugar. They will seem entirely average but you must shut and lock the door immediately. I installed two extra security bolts to avoid these fuckers. I don't like to swear at my age but they really are fuckers.

 

Prue's warning echoed in my mind and I couldn't take my eyes off Natalia. Something really was off about her. I looked at Georgia, sitting on the sofa next to her, and noticed her sweating. Anyone in the UK knows that it's been hot for a few days but this was beyond just the ambient temperature. Her entire body was dripping.

Suddenly, she began to pant. Natalia's eyes were locked on mine just like the window cleaners had been. Nothing happened before with the cleaner, except this time the rule had been broken. She was already in the flat.

Georgia started to scream as her skin blistered and charred. Her hair fell from her scalp as the skin flaked and melted away from every inch of her. She was being burned alive without a flame in sight. She scratched frantically at her own melting face, digging into the exposed raw flesh. The sound a person makes when they burn alive is like no other. That will never leave me.

I screamed and screamed but no one came to my door. I tried to grab my phone to call postman Ian but the wooden surface I had set it down on burned my fingers to the touch and forced me to recoil. She was going to set the whole flat alight.

My actions needed to be quicker than a phone call.

I grabbed hold of the large knife I had set down on the side earlier when weaponizing, the handle blistered my fingers instantly but I didn't care, I needed to get her out now and help Georgia if I could. I ran toward the dark-haired lady, sweat dripping from my brow the closer I got, and plunged the knife into Natalia's throat. She gripped it and fell to the floor.

She didn't bleed like a normal human. Her insides were black, she was still moving, and I figured it probably wouldn't be long before she stood right back up and tried again. So I dragged her into the hallway ready to bolt the door.

As we reached the entrance of the corridor one of the cats was waiting, hissing at her semi-conscious body. I caught her eyes fixated on it as I dumped her on the floor. I grabbed the cat, pulled him inside, wincing as its skin caused more burns up my lower arms, shut the door, and watched through the peephole. She got up and held her hand to the wound, cauterizing it and walking off toward the lift. As if she hadn't been injured at all.

I'd dropped the cat by that point but every bit of naked skin it had touched throbbed and burned for at least an hour.

Georgia hadn't been as lucky as Natalia with injury recovery. I anonymously called an ambulance for her. I couldn't believe it but she was still breathing. She was badly burned and her life wouldn't be the same again but she was alive. And for that, I was grateful.

It sounds awful but I left her at the park across the road from the building. With no phone or ID. She's my best friend and I want to be there but if I own up to involvement in injuries that bad they'll suspect me, and I lose the already slim chance that Jamie might be savable. It doesn't mean I don't care about Georgia, but she's alive. I won't believe Jamie isn't until I see it.

So now I'm alone again, in the flat, conflicted about what to do.

I want to leave. So badly. But this was mine and Jamie's first home together. If he's alive, and I can save him then I want it to be here for him to come back to... and if he's dead, and the postman is right, then I don't know if I can leave his memory behind.

There's only one person I think could help me right now. So tonight, I'm going to do some research, hunt down an address, and tomorrow morning I'm going to visit Prudence Hemmings.

Today I finally met her.

I didn't get much sleep last night either. The lack of sleep is making me wonder whether all these things happening are in my mind or not. But I'm reminded every time I see that damn note that it's all real.

I spent hours last night searching for anything I could about Prudence Hemmings. If she had lived in a big creepy mansion I imagine she would have been easy to find. But us folk who live in tower blocks aren't so well documented. No one cares about our lives, no matter how extraordinary.

I found an article about a missing person, Lyla Hemmings. It suggested that she went missing under the care of her grandmother while playing in the park opposite the flats early in the morning. Interviews with her parents stated that they had both disowned Prudence.

Despite the many years that had passed since Lyla's death/disappearance her parents appeared to have remained unforgiving of Prue. There was no mention of her on either of their social media accounts and she appeared to have no involvement with the children they had acquired since.

Searches for the Hemmings family in the local area were equally dead ends. I looked at link after link, desperate to find something but they all started to blur into one. Until finally I saw something.

An obituary for Bernard "Bernie" Hemmings, who had fallen from the tower block in unexplained circumstances after being diagnosed with dementia months before his death. I was surprised it hadn't made bigger news. It had only been about a year. There were no details of where to find them, but his wife Prudence and her sister Bridget were listed as contacts to get find out details of the funeral.

It's scary what you can do with the internet these days, but just with those phone numbers, I was able to put them into a reverse directory and find an address for Bridget and Tony Bishop, the sister and brother-in-law that Prudence was supposedly living with.

About 4 am I managed to get some sleep, not much though, I was back up and wide awake at around 7 am, planning my route and working out my day. I saw a post on social media from one of her relatives that Georgia was identified and is stable. This loosened the knot in my stomach that has been present since I found the note somewhat.

At 8.50, I opened the door to my flat hoping to see postman Ian. 4 minutes passed, and instead of the postman, an elderly gentleman made his way down the corridor. He had a walking stick and kind eyes. In his free arm he carried a small plastic bag containing a newspaper and milk. He smiled and said "Good morning," as he passed.

I smiled back. He reminded me of my grandad. I imagined him pulling cola cubes from his pocket for his grandkids and shushing them when their parents weren't looking. A little further down the corridor the old man stopped and turned. He looked me dead in the eyes with a sympathetic expression and spoke.

"No post on a Sunday, if that's what you were waiting for." He smiled knowingly and turned to unlock a front door that until shut I couldn't see the number of. When I saw the door close and the number 48 boldly displayed above the peephole I understood what Prudence had meant. Mr. Prentice did seem to be a lovely chap.

I sat back in my flat and sighed, staring at the various tabs open on my laptop. At about 9.15 the knocking on the balcony door started.

The window cleaner was back.

I didn't feel half as terrified as I had the first time, if anything, I was just angry. It took every ounce of restraint I had in my tired body not to engage with him, if only to tell him to fuck off. His genuine seeming requests just irritated me. After about 20 minutes of being watched the knocking started to give me a headache, so I grabbed a bag and left the flat.

I decided there was no time like the present. If I was going to turn up on the Bishops' doorstep looking for her sister because of the freaky flat she's left behind then I had to get it over with. If the address was old, or the Bishops weren't the people I was looking for then I was going to look stupid whatever time of day I went.

And I couldn't take the window cleaner's eyes anymore. There was something about them, they really do make you want to open that door.

I looked at the lift as I entered the communal hallway and decided today I would take the stairs. I couldn't stand to be in a small box that my partner probably died very painfully in. My heart dropped into my stomach just at the sight of it.

The stairs were as grotty as the lift. We'd taken them multiple times on move-in day but I hadn't really taken it in the same way I could now. I thought about the rules and all the strange things happening in this building. I looked at the badly painted numbers on the walls as I reached each landing.

Nothing in this building is simple.

I looked at the numbers. 7, 6, 5 ... 5, 4, 3, 4, 2, G. Maybe it was the sleep deprivation but my legs were in agreement with my mind that I had definitely just descended more than 6 flights of stairs. They'd glitched.

I looked at the dusty and poorly-lit stairwell from the bottom. It seemed dark despite the sun pouring in from the glass panel in the main building doors. The note never mentioned glitchy stairs, maybe I really was losing my mind.

As I turned to exit the building a woman walked in. She was in her late thirties to early forties and had 2 small children in tow. One boy and one girl. I guessed that they were twins, they were both incredibly blond, with deep brown puppy-dog-looking eyes, and couldn't have been any older than 6 - 7. They were as close to identical as it gets in twins of different genders. I'm not a fan of kids, but they were super cute.

The lady had a short bob haircut that got longer at the front. It was uniform and dyed a perfectly even auburn color. I knew it was dyed because her roots were blonde like her kids. She looked as tired as I felt, but she pulled herself together when she saw me, running fingers through a part of her hair that she must have missed however early she left this morning.

"Hi, are you here visiting?" she opened with, trying to make small talk.

"No, I just moved into flat 42, on the 7th floor, I was just leaving actually. Whereabouts are you?" I was desperate to go, I had geared myself up to see Prue but I didn't want to be rude.

"I'm flat 26, my name's Terri. This is Eddie and Ellie." She gestured to the two small children hiding shyly behind her skirt. "Welcome to the block. If you ever need anything, please feel free to give me a shout."

"My name is Katie but people call me Kat, too. That's really kind of you, thank you. I will... Hey, is there something wrong with the stairs?" I stopped myself before going into detail.

"Nothing wrong, they just skip sometimes," she answered, shrugging.

"Well, I'd love to stop and chat but I actually really need to get going. It was nice to meet you, Terri." I tried to work out what was wrong with the children as I stepped forward to walk away, still baffled by the stairs.

"By the way, we have a residents committee. You should come to one of our meetings, they're every Tuesday in alternating flats. This Tuesday is at Molly Jefferson's place in flat 31, come along. We'd love to have you!" Terri suggested, waving me off.

I walked out the doors after my encounter with Terri, feeling sick. Every minute in this place made the note more real. Every word jumped off the page and into my life. Made it more likely that Jamie was really gone.

I rode the bus from a stop not far from the flats. It felt like it took an eternity to reach the little suburban area I was looking for. A five-minute walk away from the bus stop I got off at and I was staring at a quaint little bungalow, belonging to Bridget and Tony Bishop.

I knocked on the door. The lady who opened it was unsteady on her feet, she was probably in her 70s, with wispy white hair neatly scraped back into a bun, two strands left hanging that just softened her wrinkled face. She wore a dusty rose-colored dress that hung just below her knees and smelled of stale cigarette smoke.

"Can I help you?" she asked bluntly.

"My name is Kat. I'm looking for Prudence Hemmings," I answered, stuttering slightly.

Her eyes widened slightly.

"Why?" she asked, bizarrely.

"Is she here? It's private."

The lady ushered me into the house, and sat me down on a sofa. Within minutes, there was a cup of tea in front of me. She didn't say anything to me for a while, we just looked at each other. Then she finally broke the silence.

"I wondered if you'd try and find me. It took me a long time to decide whether to leave that note or not but I decided that you deserved a head start. That's more than I ever got."

The woman was Prudence, she was nothing like I had imagined. She seemed tough and hardened and spoke with a mostly blunt tone. She contributed before I could answer.

"Terri called me not long ago. Told me that she had met the new tenant. She said you looked shaken up, and said that my note may not have been enough. I did say I couldn't fit everything on there. And the stairs didn't seem too important. The committee wanted to organize a meeting with you on your moving-in day but I told them that was intrusive. The whole committee thing always seemed a bit excessive to me anyway," she spoke flippantly like it was nothing.

"It may have been intrusive, but we needed a warning, we spent a night in the place before I found your note! My boyfriend had already left for work at 3.15 and taken the lift... he didn't know." I broke as I told her what had happened. Her face dropped. And so did my hope for Jamie.

"I'm so sorry... I really don't know what to say. I thought my note would reach you in time," she mumbled, her face to the floor, refusing to look at me as tears streamed down my face.

"He's gone, isn't he? I didn't want to accept it but I spoke to the postman and your face says all it needs to. The postman said there might be a way I can have him back," I bit at her, devastated and angry.

"He's gone. You can't have him back. What Ian is referring to isn't what you think. There's a way to get people back from the lift. But not as themselves. Trust me, I learned the hard way. Once they're back you can't reverse it. I'm sorry about your man. But he's gone forever. Don't dig into the other way, to be gone forever is luckier than that alternative." She still wouldn't look up from the floor.

"What do you mean...?"

"I don't want to talk about it. I said in the note that there are things I'd rather not discuss and I need you to respect that or I won't be speaking to you at all. Now move on and ask what you need to ask," Prudence cut me off. I decided not to push the topic further and moved on to some other things I needed to know.

"What's the deal with Terri's kids? They seem sweet and normal."

"Those little demon creatures are anything but normal," she answered, wincing slightly at the thought of them. "When she went into labor, Terri never made it to a hospital. They were the first children ever to be born inside the building and with everything that goes on it's like something's rubbed off on them. They're average children in the daytime, but they never sleep, ever. Poor Terri hasn't had a day's rest since they were born. They also really love to steal birds and rats they find the cats playing with and torment them. Really annoys the cats."

As she finished speaking, a small hairless cat strutted out from behind an armchair across the room, meowing softly. It brushed its head up against Prue's exposed legs, leaving scorch marks where it touched. She didn't react, she reached down and stroked the top of its head, smiling as it purred.

"And those?" I asked, eyes stuck to her now badly burned legs.

She chuckled, pulled out a box, and lit a cigarette, tapping the top layer of ash into a small silver dish in front of her. She offered me one and I took it gladly.

"They've always been my good friends. I couldn't leave the building without bringing a part of home with me. This little guy is Damon. He's seen some things," she gushed, not taking her eyes off the cat.

"But where did they come from, why are they everywhere?" I asked, watching in disbelief as her burns subsided. It seemed impossible, but I looked at my arms where I had picked up the cat the night before and there was no evidence it had ever happened. They didn't even appear sunburnt.

"No one really knows. They started to appear after the fire, a few years after I'd moved in. It was rumored that they were the pets of the residents that burned, and that was why they had no fur. But I don't think that's true."

I interrupted.

"I met one of those neighbors last night. She said her name was Natalia. She almost killed my best friend. You're crazy if you think your note was enough of a warning!" I ranted emotionally.

"Look, girl. If I had made a song and dance about warning you, then you'd have thought me crazy and challenged the rules. You'd have been dead already. Be grateful you got anything. I didn't. I had to work it all out. Your generation is so spoiled," she tutted in frustration at me. I was angry, but she was probably right. An elderly lady telling me rat-like creatures would kill my boyfriend in a lift would probably have gotten some laughs from me a few days ago. I stayed quiet and waited for her to calm down. After a while. she sighed and started again.

"I think the cats are the neighbors that burned. They've never meant any harm and they hiss and run from the imposters that roam the building. Besides, there's no way there were that many cats living on one floor.

The imposter people don't even match up with the residents that died in the fire, none of them look like or claim to have the same name as the dead. They just claim to live in their flats. I've met Natalia before, she left a bad scar on Bernie's leg from an incident we had, nasty girl.

Before the fire there was CCTV and there was a recording saved of about 15 people marching into the flats and up to that floor about half an hour before the fire started. It was the only evidence found. CCTV wasn't great in the eighties so they were never identified. And the flames melted the relevant cameras so nothing ever came of it.

I think the people that entered that night are the ones that ask for sugar. I don't know any more than that but if you avoid them like I said you don't need to know more. They hate the cats. I hope your friend survives, but I've seen what those people can do so maybe she was better off dead," Prue carried on stroking Damon. I watched the skin of her fingers melt and twist as they made contact with him.

"What happened to your husband?"

I asked the question so fast I didn't have time to consider that this was a topic she had explicitly said she didn't want to discuss in the note. But I had to know.

She scowled at me. "I said I didn't want to talk about that," she hissed.

"I just lost the love of my life. I need some answers," I begged.

"What happened to Bernie won't help you. I know you'd think any deaths in that building would be down to the quirks but this wasn't. For the most part, anyway.

Don't forget that we had lived there for 35 years, Bernie knew the rules, we knew how to take care of ourselves and have a happy life there. It was our home."

"I don't doubt that, Mrs. Hemmings. I'm sorry," I interjected.

"Bernie had dementia. It started about 6 months before he died and he deteriorated very rapidly. Toward the end, he started wandering. The doctors said it was common, but in our position, it was incredibly dangerous. More times than I can count, I pulled him away from the lift just in time.

Along with wandering, he was forgetting the rules. He let that smug awful window cleaner in 3 times. Thank lord for the big metal pipe I kept by the balcony door, chased him out a treat. Not that anything stops him from coming back. I'm sure you're already acquainted.

After all the dangerous situations Bernie was in, by the end he made the smallest and most fatal of errors.

He left a bowl of food out for Damon at 10 am. I was out shopping with Terri and a few of the girls from the committee and when I came back I found one of those awful creatures..."

Prudence started to cry. I put my hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. After all, I truly knew how she felt.

"It was eating him," she sniffed and steadied herself to continue, moving my hand. "I chased the creature away with the same metal pipe I had the window cleaner and pushed Bernie off the balcony. He was heavy but I didn't want anyone to know what really killed him. Its teeth..." she shivered "... they made such an awful noise. It reminded me of -"

"Lyla," I finished her sentence. I hadn't meant to. I was so invested in her story I couldn't help it.

"I gather you spoke with Ian then," she said, sounding resigned. "I never meant to hurt that little girl. I loved her so much." Tears rolled down her wrinkled cheeks. Damon, who was now sitting next to her on the sofa, shuffled closer as if to cuddle her.

"Haven't you ever been curious about getting her back?" I asked, my mind turning back to the methods hinted at by both Prue and the postman. "I miss Jamie so much. I'd do anything to get him back."

Her face filled with a look of horror and shame. "Of course, I have," she answered, "Which is exactly why I'm telling you not to."

But I couldn't let it go.

"Surely anything must be better than gone forever?" I pestered. I wish I hadn't.

Prudence, frustrated, stood up and gestured for me to follow, she led me outside to the back garden of the bungalow. At the back was a large shed, the kind people used for a man cave or a summer house. It was pretty, the sun shone down on it lighting up the few cobwebs in the corners and making them twinkle.

Mrs. Hemmings was careful to look into both neighboring gardens to ensure there was no one around before she unlocked the door to the shed. We stepped inside and the first thing to hit me was the smell, it was putrid, like rotting meat. I looked at the floor and covered my nose with my hands. Staring back at me was a pool of blood.

I followed the blood with my eyes as Prudence locked us in the shed. Then after I made it past the animal bones, I finally saw it.

Just like postman Ian had described.

One of the creatures was watching me, from a heavy-duty metal dog cage in the corner of the shed. It looked reinforced but still, the metal had chew marks. Their jaws had to be strong to cause that.

That didn't surprise me looking at it, it's rodent-like nose and beady, yet somehow human-like eyes were nothing compared to the two very visible rows of jagged sharp teeth that lined each gum. Despite its small stature, it was terrifying.

Prudence opened a drawer in a dusty cupboard across the room and pulled out a can of dog food, she poured the contents into the bowl and passed the bowl through the feeding hatch. The cage had a safety feature meaning the animal couldn't access the food until the hatch was locked from the outside. I was grateful for this.

Prue turned to me and spoke. She brushed one of the two strands of hair framing her face behind her ear. Gesturing to the hideous creature she said, "Kat, I would like to introduce you to my granddaughter, Lyla."

Last night my survival was threatened.

I was in complete shock. Looking at it. At her.

Prudence had a facial expression filled with guilt and now I knew the truth, I could see it. The creature was exactly how Ian had described, except with wavy ginger hair and a sadness in its beady eyes.

This abomination was Lyla. This was how Prudence had bought her back, and this was the only way I would ever see Jamie again, a risk I wasn't going to take. After days of disbelief, the reality finally hit me like a ton of bricks. Jamie was dead and he wasn't coming back.

"Why did you do this?" I asked, my voice shaking with horror.

Prudence scowled at me, trying to mask her shame.

"I didn't want this. If you think this was my aim then you're sicker than I am. I just wanted my granddaughter back.

When she died a part of me died. My son blamed me, his wife blamed me, and although he never said it, I could see in Bernie's eyes that he did, too.

I'd pushed for her to stay, I wanted to spend more time with her. I got cocky about my ability to cope with the strange occurrences in the flats. I know what you must be thinking. But I swear I didn't know about the sleepwalking until it was too late.

We had moved into the flat not long after my son left home to move in with his girlfriend. He's the youngest of three and was the last to fly the nest, so we downsized for the two of us. He never knew what we were facing in that flat, or the dangers that he sent his little girl into.

When it happened it was a few years after the fire and the troubles with the creatures. We'd struck the deal with the things in the lift and the neighbors of the burned flats had become a fixture just like the other quirks. I really thought she would be safe."

Prudence paused to gaze longingly at the mutated little girl in the cage, the creature just twitched. In return, it bared its four rows of teeth and made a gentle hiss.

"But how did you do this!?" I stopped her with more urgency this time, looking at rat-Lyla in disbelief. I had to get answers out of her fast. I didn't want to spend any more time than was absolutely necessary in this shed.

"The gardener helped me," she answered, her voice trembling.

"Who the fuck is the gardener?" I grew more impatient with every new confusion she threw at me. The last thing I needed was something new and potentially malevolent in the mix.

"I didn't mention him in my note because he's been gone for over 20 years. He'll be of no concern to you, so don't worry. His damage is in the past now...

Around the time Lyla went missing, the council granted planning permission for the tower block next door. But before that was built the land it sits on acted as a communal garden for ours and the neighboring tower block on the other side. It had a regular gardener named Derek, who you would often see tending the flowerbeds out front.

Derek was one of the first people I met when I moved in.

Like I said, I had to work it all out myself and the first time the window cleaner came to the balcony, I naturally reached to let him in and offer a cup of tea.

As my hand applied pressure to the handle to open the balcony door, there was a knock at the front door. I made a gesture to the cleaner to indicate that I would only be a minute and answered.

There was Derek. He stopped me and told me not to let the man in, that I would be making a huge mistake.

I thought he sounded crazy, and I told him so. After a while of arguing, I got up to reboil the kettle and let the man in, and Derek grabbed my hands and shouted at me to look at the man outside.

When I turned to look, there was no man outside, but a monster. He was tall and impossibly thin, flesh and bones but somehow thinner than bones with graying skin stretched over them. He had eyes that seemed to be so deep-set they went on forever, like the blackest cave you can imagine. Saliva dripped from his mouth and landed on my balcony floor, some sliding down the glass panel of the door.

I opened my mouth to scream, but as I did, Derek let go of my hands and the monster was gone. In its place was that smug, friendly man, begging for a drink while he cleans the windows.

It took me a minute to process it, but I know what I'd seen. That was the real window cleaner. I never intentionally opened or tried to open the door for him again.

That day Derek didn't stay long. He didn't tell me what the window cleaner is, or why he visits every few days. He didn't explain anything about the weird things that go on. As much as Derek was a part of the strange happenings, he was like one that had been carved from light.

He said that he'd always be around when I needed him, that it was his job to look after the residents just like the flowerbeds.

Over the years he appeared a few times. He was instrumental in striking a deal with the creatures. When the neighbors died in the fire he created a special display for them in the garden and made sure that nothing planted was poisonous to the cats as soon as they arrived. He also stopped an imposter from killing Bernie at our front door.

He seemed like such a good thing for the residents. Always there to help. Offer some gentle advice or a creative solution. Someone to be trusted.

He changed when they granted planning permission for the other block though. He knew his garden would be dug up to lay foundations and his uses redundant. He became grumpy and bitter over time but no one paid enough attention to notice. Especially not when my tragedy struck.

When Lyla died, I was devastated. Derek appeared to me as I sat on a bench in the garden, crying. He offered to help me, to use the garden to get her back. I snapped at him. I told him it was his fault and that he should have been there when it happened to stop them.

He worked so hard on the agreement with the creatures, he spent a lot of time with them. Lyla broke the rule and he had to allow them to do what had been agreed, he said. He couldn't have stopped them. But he wanted to help make things right.

I understood why he hadn't intervened. But I couldn't accept it, I lashed out at him. I'm embarrassed to say I actually slapped the poor man along with stamping on his freshly planted flowerbed. I was angry and grieving.

I quickly burned myself out and collapsed into a blubbering heap on the floor. Derek attempted to comfort me but his mind was on his garden.

He said he was sorry for my loss but I shouldn't have attacked the flowerbed. That he'd always been nice to me and I should be kinder in return.

I snapped and told him that it didn't matter because it was all about to be bulldozed in the next few days anyway.

I should have taken more note of the way he twitched as I said that. He snapped.

He said that he knew I was angry. But there was no need to take it out on him. If I was that desperate to get Lyla back, he knew a way. But it was dangerous.

I begged. Anything, I said. I would do anything.

He told me it was simple and that all I had to do was enter the lift and offer the creatures some food whilst repeating the phrase revertetur mortuis during their frenzied hours.

He said that there was no guarantee they wouldn't be crunching on my bones before I even got the first word out but that if I succeeded I would have Lyla back.

Of course, it was successful. There wasn't a creature in sight as I performed the ritual as instructed.

I thought nothing happened at first. She didn't appear straight away, but a few days later I found her running 'round inside my house. She'd taken a chunk out of Damon's ear with her teeth. I tried to kill her at first, but just as I was about to finalize it I saw in her eyes who she was.

I tried to look for Derek but by that point, the workmen had started. Nothing was left of his garden, and nothing was left of Derek. No one's seen him since. You see, Kat, nothing in that building is totally harmless. You have to be on your guard at all times.

I've kept her like this ever since. You may think I'm crazy but I couldn't kill my own granddaughter. I'm not a monster."

Prue sighed and ushered me back out of the shed. She locked the door behind us, closing the padlock on her most hideous secret.

I was exhausted. It was a lot of information to take in and as a result of the information I'd received, real grief for my boyfriend was finally settling in. Every hope I had was dashed. I know many of you tried to tell me in the comments that he was gone but I wanted you to be wrong so bad.

I couldn't bear to look at Prudence Hemmings for another moment. I made my excuses and left, morosely riding the bus back to the tower block I had once been so excited to live in.

It was mid-afternoon by time I got home. The choice between the stairs and lift didn't strike much enthusiasm into me but I opted for the stairs, and after what I'm sure ended up being 11 flights, I made it the 6 flights up the stairs to my flat.

I laid on our mattress on the floor and sobbed for Jamie. I sobbed so hard my throat went dry and hurt and my stomach cramped with each gasping breath. I sobbed myself to sleep. My body and mind must have given up fighting the need to rest and shut down.

When I woke up it was late, about 10 pm. I wrote as much of my update as I could for you guys, hit post, and just sat at the dining table with my head in my hands.

My whole life had fallen to shit and I knew it.

I thought about so many things, questioned why they were happening to me. I searched social media for updates on Georgia but there were none. Jamie wasn't super close with his family but I knew it wasn't long before they'd start to worry. Everything I considered just snowballed in my mind.

The loneliness in dealing with this situation was killing me.

I decided to do something I usually wouldn't. I went downstairs and I knocked on the door of flat 26.

Terri answered. Her perfectly bobbed hair was a little unkempt and out of place, she had huge bags under her eyes and I could smell wine on her breath.

"Are you okay, Kat?" She looked concerned. I found it ironic that she looked so disheveled I had forgotten it was me who came for help.

"I'm not... I'm sorry... I know I don't know you... I... just..." I could barely speak.

"Don't worry. Prue called me. She told me everything. I'm sorry about your boyfriend, it's a shame I never got to meet him." Terri stared back at me with the same expression a mother would, warm and understanding. "Would you like a cup of tea, maybe something stronger?"

"I'd love a coffee please." I answered meekly, making my way into the living room. Her sofa was comfy, it reminded me of being back home at my parents' before any of this started.

Terri trotted out to the kitchen, stumbling slightly. I could see the kitchen counter from the sofa, and the empty bottle of wine that accounted for her stumbling.

As she boiled the kettle there was a huge crash from somewhere inside the flat. I jumped, feeling startled. Terri coughed in a meager attempt to conceal the noise.

"Excuse me for just a moment please," she muttered apprehensively as she walked out of the living area and into the hallway containing the bedrooms.

I heard another crash, giggling, and some inaudible shouting. After a while, things went quiet and Terri came back into the living room.

"Sorry about that, kids you know," she announced, brushing off the noises. I'd almost forgotten about Eddie and Ellie. It was late already and the resigned expression on Terri's face indicated that this was how all her nights began.

I nodded. I couldn't muster up much more of a response. I think she could see that I just needed to sit there. She got up to finish making and then set the cup of tea in front of me with 2 digestive biscuits. I hadn't eaten properly in days and I really needed the sugar.

It turned out Terri and I get along really well. We have similar tastes in movies, music, and food despite the age gap. We spoke for about an hour about random, normal stuff. It was nice to get a break from the madness. I got used to the crashing around from the twins. I even laughed a few times. I'd forgotten what that felt like these past few days.

The break didn't last long. The next noise that we heard was louder than the first. It was quickly followed by two small children, running into the living room, diving into their mother's arms.

I was taken aback for a moment. Eddie and Ellie were dressed in pajamas and were still the cute children that I had met in the hallway, but something was different. Their brown puppy dog eyes had become deep voids, like what I'd imagined when Prue described the window cleaner's true form. And at the ends of their fingers were long sharp claws protruding from where nails should be.

I didn't have time to recoil in terror at their new looks, Terri clutched them and asked what was wrong. They wailed and buried the voids where their eyes should be into their mother's shoulders. Despite their terrifying exterior, these were two very scared little kids.

It had been a very long day and I thought my nightmare was over but it was only just beginning. Ellie mumbled into Terri's shoulder, in that high-pitched voice kids do when they're scared.

"Mummy, we're sorry, we didn't mean to let them in. We were just teasing..."

"Shhh, they're coming!" hissed Eddie, in the same distressed high-pitched tone.

"Who's... what have you done?" Terri asked, color drained from her face.

The kids didn't get a chance to reply. Terri's face turned paler than I thought possible. I looked up and standing in the living room doorway were about 10 people, all incredibly average-looking.

They were almost expressionless, they didn't look angry or pleased to see us. They were dressed in non-descriptive clothes. I imagined trying to describe them to one of those artists that draw pictures for the police and I genuinely don't think even one of them had a distinguishing feature.

That's why it took me a while to spot her in the crowd, even though she had been glaring at me the entire time.

Natalia.

Things just keep getting weirder.

When I first saw Natalia all I could picture was Georgia. The way her skin melted off her face, the smell of her hair burning, and the sound that she made.

I didn't have time to count but there were more than I originally thought. I figured these must have been the 15 people Prudence talked about, entering the flats that burned before it happened. I already knew that Natalia was one of them.

Eddie and Ellie clutched Terri's skirt, trembling with fear. I wanted to help protect them, but I still couldn't help but tremble a little myself every time I caught a glimpse of those hollow voids where their eyes were.

"Hi Terri, the kids said we could borrow some sugar?" she asked menacingly, grinning at the frightened family stood next to me. After a moment or two of intense staring, Natalia finally addressed me. She appeared to be the spokesperson for the group. "How's your friend doing? It was a shame we had to end our visit. I was enjoying her company."

"Don't speak about her! She's got nothing to do with you, you sick bitch!" I screamed at her, I couldn't bare looking at her face again. "You don't scare me with all your freak friends. I'm not going to let you hurt this lady or her kids!"

Natalia chuckled. I gulped.

I may talk a good game but I am no hero. Mere days ago I was just a young girl excited to move in with her boyfriend and now here I am. My boyfriend's dead, my flat is like living in my own personal horror movie, and I'm standing up challenging demonic flame neighbors to defend demonic-looking children.

But when I said she didn't scare me, I meant it. Something inside me was eradicating any fear of these people, I just wanted to protect the residents. Life really does throw curveballs.

"I know you aren't scared. I saw it in your eyes when you stuck that big knife in my throat. That's why we're here.

"My brothers and sisters are not freaks. You're the freaks! Thinking that your lives have meaning. We watch you people go about your day-to-day lives and your mundane routines and nothing really changes. Your lives are pointless and disposable.

"That's why we set the fire, all those years ago," she chuckled throughout her words. There was an animation in them like she was a psychotic cartoon character, finally catching its prey after 138 episodes of chasing.

"Those people weren't disposable..." Terri mumbled, barely a decibel higher than a whisper.

"What was that, Terri? Did you have something to say?" Natalia went from psychotic cartoon to school bully. She made my skin crawl.

"I was only a child, but those people were friends of my parents, they were good people," Terri said with slightly more confidence.

None of the other people had moved. They just stood there staring.

"Why would you burn people alive? What can you possibly gain?" I interjected, taking a slight step between Natalia and Terri and the kids. I could see she was getting ready to go for them and I couldn't let it happen.

"We were living with the great leader, Michael. All of us. Living in the righteous manner that he had directed us to live," she gestured to the people around her. The name Michael appeared to inspire some sort of emotion in the group.

"Michael's brother Jonathan lived here, on the floor we burned. He let us hang out there sometimes, but he didn't live the righteous way that we did. He didn't like our beliefs, but he took us in when we lost the place we were staying because of the growth of the group. He and Michael rarely saw eye to eye. They argued passionately.

Our group never believed in living within the constraints of societal norms and we were up at all hours, we came and went as we pleased, embracing freedoms and listened to music as we did introspective work."

Terri shoved the kids further behind her and snapped, infuriated.

"You were a group of entitled, bratty hippies following some middle-aged, mentally-ill twat. Listen to yourself! The stereotypical cultish drivel coming out of your mouth right now!" Terri cried. I was shocked at her outburst. Although I couldn't have agreed more. It did sound like cultish drivel. It made me so angry that this was what an entire floor of people died over.

As Terri ended her rant, the curtains hanging on the window behind her burst into flames. I jumped and felt my heart skip a beat.

"Don't insult us. I'm sick of hearing simple-minded people call us a cult," came from the back row. An average-looking man with dark hair and jeans had piped up, smiling and watching the curtains burn. He had done that. They were all capable of what Natalia had done to Georgia at the very least.

For the first time since the people had entered Terri's flat, my nerves of steel had wavered. I realized that we were only alive because they were allowing it so far. We were in big trouble.

Terri swiftly shut up and Natalia continued her story.

"Michael was the true leader. Not like all the fakes you hear of in the news. The people you're talking about. He was teaching us to build a world of peace and harmony. But he didn't deny that in order to do that you had to eradicate the non-believers. He taught us to embrace the bad in us. To harness it so that we could do extraordinary things," she smiled wickedly as her hands glowed hot coals as she spoke.

It may have sounded like cultish drivel but Michael being a total faker wouldn't explain their powers.

"Things went wrong when someone went to the police after Michael and Jonathan had a terrible argument one night. When the police arrived, Jonathan told us to go.

The group had been planning to leave this building anyway. We'd had nothing but interruption and trouble in our time here, this place is weird. But we had nowhere immediate to go. The police already disliked us after overcrowding the last property. We didn't need any more attention.

"Michael was furious. We brainstormed in a field for hours about who could have done it. I personally suspected the next-door neighbor, Mavis. The woman was so nosy, always knocking and asking us to keep the noise down, interrupting our spiritual sessions.

"Michael couldn't make a certain judgment on the person who had done it. All we thought we were sure of was that they had to be on the same floor. So he instructed us to go back that night and eradicate the whole floor and every non-believer who lived there.

"As you know, we obliged." This incited sick laughter from the crowd. I waited, forcing myself to let her finish. Buying time.

"We took pleasure in their screams, in watching every man, woman, and child go up in flames through their front door windows. It was the first time we'd unleashed all that energy and we felt so powerful!

"But then as we left the burning hallway behind us and entered the stairwell, this building found a way to fuck us over one more time.

"I couldn't give you a number on the amount of times we tried to run down those stairs, leave our glorious victory behind us, and return to Michael. It didn't matter how many times we tried.

"We couldn't make it past that floor, the stairs wouldn't let us. It didn't take long before the fire reached the stairwell we were trapped in, burning us all, along with the non-believers. We died just in time for the fire engine to arrive.

"We may have been dead but we didn't disappear. We couldn't leave the building, we were stuck just wandering it, in and out of the burned flats and hallways but not allowed anywhere else unless we were asked. It was awful. We didn't try to cause any trouble at first. We waited for Micheal to come and find us, instruct us.

"Two months passed and he hadn't come. Instead came confirmation. A newspaper put through the door of the building. Headline news.

"Tower block resident Bernie Hemmings information vital to imprisonment of local cult leader on drug charges."

I gasped. I couldn't believe I hadn't found that when I was researching Prue. But I suppose local news wasn't so heavily online back then. Natalia saw my shocked expression and grinned wider than before.

"The old bat didn't tell you that then?" she asked, although it wasn't really a question. "That her stupid husband is the whole reason we're here!"

"We started to really cause issues then. Did anything within our power to fuck the whole building over. But it didn't take them long to work out that we had to be asked to come in.

"We only stopped when Prue worked out a way we could die a second time, and that we would come back again. She killed two of our group. She was the only person that could stop us. We couldn't do shit with her around. We stopped and reached a stalemate. Then she moved out. We were going to honor that stalemate. Until you stabbed me. Prue's gone. It's fair game in here now."

As Natalia got angrier, a member of her group started getting agitated. They all soon followed like a hive mind, working as one. The stillness became chaotic, with all of them moving and making noise.

I didn't notice at first when one started walking toward Terri and the kids, but I noticed when it got near.

It was a teen girl, slender and pretty, but still unsettlingly average. As she got within a meter of the family, Ellie suddenly went rigid. The claws that replaced her fingernails grew longer and sharper, with jagged edges growing so fast. The voids deepened if that was even possible.

She opened her mouth to reveal rows of sharp teeth, blood caked where the tooth meets the gum where they had grown too quickly as well. Ellie jumped. She reached out toward the girl and slashed her face with the claws, leaving deep gouges across her eyes. She clung to the girl using her claws as wall pegs keeping herself at eye level.

Eddie controlled the crowd. His own claws grew and he ran toward them, sending them scattering out of the flat, random bursts of flames erupted everywhere. Lighting up the whole room.

Shit had hit the fan. The two demon children were successfully fending off a group of 15 dead superhuman cultists. Natalia ran from them, too, but kept her eyes locked on mine as she did. As she ran from the flat, she spoke to me.

"This isn't over!" she screamed, and I knew that it wasn't.

I stayed on Terri's sofa that night, we organized all the burned items in the house and threw things out before we crashed out in the early hours. The kids' claws retracted and they returned to their earlier state, causing mischief in the hallways. They were too young to really understand.

I didn't sleep much. Nothing new.

When I woke up, Terri was still asleep. I didn't want to disturb her so I walked back to my flat, desperate to avoid anything strange on my way. The stairs must have noticed because they didn't skip on my way up.

I hadn't checked the time when I left Terri's but I reached my door at the same time as a familiar face. Postman Ian was standing there, dropping letters on my doorstep.

"Hey, love!" he shouted as he noticed me.

"I need to talk, can you come inside, just five minutes? Please?" I practically begged him at the doorstep.

I told him everything that had happened the night before. How Natalia was out for revenge and I was the object of her rage. I begged him to tell me how to kill them, but he claimed he didn't know. He said if kept my doors locked and didn't let them in then I'd be fine.

He looked shirty as I mentioned killing them. Didn't even suggest asking Prudence how to do it. Something was telling me there wasn't much point. He seemed so disingenuous.

I wanted to trust him. So badly I wanted to trust him. I had been so vulnerable with him over Jamie.

But if Prudence Hemmings could forget to mention what Bernie had done, and conveniently never pass on the method to kill these awful people, leaving them around to terrorize her friends and neighbors... then could she be a liar, too? Could I really trust Ian?

When he provided no answers and no real help, something inside me told me that I needed to get him out of my flat. I needed to rethink. Start working things out on my own. I made excuses to Ian and sent him on his rounds.

Prudence left me these rules, but she left so much out. How do I know I wasn't always a pawn in some sick game? Her fantasy life as a puppet master, setting me up to fail. She's kept her granddaughter in a cage for years. Maybe she enjoys suffering.

I wasn't going to give up easily though. Natalia wasn't going to win.

I decided then and there that I needed to attend the committee meeting today and start building an army against Natalia. I didn't need Prue's help or her methods. With enough manpower, I could do it myself.

This was war.

I might need some help.

I sat all morning thinking about everything, cup after cup of coffee in front of me to keep me awake. Once the postman had left and I was alone with my thoughts they just continued to get louder.

I thought about Natalia and the cult. About the kids and their nighttime antics. About the committee meeting. Jamie and how much I missed him, Georgia and my burning guilt, and Mr. Prentice, who was finally making those aforementioned animal noises.

Most of all I thought about the note left for me on move-in day. How it had changed everything. My whole life was different now, I was alone and it felt like my new home was attacking me from every angle.

I re-read the note a few times over my coffee. I worried about my rent, it was tight but manageable. School is currently out in the UK but as a training teacher assigned to a school I still get paid a small amount through the summer. The rent is low and with a second summer job, I can just about make it without Jamie.

It sounds strange. But it felt nice to worry about something normal for a minute; even if I should have been worrying about my survival and the many entities currently trying to kill me.

I didn't get to stew for too long, I had to get ready for the committee meeting. After the events of the night before and my growing mistrust of Prudence, it was imperative that I got the neighbors on my side if I was going to achieve anything like my goals of eradicating the imposter/cultist neighbors.

The meeting was at noon in flat 31. There was a poster on a communal notice board by the entrance that I was glad to spot, Terri hadn't mentioned the time when we met and all our meetings since had been a bit hectic to discuss it. The poster promised tea and cakes and my stomach rumbled at the thought, I hadn't eaten properly in days.

At 11.55 I left the flat, and wandered out into the corridor. I'd never seen so many neighbors. Mr. Prentice, however, was still making that awful noise and I watched in disbelief as every single person in the corridor walked past his door as if it was silent.

I did my usual deliberation on whether to take the stairs or lift but yet again the stairs won. I still couldn't bear being where Jamie died and all these extra flights were keeping me fit.

Flat 31 belonged to an older lady named Molly Thompson and her husband Eric. She had a blue-rinsed head of curls attached to her head and had gone to the effort to make homemade batten-burg cake. Other neighbors had brought along baked goods as well. It reminded me of a school fair.

The flat itself was decorated for the 70s, with plenty of china cat ornaments littered around. I sat down on a dusty plastic garden chair, one of many that Molly seemed to have acquired and laid out for the residents pouring in. I hadn't seen community spirit like this in my life.

I smiled as I saw Terri, Eddie, and Ellie wander in. It was nice to see some familiar faces. I had noticed people looking at me, wondering who I was. It probably wasn't often they got new neighbors. Eddie came running up to me, swung his arms around me, and sat down in the rickety garden chair next to mine. It was so sweet. Terri smiled at me and took a seat on the other side of mine, Ellie sat next to her brother. The brown puppy dog eyes were back. No claws.

"I'm glad you came!" Terri said to me, loud enough to hear over the voices of the other neighbors. "I really want you to see the good side of the block. We don't bite really!" She laughed nervously as she realized the irony of her statement.

"Terri, I need help, we need to stop those people from coming back again and from terrorizing people. The block can't go on like this." I wanted to make the purpose of my attendance clear to her, it was time for things to change.

"But if you don't let them in then they don't bother you. I've spoken to the kids, they know not to do it again, that those people are dangerous." She paused for a moment and sighed. "Although them running away didn't help, the kids think they're indestructible now. They've been telling me all morning that they're going to kill the bad guys."

She looked so resigned. But it was true, they did run away from the twins. Maybe there was something in that. I knew they could die, I just had to work out how. But as the thought crossed my mind and I looked at Eddie and Ellie, I couldn't imagine taking the risk.

I could've flat-out gone back and asked Prudence. But to be honest. I didn't want anything to do with her. She gave me such a bad feeling. I was doubting everything she told me.

"It doesn't matter if you can keep them away. We can't all live in fear. Yours aren't the only kids in this building." I knew this from surveying the room. "But I bet not all the kids here are as... special... as yours. What if another family burns to death because their kids were hyper one night."

I could see this struck a chord with Terri. She looked at me with glassy eyes as if on the verge of tears.

"You're right. Molly's the chairwoman and she can be a little strict but you can bring it up under any other business," she spoke with a lump in her throat. "Here you go by the way." She handed me a piece of printed paper.

Any other business felt a bit lackluster but it would do. As long as it got discussed.

I turned my attention to the piece of paper, it was the agenda for the meeting. For something written so formally, it appeared farcical. It seemed other flats and floors had different but equally strange issues to mine.

There were only 6 items on the agenda for the meeting with AOB as of the 7th. They were as follows.

1. Welcome and introductions with apologies for absence.
2. Replacing of the flickering lights on floor 11, it seems to incite vicious behavior from the pets and elderly of that floor.
3. Serving a formal residents letter of concern to the man who doesn't move from the bottom of the stairwell on floor 5.
4. Finances - budgets for general maintenance and the annual barbecue.
5. The stairs with no grip leading up to floor 14 at the very top and the health and safety hazards this presents.
6. Soundproofing of Mr. Prentice's flat, number 48.

I was comforted to know that I wasn't alone in dealing with all these strange occurrences. I was also chilled to the core to know for certain that it was the entire building that was more than a bit odd.

What really struck me as odd is that when I thought about it, I had seen that man on floor 5 when going down the stairs. But I'd never noticed that it had been every time, or that he had never moved, until this moment.

The meeting began with a loud and dissatisfying clink.

By this point the tiny, 70s-themed flat was packed. Garden chairs had all run out and people were standing. Molly Thompson stood up from her floral patterned armchair and bashed a teaspoon against the outside of her cup.

She reminded me of a very strict, disciplinarian school teacher I had worked with during my university placement. She commanded quiet in the room.

"I think we should get started, everyone!" she shrilled, her voice growing louder with every word until the crowd came to a silent hum.

"Right, firstly, we are not going to skip the introductions today. Apologies have been given by Jo and Steph of flat 2 and yet again by Mr. Prentice. We have a new face in the room as I'm sure many of you have noticed." She gestured to me and looked in my direction but didn't really make any eye contact. She was just talking about me as I sat in the room. Eventually, she addressed me directly.

"Stand up, dear, introduce yourself. We're pleased to have you here."

I was deeply uncomfortable. I could feel some sort of panic coming on. I never liked standing in crowds very much. But I stood up anyway.

"Ermm, hi. My name is Kat. I live in flat number 42, I moved in with my boyfriend Jamie but he was killed in the lift by the weird rat creatures you people have living here. The people that claim to live in the burned-out flats won't leave me alone and one, in particular, seems to want me dead. Oh, and that window cleaner outside my flat makes me want to scoop my own eyes out with a spoon every time he knocks on the door. Nice to meet you all." The crowd gasped a little.

I sat down, instantly mortified. I don't know what happened, the normality and structure of the meeting overwhelmed me. There's something about a sense of order and normality amongst chaos. It does something to your brain, and for me, for the first time in this whole journey, it sent me into a meltdown.

I sobbed as I hit the chair, both in pure mental exhaustion and disappointment that I had blown my chance at building any sort of army against Natalia. Terri rubbed my shoulder. Molly broke the awkward silence that had blanketed the room.

"Nice to meet you, Katherine. I understand life in this building can be a little overwhelming. We did ask the previous occupant to let us intervene when you moved in but she was insistent. In hindsight, we may need to review our policies on new tenants. I am so very sorry for the loss of your partner. The lift is a most unfortunate situation."

She had been in positions of power in her life for certain, she responded professionally but coldly, there was no feeling in her condolences. She came off like a corrupt politician digging themselves out of a hole. She did decide to skip the introductions after my outburst.

I also hate it when I'm called Katherine. My parents named me Katie and I shorten it to Kat. Her presuming it was Katherine added to her schoolteacher demeanor.

She carried on with the proceedings pretty swiftly and interesting characters present at the meeting started to emerge.

My favorite was a large middle-aged Caribbean woman named Precious St. Fluer who would not accept Molly's claims that there was not enough in the budget to replace the lighting on floor 11.

She got up and lifted her shirt to reveal a large deep bite mark across her stomach caused by her dog after a long episode of the lights flickering. When that didn't change Molly's answer, she lifted her trouser leg to reveal a smaller, but still noteworthy bite mark on her leg, from her elderly mother who lives with her. Molly didn't budge.

It took what felt like an eternity to get to any other business. If I weren't so focused on my goal I would have enjoyed hearing about the quirks of the other floors, maybe tried to engage a little, but I just couldn't concentrate.

When the chairwoman asked if anyone had any other business, she scanned the room quickly. I stood up from my chair and she locked in on me with her eyes.

My hands were shaking and I could feel a cold sweat forming all over my body.

"Katherine, what can we help you with dear?" she asked in a patronizing tone.

"I want help in getting rid of the people pretending to be from the burned-out flats. I can't be the only person that doesn't like living in fear," I stated boldly, trying not to break down again.

"Dear, we have had this discussion multiple times and it's been taken off the agenda. I am aware you're new here but there is nothing we can do about certain problems within this building and for this particular issue we would appreciate you not letting them into your home and ignoring them like the rest of us," she snapped back.

"But that's not good enough! Terri's kids answered the door last night, they're children, it's easily done. What if someone else's child does it and aren't so lucky to survive? One burned my friend so bad a few nights ago that she's still unconscious in the hospital." This I knew from social media.

A few people called out in agreement with me from the crowd.

"The only one who has ever been able to deal with them is Prudence. And that difficult woman never revealed her methods. Don't think we didn't try. You're suggesting a suicide mission. You'd do well to remember you are new here," Molly hissed through her teeth.

Did she have to mention I was new so many times? It was grating on me.

"Well, I'm willing!" shouted Precious. She seemed stronger than the rest in her earlier rant. I was glad to have her on my side.

Where she came forward, a few others followed. Soon I had 5 people plus myself willing to form a sub-committee to get rid of the cultists. Molly didn't like it but she agreed to let us do it.

There was me, Precious, and Terri, along with a lady named Shanti who lived a few doors from me.

A man named Anton and his friend Leo from floor 8 made up the group. To be honest, they just seemed keen to get involved with any kind of battle. Leo was the loud one, Anton was mostly silent.

I invited them to my flat after Molly swiftly adjourned the meeting. Inviting anyone into my home made me anxious now. I found myself studying each of their faces to ensure they weren't too average and I hadn't invited the wrong people in. I was fairly certain I hadn't. Eddie and Ellie settled in front of my TV in the bedroom so they didn't hear our conversation. They may only be kids but I felt safer with them there.

We discussed for hours how we could bring the imposter people into one place and kill them all.

Leo was particularly creative, he came up with weird and whacky ways to end them; from locking them in a room and blasting them with fire extinguishers until they freeze, to herding them into the lift between 1.11 and 3.33 am.

The whole time, I waited nervously for a knock on the door, for them to come for us. But they didn't. We got time to plan. But despite the time it never really took off, no idea seemed feasible.

I shared everything I knew. My conversation with Prue, the night before in Terri's flat... everything. Precious listened to my tales intently before speaking.

"Derek would have helped us. He was a great man, he used to turn up at my door in the dead of the night just as those lights started and take my dog for a walk." She spoke of the gardener with fondness.

"Prudence told me about Derek. She said he's been gone since the garden was demolished," I replied flatly.

"It was awful when he left. That woman that used to live here was nasty to him. I watched out my window as she tore up the garden. I know she was grieving for that little girl but I know Derek only ever wanted to help," Shanti spoke up from the corner. She had been pretty quiet the whole time. "He was the whole reason we don't have those awful creatures from the lift all over our homes anymore. My brother was killed by one before the agreement. He was 4 years old."

I twitched as she told her story. Shanti has such sad eyes and speaking about her brother only filled them further with sadness.

"This is another thing I don't understand. Why have any agreement, if you managed to kill most of them, why not all?" I asked, feeling anger over Jamie burn through my throat as I spoke.

Precious laughed. Terri shot her a look from across the room.

"No one's told you the whole story have they?" Shanti asked, a single tear running down her face.

"What do you mean?" This was driving me insane, nothing was simple. How could I trust anyone?

"When Prudence and some of the others killed the creatures, they killed a large group of them in one hit. They had started to work out that food scraps and pet food were attracting them and they gathered all the pet food in the tower block into one empty flat on the floor the fire had happened. The creatures came in droves just like expected and they set the flat alight. Again.

"The flat was burned to ash on top of pre-existing ash. Nothing could survive that." Shanti was interrupted after this by Leo.

"And then 3 giant rat motherfuckers literally rose from the ashes, triple as smart and strong and fucked shit up!" he said, a look of excitement on his face.

Shanti rolled her eyes and continued. "So all Prudence did was cause a quite literally bigger problem. She didn't kill them, all she did was help them evolve.

"There were only three of them but they learned to sneak attack. More people died than during the original infestation. They were more intelligent but not in the way it comes across when the agreement's spoken about. We couldn't speak to or reason with them."

Terri was looking at the floor.

"Only Derek was able to do that, he spoke to them like he spoke to the garden. He made it safe for everyone again, I wasn't there. I was too young but there we were told he didn't even have to use words. They understood just a series of movements and eye contact.

"Derek explained the rule with the lift. He told us it was a gesture of goodwill. The creatures needed a home and seemed attracted to the building and we would let them live there and stop killing their kind if they would stop killing ours. But to show them some respect we would allow them a small time frame to unleash their instinctual nature. But only if someone came to them.

"There are only two left now. Prudence killed the other during what happened with her granddaughter. But that only made them two stronger. Like they absorbed the third."

I tried to take in all the information I was receiving but I couldn't. It was too much.

"Derek isn't coming back, it's been years, this is pointless!" Terri finally erupted. Precious laughed again.

"How do you know?! You speak to dear old Prue all the time, know something we don't?" Precious spoke sarcastically but I think she meant what she said. It was becoming clear that Prudence Hemmings wasn't too popular in this building.

"I don't speak to her all the time! We just keep in contact, she was always nice to me!" Terri tried weakly to defend herself.

"That's because you're naive and a pushover! She used you because no one else would give her the time of day!" Precious was about to launch into a full rant on Terri. I was glad Eddie and Ellie were in the other room and couldn't hear. I wondered if she'd seen them at night.

I decided to stop the rant. This was becoming counterproductive and we were getting nowhere with our plans. I interjected and told them all I needed them to leave so that I could sleep. Partly true, although I knew I couldn't sleep. I had other things to do.

They all filed out of my flat, Terri and the kids were the last to leave. She gave me a hug as she left and told me to get a proper nights rest, telling me she was always there for a cuppa and a chat. It was sweet. I felt sorry for Terri. The kids hugged me, too, as they left.

I know she spoke to Prue, but I was certain that it really was entirely innocent.

I sat in the empty flat disheartened that my assembling of an army had turned into a bickering shit show with no real suggestions on how to kill the imposter neighbors.

I felt totally alone. I couldn't trust Prue or Ian or pretty much anything I thought I knew. Maybe Prue didn't even kill those neighbors. They only told me half-truths about the creatures after all.

I was left alone with my thoughts again. And after a few hours, a good one finally struck me, but I needed supplies.

I left the building and went to the nearest shop to gather the items I needed. For what I needed and the time of night, I had to travel to a 24-hour supermarket. It took half an hour each way on the bus. But I stayed focused. My bags were heavy and awkward on the way back to the block but if it paid off this was going to be worth it.

I trudged up the stairs. It took me 2 trips and 24 flights of stairs instead of 14 to get everything in my flat and organize myself.

It only took 16 and a large gym bag that was much easier to carry on the way back down, thankfully.

I passed the man on floor 5 twice. Now I'd noticed him, he made my skin crawl a little.

I walked through the downstairs corridor, diverting away from the main entrance and passing all the ground-floor flats to the door at the back of the building.

The door at the back led to a small concrete area with a grass strip along the side and a bench decorated with a memorial plaque. This was the block's outside space. As is typical in the city, the whole bench was covered in graffiti. The memorial was unreadable.

I got to work. I dug the strip of grass, turning soil with my new equipment. I had never been green-fingered and to be honest, the shrubs I had bought had been so heavy I had grown to resent them a little. I worked for an hour and a half. I was sweating and night had come, it was pitch black and I was using my phone torch to see.

I had almost given up until I got up from my crouching position to stretch my knees. I reached my arms out, put down my shovel, and took a seat on the bench.

I hadn't seen him arrive but the man was already sitting there. He wore a flat cap and a jacket, despite it being the middle of summer and a beautiful night. He just smiled warmly at the shrubs for a moment without a word. Eventually, he spoke.

"I've missed this place. Name's Derek."

Some people are too good for this world.

I sat silent for a moment in shock that my plan had even worked. It seemed almost too simple, too easy. But here he was.

Derek had a kindly face, wrinkles around his eyes and cheeks only added to the softness of his expression. His white hair poking out from beneath his flat cap stood out in the dark night.

"That's a lovely little patch you've planted. I can look after it if you like, I used to maintain the last garden here," he said, breaking the silence that had followed since his initial words.

"I know who you are. We need you," was all I could manage, the mental exhaustion and fatigue from the whole experience had built up, but his arrival was like finishing a bad day working at school. I felt like I could relax again, even if only a little.

"What's your name darling?" he asked.

"It's Kat. I live in flat 42 now." His face lit up as I confirmed my flat number.

"Prudence has gone?" he asked.

"She's gone. But the whole place is a mess. So many things are happening and the residents are suffering," I answered.

We chatted for what felt like hours. Outside with nothing but moonlight. He told me how he used to consider the building part of the garden, a place for him to maintain, the residents just like the plants he looks after.

I explained my whole experience since moving in. I told him about Jamie and I sobbed. Derek held me as I cried and made me feel safe, something I had forgotten the feeling of since receiving Prue's note. He didn't interrupt, he just listened.

I told him about Natalia and the cultists, the problems they had been causing. He was particularly heartbroken when he heard that they had used Eddie and Ellie for entry. He had gone before they were born, but remembered Terri as a child and how sweet she was. He was pleased when I told her what a sweet adult she had become.

My claims that Prudence was the only person who knew how to kill the imposter neighbors were met with a skeptical expression which gave me some hope.

Derek listened to my entire tale with barely a word. When I finished, he stood up and asked me to follow him. I was confused, but I did as I was told.

He walked me to the entrance of the lift. I lifted my arm to check the time on my watch. We had been outside for quite some time and the idea of the creatures being inside made my heart pound and my stomach churn.

"You are safe. It's 12.32 am, there's no need to worry or to check your watch." And with that, he pressed the "call lift" button. Despite his insistence that I was safe, my stomach continued to do gymnastics.

It felt like forever before the lift finally made the clunking sound that meant it had reached the bottom. I felt my whole body shaking violently as the doors opened. I don't know what I expected to see, we were in the safe time zone but every time I looked at the lift I pictured Jamie's dead, crunched-up body.

"Step inside," he said.

"I can't. Please don't make me," I begged

"I won't let anything happen to you. But you need to see something." There was such sincerity in his eyes as he spoke. I had never trusted someone so completely so quickly, but every fiber of my being told me this man was entirely good.

I stepped inside the lift.

Derek stepped in behind me, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder as I hyperventilated. He gently turned me to face the panel of buttons that control where the lift stops.

"What is wrong with this panel? Do you see it?" he asked cryptically.

I studied the panel. Read all the numbers, counting them. I couldn't see anything wrong. I tried. I really tried, but nothing seemed out of place at all. Everything you expected to find was there and nothing more. I shook my head, barely regaining my composure.

"Can you take us to floor 9 please?" He smiled slightly as he made the request.

I looked back to the panel to press the button, but floor 9 didn't exist. I was so confused, I had counted the numbers, I was sure of it. Derek must have made it disappear. But the panel didn't look any different to before. I can't explain it, looking at it, I would have sworn blind nothing was wrong with it even once I knew, but floor 9 didn't exist. Derek could see my frustration. It was like the building was now playing tricks on me.

He walked me out of the lift and sat me down at the bottom of the stairs before he finally began to speak.

"The building is like a living organism. It can seal off parts of the world, and it can open up others you never could have imagined. When those awful people burned that whole floor of residents, I was devastated.

"Some wonderful people lived in those flats, both of the usual and unusual variety. But those people had no limit to their cruelty. Whole families burned alive, it was a tragedy that made me so angry.

"I felt so guilty when it happened. I can predict what some of our more tricky residents are going to do and make sure I'm there to help. But those people were nothing to do with this place. I couldn't see what they were planning, so I couldn't stop it."

At this point, I noticed one of the hairless cats had sat between us. Derek looked at it with tears brimming in his eyes. He stroked it and it moved onto his lap. Dereks fingers didn't burn at all. He continued.

"When it happened, the building used its defense mechanisms and sealed off the entirety of the floor. It stopped the fire from spreading and kept the perpetrators there, to die by their own hands.

"The building only allowed the floor to be unsealed once they were dead.

"It took about a week before those awful people turned up again. Asking for sugar at people's doors, the first few let them in. It was so difficult, so many residents burned alive that I was having to use their remains for my garden just to hide the dead. The entire community was terrified and grieving for those that died.

"No matter how hard I tried I still couldn't predict them, or see them, so I took Prudence, who at the time seemed a perfectly reasonable woman, to the burned out floor.

"Floor 9, however, had been sealed again. There was no button in the lift, and it always skipped on the stairs. Only no one had noticed. This building really is a magnificent creature."

I stared at him in amazement through the whole story. I was exhausted but my brain was working in overdrive to process what he was telling me. I had started to stroke the cat too, my fingers did burn, but I didn't flinch. I found its company comforting. He carried on.

"I went back later that night and took the stairs again, alone this time. I think my intentions were clear and the stairs allowed me access to floor 9 for the first time since just after the fire.

"I brought Prudence to the floor within the hour. The stairs had stopped skipping floor 9 for me, although I later learned that when Prudence had tried alone she was not allowed access.

"We explored the floor, walking amongst the remnants of our dead friends' belongings. Eventually, we came across one of the soulless arsonists, roaming the halls. It appears that's where they spend their time when they aren't out terrorizing the residents and trying to claim more victims.

"He was disturbed and disoriented to see anyone not like them on that floor. He twitched a little and spat out the sugar line as if it was an automatic response. I almost felt sorry for him. He claimed to come from flat 66. More were approaching behind him.

"Prudence was terrified, she was starting to sweat profusely and back away from the man, but it didn't cool her down, he was burning her slowly. I felt nothing; see, the stranger things in life just don't seem to affect me, I've never known why. Sometimes I even just know how to deal with them, like it's programmed into me. On this new playing field, in their domain. I knew what to do.

"I grabbed the man and ran him down to flat 66, four doors from where we were standing. I threw him into the flat and waited. The other arsonists were approaching.

"The man tried to exit the flat, which was doorless after the wooden doors all burned to cinders in the fire. But as he reached to door something stopped him. He couldn't leave, no matter how hard he tried, or how much he screamed.

"Prudence lit up, she grabbed hold of one that had tried to kill her friend, Molly. She remembered the flat number she had claimed to be from and repeated my actions, with a lot more sweating and some winces of pain. It worked again.

"Prudence wanted to go after the rest, but as they got closer I could see the blisters forming on parts of her body. I dragged her out of the hallway and back into the stairwell. We ran.

"She begged me to take her back, kept telling me that the stairs wouldn't let her, that it was too dangerous. The residents had started to learn not to let them in and we had no casualties at all after we trapped the first two. Don't get me wrong, it's a problem I was intending to deal with, but it was around that time that we first learned the council would be building that monstrosity over the top of my garden," he gestured to the window that just showed some of the neighboring tower block.

"This left me not at my best, my intuition was failing me when a few months after that, I allowed Prudence and Molly to herd the creatures from the lift to floor 9. It's one of my biggest regrets. I should never have walked them up there. But I didn't know she was going to burn them all. She didn't give me a chance to reason.

"I became mistrusting of everyone and distracted. Not long after I went away for a long while. So I guess the arsonists remained and now they're threatening you.

"Tomorrow I will go. I will fix the mess I left behind. I am so sorry it's affected you so badly, I'd love to meet these twins. They sound incredibly brave."

"They are," I finally interrupted, "And I want to be there tomorrow. I want to lock Natalia away for good."

"I can't allow it. You'll be attacked," he cut me off entirely. I let it drop instantly but in the back of my mind, I knew I would be there, no matter what.

I went to sleep that night with my mind reeling. I wondered where Derek slept and if he even needed to.

The next morning I left my flat early, passed the man on floor 5, and sat and waited on the steps on floor 8. I tested it, of course, and just like anticipated, ascending any higher took me straight to floor 10. Or 11 depending on if you hit a skip. So I returned to floor 8, and I waited.

Derek hadn't indicated what time he was coming. But I was ready. I would wait all day and night if I had to. But luckily I didn't.

Derek was climbing the stairs at around 11 am. I had already been there for three hours but it had been worth it. He looked particularly unimpressed to see me. His face still looked kind though, even with the sour expression.

"I can't stop you, can I?" he sighed, sounding resigned in his tone.

"Not for anything."

"You have to promise to stay back. If your girl approaches, you can do what you need to do, but you have to stay back," he pleaded.

I nodded and stood up. We ascended the stairs and for the very first time in my new life here I saw the big plastic sign saying 9. The floor that didn't exist.

As we pushed through the door it was like entering an entirely new world. Everything was black. Burned to carbon. You could smell nothing but charcoal. Literally nothing but empty shells of homes and flakes of what used to be sentimental objects remained. It was devastating to witness.

If you've ever visited a mass grave site, you'll understand partly how I was feeling. It was sickening, to think of all the lives needlessly lost. But I didn't get time to think.

Natalia walked toward me, flying down the hallway.

"How the fuck did you get here?!" she screamed. Her eyes were wide and angry, I started to feel hotter already.

Derek grabbed my arm and pulled me next to him, making sure to keep a tight hold of my arm.

"Where do you live?" Derek asked her. I started to back away as the sweat dripped from my brow. I desperately wanted to shout out the number, but I couldn't. I was so hot, I wasn't functioning properly. Everything became so overwhelming I couldn't remember what Georgia had said, what flat Natalia had claimed to come from.

"I'm not that stupid. I saw what happened to them." She gestured over her shoulder to what must have been flat number 66, where a man lay on the floor, breathing but looking broken. Just existing in that room. Prudence had been creative with the truth yet again. She didn't kill them, you can't kill them.

What had Georgia said? I racked my brains as I felt the skin on my face start to sting. I imagined her melting away, it was happening to me. I was next.

And then, as my hair started to singe at the ends, it came to me.

"71!" I screamed as loud as I could. I could barely see as Derek grabbed her and ran toward me with her. She was clawing at his eyes and face, screaming at him to let go. But he didn't burn. He just kept hold of her. When he approached flat 71, he beckoned me over.

"You do it. Then get off of this floor." He was blunt but reasonable. I complied.

I pushed hard. There was nothing but anger in her eyes. She pushed my face hard with her hand as I got her to cross the boundary into flat 71. I felt my skin sizzle and blister. My whole face was in agony, but I didn't stop pushing.

Watching Natalia try to fight her way out of a door that didn't exist was both satisfying and humorous. The others had started to approach at the sound of the commotion. I lingered, hoping to watch her suffer, but Derek shot me one look and I knew. It was time to go,

I ran out of the corridor and back into the stairwell. I stopped for longer than I probably should have. But I knew I might not get to see that 9 again and it would be worth it. I waited for Derek on floor 9's stairwell. I couldn't help but imagine the cultists burning to death the first time around.

I could hear angry screams faintly from inside the corridor, they made me worry about Derek but I knew that really I didn't need to. It took a while, but he eventually left the corridor and joined me in the stairwell.

He didn't say anything, he just looked at me and the third-degree burns across my face. He didn't need to speak, I knew he'd fixed the problem.

We walked silently back down the stairs toward my flat. I looked back up at floor 9, knowing the building would seal it off for good. It took a few floors to reach floor 7 and I invited Derek in for a cup of tea. He rejected it, saying he wanted to go visit some old friends.

Despite my injuries I couldn't help but smile, something I'd done was going to help these residents. I stood at my door and watched Derek walk away, pleased that there was some true good in this building.

After a few steps down the hallway, Derek started to fade, almost like a CGI ghost in a movie. With every step, he became more transparent. I felt my stomach churn again, like it had outside the lift. I ran out to follow him. I called after him but by the time I had reached where he'd been he was gone. I walked the entire corridor to the window at the back. I looked out the window into the small concrete heavy garden and hoped to see him sitting on the memorial bench.

I didn't see him. Instead, I saw Prudence. Hacking at my tiny planted patch with shears.