Part 2Haunted Roommate: She's the Ghost Who Babysits Me

Rick and I weren't exactly the best of friends.

He came from money and always had his nose in the air at the office. He especially despised people like me—the kind who would fight just to get a few bucks off with a coupon.

I opened the door.

Rick waved a hand in front of his scrunched-up nose, standing in the doorway, looking disgusted. "Is this where you live, Leo? This place looks like a dump."

His eyes swept over my tiny one-bedroom apartment, full of contempt. "I heard your rent is suspiciously cheap. There isn't some problem with this place, is there?"

I said evenly, "It's great. It's bright and spacious, and the neighbors are nice."

He let out a theatrical laugh. "Neighbors? Do you even dare step out of this place in the middle of the night? I heard someone died here, you know."

He was clearly just here to laugh at me. I couldn't be bothered, so I turned to close the door. Unexpectedly, he slipped inside before I could act.

"Come on, don't be so quick to kick me out. I was kind enough to come all the way here to check on you. What's with that attitude?" Rick sneered.

He wandered around like he owned the place, wrinkling his nose, inspecting everything like he was touring a slum. "Clean, isn't it? Did you hire a cleaner? That's not really your style."

As he passed by the table, he stopped and pointed at a porcelain vase in the corner. "Look at you, having antique decor. Is this thing even real?"

My chest tightened. "It's just a regular decoration."

It was already there when I moved in.

Rick curled his lip and reached for it. "Let me see."

"Don't touch it!" I snapped.

It was too late. His hand brushed the vase, and he fumbled it. The vase tipped and fell straight toward the floor. My heart jumped into my throat.

Right before the vase could kiss the floor, it just stopped. It hung there in midair, barely half an inch from the ground.

Time seemed to freeze. Rick's grin froze on his face, and his eyes went wide like he'd seen a ghost.

A second later, the vase floated back up and settled neatly in its original spot on the table without a single scratch.

A dead silence fell over the room. The color drained from Rick's face, and he looked awful. He pointed at the vase with a shaking finger. "It… It…"

That was all he managed for a good while. He couldn't even finish his sentence.

Then, he let out a short, strangled yelp. He spun around and bolted. He practically crawled out, not even daring to look back.

I stared at his back as he fled, then at the vase, and sighed.

"Ivy, how many times have I told you to keep a low profile?" I scolded the empty air. "Do you know how much it would've cost to replace that vase if it had broken? Would you have paid for it?"

The air stayed perfectly still, of course. I didn't expect her to answer.

That night, as I lay in bed, I had an idle chat with Ivy for the first time. I told her about the annoying crap at work and how unbearable Rick had been that day.

I told her how badly I wanted to make real money so I could buy a place of my own. I didn't want to have to bow and scrape for everything anymore. Somewhere in the middle of my rant, I fell asleep.

The next morning, I woke up shivering. The temperature in my room felt like it had dropped to freezing.

I wrapped the blanket tighter around myself, but I was still shaking. I grabbed my phone and saw a new text from the power company. That month's electricity bill was 380 dollars.

I stared at that number for a full minute. 380 dollars? How was it possible for me to use that much electricity when I lived alone?

Then, it hit me. I thought about the faucet turning itself on, the TV lighting up in the middle of the night, and those damned home-cooked meals that magically appeared every single day. Did all these paranormal events run on my power?

A rush of anger surged in me. With my phone still in hand, I jumped out of bed and roared at the empty room, "Ivy! Get out here! What's with this electricity bill? It's 380 dollars! This is daylight robbery! What, you think you're doing all of this for me out of kindness? No, you're using my electricity to do it! You're paying this bill!"

My voice bounced around the tiny apartment, thick with rage I couldn't hold back.

The ceiling light started going berserk, flickering on and off wildly. A chill shot up my spine, sharper and deeper than ever before.

In the corner, a patch of shadow began to twist and ripple, gathering into one spot. A human-shaped silhouette, darker than the darkness around it, slowly peeled itself out of the shadows. The figure was tall and slender—it was a woman's outline wrapped in an indistinct shroud of black mist.

There was no wind, but it felt like the air had been sucked from the room in an instant. Then, an icy, emotionless voice rang out. It wasn't in my ears, but directly inside my head.

"Say that again."