Enjoy this Halloween special (which clearly has not been uploaded on Halloween (and I also imagine the main character as gay even though there is no romantic plot)) that I wrote for a workshop class.

Avery watches as the numbers on the elevator go down, the elevator jolting dangerously. His apartment is on the first floor, but he always enters through the main lobby on the third floor, so down the elevator he goes.

He would take the stairs, but it takes four flights of stairs to get down to his apartment, and that isn't a good number. It would take more time for him to go up and down the stairs, instead of just going down the elevator once.

Avery bites a hangnail on his thumb. He's been on this elevator thousands of times, and other people from his building have been on this elevator thousands of times. Nothing bad will happen.

The elevator doors open with a painful groan and he jumps out, breathing a shaky sigh of relief and running his fingers through his curls. The relief is short-lived however at the sight of the hallway.

From spiderwebs to danger tape to a sign saying 'Home Sweet Haunted Home', it seems as though the hallway made a transformation for the few hours he was gone.

As he walks to his apartment, he keeps his head low. He digs his left hand into the pocket of his jeans for his key, his other hand occupied with a shopping bag. His feet stop when they reach the blank, white door in front of him.

Avery has never really decorated for Halloween. With the event celebrating the Gods and Goddesses, he hasn't found the appeal in years.

With only one key on his keyring, he unlocks his front door, opening it and entering his apartment quickly before shutting and locking the door once more.

Movement brushes against his leg and he looks down at the black cat at his feet. Avery picks up Thirteen after placing his bag down, petting her softly. The knot in his chest loosens somewhat at the familiar routine; his muscles relaxing now that he's home.

It took him longer to get home than usual with the streets crowded for the Festival. Now he's off schedule. And the Festival. As if the homework his therapist gave him wasn't enough. She couldn't have at least waited until after the holiday.

Avery takes a shaky breath before letting it out and pets his cat thirteen times. Setting her down, she scampers to the kitchen, waiting for him to feed her.

He slips his shoes off of his feet, leaving them next to the door. Enough light comes from the far window that he doesn't switch on any lights. While his sister does pay for the apartment, that doesn't mean he's going to waste electric.

Turning to his left, he enters the kitchen, and begins the familiar task of getting Thirteen her food. He walks through in his head if there's anything else he needs to do besides his typical afternoon routine. He'll have to do things quicker if he wants to try and get back on schedule. He went to the store, he went to therapy... his homework.

He frowns at recalling his therapist's words. Ask for help. She had given him this as his homework, although he'd rather ignore it altogether. He tells himself that it will help him get better, and his therapist hasn't steered him wrong yet. He has to do it.

Avery leans down, giving the plate of food to Thirteen, which she starts eating before the plate touches the floor. He'll do his homework last, to make sure it doesn't get in the way of anything else.

Although he's doing it last, it doesn't loosen the knot in his stomach. Hopefully his routine help. He'll be okay. He can do this. His therapist wouldn't have given him this homework if he wasn't ready.

He walks over to where he keeps his umbrella by the door. He has to walk into his living room to be able to open it fully. Opening and closing it thirteen times, he walks back over to the door, where he set down the shopping bag. Putting the umbrella down, he takes one of the small mirrors he bought out. He carries it with him as he walks into the kitchen and opens the drawer with his hammer.

Holding the mirror over his trashcan and making sure his reflection is clearly in it, he breaks the mirror. Avery's been doing things for so long, there's hardly ever a mess to clean up.

He sighs, the rest of his routine in the back of his mind like an itch he can't scratch.

Putting the hammer back in its proper place, he stays in the kitchen and grabs his salt shaker. He knocks it over on the counter, the salt slightly spilling out.

This is the last of his routine for today, but after he sweeps the mess into the trash with his hand, the itch hasn't left him. He let his neighbor borrow his ladder earlier in the week, and has yet to be given it back. A small part of him asks, what if his neighbor did it on purpose? If somehow he knew about his routine, if maybe his sister told him.

The first time Caroline had seen him doing his routine, they argued the worst that day, and didn't speak to each other for weeks. It was before he started going to therapy; before his diagnosis. Caroline said that what he does is an insult to the Gods, and he was left alone after that. Yes, what he does is weird, but her ignoring him was worse than any insult.

Caroline broke the silence after weeks to tell him that she made an appointment with a specialist for him.

Avery shakes his head. Caroline and him have gotten better since then. She still gives him stares on occasion, but they have a mutual understanding. He's trying to get better, and in return, she doesn't say or do anything about it. The neighbor probably only forgot to give the ladder back, or maybe he still needs it.

He bites his bottom lip, bouncing on his feet a little. It wouldn't hurt to go and check, would it?

He walks over and slips on his shoes, not bothering locking his door or anything seeing as he's just going next door. He walks down the hallway to the door next to his, the numbers '133' pinned to it. Caution tape covers the door, along with a pumpkin carving at the bottom. Avery nudges it with his foot. He raises his fist, but pauses before it can make contact with the door.

He can't do this.

Avery blinks, taking a couple of steps away from the door, shaking his head. He rushes back to his apartment. His neighbor probably was at the Festival anyway. He'll get the ladder back some other time.

He bursts back into his apartment, leaning against the door once it's shut. Avery shakes his head once again, bringing his mind back to the task at hand.

He can't finish his routine with the ladder, and so he repeats the entire routine again, and once more after that so that it's three.

When he's finished with them, he grabs the shopping bag with the remaining mirrors inside. Yesterday, Avery had run out of his previous stock of mirrors, which is why he went to the store. There were fourteen at the store, and so he bought all but one of them.

He places the remaining mirrors in his bedroom. Even though he completed his routine multiple times, it still seems unfinished. It overwhelms him, the knot in his chest squeezing tighter. It's as if the Gods are taunting him by not letting him finish his routine properly. They planned this. He takes a deep breath and shuts his eyes while repeating his therapists' words in his head.

The urge will only come back stronger if you give in to it.

No one is conspiring against him. Everything is fine. Avery focuses his thoughts on making sure the rest of his day goes perfect. He'll be okay. He can do this.

He jumps at the sound of his phone ringing. He always leaves it on the counter because no one ever calls him. He only talks to Caroline, and he's always the one to call her. He walks cautiously over to it, his heart speeding up without his permission. Is his sister in the hospital? Did she get into an accident?

Avery picks up the phone and the screen reads, 'Caroline', along with a picture of her blonde hair and smiling face in the center.

He accepts the call. "Caroline?" he answers cautiously. What if it's someone calling from her phone?

"Avery?" She says, her tone mocking. "Yeah, it's me. You didn't call."

He looks at the time. 6:04. He always calls at 6 on the dot.

His mouth twists, so much for making the rest of his day perfect.

"Do you need me to hang up so you can call me back?"

"No, no," Avery trails off. The damage is already done. There's no use making things worse in an effort to make things better. "I was just busy is all."

"Oh, alright." A beat of silence passes. "Are you sure you don't need to call me back?"

"Seriously, it's fine Caroline." If she hangs up, he won't be able to call back, because that'll be two calls.

Caroline has been slightly overprotective of him since he got diagnosed. Sure, she gives him looks, but she doesn't do anything. Not since they fought that first time. She doesn't want others to judge him as harshly as she did at first. Getting his diagnosis helped, making it a real issue, not something he was doing for attention. Just because it was in his head, it was just as serious as any physical ailment.

Caroline fully embraced the Gods and Goddesses after the accidents, and even more so after his diagnosis. What a joke. As if she can wish his problems away. She blames herself slightly for what happened in a way. That maybe if she had noticed sooner she could have somehow prevented it. It isn't her fault, but she won't listen to him tell her that.

"Anyway, I figured that instead of doing a normal call, I could stop by for dinner? We haven't seen each other in a while and I'm in town. But it's fine if you're busy."

She's in town? She doesn't come into town often. "Yeah, no, that's... that's fine. I was just about to start dinner." When Caroline suggests something it's not so much a suggestion as it is an order. What are they going to eat? "When do you think you'll be here?"

"Half an hour? I'm already on my way but, you know, traffic."

"Okay." Her voice seemed distant, as though her focus was on something else., "Just um... call me when you get here so I can let you into the building."

He'll have to have her call when she gets home from his apartment as well now.

"I know the drill, see you soon."

Caroline ends the call. Avery looks around his apartment. Her coming is making him jittery. Maybe he'll clean up a little as well. Walking to his fridge, he opens it to see nothing but the chicken that he intended on making in a recipe tomorrow. He sighs, tonight will have to work instead.

Raiding his kitchen for the other things that go with it, his mind travels to the Festival.

He didn't always dislike the Festival. Like everyone else around, he rather enjoyed it. A celebration of the Gods and Goddesses is what the Halloween Festival is for. It marks the beginning of the three day event. Tonight is All Hallow's Eve, celebrating the Gods and Goddesses, tomorrow is All Saint's Day, and the final day is the Day of the Dead. There's a feast and candy and fireworks. The dressing up, the atmosphere, everything about it was something to remember. It was an event he always forward to as a child.

Except that everyone around him seemed to have the Gods' favor but him.

Avery begins cooking the chicken after mixing some of the other ingredients in a bowl. His sister will appreciate the meal, although most likely not as much as the feast that's happening tonight. At least she can go the last two days.

His mind travels once again, but this time to his therapy session from earlier.

"Do you know why you do your routine?"

"Because if I don't do them bad things will happen." Avery explained this to her countless times, but she still continues to ask him this question every session. It's like she's expecting his answer to change somehow.

"Why do you think bad things will happen?"

"Because the Gods hate me."

"The Gods don't hate you, Avery."

He shakes his head. His therapist told him that what happened in the past wasn't his fault. Illusory correlation. That's what his therapist calls it. Correlation doesn't equal causation.

Aaaaandddd it was too long and I had to split it again. The next anthology I'll be sure to plan these kinds of things better...