A middle aged women with thick glasses pops up from behind the wooden desk making Brady and Henry jump in surprise.

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” She says fixing her bohemian styled head band. “Should've rang,” She quickly adds pointing to the golden bell on the desk.

Henry tries to recollect himself as he speaks to this rather abrupt woman. “I wasn't waiting too long,” Henry reassures her.

Brady stands taller, “Well I'll be leaving now, see you later Henry, bye Shell.” He says rushing to the spiraling staircase.

“See you,” Henry says but he's sure Brady can't hear as he zooms away his black curls bouncing.

The woman taps her long sharp nails on the counter slowly nodding her head. “So you're Henry Turner?”

Henry turns to her surprised she knew his name before remembering she was the landlord who he spoke to over the phone.

“Its nice to finally meet you…” He trails off trying to remember her name.

She rolls her eyes walking from behind the counter. “Just call me Shelly," She says now standing before him. "Everyone here does anyways.” She says shrugging her shoulders with her hands turned up.

She begins to lead the way to the spiraling wooden stairs that connect to every floor balcony that looks down to the large lobby. To Henry it all felt like a giant dorm for magicians and he half expected to see a witch ride her broom across the vastness of one floor to another or even a warlock  grab one of the greenery that draped the first floor banisters. It was all very neat but at the same time the atmosphere held an air of poverty as the building smelled of rotting wood, faint cigarette smoke and the only source of light is yellow lamps that stand beside vintage couches and the sky light high above. 

Shelly gestures for him to follow and he quickly picks up his boxes, following her up the stairs.

"Unfortunately the elevator hasn't been working." She pauses. "Even more unfortunate is the fact that you'll live on the eleventh floor."

"1101?" He asks taking a careful step up the stairs.

She nods already on the second landing of the stairway that crosses up and down. "That's right, we have four other tenant's on that floor but we try to have as little people as possible past the ninth floor."

He steps onto the third landing already feeling his arms ache from the cardboard boxes that dig into his palms. "We've had an incident this past year concerning the twelfth floor so now only one resident remains on the twelfth floor." She says as if the incident is nothing for dear Henry to concern himself with.

He slowly steps onto the fourth landing placing his boxes down as he flexs his red fingers. "May I ask just what this incident was?" He pants.

Shelly stops halfway up the flight of stairs as she turns to look at Henry. "It's nothing you need to worry about but," She says with sadness. "About seven months ago I guess a college student couldn't take the pressure of school and tried to jump off the balcony."

Henry doesn't try to hide his shock as he glances down to the foyer four stories below.

"You said he tried?" He meets her calm brown eyes. "What stopped him?"

She glances up the stairs. "The last tenant on the twelfth floor." She sighs continuing to walk up to the next floor. "She's a bit weird actually."

"How?" He grunts grabbing his boxes and continuing.

Shelly slides her hand across the railing as they reach the sixth floor. "She reads people like an open book." They move to the seventh. "Just last week a group of kids were gossiping about her in the lobby," She's picked up her pace now as she retells the story. "And when they provoked her she immediately called out all their insecurities including family matters that made them all turn a ghostly pale. I had to step in and difuse the fight before it turned physical."

"Of course." Henry agrees with a slow nod.

Shelly sighs as they reach the eleventh landing. "Honestly I'd steer clear if I were you, she's a bit too creepy if you ask me." Shelly raises her shoulders and wrinkles her nose. "She even said, that she was only able to stop the man because she could see self loathing hanging over him like a storm cloud."

I shake my head as I feel a shiver run down my spine.

Just then Shelly turns rigid as she hears footsteps above the stairway.