Getting into the apartment was fairly easy. Monica didn’t have a lot of stuff. Clothing, her laptop, some old knickknacks from college. She was gonna pick up what she needed once she knew what she absolutely had to have. So after she was signed in, Monica investigated her apartment. It looked… decent. She opened the refrigerator.

Yep. Cold air.

Stove?

Yep. Fire.

TV… no cable, and the digital signal went in and out.

On the other hand, the Wi-Fi looked like it worked well enough and Monica had never really seen the sense of watching TV when you could just stream something.

Besides, I can get a smart TV for only about two hundred bucks and just use it. Hell, the savings from the rent should let me do it.

Granted, there was still the drive, but at least this place wasn’t sixty miles away from work. Besides, Monica had better than a week to get set up for her first day at work.

Right. I got my clothes, maybe pick up some dinnerware from the place down in the valley, some stuff for the refrigerator… And—

BANG BANG BANG!

Monica jumped and shrieked. By the time she hit the ground, she was glaring at the door.

“Coming!” she said, and walked to the door. This had better be a fire…

No wait. Would she lose her deposit?

But she made it to the door and pulled it open—to reveal a guy who looked like a college student and a shorter Asian girl.

“Hey!” the guy said. “Welcome to the fortress of isolation, new neighbor!”

He had a T-shirt with a… Bigfoot with a machine gun? Under it were the words:

FORGET SMOKEY THE BEAR, FEAR THE BIGFOOT WITH A GUN.

Monica didn’t groan.

At least the Asian girl was dressed in a T-shirt and jeans.

“Ignore Tom,” the girl said. “I’m Jennifer Chang, we’re from the college.”

“Couldn’t find a closer place?” Monica asked. “I’m Monica.”

“No, this place is like, wonderful! Did you see the birds?”

“Yes, I saw the flamingos.”

“Not just that!” Tom said. “Look at this place! It’s like the hotel time forgot!”

“God, don’t get him started,” Jennifer said. She put her hand on her friend’s arm. “Tom, don’t scare the neighbor… more than you already did.” Monica noticed that Jennifer might be short, but she had a nicely curved body…

And the patience of a saint, I bet.

“Right!” Jennifer said. “We’re the next unit over, so we figured just to say hi, only someone decided to try to batter your door down.”

“Yeah, sorry, get a little excited.” Tom shook his head. “So, you here for college?”

“Nope, I graduated last year. I’m here because this is the only place that is affordable and is anywhere near where I’m going to be working.”

“Well, I’ll keep Tom quiet then.”

“Thanks, I—” Suddenly Monica had a horrible thought. “He’s not into drums, is he?”

Jennifer blinked. “No…”

“Okay.” Thank God.

Jennifer and Tom had been on their way out when they noticed Monica’s room, so after a few more words, including a warning about the food in the little diner (don’t try the egg salad), Jennifer and Tom headed down, leaving Monica alone.

Not too bad. I wonder what the rest are like?

But I need to get down and do my shopping before it gets too dark.

The shopping didn’t take long, but the sun was setting when Monica got back to the building, the glowing lights of the lobby and some of the rooms contrasting with the darkness of the great, looming mountain behind it. The little stream burbled as it ran past her, Monica walking up to the lobby with her arms full of groceries.

She went up the elevator, the lights only flickering once, and walked into her apartment, putting everything into its place.

Monica had roomed with people who would ‘get to it someday’ and never again. Especially not after the HAZMAT team had dropped by.

Monica finished with everything and then looked around. Nothing to do. She wasn’t going to go battering on doors, that just screamed “I’m desperate.”

In fact…

Monica sat down on her couch, opened up the laptop, and cued up a new show. She’d get the bigger TV later, but right now, some mindless romance was just what the single… lonely… girl needed.

“Right,” Monica muttered. “There will be guys at work. Or maybe I can steal Tom.”

She shuddered at that image. Jennifer might be nice, but Tom was a little too… College Dude for her.

No, a lot too College Dude for her. In fact, he—

Monica paused. There was a… flute playing? 

Okay, better than drums, but even so… wait a minute. It’s coming from outside…

She walked to the balcony, opening the sliding door.  She walked out, looking around. The sun had dipped below the horizon, only a dim glow showing where it was, the lights of the valley rising up, streams of trucks and cars marking out the highways and streets of the metropolis. Further up, there were thinner clusters of homes and shops, their little firefly lights contrasting with the surrounding darkness.

But below, walking by the little stream, there was someone. Monica peered down, trying to get a look, but she seemed to be lost in a little floating cloud bank, like a fog… or mist.

She was playing the flute, some kind of odd tune that reminded Monica of… something.

She kept playing, and now the mist seemed to be glowing.

No way. Monica rubbed her eyes. There was no way she was seeing this.

Then the wind picked up and for a moment the mist was blown away and…

“Holy shit…” Monica said. The woman was nude, and what a woman. There was no way any woman could have that kind of long hair, or be able to walk with those incredible tits. Even from where she was, Monica could see her nipples, huge, thick things, dark against her pale skin. Her hips flared out, a curvy figure that just couldn’t be.

She stopped playing, and then looked up at Monica, her hair falling down her back in a blond torrent. Then she cupped one of her tits, lifting the nipple to her mouth and lightly sucking on it.

Monica couldn’t tear her eyes from the scene, it was so… Then suddenly there was a gust of wind, and Monica blinked—

And with that, the woman, the mist, everything had vanished.

What. The. Fuck…

Monica looked around, but there was no sign anyone had ever been there. No sign but… a swiftly fading tune.

Okay, maybe I just need to get some sleep… Monica thought as she stepped back inside her apartment, closing the sliding door…

And locking it.

Right. Sleep it is. She was too old for ghost stories, after all.

But she did keep the lights on in her apartment.