#gross water -> good thing we don't have cats -> cats are creatures we really just let haunt our homes huh ->

[nattousan]

Two roommates and a priest stood huddled around the rotting remains of a hideous oozing creature laying quite dead on their living room floor. Next to it, strewn across the peeling linoleum, lay the shredded remains of a peace lily Yuri's mom had left the night before after she'd "dropped by".

The creature had a ring of foam crusted over a hole on its head they assumed was its mouth, on account of the endless rows of needle sharp teeth jutting from its putrid green gums. Its multitude of bulging glassy eyes stared unblinkingly up at the ceiling.

"Told you it wasn't rats." said Lila to Yuri.

"Must've been the lily that got im, the poor thing, those plants are toxic to most everything they come into contact with" the priest mused.

"Oh really?" Lila said, "That makes sense, my mom used to keep them around the house around Easter and that's usually when one or both of our cats would get really sick. She'd still buy em though, every year, even after one of em died. Said it was apart of god's plan as one of gods creatures"

"This is not one of God's creatures." said the priest, nudging one of the things many segmented limbs, oily black and uncomfortably soft in death.

"Yea no shit"

Yuri ribbed her in the side.

"Ow! Ugh, i mean, no kidding!"

"So, mr. uh..."

" father- "

"Right, Mr. Father, you can get rid of this thing right? Like its a demon? You can just purify it or whatever and it's disintegrate into dust, right?"

"I'm afraid its not that simple." The priest said grimly, "We're going to need to burn the whole house down to its foundation.

"WHAT" both roommates shouted simultaneously.

"I would contact your landlord as soon as possible and get things straightened out, you only have about 4 more hours until sun sets. In the meantime I'll call the fire department and see if they can come out and do a controlled burn. That's the only way you're gonna get out of this safely.

"Wait a damn" -ouch!- "wait a FUCKING second, this is our house!" Lila protested, "the things already dead, why does the whole house need to burn?? You can't just throw us out on the fucking street just like that!"

The priest pursed his lips.

"If you're intent on wasting what little time you have asking for explanations, I can talk while you pack, but I must reiterate that time is of the essence here. Once the sun goes down and they smell one of their own has died, it's not going to be pretty.

"And what the fuck does THAT mean!" wailed Lila, "what are these things!?" but Yuri was already ushering her to her room with a garbage bag.

With Lila distracted, the priest and Yuri moved to the kitchen, where he started transferring what little food they had from the fridge into an insulated cooler.

"So what was that thing? How did it get into our house? None of the windows were broken and its too big to have squeezed in somewhere."

"Oh, no, it lived here already, these types of demons choose a single location to habituate and then remain there for as long as the structure still stands."

Yuri nearly dropped the glass jar of kimchi he was holding.

"What? We've been living here for almost a year, I think we would have noticed a poodle sized blob monster oozing around our apartment."

"Yes, usually people call us within days of moving in, or we hear about it post mortem, but I assure you, that creature has been living here for far longer than you have."

Yuri blanched.

the priest cleared his throat. "Do you both sleep with your door closed?"

"Yes?"

"That's probably why. For the sake of brevity I'm just going to say that they don't really exist during the day. They spend the daytime their own dimension and get called back to this one with the setting of the sun. They are extremely social creatures though so when one of them gets hurt, it releases a smell that marks its attacker and then nowhere is safe for the marked come nightfall."

Yuri finished emptying the fridge, there really wasn't much in there, and moved onto the cabinets. He straightened up and pushed back his long black mop of hair out of his eyes, a gesture he often did when he was stressed.

"So these things have just been crawling around our apartment at night and we just never noticed because we were in our rooms too much?"

"Most likely, did you ever notice things going missing or moved around in the morning? Mysterious moisture spots that didn't seem to clear up?"

"Dude have you seen the apartments in this area? They all have rat problems and mold. This was the only one in the city with two bedrooms under $1200 a month."

The priests demeanor softened a bit.

"I'm sorry. I know this is short notice but the longer you remain here the more likely it is that the mark will transfer to you both and then you'll truly never know peace again."

Yuri gripped the box of expired hamburger helper he was loading into a duffel bag.

"Never had it to begin with..."

The priest gave him a knowing look but didn't pry.

"My church can provide housing in the interim if you don't have... relatives.. in the area."

"You're damn right I don't"

"I'll make the necessary arrangements then."

Over the next two hours the two roommates packed up what little they had into whatever would carry it. Most of it was still in cardboard boxes anyway so it went quick. Still, Lila took her sweet time going through her closet to the point the Priest had taken to pacing by the door after loading everything else into the church's van.

"Lila! What else is left, it's getting close to sundown!" Yuri hollered down the cramped hallway. The priests pacing made him nervous and he'd rather not sour the good graces he'd extended towards them.

"I'm almost done!" Lila hollered back, " You didn't hear me bitching about moving your ridiculous rock collection you insist on dragging around"

"We're nearly out of time here, gentle people," The priest said tersely, glancing out the window, "I suggest you take what you can carry and we seal up the building, Yuri was it? Did you get into contact with your landlord?"

Yuri was helping scoop armfuls of colorful shawls into a laundry basket. "Oh, yea, I called but he didn't pick up, which is usually the case, so I left a voicemai-"

A series of short sharp knocks echoed through the empty apartment before the key turned and swift footsteps filled the hallway.

"Hello?? Ms. Kalimaschev? Ms. Engels?"

Yuri rolled his eyes.

"In here!"

A man appeared at the doorway whom the priest assumed to be their landlord. He was young, maybe his late 30's, with pommed back blonde hair, a bleached white button up and boat shoes. The smile he gave didn't reach his eyes.

"There you are, sorry I missed your call ladies, I was out on the lake." He fixed his gaze on the priest. "What's all this I hear about having to condemn my property?"

The priest stood up and brushed off his knees.

"Yes, I'm sorry sir but the house will soon be quite uninhabitable due to circumstances beyond these two's control, I'll be happy to explain it all at length outside, but first we must get out of the house immediately"

The landlords lips drew taught over his perfectly straight teeth in a hostile grin. He reached into the leather messenger bag hung over his shoulder and pulled out a thick packet of papers.

"Oh, no no no, these two still have three months left on their lease, they can't just declare the place unfit and skip out on rent."

The priest glanced out the window at the diminishing daylight, a bead of sweat running down his dark skin.

"I understand that sir, but like I said, we really do need to move this conversation outside."

The man straightened up, filling the doorway.

"Oh no no no no, no one's going anywhere, what about my property? Do you know how much I've invested in this place? I'm sure whatever damage they've caused can be covered by their deposit. Did you already call the fire department? Can you get them to turn around?"

Yuri bristled. "He says we gotta get out of here, have a look in the living room if you don't believe us."

The landlord smile tightened.

"Oh the thing on the floor? Oooh yea, I'm going to have to fine you for bringing pets in, the lease clearly states "no pets all-"

"Sir, we really don't have time for this, move aside please!"

"Yea, get out of the way dude, lets take this outside!" Yuri said, voice raised with anxiety.

The landlord dropped his smile and narrowed his eyes in a sneer. One hand pulled his phone out of his pocket.

"I will not be talked to like that, young lady, I've already been generous enough letting your kind rent this place, we're staying right here until the authorities arrive. This is my property after a-

Before he could finish his sentence a writhing mass of elongated limbs and gnashing teeth attached itself to his face with a horrid squelch. His body was thrown to the side like he's been punched and they could hear his muffled screams leaking out over the sound of bones crunching.

Lila let out a blood curdling scream and the priest ran to slam the door shut.

Immediately after it shut a heavy and wet weight slammed itself against the cheap particleboard door. The priest threw his weight against it to keep it shut as it was rammed over and over, warping the door a little more each time.

"Alright! We're going to have to go with plan B!" the priest shouted over his shoulder, "Yuri, reach into the holster underneath my cloak!"

"What about Lila??" Yuri yelled, flinching each time the door shook.

"Don't worry about me!" yelled Lila, pulling a katana out of a box in her closet.

The priest crossed himself.