Your character moves into a new apartment. On the surface, the place seemed ideal, but his/her first night there, your character discovers a terrible problem with the place that he/she didn’t take into account…

Sally’s move to County Hills was now proving to be long overdue. A pile of office work, her mother’s long drawn battle with Cancer, and her overt attachment to the old apartment was impeding her move. It was finally when the landlord at Regent park gave her an ultimatum, saying he needed the apartment back for himself in the next one week that Sally decided to pull up her socks and gear up for the move. Mum’s treatment could be managed from County Hills as well. After all it was just 20 miles further, and an extra ½ an hour drive to the hospital. Office work, she thought would just have to wait now. And relinquishing her attachment to the picturesque Regent Park apartment that overlooked the breezy bay, was the only option left.
County Hills as the name rightly suggests was nestled against the meandering hills of the suburbs. Not many people had moved into it yet, as it was a brand new property by the construction company Keith & Harrison Pvt. Ltd. Sally had found this property through a friend’s friend. The rental was a whopping 70 K but she wasn’t worried about that as long as the company paid for it and the premises were secure with a well-equipped gymnasium, azure pool that opened out to the hills, and basic amenities like grocery store, running track, a park full of blossoms where her mother could spend her evenings without feeling lonely.

The day Sally and her Mum moved in, it was a Friday. And since the weekend was around the corner, Sally thought she would expedite organising the new home. Shifting was a whole lot of work, though the Movers and Packers had taken care of most of it. But there still remained the arduous task of arranging the stuff in the right places. It was almost 9 PM, by the time Sally and her Mum, Ms. Strasburg got a breather. Dinner was take-out from the nearest Pizza Hut. Ms. Starsburg detested the idea of eating out, as she felt it was detrimental to her illness; but at this point of time she had no other choice but to bite into the thick crust Chicken Hawaiian pizza, Sally’s all time favourite since she was a kid. The kitchen would only become functional over the weekend.

Post dinner, Sally poured herself a glass of Kaluha. Plonked herself on the lazy boy and imagined all the worries of the week drift away into the oblivion. Ms. Strasburg had retired to her room. The stillness of the evening was filled with the fresh fragrance of the rustling pine trees that overlooked the living room balcony. Sally could hear an Owl hoot somewhere nearby. She felt a sense of contentment envelop her being. After all, this place had its own charm, and she regretted resisting the move for so long. The silence of the serene night was suddenly shattered by a loud cry, screaming, “Helpppppppppp, Helppppppppppppppppp!”
Sally was jolted out of her reverie and she almost jumped out of her skin, realising it was none other than her mother. She sprinted to her Mother’s room, and was aghast to find Ms. Strasburg’s one leg stuck underneath one of the wooden planks that tiled the room. She was shaking like a leaf and was crying out in pain, as her entire leg lay plunged below the 14th floor bedroom. She let out a guttural cry saying, “I’m getting sucked into the floor below. Jesus Christ!!! Somebody is pulling me down.” Sally grabbed at Ms. Strasburg’s arm and tried to pull her out, but the more she pulled her towards herself, the more she felt someone pull her Mother down. The plank by now had cracked open, and through the meagre opening she could hear a heavy grunting sound, one that sounded like some sort of an animal. Gathering her wits end Sally wondered in horror what kind of creature could that be, to have climbed the floor below. Flashes of horror films where she had witnessed such scenarios, played in her panicked mind. She tugged with all her might at her Mother’s arm, and suddenly with a crashing noise that was rend with pain ridden screams, Ms. Strasburg crashed into the floor beside Sally. The grunting sound of the creature had stopped. Her mother was howling in pain, and Sally noticed there were deep-seated claw marks running across her mother’s shins.

An eerie sense of fear gripped Sally, as tears rolled down her ivory skin, merging with Ms. Starsburg’s cries and tears. Both mother and daughter lay on the floor hugging and curled up in each others arms crying copiously, in the stillness of the night of Friday the Thirteenth.
Disclaimer: This is a complete work of fiction, and an offshoot of my spooky imagination.