Erika and the new "sweet" home.

" Erika! Can you carry that luggage out?" Yelled Erika's mother from across the room, Erika stood in the middle of the living room as her brown eyes glanced around the room for the last time, the corner of her lips curled into a sudden smile before the ten year old turned around to grab the handle of the said bag. She began to walk out of the old apartment, before she walked out the door; Erika tilted her head slightly to the right to face towards the room her mom was located parting her pink pale lips

" Yes mom! I got the luggage. I'm going to wait for you downstairs!" She yelled back as she began to walk out the apartment dragging the luggage a long with her, her mom quickly opened the door then locked it behind her, Erika still at the hallway waiting for the elevator which is across from their old apartment whistling as she waited there, her mother caught up to her and stood beside her. Erika's mother glanced down towards her daughter with a smile forming upon her lips as well.

" Are you excited?" She asked.

"Yes! I can't wait to head to our new home mom!" She replied with an excited tone of voice. Erika and her mom smiled as their eyes met. They're eyes were filled with nothing but excitement as giggles escaped Erika's lips while her mother chuckled. Ding! Both turned their attention towards the before Elevator and both of them happily hopped on and downstairs they went. within minutes both arrived at the lobby, walking out of the elevator, the rays of the sun greeted both Erika and her mom as they walked down the hall of the lobby. Erika felt like it is going to be a beautiful day as the gentle breeze of the air brushed against her tan skin and brushed the strands of her long chocolate brown hair as the door of the building's entrance opened while Erika continued to pull the luggage. Their car was parked at the corner of the street which was about five steps away from the entrance of the building.

"Erika, lets place the luggage in the car." Said her mom, while she pulled out the keys of the new apartment, Erika saw a elderly man walk up to her mom, that man is the landlord, his expression seems sad being that they have been living there for years but it was time to part ways and start brand new, her mother handed over the keys to the apartment to land lord then they all waved goodbye to one another, Erika turned towards the car to walk towards it and her mom followed right after. Her mom opened the main door of the car before unlocking the other doors and in went the luggage. Both hopped into the car and began their new journey to their new home. Erika's mom turned on the radio and tuned to the romantic music station which her mom's favorite and so happens to be Erika's favorite as well; both sang a long to different tunes.

They continued to go uptown New York, where the boarder of Manhattan and the Bronx meet. Moments later, Erika and her mom drove up the hill of 237th street and to Erika's liking she realized that she will be living in front of a park. She loves the out doors. Erika's mom parked in front of the new apartment they are going to live in, Erika opened the door of the car and quickly walked to the side walk as many cars drove up that street. As her mom took out the luggage Erika glanced inside the door as she did the pupil of her eyes dilated. The lobby of her new home is truly to her liking so far. The tiles on the floor had a remarkable design, the colors of the tiles went well with the lighting and the color of the walls. The tile colors are black and white, the end of the tiles which separates the entrance door was a marble gray color, it looked smooth as well. The color of the walls where a off white color and the stairs to the second entrance door was also a marble gray. It just gave Erika the Italian feel.

Erika's mom went up the three stairs, she picked out the new keys from her purse which she had gotten the week before moving. Her mom opened the first door, Wow, it looked even better as they both walked into the small hall and both ladies went up the second set of stairs before opening the second entrance door. " Wow!' Erika thought in her mind as he sees this beautiful lobby. She felt warm as soon as she walked into the lobby, she ran towards the middle of the said lobby where she saw one set of stairs towards her right side, in front of her there is a wall that is in the middle of the lobby where there is a beautiful mirror hanging and a table underneath the said mirror made out of marble, Beside the wall placed in the middle on the right side is where the mailboxes are located for their residents. and behind that wall that is in the middle is the elevator. Erika ran towards the end of the lobby and spotted another stair case on her left side, but this set of stairs sent chills up her spine. For some reason Erika felt a bit strange about the stair case on the left she just stood there looking at that stare case wondering why she felt that way.

"Erika! come on, the elevator is here!" Her mom called, Erika got back to her senses and quickly ran towards her mother. Before entering the Elevator Erika peeked towards the said Stair case again, slowly walking into the elevator. Ding! in they went as the door of the elevator closed a shadow of a woman slowly appeared as the shadow appeared to be standing still facing towards the elevator. Back in the elevator, the ladies stood there silently as Erika began to think of why she felt uncomfortable downstairs, the hair of her arms are still lifted,

"Mom, how did you find this building?" Asked Erika out of curiosity.

"Ah, well. You're step dad and I needed to move to a closer location near our jobs, Luckily or us I know a family member that lives in this building and she let me know that the apartment that is next to her apartment is being rented. She had me speak to the landlord and that's how I managed to get the apartment. Why do you ask honey? Is it not to your liking? " The mom asked in a worried tone.

Erika noticed that her mother looked worried and she quickly formed a smile upon her lips to hide her feeling. Ding! They both arrived at their designated floor. The 6th floor. " No, mom I love it so far don't worry. "Said Erika with a happy tone upon her voice as her mother and her walked out of the elevator, the hall was brighter than expected, Erika slowly shifted her glance towards the stair case once again, strange. She didn't feel the same way she did downstairs. "what could it have been?" She thought. "Oh well maybe I'm just overthinking it" The young girl said to herself as her mother and her walked to their new apartment. Her mom opened the door to the new apartment and to her surprise the apartment was already furnished.

"Mom! No way! this mean I can be lazy and do nothing!" Erika said as she happily took the luggage from her mom's possession and walked in the new apartment with pride, Letting out a sudden back side gas she welcomed her new home with her rear cent. "This should keep the ghosts away" She proudly said to herself. Her mom waved her right hand around and lifted her left hand to cover her nose. "Erika! You can't be stinking up this place already. You will scare the residents away. Do you not realize your booty is dangerous? " Said her mom in a joking manner. Erika and her mom laughed. "Before we settle in let's go meet our family. "

Erika quickly let go of the luggage and out they went from their new apartment to ring the bell next door. Erika's heart was beating. She was excited that she is living next to her family member! "who is it?" Asked lady behind the door. Mom replied back. "It's me Raysha, Yuli!" the sound of the door being unlocked echoed the halls and suddenly a woman and a small male child appeared and the door open wide for us. The smile on the other woman's face was quite wide and the child hid behind his mother, Erika just stood there smiling waiting to be acknowledged while both ladies embraced each other. Erika peeked in to see what is inside the door, she saw a statue of a man with wings, a toga and a crown. He looked like a statue from a church, above it all there were many candles and snacks placed in front and underneath the statue, She also smelled essence causing her to instantly sneeze.

"Is that your daughter?" Asked Raysha,

"That's right you haven't seen her in person before, this is Erika!" Yuli pulled her daughter close to her into a warm embrace, Raysha suddenly spread her arms open towards Erika.

"Erika, nice to meet you I'm Raysha, I was married to your mom's cousin. come here give me a hug!" Erika felt a bit awkward but she did as asked, she granted her aunt an embrace as well. As she did so the small boy glanced towards Erika out of curiosity. Erika noticed as she formed a light smile towards her lips to greet the child indirectly. The child remained serious turning his glance into a glare giving Erika goosebumps once again,

"Mom! Who's here?" Asked a young female, Raysha released Erika from the said embrace shifting her attention towards her daughter who seems to be about the same age as Erika.

"Hey Nat, come here come meet your cousin, Erika! " Raysha said happily. The other female walked towards the entrance of their apartment and scanned her eyes upon Erika's petite frame.

"Hey, Erika I'm Natasha. Nice to meet you." Natasha introduced herself politely.

"Nice to meet you too, and is this your little brother? Asked Erika out of curiosity

"Yes, That is Jay, Say hi Jay." Jay remained silent, He then turned around and walked away. "sorry I don't know what has gotten into him. but you can come anytime to visit us and play with us!" Erika suddenly smiled feeling like is indeed at home.

"Thank you! I will" Replied Erika with the upmost excitement. Both young females smile at one another, as the mom began to tilt her form as she is going to walk back into her apartment.

" Well ladies, I'm cooking dinner. I will speak to you ladies later and Erika nice to finally meet you." She said with a warm smile. Erika smiled in return and nodded.

"Nice to meet you all as well" Raysha slowly closed the door as Natasha waved towards Erika. "Mom, after we eat, can I go next door later?"

"Not today baby girl, we are going to settle in first then you can visit them tomorrow." Yuli explained as they both walked back into their new apartment. All of a sudden Erika felt the same feeling as she did earlier at the stair case. Her eyebrows narrowed down just a tad bit feeling slightly uneasy. "why do I feel like this again? Like someone is watching me?" She thought to herself. As she slowly walked into the apartment her mother closed and locked the door behind them. Erika shook her head from left to right to shake away the feeling she was feeling. instead she decided to walk around the apartment to get the feeling of being home.

She first saw a closet at the end of the entrance hallway which is across from the small kitchen that is on the right side as soon as they enter into the apartment, She walked into the living room where she spotted her bed on the left side as soon as she walked into the living room, then the tv shelf separated her room and the living room. in the middle of the living room is an narrow entrance in between the narrow entrance as she walked towards the main the closet for towels and extra close is on the right side and on the left is the bathroom, as she walked passed the closet and bathroom there greeted her a spacious master bedroom.

"Mom, I don't feel comfortable sleeping in the living room. I want to sleep with you and dad." Erika admitted being that she afraid of the dark. Her mother walked into the room and shock her head.

" No, Erika you are old enough to sleep on your own, your room is now in the living room. That is where you will stay." Erika whined at the idea of having to sleep in the living room on her own although she did have her own room in the last apartment but she was not comfortable sleeping in the living room especially since there's no door and the living room exposes her to all of the other rooms in the apartment but not only that, she have been feeling uneasy, like something is watching her, invisible being that is, a spirit or a demon. She can't take her mind away from this feeling she has, suddenly she hears a squeak towards the entrance hall. her glance went towards the hall.

Clack, clack, clack, creak. clack, clack, creak. "what is that sound?" Erika asked in her mind as she continued to glance towards the hall. her gaze remained there a little while, her heart began to beat a bit faster like earlier, her lips parted a bit as she began to let out pants as she began to breath heavily. Clack clack clack, creak. beep. clack clack... Yuli walked into the living room, she noticed that Erika looks horrified. but suddenly the noise stopped as soon as her mother walked in. Erika then glanced up towards her mother, Her eyes began to shed tears, " Mom, are you sure I can't sleep with you guys?"

Yuli kneeled down in front of her daughter, she glanced into her daughter eyes, "Are you okay? What is wrong? Why are you acting this way? I thought you where excited to move out, did something happen?"

"Mom, I am excited, but I'm scared, I feel like I'm being watched and I just heard some noises too. "

"I don't hear any noises and I don't feel anything strange, are you making this up so you can sleep with us? You can't sleep with us you are a grown child now. You are sleeping here and that is final. You can turn on the TV and watch Disney channel. I'm going to the kitchen and cook. don't mention to me that you want to sleep with us again because it won't happen." Erika stayed silent and did her her mother told her, she grabbed the remote control and turned on the TV, she began to watch her favorite anime on cartoon network which help her relax as the time passed by and even if the noises began again she was able to ignore it because she attention was on the television until night fall.

"Erika it's time to sleep, now turn off the tv." Erika did not want too turn off the said tv because it helped her relax and not think about the noises and the spirit or demon staring at her, her heart began to beat once again as she began to stand up from the couch and prepare for bed. She did her nightly routine, ate dinner, took a shower, brushed her teeth and then got dressed in the bathroom being that she couldn't get changed in the living room incase her stepdad accidentally arrived home and watched her change. Her mom tucked her into bed. turned on her nightlight and right that instant They both heard the door open. It was dad! Erika rose up and sat on her bed to greet him.

"Dad! Welcome home!" Erika said excited to see him.

"Thank you Erika, and good evening my dearest" He greeted her mom with a gentle kiss on her four head and pat on Erika's head forming a gentle smile. " What did you cook today honey? Asked the father as he walked towards the kitchen with Yuli. Erika slightly frowned as she was left alone, but felt relieved being that her step father was home and she didn't feel entirely alone. Erika decided to lay down facing the left where she is facing the wall as she slowly closes her eyes to sleep. Finally she fell at sleep but suddenly in the middle of the night she felt like a heavy body was laying a top of her, her breathing began to get heavy as if she is suffocating. trying to grasp for air, she sit up on her bed. She glanced around and noticed that no one was awake and of the lights where off except the night light.

clack, clack , clack, creak, creak, that horrifying noise began again but this time it sounded like many people where walking a long the halls of the entrance, Erika's heart began to escalate once again, her breathing became heavy. She sat there frozen, She thought about running towards her mother 's room but she was aware that she would get yelled at and didn't want to wake anyone but she was very afraid, all of a sudden she heard a whisper on her right ear, it was so faint that she was not able to tell what was said instead she felt a cold breeze on the tip of her ear. she quickly covered her small frame with her bed sheet and laid in bed afraid, her whole petite frame trembled in fear she felt not just one stare like earlier but multiple stares as she faced the wall. Erika quickly closed her eyes tightly attempting to ignore whatever is lurking in this new apartment during the night as the sound of the foot steps grew louder, she covered her ears as well. Erika remained in the same position for many minutes until she finally fell at sleep. unaware she woke up the next morning quite tired.

"Honey are you alright? It looks like you didn't sleep last night." Erika asked her as she walked into the living room. Erika glanced around the room although her mother was there, she felt relieved that it was day time again, most able that her mother was in the same room as her. Her eyes burned of tiredness, Erika just remained silent and laid down again in a calm state of mind and closed her eyes again to sleep properly. Little did we know that this was just the beginning of her adventures in this apartment and next door.

Next- Erika and the Unknown sight

Stay tuned and please share if you enjoyed it.

It is based on a true story.