Prompt 487 Crucifix - naughty_bangles - Do you know your neighbors? - Original

[naughty-bangles.livejournal.com]

Title: Do you know your neighbors?
Author: naughty_bangles
Disclaimer: All mine!
Prompt #487 Crucifix
Note: I'm back from an epic succession of bad luck. First, Internet went out at my place for a week and a half. Which sucked big time since it happened on a Thurdsay and made me miss two week-ends. Then, for some reasons, LJ had decided I needed to revalidated my email address to post anything, except I never received any of the revalidation emails I was supposed to get. And out the third week. This week I noticed that LJ doesn't bother me on the computer at work, only on mine at home. So I don't know. Anyway, I know I've missed way too many weeks as it is, and my participattion count is broken, but I'm still posting the texts I've written while I was waiting for things to get better. You never know.


When Evie’s upstair neighbour died, she left her everything she owned.


They had never exchanged more than a few polite words in the stairs.


At first, the young woman thought it was a mistake, and that what she said to the attorney that contacted her about the inheritance.


“You’re not Evelyn Fleurette Donovan, born on the 17th of July 1986 in New Orleans, and currently residing in 20, Penalvert Street in Baton Rouge?”


Evie confirmed the information, wondering when she had told Ms Vickrey about her birth place. Maybe the old woman had overheard it?


“Then there is no doubt you are the person referenced in Ms. Vickrey’s will”, the man continued, annoyance lingering in his voice. “When will it be convenient for you to come over to settle the inheritance?”


An appointment later, Evie was the new owner of the apartment upstairs and everything it contained. Ms. Vickrey hadn’t left a single clue in her will about why she chose the young women as her heir. Even if she had been the kind of lonely people who have nobody else in the entire world, it would have made more sense to leave everything to an association promoting something she held dear, like animals, literacy, or something. Evie didn’t even know in what her neighbour had been interested in life.


And so she didn’t know what she would find inside the apartment when she eventually decided to go have a look one fine Saturday afternoon.


“I hope she didn’t have any pet”, Maggie commented while Evie was looking for the key to the front door (the lawyer has told her which one was which, but she couldn’t remember anything.


“Oh please, Mags, don’t say that. Now we’re going to find a dead cat in there somewhere. You’re jinxing everything.”


“I highly doubt it works that way”, Maggie mused, while Evie finally found the right key and made it turn in the lock.


Daylight was pouring through the living room windows, darting its spots on the aging furniture and wallpaper. Dust particles were dancing in the rays of light and reminded Evie that nobody had opened that door since Ms. Vickrey had been evacuated, more than a week before. Even the tidiest of apartments would gets its fair share of dust in that time. Other than that, everything seemed to be pretty neat, given the fact that emergency people had had to hurry inside in their attempt to save the previous owner’s life.


“Okay, that’s the most normal place I’ve ever seen”, Maggie commented. She took a couple of steps inside, looking around at nothing in particular, while Evie waited a few seconds outside. She had never been in this place before. It was a weird feeling to be here now, even more now that she was owning the place.


“Come on, let’s visit the other rooms”, Maggie asked, finally bringing Evie to step inside. The bedroom was pretty much like the living room, faded and neat, except for the unmade bed where Ms. Vickrey had been when she had called the hospital. A little bathroom was next to it, looking like every other bathroom. Things got interesting when they reached the study on the other side of the corridor.


It turned out Ms. Vickrey had a hobby : demonology. Or at least that’s what Evie thought when she read the titles of the books aligned against the wall.


“Not what I was expecting, but cool”, Maggie said. The woman poked around at a few thing, all looking witchy and exotic, and opened a couple of chests.


“Wow, that’s the biggest collection of crucifix I’ve ever seen”, she commented after opening a two-feet long chest on a little table. Evie peaked inside : indeed, there was at least two dozens crosses insides, of varying size, all of them looking used.


“Is it me, or is there something really weird about this whole room?”, she asked her friend, who shrugged, definitely interested.