#the third picture I took after she hid one of her bones in my suitcase and was guarding it

[laomelettedufromage]

Fuck it.

Lexi. If you even care.

[rewritingthestars]

Haunting of hillhouse au for andriel???

A/N: I fcking love hill house so this got very fair away from me lol I’ll probably make a full length fic out of this so enjoy!

Neil heaves the last box up the front pouch, setting it heavily in the front hallway of the mansion along with several other large boxes and suitcases. The floors are dusty and the wallpaper is peeled around the edges. The grand stairwell has a broken step and sits under a chandelier that looks like it’s hanging by a thread. The rooms on either side are just visible enough to see the shambles of a house left to decay.

A hand comes to rest on his hip and Neil leans into the familiar embrace as a voice behind him says “It’s a dump.”

Neil smiles and places his hand over Andrew’s.

“It’s perfect.” Neil corrects, and Andrew snorts, wrapping his other arm around Neil.

“Yeah, well, you’re delusional.”

Neil turns to look at him and smirks, “And yet you still married me.”

Andrew opens his mouth to reply when a crash echoes through the walls, followed by a spurt of loud cries. Neil sighs, and rest his head on Andrew’s shoulder. “We should probably see what that was, huh?”

Andrew sighs with him and squeeze Neil before letting go. “Come on, let’s see what those little shits broke.”

“Ten bucks it was Sasha.” Neil says as they walk through the accompanying doors.

Andrew gives him a dry look, “Like I would take that bet.”

—-

Andrew finds it late at night scrolling through ads, like he usually does. Must of the houses they pick to flip are due to Andrew’s habit of insomnia and inability to relax, according to his Neil. It’s called the Raven House,  a mansion of forty rooms, 45,000 square feet, and a price a third of its actual value. Neil thought it was a scam when Andrew first showed it to him but after a few phone calls and a viewing of the property, Neil was right there next to him when he signed.

Despite how quickly Andrew picked the house and how quickly they had purchased it, however, Neil can’t shake a feeling of.. Unease.

The first time Andrew showed Neil the picture Neil said no without knowing any of the details. The word came out without his volition, a primal sense of fear pushing its way to the surface before common sense could give way. It felt stupid after the fact, and felt stupid still, until they saw the house for the first time, and Neil’s gut gave way, the feeling back.

The Raven House. Forty rooms on 45,000 square feet of land. A fortune. A steal. Neil feels his breathing halt when he enters the entrance hall and time stills in between the doorway. As they look through the bedrooms and the guest rooms and the rooms that no longer have titles, Neil feels the eyes of the broken mirrors that are scattered around the place. In a moment of solitude given by Andrew’s desire to see the library and Neil’s sudden desire to stay the hell away from the library, Neil finds himself alone in the kitchen, making notes in his journal on color design and ideas for an updated kitchen spread. A thud. A bang. A knock.

A knock. Three times. Coming from an old, riggity dumbwaiter. Neil stares at it as the knocking increases in frequency, the nearby dishes and stove ware clatter and shake. It’s half past two in the afternoon but the light of day seems to already have faded into dusk. Neil slowly sets his journal on the counter and moves towards the dumbwaiter. The knocking is now so loud Neil can feel the vibrations in his skull, the pounding pushing fear through his bones as he shakingly reaches out to open the gate-

–

“So what changed your mind?” Andrew says later that day, on the drive back home.

“Hm?” Neil says, turning away from the window he’d been mindlessly staring out of.

Andrew  sends him a look. “You fucking hated that house when we got there and then by the end of it you’re practically forcing my hand to sign. So, what changed?”

Neil shrugs, a small smile pushing the corners of his lips up, “It grew on me.”

—-

“Dad! Leo hid my sketchbook again!” Sasha shouts, red locks curling at her shoulders, her fingers curling into claws.

“No I didn’t!” Leo shouts back, shoving his slightly large glasses up his nose.

“You did too, you liar! I found it yesterday under your bed, and the day before it was in your closet! You took it, just admit it and tell where you put it you brat!” Sasha grabs Leo by the shoulders looking as if she’s going to punch him when Andrew picks her up by her armpits and swings her out of reach.

“Hey, Hey!” Andrew yells over Sasha’s complaints. “You do not hit your brother you hear me? Whether he took your stuff or not.”

Sasha kicks her feet at air and continues to struggle while Leo starts to cry, “But-”

“Ok, what’s going on here?” Neil says as he walks into the kitchen, sleep still in his eyes.

“Tell Leo to give me my sketchbook back!” Sasha yells from Andrew’s arms, still wiggling fiercely.

“I didn’t take it, I didn’t!”

Neil rubs his hand over his face and pulls a sobbing Leo to his chest. “Hey, it’s alright bud, you’re ok.” Neil hugs his son and rubs his back while sharing a helpless look with Andrew. “Sasha, please stop trying to kick your dad in the balls, he needs those.” Andrew glares at Neil but Sasha stops her kicking to make a gagging sound, which is at the least progress.

“Now can you two calm down enough to talk this out or do we need to schedule a cuddle pile?”

Both kids groan out simultaneous no’s and Neil grins at their exaggerated horror. “Is that a yes to the cuddle pile?”

The kids groan louder no’s with slowly growing smiles and Neil tickles Leo’s side to make it a full out giggle. “Are you sure? This seems like a cuddle pile situation here, don’t you agree ‘Drew?”

“Definitely a cuddle pile situation,” He says with a straight face, which causes laughing screams of no’s throughout the kitchen.

—-

“What are you doing.” Andrew says with a raised eyebrow as Neil crutches low under Sasha’s bed with a flashlight in hand.

“Trying to find Sasha’s sketchbook. Help me?” Neil mumbles into the carpet.

Andrew sighs and crouches down with him, looking under the small room of space. “You know we should look-”

“No.”

“Neil, come on-”

“He said he didn’t do it, Andrew.”

“He’s said that before, right after we found it under his bed.”

Neil gets up with a frustrated sound and scratches at the back of his head. “He’s never lied to us before this, why start now?”

Andrew sighs and pulls Neil close, letting Neil rest on his shoulder. “We just moved, Neil, it takes some adjustment, takes some time. We of all people should know what constantly moving around does to kids.”

Neil snorts into Andrew’s shoulder and looks up at him through his eyelashes. “We’re gonna have to confront him, huh?”

“Yep.”

“He’s going to cry.”“Probably.”

Neil groans, “Why’d I let you convince me to be a parent? This sucks.”

Andrew kisses the top of his head and rests his hand on Neil’s neck, “Because you’re good at it.”

–

“Well Leo, if I didn’t move it, and dad didn’t move it, then who moved it? There’s only four people in this house son.” Andrew tries to reason with their crying son.

“B-but they’re aren’t!”

“Aren’t what, hunny?” Neil asks.

“Aren’t only four people here!” Leo shouts, and for the first time since they moved in Neil feels a sliver of terror run through his blood before he can shake it off.

“Who else is here then?” Andrew asks.

“The one-eyed man!”

“The one from your dreams?” Neil says.

“He’s not a dream! I saw him, I really saw him! I’m not lying, he’s real! He has one eye a-and holes in his face, and he wants to bother Sasha!”

Neil stays silent as Andrew’s face becomes increasingly bothered. “And why would the one-eyed man want to bother your sister?”

“Because he used to have a sister too, and he misses her.”

—-

“I don’t know ‘Drew.”

“We need to at least consider it Neil.”

“He’s fucking eight, he shouldn’t have to see someone when he’s fucking eight!”

“Hey,” Andrew says pulling Neil closer by his arm, “These dreams are getting out of hand. A therapist could help him. That’s all I want, for him to get whatever help he needs.”

“I know it’s just-” Neil let’s out a frustrated noise, “You know how I feel about therapists.”

“I’m aware.” Andrew says flatly. “But your one bad experience shouldn’t dictate whether Leo gets therapy or not.”

“I know, I-” Neil sighs, “You’re right, you’re always fucking right.”

Andrew smirks, “Oh, what was that?”

Neil rolls his eyes, “Don’t be an asshole.”

“Sorry couldn’t hear you over how smart I am.”

“I take it back, you’re the worst.” Neil says and pulls away, walking away from Andrew’s laughter and only smiling when he’s out of sight.

—-

Neil wakes up with a gasp, a memory of dream faded in the blankness of his mind. The clock ticks past three in the morning and Neil groans, rolling over to find Andrew sound asleep.

It’s usually Andrew who makes past midnight detours but every once in a while Neil’s body tries to one up his husband’s insomnia by keeping him awake past one.

Neil sighs and tries not to make too much noise when he rolls over once more, only to freeze at the light streaming through the bedroom door.

Neil always turns off the lights. He and Andrew have always been light sleepers and sometimes the flicker of fluorescents is enough to rise one of them. Assuming it was one of the kids, Neil slowly rises out of bed and out of the room to find the source, only to stop dead in his tracks when he opens the door.

Music bubbles up and into his ears, a jazzy tune that rings throughout the halls, laughter and voices weaving up the walls. Neil turns around, but the bedroom is gone, replaced with a kitchen, the kitchen, the one that should be downstairs but isn’t. The one that should be in tatters but isn’t.

The wallpaper doesn’t even have a crease in it, and the area is packed of people in uniforms as they flit around the room with silverware and appetizers. Neil dizzily turns back around to a ballroom full of people, all dressed up in gowns and tuxs.

“I’m dreaming.” Neil says dazedly. “I must be.”

“But doesn’t it just feel so real, darling?” A man says from behind him in Japanese, which is strange since Neil doesn’t even know Japanese, and Neil spins around once more. A wealthy looking man in a red and black suit sizes Neil up and shakes his head. “You’re underdressed, love.”

Neil looks down at his pajamas, which consists of Andrew’s sweatshirt and his boxers, and gives the man a flat look in return.

The man just laughs, and as he does the room stops, people still and music fades, only the man remaining mobile.

Dread fills Neil’s stomach, the same dread from the first time seeing Raven House, but then the man touches his wrist and the fear is replaced with dizzying confusion.

The man snaps his fingers and the party restarts. He grins. “Perfect”

Neil looks down to find he’s no longer wearing his pajamas, but an old fashioned gown most likely styled for a woman, and questions his dream’s choice in clothing.

The man bends down and take Neil’s hand, the room disappearing in layers of red as the man kisses Neil’s knuckles.

“Moriyama Ichirou, a pleasure to meet your acquaintance.” The man says, just before his eyes become black.