Nathan lived in his apartment complex for a month without saying hello to any of his neighbors. At first, he didn’t notice the phenomenon, since most of his attention was focused on organizing and writing lists of things that he needed for his new residence. But after he had settled down, he wondered more and more about the neighbors and where they were. After all, despite the complex being one of the largest in the area, he rarely saw anyone other than the same team of groundskeepers and the management team who had handled his rental paperwork. He shrugged it off as the result of his early morning, late night class schedules and tendency to stay indoors most of the time. 

	But at the beginning of the hot summer season in the Cupules Valley, Nathan encountered one of his neighbors on his way back from grocery shopping. 

The man stood along the outdoor walkway’s railing. He was tall enough that Nathan was certain he had to slightly crouch in order to get into the apartment doors. The man’s arms also hung well below his hips, drooping more than resting on to the top of the railings. Nathan was startled, thinking that he was witnessing a monster from a horror film in real life. But when the man turned to him, Nathan saw that he was a normal looking man. If anything, he had a forlorn look on his face that made Nathan feel sympathetic. After a few seconds of staring at one another, the man methodically crouched into the apartment behind him as if he wasn’t used to the movement. Nathan stood there, the previous uneasiness replacing sympathy. He was unsure if what he had seen was real or if sleep deprivation from his studies was catching up with him. 

        When he finally convinced himself that it was simply his imagination stretching the man out, he walked past the door and realized that he had crouched into the apartment right next to his. The uneasiness returned and he hurriedly unlocked his apartment door, rushed inside, and immediately locked the door behind him. 

        After putting away his groceries, he went to his bedroom and tried to take a nap. But the summer heat still creeped into his room, despite having installed blackout curtains and having the air conditioning at full blast. He laid there, shutting his eyes tight and trying to get comfortable. But the vision of the long man crept in his mind. He suddenly became more aware of the sounds from the wall he shared with him. A thump and a tap every once in a while. Based on what he had seen of the man, he tried imagining that perhaps he was learning how to clumsily cook or trying to get used to moving around in a human body. It made Nathan chuckle to himself, but didn’t ease the anxiety he had that he felt. 

        But soon, he fell into a dreamless sleep of black. He was awakened only by the chime of his doorbell, methodically ringing every two seconds. He groggily walked to the door, feeling notably fatigued and he cracked the door open to peek outside. It was the lanky man, bent over right in front of the space that Nathan looked out of. He didn’t blink and seemed to be examining Nathan’s features. Again, Nathan was startled. His grogginess was replaced with his fight or flight response. But before he could react the neighbor opened his mouth. 

        “Do you have a box that I can use?” He asked Nathan. The question was flat and barely had an intonation of a question and was spoken quickly. The man slightly craned his neck up a little bit, as if examining everything in Nathan’s apartment. Nathan gently shut the door and looked to where the man might have seen. In the silence of his apartment, he heard his breathing grow rapidly. He quickly looked to a few of the boxes he used in his move were still there, though they couldn’t hold anything more than a pair of laptops. Regardless, he grabbed one and walked back to the door. 

        “Is this okay?” He anxiously asked. The man looked down at the box and slowly extended his arms out to grab it. He flipped it over, rotated it, and put it to his nose. Then, he walked away, nodding his head. Nathan watched him, his tall frame bent over the box, until he crouched into the apartment and disappeared with the sound of the deadbolt locking. 

        Nathan slowly retreated his head back into his apartment before closing the door, as if any sudden movements might cause the man to come back and induce another visit. 

        Later that evening, when cool winds replaced the harsh summer heat, Nathan began cooking his dinner. Because of the apartment’s poor ventilation, he kept the window open whenever he prepared his meals due to their potent smells. But tonight, a different smell permeated, something lingeringly offensive to him. Nathan raised his frying pan close to his nose, sure that it was the different brand of fish sauce he’d bought. But it smelled like how it usually did. He investigated his fridge, then his bathroom, then his bedroom, until he found that it was coming from outside. He turned the stove off and followed the smell. 

        It emanated from his neighbor’s apartment and became more and more potent and as he got closer he recognized the smell as rotting meat that had been fermenting in its own blood in the sun. He clasped his hand over his nose and mouth, walking back to his own apartment and planning to simply close the window. But, a crash came from the apartment and Nathan felt compelled to at least go and make sure the man was there. After all, despite how unsettled the man made him feel, he might need help. He hurried to his neighbor’s door and found that it was unlocked. He slowly opened it without moving off of the welcome mat and smell smacked him in the face. His body forced him to dry heave. 

        When he spit out all of the saliva he could, he called out into the darkness. No response. He peeked in, looking for the lanky man but could only make out vague shapes of furniture inside. His examination was interrupted by another loud crash that was followed by a series of clattering sounds from the side of the apartment. Nathan rushed inside, his hand clasped over his nose and mouth. He ran to where the sound was coming from and swung the door open. 

        In the middle of the room was the lanky man, sitting cross legged on the floor and holding the box that Nathan had given him. It emitted a bright, eerie, green glow as everything else in the room spun around in a whirlwind around the man as he gazed into the box, his face illuminated to show tears of delight running down his cheeks. The furniture and trinkets violently whirled around them and Nathan rushed to the man, trying to shake him out of his trance. As he did, Nathan caught a glimpse of what was inside the box - a grotesque form of a child, no eyeballs or teeth, its skin flayed, and its mouth curled into a struggling smile. The sight made Nathan’s heart race and he shook the man harder. 

        “No!” The man exclaimed as he lost grip of the box and it fell to the floor. The glow of it flickered and the whirlwind grew stronger. Instead of trying to snap the man out of it, Nathan simply dragged the man toward the door. He was surprisingly light for his size. As he pulled the man out of the room, the whirlwind stopped and all of the furniture dropped to the floor with a boom. The smell had disappeared and the eerie glow faded, turning the room black. 

        “Why did you do that?” The man asked, his voice unnaturally shaky. 

        “What the hell was that thing?” Nathan asked in between his panting. The man sobbed loudly. 

        “That was my son, Percy,” he said, his hands muffling his voice. “They didn’t even give him the decency of a proper physical form.” 

        Nathan took out his phone and looked at the man, then shined the light on the box where the creature had been. 

        “You want your damn box that much? Take it and don’t ever come back here!” The lanky man bolted up and pointed at the door. Nathan was taken aback, trying to trace what he’d done wrong, but couldn’t think of a reason. 

        “Wait, no, I came in here because something smelled awful, like a corpse decaying. I-I thought someone was dying, I didn’t mean-” 

        The lanky man’s face contorted into anger and he stood up, towering over Nathan. His teeth gritted together and fist shook at his sides. Nathan stared up, frozen in fear. But instead of striking him, the lanky man stomped to the box and threw it at Nathan. He caught it and ran out, finally realizing the situation that he was in. He ran back to his apartment and locked the door behind him, listening to make sure that the lanky man didn’t follow him. But the only thing that he heard was stomping next door with an occasional, otherworldly roaring and howling as if something had just been injured and was crying out in pain.