All Chapters of Apartment of Horrors: Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

My teammates hit me with a string of question marks when my hero stood idle and failed to hold the base. Frustrated, I quit the game and opened WhatsApp.The message was from Jacob Zeller, who lived downstairs from me. He was my roommate in college.There were four of us sharing a dorm, and we were pretty tight. While we were interning, we decided to job hunt together and moved into a cheaper apartment to lower our rent.Once everyone had a job, our hours were all over the place, so we each got an apartment to keep from getting in each other's way. We still grab a meal together from time to time.Among the four of us, the oldest, Edgar Maguire, was unassuming and kind. He always looked out for us, and we treated him like an older brother.He came from a village and was an orphan that the whole community helped raise. He studied hard, and whenever he had time, he took on part-time jobs to save up for tuition and living expenses.When we were interning, he was the first to land an

Gavin sent another message. "Once you're back, I'll bring the officer up to your place. Or he won't be able to report back if he doesn't get to search your unit."I was about to type when I stopped cold. That officer had literally just gone downstairs. How did Gavin find out so quickly?And there was another line in Gavin's message that nagged at me. We were both young, and we'd chatted a few times. The only person he'd ever seen me go out to eat with was Jacob.So by "friend," he had to mean Jacob.Wasn't Jacob at home? Didn't Tom just confirm that he was? So who was lying here?I fired off a text to Tom, but he never replied. So, I texted Gavin back, "We have a team-building event at work tonight, so I'm staying out and won't be back."I trusted no one but myself. Gavin didn't reply either.I hurried through my mac and cheese and locked the door. I had no idea what was happening outside. All I could do was close up the doors and windows and keep everyone else out.I ran throu

I steeled myself and opened the door. The hallway was awash in red. Smears and spatters of bright and dark blood covered the walls, the floor, and my door. My head reeled.What the hell happened? Why was there so much blood outside my door? Hadn't the guy in 603 seen it through his peephole?I couldn't help looking toward apartment 603. To my surprise, the door stood half-open, and it was dead quiet inside. I picked my way past the bloodstains and made my way to apartment 603."Hey, are you home?"I pushed the door open. It was dark inside. The soft patter of rain and the low rumble of thunder answered me.The living room was dark, but the bedroom light was on. A warm yellow glow spilled from the doorway, casting a rectangle of light across the floor.I kept my guard up. The door was left open, after all. The guy in 603 had clearly seen someone at my door, so why would he open his?In the bedroom, a man was lying on his side on the bed. It looked like no one else was in the apar

Jacob stood and slowly came up behind me. I tied off a trash bag after tossing the bloodied disposable gloves in it.I turned and jumped. "How are you so quiet on your feet? Anyway, why aren't the police here yet?"It was nearing 2.00 am. Outside, the rain had dwindled to a fine drizzle, almost inaudible.Jacob let out a harsh, cold laugh. "The police aren't coming.""What?"I hadn't even registered it yet when he suddenly grabbed my neck with both hands, his face twisting into a vicious snarl."I said the police aren't coming. I never called them."A searing pain lanced through my neck. Worse than the pain was the airlessness. I gaped for breath, a rasping wheeze in my throat, and tried to pry his fingers loose.His forearms corded. My strength drained. There was no prying those fingers free.Jacob watched me choke and smiled cruelly."I'll spell it out for you. I killed them all. When I saw Tom send that warning, I knew it was my shot. I've wanted to know what killing felt

Hank set the report aside and fixed Dwayne with a look. "Residents say it was loud enough to wake people on the second floor. You expect me to believe you didn't hear a thing?"Dwayne sighed helplessly. "I heard it, yeah, but it was dangerous out there. I wasn't about to throw my door open. Later, I finally screwed up the nerve, stepped out, saw the mess, and called the police."Otherwise, how could you have shown up so fast?"Years of detective work told Hank something was wrong with Dwayne, but he had nothing to hold him on. Dwayne's statement was airtight. With no lead to pursue, Hank let him go.Dwayne was impeccably polite. He even offered a parting greeting to everyone present.Hank rubbed at his brow and turned to Steve beside him. "How's the investigation going? Anything off about this guy?"Steve grimaced. "His name's Dwayne Bower. He went to college with the killer, Jacob Zeller, the victim, Tom Bancroft, and Edgar Maguire, the man who was killed a few days ago. All fou