"Renovations"

**"Renovations"** is the fourth tale in the sixteenth episode of the fifth season of the Nolseep Podcast. In it, a woman becomes trapped in her apartment. Written by Sarah Piper, it has a runtime of 29:20 and was performed by Susan Knowles and David Cummings. It is the 575th tale overall on the podcast.

## Summary

Caldwell lives in a large apartment building with many floors and units. Early one morning she hears a loud scream coming from the apartment below her. Though worried about the noise, she doesn't investigate. A few hours later, she goes out to get the paper and sees an elderly neighbor getting his as well. They chat about the scream, but the neighbor doesn't know whose it was.

After starting to work from home, Caldwell is interrupted by a visit from her landlord. The landlord has always creeped her out, as he dresses in ugly suits and slicks his hair back. He robotically tells her that her downstairs neighbor, Miss Giordano, has died and that movers will be taking her furniture all around the building. He requests she stay in her apartment and not come out. Without waiting for a response, he leaves.

Caldwell questions how Miss Giordano died and what caused her to scream. For a while, the movers noisily hoist furniture around the building, with frequent bangs and scrapes. Finally curious, Caldwell peeks out her door to see the movers at the top of the stairs. They are all large and muscular, with stained coveralls and greasy beards. They throw a large armoire down the steps and cheer. One of them spots her peeking and begins walking towards her door.

She shuts it quickly and panics as they begin rapidly pounding on her door. A few minutes later, the landlord's voice comes, requesting her to come outside and speak to the movers. She refuses and tries to call the police, but her phone has no service. She tries to go out onto the fire escape, but finds it has impossibly disappeared. Despite the landlord's angry insistences, she doesn't leave.

Hours pass. Sometimes the knocking stops long enough for Caldwell to consider going out, but it always comes back. Eventually, she hears her elderly neighbor from outside asking if she's alright. Eager to have someone new to talk to, she walks to her door and almost opens it before realizing that there are two people out in the hallway. The neighbor tearfully pleads her to open the door. When she fails to do so, the movers beat and assault him until he stops making noise and drag his body away.

Sometime later, Caldwell finally decides to make a run for it. Grabbing an umbrella, she slips out of her apartment and down the hall, spotting the landlord with his back to her. She runs up and bashes his head in with the handle, exposing his skull and causing blood to leak on the floor. She tries to run down the stairs but hears some movers coming up. Returning to the hallway, she sees her door of the hinges and is horrified to see the landlord on his feet again despite the seemingly fatal trauma. Him and the other movers advance on her.

Caldwell flees up several flights of stairs, managing to lose her pursuers. She ducks into a empty apartment and locks the door. She finds a laptop in the bedroom and frantically types a message for help. Though she is sure the movers don't know where she is, she can hear people on the floors below opening their doors for the knocks and being violently beaten. Just as she finishes her message, someone hijacks it and says everything is fine.

## Cast

Susan Knowles as Caldwell

David Cummings as the landlord/neighbor