Owen took a deep breath, "Do you have any idea what a two foot tall black and purple chicken is doing in my pantry?".
     Murray sighed, "I'll be right up. Is the door unlocked?".
     "Yes.".
     "Okay, I'll be there in a minute. Don't let it loose.", the phone clicked onto the receiver.
     Owen stared at the cell phone in his hand, the words 'what the hell was that' running through his mind. Unsure of what else to do, he leaned against the pantry door, still feeling the shaking as the chicken rammed against the other side.
     Without knocking Murray walked into the room. He waved Owen away from his position, and swung the door open as he pulled a pistol with a silencer out of his pocket. As the chicken bolted out, he shot it three times, exhaled loudly, and put the gun back into his pocket.
     "There, all taken care of.", he stated matter-of-factly.
     Owen was staring wide-eyed at the mess on his floor.
     "I should probably explain what that was, shouldn't I?", Murray seemed unconcerned.
     Owen raised his head and stared at Murray.
     "Why don't we head down to the lounge and we'll talk there. The mess will evaporate in about ten minutes. They usually don't last longer than that, although the one did last a day once. We never did figure out what that was about.".
     Murray put his arm around Owen's shoulders and guided him out of the apartment and down the stairs. He led Owen to the lounge and poured him a cup of coffee. Owen took it wordlessly and took a sip.
     "What the hell was that?!", he finally managed to shout out.
     "A chicken.", Murray still kept perfectly calm. Owen found it at once calming and aggravating.
     "A chicken? A... chicken? I may not have lived on a farm, but I've never seen a two foot tall chicken, and I've definitely never seen a black and purple chicken!".
     "Hmm, I was hoping you'd have a chance to get settled before we talked about this.", Murray scratched his head. "Now, where to start.".
     "At the beginning?", Owen suggested.
     "Okay, this building happens to be right on top of the weak point of the barrier that separates Earth from a dimension populated entirely by demons.".
     Owen blinked at him.
     Murray continued, "Every once in a while, some of them get through. Usually it’s only one or two, the most we've ever had is fifteen, and sometimes it's just a farmyard animal.".
     "So that was a demon chicken?", Owen sounded unconvinced.
     "That's right! You're taking this better than most people do. I'd recommend investing in a weapon of some sort. Do you have a gun?".
     "I found a sword in the apartment last night...", Owen was still half in shock.
     "Phil left his broadsword behind? He did say he wanted to forget everything about this place. Do you know how to use it?".
     "No...".
     "We'll have to get you some lessons. Look, I know this is a lot to absorb, so why don't we talk about something else? There must be something you want to know.".
     Owen shook his head slightly, not wanting to think about demons and other dimensions.
     Finally he said, "Who's the girl in the apartment by the stairs?".
     "On the first floor? Left or right?".
     "On the right. Tall, long blonde hair, blue eyes...".
     Murray grinned from ear to ear, not noticing the door open behind him. The girl in question walked into the room, stopping by the door.
     "P.T.!", Murray blurted out, still looking at Owen.
     The girl's eyes turned hard as diamonds as she grabbed a folding chair, and snuck up to Murray.
     Murray continued, oblivious to his surroundings, "I could tell you some stories about her. I remember once we were...".
     He never got a chance to finish as the chair came into contact with the back of his head. Murray flopped forward onto the floor, and Owen jumped up onto the chair, ready to make a mad dash for the door.
     The girl dropped the chair on Murray's head and walked up to Owen, holding out her hand and she said in a sweet voice, "Hi, I'm Elizabeth, but you can call me Beth. Don't mind him, he's just my ex.".
     Owen slowly reached out his hand and Beth shook it, giving him the same friendly smile she'd given him that morning.
     "Umm...".
     "Don't ask. Really. And it doesn't mean what you think it means.".
     "Okay...".
     "I should be going now. I just heard you asking about me so I thought I'd stop in. And to answer your question, yes, I am single. Bye!".
     Owen lowered his legs onto the floor and shook Murray gently by the shoulders. Just as he was about to find a phone and call an ambulance, Murray finally started to regain consciousness.
     "She was behind me the whole time, wasn't she?".
     "No, just for the embarrassing and violent parts. Will you be okay?".
     "Sure, it happens to me all the time. Just knock on Robert's door and tell him I did it again. He knows what to do.".
     Owen left the room and followed Murray's instructions to the letter. Robert went down the hallway shaking his head in disdain, and Owen went up to his apartment.

     Owen let himself into the apartment. Even though he'd only been up for a few hours, he came to the conclusion that what he needed right now was a nap. He went into the kitchen, poured himself the last of the iced tea, drank it, and turned down the hallway to his room.
     A familiar voice came from the A/V room, "Umm, I helped myself to a beer. I hope you don't mind.".
     "No, help yourself. I'm going to take a nap.".
     "Okay. Umm, I'll just make myself at home in here. Mind if I watch a movie?".
     "Sure. The DVD player is all hooked up.".
     "Okay, I think I can figure this out. Enjoy your nap.".
     "I will.".
     Owen opened his door and laid on his back, staring up at the ceiling. It was seconds later that he sat bolt upright, jumped out of bed and charged into the next room.
     Kneeling in front of his entertainment centre was a large bipedal lizard, entirely black except for the blood red tiger stripes on its back. It was examining the buttons on the front of the DVD player, scratching itself under the chin with a human-like hand.
     It turned it's head around and looked at Owen as he stood in the doorway.
     "Oh, good, you're not asleep yet. Umm, I'm not really good with technology, so could you show me how to work this? And recommend a good movie, too? I don't recognize most of these.".
     Owen fainted.

     Owen woke up on the couch in the A/V room, with an unfamiliar man sitting in the chair nearby.
     "Umm, sorry about that. I forgot that humans can be a little shocked by my appearance. Beer?".
     The man held out a can to Owen. He took it and took a sip of the contents, then paused to study the man in the chair. He was tall and thin, with short jet black hair and a carefully trimmed goatee. He was dressed in an expensive looking dark grey suit with gold cufflinks and tie-clip.
     "Is this better?", the man asked. His voice was the same as the voice from the closet and the lizard in the A/V room.
     "You're... Kexrouth?", Owen stammered.
     "Umm, yes. I hope I didn't scare you too much. I came out because I smelled chicken, and I saw all of this.", he waved his hand towards the electronics, "Umm, it looked interesting. Phil was kind of spartan.".
     "Scare me?", Owen chortled sarcastically, "If this had been any other day I'd have run away screaming. But considering that in the course of an afternoon I've seen a demon chicken shot dead right in front of me, and the most beautiful woman I've even met lives downstairs and I think she kind of likes me, why should I be scared that I have a demon in my closet.".
     Owen took another drink of beer.
     "Umm, okay...", Kexrouth looked a little confused.
     Owen sighed, and said, "Why are you living in my closet?".
     Kexrouth beamed, "Umm, that I can answer. I need to live near the energies of my home dimension, or I'll die. When I came through the barrier, I ended up in what's now your bedroom. Umm, no-one was living here at the time, so I squatted here until Phil moved in. He let me stay as long as I washed the dishes and vacuumed. I set up a pocket dimension to live in inside the closet. It's nice. I'd take you there, but the atmosphere would eat your lungs and sear your eyes.
     "I know it's a big favour to ask, but I was hoping maybe I could keep the same arrangement I had before?".
     Kexrouth looked at Owen with a hopeful grin.
     Jim's voice came from the other end of the apartment, "Hey, Owen! You here? Somebody let me in at the front door.".
     Owen looked at Kexrouth, hoping he could turn himself invisible, or teleport, or anything. Kexrouth shrugged his shoulders and shook his head, guessing what Owen was thinking.
     Jim walked into the A/V room, carrying two large grocery bags.
     "Hi, I don't think we've met. I'm Jim, and you are?".

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