I am enrolled in a prestigious academy, one of the most top rated schools in the country; UA High.

For personal reasons, I share a room with another guy. The both of us could afford the room, rather than us going off on our own-- struggling to come up with money in order to stay here. We figured that splitting the rent would be easier.

Recently, I've discovered that my room mate leaves almost every night. There are some occasions where I'd be dozing off from doing my homework, and I'd hear a heavy click from my room.

It was only a few steps over from the the front door of the dormitory, and usually I don't bother asking why he came home so late. Well, I did once. I guess he was in a distasteful mood, or at least he wore that kind of demeanor that day.

There was this distinct and potent odor emitting from his body as he came inside. I greeted him; trying to look as comfortable as possible. The smell seemed so unreal, hard to almost impossible to come by, and metallic.

Being the courteous guy I was, I decided to make the situation much more lighter after it became too suffocating. "Sheesh dude. Did you just come back from the afterlife? You reek man." He didn't say not a word, steal a glance over, I didn't even think he was breathing at some point. All he did was look at me with unsettling, icy eyes. The amount of uneasiness coursing through my veins was unbearable.

"Just go shower man, you need it." I dismissed the awkward conversation with a wave. By then, I decided to sit in my room and give further thought to his peculiar behavior. When they first met, he seemed approachable and easy-going.

"Damn... a heads up would've be nice. I wouldn't have roomed with a weird person." Admittedly, I began to regret the decision I made; subconsciously.

I vividly remember how the door to his room never opened.

Now, I look back at the situation and noticed how wary I was of him. It was harsh of me, and he was actually a pretty chill guy after that.

My eyes were fixated on the large, flat screen TV hanging from the pastel white painted walls. Sounds of the crashes of lightning and the booming of thunder was no longer leaving a lingering, frightening effect on me. While I sat in front of the screen, I browsed through channels to relieve me of my boredom.

"Is there nothing good to watch?" The channels were limited, since both of us neglected to pay the fee. Though to be honest, my roommate hardly contributed to anything. I was always restocking the refrigerator and the bills were all making my wallet cry-- which he agreed to help out with. On the bright side, the laundry seemed to only be filled with my clothes, and the bills weren't that high.

Though, it was almost as if he wasn't living here at all.

I was cuddled up in my blanket, joyously enjoying the warmth it brought to me, as well as the comforting texture that pressed against my fair skin. The news channel abruptly came to mind, so I decided to stop by.

"A typhoon is scheduled to make a destructive appearance in xxx - xxx district. Please prepare for the worst. An evacuation will be performed if the storm becomes too powerful."

"Well that's something. I expected as much, but to think this has shocked me; me." That was a pun. Just as I made that regrettable joke, the lights did a timely flicker before shutting off, leaving me in the dreadful darkness.

"How godsend." I pressed the ball points of my feet against the glossy, hardwood flooring before standing to my feet. The rush of the decreased blood flow caused me to become lightheaded, resulting in my stumble. I regained my balance just as easily as I had lost it.

I waltzed over to the lights, hastily pushing it up and down in hopes of getting them to turn on. After a moment, a heavy sigh escaped my lips. There was nothing for me to do, except for trying to balance the switch on the outlet box evenly between on and off.

There was a creaking noise coming from down the hall, so I assumed it was my roommate exiting to complain about how the power shut off in the middle of his intense Overw*tch comp gameplay.

My hands held and secured the blanket around my shoulders, I felt a sniffle coming on as I peered around the wall and out to the hall. In the corner of my eyes, I could have sworn I made out a figure just watching me with a sinister glare, and a malicious smile. Before I could look over--

"Achoo!" A sneeze sounded, snot getting wiped away by the blanket that stuck to me. "I guess I was imagining things. I'm not a very good people person after all. Maybe that was my brain telling me to get some more sunlight." I glanced over down the hall once more, deciding to go pick my roommates brain for a few minutes. It was a daily thing.

My feet was dragged against the floor as I wore my favorite pair of cozy p*kachu slippers. As I approached, I began to get a good view of the door in front of me. It was shut? I couldn't help but feel this awkward discomfort. I paid an attentive glance over my shoulder before my knuckles made a rhythmic knock against the firm door.

"Hey man, you alright in there?" There was no response, nor any signs of video games, his favorite show, or a powered platform in general. Maybe he was asleep.

I decided to go take a warm nap in the dire coldness. As much as I'd like to adjust the air conditioning, my roommate held a strict policy regarding it for some reason. I wanted to at least warm up the dorm a bit, but he gave me this harsh glare and told me that he didn't really want me touching it. Ever since then, I haven't really came into contact with the thermostat.

Despite his efforts, it did always seem as though he was putting on this act. His emotions weren't always 100% genuine. I haven't done anything to cause him to be two-faced, just thought it was the type of person he was.

Since there was no response, I concluded that he was either away, or sleeping; I went to my room for a long, comfortable slumber.

After a while, the sun was now lowered and no longer peering over the horizon. Instead, it was hiding away for it's timely rest, leaving me in an even more dimmer room. My eyes took a moment to re-adjust to the darkness surrounding me. They were dilated, discreetly taking advantage of my glances around the room to grasp onto any source of light.

It had been hours, and I was still left alone without any electricity. "This typhoon is going to be the death of me... what am I to do here?" I took my hands and rubbed my eyes, gradually feeling every single one of my limbs. Despite this, there was pressure on my body. I could feel as though a ton of metal was keeping me bound to my bed.

My heart rate began to accelerate, and I lowered my eyes to catch the figure pinning me down.

The sight terrified me, and made my stomach churn out of lengthy fear. It was my roommate, except he appeared to be damaged. His skin lingered off what was left of his figure, which left decomposing patches of blemished flesh.

I felt like I was going to sick, so my lips pursed and I gagged; almost immediately looking anywhere but at his face.

I blinked and the monstrosity was no longer in sight, I was relieved of the feeling of heaviness. My body leaned over on it's own, my hand frantically grasped the bowl containing soggy corn flakes and room temperature milk, only to have gagged and hurled into it.

The rooms were getting noticeably warmer despite the chill I had received. My feet began to trudge, dragging my slippers against the floor while I went to empty the contaminated bowl; shivering by my daze earlier.

"This is why I should sleep more." As I passed by my roommates room, there was a familiar order.

Whiff, whiff.

"I guess he's back at it again." I so rudely presumed, leaning forward. He always had a peephole on his door, but I never had the courage to peek into it till now.

My hands pressed firmly against the cold, smooth wood before my right eye instinctively closed. The room was also dark, but there was something that stood out. A glimmer, a shine from a penny... but before i could observe any further, there was a gust of wind that zipped by me, followed by a loud crash.

I nearly jumped back, going to look at the commotion. It came from outside. The door handle rattled as I juggled the locks, eventually managing to fling the door back.

I was in shock; eyes widened, yet still not wide enough to comprehend what was in front of me.

There was a large tree, timely struck down by the threatening lightning. I didn't even budge, not at all attempting to move it.

There were gaps... and what I was able to see beyond it made me slack-jawed. The crashing of lightning caused me to take a step back, but my eyes didn't dare glance away from the gaps between the foot of the door and the tree, as well as the roof of the apartment complex and tree.

"There is power! But.... why is mine the only one off?"

Again, that unsettling feeling came to torment me. My unsteady hands closed the door shut. There was no way I could manage to squeeze my large figure through either of those crevices and I'm on the fourth floor.

From then on, all I did was coop myself up in my locked room. Hours, days, weeks had passed and so far I heard nothing. I sat there in distress, gnawing on my last strand of beef jerky I had so fortunately saved.

That stench was getting worse and it was getting hotter. The A/C was probably out, so the thought never came to mind about attempting to mess with it; wasn't an option.

"God, that smells horrible... or maybe it's just me." Meanwhile, my sanity was emitting and slipping away through every nook and cranny in the apartment. I was starving, barely able to move a limb. My roommate hasn't left the room since they last spoken, so it was natural to want to at least exchange a conversation to see how things were going.

"It has been a while since the power went out, I lost track..." My tone was low, effortless. It sounded as though as I was going to fall into a deep slumber for a millennial. My knuckles lightly tapped the door, grazing it like a bit of wind for a summer breeze.

The odor had only gotten stronger from there. I didn't plug my nose, nor try to stop breathing. My senses were gradually worsening, anyway. My eyes locked with the peephole once more. As much as my mind told me to retreat back into my safe place, my body naturally started and drawn closer to the door.

My eyes were preparing itself for the terror behind the door while looking through the peephole, but the door shifted. I easily lost balance, stumbling forward while my hands reached to grab something, anything in haste.

I made contact into something dry after knocking something over, I nearly fell with it and made a bigger disruption. There was no response, so I began to think of only negative, disturbing events that may have taken place there.

To my surprise, there was a timely flicker before the entire room lit up. My eyes readjusted, practically wincing at that rush of brightness beaming down on my features. There was a crunch and a squish as I stepped forward to blink my eyes to recovery. It felt disgusting underneath my feet, and my eyes wasn't yet able to focus.

It took a moment, and when I regained perfect vision again, I wish I never had received it again.

There was my roommate. His back was firmly pressed against the wall while a knife was lodged into his throat, digging it's way to reach the back. His blood stained his rotted clothes, nothing would bring those stains out.

I cringed, taking steps back with wild fear and anxiety.

I was too frozen to even notice the letter resting beside him, as well as the articles regarding recent murders and convictions of sexual assault.

My heart sunk, before being followed by the pitter-patter of my heart rate.

The crunch... was finger tips.
The squish... a patch of flesh.
And the gasp for air and thud was of my body, now becoming a lifeless husk.

"There was a missing kid in there?"

"Yeah, they say he's been reported for about a month now. They are just now finding his body, as well as a murderer in that apartment. They went to the same school and were classmates."

"So did the murderer kill him? His own friend? That's horrible!"

"No, actually. The murderer died days before he did, it was a suicide apparently."

"That kid must've been in his own world to let himself die from shock and starvation after having all that power, food, and water to live off of."