Recently, my roommate has been sneaking out in the middle of the night.
For some context, we live in a small apartment complex, with two bedrooms, a kitchen, and just enough space for a small dining table. We met at a social drinking event in our first year of university and sort of clicked, so we decided to split the cost for an apartment near our university in our second year so that we wouldn’t have to spend so much timing commuting to school from our homes.
It was a hassle-free arrangement. We were both guys with barely any belongings, we studied hard, partied hard, took turns doing the dishes and such. We weren’t really the type to bring girls home, and sometimes we played video games together on the small TV in my room. To call us ‘friends’ felt a bit much, but we definitely weren’t strangers either. We minded our own business and engaged in polite small talk from time to time.
We were content living like this.
Until recently, he began to sneak out at night. He would specifically wait until I’d fallen asleep, and then slowly and silently slither his way out the front door, returning before the sun could even peek through the blinds of my room. How I found out was because he started to ask me what time I planned to go to bed every night. He made the excuse of saying that he needed to cram in extra studying hours at night because he was falling behind in class, and so he just wanted to know what time I’d go to bed so he’d know to keep quiet.
But he asked every, single night.
“Seb, what time are you knocking out tonight?”
“Hey Seb, midnight as usual?”
“Same time tonight Seb?”
He would try to say it in the most casual way possible and I never really noticed because I’d be exhausted from school every day and just mumble a reply before retiring to my room. Until recently of course, when my coursework had sort of calmed down and exam season was over, did I realise that this was not normal.
So I noticed him sneaking out every night, looking shifty-eyed and a little panicky, as if he were going out to do something illegal.
I’d like to believe that we were good law-abiding citizens. We never caused any trouble for anyone but ourselves. We were just two dudes trying to get through university. Of course this piqued my interest. We always minded each others’ business and never tried to poke our noses where they weren’t needed, but this was highly suspicious.
A month after the midnight outings started, I decided to follow him. My guilty conscience was tugging inside me, telling me to mind my own business, to just let him be. But how could I? He may be just a guy I was living with, but he was still my roommate. I deserved to know whatever shady business he was up to if one day the police showed up at the apartment and labelled me an accomplice for something I had absolutely no knowledge of.
So I waited a bit after he left that night, before leaving as well and following behind at a safe distance. He was wearing a dark hoodie and jeans with the hood pulled up. He never pulled up his hood during the day.
I followed him until we reached the neighbourhood clinic. He then disappeared into an alleyway beside the clinic. That alleyway was completely shrouded in darkness – I couldn’t trust myself to follow him in there without knowing where I was going so I was forced to wait round the corner of the clinic instead. After what felt like ages, he emerged from that alleyway, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. This time, that skittish energy I felt in him had completely gone, and he looked so relaxed, like he’d just gone for some kind of miracle massage session. He then walked-no- sauntered back to our apartment, and went straight to bed.
Now I wondered what the hell he had done or seen in that suspiciously dark alleyway that had gotten him so relaxed and happy. It had to be drugs. What else could give a person this much instant gratification? He’d even emerged wiping his mouth, so that had to be it. The question was- do I confront him? Drugs was not exactly uncommon at university. People did it at every house party they went to. The addiction was another thing- personally I had never known someone to get really addicted to them, and I never bothered to associate myself with those who were. I had assumed he was the same.
For the next few nights, I continued to observe him. He went to that exact same alleyway in a somewhat fidgety state, and seemingly emerged like he was born anew every time. Every part of this screamed drug addict. As his roommate, I felt like I was obliged to start becoming concerned about this.
“Hey Theo,”
Theo looked up from the book he was reading. “What’s up Seb?”
I blinked, before realising that he was wearing spectacles. I thought Theo had perfect vision. So I diverted.
“Since when did you start wearing specs?”
“Oh,” he chuckled dryly. “Yeah, I’ve really been struggling recently. Second year is no joke.”
“Right,” I replied, silently acknowledging the fact that he wasn’t wrong. His grades were plummeting recently. Maybe the drugs were a sort of coping mechanism.
“You doing good? Giving yourself enough breaks?” I quickly added after- “I realised myself that frequent short breaks really helps.”
“Ah,” he rubbed his neck. “Yeah… maybe you’re right. Breaks are good.”
Then there was a tense moment of silence as I wasn’t too sure how to continue.
“Hey, tell you what- instead of the midnight cramming tonight, let’s go grab some drinks. It’s Friday. Splurge a little.”
With that, he twitched ever so slightly before recovering- but I caught it.
“I’m not so sure man,” he said, pretending to check the time on his watch. “I’d have a guilty conscience if I drank now, especially since I haven’t been doing so great grades-wise.”
“There is nothing wrong with giving yourself a break- you yourself admitted it! Come on. Just for tonight. Then you can go back to your never-ending midnight cramming.”
He did not even give himself time to consider. “Sorry bro. Another time.”
I shrugged. I wasn’t a pushy type, and I did not plan to start making him suspicious of me.
I decided to pay the alleyway a visit myself- before he left. I would bring a torch, a knife for self defense, and a phone with the police on quick dial.
That night, I told Theo I’d gone to grab some midnight snacks from the nearby convenience store and left. When I reached the alleyway, I turned on my torch, gulped, and entered.
The alleyway wasn’t so dark such that I wouldn’t be able to see my hands in front of me, so I was still somewhat aware of what was around me when I entered, torch in one hand and phone in the other. It was just like any other alleyway- lined with bins and leaky pipes. Despite all that, I tripped on piece of garbage on the ground and scraped my knee. I’d always been a little clumsy, which made me wonder how I managed to trail Theo all these nights without injuring myself at some point.
Suddenly, a man emerged from behind a bin. He looked to be in his mid twenties, with a beard stubble and a mess of curly, black hair. He had a beard stubble and wore a white lab coat.
“I suspected as much,” he said as he took the cigarette he was smoking out his mouth and flicked it away.
“Who are you?” I demanded, my phone raised with the police just a button away.
“Who are you?” he countered, raising an eyebrow. “This is my clinic. It runs 24/7. Are you in need of some treatment?”
I blinked. Of course. The lab coat. Wait, so was Theo secretly sick? I’d come this far. I might as well go ahead with it.
“Do you know who Theophilus Chang is?”
“Theo? He’s one of my regulars. You his boyfriend or something?” The doctor produced another pack of cigarettes from within his coat and lit one.
“No! I’m just- I’m his roommate. A rather concerned roommate.”
“Hm,” he nodded as he took a puff. “Understandable I suppose. Theo’s been telling me he’s falling behind in school. Don’t blame him. He picked a pretty tough course.”
“Right. So is there a reason he’s been seeing you here in this alley instead of inside your clinic at this time of the night or is he a vampire?” I joked.
The doctor froze.
“How did you know?”
“Know what?”
“He-,” the doctor stopped himself. “I mean, know that he was coming to see me at this time every night?”
I noticed his shoulders tense up before relaxing again.
“I don’t want to sound like a stalker because I really am not,” I started- “but I’d like to think that we are friends, and that if he was involving himself in something dangerous, I would like to help him out.”
“Of course,” the doctor said. “I totally understand. You have nothing to worry about. I’m sorry I can’t reveal anything to you, patient’s confidentiality and all that, but I assure you that I too am helping him.”
“Okay, but at least tell me why it has to be at this time of the night in such a suspicious location?”
“Theo prefers it this way. He says he didn’t want to bother you, which is completely understandable.”
“That does not answer the alleyway.” I pushed. The doctor was clearly defecting. I study psychology and I could tell this doctor had been bullshitting his way through the moment I entered the alleyway.
“Sometimes we have a smoke together.”
“He does not smoke.”
“Maybe out of consideration for you?”
“He has made it abundantly clear that he despises smokers.”
“Have it ever crossed your mind that maybe he is lying to you?”
“About smoking? Or the fact that he is simply not seeing you due to his stress?”
“What is your problem?”
“Listen. I don’t know what kind of doctor you are to be seeing your patients in such circumstances, but no doctor I know does such a thing. And if Theo is unaware of that, I will make sure he is.”
With that, I turned and stormed off.
“I wouldn’t advise you to do that.” The doctor called after me, but I pretended not to hear him. He had an ominous change of tone in his voice, which did not sit well with me. As I walked back home, I spotted Theo walking towards me.
Shit, I forgot that he took this route every night.
Theo froze on the spot.
“Seb, what are you doing- why are you here? I thought you went to the- the-,” he paused and licked his lips. “The store.”
He looked bad tonight. In fact, he looked exactly like a drug addict suffering from withdrawals. Which didn’t make sense- if he had been going out every night, surely he wouldn’t be suffering from withdrawals?
He wasn’t wearing his glasses his time, and his hood cast a shadow over his eyes, but I could see them shaking. They were flicking back and forth between my eyes and my legs. On my scrape. His arms were wrapped around each other and he was shivering, despite it being not that cold tonight.
“Hey, Theo, you good?” I took a step towards him but he backed away.
“Sorry, please don’t follow me,” he hurriedly said as he tried to walk past me but I caught his arm. He flinched so hard, I immediately released my grip, almost as if I had electrocuted him. But just a few steps later, he collapsed against the wall of an estate and I hurried to steady him.
His arms were icy cold, and he was breathing hard. “Stop, go away. Stay away from me,” he gasped as he tried to weakly push me away.
“What’s going on? What wrong with you?” I said, panic swelling in my chest. “I’ll call the hospital-“
“No!” he suddenly yelled as he grabbed both my arms so tightly they hurt. “Don’t. They cannot find out.”
“Find out what?”
Completely ignoring my question, he continued – “Get out of here. Now. Hurry. Before – before I -,”
Nothing could have prepared me for what happened next. How could I? My suspicions of drug withdrawals were ringing alarm bells in my head. I thought it was serious. But not serious enough, apparently, as he parted his lips, and lunged for my throat.
Searing hot pain erupted from my neck as I was pinned to the ground by Theo. His hood had flown off and all I could see was the dark, night sky behind him, dotted with stars. Just like any other night. Paralysed from shock, I could not move as I felt him drain the blood from my neck.
Note:
I probably wrote this like ages ago and forgot to continue lol so I’m just gonna publish it anyway because it’s obvious where this is going lmao
Fiction from the soul 