It was already night when Lam staggered up the creaking stairs of the double-storey building.
He dug into his right pocket and pulled out a key which he inserted into a keyhole, twisted, and swung the door open.
He flipped a switch and made the light bulb flicker yellow flashes before lighting up the cramped room.
A sigh escaped from his mouth as he took off his worn sports shoes and ambled his way towards the centre of the room.
On his way there, he'd unintentionally kick balls of paper around the room away.
Lam arrived before a tea-table and landed on the soft cushion. On the table piled with paper, he grabbed a black remote and pressed the red button.
The television blinked to life and a middle-aged news reporter appeared on screen.
"Yesterday evening, a family discovered the body of an elderly woman in an apartment on the North West side. Police are trying to figure out who killed the 49-year-old and have assured us that they will catch the criminal and bring him to justice. We advise everyone to be cautious and take safe routes when travelling at night."
The background behind the news reporter transitioned to an image of a red moon.
"In other news, the event that transpired over a week ago is still being discussed around the world. Many people have commented that this phenomenon is a sign of good fortune while others consider it as a bad omen who claim that it's the en-"
The screen turned black and Lam slumped onto the cold floor cooling his body temperature.
He was sick and tired of hearing the same old news over and over again this week.
"This headache is becoming a pain in the ass."
He lifted his body and flung it onto the bed, sinking into the warm embrace of the soft mattress.
The events that rranspired that afterron raced through his mind as he closed his tired eyes.
With all his strength, he stretched his back and cracked it making sounds that satisfied him immensely. The pressure released and he laid there streching his limbs.
It was a great feeling and all he wanted to do was sleep this day away, but he had to hand up an assignment tommorrow.
So, with reluctance, he got up and made himself a cup of instant noodles before sitting at the table once again.
The smokey aroma drifted through the room enticing his saliva to dribble down his mouth. He picked a batch of thin strips with his chopsticks and slurped them up.
It didn't pack much of a punch, but he was satisfied enough that it filled him up.
He gobbled them up within minutes and eased onto the table with a full stomach, on the verge of slipping into a food coma.
The noodles was tasty enough that he could barely feel the headache anymore. All he wanted to do was sleep right then and there in peace.
But, he had a job to do so with a sheet of paper in front of him, he got his stationery case out of his backpack and he took out a pencil.
The lead tip pressed against the thin sheet and streaks of black stroked across the sheet intertwining and dancing with one another.
…
The hands of the clock ticked to two right on time with Lam stretching his back.
He could never get tired of that feeling which felt like bubbles were popping from his back.
Although the work before him didn't look satisfying to the naked eye, his brain couldn't rack up anything and the urge to sleep was strong.
"I can't draw for shit with this damn headache, but I can't afford to miss this deadline."
He rubbed his heavy eyes and contemplated what excuse he could come up with to extend his deadline when he heard giggling outside his room.
"Oh stop it dear. What if my neighbours hear us? Why don't we continue this inside?"
Lam's eyes widened shocking him from his tired state. 'When did Ms Jones get a lover? Isn't she 52 years old?'
He crawled towards his door, opened it, and peeked through the narrow slit with his brown eyes.
In the poorly lit corridor, a middle-aged man smashed his hands against the wall and pushed his lips against an old woman.
His kissing slowly trailed down her neck, making Ms Jones moan in delight.
Her wrinkled eyes revealed her lust for the man's muscular body as she tried to control the volume of her voice.
The man glanced at her for a moment and smirked. He gripped her hands firmer against the wall and increased the the rate of his indecent play.
Lam's face blushed with embarrassment from seeing such a godforsaken scene as he saw saliva slide into the crevices of her skin sticking to the folds. He couldn't help but squint in disgust.
'Okay… I think I've had enough. I'll feel like vomiting if I watch on.'
He clutched the handle and planned to close the door to leave them alone when something strange occurred.
The man's tender eyes turned into a demonic shade of vermillion and fangs extruded from his mouth.
His razor teeth sliced through Ms Jones skin without resistance, penetrating deep into her flesh which ripped apart the thin blood vessels.
As the scarlet fluid flicked onto his tongue, he moaned and latched onto the wound with his entire mouth and began to greedily suck upon it.
Ms Jones screamed in anguish and thrashed her feeble old arms around to fight off the man but it was no use.
A snap resonated into the night signalling the end of the screams.
Blood flowed down her neck and lay in pools around her corpse, soaking the man's light clothing.
Nausea clawed at Lam's throat as he watched and he treied to force the bile down, but it was too late.
The door swung open banging against the wall and chunks of digested food spewed out of his coughing mouth. His stomach kept on contracting and forced everything out onto the floor.
His face was pale and dripped with bile, sweat, and tears. He lurched forward and sunk to his knees, the pungent stench invaded his nostrils and he heaved once again even though there was nothing left to hurl out.
The man turned around due to the loud noises and saw Lam kneeling in a disgusting pool of vomit.
Lam lifted his head with his sore throat and made contact with the killer's vermillion eyes.
"Fuck."