It was just another regular Wednesday night at the University of Southern California. Michael a sophomore was in his apartment preparing dinner with some fresh ingredients that he had just purchased at Trader Joe's. As he took out the pound of ground meat from the grocery bag, he heard a quiet voice come from his suitemate's bedroom. He peered over the open refrigerator door and to his right towards the pitch black bedroom. The bedroom door was wide open but there were no lights or anything to indicate that anyone was inside. As he quietly shut the fridge door, he sensed something behind him and quickly whipped around.
"Holy shit!" yelled his roommate Stephan who was on his phone with his air-pods in blasting music so loud, that Michael could hear it.
"Bruh! what are you doing? Your lights are all off, I thought you were out of the apartment" replied Michael.
"I was taking a nap dude," said Stephan as he moved past Michael and went into the fridge looking for his Trader Joe's chocolate milk.
Michael sighed and looked over at the kitchen oven. The digital clock at the top read 10:56pm in blocky green letters. He looked down to the left and noticed that the plastic trash bin was overflowing again. Guess I'll take out the trash he thought to himself as he lifted the heavy bag and pulled the strings tight.
As he walked to the door, he noticed that the fridge door was still ajar. Michael looked around for Stephan but didn't see him in the living room. Ugh this is like the fifth time he's forgotten to shut the fridge this week.
Grabbing the trash bag with his left hand, he carried it over to the door before opening it with his free hand. After stepping outside into the hallway and hearing the door slam shut, Michael felt that familiar unease hit him.
"Crap I forgot to bring my ID," he mumbled out loud. For a second, Michael was about to go knock on the door but remembered that he at least had his phone so he could call Stephan to open the door. Turning away from the door, he began to walk down the hallway. On his right were windows that overlooked the outdoor patio. The hanging lanterns and standing lamps illuminated the patio in contrast to the dark night sky. Turning back to his left, he noticed the two study rooms that were usually occupied at this hour were completely dark.
Hm that's strange. As he turned ahead once more, he felt a sudden impact push into his left shoulder.
"Watch where you're going!" said the gruff voice of a student who Michael had run into.
"Sorry my bad," Michael mumbled but by this time, the student had already jogged past him disappearing around the bend in the hallway. After a short walk, he finally reached the trash disposal room. Stuck to the door was a crinkled white piece of paper with red smeared stains that read...
