I clicked off my bedside lampshade and got ready to scroll through Reddit until I fell asleep. I laughed at the first humorous post I saw.
“Fucking dork.” I heard a familiar voice whisper from somewhere eerily close to me. I quickly reached over and turned on my lamp, illuminating the view of my roommate setting down the glass of water I had just gotten.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I asked. We had only moved into this apartment two weeks ago, and we hadn’t spoken to each other much except for the occasional small talk.
“Calm down dude. This is why you’re still single at 27, you’re always so tense. Chill the fuck out.” My roommate responded.
At this point I was ticked off.
“What do you want?” I asked him.
“Just saying goodnight.” he replied just as a smirk formed on his face
He left the room and I got up to close and lock my door. I was already considering moving out because of his sheer laziness and lack of picking up after himself, and this action only made me consider it more. I sat down on my bed and reached for my glass of water, as I put the glass to my lips I instantly noticed that something smelled very off, like chemicals.I took my lips off of the glass and examined the water. A white cloudy substance was clearly visible.
Did this motherfucker drug my water?
Anger enveloped me and I got out of my bed and entered my roommate’s room to confront him.
“What the fuck did you do to my water?” I asked him.
He laughed before stating: “I didn’t do anything to your water. If you’re wondering why it’s cloudy it’s because the pipes in our area have been acting up lately.”
I left his room without saying anything. I knew damn well he did something to my water but I was too tired to care. I had already made my mind up, I was going to move out by next week with no notice. I smiled at the idea of him struggling to pay rent each month. His only source of income is “Borrowing” money from his scumbag friends he constantly brings over, and selling bagged oregano to middle school kids.
I entered my room and locked my door once again. I grabbed my water and poured it down my bathroom sink. I thoroughly washed it with soap and water before filling it up once again. My suspicion that he had done something to my water had grown when I examined my new glass of water and saw that it was perfectly clear. I set my water down and sat on my bed. I scrolled online looking for other places to move to, but until then I planned to stay at my moms house for a few weeks.
I awoke the next morning to the uncomfortable and shocking sensation of water and not being able to breathe. I opened my eyes and was met with the view of my roommate placing down a bucket of water and taking a rag off of my face. I was in total and utter shock, I felt completely violated and I struggled to breathe. I gasped for air as he pulled out his smartphone and started recording for me. He started laughing so hard his face turned bright red.
“DID YOU WATERBOARD ME?!” I screamed in pure rage once I had caught my breath enough.
“Look how mad you are! Your face is Priceless!” he replied and then continued to laugh.
Pure fury overtook me. I screamed and charged at him, knocking him down. I relentlessly and brutally punched his face until he was nearly unconscious.
I turned to face my door and saw that he had carved out a hole as a means to bypass me locking it.
“WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?” I screamed at him.
“Just… a.. Prank..” he replied in mumbles, fading in and out of consciousness.
I had made a new decision. I was no longer moving out next week, I was moving out right then and there. I stood up and left him on the floor. I sent a quick and shaky text to my mom, something along the lines of:
“Hey, I need to crash at your place for a bit. My roommate is fucking crazy.”
I packed up everything I needed within an hour. I walked to the front door to leave the apartment, which is right next to my roommates room. I placed my hand on the doorknob but stopped when I was hit with the most rancid, putrid, and overpowering smell I had experienced in my lifetime. I placed my suitcase down and decided to do a little snooping. He was unconscious in the other room, after all. I entered his room and gagged, I had to place my fingers over my nose to not be sick.
I looked at his nightstand and saw multiple packs of white pills. I picked it up and read the name:
“Rohypnol”
I pulled out my smartphone and was in the midst of searching up the name when I was suddenly assaulted in the back of the head.
“Augh!” I screamed.
I turned around and my eyes met my disgruntled roommate looking furious.
“Get.. out of my room!” he mumbled angrily.
I laughed and pushed him to the ground.
“Fuck off!” I yelled as I left the apartment with all of my things.
I was still in a little bit of shock from being woken up to what could have very well been a murder attempt covered up as a prank. After 3 hours of a long and reflective drive, I arrived at my mothers house. She welcomed me and gave me her condolences about my roommate when I explained to her what he had done. I spent the rest of the day catching up with my mother and being grateful I wasn’t in the same apartment as my psychotic roommate.
The clock rolled around to 10:00 PM, and I was feeling sleepy. I opened the door to my childhood bedroom and was overwhelmed with nostalgia. I jumped onto my bed and closed my eyes. My mind began to race with anger from this mornings and last night’s incidents, making it hard to fall asleep. After hours of trying to fall asleep, I called it quits. I opened my eyes and grabbed my smartphone from my nightstand. I was going to get some petty revenge on my roommate. I went to the DEA website and filled out the form, tipping them off about his illegal sales of “Marijuana” to middle school children.
I imagined him trying to explain to law enforcement that he was only selling oregano, the thought made me smile with amusement. My revenge left me feeling satisfied, and I was able to fall asleep.
My slumber unfortunately didn’t last long, as I woke up to footsteps in the hallway. I instantly became paranoid, thinking I was still at the apartment in my half asleep-half awake state. I calmed down slightly when I remembered the fact I was at my mothers house, but I was still a little bit concerned about the footsteps.
“Mom?” I called out.
There was no answer.
“Mom is that you?” I called out once again.
There was still no answer, and this time I noticed the footsteps getting faster and closer.
I could recognize my mothers footsteps, and these certainly were not hers.
“Shit!” I mumbled to myself just before throwing off my blankets and getting out of bed. I ran to the bedroom door and closed it shut. It didn’t have a lock, so I pressed my body against it. Soon enough, the door knob began to rattle rapidly. I gasped from fear.
“Mark, I know you’re in there.” My roommate said with a chuckle just before starting to bang on the door. I was struggling to keep the door closed with my body.
“Carlos? Are you mentally insane? What the hell are you doing in my moms fucking house!”
“Do you remember when you got a notification that an air tag was found near you when you first moved in?” Carlos replied.
My stomach sank. I remembered the notification well, but I brushed it off at the time.
“You put it in my car.” I replied shakily.
“Ding, Ding, Ding!” Carlos replied to my realization.
Carlos continued to try and open the door while I tried to press my body into it as much as I could.
“MOM!!! CALL THE POLICE!” I screamed just before beginning to cry.
“You can scream for her as much as you want, but she won’t hear you.” Carlos stated in a nonchalant tone.
My world went quiet. At that moment it had become obvious that he had done something to my mother.
“WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO MY MOTHER?!” I screamed at the top of my lungs in absolute rage and fury.
Carlos replied silently by stopping his attempts to open the door, it was clear my scream had startled him a great amount.
I decided to try and take advantage of his stunned state. I opened the door and was ready to attack, but I quickly ducked down when I saw the gun he was holding. I instinctively ducked, and immediately after he pulled the trigger and a bullet shot out of the gun right where my head was just a milliseconds ago. I kicked him hard in his privates, causing him to drop the gun. I reached for the gun, but so did he. We both had our grip on the gun, his hand was on the trigger, and mine on the muzzle. He pulled the trigger and my hand was shot by the bullet.
“AUGHHH” I screamed, the adrenaline didn’t allow me to feel the physical pain just yet, but the knowledge that I had just been shot was enough to make me yelp. I could see he was about to take advantage of my vulnerable state, so I didn’t let him. I grabbed his hand and turned the gun so the muzzle was facing his face. I managed to pull the trigger and his shoulder got shot. The sound of the gun made me recoil and lose my grip on him. He started to scream and yell profanities at me while running away. I heard the door open and close. I ran to the front door and saw there was a hole carved into it as well.
“Damn it!” I grunted. The pain from my gunshot wound was kicking in. I went back into my room and took off my shirt. I tied a tourniquet around the wound and applied pressure. I walked to my nightstand and picked up my Smartphone. I dialed 911 and explained the incident to them. While waiting for help to arrive, I went into my mothers room and saw that she was fast asleep in bed. I turned on the lights and luckily didn’t see any signs of death. I checked if she had a pulse and was breathing, and I took a sigh of relief when the answer was affirmative. I turned to face the water on her nightstand.
It was only half full and a cloudy white substance was visible. It was obvious that he drugged my mother with the same thing I had attempted to drug me with the previous night. Shivers ran through me when I realized he must have been in the house for a while before he made his move. He was waiting for my mother to drink the water he had drugged so she couldn’t be of any help in the situation. Within a few minutes officers arrived at my home. I was taken to the emergency room in an ambulance. I was in the hospital for 2 days, they determined the shot did not hit any nerves or cause fracturing. During my stay they mainly just ran some tests and gave me pain medication. My mother visited me and was by my side during my stay. I profusely apologized to her for how i put her in danger by going to her home.
She of course told me that it wasn’t my fault and I had nothing to be sorry for, but I couldn’t help but believe otherwise. I was sent home and the police explained they would have cars patrolling the neighborhood as Carlos had still not been found. I was happy to hear that, it made me feel the tiniest bit safer in a place I was already supposed to be safe in. Eventually it was 12:00 am and I couldn’t fall asleep. I was filled with paranoia, it felt like I was hearing his footsteps every minute. Eventually I got tired of my mind racing and knew that I had to do something to get my mind off of things. I settled on a late night trip to the convenience store to get some melatonin and a light snack. I got out of bed and entered my car. I placed the keys in the ignition and began to drive.
After a few minutes of driving, I had arrived at my destination. I stepped out of my vehicle and entered the store. Anxiety and fear ran through me when I saw who was in the checkout line. It was Carlos. I tried to make a sneaky getaway by quietly going into the first aisle, but it was too late; he had already seen me. I began to have what felt like a PTSD panic attack. The painful memories of the incident raced through my mind, and tears started to stream down my face. When he came into view once more, my panic attack subsided because I knew that he was coming towards me and my body went into survival mode. I instantly ran to the other aisle and made an exit through the store from the end of it. I ran for my car like my life depended on it, because it did.
The hairs on my body stood up when he forcefully opened the store doors and ran out. I became confused when I realized he wasn’t running towards me, but he was running to his car. I quickly realized what his plan was and entered my car. I shakily and quickly put the keys in the ignition and slammed on the gas. I was driving 60 over the speed limit and he was right on my tail. My old car couldn’t go any faster, but his car could. Within seconds his car was right next to mine. I screamed as he swerved his car to the side, trying to run me off the road.
I quickly realized that going off the road on my own terms would be more ideal than his car slamming into mine and forcibly pushing me off of the road. I slowed down and pulled over to the side of the road. I expected him to get out of the car, but instead I saw his car reversing as far back as he could. I realized that he was planning to ram into my car as fast as he could. As his car began to drive forward at a fast speed, I quickly opened my door and leaped in front of the car. I fell down on the ground stomach first and then immediately heard his car impact mine.
My heart began to beat rapidly and adrenaline surged through me. I knew that the impact must have harmed him at least a little bit too, so I knew I needed to take my chance to get away when he was vulnerable. I ran into the forest that surrounded each side of the woods. 30 seconds into running I heard him exit his car and start running towards me. I turned around and was bewildered by how fast he could run. I turned back around and picked up my pace to the fastest I could physically run. I decided that running wasn’t going to get me away from this guy. I was going to have to fight back. I stopped in my tracks and quickly picked up a large tree branch. He was about to charge me down but I stopped him by banging his head with the tree branch. He quickly fell what I thought was unconscious and I booked it out of the woods, and into the street. I ran fast.
After a few minutes of running I reached my house. I pushed open the door and ran inside. I caught my breath for a minute and then dialed 911.
Through shaky breaths I explained the incident to them in detail.
“Okay sir, we will send officers to the location of Carlos and to-” the operator started, but was cut off by the sound of breaking glass. I dropped the phone out of fear. Suddenly, I heard my mother shriek in fear, and just as suddenly, I heard a gunshot. I ran to my mothers room and stared in complete fear and shock at the gunshot wound on her forehead. I turned and saw Carlos jump out of the window. I followed him out and pinned him down from behind. He shot his gun to the side and in the air a few times until he had no more bullets to shoot. He began to hysterically scream and cry, but I kept my pin on him, I needed to avenge my mother. After a while of pinning him down, I heard police sirens in the distance grow closer and closer, until 3 cop cars were in my driveway. The police immediately saw that I had pinned him down and ran over to me. They told me that they could take it from here and arrest him. As they arrested him, I explained that he had just murdered my mother.
“HE’S LYING!” Carlos yelled in distress.
No one replied, and I watched as he was taken to the back of a police vehicle while continuing to scream and cry.
The realization that my mother was now deceased hit me, and hot tears rolled down my face. I stood there, frozen and silently sobbing.
The next few hours were a blur. I remember my brother coming and taking me back to stay at his place, sleeping, or at least trying to sleep on his sofa.
It has been 2 days since my mothers death. My brother and I are extremely sad and heart broken. I am constantly paranoid and on edge. I am now sitting on my brother’s couch and writing this as a way to get it all out. I am going to seek therapy for this absolutely traumatic event in my life.