“Dude. I have to show you something.”

That was Silas, my roommate of three years. I had no idea he was in the living room when I entered the apartment. When I turned the lights on and saw the excitement in his eyes, it was clear that he was waiting for me. Beyond that, it was creepy and weird, especially since he was sitting in the dark.

"We're you just sitting in the dark?" I asked.

Silas shook his head, "Not important."

"I mean, kind of. Who the hell just sits in the dark? Are you okay?" I asked.

Silas nodded, "I'm just dandy Riggs, but I'm about to be much better. And I think you will be too."

He narrowed his eyes and pointed at me with the word "too." All of his characteristics were off. Silas was never this peppy, he never sat in the dark...he barely talked to me. I opened my mouth to say something, but he interrupted me.

"Walk with me to my room. I have to show you something."

"You seem off Silas." It was all I could manage.

"Trust me, you're going to want to see this."

"Did you even hear what I said, Silas? Are you okay?"

He brushed past me toward the hallway that led to our rooms. "Come here, Riggs. I think you're going to like this."

I cautiously made my way down the hall and into Silas's room. Following him toward the window. I followed his overly enthusiastic stare to the man who lived below us.

"Okay," I started. "It's just that piece of shit Frankie. What? Do you have a better vantage point of him for when he starts to smoke and cough up a lung?"

Silas shook his head, "Hush. Now check this out."

I have to be honest. I never thought much of Silas. For the past three years, he was just my roommate. Just a random guy on Craigslist who needed a place to live. We kept to ourselves and that's the way I liked it. He stayed out of my personal life and I granted him the same favor. I couldn't even recall the last time I was in his room.

I nervously stared down at Frankie as he lit the blunt between his fingers and placed it between his lips. I could feel Silas's eyes on me, and through my peripherals, I could tell that he was barely moving and that he wasn't blinking. I slowly turned to meet Silas's, wide-eyed glare. At that moment he scared me, and it dawned on me that I didn't want to see what he wanted to show me.

"Watch," Silas mouthed, in an almost flirtatious manner.

He formed a gun with his right hand, closing his right eye as though he were aiming down its sights. He pointed it at Frankie who was oblivious to the fact that we were staring at him from the upstairs window.

"Bang," Silas whispered.

Frankie got to his feet, in an almost robotic manner. He pushed the chair out from under him with such an abrupt force that it toppled over. The joint dangled loosely from his lips, before falling to the patio table and then onto the cement. He raised his right arm before him, the back of his hand arched upward and toward his face, as though he were assessing his nails. His left arm shot up and forward, and then snapped toward his right hand, grabbing his thumb.

I could hear a giggle escape Silas's lips, and then Frankie broke his own thumb. The crack was loud, it sounded like a small tree snapping into two. Frankie let out a howl of excruciating pain, one so loud that it set the neighborhood dogs into a frenzy. A flock of birds fled from their trees as though they sensed an unseen danger.

"Oh my god!" I screeched, stumbling away from the window.

A devilish smirk spread across Frankie's face, his eyes were wide and bloodshot. He didn't even look recognizable. He aimed his handgun at Frankie again, his eyes not leaving mine.

"Bang...Bang!" He said.

I watched in horror as Frankie collapsed to his knees. He grabbed his pointer finger and middle finger and then viciously pulled them to the left. Two cracks cut through the sky, making my ears pop.

"What the fuck? Silas!? Knock it off!! What the hell's wrong with you?" I screamed.

Silas chuckled, "It's all in good fun Riggs. It's not like we like this piece of shit."

I shook my head, "Dude. I don't know what the fuck is going on. But you need to stop this."

"Oh...no no no Riggs." Silas sang. "You have to see the best part."

He aimed his handgun at Frankie again and said Bang. I couldn't even hear it over our neighbor's wails and screams. I peered out the window, my eyes fixated on the three fingers that dangled about on his right hand. I could see his strained breathing as his left hand wrapped around his right wrist. He extended his right arm forward and readjusted his stance, and then he viciously drove his right knee into his right elbow.

One.

Two.

Three.

Each strike caused him to scream in pain, before finally breaking his arm in two. I watched in horrified slow motion as the bone from his forearm sliced through his skin. As the blood gushed out from his wound and rained down onto the pavement.

I backed away, stumbling over my own feet, my eyes not leaving Silas as he turned toward me.

"Stay the fuck away from me," I demanded.

He still wasn't blinking and the smile across his cheeks never faded. I continued to back away, toward the door of his bedroom...

And then I stopped. I couldn't move. It was as though my body were consumed with a form of paralysis. It felt as though the only thing I had control over were my eyes. I tried to scream but I couldn't. My eyes shot over to Silas who stood in front of me. He raised his handgun and aimed it directly at me.

"Bang."