12:07 AM, fifteen minutes since I crashed in the living room. The living room is described with adjectives that are exactly opposite to its name: Dark, dungy, and unliveable. As I settle in, I hear it again. The beeping has started in this room as well. What is up with the smoke detectors tonight? I groan out loud and head to the kitchen to check if something is wrong or if it is just the most bizarre coincidence.

Beep! Blink! Beep!

I feel like I have exceeded my point of exhaustion, and the sleep has evaded me.

THUD!

Not a single housemate is at home right now. I head upstairs, and I see the water bottle knocked and an open window. The wind. I am hyper-aware of the sounds. I shut the window. Head to the bed.

Maybe one of the sleep podcasts can help. I cannot be yawning in the class tomorrow. Put on my headphones to help shut the BEEP! and play the podcast. The moment I start to feel drowsy again night light goes off. Ugh! I’ll just sleep with the lamp on, darkness isn’t acceptable. I get out of the cocoon I had made for myself to turn on the switch.

THUD!

I remember I had shut the window.

I leave the room. I see the clock on the first-floor landing. I turn around. THUD! I feel a stinging pain on my head as a set of gloves-wearing hands hit me with a pipe. The pain blinds me.

I wake up, and I hear the familiar beeping. I see the clock on the wall of my room. It’s exactly 12:07.

BEEP!