October 20th

Donald wasn't too surprised when his neighbor was evicted. The man was disgusting. His teeth were rotten and black, his hair was always oily and matted, and he consistently had a uniquely disgusting odor that hovered around him. The day after his eviction, people came into the house in hazmat suits, carried out the carpet and leftover belongings and loaded this into a truck, sealing it off so nobody could smell it. He suspected that the neighbor was cooking meth, and felt lucky his own house had never been collateral damage in an explosion.

When he looked up police calls online, he noticed that there was indeed a drug related arrest in his area, although the details beyond this were not available. It was a relief to him, not having to deal with the erratic behaviors of a man who knocked down his fence because he decided to chop down a tree with a hatchet, a man who attempted to build a log cabin in the backyard, who picked up road kill for use as fertilizer — he was just weird.

The night after he was gone, Donald went outside to take out the trash. He noticed a pumpkin with a rat carved into it, a candle burning on the inside. It sat on the vacant house's porch. When he looked at the house, he realized the windows were all open. All of the screens were missing. He stared into one of them and saw the carpet removed with the bare concrete slab showing. He let curiosity get the best of him, and lifted himself up on the ledge to climb through the window. The house was dark, the smell of drugs still wavering, not completely aired out — and might never be. He walked through the house, exploring it, curious as to how bad the strange man had destroyed everything.

He came to a room in the back corner and found his neighbor, squatting on the floor, completely nude.

"You were evicted," Donald said.

His neighbor looked up at him, blood dripping down his chin and onto his chest. He smiled and revealed his black teeth, soaked in red blood. In his hand was a dead rat, its head severed. He could see fur in his neighbor's teeth. The neighbor lunged towards him, attempting to attack. Donald punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground.

"You sick son of a bitch," he said. "You need help, rehab, something."

The neighbor let out a raspy, hoarse breath. Before Donald could understand what was happening, rats from all directions lunged towards him. They bit his flesh, tore his skin, ate into his belly, into his organs beneath. Donald screamed in pain as they ripped at his heart until it stopped beating. His neighbor emitted a raspy laugh, spraying rat's blood from his lips.

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