Spent

It had been three months since Lam’s fiance, Alexei, left him. She described him as pompous and greedy, not to mention his spending habits had cost them their downtown studio apartment. Lam’s lavish taste had cost almost all of Alexei’s paychecks and that was the last straw. Lam’s life had devolved into living alone in a tiny single room apartment on the outskirts of town living off imitation crab and french toast sticks. Although Lam had a roof over his head and a fairly nice and warm place to stay, he thought the apartment depressing and that he had nothing left. Gone were the days of squandering money, buying the trendiest shoes, fine dining every night, and a sleep number bed.

The breakup made Lam furious since he could never see what Alexei meant about him. He wasn’t greedy. Sure, he liked the occasional private massage and a new car; but who didn’t? Alexei had a career in business going strong, giving Lam the lush environment he so thrived in. But now that Lam was alone, he had to get a job for the first time. Over the last few weeks he had rotated through workplaces, getting fired from every one due to his “unprofessional” attitude when asked to do general tasks in the workplace.

Lam’s new job, however, was exciting. Due to a mutual friend Lam landed a spot in the interior decorating field, something that could benefit from his virtuosity. Today was his first day on the job, but due to his car being repossessed, he had to walk to work. Lam hated the walk at first, but eventually it almost felt peaceful. He listened to his favorite linguistics podcast on the way, enjoying alone time for once. He took a shortcut past an abandoned cannery to save a block or two into the business district. The cannery was a rather frightening place but he expected the shortcut to save time.

Lam picked up the pace, convinced he’d get mugged. He made his way between some of the scaffolding on the outside of the collapsing building and caught a glimpse of something peculiar. A black book, particularly out of place, resting on one of the scaffolding bars. Feeling strangely inquisitive, Lam reached up and snatched it, flipping through the pages momentarily before dropping it on the ground. He found it odd, but not worth his attention. The book appeared far too old to be interesting, and it smelled like something rotten. The stench was appalling. Lam pressed on, stopping to get coffee and arrived at the office ten minutes late. His boss let him slide, as Lam blamed his tardiness on getting lost.

Lam had a busy day. Learning how the office functioned, who was in charge of what, and it didn’t feel long when Lam’s shift ended and he found himself gathering his booklets into his leather satchel to take home. As he organized his bag, he was hit with a wall of stench. Lam peered into his bag and to his shock pulled out the black book he’d found at the cannery. He stared at the black, disintegrating cover and carefully flipped through a handful of pages, finding that some looked decades old while others looked a few days old. Every page was filled with writing of all sorts, and had countless entries written by many different people with some rather peculiar similarities in what entries he read.

Each entry spoke of a large sum of money that the author had found and how they profited from it, and how they finally buried a portion of the money to pass on the favor to others and hinted to the next reader where the money was. The first entry was from a man named Ephraim during the 1940s, and the most recent entry was dated only days ago from a woman named Alicia. She spoke of $20,000 in cash she’d buried in the forest that was on the border of town. Lam couldn’t help but feel optimistic because any mention of any sort of money was worth investigating. Lam called a cab as he left the office, and requested to be driven to a spot a short way away from the forest. He read more entries on the way, and found the obscure mention of a “sideways man” in some writings.

Lam brushed it off, believing it to be some sort of personal problem belonging to the author. Upon arrival Lam paid the driver, without a tip to the driver’s dismay, and set off into the woods. It was a mile or so until Lam arrived at the spot described in Alicia’s entry, and he looked for the stones she had used to mark her stash. To his disbelief, Lam actually found the stones, and excitement swelled inside of him. He put his hatred of dirtiness aside and dug into the soft ground with his hands and within minutes he was shocked to find a Wal-Mart shopping bag. Inside was $20,000 in cash, with a note that read “be prudent”. As he collected his bearings, he caught a glimpse of an ominous figure, but upon a second glance saw that there was nothing there.

Lam was ecstatic. All he cared about was the money, which he quickly stashed into his bag and bolted from the forest. His excitement carried him all the way home on his feet, where he stopped momentarily to hide some of the money under his mattress. From then on he was already spending the money. He bought a new tuxedo; enjoyed a night of fine dining, and bought expensive designer shoes. Spending money again was satisfying, and Lam enjoyed himself the whole evening. Upon arriving home he counted the money and flipped through the crisp green bills in disbelief until he fell asleep.

The night was quiet until Lam awoke in a cold sweat, unable to move. In the corner of his dark room he could barely make out a black shape and heard a raspy wheeze as if someone was struggling to breathe. Soon, the figure limped out of the shadows coming into full view. It was a man! His neck appeared broken and his torso was bent sideways. He had long disfigured legs and even longer arms that dragged along the floor. “Be… prudent,” he choked. His joints creaked and groaned as he struggled to make it to Lam’s bedside. The sideways man grabbed Lam’s arm and gripped it with such force that Lam could feel his bones crackle. “You... will die… If you squander it all. You will be spent,” the man gurgled. With the creature's grip already tight, he wrenched Lam’s shoulder from its socket.

Lam awoke the next morning with a start recounting the experience he had in the night. His arm was in agony but he could move it. It wasn’t dislocated but his body was covered in bruises. He thought his dream strange, but the money snapped him into the reality of what his day could be. He found himself calling in sick, not due to the pain he felt, but because he wanted to buy a car he had his eye on for a while. The car was a few years old but magnificent, and with his newfound riches it could be his. Within a few hours he was at the dealership signing papers. He spent the rest of the day driving around town, enjoying the plush and smooth ride. Of course he stopped for dinner, after which he was left with only $100 from Alicia’s cache. That didn’t bother Lam though and he peacefully settled in for another night. The peace didn’t last long, as Lam awoke once more to the sideways man standing over him. “You are spent,” the man snarled, slamming his fists into Lam’s ribs. “You bum! I’ll dust you tonight!” The man roared with each blow he landed on Lam’s body. The pain of the dream felt very real this time. Lam could smell the man’s odorous breath; he could see the muscles move under the man’s rotting skin. He could see the fury in the man’s piercing white eyes locked with his own. Lam woke up screaming, his entire body throbbing with pain.

He had more bruises throughout his torso and he was terrified. What was happening?! He didn’t want the money anymore! He tried to return his purchases but to his dismay they were all non refundable and he could not recover the money he’d spent. In his panicked state, he made a plan. Lam sped off to the nearest sportsmans outlet and purchased the most realistic pellet gun he could find. He used the last of his money for it but he was desperate, and hoped that spending the last of the money was worth it. Tears in his eyes Lam drove to the nearest bank, scribbling a note in his car. “I’m sorry. I just need $20,000. I won’t hurt anyone.”

Soon he was handing it calmly to the teller inside the nearly deserted bank. Lam felt tears streaming down his face, keeping his hand in his pocket as he watched the horrified teller fulfill his request. He blurted out, “I’m so sorry!!”, as he sprinted back out to his car, just as the bank’s alarm sounded. He sped off towards the forest. Rolling down the window of his car, he hurled the smelly black book as far as possible just to rid himself of it. Behind him he could hear the faint cry of sirens, so he sped up until he reached the forest. He bolted into the woods and collapsed at the spot of Alicia’s cache. Lam desperately clawed at the ground and buried the stolen money. Crying still from the pain the sideways man inflicted, he slowly got up and faced the approaching police.

He gave himself up without a struggle, professing that he was sorry but a sideways man made him do it. He was quickly processed and placed in the hospital to treat his injuries which included serious internal bleeding. He had done it! He’d returned the money! Lam felt he was safe! He didn’t care how much legal trouble he was in, he’d survive another day. He could breathe easy now that he was in the hospital. He pulled the covers over his body and rolled over to get some needed rest. He woke up in the middle of the night able to move this time, and rolled over to reposition his body. To his horror his eyes met with the sideways man! The figure’s crooked smile and sulfuric breath more corporeal than before. “It wasn’t yours, Lam.” The man screeched.

“Nurses discovered the body of Lam J. Ennson this morning in his hospital room. Witnesses say he was ‘twisted like a pretzel’, and the cause of death is still undetermined. Ennson is the suspect charged with the recent robbery on Cooke Street, his motives are unknown.” Kian’s gut sunk as he listened to the radio announcer pouring over grim details of the newest unsolved case in a string of similar mysterious deaths. Kian couldn’t help but listen, the volume turned up almost all the way in his headphones as he walked to University.

Kian was always intrigued by the macabre, as was his partner, and unsolved cases were the couple’s favorite to discuss. As he listened, Kian caught the glimpse of a discarded black book on the side of the road that was very aged and rather smelly. He picked it up to investigate. As he flipped through the entries he found old entries but new ones as well. The newest entry was written by someone named Lam J. Ennson. The ink was still fresh. Kian felt the thrill of excitement as the passage described the location of $20,000 and how it changed the author’s life. Enthusiastic, Kian sprinted to campus, eager to start a mysterious scavenger hunt with his partner.