The first thing he saw was the teeth. Black, yellow teeth stained with stubborn flecks of white that refused to submit to the filth and grime. Teeth moving. He saw the salt and pepper stubble gracing a wrinkly chin. Watching as the strained mandibles of the stranger grew taut and then relaxed after each chew. The man was eating something mushy and cream colored. Each chew rendered the sloppy mess more and more unrecognizable from its original state. He groaned and stirred, slowly entering back into the cold depths of the conscious world. The man wiped his nose and a smear of something clear and glossy streaked across his face. With a slight sniff, the man turned his back on him, walked away, and was swallowed by darkness. Now it was only he who lay partially conscious in the mysterious room. He felt cold sweat between his fingers and rose a trembling hand to wipe it on his pants. They stained the withered khakis a dark brown. A leg moved, then an arm, then both. He slowly peeled off the wall, fell on the floor, and was asleep again. Somewhere else in the world, two men in dark suits walked through a park. They stood close to each other, speaking in hushed tones as their shadows blotted out the sparkling rays of sunlight passing through the trees. As they walked over the cold concrete of the early morning, the hard leather soles in their shoes smacked against the pavement. Clack, clack, clack, one can imagine the sound. "Is it done yet?" asked one of the men. The other man stopped abruptly and took his time running thin pasty fingers through his dark hair. "Yes," he said. And then they were gone, two strangers diverging on separate paths in the yellow wood. Neither with good intentions on their agenda.

Meanwhile, back in Los Angeles police searched a crime scene. The crime that had taken place was initially reported to have been a robbery. When the police arrived and conducted their preliminary inspections, they found nothing stolen or broken or put out of place. Of course, this was all according to what the family who lived in the house had claimed.