DRINK IT

I woke up to my arm feeling like it was getting gnawed on by a spider. As I was trying to figure out what planet I was on, I heard a male voice in my head that said in an ominous tone, "Drink." "Jesus?" I asked out loud. I reached over to my nightstand and inhaled a bottle of water. I checked my phone, and it was 11 pm. I somehow managed to sleep 14 hours. I had two missed calls and five text messages. As I leaned up, I felt like I was going into space and left my stomach on earth. I felt my stomach trying to catch up, and I leapt out of bed to the trash can in the corner of my room. I threw up the minimal contents in my stomach, the potpie, and a fair amount of blood. I clambered back to my bed and unlocked my phone. I was going to text Roxanne and ask her about the blood. There was a missed call from Chester. I called him back. He answered, "Dude, how are you feeling?" I responded, "Like I've been dragged through an airplane engine," He said, "Sorry, man. Some wacky shit has gone down. The chick that bit you coded and died. Sam didn't show up for his shift, and no one could find him. The police found a suicide note but nothing was clear about where he would do it." I responded with "Holy Fuck."

Chester continued, "It gets weirder. When I got on shift, some dudes claiming to be Fish and Game Wardens came in and asked who else had contact with the kid. They also asked where you were. They had gotten a preliminary copy of Bowers's report, and I told them I didn't know your address. Something was off about them. After they left, I called the shift commander, Lieutenant Baker, and he had never heard of either of them. I asked him how they got the report, and he said he had to ask Bowers." I said, "Fuck, man, I don't know what is happening, but I think I must check into the ER. My head is spinning, and I'm hearing shit." He quickly said, "No. Get someone to take you to the hospital in Clarence County because those two guys might return." I said, "Okay. I'm going to give Roxanne a call." He said, "Okay, dude. Be careful, and let me know how you feel later." I returned with, "See you later. Be safe." 

I looked through my work pants and found Roxanne's number. I texted her, "Hey, it's Hank. I'm not feeling so hot. I puked blood and am super dizzy. I think I am running a fever, too. Any suggestions?" I lay back down and immediately threw up blood onto the floor. I heard "Drink it" from the same voice as earlier. I said aloud, "What the flying fuck?" My phone buzzed. I looked at it, and it was Roxanne. It read, "I'll come over and help you out. What's your address?" I sent her the address, and her response was, "I'm on my way. It'll be about 45 minutes. Don't go anywhere, and don't eat or drink anything." I texted, "Okay. Thanks." I struggled to get to my couch in the living room. I wanted to watch TV to get my mind off what felt like my imminent death. I turned on the TV and found a show about an emergency room. The patient on the show had a severed arm and was profusely bleeding. That voice screamed, "DRINK THE BLOOD NOW!!" I yelled back. "SHUT THE FUCK UP!!" I felt the need to drink at least the water, preferably a strong Gin and Tonic, hoping that the voice was being dramatic, but then I remembered Roxanne's request. I switched the channel, and it was a cartoon. I figured that cartoon wouldn't have any blood in it.

About fifteen minutes passed, and there was a knock on my door. I pulled up the home security app on my phone to look at the camera, and there was an error that read, "No feed available." I decided not to get up and see if it was Roxanne, she would've texted. Another knock, and the man said, "Hank, it's Officer Thompson. I need to talk to you about Officer Bowers." I knew Officer Thompson because he was one of my adjunct professors at my college. I stammered up and opened the door. "Good evening, Hank. Sorry to bother you so late. I was in the area and wanted to come by." I responded, "Good evening, sir. I'm not feeling well, so you might want to keep your distance." He responded, "This won't take long. I read about your run-in with Bowers and wanted to see if you have any contact with him?" I responded, "I haven't talked to him since early this morning." Thompson said, "He no-showed for his shift and was not at his house, but his personal vehicle was there. It's standard protocol to check in with everyone who had contact with him within 24 hours." I said, "I understand, and I hope you can locate him." Thompson said, "Alright, son. Would you give me a call if...." then he suddenly collapsed. Before I could process what had happened, I felt a sharp pain in my stomach. I looked down, and there was a dart sticking out of it. Right before I collapsed, I saw two men walking up behind Thompson's lifeless body. Before I completely blacked out, I heard, "Don't fight, you abomination."