Waking up in the Office

Groggily, I woke up in a pained stupor as my consciousness returned. I’d hoped what had happened hours before had been a nightmare, but the pain across my body said otherwise. I felt like I had a body-wide sunburn that someone had splashed hot oil on. It was agonizing.

Struggling to my feet, I hobbled to the door to find it locked, but thankfully the latch hadn't caught. I counted my blessings for the creature's mistake, and wandered out into the empty halls.

As I walked from the office, several times I had to stop and catch my breath, propping myself against the wall to keep from collapsing. My full body pain radiating with the slightest touch as I inched my way out of the building.

"Brett? What are you doing here? It's nearly 6am!"

I froze in place as I heard the voice of the night watch. Turning in place, I met his worried gaze.

"You're not looking so good, buddy. I was wondering why your truck was still here." he said as he cracked a slight smile. "Fall asleep on the toilet?"

"Yeah, that. I'm just trying to get out now."

I didn't want to let him know the real reason I'd been here. My encounter with the skinwalker wearing Ririka had left me feeling like total shit, and I doubted he would believe a lick of it.

"Here." He wrapped his arm around me, a searing jolt shooting through my body, making me wince. "Let's get you to your truck. You look like a dead man walking. I hope you aren't coming down with something."

"Thanks." I said as we walked out to my truck.

After helping me into the cab, I waved him off with a pained smile before starting the truck and driving off. As I drove my vision blurred intermittently as I crept along the road to my house, occasionally drifting over the line as weakness took over my body. Sweat was trickling down my limbs and torso, contradicting the internal cold I felt and sending light sears of pain over different parts of my body making me wish for relief from the agony.

After a drive that normally took minutes, but what felt like hours, I finally reached home where I could try and sleep off my condition.

Waking up the following day around noon, my condition hadn't gotten any better. My whole body ached in pain and was plagued with chills. I'd tried taking fever reducers, pain killers, cold medicine, nothing alleviated my suffering. As for the chills, no amount of warm clothing, coffee, cocoa, or tea could warm me. I even considered something warm to eat, but I was out of soup, and beans.

**** for something, anything to try and warm me, I pulled out my phone and put in an order for some chili beans from a local diner to be delivered.

While waiting I tried to watch TV while I was buried under blankets on my couch. No matter how much I layered up, the cold would not leave. It was difficult to focus on anything I was watching as I shivered and ached in the solitude of my living room. I'd had the flu before, but this felt so much worse.

"Fuck, what did that thing do to me..."

I couldn't stop squirming as my skin burned in conjunction with the pervasive cold throughout my body. I also had this lingering itch along with the pain that I struggled to avoid scratching. My skin making it feel like my whole body was one big rash as the minutes of suffering creeped along.

Finally, after some time my doorbell rang.

Getting up and answering the door, I saw a young woman with hair dyed maroon and tied back in a ponytail. Her attire was full leather, jacket, pants, boots, gloves, the whole nine yards, and on her back was an insulated delivery bag. Her expression was one of mild annoyance mixed with indifference when I greeted her.

"Some chili beans from El's for a Mr. Dukes?" she asked in a tired voice. Her icy blue eyes glaring at me as she asked.

As she took off the bag to retrieve my order, I felt all strength in my body leave me as I collapsed on my doorstep at her feet.

"Shit, dude. You alright?" A worried look on her face as she jump back from my fall.

I didn't have the strength to respond, my whole being felt like **** as I lay there.

This must be what the end is like...

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Why'd I have to deal with this today," the girl was panicking as she pulled out her phone. Most likely trying to call 911.

As I lay on the ground a total mess, something in me stirred. I saw the bare skin of her neck peaking from under her jacket collar, and I felt an animalistic urge spike within me. I quickly rose at inhuman speed before she could finish dialing 911, and tackled her.

As we fell, spines erupted from my fingers and I quickly jabbed them into the **** flesh as we both fell in a heap on my lawn. A startled yelp leaving her lips before letting out a relieved moan as we landed, her body feeling like a pool toy deflating beneath me.

That's... So weird...

As I lay there after the act, I finally felt warmth returning to my body.