The sound of the radio from my computer woke me, set to BBC-4 today. As I moved myself up off the now warmed bathroom floor, I saw that I had yet to flush the toilet. Holy damn, was the puke in the bowl thick. I wasn't sure if I had thrown up dinner, or if I threw up my entire lifetime diet, there was so much in there. Quickly putting the seat down, I flush and proceed to the kitchen, which is thankfully the other way out of my bedroom. One of the perks of a studio apartment, and all that jazz. I get a cup, pour some water, grab a mint and black teabag, pop it in the microwave. I see my cat Sebastian sitting by his empty bowl, so I pour some dry food in, and relax for a minute or two.
I listen to news stations because I'm one of those people who likes to keep well informed, both sides of politics, as well as economic and International news. I find that it helps me when it comes to new ideas for my scripts. Making movie scripts really isn't all that it seems. If a guy like me isn't careful, he can burn himself out before he starts his 3rd of at least 7 scripts of the year, meaning he gets less work, and missing payments that can find himself on a slippery slope towards obscurity-ville. It's a dime a dozen field, and the workload is immense, but without the effort, you'll lose your top spot quickly.
As the microwave timer goes off, the breaking news theme plays on the radio. As I pour some milk and sugar into the tea, I bemuse myself at the notion that I'm drinking tea while the BBC is playing. Apropos, as usual. However, the news of a virulent strain of tainted pork products in America was not. It seemed that there was a strain of some sort of bug found in the genetically modified food fed to the pigs that are producing Flu-like symptoms in people. There's no cause for alarm, we were told. The symptoms would pass, and the final stages would include a sense of euphoria, and slight relaxation of certain bodily functions. All pork products fed with this strain were being recalled, and the general populace would not have to worry. Then, they went back to their general broadcast.
I grew curious. The foreign markets were usually not the first to know of American matters like this, but here was a story that I hadn't heard on the American broadcasts at all over the last couple of days. So I turned to some American stations. NPR, Fox News, various minor and local markets, and none of them were reporting on it. I took a sip of my tea, and waited for some news to finally break about the tainted meat, but then I felt it. The welling pressure in my throat. I ran to the sink, and proceeded to throw up again. Thankfully, it wasn't that prolonged, but it just didn't feel right. And when I looked at it, it was a darker brown, almost amber tinged. I quickly put it out of my head, and washed it away.
I had to get back to writing, I told myself, had to use this for an idea before I lose it. I was dead set on it, too. But that never happened. The dizziness set in when I went back to my computer. I physically started swaying, and had to hold onto the chair in order to stay upright. Sebastian just stared at me from the table, next to my laptop, not knowing whether I was alright or not. I quickly pet him, turned, and immediately fell into the wall. I couldn't even feel the impact, it was that sudden. I was dazed, sure, but I took that as a sign that I should get to bed.
Stumbling into the bedroom, I quickly shucked down to my underwear, and proceeded to lay down. Well, I partly did that, until the stomach cramps started, making me fall over. The pain was IMMENSE, I must add. I was in the fetal position as soon as I was on the mattress. My entire being was going through tremors, head to toe. There wasn't a single part of me not in pain. My torso was jerking back and forth, feeling like I was collapsing in on myself.
I'm not sure how I got the covers on me, but all I knew was that I passed out, woke up covered, and Sebastian was batting me in the face. Thankfully, I stopped shaking so badly, but I was so incredibly drained, I had trouble moving my arm to pet him. He took this as a sign that he was getting fed, and proceeded to run to the kitchen. I couldn't really say I ran, more like I shuffled-stumbled-almost had to crawl to get there quicker.I just thank God that it was after dark, otherwise the migraine I had would've probably made me throw up again. Sebastian was by his bowl again, meowing rather loudly. The sound was like an ice pick in my head, stabbing with every rolling projection. The sound of the bag and the food hitting the bowl didn't help matters at all. I had to close my eyes and try to block it out. That's when I realized how thirsty I was.
I first went to the refrigerator, to maybe grab some milk or soda, but that wasn't the brightest idea I'd ever had. Just one blast of light, and I had to run to the sink to throw up some more. I couldn't tell you how thick it felt this time. It was like some sludge slowly worked its way up my throat, and then had to be hacked out of me. The glop that came from the sink was unnerving, sure, but I wasn't going to risk more vomiting just to satisfy my curiosity. So, I turned on the faucet, and washed it away. I ran my hand under the running water, andquickly brought it to my head. Fever, it figures. I grabbed a glass and drank some water. It felt wonderful, like my body had neer had it before. I rinsed the cup and put it away. For some reason, the water was sitting heavily in my stomach, but I pushed that aside, rationalizing that it was this flu that I had gotten.
I sat down at my laptop, turned down the brightness enough to work, and turned on a Fox News station. Let's just say that wasn't a good idea. I had to fight the nausea that was welling up. Fox News, nausea, ha ha. Yeah, that joke isn't old at all, right? Well, it was after 11, so I put on a Hannity podcast. I could barely make it 4 minutes without having to pause it, my mind burning at the sounds. I reflexively grabbed my head and had to soldier through it. Thankfully, I have some aspirin on the microwave, so getting some more water, I downed two tablets. Thankfully, I didn't have to puke again. I started the stream again, and the first story was the tainted pork. Of course, he was "disappointed the liberals felt they needed to lie and cover up about the health scare that could KILL the good American citizens", but then it devolved into the usual rhetoric Hannity's known for. So I went to MSNBC's podcasts, Rachel Maddow naturally. And like Hannity, more rhetoric was spewed, and the story was barely covered as well. I spent an hour and a half going to various podcasts, from mainstream stuff to niche to even crackpot theories, and every one of them barely covered the story. Even the international news stopped it's coverage after the first day.
After that disappointing bit, I turned on some Bon Iver and tried to put some thoughts to page. But in my malaise, I sat there, and for the life of me, I couldn't think of a single idea. I wracked my brain, and kept on trying and trying to come up with something, but I couldn't create a single damn concept. Think of the irony: a writer who has this story drop into his lap, and not even a B-movie idea popped into his head. Sebastian rubbed himself all over me, purring madly, and I was more interested in petting him than coming up with something. So I turned off the computer, and just sat in the dark, wondering what the hell was going on with me. When Sebastian jumped on the counter, I just stared at him. But the only thought that went through my head was that I hadn't eaten yet. I hadn't eaten in a couple days, threw up a few times, and here I was, looking at my cat, pondering the lack of hunger I felt. Mostly, I was disturbed that I was thinking this while staring at Sebastian. I had to put it out of my mind, so I headed back to bed.
When I got back to my room, Sebastian quickly ran in, and took the bed over. I shooed him off the bed, and proceeded to lay down, when I felt my guts begin to twist again. I balled up again, this time feeling like my stomach feel like there was something moving. I started shaking badly, belching madly, my stomach in an uproar over something that I had no clue over. I jerked and shook so badly, it felt like my bed was moving. The pressure in my stomach, the uncontrollable seizures racking my body, and the splitting headache Was too much for me to pass out. I wanted it to end. I wanted to die. I wanted to cry for help, but I couldn't do a damn thing. I could only feel pain, the running fire in my legs and head, and the intense pressure of my stomach. After an indeterminate amount of time, the sensation in my legs started to subside. I saw Sebastian jump on the bed, and begin to see if I was okay. But with the first meow, I blacked out immediately.
I awoke in the bathroom again. I was sleeping on the floor, this time by the bathtub. I was feeling okay. I was no longer in pain, and the pressure in my stomach was perfectly acceptable. As I got up from the floor, I looked in the bathtub and saw something that would normally disturb people. In the bathtub was the bloody and torn remains of Sebastian. Not all of it, mind you, but enough to let me know it was him. I saw the bloodstains on the wall, on the side of the toilet, and on the floor. I looked at the stains, and felt fine with it. I raised my hands to check how fresh the stains were, and saw the blood on my hands. Both sides, and the drying blood felt... good. Like I had done some satisfactory act. All I knew was that I had to clean up.
I moved to the sink, and looking in the mirror, I saw more blood on me. Some scratches on my arm, some more on my chest, some on my face above my eye, and around my mouth was a smattering of blood. I immediately knew why Sebastian wasn't whole in the bathtub. I also knew that I wasn't hungry. I raised my blood covered hands to my mouth, and began to savor the taste. I had never felt such an intense pleasure before. And I knew I had to taste it again. That's when I felt the welling pressure in my throat again. No feeling of nausea, but the slowly rising presence made it's way up my throat. When I felt it in my mouth, I turned on the light and opened my jaw, somehow opening further than should have been physically possible.
The eyes of the nebulous worm stared back at me from the reflection in my throat, longingly. I tilted my head, looking at the passenger within me. I had to keep him fed. It needed me, and now, I needed it. It was my pleasure to feed him.
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