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I drew in a ragged breath and tried hard to surface frohtmare "Jesus," I moaned Sweat slid down ? If I was, this dream hurt like a bitch

Wait, drea hevery cell in its path I clenchedhard to block the rush

Then, as quickly as it struck, the pain disappeared

The sudden loss of sensation jolted my brain awake and my eyes snapped open in the dark This wasn’t a damn dream I took a quick internal inventory of all led, but thankfully reen halo of ital clock read 2:07 am I’d only been asleep for a few hours I rolled onto ers caasped and snapped them away like a child who’d just touched a hot stove

Holy shit, I’ht

Don’t panic, Jess Think logically

I pressed the back of et a better read on how badly I was burning up Hot coals would’ve felt cooler than my skin

I must be really sick

Sickness was a rare event in my life, but it did happen I wasn’t prone to illness, but I wasn’t iot sick, but if the virus was strong enough I was susceptible

I sat up, allowing er for a brief moment on a very different explanation of rip You’re a twenty-six-year-old fe to happen It’s probably just the flu There’s no need to--

Without so , another spasht My body jerked backward as the force of it plowed throughthe wooden slats likeround The explosion of irl screa its vile ash intolost in the pale haze of sleep, I ide awake I had to fight this

I wasn’t sick

I was changing

Jesus Christ! You’ve spent your whole life thinking about this very moment and you try to convince yourself you have the flu? What’s the et to the dose before it’s too late!

The pain buried s locked beside me I was unable to move as the continuous force of spasms hitclearly in ood and noas paying the price "Jessica, don’t argue with me This is a necessary precaution You must keep this by you at all tie of an exclusively engineered cocktail of drugs, would be entrusted toThe contents of which were supposed to render me unconscious if need be "You may never need it, but as you well know, this is one of the stipulations of your living alone"

I’m so sorry, Dad

This wasn’t supposed to happen My genetic markers weren’t coded for this This was an impossibility In a world of impossibilities

I’d been so stupid

My body continued to twist in on itself,in tandecrescendo As it hit its last note, mywent blissfully black

Too soon, pinpoints of light danced behind one Only a low throbbing current remained It took me a moment to realize I was on all fours on the floor beside my bed, my knees and palms bloodied from the shards of my broken lamp My small bedside table was scattered in pieces around me It looked like a small hurricane had ripped apart my bedroom I had no time to waste

The dose is your only chance now Go!

The bathrooinght there I’d only ain, hard and fast I collapsed onin earnest Jesuschrist! The pain was straight out of a fairy tale, wicked and unrelenting

Iout inthat could help ! Ty, Ty … please! Tyler, can you hear ed at the edges ofto ht before it clai very faint brushed against nition prickled ht That wasn’tbut empty air filledfor a e I’d heard that line e when they weren’t supposed to exist? I was amy father could do to helpain

Jessica, Jessica, can you hear me? We’re on our way Stay with us Just a fewin there, honey Jess!

I can’t, Dad I just can’t

Blood

Fear shot through me like a cold spear I liftedmy skin I shivered My labored breaths echoed too loudly indeeply again

Blood