Dormant

Chapter 3 - Infected

About the time that Paige’s mind started wandering to whether or not she was actually dead and whether she was in purgatory, she heard feet shuffle in the room with her. Her ears twitched and she tried in vain to open her eyes. The sheet was removed from her body and the cool air that it was denying came rushing over her skin. She heard a sigh and the person leant closer. She could tell because their breaths were so close to her neck that she could tell when they inhaled and exhaled.  The man spoke and if Paige could move a muscle she would likely have jumped off the table because it was so close to her ear.

“Paige… I know you can hear me. Can you open your eyes?”

Paige’s heart nearly tripled in speed. This man knew she was alive! She won’t be killed after-all. But… why can’t she open her eyes? It was so frustrating. More infuriating than any other single task in her memory.

He spoke again, “Well… can you move any of your extremities?”

Again, Paige cursed the day she ever experienced this helplessness. She fought with everything she had and miraculously managed to get her middle finger on her left hand to raise and then fall.

“Good. Good. Well, it looks like we have some time before you’ll be able to function, so let’s have a chat shall we?

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What on earth could this man possibly want to talk about? Paige was so elated that this man, whoever he was, knew her living status that she cared not to dwell on the awkwardness of it all.

“My name is Dr. Edwards. I’m a surgeon, a pathologist and at times I am mediator. It appears as though you were attacked this evening. The culprit has been identified and will be brought to justice.”

Paige wanted to weep. She was attacked, this she knew, because she remembered it all. More importantly, however, is the scumbag who did this to her would rot in jail for his crimes.

“The attack will have left some… lingering… effects on your life. Don’t worry, you will walk, talk, touch, feel, hear, so on and so forth. Every single sensory you had prior to the attack will remain available to you and better than ever. There are going to be some changes in your life ahead, however, that must be addressed. For instance, your life… your identity as you know yourself… will cease from this conversation forth. You are not Paige Davenport any longer. Paige Davenport died in the attack.”

Paige suddenly lost all understanding of her surroundings. This man must be out of his mind. What did he mean I died? I’m right here and he’s talking to me. Paige felt her eyelids for the first time in a long period and attempted to open them. Effortlessly they opened and she was met with the face of her conversationalist. Mid to late fifties, gray hair and beard, kind eyes and glasses. His eyes looked hypnotic and his face remained wrinkle-less despite his obvious age.

“There you are Paige. Now I know you have a million questions right now. I assure you that this conversation is happening, this is reality and you are not dreaming any of this. You see… up until about three hours ago, you were a healthy, happy and oblivious human… You were simple. However, about three hours ago you were attacked by a person who carries a very specific infection with a very specific purpose. That infection has been passed onto you and you will now have to alter your lifestyle to live with this infection. You did not ask for this infection, however it is a part of you now and if you fail to heed my advice, you will die. Again and permanently.

The doctor stopped his diatribe and canted his head so as to show Paige he was awaiting an answer. Paige blinked lazily and continued her stare at this man. Her mind was swimming with the words in her head. Infection. Die. She maintained eye contact with the doctor and he must have accepted her stare as acknowledgement. “You see Paige, there are some things about evolution that humans have not been privy to. Too much ego and self serving ‘prophecies’ have been used to tell humans that they’ve evolved from monkeys, or the big bang of the universe, or even a celestial man named Jesus. All of these are incorrect, mind you, but I digress. Humans have come close to understanding our kind,” he said. Paige stopped listening at this point and began to worry if her infection was created by some anti-Christian terrorist group and they are now linking her with them. Infection be damned she is not blowing anything up. “… with their stories of Dracula and popular entertainment depicting creatures bound to coffins or turning into bats. Vampires, Paige. They’ve identified vampires, though horrifically incorrect adaptations, and with that we come to your little predicament.”