In Your Veins

Chapter 6

I wake with a sudden gasp, drenched in sweat.

Dear lord...

My shoulder and chest hurt like crazy. I must have been moving a lot in my sleep.

I...I had a nightmare.

Not that I can recall what it was about.

I grope around in the dark for my phone.

It's 7:00 in the evening. I hate that it gets dark so soon...

I try to stand up and immediately stumble, feeling unusually weak.

I should try—

Another knock at my door interrupts my train of thought.

I walk over to the door, leaning heavily on the doorknob as I open it.

A man stands in front of me, and he takes a step back when he sees me.

Right, I must look terrible. I certainly feel terrible.

"I was told to deliver this in person..."

His voice trails off, and he keeps eyeing my face.

"Right. Thank you," I reply, before closing the door on him.

Who on Earth is delivering all these things to me like this? They know I have a mailbox, right? It comes free with the apartment.

I squint at the return address before realizing that my head is absolutely pounding.

Good lord...what's the matter with me? I've recovered from worse injuries. There's no need for my body to start acting up like this.

I open up the letter and am hit with the realization that it's an invitation.

An invitation...to a funeral.

His funeral.

I can't believe what I'm seeing. So soon? It's been less than 24 hours!

...hasn't it?

I check my phone. It's supposed to be Thursday, but it's not. It's Friday.

I...I somehow slept over 24 hours on nothing but a bowl of cereal. What's wrong with me?

It certainly explains why I'm weak with hunger, though.

I'll worry about the funeral later. Right now...

Food...

I comb through my fridge for every bit of leftover food I have. Luckily for me, I am a frequent take-out food enjoyer. I don't even bother microwaving it. I don't have to enjoy it, I just need to get food inside me. That's what I get for falling asleep so long, I guess.

I eat with manic fervency, shovelling item after item into my mouth. I hope I don't throw up again. What a waste of food that would be.

It takes me about 20 minutes to feel full enough to realize how bizarrely humiliating this is. I'm kneeling on the floor in front of my fridge, polishing off what little food I have. I'm never this hungry, even if I skip several meals in a row.

What's wrong with me?

It feels like I've been asking that question a lot.

I lick sauce off my fingers. I don't think I washed my hands before this.

Gross. How inconvenient of me to think of that only when I'm done eating.

Strangely enough, I don't feel completely full. I'm not going to give in to my body's sudden increase in appetite, though. I have other things to worry about.