The Takeover

Chapter 2... Pale as a Ghost

10:39 AM

Jack had just woken up, and finally got some sleep, but he felt under the weather. He usually doesn't get sick so he decided to take it easy for the day and just relax. He didn't really feel like drinking coffee like he usually does, so he just got a glass of water to start off his morning as well with some eggs and toast. He noticed a couple things that he didn't notice when he first woke up. He was very pale and had a fever, which like I said before was unusual for him. He tried his best to ignore his symptoms like the chills, aches, and nausea but it was taking a toll on him for sure, so he went back to bed. He planned to take a short nap, just to see if that would make him feel better, so he drifted off to sleep right away.

3:01 PM

"Really, this again, the forest? What does this have to do with anything?" Jack said. "You will soon find out, Jack." the mysterious voice said to him eerily. "Why can't you just explain to me why I keep ending up here or who you are, and don't tell me I will find out soon, I want a straight answer!" Jack said with determination in his voice. "You'll have plenty of fun for the next few days, that'll keep you busy. That is all you need to know, for now...". Jack woke up from the dream once again. "Oh shit, why did I sleep for so long?" Jack asked himself. He hears his computer going off, Skype to be exact. It was Mark calling him. Even though he was sick as hell, he thinks that a talk with a friend will make him feel better, so he gets up, gets in his chair, and answers Mark's call. "Hey Jack. Oh, are you okay? You don't look so good." Mark asks him. "Yeah, yeah I'm good." Jack says with a sickly tone. "Okay, if you say so. You better go to a doctor though, I have never seen you look this sick before." Mark says with concern. "Trust me, I'll be fine. Since I got you here, want to do something?" Jack asks Mark. "Sure, want to play some Prop Hunt with Bob and Wade if you are feeling up to it?" Mark asks. "Yeah, sure." Jack says.

4:30 PM

They were playing for about a hour, Jack and Mark were on a team as the Hunters trying to find Bob and Wade as the Props. "You guys ready to do this?" Mark asked everyone. "Yep." Bob and Wade said at the same time. "Jack, you ready?" Mark said. There was no answer and his webcam turned off for some weird reason. "Hey Jack, you there?" Wade asked. "Uh, is Jack okay Mark? You talked to him before us, how did he seem to you?" Bob asked Mark with concern. "To be honest, he didn't look too good." Mark said to them. "What do you mean by, "He didn't look too good?" Bob asked Mark with confusion. "He looked really sick is what I mean. He was pale and he was sweating quite a bit." Mark expressed. "Oh, hey, sorry guys. I think I nodded off for a minute there." Jack said lethargically. Jack sounded like he just woke up mixed with being really high on painkillers, so he sounded really out of it, and he was really out of it. "Jack, you're not drunk, are you? You sound like it." Wade said to him. "Sorry, what was the question?" Jack asked confused. "Uh, Jack? Maybe you should get some rest, you sound like you're gonna pass out." Mark told Jack with sympathy. "Yeah." there was a 5 second pause in between. "You're right, Mark." Jack said. Jack said goodbye to Mark, Bob and Wade and hung up the call and stumbled to the bathroom. He was so sick he could barely stand without falling over. When he finally got to the bathroom, he started throwing up, quite a lot for not eating much that day. The weird thing about that was the vomit was like a dark crimson, almost looking like blood. Jack thought to himself "What the fuck? Am I puking up blood? No, I can't be. That has to be my imagination playing tricks on me, I am pretty out of it after all."

1 hour later...

He finally didn't need to throw up anymore, but he felt extremely drained and he just felt worse in general. He walked to his bed, but before he got there, his knees buckled as he started to lose consciousness from his high fever and lethargy. He lay still, not moving one centimeter, like a stone on the floor, lifeless looking as the evening turns to night...