Spilling Guts

Part 30 - Between Sleep and Awake

"Fella! Get out of the shower! We have guests!"

Will scrubbed the lather out of his hair. The hot water had just managed to thaw the sleepy chill from his skin. He wanted a proper soak before seeing the rest of the world. The water pressure had never felt so good, melting heat into his shoulders and back.

"Be done in five!" he yelled to his mother.

Being back home should have meant peace. Peace did not exist when his mother entertained. He wondered who she had over. A neighbor, friend from the Chamber of Commerce, one of Arnie's business partners?

"Get out."

Will startled at Louis' voice. "Louis? What are you doing here?"

He prodded at his stomach. Was Louis inside him? Here? At home? What the hell?

"Don't ask questions, just move!" snapped Louis. The skin under Will's hands vibrated.

Someone rapped at the bathroom door. Why was his mother so impatient?

"Be out in a minute!" Will called. At least give him time to get the soap of his eyes.

The door cracked open.

"Mom, I-"

A latex gloved hand tugged the curtain back. A man in a lab coat stood there smiling as he looked Will up and down.

"I hope you don't mind," said Yanif Retten. His blue eyes gleamed as stepped into the shower. "I needed to check up on my investment."

"Will, get us out of here!"

Will stumbled back, modesty down the drain as he grabbed the scrub brush as a weapon instead of covering himself. The small army of shampoo bottles at his feet slicked the shower floor. Instead of falling onto the tile, Will fell back onto a person who wrenched his arms behind his back and pushed him back into the spray of the shower. The water turned ice cold.

"Hold still," Martin Zachs whispered in his ear.

Will screamed, wrenching his body back in forth to break Zachs' grip, and failing. The water flooded his mouth, drowning him, gagging him. He could feel Louis frantic inside, vibrating like a roar behind glass.

"Will!"

Retten's latex-gloved hand pushed Will against Zachs, pinning him in place. Will stood sandwiched between two monsters. Retten's other hand brought up a syringe with a needle as thick as a stiletto blade, and aimed it for Will's bare, water slicked stomach.

"Just a small pinch."

"Run! Please run!"

The needle struck deep, sinking into Will's flesh like a hungry fang. Louis' voice silenced.

-

Will jerked awake with a gasp, one hand over his stomach while the other gripped the edge of the leather couch. His heart pounded at the base of his throat as he rolled to his side and took gulping breaths. Adrenaline pulled him by the hair from his nightmare.

A dream about....

Will tried to remember the images. They had been vivid enough to induce panic, their claws digging deep, but slithering away with wakefulness.

Water. His mom's voice. And then something... bad?

He would add it to the list for Doctor Balcuwitz.

Wait a minute.

Will looked up at the desk. Balcuwitz looked back from over a stack of folders, his face full of quiet sympathy.