The Symptoms

A Bullet in My Skull

"Do you have a fever?"

I wish.

"It's just the sickness, I'm fine, don't worry about it," I said, maybe a little bit too quickly. However, he seemed to accept this answer, only with a worried scowl on his face. I crouched down and fastened my hovers. He adjusts his mask under his glasses once more, furrowing his brow in thought, as if he were confused, and turns to ask a question.

"How do you use hovers?"

The initial question confused me too. I had never met somebody who had never used hovers before, so I thought my words through carefully.

"Click your heels together," I instruct.

"I'm not Dorothy, Blair," he replied bluntly.

"Just do it, smart-ass."

He clicked his heels together carefully and the hover mechanisms started up, lifting him gently, about four centimeters off the ground. However, he didn't seem to anticipate the sudden movement, and proceeded to slip and fall forwards.

Onto me.

His torso collided with my face and sent us both tumbling to the ground in a mess of limbs. A shot of pain flashed through my entire body as my wounds throbbed under my bandages, and I yelped out in pain. However after I got my bearings, my pain was immediately forgotten as I realized the position that I am in. I'm quite literally underneath Lucas, his hands at either side of my head as he prevented himself from falling directly on top of me. My heart stopped for half a second, as if silently screaming, and my head went blank. Lucas seemed to realize that I was under him and his eyes widened in union with mine. He jumps off of me and sits on the floor as if disoriented, a faint glow on his face, but hardly noticeable. I clear my throat and stand up immediately, brushing myself off as if nothing happened.

What in the godforsaken, romcom hell was that?

"We're walking."

"Yep," Lucas responds immediately, taking the hovers off. I click mine off and we proceed to walk quietly in silence out of my apartment building. Then Lucas attempts to make conversation.

"So, what's the name of your shop called?" he asked. I pause for a moment. Technically, I could name it whatever I wanted since it was now in my custody, however, that just felt disrespectful.

"The Treasure Tavern...It's half bar, half trinket shop. We have anything you could possibly think of, to some extent. It has kind of an old-timey feel to it," I responded thoughtfully. I suddenly felt a small, cold, burning sensation on my shoulder. Lucas looked up at the sky.

"It's snowing, that's the first snow of the winter," he mentioned. I panicked a little.

"Yeah, well I don't want to be around to see it!" I said, beginning to walk faster. He looked at me in pure confusion.

"Why- Ow!" His question is cut off by his sudden exclamation of pain, and he rubs his arm gingerly, "What on earth..."

"That's why. It's acidic, just look at the clouds! It doesn't even look welcoming..." I stare up at the grayish-green clouds as they hover over like threats. I was just glad that it wasn't an acidic fog. We had that in the slums last year and hardly anyone went outside due to the fog burning the inside of their lungs.

"Hurry! We have to get inside!" I yelp, as another acidic snowflake touched my skin. We both hurried down the street, dodging other people trying to get inside of their homes as the air grew bitterly cold. The shop was just in reach and I grabbed the door handle, tugging at it desperately, but it was locked. I ripped up the welcome mat and grabbed the spare key as the flakes burned my skin, causing an itching sensation to spread across my shoulders. I heard the latch come undone with a small click, and I shoved the door open, Lucas following in behind me.

The smell of old cigars and alcohol enveloped us as he closed the door behind him.

Within the silence, I could faintly hear rummaging in the far back corner of the shop, behind a shelf of trinkets. I groan with annoyance. It was either one of two options, an animal, or a savage. An animal was more likely, however we have had savages sneak up on us before, and it made it. I reached behind the counter, grabbing the spare handgun that laid there, and stole a glance at the security cameras. Sure enough, the back door had been broken open.

"Lucas," I whisper, getting his attention. He seemed to have already grasped the situation, his hand on his belt as he reached for his gun. I'm pretty sure the savage was already aware of our presence as soon as we opened the door, but who knows how long it had been there. It was hiding, waiting to strike at us from afar, and I could almost feel its eyes on me.

As if it could hear my thoughts, it jumped out at us, its pale skin tarnished with scars and dirt, and its eyes empty, barely clinging to life. Normally, I would have never froze in a situation such as this. I was used to dealing with savages, but something about this made my stomach churn uncomfortably, to the point where I almost felt nauseous. Its eyes darted around in a frantic way, as if driven mad by its own thoughts, and its breathing was heavy, every so often plagued with coughing fits as it snarled viciously. It soon realized that there were two of us and glanced around warily, however its gaze rested on me in an almost curious way. I stared back at it, a strong sense of doubt clawing its way at my heart, but not for the impending attack.

Is that truly what I am going to become?

It leapt at me, and I came to my senses quickly. Before Lucas could even react, I had my gun aimed straight for its head, and fired my shot. It fell to the ground with a cut-off scream, laced with agony. However, I was barely focused on what I had done, and turned to Lucas with dread lacing my thoughts. He had a look on his face that was unrecognizable, his eyebrows pinching together in deep thought. He tried to speak, but I interrupted him before he could.

"Lucas," I murmured, with a wary look in my eye.

"Yes?"

"If I ever end up that far gone...if I ever get to the point where you don't recognize me anymore..." I squeezed my eyes shut, begging the image in my mind to fade away as I made my request.

"...I want you to shoot me."

Image shown: What a savage truly looks like.