Paranormal Activities Unit
Paranormal Activities Unit
by Chris Slusser
Copyright 2006 by Chris Slusser
All rights reserved.
www.chrisslusser.com
Chapter 1
Will was 23, disheveled, blond, on the skinny side, and wore glasses. It was early morning. Still dark. He was just getting started at his bakery job. Taking a break to go to the bathroom. The fluorescent lights were bright in the employees-only hallway of the grocery store. Everything was quiet, except for the buzz of a malfunctioning fluorescent bulb at the end of the hall. Suddenly Will heard another sound from behind him. Footsteps. Creepy. Not walking normally as a person would walk to get from point A to point B, but sneaking, tip toeing. But not doing a good enough job of it. Like they weren't really trying to hide the sound, and didn't care if he heard. Maybe even wanted him to hear. They were close now. Too close. Invasion-of- personal-space close. Will was tired, but he stopped to turn around to confront the freak who would pull a stupid prank like that at this hour.
He turned. Strangely, it was no one he knew. Not a high school friend, not a bored co-worker. It was a young man, unshaved, messy brown hair, jean jacket. Handsome. And looking at him very intently, with a small mischievous smirk on his face. Will got the impression he was after something not so much of the prank variety and more of the sex-with-a-stranger-in-a-public-bathroom variety. He was immediately tense.
"Uh..." Will managed to get out, "You know, customers aren't really supposed to be back here."
"I know," the man said with a gruff smoky voice. He kept staring.
"So, maybe you should get back to the store now," Will said nervously, because the man was at this point starting to lean in closer.
The man said nothing, only smiled and kept moving closer to Will, put his hands on Will's upper arms, and leaned his face toward Will's.
Will leaned back to avoid the man and, clearly shaken, he tried again, even while practically doing a backward somersault to politely avoid the man, "You know, I really don't feel that way about men, so..." But by now the man had actually leaned into his neck and began sucking on it! Will struggled, but the man held his arms tightly. All politeness now gone, Will yelled, "Hey, get off me!"
But then something new happened. Something unexpected and bizarre. The man bit into his neck! And with teeth sharper than a human's should be. Well, sharper than anything but a shark's would be, he supposed. Then he wondered why he was analyzing it so much as the man bit deeper into his neck. There was a searing sharp pain and Will could feel warm wet liquid flowing out of his neck. The man was lapping it up, sucking up every last drop that escaped Will's body.
Will was so shocked he couldn't really move. He did manage to let out a little yelp, though, as he began to lose consciousness and slid down the wall with the man still on his neck sucking away.
At that moment, his boss came around the corner from the office, looking at paperwork. He was blurry in Will's eyes.
"Will, I was wondering if you could work next Tuesday, and take Friday off instead. Stacy has to go to a—AHHH!" He screamed as he caught sight of Will on the floor, with a small pool of blood forming next to him. Will sank into the oblivion of unconsciousness.
The strange sharp-toothed man had gone.
* * *
Will woke to a ring of bright lights in front of his eyes. Blurry at first. Then he noticed they surrounded a man's head. The man was staring down at him. He looked bored. He was middle aged, wearing a suit and tie. As soon as the man was sure Will was fully awake and able to understand him, he began to speak, in a clearly bored voice, "You were bitten on your neck. You lost a lot of blood and were brought to the hospital. You had a transfusion and stitches." He paused for a moment, then continued. "I'm a part of a secret organization that trains field agents to trace and correct supernatural anomalies. We are searching for agents to work in this area, your town. I understand you have a wife. The two of you could do the job together. If you are not interested just let me know and I'll erase your memory and it will be as if we never met or had this conversation."
Will stared up at him with a dazed look on his face. He said quietly, "Am I dreaming?"
After a pause the man said, "No."
From a distance Will heard the sound of flip flops slapping the tiled floor of the hall as someone ran. He knew it was her. He recognized her footsteps. Emily rushed into the room, her face suddenly hovering over his as the suited man moved to another part of the room.
"Will! Are you okay? They said you were bitten by something and taken here and lost a lot of blood, and—oh, my God—look at your stitches!" She gasped. "Gruesome! Poor baby..." She put her hand to his cheek. He gave a weak smile.
Emily was a tomboyish sort of girl. Twenty three years old. Skinny, cute face framed by a wash-and-go basic bob with bangs. Her brown hair hung down toward his face as she smiled contentedly, happy to be with him and able to see the damage for herself and that he would heal. She stroked his hair. The serene expression lasted for about 30 seconds and then slowly turned to confusion and slight annoyance as she became aware of the suited man standing on the other side of Will's bed, staring at her. Eventually she looked up to stare back at him with curiosity.
"Doctor?" She asked.
The doctor was standing near the door in a lab coat and answered, "Yes?"
She glanced at the doctor, then back at the suited man, "Cop?"
Will coughed a little, then realized he shouldn't do that and moaned because it hurt. Emily patted his head.
"Lawyer?" she said now to the man in the suit, really at a loss.
The suited man simply answered, "Here's my card." He handed it to her then left the room. The doctor followed him.
She looked down at Will with her eyebrows raised and a questioning expression on her face.
He looked back at her, pondering things for a moment. "Don't look at me," he said finally. "There's a good chance I'm dreaming or hallucinating from the drugs."
She nodded thoughtfully. Of course.