The Reincarnation

“Goddamn it! I want Grey up here immediately!” Dr. Persey was pacing David’s room.

Peggy was still dazed from the drugs coursing through her system. “Yes, sir. Right away, sir.” She started toward the door.

“And I want to talk to Laura the minute she gets in!”

“Yes, sir.” She started toward the door again.

“And you! I want you hypnotized. I want to know exactly what you saw this morning!” He was fuming.

“Yes, sir.” She left the room.

Back at the nurse’s station, Peggy punched a speed dial button on the phone. “He wants Grey immediately, sir.” She put the receiver back in its cradle. She tried to remain strong, but her knees failed her.

She fell into her chair and burst out crying.

John woke up startled. He crawled around on the floor of his motel room for a moment, as if looking for something. He heard the scurrying noise again, not recognizing it for what it was. He was more than confused; he slowly realized he no longer had a plan.

He got up and looked at himself in the bathroom mirror. His flesh had rebelled against him. It was nearly transparent now, and he could see his jaw underneath his skin, the skeletal outline of his teeth stuck fast in it, lined up like tiny soldiers in perfect little rows. They were useless now. John didn’t even have the desire to eat. There was an empty, vacant feeling inside him that he didn’t think anything could fill.

He looked at his fingernails again. The bright white patches under them had grown. At this stage of their growth some part of John’s mind did recognize the pattern they grew in. It was a faraway part that only revealed that he had seen those spots before; on some bread he had meant to feed to some birds a thousand years ago.

He moved quickly once he regained his bearings. After driving to a pharmacy, he spent fifteen minutes in the cosmetics aisle, finding just the right color and smell. Concentrating on the small rectangles of color before him, he realized his eyesight was becoming even cloudier – everything was fuzzy around the edges. He went to the counter with his purchases, paid in cash, kept his coat collar around his face, and avoided all eye contact with the person at the register. He only saw their hand.

Nonetheless, it was shaking spastically when it slid his change across the counter.