The Reincarnation

David sprang awake. His mind filled instantly with complete consciousness. He thought he had heard a gunshot, but then thought he might have dreamed it. No, he smelled gunpowder.

He heard a heavy thump next to his bed. Looking down, he saw a man there, passed out. Quickly getting out from under the covers, he kneeled down on the floor, next to the man. Seeing he had a gun, he took it from him. Hannibal was sniffing the man’s arm in disgust.

David touched the man’s arm. Hannibal had clawed and bit him, but no blood came from where the jagged flesh was torn. The man was as cold as ice. David rolled him on his back. He looked like he had been living in the same clothes for days. They were dirty and disheveled. He smelled like pancake makeup and cheap cologne, but there was another smell under them; it reminded David of his mother lying in her coffin at the viewing.

Donna ran down the stairs in a panic. “What the hell’s going on?” she cried. She turned on the overhead light.

Laura was waking up. Hannibal was licking his paws. Nothing seemed amiss, but she knew what she had heard. “David?” she inquired.

Shielded from Donna’s and Laura’s view was the gunman, on the floor at David’s feet. David pointed to the man. “I think he tried to kill me.”

Donna walked over slowly, peering over the edge of the bed. “Who the hell is he?”

“You got me. Nobody you know?” David asked.

“I’ve never seen him before.”

“What’s going on?” Laura was awake now, but confused. She saw David and Donna looking at the floor on David’s side of the bed. “Who’s that?” Laura said, looking at the gunman.

“That’s what I’d really like to find out,” David answered.