I've had the idea for this for ages, finally decided to write it, so here it is. Any criticism would be greatly appreciated, still in the planning stages and am not fully sure whether to continue.
Thanks,
Darth Zexar
Heading to his apartment from Bushwell Plaza's rooftop, Freddie Benson failed to notice a streak of oil on the floor and slipped, dropping everything he was holding in a loud crash. Cursing under his tongue he rose to his feet and checked his equipment for any damage or breakages, sighing a breath of relief when he knew everything was okay. From the corner of his eye he could see a man stumbling towards him so he swiveled around, fearful when he saw the state of him.
He looked almost completely void of life with sunken, blackened eyes under his dark receding hair line, which in turn was covered in a sticky substance. His mouth was open wide to reveal a rotting set of teeth, accompanied by a stench fouler than anything Freddie had ever smelt in his entire life. Skin was stretched tightly over his skull to show every bump, crevice, and dent within his bones, making him look like little more than a skeleton. What Freddie presumed was blood began to stream from the man's nose, but it was jet black without a trace of a normal red. It was only then that the man made any noise by screaming, a high-pitched, and painful scream of someone in complete and utter agony. The man collapsed onto his back but the dreadful noise was reluctant to cease until it stopped as sudden as it started.
Freddie scrambled to his feet much more scared than he'd ever been before, and took a few jittery steps towards the wreck of a man. He looked fragile as a ninety year old, but Freddie could now see that he was in actual fact Frank Parker, a thirty four year old bus driver. As Freddie's eyes lingered on his face the pair of dark eyes opened and flicked around like mad, as if searching for something within the room. Quicker than anyone should ever be able to move he had risen to his feet and lifted Freddie into the air with a single hand, holding him inches from his twisted nose.
"Benson", the man screeched in a horror-movie way, sending Freddie into a state of unconsciousness.
Hours Later
Freddie opened his eyes to the bright light of a midday summer sun as he laid on Carly Shay's couch, the back of his head throbbing with a sharp pain.
"Hey kiddo", Spencer smiled, handing Freddie a small pack of ice.
"What happened?", Freddie questioned, his voice feeling quite croaky.
"We found you a few floors up next to some oil, you must of slipped and hit your head"
"I don't remember anyth-", he began to say, stopping mid sentence as he suddenly remember everything that happened before he blacked out, "Frank Parker"
"Huh?", Spencer asked, not understanding what Freddie was meaning.
"I saw him, he looked ill"
"Freddie, Frank Parker died two weeks ago, he was really ill"
"But I saw him", Freddie half-shouted, cut short from his intended argument as Carly and Sam walked into the apartment.
"How you feeling?", Carly quizzed, sitting down next to him on the couch.
"Frank Parker", Freddie repeated, confusing Carly, as he got up and headed into the kitchen.
"Hey Freddork", Sam shouted at him to get his attention, "There's some juice on the floor, don't slip on it"
She chuckled at her own Freddie-related torment and continued eating her Italian meatball sub, her taste buds coming alive with each mouthful.
"Very funny Puckett", he snapped back at her, abandoning what he was doing and sitting at the kitchen island.
"What happened to Frank Parker?", he asked casually, taking a mouthful of the root beer that was on the counter.
"Myocardial infarction", Carly stated, smiling at how smart she sounded, "Why?"
"Freddie thinks he saw him", Spencer scoffed to Carly and Sam's amusement.
"You really hit your head hard", Sam mocked, ruffling his hair as she walked over to him.
"It's not a joke", he told them seriously.
He was sure he'd seen Frank, as sure as he'd been about anything in his life so he decided he'd do some research when he got away from all the mockery. As his mom was out of town he was at Carly's almost all the time, so he headed up to the studio with his laptop and opened the internet, searching for any information on Frank's death. After a few minutes of searching he found an interesting article about a few never previously encountered symptoms that Frank had experienced.
Frank Parker, recently deceased, was a respected bus shuttle driver, friendly with everyone young and old. His death came as a shock to his friends and family, the 34 year old had been a very active person, playing a wide variety of sports from soccer to tennis, whilst frequently attending the gym. However, doctor's were given a shock when examining his body post-death. Cause of death had been confirmed as myocardial infarction (heart attack), but he had also experienced some very strange symptoms.
He had begun to deteriorate physically before death, and had very little muscle tissue remaining anywhere on his body. His blood had been markedly discolored to a very deep black showing very little to no oxidization of the haemoglobin, contributing towards myocardial infarction. What's more, Frank is believed to have been in this state for four days prior to death, stumping doctors as to how he could have survived without an oxygen supply to his heart and brain. His previously green eyes had morphed into a very dark red, almost black in color, another occurrence that doctors have never encountered.
British doctor, Professor Price, believes a combination of bacterial and viral mutation is behind the strange case, using the body as a host and keeping the victim alive through anaerobic respiration.
Freddie began to freak out a little because of what he'd read, Frank Parker had only been living a few floors away from them. If a bacterial mutation had really been the cause of what had happened then who's to say it had gone from the building, it may have lingered. With a shudder Freddie was reminded of what he'd looked like, and it was only then he remembered that Parker should have been dead.