After Dark

Why was I even out here? I felt like crap.

It was a normal night for Kerith and me: Some clubbing, drinking… Well, it was supposed to be anyways. Alas, I felt horrible again. My stomach seemed to toss and turn, despite not having any alcohol yet. I held onto my temple, trying to calm the throbbing. Kerith wasted no time checking up on me, gently tapping me on the shoulder. " Are you alright, dear sister…?" I couldn't help but feel snappy in my discomfort. " Oh, yes, I feel fantastic!" Kerith frowned at me disapprovingly, his eyes squinting. I probably deserved that. " Jaryn, I asked you if you were feeling well enough to go out tonight and you said you were." His tone was not unlike a parent scolding their kid. I thought I was the older sibling. " From the looks of it, you're not, are you?"

I grimaced. True, I DID say that earlier on in the evening. " I know, I just wanted to go out tonight… I honestly thought I was feeling better…" Kerith sighed, putting down his drink. " Let's go home, then. Last thing we need is you throwing up all over everyone." He helped me up off the seat, and we started our trek back to the penthaus.

" This is the third time this happened, Jare." Kerith supported me as we walked on into the night. " I know…" I groaned. God, I just wanted to lie down and sleep. " You sure you don't have, you know…" Kerith looked uncomfortable as I felt. " A bun in the oven…?"

I shot that down almost as fast as I whipped my head up. " Like hell I do. You should know better than that, Kerith." He shrugged a bit. " Well, this is the worst case of stomach flu I've ever seen. I'm simply listing down possibilities, dear sister." I felt my insides flip again with each step I took. " Well, I can assure you, that's not what's happening here."

As if I could properly explain it without him thinking I'm nuts, anyways.

We reached the tower in no time flat, and I ran to the bathroom in what seemed to be record time. " Jare, I'm gonna see if we have anything for your stomach." Kerith called from the kitchen. I would have answered him if I could, but I felt it coming on again. I leaned over the porcelain toilet bowl, and it happened once more.

I threw up sludge.

I wasn't kidding when I meant sludge, either. It all started a few days ago. I had thought it the work of some bad food, but even spoiled squid-ink spaghetti doesn't stay in one's system that long. Nor did it float away in wisps after I ejected it from my mouth. It was like tar: Dense, pitch black and quite frankly, disgusting. Even worse? At times it appeared to have… stuff in it. Clusters of eggs… Writhing tentacles… I had almost screamed the first time I saw what almost looked like an EYE staring back at me before it melted away into thin air. If it wasn't happening to me, I would have written it off as some horrible horror story.

As scared as I was, I knew Kerith wouldn't believe me. Even if he did, what would we do? As far as I knew, some alien substance was in me and I could do nothing but hope it stopped the more I regurgitated it.

" Ker…" I called weakly from the bathroom. " Could you please bring me some water…? I think I need a drink…"

" Trust me honey, that water isn't going to do anything for that mess you have on your hands."

… That wasn't Kerith at all.

I looked up at towards the door frame of the bathroom. There stood Lima, one half of the annoying DCI crew that Kerith and I had to deal with over the past few months. The woman was a force to be reckoned with, I'll give her that. Still, that didn't answer my question. " What the hell are you doing in my house?" There was no way she could have gotten past Kerith. Our security system hadn't sounded off either.

" Whoa there, girl." Lima backed up a bit as I got up. " I doubt you're in any condition to be fighting anything. Especially when I can help you out with that 'problem' of yours." My eyes widened. She saw that? " Listen here, I don't need any of your help; It's an upset stomach, is all. And how the hell did you get into my house? There's no way… Kerith! KERITH!" I called out to my brother, but I received no response. " Keri-" I walked out to the living room area, only to catch my breath.

Everything seemed to be frozen in time. The clock wasn't ticking. The sink, filling a cup full of water for me, I presume, stood like a photo, water droplets still in midair. To my horror, my brother shared the same fate, standing like a statue as he looked at a bottle of medicine from the cupboard.

" Kerith?…" I went to him, trying to get his attention but to no avail. " Ker?!" Lima strode behind me, as if irritated. " Relax, hon. Your brother will be fine. I'm simply testing out this little gadget here." In her hand was a silver pocket watch, a slight purple glow emitting from it. " I told you before, I can help you. I didn't think you wanted this discussion with your brother as well, so I'm… keeping him out of the loop, if you will…" I turned towards her. I guess I had no choice.

" Fine, I'll hear you out, but you need to return my brother to normal right after." Lima nodded. " Well, I will admit I'm the one at fault for your current misfortune. However, I'll be willing to explain everything I know at the moment to you and the others if you agree to come to the little meeting I'm arranging. I'm not forcing you, I'm just saying that it's probably for your best interests… unless you want to keep having your leftovers look at you from the toilet, dear."

She strode away and out the door. " Tomorrow night; 6:00 PM. I look forward to seeing you there." She closed the door behind her, and my surrounding burst back to life. My brother finally looked up from the small bottle and practically jumped when he saw me next to him. " JESUS CHRIST! Jaryn, don't sneak up on me like that! I thought you were an intruder!" I looked at him; apparently whatever Lima had done prevented him from hearing our conversation. " Sorry," I apologized to him quickly, if only to ease his nerves. " Ker…?"

" Yes, dear sister?…"

" I'm going to be busy tomorrow night, I believe."