Eddie sat in his seat on the bus, rubbing his hands and bouncing his leg incessantly with anxiety and agitation. His strange behavior drew odd looks from the other passengers.
Was this guy some kind of junkie having an episode? The passengers on either side of Eddie instinctively edged away from him.
[Hungry!]
(So hungry!)
"Ah! What the hell!"
The voice in his head frightened Eddie so badly that when the bus reached his stop, he raced home as though his ass were on fire.
The first thing he did after stepping inside was put some ready-made food from the fridge into the microwave. Watching it slowly rotate and heat up, Eddie couldn't help swallowing.
As he stood in front of the microwave, his thoughts running wild, the vibration of his phone snapped him back to reality.
"Hey, Annie."
Answering the call, Eddie paced unconsciously, occasionally glancing at the food in the microwave.
"Hi, Eddie. How are you feeling?"
"I feel... I think I'm sick."
He felt hungry enough to swallow a full-grown cow whole.
"Okay, Eddie, you've been infected with a parasite. They're still not sure where it came from." Anne's voice sounded especially clear over the phone. "But that explains your fever. It makes sense now."
So that was it. Listening to Anne, Eddie felt a little relieved.
"Also, I keep hearing a voice." He scratched his head as he spoke, looking somewhat embarrassed.
"Auditory hallucinations are actually very common."
"Oh! Dan! Hi, how are you?" Eddie greeted him with an awkward laugh. "I didn't realize you were there too."
"Yes, I'm here." On the other end of the phone, Dan and Anne were eating dinner at the table.
"Dan, this parasite you're talking about, could it make me... I don't know how to describe it. Could it