Accidental Shifters: Origins – Bit 3

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That was weird.

“Can you move your arms?” she whispered to the guy next to her. He didn’t respond, and she looked over. The skin on his arms rippled like the surface of the water when someone tosses a penny for luck. Was she hallucinating? “Do you see that?” 

“Yeah,” he said. “I think they dosed us with LSD.” 

Felicia nodded. Her mouth was dry and the bumps on her tongue rubbed coarsely against the roof of her mouth. She had never taken drugs and didn’t understand why they would give such a powerful psychedelic to them in the name of science. The older lady who had asked the question suddenly screamed like she was in pain. It was deafeningly loud and quite piercing. Every eye in the room was on her, and as one of the nurses rushed over, Felicia’s heart thundered against her chest as her breathing became labored and panic seeped into her bones. 

Someone else started screaming, and Felicia jerked her head to catch a glimpse. But as her head swiveled around and fear made her limbs tremble, she held onto her chair to steady herself. It set off a chain reaction where screams were heard coming from every side of the room. Her skin turned red as if she had just gotten a painful sunburn and her stomach turned. What was going on? Did LSD cause panic in people? She didn’t know. Now her skin was on fire and the room was spinning. Fearing for her safety, she shot up to her feet, knocking over her chair. But when she stood up, her legs turned to jelly and she toppled over, landing on her bottom.

The nurse who had given her the injection came over and helped her up. “Come on, dear. We’re going into the examination room.” 

“I feel sick,” she told her.

“I know,” she said, wrapping her arm around Felicia’s shaking torso. “Come on. I’ll help you walk.” 

Felicia didn’t know what else to do. Concentrating as hard as she could, she was able to put one foot in front of the other as the nurse led her into a different room. This room had hospital beds lined up as far as the eye could see. There were more nurses in this room, and Felicia—wide eyes darting in all directions—was alarmed at the predicament she had gotten herself into. 

“What’s wrong with me,” she pleaded before black spots clouded her vision and she fell back to her knees, vomiting. The nurse immediately grabbed a trashcan and slid it underneath Felicia’s face just seconds after she gagged and the contents of her belly spewed forth. After she emptied her stomach, a different nurse helped her into bed. As chills ravaged her body, a frail Felicia sunk into the mattress. With her words caught in her throat, she was unable to voice just how scared she was.

“Please,” she muttered out.

The nurse shushed her and pushed Felicia’s sweat-soaked bangs behind her ears. An IV went into her arm. Eyes stinging with tears, Felicia wanted to go home. Her vision tunneled and her hearing muffled. Something was very wrong with what they had given them. 

Her consciousness was slipping, and she fought to stay awake. If she went under, they could do anything they wanted to her.  “She’s shifting,” someone said as the fire returned to her body. Her innards burned in excruciating pain as flames licked at her brain. Paralyzed by the agony pillaging her frame, she could not bear it any longer. That’s when her body gave out and she succumbed to the anguish.

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