Scared Thirst

04/05/2026

The bat caves were insane. Thousands of them…hanging overhead, shifting and whispering to each other in the dark; a hive mind, alive and thinking.

One of them dipped low enough to brush against me. I remember the quick drag across my back like fingers. Or teeth.

Lacey laughed when I flinched. Said I was being dramatic.

I didn’t think anything of it at the time.

The smell was unbearable. Thick, sour, clinging to the back of my throat. Lacey kept trying to kiss me anyway, like she couldn’t get enough of it. Of me. Of everything.

We have dinner with some of her classmates tonight. I’m hoping she lays off the merlot this time. It makes her messy. Makes everything messy. She knows it bothers me.

Still, this journaling thing helps. Gets the noise out of my head. Puts it somewhere else. The mental clarity has made a difference.

Sincerely,

Sybil

04/08/2026

It’s been a few days since I’ve had the energy to write. Work has been brutal. Six patients each, every one of them demanding, deteriorating, or both. At this rate, we’ll all end up admitted ourselves. Even then, they’d probably expect us to manage our own care, documentation and all.

My head is pounding today. Lacey keeps singing aloud and prancing around the apartment as if life were some fairy tale. It used to amuse me. Now it feels like a quake in my skull, vibrating with her vibrato.

My stomach is wrecked. I’ve been in and out of the bathroom all morning. I need to talk to her about these recipe experiments. It’s supposed to be an adventure for your taste buds, not your intestines.

One of my patients last night had shingles. I can’t stop thinking about the rash… angry, blistered, spreading with the intent to take over.

There’s a feeling on my back now. Not on the surface. Deeper. Like something under the skin, moving when I try not to think about it.

It’s probably nothing. Stress. Lack of sleep.

Still… it doesn’t feel like nothing.

Seriously,

Sybil

04/09/2026

I brought my journal to work tonight so I don’t completely lose my mind.

Something is wrong with me.

My head won’t stop pounding. The feeling in my back is worse. Sharp…alive. I keep reaching for it without thinking, like if I scratch through the skin, it will find its exit.

And Lacey—

She’s been talking about Kyra constantly, one of her classmates. I saw them together the other night. The way Kyra looked at her…the way Lacey used to look at me. Longing, desire and happiness.

I can’t stop seeing it. Their faces blur together when I think about it. Their bodies….no!

The sounds tonight are unbearable. Every monitor beep buzzes from my head through my teeth. The air in the med room feels wrong, freezing, sharp, pins and needles prickling all my exposed skin.

I’m so thirsty.

I try to drink, but my throat tightens when the water gets close. Throwing me into a hacking cough attack. My body jerks about as if it has a mind of its own.

I tried again in the break room, same thing. My hands started shaking before the glass even touched my lips.

Mr. Wilson in 12 wouldn’t stop staring at me. Wide-eyed. Smiling. I swear he laughed when I changed his fluids.

Something isn’t right.

A nightmare I'm not waking up from.

Salivating,

Sybil

04/10/2026

I told her not to touch me.

She did anyway.

I could smell something on her, something that wasn’t her. Sweet but sour. Wrong. Kyra. Lacey. I can’t separate them anymore. Their faces slip into each other when I look too long.

I ran outside for air, but there was no air. Only stagnant suffocation. Help...Nothing helps.

Everything burns.

My throat, my eyes, my muscles, even my heartbeat is wrong, like my body doesn’t remember how to stay in rhythm.

I’m so thirsty I can feel it in my bones.

But when I try to drink, my body recoils. My throat seizes shut like it’s afraid of the water. The water is a demon trying to drown me. I’m cursed.

My back is unbearable. It burns and itches at the same time. I want to tear into it, rip into the flesh, let the blood gush out of me. Relief.

I saw them again.

Lacey—Kyra—their faces folding into each other, smiling, laughing. Laughing at me! At my torment. Teeth. Too many teeth. Sharp! They were biting me. I can still feel it. Biting, ripping, consuming, my flesh!

Who am I right now?

My skin feels tight. Wrong. Not mine.

When I speak, something comes out that doesn’t sound human. A monstrous groan that won’t allow my words to escape. Trapped. Screeching, flittering, saliva, shit.

Bats.

Blood.

Water.

Who am I?!

The Devil.

I’m going to Hell.

My mother was right.

Fuck.

04/11/2026 – 2318

Patient: Sybil Solomon, 32 y/o female, RN

Patient presented to ED via EMS with altered mental status, agitation, hallucinations and reported inability to swallow fluids. Per partner (Lacey Moore), patient exhibited progressive behavioral changes over approximately three days, including irritability, confusion, paranoia, and insomnia.

On arrival, patient noted to be tachycardic, diaphoretic, and hypersensitive to light, sound, and air movement. Patient repeatedly attempted to drink water but demonstrated immediate throat spasms and choking response consistent with hydrophobic reaction. Excessive, foamy, salivation observed.

Speech incoherent and fragmented. Patient intermittently combative and required restraint for safety.

Patient verbalized persistent sensations of burning and “movement under the skin” localized to posterior trunk; no visible dermatologic abnormalities noted.

Patient unable to correctly identify time, place, or familiar individuals. Visual hallucinations suspected.

Per partner, patient and partner visited a bat cave approximately one week prior. Partner reports patient sustained a minor bite to the back during that visit but did not seek medical evaluation.

Droplet precautions initiated. Provider notified. Patient placed in isolation for suspected viral neurologic etiology.

Condition rapidly deteriorated. Patient became unresponsive shortly after admission.

Rabies testing pending.