Chapter 1
The Beginning Of The End

I opened my eyes, the ritual was over, another soul sacrificed to our lord, our savior, who would lead us to salvation. I looked at the altar, which was masked in the blood from the sacrifice's mortal body, a dagger sat, stuck in the corpse's chest, its neck sliced open. One of my brothers dragged the body away. I don't know what is going to happen to the corpse. It is not my job to know. I walk off, spotting a dear friend of mine, I approach him and bow, as I must to anyone in the upper ring M:“Ignacio…” I:“Mort…” He speaks back, I can see a smile, almost hidden by the hood covering his partially burned face, I return the smile and look up, the moon, a waning gibbous tonight, almost aligned perfectly with the large glass circle on the ceiling :“The night is almost over…” I:”I know…” M:”...Would you like to come over to my house after the night is over? I can make you dinner…” I:” I'm fine!..” He snapped, his slight smile dropped to a frown, he took a slight step back “...Sorry…But I am alright, Mort. I can take care of myself.” M:”I know, but-” “Quiet!..” He snaps again, and I silence myself, as I had to I:“...I appreciate you're concerns for me, but you worry about me too much! I am not as old or as fragile as you think I am!..*Sigh*...Sometimes you let the doctor's side of you get out of control!..” I frown, I am all too aware of my way of showing others my concern, too overbearing and coddling I've been told. I looked up, the moon, now perfectly aligned with the glass ceiling, and a bell rang, allowing us to leave. This meeting was over. As my brothers and sisters left, returning to their own lives outside of the cult, I looked at Ignacio and bowed again, leaving in silence…
Returning home, I feel exhausted. I walk to my bedroom, beginning to feel a bit ill. I remove my robe and necklace and hide them in my closet, changing out of my clothes, switching to a loose shirt and some sweatpants, I sit in my bed, covering my mouth, my throat beginning to feel odd and dry “*Cough* *Cough*” I look at my hand, I wipe the few drops of spit onto my shirt, I lay my head on my pillow, and fall asleep…
I wake up, I think I have a cold, my throat hasn't gotten better, and I still feel tired. I pull myself out of bed and take myself to my medicine cabinet “*Cough* *Cough* *Cough*...Auugh…” I dig through my medicine cabinet, pulling out some cold medicine, taking it. I get changed and put a mask on, going to work…
I walk down the bleak halls of the hospital, seeing patients and coworkers walk past while I cough occasionally, as I pass the morgue, a familiar face walks out as I pass by, the woman looks at me as I let out another cough P:”Doctor…Are you alright?..” M:”*Cough* *Cough* Yes, Patty. I'm fine…” P:”You definitely don't seem too well. You shouldn't be at work, doctor…” M:”...It's a simple cold Patty. I, and my patients, will be fine if I am careful…” Patty pinched the bridge of her nose  P:”*Sigh*...Alright then…” I watch her walk away, a nauseated feeling arose in me. I make my way to the bathroom, I feel as if my throat is closing in, I pull down my mask and place a hand over my neck gently, rubbing it and begin to take deep breaths M:*This feeling…I don't think this is how people feel during common colds…I may be dealing with a bigger pro-*As I was rubbing my throat, I felt a tiny lump, right above the center of my collar bone, moving my hand to investigate the lump, I see a small dot, about the size of a bead, which was a vibrant cyan color. The site of this dot concerned me, nothing like this was ever seen ever in medical history, and this was most certainly not a result from anything normal M:”Wh-What?..” My hand shook a bit, this was abnormal, I have no clue what this is, or how it ended up on my skin. I'm afraid to mess with it, I don't know what would happen if I were to pop this odd speck on my skin. I pull the mask over my face, trying to continue my day, as if the sight of this odd fleck on my skin hadn't brought fear and worry onto me…
The days passed, my condition worsening, lately I have felt tired and cold, often coughing up strange liquids, yet my throat always feeling so dry, I haven't been able to eat properly, the dot turning into more to the size of a ping pong ball, it has retained it's bright color, and it makes breathing ever more difficult, the Skin and veins surrounding the lump beginning to mimick it's color, and a slight burning is felt when I breath or touch any of the skin near the lump, I have been coughing and vomiting up blood, an odd glowing fluid of sorts mixed with the blood. The most concerning of all, my skin has seem to have…Begun to peel off…When I scratch it, I have tried my best to avoid scratching, but I am missing many small bits of flesh on my body and face. Others have noticed my current condition, Patty suggests I get surgery to remove this…parasite of sorts...As she calls it, before further damage to my body is done, but I've yet to finish my research, I need to find out what causes this speck to grow on me, and how to cure it, because Ignacio has reported a tiny fleck, the same as mine, on the side of his neck. I will continue to research this, even if it kills me. I must find a cure…
I stumble out of bed, having been forced to take the day off by my coworkers, due to my current condition. That doesn't bother me, it just means more time to find a cure. Shivering as I walked, feeling faint and weak, I staggered into my office, left a mess, with papers spread across the floor and desk, old coffee cups decorated a corner of my once neat desk, in a once neat office room. I approach my desk chair, feeling as if my throat is filling with fluids, I try to hold in the need to vomit for once, though the attempt was feeble as I bend over to the side of my desk, puking into a bin, which was close to full, filled with the blood and mystery liquid I have been throwing up. Leaning against the desk, my body shaking and my throat filling with liquid again, I pick up a pen and begin writing, my hand shaking…

“As the days passed, my condition worsened. Lately I have felt tired and cold, often coughing up strange liquids, yet my throat always feeling so dry, I haven't been able to eat properly, the dot turning into more to the size of a ping pong ball, it has retained its bright color, and it makes breathing ever more difficult, the Skin and veins surrounding the lump beginning to mimic its color, and a slight burning is felt when I breath or touch any of the skin near the lump, I have been coughing and vomiting up blood, an odd glowing fluid of sorts mixed with the blood. The most concerning of all, my skin has seemed to have…Begun to peel off…When I scratch it, I have tried my best to avoid scratching, but I am missing many small bits of flesh on my body and face. Others have noticed my current condition, Patty suggests I get surgery to remove this…parasite of sorts...As she calls it, before further damage to my body is done, but I've yet to finish my research, I need to find out what causes this speck to grow on me, and how to cure it, because Ignacio has reported a tiny fleck, the same as mine, on the side of his neck. I will continue to research this, even if it kills me. I must find a cure…”

I grabbed a fresh sheet of paper and continued writing, but only managed to write down a few sentences before I collapsed to the floor. My limbs twitch and shake, the fluids filling my throat and lungs fill more, a burning sensation fills every nerve in my body, parts of my skin begin to peel and rot off of my body, more and more falling off every time I slam onto the floor, failing to get up. M:”Ack! Ackk! *Cough* *Cough* Ack *Gasp* *Cough*” I struggle, but am able to turn myself onto my stomach, I look at my hand, weakly pulling it in front of my body. The veins on my arm admitted a dim glow, their glow the same as the lump. I vomit out the liquids again, I feel too weak to move, too lightheaded. I look around my office one last time, my eyes shut and my head hits the cold floor. As I lose consciousness, I can only think of a few things, as my death, seeming to be now, takes me, swiftly yet painfully...
Patty was right, this was a parasite, destined to kill me, and with time, my dearest friend too. I wonder, are the lives of others at risk? Could this parasite spread, acting as a punishment to the world?..Maybe, this is a gift from my savior, and my time for the promised land has come. Well, I will get my answer soon enough, as I sit, surrounded by blackness, awaiting my fate…
My eyes soon opened, my vision blurred for a moment, my sight no longer how it was, as I see everything in a cyan tint as involuntary movements control my body, I watch as I stand up, slowly, and against my own will. Moving out from my office slowly, I walked into my bathroom, I saw what I was now. My eyes were fully cyan, growing, just as all of my veins did. The skin around the parasite had begun to turn into a dark, desaturated magenta, small bumps grew into my morphing skin, the parasite was now around the size of my palm, looking close to bursting. I look at myself in horror, for what I have become, I am no longer human...
I walked out of my bathroom, my body headed towards the front door. I don't know what is going to happen to my body, now that the parasite has taken most control, but I wish I did…

(Sorry if this Chapter sucked, please tell me what you think of it)