Convergence

Paul hid behind the darkness of his eyelids summoning the courage and strength to open them.  The pain in his head was clearing but he watched the room spin as the churning in his stomach made him retch.

"Good to see you awake."

The voice snapped Paul from his delirium and he pushed himself to sitting. A frightfully well-dressed man sat in a large leather chair near the foot of the bed.

"Who the fuck are you? Paul demanded.

"I'm Doctor Bailey." he said.

Paul fought back the urge to vomit as he scratched at the IV needle taped to his arm.

"Where am I? How long have I been here?"

"It's rather...complicated." Bailey replied. "You collapsed on the pavement in front of your hotel. You were taken to hospital and we've been looking after you."

Paul didn't like the doctor's hesitation. There was a malevolence in Bailey's voice that kept Paul's heart and mind racing.

"HOW LONG!"

"A little over a fortnight."

Paul was on the verge of panic. He wanted to scream - to RUN. Fear and rage thundered in his chest as the taste of bile filled his mouth.

"I remember being pulled into a van...and I was drugged?"

"You make it sound awfully sinister but it's nothing of the sort, I assure you." Doctor Bailey let out a wry but oddly rancorous chuckle.  "After you collapsed, someone phoned an ambulance and you were brought here; so I can only assume that is the van you're referring to."

"What happened?"

Before Bailey could respond, the room's only door swung open and a tall red-haired man with a hawkish nose leveled a pistol at the doctor. Paul saw the muzzle flash and Bailey's head explode in a wet cloud of blood and brains before the sound of the shot reached his ears.

"You don't have a disease and you haven't been here for two weeks." the red-haired man explained as he worked to remove Paul's IV.

"Wh..why?" was all Paul could manage to say; shock and nausea left him numb.

"Because of what's inside you, mate. They call it an 'alien' but they don't know what the fuck it really is."

Paul sobbed as he watched Bailey's blood spread across the floor. He could hear a cacophony of voices from somewhere beyond the door.

"Shit. Can you walk?" the red-haired man asked.

Paul nodded and followed the man into the hall.

"Are you with that woman?" Paul asked.

"What woman?"

"The woman that pulled me into the van; the one with the red hair...like yours. Maya."

The red-haired man stared at Paul with a mixture of fear, revulsion, and anticipation.

"You've seen Maya...actually SEEN her?" he demanded.

Paul's eyes widened and he pointed to the figure standing behind the red-haired man.

"She's right there."