Chapter 2Three Days to Stay Human

"What... what did you just do?" My voice cracked, a high-pitched squeak of pure terror.

Marsha wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, looking thoroughly refreshed. "It's brain-water, isn't it? Rich and metallic. Delicious. Why else would you offer it to me?"

My stomach turned. I wanted to vomit. She had just swallowed a bottle of bloody brain-water like it was a morning juice cleanse.

And no one else in the lobby even blinked. The bellhop, the couple checking in, the family sitting near the fireplace—no one cared. It was perfectly, terrifyingly normal to them.

My head throbbed. It wasn't just Polly. Everyone here was wrong.

But what about the police? What about the officers who were on their way?

Suddenly, a bloodcurdling scream shattered the lobby's quiet ambiance.

"You're all insane! This is sick!"

I whipped my head around. A woman in disheveled pajamas burst out of the elevator, sobbing, her eyes wild with panic. Behind her, a man in a business suit casually walked out, holding his own eyeball in his hand, trying to pop it back into his socket like a loose contact lens.

She was like me. A normal human. Terrified out of her mind.

I wanted to run to her, to hold her, but my survival instinct screamed at me to freeze. What happened to the ones who broke character?

Marsha and two other hotel staff members immediately lunged at the screaming woman, pinning her to the floor. Right then, the police cruisers pulled up, sirens wailing. The staff handed her over to the officers.

"Officer, we've got another lunatic here," Marsha said, smoothing down her skirt. "She's hysterical, claiming we can't take our organs out. Can you believe it? How else are we supposed to clean them when they get dirty?"

The officer nodded grimly, clicking handcuffs around her wrists. "Don't worry. We'll take her to the facility for correction. She'll be back to normal soon."

Correction. What did "normal" mean to them? Popping out eyes and washing them like dirty laundry? A cold dread settled deep in my bones.

My phone suddenly buzzed in my hand, making me jump. It was the police dispatcher calling me back, but the officer standing in the lobby saw my screen light up. He walked toward me, his boots clicking heavily on the marble floor.

"Are you the one who called about a domestic disturbance?"

I swallowed hard, forcing my facial muscles to relax. "Oh... yes, Officer. But it was a complete misunderstanding. My friend is perfectly fine."

The officer's eyes narrowed, sharp and calculating. "A misunderstanding? You sounded convinced she had been replaced. What exactly did you see?"