The Gift

"So much for a warm welcome from the locals" Paul muttered as he looked at the stain on his trousers that the red-haired man left in his epileptic fit.  Paul removed his trousers and looked as they collapsed to the floor like dead sagging flesh. The stain was facing up at Paul in all of its brackish glory. The stain had a tinge of what appeared to be blood which couldn't be possible because the red-haired man wasn't bleeding. After a second of hesitation, Paul lifted up the pants and took them to the sink of his little bathroom. In the bathroom Paul grabbed one of the miniature bottles of shampoo to try and remove the stain. "Of all the people I end up sitting with I get the one who decides to puke." Paul groaned as he began to run the cold water. With washcloth in hand, he began to try and scrub the stain off the pants. Paul tried cold water, hot water, he even tried a little bit of his bleach that he bought for his whites. "Damn stain won't come out." Paul snarled after he decided to just hang the pants on the side of the bath tub and call it a night.

Midnight came and went as Paul had a fit-full night's rest. Tossing and turning, remembering the red-haired man and the woman on the train. How helpless he felt and all of the other situations where he wasn't able to help out in any way whatsoever. He woke up a few times with what felt like an elephant sitting on his chest. "More panic-attacks" Paul's sleep fogged brain thought as he searched for the little table lamp.  Paul clicked the lamp on and saw something in the corner of his room that wasn't there earlier. He rubbed his eyes and blinked, thinking that he had something in his eyes. If that were the case. The thing in the corner remained where it was at when Paul closed his eyes and reopened them. It was furry and slimy looking with lamp yellowed eyes. "I am never drinking again" Paul croaked in a sleepy voice as he sat up in his bed. The bright eyed thing made a sick mewling sound as it oozed across the floor. Paul looked around his bed hoping and wishing for something that he could contain the nightmare with. "Pillowcase!" Paul screeched as the creature lurched closer. Paul snatched the pillowcase off the neighboring pillow and opened it up like a sack.