Destiny

Liam scanned the deserted street. The silence was deafening. No one was in sight and all the doors were locked. It was starting to look like this was a waste of time.

A woman’s scream pierced the night air.

Liam drew his gun and sprinted down the street.

The woman screamed again. Liam cautiously crept around the corner of the alleyway the screams had come from, to surprise the villains.

Suddenly two beefy hands were clamped on his shoulders, a third one covered his mouth, and the fourth took his gun. A sinister chuckle came from the shadows and a third man came forward carrying the still form of a woman.

He was quite short, maybe five foot two, and very slender, yet he seemed to have no trouble carrying the woman who had to have weighed more than him. With his long blond hair and heart shaped face he could easily be mistaken for a woman, but his chest was bare and very flat. A medallion with the symbol of a bull hung around his neck. His eyes were slanted and glowed a reddish hue.

The man smirked, his eyes glowing evilly, “Well, well, well, you fell into our trap quite easily. Tie him up, then take the girl back to where we found her.”

One of the men holding him left with the woman while the other one shifted his wrists into one hand (yes his hands were that big) and took some rope out of a bag that was slung over one shoulder. While one of the man’s arms were occupied Liam tried to escape, but the man’s rock solid grip on his wrists didn’t budge. He was soon tied to a nearby fire-escape.

“What is the meaning of this?” he shouted angrily at his kidnappers.

The blond man gave a dark laugh, “Wouldn’t you like to know.” He replied with a sneer.

The man began chanting and Liam felt a tingle spreading through his body.

*What...? *

His thought was interrupted by the return of the other man and the two bodybuilders began to tear down his pants. Liam thrashed around, yelling and screaming, strangely enough the ropes didn’t budge. One of the men pulled out a pistol and held it against his temple.

"One noise and I'll blow your brains out, bitch."

Liam glared at them, “ You’ll have to shoot me anyway, because when I get loose. You will all be arrested.”

The Minions turned to their leader.

“Gag him.” Replied the blond as he finished chanting.

As the burly flunkies held him, the blond pulled a vial out of somewhere and shoved it cruelly into Liam’s anus. The chanting began again.

*I can’t believe this. I’m supposed to prevent this sort of thing, not become a victim. *

A liquid sensation made him gasp.

*What is that? *

With a hiss, the red-eyed man stopped chanting and pulled out the vial. There was another strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. Liam sagged with exhaustion. Were they going to kill him now?

It seemed he was fated to live, because the two lackeys untied him and disappeared. The blond one gave one last sneer before he too vanished into the night.

Liam coughed and struggled to his feet, wincing. He forced himself to search for evidence. He stumbled over to his torn pants and pulled out his flashlight. By instinct he grabbed for his weapon, but it wasn't there. He clenched his fists and screamed in rage.

He stumbled back to his car and pulled out his dusting kit but no matter how hard he looked he couldn’t find any fingerprints. Indeed he could find no proof that there had been anyone but him in that alley. If it weren’t for the pain and his shredded clothing, Liam wouldn’t have thought anything had gone on here at all. He decided to go home, he felt dirty all of a sudden and a shower sounded really good.

*I’ll have to report this in the morning. At least I got a good look at their faces but how did he disappear so quickly and why was there no trace of him? *

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Captain Arthur Malcolm looked up from his reports at the sound of a knock on the door of his office. He gasped at the sight of Liam slouched against the door. Liam was very pale looking and he had huge bags under his eyes.

“Liam!” he cried as he pulled him inside. “What happened?”

Liam groaned as he sat down but he proceeded to tell his captain what had happened to him. It took a while to explain everything that had occurred, but finally he finished and sagged in his chair.

Captain Malcolm sat with an expression of shock on his face. It was inconceivable that someone could have done this to Liam. He was such a good officer that he seemed invincible at times.

“So, you’re reporting this?” he asked.

Liam’s cheeks flushed red, “umm… Yes.” He replied, “There is no evidence, all I’d have is a description of the perp. But unless we get lucky, I don’t expect to catch them. Still, I’ll give it a try just in case something comes up.”

The Captain pulled out some papers and began filling them out “Okay Liam, I’ll send a team out to inspect the alley. Maybe you missed something, some clue that they could use.”

Liam scoffed, “I’ve been a cop for six years and I’ve been one of the best. If I couldn’t find anything, then no one could.”

“All right,” sighed Captain Malcolm, “then get down to forensics and see if they can get any DNA from you. Then, go to the profiling artist and give a description.”

“Yes Sir!”

“Oh and Liam?” called Captain Malcolm.

Liam stopped at the door.

“I’m removing you from this case. It looks like it has become a bit personal for you to be out all hours of the night when you’re not being paid. Take a few days off to rest and then I’m transferring you to the cold case department.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Liam vomited into the toilet for the third time that day.

*Well, looks like I’m not working today. Not again, this is the fifth day in a row. When am I gonna beat this flu. *

Liam picked up the phone and dialed the precinct. He had just finished explaining to the captain when, suddenly, HE was there in the middle of the room. His eyes flickering a reddish hue, the blond smirked and leaned in so his face was inches from Liam’s.

He reached his hand out and caressed Liam’s stomach. “You have something I want,” he murmured, “give it to me or I shall take it.”

Liam, startled, backed away, “Whah? H…how did you? What are you doing here?” Demanded Liam.

But He just chuckled and faded into the shadows.

Liam put his hand to his mouth and sprinted to the bathroom. He barely made it in time. As he was worshiping the porcelain gods he heard the door to his apartment open and shut.

"Liam!! It’s me Sam,” he heard his sister call, "you here?”

He couldn't answer her while vomiting, however, and once the contents of his stomach were gone he gagged and coughed and sputtered, until he was gasping for air and his vision darkened as he lost consciousness.


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Liam paced the doctor’s office. His sister had found him heaving his guts into the toilet and had ordered him to go to the hospital. His protests of,” its nothing” were met with, “if it was nothing would you be puking and passing out?”

*Damn sisters and their logic anyway. *

So here he was waiting for the doctor.

He looked up as the doorknob suddenly rattled and twisted as the door swung open and someone entered the small room.

Dr. Kingsley eyed him uncertainly for a short moment, before sighing and motioning for Liam to take a seat on the table. The Lieutenant complied slowly, making his way over to said table and sliding back up onto the metal slab, the paper crunching as he moved.

“All right then, Liam.” The Doctor stated tiredly as he took a seat in a short, rolling chair near the door. In his late fifties, Dr. Kingsley had a kind face, with crinkling lines around the corners of his eyes and mouth when he smiled. He had been Liam’s Doctor since he was small.

Dr. Kingsly looked down at his clipboard before looking back up at Liam, “I hear that you’ve been having some stomach problems?”

Liam shrugged a shoulder and looked away. “Yeah. I’ve been throwing up for about a week now.”

“A week?” the doctor asked, Liam heard the scratching of a pen against paper. “Constantly? Or at irregular intervals?”

The Policeman reached back and scratched at the base of his neck absently. He really hadn’t thought too much about it. “Um . . . just about every day, I guess. Mostly when I get up in the morning, but it isn’t confined to just that time.”

There was a pause and then more noise of the pen on paper. Dr. Kingsley mumbled something and then asked, “Do you have any other symptoms?”

“Like . . .?” asked Liam, quirking an eyebrow.

“Like . . .” Kingsly raised his hands and gestured, twirling them in slow circles at the wrist. “Like diarrhea or blood in the urine or feces? Pain in the chest or throat? Fever, chills, nosebleed, sinus trouble, coughing? Anything like that. Anything that you feel shouldn’t be happening to you.”

Liam’s brow furrowed. “Now that you mention it, I have been feeling kind of . . . ‘flu-y’ . . .”
“Flu-y?” repeated Kingsley, tapping his pen on the clipboard. “Muscles tight, kind of feverish, sore throat . . . like that?”

“Yeah. Kinda. Except, without the sore throat . . .”

“Hm. Okay,” the doctor said, bowing his head to resume writing.

Liam swallowed thickly, unconsciously reaching up to rub at his shoulder. “And . . . I’ve just been feeling kind of . . . off.”

Kingsley looked up. “Off? Like . . . just not right?”

“Uh-huh. I . . . can’t explain it. Its like . . . I just don’t belong inside my body.” Replied Liam.

“Hm . . .” the doctor muttered with a nod, looking back down at the paper that he had been scribbling on. “So, vomiting, flu-like symptoms, and . . . just a feeling of unease . . .” Kingsley sighed quietly, adjusted his glasses once again, then began to speak, “Well, Liam when I first read on your chart that you were vomiting, my immediate assumption was that you had a stomach virus. It’s been going around. I’ve had a few patients, recently, that have turned up with it.”

“However . . .” Kingsley sighed. “In most flu cases, the vomiting only lasts for a day, two at the most. So . . .” He trailed off quietly.

“So I can’t possibly have that.” Liam sighed. “So, what do I have?”

Kingsley pursed his lips and tapped the end of his pen against them absentmindedly, before putting said pen on the clipboard in his lap and then pushing the whole thing over onto the desk to his left. “Liam.” he said, leaning forward in his seat and tenting his fingers, pressing them to his lips as he furrowed his brow. “You are sick. From what you’ve told me, that I can be sure; however, I’ve come to a few conclusions that will require several tests to confirm.”

Liam narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean?”

The doctor sighed and sat back again. “Liam…as your doctor I was informed of what happened a few months ago. ”

The lieutenant gulped and glanced down at his interlaced fingers. “Yes …There was an incident a couple months ago; but these symptoms only started within the past few weeks… you think I’ve contracted something from that? “

Dr. Kingsley frowned and closed his eyes. “It’s . . . a possibility,” he stated slowly. “As much as I hate to admit it.”

Liam frowned and shifted uncomfortably.

The man arched an eyebrow and took in a breath. “Well, Liam” he said, leaning back in his chair. “First and foremost we are going to draw some blood and have that sent away for a battery of tests. It will take about a week to get the results and then we can start a treatment.”

Liam nodded slowly, then frowned. “What diseases are you testing for?”

“Well,” said Kinsley, scratching at the back of his head, “they’ll run a full serologic test, which tests for certain diseases, and an agglutination or heterophil test, that will identify unknown antigens in the blood. I’ll also put down for a hormonal test, just to check and be sure that it’s nothing pituitary. They’ll test everything. I guarantee you that, if there is something to find, we will find it. Just wait a week.”

“And until then?” Liam asked, anxiety lacing his voice.

Kingsley let out a sigh and rubbed at his eyes beneath his glasses. “Medication now could do more harm than good. So you can try drinking ginger to calm your stomach and eat things that are bland like crackers and toast. Anything else you’d like to ask before I go, Liam?”

The Lieutenant considered him for a short moment before he relinquished a weary sigh. “No, That’s everything.”

The doctor patted him on the shoulder and then turned to leave “I’ll send in a nurse to draw your blood in a few minutes, so just sit tight till then. Goodbye, Liam.”