Page 175 - The Houseguest

DAY TWELVE
Karina spoke to me as if I was the same man she knew, but I wasn’t. Everything about me had changed since our time together. I would venture to say that there were three of me: the original Lance who died beside them in the wreck that day, the lifeless shell who wandered the earth during subsequent years, and finally Lance, this animal that life eventually turned me into.
Images of the dead cat that was left to starve in Rachel’s apartment kept popping into my mind. Perhaps that would be a less bloody and untidy way of extinguishing two lives. My plan was never to starve her, but that was before I discovered the potential for torture, both mental and physical, that motherhood presented. If I didn’t feed the host, the parasite within would surely perish.
The effects of dehydration come on much more quickly than starvation, however. All I would need to do is deny my captive water if I wanted to expedite the process. I thought about how interesting it would be to compare and graph the different effects of each: dehydration vs. starvation. With the first, I would see her blood pressure dropping, her mouth dry up and digestive system slow. Toxins would build quickly in her system. Kidneys would fail, followed by fellow organs, and finally death... all within a week, more or less. With the latter, I would be able to experience her body entering a series of metabolic modes. I recalled the word “catabolize” from research on one of my trials – “the body will catabolize its own muscle protein” – the body breaks itself down. I have to admit, the thought of it was exhilarating. Slowly, she would become more fatigued and weaker. Soon, her body would be unable to
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The Houseguest by Linda Ellis www.LindaEllis.life