The Real Parasite

I never really believed in parasites, at least not in the kind you can’t see. Sure, I’d heard about ticks and tapeworms from biology class, and I always stayed away from anything slimy. But I never thought something unseen could crawl inside you and control your mind. I mean, how could you tell if someone was still… them?

My best friend Jake, my younger sister Lily, and I had this long-running joke about parasites. Every time someone acted weird, like when our gym teacher Mr. Carlson wore mismatched socks for a whole week, we’d laugh and whisper, “He’s got a parasite!” Little did we know.

It all started about a month ago. Something strange was going on in town. Kids were getting sick, but it wasn’t a normal sickness. They’d get really pale, stop talking, and just… stare. The kind of stare that makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up. Mom said it was just a virus going around, but she didn’t know what we did.

“Jake, look at this,” I said, holding up the local newspaper. The headline read “Mysterious Illness Affects Local Schoolchildren.” There was a photo of one of the kids from our school, Emily Davis. She had this blank look in her eyes. Dead, almost.

Jake peered over my shoulder. “That’s the third one this week. They’re saying it’s some kind of infection.”

“Weird, huh? First Emily, then Ben from gym class. Now Lily says some of her friends aren’t acting right either.”

Lily, who was sitting on the couch playing with her phone, perked up. “Yeah, it’s creepy. Some of the girls in my class haven’t been to school for days. And the ones who are there… they’re different. They don’t talk anymore. Just stare.”

I glanced over at her. “Don’t worry. It’s probably just a flu or something. But we should be careful. I mean, better safe than sorry, right?”

That night, I couldn’t sleep. The image of those kids, their lifeless eyes, haunted me. It felt like something was crawling under my skin. I tossed and turned, trying to shake off the feeling.

The next morning, Lily wasn’t at breakfast.

“Where’s Lily?” I asked Mom, my stomach churning.

“She’s not feeling well. Must’ve caught that virus going around.”

I nodded, but a cold dread settled in my chest. I hadn’t seen her acting strange, but I couldn’t shake the thought that something was wrong. I ran upstairs to check on her. She was lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, her eyes wide open but distant.

“Lily?” I whispered, stepping closer.

She didn’t blink. Didn’t move.

“Lily?” I said louder, shaking her lightly. No response. Her skin was clammy and pale. She looked like those kids from the newspaper.

I ran out of the room, my heart pounding. “Mom! We need to get Lily to the doctor!”

But when Mom came up, Lily was sitting up in bed, smiling.

“What are you talking about, Dan?” she said, her voice sweet and cheerful. “I’m fine.”

I stared at her, my mind spinning. Had I imagined it? Her eyes… they weren’t quite right. Too shiny. Too wide. But she looked normal enough, and Mom didn’t seem concerned.

Later that day, Jake came over, and I told him about Lily. “Something’s seriously wrong with her, man. She was out of it this morning, and now she’s acting like everything’s fine. But her eyes… they’re weird.”

Jake raised an eyebrow. “You think she’s… infected?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. It’s spreading fast, and no one knows what’s causing it.”

He frowned. “We need to find out. If it’s not just the flu, then what is it?”

We decided to do some digging. That night, we snuck out with a flashlight and headed to the woods behind the school. Rumor had it, the first kid who got sick had been camping there. If something was infecting people, maybe it started in those woods.

The air was cold and thick with the smell of damp earth. Every rustle of leaves made me jump. Jake led the way, his flashlight beam cutting through the dark, casting long shadows between the trees.

“What are we even looking for?” I whispered, feeling my throat tighten.

“Anything weird,” Jake said, scanning the ground. “Anything that could explain what’s happening.”

After what felt like hours of walking, we stumbled upon a small clearing. In the center was an old, broken well, the kind you see in horror movies. Jake pointed the flashlight down into the darkness.

“What is that?” I asked, my voice shaking.

Something glistened at the bottom. A thick, dark liquid, bubbling slightly.

“Maybe we should get out of here,” I said, my skin crawling. But Jake didn’t move. He crouched down, staring into the well like he was hypnotized.

“Jake?” I whispered. No response.

He just stood there, swaying slightly, his face expressionless. His eyes glazed over like the kids in the newspaper.

I grabbed his arm and pulled him back. “We need to go. Now.”

He blinked, as if snapping out of a trance. “Yeah… yeah, let’s go.”

We didn’t talk much on the way back. Something was wrong with Jake now. I could feel it. The way he walked, slow and deliberate, like he was trying to mimic normal movements. But I knew. I knew.

When we got back to my house, I heard a soft giggle from the living room. I turned the corner and saw Lily sitting on the couch, staring at the TV. Her smile was too wide, her eyes too bright.

And next to her, sitting perfectly still, was Jake.

He turned to look at me, and for the first time, I realized the truth.

It wasn’t the sickness that spread through town. It was something far worse. The real parasite wasn’t invisible. It was right in front of me.

It wasn’t inside of them. It was them.

Lily’s grin stretched wider as she turned her head, ever so slightly, and whispered in a voice that wasn’t hers:

“Welcome home, Dan.”

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