My mate lay crumpled on the floor, foaming from his mouth. His body jerked sporadically like he was connected to a live wire, his finger reaching out to grab onto something.

For a moment I froze, blinking furiously as I tried to process the sight in front of me, but the tears kept blurring my vision, and every effort to control it proved abortive.

So I moved, my knees dragging on the tiles as I reached him, and I finally beheld his state.

He was worse than I had imagined, his skin a deathly pale color that death painted on its victims. His eyes were gleaming over, his breath dragging...