Fran looked at his computer with boredom. He had been working for a few hours already, and the only thing that gave him the strength to keep going was that lunchtime was coming soon. Well, it wasn't really the only thing.
Ana approached his table in a carefree manner. As always, she was well groomed. Her natural beauty was highlighted by the makeup she wore. She had a confidence-inspiring presence, as one would expect for someone of her status. Despite this, she wore a slightly low-cut shirt, so Fran had to make an effort not to look directly at them when she approached.
"Hey, Fran. How are you doing with those reports?" Ana asked enthusiastically, leaning on his desk. Having her so close made Fran a little nervous, but he tried not to let her notice.
"Em... I... good. Very good. I'm almost done" answered Fran
Although Ana was his superior, Fran had thought for a while about asking her out. As far as he knew, she was single and they got along quite well. There was nothing to lose by trying.
"Great. When you're done, leave them on my table and I'll take a look at them." Ana said goodbye with a smile and started walking back to her table. Fran wanted to extend the conversation a little longer, but whenever he was around Ana he was speechless. Still, he couldn't pass up that opportunity to talk to her.
"Wait, Ana!" Fran called her, raising his voice more than he expected. He called the attention of other workers, so he was immediately consumed by the shame. Ana turned and looked at him. Fran lowered his voice considerably, just enough that Ana could barely hear him.
"I... was wondering if after work... ahem... you would like to have a drink with me?"
For the first time since he met her, Ana's cheeks turned red and she seemed more insecure than usual. She put a lock of hair behind her ear and looked down at the floor.
"I suppose if you finish all your work we could go out for a drink," replied Anna with a slight blush. After saying that, she looked at Fran with an embarrassed smile. She turned and walked to her office.
Fran stayed a few seconds processing what had just happened, unable to contain his smile. After so many months of waiting, he was finally going to have a date with Ana. He could stay all day imagining how the date would go and thinking about how beautiful Ana was, but what she had told him motivated him to work even faster than before.
A few heads peeked over the computers and tables. They all shared a mischievous smile.
"Well, well. Fran the Virgin is finally going to have a date" Gil provoked him with a burlesque tone. That made Fran blush too.
"For the last time: I am not a virgin!" Fran tried to defend himself. His co-workers, whom he could also call friends, used to tease him about it from time to time. Although it did bother him slightly, he knew they didn't mean to offend him and were just kidding around, so he didn't get angry with them. Besides, he was too excited about his date with Ana to allow comments like that to affect him.
"Yes, yes, whatever you say, my friend, but the most important question still is: Do you have protection?" asked Casero inquisitively, another of his friends.
It took Fran a few seconds to react to what his partner had told him, but when he did, his face turned completely red.
"What?!" Me with Ana...? But it's the first date. I... I don't think anything like that will happen..." answered Fran nervously
Gil, who was sitting at the table next to his, put a hand on his shoulder.
"Friend, always be prepared for the unexpected" Gil advised as if he were his mentor. After saying that, he discreetly passed a square plastic wrap to Fran, who accepted it without knowing what it was.
"Ehhhhh?!" shouted Fran when he identified the content of the package. His companions began to laugh out loud, causing some of their superiors to look down on them.
Suddenly, Fran began to feel bad. He had an annoying headache that was gradually increasing. It didn't hurt enough to leave work, but it was beginning to bother him. He got out of his chair.
"I feel bad. I'll be right back," Fran excused himself and began walking to the restrooms.
"Gil, you've gone too far. Can't you see that's too indecent for him?" He heard one of his companions joking. Still, he ignored them and kept walking.
By the time he got to the bathroom the pain in his head had increased worryingly. He washed his face with the tap water, but it didn't seem to have any effect on his pain.
"This is bad" he thought "If I have to go to the hospital I'll miss my date with Ana". The headache was beginning to make it difficult for him to stand. Also, it now seemed to be spreading to his belly, giving him a terrible urge to vomit. He went into one of the bathrooms and locked the door. He knelt down in front of the toilet trying to contain the urge to throw up. "Shit. I have to get well" Fran thought. The pain was such that he even was having trouble staying conscious.
He held on tightly to the toilet seat, ready to return everything he had eaten. But the moment never came. Instead, he noticed how both his stomachache and his headache were beginning to lose strength. He didn't know how or why, but he was starting to feel much better than before. He stopped feeling like he was throwing up and could even stand up without difficulty. After a few seconds he sighed, relieved. It seemed like it was just a bizarre scare.
Willing to return to work, Fran turned to leave the bathroom. He raised his hand to remove the latch, but noticed a strange resistance in his right arm. He had trouble lifting it and stretching it, as if something were pulling it. Then he noticed it. A strange gray substance was spreading down his arm, covering more and more of it.
Fran watched in bewilderment as the strange matter advanced through his limb, until he noticed that same sensation throughout his body. Concerned, he also looked at his torso and legs. The substance was covering his whole body.
Fran panicked. He wasn't sure what was wrong with him, but he suspected it wasn't good. He tried to remove the substance from his body by scratching it with all his might, but it was no use. No matter how hard he tried to stop him, the thing kept going.
"Help!" "I need help!" shouted Fran as he moved desperately. The substance was now going up through his head, faster and faster, until it covered his field of vision.
Gil entered the bathrooms with some concern. A few minutes ago Fran had gone in that direction. Honestly, Gil didn't know if he was feeling bad or what was wrong, but he was sure he had heard a scream just now. When he asked the rest of his coworkers, no one seemed to have heard it, but Gil didn't doubt his hearing.
"Fran?" he asked as he walked through the bathrooms. The place was completely silent, but Gil could tell something wasn't right. When there was no answer, he decided to go to the only bathroom with a closed door. He could see a shadow on the floor, so there must have been someone there. "Dude, are you okay?"
What happened next was so fast that he didn't have time to react. The door to the bathroom where Fran was supposed to be broke down like paper, and a knock sent Gil flying into the sinks.
The first thing he felt was pain. An incredible excruciating pain in his back and head had just appeared from the impact with the sink. Not knowing how, Gil remained conscious. The pain in his back didn't seem like a small thing, because even though he tried to move his legs, they didn't respond. In addition, in a few seconds he felt his face getting wet with a hot liquid, which quickly began to form a red puddle on the floor.
Still bewildered and stunned by the blow, Gil looked into the bathroom where Fran was. In his place, a monstrous greyish creature was advancing outward. It had big arms and very sharp claws. He must have been about ten feet tall and looked much stronger than a normal person. Its yellow eyes gave the impression of shining. Then Gil noticed it and panic began to take hold of him.
Lately the news announced horrible accidents in various parts of the country. They all had some things in common. Several deadly victims, destruction of the accident site and those responsible: creatures that possessed humans to cause disasters. The Geist.
Fran began to regain consciousness slowly. Still, it was like watching a movie. It seemed like someone else was moving him and he was just a spectator. The first thing he saw was the bathroom destroyed. On the floor was a familiar figure, Gil, but he was badly hurt and was trying to run away by crawling with his arms.
"Please help!" There's a Geist in the bathroom! Help!" Gil screamed from the depths of his lungs, as if his life depended on it. At first Fran didn't understand what he meant. In that bathroom there were only the two of them. There was no Geist.
The image that Fran saw moved slowly towards Gil. Why wasn't he in control? Was that a dream? Perhaps he had passed out in the bathroom and was having a bizarre nightmare. The image moved closer to Gil's face, which had an expression of pure terror.
"No..." "Fran, please. Let me go." Tears began to stream down Gil's face. He had already closed his eyes.
"Why is he crying?" Fran thought. He didn't quite understand what was happening, as if his consciousness was still numb. He felt her arm move
forward. In the picture, instead, a monstrous arm with sharp claws was seen coming out of his hands. In one clean movement, the arm came down to Gil, cutting through his body like butter. Gil stopped breathing and stood still with the expression of terror etched on his face.
"Gil?" Fran asked himself. Slowly the information began to come together in his mind. Why had he mentioned the word "Geist"?
"No!" Fran cried as he realized what was happening. There was no one else in the bathroom with them. He was the Geist. He had killed his friend. And the worst of all, he couldn't stop it. The Geist had taken control of his body and he could only watch.
His body moved to the bathroom door without him being able to stop it.
Instead of opening the door, the Geist slammed it, breaking it with his powerful arms.
"No!" "Stop!" Fran said with tears in his eyes.
The Geist who controlled him ignored his words. After he had broken down the bathroom door, all the workers looked at him and when they realized what was happening, they began to scream and run in fear.
The monster pounced on the first row of workers it encountered, smashing tables, computers and objects in its path in the process. Fran felt the rage with which the Geist struck the first office worker, probably killing him instantly. He jumped up and down, attacking anyone who crossed his path and leaving a trail of dead bodies and destruction.
Fran couldn't stop yelling at the monster that was controlling him to stop, but he didn't even know if it was listening. He felt a great helplessness for not being able to stop the actions of the Geist, and he couldn't stop crying for seeing his companions die in such a way.
Suddenly a familiar figure caught his attention. The monster was approaching a beautiful young woman dressed in a suit. Ana.
"Ana... go, please. I can't control it," Fran warned almost to himself.
The Geist took the woman by the neck with his left arm. Ana began to scream and hit the arm that was holding her, but she couldn't free herself.
"Don't do it..." Fran begged in despair. He had trouble watching the scene with tears in his eyes and knew that it was useless to try to resist it, but he hoped that by some miracle the Geist wouldn't kill Ana.
He noticed his arm tightening and heard a cracking sound. The woman stopped moving. Fran's eyes were closed, but he knew what had happened. The monster opened his hand and Ana fell to the ground motionless.
"Why is this happening to me..." Fran cried, not having the strength to resist the Geist.
"Stop!" "Hands up!" ordered a voice from the office entrance. Two security guards were pointing their guns at him, although they were both too terrified to move towards him.
"Yes! Please kill me!" shouted Fran from the inside of the monster, although he was unsure if they had heard him.
The Geist took a step towards the guards, which caused him to be shot several times out of fear from the guards. They both looked at the monster after shooting it, but it advanced without flinching. The bullets had failed to penetrate its hard skin. Instead, some of them had bounced off and as a result the large window separating the offices from the outside of the building was shattered.
Seeing that their strategy hadn't worked, the guards backed away in fear. The Geist, now annoyed, jumped on one of them and stuck its claws into
his torso, killing him instantly. The Geist looks at the other man, who was paralyzed by the fear. It grabbed him by the body and carried him to the broken window. It was more than thirty floors high, so the fall would certainly be fatal. Without waiting a second, the monster threw the guard outside.
Fran had stopped crying. Now only one thought remained in his head.
He had to die. He didn't want to live another second to witness the monster's massacre with his body. Using all the willpower he had left, he tried to move his body underneath all the substance with which the monster wrapped him. If he did it fast enough, perhaps he could succeed.
"Come on..." Almost shouting from the effort, the man took a step forward. As he was in front of the window, he fell through the hole in the building. The Geist tried to hold on to anything to avoid falling, but it was too late.
Both fell off the cliff. During the fall, a single thought crossed Fran's mind.
He would have liked to have that date with Ana. Upon impacting the ground, Fran died instantly. The substance of the Geist that enveloped his body began to fade like a ghost, leaving only the man's immobile body.