"Wh...what is it?" Hannah whispered, fear making her voice quiver. She could hear the others upstairs, sneakers and flats thudding on the floorboards, running downstairs after hearing her scream to see what was the matter.
Adam got up from where he had been sitting on the floor, with his back to the wall. He had to be careful to get to the item, as glass shards littered to floor, lighting up like diamonds in the soft yellow glow of the chandelier and the wall sconces. "You expect ME to know that?" Adam asked with an unnecessarily exasperated tone. He grabbed a fireplace poker off of the mantle and prodded at the item that stood before them, the one that had crashed through the ceiling only minutes before. It didn't explode, so that was good.
Hannah backed away, arms outstretched. "Adam, get away from it... I don't like it..." she moaned. She ran out of room and hit the wall. Not listening, Adam picked up the shards that stood in his way and threw them into the wastepaper basket nearby. The item looked like an extremely misshapen package, like it had been run through a grain thresher a few times and then glued back together. He didn't dare tear the brown paper it was wrapped in or the string tied around it. It looked like it could have come from a 2nd Unabomber.
The footfalls got louder and Eric appeared, breathless, at the top of the stairs. Cassidy appeared behind his left shoulder. "What the fuck was that noise?" He asked, still out of breath. "We heard you scream. Hannah, sweetie, are you ok?" Cassidy asked in a concerned tone. They started down the stairs, taking them two at a time. At the top of the stairs again, two more people appeared: Travis and Rita. Behind them, in the shadows, was Kay and Jesse. All six ran down, making a thunderous noise on the polished boards of the staircase.
All eight of them (even Hannah) crowded around the box. "What happened?" Kay asked in wonder.
"Well, ok, here's what happened. Hannah was sitting over on the couch and I was stoking the fire. Suddenly, this huge crashing noise came from above. We both looked up and got splashed with rainwater and this box fell through the skylight and landed in the middle of the room." Adam summarized. "I think we should at least open it, to see what it is."
"Dude. You could not be more wrong. What if it's like, anthrax or something?" Travis asked. "Well..." Rita said, looking up. "Someone needs to fix that window. The storm's so thick right now this place will be underwater by tomorrow morning."
Suddenly, without warning, the glass reversed itself. All eight college students watched in a combination of awe and horror as the glass shards flew together (even the ones from the wastebasket), mended the cracks, and flew back up onto the skylight frame. The water that had pooled on the floor evaporated. Everything looked like it had ten minutes ago.
Except the package was still there.
There was a heavy thumping noise. Seven of them looked over. Hannah had fainted on the floor.
Jesse picked her up and threw her on the couch. "Okay, guys... I think we all saw what happened just now." The others could hardly respond, as you would expect of people who had witnessed such an event as the one that just occurred. Jesse, despite being the most muscular of the group, with slicked back black hair and a thin beard and mustache, was also the most intelligent. "We need to call our parents and tell them to come get us. I don't care what it takes. After what I just saw, I don't want to be here anymore."
You see, the group of eight friends were staying in a mansion owned by Adam's family over Armistice day weekend. The mansion was on a small island, about ten minutes away from the mainland on a fast boat. They had arrived at about 2:00 that afternoon. It was 7:00 now and they had all settled in for the weekend. The storm was raging outside. No one expected them back until Sunday afternoon. It was Friday.
Unknown to the students at the time (though it would become apparent later) the contents of the package was a colorless, odorless, tasteless gas that contained bacteria that was currently been wafting around the room (infecting everybody) since the package had dropped in in the first place. The bacteria invaded the victim's body and caused transformations into anything. Slowly or quickly, alive or inanimate, human or animal, male or female, full or only halfway, it all was up in the air. Once the victim had completed their transformation, they stayed in that form for anywhere from 5 minutes to weeks, months, or even years. And then, they would change into something else.
The cure? Surprisingly enough, alcohol. The enzymes in the alcohol (of any kind, by the way) killed the bacteria responsible for the transformations in the blink of an eye. The victim would revert back to their original form, but would still be vulnerable to the disease.
But alas, they promised their parents threw would be no alcohol on the island. This turned out to be a lie. Their parents had cleaned out the liquor cabinet a week before, but had forgotten one bottle of vodka in a dark corner. It was only about half full. But, of course, the students did not know any of this.
There was a barking behind them. Turning around, the group saw Marty, Hannah's German shepherd, come running out of the kitchen to join the group. Marty was friendly with all of the group, and all of the group was friendly with Marty, and he loved being loved by all, but he was extremely protective of Hannah. He whined when he saw Hannah on the couch, but Cassidy reached over and scratched him behind the ear, and he quieted down.
"Look. That was... weird, to say the least, but look, I'll go throw away this box and we can continue having a good time." Cassidy said. With that, she picked up the box and threw it in the wastebasket.
"I think, personally, we should spilt up and search the house." Adam said, taking the lead role immediately. The other six (except for Hannah, who was still passed out) unanimously agreed. "Travis and Jesse, you search the basement. Eric and Kay, take the ground floor. Me and Rita will take the 2nd floor and the attic. Cassidy, you stay here and watch Hannah."
Nodding, Cassidy sat down on the floor next to the couch and patted Hannah's hand.
"Good luck, all." Travis said with a friendly smile. They all headed off in their separate directions. Mary ran off towards the kitchen, leaving Cassidy and Hannah alone in the living room.