I felt my skin crawl.
At an office party, everyone chants "Chug!" Office assistant Keisha obliges and one of her coworkers, Sanjay, jokes that soon Keisha will be a degenerate like the two of them. The two of them joke and Keisha admits that she's a little woozy. She staggers to the bathroom and finds a woman crying. The woman quickly walks out, and Keisha is soon back partying with Sanjay and the others.
The next morning, Keisha wakes up and looks at herself in the mirror. She finds the words "Morning Sleepy:" written on her stomach, and yells through the door saying that if it's a joke it's not funny. She dresses and mutters to herself that it's okay. Sanjay sends a text asking how her head is, and Keisha remembers Sanjay at the party offering her more alcohol. She finds her party dress and an unsigned note saying that the person left a souvenir inside... or inside of her. It ends with the note writer wishing her happy hunting. Keisha goes out in the living room and looks around desperately, wondering what happened to her.
Keisha goes to the hospital and has herself tested for rate. The doctor says that there was no sperm or other evidence left behind, but figures that Keisha was roofied. She offers to contact the police, but Keisha says that she didn't even know what her attacker did to her.
Back at her apartment, Keisha curls up on the couch and stares off into space. The next morning, Doug from the party calls and Keisha ignores it. He leaves a message and discovers that Doug called to say that she's out of sick days and he'll have to dock her pay, but hopes she gets well soon.
Later at her desk, Keisha works and scratches nervously at her arms. She imagines the others laughing at her, and finally leaves.
One Week Later
Keisha meets with a woman's counsellor, Pam, who says that all of the tests came back clear. The assistant insists that there's something inside of her, and wonders if the man who had sex with her took pictures. Pam advises her to face the possibility that she may never know, and assures her that she isn't alone.
Back at home, Keisha paces her apartment and rearranges her furniture.
Later at work, Keisha approaches Sanjay and nervously greets him. She finally jokes with him and walks to her cubicle, and goes to the lunchroom to eat. Everyone stares at her, and Keisha sits down with some other woman to eat.
At her apartment, Keisha is preparing for bed when someone knocks at her door. She hesitantly goes to it and finds a photo slipped under the door with someone putting their finger to her mouth. Written at the bottom is "Did you find it yet?" Panicked, Keisha stares at the photo and then throws it in the garbage, only to find maggots on a pie of food. She dreams of the maggots crawling over her face, and then wakes up and tears at her arm, and imagines worms crawling out of it.
Keisha wakes up on the floor and staggers to the bathroom. She examines herself in the mirror and wonders what's inside of her.
The next day at work, Maureen asks Keisha if she's okay and says Keisha can talk to her about anything. Sanjay comes over and talks to Keisha privately, says that it looks like she had a rough night, and tells her that he got a new job. He suggests that they have dinner and puts his hand on her shoulder, and Keisha screams at him to stop touching her.
A Few Days Later
Doug calls Keisha in his office and says that she scratched Sanjay on the face and they have to put a note in her file. Keisha insists that she has to have the job, and Doug tells her that she's become unpredictable and her performance has slipped. She says that she's been dealing with some personal issues and something bad happened to her. Keisha admits that she doesn't have all of the details and that's what is worst because it's eating her up and it's all that she can think of. Doug asks if that's why she's hurting herself, and Keisha says that it feels like there's something inside of her and she's going crazy. She breaks into tears and Doug puts a hand on her shoulder before going to get her a tissue.
Keisha sees a photo of herself on the desk, and photos of other women including the one that was crying at the party and Maureen's friend, who had a bandage on her neck. Doug comes in and says that when his wife left him, she didn't even leave a note. He says that he understands how the worst torment in the world is not to know, and takes a photo of Keisha. Doug tells her that he's thrilled to know that she will always think of him now, and it makes him feel a little less alone.
Days later, Doug takes a photo of the woman who is replacing Sanjay. He says that he has to go to the bathroom because he's feeling ill, runs to the restroom, and sits on the toilet. He goes back to his office and Keisha is at her desk nearby. Doug goes back into his office while Keisha smiles.
Doug finds a note on his desk: "You'll always think of us now." He looks up and sees Keisha outside his door. He glances down at his coffee cup, wondering. Meanwhile, Keisha goes to her desk and sets her coffee cup down next to the bottle of diet pills with tapeworm eggs.
Doug clutches at his eye in pain and, poking at it, removes a tapeworm from the socket. Seeing it, he screams in horror and pounds at his head. Out in the office, Keisha and the others hear Doug's screams.
I felt my skin crawl.
Then I saw the head of the worm push through.
Written by Gadfly on Aug 9, 2019