Thank you for agreeing to see me-- [Skye takes a picture of him] Wait, what are you doing?

Skye Riley

Sending a photo of you to my friend in case you're some kind of creep.

What? I'm not a creep.

Skye Riley

Yeah, that's what every creep says.

Look, I realize you're super famous, and I invaded your privacy. I apologize. This is also very weird for me.

Skye Riley

How do you know Lewis?

I don't. I-- I didn't. I was trying to contact Lewis to warn him. Tracked down his address and went to his apartment. The front door was unlocked, and he was already dead inside. I checked his phone, and you were the last person he texted with.

Skye Riley

W-What were you trying to warn him about?

Look I'm aware that what I'm about to say is going to sound completely insane, but Lewis didn't kill himself. He was systematically infected, possessed and then murdered by some kind of metaphysical being.

Skye Riley

What the **** are you talking about?

If it helps, you might call it a-- a spirit or a demon. Maybe. I have no clue what this thing is! But it disguises itself to look like people. Like smiling people. But only the person that's been infected by it can see it.

Skye Riley

No, that's-- that's not real. That's some supernatural bullshit.
Morris: But you've seen it, haven't you? That's why you're still sitting here.

Skye Riley

I-- I don't know. I don't know what's happening. I feel like I'm losing my goddamn mind!

That's precisely what this thing does to you. It's what it did to Lewis while it was latched on to him. It's like a parasite that infects the host through their mind. In less than a week, it drives the host insane. It's like it feeds off all the bad shit in their head, and then once it's done feeding, it forces the host to kill themselves in front of a witness. And then that witness becomes the new host. That's how you got it from Lewis. Before that it was passed to Lewis by a cop in Jersey. That cop was the first one I tried to contact, but I guess he went off the grid. That cop caught it from some doctor, who got it from a patient, who got it from a college professor. And the chain keeps going back. I've documented all of this. I can show you.

Skye Riley

Why do you even know all of this?

Because it killed my brother. My brother was a host eight people before you. He tried to tell me what was happening to him. But he made it hard to trust him, and the stuff he was saying sounded certifiably crazy. He begged me for help. But I didn't listen. And then a few days later... I got a call informing me that he tore his own jaw off with a crowbar.

Skye Riley

Well, have you gone to the police?

And say what? My brother's suicide was actually caused by some cosmic evil being that no one else can see? The police can't stop this thing anyway.

Skye Riley

So I'm just supposed to wait until this thing kills me?

No, I want you to help me destroy it.
Skye Riley: How?

From what I can tell, the chain stops when an infected host dies in some other way outside of the being's control. My guess is that, just like other parasites, without a living host it has no way to survive. It's ceases to exist.

Skye Riley

So it only stops if--if I die before it kills me?

Exactly. We need to kill you first.

Skye Riley

What?

Only technically. Look. There are ways that we can very safely stop your heart. That'll deprive it of a living host. Once it goes, I can resuscitate your heart and bring you back.

Skye Riley

Are you out of your **** mind?

I know it seems extreme.

Skye Riley

"Extreme"? You're asking to kill me!
Morris: Whoa, hey. Just keep it down.

Skye Riley

I don't even know you. I don't even know you!

My name is Morris. I'm an ER nurse, and if we don't do this, it's gonna kill you like it killed Lewis and infect another victim. Look, I've already got everything prepared. We should just go now and get rid of this thing tonight.

Skye Riley

I can't. I can't do this.

You're nearly out of time! This thing has been feeding on you for three days already! It's already taking control of your brain, and pretty soon you won't even realize the ways it's manipulating you, and then it'll be too late to stop it. We have to go right now.