At first, it was just a rash. Small red spots on her neck, then her arms. They assumed it was a reaction to new laundry detergent or something in the air. A simple allergy. Nothing serious. But within two days, the itching became relentless. She couldn’t sleep. Couldn’t sit still. Her skin felt like it was crawling — like something was moving under it.

At first, it was just a rash. Small red spots on her neck, then her arms. They assumed it was a reaction to new laundry detergent or something in the air. A simple allergy. Nothing serious.

But within two days, the itching became relentless. She couldn’t sleep. Couldn’t sit still. Her skin felt like it was crawling — like something was moving under it.

Her boyfriend, Alex, tried to calm her. “It’s just in your head,” he said. “You’re stressing too much.”

But she knew this was something else. She would wake up with bloody fingernails and deep scratches across her body. The bumps were no longer small. They were spreading, swelling — pulsing.

On the fourth night, she felt something shift beneath the skin on her leg. Like a ripple. She screamed.

They rushed to the ER.

The doctor went pale as he examined her skin under magnification. Without a word, he called in two more specialists.

Then came the biopsy.

What they pulled out wasn’t a reaction. It wasn’t an allergy.

It was a nest.

Tiny, parasitic larvae — dozens of them — burrowed beneath her skin, feeding, growing. Somehow, she had become a host.

The doctors said it was a rare tropical parasite. Something you only hear about on survival shows. She hadn’t traveled. She hadn’t even left the city.

But they still had one terrifying question: