We are

We are super creeped out right now. We've had a few mysterious, little bites appear on our wrists that itched like a bitch the first day and have stuck around for two or three weeks. They have consistently snuck up on us, occurring about a week apart and causing our night terrors to go medieval a few times, until we finally got ahold of ourselves somewhat, thankyouverymuch.

We hate to say their name because we said it hundreds of times as a child. Was that old, creepy-in-retrospect childhood rhyme some sort of siren song to these tenacious world travelers? It's like, "Sleep tight, don't let those tiny, practically extinct anachronisms bite! We don't really know what they are, but ha ha, don't let them bite!" And now look what we've done.

They're back with a vengeance. (Thanks in part to the banning of toxic pesticides.)

We're not sure we have them ourselves, but it seems pretty easy to get them now, especially when staying in hotels (and not being a very good housekeeper). They can tiptoe into your clothes/suitcase, and you unknowingly stow them away and transport them to yet another exotic location. (Maybe a delectable combination of Type O and AB, for example.) They can also be passed around via used furniture and clothing and can travel between multi-unit apartments.

Photo by animalvegetable, used under a Creative Commons license.

Feeling itchy? Find out more after the jump!