Subcutaneous Magazine Fall 2016 | Page 14

The Field . Potter ’ s Field . Where they buried the morgue ’ s unclaimed corpses .
A cadaver might keep for two weeks before the county ’ s flatbed truck arrived to cart it off . The truck always pulled up in the alleyway right outside the door , always past midnight . More than once Will had seen the cheap pine wood boxes pried open right there on the flatbed to receive their freight . He knew he could not allow that to happen tonight . Will leaned closer to the door and heard Carliner continue .
“… Dr . Roland ’ s opinion corroborates mine . You see the neck wound and its angle ?
There are two separate burns , and only one seems caused by the rope from which she was found hanging . This other skin burn was caused by some other material , something smoother than a coarse rope , and the angle is slightly lower , suggesting she may have been strangled . This girl ’ s hanging was possibly staged to look like a suicide . I think we have a homicide here .”
Will backed away from the door , looking behind him as if he had just uncovered a terrible secret . He suddenly had the urge to run like hell , but his feet felt like they had been weighted with cement .
Shortly before midnight the office door opened and Will nodded a polite greeting to Carliner , pretending he was on one of his hourly rounds . He heard the lock snap shut as he passed them . Walking a few steps , Will turned to glance over his shoulder as the coroner and his assistant passed the night guard ’ s station in Corridor A . He saw Gus nod his good night to them as he mopped the floor at the far end of the hallway . Turning the corner , Will heard only their footsteps echo in the corridor . Will knew they were headed for the elevator that took them to the parking area .
The attendant listened for the elevator doors to close , then walked over to the night guard ’ s station , standing just close enough to man the closed circuit monitors in case anyone should come .
Reaching over the console , he snapped off monitor 6 . He had said that just because he knew what was going to happen in Room 111-B did not mean he had to watch .
Gus nodded to Will who stood at the other end of the corridor . Will returned the signal and walked back to the Pathology Department . This time if someone found him inside there would be no explanations to offer , no easy excuses about hourly rounds . The Plymouth waited in the alleyway directly outside the door because no matter what happened during the next few minutes , he did not plan to drive off alone .
Will hit the light switch that illuminated only the far end of the morgue where the cadavers lay , walked directly to cabinet 73 , and pulled out the slab . He lifted the thin shroud from the girl ’ s face and crouched down to look more closely at her . Her lips had gone a pallid blue , and her dark eyes stared blankly at the ceiling .
When he removed the sheet , the girl ’ s naked skin seemed more like porcelain than dead flesh , and he thought her more beautiful in death than most women could ever hope for in life . He gently stroked her cheek , and it felt colder than the last time he had touched her . Carefully he took her into his arms and carried her to the long examination table in the center of the room , placing her upright upon it . How could anyone have thought of murdering a girl this beautiful ? he wondered , and the thought sickened him .
Clasping her to him Will felt the coldness even through his clothing . He wanted to warm her body with his , and unbuttoned his shirt to press himself against her . The girl ' s cold skin tingled against his chest as if a light snow had fallen upon his bare flesh . When he tightened his arms around her waist , her head rolled forward like a rag doll ’ s and rested on his shoulder .
As he took the corpse full into his arms , he clasped the back of her neck so that their faces almost touched . He lowered his mouth to hers , while drawing her nearer . Her hair smelled of lilacs , and closing his eyes he wondered about the taste of her lips .
Will could not yet kiss her . There was something else he must do first . As she leaned against him he removed his uniform jacket and shirt , reaching into the inner pocket of the jacket for the figurine . He placed the winged glass figure upright on the examination table beside her .
As he reached for the words of the incantation , the girl ’ s body tipped to one side and fell away from him . He propped her up and held her in his arms while his cheek pressed against hers , as if he were fearful of letting go . He read the words over her shoulder , remembering how the hump-backed woman had chanted them .
“ Y ' ai ' ng ' ngah , YOG-SOTHOTH , H ' ee — L ’ geb , F ’ al Throdog , UAAAH … Damn !” he muttered , and tossed the paper aside , righting the girl ’ s body again .
He repeated the incantation by heart , holding the girl ’ s icy face in both hands . He saw no change . You must hold her closely … very closely … He clasped her more tightly and , bringing his mouth down upon hers , he kissed her hard . His tongue searched for hers and the press of their joined mouths forced hers to open . The girl ’ s cold lips seemed to warm with the pressure of his as if she had yielded to his kiss , and he felt the tongue inside her mouth grow moist and