A rose, a beautiful rose, a rose in a garden of hundreds of lilies, that’s what Caruncle was. I remember I had said I wouldn’t stop treating her like a guy, but a new sensation had born from her insides, embarrassment, deep and delightful embarrassment, and I was enjoying every bit of it. The way she became self conscious, that she felt so guilty about it and winced at the sensation. I loved it, I loved it all, if it meant to make see her for the rest of her life in embarrassment, I would keep doing it forever. I knew she couldn’t hear me, but I still wanted to embarrass her in front of everyone. That’s right, Caruncle was a woman.

The morning light had finally come, although the day was still clouded. Vadorreal was a city of around 2500 meters at sea level, which made it very cold, and a lot of the time, very foggy too, also since it was also in the tropics, it stayed like that for most of the year. This place though? I didn’t know where it was, but it felt just as cold, if not colder. When Caruncle… when Caruncle was taken by Mr. Lopez, he was put unconscious, and we had never known how far away from the city we had gone.

Mortimer woke her up, she slowly sat down on the bed but realized that it was hard to move her injured leg. The butler brought her a wheelchair and helped her sit down on it. Before she could take the small chalkboard to ask him where the manor was actually located, he started taking her somewhere else. She looked at him trying to gain his attention.

“Miss, it is time for your bath, while you were asleep we couldn’t give you a proper bath so we had to use a wet towel, it’s way overdue now! Don’t you think so?”

Caruncle frowned.

“It’s alright, I’ll help. No no, don’t look at me like that, I know it’s gonna be awkward, and you will have to apologize me for intruding, but it will be only while you fully recover, besides, taking a bath is part of the process, ma’am. Trust me, I’m almost like a second father to each and every one of our donors here, I’ll be quick, and the parts that you can do yourself, you’ll do them, trust me, it’ll do you lots of good!”

He couldn’t be serious.

In the bathroom, she was slowly undressed and then placed in the bathtub. Mortimer gave her a bar of soap. “Go ahead, ma’am, through your arms, legs, everything you can reach, in the meantime I’ll do your hair.” He put her some shampoo and started to slowly massage her head. She looked down and for a split second saw the rest of her body. “See, Caruncle?” I thought, there wasn’t anything weird to see there, they weren’t even that big, they weren’t going to bite, they were just there. She slowly passed the soap through each limb while she focused on the green wall tiles of the bathroom and tried to clear her mind.

“You know, ma’am….” Mortimer interrupted, she focused her eyes again and tilted her head a bit so she could hear him better. “It’s always fascinating to see how the personality of other people comes out when they, well, if you let me be a little rash, when they can’t speak, it's rather curious to see, you know, a lot of people get really frustrated, well I imagine they also get frustrated because of the result of the procedure, all those sorts of things, but sometimes they are weirdly cooperative and sometimes they start throwing things around, it can be a mess you see, and when you can’t hear what they are saying, it takes time to communicate, but you ma’am, you have been very kind and… how do I say this properly, you have been quite helpful. Can you imagine all the trouble I have gone through when I tell people they have to take their bath? Anyway, that doesn’t matter, again, I just let my mouth run free and start speaking about the previous donors, but please, don’t pay attention to me, sometimes this old man just gets a little bored, not that the job isn’t rewarding on its own, of course.”

This dude was a little annoying. Caruncle made a little smirk, she was thankful that at least the butler was able to break the ice.

“Oh, what is that smile for? Did I say something funny?” He smiled.

She tried to mouth the word yes but yet again, she couldn’t make the expression, her lips would get stuck.

“My dear, please, if you are trying to talk to me, that can wait until the bath is over, no need to tire yourself out!”

That frustrated her. She wanted to tell the man she was just saying yes, but now she couldn’t even say yes, she couldn’t say anything. Too bad, Caruncle, get used to it, what are you gonna do? Go back to your other body? The one that is rotting away in a coffin? What are you going to say? Ask for another surgery?

Sorry, sorry, I just… I thought it was time she had her mind unclogged a little. We both have gone through a lot and I… Well, I don’t want to talk about it either, I don’t really want to talk about it, sometimes I just… feel really sad. I feel really sad. I feel useless and pointless. I’m just a ghost, what can a ghost do? Jack shit, a ghost can’t do jack shit. I just observe and think about what other people do, I’m nothing, I’m just a pile of worthless garbage.

Caruncle focused on the reflection of the lady in the water, it was blurry and fuzzy, but she could see her and her sad expression looking back at her. It was curious though, somehow, she felt like the reflection was… changing. No, really, it was changing, Caruncle made sure she wasn’t actually doing faces on her own, but the face in the reflection was changing, the woman in the water was looking at her with anger. Her heart started beating faster, and faster, was there something in the water? She felt the reflection was creeping in closer, and closer… Caruncle was swept inside the water and she started drowning.

Heh, don’t worry, she was just slowly slipping inside the bathtub and hadn’t noticed until she suddenly fell when her whole back had touched the back of the tub, it wasn’t actually the spirit of the original Elena coming back for revenge or anything like that, trust me. The only lost soul that was haunting Caruncle was me, me and only me.

“Oh God!” Mortimer panicked and tried to help her out of the bathtub, he extended his arms and after a while, Caruncle finally managed to get her head and arms out. She scowled at Mortimer. “Miss, please, don’t get mad at me, I was just doing your hair and I thought you were trying to lie down!”

She wiped the soapy water off her face and sat with her back against Mortimer so they could continue. She was mad she couldn’t talk about what happened and just wanted to get over with it. “Okay, let’s continue, this time more carefully.” Mortimer didn’t notice but she ended up crying the rest of the bath. Back when they were at the side of her bed, Mortimer handed her the small chalkboard. “Now, would you like to tell me what happened there that got you so startled?” Caruncle had to wipe away the previous stuff she had written on it and it already looked somewhat dirty, once she got the space, she wrote. “I just got a little scared, I think I saw Elena mad at me in the water.”

“Elena? But you are Elena!”

“Not me, the real Elena.” She wrote back.

“Miss, please, don’t say stuff like that. Now, I hope you don’t believe in ghost stories or anything of the sort, okay? There is no way the first Miss Elena could be mad at you!”

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“I took her place.” She wrote, some tears had fallen into the chalkboard and she lowered her head.

“Oh, Elena, my poor Elena,” Mortimer patted her on the head. It’ll be okay, I promise it will.

They stayed like that for a while and then Mortimer left saying he was going to finish the preparations for the funeral. He said he would let her get dressed on her own, but that she could use the hand bell he left her on the desk if she had issues. Caruncle tried to get quickly dressed because she didn’t want to see more of her own body. She still felt guilty.

The attire was a blouse of a deep navy color, it was patterned with faint motifs and over the blouse she had an intricately embroidered velvet waistcoat with lace-trimmed sleeves. No bra, no, there was a corset, but Mortimer told her she didn’t have to wear it the first day. She also had loose, flowing trousers tucked into low, sturdy boots. The trousers were loose enough so after a few minutes she managed to put them on, it had hurt a lot to move the damned leg, but at least she wouldn’t feel cold. She felt a chill from her neck from the breeze from the window so she put on the wide-brimmed black hat that was on the desk.

“Miss, you are ready!” Mortimer came back right after she finished. “Come with me, it’s time, your father is waiting in the garden, I don’t know if you saw him, I think you can see him from the window, but well, no matter, it is time. He’ll love seeing you well dressed!” He grabbed the back handles of the wheelchair and pushed it out of the room and through the hallway. “There are a lot of beautiful flowers in the garden ma’am, you’ll love to see them. Some orchids, marigolds, heliconias, and tons of roses! You shall see how beautiful they are—yes, you will."

I didn’t know what the guy was going on about, I thought that, yes, Caruncle looked pretty, but she still looked very sad and her eyes were a bit red, the man had an unwavering enthusiasm that was now annoying me a little. She also had a hole in her stomach and her heart was beating strongly and loudly, she was scared about how he was going to react to the body itself once she saw it. The butler turned the wheelchair toward a ramp, guiding it backwards down the gentle slope until they got to the first floor. I looked around at the place, the manor was huge, it was more of a mansion than a manor, and yes, everything was built in wood, the stairs were in wood, the big ceiling was in wood. Very classy, very elegant, although a bit… empty, were the three of them the only people in the house?

“I hope you are enjoying the manor, miss. I always found it quite lovely too, once you fully recover, you will be able to see it in due time, as long as your father allows it, of course.”

Caruncle noticed a longcase clock at the side of the entrance. It was quite a beautiful clock; I noticed it too. It was carefully crafted, its polished wood gleaming softly in the dim light, and the intricate brass pendulum swung with a steady, deliberate rhythm. The pendulum sounded really lovely.

“Oh, I see you have liked the clock, ma’am!” The old man interrupted us, maybe he noticed how Caruncle was looking at the clock in awe like an idiot. “After the funeral maybe I can tell you more about it!”

Finally, we made it outside. The day was as foggy as ever, and we realized we should have paid closer attention to the clock—we had no idea what time it was. As we looked around, Mortimer's mention of a garden seemed quite the understatement, for what lay before us were vast green fields stretching endlessly. A labyrinth of tall hedges wound its way through the landscape, with flowers visible in the distance. I was in awe at the sheer expanse of the place. Near the entrance of the hedge maze stood a massive tree.

“Well, you don’t see those every day,” I thought, I was quite sure I had never actually seen one of those ever, I had only read about them. Now that I was seeing one in person, I had to admit they were quite ludicrous.

Mortimer slowly guided Caruncle, and as we turned, we noticed a cemetery beside the maze, with at least a few dozen graves scattered across the area. We reached another large tree where a freshly dug grave awaited, with a coffin laid on its side nearby. Three chairs were arranged in a solemn row, and Custodio stood quietly, waiting.

“It took you long enough,” Custodio remarked, not bothering to look back at them. His gaze was fixed on the coffin.

“My apologies, sir. The lady here got a little distracted by the clock.”

“It’s fine.”

“My lady,” Mortimer said softly as he slowly maneuvered Caruncle’s wheelchair so she could face the body. “It is time.” She had turned away to avoid the sight, but now, close enough, she peeked through her fingers and forced herself to look at it.

The body lay in the open casket, dressed in a black, slightly oversized suit. It had been preserved with a cold, almost unnatural stillness. The skin was pale, nearly translucent, with a faint bluish tint from prolonged exposure to the cold. The flesh appeared firm, almost rigid. The lips were drawn tight, and the closed eyelids seemed sunken, giving the face an eerie, hollow appearance. A faint discoloration marred the area around the mouth and nostrils. The hands, folded neatly over the chest, were slightly shriveled, the fingers thin and stiff, the nails dull and lifeless.

It looked horrible—nothing in her life had looked more horrifying. Her heart pounded in her chest, and her breath came in short, panicked gasps. Yet, instead of turning away, she found herself moving closer, inch by inch, until she was near enough to touch it if she wanted. She slowly extended her hand, trembling, her fingers hovering just above the body without actually making contact. Her eyes were wide with a mix of fear and fascination. That was him—the man. She stared at the face, that awful, repulsive face. It nearly made her gag, but she didn’t look away. Instead, she kept staring, detailing every gruesome feature. What an awful and disgusting human being. The man, now through her eyes and having suffered the fate of death, looked as the most revolting creature that had ever existed. She wanted to touch it, she was so close to touch it, but in the back of her mind, she imagined that if she did, she would end up returning back inside of it and getting trapped forever yet again. She didn’t dare to touch it, but she felt how her fingers brushed ever so slightly against the suit.

A part of her expected the body to spring to life, to attack her. She found herself taunting it in her mind, daring it to do something, anything, as she sat there, the body lying motionless before her. The entire experience felt surreal, intoxicating even—there she was, alive and outside, while he lay there, reduced to a lifeless shell. A surge of frustration welled up inside her at the body’s stillness, and on impulse, she leaned forward, intent on kissing it, only to be abruptly pulled away.

“Miss! Miss!” Mortimer exclaimed, quickly pulling the chair back so she could no longer reach the coffin. “Heh, I guess you were quite… taken by our preservation techniques, weren’t you?” He laughed nervously, noting the smile still lingering on her face and the wide-eyed amusement in her expression. “We… uh… we basically kept the body in an icebox, and, well… It doesn't matter that much. I think that’s enough for now.” He turned the chair around so she was facing away from the body. She noticed Custodio raising an eyebrow at her in silent judgment.

“Alright, sir… please, if you will, we can begin.”

“Right. Elena, look at me.” She was still gazing with an amused smile, seemingly lost in her thoughts. After a moment, she finally focused on Custodio, though her eyes still held a distant look.

“This is the place where our family rests. Everyone, from the first who came to this country, to those who have undergone the procedure that brought you here. I have personally ensured that each one of them received the respect they deserve. Every time someone went through the process you experienced, they became part of my family—our family. When it was time to say goodbye to them, they were all laid to rest here as well. Now, we are here to bury someone else—not you, for you are still with us—but the man who brought you to us. We are burying Caruncle Periwinkle, a former servant of this house, and together, we will say our farewells."

Caruncle looked at the graves at her side, how many of them were “donors” and how many of them were actual family? She wanted to read the inscriptions on the graves.

“Okay, I feel I should say a few words myself too. Miss Elena, you have not been the first that has accepted to take this mantle, but you have been the first that has taken this procedure fully willingly, with the same goals we have in mind, I think that–” Mortimer was interrupted for the sound of horses sounded close by, Mortimer and Custodio turned around, after a few minutes, a caleche stopped at the side of the entrance. A small man with a woolen jacket and a flat cap sat snugly on his head came out and nervously looked around, he looked at a wrinkled paper in his hand and then back towards Mortimer and Caruncle.

“Excuse me for interrupting,” he said, looking at the coffin. “I’m looking for a man called Caruncle Periwinkle.”