I had a labcoat in my wardrobe for a cosplay I did a while back. That'll have to do for a disguise, playing a clueless intern is probably my best shot…
Ok- ok it’ll be easy I just sneak in, pull out a body while no ones looking, cut out the heart and get out.
But what if that makes a huge mess?! Dead bodies don’t have blood flowing through them but it's still there, is it gonna be all clumped and sticky or is it gonna go everywhere? People are definitely gonna notice if I leave a huge bloody spill and a trail of red footprints.
No wait, I'm not thinking this through? I can’t cut straight through the chest! What do I do about the ribcage? Do I have to cut through it? How do surgeons do it?
I researched heart extraction online under the guise of ‘surgical procedure’.
Huh… they do actually just cut straight through… that’s not so bad… all things considered…
I just have to make sure I don’t make a bigger mess than I need… I could ditch the lab coat if it becomes bloody but… could it be used to track me? It’ll have my DNA… but that's better than being seen soaking red…
What other choice do I have?
I really don’t want to do this but- if I do nothing Ellie is dead and it’ll be my fault.
Searching online revealed that there was a morgue in town that wasn’t a part of the hospital… but how do I get in? Can I just slip through the back?
There was a back entrance and I could get to the address via bus. The trip wasn’t especially long but my anxious mind made every second slow agony.
I brought a freshly sharpened kitchen knife with me from the kitchen in my handbag for the deed, it's no scalpel but it would have to suffice. If I was lucky, perhaps I could procure something better while I was there…
Though the morgue looked fairly unassuming from the outside, It took a good twenty minutes before I mustered up the courage to enter. Only once finally overcoming myself did I realize only a few meters in, that my chances of success here were basically zero. There weren't that many people around but it was enough to make getting in and out without being spotted more or less impossible. But even if none of them bothered to stop me, there were security cameras mounted on several of the walls which was not only bad in and of itself but also meant there were likely cameras outside I didn’t even notice.
I felt ashamed of how naïve I was to think I could accomplish something like this, I shouldn’t have even bothered attempting it. I might as well be stealing from the goddamn bank.
I need to get out of here, plan B Is a bust-
“Can I help you?” asked a voice behind me.
Shite!
“…Uh no… I’m fine, thanks.”
“I don’t believe you’re supposed to be here.” My detractor was a youngish woman with stark blonde hair and pale blue eyes. Despite her youth she possessed a sternness and rigidity in her expression that looked beyond her years.
Fuck.
“o-oh… well then maybe I’m lost, I’m supposed to be meeting my new supervisor here.”
“Does your supervisor work here?” something about her voice was subtly patronizing but I couldn’t tell if it meant she knew I was bluffing or she was just an asshole.
“Yeah. She told me to meet her here, to come through the back door.”
“What’s her name?”
I turned my head to the side and tried to remember the name I had prepared but my mind, crippled by trepidation, hauled up and spat out the first name that popped into my head.
“…Beatrice Wilkinshire.”
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
She stared at me for an uncomfortable amount of time.
I planned this out in the event I was caught. I would play the role of a social invalid, the victim of a cruel prank and unintentional participant in a harmless misunderstanding. Surely I'll be able to weasel out of it.
The woman continued her silent appraisal, carefully eyeing me up and down.
“um…”
“Yes, I know Beatrice Wilkenshire, follow me, I'll take you to her.”
What?!
That can’t be! Who the fuck is named Beatrice in this day and age?! Even then what are the chances of one working here- let alone one with the same last name I made up! The odds of that are like- subatomic!
She beckoned and I followed her down the hallway.
It must be a lie, she’s luring me into a trap to detain and interrogate me, might even call the cops!- but why? Maybe if I was a dude she might think I'm a necrophiliac and worth dealing with harshly but I'm not! She could just give me a warning and tell me to piss off!
Something felt strangely off about this woman though I struggled to articulate it. Something unnaturally cold.
She led me down a spiral stairway down wards into the facility. It went down four floors and she took me down to the bottom.
It opened into a similar corridor to the one before albeit underground.
How big does this place need to be?!
At the end of the hall was an elevator, which made me wonder why we took the stairs.
The rooms through the corridor had windows but they were all blocked by shuttered blinds. I knew they had people in them because of the indistinct muffled sounds coming from inside.
Is this normal?! It’s a morgue, not an Emperor’s treasury right?
At the end of the corridor, the woman pressed a button on the wall beside the elevator.
Why did we come down here if we’re just going back up?!
A man poked his head out of one of the rooms.
“Brittany, there you are, we need your help with an… issue.” He spoke, the look he gave me indicated that his use of the word ‘issue’ over something more descriptive was due to me.
“I’m in the middle of something.”
“It's a code three-two-two.” He said in a hushed voice.
“Shit.” She groaned and turned to me. “Just wait here, I’ll be with you shortly.”
She followed the man into the room.
What kind of emergency issues could they have in a morgue?! Are the stiffs raising a fuss about the accommodation?
The elevator door opened with a ding and I realized why we hadn't taken it to this floor in the first place.
That was because this elevator that opened four floors below ground level only went down.
Where the hell are they taking me?!
What the hell am I doing waiting for her?!
I made a brisk break for the stairway at the other end.
As the stairway was empty I practically sprinted all the way to the ground floor opening.
Though I wanted to wait for two people in the hallway to leave, the sound of a door opening on a floor below me urged me onwards despite it.
One of them gave me a weird look but thankfully made no attempt to interact with me.
I walked briskly until I turned the corner after which I broke into a sprint.
FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK!
By some miracle I arrived at the bus stop just in time to hop on board. I took a seat at the very back.
Thank god…
What the fuck even happened there!?
I need to- damn it, I'll be on the security cameras- but I didn’t do anything, surely it won’t be worth a manhunt just to tell me off.
But what was even down there? Surely they don’t need all that space for bodies right..?
That’s got to be a front or something? Organ harvesting? No… that's no good with corpses… maybe if they’re super fresh but then it wouldn't be in a morgue would it?
Maybe they were doing what I was doing and using it for demonic offerings…
What were they going to do with me?!
Did I nearly die back there?!
I don’t even have time to freak out about that because I still need that damn heart!
Damn it… I still have one last option…
So what's my last option?
…
I was really hoping it wouldn’t come to this but…
If there’s no other way…
Then I have to kill someone, some trash no one will miss… someone I can lure to the edge of the Field and push into the pot.
Someone who would go out there with me, and someone who’s life is worth less than Ellie’s.
Fortunately, since I’m a young, attractive girl, baiting some creep from a bar should be easy.
I just have to make sure they don’t get over eager and try and rape me in the alley. I still have the knife… not ideal but it’ll function in a pinch. I just have to make sure they never get the upper hand over me.
That and I gotta make sure I don’t drink anything either.
I got off the bus at the stop closest to my house and returned to my room for preparations.