Coffin & Feathers [Elisop]

Chapter 12

A few weeks passed since the arrival of the new hunter. For most of the survivors, nothing much had changed in their daily lives. Some were curious about the relationship between the two embalmers, but no one dared to ask Aesop about it. The young man seemed to have closed himself off and often went to the other side of the manor, alone. No one was stopping him of course, they thought the boy was probably happy to see one of his relatives, the one who had taught him everything, at the manor and that his detachment from others was quite normal.

Oh, how wrong they were.

The regular visits of the embalmer were not harmless. Simply put, the boy sat in a chair in front of a mirror, his gentleman of a mentor standing behind him. They would spend hours rehearsing the steps of the embalming process, and Jerry would ask Aesop what he needed to say to convince his clients to listen to him and indulge him in caring for them and beautifying them before finally placing them in their luxurious coffin.

Eli wasn't particularly bothered by Jerry, for now. He didn't know what they were talking about and didn't much like the idea of Aesop finding refuge with someone other than himself but it wasn't so bad either, he'd stop hanging out with the prospector at least. However, this was certainly not Norton's opinion. The young embalmer who once didn't care if the prospector followed him, would give him dark glares when they passed each other in the hallway or wouldn't hesitate to tell him to leave him alone.

Norton knew that Aesop didn't particularly like the presence of the living and preferred the presence of the dead, but there was just something about him that was... strange.

Four names appeared on a board: The embalmer, the prospector, the mercenary and the explorer. It was a pretty well-balanced team so they shouldn't have too much trouble getting a win if everything went right. Their visions clouded over and they found themselves on the hospital map once again. What an irony thought Norton, who had the misfortune to run into the hunter at the beginning of the match and who was none other than the other embalmer.

He kept him busy with his magnets before the hunter immobilized him and gave him a second blow. Four machines left. He laughed at his poor performance, he would have at least managed to last the time of three machines usually. The hunter put him on a chair, thus starting the counter. It wasn't long before the mercenary came to rescue the prospector and then lured the hunter to him. Norton fled the scene like a rat running away from a ferocious cat, heading for the nearest machine, hoping to find a survivor who could heal him.

Poof.

The cipher in front of him lit up, indicating that someone had just finished it. That's when he saw the embalmer, his makeup box at his feet and a syringe in his hand. Did he open a chest ? Odd, since he didn't like to waste time and said it took too long to open, never mind the likelihood of getting something that could actually be useful.

"Can you heal me ?" he asked.

Aesop shivered at his question and didn't move. Okay... this was getting even stranger.

"Aesop ?"

Norton moved his hand closer to the embalmer to see his face, which was facing the floor. Only, before he could even touch him, the latter turned abruptly towards him and tackled him against the locker behind. He didn't think the gray-haired young man had so much strength in his arms and was a little surprised.

"Hey... What's wrong...?" the prospector asked, concern beginning to creep over him.

Aesop still wasn't looking at him, his eyes were looking at the ground. His hands were firmly on Norton's shoulders, his syringe in hand. The onyx-eyed male glanced at the object and saw that the color of the liquid was different than usual. Emily's syringes were normally filled with a blood-colored red while this time the fluid was... blue ? The prospector wasn't a newborn so it wasn't long before he realized what the embalmer was holding in his hands.