What Remains of You

The Warehouse

He could be with me again, she thought. She would do anything. She would murder. Kill. Strangle. Take off a part of herself to have him back. Whatever it took to have him with her.

I need him. He is mine.

She began typing again with more fervour than before.

Kristen: Where is this warehouse?

He paused again but clearly decided it would be better to answer everything the person said just in case.

Jonathan: On Maplewood road in the abandoned part of town with all the empty boxes and trash around it.

She didn't respond and left the chat without saying anything. Hopefully, that will scare him off. The girl had stopped thinking rationally after finding out about why he did it. Her mind continued to get shrouded and overrun with thoughts of Dennis and his soft and welcoming demeanor and uncalloused hands. He could be with her again. Sitting beside her, holding her hand, laughing at a joke she made, playing card games until the sun set below the horizon and darkness clouded the room. He would be all hers again.

She abruptly stood up from her chair and walked to her bed. It was already late into the night and she didn't want to waste much more time, but she was tired from the restless sleep she got the night before. Still muddled with thoughts of Dennis and his funeral that was only three days and two nights from now, she thought of her mother who had told her the news when she came home. Her mind had shaken it off and had almost forgotten the encounter because she was so focused on the murder that she just witnessed, but she remembered it now. She hoped she could get him back before the funeral.

Wait. What about his body? What if he comes back to life underground and is stuck because I waited too long. I have to get it. I have to get his body back from the morgue before they get it ready for the coffin and burial. I will go tomorrow. With this, she finally fell asleep.

*****

Again, Rebecca woke up to the sun shining a bright light across her face. It almost blinded her for she had forgotten to shut her curtains the night before and of course the sun had to shine right in her eyes the moment she woke up. Already starting off the day on a bitter note she remembered what she promised she said she would do the night before.

His body. Do you think it is possible for it to be able to come back to life even after being dead for so long? She hoped it would be fine. Last year they had dissected frogs for one of her classes and they learned that dead bodies began to decompose very quickly. It was all she could do to hope.

Rebecca made her plan for the day which was as simple as a salad recipe. Eat breakfast, go to the warehouse, figuring out whatever she could about what Jonathan was talking about, get Dennis's body from the morgue, find a way to hide it, and do whatever it took to bring him back. Screw the consequences.

She waddled downstairs still a bit dizzy from the realization she could get him back the night before and, as usual, her mom was in the kitchen cooking breakfast. She looked better than she had yesterday but the circles under her eyes had gotten darker and her movements seemed to drag on as though she was in water.

"Morning mom!" Rebecca called out cheerfully not realizing how silly she sounded considering the circumstances.

"Oh," her mom looked up, eyes far away in her mind, "Good morning."

Rebecca's smile turned into a frown at the brush off but turned back again when her mom placed the pancakes on her plate.

"Thanks," she spoke solemnly. Her mom simply nodded and returned back to clean the messy kitchen. She ate heartily, grief no longer pushing her appetite away, and decided that the morning had gone very well so far. Check one off the list. Next, the warehouse.

She waited in her room until the noise of her mom trudging up the stairs could be heard and the click of her door closing her in. She took that as her signal and walked out to the car, again taking caution with the amount of noise she was making. Just because her mom had taken a few days off of work to prepare for Dennis' funeral and to deal with her grief, she still might need to use the car, so Rebecca had to be quiet about taking it. It all went without a hitch and now she was driving on Maplewood road looking for an abandoned building with trash around it. Let's hope Jonathan didn't lie. It would be quite a shame for him if he did. Her mouth twisted into a smile.

Houses turned into trees, and soon she was on the abandoned street of Maplewood road. It was quite a good place to have a secret thing that could bring dead people back to life, for it was completely empty and the only things around were abandoned buildings full of trash. No one would come over here if they didn't have to.

She finally found the biggest structure in the shape of a square box out of the corner of her eye and sped towards it. It wasn't like there was anyone there to stop her. It was early afternoon anyway, so everyone would be at work right now. The warehouse was quite big, but all the cardboard and gunk surrounding it made it hard for her to navigate into a proper parking place in the lot. She continued to push through the boxes and eventually decided to just leave the car when she got out of the line of vision of anyone who could happen to drive by. She shut the car off, taking nothing with her as she walked into the building.

Her nose stuck with the stench of garbage and she fought the urge to plug her nose as she walked through boxes and trash. It was almost completely black inside and it took a while for her eyes to get adjusted to the looming dark with a tiny widow as the only source of light. She felt the presence of something there before she saw it.

A darkness seeped around her and she could almost feel its cold structure through her clothes like it was pressing against her, waiting for the right moment to enter her body and devour her whole. She did her best to calm her breathing as she noticed the figures standing far away in the distance, watching. She wasn't quite sure what they were.

They wore black cloaks draping to the ground and she was not sure how many were there for they could be hidden behind in the teeming black, unnoticeable to her. She guessed there were five. Each one wore a grey mask with a pointed nose similar to the one on a witch costume she had worn on Halloween. At least she hoped they were masks.

A cold chill spread through her bones as the thought pressed her mind urging her to flee. But she would not be scared. This was for Dennis and, most importantly, this was for her. She willed her feet to move forward toward the figures. Something crunched under her foot, her breath filled in plumes around her, welcoming the cold, and an empty, serene silence drowned out all thoughts. She was going to do this. Whatever it took.

The figures did not move, yet they seemed to make a thousand assumptions. Their eyes were hidden behind in the dark of the face it portrayed but it still felt like they were burning ice into her soul. That is when they all spoke in clean unison. "We have been waiting for you."