Power of the 8 Elements

Chapter Ten

"I can't believe we're breaking into a morgue!" Phoenix whisper-shouted as Thrax carved a shape into the glass with his finger.

"Well, it'll be easy since Thrax is so tall," Lucifer said. "How tall are you anyways?"

"I don't know."

"How do you not know your own height?"

Thrax shrugged. The glass hit the floor with a shatter. He stepped through making no noise as he stepped on the glass. He didn't seem to show any visible pain either.

"No one's here," he said, "Come on."

Lucifer helped me climb through while Phoenix flew through, being wary of her delicate wings.

"We should be wary of what goes on in a morgue," Thrax said.

"Like what?" Phoenix said.

"Cameras," Lucifer said, narrowing his eyes. "People don't want body-snatchers after their loved ones or anybody stealing important and/or private documents."

"That's dark."

"It's death. You have no idea what kind of necrophiliacs lurk around the place."

"Ahhh...Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, the great serial killers of the Americas," Thrax said.

"Ever been?" I asked.

"Nope."

We moved among the shelves with several files.

"What are we looking for exactly?" Lucifer asked.

"The files of Gertrude Cassidy and Jacob Carson," I said.

"Fortunately they're both in the C's. We should find them quickly," Phoenix said, flying over the cabinets with ease.

Lucifer tapped on my shoulder and I walked towards him.

"Can I ask you a question?" Lucifer said.

I nodded.

"Two?"

"Okay?"

"Why Thrax? I mean, Thrax is..." He gestured his hands towards the towering virus who gave us a wide grin. "Thrax."

"I was driving and suddenly Look-See, his—whatever—showed up and destroyed my car. Thrax fixed it, and like he said, he's only helping because he's hungry and wants to bring everything back to normal." Lucifer raised an eyebrow. "Besides that sounding exceedingly selfish, he hasn't killed anyone yet. Isn't that good?"

"Celeste, if anyone's pure dark one, it's him."

"Well, isn't that kind of rude? You didn't even give him a chance."

"A person like Thrax doesn't really get chances, he might give others chances, but there's no point in allowing him to make up for his actions."

"He saved Phoenix's life...and fixed my car."

"He didn't really do anything for me, Celeste. And my second question is...did you tell him about...it?"

"Uh..."

"You did...didn't you?"

"Joe, you know I'm pro-life, and it'll only be a matter of time before it gets noticeably, I might as well tell the truth!"

"Found it!" Phoenix said.

"We'll put this conversation on hold," Lucifer said, walking over to the sound of Phoenix's voice.

Phoenix handed us both a file that read JACOB CARSON - 16 and another file that said GERTRUDE CASSIDY - 15.

"Cause of death?" Thrax said.

Phoenix opened the file that said Gertrude Cassidy.

"Stabbing. What about Jacob?"

"Gunshot wound," Celeste said.

"Stabbing? Gertrude didn't look like she'd gotten stabbed. Her body had no stab wounds, I mean her limbs were cut clean off," Lucifer said.

"Why don't we check out the body?" Thrax said, sliding his forked tongue across one of his pointed teeth.

"The...body?" Phoenix said, shuddering.

"The body?" Lucifer said, raising an eyebrow.

"The body!" I exclaimed.

"The body," Thrax repeated calmly. "Come on, I can smell it from here."

And so Thrax was the leader, and we were the follower, trailing after him while occasionally glancing at the alphabetized and neatly organized files, probably wondering how all those people died.

"So many deaths," I said.

"Poor Nari, must've felt all of them," Phoenix said.

"It's the way of the world," Lucifer said.

"What would the world be like if there was no death?" I asked.

"Thrax would starve to death," Lucifer said.

"The world would be even worse than to begin with," Phoenix said.

"I wouldn't have half the joy and laughter I do in my life!" Thrax said.

We all looked at him.

"I'm kidding—kidding."

We entered another room and walked up the stairs. There was a room that looked like an operating table however what looked like a body on it was wrapped in a light blue cloth. Sharp utensils lay on a small metallic cart on the side.

"Is it Gertrude?"

"Depends...does Gertrude smell like..." Thrax sniffed, "Wine? Alcohol? Cotton candy perfume and..." He sniffed again. "Almonds."

"No, but the cotton candy perfume does smell familiar," Lucifer said.

"It's Gertrude," Phoenix said.

Thrax walked towards the body. He lifted the cover. I inhaled and swallowed my disgusted feelings as I saw her mutilated body. I opened the file. It read:

Name: Gertrude Cassidy

Parents: Steven Cassidy & Margaret Cassidy

Age: 15

Birth Date: May 12th

Cause of Death: Stab Wounds

Thrax gave the body a good sniff. 

"Ugh, you're disgusting!" I said.

"It's for a good reason," He said plainly.

"What do you smell?" Terry asked.

"Cyanide."

"That's impossible. The file said stab wounds."

"Then the file is wrong. She must've been poisoned by cyanide and when she died her body was horribly disfigured."

I raised an eyebrow in disbelief that he was able to pick up that with just a sniff.

"Impressive," Lucifer said.

"What do we do now?" Phoenix said.

"I've got to get home," Thrax said, sounding almost disappointed. "I have somewhere to be."

"Are you still living in Proteus' mansion?" Lucifer said.

"Yes," Thrax said with a smile.

"Goodbye...Gertrude," Phoenix said, sprinkling her wings in more pixie dust before flying off and leaving with the rest of us.