The Plague Doctor [RATED R] ✓

(41) Restless

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I STOOD AT THE back while four men carried Pacific's lifeless body like a garbage sack that they couldn't wait to dump. I stare at his body with little to no expression on my face compared to last time's funeral. He was pale, and it was a miracle that we even found him before anyone else could. According to Claudio, it's better to have him dead than have him speak.

     "Drop him," master Claudio instructs, and the men dump the patient's body inside a hole that the others were able to dig. When we all heard the thud sound, Claudio looked at father Laurence and nodded at him, making Laurence open up the bible he was holding so he could read a verse.

     "So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; and it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body..."

     The verse left a shiver down my spine. Other than the fact that we were surrounding Pacific's grave while holding candles as if we were some kind of cult, the graves of the other patients were just right beside it, reminding me of the deaths that came before this.

     I stare at the hole that Pacific was in and then at the other graves. I met all of them just moments before they died. Such a feeling cannot even be explained. Now we are only left with one, and I don't know what else I'll be able to do if Wednesday follows. I might not be able to stand silently like this anymore.

     "Are you alright?" A voice suddenly asks, snapping me back to reality.

     I turned my head and saw Lino standing beside me. I was about to ignore him, but then I remembered Pacific's last words. Lino isn't the one working for doctor Giovanni. All this time, he wasn't the person I should have run away from.

     "I just saw someone jump off a cliff. What do you think?" I sarcastically ask back, whispering as well so we wouldn't interrupt the ceremony.

     "I just came back from a funeral too, and now I'm attending another one. It can't get any more depressing than this," I then tell him, and Lino doesn't say anything and just looks back at Laurence and the others.

     Laurence was standing near the hole, while Adeline was standing beside Claudio and the other guards. Among those two, who will stab me in the back with no hesitation?

     I'm not saying I fully trust Pacific's claims, but what he said made a lot of sense. Thinking about it now, Lino hasn't done anything that would harm me. In fact, he has walked an extra mile to make sure I don't get in trouble. As for Laurence and Adeline, they haven't really done anything that would make me suspect them, but they were the only people who knew about the attic, and Claudio just miraculously found out about it too.

     But what if Pacific is wrong? What if none of them are working for Claudio? Or maybe all of them are working for him, and they're just pretending to be on my side. What if they're actually going to kill me too? What if—

     "Bishop," Lino once again calls out, making me flinch. "The ceremony is over," he then says, and I realize that they were already dumping dirt on top of Pacific, while Claudio and the rest were already walking back to the manor.

     "You don't seem well. Maybe you should rest first," Lino suggests, making me massage my temple this time. Lino was about to touch my shoulder, but I immediately pushed his hand away, surprising him.

     "D-Don't..." I say.

     "Are you okay?" He asked me again, but I couldn't answer him. I didn't know what I felt, and I didn't know what was wrong with me. I was starting to lose focus, and that was something I was trying to avoid. I had to keep myself together, or I might end up losing full control.