"Live Forever" | The Re-Animator's Family Story

12

A few months had gone by since Herbert returned to work at the hospital; and Stacy was now 6 months old. It was hard to believe how quickly time was passing. It had been roughly a year since the incident in the hospital morgue, meaning it was roughly a year since Meg Halsey died, when Charlotte first found out she was pregnant, and half a year since Herbert's brother Crawford died. She would have never imagined what her life would turn into after everything that had happened, that she would have the most beautiful baby, and the most interesting husband.

Charlotte closed the nursery door behind her - just putting Stacy down to sleep - she heard the front door open and close. She walked down the hall and down the stairs to see Dan taking off his coat. He smiled when he looked up to see his roommate greeting him as he returned home. Charlotte saw the stress in his eyes. Work had been hard on him lately, and it was starting to show.

"Hey! How was work today?" Charlotte asked.

"Oh, you know," Dan responded, unsure of how to describe the day he's had. He didn't want to freak her out by saying that the police were investigating the Miskatonic Massacre and were suspicious of him and Herbert. "Nothing new, I guess. A patient of mine isn't getting any better, so everyday is a count down to how long she has left."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Charlotte frowned. She walked up to Dan, wrapping her arms around his waist and giving him a tight hug. Dan smiled and sighed as he wrapped his arms around her too. Since moving in, the two have grown to be closer friends than ever before. Most likely because the had one thing in common: the both lived under the same house as Herbert West - which is an adventure on it's own. There was also something he really needed to discuss with her and Herbert that he was afraid to tell them, especially her.

"Thank you, Charlotte," Dan pulled back, giving her a friendly kiss on the forehead.

"Sorry to say that I didn't cook dinner tonight," Charlotte apologized. "Stacy was having a rough day, which means I was having a rough day, so we had leftover."

"Oh no, don't worry about it," Dan reassured her. "I appreciate you always cooking for all of us, and always making sure Herbert eats something."

"Yeah," Charlotte giggled. "It was such a relief when he said he was coming home from work early today. He took the baby and gave me time to decompress and relax while he took care of her."

"I wondered where he ran off to," Dan stated, his smile fading. "Where is he now?"

"Well," Charlotte looked around at living area by the front door, and listened to see if she could hear him at all. "I'm not too sure, honestly. He had Stacy with him since he came home, and I took her back maybe 30 minutes ago to put her down to sleep. I'd only assume he's down in the basement, where he's been spending a lot of his time, recently."

Out of curiosity, Charlotte towards the basement door, opening it, and walking down the creaky stairs. Dan followed after her, genuinely worried about what she may find down there. The entered Herbert's make-shift laboratory, but didn't find Herbert.

"Herbert!" Dan called out to his friend. No response. The two glanced around the room to all of the different test tubes, colorful liquids, and Herbert's strange new obsession with Peruvian lizards. He noticed that the examination table was strangely vacant.

"Herbert?" Charlotte called out to her husband. No response. He heard a rustling noise coming from what sounded like the walls.

"Charlotte!" Charlotte yelped as she turned around to a giant hole in the basement wall to see Herbert smiling and giggling maniacally. "Dan! Look at this!" Charlotte could practically hear Dan roll his eyes as he walked over to Herbert, she too joined him.. "We practically share a wall with the Avril's crypt in the cemetery." Dan peered inside the crypt, Charlotte nearly gagged on the smell coming from inside. "Yes, that's a 150 years of decay." Herbert adjusted himself so he could jump out of the giant hole, dirt and dust from the crypt falling to the cement basement floor. "Oh, well... dust to dust." Herbert chuckled as he removed his safety jumpsuit, revealing his usual white button down, black slacks, and black tie that was now tucked into his shirt.