Act Eleven: Truth

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 What time was it?
I just woke up, but I already felt wide awake. I didn't even need to look at the clock, the darkness was enough to tell me it was still night.
It wasn't much, but the closet with the mattress was all I needed for a bed. I couldn't fault The Undertaker for that, it wasn't like the shop came with a master bedroom, it was comfortable enough, although if only a bit difficult to get used to the change. I pulled the blanket over my head to fall back asleep, but I couldn't seem to drift off again.
What woke me up? I never awoke during the night like this.

When I pushed the blankets off, cold air washed over my skin, sending goosebumps down my arms.
The closet door was closed, but I swore I left it slightly cracked when I went to sleep.
Did he close it? No wonder it was so dark.
It rang eerily quiet, not even the familiar sound of writing when I pushed my ear against the door. How strange, was I alone? The chilling air drifted in from below the frame, urging me to curl my toes to keep warm.
I pushed the door open and peeked out to check, not yet calling out.
Not a thing could be seen in this darkness, I needed a candle.
Luckily I knew they were kept on the front counter by now.
As carefully as I could without tripping over anything, I made my way to the counter and took one of the candles.
Match... I needed a match.
It took a minute of running my hands over the counter before I finally found a stray one and struck it over the wood countertop.
Once I lit the candle, I blew the match out once more and raised the light to look around.
Not a thing in the lobby at all. The sign was flipped to closed, and no sign of the mortician was to be seen. Perhaps he was in the basement, or sleeping somewhere unorthodox? It wasn't that out of the question, knowing the sort of guy he was, of course.

I turned around, my attention shifting to the wall like second nature. The scythe was still gone. Being sharpened, right? No matter, I wasn't interested in thinking about that right now, I just wanted to find The Undertaker.
On the other side of the hallway, I looked to the Sotoba collection- Or rather, I didn't. They were gone too?
"Undertaker?" I finally raised my voice to call. The candle flickered in my hand as cold air drifted across the shop, and yet, nothing.
This cold air... Was it normally this cold here, even if it were night? What did he say about the collection before? He didn't specify what they did, but they were grave markers, yes?

He wouldn't go to the graveyard by himself at this hour-?! No, what was I thinking? Of course he would. I didn't even think about it, I would go find him. There was still a serial killer out there.
I quickly dressed and slipped on some shoes, but this time, I would wear a sweater. It was cold, and I didn't want to be recognized as a noblewoman at night.
How could the mortician think of going out right now? Not even telling me anything, and he was the one worried about the murderer, once I find him-!
Well, I would need to bite my tongue and wait until I actually found him first, there was so much I was going to rant off for this!
The moonlight flooding the lobby was enough for me to blow out the candle and leave it on the counter, but my suspicions were confirmed before my hand touched the handle.
The chilling air was slipping through a gap in the door from not being closed all the way, so there was no doubt about it being opened. That was what woke me up, wasn't it? I'm sure I heard the door open subconsciously...
I had to step out, if I continued to nervously hesitate, I would never find the will to leave.

Alright! One, two-!
The bell jingled when I yanked the door open, and I swallowed back my nerves.
I remembered the way to the graveyard, it wasn't all that far.
The streets were silent, every shop locked and closed tight.
I could only hope I was correct, and I didn't miss the Sotoba being put away or something. I had to rub my arms to keep warm as the sweater quickly became entirely useless.
I started working for The Undertaker earlier this year, April if I recall. It was still warm with spring, but now it was nearly winter. A fool I was for not properly packing my bag, but it wasn't my fault I was rushing! I brought my money, that's what was important, I could just buy another one. As if I genuinely expected the weather to drop when it was a warm day not too long ago.
Blowing warm breath into my hands, I pulled the hood down more to protect my face from the nipping autumn air.
"Bloody temperature, walking all this way, blasted man didn't even-" Nobody was around, but muttering curses to myself aloud sure helped me feel better. Why did he even go out, damn it?! If it was an emergency errand, I would be awake in a flash if he said something.
I picked up the pace when the graveyard came into view, only looking around to make sure nobody was on the street. I had no interest in being the subject of rumor for sneaking into a graveyard in the middle of the night. Not that anyone would know it was me anyway, but better safe than sorry.

When my fingers grazed the gate, the metal nearly burned from the icy touch. Christ! Right, cold night, metal bars, that was stupid. I would cover my hand with my sleeve instead to push.
They wouldn't truly keep the gate unlocked, would they? Nobody was dumb enough to-
Oh, well look at that. It actually pushed open with no problem. That might've been more suspicious, though. Unless the mortician were honestly here, which I was hoping he was.
Should I call out? No, probably not. For many reasons, that would be a dumb idea to yell out in the middle of a cemetery at night while I was in hiding. I had two working legs, I would simply walk around and find out for myself.
Walking around alone was much different. Quiet, eerie, all I could think about was how cold I felt. I hoped to find him quickly and get back to the shop, my thoughts were growing numb.

Humbled ((Undertaker X Reader))Where stories live. Discover now