The Uncanny Interest

Chapter 2

It was unusual for the sun to be out when it was time for Cassie to get ready for work. Realizing she overslept, she glanced at the clock on her nightstand and rushed out of bed. The sudden movement caused her to feel light-headed.

"Oh God," she said as she held her head.

She looked in the bathroom mirror to see if there was anything physically unusual. She pulled down her eyelids to check their color, wondering if her iron was low. She looked fine except for her cheeks which appeared to be slightly sunken. She struggled to hold on to the handlebars of her shower door as she tried to keep her balance but luckily she completed her tasks for that morning.

***

Upon arriving at work, Cassie noticed her boss, Mr. Thomas, was standing outside, displeased, with his arms crossed. He was an older man with a withered face, gray hair that was thinning at the top, and classic round glasses that sat slightly low on his nose.

"Cassie, why on earth are you so late? And what happened to your phone? I have been calling you forever!" he said gripping his suspenders.

"I'm sorry Mr. Thomas, but I have no idea what happened. It was like I was..." said Cassie as her voice trailed off.

"Like you were what Cassie?"

"Dead!" she said jokingly.

"Oh! Yes, I indeed thought something happened to you, or dead even. You've never been late."

"Yes, I know. I even slept through my alarm. And then I felt so lightheaded when I got up. It won't happen again."

"It's alright Cassie. I'm sure it won't. You may want to go to the doctor too."

"Oh, I hate doctors ever since Mrs. Hilton died from that doctor injecting her with rocuronium instead of insulin. What a painful way to die," said Cassie while shaking her head.

"Yes indeed, but you should still see one. Preferable one that doesn't take a liking to rocuronium."

***

Mr. Thomas had brought in a total of two cases that day. One was a 76-year-old woman who died from pneumonia and a 6-year-old boy who got hit by a drunk driver. Cassie was assigned both cases but then realized there was another one in the back.

"Mr. Thomas, I thought you said there were only two cases back here?" she asked, but there was no response as Mr. Thomas had run out to get some supplies.

She grabbed her gloves and coat and began working on case one, the old lady. There was a strange feeling in the atmosphere but she couldn't put her finger on it--it was almost as if she was being watched. Suddenly, a faint sound came from behind her but she paid it no mind.

Then it happened again causing her to flinch. She looked immediately behind her.

She suspected it was coming from the freezer and inched towards the next room. A thick white fog expelled from the freezer as she pulled the little boy from it. No signs of anything wrong. And then she looked at the man, and he was also fine.

He looked to be around his late twenties with pale skin, cold and unblemished. Her eyes traced the lines of his chiseled face that looked as if he was merely sleeping. Cassie handled multiple cases with a sense of detached professionalism, but something about this particular case pulled on her emotions. 

 Around his eyelids were a faint red and his hair was black. She pulled the sheet down to his knees and saw that he wore a dark blue suit with a white shirt underneath. His clothes were covered in specks of dirt and blood with a torn sleeve. Her eyes grew with wonder as she pulled down his collar to get a closer look at the bloody cuts that covered his neck and shoulder. 

Looking at his hands she noticed a button was missing from his suit, and when she looked at his cufflinks, she saw that they were identical to the stone she had found in the woods. After removing her gloves, she carefully took her necklace from around her neck held it next to his shirt, and took a moment to examine the resemblance.

"The blood.." she said to herself. "Something happened to you in there."

She pondered if this was all a coincidence. There was a back-and-forth in her mind between keeping the necklace and returning it to the man.

"This is crazy. I better put you back in here, and get back to work."

***

A tired and out of breath Mr. Thomas returned with boxes of supplies in his hands, trying his best to avoid his employees. Cassie stood watching him in the hallway going back and forth with things from his van, plagued with the lack of information she had on the mysterious case.

"Mr. Thomas I need to ask you something."

"Not now Cassie, I am extremely busy right now," he said rushing past her.

"But it's important."

"Ask me tomorrow or send me an email. I just can't stop right now."

Her curious nature wouldn't let the situation rest. She needed to know who he was, what happened to him, and how he got there. She knew eventually something had to happen since he couldn't stay there forever. But in such a short time something grew inside her that would make it hard for her to let go.

***

At the end of her shift, Cassie had plans to meet up with Julia at a lounge just outside of town that had dim lights and slow music over the soft hum of conversation. Julia wasn't there yet and texted Cassie that she would be late.

A woman with blond hair wearing a red dress sat next to Cassie. She leaned back slightly in her chair, her legs crossed elegantly as she sipped her drink making causal conversation with those around her.

"Are you alone here too?" the woman asked trying to get Cassie to join in the conversation.

"Well, I'm waiting for my friend, she's late," she answered.

"You look like you've had one hell of a day," said the woman as she sipped her drink.

"Haven't been feeling the best lately, so."

"Well, I hope you feel better soon."

A nagging feeling tugged at Cassie after speaking with the woman. She glanced at her hair, her eyes and even her smile. She felt an air of familiarity as if she'd seen her somewhere before, even though she was certain they had never met.

"I'm sorry, have we met before?" asked Cassie. "It's just that you look so familiar."

"No, I don't think so."

"Are you sure? I have this strong feeling that I've seen you somewhere."

"Are you an alcoholic? Maybe you've seen me at one of those group therapy things my dad's always forcing me to go to," she said jokingly.

"Hah, well maybe it's just me I guess."

As Julia stepped in, she spotted Cassie almost immediately. Her smile faded the closer she got to the table when she noticed that there was something different about Cassie's face. Her skin was becoming pale and underneath her eyes darkened. Her lips were slightly dry despite her efforts to stay hydrated.

"Hey Cas," said Julia in a low voice attempting to hide the concern from her voice.

"Hey, finally," said Cassie as she got up to greet her with a hug.

Julia sat down with her eyes glued to Cassie's face, scanning it and trying to figure out what was wrong. Eventually, she couldn't hold it much longer and leaned forward towards Cassie's ear.

"Are you okay? You look..sick"

"I'm fine," she said, brushing off the concern.

The woman looked at her watch and realized it was getting late. She grabbed her handbag from the seat and excused herself for the night.

"Nice meeting you. Wish I could stay longer but I gotta run before my dad loses his mind, he's weirdly overprotective. I'm Anne by the way."

"Cassie. And this is Julia."