Dead Body Walking (Book One)

Chapter 2: The First Step To Insanity

Now if the night wasn't strange enough, at that moment the doors to the morgue burst open admitting what to me looked like the evil queen from Sleeping Beauty. This woman was decked out in a full length black jeweled gown with one of those really high collars; I have to admit though that on her, it didn't look half bad. Watching as she focused on the body on the table, I waited for the screaming to start.

"There you are Jean Luke I was worried that I would be too late."

Not really getting why she wasn't panicking at seeing a dead body up I figured it was time I made my presence known. Coughing and stepping forward so she could see me I started to speak, though before I could get a word in she beat me to it.

"Now dear, there is no reason for you to be concerned, the doctors made a mistake. My friend has a condition which sometimes plays up. There is no need for you to concern yourself, as we will be leaving immediately. Now be a good girl and tell me where his belongings are?"

I knew that story was a load of crap but on the off chance that she was telling the truth, I turned back to the body confirming what I already knew: this guy was as dead as a doornail. Turning back to my new visitor I took a good look at her face, on the off chance I would be describing it to a police sketch artist later on. Realising she was waiting for me to run from the room in hysterics, I spoke up.

"Lady, I don' t know who you are but that body is dead. And no matter what you say, that's not going to change. Now if you want to tell me why the body there has suddenly risen from the dead, you go ahead because in about thirty seconds I'm calling the cops to come down here and arrest the both of you."

Waiting to see what her response would be, I quickly moved back over to the body picking up a pair of forceps. Stepping back on the strairs I got in postion and started to remove the bullet. Even if she managed to disappear with the body as I figured was her plan, I would at least have the bullet to run in the system. After some wiggling I managed to dig it out. Holding it up to the light, even someone with my limited experience of firearms could tell that it was not your average bullet. Hoping that it matched in the system I placed it in one of the evidence bags and slipped it into the pocket of my lab coat. Looking over my shoulder I saw she was reassessing the situation.

Realising I would be in a better postion near the phone I jumped down and walked over to the desk. As I looked around for the evidenturary paperwork I noticing that she was once more focused on the dead guy. Before I could completely turn I felt a massive thud. Spinning I realised the body had gotten up off the table and was slowly wandering round the lab. Before I could go to stop him, the evil queen strode forward and took hold of his arm stopping his movement.

"Do not worry my old friend, I will make sure you get back to where you belong."

Turning back to me but keeping a sure grip on his arm she spoke to me in what sounded like one of those posh British accents.

"You would do well to forget everything that has happened here tonight. This business does not concern mortals. If I had heard of Jean Luke's situation sooner he would not have reached this establishment. My friend does not belong in this place."

Still wondering what exactly was going on, I couldn't help but comment on her last statement.

"Lady I don' t know who you are and I really don't care. What I do care about however is that corpse because he's my responsibility and there's no way you're just going to come barging in here and disappear with him. It's my job to find out what happened to him and if possible help the police catch the people responsible for his murder. And for the record where else would a dead body belong other than in a morgue?"

Looking as though she would gladly smack me if I gave her half the chance, she took one last look at the walking dead and then to my everlasting regret explained what the heck was going on.

"As you wish mortal, but be warned you will not believe what I say. This man here is non-other than Jean Luke Artiues; he was the leader of the Mulintie Clan. He my dear woman, was the chief werewolf until his demise ten days ago. For some reason that at present I can not comprehend he has arisen from his grave. It is my responsibility as High Priestess of this region to see that he gets safely back to his eternal rest. If he is not intered before sunrise there is no telling the damage that will comence. Now my dear how would you like to explain all of this to your superiors?"

I stood there for a few seconds digesting what she had said: werewolves, dead body walking, High Priestess. It was apparent by the look on her face that she wasn't lying and after dealing with a live corspe for the last half hour I was kind of in a frame of mind to believe her. Shaking my head at the lunacy of what I was about to say, I couldn't help but wish that I had called in sick that night.

"O.k, say I believe you about him being your friend and you being here just to get him home or to his grave, whatever; there are still a couple of things that you're forgetting. It would look a little strange to my boss if a body comes in and then suddenly disappears, 'Oh hey Norman about the body last night it got up and went home so there's no need to worry about the paperwork' that just doesn't go over that well with us what the heck did you call me 'mortal'. How exactly are you going to fix it and what the hell am I supposed to do about it!"

Having finished my rant I actually felt a bit better, the screaming at the end probably helped; I guess I was actually a little stressed about the dead body up and walking after all. Shaking my head to clear it I waited to see what she would come up with because no matter how I racked my brain I couldn't see how a mobile dead body could simply disappear without a lot of explanation or me getting fired. And if she even suggested me losing my job as a way to solve her problem, I was so on the phone to security no matter what happens to the corpse after.

"Very well mortal, if you have such a grasp on the situation what is it that you suggest I do? I can not and will not allow my dear friend and subject to become part of some government experiment let alone allow him to fall into the hands of someone who would use his power for their own gains. There are ways for me to remove him from this establishment using my magik as a Priestess however it would require your assistance. It grieves me to ask this of a mortal but for my friend's sake, will you oblige me?"

Having got my way never felt so wrong before. Like it or not if I believed her story it was my duty as a human being to help her put her friend to rest. As long as nobody found out that I helped to steal a body I should be fine. Of course I really shouldn't have thought that last bit.

"O.k first off stop calling me mortal, my name's Morgana and since you need my help, I'd be polite if I were you. Now if and I mean if, you are telling the truth and I'm going to need prove of that, I'll help you get your friend back to his grave. This magik you call it I hope it's like it is in fiction because we will need some serious skills to pull this off."

Looking offended at what I said she straighten to her full height of 6'2 and she spoke in a really high handed manner.

"Morgana as you say, I am Lolonda and my skills in the art of magik are quite supreme, as being High Priestess I can command any of my subjects to do what I wish. However the most expedient method that I have found for dealing with mortals who have stumbled across my domain, is simply to erase their memories. That I have found from past experience solves the problem."

Thinking quickly, I made a list of what needed to be done, while trying to ignore the thought that I had finally gone mad.

"Alright, let's see. There's the report that the EMT guys filled out, the hospital reports and the police report, all of those will need to be removed. The only people that would probably connect the dots if he goes missing are the EMT's and the doc who pronounced death. I should have his name on the paperwork that came in with the body, so finding him shouldn't be a problem. Now if you can do what you say about the memory wipe and I get the paperwork that should fix things. Except how on earth are we going to get a moving dead body out of the hospital without someone noticing?"

It would appear I hadn't thought this plan though as we were so done for.