Caskets And Catastrophe

FIVE

Dedicated to @dummydoodles because she's awesome! *hugs you again*

“So, I love you because the entire universe conspired to help me find you.” 

― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

FIVE

 "Hey, where did you go?" Brad comes up beside me, his hands on his hips. I slowly open my eyes and I try to swallow, but something is blocking my throat.

I look up at him with innocent eyes, I hope. "I just went to get the keys," I say as calmly as I could. I dangle the keys in front of his face for emphasis. "See?" But I can't help but feel like I'm acting very guilty.

"Alright. Let's get inside," Brad says as he reaches for the doorknob. I feel like that doorknob is the nightmare of my life right now. I curse that doorknob.

I am deeply nervous of what I might witness once we get inside. Is Jule ready? What is he possibly doing?

Brad finally does the very thing I'm dreading; he opens the door slowly. It's like looking into a painful torture.

I'm ready to say something in my defense if ever Brad finds out, but I am surprised as we enter.

Jule is lying down on one of the tables, looking stiff. His chest doesn't give any signs that he's breathing. In fact, he looks really pale and, surprisingly, like a real corpse. My rapid breathing starts to slow, and I resist the urge to say, "Phew!"

"Did you change his clothes?" Brad questions, now moving towards where Jule lays.

I just noticed that Jule's clothes are Uncle Jerome's. He probably saw those inside the guest room, since I completely forgot to lend him some. Crap! I'm terrible! I mentally groan.

Jule is wearing Uncle Jerome's old jeans and a plain blue t-shirt. I then notice that Brad is waiting for my answer, so I hastily reply a "yeah" without thinking.

"You did?"

"Uh, I did. Who else?" I use the 'duh' tone, hoping I imitate it well.

"Huh. Okay." Brad looks at Jule for a moment, and I almost choke my breath. What if he sees something unlikely in Jule? We'll be more dead than the corpses I'm dealing with, I can make sure of that.

Brad's dark eyes linger over Jule's face. My knees are feeling weak, and my mind is running fast into a thousand laps over and over. I place my hand beside a chair to steady my mess of a self.

I focus on Brad's expression, but he just looks neutral. "He is quite a looker," he remarks casually, still looking at Jule, who is still doing his dead façade quite admirably, I might add.

"Was," I immediately snap. I don't know why, but I feel like the need to correct him. Otherwise, it'll sound like he's still alive. But then again, he is. I just-ugh, never mind!

"Gee, snappy much?"

I let out a nervous laugh. "Sorry." Why I tend to be like that, I don't know why.

Brad starts measuring Jule's arms, legs, waist, height span, etc. He doesn't seem to notice that I'm clawing myself due to my nervousness. What if he sees something different in him? What if he sees a slight move in his eyes? What if he senses his breathing? These thoughts only make my head ache even more. Act normal, I tell myself. I blow out a breath.

"This guy is so tall."

"Tell me about it." Jule is a little taller than Uncle Jerome, which is saying something.

 Finally, Brad finishes his measureming with a quick scribble in his notebook. "I'm gonna go ahead and bring the casket here," he says and he leaves the room.