The Rules of the Red - 2014 Watty Award Winner |✓|

Chapter Fourteen - Part One

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CHAPTER FOURTEEN

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Bones were crushed and simultaneously rebuilt, as fur sprouted and fangs grew. A man crouched, naked on the floor, writhing in pain as his body was renovated through a gruesome, grotesque transformation. But even though I had never seen an actual shift (although I had been through the process several times myself), and now realized how ugly and horrific it appeared to an outsider looking in, I still marveled at it. Ethan’s grunts, snarls, and howls of pain eventually produced an animal more stunning than I had ever seen – a surprisingly regal creature, with dark brown fur and eyes that blazed with Ethan’s hazel color. Its ears were perked and alert as it sneezed and then licked a wet snout. It growled once and then dropped to its haunches, watching George raptly with an intelligent, vigilant gaze.

George’s light, khaki pants gradually stained a darker, tan color in the crotch at the sight of the wolf’s sharp, white fangs. And at the strong stench of George’s urine, I was satisfied in knowing that he no longer held even the slightest trace of a threat.

“The file is here, isn’t it? In this folder, marked ‘Patients Deceased?’” I asked. I had finally made it to the L’s.

“Y-y-yes.” George stammered, nodding quickly. “We keep complete records of every corpse that we autopsy. It’s p-part of our guidelines – we get inspections, ya know?”

“Yeah, well, you did a pretty shitty job of covering your tracks. And for goodness’ sake – get a new computer, George.”

“Oh, I promise! I promise, we will!”

A short time later, I finally located my father’s folder. I opened it, feeling a mixture of trepidation and excitement. My hands trembled slightly, as I recognized the first page of my father’s autopsy report. With a deep breath, I clicked the print icon in the corner of the screen, feeling satisfaction as I heard the computer’s small (and surprisingly modern) printer buzzing to life.

“Are you ready to tell me why you took out a whole section of my father’s report before you released it to the public?” I said to George. “What did you write that could be so bad that you would hide it from the rest of the world?”

“We were told to,” said George, faintly, looking as if he could pass out. “Mr. Harrison and I, we had no choice – I swear it!”

“Right,” I said, plucking the collection of crisp, white pages that had passed their way into the printer’s tray. I walked to George and handed the small stack of papers to him, waiting.

“Explain,” I said, firmly. “And start with page five, please.”

George didn’t hesitate. He took the pages immediately, flipping through them in earnest, to the correct page. He scanned first, before reading aloud, getting reacquainted with the old, hazardous words.

“The first page is a-a small list of-of drugs that were found in his system. And the next three pages after that just go into more detail about the compounds of the drugs.”