“As free as a dead man can be you mean?”
“Oh, you will learn just how free that can be Denny. Far more than you realize.”
He shook his head and sunk back into a sulk, what an immortal he would make. This pup had no idea just how good it could be if you could sink your teeth into it.
“Denny, please trust me when I say that I will keep you safe. That this is only fake, it will appear real enough to fool the examiner.”
“Why do you care, why do you want to keep me alive then? I am nothing to you, wouldn’t it just be easier for you if I died?”
“Yes it probably would be Denny, but I can’t. I can’t explain to you right this minute why but I promise I will. I will tell you exactly why I am saving you.”
“Of course, you will, just as I will wake up tonight and walk away a free man.”
I wanted to reassure him, tell him of the drug but I suspected that it would all land on deaf ears. He was in a dark place and not ready to deal with more truths. Or possibly just not willing to deal with all I had to say for now.
Eventually, I would have to tell him of our connection, and I knew it would be a conversation that neither of us would enjoy. He probably wouldn’t even believe me, but he would be alive and free of the Man.
Something I only dreamed about, night after night. In the endless void of daily tasks, that consumed a bit of my soul each time. At one point, I thoroughly researched the people I was assigned to kill and in many cases their existences were distasteful, and there were very valid reasons to end it for them.
But some others were average people, seemingly in the wrong place and at the wrong time. I assumed that they saw something of the Man that it was deemed too close to revealing them and their actual dealings. But it was almost impossible to know the truth of it, most of the ones I interrogated didn’t even understand.
As we drove in silence to Denny’s little haven at the end of a neighborhood, I knew that today was the last time I would do anything that appeared in service of the Man. Today was the change for me, the actual change in my heart and being.
No longer would I be their slave, doing as expected and in the manner they expected. I would appear to kill Denny and they would be satisfied. But I would know that I had defied them fully.
“I want to die in my car, exhaust fumes filling the inside. I know it isn’t all that interesting a way to go but I have read it is peaceful. You fall asleep and aren’t aware of what’s going on.”
I was startled, Denny’s request was an odd one. Not one that I had expected and one I knew from experience weren't nearly as peaceful as he thought it was.
“Ok Denny, we can do that. The medical examiner has probably seen enough of these to call it on the scene and just send you off to the morgue.”
“Thanks, Eliza.”
“You are welcome Denny, but you don’t have to worry about anything hurting. The drugs will make sure you aren’t aware of any of the scene dressing I will be doing.”
“If you say so, I am still not entirely sure I will wake up.”
“You will, the drugs are efficient. They wear off on time and with few side effects. You probably will be hungrier than you have ever been in your life and tired.”
I looked at Denny; he had the look of a condemned man about him. I was so caught up in my thoughts that I hadn’t noticed when he seemed to lose hope. He appeared to have accepted actual death is waiting for him at the end of this trip.
We turned into his drive, a small house at the end of a lane. It was a pleasant little place by the looks of things, the garden small and neat. No rose bushes or many flowers other than what grew wild decorated his garden. Not quite bare but not over crowded.
He remotely opened the garage door and I parked the junker centered in the garage, not sure if that’s how he parked it usually. But no other vehicles would make it seem logical.
I sat back and waited for the garage door to roll back down again. Looking at Denny’s tortured and sad face made me itch for action. I gathered my bag and exited the car quickly when the door finally slid back into position.
“Where is your garden hose, Denny?” I asked as I dumped my bag on the tool bench he had to the one side of the garage. Taking out the little bag of drugs that held his death and future I waited for his answer.
When he didn’t answer I turned around, not sure what to expect, would he be holding a gun or just be lost? He stood in front of his car staring out into nothing, hand resting gently on the hood.
“Do you think I’ll be able to get a good car in my afterlife, Eliza?”
I walked over to him and took his hand, attempting to bring him back to life. To get his attention, he needed to focus and go into this with a better attitude than he currently had.
“There will be many good cars in your afterlife, heck possibly even some awesome motorcycles.”
He smiled a little and nodded, held my hand tightly and pointed with the other to the other end of the garage. I let go of his hand and quickly moved over and grabbed the coiled hose from the floor.
Denny brought over duct tape and we quickly stuffed the hose into the exhaust pipe and taped it in place. I rolled down one window and inserted it securely in place. Afterwards, we stood back and looked over our handiwork.
“I love this car, never thought it would be where I died, though.”
“And you won’t, not really. Only officially.”
“That’s not nearly as reassuring as you think you know.”
I clapped him on the back, “Let’s get you drugged up and ready Denny.”
By now it was early afternoon, the day was flying by and much still needed to happen. I took out the two little pills that would do their magic. They would slow his heart down to almost nothing. So slow that it would only require a beat an hour and the odds were in our favour that no EMT would have the luck to pick up when they found him.
“Here you go Denny, drink these. They will slow you heart down and for all the world it would look like you aren’t breathing. Your body will take on the death pallor and to the EMT’s you will be dead.”
“So this will work Eliza, I will wake up won’t I?”
He held the two little pills gingerly as if they would be able to do their thing by mere proximity.
“I promise Denny, this will work. And tonight after the morgue employees have left I will get you. You will wake up to a friendly face and your new life will start.”
He grunted, closed his eyes for a moment and swallowed them down without any water. I helped him into the car and set up the rest of his death by myself. After the car was idling, I left his garage to make the call.
Twelve
I faked a concerned neighbor, calling in to tell the police she saw the lovely young man on the corner drive into his garage; that he forgot to switch off his car before closing the garage door. That he had seemed upset about something and she was worried about him.
The risk that Denny could potentially get hurt while the EMT’s took their time to get there, or if the cops took too long to show up was real. Real enough that I was concerned, I timed them and though this was a fairly well-revitalized neighborhood, it still took much longer for them to show up than I liked.
The police arrived first and opened up the garage door to a cloud of fumes, they rushed in and broke the car window to switch off the car. The bigger of the two police officers dragged Denny out onto the driveway and started CPR. The other one ran outside and called it in and within a couple of minutes the EMT’s arrived.
They gave Denny a good once over but to my relief found no signs of a heartbeat and, in turn, called it into the coroner’s office. The police sighed and started the next step of the call out. He was setting up the tape and looking for evidence. Of course, no proof of wrongdoing was to be found, and none of Denny’s neighbors came out to see what was happening.
Close to the business sector, it was a busy neighborhood and a place where people appeared to mind their own business or wer
e off to work during the day.
Eventually, the examiner showed up, took a look at Denny, felt for a pulse just in case the EMT’s sucked so much that they couldn’t find a heartbeat. But within seconds, he had decided that they could, after all, do their job and indicated to his assistant that he could load Denny into the back.
And just like that Dennis Edward Taylor ceased to be a problem for the Man. I entered my daily task app and clicked the Complete button. The screen returned to idle, and I started up the car I had borrowed from one of Denny’s neighbors and followed the ME’s van at a discreet distance.
Finally, they arrived, and I parked across the road, it was late afternoon, and I hated not knowing what was happening to Denny right then. Nothing I could do about it though until much later.
I settled in for the long haul; I didn’t feel comfortable leaving. I doubted that they would move his body elsewhere, there was no reason to. But if that happened I wanted to be there and able to follow.
As the afternoon wore into the evening nothing changed. People came and went as they were wont to do, but Denny stayed where he was. My fervent hope was that the ME’s office had a backlog, and they would stick him in a drawer and forget about him.
It was a good theory as the ME’s vans came and went quite frequently while I sat there waiting. Eventually, though it did become quieter, more people left than entered and eventually it was just skeleton staff remaining.
I decided nine pm was a good a time as any to sneak in and see about the rescue. I entered the building via the garage; it was quiet, and the last person forgot to close the door. A pedestrian gate set into the large one that hung open a bit. It was entirely possible that they never closed it.
I knew there would be cameras, but I had pulled on a hooded shirt, and it was pulled low enough that no one could tell who I was. I adjusted the way I walked and made myself even smaller than I already was.
Only partially lit I kept to the supporting beams, picking the ones with the fewest lights. It took much longer to get into the building that way, but it didn’t matter.
Getting caught would be a waste of time, I needed to get to Denny and didn't want to deal with distractions on the way.
It was quiet in the central part of the building, and I made my way quickly to the clipboards that hung outside of an examination room. The board held the names and drawer numbers of the occupants.
I found Denny’s name on the third board I checked; stored in drawer 116 in room 3. It was luckily relatively close to where I came in and would make it easier for us to leave as well. I grabbed the board and went into room 3.
Finding his drawer was easily accomplished and when it slid out, I found I was holding my breath. I was apprehensive about what I would discover when I pulled the sheet from his torso.
To my relief, his chest was bare of the telltale incisions and stitches of a completed autopsy. The examiners had been so busy today that they hadn’t bothered to get around to what appeared to be an apparent suicide. I was glad that Denny chose this as his method of death.
I removed the remaining capsule from the little bag of drugs I purchased a lifetime ago. I knew that the capsule had to be emptied into the mouth of the 'deceased' person to take effect. I opened Denny's mouth and made sure his tongue was out of the way.
If it could run freely down his throat, it would be better. I twisted the capsule apart, and the smell of ammonia made me gag. It was a clear liquid that dropped into his mouth and what little I could see of it appeared to go into his throat quickly.
I might not have known what was in it, but the effects were quick. Within seconds, Denny sharply inhaled and started coughing. I quickly silenced him, not sure where the remaining staff were. He clamped a strong hand tightly over mine, making the tiny bones crackle. His eyes popped open, and slowly the pressure lessened as he recognised me.
He pulled my hand away and struggled to sit up. I stood back and gave him some space. Legs swung over the side of the drawer gurney, and he wobbly slid down onto the floor.
He winced, “The floor is freezing, this room is fucking frozen Eliza.”
I laughed relief flooding through me. He appeared to be himself and ok to boot. I had believed he would be, Ethan’s drugs always worked, but it was good to see it in action for myself.
“Sorry Denny, I don’t think they bother keeping it warm for the occupants. But we’ll get you something warm to wear and get out of here.”
“My clothes would be nice, but I guess that’s not going to happen right?”
“Sure, why not? I have to remove you from their list so you may as well try and find them if you want.”
He nodded and wobbled off to look for his stuff. I went to the table where I put the clipboard. Luckily the ME’s office was organized but old. Paper held sway still, and a form was filled in and kept. There had been no autopsy, and a file wasn’t open yet for Denny. All I had to do was remove his name from the roster of occupants of the day.
I grabbed another form and did my best to imitate the scrawl of the various people on the original. Not bad, and not great but not terrible enough that anyone would pay attention to it.
Denny was gone, and the ME or assistant might wonder about his body in the morning. But looking at the number of occupants listed on just this room’s form I doubted they would even notice. Or remember a suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning.
Forgery done, I looked up and found Denny across the room struggling into his shirt. He appeared a bit shaky still, and I wanted to get him out of here and to my home as quickly as I could. Finally done we walked to the door where I snuck out first and put the paper back on the clipboard. He followed me, and we snuck out the way I came in.
We got into our borrowed car, and I drove us away from a successful resurrection. It was quiet, dark out, and we drove past quiet office buildings. I didn’t want to disturb Denny’s thoughts; it was a hell of a thing to contemplate and understand.
His world was very different to what it had started as this morning. I had managed to fulfil my task and would need to leave for my daily dose soon. We entered the warehouse district and for even quieter roads, only a few of these were still occupied and of use. I pulled into a nondescript warehouse, one that looked like all the rest.
“Welcome to you new home Denny,” I said as I pulled to a stop at my front door.
Thirteen
“What do you mean new home? It's an abandoned warehouse.”
“You’ll see, Denny. By now I would have thought you, would understand that not everything is always as it seems.”
He grunted and got out of the car slowly; I parked the current loaner a bit away from my collection. I was probably a snob, but it did feel that Denny’s neighbor’s car would sully my beauties.
Yeah, I was a car person. Or rather, a speed addict since my collection contained all the fastest little numbers I could find. Collector’s editions all of them, I favored classic cars mostly, but there was the occasional motorcycle too.
“Nice Eliza, very nice, if this is to be my new home does that mean I get to play with these?”
Denny was standing by the silver 1962 Porsche, slowly trailing his fingers over her hood. I suppressed the urge to tell him to get his hands off of my baby. I have issues about sharing it seemed.
“Maybe someday Denny. Let me show you the rest of the place.”
He laughed and followed me inside, the inhalation behind me pleased me. I loved that my warehouse inspired surprise and awe in those that got lucky enough to see the inside. Not too many people have; I did consider it my private lair. And as such it would be silly to allow just anyone to see inside, let alone know precisely where it is.
“I think I have been in the wrong business all this time, how long did it take to get a place like this?”
“A lot longer than you’d think Denny, come I’ll show you your room. It is getting late, and I have an appointment I cannot miss.”
Denny turned to me, and he sported what I was
starting to think of as his distrustful look. I sighed and walked towards the stairs that led to the spacious first level to the sleeping areas.
“Look, Denny, there is a lot that we need to talk about, and I always keep my promises. I will tell you what you need to know, but I have a fixed appointment that won’t wait for me if I miss it.”
And there was no chance I would miss it, apart from avoiding death I needed to know if my ruse had gone unnoticed. I was very nervous about it too; my stomach was flip-flopping and not just because of the missed lunch and dinner.
The rumble from my stomach coincided with us passing the kitchen area, after showing Denny his room that would be my next stop before leaving for my dose.
The converted upstairs of the warehouse held two bedrooms with adjacent bathrooms, with the addition of an extra guest bathroom. No one has ever used any of them, but they were ready for use. Ben had stayed over before but always with me in my bed. And in truth, I never fell asleep with Ben around, even though I trusted him, for the most part.
I had thought about this decision long and hard while I waited outside the morgue; I didn’t know what else to do with Denny. There was no one I trusted and this way I could keep an eye on him for a while. At least long enough to make sure things were settled.
He peered around his room and did the things people do when inspecting new digs, opening all the doors and checking out the shower. I left him to it and quickly went to the kitchen, by now both of us would be ravenous, him probably even more so than me.
I made quick work of some sandwiches and resisted the urge to present it nicely; some habits died hard. Bloody hell, years and years ago there would be no quick sandwiches. It would have been neatly cut and de-crusted and presented beautifully, artfully even.
“Thanks, Eliza, for saving me and putting me up. I will not get underfoot I promise.”
He sat down and started piling food into his mouth. I resisted the urge to admonish him; I was the cause of his extreme hunger after all. A thought that was quickly followed by how much worse it could have been.
Shi: A Dark Adventure into Living Forever Page 5