Lust Demented

{LII}

THERE WASN’T ENOUGHT ROOM FOR me in the morgue. Nude under the half-zipped body bag, I waited on a gurney in the hallway. Bodies were quadrupled up on the trays. The heat wave was doing us in. A cloud of flies travelled in a swarm. An itchy feeling slowly brought sensation back to my skin. I couldn’t move to scratch it. The chemical paralysis was wearing off. I was beyond dehydration. The two lonely workers chipped away at their duties. Speed metal and merengue poured out of their headphones. The last thing they would expect is for one of their cadavers to get up and stumble out of the joint. I was sure they fantasized about it. I highly doubted they would notice me gone.

“NYPD. I’m looking for a John Doe.” Sgt. Bethany Powers dropped in like a regular at a local dive.

“We got a few dozen. Take your pick.” The guy working didn’t give a shit, but enjoyed the relatively warm female company.

“Male. Early thirties. Throat slit. Decrepit.”

Decrepit. I would remember that. Take that to my grave. Sgt. Bethany Powers rolled my gurney behind the largest stack of bodies she could find.

“Farrow, I know you’re still with me. See your mind works, but your body doesn’t. You know why you’re in a waking coma? A pharmacist I brought in traded me this for skipping a court date. Evil genius.” Sgt. Bethany Powers waved a cloudy ampule labeled Evil Genius in front of my face.

“We brought Missy in. She filled me in on everything. I’m on her side Farrow. You’re not even human. You’re just a book. Paper and lines. A recluse losing his mind. And some books are better off not existing. They’re better burned.” Sgt. Bethany Powers shook the hair out of her face, looking back over at the two workers.

“Make sure he gets picked up for cremation. I’m paying for it personally. That was his last request.” Then she leaned over and gave me her lips. It was a long kiss. The kind that wakes up every nerve in your body. The kind that ends in a bite so vicious you have no choice, but to fall in love with the black widow.