Page 43 of Mortis

“Why do you do this?” he asked.

Leaving the fluids to work, I walked over to the counters at the side of the room and leaned back against them. I took a moment to think of an answer to Kael’s question that would make sense. At least to a creature who was used to eating people.

“Mostly to slow decomposition,” I said. “But it also helps them look more like they did while still alive.”

“They’re dead,” he replied. “Why would you want them to appear alive?”

I tugged absently at the cuff of my glove. “To give the people left behind a little peace.”

Kael’s expression remained blank, so I tried again.

“When someone dies, the people who love them aren’t ready to let them go. Embalming gives them a little more time together before the funeral. Before we bury or cremate them.”

My eyes drifted towards the small window, and I thought about my grandma. About sitting beside her coffin before the service, grateful for those last few quiet moments.

“When you love someone, saying goodbye is hard. No amount of extra time is ever enough. Eventually they have to leave us. But if I can make them look peaceful, like themselves, maybe those final memories are a little kinder for the people they leave behind.”

Silence settled between us. When I looked back, Kael was standing only a couple of feet away. I hadn’t heard him move. This time, though, I didn’t jump.

Somehow, his presence had already started to feel comforting.

I was used to working alone. Occasionally Grandad or Arlo would wander through, but never for long. Most people weren’t comfortable spending hours surrounded by the dead, and I understood why. Death frightened people. The embalming room forced them to look directly at something most spent their entire lives trying not to think about.

Kael’s gloved hand settled lightly over the centre of my chest. “You seem at peace here,” he said quietly. “Among the dead.”

I smiled. “More than I usually am around the living.”

“Why?”

I shrugged. “The living are complicated.”

I stretched the cuff of my glove until the latex pulled tight, then let it snap gently back against my wrist.

“They hide things. They smile when they’re angry. They say one thing while they’re thinking another. Half the time I never know what someone actually means.” I laughed quietly. “The dead are much easier. They listen, and they keep every secret you tell them. They also never use those secrets to hurt you.”

My gaze wandered back to Mr Cartwright.

“They’ve already lived their lives. All they want now is to be treated with dignity, and I just hope I’m doing right by them.”

Kael looked over his shoulder at Mr Cartwright’s body, then back at me.

“He is grateful.”

I smiled at what I assumed was an attempt to make me feel better.

“I hope so.”

Kael shook his head. “No. He truly is.”

A frown creased my forehead, and I gripped the counter behind me. “What? How would you know that?”

A soft smile touched his lips. “His soul told me.”

My fingers tightened until my knuckles began to ache. “You mean his ghost?”

Kael let out a low chuckle that seemed to vibrate through the room. “No, don’t be silly. Ghosts don’t exist.”

I stared at him. “If anyone in this conversation is talking nonsense, I’m pretty sure it’s you.”