I entered the autopsy room after I was done with all the documentation and police work. The place was quiet. Cold lights. Stainless tables.
My professor used to help me with autopsies most of the time. Correct my mistakes. Watch my steps.
But today I was on my own. The body was already there.
Cold and Dead.
A very common sight in my work.
People imagine autopsy rooms like something dramatic. They aren't. Most of the time it's routine. Methodical. Paperwork with scalpels.
For this case I didn't even need to do much.
Just draw blood and Send it to the lab.
The toxicology report would tell the story.
Vasodilators leave trails and Chemistry rarely lies it was as simple as that.
What was different this time wasn't the body.
It was the room.
The autopsy hall was… crowded not with people or doctors but with
Ghosts.
A lot of them.
Different ages. Different faces some had their hand cut some of their faces were missing.
Some staring quietly. Some bored. Some looking at the body like they were trying to remember something.
I ignored them.
Like always.
Focus on the work andres.
"Looks like we've got special guests," Siver said lazily, leaning against the far wall he knew it was not normal.
"Take them home with you if you want," I muttered ahh should not have said that he lived with me now.
"Anyway be quiet. I want some peace while I'm here."
Siver looked around the room.
Then chuckled.
"Andres… if every autopsy room had this many ghosts back in my time, I would've quit."
"You were a top forensic officer once," I said with all the skills he has taught me even my professor thought I was a monster.
"You should be used to dead people." I guess the living are not as aware of dead as me.
"Dead people yes," he said. "A dozen ghosts talking? That's new."
Siver had been a forensic specialist once.
Long before he became a ghost stuck following a twenty-one-year-old.
From what little he told me, he had been good. Really good.
One of the best investigators of his time.
Which probably explained why he still hung around autopsies like he missed the job.
"Siver," I said quietly, preparing the sample tubes.
"I know you were important in your time."
"But please. Be quiet."
He raised his hands dramatically.
"Fine, fine. Doctor Andres wants silence."
I drew the blood sample carefully and sealed the container.
Routine procedure. Label. Case number. Time.
Everything neat and Everything precise.
I handed the sample to the lab assistant waiting outside.
"Send it for toxicology," I said.
She nodded.
Within a few days the truth would be out.
And by then…
I'd be gone.
"You're talking like you won't come back here anymore," Siver said behind me.
I removed my gloves.
"In our specialty," I said, tossing them in the bin, "we never know what the future looks like."
I removed my coat and paused for a moment.
The ghosts were still there. Watching. Waiting.
Too many of them.
Too many unfinished stories.
"Too many unfinished businesses," I muttered.
Siver didn't reply.
For once. it felt odd
Next Morning
The city looked normal.
Like it always does before someone leaves.
My flight to Riverdark was early.
My mother was already awake when I walked into the kitchen.
Doctors don't sleep much.
"Leaving already?" she asked.
"Yeah."
She looked at me like she wanted to say something else though she didn't say anything just smiled and Instead she handed me a travel mug Coffee. Black. No sugar.
Mothers know the best.
"Call your grandfather," she said again.
"I will."
The taxi ride to the airport was quiet.
No ghosts.
For once.
That was… refreshing.
Siver floated beside the window, watching the streets slide by.
"You're lucky today," he said.
"No unwanted spirits."
"Don't jinx it,". for once I just wanted to peace
At the airport I put on my headphones.
It was Night On Bald Mountain.
Wild and heavy.
The kind that makes long flights tolerable.
I was wearing black. Black jacket. Black shirt. Black gloves.
Siver once said I dressed like a walking crime scene.
I didn't disagree though it was a bit ominous .
The flight was uneventful.
Which meant it felt strange.
Riverdark came into view through the plane window.
Grey city. Dark river cutting through it. Old buildings the sky looked as if it would rain any moment.
New problem i did not have an umbrella though i was not worried about having one its just that this pace did not feel like hometown.
When I finally stepped out of the airport, the air felt different a lot Heavier.
Like the city was holding its breath.
I pulled out my phone. The contact my mother had saved—"Grandfather"—stared back at me. My thumb hovered over the screen.
Siver floated beside me. "Going to call the mystery man?"
I locked the phone and slipped it back into my pocket. "Not yet."
He tilted his head. "You're seriously just... going to take a bus?"
"I need to see this city first. On my terms."
I spotted the bus terminal across the street and started walking. Behind me, Siver laughed softly.
"Stubborn," he said. "I like it."