“Ardens has a morgue?” I asked, though I wasn’t surprised. The mansion gave a haunted feeling—a morgue was keeping with the atmosphere.
Selene didn’t respond.
As we walked, all I could do was picture Dylan—his wild blond hair, his boyish looks and carefree smile. I couldn’t imagine him gone.
He was obnoxious and stupid, but he was also kind and caring and did what he thought was right.
And he didn’t deserve to die. Even if he wasn’t a very a good friend this past summer, he was still my friend.
I tried to take Selene’s hand for comfort—my legs felt like pasta, not the fresh kind but the kind of sticky half-wet, half-dry kind that’s been left out too long. But she withdrew her hand out of my reach.
“Selene, please?” I cried as we reached a door that led outside.
She took a coat from a hook and turned to me, holding it open.
“Put the jacket on,” she commanded, and I allowed her to help me into the coat, zipping it up.
She took my hand.
“I don’t think I am capable of offering you comfort, not over him,” she told me quietly as we stepped outside. “The morgue is next to the maze,” she told me. “It’s believed that a place for the dead has always stood in the same spot since the creation of the maze. It is a much more modern building now, but in need of some renovation,” she explained as we walked through the neatly trimmed lawns and past decorative pieces.
The morgue was a brown stone building with green ivy coating half the building. The windows were small black wooden panes, and the door was the same shade of faded black. A guard stood outside.
“Good morning, Ma’am,” he said as we approached.
“Good morning,” I replied weakly. My legs felt heavy. Somewhere in the small building there might lie my friend.
I wasn’t sure I wanted to go in, but I had to. I had to see.
Selene nodded to the guard, who held the door open for us.
Inside, there were three rooms: an office directly to our left that had a window for greetings, and two more rooms directly in front of us.
A wiry, thin man walked out from one room, with his head down, writing something in a note book.
He looked up, only just noticing us, and got a bit of fright, dropping his notebook and pen to the floor.
“Sorry,” he said, and bent down for his notebook and pen. “How can I help you?”
He seemed confused for a moment, and then lowered a pair of large circular glassed that were resting atop his head.
“Oh dear—yes, my Lady. Miss Marchioness—I mean, my Royal Highness,” he stuttered.
“The body from the maze. I am here to view it,” Selene answered, sharply. She didn’t have much patience. I could tell she wanted to get this over with.
“Yes, yes,” he turned swiftly around on his heel and held the door open he had just come through. “Right this way. The corpse is on the table,” he explained.
Selene turned to me then.
“Are you sure you want to see for yourself? Those that the maze spits out are rarely as they once were in life,” she warned, and I was warmed that she cared for me so in that moment.
I hesitated. The prospect that Dylan lay on the table within the room was suddenly almost overwhelming. Our last interaction hadn’t been pleasant. I hadn’t been able to speak to him since the night of the summer ball. We had so much left to discuss and work out.
What would I say to him if he was lying cold and gone behind the door? I didn’t know.
Nothing would be right—only, goodbye, and a wish for a safe journey.
I was sure Selene would not deny me the chance to give him a coin for Charon.
