Feeling a stab in the sensitive flesh of her arch, she lifted a foot, discovering a tag dangling from her big toe. She ripped it off and studied it.
CASE NO.:
A-6725
NAME OF DECEASED:
Elizabeth T. Miller
AGE:
28
RACE:
CAU
WEIGHT:
150
HEIGHT:
5-7
SEX:
Female
PLACE OF DEATH:
San Francisco County
I amnotdead,she thought hysterically.Why am I in a morgue?
An awful possibility occurred to her, and she groped her breastbone. No stitches. They hadn’t performed an autopsy, thank God.
Liz cocked her head, hearing approaching footsteps. She crouched down behind nearest table, folding her arms over her pale, naked body as she watched a woman wearing a white lab coat enter and then flip on the light with an elbow.
Her name was Shelia Davies, according to the nameplate above her breast. Liz could hear the woman’s heart beating, feel the vibrations from the blood pumping through her veins. Thumpity-thump-thumpity-thump. And that blood—how divine it smelled! The thirst was maddening. She balled her hands into tight fists and dug them into her thighs to keep herself from crying out.
She could detect fatigue in the woman’s footsteps as she shuffled dangerously close to her hiding spot. To her relief, she paused. “Huh,” Sheila muttered, then crossed the room to examine the shredded body bag. She found the toe tag on the ground next.
“Very funny guys,” she muttered with a hand on her hip. Her tone indicated that she found it anything but. “Sounprofessional.”
Liz caught sight of Shelia’s two feet. Their tops were exposed in a pair of sensible ballet flats, juicy blue veins suspended underneath thin pink skin. She licked her lips.
What are you going to do, sink your teeth into that woman’s foot?
Yes, that’sexactlywhat she wanted to do. She ran her tongue over the two needle-sharp points budding from her gums. She pressed her index finger against one of the tips, jumping as it pierced her skin.
“I’m getting so sick of this,” Shelia sighed from the other side of the room. “Now, where the hell did they put the body?”
Liz licked the blood off her finger and rolled it around on her tongue.More. She needed more.Closing her eyes in ecstasy, she rolled her head back in an exultant daze, jarring the table as her skull made contact.
Shelia stiffened. “Is somebody there?”
Liz stood slowly.
