Abra Cadaver

There I sat four rows behind my girl Danny in mortuary science. Last semester we took Biology of the Human Body which was the prerequisite to this class together. So at least I wasn’t bored alone. Professor Senad was cool but I still found myself annoyed with yet another professor that feels they were in the profession to re-sculpt young minds. To me they should be working on the minds we already have, then cultivate from there, but who am I? Even as an adult the student mentality warranted juvenile dictation. Senad was different in every way except in that regard. He was the youngest professor in South Eastern and he was still old enough to feel as though re-sculpting was still on the table, even if it were only for the clones or the mindless. This school was a straight up battle of the clone wars. There was nothing wrong with the class but I was trying to build on my business. Studying wasn’t exactly something I had much time for over the last few month and to be honest I’m falling behind. The midterm was in two days and the only thing I had was a page and a half in notes. Danny wasn’t doing too great either but probably knew a lot more considering she had already taken a nursing program. Either way I had a plan. Professor Senad was going to have four cadavers with separate medical issues. He was going to pair us up in teams of five and have each group conduct an autopsy on them to find out what each person’s cause of death was. My plan was simple. Senad was having the cadaver’s delivered late this evening so instead of sneaking in tonight I’ll wait until about four or five in the morning, sneak into the basement take a quick peak at them and the files that came with each. Senad is always working super late so I doubted that he would bother taking them home with him. With that I continued scribbling songs in a notebook titled Class Notes. As I gazed at a beautiful blue sky and Senad’s baby blues, taking in both beauties separately. Even though I revered sexuality to be as fluid as attraction I had to be honest, he was indeed handsome. Tall, slim build, sandy brown hair tapered in a flattering cut, he wore a cute reading glasses that somehow made his eyes even more luminous. He also had an accent that I believe was Russian but he spoke in a tone I could tell most weren’t used to. He wasn’t loud brut or off putting. His voice was gentle yet firm, backed with knowledge and eloquence. Normally he is threaded from top to bottom in cliché college professor gear. Khakis, a dressy button up of some sort, even in the summer, but today he wore black jeans and a gray polo. I was actually surprised. Others have said not once has anyone ever seen this guy dressed down.

A few pages over I began to actually take notes for the written exam. There was no cheating that. Every test he has ever given has come with the reputation of being cheat proof. Even though he always goes over exam material right before the test. Which is handing you 50% of your grade right there. All you really had to do was take good notes and you would pass. Many have tried to cheat but the way he administers the test is in a way that no one has successfully gotten over. For one he tests you from the top of his mind meaning you get the test then he works the code, not before. There is no “copy of the test” like you see in shows or movies. Second every single person is given the questions in different orders so copying tests also wasn’t a thing in his class. So, I wasn’t even attempting to go there. I test well enough that I don’t have anxieties about it or anything. I was just a bit behind on anatomy and procedure, and I had that part covered. Finishing the rest of my classes for the day, I ran home to work out the kinks of this mini breaking and entering operation I’d been planning.

*Now You See It*

The sun hadn’t risen yet and there I was hoping the school fence at 430 in the morning. Not a soul was on campus. The sprinklers had begun so I had to go around back versus cutting through the front like planned. It wasn’t a real problem I just hated when things started going south off break. It was like an omen. Feeling like a sign I almost turned and walked away, but I really needed this credit. Making very little money at the coffee house and lack of space was taking its toll. I needed at least a full 60 credits to work under an internship, one of which would be paid. To me any step closer to being without four roommates was a step in the right direction, even the wrong one. As I went through the clearing, I ducked down so that no one saw me. It was then I noticed a midsized truck leaving the loading dock area. If Senad saw me he would automatically put two and two together and either call me out or tell the dean. Both options were too much of a risk. There was a guy in the driver side and a guy loading the truck, walking around the passenger side. All of the access shrubbery kept me from seeing the driver. Then the guy behind the car was facing the other way so all I saw was mostly his clothes because. Plus, his face was somewhat covered. If he was dropping off cadavers in that cold basement a covering was definitely necessary. After the truck turned down 7th Street, I scurried down the loading dock ramp to the side door. I had a little bookbag across my back with some stuff I took from the apartment, well Danny’s room. Danny was one of my roommates who happens to have more beauty products and gadgets then a Super Model/Spy so I borrowed a few items to possibly pick a lock or two with. I mean I honestly could’ve just used my school ID but I really didn’t want any of this falling back on me, so taking precautions were a must. After about 10 minutes the door was open and I was in. It looked small from the outside but what most people did not realize was that the school offered a lot of degree programs that needed coolers or some form of refrigeration. Meaning it wasn’t a small space at all. To complicate things further the mortuary freezer and lab was at the end of the hall. Which happened to be pitch black since the school was not opened for the school day. Slowly I crept passed the Botanical Science Room as well as the Lab and freezer for the medical programs they offer as well as the culinary deep freezer and cooler. Pressing my hands together I shuddered. It was indeed cold in there but it was the darkness that send a chill up my back. I don’t scare easily but while only being able to see two feet in front of me one of those feet was cold air coming from myself. I had a flash light but it wouldn’t have been smart to cut it on until the room was reached.

Once inside I clicked my flashlight on, turned the one on my phone on and placed it face upward on top of the file cabinet near the freezer. The freezer had about 20 compartments that held cadavers for both medical fields as well as mortuary science. I needed to first find our section if it is marked still. There was a really big battle over space between Professor Senad and Professor Campbell. They didn’t take well to sharing space especially considering the rumors of Campbell’s wife’s infidelity. Most say that Senad was who she was seeing. Everyone was certain that situation alone made tensions high. Things had gotten so ugly that the spaced were vandalized, in the basement and along other parts of campus. They never found out by who but each side had their speculation (It was the other). Each Cadaver was in a white body bag zipped completely closed. Before touching any of them I threw on a fresh pair of medical gloves and got to it. There were only about 13 cadavers in the drawers that wasn’t much but I still had to be quick about it before janitorial staff arrives at 5:30 for their 6:00 shift. It was already 4:49. A lot of time was wasted on that stupid delivery truck. It didn’t even have anything on it! Just a plain white nuisance! Now I had to move a lot quicker than planned. The first nine cadavers were for the advance nursing and the EMT program. They weren’t labeled but appeared to be together. As luck would have it wasn’t the other way around. The last four were for our class. It was 5:10 and I was definitely cutting it close. The first one was a woman that had a long battle with cancer. I took pictures of her cadaver and the notes from the other cabinet of files. The second cadaver was a man who had a long battle with Diabetes. His cause of Death however was Kidney Failure. Pictures were taken of both him and his file. The third Cadaver was kind of a weird case. It was a woman with no previous health issues. The file said that she went to the ER throwing up black fluid, then all of her organs shut down two hours after admitting her. I dropped the file as an ominous feeling crept over me. Pictures of the body and file were quickly taken and she was put back where she came from. Lastly, I opened the white body bag and an arm fell out wearing the same watch as Professor Senad. His ID badge fell out my heart stopped. With both hands trembling, reluctantly I opened the rest of the bag. The truth was in his eyes literally. As soon as I saw his piercing blue eyes, I knew it was Professor Senad. This was beyond emotion or comprehension. What was going on? I didn’t know what to do. ”Run! No they have me sneaking in on camera so it would probably seem like I killed him. I began hyperventilating uncontrollably. “think Sabrina think think think! There was the truck and the professor was all super dressed down earlier.” None of that was connecting or making any sense but none of my thoughts were. Too much was going on. “You have on gloves check the body to see what happened to him. It’s really the only leverage you have because if they think it you, you’re gone girl. They’re going to throw you in jail and get you a court appointed attorney because you are too broke for a real lawyer.” Too in shock to cry, I came to this realization that I would have to do a quick autopsy on a professor I was drooling over not even 15 hours ago, or get my affairs in order for a life sentence. With both terrible options I pulled my sleeve up, swallowed hard, grabbed a scalpel and made a small enough incision for my hand to feel around and see what I could find out. There were no markings on his body to assume he was strangled, Nor, an exit wound suggesting he’d been shot, or entrance wounds to indicate he’d been stabbed. There was no evidence of a struggle in the room or on him. His clothes were intact. The room didn’t appear out of place. How did Senad die! Frantically scanning his body my eyes darted while looking around crazily to ensure that no one saw me, because I had completely crossed over from “I was framed” to “getting ready to go elbow deep in the victim”. With those thoughts I placed my left hand on his side to keep his body to keep it in place. As I about to lift the skin I felt the weirdest thing. There was a stich up the side of his body. It felt as if it went up about half a foot. I turned him on his side to reveal a fresh incision that was in fact stitched up quite professionally if I do say so. Was he killed for a kidney I thought while cutting through them? Slowly she pulled his skin apart, sliding her fingers in to feel around. Nothing really stood out beside the displacement of his Kidney’s His liver was also intact but his Kidney was in an odd positioning as if his stomach was pressing on it or perhaps massive swelling or inflammation could be causing. I tried feeling around it to try and see if this was true. Further inside I could tell that more organs were in peculiar places. This went on for a minute or so before she felt something odd. She couldn’t explain what it was but it did not belong. It was hard, appeared to not be attached or connected to anything. Gently I pulled it out. It was a medium envelope size bag, covered in blood. This is becoming odder by the second I thought as I pulled the cover of what felt and looked like a leather pouch. Speaking in the 3rd person I began stuttering as I counted up what appeared to at least 20 stacks. Like a person with multiple personality disorder, I reasoned with myself aloud. “Twenty thousand dollars! Who kills a guy then places an insane amount of money inside his body like a freaking cadaver for class. Leaving the body in itself makes no sense. Then the money. What should I do with the money? You should definitely take the money. You are in too deep. You’re probably on your way to being on the run. It is way passed running empty handed. There was also no way she could go home at this point. It was 5:23 and way passed time to go. I gathered all of the loose files that fell, closed every shelf except Senad’s. There were surgical supplies out and all kinds of proof of what took place just now. My eyes darted as I jumped from the noise coming from the loading dock door closing. Someone was in here! Closing his shelf without so much as a peep she clutched the pouch part of her bag so it didn’t make a sound as she ran for the green house. It was the only room with an alternate exit. It was the glass roof or the bolted side door. Which is funny because the original plan was picking that lock versus running pass it for the readily unlocked because It’s insanely high. Every sound I heard grew closer until I slid down the slanted rooftop of the greenhouse, down the water drainage system I thanked the stars was there to a 8 foot drop to the side of 6th Street.

*Now You Don’t*

When I ran for 7th street I slid on a small leather bound notebook. Thinking better of it I grabbed it. This was the same street the white truck turned on. I could hear the janitor running in my direction. By this point I assumed that he was more “the cleaner” than a janitor in real life. Once I reached L’ Enfant Train Station my nerves began to subside a bit. Nervously flipping through the pages I discovered that this book was being used to track someone but who? Senad had been in the city for over ten years working at Southeastern. It had addresses from California, Mexico, Canada and several parts of Virginia and DC, dating back three years. “It’s funny because the last cadaver died three years ago with strange circumstances around her death. Then I opened my phone to take a look at the pictures of her files. Looking at it I noticed that even with the autopsy there weren’t many notes explaining what happened to her that night that caused all of her organs to just shutdown. I need to go to one of the addresses to try and figure more out. Besides DC wasn’t safe anymore and I needed options. A friend of mine from Reagan National that worked for US Airways hooked me up with tickets to Mexico under the table. Once onboard I rested my eyes until we arrived. Following a map I’d gotten at the terminal I went looking for the address in the book. It was a Small house in the middle of nowhere with what appeared to once be a place of agriculture or farming at one point in time. Now all that remained was a raggedy old porch covered in decades of soot and outgrown shrubbery. As I approached the front door I began to hear noises from behind the house. It sounded as if a man were crying behind an old pickup truck. Before thinking I said, hello is anyone back there? It got quiet as I advanced the truck. This time I said it with aggression, I know someone is back there! He sprang to his feet to run. “SENAD” I screamed. Turning with a look of shock on his face “Sabrina White” he said with a sigh of relief. Confused I interjected “How are you alive? I saw your body. I felt around in it. How are you here? I said more with more severity in my voice. He took a long deep breath and began to explain. My family and I grew up here. My mother, my father who built this house with his own two hands after accepting a job from Russia. A few years later my mother had my brother and I. We are a year apart but could not be any closer to identical than actual Identical Twins. Even at an early age he would do things to try and hurt me. I was baby brother to someone that did not want me around. When I was seven he set our bunks on fire. I was on the top bunk and it almost killed me. My parents did not want to but felt it was safest to send him away to seek therapy and council for his issues. By my last year in Grade school my parents were informed that my brother Deivile had ran away from the facility. For over a year my parents searched for him but nothing. BY the time I was in high school we moved to California. They couldn’t take losing there son. Everything was fine until one evening while returning from a parent teacher conference my parents car was side swiped and they were killed. Deivile was implemented in their deaths although the lawyer had no substantial evidence. Out of fear, anger and overall sadness I came here and lived for a few years until I went back to California to study at UCLA where I later became a professor before transferring to Southeastern University.” There was a long pause of silence before I handed him the small black notebook. There is a lot more to all of this Sir. It seemed that your brother may have killed the 3rd cadaver some time ago, well I assume three years ago. She too had a brother who tracked yours to DC and Virginia where about six months ago had stolen and copied your work ID so that he could smuggle contraband through the medical cadavers. Her brother took his chance and set him up to be killed. Looking away in disbelief he sighed, thinking of all the ways his brother caused him harm or troubled. How he would get him in trouble for crap all the time, but this time he set his self, up for a fail. About to disclose the money she noticed a mark on his neck that Professor Senad didn’t have. Senad talked openly about his birthmark being on his back. He would always laugh about how it resembled a slice of watermelon with seeds in it. He was corny that way that something so childish would have him giddy with glee. Quickly she gained control of her racing pulse “Well I am so happy you are alive sir. I thought I would never see you again. I stood to my feet awaiting a hug. It was my chance to grab a peek at his shoulder Blade. I squeezed him tightly as one would that lost a dear friend. There was no watermelon, the small mark on his lower neck looked like a military chopper or drumstick but I was certain my hunger saw that. He looked at me and said what now? Now you can live free of your brother, with no fear right. What about you he asked. “Oh I definitely can’t go back. They think that I killed you so I don’t know maybe I try studying a broad” as she began heading toward the door. Her heart began pounding as she caught the bag sliding from the broken zipper that had gotten stuck as she slid down the greenhouse roof. The door closed behind me and though I was sad that Seand had in fact taken the fall for his obviously disturbed brother, but she was not mad at starting a new life plus twenty thousand cash.