Faye's heels clicked as she walked up the stone steps of the morgue. Grief clutched at her heart. The pain of having to see Spike again caused a tear to well up in her eye. She quickly wiped it away and opened the door to the building.
At first, Faye thought the place was abandoned. No one was around and only one light illuminated the room. A dusty lamp shone on the reception desk.
"Hello?" Faye called. There was no answer.
"Is anyone there?" She called again. Still no reply came.
"I must have the wrong place." Faye turned to walk out. Before she could reach the door a man walked.
The man was extremely short. And extremely old, Faye thought. He had a large bald spot on the top of his head. A wall of silver hair surrounded it. The man wore glasses that magnified his eyes so much that they seemed to fill the large lenses. He was also getting pudgy in his midsection. Faye forced herself to hold back the laugh that wanted so badly to escape from her mouth.
"Are you Ms. Valentine?" The short man asked.
"Yes." Faye smiled at the man.
"Good! Very good! I expect you are here to see the crime syndicate victim?"
Faye nodded. The man jumped up and down excitedly. This time, a small giggle escaped from Faye's mouth.
"Follow me." He grabbed her hand and began to pull her in the direction of the back. As they walked through the many different doors, harsh white lights illuminated the halls. Of what Faye could see, the walls were painted a green that was the same shade as puke.
After a minute, they reached the correct room. The smell of formaldehyde wafted up Faye's nose as the man opened the door.
The first thing that met Faye's eyes were the many silver cabinets. Just the thought of Spike's naked body lying on the slab nearly forced her back to tears. She quickly forced the thought out of her head.
"Ok Ms. Valentine," The little man squeaked. "The victim's name is Spike Spiegel, correct?" Faye nodded. The man smiled. "Good! That makes things a whole lot easier. Now if I remember…" He began to scan the many rows of cabinets. The man began to mumble to himself as he walked, a look of pure concentration on his face.
"Aha!" He gestured for Faye to move closer. She walked slowly across the tile, nervous of what she would see. "Hurry up! Hurry up! I have other things to do!" Faye moved a little quicker as the man pulled a key out from his shirt pocket. He smiled up at Faye.
"Open sesame." He placed the key in to the lock on the cabinet. Faye held her breath. Tears began to fill her eyes. She could not look at him. A sob threatened to escape from her lips but she choked it back. The man opened the cabinet and what Faye saw made her stare with a mixture of surprise and horror.
"Where is the body?" The man stuck his tounge out in expression of concentration. "I could have sworn no orders for autopsy were sent." He placed a wrinkled hand to his chin. "I remember seeing the body when it came in the other day." The man mumbled to himself for another minute before he turned to Faye. Her mouth was open, her eyes still focused on the empty slab.
"Ms. Valentine?" She did not respond. "Ms. Valentine?" Still no answer. "Ms. Valentine!" Faye shook her head and stared at the man. A lock of deep purple hair fell onto her face.
"Yes?" Faye said in a dazed voice.
"I guess someone must have taken the body for observation. I'll check the other offices and see what I can find. I'll call you if I find anything." The man said.
"Thank you."
"Your welcome."
And with that, Faye walked out of the morgue and to her ship.
- - -
The first thing Faye did, upon reaching her ship, was contact Jet. She called him via her cell phone. After two rings, his gruff voice answered the silence.
"What is it Faye?"
"Hello to you too, Jet." Faye laughed.
"What is it?" Jet asked, trying to end the conversation as quickly as possible.
"Spike's body is gone. The man at the morgue said someone may have taken it for an autopsy but I seriously doubt it. He said he'd call me if he found anything."
There was a minute of silence before Jet answered.
"And you're telling me this why?"
"I just thought you'd like to know what's going on Jet. You don't have to be an asshole about it." Faye said, frustration leaking into her voice.
"It was his choice to go and it what he gets for leaving like that." There was a beep, and Jet was gone.
"Stupid fucking asshole!" Faye slammed the cell phone down onto the dashboard. "Trying to act all macho. I know he's upset but why does he have to act like such an emotionless shit!" She placed her head in her hands.
"Why Spike," A tear streamed down her cheek. "Why did you have to leave?"
Just then, the shrill call of her cell cut the silence. Faye hastily picked it up and without thought, burst out.
"Look Jet, I don't care about your stupid fucking apology. You had no right to-" Before she could finish, a voice ripped her from her anger.
"Faye? It's Spike. We need to talk."