Rival the Heat and Cold

“Did I scare you?” Owen asked, not ignoring the fearful gaze Milan gave him. He brought his hand down. “We should find the morgue now. Your mother awaits you.”

“Sorry, I just… Please don’t touch me.” Milan bit back his words. He stepped back from the man to create more distance and walked ahead. However, he saw how Owen caught up with him and went past him. After all, the other person was the one who knew where the morgue was.

The walk toward the morgue was long and quiet. Milan felt like needles drummed at his skin as he walked with the other person, but it was more guilt than discomfort. He glanced at the placid expression of the tall man before taking a deep breath.

Milan said to take Owen’s attention, “Hey, about earlier. That was a weird reaction. Did I upset you?”

“I think I was the one who upset you.” Owen stopped when Milan did. He then offered a smile. “It’s all right. We just met, and touching your hair must have scared you. You have a very pretty face. I can imagine what other men would want to do with someone like you.”

“Do you imagine doing the same?” Milan’s second nature spat out again, and he held his mouth. He closed his eyes and berated himself inwardly. Rascal was apologizing, yet he kept on saying provocative things. He was even the one who didn’t want to get touched.

Owen only laughed. How weird. How amusing.

They just continued walking toward the morgue without Milan opening his big mouth. He had done too many blunders; his personas were even clashing out in the open. However, when he saw the old, simple building that housed the morgue, he dropped everything and stared at it.

It was nothing compared to the crime labs on the mainland, not even bigger than a shady morgue in the dark alleys. He didn’t know how this old place could even power up enough to freeze a room for the dead. However, Owen didn’t hesitate in entering the place. Milan just took a deep breath and followed him inside without wasting another second.

“Hey, it’s Owen… and Milan.” The old man waiting by the entrance lobby greeted them. He still had a straight back and clear eyes, but it was most likely why he kept his job. Soon enough, when his body degraded a lot more, he might have to ask for a replacement.

“Rion, did Uncle tell you why we came?” Owen walked with the old man, leaving Milan to follow them quietly. After all, the newcomer was busy looking around the uncovered ceiling filled with pipes and tubes running across each other.

Rion, the old man, glanced at Milan. “I heard Milan came home. I’m not surprised he would after his mother died. Sheriff Bloodworth didn’t have to tell me. I figured out when he said Milan was coming here with you. What a pitiful child.”

Milan vaguely heard his name and listened without showing his shock. He then moved his gaze to the back of Rion’s head. Even if he wanted to say the old man was familiar, Milan really hadn’t seen this old man before. Then again, he was only six when his father took him away from this place.

When they reached the walk-in freezer, Milan saw how some drawers didn’t have this small red light on the panel. He figured that was because those were not locked. As for those with red lights, they were the ones with occupants inside.

He just wondered why there seemed to be a lot of them right now.

“Roma, your son came to see you.” Rion chuckled as he opened the drawer for Milan’s mother. He pulled out the drawer and moved the blanket to show the woman’s face. “Say ‘hi’ to him.”

Milan, however, stayed quiet. The face he remembered was a lot thinner than this. It even felt like separating from her husband was good riddance. Her hair was also longer than how she normally kept it when he was still there. She was generally healthier now… but Florence degraded in body and soul. It made Milan angrier than he felt he would be.

He then averted his gaze for a second before looking at Rion’s face. “Grandpa, can you tell me how she died? I was told it was from Florence’s self-defense.”

“I wouldn’t say that.” Rion moved the middle of the blanket, making sure that they would only see the belly of the dead woman. A huge cut was on it, so long that it was even past halfway through her waist. “Whatever cut this woman open deliberately did so. Full disclosure, Milan. The police concluded it was a murder, but they knew Florence couldn’t have done this.

“They only went with a story that people would buy. No one else knew her body is like this.” Rion felt the cut that he sewed just to keep the body lying down properly. “Her spine was also broken like she was snapped in half. No human can do this.”

Rion looked at Milan. “Milan, don’t pursue it, however. It would be best for the people to think her death was nothing horrendous and out of the ordinary.”

Milan stared at the cut. With darkness filling up his eyes, he then smiled to rival the cold. “I don’t care if they lied to the people. I just want to know the truth.

“Do you have any guesses as to what happened? I doubt the sheriff will tell me anything.” Milan eyed the old man, but Rion only shook his head.

“Animals are also turning up dead from time to time. It’s the same as this, they said.” Rion shrugged his shoulders. He then gestured at the other drawers. “Roma was not the only one. People were dying. I can only regard it as Lasair getting angry. Why wouldn’t he when the bride for this generation kept on delaying the ritual? She really hated the idea of being the bride.”

“Lasair?” Milan repeated the name. It was the same name Corbin gave as the groom. That was the name of their village, but it felt like it was also a person.

Rion then remembered something. He smiled at Milan. “Right, you should have met her. Esperanza Clifford was named the bride for this generation. The priestess died days after, but if she was the one Lasair wanted, then you did him a favor. Hehe, you saved her from falling off the bridge last night, right? I bet the Clifford family must have a mixed reaction toward that.”

Milan only smiled. Mixed? Not really. They definitely wanted him dead. They killed the so-called priestess, so they would also kill him for sure.