Death is a Girl

Chapter 76 - Slice of Life

Morrigan felt sick as she paced back and forth, going from the kitchen to the book-cluttered living room.

Why is this happening?!

She pulled out her phone and, for probably the hundredth time, looked for an update that wasn’t there. Read-it could offer some interaction with the story, but she didn’t dare. She would lose it if she saw any trolls making light of this or taking it as proof of all the false claims.

“Morrigan, I am terribly sorry for this situation,” Death said gently as he came over to watch her pace. “But, do try to think positively for now. No news is good news, as they say.”

“Why didn’t I do anything sooner!” Morrigan asked.

“You opted not to risk exposing your new nature... considering you were taking time to master glamour.”

“Well, I can use glamour now! I could have gone back days ago, but I didn’t!”

“And you had no way of knowing the situation would develop in this way,” Death pointed out. “For all you knew, your mother was only getting occasional harassment but the media cycle had largely moved on. The police had no evidence to support her as a suspect, which is why she hasn’t been arrested. You had no reason to believe it necessary to react so quickly and risk having your glamour fail.”

“I-I have to go,” Morrigan said. “I have to go meet her at the hospital.” She paced back to the window to check for Hilda for at least the 50th time in the last hour. All the other times she had seen nothing but the gravel driveway leading up to the porch with Death’s Phantom parked where it always was. This time, however, she actually did see the orange Jeep winding up the driveway.

Morrigan instantly went outside, pulling her fingerless gloves out of her back pocket and slipping them on. Then, she barely made it a step past the front porch when Emma wrapped her arms around her. Morrigan hugged her back.

“Thank you,” Morrigan said with a shaken voice.

“I came as soon as I could,” Emma replied, pulling back slightly to look at Morrigan’s face. “How are you holding up?”

Morrigan forced a weak smile, but had no words.

The Jeep door shut and Hilda came up the driveway. “Morrigan, I’m so sorry to hear about your mom. Anything I can do to help, I’m here.”

“Thanks, it means a lot. Both of you,” Morrigan said. She looked over Emma’s shoulder and past Hilda to the Jeep. “I… I need to go see her.”

Hilda nodded. “Your glamour is getting better, but just so you know, it probably won’t hold up if you’re questioned by police or something like that.”

“I’ll make it hold,” Morrigan answered. “Besides, I reaper my way into hospital rooms all the time. Nobody will need to know I’m there other than mom herself.” She just hoped this time she would be reapering into a room where nobody would be dying.

“Um… Morrigan, do you know what room she’s in?”

“Shit,” Morrigan cursed under her breath. Normally she knew which room she was suppose to reaper her way into thanks to her list. She didn’t have that benefit now. Even using perception blocking to trick the front desk into giving her the answer wouldn’t work. They wouldn’t know off the top of their head where her mom was, so they’d need to look her up to give an answer. The time it would take to do so would be more than enough for them to realize what they were doing and question who Morrigan was.

Morrigan sighed. “screw it, I’ll just check in normally. I’m her daughter so they will let me see her.”

“Except police will almost certainly get involved at that point,” Hilda said. “Unless the hospital staff royally drops the ball and doesn’t realize you’re the daughter who’s a missing person, they are pretty much gaurenteed to inform the police. There might already be police there anyway.”

Then, Noir’s voice spoke from behind her. “In the event of intervention from law enforcement, I’ll be able to help as well. With the combination of your glamour and my advanced perception-blocking abilities, you shouldn’t get in too bad of a situation. Even if someone sees past it, they won’t understand what they are seeing. Just please try to avoid actually going into police custody where they put you into a locked room or otherwise detain you… It will be difficult to slip away if that is to occur.”

“Mmmm, yeah, that’s the other problem,” Hilda said. “I went through the system as a kid too. If you don’t have a guardian or family member to be put into custody of, they’ll place you somewhere. Usually it starts with a temporary shelter while they sort things out. You’re not exactly free to go once you’re in a place like that, and they usually take precautions to avoid runaways.”

Emma finally chimed in. “Um… how about making a… Morrigan’s Mom GPS?”

Morrigan nearly face palmed as that was so obvious. It would still be a little more difficult than having the list identify the exact room, but she could pull it off. “Alright, take me back to my house first. We’ll find some of my mom’s hair there.”

***

When they arrived at Morrigan’s house, crime scene tape blocked the door. Luckily, the police had moved on already, as nobody else was there, and since they didn’t have any neighbors, Hilda pulled right into the driveway.

Morrigan exhaled. “Alright… so I just need to find some of her hair, right?”

“Yeah,” Hilda confirmed. “Really, any D.N.A. will work, but hair works best.”

“Morrigan, want me to come in with you?” Emma asked, sounding worried. “I mean… we don’t know what happened exactly… so…”

“Yeah, might as well,” Morrigan answered. They walked up to the front door together. It was locked, but Morrigan didn’t need the skeleton key to enter. She used her own house key, then they stepped over the police tape and went inside.

The living room was much as it always was, though Morrigan had seen it worse. After being away from the smell of stale cigarettes for so long, it was much more apparent, and empty beer bottles were covering the coffee table; only a few were on the floor, though.

“Bathrooms upstairs,” Morrigan said. “Should have a brush with plenty of… hair…” Her words trailed off as she began up the stairs and noticed a dot of red. Once she saw the first one, she saw another and realized there was a trail of it.

“Hey, Morrigan, maybe you should—” Emma tried to tell her to wait outside while she went to retrieve the brush, but Morrigan was already running up the stairs on instinct. She threw open the bathroom, and instantly, a gasping cry escaped her as her hand came to her mouth. Thankfully, Emma was there to catch her before her knees buckled.

The bathtub was full of pink water, and there was blood everywhere.

Morrigan turned away, falling into Emma’s arms as she started to sob. Emma held her tightly, feeling a queasiness in her own stomach as she stared into the gruesome scene.

How could there be that much blood? It seemed like it was far more than one normal human body could hold, but Morrigan remembered a time she sliced her finger quite badly while cutting some fabric. It just kept bleeding and bleeding. Paper towel after paper towel got soaked until the trash can was overflowed with them. She remembered marveling at how much came from just one finger. It didn’t seem like it should have been possible.

“Sssshhhh, ssshhhhh, it’s okay,” Emma whispered, rubbing Morrigan’s back as she held her. “It’s okay. Let’s get you back to the car, I’ll come back in and find a brush.”

The image was burned into Morrigan’s mind just with that brief glance. As Emma led her back into the hall, the thought of grabbing something from her bedroom while she was here crossed her mind. Some extra changes of clothes or sewing supplies. Something so incredibly mundane and normal managed to place itself at the front of her mind after seeing the bathroom her mom tried to kill herself in. That’s the same bathroom where she’d get ready for school every morning and where she’d practice her makeup for hours on end, trying to perfect the look she thought would make her into the person she wanted to be. The juxtaposition of those memories against the horrifying sight she’d just witnessed made her head spin.

Before she knew it, Emma was handing her off to Hilda who was consoling her with a shoulder rub outside the Jeep while Emma quickly ran back inside. “Pretty bad in there, huh?” Hilda asked in a calm, almost conversational tone that was somehow soothing.

Morrigan sniffed as she tried to pull herself together. “I… I’ve seen a lot of stuff since becoming a reaper… I don’t know why… I-I shouldn’t be freaking out.”

“Oh yes, you should be. That isn’t some random stranger who you have to go reap. I’m sure that stuff is tough, too. But that’s your house and your mom, so yes, you should be freaking out and it’s okay.” Hilda said, rubbing her shoulder. “And we’re here for you.”

“There was… so much blood… Why would she do that to herself?” Morrigan’s voice trembled as she spoke.

Hilda sighed, continuing to rub Morrigan’s shoulder. “I wish I had an easy answer for you. Sometimes people just reach a desperate point and make a rash decision.”

Morrigan swallowed. Her entire face felt swollen. “I just… I wish I had been there for her. Maybe this wouldn’t have happened if—”

Hilda gave her a gentle squeeze. “Hey, you can’t think like that. Nobody can know what someone’s going to do. And you’re here now, and that’s what matters. Me and Emma are with you, and your mom is going to be okay. I know she will.”

Morrigan wanted to believe that. Hilda didn’t see how much blood was there, though. She had done reapings with far less blood. Just earlier today, she saw two men who died from gunshots; there wasn’t nearly as much blood in those cases. How could her mom possibly be okay?

Emma returned with the hairbrush in a small plastic bag, her face pale but determined. “I got it.”

“Alright,” Hilda said. “I’ll drive us to the park that’s nearby, and we’ll do the spell, then we’ll go to the hospital.” She gave Morrigan a last reassuring pat on the shoulder. “Hang in there, kid. You’ll be with your mom soon.”

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