The Diamond and the Rough by Jason Anderson

Author:Jason Anderson [Anderson, Jason]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780983000068
Publisher: SEG Books
Published: 2013-10-26T22:00:00+00:00

18

“Shifting Realities” Kurt had no recollection of where he’d come from and wasn’t sure how he’d arrived here. He stood at one end of a hall so long he couldn’t see the end of it. The walls, floor, and ceiling merged into one gloomy mass in the distance. The tile beneath his feet was a pale white outlined in dark black grout and the ceiling above had muted white acoustic panels. It was cold and with each exhalation, Kurt could see his own breath.

He glanced over his shoulder and found himself standing against a brushed-steel wall. He immediately took several steps forward, to get away from the cadaver drawers behind him: two columns of three. It was then that he took complete stock of his surroundings. Wider than his long arm-span, each corridor wall was lined with cadaver drawers. Each drawer door had a robust external latch to keep it secured.

“I’m in the world’s longest morgue,” he muttered, suddenly astonished that he could hear his own voice. It sounded whole and normal, like he remembered it as a child, unlike the usual hollow sound that his friends described.

He looked toward the far end of the hall and called out, “Hello!” His strong voice carried down the corridor, then a few moments later echoed back to him. He smiled now, not caring that he didn’t know where he was or how to get back to his friends.

With a wall of cadaver doors behind him, he moved forward, taking little notice of the shiny doors as he passed column after column of them. He tossed out a few more words, laughing when they echoed back, then laughing more when his laughter returned to him, pure and clear.

Having a great time listening to his own voice, which he hadn’t heard in many years, he didn’t notice the undercurrent of strange sounds until a loud moan interjected itself between the verses of a song he was whistling.

Kurt froze. He wasn’t sure what he’d heard. His lack of experience with sound caused him to doubt his own ears, until he heard it again. Louder this time, it seemed to be coming from one of the cadaver drawers nearby.

With the curiosity of a young child, he approached the wall to his left, tilting his head left and right, trying to hone in on the source of the continual sound. When he located what he believed was the correct drawer in the center of the left wall, he paused, then said cautiously, “Hello?”

The moaning ceased. When he didn’t get a response, Kurt said, “Is someone in there?”

Several seconds of silence.

“Can you hear me?” he asked.

Kurt jumped back as the cadaver door shuddered beneath the impact from inside the cadaver drawer. It vibrated again from another forceful impact.

Breathing rapidly, Kurt noticed that the heavy latch remained in place. From what he could see, there was no way to release it from inside the drawer.

The moaning started up again, from another drawer further up the hall. The creepy chorus was taken up and added to even further on.

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