The Old Morgue

You meet up with Jayne outside her office. She’s carrying a small ring of perhaps 10 metal keys of various types, many of them with colour coded little stickers or labels on them. You look at it with interest, and Jayne says, “There are like 50 of them, but these are the only ones for the basement. If none of these can open that door, we’ll need to think of something else.”

Something else? Is she thinking you’ll be busting down a door or picking a lock? When Jayne sets her mind to something, she isn’t dissuaded very easily that’s for certain.

“If I knew I’d have brought a lock breaking kit, or a grappling hook or mask or something. I just have my phone,” you admit as Jayne walks to the elevators, hitting the down button.

“I know, I feel like I should have supplies of some kind. Like a backpack with a first aid kit and a flashlight at least,” Jayne agrees with a smile. As you’re standing there the women’s bathroom door opens and Angela Sapad, one of the public health coordinators, walks out. She clearly does a double take at you and Jayne standing together, smiling and joking.

“Hey Angela,” Jayne says.

The other woman pauses and nods, glancing between the two of you again as she replied, “Hi Jayne. Hi, uh, Zach.” Then she turns to her left and leaves through the doors that lead to Karissa’s desk and her own office.

As the elevator bings and the doors open, Jayne looks at you and says, “What’s up with that?”

You get in the elevator and debate what to say. Ah to hell with it, she’d want to know. “Uhm, Karissa came to talk to me. She said the nurses heard us ‘talking loudly’ and the hot rumour at lunch was that you chewed me out for something and kicked me out of your office. Hopefully it goes away, I’m sure it will.” You are sure of no such thing, of course. You know how office gossip works.

“What? Dammit I never heard anything like that,” Jayne frowns, “but I guess I was a little loud earlier. Don’t worry Zach, I’ll tell the busybodies everything is OK and we’re still friends, like normal, and hopefully that will be the end of that.”

Preferring to not get into it, and feeling a sharp sting at her insistence on being ‘just friends’ again, you just agree and move on.

The elevator stops on B1, the basement floor, and you both get off. The small lobby is completely bare, and both sets of doors leading out from it are locked. It looks just like the lobby on the other floors, with the exception that there is only one small washroom (locked) in the basement. No one works here, and you’ve only been here once before to access a data closet. The only rooms you saw then were used for storage or completely empty - the Bathurst Health Centre has far more space than it needs. Apparently, the entire 6th floor is an empty old shell with only a few walls left up.

Jayne takes you to the left hand door, or facing West. She has the key ready and opens the door, and you both walk through into the hallway leading to quiet, empty rooms full of old boxes and forgotten office furniture. It’s a bit creepy, but you are only going a few steps to the stairwell that is beside the elevator shafts. Being a fire exit, this door is unlocked from the inside so Jayne simply opens it and you step into the stairwell with her. These are actually the same stairs you take from the main level to your third floor office every day, but you’ve never gone down them to the basement level you are currently on.

The most interesting thing about the basement stairs is the small door that is screened off below the staircase going up. It was clearly done after the fact, and it serves to lock away the stairs going further down while, presumably, not being a fire hazard. Now Jayne has to look through her various keys for one that fits the old cast iron lock on the metal door.

“This place is creepy,” you can’t think of anything clever to say, obviously.

“Uh huh. But just wait, SB2 is way creepier. This is just empty and abandoned normal basement feeling, downstairs is that plus weird old root cellar vibe.” With a satisfied exclamation, Jayne opens the lock and pulls open the door leading to the stairs down. As she holds it open for you you try to look at the door, and Jayne smiles. “Don’t worry Pritchard, I’m not going to abandon you down there. The door only locks from this side, we can get back out.”

“I wasn’t worried, just making sure,” you mumble as you start down the stairs. The loud bang of the metal door behind you makes you flinch, and Jayne laughs. You can’t even be mad at her, you’re too happy to hear the sound again.

The bottom of the staircase looks the same, of course, but you swear there is a weird feeling as you open the door into Sub Basement 2. A faint smell of old dust and poorly circulated air maybe. The hallway it opens into is honestly the same as the rest of the building, same paint and everything. But it still feels a bit different, as if the lack of humans walking through the space is something that you can sense.

“So, this is only the west half of the building. I don’t know why, something about the foundation I think,” Jayne explains as you slowly start walking down the hallway. The walls are featureless and the floor is bare, painted concrete. The first door you see on your left is sealed off, some sort of metal bar was screwed into the door frame over where the door knob would be. No getting in that. You look around but whatever sign had been on the door is long gone.

The two of you continue on to the strangely wide hallway, and you’re reminded this isn’t a real space for use but just a vestigial area that exists only for some arcane construction need. Turning the corner, you see a door to the right that is propped open with an old metal paint bucket.

“Check this out,” Jayne says with a grin and all but pushes you through.

Staring at the wide open area, you nod and turn to Jayne, “Well, if we ever need to hide a body I guess we know where to go,” you say and are rewarded with a snort. The floor is packed dirt, with some gravel on top, and the whole space is open but angled so the floor gradually slopes up towards the ceiling. The size of several large meeting rooms, it is all lit with only two old light bulbs, hanging from wires screwed into the unpainted drywall. The light barely reaches the corners where the gravel was banked until it reaches almost up to the very top. In the distance behind you, a hollow bang sounds and you swallow nervously.

“Creepy as hell huh?” Jayne says in satisfaction. “Something about it being a hundred years old and still being unfinished looking is just so eerie.”

“Yes creepy, let’s just find SB2-07 already,” you say as you move to leave. Luckily, you’re almost out of weird old abandoned building shit, only a short hallway to go. As you start walking, you realize something, “Damn I’m an idiot, it just occurred to me that this is directly below my office.”

Jayne looks at you, “Well yeah, you’re in 307. The southwest corner of the building.”

“Yeah I know, I just never think of my office’s room number.” You pass a room that has a caution sign and indicates it’s a mechanical room, but the hum of large machines that never stop would have clued you in even without the sign.

Still several feet away, you groan as you see your destination. SB2-07 still has a small sign above the door frame indicating you found the room the box was either kept in or sent to, but the large padlock on the door is your bigger concern.

“Honestly, I’m not sure if that was here before, I’ve only been down here once years ago,” Jayne admits. She frowns and looks through her keys, but most of them are labeled and clearly for other doors. You inspect the lock, it looks fairly new, a very large padlock that holds a heavy duty stainless steel clasp closed. It’s all bolted very securely into the heavy door and the metal frame. No way anyone is popping that open with a screwdriver.

“Shit, none of these are the right kind of key,” Jayne says, and as you look at the keys you can see she’s right. Another metallic sounding boom echoes in the distance.

“Guess this is the end of our little adventure,” you say, wondering if there is some other lead on the SGI server itself to discover.

Thinking for a moment, Jayne says, “Well while we’re here we can at least check the other rooms. Like why does this wall not have a door?” she gestures to her left, and indeed it is strange that such a long interior wall doesn’t have a door.

“On the end there was a door, before you shoved me in the **** hole, could be one big room,” you say. Jayne smirks at you and you retrace your steps to another nondescript locked room. This door also had some signs on it but they were removed at some point. Jayne very quickly finds a key that fits the lock and you open the door and, upon entering, hit the light switch beside you.

You both freeze just inside. Just in case the three metal slabs in front of you, or the cabinets filled with old books and paperwork, or the black and white tiled floor and walls, or the old posters of cut open cadavers on the walls weren’t enough, at the end of the room a flickering old fluorescent light casts a shelf full of old glass jars in an uncanny blueish glow. The humming and popping of the lights is not the only sound you hear, there is a low whistling as if a huge beast is awakening.

Jayne is tightly grabbing your arm, and you both stay rooted in place. You are just about to shut off the light switch and get the fuck out of there when you say, “I am going to give a hard no to checking out the old morgue in the abandoned sub basement of the hospital, I think.”

As you get ready to leave, the light gives one last sparking hum and finally the light stays on. The room is still creepy as hell, but less so now without the serial-killer vibe of the flickering lights.

Giving a nervous chuckle, but not letting go of your arm, Jayne says “Yeah this is wild, but look, is that a door!” You had been so focused on looking at the stainless steel autopsy tables - ugh they all have drains built into them and lips like a tub to catch the blood and guts! - that you hadn’t looked, but sure enough at the end of the room a door is visible. It must open into SB2-07!

Reluctantly, you start down the long room, Jayne staying very close to your side. Now that you’re used to it, the room is more creepy than terrifying, but that low hum and the whoosh of air being moved around is still faintly ominous.

You are just walking past the second autopsy table when it happens. You are turning to say something to Jayne when a sudden whistling sound makes you both tense. A second later, as you both turn to the wall next to a large cabinet a whooshing comes from close by. You instantly move and pull Jayne away and get in front of her, putting yourself between your friend and whatever is making that sudden noise even as she reaches for you-

*BANG*

The loud clash makes Jayne yell out (and you too, but not quite as loudly so let’s ignore that) and you grab each other tight. By the time you turn around again you can see what it was, a metal cover had half broken off the wall in front of an air duct. A sudden shift in pressure as an air exchanger turned on or off somewhere caused a gust of wind that made the cover pop open, then slam shut with a bang.

Jayne looks at you as you grin, your heart beating. You are suddenly aware that you are indeed holding her in your arms and you should probably let go now but she’s smiling in relief too and then her lips are on yours.

The first kiss is sudden, your head tilted to the left as you press your lips against hers, almost as surprised as she is. Then you pull back and you move to the other side, so your kissing with your head tilted to the right and this feels much better, just correct in a way. You feverishly kiss her again and again and just as some small part of your mind is yelling at you to stop, that you need to make sure she’s as **** for this as you are, your hip bangs into the table beside you and you realize Jayne has pushed you a step over in her rush to press against you.

Taking a quick breath, you lean in again and kiss her, not quite as hard, and your left cheek bangs into her glasses as you both start moving more. Her hand is reaching up but you have your hands near her face already so, without even pausing the kiss, you are able to take her glasses off and place them on the surface beside you. A small clatter as she drops her ring of keys down on the same table. Now Jayne wraps both hands around your back and you gently take the back of her head in your left hand while your right holds her waist.

The kisses turn almost frenzied, and your tongue darts into her mouth and you can feel her as she moans into your mouth. Her tongue is dancing with yours and you pull her body even more tightly to yours, her small but firm breasts pressed into your chest as her hands roam across your back.

“Jayne…” you whisper without realizing as you pulled your mouth off hers for just a moment. She sighs and then pulls your head down, her mouth hot and undeniable as she kisses your lips, your cheek, then the crook of your neck. Your erection is now making itself known, and you try to angle your body away but there’s no chance she didn’t feel it pressing against her hip. Now she’s pressing into you again, her eyes closed and you are dimly aware that she is, perhaps unconsciously, rubbing her breasts against your chest and you are sure you can feel the hard nubs of her nipples through your clothes.

Then you just grab her again, this time kissing her neck as your hand holds her lower back. You are barely able to resist the urge to grab her ass, but her wonderfully athletic body is a delight to your touch everywhere. She moans and gives a small giggle as you nibble at her neck, then pulls back. Her eyes open and she meets your gaze, her face flushed and wild. She gives you a grin that almost stops your heart, then rains kisses on your face until your lips meet again.

For a few more minutes, you explore each other. You are grinding your erection against her but she doesn’t seem to mind, and indeed at one point she gives a small whimper of lust when she grinds against your thigh. Finally, your kisses start to cool off as you both remember where you are, and why.

Holding each other tightly, Jayne rests her head against your chest. Neither of you speak as you catch your breath, but you stroke her hair you quietly say, “I thought I had lost you.”

Almost whispering, she replies, “I was just shocked. I thought you wanted to just be friends? I almost cried when you said that.”

“I said it! You said it first, I think anyway,” you almost chuckle. She pulls away enough for you both to see you are amused by this misunderstanding now. Funny how 10 minutes of passionate release can make all the missed connections and mix-ups seem unimportant now.

“Well whatever. I was mad and confused and I needed to process.” She leans up slightly - how wonderful it is that she’s only a couple of inches shorter than you - and kisses you once on the lips. “But then I started thinking about how you only turned that program thing on yesterday. And I’ve had feelings for you for a while, obviously.”

“Oh yeah, that program thing. Shit I guess we better go look and see if we can get in that room now, huh Jayne?”

“Yeah let’s go,” she withdraws from your arms, obviously ****. With a slight reddening of her face she says, “And I’ll never admit this again ever but… I kind of like ‘Hallsy’. It made me sad earlier when I realized you were only calling me Jayne now. I got worried I fucked it all up between us.”

You face splits in as happy and goofy a smile as you’re capable of. You hand her the keys she put down as she picks up her glasses and puts them back on. “Never a chance Hallsy. You’re stuck with me for as long as you want me around. Now let’s go break and enter.”