Chapter XII: The Couple’s Room

I entered the room after lock-picking the door. It was quite easy, honestly. Contrary to my expectation, the Cadaver Room didn't smell like formalin at all. The air was rather stale, a proof of effective disinfection.

I was about to turn my flashlight on but decided on using my ultraviolet penlight instead. It'll emit a weaker light and it'll let me see concealed writing or other stuff in the dark. Thinking about it, Emma did advise me to use "lesser light". She'd prevent me from giving up my cover.

The room's walls and floor were covered with tiles. It had three windows and two examination tables. Each had a mummified human body on it: a male and a female.

"Hmm…," I thought to myself. "What to do?"

I flashed my UV penlight on the obvious parts of the rooms: jars, racks, windows, ceiling, door, walls and door. No clue. That leaves me with the human cadavers. I focused my penlight first on the male body, popularly known by the Celestians as Romeo. I didn't find anything either. Finally, I looked at the female cadaver, of course named Juliet. I guess the clue's on Juliet, by process of elimination. But what part?

A sudden thought occurred to me. Emma couldn't have placed a clue on Juliet's private parts, right? Right? I recalled the previous clue and the word "smile" caught my attention.

The teeth!

Before I confirm my guess, I noticed flashes of blue and red from the windows. Regret was starting to creep on me as a carefully approached one of the windows. I was afraid of this. Celestine College's security called in the police. I better hurry up.

I walked back to Juliet's side and returned my attention to Juliet and pointed the UV penlight at her desiccated grin.

"Crazy Emma," I told myself when I saw the clue. Written one letter on each of the female cadaver's teeth individually was the word "REASON". I stood on that spot for a few seconds, contemplating on the clue.

* * * * *

"Hey, Emma," I called to Emma. We were at our usual spot in the Infirmary. "Could you help me on my speech?"

"Memorized or read?" She asked back.

"Memorized," I answered. "It's Mark Anthony's speech at Julius Caesar's burial."

Emma nodded, so I placed my copy in front of Emma.

"Friends, Romans, countrymen: lend me your ears!" I began. "I have come–"

"Alright, alright," Emma cut in. "That'll do it."

I stared at her in disbelief. "But I just started," I protested.

"Dude," she said. "I don't have to listen to that long speech of yours to say that you're good. I bet you've already practiced this piece a good number of times before coming here. You just wanted confirmation of your efforts."

I pondered this for a while. "I guess you're right."

"And besides," she added with a smirk. "I think I already heard you deliver more dramatic speeches. If I remember correctly, there was that time when you acted as Oliver in 'The Song of Roland' and then as the romantic Rodrigo in 'El Cid'."

This took me by surprise, since those plays were done in classes.

"How did you know about that?" I asked.

Emma smiled. "I have my ways," she replied mysteriously.

"Oh, come on!"

"Actually, you did let me watch some time ago. Don't you remember?"

"Oh well," I said, shrugging. "Unfortunately, I couldn't recall a single thing about that.

I forgot some things since my accident, remember?"

"Sorry," Emma said. "I forgot about that."

She added. "My best friend told me that, usually, things like memory don't easily escape the human mind except in cases of severe shock or trauma."

That 'best friend' again, I thought. Who's this guy anyway?

"How'd he know that?" I asked aloud.

She shrugged. "I don't know the exact details but it had something to do with a summer class."

I stayed silent after that. Thinking back, I recalled my Mom telling me about my accident one night.

"I saw it from the window when it happened," Mom said, cigarette in her left hand. "You were jogging across the road when the vehicle hit you. I screamed your name quite loudly, startling your uncle, who was with us that time. The nearest neighbors ran to your side and demanded that the driver rush you to the nearest hospital. I was able to catch up later after calling your father from work."

She went on to tell me about the check-up and the test results. There was huge swelling on my left temple, which I supposedly got from my head hitting the pavement. The only other significant injury I got was a huge abrasion I sustained on my left leg.

"But then you woke up," my Mom continued, exhaling a big puff of smoke. "You were sort of… different. It was like something was missing. Physically, the doctors said that there was nothing wrong. But when we and your friends asked you some questions during the next couple of days, we discovered that you forgot some key details about what happened during your accident. In fact, you did say that you couldn't recall some places you have been and some people you have been with in the past. A few days after you were discharged, here we are, talking about it tonight."

Back to the present. I must have been quiet for too long since Emma suddenly intruded on my reminiscing. "You're awfully quiet. Is there something wrong?"

I smiled at her. "Well, I was trying to remember what happened during my accident." Upon mentioning that, I thought I saw Emma's expression change just for a second. "Unfortunately, I still got nothing. I did try reading up on the news but I couldn't find anything."

"You could try revisiting the places you might have been," Emma suggested. "You might be able to remember something, even just a little bit. Start small, like going around CC."

"Good idea," I agreed. "But how should I begin?"

Emma grinned. "I can help with that. Give me time to prepare."

I raised one of my eyebrows in doubt. "Alright," I reluctantly acquiesced. "But please keep things within reason."

"Within reason?" She laughed. "Really? What exactly do you think of me?"

While waiting for her, I started to go around the college on my free time. I went around floor by floor, building by building and sort of reported to Emma about my progress. I was able to cover everything except for one place: the Library. I was still unable to recall anything, unfortunately. I wasn't able to enter the Library since a few days later; she dared me to meet her inside CC at midnight.

* * * * *

The Library it is then, I decided.

Suddenly, I heard something akin to the sound of shoes squeaking. I got nervous, since the sound was quite close. While approaching the door, I saw a scalpel lying on the floor. For some reason, maybe out of panic, I grabbed the blade and hid it on my right sleeve. Aside from the scalpel, I ascertained that nothing else was out of place.

I have to move fast.

I stepped out of the Cadaver Room. Upon the lock's click, I heard a swish behind me. The world turned black and a series of events flashed before me like a movie.

* * * * *

She was standing in front of the main gate, eyes shining in excitement. Emma still couldn't believe it: she passed the Entrance Exam and today, she was about to enroll at the most talked about school in the region, namely, Celestine College.