The water flowing from the seesaw in the fish pond is faintly heard. It is so peaceful and calm in the backyard of the mourning house. The wind blew in one direction. The rustling of leaves from the dense trees surrounding the area of the cluster of yellow bamboo stalks serves as a fence, and becomes a soothing melody at a time when all burdens and sorrows feel extremely heavy. It's a comfortable and peaceful place for grieving relatives to calm themselves and cry to their heart's content.
The sun slowly sets. The warm afternoon sun begins to subside. The guests left the area as the coffin was carried into the hearse to be buried in a predetermined grave. Some will choose to be cremated, but others will choose to be buried.
Dawn sits in silence. Watch not only the living human but also some shadows following in the walks. One of them, was the deceased himself. He didn't remember how everything started, the vision he had. As if, he had it for his entire life. They are so recognized, as ghosts, not having the full shape as the humans. For some, like what he saw now, they will vanish into the air after their time ended. Don't know where they head up, who knows?
Emily let out a long sigh. Finally, she could take a break from standing all day, only sitting to eat and drink. Everyone was exhausted. The Black Orchid funeral home, owned by the Cardian family, had been in operation for hundreds of years. Currently, the head of the family, Pops Cardian, Emily's father, Dawn's grandfather, was in charge.
The funeral home was renowned nationwide, having served thousands of clients since its inception. There were many staff members at the funeral home, including Emily and a few others who helped with marketing, as well as those who handled embalming and other related tasks. Everyone had become like family. Yeah, in times like these, who would still want to work at a funeral home that dealt with death every day? Even after today's event ended, they still had several bodies that had arrived that morning to be prepared for the next day.
The funeral home building had five rooms for funeral visitations. Today, they were lucky to have only one event to arrange. Tomorrow, however, would be a different story - they would be extremely busy.
Emily lifted her refreshing cup of tea, approaching the long chair facing the garden where Dawn sat silently. The woman in her thirties lowered herself and sat beside the young man.
"What are you thinking? Why do young people like to daydream so much?" she asked.
Dawn's gaze had been fixed far ahead, watching the bamboo stalks swaying in the strong gusts of wind. Emily turned to look at Dawn's delicate face. It wasn't unusual for the young man to daydream often, he had been like that since she knew him. She didn't want to ask what he saw, initially, she was very afraid, she learned not to ask to avoid feeling scared in her own home. She still likes her job so much. It was her family's business, if not for that, where else would she go?
Emily raised her hand, stroking Dawn's hair and tucking it behind his ear. She had taken care of the young man since he was a baby; of course, she loved him more than anything, and besides, Dawn was a very sweet and never troublesome child. His weakness was that she couldn't tell what he was thinking when he was quiet like that—he always was.
"Lena and I are going into town tonight, to do some shopping. Want to join us? We can grab dinner out. Pops ordered roast duck from that place downtown. He's craving it."
A gentle breeze caressed Dawn's face, blowing back the hair Emily had just tidied. He looked at Emily for a long time, making her flustered.
"What are you looking at?" she asked.
Dawn pursed his lips, thinking.
"Um, I'm running out of face wash. Can I join?"
Emily smiled. She thought the kid would refuse her. She nodded.
"Of course. Oh, what do you want to eat? We'll follow you."
Dawn thought, then frowned.
"Um, I can eat anything. Em, we're out of ice cream, can I buy some?" he asked.
Emily nodded.
"Sure, anything you want. We'll stop by the hospital afterward to pick up Pops' medicine; it's running low. I've already contacted Dr. Regan."
Dawn pursed his lips. He just nodded slightly.
"Yeah, of course."
Emily knew Dawn disliked going to the hospital; there was so much he could see there, and most of it wasn't pleasant. Emily patted Dawn's thigh.
"You can wait in the car with Lena, I'll only be a couple of minutes," Emily said.
Dawn smiled and nodded. "Sure, Em, no problem."
As they spoke, another hearse entered through the front gate. Emily took a deep breath; she never had time to relax.
"Another one. Wait a minute, I'll take care of our guest. Get ready, we'll leave in an hour."
Dawn nodded. Emily took her teacup inside and hurried to the front where several vehicles were already stopped. From his position, Dawn saw a black large SUV arrive—not a hearse. He'd seen it several times before, dropping off bodies. He saw who got out of the driver's seat—the same person he'd seen before. The man happened to glance in his direction, then towards Emily, who was greeting him.
"Hey, Detective Hogan, you came too? Is this one of those extra special victims needing your escort?" Emily asked. Several morticians were wheeling a gurney with a body bag on it, greeted by two funeral home staff.
The tall, athletic man wore a gray denim jacket over a plain black t-shirt, jeans, and boots. A gun vest was visible under his jacket; he wasn't an ordinary person. He and Emily already met a couple of times before this.
"Miss Cardian, uh, no, I happened to be behind it. I wonder if I could see the body that had just arrived today; it's probably already in the embalming room."
Emily glanced towards the funeral home building he indicated.
Dawn looked too. He peered towards the window where the embalming room was located. He glimpsed a dark figure with black smoke swirling in front of the window. Dawn tried to see more clearly. He hadn't seen the two bodies that arrived earlier, but it seemed their guest wasn't ready to leave the body yet.
At the window where the morgue was located, a pair of black eyes peered inside the front gate where the detective and Emily were. The figure tried to escape through the window, but couldn't. Dawn didn't sense any weird thing because some bodies came today. This one feels so different from the others.
"We received two bodies this morning and earlier today; which one are you referring to?" Emily asked.
The handsome detective held his breath, as if thinking, seemingly unsure of what he was asking. He glanced at Dawn, who continued to look toward the window; the man looked toward the morgue window at the end of the first-floor hallway but saw nothing.
"Miss Emily, may I ask for your help? This is related to a police case."
Emily pursed her lips, feeling somewhat anxious upon hearing the man she knew as a homicide detective say this.
"What can I do for you, detective?"
"Um, there was a young man. He died after falling from his apartment building. The family does not want an autopsy and considers it a suicide, but…" the man paused, looking at Emily for a moment, unsure if he could trust her.
"Detective, what do you want? We've known each other for years, have I ever refused you anything?"
The man looked at Emily for a moment, then continued. "I just need you to hold the body. Prevent the family from cremating it before I find proof it was murder."
His words left Emily speechless. She stammered, "Uh, seriously? It's been a while since we had a murder body here." She glanced at Dawn, who was staring at the embalming room. She needed to get the kid out of there.
Emily looked back at the detective. "How long do we need to hold it?" she asked.
The tall man thought for a moment, visibly concentrating. "Two to three days."
Emily widened her eyes. That was a long time to keep a body in the funeral home before the funeral.
"I should talk to Pops about that, you should talk to him directly."
The detective stopped Emily as she started to walk toward the funeral home. He looked into her eyes for a long moment.
"This is a secret, Miss Emily, the fewer people who know, the better. I don't doubt Pops, but he'd ask a lot of questions I can't answer. I just need two or three days, do this for me, I'm asking you for a favor."
Emily swallowed hard. It seemed the detective was serious.
"This is a big deal, you can't expect me to keep this to myself, do you? Keeping a body in the morgue for two or three days requires a lot of paperwork. And Pops isn't stupid."
The detective and Emily held each other's gaze for a long moment. He finally released her arm.
"Okay, that's true, but this time I do need your help, Miss Emily. It's very important."