The Deadman's smile

Ch.2 The change

Ivan jumped, whooped, and danced as his friends clapped and slapped his back in gestures of congratulations. No one had noticed that Jeff had dropped his sub; A look of total disbelief plastered on his face. How..?, he thought." How did that clown get such a high position instead of me? I've worked here for 3 years longer than that bozo." Igor strutted to Jeff's table with a triumphant grin spread across his face."Well, Jeff looks like the best man won." Igor said smugly, patting the now numb Jeff's shoulder. "Oh, do you think you could be my assistant for this gig? You could...you know file some paperwork, be some old biddy's shoulder to cry on, oh, and if you do a good job maybe I'll give you some time off as a reward. " Steinberg motioned for Igor to come over to him. Igor nods to his directions and motions for Steinberg to give him a second. Igor turned back to Jeff and says " I'll see you later, Jeff. I got quite a busy day ahead and call me later about our little arrangement." With that Igor turns and leaves the still shocked and frozen Jeff. Jeff watched Igor warmly thank Mr.Steinberg for the promotion with enough sincerity to shame a nun. "Why?.... What did Igor do to deserve such an opportunity?" The world seemed to blur as his boss said ¨Now I had a very tough time thinking about who to choose for this job, but when I saw one of Ivan's latest I realized that in this business sometimes you need some humor to brighten up the place.¨Steinberg shook Ivan's hand, chuckling as he said.¨That negligee on the body gag just brightened my day Ivan.¨And with that Jeff leaped from his chair and ran all the way to the other side of the building to the embalming room, there waiting for him on the gurney was Miss Hagen, looking extremely seductive in the small pink and black negligee she was wearing. In those short moments something inside Jeffrey Murphy snapped and was shattered to pieces. Breathing hard with his hands locked tightly into fists, Jeff took two shaking steps out of the room. Burning red clouded his vision, as something dark, hidden, and dangerous broke out from the abyss of his soul. This darkness filled his him with bitterness and anger, making it burn in his chest like a bonfire or acid that rises to your chest, making the esophagus burn. 

He was hot.

 Jeff had never in his life been so angry, and this anger made itself known by coming out as a primal shriek that did not even sound remotely human. Jeff, shaking in frustration, stumbled out into the hallway and made his way outside. He threw open the back door and placed his body against the building, his world still spun around like a twisted merry go round .¨That buffoon got the job because of a stupid joke!!! He doesn't even show up to work on time!! How can Mr.Steinberg be such an idiot to even consider that boob for the position! ¨He yelled bitterly. Still slumped against the wall, Jeff shook with frustration and tears began to burn his eyes. "I'm so tired of this.....But it's never going to stop." he said quietly. Jeff had a quick flashback to all of Igor's screw ups. For instance being late, getting drunk in the middle of a shift, and going out to God-knows where, leaving Jeff to pick up the slack. Jeff clenched his fist as he thought of all the times Igor's sudden trips caused Jeff to stay at the mortuary till late at night, costing him his energy and sleep. Jeff's mind brought up the one memory, that still made Jeff tremble even now. It started as a typical arrival of fresh cadaver. After Jeff finished embalming them, he left the room to go wash out the pus stain on his jacket from one of bodies. While he was in the washroom, Igor came back, stone drunk, and proceeded to knock the corpse face down on the floor, all while knocking over some other equipment and liquids. When Jeff came back to the room, he found Igor sleeping on the gurney, corpse on the floor, and the room in total disarray. Jeff frantically rolled the corpse over, but it was too late. The whole front side of the corpse was bloated like a balloon from the liquid that had now gathered to the front. Jeff remembered his fear all too well that day, he was so sure that he was going to get fired. What saved them both was that the request for the bodies had been mixed up, the bloated body was to be cremated and not set up in an open casket. With each memory the rage began to grow and grow."And he'll continue using you."said the voice of rage. Jeff groaned as the beginnings of a headache pounded his skull. Jeff rubbed his temple as he looked up at the sky, his face the very picture of misery.¨Igor is a waste of flesh that should have died long ago.¨he said aloud. This statement caused Jeff to pause for a bit, processing the notion.

"Could it actually work?"though Jeff. "Would I be able to get away with it? No, I don't think I'd be able to go through with it. Wouldn't it be easier just to tell Steinberg? But then Igor would say I ratted him out and that won't make life any better."Jeff's next words felt oddly light and easy on his tongue as he made his decision.

"He just has to go."

The gears in Jeff's brain began to turn as he tried to think of a plan. "With the proper alibi this could work, but what could I use as my weapon, a guns too messy and loud, so is bashing in his skull and I could leave evidence. Poison then?..... Naw, they might notice if they saw me buy some. Damn it, they made this look much easier in mystery novels." Then he thought back to the woman in the morgue and gasped as his weapon revealed itself. Almost immediately, the air around Jeff took on a heavy and stifling quality similar to a toxic gas. He was still leaning on the wall, but when he looked up at the sky again he was smiling and slouching deeper against the wall contently. Now any ignorant person who looked at him from afar would think "That man has things going right for him."But if you had looked at Jeff's eyes at that moment, you would see that they tell a different more sinister story. His malicious eyes mixed with his smile would make your very soul quake. "Igor likes jokes huh?"Jeff thought ."Oh, I'll show him a joke."