As I sat in there in the cold lobby of the city morgue, all I could do was hope that the police officers that had brought me here were wrong. All I could think about was the last thing I said to her, the last time i saw her.

While I waited for the mortician and the first officer to come and get me I tried to think of any way to get my mind off of the stark white lobby I was sitting in, but all of my senses were being overwhelmed by the hospital like environment. All I could smell was the fake flower fragrance of febreeze trying to cover up the scent of what could only be death.

The only thing I could look at were the dusty, fake purple flowers in the corners of the room, dimly lit by the florescent lights above. All the time I was waiting the buzzing of the lights infiltrated every corner of the room and my thoughts, the only other sound was the occasional cough from the woman sitting at the front desk.

Finally after what felt like a lifetime the officer came back with an elderly man whom could only have been the mortician or his assistant. They said that her body was ready and that I could come back now. Could, what an interesting choice of words. If I could have I would have waited in that room for the rest of my life if it meant that I could believe that she was still alive, still out there somewhere. That she was just at a friends house and her phone was off. But I had to face reality, I had to go back there, if not for the police then for myself. I had to know. I had to know if it was Jade.

The two men led me through the maze of white halls until we got to a pair of steel doors. They opened the doors for me and I walked into the dimly lit room and saw a white sheet over a table in the middle of the room. It looked to be straight out of a crime movie, the overhead light shining bright over the body. The only difference was that you can't smell the death through the T.V. As we walked up to the table I started to loose my nerve and panic. It couldn't be Jade, it just couldn't. I felt like I was going to have a heart attack as they pulled the bleached white sheet from the head of the body.

I got back to my apartment around four in the morning, but even though i was exhausted i couldn't sleep. The memories of the morgue were etched into my mind. Walking through those cold steel doors, making my way up to the autopsy table, then looking at her body. Her cold dead body. I couldn't get the image out of my head. All I wanted to do was forget the way she looked and remember her for what she was, but now all i could remember of her was her pale blue lips, her sunken eyes, and her cold dead skin. This was not how i wanted to remember her but it is now the only image i have of her to think about.

After i saw her body I told the officer that it was her, it was Jade. He gave me a somber apology for my loss but that didn't help. At first I felt an extreme pressure building up in my chest, my throat began to clench and I though i was going to break down right there and then. But then it all vanished. I felt nothing, my mind went blank, anything the two men said was lost to me, everything i saw was a cold and hollow shell as if I was watching an old black and white movie. I felt, nothing, and i liked it. i actually liked it...

That morning I went to work like nothing happened. Whenever someone went by me they looked at me, and then looked away, they must have been able to tell that something had happened, but it wasn't until later that afternoon that someone actually asked me if everything was all right. It was one of my friends from work, Sarah Hart.

This story is a true story, while also being fiction. Some of the details have been changed, such as names, dates, and numbers.

Back in his earlier days Jek and his younger brother Kalo would work hard and long every day in their fathers mill. There they would spend long waking hours heaving large loads of grain into the hoppers to be ground down into flour. Their father wasn't exactly the kindest of people, and their mother had run away with a traveling merchant. Their father would force them into dangerous situations and sometimes he would beat them.

When their father would get enveloped in his rage, Jek would always step between him and Kalo, taking the brunt of his rage for years. Jek had been planning and saving to leave and run away from his home, also planning to take Kalo with him.

When the day came, Jek told Kalo that their father need them to go to town and get some supplies from the town market. Kalo followed his brother to town, staying close at his heels. All the while wondering why Jek was carrying so much stuff if they were sent to get goods, wouldn't all of that junk get in the way?

But soon Kalo would find out why his brother had the overwhelming amount of luggage. When they got to town Kalo nearly went right, the way to the town square, but Jek had gone straight ahead. He soon corrected his course and caught up to his older brother. Tugging on his sleeve, he asked "Where are we going? Did you forget, the market is that way".

Jek kept looking forward, not responding to his curious brother.

Then the two turned a corner and there Jek stopped at a carriage and gave the man a cloth pouch filled with gold.

Jek turned around and and told Kalo to get in, he did as told.

A few days later the two found themselves in the city of Aronith. A large city, only second to the capitol. Jek got off of the carriage, pulling his younger brother with him.

The boy had remained silent for the entire journey, all the while freaking out on the inside. Wondering what the hell his brother was thinking. Why the hell did he do this, why were they running away from home.

Kalo knew why they were running away but what he didn't realize was how bad it actually was. How much Jek had sheltered Kalo from, how much Jek and endured to protect him. He had no idea how horrible his father actually was.

Suddenly he was pulled out of his dream world when his older brother started talking to him.

Kalo. Kalo. Kalo! Wake up and listen.

Kalo pulls his brother along the central road of Aronith. All the while telling his brother that it would be alright, he had been planning this for quite some time and had met a few people in Aronith that would help them get a place to stay and a job.

Kalo continued to listen to his brother, but he remained quiet, keeping to himself.

After what felt like an hour the two had made their way to the Kerrib Inn. Named after a large cat from another continent. They went inside and sat down at a booth in the far right corner.

One of the bar maids came up to them and asked what they would like.

Kalo was about to speak up and ask for some food, he was starving, the food Jek had brought for the journey had ran out a day ago, but Jek immediately cut him off and said that he would like a pint of peridot. Her face suddenly stiffened up, as did her posture. She turned and walked to the back room.

Kalo looked at his brother and then back to the door the bar maid went into, just in time to see a man and a woman walk out towards them. Something about them scared Kalo, but having Jek there helped. The two then sat at the table the boys were sitting at, giving them each a glance trying to get one of them to start talking.