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[color=808080][color=#966283][b]#966283[/b][/color] [color=2e2c2c]....[/color]|[color=2e2c2c].....[/color] [url=https://www.twinsdish.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/fall-outfits-inspo-skirt-work-classy-professional--512x1024.webp][color=808080][b]outfit[/b][/color][/url] [color=2e2c2c].....[/color]|[color=2e2c2c].....[/color] [b]sherrif's station, medical lab[/b][/color]
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Death.

Something feared, something cherished.

To many, it is a thing to be avoided. Never talked about, never spoken of, never hinted at or joked about lest the prophecy become true. Despite the horrors that happen every day that result in loss, death is a topic no one wants to bring up. Even at funerals, the topic is often glossed over with good-natured jokes, fond stories of yore, or just completely darkened with booze. 

Some cultures revere death. The Day of the Dead is a celebration. Some see death as a new beginning. 

To Evereigh, death is just another part of life.

As she sat on her wobbly chair in front of her computer, hand holding the mouse but not moving it, her mind wandered to how she got here. Both the town and her chosen career. There aren't many young girls who fantasize about working with the dead when they get older, and the ones that do are often labeled as weird, odd, or serial killers.

Sometimes all three at once.

She knew this career she chose wasn't so much chosen as it was ordained. Like those who feel compelled by their god to follow a certain path, Evereigh felt the universe had called her into this position. She had a mind for it. A knack. A calling to be the speaker of the dead. A voice to the voiceless. 

The one thing she knew about her role became clearer and clearer as years passed. She had to do this. She had to make sense of the senseless, to answer questions, to fill in the blanks. And while this town didn't have nearly as many mysterious or unexplainable deaths as she had grown accustomed to, it did have its moments.

When she applied for the job, she was sure she would be turned away because of her experience. Why would a choice medical examiner from Massachusetts want to be a small town's coroner and unlucky mortician? While she didn't give the full truth to that question, she didn't lie either. She needed a job, she was qualified for the role, and she wanted to be somewhere that wasn't a huge city or a metropolis. Did it matter, really?

At the end of the day, it did not. She was given the job, and she worked hard. She gradually became a fixture of the town. She would eat at the diner or grab a coffee before work. She shopped at the local establishments. She greeted the other law enforcement officers and the sheriff when she passed.

And yet, she never felt connected to the town. Not in any meaningful way. It wasn't like she hated it here. It wasn't that the locals were rude or mean or made her feel unwelcome. It was just a vibe. Like something in the town didn't want her here, or was uncertain as to who she was and what she could do.

And that made her sound crazy. So she kept quiet. Hunkered down and did her job. Usually, there wasn't a whole lot she could do other than file paperwork. The occasional dead person cropped up, but was usually either from an accident or natural causes. No unanswered questions there. Mr. Summers crashed his car into a tree and that's all she wrote. Even if Evereigh had wanted more, the facts were clear.

She wasn't bored, necessarily. She knew what she was signing up for when she took the job. And some interesting cases came across her lab. She knew it wouldn't be like those crime drama shows where the medical examiner was, for some reason, working with the police to solve the crimes by going to suspects' homes or running after the bad guys. If she did her job correctly, she never needed to leave her office. 

But, she had to admit, she wanted a bit more. With Halloween approaching, perhaps it would be different today. It would be more.

She wouldn't hold her breath.

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