ADW Part 5

Once I managed to pry off the coffin lid my heart sank. All that was left of the grave’s tenant was a skeleton; nothing else remained of the Professor.

I signed, leaned against my spade, and stared at the bones in the box. Something was peculiar about the moonlight-bathed figure. Yes, it was the position: Bodies are traditionally laid to rest with the arms at the sides, bent at the elbows, with the forearms crossed on the chest near the wrists. The palms rest face down on the chest.

This body was arranged differently, however. The arms were folded in a casual position with the forearms parallel over the chest, with each hand near the opposite elbow. The right index finger was touching the left bicep (or rather where the left bicep used to be). But wait: Did it move? Yes! The right index finger was tapping against the left arm! It was almost as if… as if…

“Mein Gott, Venwick, you are quite clumsy at your work! Vhy, it took you a full two hours to disinter mein coffin–und almost a quarter hour more just to get ze confounded lid off!” It was Prof. Glauben; there was no mistaking it. The voice, the way he mispronounced “Fenwick,” the ridiculous hand gestures…It was surely he.

“Vell, don’t just stand where–Help me out of here! I am most anxious to stretch mein legs again.” What could I do? I offered my hand, which he grabbed in a boney clutch, and I pulled him out of the rotting box. There I was, standing eye-to-socket with a skeleton. We stared at each other for some time in the stillness of the churchyard, and I imagined a smile spread across the skull.

A few minutes later we were walking along the deserted rural road back to my house. The skeleton put its arm around my shoulder as we walked and turned its head toward me. “You should be happy, mein boy! Ze formula vorked!” I stared at him, not knowing what to say. “Ze formula! Ze vun ve vere vorking on before I vas imprisoned!”

“But…but it killed the old bookkeeper,” I protested, wondering why I was arguing with this hideous form. “That’s why you’re–why you were–in prison!”

“Ah, zhis is true. But ze day before ze police took me away I did some research on zhat man. I just couldn’t believe ze formula had failed. As it turned out, he vas allergic to ze lactic complex ve used. If not for his allergy, he vould still be alive today–and a good many decades hence, I vould postulate.” 

“Then you drank the potion?” I asked.

“I drank ze position.”

“But you were buried,” I protested.

“Ach, an unfortunate complication. After drinking the potion I was taken to prison, where a sadistic guard beat me for what he considered to be my insolence. I knew that I was not long for this world, so I left you the message which you evidently were able to decode.”

“But the potion…” I spluttered.

“Ja, ze potion. It vorked–at least to ze degree it forced mein body to retain mein soul. You see, it can do nothing to prevent ze decaying of ze dead body. So I rotted though I remained very much alive spiritually, even mentally. My psyche remained mit mein body. On ze night zhat I died I was avare of men pulling ein sheet over mein head und carrying me to ze morgue. I had not yet grown sufficiently familiar vith mein new existence, however, und I could not make mein lips nor limbs operate. In fact it vas not until I had been in ze ground ein month zhat I vas able to shift mein position. Do you know what it is like to lay in ze same position for ein month?” I shook my head. “Vell, it is no bowl of roses I assure you.”

By now we had reached my apartments. I glanced at my pocket watch; it was half past two in the morning. I looked at Prof. Glauben’s skeleton, fumbled with my key, and opened the door. I searched for something to say.

“Vell, aren’t you going to invite me in?” demanded the specter.

“Invite you in?! What would my servant say?”

“Nothing. He is undoubtedly asleep at this hour. Besides, I vill need to catch up on your papers if I am to direct your further experiments. Ve must refine ze process to arrest decay.” A combination of fatigue, confusion, and obedience caused me to step aside. I gestured for him to enter, to which he obliged me with a bow as he entered my home.

I showed Prof. Glauben’s remains to my study, wished them a goodnight, and retired to my bedroom. Within half an hour I had fallen sound asleep, and within another hour I wished I hadn’t.

PART 6 WILL APPEAR ON FRIDAY