The Remains

XXXV - Jess

I was nearly whole. Albane stood up, and walked over to my ball of ash. I was hovering in mid air, surrounding the mercury.

Albane pulled a small metal box down from a shelf, and walked over to me. "Your new home. Like it?" He walked back over to the other side of the room, and sat back down.

I looked around. We were in a workshop, with benches laden with various tools and pieces of machinery. There was a whole wall covered with knife blades, bullets and pieces of shrapnel. They all had names beneath them.

Albane checked his watch. The few remaining pieces were close now, barely outside. I could see the house where my ash was gathering. Those last pieces of ash blew in through the window, and settled on top of the pile.

Albane cocked his head, and stood up. "Feels like that's it. No more pieces of you anywhere." I tried to pull away from the mercury. Some of the outer flakes moved a little, before snapping back into place.

Albane chuckled. "Don't even bother. I have to say though, it was a pain in the ass to have to recapture you like this." He licked his lips. Creep.

I struggled against the pull of the mercury again. Something fell off a shelf in the background.

Albane picked it up, and placed it back. "I was so frustrated when they burned you. I went to all this effort to have you euthanised by the mental hospital, forged all the paperwork, pretended to be your analyst over the phone. And then they just gave you the injection, and burned you the next day." He walked over to me, and pulled the dish with the drop of mercury out. My ash followed it. He placed the mercury down into the metal box. The iron shoved my ash away.

Albane poked several pieces of me with a playful smile. "I had to drive from town to town, just looking for you. And aren't you happy I went to the effort?"

I focused, and pulled at a single piece of ash on the top of my mound. It peeled off, and forced it's way out of the box. I channelled my thoughts, and pushed it away. It struggled over the edge of the box, before sticking to the outside, still being pulled in like the rest of the pieces.

Albane shut the box lid. I was cut off from that little flake of ash. Everything was dark, and quiet. I felt the box be lifted up, then set down.

Had I gotten away with it? Had I got a piece of me out?

Albane opened the lid, and flicked that piece of ash into the box. It stuck to the top of the mound.

He shut the lid with a laugh. "I can sense Remnants, Jess. You should know that by now." I heard a latch lock shut. Then another.

Then nothing.