Chapter Text
“Murro Morton. “
“Sorry, sir?”
“Murro Morton. “ Norton earnestly repeated to the hospital's front desk attendant. It was early in the morning, and he didn't expect himself to be here either.
“You're here to visit? Relative or friend?”
Norton paused for a moment, deciding to say the closest thing to the truth. “Friend, old one.” He replied.
The nurse nodded, turning to the cabinets behind her, opening them to shuffle through the records that held recent and old patients who were checked in. After a few moments she stopped shuffling, pulling out a sheet. “Sorry, things have gotten a lot more busy since the amusement park fire. He should be in room 212, second floor.”
Norton thanked the nurse before walking off to find this Murro guy. He held the safe in his hands tightly, as if it were fragile like glass. Once he ascended the stairs, he stopped in front of the door in the middle of the hall. It was slightly ajar, the sound of a conversation leaking from the room.
“Nothing? Nothing at all? No clue where he is?” One man pried, his voice breaking mid sentence.
It appeared Norton had stumbled upon a conversation between detective and client.
“I'm sorry, we've looked everywhere around the park. He might've ran off, he is a suspect.”
“Mike wouldn't do that. He loved the trope, he loved it more than anyone. He should be the last man on that list, I'm more of a suspect than he is. “ Murro pleaded.
The detective sighed. “I'm sorry, sir. We'll continue our search but there's only so much we can do. “
Footsteps approached the door, prompting Norton to move out of the way. The man made eye contact with Norton, whispering something to himself.
Peaking through the door, Norton got a small look at Murro. He was an older gentleman, or maybe he just looked more aged due to the nature of his life. He grabbed onto the door handle with his free hand, letting out a stifled breath.
“Come in, whoever you are. “ He called out, slightly embarrassing Norton.
He opened the door, entering the room. The wooden floorboards creaked beneath his weight.
Murro spotted the safe in his hands, his eyes narrowing. “Where did you get that?”
The older gentleman had a few injuries, most notably some burns on his hands, covered by bandages. One eye was swollen, a nod that he had gotten into an altercation with someone the night of the fire.
“I-” He started, juggling the different answers in his mind. “Found it, while investigating the site. I believe this belongs to you.” He replied.
The older man smiled, shaking his head. His face went from defensive to fond, turning the safe over to examine every part of it. “It belongs to my cousin, Mike. He's been missing since the fire. Thank you for finding it.”
Norton felt himself freeze at the name. Murro noticed, his face turning defensive again.
“Do you know something about his whereabouts?”
Norton kept finding himself getting stuck in a growing web of lies. A web of lies he found himself getting trapped in, the more he struggled to be truthful the less he could move. “This is all I could find, there was a photograph inside that had you're name on it so I assumed-”
Murro looked for any signs of damage, some attempt to force entry but he could find nothing that would point to it. “How did you open it? It doesn't look like it was damaged?”
Norton began to back out of the room. Nothing he could say would help Murro. Being truthful would come off as a cruel joke, and lying got him where he stood.
“Where are you going?! What do you know?! Come back!“
Murro's cries fell on deaf ears as Norton ran from the room, quickly descending down the stairs. That was an entirely different emotional experience he was not willing to opt into.
…
Just like the night before he walked across the bridge on his commute from work. This time he didn't have any cigarettes.
“Mike?! “ He called out.
There was no answer.
“Mike!?!“ He tried again.
Faintly, very faintly, he heard a reply.
“You're back, Norton. “ if he could see his face, he'd assume the corpse was smiling.
“Are you-” he stopped himself from asking that question, instead reporting his morning adventure. “Murro is alive, and he's looking for you. “
A few beats passed. “Is he?” The corpse tried to force out a laugh.
Norton sat down, his back to the bridge's rail. “Yeah, they're having trouble with it.”
“I can't see anymore, Norton. “ The statement was laced with a level of despondency, causing a despairing hole to well in Norton's stomach.
Norton had to stop his voice from showing any signs of breaking. The least Mike needed was that. “There's not much to see it's pitch black. “
“What about the stars?” Mike asked.
Norton sighed, looking up at the sky. “There's a lot of them, it's a new moon tonight too. “
It was quiet again, the only noise being the chirps from crickets and the wind brushing lightly against the water.
“Norton, can you please do me one last favor, before I prance into the light.” a homage to their first conversation the night before. Except he had lost his cheer, and probably any spirit he had before.
“Of course. “ Norton's voice was gentle, unlike it's usual harshness. His stomach burned with something mixed with guilt, maybe fear or melancholy. He couldn't help Mike, Mike was already dead and probably had been for a few days by now. All he could do was listen to his final words. The sheer impossibility of the situation wrapped question upon question around Norton's mind. Yet he felt that by questioning it he was somehow betraying the force that let it happen to begin with. So instead he just appreciated this moment in time that he could speak to the corpse-- who in just twenty four hours felt like a lifelong friend.
“Please show them to my body. I want to be cremated, and my ashes to be spread around the park. “
Tears welled in his eyes, though he wouldn't let Mike know they were there. “Yeah?”
“I never got your full name. “
“I never got yours either. “
He could hear a labored laugh, which was quickly cut off. “You already know- “
Norton shook his head. “Not until you tell me yourself.”
He tried to listen for a sigh, but of course heard none.
“Mike Morton. “
Norton never was going to forget that name, was he?
“Norton Campbell. “
The corpse lightly laughed again, “Like the soup?”
Norton nodded. “Like the soup. “
The silence engulfed the two again before Mike broke it, this time final. There was no fight to be fought.
“I think I'm going to sleep now. “
The tears fell down Norton's cheeks, getting into the cracks of his frown. They fell on the wooden planks, tiny patters.
“Goodnight, Mike.”
"Thank you, Norton."
The silence wasn't broken after that. And Norton wasn't sure how long he stayed there for. Probably until morning, until the stench was too much for him to handle. Sluggishly he walked his way to the police station. He looked decrepit, as if he had instead crawled out of the harbor. His shoes facing all of his weight, saving him from collapsing in front of the front desk.
“I found Mike Morton. "
…
Mike was cremated, and the demolition of the park ceased to spread his ashes around. The service only had one attendee– Murro. Mike had no family outside of the circus. Norton wasn't sure if he should attend, after all he didn't know Mike at all. His only information being clues sprinkled about their short interactions.
So instead, he watched from afar. Watching as Mike became the earth around him, and found himself permanently embedded into the soil.
“How much did you drink last night? A story like that is impressive, especially from you.” Demi teased, sliding Norton a pack of gum in the place of cigarettes. She was still heavy on him quitting.
Norton found himself wondering if everything he had experienced in the last forty-eight hours was just part of one big story. He even wondered why he told Demi of all people in the first place. “Maybe I should write my own book. “
Demi scoffed. “I don't think you could make it past the first sentence without giving up. “ Turning the sign on the door to ‘closed’ she prompted Norton to come to the back of the shop. “Though it is crazy you found him to begin with. I mean I'm not sure anyone would think to look where you stumbled. Must've been gross. “
Norton shrugged. “As gross as it was, I'm glad it was me and not some wild animal. “
The two sat down at a small table, Demi kicking her feet up on the table. “Bad, good, mostly bad stroke of luck, huh?”
“Nah.” He gazed outside of the small window, looking at the stars. “Imagine how he felt. “