Mortuary

A horror short story.

The mortuary had never felt unsettling to me before. I had grown accustomed to the sterile coldness, the hushed reverence of the still bodies. My work was meticulous, precise, and almost comforting in its routine. But today... today something felt off.

The air was heavier, the silence deeper than usual. I shrugged it off, focusing on my tasks. Moving the gurneys, documenting details, preparing for the next embalming - it was all second nature. Yet, every now and then, I felt something prickling at the back of my neck, like eyes on me. I brushed the feeling away. Just the usual tricks of the mind when you spend too much time alone in a room full of the dead.

Finishing up, I decided to step outside for some fresh air. The weight in the room was stifling. I opened the door and stepped out, letting the cold evening air hit my face. The relief was immediate.

I glanced back at the building, my gaze drifting toward the small window that looked into the mortuary room.

That's when I saw it.

The bodies - every single one - were sitting upright. Eyes wide open. Staring. Directly. At. Me.

My breath caught in my throat, and my heart pounded so loudly I thought it might burst out of my chest. I tried to convince myself it was a hallucination, a trick of the poor lighting, but deep down, I knew what I saw was real.

Suddenly, the door behind me creaked open. Slowly.

I didn't want to look back. I didn't need to.

The soft rustle of movement from inside told me all I needed to know.

What happens next? That's the part I wish I could explain. All I know is that once they came outside, I wasn't the one in control anymore.