Ghost in the Roses
Chapter 17

In 72 hours, the entire student body will be allowed to see their homes again. It’s funny how just last summer, we all itched to get out of our hometowns and now we are so homesick that we are on the verge of vomiting. The nervous knots before the semester’s final exams are certainly not helping.

My friends and I are about to be put out of our misery and torture. All day long we had to prove ourselves to be worthy to continue with the program. At first, the first semester’s flights were put under the scrutiny of the law and we had to write three memos for three cases, none alike to prevent any kind of cheaters’ alliances. I had one on contracts, one on torts, and one on property law.

The history classes, History of the Knights and History of the Violet Dominion and its People were easy. All it was is memory spitting out facts on paper. Exam on Reports class, my least favorite was a bit more challenging. After the Laws exam, my mind was already exhausted, and keeping track of the model battle proved to be more challenging. I hope I didn’t exceed the number of typos allowed.

I didn’t blow up the spell lab when brewing the potion that I randomly picked out of the witch’s hat. That’s promising. With my name on the vial, I submitted it with the rest. It will be up to Madam Mosivna’s assistants to test the colorful tonics for purity and effectiveness during the following nights. My fingers are crossed that one drop of mine will turn a single grain of wheat into a warm bread roll like it is supposed to.

After completing the Physical Training Exam and Combat exams on the other hand, one will know right off the bat if they passed or not.

Now, at last, the last final exam is finally here and this painful day is almost over. Medicinal Clinicals is the end of the line.

“Welcome! Welcome! Come on in and pick a body! Anybody laying on the table!” Sir Sirgo is very enthusiastic to get this going.

Oh, my dear demons and spirits! Is this even legal?!

“Come in! Come on! don’t be shy! They can’t hurt you. They’re dead.”

Weak at our knees, we stumble into the lab. I can’t believe what he had done to the room; all of the medical equipment and dummies have been removed and the classroom feels more like a morgue. There are 32 students in this class and each one of us has a surprise laid out on the steel tables: a dead person’s body.

“Don’t you dare pass out!” he yells at us. “Inability to participate is an automatic fail! There will be no retakes or makeups!”

I fight not to get sick. In the back of the room, I hear someone fail and I dare not turn around.

“Are you okay to proceed?” our mad professor casually asks the sick exam taker.

“Yes, Sir!” automatically, that's the response.

“Alright everyone pays attention. We’ve been using dummies all along and our latest practice was with the Sphinx’s Whiskers,” he takes the knitting needle-like tool out of a glass halter.

“Today’s exam will show how well you understand the execution of this treatment and how well you know the anatomy of real flesh. Alright, I see that some of you are still in shock so I’m going to try to real you guys in. Cadet Nina, what is Sphinx’s Whisker?”

“Sir, Sphinx’s Whisker is a shed whisker from a Sphinx, with its venom at the top of its peak,” numb Nina proves that her lips are still capable of talking.

“Good. Cadet Victor, when is this medicine to be used?”

“Sir, this medicine is to be used as the very last resort, when all else fails.”

“Good. Cadet Lilly. What particular attempts would you use first before deciding that this venom is the only alternative left?”

“Sir, the last attempts are the chest compression and synthetic breathing for four full cycles,” her answer is confident as the fact itself.

“Correct. Now that I know you are all still with me, you will demonstrate this technique on a dead body and not on a dummy like we have been doing for the past week,” Sir Sirgo opens a big case filled with secured whiskers. “Another difference in this, besides the bodies, is that we have been practicing with deactivated needles that already had the venom used up. These whiskers are fully active and live.”

This is it! Today might be the day I might actually die and it won’t be in the hands of a glorious battle. The worst part will be is that I might not replace out how I did on the previous exams.

“Cadet Adrien! What will happen if you accidentally prick yourself with this?”

“Sir, if I accidentally prick myself with the whisker I’ll go into hemorrhagic shock and bleed to death for the entire class to see.”

“Good. Now I’ll pass out these safely secured Sphinx Whiskers to each one of you and your test is to administer this medicine to the dead body in front of you. Please use these only on the body that you have selected and aim carefully, but swiftly for you’ll get only one chance to get this right. Please wait patiently and do not execute until I say it’s okay to process this test. Do I make myself clear?!”

“Yes, Sir!!” Our voices explode.

I nervously stare at the peaceful face of my dead goblin. Lucky him, he has no idea what is about to happen to him. How anyone can sign a document stating that they'll let their corpse be used for educational purposes is beyond me.

The unfazed Sir Sigro gives me my Sphinx Whisker and all that is left to do is wait.

My breathing gets heavier and heavier. He’s dead and if I do fail, it won’t matter one bit, but my mind won’t listen to reason. Don’t let him die. Don’t let him die. don’t let him die. Don’t fuck up. Don’t fuck up. Don’t fuck up. Don’t.

“You may proceed with the test!” he announces.

Okay. Okay. Stay calm. This isn’t a race. Do what you know you’re supposed to do. I take the long sharp whisker out of the halter. In the cold palm of my hand, its sharp end sparkles at me.

Okay, first this is a goblin. The heart of a goblin should be two ribs lower than mine. I work up the nerve to touch him and count down the bones. Next, I feel for the little bump that’s in the center of the sternum bone. Under it is the center of the heart. That is where it has to go, exactly. If I go any higher, this needle strong as steel will puncture the aorta and the vein will split. If the hit is any lower, I’ll miss the target nerves of this organ.

With red ink, I mark the spot. The time to strike has come, literally. In horror, I stare at the poor pathetic little red dot that is completely at the mercy of my precision. My hand gains momentum over my shoulder and holds on to the Sphinx’s Whisker tightly. Stars forbid it if my fingers slip.

“Agh!” my hand comes crashing down.

Pop! The needle goes past the bone. In disbelief at what my body has committed, I let go and step away. Now, it's time to count. I need to treat this person as if he still stands a chance at life.

“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten...”

The venom should have completely saturated the heart by now, but this isn’t over yet. Next, I need to take out the needle with most minimum damage possible. It isn’t until I bring my hand back up to his chest, do I notice my fingers shake.

Get this over with! I command my hand and surprisingly it obeys.

It’s done, at last. All that’s left to do is dress the wound. From the center drawer of my supply cart, I take out the gauze and bandage tape.

The worst part is over, but how can Sir Sirgo tell if I did this right? Performing an autopsy will take too long.

In the middle of my dress, I feel a touch. A cold one, cold as ice. There is no softness or elasticity to it. It’s completely unnatural. I look and see the goblin’s hand holding onto my wrist. His eyes are wide open.

What the fuck! I’m frozen in disbelief. This can’t be real. Did I finally crack under all the academic pressure of exams?

The nightmarish vision doesn’t end there and the dead goblin’s eyes blink. I blink too, hoping to make this hallucination go away. It doesn’t go away, instead, the goblin turns his head toward me and the paled eyes blink at me again, simultaneously.

This is the last straw and at last, I snap out of my petrified state.

“Holy fucking shit!!” I get away from his grip and nearly knock over my medical cart.

All around me, the other corpses begin to move their limbs too. Some even begin to moan. The cadets that brought them semi-alive are just as startled.

“Congratulations cadet! You have passed my class!” Sir Sirgo’s hands drop on my shoulders.

“Sir is he...?”

“No, he is not. This is just the venom acting as the electrical output in place of the brain. This will wear out momentarily and he’ll be still again.”

“Oh, okay,” right in front of me, my zombified creation submit back into its eternal sleep.

“I hope you now can truly appreciate the power of Sphinx’s Whiskers. If this is what it can do to a body that has been dead for months, you can imagine what it can do to an alive person,” he makes his point loud and clear.