The anatomy lab was on the first floor of the medical sciences building. Empty at this hour, just fluorescent lights humming overhead and the smell of formaldehyde that never quite left, no matter how much they cleaned.

  I flipped on the lights. Three exam tables in the center of the room, cabinets lining the walls, a skeleton hanging in the corner like some morbid decoration. The cadaver tanks were locked behind thick doors at the far end. At least we wouldn't have that particular audience.

  I set my bag on one of the tables and pulled out my notebook. Tonny and Bonny stood near the door, looking around nervously. "Are you sure this is allowed?" Tonny whispered.

  "Probably not," I said. "That's why we're doing it at night."

  "But what if someone catches us?"

  "Then we'll say we're studying. Which we are. Technically."

  I ignored him and opened my notebook to the neuro exam section. "Okay. We're starting with the neurological exam. It's long, it's complicated, and it's probably what Dr. Bennett will test because he's evil like that."

  Tonny groaned.

  "Shut up and pay attention. I'm going to demonstrate on Tonny first. Bonny, you watch and try to memorize the steps."

  Tonny lay down on the examination table like he was preparing for his own autopsy. I positioned myself beside him.

  "First: mental status. Ask them their name, where they are, what day it is."

  Tonny looked at me. "I'm Tonny. I'm in a creepy lab at night with my brother and a guy who's about to fail me. It's... late?"

  "Good enough. Second: cranial nerves. We'll do a quick screen. Follow my finger with your eyes, don't move your head."

  I moved my finger through the six cardinal positions of gaze. Tonny's eyes followed, crossing slightly when I moved too far left.

  "Okay, now pupillary response." I pulled out my penlight. "Watch my light."

  I continued through the exam. Facial sensation, facial movements, hearing, gag reflex, shoulder shrug, tongue protrusion. Tonny followed instructions reasonably well, only complaining twice.

  "Motor system next," I said. "Check tone, strength, coordination."

  By the time I finished, Bonny looked overwhelmed. "That was like twenty different things."

  "More like thirty. But most of them are variations on the same theme. Check, compare, document." I stepped back. "Now you do it on me. Tonny, watch so you can practice after."

  I lay down on the table. Bonny approached like I might bite him.

  Bonny tried to move his finger through the gaze positions. His hand shook slightly, but he got the pattern right. I followed. Then he pulled out the penlight and shone it in my eye.

  But instead of moving it away and back to check for consensual response, he just... left it there. Staring into my retina.

  "The other eye," I said through squinted eyes.

  "Oh! Right!" He moved the light to my other eye, but forgot to check the first eye's consensual response.

  "Bonny. You need to watch both eyes. When you shine light in one, the other should also constrict."

  "Right, right." He tried again, this time managing a passable pupillary exam.

  Then came the facial motor exam and he passed barely at this. Then he moved to sensory testing, poking various parts of my face with his finger. "Can you feel this?"

  "Yes."

  "This?"

  "Bonny, that's my ear."

  "Sensory testing includes the ear!"

  "The ear is part of the trigeminal distribution, but you're supposed to test with light touch, not just... poking random spots."

  I sat up. "Okay, let's try coordination tests."

  I demonstrated finger-to-nose, rapid alternating movements, heel-to-shin. Bonny nodded along, looking like he was trying to memorize by sheer force of will.

  Then it was Tonny's turn to examine me. He started confidently enough. Mental status, fine. Cranial nerves, he actually did better than Bonny, managing the full sequence without major errors.

  "Good. Now strength testing." He positioned himself at my side, grabbed my wrist, and pushed down. "Push up against me." I pushed. He pushed harder. I pushed harder. It turned into an arm wrestling match.

  "Tonny, that's not—"

  He grabbed my other arm and tried to test both simultaneously, losing coordination and nearly falling on top of me. His elbow connected with my ribs. His knee found my thigh. His head, I still don't know how, ended up pressed against my chest like he was listening for heart sounds.

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  "What the hell are you doing?" I shoved him off.

  "I'm testing strength!"

  "You're testing my patience!" I sat up and smacked the back of his head. "You test one muscle group at a time. You don't just... wrestle the patient!" The System chimed in.

  "Even the System is roasting you," I muttered.

  "The what?"

  "Nothing. Just... watch me demonstrate properly."

  I repositioned and showed them the correct way to test upper extremity strength. Deltoid, biceps, triceps, wrist extensors, grip. Slow, controlled, one movement at a time.

  "See? Not wrestling."

  Tonny rubbed his head where I'd smacked him. "You didn't have to hit so hard."

  "You didn't have to try to pin me."

  Bonny laughed. Tonny glared at him. We moved through the rest of the exam. Sensory testing—they actually managed that reasonably well. Reflexes—I had to show them how to use the reflex hammer properly, because Tonny kept swinging it like he was trying to start a lawnmower. Coordination—they both struggled with rapid alternating movements, but at least they understood the concept.

  By the time we finished, it was past midnight. I was exhausted. They looked even worse.

  "Okay," I said, closing my notebook. "That's neuro. Tomorrow we do cardio and respiratory. Then abdominal the day after. You'll practice on each other tonight."

  "Tonight?" Bonny looked horrified. "We're supposed to sleep tonight."

  "You're supposed to learn tonight. You have two days. Sleep is a luxury you can't afford. You wanted my help, this is my help. Practice on each other until you can do the whole exam without looking at notes. I'll test you tomorrow."

  They exchanged defeated glances but nodded.

  I packed up my bag. "I need to go. Murin's probably wondering where I am." I pulled out my phone. Seven missed messages from Murin, all from hours ago. The last one said: "Where are you? Everyone's here for group study."

  Shit. I'd completely forgotten about the group assessment. I'd silenced my phone when we entered the lab and never checked it. I typed a quick response: "Sorry, got held up with the twins. Be there soon."

  Then I silenced it again, because I didn't want Murin's angry reply distracting me while I walked back.

  Then suddenly we were interrupted by a sound from somewhere in the building. A thump. Tonny and Bonny froze. "What was that?" Tonny whispered.

  "Probably just the building settling."

  Another thump. Closer this time. Then a dragging sound. "That's not the building settling," Bonny said, his voice climbing in pitch. The dragging sound continued. Getting closer. I felt a prickle at the back of my neck. Okay, maybe it wasn't nothing.

  Tonny grabbed my arm. "There's someone out there."

  "It's probably security."

  "Security would announce themselves. They'd turn on lights."

  He had a point. The footsteps continued, unhurried, moving past the door. Then stopping. Another thump, directly outside the door now. The door handle moved slightly. Not enough to open, but enough to know someone was out there.

  Tonny's face went white. "It's a ghost. I told you there was a ghost."

  I didn't have an answer. The door handle moved again. The footsteps started again, moving away this time.

  We all exhaled. "See? Nothing."

  And then the door burst open. A figure stood in the doorway, backlit by the hallway lights, silhouetted and menacing. Definitely not a security guard.

  Tonny screamed. "IT'S THE CADAVER! IT CAME BACK!"

  Bonny grabbed my arm so hard I felt his nails dig in. "RUN!"

  The figure stepped forward. The light from the window hit its face. Murin. My brain took a second to process this.

  "Ashru," he said. His voice was dangerously calm. "What a surprise finding you here."

  Oh no. "Murin," I said. "I can explain."

  "Can you?" He stepped into the room. The twins pressed themselves against the wall, suddenly very quiet. "Because I've been waiting for you for four hours. You were supposed to come to the group assessment. We rescheduled the entire thing because you said you were on your way. And then you just... disappeared."

  I'd forgotten. Oh god, I'd completely forgotten. My phone. I'd silenced it when we came into the lab and never checked it.

  "I'm so sorry," I said. "I got—these two—they needed help—"

  "You got kidnapped," Murin said flatly. "By them, again. And instead of texting me, instead of letting anyone know, you decided to play teacher in the anatomy lab at midnight."

  "It's—I forgot—"

  "You forgot." He nodded slowly. Still smiling that terrible smile. "You forgot."

  The twins were trying to edge toward the door. Murin's eyes flicked to them. "Don't even think about it." They froze.

  "Murin, I'm really sorry," I said. "It was completely my fault. I should have messaged.

  I'll make it up to you. I'll—"

  "You'll what? Study for me? Take my exams?" He laughed, but there was no humor in it. "I spent four hours explaining to everyone why you weren't there. Making excuses. Covering for you. And you were here, teaching these two how to examine eyeballs."

  "It was cranial nerves."

  "I DON'T CARE WHAT IT WAS!" He actually yelled. I'd never seen Murin yell before. He always stayed calm. Always kept it together. But right now he looked like he was about to shatter.

  The room went dead silent. Murin took a breath. Let it out slowly. "Akki is in the ICU. In case you've forgotten. His parents are sleeping on hospital couches. He might wake up tomorrow or he might never wake up again. You made a promise. You said you wouldn't do anything stupid. Then you disappear without telling anyone, ignore my messages, and I find you in an abandoned building at midnight with the two biggest disasters in our batch."

  "I haven't forgotten," I said quietly.

  "Then act like it."

  We stared at each other. The twins were completely frozen, watching this like a tennis match they desperately wanted to escape. "I'm sorry," I said again. It felt useless, but it was all I had.

  Tonny moved first, probably trying to defuse the situation. He stepped forward, hand raised. "Look, man, this is our fault. We grabbed him. He didn't have a choice—"

  His foot slipped on the wet floor, someone had spilled something earlier, probably formalin from a leaked container. He flailed, grabbed Bonny for balance, and Bonny spun wildly trying to catch him. Bonny's arm hit the wall. His hand smashed into the fire alarm. The sound was deafening. Red lights started flashing. The alarm blared through the entire building.

  And then Tonny, still off-balance, crashed into the instrument table. Reflex hammers, tuning forks, ophthalmoscopes, otoscopes, all of it went flying. Metal clattered on the floor. Glass shattered somewhere. A tuning fork rolled past my feet and disappeared under a table. All of this happened in maybe three seconds.

  Murin and I stood there, frozen, watching the aftermath. Tonny was on the floor. Bonny was staring at his hand. Instruments were scattered everywhere. The alarm was still blaring.