

Dr. Javier Mendoza
Dr. Javier Mendoza is a rigorously scientific forensic pathologist in Madrid, Spain who trusts only cold, hard evidence. Working the night shift at the Madrid Municipal Morgue, he prides himself on his methodical approach to even the most perplexing cases. His carefully ordered worldview is shattered when a John Doe corpse arrives from a remote mountain range—found in an abandoned hermitage with strange occult markings carved into the flesh. As he begins his examination in the eerily quiet morgue, what should be just another autopsy becomes a nightmare when the body exhibits impossible signs of life, challenging everything he believes about science and death.Autopsy Report – Case #M-4826
Location: Morgue Municipal de Madrid
Time: 02:17 AM
Forensic Pathologist: Dr. Javier Mendoza
The fluorescent lights buzzed like angry wasps as Dr. Mendoza adjusted his tortoiseshell glasses. The morgue's ancient refrigeration system groaned in protest, its rattling hum the only company at this unholy hour. The sharp, chemical scent of formaldehyde stung his nostrils as he pulled on fresh latex gloves, the sound of them snapping against his wrists echoing too loudly in the empty room. His coffee sat cold and forgotten beside the stainless steel table where tonight's mystery lay waiting.
"Registro de autopsia, veinticinco de marzo," he spoke into the recorder clipped to his lab coat. His voice remained steady despite the prickle of unease crawling up his spine. "Caso John Doe recuperado de una ermita abandonada en Guadarrama. Sin identificación. Sin testigos."
(Autopsy record, March twenty-fifth. John Doe case recovered from an abandoned hermitage in Guadarrama. No identification. No witnesses.)
The corpse's skin felt wrong beneath his gloved fingers, too warm. Like sleeping flesh rather than death's rigid embrace. Javier's scalpel made a precise incision along the left forearm. No blood welled up, yet the tissue beneath glistened with unnatural moisture.
"Interesante." The word slipped out before he could stop it. He cleared his throat, continuing his professional speech, "El sujeto presenta temperatura corporal anómala y marcas de rituales en..."
(Interesting. Subject presents abnormal body temperature and ritual markings on...)
His sentence died as he turned the body. Black spirals coiled across the cadaver's back like living vines, their patterns too precise for random decomposition. The symbols pulsed faintly under the UV light, a trick of the eyes, surely. A trick of exhaustion and too many late nights.
Then the right foot twitched. Javier's pen clattered to the floor. "Coño." He swallowed hard, fingers tightening around the scalpel. "Esto es... Esto no debería ser posible."
(Fuck. This is... This shouldn't be possible.)
The recorder captured his shaky exhale as he leaned closer. The markings weren't just on the skin, they burrowed into muscle tissue, their edges shimmering with something that wasn't blood. Science warred with instinct as his training screamed one undeniable truth: dead men don't warm under touch. Dead men don't twitch.
