My stomach dropped. Was my future decided just like that? Without my having any say?
Help me, sweet Lord, help me. My tears were falling freely now.
Vexley opened a desk drawer and produced a piece of paper. “Very well. I assure you I have great experience in treating female hysteria. And as soon as her nerves are healed, she’ll remember everything about the suspected murders.” Arthur signed the paper with an exaggerated gesture and handed it back to the doctor.
And just like that, my fate was sealed.
“Thank you for taking up this…burden, Doctor Vexley,” my brother said, heading to the door. “I expect to get back a normal, proper young lady. Or not get anything back at all,” he added darkly and opened the door without sparing me another glance.
Distant screams sliced the silence after my brother slammed the door shut. Doctor Vexley walked back to me, something flashing in his hand.
“Now, Lady Draymoore,” he purred, “let’s see how we might unravel your little mystery.” My legs gave in. It wasn’t the cold bite of the syringe he slammed into my shoulder that made the room spin. It was the symbol on the massive golden ring on his hand.
A cracked skull with a serpent around it. A serpent made of human vertebrae.
Daphne
The Purgatory
Icouldn’t tell what was worse—the blinding headache that sent ripples of agony through my body, the dryness of my mouth and my swollen tongue, or the biting cold. The room spun, and I thought I might throw up. My limbs were stiff, and when I tried to move, I discovered that they were bound to the bed’s metal frame. Flashbacks of how I ended up here flooded my mind, and I pulled on my restraints, panicked. With no success. I caught my racing breath and looked around. Gray, bare walls, symbols and random words scratched into the grime. Scarce daylight filtered through the tiny window without glass, but the night still lingered in the corners. The room was empty except for a wooden chair next to the bed.
This must be some nightmare. I wiggled again, hoping to wake up.
Alas. Arthur had buried me alive in this tomb.
There must be a way out of here, I thought. Maybe I could convince that diabolical doctor that I was no lunatic and had murdered no one. All I needed was a strategy.
Fortune favors the bold, Grandfather always said when telling me stories of his adventures. I’d talk to the nurses. Get them to let me speak to Doctor Vexley.
The turn of a key snapped my attention to the door. The heavy, iron-clad thing groaned open. The younger nurse who’d put me in the restraint jacket walked in.
“Aye, she’s awake. Alice!” she called behind her. “Come on, dear. It’s time to get you cleaned up and fed.” She walked to my bed, followed by another nurse I hadn’t seen yet.
“I need to speak to Doctor Vexley,” I said in the most polite tone I could muster, considering my situation. Some naïve part of me still believed this whole thing was a temporary punishment, that Arthur would enter with his thin smile and beat me up like in the good old days. But no Arthur. Only a third nurse glancing at me with curiosity.
“We’ll untie you now, sweetheart. You won’t be difficult, right?” the older woman asked, pulling on my restraints.
Oh dear. If there was anything I absolutely could not promise right now, it was that. As soon as my limbs were free, something primal kicked in. I bolted—tried to. But the drugs Vexley gave me, coupled with hours strapped down, had drained every last ounce of strength. I collapsed in a pathetic heap on the floor.
“Told you she’d fight, Anne. Now, pay up.” They laughed as Anne dropped a coin into Alice’s open palm. Two other nurses appeared, grabbed me under the arms, and led me to the door. The floor was cold and sticky beneath my bare feet. Someone had taken my clothes off and stuffed me into a discolored, stained nightgown that scratched my skin.
My headache exploded again, brutal and blinding. Bile surged in my throat.
For now, I had no choice but to comply. To play their game and wait for an opportunity.
“I need to speak to Doctor Vexley,” I slurred, trying to control my shaking.
“Sure, dear,” Alice cooed. “But you can’t go looking like this, right? You’re a lady!” The others cackled like a swarm of crows, and I didn’t like this one bit. “Come on!” she said with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Let’s get the bath ready for the lady!”
They laughed again, and I took a mental note to be careful with Alice. She was the one in charge here.
“Release her!” she barked to the other nurses, slung an arm around my ribcage, and helped me up.
“If you try anything stupid,” she hissed in my ear, “I will make sure you won’t be able to walk for a week.” And she’d hold on to that promise. I knew that in my bones.
“Off you go, Lady Draymoore,” Anne crooned.
I let them guide me—or more like drag me—because my legs felt like jelly.
