They take her to the door at the end, one of them kicking it open. A large metal tub sits in the middle of the room. One of them turns the faucet while the other seems to give the girl instructions.
I watch the women, looking for any sign of sympathy, even simple concern, and find none. Dead eyed, they wait for the bath to fill and then force the girl in. She squeals at the cold, but they ignore her, shoving her down into the icy water.
One takes a thick bar of hard soap and scrubs the girl, while the other holds her in place. When they finish their cursory wash, they dunk her under and then drag her up, her underthings plastered to her frail body.
Like this, it’s clear to see that Léna is pregnant. She presses her hands to the growing mound, trying to hide, but the women see and jeer. They drag her out of the bath and take her, shivering and wet, back through the hellish passage, to the stairs, and return her to her room, where they push her in and lock the door.
I’m not sure how long I stand in the hall outside her door. I want to leave, but I can’t make myself move. Eventually, I hear footsteps. Not the female attendants. I’ve learned the sound of their treads. These are heavier.
The two male attendants come around the corner, looking up and down the hall. Seeing no one, the one who’d looked in the reception book takes a ring of keys from his pocket, unlocks Léna’s door, and the two slip in.
I’m in the room with them. The girl’s curled up tightly on the filthy mattress, trying to get warm, tears still fresh on her cheeks. When the men walk in, she jumps up, cowering on the far side of the bed, her arms out, warning them away.
I know what’s about to happen and I scream for her. Running at the men, my claws out, I try to rip their heads off, but I rush through them, slamming against the far wall instead. Howling, I try again to slash at them, but I’m not there. There’s nothing I can do to stop them.
Eight
I Hate Everyone. No. Not Everyone. Mostly, It’s This Guy
Snap.
Blinking, I stared into the eyes of a smirking white-shirted Renfield whose fingers were still hovering in front of my face.
“Do you need something?” he asked in heavily accented English. “You’ve been standing here for a long time. Is there something wrong with you?”
I glanced around. I was back in the hall, the beautiful walls, the moldings, the light fixtures. I wasn’t trapped in the asylum with Léna. Oh, God. Léna. Ignoring the Renfield, I ran back through the open bedroom door, slamming it on the way to the bathroom. I barely got the seat up before I was vomiting.
Sam? What’s wrong?
Nothing, I said, climbing to my feet and holding a washcloth under the cold water. Just had a bad dream. I’m okay. How’s your meeting?
Tedious. That’s why I was checking in on you. If you asked me to return to our room now, you’d be doing me a favor.
I held the cloth to my face, trying to breathe through the aftershocks. Every time my thoughts returned to that poor girl, more tears streamed down my face. No way. I’m not encouraging you to play hooky. I mean, you’re already doing the Counselor gig on the down low for the vamps who call you. I want you to have the job for real. Don’t worry. I’m good.
All right. I’ll swing by the kitchen on my way back to you. Perhaps they have cake.
Thank you. I’d love cake. And if I’m asleep when you return, I’ll have it for breakfast.
Sweeter dreams, darling.
After brushing my teeth, I went back to the bedroom, wrung out and unable to stop thinking about Léna. Was her father punishing her? Hiding her in the asylum and punishing her for being pregnant? Who was the baby’s father? Had he faced any consequences? As I already knew the answer to that one, I punched the pillow a few times and lay back on the couch.
Remarkably, I must have eventually fallen asleep. I woke, lying on the bed, Clive’s arm around me. We were on top of the covers and he’d left me fully clothed, though he’d taken off my shoes. He probably hadn’t wanted to wake me by trying to undress me.
Stomach growling, I checked the time. It was late afternoon. Perfect. There was time for me to get food before shops closed. Wait. I shot up in bed. Had he found me cake? And then I saw a plate on my nightstand with another plate flipped over on top of it, creating a safe pocket of possibility.
Excited, I lifted the top plate and found a slab of five-layer sponge cake with a chocolate buttercream frosting. There was even a fork. Scooting back on the bed, I leaned against the headboard and ate one delicious bite after the next before giving Clive a chocolatey kiss on the cheek. Good husband.
Feeling much better about today than yesterday, I took a shower and tied my hair up in a braid. According to my phone, it was warm out, it being summer and all. I put on a pair of green shorts—baring my body was still uncomfortable for me, but I was trying—a matching t-shirt, and my dark gray running shoes. If my life had taught me anything, it was to always be prepared to run.
I strapped on the axe and added a light denim jacket over the top to hide my weapon. I picked up my little handbag, gave Clive another kiss, and headed out. Did the tunnel suck? Yes. But it wasn’t as creepy during the day when all the vamps were resting. I also didn’t know of any other way of leaving besides walking out the front door of a condemned, abandoned building and scaling a tall fence, all in plain view of anyone who happened to be walking by.
Nope. Tunnel it was. Hopefully, the waiter who had caught me sneaking around The Bloody Ruin Asylum and Taproom last night was off duty. It would be highly suspicious to be found in an employees-only area twice.
The Guild was quiet. I knew some of the Renfields were probably awake, doing human liaison stuff, but I assumed most slept during the day in order to serve their fanged masters all night. The ghosts had had to expend a lot of energy last night, so they should be resting as well. Perfect.
Superimposing Léna’s memory with what I was seeing now, I found the door down to the lower level with the creepy cells and the tub room. I hadn’t noticed it last time because the door was barely discernable and I’d been focused on the mold bloom on the right, not the door on the left.
