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“How many girls did they take?” I asked. I imagined Samuel, debonair and fresh from a night out. He’d be wearing cologne and a tux, with his hair slicked back and his necklace tucked underneath his starched white shirt. I imagined him and Henry stealing into the girls’ dormitory and choosing the ones they were to feast on as if they were pastries at a buffet. I imagined the girls—sleepy and terrified, heavy-footed under the veil of compulsion, following them down the rickety stairs to the laundry and offering their necks, feeling pain radiate through their bodies as Henry and Samuel drank their fill. I shuddered.
“Five. Maybe six. It was hard to tell.” Cora masked her face with her hands, as if even remembering the scene was far too much for her to bear. “They took Winnie and Evelyn, and Louise, and I think they took a little girl named Clare as well. She was Irish, so of course I was hoping to look out for her…” Cora trailed off. When she spoke next, it was in a tiny voice: “I followed them.”
“You did?” I asked, impressed.
Cora nodded. “I tried to be so quiet. I know how you and Damon hear things that normal humans don’t. I’ve noticed it,” she said, smiling to herself. “I notice a lot of things,” she added. “But they never looked back. They brought the girls down to a room next to the laundry. There are a lot of rooms down there, a long hallway of doors. I’m not sure where they lead.”
I nodded, encouraging Cora to continue her story. I could feel the anticipation; we were onto something here, getting closer to Samuel. Despite the horrors she was describing, I was excited.
“They took the girls into one of the rooms, what looked like an office, and they started feeding. But it wasn’t like the time you ate that rat. That seemed all right. This … they’d sink their teeth deep into the girl’s neck. I could see blood drip down their backs as they drank. At first I almost screamed. But then…”
“What?” I asked. I laced my fingers in hers and gave her hand a small squeeze. It was so small and fragile, and made me feel as if I were holding a baby sparrow.
“Samuel would lean down and whisper to them. Almost as if he were being sweet on them. But Henry…” Her face hardened. “Henry had no mercy. Would say that screaming wouldn’t do anything, and this was all they deserved. That no one would care if they died and he was doing them a favor. It was terrible to watch. Because all I could think was, what if he was had been doing that to my sister?”
“He’s not. Violet’s a vampire. She can look out for herself now.” It was cold comfort, but it was something.
Cora nodded. “I know. But I couldn’t watch anymore. I thought, it would be just my luck, and so stupid, if I were to get caught. I’d be no use to Violet after that.”
I squeezed her hand again. That was the problem we all faced: We were in this together. And although death might be easier, we needed to survive, for each other.
“This morning, the girls were back in their beds. I tried to talk to Clare at breakfast, but Sister Benedict yelled at me. She rapped my fingers. I hadn’t gotten that type of punishment since school,” Cora said wryly. She loosened my grasp and showed me the back of her hand. Indeed, a faint bluish bruise was spreading across the white skin. I winced.
“It’s all right,” Cora said. “I’ve learned my lesson. We’re supposed to devote breakfast to silent prayer. And it’s not that bad. Some of the girls are nice. There’s one, Elizabeth, who used to work at a tavern even worse than the Ten Bells. And Cathy’s been kind enough to show me around. I’ll be all right, Stefan,” Cora said.
I wanted so badly to believe her. No, I needed to believe her. I thought of Samuel, his ratlike face buried deep in the neck of one of these girls, and felt my stomach twist with a sense of renewed hatred. He would pay for his actions. He had to.
Cora reached up to tuck her hair behind her ears. In that gesture, I noticed the chain of her vervain charm move, hidden beneath her dress. And suddenly, the kernel of a plan began to form in my mind.
“So you all eat breakfast at the same time?” I asked.
“Oh yes,” Cora said. “Sister Benedict makes us. We have fifteen minutes for meals, in between prayers and work.”
In the distance, the chapel bell began to chime. One, two…
“I should…” Cora said, her eyes flicking to the church in concern. The service would be getting out soon, and Cora needed to rejoin the line of the girls back without anyone realizing she’d been missing.
“I brought this for you,” I said, holding out the still-warm bag of pastries.
“Oh, Stefan!” Cora said, her face breaking into a wide smile. She was so pleased at such a small gesture that I felt ashamed I hadn’t done more. She deserved gold and diamonds for what she was doing. And instead, she was exclaiming over a bit of bread as though it were the greatest of treasures. Once we vanquished Samuel, I’d get her anything her heart desired. That was a promise.
“Would you like one?” she said, offering the bag to me.
I picked one out and took a small bite. The bread stuck to the roof of my mouth like glue, tasteless. I had no enjoyment for human food, but I wanted to have a small moment of normalcy with Cora.
“Mmm,” Cora said contentedly. “They feed us gruel. This is good. Thanks for thinking of me.”
“Of course,” I said. Then, hesitantly: “You’re all I’ve been thinking of.” In a different world, the sentence would have been a precursor to a declaration of love. Instead, I hurried on. “Listen, I have a plan. You know your necklace?”
“Of course,” Cora said, reaching into her smock and pulling it out. It glinted in the sun: a tiny ray of hope amid a swirl of darkness.
“The vervain works in a few ways. First, it makes it impossible for vampires to compel you, but it does more than that. It’s poisonous and burns us. Even touching the charm is hard for me.” The pealing of the bells stopped, and I knew I had only minutes to refine my idea.
“But the worst is when vervain catches a vampire unawares. When I was a human, my father dosed me with vervain. I didn’t know. I was in love with a girl…”
“Katherine?” Cora asked pointedly.
“Yes,” I said. Cora certainly did notice everything. “And Katherine was a vampire. My father was suspicious of her, so he decided to create a test. He slipped vervain into my drink. And as soon as Katherine sank her teeth into me, she sprang back in agony. She was writhing on the floor and foaming at the mouth. And then…”
