Chapter 3 #2
Once we were safely within the confines of my temporary home and my skin was sufficiently cooled by the dark covering, I deposited my coat and hat, motioning for the boy to take a seat.
He perched nervously on the edge of one of the armchairs, his hands clasped in his lap as he avoided making eye contact with me.
Only when I was sitting on the sofa opposite—what I imagined he deemed as a safe distance—did he look up.
I could see the sadness behind his eyes, my own brokenness reflected back.
“Tell me who you are and how you know Ria.”
“My name is William. I met Ria when she was first admitted to Harmony Sanitorium.”
I rapped my nails off the armrest, staring at the boy quizzically. “In what capacity were you there?”
William ran a shaking hand over his slicked hair, sighing. “I—uh…I was a patient there, too, sir. I was released a day or two after Ria was admitted, but as I had to frequent for check-ups, I saw Ria almost every time I visited.”
“Tell me what she told you.”
There was part of me that did not want to believe anything he had to say.
After all, he was probably insane. Perhaps he’d run off, broken out of the institution where he was kept, and wanted to cause mayhem for the people he had met.
Yet the longer I looked at him, listening, his pulse did not quicken.
Only someone who knew of the supernatural of the world would not be cowering in fear under the deadly stare of a vampire.
“She was scared, Mr. Fortier. They kept giving her drugs and telling her she had to give up the demon that was inside her. They were convinced she was possessed, but I saw her eyes, sir. She was haunted, absolutely, but not by demons.”
My stomach contracted as I imagined my friend kicking and screaming, tears streaming down her face as she called for help. It pained me to know she was alone and so close to me, yet I had been unaware and unable to help.
“Go on.”
William inhaled a shaky breath, his voice cracking with more tears.
“I-I believe in things that haunt the night, sir. I’ve seen my own fair share of the creatures that prowl.
Nobody at Harmony’s believed her, but I did.
I told her so. I don’t think you have a demon in you, I told her.
I don’t think you’re lying. I don’t know who had betrayed Ria, she would never give me any names, but she seemed relieved just to know that I believed her.
” He wiped his sweaty hands across his pant legs, trying to force his hands to stop shaking.
“How did you know to find me?” I asked, resting my elbows on my legs as I leaned forward. “Why did they allow you to bring the letter? I mean no offense, but it would be a strange choice to allow an ex-patient to deliver news of death to other families.”
“About that…” William smiled sheepishly. “I cornered the messenger boy and told him I’d put a curse on him if he didn’t give me the letter and let me deliver it myself.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at the boy’s boldness. “Are you a witch, young William?”
William shook his head. “No, sir. But once you’ve been in a loony bin, everybody automatically thinks you’re in league with the devil.”
Nodding my understanding, I pressed further. “You didn’t answer my question. How did you know to find me?”
“Ria told me about you, sir.” William looked at me and kept his gaze steady, willing me to believe him. “She told me all about finding you because you were her best friend. Said if anything ever happened to her, she hoped that you would remember it wouldn’t be the last time you see her.”
An unfamiliar warmth spread through me at hearing how kindly Ria thought of me. I had not experienced friendship in my immortal life, and I imagined that Ria would be the greatest friend I could wish for. I hoped that in her next lifetime, we would meet again.
“Why did you come here?” I asked, wondering if the boy would tell the truth. He seemed honest, but he was hiding something.
“Because I needed you to know that Ria didn’t kill herself, sir. They were the ones that did it.”
The room began to spin as young William’s words hammered home.
I could hear his heartbeat pounding in my ears and his blood gushing through his body.
I yearned to feast on him, not because I was particularly inclined to take his life, but because the world only ever seemed to quiet when there was fresh blood in my system.
“Who?” I ground out, gripping on the sofa with my restraint beginning to slip.
“Dr. Havencroft and his entourage. They said they had to get the demon out of her, so they kept trying to perform exorcisms on her. The last one though…something went wrong. Dr. Havencroft had been withholding food, said that they had to starve the demon out. And when the devil wouldn’t leave her, they’d beat her.
The messenger boy said that one of the morgue staff told him she’d been covered in bruises and cuts…
” William trailed off, his body shuddering with silent sobs.
The monster in me was barely contained, and I let out an almighty roar so loud that William sprang from his chair and pressed himself against the wall. My fangs descended, begging for the blood of the people who had hurt my best friend.
“Tell me where to find this blasted institution,” I seethed, running my tongue over my fangs. “I’m going to decimate every person who laid their hands on Ria.”
After William scribbled the address down and any names he knew, I commanded him to leave before I sank my teeth into him.
Surprisingly, the boy—fresh faced and barely eighteen—was not overcome with terror, and instead begged me to let him help.
I thanked him, but this was something I had to do myself.
Instead, I sent him off with a letter of my own.
Dear Dr. Havencroft,
I thank you for your letter informing me of Ms. Radomir’s death. While I am struggling with the news of losing a loved one, I realized that I must thank you in person for all you did to help her.
I have been informed by a trusted source that you are having a meeting with the medical board in two days’ time…
I should like to attend to give my thanks in person and discuss the substantial donation I would like to make to not only your institution, but further research on the illnesses that plagued Ms. Radomir.
You may not be aware, but I am a priest at the Church of Lost Souls here in my city.
It would be wonderful to speak about the possibility of building a research facility so that we may know how to help these troubled souls when they have been influenced by the supernatural forces of the Devil.
I would be willing to completely fund this research, including donating further to aid any additional work you deem necessary.
Please also ensure that everyone who helped Ms. Radomir is in attendance at your meeting. It would bring me great pleasure to thank each individual in person.
Sincerely,
Father L. Fortier
I should probably have felt wicked for imitating one of God’s people, but a small part of me felt vindicated. After all, I had once planned to wear those robes and preach the gospel.
The next few days were spent traveling and planning.
I visited a tailor and requested for my costume to be made.
At first, he pretended to be outraged by such a request, but that indignation faded when I doubled my offer.
Within a day, my robes were ready to pick up and I purchased a rosary to match the garments.
Harmony Sanatorium was a large mansion on the outskirts of Lafayette.
It stood in the middle of an acre of land, though the grass was long dead and the property was gated off and protected by barbed wire.
The building itself was made of sandstone, three stories of it with large windows with bars on the outside.
To me, it looked like it was dead—the building itself and the land surrounding it.
The darkness of the place seeped out and I could only imagine how terrified Ria must have been when she was being dragged inside.
The stench assaulted my nose as I stepped through the front door and made my way to the reception.
The odor of sweat and fear clung to the walls themselves.
The staff had tried to mask the smell with invasive chemicals which only made it more acrid.
I wondered briefly if it smelled so terrible to the mortals within the walls, but I knew without a doubt that the crude stench was unforgettable.
I looked around the room at the chipped beige paint on the walls and the mold beginning to seep through the ceiling.
It appeared as though they had been neglecting the building for some time and, coupling with it the foulness of human defecation and dried, drug-laced iron blood clinging to the air, I assumed they neglected their patients just as much.
It was abhorrent and I struggled to contain myself.
There was a plan unfolding, though my body itched to set the place on fire and watch it burn to ash instead.
“Father Fortier?” the woman behind the desk asked with a false perkiness. “Please follow me, sir.”
She led the way down a hallway to the right of the foyer, the air becoming more tolerable for my sensitive nose as we got further away from the other side of the building. The walls began to look fresher too, the pungent odor rescinding as rows of dark mahogany doors lined each side.
Once we reached the end of the corridor, the clerk rapped twice on the door. A voice invited us inside and the woman closed the door behind, leaving me in a room with ten men that I was sure had a hand in Ria’s death.
“Bonjour, gentlemen,” I greeted, tipping my hat with a politeness I knew the men did not deserve.
An older man—perhaps in his late fifties—with gray hair that was beginning to bald on his crown and a sharp suit that was gaping at the seams, ready to burst, stepped forth first, extending his hand to me.