Chapter 24 #2
The same symbol on the pins that Gallow and the General wore when they confronted me at the convent. The same symbol I’d previously suspected and was increasingly convinced represented the Order of the Morning Dawn.
My fingers went numb as I lifted the topmost letter, breaking its seal . The letterhead confirmed my worst fears—the rising sun sigil sat proudly at the top of the page, followed by words that turned my empty veins to ice:
“Operation Dusk: Progress Report, Phase Two. Unit 1894 deployment successful. Twelve specimens secured for field testing under controlled conditions. Behavioral conditioning progressing as expected in nine subjects. Three showing resistance—scheduled for termination if conversion fails.”
I continued reading, horror mounting with each line. The letter detailed an agreement between “the Order” and unnamed military authorities for the “temporary utilization of vampire subjects in combat conditions, followed by scheduled termination once tactical goals are achieved.”
We were never meant to survive this war. We were experimental subjects, weapons to be studied and discarded. My fingers clutched the paper so tightly it tore at the edges.
A handwritten note in the margin caught my attention: “The French liaison’s unusual interest in Specimen A.B. requires monitoring. Possible connection to Providence target? Investigate.”
A.B.—Alice Bladewell. Me. And “Providence target” could only refer to Bishop Harkins.
“You weren’t meant to find those.”
The voice from the shadows should have startled me—should have been impossible, given my ability to detect heartbeats, to smell human blood. Yet Lieutenant Dupont stepped from the darkness as if materializing from it, his face half-illuminated by moonlight, half-hidden in shadow.
I dropped the letter, my hand instinctively reaching for the olive-wood rosary at my belt. “Are you with them? The Order?”
His smile was enigmatic, neither confirming nor denying. “Old enemies sometimes share new battlefields, Miss Bladewell.”
“What does that mean?” I demanded, keeping the desk between us.
“It means that the Bishop sends his regards.”
The mention of Bishop Harkins froze me in place. “You know the Bishop?”
Dupont nodded, his movements possessing an unnatural grace I had failed to notice before. “We understand the cost, Alice. But you must persevere. You must endure this trial. There’s a lot more at stake here than a successful mission, even more than the Bishop’s reputation.”
“What do you mean?” I tilted my head. “And how do you know Bishop Harkins?”
His eyes held mine, revealing nothing and everything at once. “You must earn their trust. There’s a bigger war that’s coming.”
“This is the worst war the world has ever known!” My frustration overwhelmed my caution. “What do you mean?”
Dupont sighed. “I cannot say much more, and it’s a risk to speak to you at all, lest I reveal myself. But there are those who’d leverage your power, your abilities, for far more than destroying an ammunition depot.”
I stepped toward him, desperate for answers. “Who are you? What do you know about Gallow’s plans? About these ‘treatments’?”
“The treatments alter more than behavior,” he said, his voice dropping lower. “They bind the will while preserving the skill. Perfect soldiers who follow orders without question. Weapons with no moral compass.”
“And you’ve known this all along?” Anger flared within me—at his deception, at my own failure to see what was happening to my flock. “Why not warn us sooner?”
“Because some battles must be fought from within enemy lines,” he replied. “As you well know, having infiltrated the Order once before.”
Before I could demand further explanation, the sound of approaching footsteps echoed from the corridor outside—the measured tread of military boots accompanied by the lighter, more precise steps I had come to associate with Dr. Gallow.
Dupont’s hand closed around my wrist with surprising strength. “Hide the letters. Remember what I’ve said, but speak of it to no one—not even Desiderius.”
“But—“
“Trust no one but the Bishop’s word,” he whispered, already fading back into shadow with a speed bordered on the limits of human capability. “And when the time comes, remember that light penetrates darkness, never the reverse.”
I replaced the letters and closed the drawer with seconds to spare, slipping behind a storage cabinet as the laboratory door opened. Gallow entered, accompanied by Mercer, their conversation already in progress.
”—final preparations for Ypres tomorrow night,“ Gallow was saying. “The General is most interested in how Specimens 7 and 4 perform under live fire conditions.”
“Ruth and Rebecca will exceed expectations,” Mercer replied confidently. “The treatments have taken well. They’ll make excellent field commanders once the war escalates to the next phase.”
“And the Bladewell woman?”
A pause, pregnant with implication. “Still a problem. Still too focused on her spiritual path. She remains a problem, but her influence wanes over her followers with each treatment. The serum is addictive by design. The more treatments they receive, the more they’ll depend on them. The more compliant they’ll become.”
Their voices faded as they moved deeper into the laboratory, allowing me to slip out undetected. I made my way back through the darkened abbey, Dupont’s warnings echoing in my mind alongside the damning evidence I had discovered.
A war beyond the war. Enemies sharing battlefields.
The Bishop’s knowledge extended further than I had imagined.
And somewhere in this web of deception and hidden purpose, my flock hung suspended like flies, unaware of the forces gathering to destroy them—forces I now knew included not just the Germans across no-man’s-land, but the very men who commanded our loyalty.
I touched the locket at my throat, feeling its weight like an anchor in a storm. Whatever came next, I would navigate it as I had everything since my transformation—one night at a time, guided by a faith that persisted despite darkness, despite betrayal, despite my own damned nature.