Chapter 16
It was perhaps the worst plan Caroline had ever thought of, but dawn was only an hour out, and she refused to spend another day fretting whether Valeria was a vampire. If she wouldn’t willingly tell her the truth, then Caroline would force her hand.
Though knowing why she had to do it didn’t make it any easier.
She knocked on Valeria’s door but wasn’t surprised when there was no response. Normally, she would have thought the other woman was wandering the walls, but the occasional sound of a flipping page told her she was being ignored. She opened the door anyway.
Valeria glared at her from the bed. “If I’m ignoring your knock, it means I don’t want to see you.”
“I wanted to check on you since you’re so unwell.”
“You’ve checked on me; I’m fine. Now leave,” she said, waving towards the door.
Caroline stepped further into the room, keeping one hand in her pocket. “I also wished to speak with you about what happened earlier.”
“But I don’t wish to speak with you. Soon it will be dawn, and I will be powerless against further attempts on my life. Come back then.”
“I wasn’t trying to kill you.” She wanted to roll her eyes, but knew that would only enrage Valeria. “I was only trying to determine if you were a vampire or not.”
“And pray tell, what are your findings?” Valeria asked, closing her book.
There was still some anger in her gaze, but Valeria’s attention was so all-encompassing that she couldn’t help the heat that slowly crept through her as she remembered what it was like having that attention solely fixed on her.
She cleared her throat. “It was inconclusive.”
“Perhaps because there is nothing to find.”
Caroline shrugged. Her words didn’t bother her because she was sure of the truth. It was in the way Valeria never denied it. Sure, she would tell her that it was all in her head all day, but she wouldn’t actually say that she wasn’t a vampire.
Which led her to her current plan. Which was the maddest thing she had ever even thought to do, but she was in too deep to turn back now.
Before she could think better of it, Caroline removed her sewing shears from her pocket. She pressed the blade against her chest—approximately where the bite marks were on Valeria’s victims—and pressed until she felt a sharp pain and ruby red droplets trickled down her chest.
“What are you doing?” Valeria screeched, throwing herself across the room with a speed unlike anything she had ever seen. “Have you lost your fucking mind?’
Her heart pounded, and her knees trembled as a fear unlike any she had ever felt coursed through her veins. Unquestionably, she was taunting a predator, but more than that, she was right. “I knew you were a vampire.”
Valeria’s eyes flashed black for a moment before she took a deep breath and they were back to their beautiful chocolate brown. “Fine, I’m a vampire. Now will you stop stabbing yourself?”
“I didn’t stab myself; it’s just a prick.” She removed her handkerchief from her pocket and held it to the wound. “Truthfully, I wasn’t sure I would make it this far. I thought you might have pounced and drained me.”
“That’s still a very real possibility.”
The primal fear running through her hadn’t dissipated, but she was fairly certain Valeria wouldn’t hurt her. She had ample opportunities to bite her. To drain her of her blood. Even right now it would be so simple for her to come over and lick her blood, but she still held herself back.
“I think I’m safe with you. Even though you wouldn’t just tell me the truth.”
“And what are you going to do with this information? Are you going to kill me with the rising sun?”
Caroline blinked. She hadn’t thought that far. Her plan only went to Valeria finally admitting she was a vampire, and now that her objective was met, she didn’t know what to do.
She should tell Dr. Murnau, but that felt like a betrayal.
“What do you want me to do?”
The intensity in Valeria’s gaze morphed to weariness. “Give me the day. We can speak this evening. I already feel dawn drawing near.”
Daytime would incapacitate her. No one would get hurt, and she would make sure she was here before the sun set so she couldn’t sneak away. It would also give her time to plan what to do next.
“Fine, but I’m not leaving until dawn breaks.”
Valeria huffed and muttered something in Italian that Caroline imagined was less than flattering, but she plugged her nose and got back into bed without draining her, so she saw it as a win.
It wasn’t long after that Valeria fell into her stony sleep.
She wasn’t sure if it was insanity or stupidity, but she wished she could crawl beneath the covers and hold her until sunset.
* * *
She was running off maybe two hours of sleep and many, many cups of coffee, but her energy felt boundless as she walked through the hospital ward where there were no new patients, just the two who were there the previous day, and they both looked to be doing better.
Dr. Murnau sat in a chair at the end of the ward, resting his eyes, but he also looked better. His trousers were clean, and a comb had been run through his hair.
“Good morning.”
Her voice was likely too cheerful considering they were still in the throes of an emergency, but for the first time their problems felt solvable. The unknown evil was now known, but she decided against telling Dr. Murnau. Not yet. She would give Valeria a chance to explain herself first.
Murnau opened his eyes; the bags were still there, but not nearly as dark as the day before. “Good Morning, Miss Blythe.”
“I’m pleased to see there aren’t any new patients.”
“No, but that doesn’t mean blood wasn’t spilled overnight.”
“What do you mean?” She hadn’t thought Valeria had left last night, but she hadn’t watched her the whole night. Still, she couldn’t help her disappointment.
“We discovered a casualty early this morning. Dr. Gardner is performing the autopsy now with Mrs. Montgomery. He died either last night or the night before. A neighbor found him this morning when dropping off milk.”
“Who?”
“Mr. Hall. I think he was a builder. I didn’t know him well, but he was a bachelor who lived on the edge of the village.”
Caroline’s head spun as nausea hit her full force. Mr. Hall had been in her home only days ago, and now he was dead.
And she feared she knew the murderer.
“Do you think he was a victim of the vampire?”
“I’m not sure. Gardner wouldn’t let me examine the body before the autopsy.”
“Do you think he will try to obscure the results?” He hadn’t made it a secret that neither he nor his research assistant believed a vampire was behind this, and she wasn’t sure what lengths he would go to prove himself right.
Murnau shook his head. “He’s an honest man. He’ll relay his findings accurately, though we may interpret the findings differently.”
It should have been comforting that they were dedicated to finding the truth, but she wasn’t sure if she wanted to know their findings.
“I do have another job for you, Miss Blythe, if you think you’ll be able to handle it. I want you to track down the vampire.”
Well, she had certainly been given more difficult jobs in her life.
“Why me?”
“I may be the doctor of this village, but I’m still an outsider, while you were born and raised here. You’re one of them in a way I never will be. You’ll know new faces or ones who are behaving strangely. You’re their lifeline.”
“I’m not sure that I’m qualified to hunt a vampire.”
“Hunting will come later. For now, I only want you to track. See if you can locate anyone who is new in town or displaying newly nocturnal habits and bring the information to me.”
It would be so easy for her to tell him about Valeria. That she had even admitted to being the vampire they were searching for, and she would be asleep and perfectly defenseless in her guest room for many hours.
Instead, she remained silent. Even as guilt settled in, she accepted his assignment and told him she would keep him abreast of her findings. At least she had earned some time away from the hospital to begin her search.
Or pretend to begin her search. It would be easier to lie to Dr. Murnau if she didn’t have to see him nearly as much. And it would give her time to figure out what to do with the vampire living in her home.
* * *
Sunset came quickly as she spent her afternoon dozing in a dark room. She went directly to Valeria’s room after returning from the hospital. She pulled in a creaky rocking chair from an adjacent room and placed it in front of the door in case she slept for too long and Valeria tried to sneak out.
“Why are you holding a fire poker?”
Caroline jerked up, gripping the poker before she remembered where she was and relaxed. Until she remembered who she was with and her panic returned.
“Protection,” she said, her face heating. It made sense when she grabbed it, but now she had her doubts.
Valeria laughed. “Do you think that would stop me?”
The knob of the gas lamp clicked before a warm amber glow illuminated the room. The lamp was on its lowest setting, but it was enough for her to see Valeria and the wicked glint in her eye as she snatched the fire poker as if it were a dandelion.
“See,” she said as she bent the poker without any effort. “Not very effective, is it?”
Caroline scrambled back, the rocking chair tipped back, and loudly squealed at the indignation of being forced into such momentum, before lurching forward and sliding from the wooden seat to the floor.
“I don’t think this calls for hysterics.”
“Are you going to hurt me?”
It was profoundly stupid of her not to keep this from Dr. Murnau. She never would have had the fortitude to open the blinds and let the sun take care of Valeria for her, but she could have told the doctor the truth, and he surely would have had a plan. Now, she would be just another casualty.
“No,” Valeria sighed. “How many times do I have to tell you that I’m not going to hurt you before you believe me?”
“You bent iron.”
“I wanted to prove it was a poor weapon against me. If I really wanted to hurt you, you couldn’t stop me.”