Vampire Zero (Laura Caxton, #3)(46)
One by one, or in small groups, the girls wandered off to bed. It was no later than eight o’clock when Raleigh announced she was tired enough to sleep, herself.
It was understood that Caxton would be sleeping in Raleigh’s room that night. Caxton had expected the girl to be suspicious when she’d heard about the arrangements—surely she must have guessed something was up. Yet Raleigh had asked no questions nor even given Caxton a quizzical look. She had simply accepted Caxton’s continued presence as a fact of life and moved on. In the hallway Violet sat waiting for them in a massive carved wooden chair bigger than she was. The mute girl jumped up when she saw them and came racing to catch up.
“What’s her deal?” Caxton whispered to Raleigh, nodding in Violet’s direction.
“She drank drain cleaner and—”
“No, I heard that from Sister Margot. I mean, is she supposed to keep an eye on us or something? She creeps me out a little.”
Raleigh shrugged. “Sister Margot would never spy on us. She’s not like that.”
“Yeah, okay,” Caxton said, not convinced.
“Besides, Violet is harmless. She’s a little nutty, I suppose you could say.”
That Caxton could believe.
“I asked her once,” Raleigh went on, “why she tried to hurt herself. She can’t talk, of course, but she’s very good at mime. She rolled up her eyes and sighed dramatically, which I think means she did it just because she was bored. One of the other girls told me that Violet was the daughter of one of the wealthiest families in Ohio. They sent her here to get the rest she needed.”
“Psychotherapy wouldn’t have been a better option?”
Raleigh shook her head. “She was seeing a therapist four times a week when she—when she self-?harmed. But look how happy she is here.”
Behind them Violet stopped in midstep and beamed at Caxton, showing lots of big white round teeth.
“This place works miracles,” Raleigh said, her eyes slightly moist. If I have to spend more than one night here, Caxton thought to herself, I am going to start praying for a vampire attack. Just to break the boredom.
They had reached the room that Raleigh and Violet shared, its door identical to dozens of others in the hallway. Inside it proved to be little bigger than a closet. There were two wooden pallets with thin mattresses and thinner sheets, one built into either side wall, and a tiny iron coal-?burning stove bolted to the far wall. There were no windows, and definitely no room for a table or chairs or a third cot. Caxton frowned, realizing she would have to sleep either on the floor or outside in the hall. It was freezing cold in the hall—at least the stove would keep her warm during the night.
“I don’t see a private bathroom,” Caxton said, trying to smile at Raleigh. “Is there someplace I can wash up before we turn in? And do you have a spare toothbrush?” It had been a while, and she imagined her breath was getting pretty rank.
Raleigh gave her what she needed, including a washcloth and a bar of organic, cruelty-?free soap. It all went in a cute little plastic bucket. Then she pointed her toward a communal bathroom, where half a dozen girls in various states of undress were getting ready for sleep. There was a single bathtub, which was in steady use. Not wanting to wait for hours for her turn, Caxton gave herself a disco bath—a good solid face wash and a scrub or two under the armpits with the washcloth—then headed back to the room. Raleigh and Violet were already lying on their pallets, curled up with their eyes closed. They had taken off their ugly clothes but wore flannel nightgowns instead.
“Good night,” Caxton said, but Raleigh didn’t answer—maybe she was already asleep. Violet opened one eye to look at her, winked mischievously, then closed her eyes again and started to snore. Caxton closed the door, pitching the room into near-?total darkness. Only a little orange light came around the edge of the iron stove’s door. She sat down on the floor between the two pallets and placed her Beretta between her knees. She had no intention of sleeping, at least not until she was sure Jameson wouldn’t attack that night. She leaned up against the far wall, careful not to touch the stove, and waited. And then nothing happened.
Nothing at all. And then, more nothing.
At some point she noted that her chin was touching her chest. Her mouth was hanging slackly open and drool was rolling down the front of her shirt. She sat up suddenly, knocking her head against the wall behind her. Had she dozed off? If so, for how long?
She stared around the little room, desperately hoping Jameson hadn’t caught her napping. But no, both sisters were still lying on their pallets, fast asleep.
Wiping down her shirt with one hand, she forced herself upward until she was standing. Her head rang like a bell with interrupted sleep and she could feel the blood rushing down into her body, into her legs. One of these nights, she told herself, she was going to have to actually get eight hours of uninterrupted sleep. Thinking she would splash some water on her face, she gently opened the door and stepped out into the hall. A single candle inside a hurricane lamp stood at the end of the hallway, providing just enough light for her to find her way to the bathroom.
Halfway there she heard someone cry out in the dark.
Vampire Zero
Chapter 29.
Caxton rushed forward with her weapon drawn, barely able to see in the dark corridor. The sound had come from far off, perhaps from a completely different part of the building. She had made a note, earlier, of the plan of each floor and she knew there were dormitory wings at both ends of the structure. Getting from one side to the other in the dark was going to be difficult, she thought, and unless the cry came again she might never know which room it had come from.