Chapter 32
An early flurry, barely visible, greeted the vampires the next evening as they left the lair. The faint hint of snow was a preview of winter with the season's reclusiveness of potential victims. More and more people would be staying inside by the fire only leaving their homes to go to work and run necessary errands. The river would freeze along the shore making it more difficult to dispose of bloodless corpses.
"This is so strange and liberating to be out in the cold and not feel it," Susie observed.
"Yes," Ruthie agreed, "isn't it wonderful not to fear the cold?"
"If it weren't for shielding our faces," Amy said, "we wouldn't need our cloaks."
"Amazing," Susie wondered. Her anger of the previous evening had dissipated slightly during the day as she rested. Upon waking she realized reluctantly that Amy's lectures of the previous evening were filled with truth whether Susie liked it or not. She decided to learn as much as she could from Amy's experience as a vampire and find ways to take advantage of her power and strength without the risk of bringing attention to herself and her companions.
"I do miss seeing my breath come out in little puffs though, don't you, Ruthie?" Amy asked.
"Just a little," Ruthie admitted, "but I sure don't miss feeling cold."
Changing the subject Amy said, "Now that we are finished with Mr. Smith, let us continue our observance of Reverend Williams."
"When will you leave that poor man alone?" Ruthie asked.
"When we have enough evidence that he is the holy man of God you believe him to be," Amy answered.
"Or the false man Amy and I hope that he is," added Susie as they moved in the direction of State Street and the City Hotel.
Before very long the flurries ended and Reverend Williams emerged from the hotel with a companion, "He must be one of his congregation," Amy said.
"He may be," observed Ruthie, "he's dressed like one of them."
"I believe that man is sober," Susie said, "he's walking straight and tall."
"Oh!" Ruthie exclaimed, "The reverend's good work is seeing miracles! He was able to save that man from drunkenness."
"We need to follow closer to hear their conversation," Amy hurried away from the cover of the shadow of a tree where they had been hiding until she was directly behind the two men as they walked briskly toward Bank Street. Ruthie pulled gently on Amy's cloak to remind her not to get so close that either man could quickly turn and see her before she had a chance to duck away. Susie closely followed Amy, annoyed at Ruthie's persistent caution.
"The death of Mr. Smith is most suspicious," Reverend Williams remarked to his companion.
His companion chuckled, "You believe every death in the city to be suspicious."
"Mr. Thomas," Reverend Williams scolded, "I thought you were a friend of mine. Please don't scoff at my theories, which are completely rational. Your attitude resembles that of the so-called authorities in this city who have yet to take me seriously."
"I apologize, Reverend," replied Mr. Thomas, "I only laugh because of my admiration for your remarkable ability to see clues of a crime where the authorities don't."
"They simply don't want to see clues," Williams said, "however, I am hopeful that the mysterious circumstances of Mr. Smith's death will change their attitudes."
"How so?"
"The symptoms of Mr. Smith's illness mimic the same symptoms of several men formerly of Widows Row, a very poor part of the city," the reverend explained, "the authorities claim not to have the manpower to investigate fatal illnesses of men who would likely have drank themselves to death or be killed in an industrial accident eventually anyway. Mr. Smith, being a wealthy business owner, is different. While the poor citizens of Widows Row possessed little value to the city, Mr. Smith was an asset, employing many people and donating funds for city projects. The city will suffer his loss. I'm sure the city will want to avoid losing any more men like him."
"So, you're saying these men were all murdered?"
"That is what I am saying, Mr. Thomas," the reverend continued, "in fact, I believe other murders in the city should be investigated as well."
"What other murders?" Mr. Thomas asked in alarm, "I haven't heard of any murders."
"No," Reverend Williams continued angrily, "because most of the people murdered were of little or no social standing. Many of the deaths occurred in the poorest sections of the city or along the riverbank. Some were strangers, newcomers to town who had no family or acquaintances here to speak for them."
"Well, how do you know they were murdered?"
"For instance, many of them were found lying lifeless in alleyways with a dead animal close by."
"So, the animal was presumably mad and attacked the victim in the dark," Mr. Thomas presumed, "it has happened before."
"I was raised on a farm, Mr. Thomas," Reverend Williams explained, "a mad or vicious animal will attack other animals as well. No dead animals were found in such a condition, only men were killed."
"I suppose you have a point."
"Other deaths were assumed to be accidents, such as a night supervisor at the biscuit factory being hit by a train and one of my parishioners also being hit by a train."
"What is suspicious about those deaths?" Mr. Thomas asked, "Trains are relatively new to the city. One could probably be caught by accident on the tracks at the wrong time."
"I inspected the tracks after the bodies were found and there was no blood on the tracks where they were hit by the train."
"Did you bring all of these facts to the authorities?"
"Yes, of course," Reverend Williams replied, "they refuse to take me seriously."
"Well," Mr. Thomas said, "do you know why you aren't being taken seriously?"
"No," Reverend Williams replied hotly, "I do not and it's very frustrating to know so many men are being murdered in this city, my parishioners among them especially, and nothing is being done to find and arrest the murderer."
"So, what do you plan to do?" Mr. Thomas asked.
"As I said, now that a prominent man has died, the authorities may take action if I can convince them of his murder. I'm planning to take my story to the newspapers and to the city hall."
"And if they still refuse to take you seriously?"
"There is an evil haunting this city that apparently can only be detected by a chose man of God like myself and as God is my witness, I will apprehend the murderer myself and save this city from the evil that is killing it one man at a time!"
Amy slipped into the nearest alley closely followed by Susie and Ruthie, "I suggest we feed now and quickly return to the liar."
"Feed on the Reverend and his friend?" Susie asked hopefully.
"No!" Ruthie exclaimed.
"No," Amy replied, "not just yet anyway."
"What!" Ruthie exclaimed again.
"We do need to discuss what to do with the good Reverend though. He may be more of a problem than we first thought."
"I know how to solve that problem," Susie bared her teeth.
"Don't be foolish," Ruthie told Susie.
"Yes, Ruthie, that just might be foolish," Amy said, "since the Reverend has suggested to the authorities that some of the deaths in the city may be murders and not accidents, illnesses or animal attacks, the authorities may begin investigating if the Reverend is himself killed by one of those same methods."
"Is that what he said?" Ruthie asked.
"Yes," Amy replied, "he has been noting every one of our victims' deaths and believes them to be mysterious and intentional murders."
"Well, if that's what he believes," Susie asserted, "he's the only one. The general public accepts the authorities' explanation as accidents, illnesses and crazed animal attacks."
"He's a good man," Ruthie murmured shaking her head.
"Why do you say that?" Susie asked.
"Because he's obviously trying to speak for those murdered victims who can't speak for themselves."
Susie rolled her eyes, "Maybe he's
simply trying to get attention by causing fear in the public and causing trouble for the authorities and for us."
"Yes," Amy agreed, "his motives may be selfish, but whatever his motives, he is a danger to us. Let's discuss this later at the lair. We need to feed at the present."
"I can smell rats all along this alley," Ruthie said, "I can feed right here."
"I'll wait," Amy said, "you know how I feel about rats."
"I say we stalk in the opposite direction of wherever Reverend Williams was traveling," Susie suggested, "even if he covers that end of town, we will be safe in the lair before he finds the body."
"You mean we feed off one of his flock?" Amy asked.
"Yes," Susie answered, "the drunken street dwellers are the easiest human prey, unless you'd care to visit the stables."
Amy watched Ruthie skillfully capture, drain and discard rats as she contemplated the risks, "The Reverend is already convinced the deaths are murder. If he finds another corpse or a parishioner goes missing he will consider it another murder."
"No matter who or where someone dies," Susie said, "he will consider it murder."
"You're right," Amy decided, "let's head north and find a victim."
"Wait!" Ruthie joined in the conversation as she dropped a dead rat at her feet, "you just said that another death would only cause Reverend Williams to be more suspicious, so you decided to leave a victim intentionally to make him more suspicious?"
"Well," Amy replied, "not to intentionally make him more suspicious. However, there is no way to now revoke his suspicions, so what more damage will another murder do?"
"That is exactly how I feel," Susie added.
"Another murder will do a lot of damage," Ruthie said excitedly, "for one thing, another sin will be committed putting another mark of Satan on our souls. For another thing the Reverend will become even more committed to hunting down the murderer, which is us!"
"Well, what do you suggest we do?" Amy asked impatiently.
"Stop murdering people until he has no more accusations to make and no one to pursue."
"Then how will we feed," Amy retorted haughtily, "and don't suggest animal blood."
"What if we took the blood from the animals without having to bite into their fur?" Susie suggested.
"How will we accomplish that, tear their heads off with our hands?" Amy asked, referring to Susie's previous night's fantasy regarding Mr. Smith.
"It isn't the same as tearing off a man's head, is it?" Susie asked defensively, "it's no different than killing a farm animal for Sunday dinner."
"The difference is," Amy replied, "is that servants do that sort of work, not ladies."
Susie laughed, "You might have been a lady once, but now you're a hunter. Besides, ladies are boring and powerless."
"That may be, but I still avoid tasteless activities." Amy replied ignoring Susie's opinion of ladies.
"Like murder?" Ruthie asked, "I think Susie's idea might work. It will be messy, but better than murdering people."
"Thank you, Ruthie," Susie said, "what would you suggest, Amy, sitting in the lair waiting for Robert to rescue you?"
"How I do wish Robert was here!" Amy exclaimed, "He would know just what to do!"
Ruthie knew the conversation was not leading to a solution for the present evening and arguing in an alley would eventually call attention to themselves, "why don't you two visit the stables for blood and after that we can have that conversation you suggested back at the lair."
"Fine," Amy sulked.
"Yes, fine," Susie sighed.
Ruthie was relieved to return to the lair safely with her companions and her newspaper. She tossed her cloak over her coffin as she passed to the table and lit the candles.
"I hope that newspaper holds some useful news for us," Susie said as she and Amy both hung their cloaks and prepared for the day's rest.
Ruthie sat at the table and spread the paper out in front of her, "I'm sure Mr. Smith's death will be announced."
"I wonder what killed him?" Amy asked playfully as she brushed her hair.
"Or who?" Susie smiled.
"Yes," Ruthie said somberly, "it says he died of a fever."
"A fever?" Susie said, "he didn't feel hot like he had a fever. I wonder why they say a fever."
"They had to say something," Amy replied, "I suppose they didn't want to write that he died of unknown causes or that he died of something mysterious."
"Maybe they are calling it a fever because the doctor or the Smiths don't want to report his death as a vampire attack," Ruthie said.
"Do you think anyone recognized the bites on his neck?" Amy asked nervously.
Susie giggled, "They were pretty deep!"
"You shouldn't be proud of your sins," Ruthie scolded.
"Ruthie, do you ever enjoy yourself?" Susie asked angrily, "Feeding myself is not a sin."
"I agree," Amy said, "but we should hope that no one recognized those bite marks all the same."
"Does the paper mention our good Reverend?" Susie changed the subject.
"I'll look," Ruthie turned the page. "If it does it's probably not right on the front."
"Yes," Amy agreed, " it's a good thing for us the authorities don't take the Reverend's ideas seriously. From what he told his friend, he hasn't spoken yet to the authorities about his theory regarding Mr. Smith's death."
"I say we kill him before he has the chance," Susie suggested.
"No!" Ruthie exclaimed.
"I think it's too late for that," Amy said, "he will certainly go to the authorities today while we rest."
"He's a man of God," Ruthie reminded her friends, "there is nothing evil about him. You won't kill him."
"Maybe he isn't evil," Susie said, "but he is dangerous nonetheless."
"Yes," agreed Amy, "he may become a threat to our survival."
"There must be another way to solve our problem," Ruthie insisted.
"The only other way I can think is to leave town," Susie said knowing the argument was futile.
"I will not leave town," Amy said stubbornly, "I will stay until Robert returns."
"You'll risk your life and ours to wait for a man who abandoned you, possibly forever?" Susie challenged angrily.
"How dare you suggest that Robert has left me forever," Amy replied, "he was taken from me against his will and one day he will find his way back."
"You are living in a dream," Susie accused, "a dream that can only end as a nightmare."
"Stop!" Ruthie demanded as she moved between the two adversaries, "there must be another way to rid ourselves of Reverend William's suspicions without killing him or leaving town. We need to think hard and stop fighting."
Amy and Susie continued to glare angrily at each other over Ruthie's head. Momentarily, Amy took a deep breath and removed her gaze from Susie and said, "There is one other thing in this world I have faith in besides Robert's love for me and that's faith in Ruthie's gift of reason," She looked at Ruthie affectionately, "you are always right, Ruthie. We do need to stop fighting and think harder for a solution to this problem."
Frustrated by Amy's unshakable faith in a man who betrayed her and Ruthie's stubborn denial to kill a self-proclaimed man of God, Susie angrily took a seat at the table, put her head in her hands and said, "Fine, then, you geniuses invent a way we can stay in town and rid ourselves of our enemy, Reverend Williams."
"All right, we will," Amy and Ruthie joined Susie at the table. Amy picked up her brush and stroked her hair while Ruthie put away the newspaper and held her Bible.
After a few moments of meditation Amy said, "let's list our limitations. We cannot kill him, we cannot make him our servant."
"Hmmph," Susie grunted into her arms, "no matter how attractive both of those options seem."
"Only to you," Ruthie pointed out.
"What else is left?" Amy wondered.
"We can make him leave town so we won't have to," Ruthie suggested.
"What?" Amy looked at Ruthie, her br
ush in midair.
Susie raised her head from her arms in curiosity, "How do we accomplish that?"
"I don't know," Ruthie replied, "it's the only way to free ourselves of him without murdering him."
"It makes perfect sense!" Amy exclaimed, "we only need to remove him from our hunting ground. We don't need to kill him to do so."
"We could terrify him enough to make him flee the city forever," Susie suggested excitedly.
"Hmm," Amy considered the idea, "that might only reinforce his belief in his theory that the deaths in town were murders. He might believe that the murderers are trying to drive him away."
"Which would be true," Ruthie said.
"Even if we attempted to frighten him enough to leave," Amy added, "we could accidentally reveal ourselves to him. Then he would run to the authorities with our descriptions."
"They haven't believed him so far," Susie said, "why would they believe him when he tells them that three young women are the mysterious murderers?"
"They probably wouldn't," Amy conceded, "but he won't rest until he achieves satisfaction for the murders of his parishioners."
"Yes," Ruthie said, "that would be too high a risk."
"His parishioners," Susie scoffed, "the city's human refuse. I suppose those are the only people he can attract being a self-proclaimed Reverend without a church."
"Yes," Amy agreed, "it is quite humiliating to be threatened by such a low form of a man."
"He's a man of God," Ruthie insisted, "no matter who his followers are. The authorities didn't take Jesus seriously either in his time."
"Are you comparing Reverend Williams to Jesus?" Amy asked Ruthie.
"He's doing the work of Jesus," Ruthie replied, "that man he was with tonight seemed to be healed from his drunkenness."
"That gives me an idea!" Amy exclaimed after a moment of thought, "We could write the Reverend a letter inviting him to take over a congregation in another city. Certainly he wouldn't refuse."
"Wouldn't he be suspicious?" Susie asked.
"We write that his reputation for healing drunken men has reached them and they are in need of a talented man of God to rehabilitate the men of their city and convert them into productive Christians."
"The only risk we would take would be in delivering the letter to his hotel," Ruthie said.
"What happens if he goes and when he gets there discovers the letter was a lie?" Susie asked.
"We send him so far away that perhaps he will stay there and settle," Amy replied optimistically.
"He may stay there out of shame," Susie laughed, "imagine the explaining he would need to do upon his return. He would have to admit being fooled."
"No one respects him now," Amy said, "he would be nothing but a joke and never be respected in this town after this."
"It's a cruel plan," Ruthie admitted, "but it's better than killing him. At least his life will be saved."
"And we will be free to feed without notice once again," Amy rose from the table, "we can find writing paper and ink upstairs in the church."
Ruthie held the candle and led the way to the narrow dusty steps that led from the cellar to the upper floors of the church. Cobwebs had reformed since the last time she and Amy made the trip for fresh candles weeks earlier. Although the risk of anyone being in the church in the morning hours past midnight long before dawn was low, Ruthie was still extremely cautious. Amy patiently followed behind Ruthie trying to prevent her hands and clothing from brushing up against the dirty damp stones of the foundation. Susie, unsure of her footing on her first trip to the church, fearlessly yet carefully followed Amy up the foreign stairs, finding each step with her toe before allowing the entire weight of her body to follow.
After successfully ascending the steep narrow stairs, Ruthie was able to move more quickly toward the second set of stairs that led to the sanctuary and the supply closet where the candles and other altar supplies were kept. The beauty of the altar and its purpose filled Ruthie with feelings of hope and peace and joy even though she believed that as a being composed of sin and condemned to sin she didn't deserve to kneel at God's altar especially this resplendent altar. Kneeling with head bowed Ruthie held out the candle for Amy to take.
"You must be quick, Ruthie!" Amy exclaimed in a whisper as she took the candle from Ruthie.
"What is she doing?" Susie asked as she looked around the enormous room.
"She says a prayer at the altar when we visit for supplies," Amy whispered, "it's very important to her and we rarely visit for fear we will be discovered."
"Wouldn't it be delicious to have to rid ourselves of a witness here in God's house?" Susie smiled baring her teeth.
"No," Amy replied gravely, "it would absolutely destroy Ruthie."
Ruthie rose from her position of prayer and they continued to the far side of the room where the supplies were kept. Amy entered the closet and quickly returned with a few sheets of paper, envelopes and a small amount of candles.
"You didn't take much," Susie remarked when Amy emerged from the small room.
"We don't want them to notice anything amiss, Susie," Amy replied, "let's hurry back before we're noticed."
Ruthie turned to lead her companions back through the sanctuary toward the stairs when Susie changed direction and climbed the steps past the altar and took a position in the pulpit. To the shock of Ruthie and Amy, Susie bared her teeth and filled the cavernous sanctuary with her low evil laugh.
Ruthie began to tremble in fear causing Amy to catch the candle as it wavered precariously in Ruthie's trembling grip. Amy clutching the supplies in one hand and the lit candle in the other left Ruthie quaking and crying by the door to the stairs and angrily made her way to Susie's side.
"Sorry," Susie looked into Amy's alarmed and angry face, "I simply couldn't resist the temptation to laugh in the face of Christianity."
"Follow me," Amy whispered between her teeth and returned to where Ruthie was waiting fearfully.
Susie still snickering, obediently followed Amy and Ruthie back to the lair where Ruthie took her seat at the table and Amy set the candle back in its place on the table, then put the new supplies down next to it.
"How could you, Susie?" Amy stamped her foot furiously at Susie who sat at the table looking offended and annoyed, "Just look at poor Ruthie. I've never seen her in such a state. You've hurt her badly and could have brought attention and ruin to us all."
Susie's eyes moved to Ruthie who clutched her Bible to her chest, still visibly shaken.
"It was just for fun," Susie replied, "I didn't mean any harm. I thought it would be fun to poke fun at the ministers who are always so quick to accuse us of sin and shame us into following their rules."
"So it was a simple rebellious act against authority, was it?" Amy asked.
"Yes," Susie admitted, "an authority which no longer has any power over me."
"Well, it's an authority which has ultimate power over Ruthie," Amy explained, "Ruthie has the utmost fear and respect for Christianity and spends every waking moment attempting to serve God."
"Why waste her time with that when she has power and immortality," Susie argued, "more power than God."
"It's not a waste of time when one is a person of faith," Amy continued to defend Ruthie even though she agreed with Susie, "and Ruthie has a very strong faith in God and heaven."
Susie watched Ruthie hugging her Bible and felt a pang of regret, "I'm sorry I hurt you, Ruthie," She said, "I was being thoughtless. I should have realized how much my little joke would upset you."
"It was not a joke," Ruthie glared angrily at Susie, "it was blasphemy. It was an insult to God to laugh at Him in His own house. You should apologize to Him, not to me."
"That I will not do," Susie replied.
"I wouldn't expect you to," Ruthie said, "especially since you think you're stronger than Him. You're not stronger than God or Jesus. God is your creator. You can't be stronger than the God who created the earth and everything on it."
"We will never agree on this topic," Susie said as she stood and went to her casket, "I'm going to rest."
"Oh, Ruthie," Amy knelt beside Ruthie after Susie drew her lid down for the day, "will you be all right? I've never seen you so upset."
"Yes," Ruthie sighed, "I'll be all right, but I don't think Susie will. She's going to burn in Hell for sure if she gets killed. And with her carelessness, she won't survive for long."
"Oh, I agree," Amy sat in the chair closest to Ruthie, "no matter how seriously I warn her, she doesn't seem to comprehend the consequences of the risks she's taking or the peril she's putting us in as well."
"I fear for her soul more than ours," Ruthie said.
"We should rest as well, Ruthie," Amy suggested, "It must be near dawn."
"We will have to work on the letter tomorrow," Ruthie said as they went to their caskets.
"Yes, we will," Amy agreed.