London ~1830
After Anya left, I spent the night sitting in a cupboard in an unused room in Bedlam. NOT the most restful night ever. I started wondering if Cordelia was gonna come tell me the coast was clear after a couple of hours, and then...I dunno, I guess the far-off screaming and stuff got a little hypnotic or I was more tired than I thought, and I fell asleep. Ugh, when I woke up--back stiff, neck immovable, and I could have killed for a cup of coffee or a couple of advil. Plus it was still pretty much much pitch black (you know, seeing as we're all chosen to fight creatures of the night, how come slayers don't get better night vision?) I crept out and went to try and find Cordy.
Omigod, I'd never gotten so turned around in my life. Unlike the long corridors of the inmate areas, the admin part of the asylum was all rabbit-warreny and confusing. Lots of locked doors--not that those had ever stopped me. The early morning light wasn't much help, seeing as how the windows were all pretty tiny.
I finally broke a particularly stubborn lock and found myself outside--some back entrance, I guess. Not at all where I wanted to be. It was cold and foggy and as I looked around trying to figure out the layout of the building and how to get back to the women's wing, I heard a rumble coming up the narrow driveway. I flattened myself against the side of the building, partially hidden by some shrubs, and watched as a rickety cart came to a halt.
"Hey there, Doc, got a couple more stiffs for ya!" the driver called, entirely too cheerfully. I craned my neck out to get a good look at the guy, and was floored to see my grave-robbers from the other night.
Another guy came out, presumably the doctor, and there was a brief exchange of corpses for cash. All the while the doctor's looking around nervously, like the whole deal is shady...or else he noticed the broken lock and he's wondering if one of the inmates is loose, I can't really be sure. And I have no idea what I'd say if they noticed me there. Then one of the grave-robbers asks, "So doc, can you really tell anything from cutting up their brains?" and the doctor answers, "Oh yes, quite fascinating to compare the criminal mind with those of madmen...you'd be surprised by how similarly they are shaped..."
Eww, eww, the guy was dissecting their brains! Which, when I got a grip, I realized was probably somewhat scientific and not creepy zombie-making stuff that I needed to do anything about. Of course, I'd seen the graverobbers at a regular cemetery, which probably meant the bodies weren't actually criminals...but it still wasn't slayer business. Ugh, people wonder why hospitals creep me out.
Finally they all went their separate ways and I snuck back in the building. And then spent the rest of the day wandering from place to place, hiding when anyone who looked like an orderly or official type person came by, and never once came across Cordelia or vampire girl. I managed to get some dinner from the room--well, hardly more than a cubbyhole--of some woman who was dragged kicking and screaming off to god knows where, and then I hid there for the night. And woke up to the sound of someone sobbing. It was a really eerie, echo-ey sound, and it took me a while to locate where it was coming from...until I saw light coming from a crack in the back wall.
I peeked through, and in the light of a tin lantern was this woman, all tied up in a straitjacket and possibly the bedsheets too, wailing away, tossing around frantically, her face all bruised up like she'd been almost beaten to death. I could see her door opposite, so she had to be on a different corridor, and as I was wondering how lost I'd get if I tried to find her room and untie her, I heard a shuffle and the light dimmed as someone crossed in front of the lantern.
When she got to the other side of the bed, I took one look and knew it was Cordy's vamp girl. Straggly red hair, matted with blood and god knew what else, her dress just vile, you couldn't tell what color it had originally been. Young too, whenever she'd been turned, anyway. She looked straight at the crack for a second, like she knew she was being watched, and then leaned over the sobbing inmate and stroked her hair, murmuring something that almost sounded like a lullaby. I was so stunned I just sat there watching--there was no way I'd get to her in time, anyway.
Then she shifted into vamp face and very...carefully, almost, turned and bit the woman, and the sobbing gradually stopped and the woman went limp. Geez, like a mother kissing a crying child to put them to sleep. Then vamp girl stuck her finger in her mouth, and with the excess blood on her finger scrawled "Free now" on the plaster wall over the bed. And she actually blew out the lantern before leaving.
God, I can hardly blame her for wanting to put the crazy lady out of her misery...and I think that's exactly what she was doing. Gonna be a lot harder to dust her than I thought. I hope tomorrow I can find Cordy...
Omigod, I'd never gotten so turned around in my life. Unlike the long corridors of the inmate areas, the admin part of the asylum was all rabbit-warreny and confusing. Lots of locked doors--not that those had ever stopped me. The early morning light wasn't much help, seeing as how the windows were all pretty tiny.
I finally broke a particularly stubborn lock and found myself outside--some back entrance, I guess. Not at all where I wanted to be. It was cold and foggy and as I looked around trying to figure out the layout of the building and how to get back to the women's wing, I heard a rumble coming up the narrow driveway. I flattened myself against the side of the building, partially hidden by some shrubs, and watched as a rickety cart came to a halt.
"Hey there, Doc, got a couple more stiffs for ya!" the driver called, entirely too cheerfully. I craned my neck out to get a good look at the guy, and was floored to see my grave-robbers from the other night.
Another guy came out, presumably the doctor, and there was a brief exchange of corpses for cash. All the while the doctor's looking around nervously, like the whole deal is shady...or else he noticed the broken lock and he's wondering if one of the inmates is loose, I can't really be sure. And I have no idea what I'd say if they noticed me there. Then one of the grave-robbers asks, "So doc, can you really tell anything from cutting up their brains?" and the doctor answers, "Oh yes, quite fascinating to compare the criminal mind with those of madmen...you'd be surprised by how similarly they are shaped..."
Eww, eww, the guy was dissecting their brains! Which, when I got a grip, I realized was probably somewhat scientific and not creepy zombie-making stuff that I needed to do anything about. Of course, I'd seen the graverobbers at a regular cemetery, which probably meant the bodies weren't actually criminals...but it still wasn't slayer business. Ugh, people wonder why hospitals creep me out.
Finally they all went their separate ways and I snuck back in the building. And then spent the rest of the day wandering from place to place, hiding when anyone who looked like an orderly or official type person came by, and never once came across Cordelia or vampire girl. I managed to get some dinner from the room--well, hardly more than a cubbyhole--of some woman who was dragged kicking and screaming off to god knows where, and then I hid there for the night. And woke up to the sound of someone sobbing. It was a really eerie, echo-ey sound, and it took me a while to locate where it was coming from...until I saw light coming from a crack in the back wall.
I peeked through, and in the light of a tin lantern was this woman, all tied up in a straitjacket and possibly the bedsheets too, wailing away, tossing around frantically, her face all bruised up like she'd been almost beaten to death. I could see her door opposite, so she had to be on a different corridor, and as I was wondering how lost I'd get if I tried to find her room and untie her, I heard a shuffle and the light dimmed as someone crossed in front of the lantern.
When she got to the other side of the bed, I took one look and knew it was Cordy's vamp girl. Straggly red hair, matted with blood and god knew what else, her dress just vile, you couldn't tell what color it had originally been. Young too, whenever she'd been turned, anyway. She looked straight at the crack for a second, like she knew she was being watched, and then leaned over the sobbing inmate and stroked her hair, murmuring something that almost sounded like a lullaby. I was so stunned I just sat there watching--there was no way I'd get to her in time, anyway.
Then she shifted into vamp face and very...carefully, almost, turned and bit the woman, and the sobbing gradually stopped and the woman went limp. Geez, like a mother kissing a crying child to put them to sleep. Then vamp girl stuck her finger in her mouth, and with the excess blood on her finger scrawled "Free now" on the plaster wall over the bed. And she actually blew out the lantern before leaving.
God, I can hardly blame her for wanting to put the crazy lady out of her misery...and I think that's exactly what she was doing. Gonna be a lot harder to dust her than I thought. I hope tomorrow I can find Cordy...