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"What?" a woman called from the crowd

"Her slaves were found, many chained to the walls in positions that would be impossible to achieve by the finest contortionists Bones were broken, es, s kennels, and so tables, and only in the heinous mind of Dr Lalaurie could the possible purpose of his torments be known And in the attic, human body parts were found strewn about It was said that hters becaet the Lalauries?" a woman asked

Nikki started to answer, but her voice froze in her throat

As she stared through the crowd, she saw Andy

She was still wearing the suit in which she’d been buried She looked beautiful, as always, but…

Gray Pallid

Dead

Nikki just stared, and Andy gave her a rueful, apologetic set them?" a man persisted

Nikki barely heard him She just stared at Andy, still unable to speak Then sheman near her heard and asked, "Who’s not there?" He looked around curiously

"I’ve got chills," soed to rip her gaze from Andy’s to stare across the crowd at Julian

So next to Julian It was the ht before, and from the police station The man who had shown her the picture of the bu these streets Brent Blackhawk

For soht of Brent Blackhawk snapped her out of her frozen state She refused to glance again toward the spot where Andy had been standing

"The Lalauries… "

At first, her voice was nothing but a croak She looked into the crowd again Andy was still there, unnoticed by anyone else

I aht

No, she couldn’t She couldn’t allow it to happen

She turned away again, facing the house, afraid that she was suddenly going to see dozens of graying, decaying, tor from the house Ghosts Ghosts no one but she could see…

"The entire neighborhood ca from their ho and rising dra almost occurred But somehow, just ahead of that furious crowd, Madaed to escape She got away in her carriage and ed to catch a schooner from St John’s Bayou to St Tanantly "They went after her, right?"

"Then, I’end Some say that she went on to Paris, and whether she and her husband began their experiments anew on servants in Europe, no one knows Others say they somehow remained on the North Shore for the rest of their lives Some say that Madame Lalaurie died in 1842, and that her body lies in New Orleans so a ripple of relieved and slightly uneasy laughter fro," said a lanced back at the crowd Be gone, Andy Please, be gone

Andy was no longer where she’d been standing

Nikki took a deep breath

"The house did burn down, but in 1837, it was rebuilt, and that’s when the stories began about strange noises, aboutseen No one seemed able to stay in the house at first One owner kept it for only three an to warn that there was a curse on the location A barbershop on the premises lasted just a few months; a furniture store did little better But then the Civil War divided the country, and attention was drawn fro Reconstruction, the house was a school that was open to white and black girls alike Then the school systeated, and it became a school for blacks only--that lasted one year The house next became a conservatory, but its reputation had become such that no one would attend a conceit, and the conservatory was a failure--and the night of the final performance was one on which locals swore they could hear Madame Lalaurie and her fiendish friends fro loudly This, of course, is all rumor, and hearsay What is true… "

She turned back to face the crowd again and fell silent, sing hard

Andy was back She see to stay hidden within the crowd

Far fro at Nikki Even in the shadows of the night, she swore that she saw the color of his eyes, that intense green, as he watched her closely, sees within her that she wanted to keep hidden

Andy, you’re not really there This is all in ritted her teeth, staring hard at the i to convince herself existed only in her mind

"What’s true?" she repeated "The house was divided into apartan living in one of theetting by But when he was found dead in his apartment in the Lalaurie House in 1892, there was over ten thousand dollars found hidden away in various places as How did he die? If he was murdered for his riches, me killer certainly hadn’t discovered thehosts of the Lalaurie House catch up with him? That’s for each individual to decide But now, according to those who believe, Joseph roa with the spirits of the tortured slaves, who are said to rattle their chains as they roaht Ghosts," said one big man, but he jumped when his wife touched his arm