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I have very few memories of my father I was about six years old when he died What I do rehtly stoop-shouldered ician - not a wizard, a stage h He spent toofor children&039;s hospitals and orphanages to pull down much money He and I and his little show roamed around the country The memories of the first several years of oing to sleep to the whisper of asphalt beneath the tires, secure in the knowledge thatthe car, and there to take care of htmares hadn&039;t started until just before his death I don&039;t re up, screah-pitched shriek of terror I&039;d screa to squeeze into the s for me, and find me, and pull me into his lap He would hold ain, safe, secure

"The et you here, Harry," he used to say "They can&039;t get you"

He&039;d been right

Until now Until tonight

The ot me

I don&039;t knohere real life left off and the night a scratchy, hollow scream that made little more noise than a whimper I screamed until I ran out of breath, and then all I could do was sob

I lay there, naked, undone No one came to hold me No one came to make it all better No one had, really, sincefirst, then I forcedsobs and to draw in slow, steady breaths Next ca, I wanted to crawl into a hole and pull it in after me I wanted to be not

But I wasn&039;t not I hurt too much I was very painfully, very acutely, very much alive

The burn still hurt the h me ca upon a floor, but the rest of yroscope I ached My throat felt tight, and burned, as though seared by some hot liquid or che on that

I tested my limbs, and found them all present and functional My belly twisted and roiled, and for a ht curl around it

The sweat on hteen hours Maybe a little more

I felt thick, dry mouthed, fuzzy with the same aftereffects of the vampire venom that I&039;d felt before

For aI just lay there, weak and thirsty and hurting and sick, curled up into a ball I would have started crying again if I&039;d had thatleft in me I would have wept and waited to die

Instead, some merciless, steady voice in my head drove me to open my eyes I hesitated, afraid I didn&039;t want to openI didn&039;t want to findthings all aroundfor me to awaken so that they -

Panic swept th to shiver and pushposition I took a deep breath, and opened ht seared at le - a doorway I had to squint for a moment, so used were my eyes to the darkness

I looked around the roo Maybe twelve by twelve, or a little more I lay in a corner The smell was violently rotten My jailors, apparently, had no proble me lie in s and aruessed There was blood in it An early sy

There were other shapes in the dimness A lump of cloth in one corner, like a pile of dirty laundry Several laundry baskets, as well A washer and dryer, on the far wall from the door

And Justine, dressed in as little as I, curled up and sitting with her back to the wall, her ar me with dark, feverish eyes

"You&039;re awake," Justine said "I didn&039;t think you&039;d ever wake up"

Gone was the gla lank and greasy Her pale body looked lean, alaunt, and her limbs, what I could see of them, were stained and dirty, as was her face

Her eyes disturbedI didn&039;t look at her for too long Even as bad off as I was, I had enough presence of mind to not want to look into her eyes

"I&039;ed "I knohat you&039;re thinking"

I had to cough before I could talk, and it ain "That wasn&039;t what I was thinking"

"Of course it wasn&039;t," the girl snarled She rose, all lean grace and tension, and stalked towardThat they&039;d shut you in here with that stupid little whore"

"No," I said "Ithat isn&039;t what - "

She hissed like a cat, and raked her nails acrossmy cheek in three lines of fire I cried out and fell back, the wall interrupting my retreat

"I can always tell, when I&039;ave me an abruptly careless look, turned on the balls of her feet and walked several feet away before stretching and dropping to all fours, watching aze

I stared at her for ain the scratches I touched a finger to theaze to the girl and shook my head "I&039;m sorry," I said "God What did they do to you?"

"This," she said, carelessly, thrusting out one hand Round, bruised punctures marked her wrist "And this" She held out the other wrist, showing another set of h to one side of her body, parallel to the floor, to showit "They all wanted a little taste So they got it"

"I don&039;t understand," I said

She smiled with too many teeth, and itI&039;m like this This is the way I always am"

"Uht"

"Last night," she snapped "Two nights ago At least That was because he was there"

"Thomas?"

Her lower lip abruptly treht cry "Yes Yes, Thomas He et out, like at the hospital Control, they said I don&039;t have the kind of control other people have It&039;s horh Only a little tired"

"But - "

Her face darkened again "Shut up," she snapped "But, but, but Idiot, asking idiot questions Fool who did not wantdoes that None of them, because they all want to take, take, take"

I nodded, and didn&039;t say anything, as she becaht have been politically incorrect of n over Justine&039;s head "Okay," I said "Justlet&039;s just take it easy, all right?"

She glowered atsilent Then she slunk back to the space between the wall and the washingwith her hair, and took no apparent notice ofspun around On the floor, I found a dusty towel I used it to sweep sorime off of my skin

I went to the door and tried it It stood firainst it, but the effort h ain I threw up in the middle of it, and tasted blood in my mouth

I lay exhausted for a while after that, and ain I looked up to find Justine holding the towel, and pushing it fitfully at ed to ask her "How long have I been here?"

She shrugged, without looking up "They had you for a while Just outside this door I heard the with you, for two hours, maybe And then they put you in here I slept I woke Maybe another ten hours Or less Or more I don&039;t know"

I kept an arht," I said "We have to get out of here"

She brayed out a sharp laugh "There is no out of here This is the larder The Christet up and walk away"

I shook et to a hospital, I&039;ain, and played with her hair, dropping the towel "Alet to be someplace different Isn&039;t that better?"

"It&039;s one of those things I could live without," I said

Justine&039;s expression went slack, her eyes distant, and she became still

I stared at her, waved ers She didn&039;t respond

I sighed and stood up, then tested the door again It was firmly bolted shut from the other side I couldn&039;t reat I&039;et out of here"

Behindthe door atfor the source of the sound

A low mist crept out of the wall, a smoky, slithery mass that whirled itself down onto the floor like ethereal lace The htly at an to swirl and shape itself into souely huet out of this alive, I&039;ve got to get a new job"

The ghost took shape before me, very slowly, very translucently It resolved itself into the for woman, attractive, dressed like an efficient secretary Her hair was pulled up into a bun, but for a few appealing tendrils that fell down to fraealed blood, spread around a pair of fang-punctures Abruptly, I recognized her, the girl Bianca had fed upon until she died

"Rachel," I whispered "Rachel, is that you?"

As I spoke her nah beholding h a rave She nodded to nition