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"Renée?" he prodded "Are you okay?"

Catching my scarf as it fluttered aroundto a café to study Do you want to come?"

His face softened in relief "Sure"

We went to a café just a few blocks from school Anya wiped her boots on the ust of wind, harsh and biting, bleeen the buildings and tookmy scarf swirl away and catch on the boxy shelter of a bus stop I chased after it and pulled it down frolass My reflection mimicked me as I wrapped the scarf around my neck But when I adjusted my hat, the reflection didn’t lass and stepped closer until razed its icy surface There was a person on the other side, his face like mine but ashen His hair was pulled back in a knot

"Dante?"

I took a step back in surprise and darted around the glass wall, dragging ot to the other side, the only person there was an older athered into a ponytail He winked when he saw

"Oh--I’m--I’m sorry"

"Renée?" Noah called fro my hat doith one hand, I ran back to the coffee shop

Streahts decorated the frontI stepped inside, welcolass counter-tops filled with cakes and pastries coated in frosting

We were supposed to be studying for our history exam, but quickly abandoned the task to discuss Ophelia Coeur and the last part of the riddle In the process, we devoured an entire plate of Hungarian cookies, dusting our books with cruar

"But the dates don’t match with Ophelia Coeur So if she isn’t the ninth sister, then who is?" I said

Noah stirred his coffee "I don’t know There are so s that o unrecognized when everyone was looking for her The research on water, specifically islands and salt water…" He shook his head

"I know," I said, tapping h the excess sugar on the plate and licked it "Well, it wasn’t that certain The girl in the portrait is practically unrecognizable anyway, so the burned face doesn’t really matter And how many nurses were at the Royal Victoria Hospital? So many"

Noah leaned back in his chair "True," he said, taking a sip of coffee

Anya continued "I’ll admit that the Lake Erie connection is weird, but that’s just one fact that fits The rest don’t necessarily "

"So nohat?" I asked

Anya tried to cover her nose as she sneezed, but was too late, and blew confectioner’s sugar across the table

"We’ll keep looking," Noah said, offering her his napkin "We’ll find the last part of the riddle"

"But how?"

Noah shrugged "Maybe you’ll have another vision?"

I rested my head on my palm "I don’t know It’s been ht have stopped"

"Or maybe it will come when you least expect it," Anya said "Isn’t that hoorks?"

Later that week, when Dr Newhaus walked into Psychology, he said nothing He hts, and made his way to the back of the room There, he flipped a switch A projector cast a square of white light onto the screen in front of us After a fewwords carainy:

THE DEATH OF CHILDREN

Interviews by F H Newhaus

October 1998

In the middle of the frame, a hand held up a small white board with SUBJECT 003 written on it When it dropped, ere looking at a classroom All of the desks were e, playing with a collection of rubber bands strung on his wrist

Sohed "How old are you?" Dr Newhaus’s voice resonated from behind the camera

The boy remained still, as if he hadn’t heard the question Dr Newhaus repeated hihtly sharper

"I don’t re with his shirt A map of the world was tacked to the wall behind him

"Are you seven?" Dr Newhaus asked The boy made no reply "Are you seven years old?"

The boy shook his head "Much older"

"Why did you try to run away last week?" Dr Newhaus asked

"I don’t like it here"

"At this school?"

The boy shook his head

"You don’t like it where?"

"I don’t feel right," the boy said

"Can I ask you to look at the camera when you answer?"

The boy looked up for the first ti just left of the cah our class The boy’s face was hollow and aged, his eyes heavy, as if he were an older person stuck in a young body

"What did you do yesterday?"

The boy didn’t answer

Dr Newhaus repeated himself "What did you do?"

"I took someone’s soul" His voice was barely a whisper