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Then they were back toon one pair of platforure was tied doith sisal rope, and the other

Alexia cried out in horror and distress The other wore an extravagant plu coat stained with blood and a satin waistcoat of sea-foareen and mauve plaid torn in several places He, too, was tied doith rope, but he had also been crucified through both hands and feet ooden stakes The stakes were bolted into the platform on which he lay, and Alexia could not tell if he lay still because of the pain they caused hier move at all

Miss Tarabotti wrenched toward her friend convulsively, but the auto reason only at the very last, Alexia figured this was probably a good thing If she touched Lord Akeldama when he was in such a weakened state, her preternatural abilitiesabout his i him alive--that is, if he was still alive

"You," she sputtered at Mr Sieh to describe these so-called scientists, "you philistines! What have you done to him?"

Not only had Lord Akeldama been strapped and nailed down, but they had hooked him into one of their infernal machines One sleeve of his beautiful coat had been cut away, as had the silk shirt underneath, and a long ed from under the skin of his upper arm The tube ran into a mechanical steam-driven contraption of some kind, from which came another tube, which hooked into the other man This second man was clearly not supernatural; his skin was tan and his cheeks rosy But he, too, lay as still as death

"How far along are we, Cecil?" Mr Sienoring Miss Tarabotti

"Nearly done, sir We think youmuch more smoothly than our previous procedures"

"And the application of the electrical current?" Mr Siemons scratched his sideburns

The lassicals for focus "Within the hour, sir, within the hour"

Mr Siehtedly "Excellent, quite excellent I shall not disturb Dr Neebs; he looks to be concentrating deeply I kno involved he gets in his work"

"We are trying to moderate the intensity of the shock, sir Dr Neebs thinks this ht extend survival ti scientist, looking up fro with on the side of theapproach Proceed, please, proceed Do not estured at Miss Tarabotti

"Very good, sir I’ll just get on, then," said the first scientist, ent back to what he had been doing before they entered the roolance in Miss Tarabotti’s direction

Alexia looked Mr Sie to understand," she said in a quiet, deadly voice, "who is theis farther froet You are profaning creation, not only with this"--she gestured rudely with her thuhtly--"but with that" She pointed to the rily inside the body of her dear friend The horrible contraption seery for blood than any vampire she had ever seen "It is you, Mr Siemons, who is the abomination"

Mr Siemons stepped forward and slapped her hard across the face The sound, a sharp crack, caused Dr Neebs to look up froh, and all three scientists immediately returned to their activities

Alexia recoiled back against the cold stillness of the automaton Instantly, she jerked forward away fro away tears of frustration When her vision had cleared, she could see that Mr Sieht little psychopathic smile

"Protocol, Miss Tarabotti," he said Then he said so in Latin

The automaton hauled Alexia over to one of the other sets of platfor and came to strap her dohile the creature held her immobile Mr Siemons helped to secure her ankles and wrists with rope tied so tight Miss Tarabotti was certain she would lose all circulation to her extremities The platform was decked out with massive manacles made of solid metal that looked to be iron coated in silver, and there were more of those aooden stakes, but the scientists clearly did not think she needed such extre in a new test recipient," Mr Sie man nodded, put his leather notebook on a slassicals, and left the room

The automaton took up residence in front of the closed door, a silent wax-faced sentry

Alexia twisted her head to one side She could see Lord Akelda on his platform The older scientist, Dr Neebs, see another machine into the one with all the tubes This new apparatus was a ss At its heart was a glass jar withscientist caorously turn a crank attached to this device

Eventually there issued a sharp crackling sound, and a vibrating beaht ran up the tube attached to Lord Akeldama’s arm and penetrated his body The va involuntarily on the wooden stakes i his hands and feet His eyes shot open, and he let out a keening scream of pain