Hidden Truths - Ethan

41 - The Truth II

This is the moment Lyall connects the dots. "The girl is the sister of the human you killed?", he wants assurance and I nod. Avoiding both of their looks I start to tell them about what I found out months ago.

~~~~ The night Henriette McDonnelly died ~~~~

"Henriette? It's me, I know it's late for you, but we need to talk.", I say through the closed door and after a few moments, I can hear a sigh. "Mister Vinge?", a fainted voice. "Yes, I'll come in now.", I warn her before opening the door.

My eyes grow wide first at what I see and it doesn't take long for them to fully glow. "What happened?!", I want to know and she sighs once more. She is lying in her bed and her throat and neck show wounds that look like someone has bitten her several times; not only today but alarmingly harsh. There is also the old fracture I gave her a few weeks ago. Next, to the bites, a bruise started to form on her cheek and her wrists look also wounded. She is bleeding out of several of the bites. With a few steps, I'm next to her taking her hand and getting on my knees to look at her face. "Who did that?", I want to know but she just sighs once more. "Oh, Mister Vinge...", she coughs. "I'm a horrible person.", she starts crying and I am just puzzled.

"Why do you say that, little lady?", I was the one being rude to her. "I need to get you to Erwin. He will know how to fix this.", I say but I am not so sure, to be honest. She is bleeding out of several wounds and looks pale. I can feel her heavy breathing and I don't know how long she is here already. Without waiting another second I grab her and lift her into my arms. "No, no don't, please...", she starts but has to cough once more. "Please just listen to me... Mr. Vinge. Please.", she begs me and I sit down on her bed, placing her on my lap and holding her. "Speak fast woman, I won't let you die here.", I nearly command and a sad smile appears on her face.

"Mr. Vinge... it was me. I did betray you. My brother... my brother...", she sobs and I remember why I wanted to come to her in the first place. "Henry,...", I start but she shakes her head. "I know he's dead.", she gulps and tries to get rid of the steady flow of tears on her cheeks. "He wasn't a good man, he got what he sowed.", to hear that from her makes me blink but I let her speak. "He wanted to become a vampire, to get closer to the Lord and then... this happened.", she moves her fingers over her throat and I know that she means what I did to her. "I didn't intend to betray you, Mr. Vinge. Please believe me...", I can see her struggle and try to understand while taking her cheek in my hand.

"Henry, why did you betray me? What did you do?", I suspect something very badly but refuse to believe it. "I... Angus forced me to spy for him. I told him everything I saw and what he wanted to know. He wanted to turn both of us...", her lower lip starts to shiver. "He was working with some strangers to start a revolution in London. They used me to reach their goals. I'm so stupid, I didn't know that Angus will go that far, but that night we got back from the forest I tried to tell you; to ask for help... The man who works with him just killed that Doctor in front of me, Mr. Vinge. This man...", she struggles with breathing again and I can't believe what I hear. "... He said he knows you well and what you did. He wants to see you suffer and therefore exchanged the corpses. He could have killed you that night. I didn't know what to do...", she starts to repeat herself a few times before I stroke along her cheek to calm her.

"They found Nora, Mr. Vinge. I don't want her to be dragged into this. Please, she is too little for all that. Angus was such a fool. He sold the souls of his sisters for the promise of power..."

"Who are those people, Henriette? What do they want? Do you know where they hide?", I start to worry. If they infiltrated this headquarters already and I was playing a big part in it I'm definitely the wrong guy to protect this whole reign anymore. How did I not see that?

"I didn't tell them about the way you like Lord Blackwood. I don't want them to hurt you, Mr. Vinge. I don't know who they are; they only talked to my brother, besides that one night in the forest... and tonight.", she coughs once more and I can see the blood in her hand after she tried to hide it. If she is spitting blood it's not only the bleeding on the outside that should worry me.

"It's about time; we need to head to Erwin now. You can tell me the rest later.", I'm about to get up again but she shakes her head. "I got one more order, and I'll tell you because I don't want them to hurt you, or Nora or the Lord. They are wrong and they won't win because of me...", she grabs my shirt collar. "They want you to turn me, Mr. Vinge.", she says and I look at her. That's actually not the worst idea to save her.

"I choose death this time, Mr. Vinge. Please don't do it.", she keeps on begging and I'm not sure if she just read my mind. "I know you would do it. Please don't doom my soul.", she reaches up her hand to touch my cheek as I keep on staring into her face. What is wrong with her? What is wrong with me? Why do I feel so anxious about the fact that she wants to die? "It's for Nora. They will never stop leaving me alone and they will always be threatening her to get me to do things that hurt you. I don't want to live like that... You protect everybody, but who is protecting you?", she says pretty calmly. She must have thought about that very long already. "I don't need protection, little lady.", I say softly.

"Mr. Vinge, I know I'm not allowed to ask you for anything, but please make sure she is safe. Nora.", her voice is getting more silent and I nod. Tears start to form in the corners of my eyes. "Why don't you just let me kill those people for you, little lady? You don't need to die. No matter what they have in mind for me, I'll take it if it's necessary. You said you want to live and I did my best to make that happen for you. Just because it gets complicated I won't stop doing that.", I try to convince her to change her mind, but she just shakes her head.

"I saw the nightmares, the struggle that all of you try to hide. I'm not that stupid, I don't want to live forever and I don't want to do more harm to others than I already did. I want to go to heaven and find my parents. I want to...", another cough and I press her against my chest. "What if I don't allow you to decide that on your own?", I say and can hear a desperate and bitter laugh. "The man who killed the guest doctor said that I don't have to worry if you refuse, he forced me to drink something... I just should make sure you are the one taking responsibility...", she looks at me and I narrow my eyes. "Was it red and tasted like iron? Was it blood?", I want to know and she nods.

"This means you will turn if you die, no matter whose blood you got. You will become a vampire, little lady.", I'm not sure if I'm glad or should feel bad about it. Seeing her starting to cry heavily I can't stand to see her like that. In fact, it's my entire fault. They used her because she was close to me, and she only was close to me because I wounded her. As a result, I didn't only hurt her collarbone but doomed her the moment I saw her in the storage room for the first time. I gave them a happy accident that they were able to take advantage of and they used it well.

I take a deep breath. I'm responsible for all of that and it is her choice what happens next. Isn't it? "Henriette.", I start and my voice cracks before I can clear my throat. "There is a solution, but it's not... noble. Are you sure, that you don't want to become a vampire and we will figure it out? Also for your sister?", but she shakes her head still crying and sobbing. Her whole body is trembling now and I don't know how long she'll be able to stay awake. "Don't you want to live? For your sister?", I try once more.