Whaling City Vampires: Love Beyond Death by Alison Fish
Chapter 34
Amy guided Ruthie to the waterfront slowly and carefully so as not to be seen by anyone along the way. Susie followed behind keeping watch for anyone who may have come upon them from the rear. Before long they had made their way past the main street, through an alley that led to the wharves beyond the shipbuilding shops and other tradesmen shops that sat dark and abandoned for the night before the tracks. Over the tracks the vampires were now close enough to the river to hear the dark water gently lapping against the shore and the ships creaking against the wharves. Seagulls cried overhead searching for food. Ruthie felt as though the gulls sensed the impending death of Reverend Williams and cried for his sake, just as she cried over her unwanted participation in his murder. She carried her burden further south along the shore where the body would drift until dawn when the sunrise would finally end the life of the Reverend.
Ruthie cradled his body, which contained their mingled blood, against her and prayed for his soul before gently lowering him into the cold black water. Susie dropped the hat in after him and the three vampires silently watched his body drift slowly away among the filth and waste that had accumulated in the river from the city during the day.
Sobbing into her bloodied hands Ruthie fell to her knees while Amy knelt and put her arms around her friend in sympathy.
"We can't stay here," Susie urged, "someone will notice us soon."
"She's right, Ruthie," Amy whispered, "We mustn't stay here."
Ruthie slowly rose to her feet, "I don't care. I deserve to die and burn in hell for eternity," She sobbed as she allowed Amy and Susie to lead her away from the shore toward the city streets.
"No," Amy consoled, "no, you don't. It was an accident. We made a mistake."
"You mean she made a mistake!" Ruthie pointed in anger at Susie who was beginning to feel annoyed at Ruthie's grief.
"You know I didn't mean to kill him" Susie tried not to let her annoyance reveal itself in her voice, "I assure you it was an accident and I deeply apologized. There's nothing more I can do. I cannot bring him back to life. I would if I could, but only for your sake, Ruthie. I don't care at all that he's dead. He was a fake and a problem for us."
Anger, grief and regret filled Ruthie as she silently sobbed and followed Amy's guidance as they returned to the lair. Ruthie wished she had never met Susie, that they had never brought her home to join them. She wished they had left her in the alley to be accused of Mr. Strapper's murder. Reverend Williams would never have died and she wouldn't have the unbearable guilt of being an accomplice to his murder. God could never forgive such a horrendous sin as this, the murder of one of his messengers. This was the act that would doom her to burn in hell for eternity with no hope for forgiveness.
Amy remembered that she and Ruthie would be returning to the lair without feeding, but even though she would be hungry for blood, the following evening would bring freedom to feed without fear of interference or discovery from Reverend Williams. She would never admit it or let Ruthie know, but she felt the same as Susie about the Reverend's death. She looked forward to freely drinking enough blood the following night to satisfy her hunger for both nights.
Susie was also looking forward to feasting freely without concern for Reverend William's whereabouts. She was relieved to be liberated from his suspicions and irksome presence in the alleys obstructing the vampires from their supply of blood. She believed that Ruthie would eventually recover from her grief and perhaps even learn to take advantage of her situation instead of hating herself because of it.
Upon returning to the lair Ruthie closed herself into her casket before the candles were even lit. Amy, quietly and somberly went about her nightly rituals of brushing her hair and tidying her wardrobe concerned for Ruthie's well being. She thought she had seen Ruthie at her saddest the previous night when Susie upset her in the church, but tonight Ruthie seemed to be completely destroyed. She didn't know how or if Ruthie would be able to recover from her involvement in the violent murder of a man of God.
Susie hung her cloak over a rod near the wall and surveyed her velvet skirt hoping none of the Reverend's blood had dirtied it, "Perhaps we can visit the dress shop tomorrow. I'd like another dress in case this one becomes soiled."
"It's a shame Ruthie doesn't care to shop for dresses," Amy sighed as she brushed her hair at the table, "dress shopping always cheers me so. It would be wonderful to know of a simple way to cheer her."
"She'll be all right," Susie said hopefully, "she'll accept that the Reverend died by accident."
"I've never seen Ruthie so distraught, Susie," Amy looked at Ruthie's Bible on the table, "she has never retired without a Bible reading and a prayer."
"Possibly she's praying now," Susie said.
"I hope so. It seems to be the only thing that gives her any peace."
After a few moments Susie asked, "What if the Reverend's body sinks, Amy?"
"No one would ever find it if it sank," Amy replied without any consideration as she redirected her attention from her hair to her dresses.
"But Ruthie had him drink her blood. Would that make a difference?"
"I shouldn't think so," Amy started to consider the possibility, "are you asking if he could still survive as one of us?"
"Yes, exactly," Susie replied, "if we can only be killed by a wooden stake through the heart, decapitation or sunlight, then he would be able to survive drowning."
"Oh, my," Amy finished with her wardrobe and returned to her hair brushing at the table, contemplating Susie's suggestion, "Well, even if he did survive, as soon as he rose from the river the sunlight would kill him just as we intended."
"Oh, yes," Susie agreed, "it would be certain to, I'm sure."
Icy winds blew into the city from Long Island Sound as winter arrived. The crisp freshness of cold winter air was masked by the smoke billowing from the mills and the fires burning on the riverbank for warmth and for the heating of the tar to seal and mend the many whalers and other vessels in port. Susie and Amy spent the following weeks after Reverend William's death freely victimizing the drunken men collapsed in alleys or on the riverbank with Ruthie quietly following behind. They attempted to hide their joy of having been rid of the Reverend's suspicious patrolling of the dark corners of the city in respect for Ruthie's grief. Ruthie had barely spoken or opened her Bible since the Reverend's death. She merely followed the others as they stalked victims and shopped for clothing.
Amy, although enjoying her rediscovered freedom to feed again on humans without certain fear of capture and possibly death at the hands of Reverend Williams, still worried constantly over Ruthie's emotional state. She tried to tempt Ruthie with her Bible, even reading it aloud to her. She carried home newspapers knowing Ruthie enjoyed reading about current events in the city, but it seemed nothing could give Ruthie the motivation to emerge from her deep state of mourning.
Susie was happy that the Reverend was gone and had no regrets about the method used to dispose of him. In fact, she didn't think of him at all anymore unless Amy brought him up in reference to Ruthie's listless mood. Susie wasn't as concerned with Ruthie's depression as Amy when she considered Ruthie's options. Eventually, Ruthie would overcome her grief. She was immortal. If Ruthie chose to grieve for decades it didn't matter to Susie, since her life was eternal so why not allow Ruthie a few decades of misery. She would have the rest of eternity to be happy.
"I still want to rent rooms of our own someday, Amy," Susie said as she sorted through and examined her several skirts, checking for dirt, blood or any other debris that might need to be removed.
Amy had just finished doing the same and finding everything to her satisfaction sat at the table with Ruthie to brush her hair, "Maybe one day we will safely be able to do that. Maybe one day after Robert returns."
"Do you plan to live in filthy basements forever?" Susie asked.
"I'm not planning anything until Robert returns," Amy smiled at the thought of Robert.
"What do you thi
"I don't need any fancy rooms," Ruthie muttered.
Encouraged by Ruthie's apparently growing desire to talk Amy said, "I found a newspaper tonight, Ruthie, why don't you read us something. Maybe there is something interesting."
Ruthie reluctantly pulled the newspaper toward her and spread it on the table laying it over her Bible, "Oh," she said softly and read aloud:
"Mysterious Death to be Investigated"
Amy's eyes grew wide in alarm and her hand stopped mid-stroke to give her full attention to Ruthie. Susie turned from her wardrobe and sat at the table as Ruthie continued to read:
Two young women of the city were found dead recently. The first was discovered last week in the Antientist Cemetery with severe damage to her throat. The cause of death is reported to be from extensive blood loss. The second woman was found today beneath some shrubbery on Tilley Street. She also had severe damage to her throat and neck. Authorities believe the murders to be related due to the similarities of the wounds. Both women are reported to be women who frequent the streets. Authorities advise women to remain indoors after dark and to travel with a chaperone if they must go out.
"Good Lord," Ruthie said as she finished reading, "who do you think is the murderer?"
"Well, I wouldn't be so careless as to leave the bloodless bodies for the authorities to find," Amy said, "Neither would Robert. It cannot be him."
"So, there must be a vampire in town who we don't know," Susie said. All three vampires looked at each other in sudden realization.
"I made him drink my blood," Ruthie said in amazement, "he must have survived."
"How could he have survived?" Amy asked, "even if he rose from the river at night, how would he know to avoid the daylight. How could he survive without anyone to teach him about his new identity?"
"Where could he be spending his days?" Susie asked, "Perhaps it's someone else."
"Whoever it may be," Amy declared, "he is endangering us all."
"We finally rid ourselves of the suspicious Reverend Williams," Susie said in frustration, "and now we already have a new threat."
"Reverend Williams was a man of God," Ruthie reminded her companions, "It couldn't be him. He wouldn't allow himself to be a vicious murderer."
"You have a point, Ruthie," Amy said thoughtfully, "judging from your aversion to murder as the ultimate sin, if the Reverend was as pious as you believed him to be, he would rather burn himself to death in the sun than commit such a sin as murder."
"Unless he isn't the pious man Ruthie believed him to be," Susie said.
"Nevertheless, tomorrow we must seek this careless vampire out," Amy stated determinedly.