Marking Time (The Immortal Descendants)

by April White

  Ringo pointed to the bottle. “Look closer at the label.” The decorative border of the label had some initials incorporated into the pattern. “B R H? Is that someone’s name?”

  “Not someone, someplace. Bethlem Royal Hospital.”

  “Oh my God! Are they keeping her there?”

  Ringo grabbed my shoulders and turned me to face him. “We don’t know, but we can’t do this alone. We have to go get Archer.”

  I could feel my expression tighten. “He doesn’t want—“ But Ringo cut me off. “He does. And he will.”

  The dread that had settled into my stomach was like a hard knot that made any other feeling impossible. “Okay,” I whispered.

  “Good. Let’s get out of here!” Ringo pulled me out of the horrible room and closed the door behind us. I gulped the night air trying to clear the stench out of my lungs, and we took off running.

  We practically flew from Spitalfields back down to Southwark and King’s College. I could only imagine that Ringo felt the same way I did – lucky to be free of the conditions that had trapped people like the Kellys into the limited options of their lives.

  We crept our way up and over the walls and across the grounds at King’s College. We had a shorthand now and didn’t need to speak as Ringo scaled the wall, slipped through a window, and a few moments later, opened a door for me to scoot inside. Archer’s room was on the second floor near the chapel, but I’d never actually been to it, so Ringo led the way.

  We didn’t run into anyone, which I thought was weird until I heard the sounds of singing coming from the Chapel. So, if that’s where Archer was, we’d just have to break into his room and wait for him. I had become very casual in my relationship to locked doors with Ringo around.

  He slipped a thin piece of metal into Archer’s lock and had the handle turning in under a minute. The room was dark and oddly closed, like there wasn’t enough fresh air to breathe. I crossed to the window and flung open the drapes to crank the window up while Ringo lit a lamp. We gasped at the same moment as we saw Archer on the bed, as pale and motionless as a corpse.

  And I was horrified to realize that the first emotion that flashed through me was relief.

  Fever

  The second emotion was terror. But both were caused by the same thought. Had Archer already been turned into a Vampire?

  Ringo reacted faster than I did. He checked Archer’s pulse and listened to his chest, then looked at me with a combination of relief and fear. “He breathes. But his lungs sound full of liquid and he burns with a fever.”

  I knelt by Archer’s bed and touched his skin. He was on fire, and he’d probably spent the day bathed in sweat that had dried and made his hair stick up at odd angles. I brushed it back from his forehead and Archer turned his head away. I flinched back as if I’d been slapped, but Ringo brought me back to my senses.

  “He’s unconscious.”

  Was that better? Was his loathing of me so deep that his unconscious mind pulled back from me too? Wow. I had sunk to some pretty impressive depths to even have that thought. I was punishing myself for the relief that maybe I hadn’t been directly responsible for Archer turning into a Vampire.

  Ringo moved Archer’s head from side to side, looking around his neck for bite marks I supposed. I shook my head. “I don’t think I get off that easy. I think I’ll probably be there when he gets turned.”

  “So what is it then? What’s wrong with him?”

  I felt his skin again. It was burning with fever. I don’t know how to check for a pulse at the neck so I put my head on his chest and listened to Archer’s heart. It beat, but it didn’t sound strong. I looked up at Ringo.

  “Is this what I looked like when I was sick?”

  Ringo looked from Archer back to me, his eyes wide and scared. He nodded.

  I cringed. Swine flu maybe? Definitely something he had no immunity to. Archer took a shuddering breath and then didn’t breathe for a long moment. I panicked and pushed down hard on his chest with both hands. “Archer!” He gasped and started breathing again, but that shook me badly.

  “Can you find some water for him to drink?”

  Ringo went to a pitcher on the dresser, but it was empty. He grabbed it and took off. “Be right back.”

  I fished in my messenger bag for the little cloth-wrapped parcel Mr. Shaw had given me. The anti-viral drug I’d been hoping to save for Archer after… I couldn’t even say it to myself… after he was infected by a Vampire.

  But the way he looked right now, he wouldn’t make it long enough to be bitten. Ringo returned with a full pitcher and poured a glass full. He brought it to me just as I opened the parcel. Inside were three pills.

  “What are they?”

  “I think they’re some kind of Tamiflu.”

  Ringo shrugged as if to say he had no idea what I was talking about. For that matter, neither did I. But if I had given Archer my flu, one from the future that he had zero antibodies to, he was in real danger. As he had pointed out, people died from influenza every day in 1888.

  “Help me sit him up.” Ringo nodded and lifted Archer’s upper body enough so he didn’t choke on the water. I opened his mouth and put one of the pills as far back on his tongue as I could reach. He gagged involuntarily, but I quickly put the glass to his lips and tipped it back. Thank God he was still aware enough to swallow, and after he’d taken a few sips I checked his mouth again to make sure the pill was gone.

  I’d never actually done any of this care-taking before and it felt very strange to be someone’s nurse. I remembered my mom giving me all her home remedies when I was a kid, and fevers always got lukewarm baths until my temperature came down, or sleeping next to my mom and using her body heat when the chills set in. Archer’s skin was still hot so I pulled the bedclothes away from his body and opened his nightshirt.

  His chest was smooth and I could see the flutter of his pulse under his collarbone. My own heart thumped in a sympathetic response. Then again, it might have been the sight of lean, coiled muscle under the broad expanse of his skin.

  “He has to cool down.” Or maybe I did. I blushed at the heat that suddenly spread its way through my body. Ringo nodded, a little embarrassed for me, and turned to open wide the window I’d cracked. “I’ll stay with him if you want to go.”

  “We’ll both stay.” Ringo pulled a chair over for me and I sat by Archer’s bedside. Ringo stayed closer to the door, guarding it or maybe just giving me time alone with my patient.

  I fell asleep with my hand on Archer’s arm, and woke up when he started shivering. His skin was freezing cold and clammy, but he was still unconscious.

  Ringo had blown out the lamp and was asleep in his own chair by the door. The only light coming in was from the still-open window, which I got up and closed. Archer’s blankets were damp from the fever sweat and I could only find one that was dry enough to cover him with. It wasn’t enough.

  The best way to warm another person up is with body heat. And at that point I didn’t really care how it would look to the very Victorian guys when they woke up. Archer was shivering too much for just one blanket, so I kicked off my boots and climbed into the single bed with him. I rolled him to his side, facing away from me, so I could fit my body to his back and wrap my arms around his chest. I pulled the blanket up to cover us both and then just listened to the chattering of his teeth as it quieted and then finally stopped. Archer sighed and seemed to settle back into the curve of my body, and I heard his breathing return to something regular and deep.

  I lay in Archer’s bed wrapped around him like a cocoon. He fit against me felt like we were built for each other and despite his chill, my own skin burned where his body touched it. Instead of torturing myself with physical thoughts of Archer, I tortured myself with mental ones, wondering how I’d gotten there after a lifetime of keeping people away from me.

  It started when he rescued me from Seth. No one had ever put themselves on the line for me like that except maybe my mom. Normal people don’t
just put themselves out there like he did and it had definitely made an impression. And almost every time I’d seen Archer we just hung out and talked. Okay, maybe a little running and hiding too, but a lot of talking.

  So it was Archer’s fault I had somehow opened up to other people. I got used to the idea of having conversations, which let in Ava, Adam and Ringo. Something about Archer let me think I didn’t have to do everything on my own, and it was pretty remarkable for me to admit I actually liked being able to count on other people.

  And yet here I was, not only asking for help, but giving it. The irony was that I was trying to save a guy’s life so he could lose it later to a Vampire. I buried my face in the back of Archer’s neck to escape my own awful thoughts, and thankfully, I fell back to sleep.

  I dreamt I was wandering around the halls of Bedlam trying to find my mom. Then the dream switched locations to a long, dark corridor. I opened a door to find her, strapped to an operating table and attached to a blood bag hanging from an IV pole.

  I jerked awake with a gasp. The soft light of early morning was enough to see Archer’s eyes, about a foot away, staring into my own. He was conscious and my heart caught in my throat to see him looking at me.

  “Did you see that?” I’m not sure why I said that except maybe what I had seen in the dream felt so true I had to make sure it wasn’t. His eyes clouded for a moment.

  “What?” It was enough to wake me up and remind me what was real.

  “Hi.”

  The barest of smiles tugged at the corners of his mouth. “Hello.”

  I rolled over to look at the chair by the door for Ringo, but the room was empty. “Where’s Ringo?”

  Something shifted in his eyes. “You’re really here then?”

  I frowned. “Yeah.” Were we both losing our grip on reality? My tone questioned his sanity and for some reason it made him smile.

  “I thought I was dreaming. Or maybe…”

  “Maybe what?” I prompted.

  “Dead?”

  “You almost were. You’re lucky Ringo and I broke in last night.” I started to sit up, suddenly aware that my head was on Archer’s chest.

  But he clutched me to him. “Don’t go.”

  His reaction surprised me, but I was grateful that he didn’t actually seem to hate me. I settled back into the crook in his shoulder and was instantly self-conscious about morning breath and bed-head and anything else that he could see so close up in my face. “You were freezing last night. You started shivering and the blanket wasn’t enough.”

  “Thank you.” The expression in Archer’s eyes was naked and raw and made every background conversation in my head fade to silence. Until he spoke again. “I owe you my life.”

  Bam! The guilt hit me like a freight train and this time I sat up before he could stop me. “At least until I deliver you to a Vampire.” I couldn’t look at Archer as I got out of his bed and busied myself putting on my boots. I could feel his eyes on me.

  “Saira—“ Just then Ringo slipped back into the room carrying a loaf of bread under one arms and a hunk of paper-wrapped cheese in the other. He instantly caught the weird vibe in the room and stopped in his tracks.

  “Should I give you two a minute?”

  “No.”

  “Yes.” Archer’s look said I wasn’t going to get out of talking to him so I glared back.

  “It can wait. We need to talk about my mom.”

  Ringo seemed to decide I would win this one so he stepped tentatively into the room. He opened up the cheese and carved a big slice off to add to a torn chunk of bread, then handed us both our breakfast. I took a bite to avoid having to speak for another minute. It didn’t suck having a friend who knew his way around the markets.

  But Archer hadn’t taken his eyes off me and I knew I had to surrender. I swallowed the last bites of my food and finally met his gaze.

  “Ringo and I went to see Mary Kelly last night.” I cringed in anticipation of his disappointment, but his expression didn’t change. “I tried to warn her about the Ripper without making her think I was crazy, but I don’t think it’ll make a difference. She laughed at me.” Still no comment, so I took a deep breath and pulled down the turtleneck of my sweater to reveal my mom’s clock choker.

  “She had this. It’s my mom’s necklace. It was the last thing my dad gave her before she left.” I let that sink in and based on his raised eyebrows, it clearly had. “Mary said she found it when she was cleaning next door. She didn’t admit to having seen my mom, but her sister did. She said two men had to support her, men who sounded like the Ripper and your bishop.”

  Archer struggled to a sitting position. I moved to help him up but he waved me away and managed on his own. I was back to feeling like a leper where he was concerned, and after waking up in the man’s arms it was a little disconcerting. I shook it off and continued.

  “We found a prescription bottle there from Bethlem Hospital, and my backpack from Whitechapel.” Another raised eyebrow. “But besides the necklace, there was no other evidence of her there.”

  Archer opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it again and looked from one to the other of us. Ringo finally obliged.

  “The sister, Charlie, said she’d come for us if she saw Saira’s mum again.” Ringo looked at me directly. “Which means I should probably stay close to home. And you never know, they might actually take your advice and leave Spitalfields tonight.”

  Archer looked at me in surprise. “Tonight?”

  “It’s November ninth.”

  He winced. “Right. So I suppose the question is do we try to save Mary Kelly from the Ripper despite the inevitability of his attack?”

  I glared at Archer. “We are not doing anything. You can barely sit up straight; much less fend off a serial killing Vampire. And just because my history books say it happened doesn’t mean it’s inevitable.” I tried to infuse the word with as much scorn as I possibly could. I’m not sure why I was so angry with Archer, except that maybe I wanted him to believe his own fate could be changed.

  Ringo watched us like he was waiting to jump in the ring and separate the fighters. But Archer wasn’t up to fighting with me. He sighed and closed his eyes. The effects of the flu were all over him, from the paleness of his skin to the flutter in the hollow below his throat. I suddenly felt very protective of him, and guilty that I’d pushed so hard.

  “Saira, I see things sometimes, so I have a Seer’s respect for fate. I don’t want to argue with you, and I do believe it’s possible to change your future with the choices you make, just not your past.” Archer’s voice was tired and I knew he needed much more sleep.

  I got up and busied myself pouring a glass of water. I unwrapped the little cloth package from Mr. Shaw and took out both remaining pills. I held one up for Archer. “I gave you one last night. It’s an anti-viral-something. You should take this one now and the last one when you wake up again.”

  “I’m not going back to sleep. We haven’t finished talking yet.”

  I scoffed. I couldn’t help it. “You’re practically in a coma, and you pretty much were last night.”

  Archer tried to hide a smile. “Not totally.”

  I stared at him. “What do you mean, not totally? You were out cold!” On second thought, he had settled back into the curve of my body rather snugly.

  He tried to look innocent. “If you say so.”

  Ringo stifled a laugh and I shot him a look that said ‘shut up or I’ll beat you.’ I thrust the pill at him. “Take it or I’ll have to force it down your throat again.”

  He looked a little embarrassed. “You did that?”

  “I did that.” I must have looked fierce because he meekly took the pill and the water and swallowed them both down. “I’m counting on this having a big effect on you because I only had three and I was hoping…” There was no way I could finish that sentence and Archer zeroed in on it.

  “What were you hoping?”

  I sighed. “It’s an anti-viral, an
d the modern theory about Vampires is that it’s a virus that gets super-promoted and mutates because of Family genetics.” Both Ringo and Archer looked at me like I’d just sprouted a trunk. I shook my head. “It doesn’t matter anyway. You needed them now.”

  Some glimmer of understanding must have dawned for Archer. “Maybe it’ll stay in my system long enough…?”

  “I thought of that, but probably not. It’s too busy attacking the flu that took you out. Oh well, it was worth a shot. I hope you thank Mr. Shaw someday. He tried to help.”

  I could tell that mystified them as much as the genetics talk had, so I leaned over Archer’s bed and messed with his blankets until they were properly over him again. He watched me silently for a moment, and then he caught my hand in his. “What are you going to do today?”

  I shrugged. “Go back to Ringo’s and hope Charlie and Mary come. Maybe try to figure out where someone could hide my mom in Bedlam.”

  He looked concerned. “Don’t go there without me.”

  “You’re not fit to go anywhere.”

  “I will be, by tonight. I promise. Let me sleep now and bring me some bread and I’ll go with you. But please don’t go alone.” I thought he was probably delirious, but there’s no point in arguing with crazy people so I just nodded.

  “Okay, fine. But you have to rest now.”

  He looked me straight in the eyes. “You lied to me before, Saira. Don’t do it again.”

  That cut me right to the core. He was right; I was dismissing his request because he was sick, and because I thought I would probably do what I wanted anyway. I sat back down next to him and took his hand. I stumbled for the words that I needed to say. “I’m here because I have to find my mom. And I can’t wait anymore. The Ripper has her, Archer, and he’s a killer. But you’re right. I won’t lie to you again…” I saw relief in his eyes that I shattered with my final words. “…so I can’t promise that I won’t go to Bedlam without you.”

  Archer looked at me a long moment, then he sank back into his pillow and closed his eyes. “I’ll just sleep for a few minutes…”