CHAPTER 58
When Connor woke the next morning, he was feeling better enough to eat a hearty breakfast of oatmeal and powdered doughnuts.
“Connor, are you sure you should be eating that?” I asked as he reached for his second doughnut.
“Why not? I feel fine.” He said as he took a large bite.
“Just because you feel better, doesn’t mean your stomach can handle a huge bowl of oatmeal and two doughnuts. You were soooo sick last night.” I mocked him since he was acting like he had the plague less than twenty four hours ago.
“Ha ha. Very funny.” Connor replied through bites of his breakfast, not slowing down one bit or appreciating my sarcasm. “But I like these, the powdered ones are my favorite.”
“We can all tell,” Dawn giggled, “You have a white mustache and beard.”
Connor stuck out his tongue at his twin before wiping the powder off his face.
“Ewwww, that’s so gross.” Dawn proclaimed at his food covered tongue.
Jumping up from his seat, Connor went after Dawn with outstretched dirty hands. She screamed as she tried to avoid his sticky fingers.
“I guess he’s fine.” Will said to me as he watched the twins chase each other around the room. “See, I told you it was nothing to worry about.”
And for about two weeks, that was true.
Connor never complained about aches of any sort until the headaches began. Suddenly, he was getting them every night. Although his appetite was fine and his stomach was not bothering him, the headaches became increasingly worse. At first, he just got them every so often; then they started regularly during the day. Because of the pain, he would withdraw himself from whatever activity we were doing and go sleep on one of the mattresses. Will and I would give Connor children’s aspirin, but as the headaches got stronger, the medicine did not help. He began napping more and more, and when we woke him out of his deep slumber for meals, he would often be disoriented, thinking he was in his old bed in LA asking for mom and dad until finally the confusion would go away.
One night as Adam served dinner, I finally told him about the situation. “Adam, he’s really sick. You have to tell mother or grandmother. You’re the only one that can do it. We haven’t seen either one of them in months.”
“I’ll try, Miss Elizabeth, but I can’t guarantee you anything. I’m just a servant.” Adam looked saddened as he answered my plea. “Listen, I’ll try and get you some different medicines. Maybe some penicillin or antibiotics will help Connor.”
Although I wanted to scream, I realized that Adam was trying to help and he really was our only hope. I let out a deep breath to calm myself down before answering. “Fine, thank you. Anything you can do would be appreciated.”
Adam showed up the next day with many different kinds of medicine, from over the counter stuff like children’s Motrin to the prescription drug amoxicillin, which I didn’t even want to ask how he got it.
“Thank you, Adam.” I said taking the medicines from him. “Were you able to tell mother and grandmother about Connor’s sickness?”
Adam’s lips pursed together with his reply. “Only your grandmother. She thinks it’s just the flu and that the medicines will help.”
“Fine.” I replied not at all pleased with Dru’s reaction, but realizing it was typical. “What about mother? Why couldn’t you tell her? I would think she would want to know if her child was sick.”
“I’m sorry, Miss Elizabeth. She hasn’t been around much lately with the wedding coming up and all. She and Mr. Wesley have been very busy planning for the upcoming event. She’s usually off very early in the morning after breakfast.”
I let out a frustrated growl. Mother and her fucking wedding. I didn’t know why I still thought that she might care even a little bit about any of us.
“I’ll keep trying. Just give him these and I’m sure he’ll get better.” The butler said in pity before leaving us behind the locked door of our tiny room.
Unfortunately, even with the new medicine, Connor didn’t get better. In fact, he got much worse. His skin was a pallid yellow color and he could barely keep any food down. Anything he ate had him running to the bathroom within twenty minutes.
One day as I held his emaciated body up against the toilet for him to vomit, I noticed the small drips of blood swirling in the water. Looking up in worry at William, the tears ran down my face as I pleaded with him. “Will, we need to do something. Connor’s obviously very sick. This stupid over the counter medicine isn’t going to help." I said throwing a bottle of aspirin across the bathroom floor out of helplessness. "He needs a doctor!”
Will ran his hand through his hair as he paced back and forth along the tiled floor. “Don’t you think I know that! I just don’t know what to do.” He let out a frustrated growl and walked out of the bathroom, his own tears falling from his pained blue eyes.
I heard the door leading to the attic slam, causing my body to jump at the startling noise. My jerking movement must have jostled Connor because he coughed and turned his wane face to look up at me. “I’m sorry, Elizabeth. I’m ruining everything.” His voice was strained and barely audible.
Smoothing back his shaggy hair, I kissed his forehead and flashed a crooked smile. “Don’t be silly. You aren’t ruining anything. What’s there to ruin?”
His body shook with the effort it took him to respond. “The escape plan. If I’m sick, we can’t leave.”
“Sweetie, we weren’t planning on leaving tomorrow. Besides, you’re going to get better.” I tried to reassure myself as much as him.
“I love you, Elizabeth.” Connor’s eyes watered up as he looked up into mine. His eyes held a maturity that no child under ten should have. “William, too. I don’t understand why mom doesn’t love us anymore, but you guys have taken care of Dawn and me like we were your own kids. Thank you for loving us.”
“Stop it, Connor. It’s very easy to love you; you’re a good kid. Mom doesn’t know what she’s missing watching you grow up into a little man.” William said from the doorway of the bathroom. “And you’re going to be fine.” He walked over to the medicine cabinet and fished around for something. “Go bring him to the bed.”
“Why? What’s going on?” I asked confused at his actions. William seemed completely different between now and when he left earlier. His whole demeanor had changed from hopeless to authoritative.
“Just go put him to bed. I’ll be there in a minute.”
Following his orders, I picked Connor up and brought him to the bed. Dawn walked over from the desk and sat at her twin’s side. William followed shortly and sat beside us. He reached into the nightstand to grab a lighter and then his pocket, extracting a razor blade.
“What the hell are you doing?” I asked, alarmed at the sight of the blade.
“Sterilizing the blade,” he said calmly, holding the flame up to the edge of the metal.
“Yes, I can figure that out. But why?”
“I’m going to cut myself so he can get nourishment from my blood. I’ve been reading through all the medical books in the attic. I found this remedy in one of them, and I think it’s about time we tried it.” Will said as he tied one of Dawn’s ribbons around his arm with his teeth. “He needs protein, nutrients, iron; they can all be found in blood. He needs to get stronger.”
“It sounds extremely dangerous.” My voice was verging on hysterical. “And what year was this book published? 1875? Should we go find some leeches too?”
“Your sarcasm isn’t going to make me not do this. He can’t keep anything down. I’ve been looking for something all week; this will work.” Will sliced into his inner arm, right below the juncture of the elbow with hardly a wince. “It has to work.”
“Come on, Connor. Drink up.” Will held out his bleeding arm to Connor.
I saw Connor wrinkle his nose at the thought of drinking someone else’s blood, but he was too weak to resist. He grabbed Dawn’s hand as Will brought his head gently down to the cut on his arm, and Connor’s natural instincts of survival kicked in. His lips latched onto Will’s skin and began to suck the life force out of the veins.
Shaking my head, I stood up feeling as though I was invading something personal between my other siblings. “How long will he have to drink for?”
“I don’t know. I guess until I start to feel lightheaded or until he just stops.” Will closed his eyes and rested his head against the headboard. “I’m going to need orange juice when he’s done. It’ll help me get some energy back.”
I went over to the fridge to take my eyes off the sudden events of the evening, giving the twins and Will some privacy and myself some time to comprehend just what we were driven to in order to survive. Pouring the juice into a cup, I walked back over to the other bed after a few minutes and placed the cup on the nightstand before sitting down. “What if this makes you too weak?”
“It won’t. I’m healthy and I have more weight on me. I’ll be fine. Don’t worry unnecessarily for me, Elizabeth.” His head was still against the headboard so I couldn’t tell what he was really thinking. With Dawn sitting right next to him clinging to her sick brother, I doubted he would give much away anyway.
“You know I do. For all of us.” I said as I lay down on the bed, pulling my legs up to hug myself. I watched in silence as Connor drank Will’s blood for what seemed like eternity though in reality was only a few minutes.
Finally, Connor’s lips unleashed themselves from Will’s arm, seemingly having fallen asleep while receiving his sustenance. Will slowly moved Connor so that he was sleeping comfortably in the bed.
“Dawn, come here sweetheart.” I whispered, holding out my hand to her. I could see that her shoulders were shaking from her tears.
Dawn quickly padded over into my arms, crying into my chest as I pulled the covers up to protect us from the chill that wouldn’t escape my body.
I watched as Will bandaged his arm and then drank the orange juice I had left for him. Once he finished, he mirrored my actions of lying down and covering him and Connor with the blankets just before turning out the light.
“Now what?” I asked into the darkness.
“Now, we wait and we pray.”
_____________________________________
Our prayers were not answered.
Despite receiving blood from William, Connor’s body did not get stronger. About a week after the bloodletting incident, Connor was so weak he could not even get out of bed. We watched helplessly as his body was overtaken with shivers despite the beads of sweat forming on his forehead. When the door opened for our usual morning delivery of breakfast, none of us moved from our stations on the bed.
“What’s going on? How is he?” I heard Adam ask in a soft voice.
I looked up to see the genuine concern in his eyes and answered, “He’s too weak to even get up. He hasn’t really been cognizant in a day or two.”
Adam nodded his head and left the room silently. A few minutes later the door slammed, but we did not jump as we were oblivious to everything but our ill brother.
“What is going on here?” Grandmother’s high-shrilled voice screeched through the thick silence. “Why aren’t you dressed? Why are you breaking my rules?”
At that, Will’s jaw ticked before he stood to face her; his composure finally cracking. “Fuck your rules! Our brother is laying here dying and all you can ask us about is what we are wearing!”
Dawn and I both flinched at his words; the unspoken truth no one was willing to admit aloud finally being revealed.
“Connor’s been sick for weeks. We tried to get you to do something earlier, but you ignored us. Now look at him,” Will flung his head back to the bed, “he’s too weak to even move. This is all your fault. You and your sick rules and mind games.” Will walked back to the bed and sat down next to Connor, smoothing back the damp hair from his forehead.
Drusilla looked at our sickly brother on the bed and left without saying another word. She returned a few minutes later with mother. As usual, she looked healthy and vibrant, like she didn’t have a care in the world.
“Joyce, your son is sick.” Dru said in the same cold manner that she always spoke in.
“What do you want me to do about it?” Mother replied haphazardly. “I’m not a doctor. Plus, we are meeting with the caterer later this afternoon. Have Adam take care of it.”
My eyes saw red. If I wasn’t so emotionally drained from dealing with a sick child for so long, I would have clawed her eyes out right then and there. The way she was talking as if tending to Connor was nothing more than taking out the trash - just another chore for the servant to do - made me want to kill her. Any shred of love I had remaining in my heart for her left when I heard her callous attitude. I saw Will’s fists clench at her words as well, but he did not move from Connor’s side.
Dru’s voice grew stern. “Joyce, you will attend to your son. You will bring him to the hospital, and you will get him the best care possible. You are his mother, and it is your responsibility to take care of him.”
When my mother didn’t move, Dru yelled, “NOW!”
I had never thought I would have a reason to like grandmother, but hearing her put mother in her place was just what I needed right now.
Mother snapped to the task at hand, coming over to pick Connor up from the bed and carrying him to the door so he could finally see a doctor.
Before she could leave, Will stood up and snarled some parting words to her. “If he dies, I will never forgive you.” Their eyes locked in a heated stare for a few seconds before mother turned away from his gaze.
Dawn, William and I watched in agony as our brother left our tiny prison room shivering in the arms of our captor.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Well, it wasn't a week but at least it was quicker than me getting the last chapter up. I received a review that I'm dragging this story out too long. I apologize for that, but unfortunately real life has gotten in the way of me being able to write regularly. I'm hoping this will change because I really do want to finish this story. I hope the majority of people reading this are still interested. After this chapter, there really aren't that many left (maybe 5) so I hope you will stick with me until the end. I do plan on doing a sequel, but I want to get quite a few chapters done before I post so I won't run into the problem of such a long time between posts. Anyway, enjoy the chapter and let me know what you think. Thanks for still reading!