Jenny Plague-Bringer

Chapter Thirty-Six



Esmeralda remained silent as the guards led her back to her concrete cell and closed the door. She’d gained a few small privileges through her cooperation, such as a larger cell with a refrigerator, a television set and books to read, but she was still a prisoner.

They had her studying more and more bodies, most of them from the Middle East or Afghanistan. Some were members of violent factions in their own countries, while others seemed to be cases of mistaken identity or bad information. All of them had lived lives full of misery, poverty, and violence, amid bombs and gunfire. Experiencing so many brutal lives rattled Esmeralda, wearing her down day after day.

She was truly beginning to believe Ashleigh had been right about something: they reincarnated, often in groups, drawn to each other life after life, bound by love and hate. She’d continued having flashes of another life since arriving here, and she was beginning to accept that it must have happened, they must have all been here before. If that weren’t true, then she was losing her mind.

Esmeralda sat on her bed with her legs folded and concentrated. If she had been here before, she was going to learn all she could about it. She was determined to escape, but so far, she didn’t have any idea how it would be possible. From the past, she could at least learn about the layout of the complex, though things might have changed considerably. The place had clearly been reconstructed since then. She might also learn why they’d been drawn back into the same situation again, and how to stop it for good.


“On your feet, you’re moving,” Alise announced as she walked into Evelina’s room. The room had two beds, but no one was assigned to bunk with the Slavic girl who claimed to speak with the spirits of the dead.

“Where?” Evelina asked as she put on her shoes.

“Downstairs.” Alise smirked. She was wearing an unusually heavy amount of makeup today, as if covering up acne.

“Again? What did I do this time? Why am I being punished?”

“You can probably think of a reason,” Alise said.

Evelina gaped and shook her head. “No, I’ve done everything Kranzler and Wichtmann have wanted...”

“You’re not being punished,” Niklaus said, in a rare display of his power of speech. His voice was surprisingly soft. “Party officials are coming to tour the facility soon.”

“What does that have to do with me?” Evelina asked.

“Nobody wants to try and explain why there’s a racially inferior Slav mixed in with our program,” Alise said. “We’re supposed to be at the high end of eugenics, the front edge of human evolution. Which means no Slavs.”

“This isn’t fair!”

“If my cousin hadn’t opened his clumsy mouth, you wouldn’t be so upset,” Alise said. “Now, come along with us. We have other things to do today.”

Niklaus and Alise escorted her down two long flights of steps and through a thick door Niklaus had to open with a key and lock again behind them. He unlocked another corridor lined with dim concrete cells visible through narrow barred windows in the doors. Through one of these, Evelina glimpsed Juliana, the American girl with the plague touch. She wondered why they’d moved her down here. Alise scowled when she saw Juliana’s window panel open, and she slammed and latched it.

“Here’s your new room.” Alise smiled as Niklaus pulled open the heavy door to one of the raw concrete cells.

“If they didn’t want Bosnians, why did they bring me here at all?” Evelina asked. “I didn’t want to come. Why couldn’t they just leave me alone?”

“Priorities change,” Alise said. “All we can do is follow orders. That’s how a civilized society works. In you go, or I’ll have my cousin throw you in there and fill your head with dreadful nightmares.” She never stopped smiling.

Evelina looked to Niklaus, whose light gray eyes were fixed on her. For some reason, he gave her a small, sad-looking smile, which she found creepier than any violent threat. He closed the cell door behind her, but kept gazing at her through the barred window.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “Do you need anything?”

“Don’t ask her if she needs anything, Niklaus!” Alise snorted. “You’re not the concierge. Let’s go.”

His eyes lingered on her a moment longer before Alise called him away. Evelina sat on the cot, trembling, and listened to them walk away. None of it made sense. She’d done nothing wrong.

“What happened?” an echoing voice asked behind her. Evelina jumped and turned, but no one was there. She whispered a prayer in a low voice. “Can you hear me?” the voice asked.

“What are you?” Evelina whispered.

“Juliana. In the next cell.”

Evelina approached the ventilation grate low on the wall. “How long have you been here?”

“They just put me here. I don’t think they’re going to let me out.”

“Because of the visitors coming to tour the base?” Evelina asked.

“No, I don’t know about that. You know I have this...diseased touch. I learned how to breathe it out through the air. And I...sort of accidentally spat it into Alise’s face. Covered her with disease, with dripping sores...it was awful.”

“Is that why she wore such heavy makeup today?” Evelina asked. “She looked like a clown.”

Juliana laughed through the vent, and then Evelina laughed with her, and she felt a little better.