Kate’s body felt not her own. She slumped forward in the wheelchair; the only thing holding her upright was the band across her chest. Her hands and legs were numb after being immobile for so long. Her spine should be aching, but she felt nothing. She forced herself to straighten. A flash of white immediately started her chest pounding. She instinctively tried to pull against her restraints, to try to get away, but the white shape didn’t move. It coalesced into the homunculus hunched placidly in a corner. Its mechanical eyes rotated, staring at her. It shuffled toward her and she whimpered against her will. The creature reached out a hand to touch her leg and she jerked reflexively.
“Leave me alone, you sodding piece of filth!” Kate raged at it, calling it a stream of unflattering things. Her anger was all that she had left now and she wielded it like any other weapon. “Come near me again and I swear I will bite off your bloody hand!”
It recoiled, then studied her. Her harsh breath was visible in the air of the chilled room.
“Now, now. Miss Anstruther.” Dr. White reentered the room. “Such language.”
Kate swiveled her head to face him, her fear boiling in her gut.
“And in front of your very impressionable sister.” He tsked at her.
Kate tried to hold on to her fury, but in her weakened state it fled all too quickly, leaving her spent and ragged in her bonds. She shouldn’t have wasted her energy on the creature. The doctor had something new up his sleeve by the sick way he smiled at her. She would need all her strength to endure it.
Imogen still stood in the corner of the room watching impassively. Kate couldn’t fathom how anyone could look on such horrors and not be moved to some sort of action. They were family. Kate still believed there was some part of Imogen that recognized her and felt the slightest remorse.
Dr. White said, “I’m certainly glad you’ve recovered your stamina. For a time there I thought we might have lost you.”
“I don’t fade that easily.”
“Yes. I see that. I gave you an enormous amount of serum; too much I feared. But I’m willing to stop these harsh actions if only you would tell me how the key works. It’s such a simple thing.”
“Even if I did, you would still kill us.”
“I would never do something so wasteful! You totally misunderstand me, Miss Anstruther. To me, all life is precious. I would no more kill you than I would harm a hair on this creature’s head.” White stroked the rubbery skin of the homunculus.
“You said you killed them first.”
“No. I transformed them. No one mourns the caterpillar after a beautiful butterfly emerges.”
“You perhaps need your spectacles repaired. That is not a butterfly.”
“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I find human life remarkable. Such vitality. So capable of adapting once the brain is altered to accept the coming change. You’ll see.”
“What?” A cold knot gripped Kate’s stomach.
“Well, if you aren’t going to be cooperative, perhaps you will be more disposed to talk to me as a homunculus.”
“I’ll never tell you anything!”
“We can’t know that until we try.” Dr. White strode behind the wheelchair in which Kate was imprisoned. At the same time, two more homunculi entered the room. One had draping tentacles and the other walked hunched and had long, spindly fingers tipped with needles. They gathered near the operating table as Dr. White wheeled Kate toward it.
“You will make a fine addition to the family.”
“No!” Kate shouted.
“Yes!” Dr. White jerked the chair to a halt and spun her to face him. “Or tell me what I want to know!”
“I can’t!”
“You won’t! You believe you will be rescued. It’s foolish fancy. I’ve made adjustments after your earlier visit to ensure no one can enter Bedlam. My homunculi are patrolling above, and the werewolves hunt below. No one will find you down here. No one is ever found down here.”
Kate’s rage blossomed again at the thought that Simon and the others might be walking to their deaths for her. “Even if I knew how to operate the key, I would take it to my grave!”
“A pleasant thought, but unlikely.” He snapped his fingers and the three homunculi swarmed her chair. The restraints were loosened, and tentacles and claws quickly grabbed Kate’s limbs. She screamed and thrashed, but her body was stiff. She was manhandled onto the table. Her wrists and ankles were positioned, and Dr. White took his time securing her with the straps. He added a band of thick leather across her hips and one over her forehead.
Imogen just stood in the corner.
“Help me!” Kate shouted. “Imogen. Help me, please!”
One homunculus retreated from the room and returned, pushing a large container of disgusting red slurry. White helped position it close to the table.
He leaned over so Kate could see his face. “Dear girl. Please tell me and I won’t continue.”
Kate struggled to remain calm. She couldn’t shake her head so she ground out, “I don’t know!”
“My, you are a stubborn one.”
A hairy, hulking shape appeared in the corner of her eye. Gretta Aldfather, with great axe in hand, straightened to near the full height of the room, her eyes burning coals. “Has she told you how to open the portal?”