I laughed, putting a hand to my head where my hat was askew due to the missing pin. “I could not find a shop in time. They were all closed, and then I got lost in an unfamiliar part of town. I have been wandering ever since! I am simply exhausted.”

Nodding, but showing little sympathy, Mary showed me to my room.

I waited several sleepless hours, until I judged it was time for the second half of this night’s unsavory activities. I longed for sleep. Longed to close my eyes and forget all I had seen and done. But I could not. Victor still needed me.

The clock in Mary’s sitting room showed just past one in the morning when I slipped out, carrying the supply of oil I had stolen from her closet.

The city had an entirely different character at night. Streetlamps were few and far between, and the buildings seemed great hulking beasts at night, watching with black eyes that reflected myself back at me. It would be so easy to disappear here. To wander into the dark and never be seen again.

I hurried, my cloak drawn around me with the hood up. I felt pursued at every step, constantly checking over my shoulder. But I was alone. I paused at the gatehouse, shrinking further into my cloak and eyeing the doors warily. No sounds greeted me. The entire world was silent, as though holding its breath to see what I would do.

The journey over the river, which during the rainy day had been unremarkable, felt like crossing a bridge to another world. A few of the boats had torches burning, so that it looked like portions of the jet-black river were on fire. Like the river Styx, a passageway directly to hell.

Shivering, I moved faster. I needed this night to be over, this last task accomplished. Once it was, I would be safe. At last I came to Victor’s residence. I would not call it a home. It was nothing of the sort. I lifted my hand to turn the knob—

The door was slightly ajar. I was certain I had closed it all the way when we left. Had I? I had been so eager to get Mary out and away from further exploration….And Justine had been talking to me….Maybe I had not waited for it to latch. I nudged it open with my foot, not daring to light my lamp. But there was no other light inside. The trapdoor above my head was firmly shut. I peered into Victor’s living quarters. The stove was still cold. I used one of my matches to light it, closing the flue and leaving the oven door open. Then I turned and—

A man loomed out of the darkness.