"It was awesome. It's like you devour their soul, Schuyler. I could taste his...being. And then I felt great, you know. It's a high. A rush. I know why people do it now," Bliss confessed.
The taxi whizzed along, and the girls looked out at a view of the flat, untroubled waters of the Caribbean. It was a spectacular sight, but both of them were glad to be going back to the dirty, gray streets of New York.
"I haven't done it yet," Schuyler confessed, taking a deep breath.
"You will," Bliss said, flicking her ashes out the window. "But take it from me when you do take a familiar, make sure he matters something to you. I feel a pull toward Morgan, and I don't want to. I hardly even know the guy."
PATIENT RECORD
St. Dymphna Home for the Insane
Name: Margaret Stanford
Age: 16
Admitted: April 5, 1869
PREVIOUS HISTORY:
Recommended isolation therapy, April 30, 1869 Patient unresponsive. Isolation therapy no longer recommended, May 23, 1869.
Patient continues to have delirium, delusion, nightmares.
Suicidal tendencies more pronounced.
Patient is violent, danger to self and to others. Recommend transfer to full-security facility.
PRESENT CONDITION:
A week before patient was to be transferred, patient started responding to treatment. Patient stayed and was allowed to remain in our facility for several weeks, in which no signs of delusion, hysteria, or dementia were observed. Patient responds well to questions and appears to have fully recovered. Recommend release to family in three months if progress continues.
anging on the door was insistent, shaking the thin rattan walls of the beachside hotel. The sound broke the silence of the dawn. It was almost five in the morning.
"Schuyler! Schuyler! Wake up!"
Schuyler stumbled out of bed and opened the door a crack. She saw Bliss standing in the outdoor hallway looking panicked, still wearing her outfit from the night before, her hair in disarray.
Schuyler unlocked the door chain and opened the door fully.
"What?"
"Oh my God, Schuyler, you have to help me, I'm in huge trouble, oh shit, it's bad, I think he's dead," Bliss said, shaking uncontrollably.
Schuyler immediately woke up. "Dead? Who's dead?"
"Morgan--the assistant--I...come quick."
As Schuyler ran down the beach with her, Bliss told her the story. "I did it. I did the Caerimonia Osculor. The Sacred Kiss. I don't know, I just felt like it. I wanted to get it over with, you know? I was hating being the only one in our year who hadn't done it. And it was great, it was fine, he seemed to really get into it--but then, I don't know, I think I went too far. Oh shit, Schuyler, if The Committee finds out, I'm in huge, huge, huge trouble."
Bliss led Schuyler to the spot where she and Morgan had made out, in a secluded area underneath palm trees, behind a sand dune.
The boy was lying face up in the sand, blood still dripping from the two small punctures on his neck.
"He's not breathing," Bliss said nervously. "I think I went too far."
Schuyler knelt down and took his pulse. "There's no pulse."
"Oh my God, they are going to kill me! No human has ever been killed in a Caerimonia! Ever!"