Jane Vows Vengeance

Jane, confused, set the box down. “The Needle is a myth,” she said. “You told me as much yourself.”

“Yes, well, I lied,” said Byron. “It very much exists, and there it is. Happy returns of the day and all that.”

“I don’t understand,” Jane said. “Where did you get it?”

“Do you remember when I told you about Ambrose?” Byron asked.

“The vampire who turned you,” Jane said. “Of course.”

“He gave it to me,” said Byron. “It was given to him by Crispin himself. He wanted me to use it. Even though he turned me, he thought the greatest gift he could give me was to restore my humanity. He begged me to do it. But I didn’t want to be human.”

Jane reached out her hand and held it over the Needle.

“You can touch it,” Byron said. “It won’t harm you. It only works if you drive it into your heart.”

Jane touched her finger to the nail. It was cool to the touch.

“Is it really made from the nails used to crucify Christ?” she asked.

“Who knows?” said Byron. “You know what happens with these things—someone makes up a story and then someone else adds something to it, and before long you’ve got a hammer that was forged from the tongue of a frost dragon.”

Jane ran her finger down the length of the Needle. She let her fingertip rest against the point, pressing down until she could feel the Needle just begin to pierce her flesh. She pulled her hand away.

“You’ve had this all along,” she said. “And you’ve never told me about it. Why?”

Byron looked at her, and Jane was surprised to see sadness in his eyes. “Can’t you guess?” he asked. “I was afraid you would want to use it.”

Jane couldn’t speak. She understood exactly what Byron meant. Hadn’t she been doing the same thing by hiding from Walter the fact that, should he choose it, she could grant him eternal life? Wasn’t this the same reason why she hadn’t offered to turn her sister Cassie, or anyone else from her family? I was afraid they would say yes, she told herself.

“Are you going to use it?” Byron asked her.

Jane still couldn’t speak. She simply shook her head and shrugged.

“Tell you what,” said Byron. “I’ll be at the Tower tomorrow at nine as well. We’ll see then.” He bent down and kissed Jane on the cheek. “Either way, I’ll always love you,” he said.

He started to walk away, then returned. “I almost forgot,” he said. “I got something for Sarah.” He reached into his pocket and placed on the table a small toy replica of one of the Daleks from the Doctor Who television show.

“I’ve been introducing her to the Doctor,” he said. He then adopted the peculiar high-pitched voice of the Daleks. “Exterminate!” he said, using their famous line.

Jane laughed. “She’s going to love it,” she said.

Byron left. Jane sat very still, looking at the Needle and thinking. When she could think no more she closed the box and picked up the Dalek. This one was aluminum in color, with a single eye that lit up with a blue bulb. When she pressed a button on the bottom, the toy spoke just as Byron had. “Exterminate!” it said.

She pressed the button again. This time she heard a noise resembling radio static. Then a voice came from the Dalek.

“I told you the Needle was real.”

It was the voice from the elevator.

“Yes, but you might have been a bit more helpful as to where it was,” Jane said.

“Sorry about that,” said the voice. “I can’t be expected to know everything. But you’ve got it now, that’s the important thing. So, are you going to use it?”

Jane, feeling very self-conscious about holding a conversation with a toy Dalek, looked around before replying. “I don’t know,” she said.

The voice sighed. “It’s what you wanted,” it said.

“I thought I did,” Jane said. “Now I don’t know. And by the way, who are you?”

“Haven’t you guessed?” asked the voice. “I’m Apollonia.”

“The saint?” Jane said. “So you do exist.”

“Of course I do. Didn’t you see the windows?”

“Yes,” Jane said. “But you know how it is. Tongue from a frost dragon and all that. If you don’t mind my asking, are you in heaven?”

“There’s no more time for questions,” Apollonia said. “I just wanted to know if you’d decided to use the Needle. If you don’t want it, you really ought to give it to someone who does, you know.”

“That’s very saintlike of you,” Jane remarked.

“I do try,” said Apollonia. “Look, I have to go now. Do try to make up your mind soon, will you?”

“I will,” Jane told her. “And you take care of yourself. Give my regards to God. Or whomever.”

The Dalek was silent. Jane held it in her hand for another few minutes, in case Apollonia had anything else to say. When it seemed she didn’t, Jane slipped the Dalek into her pocket and picked up the case containing the Needle. Then she left the bar and went in search of Lucy.

It never hurts to get a second opinion, she told herself.

Chapter 28

Sunday: London

“Oh, you’re back.”

Prince Edward the Fifth of England materialized in front of Jane. He was joined a moment later by Richard of Shrewsbury, First Duke of York. They were wearing the same outfits Jane had seen them in before.

“Do ghosts never get to change their clothes?” Jane asked.

Richard shook his head. “No. You get just the one set.”

“We’re just thankful that we didn’t get stuck with our night-clothes,” Edward said.

“You mean you don’t get whatever you had on when you were mur—when you died?” Jane asked.

“Some do, some don’t,” Edward answered. “I think they go with what’s the most dramatic.”

“That makes sense,” Jane said.

“Are you really getting married this time?” Richard asked.

Jane sighed. “I don’t know,” she said. “I hope so.”

“And did you find Crispin’s Needle?” said Edward.

“Yes and no,” Jane told him. “I didn’t find it, but it eventually found me.”

“And did you use it?” asked Richard.

Before Jane could answer they were interrupted by the arrival of Lucy and Ben. Jane was surprised to also see Miriam and William. She hoped their presence was a sign that Walter was coming as well.

“Is he with you?” Jane asked Lucy, her heart beating madly.

Lucy shook her head. “He wasn’t in his room when we left. We don’t know where he is.”

It was ten minutes before nine.

Jane wrung her hands as she paced back and forth. The two ghosts watched her, which only made her more anxious. Lucy stood by looking as if she didn’t know what to do.

“Did you talk to him?” Jane asked Miriam.

“I tried,” she said. “We tried.” She cocked her head at William.

“The boy didn’t want to hear anything we had to say,” said William. “I’m afraid he’s still quite angry with all of us.”

“He must get his stubbornness from you,” Miriam said.

“Quiet,” Lucy said. “Remember, Ben still doesn’t know everything.”

“You ought to tell him,” said William. “Nothing good can come out of keeping it a secret. Just ask Jane.”

Jane glared at him, and William suddenly became very interested in his fingernails.