A girl was sprawled out on the bed , sweating and clawing at her neck , when I entered . She kept pulling at her nightgown , as if too hot with the windows closed , the pink ribbon at the neck untied . Her developing breasts peeked out with every tug she made on the thin , white cotton fabric . The girl ’ s mother scurried to cover up her daughter ’ s virtue , but her efforts were in vain as the nightgown defiantly slid down the girl ’ s arm , baring a small , soft pink shoulder .
I walked from the door , passed the foot of the bed , to a round wooden table with silver trim as I watched the girl jerk a bit , side-to-side , continually moving her feet forward and backward , digging her heels into the mattress . Two maids stood on either side of the girl , one fanning her with a long wooden-handled clamshell paper fan while the other used a cold compress on the girl ’ s feverish forehead . I set my bag on the table and glanced over at the girl ’ s father . He hadn ’ t moved from the door since escorting me into the room , seemingly too scared to get closer and thus cherished his distance from the bed , though it was only about five feet .
The girl ’ s panting noises brought my attention back to her . When she breathed deeply , her air intake stuttered , like a shiver in cold rain . Though the room was dim , I could clearly see two fang marks on the left side of the girl ’ s neck . A fresh bite was like any other wound , open , seeping , bloody . But the bite mark on this girl ’ s neck had already begun to heal , the skin growing back together , red around the outside but puckered in the center . Her three days of transformation were almost up . The girl was in the last phase , yet her parents counted on me to save her from the curse . There was nothing I could do but end her suffering .
96