Evangeline had slept ill, the combination of an uncomfortable settee and an overwhelming sense of dread made for a restless night. This feeling of uncertainty had rarely left her side as of late and she could no longer dismiss it. She felt conflicted; Each choice she made plagued her with guilt regardless of the outcome and nowhere was this more apparent than when she was with Vincent.
At present, he stood by the theatre door and was anxiously peeking through the porthole window. That's strange. It was unlike him to be nervous. She could not guess what was weighing on his mind - having only seen him once this morning. She knew that he had left the house before she did; It was possible that something could have happened in the meantime to change his mood.
"Are you all right, Vincent?" She asked earnestly.
In an instant, he turned to face her. It seemed that she had caught him unawares. He appeared startled at first, but his resolve was firm, he would not benefit from the situation by arousing her suspicion further. Evangeline remained silent for a moment - allowing him the time to respond - before looking through the adjacent porthole conspicuously.
He smiled stiffly.
"I'm fine, thank you... I haven't used this theatre a great deal. I wanted to get a better look.", He paused and clutched his gloves awkwardly in front of him.
Evangeline raised a brow. She had never questioned Vincent's honesty and didn't wish to do so now. She could not bring herself to work with a man whom she felt suspicious of, let alone not trust. It pained her to imagine what it would be like to be without his company; the joy she felt when in his presence would be reduced to nothing but a pleasant memory, another more troubling thought forced itself upon her. She was certain that he would withdraw his offer of letting her stay if she were to end their friendship. Where would she go?
Evangeline shook her head. Perhaps, she was looking too deeply into his behaviour. He had always tried to sustain an open and candid discussion when they were together; there was no reason to suggest that he wasn't doing so now. Maybe his nerves had gotten the better of him?
She would have to stop now and allow them to take their leave, or risk being late to the dissection.
Evangeline did not dare to look up from the corpse in fear of making a mistake. In all of her years of practice, she had never lectured a class this large; She hoped that she had not overestimated her abilities because her confidence had severely wavered over the last month.
She scoffed softly, how Vincent would grin if he knew how she felt. He would tease her; she was sure of that. She wasn't as experienced as he was in these matters and he was not the type of man to give uninvited lessons. This didn't displease her though; An unwanted lecture from him would leave her deeply perturbed and dispel the small amount of confidence that she had left.
She watched him as his hands entered her field of vision. They still possessed the soft, pale appearance from before, but they no longer glided skillfully across the cadaver's skin; Instead, they trembled. If he was nervous he did not let it on, he seemed serious and wore the same look of concentration which she had come to associate with these sorts of endeavours.
At first, the proceeds did not differ from the previous dissection; They had opened and clamped the chest cavity like before, and Evangeline was just beginning to enjoy herself until she saw what lay beneath. At once, she froze. Her body remained completely still. Her eyes not leaving the cadaver's chest.
'How is this possible?'
Vincent returned her look of uncertainty and bent down to meet her gaze.
"What's the matter?" he whispered earnestly. "Why have you stopped?"
She was certain that she heard Vincent address her, but she could not conjure up a coherent response. She could barely comprehend what she was seeing.
The cadaver's organs were malformed and misshapen. Its heart was enlarged and porous; its stomach was oversized but empty; even its entire vasculature was different. Its vessels contained no blood, instead, they housed a clear fluid.
Uncovering enlarged organs was not new to Evangeline, many of her clientele had succumbed to such conditions, but nothing resembled what laid in front of her. Vincent had previously stated that 'the cadaver had lived with this condition for the entirety of its life', but she couldn't have known that this is what he had alluded to or the severity of it. She very much doubted that he was telling the truth: no one, animal or human could have lived for so long in such a state.
By now, Evangeline had become quite anxious. She was sure her face portrayed her confusion, and she turned to Vincent to see if he was just as distressed: he was not, instead he appeared sheepish and urged Evangeline to continue.
In an instant, her attitude changed.
"Have you not looked at what is on the slab?" She whispered sternly.
He flinched at her change of tone and looked around the room. Their students had remained quiet until now and to Evangeline's dismay, they had all turned their attention towards her; Some looked at her frowning and confused, whilst others muttered between themselves.
"Please, calm down." he pleaded. "I don't want you to make a scene."
He reached out and tried to take hold of her wrist, but she quickly pulled it away.
"You don't want me making a scene?! What's going on? Please tell me."
At this, his shoulders dropped, and he turned away from her.
It seemed that she would have to question his honesty after all. She was disappointed but not surprised; It was foolhardy to place her trust in a man whom she had only known for a little over a month. She wanted to question him, but could no longer trust the responses he would give. How are you involved? What happened to the man in the first dissection? Who or what is the corpse that lay in front of me? Are they both linked? Why is the class being shown these? If he was not prepared to give her the answers she sought; she would have to find the answers herself.
There was little more she could discover in these circumstances and being under constant surveillance did little to calm her nerves. If only she could examine the cadaver freely. She doubted that such an occasion would arise; she would not have access to it after today's dissection.
Alas, she would have to reconcile herself with the limited time that remained. Vincent was right of course, she did not wish to make a scene and draw any more attention to herself. Rather ironically, his admonition did not have the desired effect at all. Instead, she derived some use from it. If she wanted to investigate these strange occurrences, it would not be in her best interest to arouse suspicion. So, she would have to cooperate - if just for a little while.
This was not a fitting solution though; she did not wish to deceive him. She doubted that she could fake equanimity and comply after discovering so much - she was too headstrong. She sorely hoped that he would change his mind and confess. Perhaps, once time has passed, things could be discussed more calmly.
The train journey home was an awkward affair. Vincent didn't dare to meet her gaze and allowed the patterned flooring to divert his attention instead. Evangeline remained silent and did not speak to Vincent at all. She was still confused, but her anger had now been replaced with fear. She knew nothing of his intentions or how the situation had come to be; If he was involved with the murder of the first corpse, could the same thing happen to her? Could she end up on the slab too?
Evangeline cupped her forehead. What a day this had been! She couldn't stay with the man - not now. She hadn't yet unpacked her belongings; Perhaps she could hurry back and retrieve them before making her way home.
She focused her gaze on Vincent. She wanted to hate him, if not for his reticence, then for his deliberate refusal to explain the circumstances. But she could not conjure up the hatred; Instead, she remained hopeful, hopeful that he was innocent and that this was all a misunderstanding. Maybe, if she pressed her suit, he would tell her.
"... Vincent?"
He looked up from the floor.
"Please tell me, what's going on?", She felt tears come to her eyes.
Vincent remained silent, appearing to consider his options. If only she knew what he was thinking, his body language could only tell her so much. She could see - that just for a moment - his resolve had faltered. He was no longer awkwardly standing across from her, instead; he seemed defeated. Would he tell her the truth? Or remain quiet despite his guilty conscience?
"You would not believe me-"
Evangeline interrupted, eager to reassure him.
He sighed and looked at the full carriage around him. It was too busy; she doubted that he would confess under such circumstances.
"I will explain everything once we are home," he whispered.
Evangeline raised a brow. At present, she didn't know what to believe; She didn't trust him, but this was her only opportunity to discover what everything was about. If she argued with him or convinced him to concede on her terms, he might not confess at all. She would have to take him for his word.
Silence descended upon the two, there was nothing more to discuss. They could no longer pursue the question at the forefront of their minds; even Vincent, who was the most gregarious of the two, could not conjure up a distracting conversation.
Eventually, after multiple stops and a short distance of walking, his house came into view. The quiet and isolated nature of his home had become more apparent to Evangeline now that all the commuters had dispersed. To her dismay, Vincent spoke very little. They were alone, yet he did not utter a word. On the train, he had promised her an explanation, and she was certain that he had not forgotten.
As they approached the front door, she stopped and refused to go any further.
"I'm not stepping inside until you tell me what's going on," she warned, now crossing her arms defensively.
Despite her firm protest, she still felt vulnerable. It was most foolhardy to follow him back home - especially to a house as isolated as this one. If he had ill-intentions he could, quite easily see them through without fear of interference.
Vincent turned towards her and took a deep breath.
"First, I... I must apologise for my reticence. I can see how troubling this must be for you," he started.
She remained silent. 'It has been more than troubling' she thought. Ever since she first laid eyes on him, she had been cast into a state of distress. This bizarre doctor had introduced her to the strangest of circumstances, all of which he gave no explanation for. Yet, he did not spare a thought for her emotions until now.
"... I fear that you will not believe me, but I will do my best to enlighten you."
She almost cried out in protest at the mention of 'disbelief'.
"Forgive me for my lack of eloquence, because I have no idea how to explain this properly... but, the cadaver which we dissected today was not human-"
At once her expression fell flat.'Is this man for real?'. He was right, she did not believe him at all. The cadaver's organs were abnormal to be sure, but it was human. She could not convince herself otherwise.
"It was a vampire."
It was only expected that both parties would now become silent. There had been many silences between them, but this was the longest of them all. How was Evangeline supposed to respond to such a statement? After a moment of contemplation, she knew.
"You're fucking insane."
She turned away from him, not wanting to hear anymore. She couldn't say how she felt, each emotion fought so desperately for her attention that she felt a strange mix of them all.
"Am I?" He snapped defensively, "Enlighten me, Evangeline. How many humans have you come across which have plasma instead of blood? How many humans have you met, which are alive, with such abnormal anatomy? You may not believe me, but you will have too."
She turned to face him once more, her cheeks now wet with tears.
"...But how does this relate to you?... How are you involved?... Why were students being shown this? What about the first cadaver we saw? What about the bite mar-"
The bite marks. At once her body became stiff. A vampire murdered the man. That would explain the bizarre circumstances around his death; the isolated area, the lack of blood, the hypovolemic shock. Another question forced itself upon her. If the man was murdered by a vampire, why would Vincent use the body for a dissection? Only he knew the answer to this.
"I don't teach human students, you see. They are all vampires wanting to have a career in the medical field. It is my job to educate them on the patients they will see: Vampires and humans. I showed them the first cadaver so they could understand what a vampire attack looks like and how it affects the human anatomy. The 2nd cadaver was used to educate them on their anatomy..."
"What about you?" She inquired tearfully, "Are you a vampire?"
He confirmed it.
"Did... did you kill the man? - The first cadaver, I mean."
He shook his head.
"I have no desire to hurt humans. I wouldn't have become a doctor if I did"
By now, Evangeline had become quite pale. She was exhausted: emotionally & physically. The constant fear she had felt for the last few hours had taken its toll and she was uncertain whether she could endure anymore. Before she could leave, Vincent addressed her.
"I can see that this has overwhelmed you." He said in a soft tone.
He took a step towards her and offered her his hand.
"You should come inside, it is getting dark."