Orpheus and the Pearl & Nevermore Read Online Free Page B

stimulants, and it would be highly toxic
to any person who was not already dead. A whiff of the vapors would
induce tremors and mild hallucinations. Any contact with the liquid
would bring on vomiting, convulsions, and death almost
immediately.”
    “ And for Mrs. Wallston
what is the effect, or the side effects?”
    “ Motor and mental
stimulation to normal levels of activity. I’ve also added
emollients to keep her skin and hair from drying out. But of
course, with such stimulants, we can’t administer very much at
once, or the effect would be fatal, similar to how it would affect
a person not already dead, so she must bathe in it daily. She
ingests a tiny bit as well, to keep her digestive organs stimulated
and working. As I said, nighttime is when we see the primary
adverse side-effect, the difficulty in sleeping, for by then the
stimulation is wearing off to the point where she cannot move about
normally, but she cannot fully relax and sleep. As you know, of
course, our bodies do not require sleep, but rather, our brains do,
or we would go completely mad, so it is crucial that she sleep,
rather than simply give her more stimulants to keep her awake
constantly. She has the chemical bath in the morning, so she can
function normally through the day. I do not know if the chemicals
have any part in her maniacal rages. I have repeatedly and
meticulously gone over all the constituents and their properties
and effects, and there is no clear connection. I fear it is some
aberration or disorder much more deeply ingrained in her mind, in
her soul.” He shook his head.
    Catherine nodded and watched the room, expecting
Mrs. Wallston to emerge from behind the screen and enter the tub.
Instead, two small hands slithered from out of the cream-colored
liquid and grasped the sides of the tub. At first, they were hard
to see, as they were so pale that they were indistinguishable from
the stark white of the sides of the tub. Even the nails were the
same shade, like chalk. Catherine gasped and her gloved hand
instinctively covered her mouth. She was later quite amazed that
she had stifled a scream, but really, the situation seemed beyond
such a reaction. It was, quite literally, breathtaking. Following
the hands, a head of wet blonde curls emerged. Under the curls was
a pair of large, dark goggles, like a welder would wear; the black
of the goggles and their strap was the only contrast in the room,
since the blonde hair was so light, almost platinum. A woman’s
upper torso slowly and gracefully rose beneath the head, her
breasts just breaking the creamy liquid’s surface. Most hideous of
all perhaps, neither her lips nor her nipples had the slightest
tinge of pink. The woman stood, turned away from them, and stepped
out of the tub. Her entire body was all the same ghastly hue. It
was not emaciated, as Catherine might have expected, but really
rather fulsome and curvaceous. The figure from the tub took up a
towel from the small table and wrapped herself in it as Dr.
Wallston closed the curtain.
    “ It will take her a few
minutes to dry and dress herself. Are you all right? I know this is
difficult, but you must be prepared for the more unusual and
disconcerting aspects of my wife’s condition.”
    “ Yes, I know, I’ll do my
best. But Dr. Wallston, we were standing here for several minutes.
How did she stay submerged for so long? I have to understand what’s
going on if I am to compose myself.”
    “ My wife no longer
breathes, Dr. MacGuire. She is completely submerged in the chemical
bath for two hours each morning.”
    Catherine blinked, trying
to take this in. “But you said you revived her, doctor. I don’t
understand what her condition is, if she is revived but doesn’t
breathe.”
    “ I know that term was a
little misleading, and I apologize for that, but there is no
sufficient or accurate term in our language. I had thought to call
the process ‘reanimation,’ but that too is misleading, for she is
not simply moving