The Asylum Read Online Free PDF

feet, clad in filthy white shoes. “But I think Violet could have made it. I wanted to meet exciting people and have a few years of adventure, but I didn’t necessarily want to be on display. Violet wanted people to notice her. She wanted to be special.”
    â€œShe was special,” I said after a moment.
    â€œI guess now she’s special in a different way,” Cora said sadly.
    â€œI did everything I could to protect her…” I said.
    â€œI know,” Cora said, reaching up to touch the vervain necklace still clasped around her throat. “You gave her this.”
    â€œYes, and it—”
    â€œProtects me against vampires,” Cora finished. “Damon told me. I just wish…” She trailed off and reached into the bread bag to take another roll. It was evident that there were certain things Cora kept to herself, a wall around her thoughts. I knew the feeling. Sometimes the privacy of my own mind was the only thing that kept me sane.
    â€œWe’ll find her. I’ll make sure of that,” I said finally, knowing as soon as I heard the words that it somehow wasn’t enough.
    â€œWill we?” Cora asked, turning her gaze on me. “You keep saying that, and I know you mean well, but it seems you and your brother are rather occupied, what with trying to one-up each other.” She tossed the remaining crumbs from the roll toward a lone pigeon hopping down the path. It startled, then began to feast, pleased at this meal from the heavens. “I’ll save her by myself if I have to. After all, she was trying to save me. It’s what sisters do,” she said in a vulnerable voice at odds with her jutted chin and proud expression.
    â€œI know,” I said. “But you won’t have to do it alone. I’m here to help.”
    Cora took a deep breath and looked into my eyes. “I know. And I trust you. I trust Damon, even. But when you’re both together…” She trailed off and shook her head.
    â€œMy brother and I have a … complicated relationship. As you’ve seen. But we’re on the same side. We’re not fighting each other anymore.”
    A brief smile crossed Cora’s lips. “Good,” she said. We’d walked the length of the zoo and were entering a rougher section of the park. Litter was strewn across the grass, the paths were cracked, and fewer well-dressed couples wandered by. We passed a group of children, but instead of playing with expensive wooden toys, they were improvising war games with sticks.
    I watched as two boys, probably only five or six, tussled violently. Both had bloody scratches and I couldn’t help but wonder whether that was how Damon and I seemed to Cora: brothers so desperate to fight, they didn’t care how childish, counterproductive, or useless it was.
    Just then, I heard a commotion behind us. A dark-haired figure ran by us at a speed no human could possibly match. Five officers followed, not caring about the people they knocked down.
    I grabbed Cora’s hand. She was looking at me in fear, knowing just as well as I did what this chase meant.
    Damon was in the park.
    â€œDanger! ”
    â€œKiller! ”
    â€œStop him! ”
    Almost unbidden, a word bubbled to my lips as I watched Damon flash across the landscape: Run!

4
    T he Ripper!” boomed one officer as he rushed by in panic.
    â€œThe Ripper?” A crowd had gathered and I heard someone take up the officer’s cry. Another followed suit, and soon the park was full of voices raised in a cacophony of fear. People were running this way and that, as though they were a flock of sheep who’d discovered a wolf in their midst.
    â€œI see him!” another officer yelled, swinging a club in the air and taking off toward a grove of trees. I watched in horror. Damon was fast, but this was broad daylight. It would only take one person in his path to slow him down long enough to be caught.
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