The most unsettling observation occurred during a medical examination. A nurse named Patricia Hollis was drawing blood from one of the older boys when she noticed something unusual. The blood was darker than normal, almost brown, and clotted within seconds of leaving the vein. Even more alarming was the boy's reaction; he didn't flinch, didn't cry, didn't even seem to notice the needle. But the moment his blood touched the glass vial, every other child in the building turned to look at him. They stood simultaneously from where they were sitting and began to move toward him slowly, silently, as if drawn by an invisible thread. The staff locked the doors before the children could gather. But for the next six hours, they huddled against the doors, palms pressed against the wood, waiting. The boy whose blood had been drawn sat alone in the examination room, completely still, staring at the ceiling. When the gates finally reopened, the children returned to their circle as if nothing had happened. The blood sample was sent to a laboratory in Richmond. It was lost in transit. A follow-up sample was never taken.
At the end of July, the state made a decision. The children would be separated and transferred to different facilities in Virginia and Kentucky. It was the only way, they argued, to break the bond that united them and give them a chance at a normal life. Margaret Dunn opposed the decision, as did several members of the medical staff, but the state proceeded. On August 2, 1968, the children were loaded into separate vehicles and taken to different locations. That night, every facility reported the same thing: the children stopped eating and moving. They sat in their rooms, staring at the walls, humming that same low, resonant tone. Three days later, two of the children were found dead in their beds. The cause of death could not be determined. Their bodies showed no signs of trauma, illness, or suffering. They had simply ceased to live. By the end of the week, four more had died. The state reversed its decision. The surviving children were reunited, and the deaths stopped.
