Doctor Frankenstein Read online

  The voice that came, after he said hello, was unexpected.

  “Doctor Frankenstein? This is Narran. We met once, I believe?”

  That was correct, to the best of his knowledge. The voice was very similar at least. Though it sounded a bit muffled, at the same time. As if she were speaking gingerly.

  “Narran! I was just going to be calling Sondra, to see if I could prevent Donald Brogan from being killed. What can I do for you, this evening?”

  There was a pause, then she spoke, her voice a little odd, still.

  “I woke up with a sore tooth and was hoping you could look at it? It gives me trouble every few years, then it will right itself for a while, before coming back. Would it be possible to have you in to look at it? I’m in Colorado at the moment.” She sounded a bit pensive and reticent to ask.

  Given she was six states away, Liam could see that. Still, that was where she was, and unlike her, he could travel during the day without catching on fire at all. That meant it would always be easier for him to go to her than the other way around.

  “It might be a few days for me to get there. In the meantime, you could try getting some oral gel or using clove oil on it? That seems to help a bit for other vampires, at least. The gel can be picked up at most drug stores.” It was a simple sounding thing to him but most vampires had little to no clue about places like that. Not if they were older than fifty years dead.

  She spoke to someone then, asking them to run and get her something like that. Liam knew some brand names, so mentioned them.

  After that, the vampire Queen sighed. It sounded very human and real.

  “Thank you for your concern and aid. Now… Brogan… The author? I have a report on this somewhere around here… Ah, here we go. Now, let me… I see. It seems fairly straight forward, he managed to get information on us from the husband of a former blood donor. I already ruled that they should all be put to death.” She paused again, made a small sound that seemed to indicate discomfort and went on. “Is there some reason we shouldn’t do that? It’s a time-honored tradition. Killing those that betray you or wish to.”

  He nodded, since that was actually the tradition for several groups. Even humans did things like that in certain organizations. Most of them were either governmental or criminal in nature but it happened. The werewolves were the same. Almost exactly.

  “True and I would hate to go against that kind of thing, normally. I looked into this one though and was able to see the future. It’s not exactly scrying or psychic, more of a complex thought construct but the point is that if Brogan can write and promote his book, it won’t really hurt you or your kind and will, in the future, get the people attacking you and the other groups to have to work in secret, which will shut them down a lot. It isn’t perfect but is the best for all involved in the short run.” He didn’t know about the long run, though Abbie had claimed it was.

  Narran made a soft, uncomfortable noise.

  “Really. That’s an interesting talent. I know that you produced a picture of me without us having met, which shows some skill that way. What about the others involved? The blood donor and his husband? Do they need to be spared as well?”

  Liam thought for a moment, then had to shake his head.

  “I didn't project that as being needed at all. There doesn’t seem to be any benefit in killing them. Except as it might serve as a warning to others. There is a difference between removing a spy and a man that you have working for you, writing a book.” Not that it was the condition of the moment.

  A thing the woman clearly knew.

  She went silent for a long time, speaking after almost three minutes.

  “I will suggest that then. That we remove the betrayer and the man who betrayed him, leaving the author, if he agrees to work for us. If not, then… Well, that’s for the future.”

  He smiled to himself, since it was a good start that way.

  “Could you see about having the humans watched for a while? They might be needed later. If this gets investigated, it will be easiest to have the men and their child available to show how kind and merciful you all are.” He chuckled a bit then and pointed out what he was clumsily trying to do. “I really don’t have any reason for them to stay alive. It wasn’t in what I forecast one way or the other.”

  Instead of growling at him for playing with her ruling, she made a gentle, considering, sound in her throat.

  “I’ll think about it. I won’t promise more than that, for the time being. It is… Perhaps we could have a talk with the men and see if that will suffice. Tell them how a great power begged for their lives, perhaps?”

  Liam knew that wasn’t a perfect ending but it was probably the best that he could come up with on the phone, at the moment. Especially given that the woman had no reason to listen to him at all. He’d had a vision, which was a very specific thing. Claiming anything else wouldn’t work with a woman who was possibly going to be around as long as he was.

  Thinking for a bit he nodded.

  “I’ll need the address of where we need to meet. I also have to get a vehicle. Brenner might lend me her SUV again, since she has her sports car out of storage already. I need to get a van or something for house calls. We just decided to do that a few hours ago though, so it hasn’t taken place yet.” There was too much data being given but it also had the woman giving him directions to where they were to meet.

  It wasn’t her home, of course. They were going to meet at a business that she owned, probably several towns away from where she slept during the day. That kind of thing had been mentioned in the books on vampires. They were defenseless during the day, unless they had guards. Even then, such men or women could betray them, which was part of why they were so set on killing that kind of person, no doubt.

  Narran laughed a little, as if something he’d said was supposed to be humorous.

  “Reality does have a way of preventing even our best plans but we must try. Thank you, Doctor. I look forward to seeing you. I shall send word to young Sondra and her Master Nicodemus. You said you were planning to call on them as well this night? I shall endeavor to do so quickly, to prevent confusion.”

  “Thank you for your consideration. I’ll call when I have news about when I’m leaving.” It was still very early in the evening. That meant he could make some calls, before heading out the door.

  The very first thing he did was look up how long the drive would take. That was, naturally, almost exactly one day, if he added in stops at all. The first person he contacted was Agent Brenner, because, naturally, he wanted to use her vehicle. If she said no… Well, it might be possible to find something else. He didn't need something physically large for the first trip. Even a tiny car could hold his dentistry gear.

  Brenner didn’t make it hard though, merely coughing once and then saying that was fine. Then she tried to get off the phone so abruptly it was obvious that something was going on in the background. From the sound of it, she was at her FBI office, and someone was actively arguing behind her. From the voice, that was Agent Sanchez, which was unusual for him.

  The man was normally kind. Strong though, which was probably the point of the moment. He wasn’t backing down and neither was whoever he was shouting at on the phone. The meaning was too hard to make out, having only half of the conversation. There was a mention of vampires though.

  Liam spoke up then.

  “Wait… Is Agent Sanchez talking about the Brogan issue?”

  Instead of telling him to mind his own business, which made sense, Tiffany simply asked.

  “Dan, are you on about Brogan?”

  From the background there was a deep sound, which was a chair moving.

  “Yeah. With Nicodemus. He plans to kill him later tonight. There’s a meeting set. Do you have anything on that?”

  Liam didn't wait, in case it was going to matter that he spoke up on the issue.

  “I had a vision of the future and spoke to Narran on that very matter a few minutes ago. She’s calling
Sondra I think, to discuss it.” He didn't add anything more, since her ruling might be different if Liam wasn’t there directly. His part, as far as he was concerned, was over. At least as far as that specific issue went.

  Tiffany related the words to Sanchez, who did the same to Nicodemus, who broke off the conversation, to go and hopefully check in, before killing the man.

  Liam had what he needed, so got off the phone with Brenner, after letting her know what the trip was he had planned and why. That she’d let him borrow her vehicle without all of that data showed a certain amount of trust in him. Also that she was wealthy enough that she didn’t need to worry over the loss of a vehicle. From what he understood that was the case.

  Tiffany Brenner was rich, the money coming from her parents, who were still both alive. Eventually she’d have even more, when they died. Not that she seemed to care that much about things like that. Money, and the trappings of it, wasn’t her main concern in life.

  When he got off the phone, he sighed, practicing fitting in, and called his father. Oaks. The device rang for six full rings, then moved to an answering service.

  Liam just told him what was going on. That he was back and had a house call to make, which meant he was leaving again in a few hours. Then he moved to pack up for the trip, hurrying, simply for the sake of doing his job well. Narran needed help, so it made sense for him to get to her as quickly as possible.

  As he loaded the SUV, standing at the back of the bright yellow automobile, he felt something behind him. It wasn’t so much that he heard it but his focus turned to notice that Warren Oaks was in the trees behind him, walking out, slowly. That got him to turn and nod.

  “Father. I just left a message for you, on your phone.” His high-pitched voice was a bit lower, when he spoke. Even if he wasn’t trying to do that consciously.

  It seemed almost normal. Like the voice that would come out of the mouth of the man he appeared to be. That got him to pause for a second, though Oaks simply raised his right hand and spoke in his own, very deep, voice.

  “Liam. I wasn’t certain that you’d speak to me, after the small… Misstep I took. I apologize for that, again. I shouldn’t have tried to trick you into seeing things my way.” He stopped about fifteen feet back. As if he expected a fight to break out.

  Liam couldn’t see any value in that at all. The man would either fix his behavior in the future or he would refuse to. Fighting about it, even arguing, wouldn’t make any difference at all. That was probably true in most circumstances, not just between the two of them. Fighting was what you did if you were attacked or to protect another from harm. All other uses of it were probably going to turn out to be wrong.

  So he nodded, then changed the topic.

  “I read a book, about prometheans, written by you.”

  The man tilted his head and then smiled.

  “You were with Vincent… which means he has it? I’ve wondered where it had gotten to. It went missing some… thirty years ago. To the best of my knowledge he hasn’t made one of us yet. Unless you took it?” There was a wave at the SUV, as if it might be with him, packed up for the trip to be taken.

  “No. I memorized it, however. At the end you spoke of a relationship between potassium and the negative effect that we have on people? There was a star by that. What does that mean?” He was making small talk, not thinking it was important at all.

  The other man moved a few steps closer.

  “That… In the seventies I’d thought that I noticed people treating me better and wondered if that was the cause. As it turned out it wasn’t that at all. Things have certainly calmed down over time, however. When I was young, I lived in seclusion, most of the time. Now I can walk the streets of major cities with no more than a physical attack every day or two. I don’t know why that’s taken place. Perhaps some chemical or mental conditioning process?”

  Liam shrugged then, smiling.

  “I heard from a ghost that it was about us fitting into the world. We aren’t natural, so it’s taking time for everything else to adjust to our presence. Eventually, in a few hundred years, things should balance so that we’re treated about like everything else. The real end point will be much further away than that in time but we probably won’t be attacked by Humans nearly as often then. It just takes time for things to become normal, I guess.”

  Instead of scoffing, Oaks made a considering sound. His heavy featured face pleasant, if still a bit asymmetrical.

  “That is something that I’ve wondered about myself. There is no real way to test it. Well, other than watching, over the centuries. Now, you’ve spoken to spirits? I’ve seen some over the years. Not often. You’re not identical to me, so that might be a particular talent of yours.”

  Which was possible, though he didn't know if that was the truth at all.

  “I’ve seen five of them. One of them, Abbie, she was a werewolf in life and seems to be being sent to influence things. Off the books? There are rules she’s mentioned. Not what they are or who exactly set them. Her brother is Marcus, who is high up in their national command structure. They don’t seem that close. Probably because she died a long time ago and he can’t see her. He chastised her for dying in a foolish car wreck, when he heard she was there, at the meeting where Clarissa Hodler was being tried.”

  That all seemed about right. The larger man glanced at him, and then nodded.

  “I understand. That’s far more extensive than what I’ve encountered. Keep me apprised of what happens in the future that way? I’ll make it into a book. I came to, well, basically make certain we aren’t going to war. We’re fine, you and I?”

  Liam nodded. It was part of dealing with people, not leaving them feeling like you were going to attack them or harm them in some way. How one would do that to Oaks, he didn't know. Probably by removing things that he valued from existence. Killing him wouldn’t work. The same was true of all their people, as well.

  Over time, even people that were supposed to be unfeeling monsters would grow connections. It might not be love, but there were things that Liam valued. People that he would miss if they weren’t around in the world any longer. His mother. Sanchez and Brenner. Even Mitchel Warner, who he thought of as a friend more than anyone else he knew.

  Nodding, Liam smiled. Even Warren Oaks was like that for him, if not as much as the others were. For one thing they simply hadn’t spent the same amount of raw time together. Also, when he thought about it for a moment, none of the others had tried to make him hate all humans, just so that he’d help overthrow their power structure in order to take over. That was going to make a difference as well. No one wanted to be tricked, after all.

  Liam knew that he didn’t love the idea, at any rate.

  Chapter eight

  Liam reflected on the current predicament he’d gotten himself into as he worked to solve the problem. Narran had a cracked premolar on the right bottom side of her jaw, which needed to be dealt with in a different fashion than a human tooth would require. Vampires would, if things were arranged correctly, mainly correct dental problems over time. It took years for them to heal that kind of thing but it would, as long as nothing was in the way. They could even regrow teeth, over the course of decades.

  So he needed to bind the tooth temporarily, with something that would last for at least a year. To that end he was simply binding the effected dental real estate with a composite compound. On the outside of the tooth, coating the thing without being inside of it, around the smooth portion instead of the top, it would act like a cast and fall apart, unable to hold on to anything in the mouth long term.

  None of that was the real problem. Even if he had to do it ten times over the next year, it would eventually allow true healing to take place, fixing the real issue forever. Or until another tooth broke. That, breaking teeth, was the biggest dental issue for the undead. It was, from his studies, much worse in zombies and other carrion eaters. They didn't get cavities but they broke their teeth on bones. Some of those didn’t hea
l, either. It would take totally different tricks to help them, if any ever came to him.

  That wasn’t the problem he was having though. No, it was that Narran was a fairly tiny person, and Liam had hands the size of medium sized hams. They were clean and he had latex gloves on but those were tightly stretched and could break if he ran his hand into the sharp canine teeth as he worked. It made for a tight work environment at the moment.

  Still, painting with the composite and a small paddle, he placed his fist half inside her mouth, the woman not drooling all over him or moaning due to the discomfort. Even if he was forcing her jaw open enough that doing too much more of it would pop the poor thing out of place. Even for a vampire that would be annoying.

  Finally, after most of thirty minutes working on her tooth, a bright light over his shoulder, with two other vampires nervously standing by, he pulled back.

  “There we go. That’s set. Try not to eat anything for the next… Call it day? I had to put that on pretty thick, so we want it to cure. Blood should be fine. That and water.” He wasn’t certain if the woman drank alcohol, personally. Most of the others of her kind did that sort of thing, from what little he’d seen.

  The woman nodded, rubbed at the side of her mouth and then smiled.

  “It doesn’t hurt, which is nice. You said that it will heal, over time? It’s been a problem for nearly fifteen years, off and on.” Rubbing at it again, she looked at him, her nearly black eyes locking with his own yellow. She held it for a time. Then, so did he, smiling and nodding.

  “It should. I’ve seen healing in other vampires, though they were all younger than you were. From my understanding your people get stronger and heal faster over time, so it may take less for you than it would for others. As long as the cast holds, you’ll be fine. If it doesn’t at any point, get with me and I’ll come do it again. You don’t eat a lot, do you?”