Doctor Frankenstein Read online

  No words came from the tiny being yet, though it was clear he understood what was being said.

  The battle went on for over an hour, with, as Liam would have expected, no real winner coming out of it. There was no way for that to happen. Even when they grappled, that just meant people went to the ground and didn’t win there, instead of tossing each other around uselessly.

  What was interesting was that Liam was nearly certain that he was a better fighter than any of them. At least as far as technique went. Vincent was able to kick and moved in a way that showed a certain level of skill, but it was rudimentary compared to what Liam had learned online. Part of that, he was willing to guess, would be down to the fact that none of them needed high levels of leverage to be effective in a fight. That or specific skills in crippling others.

  If they were doing what they were at the moment, only with vampires, the others would have been destroyed in short order. Liam, however, would be far more capable of not going down. Which meant that if he were to ever fight one of these others… It would be just as useless.

  Though he might look a bit better as he failed to make any real impact on his fellows. Certainly, he would be able to stay on his feet and move a bit better. His landings might be better as well, since he could right himself in the air, at least part of the time.

  No one got less upset, so eventually Liam called out.

  “Hello! I’m Liam. I didn’t know that Mary had ever made another of us. A bit of an oversight, her not telling me I had a brother.” The words got the other giant, Nicolas, to stop fighting at least and to spin on him.

  “What?” He rather bellowed the word, as if it were an insult.

  Still, he repeated himself, smiling affably as he did it. He half expected cursing as a response, or being rushed. Instead, the tall being turned back to look at Oaks.

  “You created another of us? Why? Is your desire to create suffering so great that you needed to inflict it on yet another innocent being? You and that monster, Frankenstein… I’ll kill you, Father. I won’t allow you to do this again. We’re wrong and should have never been created. God has no place for us in his world.” Then, a bit roughly, the being ran off.

  Watching him go, no one spoke until the being jumped over the ten foot outer wall. It was a half climb, but it worked well enough to get him to the other side.

  Martha smiled.

  “Well! At least you got him to stop fighting. Politely, too. That’s better than I’d figured on happening.”

  Chapter eleven

  Liam looked at Oaks, his head tilting in a fashion that he hoped showed to the larger being that he had questions. Things that he was leaving unasked, not knowing if they were sensitive subjects or not. He was concerned that both his mother and father, as well as everyone else, had neglected to mention a brother named Nicolas. Even if only to warn him that the man might be a factor in the world, in the years to come.

  Truly, it hadn’t come up in conversation. Liam had never asked if there would be such a being in the world. He hadn’t known to do that kind of thing.

  Martha smiled at him, shaking her head.

  “Should we go inside?” That was addressed to Warren. Oddly enough Vincent shook his head in response.

  “I don’t think we should. Nicolas won’t have gone far, and it’s much better to discuss things out here, instead of inside. I don’t think the house here could handle that for long.” He gestured at the huge, very nice mansion in the background to show what he meant.

  As if that was needed.

  Not even breathing hard, since none of them were or would be, Oaks let his hard-featured head come up.

  “There is some wisdom on that, Vince. Thank you for the consideration of my property. Now, I wasn’t clear as to why you were fighting against Lissette and I. Do you wish to explain that? I already informed you that I was on your side of things now and have changed my plans for the time being. At least thirty years. That should be enough to buy your good will, at least until I fail to keep to my word. Don’t you think? I really do mean it.” The voice was cultured and refined sounding. Also, incredibly deep and rumbling.

  Still, the man sounded as if he were ready to give a speech, unlike Liam, who simply spoke and tried to sound like those he was around most. It was, he had to figure, less stiff. Less interesting as well, which could be the point Warren was going for.

  The pale promethean, one of two there, smiled then and spread his hands out.

  “It wasn’t personal. I simply wanted Nicolas to understand that we weren’t all arrayed against him. That… Lissette, you know that the rape claim was false. Why do you always do that? It makes things more difficult, not less.”

  Interestingly, Oaks nodded then, looking at Liam. Explaining a thing that most if not all of the others would already know.

  “Nine years ago, when Nicolas was young and fresh, the world still a mystery to him, he fell in with a woman in the neighborhood I was raising him in. I let him have freedom and tried to bring him up myself. It was a mistake, clearly.” He stopped then, not speaking for a long time. No one else did either, so Liam held his own tongue and stood there on the driveway, the pavement cracked in places where others had been slammed into it.

  His kind didn’t bleed, so there wasn’t a lot of red liquid all over the place.

  After long enough to be awkward, the giant went on.

  “Elizabeth wasn’t a fine-looking woman. She was in her thirties and married. No children, thank god. You noticed that Nicolas is rather the best looking of us and there was no way to explain to the woman that he was only about a year old back then. She rather seduced him, then forced him to keep doing it, seeing her, using the threat of telling her husband and the police that he raped her, if he didn’t continue carrying on with her. We were told all of this, which you do know, Lissette. He didn’t lie about it. Even now I’m not certain he has that ability.”

  The attractive brown woman, who was in a torn white dress, one of her shoes gone off of her foot, her stocking torn to shreds on that side, made a rough sound.

  “Hm! That is a likely story. Women can lie about such things, but we have no reason to think that this woman did. He murdered her husband and then tried for her. It was you who got her away and gave her funds to flee from the country, which doesn’t sound as if she was the guilty party to me.” Uncovered arms, which were hairless, crossed under her breasts then. The look on her face was harsh though. Bitter, as if she were the one wronged.

  Oaks waved at her, the move huge and commanding. It was enough to get her to tighten up, as if a fight were going to start again. Only between the two who had been working together before that moment.

  “It was not that way, Lissette. Regardless, when Nicolas attempted to leave her, perhaps in fear or miscalculation, Elizabeth told her husband of the supposed rape. The man, seeking only to defend her, attacked with a firearm. I do not think the intent was to kill, but Nicolas tried to slap the weapon away. He stumbled and missed, ending the life of the husband. At first the woman held to her lie, which caused my son to attempt to protect himself, the only way he thought he could, by killing her. She confessed it all to me. It… Well, it was rape, of course, but not of the woman. She used clever words and threats to extort sex and a relationship, which she knew was wrong. Not that she could actually admit that openly by that time.” He took a very deep breath and closed his eyes, as if that would stop him from seeing. It wouldn’t of course. None of them had that ability. They saw everything, all the time.

  Liam waited though, since the story didn’t seem finished. Oak opened his eyes first and faked a small smile. It wasn’t a happy looking one. In fact, it seemed as if the man were fighting tears. A thing that wasn’t real at all, on a physical level. His eyes actually seemed to be filled with liquid, which wasn’t real. It was an amazing trick though.

  “To save her, Nicolas being set on taking her life to silence her lies, I sent her away. I… Didn’t want him to take to killing. It is too easy a
path, at first. The young often see it as the simple answer. For us it can be. Most of us took that route at first. I tried to raise him with different rules. It… I failed. After that Nicolas left. I haven’t been able to keep track of him over the last years. There are hints that he is around, but the few times we’ve met, a fight breaks out and he won’t listen to me. I’m not set against him. He won’t trust in that.”

  Which, clearly, Lissette wasn’t being helpful in doing. Then, she seemed to think that something other than they were being told was at issue. Liam could see it happening, of course.

  If Nicolas had wanted that sort of thing with a human woman, she wouldn’t be able to prevent it at all. Even if he’d been a human man, given his size, that would be nearly impossible. One of them was outside of the system of punishment or law, as well. The human one. So if he wanted to rape a woman, he could have done it.

  That didn’t mean he had. Then again, Oaks was the one with the information, claiming that the woman, Elizabeth, was the one who had abused him. That was very possible of course. Nicolas was very attractive by human standards. Large as well, which could be considered a positive thing to a woman who was looking for physical entertainment.

  It was, given the information at hand, impossible to determine who had done what. It was the problem with lies, of course. That one of them at even a year, much less ten, couldn’t work out how to lie was unlikely, unless they were substantially different in their chemical make-up. A thing that he couldn’t know at all.

  Liam thought for a while, then sighed. It wasn’t real, but no one seemed to think it was too false seeming.

  “There is very little that we could do about that situation, regardless of what happened. To that end, we should trust his word. Fighting amongst ourselves won’t help him learn to be a good person. Sending him away won’t either.” He shook his head then. “We… I have no plan that would allow fences to be mended. It might not be possible. Still, it must be tried. He sounded unhappy to hear that I exist.”

  Vincent rolled his eyes.

  “I doubt he’ll attack you. He didn’t try here at least. Yes, he is against more of us being created. He views us all as being wrong. A pox on the world. Do you fear him?” The words were strange.

  That must have shown on his face, since Oaks chuckled then.

  “Ah. You’ve never seen him in combat, have you Vincent? No video of that, either? There isn’t much. I’ve heard reports of it. He’s much better than the rest of us in his skills that way. We all flail and fall, as well as move slowly and randomly, compared to the tales I have heard. I doubt that he would fear any of us that way.”

  Liam smiled then, and shrugged.

  “Not that it makes a difference between us. Skill isn’t actually needed. We won’t easily die or take damage of note. No, the trick there would be using explosives. Even at that, small things won’t be enough. If I were our enemies, I’d get a meeting like this together then set off a nuclear weapon.”

  Lissette laughed at that suggestion.

  “I had that same thought. The issue there is that, as a group, while feared and even hated, we aren’t nearly as destructive as that would be. We started in violence and death, but eventually all of us work out that it is better to use less harmful methods. Even Nicolas seems to have that down. He hasn’t killed since that one man, and his fleeing, as far as I have been able to find. No trail of bodies lay behind him. Unlike Warren, I rarely lose track of him.”

  She looked fierce then, her arms uncrossing. Fists being made instead. That was oriented on him, as if she wanted to fight with him. Liam didn’t take the bait, simply nodding.

  “I have killed more than that, myself. Three, that I know of.”

  Oaks made a gesture then, waving that idea away.

  “Yes. Protecting a young girl who was going to be murdered. It was a sanctioned battle, the werewolves choosing that idea, not Liam. If he had not stepped in, an innocent would have died. By their laws, his actions were legal and proven correct, by his failure to die while doing it.” There was no defensiveness in what he was saying, just an explanation as to why the deaths had happened.

  Then he went on.

  “That’s all. Three lives, while working in an official capacity for the social group he was interacting with at the time. It wasn’t a lashing out. It wasn’t a failure, given the options on the table at the time. After that, even when attacked, he preserved life. Even the vampires that came for him were spared, a deal made with their master to prevent further action. While he had a fifty-million-dollar bounty on his head. When the elementals and some humans came for him, he sent them off with nothing more than words.”

  Opal, Martha and Vincent had moved in, but only one of them laughed.

  Vincent.

  “Yes. That bounty… Placed there by you, Warren. To force a child to hate all humans, or at least their government, so that he’d aid in your takeover plans.”

  There was no denial of the words, just a nod. A single, huge thing that seemed oddly happy. From a being that was once described not by name, but only as a monster. A creature or a demon.

  “Indeed. Note that he not only handled himself well, he also changed my mind, instead of me manipulating him. Then, subtly, using no overt power or threat, he has arranged for a war to be cut off before it truly starts. His power is of a different sort than what any of the rest of us possess. A finer thing that does not require death at every turn. We should listen to him.”

  Liam hadn’t known that anyone hadn’t been, to be honest. That made some sense to him, if his ideas were too new and unproven yet.

  His sister, Lissette, moved in and touched his arm, gently. She was darker than he was, by a few shades. Made to be attractive, much like Nicolas was. He worked that out, his mind not struggling to process it. Nicolas had failed, his looks working against him. So the next version, Liam, had been formed to a different template. In many ways he was much more like Opal than the others, if not as light in color.

  He looked at the bald man who still hadn’t spoken at all in his presence.

  Now the being did, his voice soft, but deep. Nearly as much as Oaks had going on. It didn’t fit the size, really.

  “When I was born, created by the magician Shem, my task was to protect a community from attack. The carnage that came from that is a thing of legend now. It took me rather a long time, thousands of years, to come to understand that violence isn’t the best method all the time. It would be good to see an age where the sword and spear weren’t the tools that led good men and women. A land where, regardless of the differences between us, all are welcome, as long as they come in peace. I do not know if we are ready for that. You saw what happened here, mere moments ago.” His hand spread, soothing the air in front of him. It was a delicate and exacting move.

  A thing that projected a gentle and calm wave in front of it. A thing that Liam actual felt. He tucked the information away for later, in case there was need for such a skill.

  Liam bowed a bit, though not in a formal fashion. It was more like a bob, to acknowledge he understood, rather than truly agreeing with the words. They might be correct, of course. He could see that.

  “If we don’t try, things will probably stay the same. Yes, it may not need to be us, here, but we’re new to the world. Strangers. Things that the world still rejects. If change is to come, then starting from there might be the best way to cause change. Not that peace is the likely outcome of current events. I… Haven’t been able to see what will happen with the vampires. That they are to be attacked is likely. When that will come, in what form…” He shrugged again, feeling bad about not having more data yet. “I think it will be targeted at their Queen, Narran. She’s in hiding, off and on. We’re supposed to meet in a few weeks, to check her dental work.”

  Opal, now that he was feeling chatty, smiled at the words.

  “Which allows us a time that can be used to control the situation. The forces we seek to undermine are mainly human… Traditionally th
ey attack vampires during the day. To that end, they will likely go to your meeting, and watch from well away, then follow this lady, Narran, back to her place of rest. Knowing this to be possible, we can lie in wait and prevent such a thing.”

  Liam tilted his head.

  “That… I think it is likely, but there are hundreds of other things that could happen. I wouldn’t want to risk her, or anyone, on a single plan like that.” His voice was a bit bland, not wanting to anger anyone. He was the young one there, after all. The being least likely to be correct.

  The old promethean, who was probably a golem, given the names he’d given, made in a very different fashion than the rest of them, merely smiled.

  “Good then. You and… Perhaps Vincent? You two can go and guard this vampire queen. Travel with her and protect her during the day. Then we announce this meeting, which will give our enemies an opportunity we will be denying them otherwise. You must hide yourselves well. You, Vincent, match that kind well, at a distance. I do not know how to do that with the young one.”

  Martha, in a rather animated fashion, let her head bob around. It was almost like dancing, though there was no music.

  “I think I can manage that for us. It will take makeup and some aid, but if you are diligent you can look pale enough to pass as one of that sort. Perhaps some contacts for your eyes? None of that kind has yellow eyes. Not that I’ve ever met or heard of.”

  The plan was hatched, lacking only the most important portion of things, which was for the vampires to actually go along with it. There was a good reason for them to allow it, but that didn’t mean it would happen that way. Narran was a proud being, after all. She might send them away, or not even allow them to come in the first place.