This is a story I wrote quite a few years ago. I just want to see if you guys, the reader's, would like to read more of my work or not...consider this a preview of how I would possibly write another story on here. PLEASE tell me what you think and also, if you have time, do the poll on my page.
Chapter 25
But that is not the end of this sordid tale, sister mine. What comes next is something that you won't take great delight in hearing. After pondering over my encounter with my dear friends ruin, that accursed daemon, I have come to a conclusion that will change my life and yours. I have decided to take up my friend's mantle and see that the self-loathing creature does meet his long over-due end and I will not stop until that goal is met. I am afraid, dear sister, that I shan't see you for a long while yet. My resolve in this matter is firm, but my flesh is weak. I fear if I journeyed home, I would never want to fulfill this promise which I have bounded myself to. No matter if the trail is cold; I owe my dear friend, who gave me all the friendship he had left within him, his one final request, to…kill the daemon that killed everything so dear to him. I must make his life, his sacrifice worth something, even if it means my own demise. I will close this letter for now, my dearest sister. Another day is dawning and I must make haste. The longer I wait, the more the daemon lives a life that is not his to live.
October 14th
This past month has been laden with many changes, my dearest Margaret, for which I am the utmost grateful for. I have convinced roughly half of my crew to carry on Victor's final request. Many of the men had come to respect him through his tale and, because of this, decided to continue on with me, until they either loose courage or cannot journey any farther. The other half will dock as soon as we hit land and, I'm sure, carry their stories of defying death from both a mad man (whether they talk about your own dear brother or Victor Frankenstein is still under ferocious debate) and Mother Nature herself. I am sorry to have neglected you this long, for it was not my intent to do so, but some gruesome things have been brought to light that you need to be made aware of.
While some developments are causing me to rejoice, such as those previously mentioned, others have been very troublesome and have caused me many a sleepless night. Because of this news, my dearest sister, I need you to promise me something on the name of all that is Right and Good. I need you to never be alone. Whether it is a day out riding or just shopping or going to Church, you need to never be alone. The Daemon of Frankenstein, that nightmarish wench, has discovered that I am after him. I do not trust him or his clue that I have found that says "I KNOW ABOUT YOUR SISTER. SHE WILL NEVER COME TO HARM BY MY HAND. ON THIS I STAKE MY HONOR". So please, Margaret, always have a group about you. I am sending a letter to your husband, and any male that I know of within a 10 mile distance of where you are, to make sure you do as I ask, my headstrong sister. Be brave and I will try to write you a letter as soon as humanly possible. May God have mercy on the daemon's black soul if he touches one hair on you or your family's head, for I surely will not.
Sometime later…
Dearest sister, may this letter find you and yours whole and well. An indescribable amount of time has passed since I last corresponded with you and I have much to tell you. When we last spoke, I endeavored to extract a promise from you, a promise that was meant for your safety as well as the sanity of my heart. I have good news to relate to you; good news and the telling of an adventure that, had I not have been a part of it, would've been fairly ludicrous to hear and even harder to believe.
To satisfy your curiosity first, my dear sister, the threat that the daemon would've caused you is no longer of any consequence. I am still utterly astounded how his end cam about but, for your sake, I will recall the events leading up to his demise as accurately as I can. To start with, I need to beg your forgiveness. I had previously led you astray by giving you an opinion that I didn't formally look into. My opinion, now, is somewhat muddled. Mayhap you can settle this weary mind…
"It isn't at all what I thought it would be", I wrote sometime after meeting the daemon. "This creature whom I despise greatly and would have rejoiced in his demise, I know knew him to be very smart, very agile and infuriatingly always one step ahead of me. I have tried many different ways, and have lost each time, in trying to lure him out, but it seems even God isn't on my side. Maybe the old saying is right…maybe revenge IS best served cold". I looked down at what I had just written and sighed wearily. A knock at my cabin door interrupted my morose thoughts. Scully, the new first mate/cook peeked in and said those words that brought both dread and lightness to my spirit "There's another one, Captain. This sighting seems to confirm that theory of yours". Sighing again, I went up to the bridge and stared at the message that was pushed into my hands. It read "I see the little one doesn't give up easily. I have told you many times and in many ways" I grimaced at that. Scully hid back a chuckle "that I am going to where it all began. For, where it all started, thus where it will also end".
"Maybe he really is telling the truth, Cap. Maybe, just maybe, he is clever enough to go back to the beginning, back to where he was created" Scully whispered, his eyes never leaving my face.
"Set a course…for Victor Frankenstein's lab. It's time to end this cat and mouse game" resolved hardened both my speech and my eyes "…once and for all."
After that, time seemed to both speed up and slow down, respectively. We were finally getting revenge for the cause of all my friends' hardship, but I couldn't help but feeling there was more to this story, more to this daemon, than even his creator could understand. I thought back to how I met Scully and how the daemon first contradicted my opinion of him.
The few men that had stayed on and I were just getting to the point where we needed to stock up some more supplies and it was only providence that we had found a clue as to where the reprehensible daemon went. After splitting up, some to go stock the ship and the rest to search out where the clue would lead, my group and I went to the coldest place I had been to date. Traveling for what seemed like forever, we came to a local tavern in the town down from where we docked. It was there that I first met Scully. At first glance, he was an ordinary bartender. I felt pulled to him, not knowing why, and ended up asking him if he had seen or heard of anything that would point us to where the daemon was located. He seemed reluctant to tell me anything but that same pull I felt towards him, was reciprocated. Scully ended up telling me where the daemon was located, at the time.
Hearing this and seeing no lie in his face, I thanked Scully and headed out to tell my men what I had learned. Needless to say, they had all wanted to wait until the morrow so we could see better and have an advantage. I would have none of that, however. So, with only Scully somehow seeing my intentions, I packed my equipment that I would need to fulfill my friends last request (oh how I rejoiced at finally being able to do so) and went to the cave where the daemon was seen abiding in.
What happened next I couldn't quite recall. I had lost my way in my haste to get to the daemon and I ended up in the middle of a fierce snow storm. Step after painful step brought me that much closer to a frozen death. But then, the most peculiar thing happened. In the middle of the raging snow and my own lagging strength, I spotted my goal, the daemon's cave. Slowly I made my way over to it. I looked into the mouth and a little ways back, I saw him, reading a book, next to a warm and cozy fire. To say he was shocked to see me would probably be an understatement. I started to say the speech that I had rehearsed since Victor died. "Daemon, your life is now…" But before I could say another word or take another step, however, darkness overtook me.
When I next came to, I was back at the inn where Scully was. After recuperating, I managed to get the story of how I came back from the mouth of, what I thought was, hell. "This daemon you are so fond of huntin'" Scully said, "T'was he that brought ye back. I could see he nursed ye a bit, too. He said "Tell the little one, when he wakes up, that if it's my end that makes him endanger his own life and threaten the tender heart of his "beloved sister", I will make it easier on him. I am going back, back to the beginning. Look after him, Scully O'Shea. Lead him to me, so we both can be at peace". Scully took this request to heart. He has not budged from my side since, no matter what we went through. Mostly because of my own stubbornness, from then on, we were in so many scrapes (including a near collision with an iceberg when I didn't heed the daemon's warning sign) that it was a wonder that we had not all died, many times over.
Remembering what had brought me to this point was a bit morbid in some respects. The daemon seemed to want to end his life and spare mine in the process. That revelation was starting to give me pause in what I laughingly called "my mission". Because of this, however, I couldn't get that foreboding feeling from the depths of my being to go away. A feeling that I was missing a vital clue, the final piece to the puzzle, that would make this "quest" ,that I had taken upon myself, stoke the righteous fires in my soul as they once did. All I had now, though, was a resignation to do what I had vowed to do.
Upon reaching the place where Victor's lab once stood, I saw something that shook me to the very depths of my being. There were TWO daemons! I rubbed my eyes once, twice, three times and the image that was, from then on, burned into my memory didn't dissipate. Once more, upon closer inspection, they seemed to be arguing, fighting. This, in itself, baffled me. My men then made the mistake of running away, their fear making their flight faster. Only good and faithful Scully remained by my side, staring into what, I assumed, was the face of our deaths.
One of the daemons turned and, upon taking in the scene of my running shipmates, roared in a voice so fierce and hate-filled, it froze me to the very core of my being. I thought for sure this was the end. All I could think about was my sister, how she looked when I last saw her; Victor, in how I could never avenge his death, and Scully, the man by my side, whom I now realized was all the characteristics I had wanted in a friend, much like what I found in Victor. In the split second before we were sure to be crushed, something happened, something amazing and something that I will never forget, as long as I live.
The daemon that I had once despised so much, the one who I had hunted with such a vengeance, stood in front of Scully and I, thus blocking the monster's path and taking the blow that was meant for us, for ME! A man who was determined to see his death, who had made his life a living hell and he stood in front of me and took the death blow that should have been mine. I was astounded (truth be told, I still am).
The Daemon roared and fought off the horrid monster. They traded blow for blow, roar for roar and step for step. In what could've been hours or minutes, the fight for our lives were over. We were spared and the monster was now dead.
Before I could think about it, my feet carried me over to where the Daemon lay. I asked one question and one question only "Why?" I whispered through the tears I didn't know I was shedding running down my face.
"Because…" he started, pain lancing every word, "I have found a better way. A way…of peace…not…pain…and forgiveness…instead of anger…"
Confusion marking my face, I tried to ask more, to know more, but frame wracking with coughs and blood pouring from wounds I had not seen before, the Daemon of Victor Frankenstein, breathed his last. Afterwards, I know not how, both Scully and I dragged his broken and bleeding body over to a nearby cave. When we got inside, we were in shock as to what was there. It was like the Daemon knew that he wouldn't have long to live. There, in mounds, were letters, ones to all he had wronged and their families. One was addressed to me. It, to this day, has remained closed. For on the envelope was one request; "Don't open until you are ready".
The young man looked at the older woman and man across from him. Curiosity pouring from his every word, he asked "Well…what happened next?"
Looking from one to the other, a silent conversation seemed to pass between them. Then, the old man got up and left the room. Silence prevailed until he came hobbling back and then, settling heavily into his chair, handed the young man an envelope.
"I think, that you should read this. After all, you are the only one who would understand" said the older man.
The young man looked at the envelope and gasped at the words on the front "Don't open until you are ready". Taking a deep breath, he opened it. Inside where these words,
"Since my creation, I have hated something in one form or another. I had always had that hatred inside of me, it seems. I have been repulsed, abused and abhorred since my creation and rejected by my own creator. Then, your companion Scully came into my life. He not only showed me what love and compassion were, but what true sacrifice and love for another person was. I read about the Man called Jesus and his life. I was angered at what the world did to him when all he did was come and show them miracles compassion and love. And through all that, through all he endured and that those who love him endured, they still forgave, loved and lived. I could never ask forgiveness for all my sins and forgive those who I had always thought wronged me. But maybe, by saving your life by giving mine, I might redeem myself in his sight. Maybe, just maybe, you could forgive me to, if this Man, this Jesus, could forgive those who wronged him."
Closing the letter, the young man sighed. He went outdoors and looked up to the sun. The two still at the table got up and went outside a few minutes later. Sharing a hug, each lost in their own thoughts, they all said, in one form or another, goodbye to a man that did more and influence more than they realized. And on the table, fluttering in the breeze lay a book. On the front was one simple name; "Scully".