Title: The Approaching End
Summary: Victor is visited before his death by Henry.
Disclaimer: I do not own plots/characters/etc.
Wretched is what I am. Wretched is what I have been since giving life to my creation that should never have seen light of day, or of the glow of the moon at night. Wretchedness is entwined into my very soul; leaving no corner or area untouched; leaving me empty of all emotions apart from guilt, despair and sorrow. Because of what I have created, I am cursed never to be happy and content; how I crave to feel at least one of those emotions again, if only just briefly.
I lay in the captain's cabin with the knowledge that I was weakening when; to my horror; Henry appeared before me. His form was ghostly but I could not help but think that my mind was trying to aid me on my mission by giving me some small comfort in order for me to gain strength from it; that the Henry in front of me was a figment of my imagination to make me take up chase once more to slay the creature that murdered my dear friend; or that I was delusional and that nothing was in front of me except the air that I breathe, signifying that death was near and my mission incomplete. Another conclusion that I came to was that I was dreaming; my mind dwelling heavily still on Henry's death and producing dreams that I perceive reality when I'm in a sleeping state.
Even with these conclusions though from an academic view; I couldn't help but let my mind stray to the supernatural views; that the Henry stood before me was indeed a ghost; walking the earth still because of unfinished business that needed to be attended to.
My breath caught in my throat as I took in the Henry I saw before me. Everything from my fond memories of him remained the same; the inquisitive look, the smile, the posture when he stood, his eyes; even in death if this was so the case; still held emotions of happiness and joy for the most trivial of things. My eyes were wide drinking up the image in front of me and my fatigue that I had previously felt faded away from the front of my mind; my mind now occupied on something more important to the current time.
Without conscious thought I sat up from where I lay and reached out to Henry; wanting to know if what I saw before me was indeed real. A smile graced Henry's face as he shook his head slightly making me pull back my hand from puzzlement of his actions.
"My dearest Victor;" he spoke to me, his words as clear and familiar as when I last heard them, "even in such a predicament you're mind cannot help but try to explain and make sense of things that should remain a mystery." His words rung in my ears; the accent the words carried was that of Henry's. My mind may have been deluding me in to believing that Henry was stood in front of me; but now that I was alone in the world; I felt that I was willing to go along with what was happening in front of me. "Why my dear friend; are you not going to say hello, it would be terribly rude if you did not."
My voice had abandoned me; my mouth floundered around words that I could not form verbally. Henry looked at me and started to laugh lightly. "You are that stunned to see me? I shall take you wordlessness as a form of greeting."
My voice returned somewhat. "How?" Was all I managed to choke out.
"I come to you baring a message Frankenstein." The smile that Henry's face bore only seconds before disappeared, replaced by a sober expression. "My message for you is that your time is nearing its end. Your demise shall be soon; even though people may look upon you as in the prime of life; the truth behind it is that your mind and body are old before their time. Your body is dying from the punishment that it has had to endure for many years past; and your mind knows things that no human mind should be able to know and understand. You often wished for death; now your wish is becoming true."
I listened to what my dear Henry had to say. His message of death's approach made me feel many emotions. Horror that my mission was yet to be complete; relief for that my wish as Henry had said was coming true; sadness for my brother who will learn of his brother's demise to go alongside of our fathers death and poor Elizabeth's early demise. So many emotions clouded my thoughts. It seemed to me upon hearing that message that death would indeed be the easy way out; the easiest path to travel down; but not the easiest on my conscience.
"As long as there is air in my lungs and breath in my chest, I shall keep on fighting for what I must do." I replied. Remorse had already saturated my whole being; I could not bear to have more thrust upon me for any selfish actions that I may sink to use. "I must complete my mission before death takes me."
"Victor; your pain is obvious to me; your years of suffering, your daily torment, the deaths of those you held the closest to you; but I only relay the message to you. I am not the source of which the message originated from. My deepest sympathies my dear Victor; but what is to happen has already been set into motion." Henry looked saddened but made no more effort to comfort me. I did not shred a tear at the news that Henry bore; I had already shred all the tears that I humanly could over the years and now I had none left to shred.
"I refuse to die and leave what I must do unfinished. What must be done must be done and I am the one to do it." My words were aimed more at myself than at Henry; but still Henry answered to them.
"You have suffered more in your life than most could comprehend Victor; but have trust in that all things become right in time; all wrongs become right and all becomes forgiven." I looked away in shame; his words held the knowledge of what I had done. I had always sought to keep Henry in the dark about my creation; I was frightened that if he knew he would have broken our friendship out of fright and disgust of what I had created.
During the time my head was turned away; Henry had approached closer to my person before speaking again. "I know of the creation Victor; I know of everything that has come to pass. I know of what you have done and how you have suffered for it; how you chose to keep everyone closest and dearest to you in the dark and unwontedly made those closest to you worry about your heath and sanity"
My person began to tremble as fatigue once more took over; the guilt threatening to bring on the on set of another delirious fever that I would be in the grips of till the moment of my death.
"I am cursed by my mind. If only I knew what would come of my creation I would never have embarked on such a voyage of discovery. I would have dismissed it and travelled down a separate road, a road that would not have led to my destruction through those dearest to me. I would never have created the creature that plagues and terrifies all those who come across it; I would not have burdened the earth with its ungodly presence. My youthful arrogance and curiosity gave me ample reason to create the impossible; but knowing what I know now, I wish I could have foreseen what would have become of those actions for all of this could have been avoided." I could feel the onset of the fever drawing closer once more but I fought to keep it at bay. "Henry; please accept my apologies for the wrongs that have befallen you because of me."
I positioned myself once more so that I could see my dear Henry; a firm grip was placed across my emotions that threatened to break me at any given moment. I was shocked initially at how close he now stood; but that was replaced by the closeness that so few in my life could have given me.
"Why apologise when all has already been forgiven?" Henry questioned me. My brow furrowed with puzzlement. "No person can foresee the future; to see the impacts their actions will have in the future; may it be distant or not so distant. The knowledge of the crimes that the creature would commit was not bestowed on you; you had no insight into the creatures mind Victor; do not blame yourself for you did not carry out the actions that the creature has done. You are a separate being from the creature; you can not control a creature capable of though; created either by your hand or of gods'."
"But still the fact remains that I am responsible for the destruction and death that it has created for I am its creator. The creature may create the death that I am all so familiar with; but I alone created the creature so I might as well have committed the deed of murder upon all those that the creature has done." I was reminded of all those affected by my creation for their images passed threw my mind one after the other. There were those who were killed by his own hands such as Henry and my dear poor Elizabeth; and those who were killed for his actions such as Justine and my father. If it was possible for me to weep; I would have.
"You blame yourself; you believe that a punishment fitting for your actions is still forthcoming; but alas you are already paying the price of your actions, as you have been for years past. Never once forget the illnesses you have suffered; the delirious fevers; the remorse and dread of your creations actions; your horror at what you created; the fear for the safety of those around you. You have and are still paying the price my dear friend; and now death shall be a welcome end to it all." Henry looked at me and I did not respond due to not knowing how to reply to his words.
"Death is nearly upon you now." Henry told me in a bland tone. "Your state upsets me for I am your friend; but your suffering is nearly over. Welcome death; and go into its embrace obediently and all shall be over; your debt paid."
I could feel darkness overpowering me; my senses falling to it one by one as I tried desperately to fight against its effects.
"For now I bid you farewell; till we meet again Victor; my dear friend." Henry said to me before fading from my vision as the darkness totally overpowered me completely.
A/N: Well, there you go and I hope you liked it. I wrote it because I was given a challenge and I was told not to write a novel of which I could have very easily have done (see - always think of you Steven) so I was very considerate and kept my imagination tied up more than usual. Anyway, thank for reading.