Admittedly, I'm a much bigger fan of the movies than of the novel, so this story is based on the film. The 1935 'Bride of Frankenstein' to be exact. It is one the best movies I have ever seen. So beautiful and touching, yet tragic and heartbreaking at the same time. The monster was played wonderfully by Boris Karloff. Colin Clive was so cute as Henry Frankenstein. That piece of work Dr. Pretorius, well, I think we can all agree that he needs more written about him.
Disclaimer: I don't own Frankenstein or any of its characters. All rights go to Mary Shelley and Universal Pictures.
The Monster's POV
I'm on my back. Light shines over me. I can't move my arms or legs. I'm very confused. I find myself strapped to a table, shaped like a T with my arms stretched out and my legs tied down.
The door to the laboratory creaks open. Two men enter and walk over to me. It's Dr. Pretorius and my creator, Dr. Henry Frankenstein.
"Well, hello there," Dr. Pretorius smiles down at me. The light cast shadows over his crooked, wrinkled face.
My creator seems as confused as I am. "Doctor, tell me what this is all about."
"My dear pupil, before we can craft a female creature, we need to learn every little detail about this fellow."
"With all due respect," Henry replies, frustrated. "I created him myself – with my own hands. I believe I do know every last detail about my creature."
"Do you think God himself knows everything about the men he creates?" Pretorius inquires, leering into Henry's face now.
"I suppose…"
"Of course not!" Pretorius barks, before chuckling strangely. "This creature is hardly different than any other man. He has a mind of his own, a spirit, feelings, vulnerabilities, and sensitivity. What I intend to do is examine him and explore his anatomy, in order to find his weaknesses."
My vision fills up with Pretorius's gaunt, smiling face. "I'm going to find out just what makes you tick," he coos, poking my cheek. His breath smells of gin and cigars. His stare is so cold it makes me shiver. I never fully trusted this man.
"What does this have to do with helping us create his mate?" Henry inquires.
Pretorius glances at him, a sly grin spreading across his face. "Henry, I'll let you in on a little secret…This has nothing to do with that!"
Frankenstein's large brown eyes glow with concern. "What?"
"I'm curious!" Pretorius quips. "Forgive me, Henry, but it's my only weakness."
I'm afraid of him now. I don't know what he plans on doing to me, but I dread it. My gaze shifts to his hands – he hungrily rubs them together and then places his hands on me. My response is a loud growl, which is my way of saying 'go away'. His hand touches my upper body, which repulses me and I jerk to the side. I find my tongue and yell out, "NO…BAD! LEAVE!"
"No need to be frightened." He rubs my huge chest to relax me, but it does not work.
"What are you going to do?" Henry wonders.
"Research. I need to perform some tests," Pretorius says, eagerly. "Watch closely, Henry."
Frankenstein sits down to observe, albeit warily. Pretorius rolls my shirt up a bit, revealing my lower stomach. He smiles evilly at me.
"Let's see how you respond to this." He picks up a feather and strokes it over my belly. He's tickling me! A big grin spreads across my face and I start to giggle. He runs the feather through my belly button and I laugh harder.
"HAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! STOP! PLEASE!"
Pretorius starts to laugh as well. "The monster is ticklish! You didn't know that, did you, Henry?"
"I must admit, I did not," Henry says, intrigued.
I knew a little about tickling, having previously felt the sensation during my misadventures in the woods. Insects on my face and neck caused me to shiver with a tingly feeling and I would swat them away…but this is something entirely new! The soft feather rubbing my belly button is making me squeal uncontrollably! I try sucking my stomach in as I squirm around, trying to move away from the tickles. I can't stand it! I want it to stop, but I can't help laughing!
Pretorius keeps on tickling me. He starts pinching and squeezing my sides, still digging the tip of the feather into my belly button.
"HEEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE! HEEEEE! NO MORE!"
"How could anyone be afraid of you?" Pretorius taunts me.
"It's fascinating," Henry remarks. "Where else is he ticklish?"
"Let us find out," Pretorius winks at him, and starts stroking my neck with the feather. My shoulders scrunch up to block the feather, but then Pretorius tickles my neck with his long, bony fingers. My head jerks around, but there's nothing I can do to keep his hands out! He continues to mercilessly tickle my neck and collarbone, making me laugh and giggle.
"Oh my," Henry starts to smile.
"What about here?" Pretorius begins to gently scratch my ribs.
I explode with hysterical laughter. This is the worst yet! I'm writhing around and fighting against my restraining straps. I plea for mercy as tears fill my eyes.
"AAAAAAHHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! OH PLEASE HEEHEEHEHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! NOOOO MORE TICKLE!"
Pretorius is merciless. He uses both hands and rakes his nails over all my ribs. He's enjoying this very much. There's a sadistic gleam in his eye; a joyful satisfaction he gets by making me cry tears of laughter. I'm so desperate to get free and wrap my hands around his throat.
"Ooh, how about under the arms?" he asks, now wiggling his fingers in the hollows of my underarms.
"OOOOOOHHH WAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! EEEEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE!" I scream as tears flow down my cheeks.
He's scratching my pits vigorously. IT TICKLES SO MUCH! This must be the most ticklish spot on me! My body convulses in spasms and it takes all my strength to force out words…
"I…BEG…MERCY!"
My request is ignored. Pretorius gleefully listens to my desperate screeches as he continues to relentlessly tickle my underarms. Frankenstein does nothing to help me; he just sits there and watches with a fixation.
My violent thrashing pays off, and I manage to break free of the straps that held me down. Pretorius immediately ceases his tickle attack. Roaring angrily as I arise, the man who had just tortured me backs away quickly.
I approach them, fury boiling through my insides. I stretch my hands towards them and growl, "NOW…I will do that to YOU!"
Pretorius smirks, glancing coyly at Frankenstein. "I hope you're not ticklish, Henry."
I can tell by Henry's expression that he must be very ticklish indeed. So I wrestle him to the floor, grinning evilly as he stares at me with shock and fear.
"No, no! Let me go!" he shouts in panic as I clutch his wrists, pinning his arms over his head. He struggles, but I secure him to the floor. It's easy – like holding down a pillow or a rag doll.
I jam my fingers into his ribs and he yells out in pain. "OW!"
What? That wasn't supposed to happen. I probably bruised his rib. I try again to tickle him, applying a hard pinch to his side. He reacts in pain once again.
"You're hurting me!" Henry cries.
I frown, pulling my hand away. What am I doing wrong?
"You have a lot to learn," Pretorius says, amused. He strolls over to where I'm straddling Frankenstein, and kneels down to whisper, "If you're attempting to tickle him, I'm afraid you're going about it entirely wrong."
"Why wrong?" I ask, puzzled.
"You're too rough," Pretorius explains. "Be gentle! Try stroking and wiggling your fingers on any spot, but not too much force. Soft scribbles and light scratches are very effective on ticklish people. It's very easy to do. Allow me to demonstrate…"
Pretorius then removes Henry's shoes and socks. He spiders his fingers over his bare sole, eliciting a shrieking laugh. My creator rolls onto his stomach and tries to scramble away on his hands and knees, but I grab his other ankle to keep him from escaping.
"No, no, Frankenstein," I taunt, showing my wickedest grin. "You not going ANYWHERE."
Pretorius tickles his foot a bit longer, and then stands up to look at me. "He's all yours, but don't kill him."
I laugh wickedly, hugging his ankles under my arm to hold them still. I carefully start stroking the bottoms of his large feet. I drag one finger along his soles, gently stroking the arches and balls of his feet.
"Hahahahahahaha! Stop it! Plehehehehehease!" Henry bursts into shrill giggles, furiously pounding the floor as he tries to crawl away from me.
I just laugh and continue tickling his feet, now using all five fingers to scratch his arches.
"OHHHH NO! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! DR. PRETORIUS!"
"I did you a favor, Henry," Pretorius says bluntly. "At least he won't hurt you this way."
"Tickle, tickle." I enjoy hearing myself say the word! His toes keep wiggling around, which I find very amusing. I grab and hold his big toe, curiously jiggling it around between my finger and thumb. He whimpers through his giggles. I then start tickling between his toes, and he laughs hysterically.
"PLEASE PLEEEHEHEHEHEHEHEASE!" Henry cries helplessly, pressing his face on the floor as he laughs.
I keep tickling his toes until his face turns red and sweaty. I finally stop, but keep on gloating as I stare downward at him. My cruel streak has taken over and nothing can stop me now. He is weak and helpless against the powerful, brutal strength that he himself has blessed me with. Panting, my creator tries to calm himself down.
"Stop this at once!" Henry demands, now looking at me with anger in his dark eyes.
I grin at my creator as he catches his breath. "Tickle…MORE!"
"NO!" he cries, raising his hand in self-defense. "Get away, demon!"
He struggles desperately to hold me off, drumming his feet against my chest as I effortlessly straddle him. My huge hand latches onto his wrists and holds them over his head. Now I wonder which area I should try next.
"Please, not my stomach…I beg of you!" Henry whimpers. "My stomach is…the most t-ticklish."
How nice of him to tell me this, to voluntarily reveal his weakest spot. It just saved me the trouble of searching for it myself. Without a moment of hesitation, I yank Henry onto my lap and hold him there, while he squirms around in a panic. I lift his shirt up and start tickling his tummy, cradling him like a wiggly child on my lap.
Henry bursts into screaming laughter. He thrashes about, fighting and kicking his legs. I hold his arms up, so he can't do anything to protect himself.
"AAAAAHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! OH DEAR, PLEEEEEASE I'M VERY TICKLISH! STOP! HEEEEEHEHEHEAHAHAHAHAHA!"
If only I had known this earlier, I would have taken advantage of it! Dr. Frankenstein is very, very ticklish…especially on his belly. What a fun and satisfying way to get my revenge. This might be my greatest discovery yet. I'm wiggling my fingers on his sensitive stomach, forcing out uncontrollable laughter and delicious pleas for mercy. I have this man in my power. I can get anything I want from him, and without using violence.
His face turns redder every second. Tears form little rivers down his crimson cheeks. His dark brown hair is like a wet mop, tousled and clinging all over his face.
A smack lands on the back of my neck. "Alright," Pretorius is trying to get my attention, and keeps cuffing my neck until I look at him. "You can stop researching now. I do believe he's had enough."
"Research," I chuckle, nodding my head enthusiastically. "Research, FUN!"
"Yes, it is…but that will be enough for today."
With a sneer, I reach for Henry and pull him up, forcing my creator to stand and look at me. "Frankenstein…"
He stares at me with anger and fear combined.
"Back to work!" I point to the tables with his equipment.
As my creator begrudgingly heads back to his laboratory, I go to confront the man who had personally tortured me.
"I don't know how you ticklish people survive," Pretorius says in both pity and disgust. My hand lashes out and grasps his throat, catching him off-guard and shaking him of his haughtiness. His hands grab my own.
"You…NO GOOD!"
Pretorius just stares coldly back at me, the darkness in his eyes warns me 'don't do this'. However, I do not plan to kill him. While holding his throat with one hand, I reach for the coffee pot with my other and hurl the steaming, dark liquid into his face.
Splash!
Pretorius lets out a yell as he's drenched in hot coffee. It wasn't scalding, but hot enough to cause a great deal of discomfort.
It disturbs me, knowing I will have to live out my miserable existence with the threat of being tickled. My only consolation is that my creator has the same weakness. If I have to go out laughing, I'm bringing him down with me.
Then I remember the mate they promised me. A smile of anticipation tugs at my lips, my excitement returning. I have a job to do, which is making sure Frankenstein does his job. This is the most important thing and deserves my full attention.
I can't wait to meet my dream woman and best friend. It won't be much longer, I hope.
The End
