I had thought that it was all over that night. I never expected this nightmare to continue. That night Maria had already limped ahead of me, away from the burning mansion. It hurt to know that my old life was burning along with that building, so I took one last look before I made an attempt to catch up to Maria. When I turned around I found a book at my feet that had not been there before. Being six years old at the time, I was curious, so I picked up the book and ran to Maria.
By the time we reached the outskirts of the nearby town, it was morning. I remember Maria falling asleep quickly. I couldn't sleep after that night's events, so instead I took time to look at the mysterious book that I found. It was leather bound and worn. Gold letters clearly spelt "Diary" on the cover of it. I had wondered why a diary would be in such a strange place. Once I had opened the cover I found my father's name on the first page. It had caught me by surprise. Why would it be outside? How did it get there? It was in the basement that evening. It was such a strange occurrence that it gave me chills. I flipped to the next page, and began to read what I could. Father's diary contained knowledge of human life and death. He knew how to mutilate bodies in any way he wanted, and he had recently been experimenting with turning them into forms in which they could be preserved. It appeared as though he had wanted to create a flawless woman, with beauty like no other human being. It appeared as though he had spent the last few years of his work dedicated to this task. However, he was not looking for one single body. Father was looking to combine parts of many bodies.
When I had managed to read his entire diary by the age of 10, I began to see things in a different light. I would stare at beautiful women who walked by, picking them apart in my mind, deciding what their best physical feature was. I began to frighten myself. I wondered why I would have such horrifying thoughts. Father's idea did indeed intrigue me though… Because of it I began to study medicine and anatomy in hopes of becoming a doctor just like my father.
By the time I was 16, I was fully prepared to treat patients. Like my father I was gifted in the field of medicine, and it came almost naturally to me, allowing me to be fully prepared at such a young age. I began work at a clinic within a village near Maria and I's new home. Everyday she would come pick me up in a carriage pulled by horses, because we lived so deep in the forest. I eventually grew tired of being told what to do at the clinic and opened up a practice in my house for the poor and the homeless.
I felt very good about this until one of my patients died for the first time. She was a 14-year-old orphan who had been living on the streets of the village. Maria had been in the village shopping for groceries when she found that this girl had been brutally assaulted and rushed her to me. I tried my best to save her, but her wounds were fatal. She died on one of my examination tables. In that moment I panicked. Not knowing what to do I rushed into my room and cried. Meanwhile Maria had taken it upon herself to clean the body. When I had emerged from my room I found a clean body on a new examination table. Maria left quietly so I was left alone with the body. I walked up beside it and took time to look at every part of it. Her injuries covered her entire body except her neck. She had such a beautiful neck. It almost glowed in my dimly lit practice. Almost instinctively I grabbed a scalpel and began to sever the head from the top of the neck. I didn't know why I wanted to keep her neck, but I had a feeling it was important.
My strange behavior continued for the next year. Every new body I found I would pick apart and find the most appealing part of it. If there was nothing appealing about the body it was used for an experiments that I had wanted to test out. My father had written various pages on the permanent preservation of human flesh and bone. I felt the need to test these theories out for him.
At the age of 18, I had collected enough body parts to create the flawless woman that my father could only dream of. It was only missing one thing. Eyes. I had searched far and wide looking for the perfect eyes, but I was never happy. It seemed hopeless until this morning. A poor, feeble girl had shown up at my door asking for an examination. I was surprised, but I took her inside and prepped anesthesia as she lied down on a table. When I walked up to the table her eyes were closed and she was tense. I told her to relax as I applied the drug, and as she did her eyes opened. I was mesmerized. I had never seen such beautiful eyes in my life. It almost seemed miracle that she appeared before me today. As I applied the anesthesia she told me that an old woman had brought her here in a carriage pulled by horses. That's when I realized that Maria was the one who had found her for me. I was deeply pleased by this.
I have surpassed my father's skill and accomplished what he could not. I wonder if he could see my creation. He would be pleased. She looks just like mom.