Hello and welcome to my continuation of "Uninvited," entitled "The Scavenger Bride." It has taken me a long time to get here, and I couldn't be happier. So thank you for joining me on this journey. Please let me know what you think!

Speaking of thanks, I would like to give CRAZY FREAKING MIND-BLOWING MAD PROPS to The Smiling Shadow, who has the INSANE ability to write West PERFECTLY, whereas I struggle and fight and howl and bleed and can barely scratch him out on paper. I pride myself on staying as true to canon and character as humanly possible. But the West she writes is the West we know from the movie. And it is that West that I have tried so very desperately to honor in this story. In her piece, "On the Subject of Love," which I desperately suggest you read, a topic covered really got my mind working. I was inspired by this piece because of not only her innate ability to write West, but of something mentioned in the story, which, through the gracious allowance of the author herself, I quote here:

"'The man cannot have a child.' Herbert said. 'Yet the woman cannot give life to her child without the man. Both need each other. In the eyes of nature men and women are both needed and neither is more important than the other. If I were to love a woman I would worship her, for she gives life to our child, and she would worship me for I give her the part she requires. We would be equal in our worship and our praise and our respect and our love. Neither of us would be more important than the other, we would not compete against one another, for we both need each other.'

The room was silent in the dim light as Herbert West stared at people who seemed more like strangers than friends. But Dan leaned forward and smiled so slightly.

'For someone who doesn't know anything about anything, that was pretty spot on.'"

It is a gorgeous piece, and I thank The Smiling Shadow a thousand times for her beautiful work. :)

This being said, there are things that happen in this story I am quite anxious about. Things I feel West would have probably never done, but, given the above and given the circumstances set forth in the story, I feel his character has grown and adapted and expanded and evolved. It is my sincerest hope that I have done him justice.

As with most (if not all) of my other stories, some chapters will have footnotes at the bottom that discusses what music inspired me to write the story, as well as specific scenes. A soundtrack, of sorts!

PLEASE NOTE: If, by chance, you're reading along and you stumble upon Imogen referring to someone named Michele - "Who the hell is that?!" - It's Shelley, her cousin. There was a name change early on in the story and I tried to get as many as I could changed out but I may have missed one or two here or there. Sorry!

And so, without further ado, I present to you, "The Scavenger Bride." Enjoy.

"The Scavenger Bride"
Chapter 1: Ideal Bounds

"Life and death appeared to me ideal bounds, which I should first break
through, and pour a torrent of light into our dark world."
~ "Frankenstein," by Mary Shelley

Innsmouth was a gem when the sun went down.

Her lights twinkled alone, sparkling off the water like diamonds in different shades of blue, orange and yellow. I watched the waves dance off the side of the ship, letting it lull me into a false state of relative calm, despite the terror that gripped my heart. I'd never been more afraid in all my life - my head swam and my heart was ice. I could see the future like I could see what was ten feet in front of me…. I may as well have been blind. The horn sounded, and as the ship rumbled to life below us, we turned and faced the darkness together.

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"It shouldn't take long, you know, after injection… I've seen it take anywhere from ten seconds to a full five minutes for the body to reanimate….."

"Phillips."

"Is there a difference? I mean, between the body that took ten seconds and the one that took five minutes."

West's eyes furrowed. "Not generally. It all depends-"

"Excuse me!"

I gave a shout and jumped clean out of my seat. "Twenty seconds! It- it takes…." In the time it took me to flip my lid and spit out the first thing that came to my exhausted mind, I glanced around the classroom to find everyone staring at me. And when I looked down at my notebook, I found I'd colored in a syringe with my green hi-lighter in the margins of my notes. Dr. Wendell stood over me, annoyance etched across her face. My heart sank.

"Dr. Wendell, ma'am, I'm very sorry. Could you repeat the question for me?"

"Dr. Phillips, I suggest you come to class prepared. You have been a stellar student thus far, so consider this your 'Get Out of Jail for Free' pass." I took a breath to thank her, but she cut me off. "Mind you, there's only one in a pack."

"Yes, ma'am. Thank you."

"Now. The question." Dr. Wendell calmly made her way back up to the front of the class. "An acute myocardial infarction, more commonly referred to as a heart attack, is caused by a multitude of things. Stress. Fear. A patient brought to me last year suffered an AMI after coming home to his sixty-fifth surprise birthday. What, Dr. Phillips, are some of the common indicators that an AMI are making a sneak attack upon the human body?"

"Um. Indicators. Yes." I took a deep breath, shut my eyes and emptied my mind. I cleared my throat and recalled back to the study session Meg and I had had the night before as I fiddled with the charm bracelet around my wrist. "Let's see. Palpitations…"

"Yes…" Dr. Wendell nodded, and I continued.

"Sweating…. anxiety, shortness of breath…. chest pain…."

"Very good, Dr. Phillips, thank you." Dr. Wendell gave me a smile. She directed her words to everyone. "I know these questions seem very….. first semester, if you will….." This caused a chuckle amongst the students. "But, as you are well aware, mid-terms are just around the corner and I want to make sure my students are prepared for anything. Anything and everything."

Prepared for anything. I swallowed hard. If only she knew.

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"I'm glad you at least know someone at school."

"Shelley, I've got friends," I laughed.

"Oh, I know, honey," I could hear the smile in my cousin's voice. She was staying with my aunt and uncle for awhile to help them clean out their attic, even though she only lived on the north side of Innsmouth with her husband and their five-year-old daughter, Daisy. "I know. What's that guy's name, again? The one we went to school with."

"Dan? Dan Cain, right?"

"Dan, yes. The two of you still speaking to each other?"

"Well, of course we are; we've been friends since we were kids. His girlfriend's real nice, too, she and I hang out a lot."

"Oh, that's good, that's really great." Shelley sighed, still smiling. For as long as I could remember, Shelley was always there. She was the sister I never had, the best friend, the confidant. Even though she was only four years older, she was wise well beyond her years. There was something about her that made me think she'd been here before.

"So how are you, anyhow?" I asked. "How's life back in Innsmouth? Little Daisy?"

"Uuh, well- Dee is great. But here, it's-" There was a sound on her end then, a crash as if something fell or was dropped. "Stimulating. Clearly. You know our home as well as I do, it doesn't change much. Kinda like Arkham, I guess. And it seems as if the timing of your call is perfect; Mom and Dad are on a tear again."

I smiled as the distant voices of my aunt and uncle reached my ears. There was shuffling and thudding and other various sounds. "Jane, I told you again and again, Randall down the street needs our mower. I need that gas can so he can re-fill it after he's done."

"How long's he been up there, anyhow?"

"A half-hour. He's gonna have a stroke, I swear to God."

Aunt Jane's voice reached my ears. "Harry. Harry!"

"What!"

"I'm buying you a new one. C'mon."

"What? No, no, it's up here."

"I don't care, get your ass down here. We're going to the store right now and I'm buying you a new one."

"Goddammit, Jane, I don't need a new one. I really just need to….."

"Shelley, put him on the phone, will you?"

"Hey, Mom, Imogen wants to talk to Dad."

"Harry, shut up for a minute and get down here! Imogen wants to talk to you."

"Well, why didn't you say so?"

"'Cos you wouldn't quit yapping."

"Eeh." There was shuffling and grumbling and then, "Immi?"

"Hi, Uncle Harry." I was grinning. My aunt and uncle, madly in love since the day they met, bickered more than any two people I'd ever known. It was hilariously endearing. After my parents died, they took me in as one of their own.

"How's college?"

"Fascinating. Keeps me up at night."

"Oh, honey, you need your sleep."

"Yeah, well tell that to my professors. And my lab partner. He's obsessed," I laughed. "I think the more time I spend studying with him, the more I believe it, too."

"Believe?" I could hear my uncle smiling.

"That anything is possible."

"Oh, but, Immi, it is."

"Yeah. I know, Harry. I'm beginning to think so, too."

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MUSIC:
This story was named after a song by Black Tape For A Blue Girl, and it is a gorgeous piece you can find on YouTube. Both the title and the feel of this instrumental piece themselves contribute to the feel and the tone of the story.

The original two-shot that started this story, titled "Uninvited," was named after a song of the same name by Alanis Morissette. It is gorgeous!

Also, there is a song by Kings of Leon called "Closer" and it is SO PERFECT in terms of setting the mood for a place like Lovecraft Country (Arkham, Innsmouth, Dunwitch, Kingsport, etc).