We set off on Gilbert's trail, hunting day and night, rain and shine. I barely slept, if at all. I had no wish to halt our little misadventure, but Alfred would drag me back and ground me in place. His human body being much weaker than my own, grew fatigued much quicker than I. Unfortunately, there was no way I could go alone even if I wanted to, he was my only source of information from the human world. So, at night while he slept, I would survey the area and make sure there were no threats from either nature or humankind. Some nights when the sky was open with a brilliant core of light, I could have swore I saw the dancing frame of my beloved within the watery beams that trickled through the trees; while other nights I was unpleasantly graced by him. If it was my lack of sleep or the madness settling over my mind that caused these visions, I was unsure.

If and when I did catch a few winks of sleep, it would be short lived. Knowing that Alfred was with me made my muscles tense and my body restless. In the waking hours, we were bound by silence. Alfred would mutter little things under his breath every now and then, but I payed him no mind. He seemed to be keeping me in check when we would come close to civilization -as if my chain wasn't short enough. When we needed food or other such items, Alfred would leave me in the cover of the forest while he went to the village or town. Those were times in which I found temporary ease.

"Do you... uh... want anything? While I'm out?" Alfred turned to me for a moment, not meeting my eyes. For the past few days, even he had begun to feel suffocated by the uneasy silence between us. He attempted conversation here and there, but I couldn't bring myself to speak.

I turned away and strode over to an old tree stump. Now wasn't any different. I sat down and began my wait.

A minute passed before Alfred finally left, and with him the awkward cloud drifted off.

I watched the trees sway in the summer breeze, taking a deep breath in to calm myself. Fatigue made my eyelids heavy, but determination kept them open. At first, it had been hard accepting the fact that she was no longer with me; I'd even questioned her presence in the first place, but eventually I was forced to make peace. After building such an intricate glass pane of behaviors and emotions and then watching as it all shuttered before me, picking up the pieces and returning to my old self was an impossibility. Now my time was occupied by empty thought and the beastial instinct to survive. Somehow, I was even more detached from the world than I had already been.

It was mid-afternoon before I heard footsteps again. For a moment, I was filled with unease, and the hairs on the back of my neck bristled.

"Well, we're headed in the right direction." Alfred's voice reassured me with its familiarity. My muscles relaxed and I glanced over my shoulder.

The young man was approaching me with a pack filled with what I'd assume to be food. He was chewing on something, although I wasn't curious enough to find out what. I turned back to the trees and waited expectantly. "Well?"

I heard him set down his loot. "We're in Poland as of right now. It can't be too much longer than a week before we reach Germany."

I glanced over to him again. It had been a while since I'd seen a map, I had no clue as to where or what Poland even was. "Is that a good thing?"

Alfred reached into his pocket and took out some sort of dried fruit. I watched him with narrowed eyes as he stuffed a whole handful into his mouth and proceeded to chew slowly. "Are you kidding me?" His voice was muffled before he swallowed. "We're making great progress. Even if Gilbert traveled by horse we'll still be only a day or two behind him." He looked quite hopeful.

I turned away and nodded without another word.

He paused before attempting conversation again, "Are you... hungry?... Or do you not eat?"

I closed my eyes and sighed. This pitiful excuse for conversation was grueling on my already over-occupied mind. Alfred was trying to pave paths that I would rather not cross. "No. I'm not."

I heard him ruffle with his clothing, most likely stuffing the remainder of his food back into his pocket before he became silent again.

"You don't eat, you don't sleep. Just what are you?" He suddenly inquired.

My eyebrows pinched together with frustration. "I don't wish to discuss this right now."

"I just want to understand why the hell you're here. What is it about my sister that matters to you so much?"

I felt a sting from his words, like the piercing of a cobra's fangs into my flesh. To even question the reason for my pursuit would to be question why I lived or breathed. I stumbled for a moment, my jumbled mess for brains working to come up with a response. "I...I loved her..." The statement faded from my lips, almost like a ghost evaporating from existence. I hadn't allowed it to happen, it just came out unprovoked. A scrap of what I had been wriggled its way though my skin like a parasite and gnawed on wounds I'd hoped to close. Just the thought of her resuscitated emotion deep inside.

I did not turn my back to face him, I just stared down at my hands. It was almost shameful, Madeline had trusted me to keep us a secret. Seeing as now she could be dead or worse, that promise didn't really stand.

There was a sense of unease from him, and I heard him shuffle quite a lot while he processed my words. "Love?" He questioned, almost out of disbelief.

I slouched my shoulders as if the very word carved into my back. "She made me feel... human. I knew there was something about her from the very moment I laid eyes on her."

I heard him release a long drawn out sigh. "Well, I can't say I didn't expect it. I already guessed that she had taken a liking to you." His voice became rough. "It's a shame she fell for your awful tricks. I really don't understand what she saw in you to open herself up like that."

I grit my teeth for a moment and released them. "How could I corrupt what was so pure?" I argued. "She was just so..."

"It should have been you." Alfred interrupted with a cold hiss.

My mouth was left ajar, the words I wished to speak having fallen flat. I gently allowed it to close. I shut my eyes and held my face in my hand with shame. "It should have."

"And now I'm stuck with you. You should be dead right now."

I pursed my lips. He wasn't wrong.

"That mad man was foolish thinking he could bring back the dead. All he did was create a monster, and now my sister must suffer because of it."

"You don't understand." I murmured. "You haven't the slightest clue."

"About what?" Alfred snapped. "Your little 'romance?'"

I sat up straight and stared forward. "I would much rather face judgment for my crimes than have any harm come to her." My fists clenched as I rose to my feet to face him. "I would rather stand before my maker; my very GOD, than have anything happen to her." I jabbed my finger in his face. "Not even a little wretch such as yourself could stop me!"

Alfred narrowed his eyes, his face twisted with disgust. "She doesn't deserve some abomination with a scarred face, let alone a murderer. I don't care what man you'd step in front of, if it wasn't for your creation, she and I would be happy!"

I spread my arms out. "Then kill me now! Strip me of this awful curse!"

Alfred's hand rested over the knife at his hip. I watched with rage-fueled intensity as he wavered and his hand soon dropped. He turned away and balled up his fist. "Madeline doesn't deserve this. She's already lost mum and dad, she can't lose her brother too..."

"Do you cower from me so easily? When I am so blatantly spread for you? Kill me! If it is for her sake, kill me!"

"She doesn't deserve to lose her beloved beast either." He sighed.

My expression loosened with disbelief and my arms slowly dropped. "What?"

Alfred took a step in the direction we'd been heading. "The only reason you still draw breath is because she loves you. If you weren't any more dear to her than her studies, I would have already slit your throat."

I had to take a moment to soak in what he'd said, before wiping off the dumb expression left on my face.

"But..." Alfred continued, "I wouldn't rejoice for long. Madeline is a strong young woman, she will realize with time that an ideal man doesn't have rot on his breath." I flinched as he turned back and walked towards me. He brushed past and hooked his arm through the strap of his pack. "Let's just get moving."

I stood with my feet firmly planted to the ground for a minute or two, Alfred's smaller frame disappearing into the jumbled network of trees and brush. My lips rested in a small frown as I glanced down to my feet. His words, even within their essence, were in their own way reassuring, but also very grave. They were much too heavy with the truth.

"What do you mean I must stay!? We already have enough food to suffice even your bottomless stomach!"

I shook my head and held out my palm in a halting gesture. "Just stay here, I have to take care of something while we're here."

"Madeline's life is at stake!" Ivan argued.

"Stay here, I wont be long. Give me an hour maybe two, that will be more than enough."

His gaze burned into my skull. "You waste my time, Alfred. It is bad enough that you need to sleep for over eight hours a day!"

I heaved a sigh of frustration. "Please just give me this, alright? I'll make it up to you somehow."

He narrowed his eyes with a displeased scowl. "Oh? And how do you propose you do that?"

"I don't know, just... I'll think of something later! Now promise that you will stay here while I'm gone." The situation felt much like teaching a dog how to stay in place.

Ivan still seemed very uncooperative, but his posture slouched. "Be quick about your business, daylight burns."

I waited a moment before turning and going off into the woods at our right. My eyes drifted back to make sure he was keeping to his word. Ivan watched me leave, his eyes reflecting his frustration. There was definitely a trust issue between us; all I could hope is that it wouldn't drive him to disobey.

As I was freed from his line of sight, I felt the suffocating cloud of friction lift. My eyes were trained ahead with determination as I tuned into my surroundings. It was almost certain that this was the location. He was right within my grasp...

I narrowed my eyes at the house that revealed itself through the thicket of trees, and gripped my gun tighter.

There he is. That snake-skinned coward.

My teeth clamped together as I ascended the stairs and neared the door. My stomach was tight and my movements sure. His presence was unmistakable. He was definitely here, and so she was as well.

I threw my foot out and kicked the door in with a loud splintering crash. It swung into the wall, and I shouldered inside. "Gilbert!" I shouted. "Face me you devil!"

All was quiet from the inside, the only light coming from the broken window in the main room. The rest of them were shut tight with their shades drawn suspiciously. I scrunched up my nose and searched around the pitiful hovel for him.

This place was a rat-hole, quite fitting for such a monumental rodent.

My boots caused the wood to groan underfoot and the walls were covered in rotting wood. A dark thought entered my mind as I soaked up my surroundings. He can't be treating her well... Not in this shit-hole.

"Gilbert!" I barked again. As I rounded the wall to search through what I assumed to be a bedroom, I felt something move behind me. The wood groaned with the addition of more weight. My eyes flicked over my shoulder and I slowly turned around.

There he stood, that scoundrel. His hair was no longer sleek and white, but more of a dirty grey, and his eyes harbored more red around the rims than his irises. He looked like a wild animal shaken from its hiding place. "What are you doing here?" He asked in a low tone.

I felt sickened at the gal he had to even ask such a question. "Where is she?"

He narrowed his eyes with a scowl. "Who?"

I took a step forward, cocking my gun loud enough for his incompetent demeanor to shift. "You know who I speak of, Gilbert."

His lips rested in a thin line as he took me head on with his ruby-red gaze. I could see him processing his choices. My patience was warring thin. I didn't plan on blowing his brains out, but if he forced me to, I would not hold back.

"Madeline." He stated. "You're here for her."

I snorted -as if that wasn't obvious. "What else? Surely not for your company."

Gilbert nodded towards the gun in my hands. "That insists you're here to kill me."

"If my sister is not returned to me, then I might have to use it." I regarded the ill-fated man with a dangerous glare, having enough of his petty games. "Now speak."

The man that had once been my friend with a fiery gleam in his eye and a passion for trouble gave a hefty sigh and I could see first hand that this was no longer the same person. His shoulders dropped and he turned around. He tilted his head in the direction of his living room where the faint light of afternoon slithered into our vision. I moved to jab the barrel of my gun between his shoulder blades. "I don't have forever, Gilbert."

Gilbert took a step forward and glanced over his shoulder. "Well I do hope you have time for a story, because that's all you're gonna' get from me."

I ground my teeth with annoyance. "What are you saying?"

His blood-red eyes shone ominously in the light while a frown smoothed his lips. "I don't have her, but you still may have a chance at saving her."

I felt my heart skip as disbelief left my jaw slack and dumb. "Y-you don't..."

Gilbert gestured for me to follow him. "Come have a seat, please. I wouldn't want to keep you in the dark any longer."

I followed him into the living room numbly, my grip on my gun loosening. He sat down on a dusty old sofa and picked up the bottle of booze that had been waiting for him on the floor beside his feet. I stood across from him, not quite sure of what to do with myself or the information he'd already given me. If he didn't have her, then there was surely no time to waste. But, I thought, at least she is alive. For now. Gilbert took a long dreg from his bottle and set it back down. "Sit down." He uttered, resting a hand on the cushion beside himself. I stared at him hard, searching for any signs of threat or aggression. Those ruby orbs were dull and liquid, like an animal that had finally given in to death, void and distant. He waited for me to sit with a strenuous amount of patience. This didn't feel like him at all.

I hesitantly strode over and slowly sat down on the cushion. It was just as uncomfortable as it looked. At this point, I was surprised that a rat hadn't crawled out yet. I glanced over, lifting a brow. He had the bottle to his lips again, this time finishing it off with a loud gulp. "Did you take him?" I watched him rest the bottle back down again, his voice scratchy like sandpaper.

"Who?"

Gilbert leaned back into the cushion and set his palms on his knees. "The 'beast.'" He waved his hand in a passive gesture.

I held my hands together and stared down at them to keep my gaze from drifting astray. "I left him in the forest. He would have been more of a problem to keep under control than if I were to just confront you alone."

"A stubborn creature, isn't he?" Gilbert stated. He was quiet for a moment, calculating his next words. "I was never really a man of science, you know. Too many beakers and elixirs. I'm pretty good with my hands, so clocks and guns are more my style. I can understand a simple pattern of gears and mechanics, but put a frog on the table and I'm clueless." I heard a little chuckle surface at the end of his statement. "But work is hard to find sometimes." He waved his hand. "All of the real inventors flew off to the states like a flock of big fat geese with their heads so far up their asses that they couldn't see which way was what." I felt his gaze flick onto me, and returned my own. He gave me a long look before turning away. "You're just like them too, though I don't blame you. 'Tis the land of opportunity, right? What could go wrong?"

My eyebrows pinched together. "What does all of this have to do with me, Gil? You're testing my patience."

The albino gave another laugh and I felt his hand clap over my back. I glared at him until he removed it. "I've known that Arthur fellow for far longer than you have. I've done some things for him that I'm not so proud of, and nowadays, I can't help but feel that this whole mess is all my fault." I sensed his childish mood was warring thin, pushing the boundaries between drunken foolery and grave seriousness.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. "What are you saying, Gilbert? What is all of this madness?"

A smirk plastered itself across his face and I could see something flickering in his eyes; a memory perhaps? "He came to me when I was at my lowest, Al. My parents believed that I was a failure and my aunt and uncle thought I was unfit to take care of my younger brother. Do you know what they did then? They took him all the way to England, and I never saw him again after that. Yes he wrote, but only twice." His eyes flicked over to me, but he did not move his head. "A year ago, his letters stopped coming in, until I got I finally received one in the mail only a few months ago. My aunt and uncle never wanted to hear from me again. To make matters even more dreadful, my parents had stopped loaning money for my studies." His smirk pulled to reveal tightly gritted teeth, and I could smell the pungent odor of alcohol on his breath. "I was living just like a rat; scurrying from city to city, begging, stealing -whatever I could do to get by." Suddenly, his expression washed away, and became blank.

I waited with anticipation for him to say more, but he did not continue. He looked confused, as if even he was unsure of his own memories. There was a pause where he took a breath, before he finally continued with a much steadier voice. "Arthur found me sleeping in the street with the horse-muck and the mud. At first, I thought the man was some sort of a college big-shot, but once he told me his business in Germany, I became intrigued. He offered that I stay with him in England and gain my strength if I'd help him with his special 'experiment.' Of course I was a little hesitant at first, this man could be some sort of a psycho like that Jack the Ripper fellow, wanting to gut me like a fish and leave me to bleed out in the street. But when he showed me the money, I rolled over like a dog."

"He offered you money too?" I blurted out.

He nodded. "A good sum of it too. I could finish my studies and take care of my brother with that money. Hell, I could flip one to my parents while I was at it. So when he offered me his hand that day, I took it without question. He had me working as... oh... what is it you Englishmen call it..." He snapped his fingers to help himself along. "A... A grave robber! That's what it was. A grave robber I became. I snuck out in the cover of night and took from those who wouldn't miss what wasn't theirs anymore. Arthur said he needed all kinds of human remains, from arms and legs to organs; stomach, kidneys, liver -anything you could think of. I didn't question his motives, it was always some science malarkey that would probably confuse me even more. I wasn't afraid to get my hands dirty as long as he wasn't afraid to pay. Oh boy, did he pay. For every new corpse I brought back he'd give me enough to travel across the whole damn world! Who needs some dumb old engineering job when all the money was in the grave robbing business?"

I knew that Arthur couldn't have done all of that work by himself, but I'd never imagine Gilbert doing so either. There was much more to Gilbert than I could have every foreseen. "You did all of that? You helped Arthur bring that monster to life?" I glared at him, fire suddenly filling my belly. "You gave him the supplies and didn't even think twice!?"

Gilbert held out his hands defensively. "Hey, hey, hey. I didn't know what the bastard was up to until the very end. It was already too late by the time he'd already built him." I could feel him shiver and he turned away again. "I can still remember that dreadful night. I was wandering through the tower in search of him, when I stumbled upon it. He found me frozen in his lab and forced me out. I tried to protest, but he argued that my assistance was no longer needed and that I was no longer welcome in his home. He threw me out just like that. I was forced to live alone again."

I could barely wrap my head around it all as it was, but he continued with his tale.

"But once Ivan had risen, that dog came crawling back to me -ME for help. 'Oh Gilbert, it's dreadful!'" He mimicked the scientist's voice with a mocking tone. "'It's awful! My creation has escaped! Oh Gilbert please help me! It wants to hurt my family, my wife Gilbert!' He was a two-faced devil and I knew it. I wasn't going to get in the middle of this mess again, but when he told me that he sent you out there to be rid of it, I knew that it would surely kill you. So I dragged my sorry ass all the way up to Russia in search of you and that thing."

"You were digging up graves in your spare time when I met you? But you said that you'd been a trapper all your life!"

He sighed and sunk into the sofa. "I never meant to fool you, Alfred. I just wanted all of this madness to end."

"So you kidnapped my sister and gave her to him!?" I clenched my fists with outrage.

He flinched. "I only-"

"No! You tricked me! I trusted you!" My eyes were burning now. "You took her from me, she never wanted any of this! She only joined me because she was worried about me!" I jabbed my finger in his face accusingly. "This is all your fault!"

He shrunk away to his side of the sofa. "Arthur said she was a part of this since the beginning. He wanted her to go along with you to catch that beast's eye."

I felt a pang in my chest, and my body began to shake. "W-what!?"

"She was supposed to steal the beast's heart so that he could lure it back to his doorstep. I told him not to, Al. I told him that it was too risky, but he wouldn't listen!"

"Where did he take her." I growled.

"I-I don't-"

"Don't make this any harder than it already is." I narrowed my gaze onto his.

He frowned. "Arthur has been continuing his studies in the abandoned Frankenstein castle... But I don't think that it's a good idea for you to go there. He'll be expecting you."

I rose to my feet and turned my back to him. "I don't need your advice."

"Please Alfred, you're my friend. Listen to me, you need to allow Ivan to go alone. If he gets his way then Madeline wont get hurt."

It took every ounce of strength within me to keep from lashing out at him. He was babbling nonsense. There was no way I could trust him a second time. "Goodbye, Gilbert." I let myself out without another word, slamming the rickety old door almost off its hinges behind myself.

It wasn't difficult finding Ivan again. Of course he hadn't stayed exactly where I commanded, but at least he hadn't followed me. I found him sulking in the forest as he normally spent his time. He was sitting on the ground with his head against a tree.

"Get up, monster. We're leaving for Arthur's immediately." I approached him with my hands stuffed into my pockets.

There was a long drawn out period of silence, and I huffed. "Come on, stop your sulking and get up. We haven't got time for this." I nudged him in the back with the heel of my boot.

Ivan's shoulders buckled and he quickly turned his head to look at me. I drew back a few steps and my breath caught in my throat. His face was flecked with crimson, and there were clear streaks running down his cheeks. I felt my stomach churning as his eyes stared directly into mine, his pupils minuscule and piercing. His clothes were painted with a similar scene, and clumps of hair stuck to his hands and forearms. I stared at him in a mixture of both horror and disgust. "What... what did you do?!"

He just stared at me, unblinking. I noticed that his eyes were not filled with malice nor hate, but regret. "Sh-she found me..." He muttered in a broken voice. "I didn't know what to d-do... she was screaming so loud... I didn't... I couldn't..."

My eyes wandered past the tree he was positioned in front of, and that was when I saw it. There was an awful sting of iron in the air as I slowly walked towards the gory scene. A small body lie in the brush, blood spattered all over the surrounding foliage. I choked up as I beheld the body that had been torn and beaten like a rag doll. It was a little girl, not much older than nine. Her short blonde hair had been ripped and gnarled in what looked to be a struggle for her life. I couldn't force back the images of my little sister with the similar fate. This girl's similarities towards her younger self were uncanny, almost chillingly so. I quickly shut my eyes and turned away from it. As I strode back to where Ivan sit, I could hear his moaning. I opened my eyes slowly, taking deep shaky breaths to calm my heart. He was gripping his head and rapping it into the tree repeatedly, rocking forward and backwards. I watched him, my expression blank.

"I'm sorry..." He murmured, his voice cracking. "I-I'm so s-sorry..."

I calmly stepped beside him and lowered myself down to my knees. He was quivering and weeping like a child that had wronged his father and was now awaiting punishment. I observed this, before extending my hand out to rest it on his back. Ivan continued to rock as I rubbed his shoulder in a soothing matter. Sympathy. That was one thing I had never imagined myself feeling for such an awful creature. But after today's events, even I couldn't help but part with a few moments of pity. With my other hand, I reached into my pocket to retrieve my handkerchief.. "Clean yourself up. We have to leave now."

Ivan shook his head. "Go." He hiccuped. "Go save Madeline. Leave me to rot here where I belong."

I sighed, reaching out to rub the tears and blood from his cheek. "I need your help."

"Why? Why do you need me?" Ivan's eyes flicked over to me. They were unpredictable, a smoldering mass of the unknown.

I grunted and held the cloth still a few inched from his face. "That bastard wants to bring the fight to his door, and we're going to give it to him. I want him to pay for his crimes both against humanity and towards Madeline."

His eyes widened and he lifted his head from the bark of the tree. I took my chance to clean off his face while he stared at me, utterly dumbfounded. "We shall bring him hell." I growled.