Ursula's POV

He was a necromancer…A necromancer…and Faust was talking about 'keeping the dead from leaving us'? How…Why would we want to meddle in such a thing? Yes, I know that death is horrible and I didn't want Mother to die. Cheating death, though, was much worse. Sometimes people are meant to go.

I knew that my mother was very sick. In the last few weeks, her eyes had become hollow. She looked like a skull. I was a little afraid that Faust wouldn't be able to-but I cut off the thought every time.

Faust and Eliza had been living with us for twenty-five days by then. Every day, Eliza sat by my mother to make sure she didn't suddenly change. I usually stayed there, too, and talked to her. I learned a lot of things from her.

Faust, though, ate breakfast before us and stayed in his elected laboratory long after dinnertime. I was worried about him. I caught a glimpse of him through a crack in the door, and was shocked.

There were bubbling tubes everywhere. For a while, Faust was turned away, but, eventually, he turned to look at something. His eyes, so captivating, were lined with bags so heavy they looked like they'd never clear. Once spiky hair was disheveled. He was so pale, he looked like bleached bones.

I gasped at such a transformation. It must have been loud, because Faust turned to the door fully and I had to hurry not to be caught staring. I walked quickly down the hall and turned to go into Mother's room.

Eliza was there, as usual. I took a few deep breathes to calm the adrenaline rush, and sat down.

"Why is he working so hard on this?" I asked her.

"Faust? He's becoming obsessed, or close to it. Once he finishes his work, he spends the whole night reading from a leather-bound book with an archaic doctor's symbol on the cover." Eliza was obviously trying to keep herself together.

"I just…It's just that I'm worried, you know?" She faked a bright smile.

I smiled, too. The poor woman was losing her husband because of me. I was losing my mother, Eliza her husband and Faust his own self. We were all being left alone.

I realized that I had begun crying and Eliza was comforting me. I couldn't stop the tears.

"I didn't want this…I didn't want him to change!" I sobbed.

I felt Eliza freeze underneath me. Looking towards the door, my eyes focused on one thing.

Blue. So brilliant once, now dulled by sleeplessness, I adored those eyes. Now, though, they flared with obsession.

"Faust…" I breathed.

Very, very slowly, the tall and wiry man fell forward as though dead.


Faust's POV

Twenty-five days. Eliza and I had been living with Ursula for that long, yet I hadn't said a word to the girl since my little 'episode'.

Every day, I woke early from a starkly dreamless sleep. I ate a suitable meal, and continued my experiments from the day before. When I was finished, I met with my wife to exchange news and give her new possible cures to try on the patient. After that, I sat most of the night reading my ancestor's book (with the aid of a Gothic-German dictionary I had borrowed from Sieger).

Eliza told me about her new quasi-friendship with Ursula, and that she suspected that the young girl was slipping into a depression. I was convinced that it was my failure to cure my patient that was the cause of Ursula's ailment.

I knew that ever since Marie Cure had experimented with radioactivity (and subsequently died of the poisoning) doctors had searched for a way to reverse or reduce the effects on mankind. How could I hope to surpass centuries of devotion in just a month?

My book, though, could be a key to save Friehilde. She could stay, with Ursula, and the family would be happy. It was the only way to cheer up Ursula.

Right?

I heard a loud gasp, and, turning toward to the door, saw a flash of brown braid. Ursula. Had she heard my thoughts…? I was having enough trouble thinking clearly as it was.

Walking down the hallway, I came to my patient's room. From it could be heard sobbing, and my Eliza's comforting murmurs.

"I didn't want this…I didn't want him to change!" the girl yelled. Eliza looked at me, and then Ursula.

She whispered something, but I couldn't hear. Voices…a thousand voices screamed at me, saying the worst things. I couldn't save her, she wouldn't ever be happy like this, how could I put a family through this? The doubts and fear dogged at my heart.

I sank gratefully into unconsciousness.


I am soooo mad at myself…! I had writers block for EVER!

But, I am returned, and hope to get this show on the road. There should only be a few more chapters…This story is officially my longest ever. REVIEW!