Chapter 5

Caliban didn't return to the house with Vanessa. She returned alone. After he abruptly ended their kiss, he had left her sitting there as the snow fell all around her, and as she watched him go Vanessa couldn't say she knew how to feel. As she watched him walk away, she found she was worried for him as he disappeared into the night, and that worry stayed with her as she returned to her home alone. Meanwhile, Caliban was very aware of what he had done as he walked the streets afterward. Caliban had left Vanessa sitting there with snow in her hair. It had all happened so fast. He remembered that one moment he was kissing her then the next walking swiftly away. His mouth had covered hers as if he had been drinking her very soul. He had enjoyed kissing her, reveled in it even, but then something had come upon him. The image of his bride rising from the water had flashed in his mind, Ms. Ives still wore her image, and that was when he stopped. His mind was racing, and he found he didn't know what to do. So, he did the only thing he knew. He rose from that bench and walked away from her feeling her eyes on him as he walked briskly away.

"Caliban" he thought as he walked with the breeze on his shoulders unsure if he wanted her to call after him as he did, but she hadn't choosing to let him leave to clear whatever frantic thought had made him run from her. He knew he shouldn't have initiated the kiss even as he savored the memory.

"Her lips were so soft" thought Caliban as he walked through London those images of his bride and Ms. Ives mingling to become one with the dream that he worried had created the entire notion in his mind. Because what he had said was true. He feared that though she would be made solely for the purpose of loving him, Caliban was unsure if she could feel that way, but he longed for it all the same.

"What if she sees me just like the rest of the world" thought Caliban when he found himself in Dr. Frankenstein's workroom watching her as the doctor's back was turned. His bride was there, laying in the water where she was last, and yet when he looked down at her, he still saw Vanessa's face.

"I told you this would take time. There is still work to be done" said Victor, he turned to look at him, but Caliban didn't say anything in reply. He kept looking at her and seeing Vanessa even as he tried to see her. He tried to tell himself that would end when she came to life, but he worried that his heart was betraying him. That he was falling in love with a woman who wouldn't love him back like with the actress before. Yet as he looked at her, taking slow steps towards her, Caliban didn't voice his concerns, but only continued to look at her. He didn't know how to prevent what was happening as he looked down into the water with Victor standing behind him now.

"I didn't come with any demands…I just wanted to see her. I can't stop thinking of her" said Caliban his voice soft. He turned to look at the doctor as he spoke, yet he found he couldn't look at the man. His eyes found his hands as he rung them in his state of confusion. When he looked into the doctor's eyes finally there was something there and Caliban suddenly felt as if he was seeing something. As if he knew what had happened, but he knew that was impossible as he held his gaze. Victor was standing close to him suddenly and Caliban didn't know what to expect from him as he seemed to look at her too. The man had made himself a god and yet, Caliban had never feared him the way a real god might be feared, but in that moment for unknown reasons, Caliban was on guard. He didn't know what had happened between Ms. Ives and himself and until he did, he didn't want the doctor to know. For that reason, he looked for a reason to stay there in that moment. The next words to leave him were not planned, but they seemed to slip out of his heart as it lay still yet torn in his chest.

"I don't know what I want anymore" thought Caliban looking at the woman meant to be his bride and wanting her still to be Ms. Vanessa Ives.

Yet, she would not be, could not be, and in a wistful moment the words slipped forth.

"I want her to have a better introduction to the world then I had. I want her to know how to act in it and not be left to find her place in it on her own. I want her to know things and have things shown to her. To know the ways of women and the things women should know" whispered Caliban receiving a laugh as the doctor walked around the tank where she lay.

"Who do you expect to teach her these things? I am most certainly not equipped, and neither are you. Women's ways are not part of our knowledge" exclaimed Victor laughter still in his voice. When he hit his fist against the tub where she lay, his tone changed, and Caliban recognized the fear that ran across his face. He hadn't come here to fight. He hadn't planned on coming there at all, but somehow his feet had led him there. Caliban wouldn't back down for this man though as he stared him down in that moment. He had spent far too much time being mocked and he wasn't going to anymore. He felt the man in him slinking away in that moment as the monster that he could have easily been tried to fight his way to the surface. He stomped him back down though as he stared his creator down with an ire he didn't want to feel in that moment. He stamped it down though as he eyed his creator.

"No, you are not qualified, neither am I. I thought Ms. Ives could do it actually. She is a woman of great culture, great poise, and beautiful. She would learn much from her" whispered Caliban, watching his bride now. When he looked at the doctor once more his stare was strange. An accusing stare that Caliban found the need to run from as he turned to leave. He didn't realize what he'd said until he was in front of her home again. As he stood before the door, Caliban didn't know how to ask this of her especially after what had just happened between them, but as he went inside, he decided he must ask. If he was to stay with her, he had to look into her eyes again, and this time do it without kissing her.