The Greyback Manor

Chapter thirteen

Victor explained everything, and he looked away from us.  There was an emptiness in his words even with all the bars around him. I could see his shoulders drop each time he thought about his adopted daughter. It was almost sad since I would never wish that burden on anyone, yet his past actions left me torn. If any part of his story was true and he worked for Morairty, how many lives had he taken under her orders? I let out a long dry breath when Victor turned to look at us, tears in his eyes.  

"She wasn't always like this, I swear, or maybe she was and I just never noticed. My wife and I were having some marital problems because we couldn't have children," he said. I looked at Alexandria, who seemed hurt by that statement. I comforted her as I had tears well in my own eyes at the thought.  

"Where did you find her?" I asked.  

"It was a late night and a storm hit," he explained. As he talked, I saw brief flashes of a green cyclone with a small baby inside it. The baby was in distress because her caregiver had left her there after being hurt. A tear ran down my face as I heard the cries mixed with the howling wind.  

The images faded, and I decided to make mental notes of what I saw. If I got enough information, I could figure out what Moriarty’s true desire was. 

"You found her,” I responded when I saw his face flush with emotion. He grumbled again in response. Before I could say anything, Alexandria decided to step in for me.  

"I know all about that, finding a lost child and having them turn out to be different," she said.  

“Alexandria don't make him feel worse," I cautioned. Yet that didn't stop the kitsune, and she sat down next the bars to talk with him.  

“Yeah, I tried so hard to help her, but nothing I said mattered, because I got scared she thought I would tell on her," Victor whispered. 

His voice cracked, and I could see that Victor Frankenstein had tears in his eyes. I had seen him cry a bit before, yet those tears felt fake until I saw the flashback.  

“Yeah, it’s sad because she can't understand that what she is doing is wrong, because to her emotions are for the weak. It’s what she told you, I'm sure," Alexandria responded. Her voice appeared to soothe or maybe cause him grief as he started to sob. It was awkward, and I cleared my throat.  

"You want a tissue?" I asked.  

There weren’t any of those around, so Victor looked at me with an eyebrow raised.  

“No, I don't need anything. I'll be alright once I have my sweet little girl," he said.  

Alexandria continued to console him while he cried over how evil the book was. 

"How did she create that book? Victor, please, I want to help your daughter, and I want to save everyone, but I can't help if I don't know the truth," I finally said. He sniffled and grabbed the bars again to let out his anger on them. I jumped and feared he was going to escape, yet he gave me two things.  

“Here, take these two things. The pages for my wife and I are in there along with our objects," he said. I gasped and looked down at the crumbled pieces of paper along with a green bottle of some liquid.  

“Um, thank you, but what about the red book? You said that it was the book that made her change,” I asked.  

“You see, I realized Marina was different than others because she always drew red doors all over her room," he explained. I took a mental note about the red doors, as that seemed important. Alexandria covered her stomach, and it reminded me that she was expecting. Or at least that was what she wanted people to believe. I gave her a look, but she shook her head at me and gestured toward Victor.