Forsaken [Penny Dreadful Fanfiction || Victor Frankenstein]

Chapter Two - Nephthys

Warning - this chapter contains vulgar language. I have marked this book as mature but even so, if you are sensitive to this, I suggest skipping over the seance part or just not reading this chapter. Thank you for understanding!

I would also like to point out a few things that are far less important. One, when Alice is humming, the tune included is what she is humming. Two, I know that One Day by Rupert Brooke is a little later than the time period that Penny Dreadful takes place (it was published in the early 1900s). Please bear with me on that - the poem matched the scene really well. Please enjoy the chapter anyway!

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Alice was not raised by dinner parties and wealth. She was not raised by parents hidden under mountains of priceless silk and jewels. Her home was not built with a shocking amount of guest rooms and a study, with chandeliers hanging from even the bathroom ceiling. Her home was built out of a single room above a barely-scraping-by shop run by her parents hidden under mountains of ragged clothes and debt.

Alice was not used to the life of the honored. Of the high class. She was not used to dinner parties and social events limited only to figures of high class and wealth.

It was the next day. The day after she eerily managed to pick up one of Miss Ives' tarot cards. Specifically the one titled 'The Devil'. Perhaps it was just a coincidence. But if she said that, she'd be lying to herself - Alice wasn't superstitious but now that she was involved in Sir Malcolm's company, just the thought of something being a coincidence would be quickly dubbed as wishful thinking. What role did 'The Devil' card play in Alice's life? Did it tell the story or her past, present, or future? All three? Or none?

That damned card was all that Alice had thought about. Miss Ives had requested that she come back the next day along with another guest. Apparently during their meeting in the study, Sir Malcolm had met up with Victor. Most likely to recruit him like they had recruited Alice and Mr. Chandler. Miss Ives said that they would have more information to share by then. Yet still, Alice had no clue what it was that Sir Malcolm was looking for. Alice rightly assumed it was something very precious. But exactly what that was, she did not know.

Naturally, she was extremely curious as to what it was Sir Malcolm and Miss Ives were searching for but was it even her right to know? They had asked her to aid in the search for this thing or even person so she had the right to know what it was they were looking for, right? Did Miss Ives and Sir Malcolm have the right to keep it a secret from her? Perhaps. But they were practical people. Mysterious, yes. But practical. Not telling Alice or Mr. Chandler or even Victor would risk in one of them leaving the company. Alice was sure they would do everything in their power to make sure that didn't happen. So did that include telling Alice everything they knew - everything they needed to? She didn't know. And thinking about it only made things more complex than they actually needed to be.

Once again she stood in the foyer of Sir Malcolm's mansion. Sembene, the butler's name had finally been revealed by Sir Malcolm upon Alice's asking, stood nearby. He'd gone to let Sir Malcolm and Miss Ives know that she'd arrived. They'd invited her back, but not Mr. Chandler. And they wouldn't tell her why.

Alice turned just as a knock came at the grand front doors. Sembene opened the door to reveal Victor Frankenstein himself. Sembene stepped back to let him in, shut the door, then disappeared down a small hallway to the right of the main staircase. The foyer was silent for a moment, before Alice spoke.

"It's lovely to see you again, Victor."

The young doctor gave her a small smile and nodded. "It's a delight to see you as well, Miss Winsett. It's a surprise, really."