Gothick

Chapter Three

Emma struck her fist against the door to Dominick's study, letting the hollow knocks fill the corridor. Her other hand clutched a bundle of letters.

"Enter," Dominick's muffled voice said, and Emma entered.

Large windows lined the left of the room, overlooking the back garden, while bookshelves lined the right. Most of the books were bound in frayed leather—their contents mainly consisting of topics on medicine and science.

"What is it, Emma?"

Dominick sat behind a large, wooden desk. Books and loose pages cluttered the desktop, only leaving a small space where Dominick was visible. He kept his head down, hastily writing.

"I brought you the mail," Emma said, raising the letters.

"Be a dear and read them to me, will you?" he said, not bothering to look up.

There were four letters in all. The first three were nothing of interest. In fact, Emma read them with only half a mind. The last one was sealed with a wax symbol of a crown with a sword through it. She snapped the seal open, pulled out the folded parchment inside, and read:

"Herr Dominick Würde,

You have hereby been summoned to a hearing, as mandated by the Magisterial Council of Nördlingen, under the charge of Necromancy. The date of your hearing is 18October 1889 at 8:00 at the Magisterial Seat. Any document (s) for the council to review should be delivered to the Seat before 15October 1889. Until 18October 1889 at 6:00, both you and your creation are confined to your residence of Bäumlesgraben, 86720 Nördlingen. Failure to comply with these conditions will result in detention, incarceration, and/or execution.

Sincerely,

Harold Swarthing

Majesty Secretary"

"This is terribly inconvenient," Dominick muttered. Emma placed the letters on the edge of his desk. The line, 'under threat of detention, incarceration, and/or execution' made her feel light-headed. "All my documents are at the laboratory."

"Oh?" Emma said, taking a step forward. The feel of the cold steel of the capsule, of the stone walls and glass vials—everything about the laboratory lingered in the back of her mind. "If you give me the address, I shall call for someone to retrieve it."

"That won't be necessary," he said. "Nan will fetch them. Besides, I wouldn't want some mongrel touching my files."

My files. If she could get a look at them, maybe it would help her better understand who she was. No matter how hard she tried, she could never remember anything past the night of her revival. There were glimpses—of an old town, of Anthony—but they felt dream-like. Not proper memories.

Emma turned to leave, but then stopped.

"Why did you create me?" she asked.

"Isn't that obvious?" Dominick replied. "For the betterment of mankind! For the development of the human intellect!"

"Yes," Emma said, forcing back a grimace. "But why these parts?" She gestured to herself.

Dominick remained silent for a moment, staring intently on the parchment before him.

"Because they hadn't begun to decompose—"

"No," Emma said. "My...petite-ness. I imagine it would have been easier to connect larger organs and arteries—larger body parts. Surely, there was a reason why..."

Dominick give a small sigh, and his body slouched in his seat. Emma took a subconscious step toward him. Had she touched on some memory within him? Perhaps, he was about to give her some hint as to what all of this—her life, these memories—meant.