Prologue
Brace for Impact
07.01.1988, Wingate
Kierran
It was a hell of a way to die.
We had been sprinting for some time now; I forgot how long.
Your internal clock doesn’t work when you’re running for your life.
Evi was somewhere behind me.
I almost couldn’t hear her loud breaths over the amused screams and squeals behind us.
We raced through the woods.
The night wasn’t as dark as this chase of life. Looming death made it seem so cold that I had stopped feeling my fingers sometime after we passed the last street, which must have been over ten minutes ago.
Shadows crept up the trees, and the snow gave the scenery an almost magical glow.
It would have been nice here if our lives weren’t in danger.
Who could have known that our trip would end in a hunt?
Now and then, branches slapped in my face and almost took me down.
We increased our speed, which would only help us for a short time. Both of us were already exhausted past our limits.
I glanced over my shoulder.
Fuck.
The two ministry members were only about twelve feet behind us and wouldn’t stay that way for long.
“We have to stop running, Evi.”
“Your powers are useless against them, and if we die here tonight, they’ll be on their own forever, or even worse, the ministry will get hold of them. Do you really want to risk that?”
“Way to lighten up the situation,” I grumbled at her. “Sorry.”
“Whatever the outcome, we have to fight or we’ll never be rid of them.”
A ministry member cut our way off.
We stopped in our tracks.
The powdery snow that had already crystallized into ice some places, turning slicker as we moved.
Evi slipped in our harsh stop. I caught her arm, pulling her closer to me.
We would survive this. We had hundreds of times before; this was no different.
Giant pine and spruce trees caged us in. Little ice blooms sprouted out of the trunks; a life born cold. The moonlight smothered the treetops with its tight grip.
The forest clearing wasn’t too far from the water.
The two that had followed after us caught up, now surrounding us, commanding out attention.
Green robes wrapped around the woman on the left.
She pushed back her hood and let her dark eyes meet mine.
Black and blue curls framed her face, and blue triangles covered both her forehead and her cheeks. In her hand she wielded a knife of sorts, with a wooden handle that held three blades, like branches growing from a tree; a mambele.
“Kierran. Why did I know it would end like this with you?” asked Iris.
“Probably because you’ve always had a knack for taking the fun out of others.”
She smiled, and her white teeth flashed in the moonlight.
The other woman had tied her dark hair up in a high ponytail, with more braids than I could count trailing between patches of straight hair.
Orange eye shadow rimmed her light brown eyes, and an icy blush lit up her cheeks and the tip of her nose. “We’re only supposed to bring you in,” Viola said.
“But if you resist, we have permission to kill you,” Roscoe added with a far-too-amused grin, as if I didn’t already know that’s how the ministry handled all their affairs.
Hatred had been etched into his features by the remnants of war. That kind of violence would eternally scar every single person that made it out alive, and sadly, he had.
His blue eyes carried a sadness in them. Quite the contrast to the actions he was taking to send us to an early grave.
But if they did manage to kill us, there wouldn’t be much left to put into a coffin and mourn over.
“We’re not going to surrender voluntarily so that you can drag us to Eldritch and throw us in prison for the rest of our lives.”
Viola frowned. “What are you talking about? You’ll have a fair trial.”
“Spare me the humor. We both know the verdict was decided before you got here.”
Roscoe laughed outright. “Oh, come on, you can’t seriously tell me you thought we were just going to let you carry on doing illegal experiments, right? You didn’t abide by any of the rules or laws. Sooner or later we had to intervene.”
“Actually, I thought you would offer us job positions soon. After all, you tried to do the same thing; the only difference is that you failed.”
Iris tilted her head and raised an eyebrow in amusement. “No matter what you thought was going to happen, Kierran, you will have to come with us now.”
“We don’t have to do anything,” Evi hissed at the three of them.
“Honestly, how stupid are you guys?” Roscoe seemed to enjoy this more and more by the second.
Evi pulled her double-ended blade from her cloak, and with a click, it fizzed to triple length, as she swung her staff between us and the ministry members.
“Obviously very stupid.” Viola sighed and pulled a wind and fire wheel out of her black belt. Red thread clung around one side of the metal circle, and blades in the shape of three flames protruded from the metal on the opposite sides as well as at its tip.
She slipped her hand into the metal ring and grasped the part covered with string.
Roscoe pulled two knuckle dusters over his fingers and swung an axe back and forth.
Iris already had her mambele in her hand, but I knew from experience that it wasn’t her most dangerous weapon. When she closed her eyes, I snatched a knife from the belt of my jeans as quickly as I could, which I only carried around with me out of paranoia.
My wife turned away from the group and ran toward the trees. Halfway through, she dashed to her right, onto a tree stump. She pushed herself off it and used her collected force to charge straight at Roscoe, whose eyes were darting back and forth between the two of us.
She landed a hit below his rib cage and stood on the other side.
Evi raced off again, knowing all too well that staying in Roscoe’s proximity for too long would be like playing Russian roulette.
His leg threatened to fold for a second, but he stabilized himself in the last instant.
Evi swung her staff in a high arc through the air and gave Viola a back whip that sliced her cheek from ear to mouth.
Her skin parted slightly in the wind, which only made the winter night colder.
Despite the terrible pain that must’ve been shooting through her body, she smiled and attacked Evi as if she had been waiting for someone to finally give her a free pass.
I took over Roscoe, and with my first blow in his direction I would have shredded his top and certainly part of his chest if Iris hadn’t blocked me with her dagger.
I didn’t let myself be swayed and pushed against her blade, which shot upward and tore Roscoe’s head off.
I cursed quietly as his head fell forward into his hands, and without hesitation, he threw it against Evi with all his force.
He struck her in the pit of the stomach.
Fucking dullahan.
She fell backward and crashed into one of the tall trees.
Viola barely dodged the spear that Evi still managed to throw at her chest.
She got smaller, and hairier, until a fox sat in Viola’s place, no bigger than my knees, and thanks to Evi’s spear, now with only eight tails; fucking kitsune.
My wife groaned but wasted no time in pressing the point of a knife against Roscoe’s severed head, which wore a grin that couldn’t have been wider.
She hissed, “Let us go, and I’ll spare him.”
Iris’s eyes widened as she lowered her weapon slightly.
Viola, who had three chakrams hanging around each of her tails, let one of them circle higher and higher until it flew off the tip of her tail and sliced Roscoe’s face once and for all.
Evi let go of the head, breathing heavily.
The two halves of the head slipped off her, but the chakram remained stuck in her chest. Whimpering, she pulled it out.
The disk had left a fairly shallow cut under her collarbones.
I rushed over and pulled her up.
With the next of Viola’s throws, the tip of my nose slipped clean from my face, tears welling up in my eyes.
“Fucking hell!”
Even in the cold winter air heat pulsed through me, and a tingling crawled over the top of my head.
Adrenaline hardened my muscles, giving me more punch.
Evi catapulted forward, over Viola’s head.
In midair, she cut off another one of her tails.
Viola shrieked in pain as Evi ripped her staff out of one of the trees on the other side and clutched it tightly.
I turned my gaze back to Iris, whose eyes now shone white.
Shit, shit!
I couldn’t stop myself from swearing tonight.
I dashed forward and dragged my little knife into the skin on her shoulder.
She hissed and stumbled backward a few feet.
Again and again our blades crashed into each other, bruising my hearing, while neither of us managed to gain the upper hand.
Other noises pitched in.
“Shit,” I cursed under my breath. “You called for reinforcements? You’re so pathetic.”
Iris growled, swinging at me.
I dodged and dropped to the ground on the cold, wet snow.
The clock on my wrist hit against a rock, cracking the glass.
Without wasting any time, I rolled to the side and propped up on all fours.
That was easier once.
Viola pierced the place I had just lain with multiple of her chakram.
Even though she had lost one of her ears, had a bloody nose, and was missing at least three tails, she seemed more than willing to take us out.
I glanced at my wife.
Her eyes blinked, and little beads of sweat stood on her forehead and lip. Her upper body had stiffened into a square.
“Evi, you have to go.”
“No,” she replied. “There is no way I am leaving you here to die, and screw you for even suggesting that.” Evi threw her chin up, and her nostrils flared.
I had to grin. “Fine.”
The wild animals Iris had called reached and surrounded us.
Their howls and calls were distorted.
A wolf with white glowing eyes leaped at Evi, reminding me of what was at stake, and I rammed my knife into its head before it reached her.
In deepest concentration I managed to detach enough of the carbon in the animals to leave a trail of bodies.
My knife flashed through the air, decapitating another wolf while I punched a raven out of the sky, when a new scream froze me.
I turned my head in the direction from which the noise had come and expelled the air from my lungs.
Evi floated over the ground.
Her whole body shook; her legs struck back and forth. Her eyes glassed over, one of Viola’s tails wrapped around her stomach.
A knife bored deeper and deeper into her chest.
Her mouth formed into an Oh.
Blood streamed down her leg onto the ground, where the snow soaked up red.
Not you, never you.
The wolves shot forward and licked it off to delay their starvation by a few moments.
“I’m going to kill you,” I hissed.
Viola’s fox face contorted into a weird expression. I needed time to realize it was a smile, mocking me. I wouldn’t have enough time to patch up Evi’s body before they would get to me, and she knew that.
My lungs built up a sound I could not recognize. It rang too loud even for my ears.
I charged forward.
You’re done.
As I ran at her, she thrust Evi to the side.
My eyes followed her flight path until she disappeared somewhere behind the trees.
A few wolves darted after her as if chasing a thrown bone.
The excess adrenaline and the agony cramped my heart up, and with each step I took, a jab shot through me and kept my lungs from getting enough oxygen.
I stopped running and crouched down, sliding under Viola, who had just leaped into the air.
Drifting across the frozen soil, my blade dragged across Viola’s chest and stomach. Unfortunately, she was too far above me to be more than inconvenienced by my attack.
Iris’s footsteps thumped on the ground behind me.
I reached to the side and pulled Evi’s spear toward me, now armed in both hands, regaining enough composure to face the two women.
The remaining wolves didn’t attack, having orders from Iris to stand down.
Fighting fair now?
Viola said, “You’ve brought this upon yourself, Kierran.” Her whiskers fluttered up and down while she pressed the words out through her browned fangs.
“Don’t try to talk yourself out of the blood on your claws, you filthy animal.” I could barely get the words through my grinding teeth.
With a quick spin and one long leap, Iris threw herself on top of me.
My body fell backward, and only a little piece of moss under me kept my head from exploding as I hit the ground with a weight four times as heavy as me.
Both spear and blade slipped out of my hands.
Her dagger met my chest, digging for something deeper than my heart as she pressed down.
The cold grip of my knife made me shiver before I pulled it out of my boot, ramming it into Iris’s face. In a flash, she jumped back and screeched, her eye a single pool of blood.
Iris jerked away from me, giving me enough space to find my footing again.
“How do you like me now?” I grinned at their faces, even though I had nothing worth smiling for.
To my surprise, they smiled back at me.
Fuck, that’s never a good sign…
At that moment, something hit me from behind.
My face crashed into ice that cracked under my breaking nose.
When I finally turned around to look at what had brought my downfall, a wolf’s paws fled away.
I knew they wouldn’t play fair.
Iris’s face moved in front of mine, and her bloody eye dripped onto my face.
She pulled up her mambele. Behind her, one of Viola’s chakram flew straight at my head.
Which of the two blades would split my skull open first?
26.09.1999, Tintagel
Zephrine
Fluttering, I reached for him, still half caught in my dream.
Slowly, his heartbeat pulsed against my palm.
He’s here; it’s okay.
My brother’s steady breathing moved my hand on his chest as it rose and fell.
The print on his top was old and had already crumbled off in places; small bits stuck up and brushed the underside of my hand.
My fingers swept carelessly across his face and came to rest on his forehead as I the cold had built up underneath during the night.
His hand lay over his nose and mouth, muffling his snores. It had been storming all night.
The remnants of the violent, raging weather clung to my mind like glue, as if the lightning was still striking before my inner eye.
Someone scurried up from the couch, knocking over something.
I jumped up in bed.
My grandfather must’ve mistaken this room for his in his drunken haze again.
I squinted at the shadows, ready to lead him back to his bed before Leon woke up from the noise.
My eyes met Kavi’s, the apologetic look holding a tight grasp on his face, his mouth forming the word sorry.
Right. We don’t live with abuelo anymore.
My pulse slowed down.
I shook my head and waved him off.
My little brother’s friend snatched his bag and hurried off to an incredibly early breakfast before his swimming practice.
After glancing at Leon’s clock, I crawled out of bed.
5:07 a.m. Great. Now that sleep’s done for, what do I do?
I was anything but a morning person, but my insomnia was of a different opinion.
My fluffy socks lay right next to my brother’s bed, where I had left them yesterday night. Without them, I would freeze to death this time of year in England since, unfortunately, we were blessed with rain and cold, unlike most other countries.
I’ve heard that September is delightful; I just couldn’t tell you from experience.
My brother rolled over in his blankets.
I took a Post-it Note and stuck it on his forehead in case he woke up and I wasn’t there, then slipped on a pair of slippers over my thick socks. I tried to leave the room as quickly and in as coordinated of a manner as Kavi but got stuck on a toy highway on my next step and could only hold on to the edge of the sofa at the last second.
Damn this thing.
I bumped my hand against a couple of flasks on the edge of Leon’s desk, and one of them dropped. The glass bottle first hit my knuckles, softening the fall, and then rolled onto the floor.
I cursed under my breath and placed it back next to the other three potions, finally shutting the door in silence behind me and hurrying along the corridor.
I rushed on until I reached the large double doors of the library.
A silver glove covered my right hand up to the middle of my fingers.
The soft, cool metal stretched over my skin and mirrored my every movement without a hitch as I twisted open the doorknob.
The first thing that greeted me upon entrance was the No Talking sign in the foyer.
Following the bookshelves, I made my way past study corners and beanbags that were still unoccupied.
This part of the library was mostly filled with atlases, dictionaries, and encyclopedias.
Not my corner, or anyone’s, for that matter.
I pulled my phone, which the school had provided me with, out of my pocket and dialed my grandfather’s number, then clamped the phone between my cheek and shoulder as I crawled up one of the ladders.
After it had already rung more than ten times, I hung up and stuffed the phone away again.
Hopefully he isn’t passed out on the couch again.
Like every Sunday for the last three months, I stood in front of the first shelf with the letter L, stocktaking.
The new load of books should have been put away last night, so if I was lucky, there might be a new one that could give me answers, an explanation for this madness.
I shouldn’t be here. I shouldn’t know any of this.
I had already found many treasures in this library, including the listing about a cipactli; a crocodile-like beast with a fish tail and more hunger than one person could satisfy. Just another thing I shouldn’t have seen. Unlike back then, this time I was willing to forget about it, to act like it didn’t exist, like everyone else, because I’m not crazy.
I am not crazy.
It was later reported in the news as a wild animal with rabies, but no one could seriously believe that, not with the fifteen people it had slaughtered before it had set its mind on me.
It hadn’t marked my first encounter with this world.
A Cathmore had killed it right in front of my eyes and had been very interested in the fact that I had actually been able to see the monster for what it was. That was what won me and my brother entry into this castle.
The creature hadn’t shaken me as much as it should have, as last time I had seen such a thing it had gained me admission to a much worse place.
Soon after Lilith had visited me, bearing bad news.
I wiped over the firm spines of the books, over their engraved letters that I had traced so many times before, until my finger slid over a new one.
I pulled it from its firm hold among the other books and studied the cover.
Lilith: The First Mother.
I ripped it open and skimmed through.
No matter how many pages I swallowed, they never went beyond anything other than death and destruction and, of course, the pictures of babies who died before they could even take their first breath, that hadn’t made it to their first cry of life, let alone seventeen.
My sick obsession with her had skyrocketed in the last few weeks as every mirror burned her image deeper into me, bringing the idea of being her daughter closer and closer. After an endless time, she had finally done it, she had accomplished the feat.
Here I am, Frankenstein’s monster.
