Frankenstein Theory Read Online Free Page A

rescue.
    “ Baroness, Victor and I have been charged with an exceptional assignment that could catapult the medical sciences decades into the future.” Henry lied and held up his hand to prevent questions. “Before you ask, we are prohibited from discussing the project with anyone but the assigning professor. I do hate to be secretive about the issue, but our tenure at university is at stake.”
    Mother smiled and nodded. “I completely understand. Many an occasion found the Baron locked away in his study or his laboratory for hours or days on end without so much as a word to me. You have my word; I will not bother you.”
    Henry was correct about Elizabeth. She insisted on being at my side for every waking moment. It wasn’t until I tucked her into her bed clothes I was able to get a moment to myself. That moment, of course, was used up introducing Henry to the laboratory.
     
    xXx
     
    “ Victor, this is absolutely brilliant!” Henry pointed toward the ceiling, to the block and tackle pulley attached to the monstrous table. “What was that for?”
    I followed Henry’s point and nodded when I realized what he was questioning.
    “ Henry, there is something about my father I have never told you.” I turned to the man and felt the blood rush from my face. “The life from death hypothesis wasn’t mine. In fact, it was the Baron von Frankenstein who drew up the original plans. He spent nearly his entire medical career obsessed with the idea that life could be drawn from the dead. My father was a brilliant scientist and surgeon. His undoing was his inability to control his obsession. While I was home on holiday, he died during an attempt to use fire as the secondary component for reanimation. His lack of understanding for things beyond the surgical theatre did him in. A single, misjudged flame ended his life. He was on the table, you see, drawn above the roof. When the flame ignited his gown, it knocked him from his footing. His back and spine were shattered when he hit the railing on the way down to the stone floor. Mother had no idea, the goings on within this laboratory. It was I who cleared away the corpse and secreted his notes from Mother’s purview. He did not hand me his journal—but I knew, with every fiber of my being, that my father would want his work to continue. And so, I confiscated every note he penned regarding this experiment.”
    Henry walked about the laboratory. One by one, he removed the covers from the apparatuses, each with a dramatic flair. “Victor, I care about you and your family. But your father’s mistake will not affect our endeavor. There will be no such thing as failure within this laboratory, not with you and I controlling the ebb and flow of science.”
    It wasn’t until Henry pulled the cover from the master flow controller for the electrical current that his speech and his enthusiasm waned.
    “ What is this…this thing?”
    “ A new machine I requested from the French Academy of Sciences. It controls the amount of energy that flows from the lightning strikes to the electrodes attached to the body. I rushed to Henry’s side. “That is the difference between me and my father. I know my limitations. Instead of taking the time to learn the minutiae of electricity and trying to build a machine of my own, I have turned to others more knowledgeable about its power than myself. Also, I have hired a gentlemen to assist us.”
    “ Victor,” Henry whispered sharply. “You cannot bring another person into this circle. What if he reports us to the constabulary?”
    I smacked Henry on the shoulder. “Oh, my dear man, Igor will do no such thing. Though his knowledge of electricity is expansive, he is…how shall I put this…a denizen of an underground society. He won’t inform anyone of our work because his only God is coin. Both his services and his silence have been purchased. As far as he knows, we only need him to watch over this one piece of machinery. Beyond that, he will be