Doctor Frankenstein

by P. S. Power

  The Child of Frankenstein: Book Three

  Doctor Frankenstein

  P.S. Power

  Orange Cat Publishing

  Copyright 2019

  Chapter one

  There was a balance to driving that Liam had to appreciate on a fundamental level. An almost hypnotic effect that tended to lull even him into a sense of repetitive safety. It wasn’t, naturally, a secure situation at all. He’d been driving for almost two days straight, heading across the country, on his own. He stopped for gas but other than that he merely drove, not having a destination in mind at all. The vehicle was still going strong, the belts sturdy and fluids still full, so he wouldn’t have to stop for several hours, when the Yellow SUV needed to be filled again.

  His reason for being on the road was different than what the other drivers on the long stretches of highway would have, of course. Most of them were going to a different place. They were heading into work on their daily commute, or perhaps were on vacation, going to see the natural wonders of the great nation in which they lived. Some others were, perhaps, visitors from other lands even. People who had decided to take to the highway to see what all the fuss was about.

  He had to admit, it was impressive in its grand sameness. The blacktop varied from state to state, the individual roads being cared for well in some places and far less so in others. The nature of the gas stations shifted as well. In zones of heavy travel, they tended to be very commercial, nice things that spoke of care and expensive tastes. Designed to part human beings with as much cash as possible when the weary traveler was forced to pull over in order to gather provisions or relieve themselves.

  Liam, not being human, didn’t have those same needs. No, he’d been told, ordered, by everyone in his life to vanish for a while. Not that anyone was hunting him, in particular. If they had been… Well, the truth was that he could largely ignore them. His body was simply too different for most humans to deal with in a fight. He could take injury but it healed completely over time.

  More importantly, his integral framework was decentralized. Shooting him in the head, or even cutting it off, wouldn’t stop him. It would grow back, and since his thoughts and feelings weren’t kept there exclusively, his head would, simply, grow back. Probably inside a month or so. Not that he wanted to bother doing that, if he could help it.

  Even though he looked more or less like everyone else. Shorter than most men that seemed his age, perhaps. He was five-four and always would be. He looked thin, even for that size, as if he weighed in at a lean one-twenty. Glancing in the review mirror he caught sight of his own face there. It was tan at the moment. Slightly darker than that, making him seem like a person from India. At least most people had said that was the case. His short black hair was very straight and his features matched that look, more or less.

  Except for his haunting and freakish eyes. Those were still yellow. Not golden really, either. The color was different than that. It was, he knew, his most distinctive feature. That and the fact that one out of every five or six human beings that got inside twenty or thirty feet of him simply couldn’t stand him. His very presence working them toward anger or extreme fear. He’d been attacked twice so far on his trip, while getting fuel. The first attempt to kill him, he’d merely dodged. Then he’d run away, driving off without even speaking to the agitated human being. On the second, the person had gotten into their vehicle and tried to ram him. It had taken a lot of skill on his part to step to the side, drawing them away from the gas pumps and people that could be harmed and punching them in the side of the head as they sped past. Through the driver’s side window. Then he’d had to chase them, since the driver, a woman in her thirties, had her own children in the car.

  After that, pushing her out of the way a bit gracelessly, he’d managed to get her and the kids to the side of the lot, parked out of the way, so that he could leave without being taken in by the police. That, contact with that sort of person was too dangerous. Mainly for them.

  He wasn’t going to die. About a third of them wanted him dead without understanding why. They had weapons too, so when they started trying to kill him without purpose or need, he’d be forced to stop them. So, instead of making certain the dumpy woman and her children were all right, he’d simply fled.

  “Which is the best you can do, in the moment.” His voice was different than it used to be. Thin and reedy sounding, as well as too high pitched to be pleasant.

  Still, it was understandable and, he had to admit, interesting to hear. His vocal cords were, or had been, originally grown into the sides of his throat. In the last six months that had, slowly, been altering into something useful to him. He was, according to his mother, changing. Adapting to the world around him in a way that prometheans such as himself weren’t really supposed to be able to manage.

  That was largely due to him being made to different standards. Improved in several ways by the last generation of his kind. There weren’t a lot of them around. Six, or possibly seven, in the whole world that he had to be concerned about for the time being. About twenty or thirty others that he wasn’t likely to meet at all, from the sound of things. His father, Warren, had chosen some chemical design differences for him that made a small difference in how he looked and thought.

  For instance, on a level that was nearly psychic in nature, he could map out future possibilities. Probabilities that were impressive enough to be an actual ability, if he paid attention and used the skill of deep thinking correctly. He was also mentally faster than even the others of his own people, who were known for being rather adroit, as far as their ability to think went. At least they weren’t known to be that way by those who understood they were real. Most humans thought of them as being dumb brutes that shambled around clumsily, for some reason.

  Liam blamed the movies for that. The book had told a very different story.

  Smiling a bit, dressed in a suit, even for traveling, since it would leave him seeming less threatening if he had to stop, at least in most places, he hummed to himself. Riding in the car, even controlling it, was a bit boring if in a magical way. Especially at night. He had the window rolled down, the cold air coming in at him feeling merely bracing, rather than biting or painful. Humans would be suffering from a very similar affect, he knew.

  Then, as far as he could tell, when summer came around again, he was going to either live in air conditioning the whole time or be just as miserable in his own right. Not that he could die from it, but being too warm wasn’t fun for him at all. At about ninety degrees Fahrenheit he started to feel ill, actually. It was a thing to keep in mind, since it was a real limitation in his life.

  The road was mainly dry, not covered with ice, even though that had taken mechanical assistance to make happen in the area he was moving through. Traveling in the winter was interesting that way, since he had to be careful as he drove around, rather aimlessly. Streets could be closed or impassable for a time, in different places. That meant he was holding roughly to the south of the country, instead of the center, which had been his original thought when the others had sent him away.

  Liam debated turning the radio on again, to listen to people talking, when his phone rang. It was on the seat next to him, so he could reach it without much effort. Even if it was a bit dangerous, he reached over and picked it up, tapping the flat screen with a single finger of his right hand, to make it work. In the two days he’d been driving, all alone, no one had contacted him. He couldn’t tell who it was at the moment, either.

  What he could do, now, at a little over a year old, was speak in a way that sounded nearly human, instead of a sinister or shy whisper. Admittedly, he sounded young and just a little like a cartoon character, but no one had complained too much about it. Only Agent Bre
nner. She’d teased him on the subject a few times, for some reason.

  “This is Liam, how may I help you?” He used to answer with his full name.

  Liam Frankenstein. Technically there was an Alan in there as well, as far as his paperwork went. He would have preferred Adam but understood that might have seemed a bit too on the nose for some people. As if giving him the name of Frankenstein hadn’t been a bad joke in the first place. Really, Liam was thinking of changing that, if at all possible. Possibly to something bland and not at all interesting. Liam Smith or possibly Liam Shufflebottom. Anything was going to be better than what he had that way.

  It should be doable. He’d looked into it and it seemed he had several options that way. For instance, he could go and levy a court for such a change. It wasn’t his family name at all and even the harshest of human court systems seemed more than willing to let you not be called by a name that would seem comical to others in daily life. Or he could marry and take the last name of the woman or man he was joined with.

  Lacking that option, not having anyone that fit that bill in his life at the moment, Liam could also simply have his fake papers altered. He was in the system at present though, which was useful to him. A woman’s voice came to him then, over the device he was holding to his right ear. It didn’t need to be done that way, of course, since he heard through his skin, all over his body. Having his hand on the thing was more than enough for him.

  He still spoke through his mouth, and the device was designed to be close to that orifice, so he did it the normal way. Focusing enough to drive safely. As long as the car didn’t go into a spin. If that happened, he’d have to drop the phone, most likely.

  The woman sounded familiar. Indeed, he worked out who it was before she had a single complete sentence out.

  “Liam! This is Sondra. I was told I could reach you at this number…” There was a hesitance to her words. A thing that was abnormal for her.

  She was a vampire after all. One who, for some reason, kept trying to flirt with Liam, even if he was only a little over a year old. Nearly a year and a half. Most women didn’t do that with him, once they learned his true age. Really, most of the ladies didn’t bother even before they knew that about him. He wasn’t particularly attractive, after all. Part of that was his small stature, of course. His face was good enough, he thought. Symmetrical and all that.

  For whatever reason, Sondra didn’t find any of that to be too difficult to manage. Then, he pretty much ignored her efforts to attract him, not being ready for that kind of commitment. Liam was polite to her though and hadn’t rejected her attempts to get his attention in non-sexual ways. It meant they were, oddly perhaps, more or less friends.

  “Sondra! So nice to hear from you. I’m driving right now… Let me pull over, so that I can speak safely.” That was safer for the other drivers on the road, after all. He did that instantly, the woman waiting for him to park and put his emergency blinkers on. There was almost no one else on the road, so no one attempted to stop to aid him. Which was correct of course. It was the middle of the night and most people needed to be afraid. They were soft and easily ended.

  The fact was that such rules were different for Liam. Not that he’d have stopped for people either. He didn’t really know what to do to be of aid and had to keep in mind that part of the time anyone he got close to would be left emotionally unstable by his presence.

  “There we go. It’s safe. Now, what can I do for you?” The idea that the vampire would have contacted him for some other reason, even just to chat with him, wasn’t likely at all. Her kind were very political in nature, which meant that almost all of their friendships and even closer relationships had that kind of an overtone to it. A being like Sondra wouldn’t date anyone if doing so wasn’t going to benefit her directly. Unless she was ordered to do it.

  Even then, doing what the more powerful people around her wanted, was still a political action. The thing there was that Liam couldn’t see how being involved with him, even as a casual friend, would fill that need for the woman. He did understand that she was cultivating him for the future, of course. Why that was, he didn’t see. So far, he was being kept out of anything particularly real in his life. The others, the FBI agents, and even his creators, had been adamant about him not being drawn into the burgeoning war that was beginning.

  Between the humans, or at least some of their secret organizations and the supernatural community. Parts of it, at any rate. Oddly enough, the people that wanted all vampires to be removed from the world, who had actually taken to hunting werewolves with military style strike teams, didn’t have an issue at all with the diggers, elves or even the fairies. From what Liam could see it was mainly about fear, of course. Those last groups simply didn’t harm people, in the main. Not on purpose.

  Wolves would kill anyone in their way, at the wrong time of the month. Vampires tried to keep their food alive, so that they could keep a smaller profile. It didn’t work a good chunk of the time though, and they tended to leave a trail of human bodies behind them. Even if they had orders to not be noticed, some of them clearly didn’t care about such things.

  So the humans were fighting back. Against an entire people, for the actions of the few. They were that, as well. In the entire world there were, perhaps, ten thousand real vampires. One on one they could reliably take down an armed human man in full fighting kit, with training.

  Ten on one the vampires died forever, almost every time. The only thing they could do in that kind of situation was run and keep running. If they could figure out it was happening in time to save themselves and respond instantly. If they were dead, because it was daylight out, they couldn’t do anything to protect themselves at all. They had to hide well to stay alive.

  The voice sounded light. Almost happy. Then, Sondra generally did. It was fake on her part. Possibly designed to set Liam at ease, personally. It was what he was doing in return, so couldn’t blame her for not being genuine that way.

  “Ah, I’m that transparent? The only reason I’d call would be because I want something?” She laughed then. It was friendly enough. “So true. This time I was hoping to set up a meeting with you, for a friend of mine. He lives in Oregon State, which is some distance from here. He…” She paused then, her voice going low. “His name is Lewis. A former blood donor of mine. He lives in Portland now, with his husband, Kent. They have a little girl, Emily. In the last few days, possibly longer, someone has been following them. Nothing has happened so far, so the police can’t do anything about it. I’d run to his aid myself, but the current tasks here have me pinned in place.”

  She stopped talking then, since he was supposed to figure out what she wanted. He did it, instantly.

  “Did your friend tell you anything about who was watching them?”

  There was a soft exhalation, then a rather sharp intake of air. It was forced sounding. Manipulative. A thing that moved right past him, not having the same feelings a human would. Really, he was closer to the vampires that way than any other group. Without the same level of anger.

  Not that Sondra ever showed that kind of thing where he could see it.

  Her voice was more businesslike, suddenly.

  “The target seems to be Emily. The small child. The man following them doesn’t sound like he’s anything other than a stalker. The human kind. I just don’t want Lewis and Kent to lose their daughter to such a creature. Could you go and see to them? I know that you’re on vacation and wouldn’t want to disrupt that…”

  Liam nodded, knowing that she couldn’t see him do it. It was done on purpose, since he was attempting to seem more human, in order to fit in. It meant doing things like that all the time, so the responses would become automatic.

  “You mean the strange trip I was ordered to go on, with no destination and no purpose? I’ve been driving around aimlessly for two days. Nearly three now. Without stopping. I need to look at a map, but I can probably be there in… Seven hours, I think.” He needed to keep in mind tha
t he’d probably be attacked at least once in there, which could add time to the trip, depending what happened.

  Sondra cleared her throat then.

  “Good, then. As long as it won’t be too unpleasant to you? Lewis is my friend but there’s limited benefit in aiding him. He called, so I thought of you. Not that I understand why that was, exactly. It isn’t your task to protect humans, in particular. That you’ve aided my people at all is a wonder.”

  All of that was true enough. Liam considered the situation for a moment, not speaking or responding. It didn’t take him long to go over it all.

  “I don’t know if I can do anything of note in this case, either. Perhaps get pictures of the man? That or confront him with proof of what he is doing… That doesn’t prevent anything really, does it? Then, we don’t know enough at this time. He could simply be around by coincidence. Or watching the child due to her being his biological child.”

  Those words got a soft humph from the vampire on the phone.

  “Perhaps. More likely is that he has some kind of sexual desire for the little girl. It would be best to find out first. If it’s merely an innocent happening, then you don’t need to do anything at all. Nor would the police. If, on the other hand it is more sinister… Well, in that case we might need to take some alternative action. It may well be nothing. Which probably means I shouldn’t send anyone in at all.”

  Liam tilted his head.

  “I can go and look. It isn’t like I’m doing anything else. I’ve never been to a large city before.” Mainly because the population density could lend itself to giant mobs forming if he got too close to too many people. They couldn’t really kill him. That didn't mean being attacked was fun or that it didn’t hurt. It also left him feeling a bit sad each time it happened.

  That wasn’t too strong of thing and it didn’t last long, thankfully. Which didn't mean he didn't notice it.